. V 
 
 .. ' . ' . '.4 ,-,>^. V' ■ '•■ ' I
 
 A STREET IN THE NORTH OK CHINA. 
 
 To face f age i8i.
 
 CHINA. 
 
 BY 
 
 ROBERT K. DOUGLAS, 
 
 OK THE URITISH .MLSEl.M, AND l'KOFEs>SOK OF CHINESE AT Kl.NGh. COLLEGE 
 LONLrON. 
 
 WITH M A P. 
 
 I'L I'.l.lSHEl) INDEIC IHK 1)1 N h. 1' l< i \ ri[ 
 lllli CUMMriTHK IIF (,KM-,U.\1. r.llliKAIl K K AM) )• 1 M (, A 1 U).\ 
 
 Ari'ciixrEu nv the socrinA- iok runMuTiM. 
 
 CHUISTIAX KNOULKOGE. 
 
 LONDON: 
 SUriiaV FOR PROMOTING CHRISTIAN KNOWl.EI )» .1 
 
 NORTHUMHKRI.AM) AVENUE, CHAKINC CROSS, W.C. ; 
 
 4J, l^lUEEN VICTOKIA STKEET, E.C. ; 48, I'lLCAUlLLV, \V. 
 
 AND 135, NORTH STREET, BRIGHTON. 
 
 NEW VOKK : F.. & J. K. YOUXr, & CO. 
 1SS2.
 
 PREFACE, 
 
 I BEG gratefully to acknowledge the valuable aid 
 I have received in the preparation of this work from 
 ^r. Legge's " Chinese Classics," Archdeacon Gray's 
 " China," Doolittle's " Social Life of the Chinese," 
 the important linguistic, religious, and topographical 
 writings of Dr. Edkins of Peking, Dennys's " Chinese 
 Folklore," Mayers's " Chinese Reader's Manual," Sir 
 John Davis's " Poetry of the Chinese," and other 
 foreign, as well as native, works. 
 
 Robert K. Douglas. 
 
 British Museum, 
 March 2^th, 1882. 
 
 2227607
 
 / /
 
 CONTENTS, 
 
 ■CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 I. A SKETCH OF THE HISTORY OF THE 
 
 CHINESE EMPIRE I 
 
 II. THE GOVERNMENT OF CHINA ... 47 
 
 III. MARRIAGE 68 
 
 IV. THE NURTURE AND EDUCATION OF 
 
 CHILDREN S6 
 
 V. FOOD AND DRESS IO9 
 
 VI. AGRICULTURE 1 33 
 
 VII. MEDICINE 152 
 
 VIII. MUSIC 160 
 
 IX. ARCHITECTURE 1 73 
 
 X. DRAWING . 190 
 
 XI. TRAVELLING 1 97 
 
 XII. HONOURS 213 
 
 XIII. NAMES 223 
 
 XIV. THE CHINESE YEAR 23 1 
 
 XV. SUPERSTITIONS ........ 27O 
 
 XVI. FUNERAL RITES 29O 
 
 XVII. THE RELIGIONS OF CHINA .... 305 
 
 XVIII. THE LANGUAGE 33O 
 
 XIX. THE LITERATURE . . . 356
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 A SKETCH OF THE HISTORY OF THE CHINESE 
 EMPIRE. 
 
 HE origin of the Chinese 
 race is shrouded in 
 some obscurity. The 
 first records we have 
 of them represent them 
 as a band of immi- 
 grants settHng in the 
 north - eastern pro- 
 vinces of the modern empire of China, 
 and fighting their way amongst the abori- 
 gines, much as the Jews of old forced their 
 way into Canaan against the various tribes 
 which they found in possession of the land. 
 It is probable that though they all entered 
 China by the same route, they separated into 
 bands almost on the threshhold of the empire, 
 one body, those who have left us the records 
 
 B
 
 2 CHIXA. 
 
 of their history in the ancient Chinese books, 
 apparently followed the course of the Yellow River, 
 and, turning southward with it from its northern- 
 most bend, settled themselves in the fertile districts 
 of the modern provinces of Shansi and Honan. 
 But as we find also that at about the same period 
 a large settlement was made as far south as 
 Annam, of which there is no mention in the books 
 of the northern Chinese, we must assume that 
 another body struck directly southward through 
 the southern provinces of China to that 
 country. 
 
 The question then arises, where did these people 
 come from ? and the answer which recent research 
 gives to this question is, from the south of the Cas- 
 pian Sea. In the chapter on the language we shall 
 give the philological reasons which have led to this 
 discovery. Here we will merely say that, in all 
 probability, the outbreak in Susiana of, possibl}-, 
 some political disturbance, in about the 24th or 23rd 
 centur>' B.C., drove the Chinese from the land of their 
 adoption, and that they wandered eastward until 
 they finally settled in China and the countries south 
 of it. Such an emigration is by no means unusual 
 in Asia, We know that the Ottoman Turks origi- 
 nally had their home in northern Mongolia, and we 
 have a record of the movement, at the end of last 
 century, of a bod\- of 600,000 Kalmucks from Russia
 
 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE EMPIRE. 3 
 
 to the confines of China, It vv^ould appear also 
 that the Chinese came into China possessed of the 
 resources of Western Asian culture. They brought 
 with them a knowledge of writing and astronomy, 
 as well as of the arts which primarily minister to 
 the wants and comfort of mankind. The invention 
 of these civilising influences is traditionally attributed 
 to the Emperor Hwang-te, who is said to have 
 reigned from B.C. 2697-2597, But the name of 
 this sovereign leads us to suppose that he never 
 sat on the throne in China. One of his names, 
 we are told, was Nai, anciently Nak, and in the 
 Chinese paleographical collection he is described 
 by a character composed of a group of phonetics 
 which read Nak-kon-ti, The resemblance between 
 this name and that of Nakhunte,^ who, according 
 to the Susian texts, was the chief of the gods, is 
 sufficiently striking, and many of the attributes 
 belonging to him are such as to place him on an 
 equality with the Susian deity. In exact accordance 
 also with the system of Babylonian chronology he 
 established a cycle of twelve years, and fixed the 
 length of the year at three hundred and sixty days 
 composed of twelve months, with an intercalary 
 month to balance the surplus time. He further, we 
 
 ^ Susian Texts — translated by Dr. J, Oppert — in " The 
 Records of the Past,'' vol. vii. 
 
 D 2
 
 4 CHIXA. 
 
 are told, built a Ling tai, or observator}*, reminding 
 us of the Babylonian Ziggiiratii, or house of obserAa- 
 tion, " from which to watch the movements of the 
 heavenly bodies." 
 
 The primitive Chinese, like the Babylonians, recog- 
 nised five planets besides the sun and moon, and, 
 with one exception, knew them by the same names. 
 Jupiter, which among the Chaldeans was called " The 
 planet," appears among the Chinese as " The one." 
 To Babylonians, and Chinese also, ]\Iars was " King " 
 and " Criminal,' and Saturn " King " and " Righteous- 
 ness," while among the first \'enus was known as the 
 " Queen of the defences of heaven," and among the 
 latter as "Soldiers waiting."' ^Mercury, in both 
 countries, was recognised by different names, from 
 which fact it may possibly be inferred that it vs-as 
 discovered by both peoples at a comparatively recent 
 date. The various phases of these planets were 
 carefully watched, and portents were derived from 
 ever>- real and imaginary change in their relative 
 positions and colours. A comparison between the 
 astrological tablets translated by Professor Sayce 
 and the astrological chapter (27th) in the She ke, the 
 earliest of the Dynastic Histories, shows a remarkable 
 
 ' Sayce's Astronomy and Astrology of the Babylonians, in 
 the " Transactions of the Society of Biblical Archxolog)-,' 
 vol. iii.
 
 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE EMPIRE. 5 
 
 parallelism, not only in the general style of the fore- 
 casts, but in particular portents which are so con- 
 trary to Chinese prejudices, as a nation, and the train 
 of thought of the people that they would be at once put 
 down as of foreign origin, even if they were not found 
 in the Babylonian records. Such, for example, are 
 the constant references to the country of the " desert," 
 the adverse fortunes of the empire, and the common 
 occurrence of such expressions as " Soldiers arise." 
 But the most curious coincidence is the occurrence of 
 the forecast " Gold is exchanged " in both chronicles. 
 Professor Sayce, being uncertain as to the exact 
 translation, adds a query to the rendering just given, 
 and in the Chinese we have but the words Tiii, 
 " (Coin) is exchanged," and Pu/i titi, " (Coin) is not 
 exchanged." 
 
 In the reign of Chwan Hu (2513-2435 B.C.) we find 
 according to the Chinese records, that the year, as 
 among the Chaldeans, began with the third month of 
 the solar year, and a comparison between the ancient 
 names of the months given in the l/r/i ya, the oldest 
 Chinese dictionary, with the Accadian equivalents, 
 shows, in some instances, an exact identity. For 
 example, in Chinese the fifth month was called Haou, 
 "bright;" the ninth month Htien, "dark;" the tenth 
 month Yang, " bright," " the sun," " the day ; " the 
 eleventh month Koo, " a crime," " a failure ; " and the 
 twelfth month Tsu, " heavy dew or rain." Turning
 
 6 CHINA. 
 
 now to the Accadian, we find that these months were 
 respectively known as DJic dJicgar, " fire making 
 fire ;" Yanyanua, " thick clouds ; " A^da suddu, " the 
 cave of the rising of the sun ; " " the malediction of 
 rain ; "* and lastly, " the month of mists." These 
 parallelisms, together with a host of others which 
 might be produced, all point to the existence of an 
 early relationship between Chinese and Mesopota- 
 mian culture ; and, armed with the advantages thus 
 possessed, the Chinese entered into the empire over 
 which they were ultimately to overspread themselves. 
 But they came among tribes who, though somewhat 
 inferior to them in general civilisation, were by no 
 means destitute of culture. We learn from the 
 "Book of History" that the first Chinese rulers 
 employed men of the Le tribe to calculate the 
 equinoxes, and a man of the Kwei people to 
 determine the notes of music. As has been con- 
 jectured by M. Terrien de La Couperie, these 
 Kwei — remnants of whom are found to this day in 
 northern Cambodia — were an Ar>-an people. They 
 certainly possessed a literature which, Ave are told, 
 contained a treatise on music, and to which the 
 Kwei shoo, " the Kwei Books," probably refer. 
 Like so many references to the aboriginal tribes 
 
 ^ " Les Origines de I'Histoire d'apres la Bible." Par Francois 
 Lenormant.
 
 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE EMPIRE. 7 
 
 in the early histories, this expression, Kivei shoo, 
 has been entirely misunderstood, and since the 
 character Kwei, which in this case is to be read 
 only as a phonetic, means Tortoise, the tradition has 
 arisen that the Kwei shoo was a book written on the 
 shell of a tortoise. In the same way we are told that 
 the F'ung people came to court and delighted the 
 Chinese emperor by their skill in dancing and sing- 
 ing, and, as a token of their homage, presented him 
 with some of their books. These F'ung people still 
 exist in south-western China ; but, in defiance of this 
 fact and of common sense, it has been universally ac- 
 cepted by Chinese writers that, because the character 
 used to represent the sound F'ung bears the meaning 
 of phoenix, it was some of those birds that visited 
 the Chinese court and displayed their accomplish- 
 ments. 
 
 Among such people, and others of a lower civilisa- 
 tion, such as the Jungs of the west and the Teks, the 
 ancestors of the Tekkc Turcomans, in the north, the 
 Chinese succeeded in establishing themselves. The 
 Emperor Yaou (2356-2255 B.C.) divided his kingdom 
 into twelve portions, presided over by as many 
 Pastors, in exact imitation of the duodenary feudal 
 system of Susa with their twelve Pastor Princes. To 
 Yaou succeeded Shun, who carried on the work of his 
 predecessor of consolidating the Chinese power with 
 energy and success. In his reign the first mention is
 
 8 CHIXA. 
 
 made of religious worship. We are told that " he 
 sacrificed specially, but with the ordinary forms, to 
 Shang-te ; sacrificed with purity and reverence to 
 the six Honoured ones ; offered appropriate sacrifices 
 to the hills and rivers, and extended his worship to 
 the host of spirits." Much controversy has arisen as 
 to the interpretation to be put upon the term Shang- 
 te. By some he is regarded as having held the posi- 
 tion among the ancient Chinese that Jehovah held 
 among the Jews of old ; and certainl}- many of his 
 attributes are the same as those belonging to the 
 Jewish God. He was believed to exercise a minute 
 and personal control over the fortunes of the Chinese. 
 It was by his favour that kings rose to power ; and 
 when, in consequence of their iniquities, he withdrew 
 his CEgis from them, they fell to make room for others- 
 better than they. He was the supreme ruler. About 
 the derivation of the character ^ te, there has 
 been as much difference of opinion as about the 
 meaning of Shang-te. No satisfactory Chinese ety- 
 mology has been found for it, and it is in all proba- 
 bility nothing more than the eight point star of the 
 
 Accadians ^ meaning " ruler." Combined with the 
 
 character Shang, it may be translated supreme ruler, 
 but we find it like the Accadian character applied to 
 temporal rulers among the Chinese. Of the six 
 Honoured ones Chinese writers have not been able
 
 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE EMPIRE. 9 
 
 to offer any explanation. In the Susian texts, how- 
 ever, we find that next in rank to the chief deity- 
 were six gods of an inferior grade. 
 
 In Shun's reign occurred the great flood which inun- 
 dated most of the provinces of the existing empire. 
 The waters, we are told, rose to so great a height, 
 that the people had to betake themselves to the 
 mountains to escape death. The disaster arose, as 
 many similar disasters, though of a less magnitude, 
 have since arisen, in consequence of the Yello\\- 
 River bursting its bounds, and the " Great Yu '^ 
 was appointed to lead the waters back to their 
 channel. With unremitting energy he set about his 
 task, and in nine years succeeded in bringing the 
 river under control. During this period so ab- 
 sorbed was he in his work that, we are told, he took 
 heed neither of food nor clothing, and that thrice he 
 passed the door of his house without once stopping 
 to enter. At the completion of his labours he divided 
 the empire into nine instead of twelve provinces ; and 
 tradition represents him as having engraved a record 
 of his toils on a stone tablet on Mount Heng, in the 
 province of Hoopih. As a reward for the services he 
 had rendered to the empire, he was invested wath the 
 principality of Hea, and after having occupied the 
 throne conjointly with Shun for some years, he 
 succeeded that sovereign on his death, in 2208 B.C. 
 
 With Yu began the dynasty of Hea, which gave
 
 lo CHINA. 
 
 place, in 1766 B.C., to the Shang Dynasty. The last 
 sovereign of the Hea line, Kieh kwei, is said to have 
 been a monster of iniquity, and to have suffered the 
 just punishment for his crimes at the hands of T'ang, 
 the prince of the State of Shang, who took his throne 
 from him. In like manner, six hundred and forty 
 years later, Woo Wang, the Prince of Chow, over- 
 threw Chow Sin, the last of the Shang Dynasty, and 
 established himself as the chief of the sovereign state 
 of the empire. By empire it must not be supposed 
 that the empire, as it exi.sts at present, is meant. 
 The China of the Chow Dynasty lay between the 
 33rd and 38th parallels of latitude, and the io6th 
 and 119th of longitude only, and extended over no 
 more than portions of the provinces of Pih chih-li, 
 Shanse, Shense, Honan, Keang-se, and Shan-tung. 
 This territory was re-arranged by Woo Wang into 
 the nine principalities established by Yu, and in ac- 
 cordance with his right as sovereign, he appointed 
 over each a member of his own family or follow- 
 ing, with the exception of one, the State of Sung, 
 where a youthful scion of the Shang Dynasty was 
 allowed to occupy the throne. Woo is held up in 
 Chinese history as one of the model monarchs of 
 antiquity. He dwelt, we arc told, with great earnest- 
 ness on the importance of having the people taught 
 thoroughly the duties of the five relations of society, 
 viz., those of (i) ministers to their sovereign ; (2)
 
 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE EMPIRE. ii 
 
 children to their parents ; (3) husband to wife ; (4) 
 brother to brother ; (5) and friend to friend : of their 
 being well fed, and of the proper observance of 
 funeral ceremonies and sacrifices. In his adminis- 
 tration of the affairs of the empire he was ably- 
 seconded by his brother, the Duke of Chow, who 
 on the death of Woo divided the government of the 
 kingdom with the imperial successor, Ching (B.C. 
 1 1 15). Under the next ruler, K'ang (B.C. 1078-1053), 
 the empire was consolidated, and the feudal princes 
 one and all acknowledged their allegiance to the ruling 
 house of Chow. But under succeeding sovereigns 
 jealousies and strifes broke out among them, and their 
 loyalty to their liege lord fluctuated with the power 
 he exercised over them. From all accounts there 
 speedily occurred a marked degeneracy in the cha- 
 racters of the Chow kings. History tells us little 
 about them, and that little does not generally re- 
 dound to their credit. Among the most conspicuous 
 of the early kings was Muh (ioor-947), who has 
 rendered himself notorious for having promulgated 
 a penal code, under which the redemption of punish- 
 ments was made permissable by the payment of 
 fines. The charge brought against him by historians, 
 that this enactment first opened the door to the 
 system of bribery and corruption which has since 
 produced such evils in China, may possibly be well 
 founded ; but, however this may be, it, at the time,
 
 12 CHINA. 
 
 only added one more source of evil to the growing 
 disorder of the State. 
 
 Already a spirit of lawlessness was spreading far 
 and wide among the princes and nobles, and wars and 
 rumours of wars Avere creating misery and unrest 
 throughout the country. But, notwithstanding this, 
 that literary instinct, which has been a marked cha- 
 racteristic of the Chinese throughout their long historj', 
 continued as active as ever. At stated inter\'als, 
 officials, we are told, were sent in " light carriages " 
 into all parts of the empire to collect words from the 
 changing dialects of each district ; and at the time 
 of the royal progresses the official music-masters and 
 historiographers of each principalit}- presented to the 
 officials of the sovereign state appointed for the pur- 
 pose collections of the odes and songs of each locality, 
 in order, we are told, that the character of the rule 
 exercised by their several princes should be judged 
 by the tone of the poetical and musical productions 
 of their subjects. The odes and songs thus collected 
 were carefully preser\-ed in the royal archives, and 
 it was from these materials that, as is commonly be- 
 lieved, Confucius compiled the celebrated She King, 
 or Book of Odes, of which we shall speak hereafter. 
 
 It is obvious that at the period of which we have 
 been writing, the great variety of dialects existing, 
 both in the states and among the feudatory tribes 
 outside the frontiers, was giving rise to serious diffi-
 
 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE EMPIRE. 13 
 
 culties in the way of administering the kingdom, and 
 was fostering a tendency to separation among the 
 various peoples. In addition to this the ancient 
 characters of the language had, for reasons which 
 will be hereafter explained, become to a great extent 
 unintelligible. To correct these evils King Seuen 
 (827-781) directed a man famous in Chinese history, 
 She Chow by name, to invent a mode of writing 
 known as Ta cJuien, or the Great Seal characters, in 
 conformity with a system of a certain number of 
 strokes, in order to establish a recognised centre of 
 literary unity in the use of the written characters. 
 Such an artificial system could only be made to 
 serve the object proposed under the rule of a suc- 
 cession of supremely-powerful sovereigns, and as 
 such were denied to China at that period it failed 
 entirely. 
 
 Far from keeping up even the semblance of the 
 authority exercised by the earlier Chow sovereigns, 
 the successors of King Seuen failed to maintain any 
 order among the subordinate princes. The hand of 
 every man was against his neighbour, and a constant 
 state of internecine war succeeded the peace and 
 prosperity which had existed under the rule of Woo- 
 wang. In the social relations was reflected the dis- 
 order into which the political world had fallen. Filial 
 piety had almost ceased to be, and great laxity in 
 the marriage relations g-ave rise to deeds of reckless
 
 14 CHINA 
 
 licentiousness and atrocious violence. The example 
 set by the princes of taking with their brides eight 
 other ladies at once was followed without scruple in 
 this degenerate age ; and chiefs, bent on the prosecu- 
 tion of their own ambitious schemes, trod under foot 
 the rights of the people, and hesitated not to use up 
 the lives and property of their subjects in pursuance 
 of their ends. " A host marches," says Mencius, 
 speaking of this period, " and stores of provisions 
 are consumed. The hungry are deprived of their 
 food, and there is no rest for those who are called 
 to toil. Maledictions are uttered by one to another 
 with eyes askance, and the people proceed to the 
 commission of wickedness. Then the royal ordinances 
 are violated and the people are oppressed, and the 
 supplies of food and drink flow away like water. The 
 rulers yield themselves to the current ; or they urge 
 their way against it ; they are wild ; they are lost . . . 
 The crime of him who connives at and aids the 
 wickedness of his ruler is small, but the crime of him 
 who anticipates and excites that wickedness is great. 
 The great officers of the present day are all guilty of 
 this latter crime, and I sa}- that they are sinners 
 against the princes . , . Sage kings do not arise, and 
 the princes of the states give the reins to their lusts 
 ... In their stalls there are fat beasts, and in their 
 stables there are fat horses, but their people have the 
 look of hunger, and in the fields there are those who
 
 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE EMPIRE. 15 
 
 have died of famine. This is leading on beasts to 
 devour men." A story, illustrative of the uncared-for 
 state of the country and the oppression under which 
 the people groaned, is told of Confucius. It chanced 
 that on one occasion, as the Sage was journeying 
 from the state of Loo to that of Ts'e, he saw a 
 woman weeping by a tomb at the road-side. Having 
 compassion on her, he sent his disciple, Tsze-loo, to 
 ask her the cause of her grief. " You weep," said 
 Tsze-loo, " as if you had experienced sorrow upon 
 sorrow," " I have," said the woman ; " my father-in- 
 law was killed here by a tiger, and my husband also ; 
 and now my son has met the same fate." "Why 
 then do you not remove from this place .-'" asked 
 Confucius. " Because here there is no oppressive 
 government," answered the woman. Turning to his 
 disciples, Confucius remarked, " My children, remem- 
 ber this, oppressive government is fiercer than a 
 tiger." 
 
 But in their campaign against the prevailing law- 
 lessness and violence neither Confucius (550-478 B.C.) 
 nor Mencius (371-288 B.C.) were able to make any 
 headway. Their preachings fell on deaf ears, and their 
 peaceful admonitions were passed unheeded by men 
 who held their fiefs by the strength of their right 
 arms, and administered the affairs of their principali- 
 ties surrounded by the din of war. The main article 
 of Confucius's political creed was the primary import-
 
 1 6 CHINA. 
 
 ance of strengthening and rehabilitating the kingdom 
 of Chow in its supremacy over the surrounding states ; 
 but the incompetency of its successive rulers levelled 
 with the ground this castle in the air which he per- 
 sisted in erecting, and he had scarcely passed away 
 before it became evident that the sovereign sceptre 
 of Chow would soon pass with the power A\hich was 
 rapidly waning to one of the more vigorous states. 
 As time went on and the disorder increased, super- 
 natural signs added their testimony to the impend- 
 ing crisis. The brazen vessels upon which Yu 
 had engraved the nine divisions of the empire 
 were observed to shake and totter as though 
 foreshadowing the approaching change in the 
 political position. IMeanwhile Ts'in on the north- 
 west, Ts'oo on the south, and Tsin on the north, 
 having vanquished all the other states, engaged in 
 the final struggle for the mastery over the confederate 
 principalities. The ultimate victory rested with the 
 state of Ts'in, and in 255 B.C. Chaou-seang Wang 
 became the acknowledged ruler over the "black- 
 haired " people. Only four years were given him to 
 reign supreme, and at the end of that time he was 
 succeeded by his son, Heaou-wan Wang, who died 
 almost immediately on ascending the throne. To him 
 succeeded Chwang-seang Wang, who was followed 
 in 246 B.C. by Che Hwang-te, the first Emperor of 
 China. The abolition of feudalism, which was the
 
 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE EMPIRE. 
 
 17 
 
 first act of Che H\vang-te raised much discontent 
 among those to whom the feudal system had brought 
 power and emoluments, and the countenance which 
 had been given to the system by Confucius and 
 Mencius made it desirable — so thought the emperor 
 — to demolish once for all their testimony in favour 
 
 .'A , 
 
 of that condition of affairs, which he had decreed 
 should be among the things of the past. With this 
 object he ordered that the whole existing literature, 
 with the exception of books on medicine, agriculture, 
 and divination should be burned. The decree was 
 obeyed as faithfully as was possible in the case of 
 
 c
 
 1 8 CHINA. 
 
 SO sweeping an ordinance, and for many years a 
 night of ignorance rested on the country. The con- 
 struction of one gigantic work — the Great Wall of 
 China — has made the name of this monarch as famous 
 as the destruction of the books has made it infamous. 
 Finding the Heung-nu Tartars were making danger- 
 ous inroads into the empire, he determined with 
 characteristic thoroughness to build a huge barrier 
 which should protect the northern frontier of the 
 empire through all time. In 214 B.C. the work was 
 begun under his personal supervision, and though 
 every endeavour was made to hasten its completion 
 he died (209) leaving it unfinished. His death was 
 the signal for an outbreak among the dispossessed 
 feudal princes, who, however, after some years of 
 disorder were again reduced to the rank of citizens 
 by a successful leader, who adopted the title of 
 Kaou-te, and named his dynasty that of Han (206). 
 
 From that day to this, with occasional interreg- 
 nums, the empire has been ruled on the lines laid 
 down by Che H\vang-te. Dynasty has succeeded 
 dynasty, but the political tradition has remained 
 unchanged, and though Mongols and IManchoos have 
 at different times wrested the throne from its legiti- 
 mate heirs, they have been engulfed in the homo- 
 geneous mass inhabiting the empire, and instead of 
 impressing their seal on the country have become 
 but the reflection of the vanquished. The dynasties
 
 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE EMPIRE. 19 
 
 from the beginning of the earlier Han, founded, as 
 stated above, by Kaou-te, are as follows : — 
 
 
 
 B.C. 
 
 A.D. 
 
 The earlier Han Dynasty 
 
 206 — 
 
 25 
 
 
 
 A.D. 
 
 
 The late Han 
 
 
 25 — 
 
 220 
 
 The Weil 
 
 
 220 — 
 
 280 
 
 The western Tsin 
 
 
 265 — 
 
 1^7 
 
 The eastern Tsin 
 
 
 317 — 
 
 420 
 
 The Sung 
 
 
 420 — 
 
 479 
 
 The Ts'e 
 
 
 479 — 
 
 502 
 
 The Leang 
 
 
 502 — 
 
 557 
 
 The Ch'in 
 
 
 557 — 
 
 589 
 
 Simultaneously with these — 
 
 
 
 The northern Wei 
 
 )> 
 
 386 — 
 
 534 
 
 The western Wei 
 
 >) 
 
 535 — 
 
 557 
 
 The eastern Wei 
 
 )> 
 
 534 — 
 
 550 
 
 The northern Ts'e 
 
 M 
 
 550 — 
 
 577 
 
 The northern Chow 
 
 M 
 
 557 — 
 
 589 
 
 The Suy 
 
 >> 
 
 589 - 
 
 618 
 
 The T'ang 
 
 )» 
 
 618 — 
 
 907 
 
 The later Leang 
 
 » 
 
 907 — 
 
 923 
 
 The later T'ang 
 
 )> 
 
 923 — 
 
 936 
 
 * Simultaneously with this dynasty there existed that of the 
 Minor Han in Sze-chuen in 220-263, ^'^^ that of Wu 222-277. 
 
 C 2
 
 CHINA. 
 
 
 A.D. 
 
 A.D. 
 
 The later Tsin Dynasty 
 
 936 
 
 — 947 
 
 The later Han „ 
 
 947 
 
 - 951 
 
 The later Chow „ 
 
 951 
 
 — 960 
 
 The Sung „ 
 
 960 
 
 — 1127 
 
 The Southern Sung „ 
 
 1127 
 
 — 1280 
 
 The Yuen „ 
 
 1280 
 
 - 1368 
 
 The Ming 
 
 1368 
 
 — 1644 
 
 The Ts'ing „ 
 
 1644 
 
 
 Simultaneously with some of these — 
 
 The Leaou Dynasty 907 — 1125 
 
 The western Leaou „ 1125 — 11 68 
 
 The Kin „ 11 15 — 1280 
 
 The present Manchoo rulers of China are descend- 
 ants of the Kin Tartars, and had their original home 
 in the valley of the Hurka, a river which flows into 
 the Sungari in about 46° 20' N. lat. and 129° 50' 
 E. long. Under a succession of able leaders the 
 tribe gained power and territory, and as time Avent 
 on even reached the point of carrying on a not 
 altogether unsuccessful guerilla warfare with the 
 Ming rulers of China. In an evil moment, being 
 hardly pressed by rebels in the south, the Chinese 
 patched up a peace with the Manchoos, and went so 
 far as to invite their assistance against the southern 
 rebels. With alacrity the Manchoos responded to 
 the call, and vanquished the common enemy. But
 
 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE EMPIRE. i\ 
 
 when requested to withdraw again across the frontier 
 they refused, and ended by placing the ninth son of 
 their sovereign, Teen-ming, on the throne of Peking. 
 The dynasty thus founded was st3ded the Ts'ing, or 
 " Pure " dynasty, and the title adopted by the first 
 emperor of the line was Shun-che. It was during 
 the reign of this sovereign that Adam Schaal, a 
 German Jesuit, took up his residence at Peking, and 
 that the first Russian Embassy (1656) visited the 
 capital. But in those days the Chinese had not 
 learned to tolerate the idea that a foreigner should 
 enter the presence of the Son of Heaven unless he 
 were willing to perform the prostration known as the 
 Ko-t'ow ; and the Russians, not being inclined to 
 humour any such presumptuous folly, left the capital 
 without opening negotiations. 
 
 In 1 66 1 the Emperor Shunche became a "guest 
 in heaven," or, in other words, died, and K'ang-he, 
 his son, reigned in his stead. This sovereign is 
 renowned in modern Chinese history as a model 
 ruler, a skilful general, and an able author. During 
 his reign, Tibet was added to the empire, and 
 the Eleuths were successfully subdued. But it is 
 as a just and considerate ruler that he is best 
 remembered among the people. Among the most 
 cherished monuments of his wisdom are the following 
 " Sixteen Sacred Maxims," which are taught in every 
 school throughout the empire, and which every can-
 
 22 CHINA. 
 
 didatc at the competitive examinations is expected to 
 know by heart, together with the commentary thereon, 
 by the imperial author's son and successor : — 
 
 1. " Esteem most highly filial piety and brotherly 
 submission, in order to give due prominence to the 
 social relations." 
 
 2. " Behave with generosity to the branches of 
 your kindred, in order to illustrate harmony and 
 benignit}-." 
 
 3. " Cultivate peace and concord in your neigh- 
 bourhood, in order to prevent quarrels and litigation." 
 
 4. " Give importance to husbandry and to the 
 culture of the mulberry-tree, in order to ensure a 
 sufficiency of clothing and food." 
 
 5. " Show that you prize moderation and econom}", 
 in order to prevent the lavish waste of your means." 
 
 6. " Make much of the colleges and seminaries, 
 in order to make correct the practice of the scholars." 
 
 7. " Discountenance and banish strange doctrines, 
 in order to exalt the correct doctrine." 
 
 8. " Describe and explain the laws, in order to 
 warn the ignorant and obstinate." 
 
 9. " Exhibit clearly propriety and yielding courtes}-, 
 in order that manners and customs may be perfected." 
 
 10. " Labour diligently at your proper callings, in 
 oraer to give settlement to the aims of the people." 
 
 11. "Instruct your sons and younger brothers, in 
 order to prevent their doing what is wrong."
 
 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE EMPIRE. 23 
 
 12. "Put a stop to false accusations, in order to 
 protect the honest and the good." 
 
 13. " Beware lest you shelter deserters, in order that 
 you may avoid being involved in their punishments." 
 
 14. " Pay your taxes promptly and fully, in order 
 to avoid urgent demands for your quota." 
 
 15. "Combine in hundreds and tithings, in order 
 to put an end to thefts and robbery." 
 
 16. " Study to remove resentments and angry feel- 
 ings, in order to show the importance due to the 
 person and life." 
 
 The support and patronage given to science and 
 literature by K'ang-he marked the beginning of a 
 new era in the intellectual life of the people. Under 
 the guidance of the Jesuit missionaries at Peking he 
 studied, and lent his countenance to, the various 
 European sciences, more especially astronomy. To 
 the cause of the native literature he devoted years of 
 labour and vast sums of money. By his appointment 
 a commission of scholars compiled a dictionary of 
 the language, which is the best work of the kind, and 
 which is called by his name ; and another illustrious 
 company edited a vast encyclopedia, containing 
 articles on every known subject, and extracts from 
 all works of authority dating from the 12th cen- 
 tury B.C. to that time. This huge work, which con- 
 sists of five thousand and twenty volumes, is a 
 monument of industrious research. But as only a
 
 24 CHINA. 
 
 hundred copies of the first imperial edition were 
 printed, all of which were presented to princes of the 
 blood and high officials, it is rapidly becoming ex- 
 tremely rare, and it is not unlikely that before long 
 the copy in the possession of the trustees of the 
 British Museum will be the only complete copy 
 existing. A cold, caught on a hunting excursion in 
 Mongolia, brought his memorable reign of sixty- 
 one years to a close, and he was succeeded on the 
 throne by his son, Yung-ching, in the year 1722. 
 
 After an uneventful reign of twelve years, Yung- 
 ching was gathered to his fathers, having bequeathed 
 his throne to his son, K'een-lung. This sovereign pos- 
 sessed many of the great qualities of K'ang-he, but he 
 lacked his wisdom and moderation. He carried his 
 armies north, south, and west, but though he con- 
 verted Kuldja into a Chinese province, and fought 
 a successful campaign against the Nepaulese Gorkhas, 
 fortune on the whole inclined rather to the standard 
 of his enemies than to his own. In Burmah, Cochin 
 China, and Formosa, his troops suffered discom- 
 fitures, and even the Meaou-tsze tribes of Kwei-chow 
 and Kwang-se proved themselves troublesome an- 
 tagonists. During his reign, which extended over 
 sixty years, — a full Chinese cycle — the relations of 
 his government with the East India Company were 
 extremely unsatisfactory. The English merchants 
 were compelled to submit to many indignities and
 
 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE EMPIRE. 25 
 
 wrongs : and for the purpose of establishing a better 
 international understanding, Lord Macartney was 
 sent by George III. on a special mission to the 
 Court of Peking. The ambassador was received 
 graciously by the emperor, who accepted the presents 
 sent him by the English king, but owing to his ig- 
 norance of his own relative position, and of the alpha- 
 bet of international law, he declined to give those 
 assurances of a more equitable policy which were 
 demanded of him. In 1795, at the age of 85, he 
 abdicated in favour of his fifteenth son, who ascended 
 the throne with the title of Kea-K'ing. 
 
 During this reign a second English embassy was 
 sent to Peking (18 16), to represent to the emperor 
 the unsatisfactory position of the English merchants 
 in China. The envoy, Lord Amherst, was met at the 
 mouth of the Peiho and conducted toYuen-ming-yuen, 
 or summer palace, where the emperor was residing. 
 On his arrival he was officially warned that only on 
 condition of his performing the Ko-t'ow would he be 
 permitted to behold " the dragon countenance." This, 
 of course, was impossible, and he consequently left 
 the palace without having slept a night under its 
 roof. Meanwhile the internal affairs of the country 
 were even more disturbed than the foreign relations. 
 A succession of rebellions broke out in the northern 
 and western provinces, and the seaboard was ravaged 
 by pirates. While these disturbing causes were in
 
 26 CHINA. 
 
 full play Kea-k'ing died (1820), and the throne de- 
 volved upon Taou-kwang, his second son. 
 
 Under this monarch both home and foreign affairs 
 Avent from bad to worse. A secret league, known 
 as the Triad Society, which was first formed during 
 the reign of K'ang-he, now assumed a formidable 
 bearing, and in many parts of the country, notably 
 in Honan, Kwang-se, and Formosa, insurrections 
 broke out at its instigation. At the same time 
 the mandarins continued to persecute the English 
 merchants, and on the expiry of the East India 
 Company's monopoly, in 1834, the English govern- 
 ment sent Lord Napier to Canton to superintend the 
 foreign trade at that port. Thwarted at every turn 
 by the presumptuous obstinacy of the mandarins, 
 Lord Napier's health gave way under the constant 
 vexations connected with his post, and he died at 
 Macao, after but a few months' residence in China. 
 The opium trade was now the question of the hour, 
 and at the urgent demand of Commissioner Lin, 
 Captain Elliot, the superintendent of trade, agreed 
 that all opium in the hands of English merchants 
 should be given up to the authorities ; and more than 
 this, he exacted a pledge from his countr>'men, that 
 they would no longer deal in the drug. On the 3rd 
 April, 1839, 20,283 chests of opium were, in accord- 
 ance with this agreement, handed over to the man- 
 darins, who burnt them to ashes. This demand of
 
 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE EMPIRE. 27 
 
 Lin's, though agreed to by the superintendent of 
 trade, was considered so unreasonable by the EngHsh 
 government, that in the following year war was de- 
 clared against China. The island of Chusan and the 
 Bogue forts on the Canton river soon fell into our 
 hands, and Commissioner Lin's successor sought to 
 purchase peace by the cession of Hongkong and the 
 payment of an indemnity of 6,000,000 dollars. This 
 convention was, however, repudiated by the Peking 
 government, and it was not until Canton, Amoy, 
 Ningpo, Chapoo, Shanghai, and Chin-keang-foo had 
 been taken by our troops, that the emperor at last 
 consented to come to terms. These, as was only just, 
 were now far more onerous. By a treat)^ made by 
 Sir Henry Pottinger in 1842, the cession of Hong- 
 kong was supplemented by the opening of the four 
 ports of Amoy, Fuh-chow foo, Ningpo, and Shanghai, 
 to foreign trade, and the indemnity of 6,000,000 
 dollars was increased to 21,000,000. Death put an end 
 to Taou-kwang's reign in 1850, and his fourth son, 
 Heen-fung, assumed rule over the distracted empire 
 which was bequeathed him by his father. 
 
 There is a popular belief among the Chinese that 
 two hundred years is the natural life of a dynasty. 
 This is one of those traditions which are apt to bring- 
 about their own fulfilment, and in the beginning of 
 the reign of Heen-fung the political air was rife with 
 rumours that an effort was to be made to restore the
 
 ^8 ^ CHINA. 
 
 Ming Dynasty to the throne. On such occasions 
 there are always real or pretended scions of the 
 required family forthcoming, and when the flames of 
 rebellion broke out in Kwang-se, a claimant suddenly 
 appeared under the title of T'een-tih, "heavenly 
 virtue," to head the movement. But T'een-tih had 
 not the capacity required to play the necessary part, 
 and the affair languished and would have died out 
 altogether, had not a leader, named Hung Sew- 
 tseuen arose, who combined all the qualities re- 
 quired in a leader of men — energy, enthusiasm, and 
 religious bigotry. Having been converted to a pseudo- 
 Christianity, he professed himself shocked at the 
 iniquities of the pagan rulers of the land, and thus 
 added to the thousands of restless, discontented 
 spirits who joined his banner a larger following 
 gathered from the upper classes. As soon as he was 
 sufficiently powerful, he advanced northwards into 
 Hoonan and Hoopih and captured Woo-chang foo, 
 the capital of the last-named province, and a city of 
 great commercial and strategical importance, situated 
 as it is at the junction of the Han river with the 
 Yang-tsze keang. Having made this place secure, he 
 advanced down the river and made himself master of 
 Gan-ting and the old capital of the empire, Nanking, 
 Here, in 1852, he established his throne and pro- 
 •claimed the commencement of the Tai-ping Dynasty. 
 For himself he adopted the title of T'een-wang, or
 
 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE EMPIRE. 29. 
 
 " heavenly king." For a time all went well with the 
 new dynasty. The Tai-ping standard was carried 
 northward to the walls of T'ien-tsin, and floated over 
 the towns of Chin-keang foo and Soochow foo. 
 
 Meanwhile the imperial authorities had by their 
 stupidity raised another enemy against themselves. 
 The outrage on the English flag perpetrated on board 
 the Lorcha Arroiv at Canton, in 1857, having been 
 left unredressed by the mandarins, led to the procla- 
 mation of war by England. Canton fell to the arms 
 of General Straubenzee and Sir Michael Seymour in 
 December of the same year, and in the following 
 spring the Taku forts at the mouth of the Peiha 
 having been taken, Lord Elgin, who had in the mean- 
 time arrived as Plenipotentiary, advanced up the 
 river to T'ien-tsin on his way to the capital. At 
 that city, however, he was met by imperial commis- 
 sioners, and, yielding to their entreaties, he concluded 
 a treaty with them, which it was arranged should be 
 ratified at Peking in the following year. But the 
 evil genius of the Chinese still pursuing them, they 
 treacherously fired on the fleet accompanying Sir 
 Frederick Bruce, Lord Elgin's brother, when pro- 
 ceeding, in i860, to Peking in fulfilment of this agree- 
 ment. This outrage rendered another military 
 expedition necessary, and, in conjunction with the 
 French Government, the English Cabinet sent out a 
 force under the command of Sir Hope Grant Avith
 
 30 CHINA. 
 
 orders to march to Peking. In the summer of 1861 
 the alHed forces landed at Peh-tang, a village twelve 
 miles north of the Taku forts, and, taking these 
 entrenchments in rear, captured them with but a 
 trifling loss. This success was so utterly unexpected 
 by the Chinese that, leaving T'ien-tsin unprotected, 
 they retreated rapidly to the neighbourhood of the 
 capital. The allies pushed ou after them, and, in 
 reply to an invitation sent from the imperial com- 
 missioners at Tung-chow, a town twelve miles from 
 Peking, Sir Harry Parkes and Mr. Loch, accom- 
 panied by an escort and some few friends, went in 
 advance of the army to make a preliminary conven- 
 tion. While so engaged they were treacherously 
 taken prisoners and carried off to Peking. This act 
 precipitated an engagement, in which the Chinese 
 were completely routed, and the allies marched on to 
 Peking. After the usual display of obstinacy the 
 Chinese yielded to the demand for the surrender of 
 the An-ting Gate of the city. From this vantage- 
 point Lord Elgin opened negotiations, and, having 
 secured the release of Sir Harry Parkes, Mr. Loch, 
 and the other prisoners who had survived the tortures 
 to which they had been subjected, and having burnt 
 Yuen-ming-yuen, the summer palace of the emperor, 
 as a punishment for their treacherous capture, and 
 for the cruelties perpetrated on them, he concluded a 
 treaty with Prince Kung, the representative of the
 
 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE EMPIRE. 31 
 
 emperor. By this instrument the Chinese agreed to 
 pay a war indemnity of 8,000,000 Taels, and to open 
 the ports of New-chwang, Che-foo, Kin-keang, Chin- 
 keang, Hankow, Pak-hoi, Tai-wan in Formosa, and a 
 port in the island of Hainan, to foreign trade, and to 
 permit the representatives of the foreign Govern- 
 ments to reside in Peking. 
 
 Having thus reHeved themselves from the presence 
 of a foreign foe, the authorities were able to devote 
 their attention to the suppression of the Tai-ping 
 rebellion. Fortunately for themselves, the apparent 
 friendliness with which they greeted the arrival of the 
 British Legation at Peking enlisted for them the 
 sympathies of Sir Frederick Bruce, the British 
 Minister, and inclined him to listen to their request 
 for the services of an English officer in their campaign 
 against the rebels. At the request of Sir F. Bruce, 
 General Staveley selected Major Gordon, since gene- 
 rally known as Chinese Gordon, for this duty. A 
 better man, or one more peculiarly fitted for the work 
 could not have been found. A numerous force, 
 known as " the ever-victorious army," partly officered 
 by foreigners, had for some time been commanded 
 by an American, named Ward, and after his 
 death by Burgevine, another American. Over this 
 force Gordon was placed, and at the head of it he 
 marched, in conjunction with the Chinese generals, 
 against the Tai-pings. With masterly strategy he
 
 32 CHIXA. 
 
 struck a succession of rapid and telling blows against 
 the fortunes of the rebels. City after city fell into his 
 hands, and at length the leaders at Soochow opened 
 the gates of the city to him on condition that he would 
 spare their lives. With cruel treacherj' when these 
 men presented themselves before Le Hung-chang, 
 the present Viceroy of Chih-li, to offer their submis- 
 sion to the emperor, they were seized and beheaded. 
 On learning how lightly his word had been treated 
 by the Chinese general, Gordon armed himself, for 
 the first time during the campaign, with a revolver, 
 and sought out the Chinese head-quarters, intending to 
 avenge with his own hand this murder of the Taiping 
 leaders. But Le Hung-chang having received timely 
 notice of the righteous anger he had aroused took to 
 flight, and Gordon, thus thwarted in his immediate 
 object, threw up his command, feeling that it was im- 
 possible to continue to act with so orientally-minded 
 a colleague. 
 
 After considerable negotiation, however, he was 
 persuaded to return to his command, and soon suc- 
 ceeded in so completely crippling the power of the 
 rebels that in July, 1864, Nanking, their last strong- 
 hold, fell into the hands of the Imperialists. T'een- 
 wang was then already dead, and his body was found 
 within the walls wrapt in imperial yellow. Thus 
 was crushed out a rebellion which had paralysed 
 the imperial power in the central j provinces of
 
 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE EMPIRE. 33 
 
 the empire, and which had for twelve years 
 seriously threatened the existence of the reigning 
 dynasty. 
 
 Meanwhile, in the summer following the conclusion 
 of the treaty of Peking, the Emperor Heen-fung 
 breathed his last at Jehol (1861) — an event which 
 was, in popular belief, foretold by the appearance of 
 a comet in the early part of the summer — and was 
 succeeded on the throne by his only son, who adopted 
 the title of T'ung-che. Being quite a child at the 
 time of his accession, the administration of affairs 
 was placed in the hands of the empress and of the 
 mother of T'ung-che, a lady who had not occupied 
 the supreme post in the emperor's harem. 
 
 Under the direction of these ladies, though the 
 internal affairs of the empire prospered, the foreign 
 relations were disturbed by the display of an increas- 
 ingly hostile spirit towards the Christian missionaries 
 and their converts, which culminated, in 1870 in the 
 "T'ien-tsin massacre." In some of the central pro- 
 vinces reports had been industriously circulated that 
 the Roman Catholic missionaries were in the habit of 
 kidnapping and murdering children, in order to 
 make medicine from their eyeballs. Ridiculous as 
 the rumour was, it found ready credence among the 
 ignorant people, and several outrages were perpe- 
 trated on the missionaries and their converts in 
 Keang-se and Sze-chuen. Through the active inter- 
 
 D
 
 34 CHINA. 
 
 ference, however, of the French minister on the spot, 
 the agitation was locally suppressed, but only to be 
 renewed again at T'ientsin. Here also the same 
 absurd rumours were set afloat, and were especially 
 directed against some sisters of charity who had 
 opened an orphanage in the city. For some days 
 previous to the massacre on the 21st June, reports 
 increasing in consistency reached the foreign re- 
 sidents that an outbreak was to be apprehended, and 
 three times the English consul wrote to Chung How, 
 the Superintendent of the three northern ports, call- 
 ing upon him to take measures to subdue the gather- 
 ing passions of the people, which had been further 
 dangerously exasperated by an infamous proclamation 
 issued by the prefect. To these communications the 
 consul did not receive any repl}^, and on the morning 
 of the 2 1st, a day which had apparently been de- 
 liberately fixed upon for the massacre, the attack 
 was made. The mob first broke into the French 
 consulate, and while the consul, M. Fontanier, was 
 with Chung Ho\\', endeavouring to persuade him to 
 interfere, M. and Mad. Thomasin, M, and Mad. 
 Chalmaison, and Pere Chevrien were there murdered 
 On his way back to the consulate, M. Fontanier 
 suffered the same fate. Having thus whetted their 
 taste for blood, the rioters then set fire to the French 
 cathedral, and afterwards moved on to the orphanage 
 of the sisters of mercy. In spite of the appeals of these
 
 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE EMPIRE. 35 
 
 defenceless ladies for mercy, if not for themselves, at 
 least for the orphans under their charge, the mob 
 broke into the hospital, and having "insulted, 
 stripped, impaled, ripped open, and cut to pieces " 
 the sisters, smothered from thirty to forty children in 
 the vaults, and carried off a still larger number of 
 older persons to the prisons in the city, where " they 
 were subjected to tortures of which they bore terrible 
 evidence when their release was at length effected.' 
 In addition to these victims, a Russian gentleman, 
 with his bride and a friend, who were unfortunate 
 enough to meet the rioters on their way to the 
 cathedral, were ruthlessly murdered. No other 
 foreigners were injured, a circumstance due to the 
 facts that the fury of the mob was primarily directed 
 against the French Roman Catholics, and also that 
 the foreign settlement, where all but those engaged 
 in missionary work resided, is at a distance of a 
 couple of miles from the city. 
 
 When the evil was done, the Chinese authorities 
 professed themselves anxious to make reparation, and 
 Chung How was eventually sent to Paris to offer the 
 apologies of the Peking cabinet to the French 
 government. These were ultimately accepted ; and, 
 it was further arranged that the T'ientsin prefect and 
 district magistrate should be removed from their 
 posts and degraded, and that twenty of the active 
 murderers should be executed. 
 D 2
 
 36 CHINA. 
 
 By these retributive measures the emperor's govern- 
 ment made its peace with the European powers, and 
 the foreign relations again assumed their former 
 friendly footing. The Chinese had now leisure to 
 devote their efforts to the subjugation of the Panthay 
 rebels, who for some ten or twelve years had held 
 almost undisputed possession of the province of 
 Yunnan. The visit of the adopted son of the rebel 
 leader, the Sultan Suleiman, to England, for the 
 purpose of attempting to enlist the s}'mpathies of the 
 English government in the Panthay cause, no doubt 
 added zest to the action of the mandarins, who, after 
 a short but vigorous campaign, suppressed the 
 rebellion and restored the province to the imperial 
 sway. Peace was thus brought about, and when the 
 empresses handed over the reins of power to the 
 emperor, on the occasion of his marriage in 1872, 
 tranquillity reigned throughout " the eighteen pro- 
 \inces.'" 
 
 As in every act in the life of a Chinese emperor, 
 the marriage of T'ung-che was surrounded with 
 numerous and complex ceremonies. The bride had 
 first to be chosen from the daughters of Manchoos, 
 who were enrolled under one of the eight military 
 banners. About a year before the marriage all 
 girls of this class, who were of a specified age, 
 were ordered to present themselves at the palace. 
 Between six and seven hundred came, and these
 
 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE EMPIRE. 37 
 
 were introduced into the presence of the dowager- 
 empresses in batches of ten at a time. The result of 
 this preHminary examination was that about fifty- 
 were chosen, and the rest were sent back to their 
 homes. A second interview with the empresses ended 
 in the reduction of the selected number by one half, 
 and by a continued process of sifting the candidates 
 the lady, Ah-lu-te, was chosen as the " Phoenix " 
 to mate the " Dragon." While these matters were 
 proceeding, four young ladies were chosen as 
 " Professors of matrimony " to instruct the emperor 
 in the duties of the new relation, and, after much 
 questioning of the stars, the officers of the Astro- 
 nomical Board fixed upon the night between the 
 15th and the i6th of October for the supreme cere- 
 mony. As the time approached the lady, Ah-lu-tc, 
 who was the daughter of the only Manchoo who 
 ever gained the title of Chwang-yuen, the highest 
 prize to be won at the competitiv^e examinations, and 
 four other ladies, who were destined to form the 
 nucleus of the imperial harem, were lodged in a 
 palace especially prepared and beautified for them in 
 the imperial capital. The road between this palace 
 and the imperial abode was carefully levelled and 
 constantly sprinkled with sand, of the yellow imperial 
 colour, and each morning long processions of bearers 
 passed along it carrying the presents destined for the 
 bride, which poured in from all parts of the empire.
 
 38 CHINA. 
 
 Cabinets, dishes, vases, basins, bowls, chairs, and a 
 host of gold and silver articles of all kinds were 
 borne on uncovered trays escorted by mandarins and 
 troops, forming a daily spectacle for the idlers in the 
 capital. 
 
 On the day before the marriage a tablet of gold 
 was sent to the bride, on which was inscribed the 
 edict elevating her to the throne, together with an 
 imperial sceptre and seal. The next day another 
 procession, escorting " the Phoenix Chair," passed 
 along to the bride's palace. At its head rode a 
 Manchoo prince, attended by lesser chiefs eii grande 
 tenue, the prince carrying in his hand the jade sceptre 
 which is constantly held by the emperor. Thirty 
 white horses followed closely on these imperial in- 
 signia, and the rest of the cavalcade was made up of 
 officials carrying banners, triple umbrellas adorned 
 with embroidered representations of dragons and 
 phoenixes, fans, and " golden melons " stuck on long 
 poles. 
 
 At eleven o'clock the same evening the same pro- 
 cession, with the addition of the bride and the golden 
 tablet, the sceptre and the seal, started for the im- 
 perial palace. Every house was strictly closed along 
 the route, which was guarded through its whole 
 length by troops, and at the side of the bridal chair 
 marched an official of the Astronomical Board carry- 
 ing a lighted joss-stick, so marked as to indicate
 
 HISTOR V OF THE CHINESE EMPIRE. 39 
 
 portions of time, by means of which he regulated the 
 pace of the procession, in order that it might arrive 
 at the imperial palace at the fortunate moment of two 
 in the morning. On arriving at the palace " the Great 
 Pure Gate" was thrown open, and Ah-lu-te was 
 carried through the outer courts to the great central 
 court leading to the throne room. A herald then 
 proclaimed, " The orders of His Sacred Majesty are 
 fulfilled," and forthwith the dowager empresses came 
 out to receive the bride. In her hands they placed 
 pieces of uncoined gold and silver, and crossed them 
 over her breast in such a way as to enable her also to 
 carry a vase containing wheat, maize, rice, emeralds, 
 sapphires, rubies, and other articles, to symbolise all 
 that earth produces. She then stepped from her 
 sedan on to a small golden saddle, and thus entered 
 her future home. The remaining ceremonies were 
 similar in kind to those performed at the marriages 
 of commoners, and thus Ah-lu-te became an empress, 
 and her father, catching a reflection of his daughter's 
 greatness, was made a Duke.^ 
 
 On the day after the wedding the four ladies 
 spoken of above, who were destined to become 
 imperial concubines of the fiirst class, were brought 
 into the palace, not through " the Great Pure 
 Gate," but by a more obscure entrance on the 
 
 * " Meeting the Sun," by William Simpson, F.R.G.S.
 
 40 CHINA. 
 
 north of the palace. The Book of Rites of the 
 present dynasty, which regulates every official obser- 
 vance in China, ordains that the number of these 
 ladies should be increased to nine, that twenty-seven 
 other young ladies should be chosen as concubines of 
 the second class, and eighty-one as concubines of the 
 third class. All these are subordinate to the empress^ 
 who alone is entitled to enjoy the society of the em- 
 peror at the time of full moon, and who, in theory 
 at least, apportions to each the special household 
 duties pertaining to her rank. 
 
 The cost of maintaining so large and extravagant 
 a household is enormous, and the looms of Soochow 
 and Nanking are barely able to supply the host of 
 ladies and attendants with the silks and satins required 
 for their use. In 1877 the Pekhig Gazette announced 
 that, during the preceding year, 370 rolls of satin, 
 500 rolls of brocaded satin, 3,400 rolls of silk gauze, 
 600 large handkerchiefs, 800 catties of sewing silk, 
 500 catties of white silk, and 3,000 pieces of fine calico, 
 had been furnished by the imperial purveyor at Nan- 
 king, besides the immense stores which were poured 
 in from Hang-chow and Soochow. From the imperial 
 porcelain factories at Kin-tih-chin 1 1,838 articles, con- 
 sisting of fish bowls, flower vases, and ornamental 
 jars of the first quality, were forwarded to the palace 
 during the same year, in addition to an abundance of 
 articles of a common kind, and destined for baser uses.
 
 HISTORY OF THE CHIXESE EMPIRE. 41 
 
 The formal assumption of power proclaimed by 
 this marriage was considered by the foreign ministers 
 a fitting opportunity to insist on the fulfilment of 
 the article in the treaties which provided for their 
 reception by the emperor, and after much negotiation 
 it was finally arranged that the emperor should 
 receive them on the 29th of June, 1873. "Very 
 early, therefore, on the morning of that day the 
 ministers were astir, and were conducted in their 
 sedan-chairs to the park on the west side of the 
 palace, where, having dismounted from their sedans, 
 they were met by some of the ministers of State, who 
 led them to the " Temple of Prayer for Seasonable 
 Weather." Here they were kept waiting some time 
 while tea and confectionery from the imperial kitchen, 
 by favour of the emperor, were served to them. 
 They were then conducted to an oblong tent made 
 of matting on the west side of the Tsze-kwang 
 Pavilion, where they were met by Prince Kung and 
 other ministers. As soon as the emperor reached 
 the Pavilion, the Japanese ambassador was introduced 
 into his presence, and when he had retired the other 
 foreign ministers entered the audience-chamber in a 
 body. The emperor was seated, facing southwards. 
 On either side of his Majesty stood, with the Prince 
 of Kung, certain princes and high officers ; in all, 
 four or five persons. When the foreign ministers 
 reached the centre aisle they halted and bowed one
 
 42 CHINA. 
 
 and all together; they then advanced in line a little 
 further and made a second bow ; and when they had 
 nearly reached the yellow table — on which their cre- 
 dentials were, as arranged, to be deposited — they 
 bowed a third time ; after which they remained erect. 
 M. Vlangaly, the Russian minister, then read a con- 
 gratulatory address in French, which was translated by 
 an interpreter into Chinese, and the ministers, making 
 another reverence, respectfully laid their letters of 
 credence on the yellow table. The emperor was 
 pleased to make a slight inclination of the head 
 towards them, and the Prince of Kung, advancing 
 to the left of the throne, and falling upon his knees, 
 had the honour to be informed in Manchoo that his 
 Majesty acknowledged the receipt of the letters pre- 
 sented. The Prince of Kung, with his arms raised 
 (according to precedent set by Confucius Avhen in 
 the presence of his sovereign), came down by the 
 steps on the left of the dai's to the foreign ministers, 
 and respectfully repeated this in Chinese. After this 
 he again prostrated himself, and in like manner re- 
 ceived and conveyed a message to the effect that 
 his Majesty hoped that all foreign questions would 
 be satisfactorily disposed of The ministers then 
 withdrew, bowing repeatedly until they reached the 
 entrance." i 
 
 ' Pall Mall Gazette, May 21, 1874.
 
 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE EMPIRE. 43 
 
 Thus ended the only instance dunng the present 
 century of Europeans being received in imperial 
 audience. Whether under more fortunate circum- 
 stances the ceremony might have been repeated it is 
 difficult to say, but in the following year the young 
 emperor was stricken dovv^n with smallpox, or, as 
 the Peking Gazette expressed it, " enjoyed the felicity 
 of the heavenly flowers," and finally succumbed to 
 the disease on the 12th of January, 1875. With 
 great ceremony the funeral obsequies were performed 
 over the body of him who had been T'ung-che, and 
 the coffin was finally laid in the imperial mausoleum 
 among the eastern hills beside the remains of his pre- 
 decessors, Shun-che, K'ang-he, Yung-ching, K'een- 
 lung, Kea-k'ing, Taou-kwang, and Heen-fung. 
 
 For the first time in the annals of the Ts'ing 
 dynasty the throne was now left without a direct 
 heir. As it is the office of the son and heir to per- 
 form regularly the ancestral worship, it is necessary 
 that, failing a son, the heir should be, if possible, of a 
 later generation than the deceased. In the present 
 instance this was impossible, as there was no descen- 
 dant of a posterior generation. It was necessary, 
 therefore, that the lot should fall on one of the 
 cousins of the late emperor, and Tsai-teen, the son 
 of the Prince of Chun, a child not quite four years 
 old, was chosen to fill the vacant throne. Kwang-su, 
 or " an inheritance of glory," was the title conferred
 
 44 CHINA. 
 
 upon him, and it remains to be seen whether the 
 events of his reign will justify so high-sounding a 
 promise. 
 
 Scarcely had the proclamation gone forth of the 
 assumption of the imperial title by Kwang-su, when 
 news reached the English Legation at Peking of the 
 murder at Manwyne, in the Province of Yunnan, of 
 Mr. Margary, an officer in the Consular Ser\-ice, who 
 had been despatched to meet an expedition sent b}* 
 the Indian Government, under the command of 
 Colonel Horace Browne, to discover a route from 
 J^urmah into the south western provinces of China. 
 A more thoroughly competent officer than Mr. Mar- 
 gary could not have been selected for the under- 
 taking, and the choice made was fully justified by 
 the way in which he performed the journey to Bhamo 
 in Burmah, in spite of illness and of the many ob- 
 stacles thrown in his way by the native officials. He 
 left Shanghai, on his journey westward, on the 23rd 
 August, 1874, and reached Bhamo, where he met 
 Colonel Brown's party, on the 17th of the following 
 January. On the i8th of February he once more 
 turned his face eastward, in company with the Indian 
 Expedition. Scarcely, however, had they begun 
 their march, when rumours reached them that the 
 frontier Chinese were preparing to bar their progress. 
 After his recent experience of the friendly disposition 
 of the mandarins in this part of the country, Mar-
 
 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE EMPIRE. 45 
 
 gary declined to attach any importance to these 
 reports, and, with the concurrence of Colonel Browne, 
 he started in advance of the party, accompanied only 
 by his Chinese writer and servant, to ascertain 
 the real facts of the case. From all accounts he 
 reached Manwyne in safety, but, when visiting 
 some hot springs in the neighbourhood of the 
 town, he was treacherously knocked off his pony and 
 murdered. 
 
 In accordance with conventional practice the Chi- 
 nese Government, on being called to account for this 
 outrage, attempted to lay it to the charge of bri- 
 gands. But the evidence which Sir Thomas Wade 
 was able to adduce proved too strong to be ignored 
 even by the Peking mandarins, and, eventually, they 
 signed a convention in which they practically acknow- 
 ledged their blood-guiltiness, under the terms of which 
 some fresh commercial privileges were granted, and an 
 indemnity, part of which, viz. ^10,000, was handed 
 over to the family of Mr. Margary, was paid to the 
 English Government. At the same time the " ex- 
 pectant Vice-President," Kwo Sung-taou, was sent to 
 England to apologise for this breach of international 
 amity, and to establish an embassy on a permanent 
 footing at the Court of .St. James. With the conclu- 
 sion of this agreement the friendly relations between 
 the two governments, which at one time during the 
 negotiations were seriously imperilled, were renewed,
 
 46 
 
 CHINA. 
 
 and have since been maintained. After two years 
 residence in this country Kwo Sung-taou resigned 
 his post, and was succeeded by Ts'eng Ta-jin, a son 
 of the celebrated soldier and statesman Ts'eng 
 kwo-fan.
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE GOVERNMENT OF CHINA. 
 
 HINESE government may 
 be described as being in 
 theory a patriarchal des- 
 potism. The emperor is 
 the father of his people, 
 and just as in a family 
 the father's law is supreme, 
 so the emperor exercises 
 complete control over his 
 subjects, even to the ex- 
 tent of holding under certain recognised 
 conditions their lives in his hands. But 
 from time immemorial it has been held 
 by the highest constitutional authorities, 
 by Confucius and Mencius among the rest, 
 that the duties existing between the em- 
 peror and his people are reciprocal, and that, 
 though it is the duty of the people to render 
 a loyal and willing obedience to the emperor 
 so long as his rule is just and beneficent, it
 
 48 CHIXA. 
 
 is equally incumbent on them to resist his authority, 
 to depose him, and even to put him to death in case 
 he should desert the paths of rectitude and virtue. 
 
 As a matter of fact, however, it is very difficult to 
 say what extent of power the emperor actually wields. 
 The outside world sees only the imperial bolts but 
 how they are forged, or whose is the hand that shoots 
 them, none can tell. Of course, in the case of 
 unusually able men, such as K'ang-he (1661-1722) 
 and K"een-lung (1735-1795), the second and fourth 
 rulers of the present d}'nasty, their influence is more 
 felt than that of less energetic rulers ; but the throne 
 of China is so hedged in with ceremonials, and 
 so padded with official etiquette, that unless its occu- 
 pant be a man of supreme ability, he cannot fail to 
 fall under the guidance of his ministers and favourites. 
 To assist him in the government he has a council of 
 -state : the members of which, five in number, dail}- 
 transact the business of the empire in the imperial 
 presence between the hours of four and six in the 
 morning. Then there are the Grand Secretariat ; 
 the Tsiing-le Yamini, or Foreign Office ; the six 
 boards, viz. : the Le poo, or Board of Civil Office ; the 
 Hoo poo, or Board of Revenue ; IhQ Le poo, or Board of 
 Ceremonies ; the Ping poo, or Board of War ; the 
 Hiiig poo, or Board of Punishments ; and the Kuug 
 poo, or Board of Works, and several minor offices, all 
 charged with the superintendence of the affairs of the
 
 THE GOVERNMENT OF CHINA. 49 
 
 eighteen provinces into which the empire is divided. 
 Fifteen of these provinces are grouped into eight 
 viceroyalties, and the remaining three are adminis- 
 tered by governors. Each province is autonomous, 
 or nearly so, and the supreme authorities, whether 
 viceroys or governors, are practically independent so 
 long as they act in accordance with the very minute 
 regulations laid down for their guidance. The prin- 
 cipal function of the Peking government is to see 
 that these regulations are carried out, and in case 
 they should not be, to call the offending viceroy or 
 governor to account. Subordinate to the viceroys 
 are the governors of each province, under whom 
 again arc prefects and sub-prefects, then come in- 
 tendants of circuits, next district magistrates, and 
 after them a whole host of petty officials. Each 
 viceroy raises his own army and navy, which he 
 pays, or sometimes, unfortunately, does not pay, out 
 of the revenues of his government. He levies his 
 own taxes, and, except in particular cases, is the 
 final court of appeal in all judicial matters within 
 the limits of his rule. But in return for this latitude 
 allowed him he is held personally responsible for the 
 good government of his territory. If by any chance 
 serious disturbances break out and continue unsup- 
 pressed, he is called to account as having by his mis- 
 conduct contributed to them, and he in his turn looks 
 to his subordinates to maintain order and execute 
 
 E
 
 50 CHINA. 
 
 justice within their jurisdictions. Of himself he has 
 no power to remove or punish subordinate officials, 
 but has to refer all complaints against them to Pe- 
 king. The personal responsibility resting upon him 
 of maintaining order makes him a severe critic on 
 those who ser\-e under him, and the Peking Gazette 
 bears evidence to the frequency with which junior 
 officials are impeached and punished at the instiga- 
 tion of their chiefs. The following decree, which 
 appeared in the Peking Gazette of the 13th Sep- 
 tember, 1877, furnishes a good example of the usual 
 charges and customary punishments brought against 
 and awarded to offending officers : — " A decree based 
 upon a memorial from Le Han-chang, viceroy of Hoo 
 Kwang, and Wan T'ung-tsioh, governor of Hoopih, 
 who have solicited the degradation or compulsory 
 retirement, respectively, of certain incapable or un- 
 worthy officials. In the case of Shoo Tsaou, depart- 
 ment magistrate of Kiun Chow, declared to be 
 wanting in natural ability and shallow in acquired 
 knowledge, and of indifferent reputation — of Le 
 Tsang-yaou, district magistrate of E-ch'eng, declared 
 to have set official prescription at nought in his 
 business arrangements, and to have made himself 
 unacceptable to the people — and of Niu Fuh-kea, 
 declared to be inspired with a false and treacherous 
 disposition, and to have employed deceitful repre- 
 sentations in his transaction of affairs ; the sentence
 
 THE GOVERNMENT OF CHINA. 51 
 
 is that the deHnquents be forthwith stripped of their 
 rank and office. Chang Han, sub-prefect of Han- 
 Yang foo, being decrepit from age, and beyond the 
 possibiHty of active exertion, is to be compulsorily 
 retired." 
 
 Other charges, such as of opium-smoking, mis- 
 appropriation of pubHc monies, and failure to arrest 
 criminals, meet with like punishments. On the whole 
 the conduct of junior officials is carefully watched ; 
 and though it may not unfrequently happen that 
 they are unjustly charged with offences, their 
 causes are, when such cases become apparent, im- 
 partially vindicated, and their accusers, of whatever 
 rank, are brought to the bar of justice. Not long 
 since, for an offence of this nature, the lieutenant- 
 governor of the province of Honan was dismissed from 
 his office, and the governor was degraded three steps 
 of rank for having countenanced the proceedings. 
 
 As has been already said, the affairs of each pro- 
 vince are administered by the viceroy or governor 
 and his subordinates, and, speaking generally, their 
 rule is as enlightened and as just as could be ex- 
 pected in an oriental country where public opinion 
 finds only a very imperfect utterance. Official purity 
 and justice must be treated as comparative terms in 
 China, The constitution of the civil sei-vice renders 
 it next to impossible that any office-holder can be 
 clean-handed in the European sense. The salaries 
 
 E 2
 
 52 CHINA. 
 
 awarded are low, out of all proportion to the neces- 
 sary expenses pertaining to the offices to which thcy 
 are apportioned, and the consequence is, that in some 
 way or other the officials are compelled to make up 
 the deficiency from the pockets of those subject to 
 them. Every legal precaution is taken to prevent 
 this nefarious system, with the exception of the only 
 one which might be expected to put a stop to it. 
 All appointments are tenable for three years only, so 
 that the holders of office arc naturally anxious to gain 
 and keep the esteem and approval of their superiors, 
 and so to administer affairs as not to raise audible 
 discontent among the people ; on the other hand, it 
 must be admitted that this regulation is apt to tempt 
 a greedy and unscrupulous mandarin to make the 
 most he can from each district over which he may 
 hold these short terms of office. No mandarin is 
 allowed to take office in his native province, and no 
 relation, or even connection, is allowed to serve under 
 him. How stringent is this rule appears from an 
 edict lately published in the Peking Gazette, in which 
 the governor of tlie province of Kwei-chow was re- 
 buked for not having reported to the throne that he 
 was about to connect himself with the family of an 
 intendant of circuit in the same province by the 
 betrothal of his third son to the intendant's second 
 daughter, and in consequence of which proposed 
 alliance the ambitious intendant was ordered to
 
 THE GOVERNMENT OF CHINA. 53 
 
 another province. But all such regulations are 
 powerless to prevent extortion in face of a positive 
 necessity, and it would be just as useful to decree 
 that black should be henceforth white, as that men 
 whose salaries are insufficient to pay the wages of 
 their underlings, should hold their hands when 
 abundance is within their reach. 
 
 As a rule mandarins seldom enter office with 
 private fortunes, and the wealth therefore which 
 soothes the declining years of veteran officials may 
 be fairly assumed to be ill-gotten gain. A remark- 
 able instance of a fortune thus acquired, and of the 
 retributive " fleecing " which is not unfrequently in- 
 flicted on the possessors of such plunder, occurred in 
 the case of Hang Ke, who was superintendent of cus- 
 toms at Canton prior to the year 1859, when he re- 
 signed office. This man's salary was 2,400 taels, or 
 about ;^8oo a year; the necessary expenses of his 
 yamun or official residence were about 8,000 taels per 
 month, and yet, when he resigned his seals of office, he 
 retired with a fortune of 300,000 taels, or ;i^ 100,000. 
 As is not unusually the case when a high official 
 retires from his post, more especially if he is believed 
 to have made money, Hang Ke was ordered to 
 Peking, and before he had been many days in the 
 capital one third of the ;^ioo,ooo had passed into 
 the hands of members of the government. Well may 
 ■ive ask, Qnis custodiet custodes ? But the old proverb
 
 54 CHINA. 
 
 that one man may steal a horse, and another man 
 may not look over the fence, is peculiarly true as 
 regards official extortion in China, as many less 
 discreet men than Hang Ke have found to their cost. 
 Not long since a district magistrate in the province 
 of Kwei-chow was put to death by strangulation for 
 having levied an illegal assessment of 6,050 taels 
 only from certain communes of the Meaou-tsze abori- 
 gines within his district. The immunity which some 
 mandarins enjoy from the just consequences of their 
 crimes, and the severity with which the law is vindi- 
 cated in the cases of others for much lighter offences, 
 has a sinister aspect. But in a system of which 
 bribery and corruption practically form a part one 
 need not expect to find purity in any direction, and 
 it is not too much to say that the whole civil service 
 is, judged by an English standard, corrupt to the 
 core. The people however are very lightly taxed, 
 and they readily submit to limited extortion so long 
 as the rule of the mandarins is otherwise just and 
 beneficent. But how rarely does a mandarin earn 
 the respect and affection of the people is obvious 
 from the great parade which is made on the departure 
 from their posts of the very occasional officials 
 who arc fortunate enough to have done so. Arch- 
 deacon Gray states in his " China " that during his 
 residence of a quarter of a century at Canton he only 
 met one man who had entitled himself to the resjret
 
 THE GOVERNMENT OF CHINA. 
 
 %^ 
 
 of the people at his departure. On his leaving the 
 city the inhabitants rose en masse to do him honour. 
 " In the imposing procession which escorted him to 
 
 sJcaoMPEj / 
 
 the place of embarkation, and which took at least 
 twenty minutes to pass a given point, were carried
 
 56 CHINA. 
 
 the silk umbrellas which had been presented to him 
 by the people, and the red boards — of which there 
 were probably three hundred — upon which high- 
 sounding titles had been inscribed in honour of the 
 faithful minister. The route was spanned at fre- 
 quent intervals by arches. From these banners were 
 suspended which bore, in large letters, painted or 
 embroidered, such sentences as * The Friend of the 
 People ' ; ' The Father of the People ' ; ' The Bright 
 Star of the Province ' ; ' The Benefactor of the Age.' 
 Deputations awaited his arrival at various temples, 
 and he alighted from his chair to exchange compli- 
 ments with them, and to partake of the refreshments 
 provided for the occasion. But the formal arrange- 
 ments could not speak so clearly to his popularity as 
 the enthusiasm of the people. The silence generally 
 observed when a Chinese ruler passes through the 
 streets was again and again broken by hearty ex- 
 clamations of ' When will your Excellency come 
 back to us t ' At many points the crowd was so 
 great as to interrupt the line of march, and the state 
 chair was frequently in danger of being upset." 
 
 A somewhat similar scene occurred at T'ientsin in 
 the year 1861 on the departure of the prefect of that 
 city. The people accompanied him beyond the gate 
 on his road to Peking with every token of honour, 
 and finally begged from him his boots, which they 
 carried back in triumph, and hung up as a memento
 
 THE GOVERNMENT OF CHINA. 57 
 
 of their hero in the temple of the city god. Going to 
 the opposite extreme it sometimes happens that the 
 people, goaded into rebellion by a sense of wrong, 
 rise in arms against some particularly obnoxious 
 mandarin and drive him from the district. But 
 Chinamen are essentially unwarlike, and it needs 
 must be some act of gross oppression to stir their 
 blood to fever heat. 
 
 A potent means of protection against oppression 
 is granted to the people by the appointment of im- 
 perial censors throughout the empire, whose duty it 
 is to report to the throne all cases of misrule, in- 
 justice, or neglect on the part of the mandarins 
 which come to their knowledge. The same tolerance 
 which is shown by the people towards the short- 
 comings and ill-deeds of the officials, is displayed by 
 these men in the discharge of their duties. Only 
 aggravated cases make them take their pens in hand, 
 but when they do it must be confessed that they show 
 little mercy. Neither are they respectors of persons ; 
 their lash falls on all alike, from the emperor on his 
 throne to the police-runners in magisterial courts. 
 Nor is their plain speaking more amazing than the 
 candour with which their memorials affecting the 
 characters of great and small alike are published in 
 the Peking Gazette. The gravest charges, such as of 
 peculation, neglect of duty, injustice, or incompetence, 
 are brought against mandarins of all ranks, and arc
 
 58 CHINA. 
 
 openly published in the official paper. No doubt it 
 is intended that the lesson implied by these publica- 
 tions should have a salutary effect on the official 
 readers, but their constant recurrence tends to lessen 
 their value, and thus they probably serve less as 
 warnings against wrong-doing than as hints what 
 particular evil practices to avoid, and especially the 
 unwisdom of falling out with a censor. 
 
 In the administration of justice the same lax 
 morality as in other branches of government exists, 
 and bribery is largely resorted to by litigants, more 
 especially in civil cases. As a rule money in excess 
 of the legal fees has, in the first instance, to be paid 
 to the clerks and secretaries before a case can be 
 put down for hearing, and the decision of the pre- 
 siding mandarin is too often influenced by the sums 
 of money which find their way into his purse from 
 the pockets of either suitor. But the greatest blot 
 on Chinese administration is the inhumanity shown 
 to both culprits and witnesses in criminal procedure. 
 Tortures of the most painful and revolting kind are 
 used to extort evidence, and punishments scarcely 
 more severely cruel are inflicted on the guilty parties. 
 Flogging with bamboos on the hind part of the 
 thighs, or between the shoulders, beating the jaws 
 with thick pieces of leather, or the ankles with a 
 stick, are some of the preliminary tortures applied to 
 witnesses or culprits who refuse to give the evidence
 
 THE GOVERNMENT OF CHINA. 
 
 59 
 
 expected of them. Further refinements of cruelty 
 are reserved for hardened offenders, by means of 
 which infinite pain, and often permanent injury, are 
 inflicted on the knee joints, fingers, ankles, &c. 
 Occasionally the tortures pass the limits of en- 
 durance, and death releases the victim from his 
 
 III ^^^ .^«i.^ ^_ 
 
 miseries ; but as a rule, in the " severe question," life 
 is preserved, but at the expense of crippled limbs. 
 The Turanians are so obtuse-nerved by nature that 
 they probably do not feel pain as acutely as more 
 sensitive races, and their nerves survive shocks
 
 Co CHIXA. 
 
 A\ hich would prove fatal to a more finely organised 
 people. It is this which enables them to pass 
 through the horrors of the torture-chamber alive. ]t 
 must of course be understood that though these tor- 
 tures are unfortunately common, their intensity, and 
 €ven their use, vary with the disposition of each 
 mandarin in whose power it is to inflict them. To 
 many, no doubt, their employment is as repugnant 
 as it would be to an English judge, but to have to 
 look for mercy on the chance of the presiding man- 
 darin being of a kindly disposition, is a poor security 
 for those v/ho enter a criminal court. 
 
 It follows, as a natural consequence, that in a 
 country where torture is thus resorted to the punish- 
 ments inflicted on criminals must be proportionatel}' 
 cruel. Death, the final punishment, can unfortunately 
 be inflicted in various ways, and a sliding scale of 
 capital punishments is used by the Chinese to mark 
 their sense of the varying heinousness of murderous 
 crimes. For parricide, matricide, and wholesale 
 murders, the usual sentence is that of Ling c/ie, or 
 "" ignominious and slow " death. In the carrying out 
 of this sentence, the culprit is fastened to a cross, 
 and cuts, varying in number, at the discretion of the 
 judge, from eight to a hundred and twenty, are made 
 first on the face and fleshy parts of the body, next 
 the heart is pierced, and finally, when death has been 
 thus caused, the limbs are separated from the body
 
 THE GOVERNMENT OF CHINA. 6t 
 
 and divided. During the year 1877 ten cases in 
 which this punishment was inflicted were reported 
 in the Peking Gazette ; in one of which, shocking to 
 say, a lunatic was the sufferer, a circumstance which 
 adds a weird horror to the ghastly scene. In ordinary 
 cases of capital punishment execution by beheading 
 is the common mode. This is a speedy and merciful 
 death, the skill gained by frequent experience enabling 
 the executioner in almost every case to perform his. 
 task in one blow. On one occasion the author saw 
 thirty-six men beheaded at Canton for robbery with 
 violence. Two executioners were employed, and 
 they finished their task in less than two minutes^ 
 neither of them having once failed to sever the head 
 from the body at the first stroke. The culprits were 
 brought on to the ground heavily chained and in 
 baskets, each basket being carried between two men 
 and slung on a bamboo pole. On arriving at the ap- 
 pointed spot, the men were more thrown than lifted 
 out of the baskets, and were placed in a kneeling 
 position. They were then arranged one behind the- 
 other in two rows, and at a given signal by the pre- 
 siding mandarin, the executioners, who had taken 
 up their positions between the rows at each end, 
 struck right and left. 
 
 Another death which is less horrible to Chinamen, 
 who view any mutilation of the body as an extreme 
 disgrace, is by strangulation. The privilege of so
 
 62 CHIXA. 
 
 passing out of the world is accorded at times to 
 influential criminals, whose crimes are not of so 
 heinous a nature as demand their decapitation ; and 
 occasionally they are even allowed to be their own 
 executioners. In the year i86r, a prince of the blood 
 who had been found guilty of treason had this favour 
 extended to him. The "silken cord" was sent to 
 him in his cell in the Board of Punishments, and he 
 was left to consummate his own doom. But his 
 ner\-e forsook him and the jailors were ultimately 
 compelled to carry out the sentence of the law. 
 
 Other and summary extra-judicial executions are 
 carried out by the people with the silent consent of 
 the officials in the case of kidnappers and others 
 taken red-handed, and their nature is to a great 
 extent moulded by circumstances. If a river should 
 be close at hand the probability is that the 
 criminal would be thrown bound into the water, but 
 the more common mode of l)-nching is to bind the 
 condemned wretch to a cross and to strangle him 
 with a cord passed through a hole in the cross at 
 the back of his neck. It is a fortunate provision of 
 nature that the fear of death diminishes in direct 
 ratio to the frequency of its probable incidence. 
 Seasons of war and political disturbance, when the 
 sword is bare and the executioner's hands are full, 
 are generally times of reckless gaiety and thought- 
 less living, and so in countries such as China, where
 
 THE GOVERNMENT OF CHINA. 63 
 
 human life possesses, neither in the eyes of the judges 
 nor of the people, the sacredness with which it is 
 viewed in Europe, the people, far from being weighed 
 down with a sense of the possible nearness of death, 
 learn to look on its imminence with indifference and 
 to despise its terrors. The uncertainty also which 
 surrounds the fate of the condemned malefactor is 
 apt to encourage a hope that fortune may be kinder 
 to him than the judge, for it by no means follows that 
 every man upon whom sentence of death is passed 
 finds his way to the execution ground. The lists of 
 condemned criminals are sent at stated times from 
 all parts of the empire to Peking, and the Emperor, 
 guided pretty much by chance, marks with a red 
 pencil the names of a certain proportion on whom 
 it is his imperial will that the sentence of the law 
 should be carried out at the approaching jail delivery. 
 On the morning of the day fixed for the execution 
 the jailor enters the prison and reads out the names 
 of the unfortunate ones, who are then taken before 
 the judge to be officially identified, after which they 
 are allowed a meal, which is supplied either by their 
 friends or the prison authorities, mainly consisting, 
 as a rule, of some narcotic, and are finally carried 
 off to the execution ground. The names of those 
 left in prison are sent up to Peking with the next 
 batch, and those who are lucky enough to escape 
 the vermilion pencil two or three times are generally
 
 64 CHINA. 
 
 sent off into banishment for life. In the old days, 
 when the great wall was being built, such criminals 
 were sent to work at that huge undertaking, but 
 since that time they have been banished beyond the 
 frontiers into either Mongolia or Manchuria. It may 
 be that in some cases the indifference with which 
 criminals leave their cells for the execution ground is 
 to be traced to the supreme misery of their prison 
 life, and to any one who has visited a Chinese prison 
 this indifference is not surprising. Asiatics are almost 
 invariably careless about the sufferings of others, and 
 Chinamen are no exception to the rule. It is almost 
 impossible to exaggerate the horrors of a Chinese 
 prison. The filth and dirt of the rooms, the brutality 
 of the jailors, the miserable diet, and the entire absence 
 of the commonest sanitary arrangements, make up 
 a picture which it is too horrible to draw in detail. 
 During the war of i860, as before stated, two of our 
 countrymen, Sir Harry Parkes and Mr. Loch, were 
 treacherously taken prisoners, and were confined in 
 the prison of the Board of Punishments at Peking. 
 The extraordinary' fortitude of these men and the 
 horrors of their surroundings may be imagined from 
 the following passages from Mr. Loch's " Narrative 
 of Events in China ": — " The discipline of the prison 
 was in itself not very strict, and had it not been for 
 the starvation, the pain arising from the cramped 
 position in which the chains and ropes retained the
 
 THE GOVERNMENT OF CHINA. 65 
 
 arms and legs, with the heavy drag of the iron collar 
 on the bones of the spine, and the creeping vermin 
 that infested every place, together with the occasional 
 beatings and tortures which the prisoners were from 
 time to time taken away for a few hours to endure, — 
 returning with bleeding legs and bodies, and so weak 
 as to be scarce able to crawl — there was no very 
 great hardship to be endured . . . There is a small 
 maggot which appears to infest all Chinese prisons ; 
 the earth at the depth of a few inches swarms with 
 them ; they are the scourge most dreaded by every 
 poor prisoner. Few enter a Chinese gaol who have 
 not on their bodies or limbs some wounds, either 
 inflicted by blows to which they have been subjected, 
 or caused by the manner in which they have been 
 bound ; the instinct of the insect to which I allude 
 appears to lead him direct to these wounds. Bound 
 and helpless, the poor wretch cannot save himself 
 from their approach, although he knows full well 
 that if they once succeed in reaching his lacerated 
 skin there is the certainty of a fearful, lingering, 
 and agonizing death before him." In the provincial 
 prisons the condition of the wretched culprits is 
 even worse than in the Board of Punishments. Those 
 who were present at the first inspection of the Canton 
 prisons after the taking of that city in 1859, "^^ill 
 never forget the sight which met their gaze. In one 
 foul dark den, men in whom life yet lingered were 
 
 F
 
 66 CHINA. 
 
 lying by the side of a corpse in an advanced stage 
 of decomposition, and so pestilential was the atmos- 
 phere that it was only possible to endure it for a 
 moment. As the wretched creatures were dragged 
 out to the light of day, and the full horror of their 
 condition became apparent, English soldiers who 
 were present wept as they had not wept since they 
 were children, at the sight of such unutterable 
 suffering.^ And there is no reason to suppose that 
 the Canton prisons are not typical of the prisons 
 throughout the empire ; on the contrary, the gross 
 neglect and abominable cruelty of magistrates and 
 jailors which are occasionally shown up in the 
 Peking Gazette point to the conclusion that other 
 jails are as foul, and other warders as brutal, as 
 those of Canton. 
 
 Chinese law-giv-ers have distinguished verj- markedly 
 between crimes accompanied and unaccompanied 
 with violence. For offences of the latter description 
 punishments of a comparative!}- light nature are in- 
 flicted, such as wearing the wooden collar, known 
 among Europeans as the canque, and piercing the 
 ears with arrows, to the ends of which are attached 
 slips of paper on which are inscribed the crime of 
 which the culprit has been guilty. Frequently the 
 criminals, bearing these signs of their disgrace, are 
 
 1 " China," by Wingrove Cooke.
 
 ''=^^^fe .^^^^^-rr / 
 
 A PRISONER IN THE CANQUE. 
 
 'J^o face page 66.
 
 THE GOVERNMENT OF CHINA. 
 
 67 
 
 paraded up and down the street where their offence 
 was committed, and sometimes, in more serious cases 
 they are flogged through the leading thoroughfares 
 of the city, preceded by a herald, who announces the 
 nature of their misdemeanours. But to give a list of 
 Chinese punishments would be to exhaust the 
 ingenuity of man to torture his fellow-creatures. 
 The subject is a horrible one, and it is a relief to 
 turn from the dingy prison gates and the halls of 
 so-called justice to the family life of the people. 
 
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 CHAPTER III. 
 
 MARRIAGE. 
 
 E have said that the 
 government of the 
 empire is modelled 
 on the government of 
 a household, and at 
 the root of all family 
 ties, says one of the 
 Chinese classics, is 
 the relation of husband and wife, which 
 is as the relation of heaven and earth. 
 Chinese historians state that the rite 
 of marriage was first instituted by the 
 Emperor Fuh-he, who reigned in the 
 twenty-eighth century B.C., and who or- 
 dained, as a preliminary, that the intending 
 bridegroom should present his future bride with 
 a pair of prepared skins as an earnest of their 
 engagement. But before this period there is 
 abundant evidence to show that, as amongst all
 
 MARRIAGE. 69 
 
 other peoples, the first form of marriage in China 
 Avas by capture. The modern character ^ cJiu^ 
 meaning to marry, is said to bear in its construc- 
 tion a reference to this old practice, made up as it is 
 of an ear I^, a hand ^, and a woman 3^, thus 
 commemorating the custom of bringing in captives 
 by the ear, as is still done by Chinese soldiers in time 
 of war. On the evening of the marriage the Chinese 
 bridegroom either goes himself or sends a friend to 
 bring his bride to his house, but always after dark, 
 as if by stealth, and the ceremony, such as it is, is 
 performed in his house. In the same way, but in a 
 more primitive form, we find the bridegroom among 
 a northern Mongolian tribe chasing his bride through 
 the compartments of her father's tent, while old 
 women go through the form of tripping him up and 
 ■otherwise hindering him in his pursuit. And among 
 5ome Central Asiatic tribes the bridegroom chases 
 his wife on horseback. But whether the pursuit is 
 in a Siberian tent or on a Central Asiatic steppe, the 
 result is the same, the bride gives in at last, and be- 
 comes the property of her pursuer. Among our- 
 selves, no doubt, the practice of a bridegroom going 
 to take over his bride accompanied by a " best man " 
 is a survival from the time when men took their 
 wives by force, and the bridesmaids of the present 
 day represent the defenders of their fortunate or 
 unfortunate sister.
 
 70 CHINA. 
 
 But at the present day marriage is probably more 
 universal in China than in any other civilised country 
 in the world. It is regarded as something indispens- 
 able, and few men pass the age of twenty without 
 taking to themselves a wife. Chinese legislators 
 have at all times encouraged early marriages as 
 having a pacifying effect upon the people. A man 
 who has giv^en hostages to fortune in the shape of 
 a wife and children has a greater indiucement to 
 follow in the paths of steady industry, and is less 
 likely to throw in his lot with brigands and rebels, 
 than a man who has but himself to think of, and is 
 without any immediate ties. But besides this the 
 Chinese believe, in common with the ancient Greeks, 
 that " the shades of the unburied wander restlessly 
 about without gaining admittance into Hades ; so 
 that non-burial came to be considered the most 
 deplorable calamity that could befall one, and the 
 discharge of the last service a most holy duty."^ To 
 die, therefore, without leaving behind a son to per- 
 form the burial rites, and to offer up the fixed perio- 
 dical sacrifices at the tomb, is one of the most direful 
 fates that can overtake a Chinaman, and he seeks to 
 avoid it by an early marriage. But " the gods, we 
 are told, bestow not on men all their gifts at once," 
 and it sometimes happens that the desired object is 
 
 * Beaker's Gall us.
 
 MARRIAGE. 71 
 
 not obtained. As, however, among the ancient Jews 
 the necessity of securing an heir is of such vital im- 
 portance that in such cases the first wife has not 
 unfrequently to make way for a second, and the 
 practice of adoption comes to the relief of those to 
 whom children are hopelessly denied. The Chinese, 
 however, being monogamists, it is necessary that, 
 before taking another wife, a man should divorce 
 the existing one. Nor is this a difficult process, 
 since any one of the seven pleas for divorce spoken 
 of later on, would be enough for his purpose. 
 
 Like every other rite in China, that of marriage 
 is fenced in with a host of ceremonies. In a vast 
 majority of cases a bridegroom never sees his bride 
 until the wedding-night, it being considered a grave 
 breach of etiquette for young men and maidens to 
 associate together or even to see one another. Of 
 course it does occasionally happen that either by 
 stealth or by chance a pair become acquainted ; but 
 whether they have thus associated or whether they 
 are perfect strangers, the first formal overture must 
 of necessity be made by a go-between, who, having 
 received a commission from the parents of the young 
 man, proceeds to the house of the lady and makes a 
 formal proposal on behalf of the would-be bride- 
 groom's parents. If the young lady's father ap- 
 proves the proposed alliance, the suitor sends the 
 lady some presents as an earnest of his intention.
 
 72 CHIXA. 
 
 The parents next exchange documents, Avhich set 
 forth the hour, day, month, and year when the young 
 people were born, and the maiden names of their 
 mothers. Astrologers are then called in to cast 
 the horoscopes, and should these be favourable, the 
 engagement is formally entered into, but not so 
 irrevocably that there are not left several orthodox 
 ways of breaking it off. If, for instance, a china 
 bowl should be broken, or an article be lost in the 
 house of either within three days of the engagement, 
 the circumstance is considered to be sufficiently un- 
 lucky to warrant the instant termination of the nego- 
 tiations. But should things go smoothly the bride- 
 groom's father writes a formal letter of agreement 
 to the lady's father, accompanied by presents, con- 
 sisting in some cases of sweetmeats and a live pig, 
 and in others of a goose and gander, which are re- 
 garded as emblems of conjugal fidelity. At the same 
 time the bridegroom prepares two large cards, on 
 which are written the particulars of the engagement. 
 On the outer side of the one which he keeps is pasted 
 a paper dragon, and on the outside of the other, 
 which is sent to the lady, appears a Phoenix. Each 
 card is adorned with two pieces of red silk, which 
 have their origin in the following legend : — " In the 
 time of the T'ang dynasty — that is to say, about a 
 thousand years ago — a man named Hwuy Ko while 
 staying in the town of Sung met an old man reading
 
 MARRIAGE. 
 
 a book by the light of the moon. In answer to 
 Hwuy's inquiring look, the old man said, ' This is the 
 register of the engagements for all marriages under 
 heaven, and in my pocket I have red cords with which 
 I connect the feet of those who are to become hus- 
 band and wife. When these cords are once tied 
 nothing on earth can change the destiny of the par- 
 ties. Your future wife,' added he, ' is the child of the 
 old woman who sells vegetables in yonder shop in 
 the north of the town.' Upon hearing this Hwuy 
 hurried off to the vegetable shop, and found the 
 woman in charge possessed of such a hideous little 
 infant of about a year old, that in his despair he hired 
 a man to kill the child. Years afterwards the prefect of 
 the town where Hwuy Ko then lived, gave him in mar- 
 riage a beautiful young lady whom he affirmed was 
 his own daughter. Seeing that his bride always wore 
 an artificial flower over one of her eyebrows, Hwuy 
 Ko asked her the reason of her doing so. ' I am the 
 daughter,' replied she, ' of the Prefect's brother who 
 died at Sung when I was an infant, leaving me to 
 the care of an old woman who sold vegetables. One 
 day when I was out with her in the street a ruffian 
 struck me on my forehead, and made such a scar 
 that I am obliged to wear this flower to hide the 
 mark.' " Hwuy Ko then recognised the immutability 
 of fate, and from that day to this red silk has been 
 entwined in the marriage-cards of every pair in China.
 
 74 
 
 CHIXA. 
 
 Following on the exchange of these cards, presents 
 varying according to the rank and fortune of the 
 suitor are vicariously presented by him to the lady. 
 Recourse is then again had to astrologers to fix a 
 fortunate day for the final ceremony, on the evening 
 of ^^■hich the bridegroom's best man proceeds to the 
 
 house of the lady and conducts her to her future home 
 in a red sedan chair, accompanied by musicians who 
 — as in ancient Athens — enliven the procession with 
 wedding-airs. At the door of the house the bride 
 alights from her sedan, and is lifted over a pan of
 
 MARRIAGE. 
 
 75 
 
 burning charcoal, or a red-hot coulter, laid on the 
 threshold by two " women of luck," whose husbands 
 
 and children must be living. Sir John Lubbock 
 states that this ceremony of lifting a bride over the
 
 76 CHIXA. 
 
 threshold exists in the four continents, and we know 
 that in ancient Rome the bridegroom received his 
 bride with fire and water, and presented these two 
 elements to her touch. 
 
 No full explanation has been given of this curiously- 
 universal practice, but it may possibly be useful as 
 conveying a hint to the lady that for the future she 
 should stay at home and not face the dangers of re- 
 crossing the threshold. 
 
 In the reception-room the bridegroom awaits his 
 bride on a raised dais, at the foot of which she humbly 
 prostrates herself. He then descends to her level, 
 and, removing her veil, gazes on her face for the first 
 time. Without exchanging a word they seat them- 
 selves side by side, and each tries to sit on a part of 
 the dress of the other, it being considered that the 
 one who succeeds in so doing will hold rule in the 
 household. This trial of skill over, the pair pro- 
 ceed to the hall, and there before the family altar 
 worship heaven and earth and their ancestors. 
 They then go to dinner in their apartment, through 
 the open door of which the guests scrutinise and 
 make their remarks on the appearance and demeanour 
 of the bride. This ordeal is the more trying to her 
 since etiquette forbids her to eat anything — a prohi- 
 bition which is not shared by the bridegroom, who 
 enjoys the dainties provided as his appetite may 
 suggest. The attendants next hand to each in turn
 
 MARRIAGE. -jy 
 
 a cup of wine, and, having exchanged pledges, the 
 wedding ceremonies come to an end. In some parts 
 of the country it is customary for the bride to sit up 
 late into the night answering riddles which are pro- 
 pounded to her by the guests ; in other parts it is 
 usual for her to show herself for a time in the hall, 
 whither her husband does not accompany her, as it 
 is contrary to etiquette for a husband and wife ever to 
 appear together in public. For the same reason she 
 goes to pay the customary visit to her parents on 
 the third day after the wedding alone, and for the 
 rest of her wedded life she enjoys the society of her 
 husband only in the privacy of her apartments. 
 
 The lives of women in China, and especially of 
 married women, are such as to justify the wish, often 
 expressed by the fair followers of Buddha, that in 
 their next state of existence they may be born men. 
 Even if in their baby days they escape the infanti- 
 cidal tendencies of their parents, and this they will 
 certainly do unless the household is hard pressed by 
 poverty, and even then the chances are greatly in 
 favour of their surviving, they are regarded as secon- 
 dary considerations compared with their brothers. 
 The philosophers, from Confucius downwards, have 
 all agreed in assigning them an inferior place to men. 
 " Of all people," said Confucius, " women are the 
 most difficult to manage. If you are familiar with 
 them they become forward, and if you keep them at
 
 78 CHINA. 
 
 a distance they become discontented." When the 
 time comes for them to marry, custom requires them, 
 in nine cases out of ten to take, as we have seen, a 
 leap in the dark, and that wife is fortunate who finds 
 in her husband a congenial and faithful companion. 
 If the reverse should be the case, the probability is 
 that her career will be one of great unhappiness. 
 Though society looks with a certain amount of dis- 
 favour upon the practice of concubinage, except in 
 case of the wife being childless, it still frequently 
 obtains, and gives rise to much misery and heart- 
 burnings in households. A concubine is generally 
 bought, or occasionally is received as a present. She 
 occupies in the family an inferior position to the wife, 
 and her children, if she has any, belong by law to the 
 wife. The lawgivers, accepting the general view of 
 the inferiority of women, which is sufficiently indi- 
 cated by the fact that they are marketable com- 
 modities, have provided that a husband may divorce 
 his wife for any one of the following seven faults : — 
 
 1. Disobedience to father-in-law or mother-in-law, 
 
 2. Barrenness, 3. Lewdness. 4. Jealousy. 5. Lep- 
 rosy. 6. Garrulousness ; and 7, Stealing. On the 
 other hand no offence, of whatever kind, on the part 
 of the husband, gives a woman any right to claim a 
 divorce from him. The consequence of this very 
 one-sided legislation is, no doubt, to promote that 
 courteous, humble, and conciliatory address and man-
 
 MARRIAGE. 79 
 
 ner which moralists say should mark a wife's conduct 
 towards her husband ; and the same authorities hold 
 that in no case should she do more than gently re- 
 monstrate with him on any departure on his part 
 from " right principles," and never so as to annoy or 
 irritate him. 
 
 So many are the disabilities of married women 
 that many girls prefer going into Buddhist or Taouist 
 nunneries, or even committing suicide, to trusting 
 their future to men of whom they can know nothing 
 but from the interested reports of the go-betweens. 
 Archdeacon Gray, in his recent work on China, states 
 that in 1873 eight young girls, residing near Canton, 
 "who had been affianced, drowned themselves in order 
 to avoid marriage. They clothed themselves in their 
 best attire, and at eleven o'clock, in the darkness of 
 the night, having bound themselves together, they 
 threw themselves into a tributary stream of the 
 Canton River." 
 
 The re-marriage of widows is regarded as an im- 
 propriety, and in wealthy families is seldom practised. 
 But among the poorer classes necessity often compels 
 a widow to seek another bread-winner. The leading 
 paraphernalia of the first marriage is, however, denied 
 her. Instead of the red wedding sedan, borne by 
 four or more men, she has to go to her new home in 
 a common, small, black or blue chair, carried by two 
 bearers, and unaccompanied by the music which
 
 So CHINA. 
 
 cheered her on her first journey on a similar errand. 
 Some, however, having been possibly unfortunate in 
 their first matrimonial venture, refuse to listen to any 
 proposal for a re-marriage, and, like the young girls 
 mentioned above, seek escape by death from the 
 importunities of relatives who desire to get them off 
 their hands. 
 
 A reverse view of matrimonial experiences is sug- 
 gested by the practice of wives refusing to survive 
 their husbands, and, like the victims of suttee in 
 India, putting a voluntary end to their existence 
 rather than liv^e to mourn their loss. Such devotion 
 is regarded by the people with great approbation, 
 and the deed of suicide is generally performed in 
 public, and with great punctiliousness. The follow- 
 ing account of one such suicide at Fuhchow is taken 
 from the Hong Kong Daily Press of January 20th, 
 1861 :— 
 
 "A few days since," says the writer, "I met a Chinese 
 procession passing through the foreign settlement, 
 escorting a young person in scarlet and gold in a 
 richly decorated chair ; the object of which, I found, 
 was to invite the public to come and see her hang 
 herself, a step she had resolved to take in conse- 
 quence of the death of her husband, by Avhich she 
 had been left a childless widow. Both being orphans 
 this event had severed her dearest earthly ties, and 
 she hoped by this sacrifice to secure herself eternal
 
 MARRIAGE: 8i 
 
 happiness, and a meeting with her husband in the 
 next world. Availing myself of the general invi- 
 tation, I repaired on the day appointed to the indi- 
 cated spot. We had scarcely arrived, when the same 
 procession was seen advancing from the Joss house 
 of the woman's native village towards a scaffold or 
 gallows erected in an adjacent field, and surrounded 
 by hundreds of natives of both sexes ; the female 
 portion, attired in gayest holiday costume, was very 
 numerous. I and a friend obtained a bench for a 
 consideration, which, being placed within a few yards 
 of the scaffold, gave us a good view of the perform- 
 ance. The procession having reached the foot of 
 the scaffold the lady was assisted to ascend by her ' 
 male attendant, and, after having welcomed the 
 crowd, partook with some female relatives of a repast 
 prepared for her on a table on the scaffold, which she 
 appeared to appreciate extremely. A child in arms 
 was then placed upon the table, whom she caressed 
 and adorned with a necklace which she had worn 
 herself. She then took an ornamented basket con- 
 taining rice, herbs, and flowers, and, whilst scattering 
 them amongst the crowd, delivered a short address, 
 thanking them for their attendance, and upholding 
 the motives which urged her to the step she was 
 about to take. This done, a salute of bombards 
 announced the arrival of the time for the perform- 
 ance of the last act of her existence, when a delay 
 
 G
 
 82 CHINA. 
 
 was occasioned by the discovery of the absence of a 
 reluctant brother, pending whose arrival let me de- 
 scribe the means of extermination. The gallows was 
 formed by an upright timber on each side of the 
 scaffold supporting a stout bamboo, from the centre 
 of which was suspended a loop of cord with a 
 small wooden ring embracing both parts of it, which 
 was covered by a red silk handkerchief, the whole 
 being surrounded by an awning. 
 
 " The missing brother having been induced to ap- 
 pear, the widow now proceeded to mount on a chair 
 placed under the noose, and, to ascertain its fitness for 
 her reception, deliberately placed her head in it ; then, 
 withdrawing her head, she waved a final adieu to the 
 admiring spectators, and committed herself to its 
 embrace for the last time, throwing the red handker- 
 chief over her head. Her supports were now about 
 to be withdrawn, when she was reminded by several 
 voices in the crowd that she had omitted to draw 
 down the ring which should tighten the cord round 
 her neck ; smiling in acknowledgment of the re- 
 minder she adjusted the ring, and, motioning away 
 her supports, was left hanging in mid-air — a suicide. 
 With extraordinary self-possession she now placed 
 her hands before her, and continued to perform the 
 manual chin-chin, until the convulsions of strangu- 
 lation separated them and she was dead. The body 
 was left hanging about half-an-hour, and then taken
 
 MARRIAGE. 83 
 
 down by her male attendants, one of whom imme- 
 diately took possession of the halter, and was about 
 to sever it for the purpose of appropriating a portion, 
 when a struggle ensued, of which I took advantage 
 to attach myself to the chair in which the body was 
 now being removed to the Joss house, in order to 
 obtain ocular proof of her demise. Arrived at the 
 Joss house the body was placed on a couch, and the 
 handkerchief withdrawn from the face disclosed un- 
 mistakable proofs of death. This is the third in- 
 stance of suicide of this sort within as many weeks. 
 The authorities are quite unable to prevent it, and a 
 monument is invariably erected to the memory of the 
 devoted widovv\" 
 
 Formerly these stately suicides were not unfre- 
 quently presided over by some of the local authorities. 
 But it is said that on one such occasion the lady made 
 an excuse for leaving the scaffold, and never returned, 
 since which misadventure no mandarin has been 
 found bold enough to risk becoming the victim of the 
 repetition of so annoying an hoax. The monuments 
 generally raised to these suicides consist either of a 
 tablet in one of the neighbouring temples, or an 
 archway built across the street in which the victim 
 lived. Monuments of a similar kind are earned by 
 widows who have remained widows indeed, for forty 
 or fifty years, and for such the imperial approbation 
 is generally sought for and obtained, the edict an- 
 
 G 2
 
 84 CHINA. 
 
 nouncing the gracious answer of the emperor always 
 appearing in the Peking Gazette. The only ancient 
 bar to marriage in China was consanguinity, as 
 evidenced by the possession of identical surnames, 
 but later legislation has declared marriages with a 
 cousin on the mother's side, or a step-daughter, or 
 a mother's sister, illegal, and, strictly speaking, 
 punishable with death by strangulation. 
 
 The picture here given of married life in China has 
 been necessarily darkly shaded, since it is as a rule 
 only in its unfortunate phases that it affords oppor- 
 tunity for remark. As has been said of an empire, 
 that household is fortunate which has no history, and 
 without doubt there are many hundreds of thousands 
 of families in China which are in that happy condition. 
 The placid natures of Chinamen make them compara- 
 tively safe depositories of power over their fellow 
 creatures. A man who has been accustomed from 
 his youth up to perform every little duty with a 
 punctilious regard to the ceremonies which are 
 proper to it, to regulate every motion of his body 
 by fixed rules, and to consider every breach of the 
 elaborate etiquette which surrounds his daily life, as 
 a stain upon his character, is less likely to be actively 
 cruel and violent than more unceremonious and 
 warlike people ; and Chinese wives doubtless benefit 
 by the peaceful tendencies of those observances. 
 Happiness is after all a relative term, and Chinese
 
 MARRIAGE. 85 
 
 women, knowing no higher status, are, as a rule, 
 content to run the risk of wrongs which would be 
 unendurable to an English woman, and to find hap- 
 piness under conditions which are fortunately un- 
 known in western countries.
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE NURTURE AND EDUCATION OF CHILDREN. 
 
 !HE main object of marriage 
 being, as has been said, 
 to obtain descendants, the 
 accomplishment of the 
 desire is attended with 
 rejoicing, and with a mul- 
 tiplicity of strange ob- 
 servances. Even before 
 the infant appears on the 
 world's stage it is the 
 object of superstitious 
 rites. It is currently believed that every 
 woman is represented in the other world 
 by a tree or flower, and that consequently, 
 just as grafting adds to the productiveness 
 of trees, so adopting a child is likely to 
 encourage a growth of olive branches. But 
 if this method fails, it is held that the soil 
 round the roots of the tree in the unseen
 
 THE NURTURE OF CHILDREN. 87 
 
 region requires changing, and a sorceress is hired to 
 proceed thither to change the earth. Another method 
 of securing the longed-for blessing of children is ** to 
 obtain from the temple of the goddess of children a 
 shoe which has been worn by her. This is taken 
 home, and being placed beside the image or tablet of 
 the goddess, receives equal worship ; and should the 
 desired object be attained, a pair of shoes exactly 
 resembling the one obtained must be returned to the 
 temple." On becoming satisfied of the probable ful- 
 filment of her wishes, the expectant mother's next 
 desire is to discover of which sex her child will be. 
 And to gain this knowledge, she adopts the simple 
 expedient of adding to the number of her age in 
 years that of the month, day, and hour she was born. 
 Thus if twenty years old, and she was born in the 
 sixth hour of the third day of the second montli, she 
 would have a total of thirty-one. She then takes a 
 .series of pictures of the thirty-six assistants of the 
 goddess of children, sold for fortune-telling purposes, 
 and, according to the sex of the child in the arms 
 of the thirty-first, concludes that her child will be a 
 boy or a girl. If the number of her age, etc., exceed 
 thirty-six, she commences to count the first picture 
 as number thirty-seven, and so on. 
 
 If, however, she desires to make sure that her child 
 will be a son, she gets up one morning at dawn, and, 
 having put on her husband's clothes and cap, goes to
 
 88 CHINA. 
 
 the nearest well, and walks round it three times, 
 always towards the left hand, and while so doinc;- 
 watches her shadow in the water. If she gets back 
 to the house without having been seen, and without 
 anyone having known of her mission, the desire of 
 her heart, so says the current belief, will be gratified. 
 The day and hour on which the bab}^ is born are 
 considered as portentous for the future good or evil 
 of the child, as among our own north cowxiXxy folks. 
 A child born on the fifth day of a month, and more 
 certainly if on the fifth of the fifth month, will either 
 commit suicide in after-life, or will murder his parents. 
 But apart from these and some other ill-omened 
 days, a child born at noon is believed to be a sure 
 inheritor of wealth and honour, and he who first sees 
 the light between nine and eleven will have a hard 
 lot at first and afterwards great riches ; while the un- 
 fortunate infant who appears between three and five 
 is doomed to poverty and woe. As has been said 
 by Mr. Dennys, in his "Folk-lore of China," "if the 
 Chinese lay great stress on the hour of birth, we 
 no less attribute to the day a talismanic influence 
 over the future of the new-born child ; as witness 
 the goodwives' rhyme : — 
 
 Monday's child is fair of face, 
 Tuesday's child is full of grace, 
 Wednesday's child is full of woe, 
 Thursda)'s child has far to go.
 
 THE NURTURE OF CHILDREN. 
 
 Friday's child is loving and giving-, 
 Saturday's child works hard for its living, 
 But the child which is born on the Sabbath-daj', 
 Is blythe and bonnie, and good and gay." 
 
 The cries and movements of babies are carefully 
 watched by the light of the regulations laid down 
 by physiognomists, who say that if a baby cries long, 
 he will live to be old ; but that if his cries are con- 
 stantly intermittent, his life is precarious. Babies 
 whose cries die out, or the tone of whose crying is 
 deep, or who open their own eyes, or who constantly 
 move their hands and feet, are doomed by the same 
 authorities to early, death ; while a child who walks, 
 teeths, and speaks early has a bad disposition, and 
 will turn out to be unloveable. 
 
 Swaddling clothes for babies are essential for the 
 purpose of preventing contact with any evil influence 
 which may interfere with the all-pervading principle 
 of the season. For instance, should the time of year 
 be spring or summer, then the life-producing prin- 
 ciple is abroad, and it is of the utmost importance 
 that the baby should be protected from the touch of 
 anything that would counteract that principle existing 
 in it. In the same way, in autumn and winter the 
 gathering-in principle is prevailing, and care must be 
 taken to ward off all contact with everything hostile 
 to it. The first clothes worn by the infant should be 
 made out of the coat and trousers of some old man
 
 90 CHIXA. 
 
 of seventy or eighty years, to ensure a like length of 
 life to the wearer. But to return to the pre-clothes 
 period : on the third day after its birth the baby is 
 washed for the first time. The occasion is one of 
 great moment, and the relations and friends are in- 
 vited to take part in the ceremony. Each guest 
 brings with him or her, as the case may be, an onion 
 and some cash — emblems of keen-wittedness and 
 wealth — which they present the child. Water, in 
 which scented herbs and leaves have been fused, is 
 used in the ablutions, and when the process is over 
 all present join in oftering sacrifices to the Goddess 
 of children for the mercy she has vouchsafed. 
 
 At the end of a month the mother leaves her 
 room for the first time, and the ceremonies of naming 
 the baby, and of shaving its head, whether girl or 
 boy, are gone through on the occasion. In contra- 
 distinction to this rational and civilised regard for the 
 mother, the aborigines in the Province of Kwei-chow 
 preserve the curious custom, known as couvardc, which 
 is, or was, also practised by the Basques among other 
 peoples. The mother among these tribes gets up 
 immediately after the birth of the child, and goes 
 about her ordinary' duties, while the father goes to 
 bed with the infant for a month ; the idea being that 
 the life of the father and child is one, and that any 
 harm happening to the father will affect injuriously 
 the well-being of the infant. For a hundred days
 
 THE NURTURE OF CHILDREN. 91 
 
 the Chinese mother remains in the house, and at the 
 end of that time goes with her infant to the temple 
 of Kwan-yin — the Goddess of matrons — to return 
 thanks for the possession of a child. On its first 
 birthday, if the child be a boy, he is seated in a large 
 sieve, in which are placed round him a set of money- 
 scales, a pair of shears, a foot measure, a brass mirror, 
 a pencil, ink, paper, ink-slab, a book or two, an 
 abacus, and other implements and ornaments ; and 
 the assembled friends watch to see which object he 
 first handles, in order to gain an indication of his 
 future career. The brightest hopes are entertained 
 of his scholarship should he take up a book or pencil. 
 To see him handle the money-scales is the next 
 ambition of his parents, and the probability is that 
 devices are not wanting to direct his attention to 
 the objects which it is particularly desired he should 
 touch. 
 
 The power of a Chinese father over his children is 
 as full as that possessed by the Roman father, and 
 stops short only with life. The practice of selling 
 children is common, and, though the law makes it a 
 punishable offence should the sale be effected against 
 the will of the children, the prohibition is practically 
 ignored. In the same way a law exists in the statute- 
 book making infanticide a crime, but as a matter of 
 fact it is never acted upon ; and in some parts of the 
 country, more especially in the provinces of Keang-se
 
 92 CHINA. 
 
 and Fuh-keen, this most unnatural offence prevails 
 among- the poorer classes to an alarming extent. 
 Not only do the people acknowledge the existence 
 of the practice, but they even go the length of de- 
 fending it. What, they say, is the good of rearing 
 daughters ; when they are young they are only an 
 expense, and when they reach an age when they 
 might be able to earn a living, they marry and leave 
 us. Periodically the mandarins inveigh against the 
 inhumanity of the offence, and appeal to the better 
 instincts of the people to put a stop to it ; but a stone 
 which stands near a pool outside the city of Fuhchow, 
 bearing the inscription, "girls may not be drowned 
 here," testifies with terrible emphasis to the futility of 
 their praiseworthy endeavours. It is only, however, 
 abject poverty which drives parents to this dreadful 
 expedient, and in the more prosperous and wealthy 
 districts the crime is almost unknown. 
 
 The complete subjection of children to their parents 
 puts into the hands of these latter a power which is 
 occasionally exercised with cruelty, as is implied by 
 the existence of the laws which provide that a father 
 who chastises his son to death, shall receive a hundred 
 blows with the bamboo, and that sixty blows and a 
 year's banishment shall be the punishment inflicted 
 for the murder of a disobedient child or grandchild. 
 So firmly is respect to parents imbued in the minds 
 of every Chinese boy and youth, that resistance to
 
 THE NURTURE OF CHILDREN. 93 
 
 the infliction of cruel and even unmerited punish- 
 ment is seldom if ever offered, and full-grown men 
 submit meekly to be flogged without raising their 
 hands. The law steps in on every occasion in sup- 
 port of parental authority, and prison doors are readily 
 opened at the request of parents for the reception of 
 disobedient sons, with one curious exception, viz., a 
 father cannot send his son for perpetual imprison- 
 ment against the wishes of his son's wife. Over the 
 property of sons the father's authority is as complete 
 as over their liberty ; he is, however, occasionally 
 called upon to pay debts incurred by his son, and 
 contrarywise the son, if by any means possessed of 
 property, is obliged to pay his father's debts. 
 J- Filial piety is the leading principle in Chinese 
 ethics. It is the point upon which every teacher, 
 from Confucius downwards, has most strongly in- 
 sisted, and its almost universal practice affords ground 
 for the belief held by some that in the long con- 
 tinuance of the empire the Chinese are reaping the 
 reward held out in the fifth commandment of the 
 Mosaic decalogue. " Filial piety," said Confucius, 
 " consists in obedience ; in serving one's parents when 
 alive according to propriety ; in burying them when 
 dead according to propriety ; and in sacrificing to 
 them according to propriety." In the " Book of 
 Rites" it is laid down that "during the lifetime of 
 his parents a son should not go abroad ; or, if he do
 
 94 CHIXA. 
 
 SO, then to a fixed place. When at home he should 
 rise with the first cock-crow, and having washed and 
 dressed himself carefully, should inquire what the 
 wishes of his parents are as to the food they would 
 eat and drink. He should not enter a room unless 
 invited by his father, nor retire without permission ; 
 neither should he speak unless spoken to."- These 
 are not unheeded precepts, but are to this day ob- 
 served, if not strictly to the letter, at least in the 
 spirit. 
 
 The only exception to the exercise of immediate 
 parental control is when a son takes office. The 
 emperor then stands to him in loco parentis, and 
 though he is bound to conform to the recognised 
 national customs with regard to parents, he is eman- 
 cipated from their jurisdiction. When either of them 
 die he is compelled to retire from office for three 
 years, which in practice is by a fiction reduced to 
 twenty-seven months. But in private life, as long as 
 his parents live, he holds himself at their disposal, 
 and is guided by them in the choice of his occupation 
 and in every concern of life. 
 
 School-life begins at the age of six, and among 
 the wealthier classes great care is shown in the choice 
 of a master. His excellences must be moral as well 
 as mental, and his power of teaching must be unques- 
 
 ' " Confucianism and Taouism." [S.P.C.K.]
 
 THE NURTURE OF CHILDREN. 
 
 95 
 
 tioned. The selection of a lucky dayfor beginningwork 
 is confided to astrologers, who avoid above all other 
 days those upon which Confucius and Tsang Hieh, 
 the reputed inventor of writing, died and were buried. 
 The stars having indicated a propitious day, the boy 
 
 £ ^O/Vj/^T' 
 
 presents himself at the school, bringing with him two 
 small candles, some sticks of incense, and some paper- 
 money, which are burnt at the shrine of Confucius, 
 before which also the little fellow prostrates himself 
 three times. There being no alphabet in Chinese,
 
 96 
 
 CHINA. 
 
 the pupil has to plunge at once in ificdias res and 
 begins by learning to read the San tsce king, a 
 work written in sentences of three characters, 
 each containing a scrap of elementary knowledge. 
 Having mastered the mysteries of this book he is 
 
 x^^^^^ 
 
 taught the Tsien tsze king, or the thousand character 
 classic, which deals with somewhat more advanced 
 subjects. The next step is to the " Four Books," 
 known as the Ltm yu, or Confucian Analects ; the 
 Ta heo, or the Great Learning ; the CJinng yung, or
 
 THE NURTURE OF CHILDREN. 97 
 
 the Golden Medium ; and the Maiig tsze, or Sayings of 
 Mencius. Then follow the five classics, viz., the Yik 
 king, or Book of Changes ; the Shoo king, or Book of 
 History ; the Chun tsew, or Spring and Autumn 
 Annals;" the She king, or Book of Odes; and the 
 Le ke, or Book of Rites. This is the ultima thule 
 of Chinese learning. A full comprehension of these 
 four books and five classics, together with the com- 
 mentaries upon them, and the power of turning this 
 knowledge to account in the shape of essays and 
 poems is all that is required at the highest examina- 
 tions in the empire. Year after year these form the 
 subjects of study of every aspiring scholar until every 
 character and every phrase is, or should be, indelibly 
 engraved on the memory. This course of instruction 
 has been exactly followed in every school in the 
 empire for many centuries, and the result is that 
 there are annually turned out a vast number of lads 
 all cast in the same mould, all possessed of a certain 
 amount of ready-made knowledge, and with their 
 memories unduly exercised at the expense of their 
 thinking powers. The choice of a future calling, 
 which is often so perplexing to English lads and 
 their parents, is simplified in China by the fact of 
 there being but two pursuits which a man of respect- 
 ability and education can follow, namely, the man- 
 darinate and trade. The liberal professions, as we 
 understand them, are unknown in China. The judicial 
 
 H
 
 98 CHINA. 
 
 system forbids the existence of the legal professions, 
 except in the case of official secretaries attached to 
 the mandarins' yamuns ; and medicine is, with a few 
 exceptions, represented by charlatans, who prey on 
 the follies of their fellow-men, and dispense such mon- 
 strous nostrums as ground tigers' teeth, snakes' skins, 
 etc., in lieu of drugs. A lad, or his parents for him, 
 has, therefore, practically to consider whether the 
 position he has held at school is sufficiently good, to 
 justify his attempting to compete at the general 
 competitive examinations to qualify him for office, 
 or whether he should embark in one of the numerous 
 mercantile concerns which abound among the money- 
 making and thrifty Chinese. 
 
 Should he prefer winning fame and gaining official 
 rank he loses no time in perfecting himself in the 
 books he studied at school, and in practising the art 
 of writing essays, and penning verses. As soon as he 
 considers himself sufficiently prepared to undergo the 
 first ordeal he presents himself before the secretary 
 of the magistrate of the district in which he lives, 
 armed with a paper stating his name, age, place of 
 residence, the names of his father, mother, grand- 
 parents, and great grandparents, and giving a descrip- 
 tion of his appearance, and especially the colour of 
 his complexion. In return his name is entered as a 
 candidate for the next examination, and he pays his 
 fee in the shape of the purchase he is expected to make
 
 THE NURTURE OF CHILDREN. 99 
 
 of paper for the examination. On a day appointed 
 by the magistrate, the candidates, who frequently 
 number two or more thousands, according to the size 
 of the district, go at daylight to the Kaou-pung-tsze, 
 or examination-hall, in the magistrate's yamun. 
 When all are assembled — the magistrate having 
 taken his seat at a table covered with red cloth 
 at the upper end of the hall — a notice-board is dis- 
 played, on which appear three passages from the 
 four books, on which the students are expected to 
 write two essays and a poem. This constitutes the 
 preliminary trial, and after a few days a list of the 
 names of those who have passed is posted up at the 
 yamun gate. The names of those who have done 
 best are arranged in a centrifugal circle at the head 
 of the list, while the rest are written side by side 
 perpendicularly. The next examination, which lasts 
 five days, takes place after only a short interval. 
 The compulsory work on each of the first four days 
 consists of an essay on a text from the four books 
 and a poem, but on the third day an extra ode is 
 optional, and so also on the fourth day are additional 
 poems. On the fifth day part of an essay (which is 
 purposely left incomplete) on a text from the same 
 source is required. 
 
 Again a list of the successful candidates is pub- 
 lished, and to these the magistrate gives a congratul- 
 atory feast. The scene is next changed to the 
 
 H 2
 
 loo CHINA. 
 
 literary chancellor's yamuii in the prefectural cit\-, 
 where those who have dined with the magistrate 
 appear before the prefect as a preliminary to a final 
 examination by the chancellor. This test also lasts 
 five days, and is conducted exactly as those at the 
 magistrate's yamun, the subjects being taken from 
 the same books. In the same way it is customary 
 for the prefect to entertain those who pass best at 
 a dinner, and with this feast his part in the examina- 
 tion ceases. The literary chancellor next then ex- 
 amines those whose numbers — for he is not supposed 
 to know their names — have been sent him by the 
 prefect, and from them he selects the best men to 
 the number laid down by law. These meet on a 
 given day the successful competitors at the other 
 district-examinations in the prefectures, when they 
 are expected to write from memory one of the six- 
 teen edicts of the Emperor K'ang-he, with the com- 
 mentary thereon of his son, Yung-ching. This 
 completes the examination, and on those who have 
 survived the various tests is conferred the degree of 
 Siu-ts'ai, or " Elegant Scholarship," which may be 
 said to be the equivalent of our degree of Bachelor 
 of Arts. Having donned the dress proper to their 
 rank, the new graduates go in a body to pay their 
 respects to the literary chancellor, before whom, at 
 a word of command from the master of ceremonies, 
 they perform the Kotow three times. Subsequently
 
 THE NURTURE OF CHILDREN. 
 
 they pay the same honour to the prefect, and they 
 then disperse to their various homes. 
 
 The examination for the next degree of Kil-jin 
 is held in the provincial examination-hall in the 
 provincial capital by two commissioners, especially 
 sent for the purpose from Peking. These officials 
 generally arrive a day or two before the date fixed 
 for the examination, and take up their quarters in 
 residences prepared for them in the city, the doors 
 of which are immediately sealed up so as to prevent 
 any contaminating influences from reaching them. 
 On the day before the examination begins, they 
 move into yamuns set apart for their use within the 
 precincts of the " schools," accompanied by the 
 governor of the province. During the night pre- 
 ceding the examination, or very early on the morning 
 of the day, the graduates, who generally number 
 from six to eight thousand, enter the hall, and each 
 takes possession of the cell set apart for him, and 
 which bears a number correspondent to that on his 
 roll of examination-paper. The cells are built in 
 rows, and are about three feet wide, three and a half 
 deep, and about six feet high. They have neither 
 doors nor windows, and the furniture of each consists 
 only of three or four pieces of wide board, which 
 serve as bench and table during the day and a 
 bedstead by night. Each competitor brings with 
 him food for two days, and on entering is rigorously
 
 102 CHINA. 
 
 searched to see that he has no " cribs " with him. 
 As soon as all are assembled, the doors are locked 
 and sealed, and the examiners having vowed before 
 Heaven that they will act justly, and without fear or 
 favour, in the approaching ordeal, the work begins 
 by the issuing to each student of four texts from the 
 " Four Books," upon which he is expected to write 
 three essays and a poem. Two days are given for 
 the completion of these tasks, and at the end of that 
 time the doors are thrown open, and those who have 
 finished their work pass out under a salute of three 
 guns and the beating of drums. Those who are not 
 ready are allowed a few hours' additional time. 
 
 Meanwhile, on the completion of each essay, it is 
 carried to the assistant examiners, who, if they find 
 any infringement of the canonical laws of composi- 
 tion, cast it aside at once ; on the other hand, if they 
 approve its contents, they mark it with a red circle, 
 and forward a copy of it to the prefect, who, on re- 
 ceiving it, beats the " recommending drum " sus- 
 pended at his office. The original manuscript is in 
 each case handed over to the custody of the governor, 
 the copy only coming before the commissioners, in 
 order to prevent the possibility of their recognising 
 the handwriting of any possibly favoured competitors. 
 After a day's interval the students reassemble, and 
 with the same formalities write four essays and a 
 poem on five texts from the " Five Classics." Again
 
 THE NURTURE OF CHILDREN. 103 
 
 they disperse for twenty-four hours, and a third time 
 take their seats, or at least those of them whose 
 papers have not been thrown out, for the final ordeal. 
 This time they are given six texts on miscellaneous 
 subjects, on which they have to write five essays and 
 a poem. This completes the examination, and the 
 doors having been opened for the last time, the com- 
 petitors, together with the three or four thousand 
 officials and servants who are employed by the 
 government for the regulation and service of the hall, 
 pour out into the city. As soon as the commissioners 
 have satisfied themselves on the relative merits of the 
 papers, they issue a list of the names of those to 
 whom they award the degree of Ku-jin, or Master of 
 Arts. 
 
 To the new Ku-jin the governor of a province 
 offers dubious hospitality in the shape of a feast, 
 known as Luh ming, or Belling of the Deer, a name 
 given to it from the fact, that an ode from the book 
 of poetry bearing that name is chanted on the occa- 
 sion. The elaborate pretensions of this festival are 
 in inverse ratio to its merit, and in exchange for the 
 honour done them, the graduates, at a given signal 
 from the master of ceremonies, bow their heads to 
 the ground three times before their host. Visits 
 are afterwards made to the literary chancellor and 
 other officials connected with the examinations. 
 Immediately on winning their degrees, the graduates
 
 104 CHINA. 
 
 receive from the emperor, at the hands of the pro- 
 vincial treasurer, a suit of clothes and a pair of boots. 
 But these, like the governor's feast, are mere shadows 
 of what they purport to be, and the difference 
 between the value of really good articles and of the 
 trash sent to the graduates remains in the treasurer's 
 pocket. In the same way the money actually spent 
 on conducting the examinations bears no proportion 
 whatever to the amount charged on the imperial 
 exchequer, but not a coin of the unexpended balance 
 ever finds its way back to the treasur}'. 
 
 The successful candidates, on return to their homes, 
 are received with every mark of honour, and the 
 parents-in-law of each give a grand entertainment in 
 commemoration of the event. The honour attaching 
 to literary degrees is so great, and the desire to 
 possess them is so universal, that to suppose that the 
 examinations are, unlike every other institution in 
 China, free from bribery and corruption, is to mis- 
 judge the tendencies of fallen human nature. It is a 
 well known fact that the officials of all grades con- 
 nected with the examinations are not unfrequently 
 susceptible to the claims of friendship and the weighty 
 persuasions of golden arguments. However elaborate 
 may be the arrangements for the prevention of any 
 underhand dealings, there may always be found 
 means by which the essays of certain favoured indi- 
 viduals find their way to the examiner, who is in-
 
 THE NURTURE OF CHILDREN. 105 
 
 terested in the success of the writers. Sometimes 
 again, a candidate, distrustful of his abilities, succeeds, 
 with the connivance of the necessary officials, in 
 passing in a clever writer as a substitute who wins 
 honour for him. If such practices are discovered, the 
 perpetrators are immediately punished ; but the 
 crime mainly consists in being found out. 
 
 The examination for the next degree, of Tsin-sze, 
 is held at Peking, in the spring of the year following 
 that of the Kii-jin degree, and is presided over by a 
 minister of state, an imperial prince, and three other 
 examiners. The Kii-jin assemble to the number of 
 about six thousand, from among whom only about 
 three hundred and fifty are ultimately chosen for the 
 higher honour. These candidates have to undergo a 
 test-examination, known as Fii she, before being 
 allowed to enter at the Hzvny she, or metropolitan 
 competition. Those who are successful in this last 
 trial obtain the provisional title oi Kiuig j-^^", until the 
 time arrives for the Teen she, or palace-examination. 
 On this occasion texts from the Four Books and Five 
 Classics are given out, as at the provincial examina- 
 tion, and the essays are examined by a special com- 
 mission of imperial revisers. The candidate who 
 passes first at this examination receives the title of 
 Chivang-yiien and a post in the Han lin yuen, or 
 " College of the Forest of Pencils," the highest 
 literary body in the empire. The news of his success
 
 io6 CHINA. 
 
 is carried with all speed to his native place, where 
 the announcement is received with universal rejoic- 
 ing, as conferring a lasting honour on the district. 
 The second man receives the title of Pang-yen, or 
 " Eye of the List," a name derived from the idea 
 that he is second to the CJiivang-yuen, as the eye is 
 below the forehead. The third is entitled T'an-hwa, 
 or " searcher for a sprig of the olea fragrans," a plant 
 which is held to symbolise literary success. 
 
 Of the remaining successful candidates about one 
 in three are admitted to the Han-lin College, and the 
 remainder receive the degree of Tsin-sze. Subse- 
 quently a final examination, known as the CJiaou 
 K'aou, or Court-examination, is held in the palace, at 
 which a theme chosen by the emperor is given out to 
 the competitors. Finally, the graduates are admitted 
 to an audience by the emperor, who entertains them 
 at a feast. Those Tsin-sze who are not admitted to 
 the Han-lin College receive appointments either to 
 provincial offices, or to posts in connection with the 
 six Boards. 
 
 These examinations are open to every man in the 
 empire, of whatever grade, unless he belong to one 
 of the following four classes, or be the descendant of 
 one such within three generations : 1st. Prostitutes ; 
 2nd. Actors ; 3rd. Executioners, and the servants of 
 mandarins ; and 4th. Jailors. The theory with regard 
 to these people is, that prostitutes and actors being
 
 THE NURTURE OF CHILDREN. 107 
 
 devoid of all shame, and executioners and jailors 
 having become hardened by the cruel nature of their 
 offices, are unfit, in their own persons, or as represented 
 by their sons, to win posts of honour by means of 
 the examinations. Not long since, an edict appeared 
 in the Peking Gazette, ordering the instant removal 
 from the rank of Kii-jin of a man named Nin 
 Kwang-to, on its being discovered that his father had 
 been a gate-keeper in the yamun of a district 
 magistrate in Kwang-se. " It is contrary to law," 
 said the edict, " that a low official underling should 
 obtain registration in a district other than his own, 
 and thus fraudulently gain access to the privilege of 
 examination ; and it is most necessary that severe 
 punishment should be meted out in this case." If no 
 reward beyond the possession of the degrees attached 
 to the successful candidates at the competitions, the 
 probability is that no great stress would be laid on 
 the enforcement of this regulation ; but the fact that 
 the examination-hall is the only legitimate door to 
 the mandarin's yamun makes it imperative, in the 
 eyes of the law, that shameless and cruel persons 
 should not be allowed to exercise rule over their 
 fellow men. The military examinations are held 
 separately, and though the literary calibre of the 
 candidates is treated much in the same way, as at the 
 civil examinations, the same high standard of know- 
 ledge is not required ; but, in addition, skill in
 
 io8 CHINA. 
 
 archery and in the use of warhke weapons is 
 essential. 
 
 At the first examination, which is held by the 
 magistrates of each district, the candidates are ex- 
 pected to show their proficiency in the use of the 
 bow and arrow on foot. Those who succeed in 
 passing successfully through this ordeal are required 
 to shoot, still with a bow, from the back of a horse 
 galloping at full speed. Three arrows are all that 
 are allowed to the candidate, on each occasion. At 
 the third examination their skill in the use of swords 
 weighing from a hundred to a hundred and eighty 
 pounds, is put to the test, and their strength is further 
 tried by lifting heavy weights and drawing stiff bows. 
 It is illustrative of the backwardness of the Chinese 
 in warlike matters that, though they have been ac- 
 quainted with the use of gunpowder for some cen- 
 turies, they revert, in the examination of militar}' 
 candidates, to the weapons of the ancients, and that 
 while theoretically they are great strategists, strength 
 and skill in the use of these weapons are the only 
 tests required for commissions.
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 FOOD AND DRESS. 
 
 (y^[ N a country covering so 
 large an area as China, 
 with every variety both 
 of climate and soil, it is 
 difficult to generalise on 
 such a subject as the 
 food of the people. 
 And yet in China, 
 owing to the homogeneousness of the 
 inhabitants, there is less difference in this 
 respect than might be expected. To begin 
 with, the staff of life in China is rice. It is 
 eaten and always eaten from north to 
 south and from east to west, except 
 among the very poor people in some of the 
 northern non-rice-producing provinces, where millet 
 takes its place. In all other parts the big bowl 
 of rice forms the staple of the meals eaten
 
 no CHINA. 
 
 by the people, and it is accompanied by vegetables, 
 fish, or meat, according to the circumstances of the 
 household. Among some people there is a disinclina- 
 tion to eat meat owing to the influence of Bud- 
 dhism, which teaches the doctrine of the transmigra- 
 tion of souls, and devout followers of that sect natu- 
 rally avoid partaking of the flesh of any animal, 
 which might possibly have been their dearest de- 
 ceased friend or relation in another form of existence. 
 But the more general reason for the preference of 
 vegetables to meat is that they are cheaper. Im- 
 mense quantities of cabbages, onions, garlic, carrots, 
 cucumbers, tomatoes, and other kinds of vegetables 
 are grown all over the southern provinces of the 
 empire, and there are few families so poor as not to 
 be able to give a relish to their meals by the use of 
 some one or more of these. 
 
 At the cottage meal a basin about the size of a 
 small breakfast-slop-basin is placed opposite each 
 person, and by the side a pair of chop-sticks, while 
 in the middle of the table stands a big bowl of steam- 
 ing rice. Each person fills his basin from this bowl, 
 and, holding it up to his chin with his left hand, he 
 shovels its contents into his mouth with his chop- 
 sticks at an astonishing rate. The chop-sticks are 
 held between the first and second, and the second 
 and third fingers ; and constant practice enables a 
 Chinaman to lift up and hold the minutest atoms of
 
 FOOD AND DRESS. iii 
 
 food, oily and slippery as they often are, with the 
 greatest ease. To most foreigners their skilful use is 
 well nigh impossible, and at the houses of officials 
 and others who are in the habit of entertaining 
 " foreign devils," it has now become the practice, in 
 deference to our awkwardness, to furnish us with 
 knives and forks. But to return to the cottage dinner. 
 Dotted about on the table are small bowls containing 
 vegetables, or fish, or meats, as the case may be, 
 chopped-up fine, and seasoned with soy and other 
 sauces. Each diner helps himself as he is inclined 
 from these common dishes with his chop-sticks 
 between his mouthfuls of rice, and washes all 
 down either with tea or warm water. Cold water 
 is never drunk, as it is considered to be unwhole- 
 some. 
 
 The meats most commonly eaten are pork, mutton, 
 goats' flesh, and beef, besides fowls, ducks, and 
 pheasants, and, in the north, deer and hares. But in 
 some parts of the country it must be confessed that 
 less savoury viands find their place on the dinner- 
 table. In Canton, for example, dried rats have a 
 recognised place in the poulterers' shops, and find a 
 ready market, not only among those who have a 
 taste for them, but also among people who have a 
 tendency to baldness, the flesh of rats being con- 
 sidered an efl*ectual " hair-restorer." Horse-flesh is 
 also exposed for sale, and there are even to be found
 
 CHINA. 
 
 dog and cat restaurants. Describing from personal 
 acquaintance one of these establishments, Archdeacon 
 Gray says in his " China," " The flesh is cut into 
 small pieces, and fried with water- chestnuts and 
 garlic in oil. In the window^ of the restaurant dogs' 
 carcasses are suspended, for the purpose, I suppose, of 
 attracting the attention of passengers. Placards are 
 sometimes placed above the door, setting forth that 
 the flesh of black dogs and cats can be served up at 
 a moment's notice. On the walls of the dining-room 
 there are bills of fare. The following is a transla- 
 tion of one : — 
 
 Cat's flesh, one basin 
 
 Black cat's flesh, one small basin 
 
 Wine, one bottle 
 
 Wine, one small bottle ... 
 
 Congee, one basin 
 
 Ketchup, one basin 
 
 Black dog's grease, i tael, 
 Black cat's eyes, one pair 
 
 10 cents. 
 5 » 
 
 3 » 
 
 tI 
 ■12 J) 
 
 2 cash. 
 
 
 
 4 cents. 
 4 » 
 
 All guests dining at this restaurant are requested 
 to be punctual in their payments." 
 
 The flesh of black dogs and cats, and especially 
 the former, are preferred as being more nutritive ; 
 and on a certain day in the beginning of summer it 
 is customary, in the south of China, for people to 
 partake of dog's flesh to fortify themselves against
 
 FOOD AND DRESS. 113 
 
 the coming heat, and as a preventative against dis- 
 ease. In the province of Shan-tung dog-hams are 
 cured and exported. But the price of these makes 
 their general use prohibitory, and places them within 
 the reach only of wealthy gourmets, who have a taste 
 for this particular food. In the immense encyclo- 
 paedia compiled under the direction of the Emperor 
 K'ang-he there is a receipt for hashed dog, which, by 
 the rmmber of condiments, the quantity of wine, and 
 profusion of adjuncts which are prescribed, indicates 
 that it was made by some one who liked a good dish, 
 and disliked the taste of dog. 
 
 Among the wealthier classes the use of rice is 
 diminished in proportion to the increased quantity of 
 meat or fish eaten^ and at a dinner-party of the better 
 kind it scarcely finds a place. On such an occasion 
 the table is spread with what in Russia would be 
 called Zakuska, or dinette, consisting of numbers of 
 small dishes containing fruits — fresh, dried, and can- 
 died ; chopped eggs ; ham, and other tasty morsels. 
 The feast begins by the host pouring out a libation, 
 and then taking wine generally with his guests, who 
 raise the small wine-cups, which are not much bigger 
 than thimbles, to their lips with the right hand, 
 touching them with the left, and drink off their con- 
 tents. Next follows a succession of courses, each 
 consisting of a single dish, between each of which 
 pipes are handed round and a few whiffs enjoyed. 
 
 I
 
 114 CHINA. 
 
 Frequently the dinner is enlivened by the presence 
 of singing-girls, or a play is performed for the amuse- 
 ment of the guests. In the absence, however, of all 
 such attractions the game of Che-mei, the Italian 
 Mora, sometimes serves to make the inter\-al be- 
 tween the courses seem shorter. Mr. Giles, in his 
 " Chinese Sketches," gives the following •nieftu of a 
 dinner which gives a good idea of the sort of viands 
 offered by a Chinese gentleman to his guests : — 
 
 Sharks' fins with crab sauce. 
 
 Pigeons' eggs stewed with mushrooms. 
 
 Sliced sea-slugs in chicken broth, with ham. 
 
 Wild duck and Shantung cabbage. 
 
 Fried fish. 
 
 Lumps of pork fat fried in rice-flour. 
 
 Stewed lily-roots. 
 
 Chicken mashed to pulp, with ham. 
 
 Stewed bamboo-shoots. 
 
 Stewed shellfish. 
 
 Fried slices of pheasant. 
 
 Mushroom broth. 
 
 Remove. — Two dishes of fried pudding, one sweet, 
 the other salt. 
 
 Sweetened duck. 
 
 Strips of boned chicken fried in oil. 
 
 Boiled fish, with soy. 
 
 Lumps of par-boiled mutton fried in pork fat.
 
 FOOD AND DRESS. 115 
 
 Frogs form a common dish among poor people 
 and are, it is needless to say, very good eating. They 
 are caught with a rod and line, with a young live 
 frog lately emerged from the tadpole stage, as bait. 
 The young frog which is tied on to the line, is 
 bobbed up and down in the water, and it is as a 
 result of their snapping at it, that its elders are jerked 
 out on to the bank. In some parts of the country 
 locusts and grasshoppers are eaten. At T'ientsin men 
 may commonly be seen standing at the corners of 
 the streets frying locusts over portable fires, just as 
 among ourselves chestnuts are cooked at the curb- 
 stone. Ground-grubs, silkworms, and water-snakes 
 are also occasionally treated as food. 
 
 The sea, lakes, and rivers, abound in fish, which 
 are caught in almost as many ways as there are 
 found different species. Cod, mackerel, soles, shark, 
 herring, shad, mullet, crabs, tortoises, turtles, prawns, 
 crawfish, and shrimps, etc., are yielded up by the 
 ocean, while the lakes, ponds, and rivers, swarm with 
 carp, tench, eels, perch, bream, and other kinds. As 
 fish forms a staple food of the people, there is every 
 inducement to perfect the fisherman's art, and the 
 natural ingenuity of Chinamen has enabled them to 
 secure the greatest quantity of fish with the least 
 possible trouble. The net and line are generally 
 used, but in places where it is difficult to drag a net, 
 or where the fish do not easily yield themselves up as 
 
 I 2
 
 u6 CHINA. 
 
 victims to the line, they bring other agencies to bear. 
 On some rivers and lakes cormorants are the chosen 
 instruments for landing the prey. The fisherman 
 launches his raft, which is about two and a half feet 
 wide and about twenty feet long, carrying on it three 
 or four cormorants and a basket for the fish. Each 
 cormorant has a ring loosely fastened round his neck, 
 and when the man has paddled the raft into a likely 
 spot he gently pushes one of the birds into the water. 
 The bird instantly dives, and, having caught his prey, 
 rises to the surface and swims towards the raft. As 
 it approaches; the man throws a landing-net over 
 both the bird and the fish, and lifts them on the raft. 
 Great pains are taken in training the cormorants, 
 and it is seldom that they refuse to obey their master. 
 Occasionally they show considerable intelligence, and 
 two or three have been known to help to secure fish 
 too large for a single bird. 
 
 On some rivers fishermen use, at night, a long, low 
 boat, having a white varnished board inclining from 
 the side to the water. As the boat is propelled along 
 in the moonlight, a stone which is towed alongside, 
 of course below the surface, makes a rushing noise, 
 which so alarms the fish that, attracted by the var- 
 nished board they spring at it, and generally over it 
 into the boat. The fear felt by fish at noise, and the 
 attraction exercised over them by light is well known, 
 and trading on these peculiarities. Chinamen drive
 
 FOOD AND DRESS. 117 
 
 them, by beating the water, into nets set for their 
 reception. Sometimes, at night, a circular net is 
 thrown off from boats. In the centre a boat is sta- 
 tioned, on the bows of which a bright fire is kept 
 burning. The other boats surround the outside of 
 the circle at some little distance, and their occupants 
 beat the water with bamboo poles. The fish, frigh- 
 tened by the noise, and attracted by the fire, swim 
 into the net, and their fate is sealed. Spearing fish 
 with tridents is also common, and sharp, unbaited 
 hooks, attached to lines fastened to floating buoys, 
 are thrown into lakes and rivers, so as to catch any 
 fish which may swim against them. 
 
 All fishing-boats of any size have tanks of water 
 on board, into which the fish are thrown the instant 
 they are caught, and are then carried fresh to market, 
 where the same care is generally taken to keep them 
 alive until they find purchasers. But Chinamen are 
 not content to depend entirely on the open water for 
 their supply of fish. They breed large quantities 
 themselves. The spring tides bring up the rivers 
 fish, which deposit their spawn among the grass and 
 rushes growing at the edge of the water. As soon as 
 the young fish appear, they are caught in nets, and 
 put into tanks in boats, where they are most carefully 
 fed and tended until they are large enough to be 
 transferred to the ponds prepared for them. Here 
 they are fed with paste and the yokes of hard-boiled
 
 ii8 CHINA. 
 
 eggs, and arc, eventually, drawn out to repay their 
 nurses for the trouble they have had in rearing them. 
 
 Oysters and cockles are also regularly fished for, 
 and form a common article of food, and so with 
 mussels, which, however, are sometimes turned into 
 another source of gain. When fresh caught, minute 
 images of Budda are put into the shell, and the 
 mussels are thrown into ponds, where they are 
 allowed to remain for some time. On being fished 
 up again and opened, the little images are found 
 covered with a coating of mother-of-pearl, and, in 
 this state, find a ready sale among the superstitious. 
 In the same way artificial pearls are produced. 
 
 The same care in the production of fish is exten- 
 ded to that of ducks and poultry. Not only are 
 ducks bred in great quantities in the usual way, but 
 eggs are artificially hatched in immense numbers. 
 As soon as the ducklings make their appearance, 
 they are sold to men who make it their business to 
 rear them and prepare them for the market. Many 
 thousands are often to be seen in an establishment 
 of this sort. Sometimes the purchaser is owner of a 
 duck-boat, on which he keeps his numerous broods. 
 Once or twice a day he lands them on the river- 
 bank to feed, and they soon learn to walk without 
 hesitation, along a plank to and fro from the boat to 
 the shore. Immense quantities are thus reared on 
 the rivers in China, as a proof of which Archdeacon
 
 FOOD AND DRESS. ng 
 
 Gray mentions that after a severe typhoon at 
 Canton in 1862, during which a number of duck- 
 boats were upset, the ducks released from captivity 
 were so numerous, " that for upwards of a mile 
 the surface of the Canton River was crowded 
 with them." Poultry-farms are also numerous and 
 large. The eggs are never eaten as among ourselves, 
 but, when intended for the table, are boiled hard 
 and preserved by one of several processes until they 
 are six weeks or two months old, when they are 
 considered ready for use. 
 
 No use whatever is made of cow's milk by the 
 Chinese, though, occasionally, human milk is given 
 to old people as a restorative. The Mongolians, 
 however, use it freely, and make a kind of rancid 
 butter from it of which they are very fond, a 
 conclusive proof of the wide gulf which separates, 
 their tastes from ours. 
 
 In matters of dress, with one or two exceptions,^ 
 the Chinese must be acknowledged to have used 
 a wise discretion. They wear nothing that is tight- 
 fitting, and make a greater difference between 
 their summer and winter-clothing than is customary^ 
 among ourselves. The usual dress in summer of a 
 coolie is a loose-fitting pair of cotton trousers, and an 
 equally loose jacket; but the same man in winter 
 will be seen wearing quilted cotton clothes, or, if he 
 should be an inhabitant of the northern provinces, a
 
 I20 CHINA. 
 
 sheepskin robe, superadded to an abundance of warm 
 clothing intermediate between it and his shirt. By 
 the wealthier classes silk, linen, and silk gauze are 
 much worn in the summer, and woollen or more or 
 less handsome fur clothes in the winter. Among 
 such people it is customary, except in the seclusion 
 of their homes, to wear, both in summer and winter, 
 long tunics coming down to the ankles. Often these 
 are fastened round the waist by a belt, to which are 
 attached a number of ornamented appendages, such 
 as a purse, snuff-bottle, tobacco-pouch, etc. The 
 sleeves of the tunics are made long enough to cover 
 the hands, and partly serve the purposes of pockets. 
 The expression "a sleeve-full of snuff" is not at all 
 uncommon in Chinese poetry, and small editions of 
 books, especially of the classics, are called " sleeve- 
 editions," in reference probably to the practice, com- 
 mon to candidates at the examinations, of concealing 
 " cribs " in their sleeves. 
 
 In summer non-ofificial Chinamen leave their heads 
 uncovered, and, though thus unprotected from the 
 effects of the sun, do not seem to suffer any incon- 
 venience from the great heat. Occasionally coolies 
 doing heavy work, fasten a fan so as to ward off the 
 sun's rays by means of their queues, which are then 
 wound round their heads, instead of being allowed to 
 hang down the back in the ordinary way. 
 
 The dress of the mandarins is strictly defined by
 
 FOOD AND DRESS. 
 
 sumptuary laws, and their ranks are distinguished by- 
 badges worn on the breast and back of their robes, 
 and by the knobs or buttons fixed on the top of the 
 cap. The civilian badges are all representations of 
 birds, while those worn by military men, as indicating 
 the fierceness of their nature, are likenesses of beasts. 
 Thus the first of the ten civilian ranks wears a Man- 
 churian crane ; the second, a golden pheasant ; the 
 third, a peacock ; the fourth, a wild goose ; the fifth, 
 a silver pheasant ; the sixth, a lesser eyret ; the 
 seventh, a mandarin duck ; the eighth, a quail ; the 
 ninth, a long-tailed jay ; and the tenth, an oriole. 
 The military officers have only nine insignia, which 
 are as follows : — First, the unicorn ; second, the lion ; 
 third, the leopard ; fourth, the tiger ; fifth, the black 
 bear ; sixth, the mottled bear or tiger cat ; seventh, 
 the tiger cat ; eighth, the seal ; and ninth, the 
 rhinoceros. 
 
 Since the establishment of the present dynasty, 
 distinguishing buttons have been added to the caps 
 in the case of both civil and military mandarins, 
 and these are distributed among the nine ranks in 
 the following order : — The first two, red coral ; the 
 third, clear blue ; the fourth, lapis lazuli ; the fifth, 
 quartz crystal ; the sixth, opaque white stone ; and 
 the last three, gilt. In cases where the same coloured 
 stone is worn by two ranks, that on the cap of the 
 inferior one is carved, the Chinaman having the taste
 
 122 CHIXA. 
 
 to consider the plain stone the most distinguished. 
 In the same way the emperor wears a pearl on his 
 cap, and this, together with the remainder of his attire, 
 is quite plain and unadorned. On the approach of 
 summer an edict is issued fixing the day upon which 
 the summer-costume is to be adopted throughout 
 the empire, and again, as winter draws near, the time 
 for putting on the winter-dress is announced in the 
 same formal manner. Fine straw or bamboo forms 
 the material of the summer-hat, the outside of which 
 is covered with fine silk, over which falls a tassel of 
 red silk cords from the top. At this season also the 
 thick silk robes and hea\y padded jackets worn in 
 winter are exchanged for light silk or satin tunics. 
 The winter-cap has a turned-up brim, and is covered 
 with satin, with a black cloth lining, and as in the 
 case of the summer-cap a tassel of red silk covers 
 the entire crown. 
 
 The wives of mandarins wear the same embroidered 
 insignia on their dresses as their husbands, and their 
 style of dress, as well as that of Chinese women 
 generally, bears a resemblance to the attire of the 
 men. They wear a loose-fitting tunic which reaches 
 below the knee, and trousers which are dra^\■n in at 
 the ankle after the bloomer fashion. On state occa- 
 sions they wear a richly embroidered petticoat coming 
 down to the feet, which hangs square both before and 
 behind, and is plaited at the sides like a Highlander's
 
 FOOD AND DRESS. 
 
 123 
 
 kilt. The mode of doing the hair varies in almost 
 every province. At Canton the women of the people 
 plaster their back-hair with a kind of bandoline, into 
 
 TYPES OF CHINESE GIRLS. 
 
 the shape of a tea-pot handle, and adorn the sides 
 with pins and ornaments, while the young girls pro- 
 claim their unmarried state by cutting their hair in a
 
 124 CHINA. 
 
 fringe across their foreheads after a fashion not 
 unknown among ourselves. In most parts of the 
 country, flowers, natural when obtainable, and artifi- 
 cial when not so, are largely used to deck out the 
 head-dresses, and considerable taste is shown in the 
 choice of colours and the manner in which they are 
 arranged. Thus far there is nothing to find fault 
 with in female fashion in China, but the same cannot 
 be said of the way in which they treat their faces 
 and feet. In many countries the secret art of remov- 
 ing traces of the ravages of time with the paint-brush 
 has been and is practised ; but by an extravagant, and 
 to European eyes hideous use of pigments and cos- 
 metics, Chinese girls not only conceal the fresh com- 
 plexion of youth, but produce those very disfigure- 
 ments which furnish the only possible excuse for 
 artificial complexions. Their poets also have de- 
 clared that a woman's eyebrows should be arched 
 like a rainbow or shaped like a willow-leaf, and the 
 consequence is that, wishing to act up to the ideal 
 thus pictured. Chinawomen with the help of tweezers, 
 remove all the hairs of their eyebrows which straggle 
 the least out of the required line, and when the task 
 becomes impossible even with the help of these 
 instruments, the paint-brush or a stick of charcoal is 
 brought into requisition. Altogether the face of a 
 bedizened Chinese lady is a miserable sight. The 
 ghastly white of the plastered complexion, the
 
 FOOD AND DRESS. 
 
 125 
 
 ruddled cheeks, the artificial eyebrows, and the 
 brilliantly painted lips may, as the abstract picture of 
 a poet's brain, be admirable, but when seen in the 
 concrete, can in no sense be called other than repul- 
 sive. A comparison of one such painted lily 
 with the natural, healthy complexion, bright eyes, 
 laughing lips, and dimpled cheeks of a Canton 
 boat girl, for example, is enough to vindicate 
 Nature's claim to superiority over art a thousand- 
 fold. 
 
 But the chief offence of Chinese women is in the 
 matter of their feet. Even on the score of fashion 
 it is difficult to excuse a practice which in the first 
 instance causes great and continued pain, and affects 
 injuriously the physique of the victims during the 
 whole of their lives. Various explanations are 
 current as to the origin of the custom of deforming 
 the women's feet. Some say that it is an attempt 
 servilely to imitate the peculiarly shaped foot of a 
 certain beautiful empress ; others that it is a device 
 intended to act as a restraint on the gadding-about 
 tendencies of women. But, however that may be, 
 the practice is universal except among the Manchoos 
 and the Hakka population at Canton. The feet are 
 first bound when the child is about five years old. 
 The four smaller toes are bent under the foot, and 
 the instep is forced upwards and backwards. At the 
 same time, the shoes worn, having high heels, the foot
 
 126 
 
 CHINA. 
 
 becomes as it were clubbed and loses all elasticity. 
 The consequence is that the women walk as on pegs, 
 and the calf of the leg having no exercise shrivels up. 
 The degree of severity, however, with which the feet 
 
 %\^x'^r^^ 
 
 are bound, differs widely in the various, ranks of 
 society, and women in the humbler walks of life 
 are often able to move about with ease. Most ladies, 
 on the other hand, arc practically debarred from
 
 FOOD AND DRESS. 
 
 127 
 
 walking at all, and are dependent on their sedan- 
 chairs, and sometimes even on the backs of their at- 
 tendants, for all locomotion beyond their own doors. 
 But even in this case habit becomes a second nature. 
 
 and fashion triumphs over sense. No mother, how- 
 ever keen may be her recollection of her sufferings 
 as a child, or however conscious she may be of the 
 inconveniences and ills arisincr from her deformed
 
 128 CHINA. 
 
 feet, would ever dream of saving her own child from 
 like immediate torture and permanent evil. Further, 
 there is probably less excuse for such a practice in 
 China than in any other country-, for the hands and 
 feet of both men and women are naturally both small 
 and finely shaped. But there is no idol which it is 
 more difficult to overthrow than established custom, 
 and there must needs be a complete revolution in the 
 national tastes and ideas before the much-perse- 
 cuted Chinese women will be allowed free use of 
 the very pretty feet with which nature has endowed 
 them. 
 
 The male analogue of the women's compressed 
 feet is the shaven forepart of the head and the plaited 
 queue. The custom of thus treating the hair was 
 imposed on the people by the first emperor of the 
 present dynasty (1644). Up to that time the Chinese 
 had allowed the hair to grow long, and were in the 
 habit of drawing it up into a tuft on the topof the head. 
 The introduction of the queue at the bidding of the 
 Manchurian conqueror was intended as a badge of 
 conquest, and as such was at first unwillingly adopted 
 by the people. For nearly a century the natives of 
 outlying parts of the Empire refused to submit their 
 heads to the razor, and in many districts the authori- 
 ties rewarded converts to the new way by presents of 
 money. As the custom spread, these bribes were 
 discontinued, and the converse action of treating
 
 FOOD AND DRESS. 129 
 
 those who refused to conform with severity, com- 
 pleted the conversion of the empire. At the present 
 day every Chinaman who is not in open rebelHon to 
 the throne shaves his head, with the exception of the 
 crown, where the hair is allowed to grow to its full 
 length. This hair is carefully plaited, and falls down 
 the back forming what is commonly known as the 
 " pig-tail." Great pride is taken, especially in the 
 south, in having as long and as thick a queue as 
 possible, and when nature has been niggardly in her 
 supply of natural growth, the deficiency is supple- 
 mented by the insertion in the plait of silk. The 
 northerners are less given to this form of vanity 
 than their southern brethren, and are as a rule con- 
 tent only to tie the ends of the queue plaits with a 
 piece of silk. But among all classes great value is 
 attached to the possession of the queue, and in 
 the commonest forms of abuse there is generally 
 claimed for the object of opprobium, an additional 
 title to infamy in the assertion that he is zvoo peeii, 
 " tail-less." 
 
 As a general rule the head is shaved about once in 
 ten days, though men who are particular as to their 
 appearance do not allow their hair to grow half that 
 time. As it is impossible for a man to shave his ov/n 
 head, the barber's trade is a large and flourishing one, 
 and is carried on in shops, and in the streets by 
 itinerant barbers, who carry suspended at the two 
 
 K
 
 130 
 
 CHINA. 
 
 ends of a bamboo slung on the shoulders, all the 
 implements of their trade, together with a stool for 
 the customer to sit upon during the operation. 
 Among the rich it is customary to summon a barber 
 to their houses, and to most large yamuns there is a 
 
 member of the fraternity attached, who gains his 
 livelihood by keeping the heads of the occupants in 
 order. The Chinese razor consists of a short blade, 
 somewhat in the shape of a rounded isosceles triangle
 
 FOOD AND DRESS. 
 
 131 
 
 the long side being the edge. Hot water instead of 
 soap is used to facilitate the operation of shaving, 
 which is extended to the down on the cheeks. A 
 Chinaman's face is singularly devoid of hair. Whiskers 
 are very seldom seen, and the mustache is only 
 
 allowed to grow after a man has arrived at the age 
 of forty or upwards. On the occasion of the death 
 of a near relative, it is customary to allow the hair to 
 grow for a time as a sign of mental distraction 
 
 K 2
 
 132 
 
 CHINA. 
 
 from excessive grief, and on the death of an emperor 
 an edict is usually issued forbidding barbers to pFy 
 their trade for a space of a hundred days.
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 AGRICULTURE. 
 
 iUT though trade practic- 
 ally holds its place as 
 next in estimation to the 
 mandarinate, in theory it 
 should follow both the 
 careers of husbandry and 
 of the mechanical arts. 
 From time immemorial 
 the Chinese have held 
 agriculture in the highest 
 esteem as being the 
 means by which the soil has been induced 
 to supply the primary want of the people 
 of the empire— food. All land is held in 
 freehold from the Government, and princi- 
 pally by clans, or families, who pay an 
 annual tax to the Crown amounting to about 
 one-tenth of the produce. On the death 
 of the proprietor of a property it descends
 
 134 CHINA. 
 
 to his eldest son, but his possession is hampered b}' 
 the law, which permits all his younger brothers and 
 their families to settle on parts of the inheritance. 
 Veiy often an arrangement is arrived at by which the 
 cadets are bought off, but otherwise the heir has to 
 submit, nolens volens, to their presence. On the occa- 
 sion of a property changing hands, the fact has to 
 be registered at the office of the district magistrate, 
 and the new owner becomes responsible for the pay- 
 ment of the Crown-tax. As long as this tax is paid 
 regularly, the owners are never dispossessed, and 
 properties thus remain in the hands of clans and 
 families for many generations. 
 
 In order to see that farming-operations are pro- 
 perly conducted, agricultural boards are established 
 in almost every district, consisting of old men learned 
 in agriculture. By these veterans a careful watch is 
 kept over the work done by the neighbouring farmers^ 
 and in case of any dereliction of duty, or neglect 
 of the prescribed modes of farming, the offender is 
 summoned before the district magistrate, who inflicts 
 the punishment which he considers proportionate to 
 his offence. It is illustrative of the mechanical in- 
 genuity of the Chinese, as well as of their absence of 
 scientific knowledge, that their appliances for irrigating 
 the fields and winnowing the corn are excellent, 
 while those for getting the most out of land are of 
 a rude and primitive kind. The plough, which is
 
 AGRICULTURE. 135 
 
 generally drawn by a buffalo or ox, does scarcely 
 more than scratch the earth, and even this is only 
 used in the large fields, the farmers of small en- 
 closures being content to break up the surface soil 
 with their hoes. Spades find no place among the 
 weapons of farmers and gardeners, who also know 
 nothing of wheelbarrows for agricultural purposes. 
 A small harrow is used to break up the clods left 
 by the plough or hoe, and a reaping-hook gathers 
 in the crops which grow up from the scarcely-turned 
 soil. The absence of good farming in this respect 
 naturally necessitates, in most parts, the constant 
 employment of manure, which is applied frequently 
 and in great quantities. The varieties are endless, 
 being not only those of the kinds employed among 
 ourselves, but consist also of the sweepings from the 
 streets, feathers of birds, the refuse hair from barbers' 
 shops, the remnants of exploded crackers, etc. 
 
 Of course, the climate and the nature of a district 
 determine the kind of farming appropriate to it. 
 Agriculturally, China may be said to be divided into 
 two parts by the Yang-tsze Keang. South of that 
 river, speaking generally, the soil and climate point to 
 the rice as appropriate crop, while to the north lie vast 
 plains which as clearly are best designed for growing 
 corn. Over the huge tract of loess country in northern 
 China, little or no cultivation is necessary, neither 
 is the use of manure required. A sufficient scratching
 
 136 CHINA. 
 
 of the light friable soil, to enable the farmer to sow 
 his seed, is all that is needed in favourable years to 
 secure a good crop. But throughout Nature there 
 are always disadvantageous circumstances, or contin- 
 gencies, attached to otherwise exceptionally favoured 
 spots. And this " Garden of China " is dependent 
 for its fruits on the fall of frequent showers. Water 
 runs so quickly through the soil, that all traces and 
 effects of the heaviest rains soon disappear, and a 
 constant succession of temperate downfalls form> 
 therefore, the kind of moisture best suited to it. 
 When these fail, the crops fall off, and after such 
 dry seasons, as those lately past, famine necessarily 
 follows. The surface being far above the water-level 
 irrigation is next to impossible, and the soil, dried to 
 a fine powder, blows away, leaving the seeds exposed 
 to the destructive influences of the sun and wind. 
 On the alluvial plain of Chih-li the crops are not as 
 large as those gathered on the loess in a good year, 
 but on the other hand they are not liable to the same 
 extreme vicissitudes. The late drought was as severe 
 in Chih-li as in Shanse,but the extremity of want was 
 much more severely felt in the latter province, and 
 in those others covered with loess, than in Chih-li. 
 Millet and Indian corn are largely grown in the 
 northern half of the empire as well as wheat and 
 barley. 
 
 An entirely different system of agriculture is pur-
 
 AGRICULTURE. 137 
 
 sued in the cultivation of rice. The rice-fields are 
 fenced in with low banks, the surface of soil being 
 kept as much on a level as possible. Manure in 
 large quantities is first of all strewn over the fields, 
 which are then flooded with water. When in this 
 condition the farmer wades on to the ground with 
 his plough and buffalo, and turns up the slush and 
 mud until the manure has become thoroughly mixed 
 with the soil. His next object is to discover, by- 
 means of his almanac, or by the advice of a fortune- 
 teller, a propitious day for sowing his seed. This is 
 not sown generally over the field, but in one corner 
 of it, and the plants, as soon as they have grown 
 to a sufficient size, are transplanted out in straight 
 rows. 
 
 The necessity for a copious supply of water con- 
 tinues during the early growth of the plant, and as 
 this supply is not by any means always obtainable 
 from the usual resources of nature, artificial irrigation 
 has to be largely resorted to. In securing the constant 
 supply of water thus needed, the mechanical genius 
 of the people has full play, and the contrivances 
 invented and employed by them are ingenious and 
 effective. If the difference of level between the supply 
 of water, be it either a river or a pond, and the field 
 to be irrigated, is but slight, a bucket held between two 
 men, by ropes attached to its side, is commonly used. 
 The men stand on the bank of the field, and by a
 
 138 CHINA. 
 
 constantly swinging motion fill the bucket and empty 
 it on to the soil. When the dififerencc of level is such 
 as to make this plan impossible a water-wheel and 
 an endless chain-pump are used. This ingenious 
 contrivance is thus described by Mr. Doolittle : — 
 " One end of the box in which the chain, or rather 
 rope, and its buckets pass, is placed at an angle of 
 forty-five degrees, more or less, with the river, canal, 
 or pond, whence the water is to be brought upon the 
 neighbouring fields. This box is open at the top 
 and both ends, and made very strong and light, one 
 man carrying the whole apparatus with ease on his 
 shoulders. The chain, with its buckets, passes over a 
 horizontal shaft, which is supported by two perpen- 
 dicular posts. One or more persons, steadying them- 
 selves by leaning upon a horizontal .pole four or five 
 feet higher than the shaft, and by walking or stepping 
 briskly on short radiating arms, cause it to revolve 
 on its axis, bringing up the water, which pours out of 
 the upper end of the box. The faster the men 
 walk, or step, the greater the quantity of water 
 pumped up." 
 
 In some parts of the country oxen or donkeys are 
 employed to turn the water-wheels, by means of hori- 
 zontal clogged wheels which turn the shaft over 
 which the buckets pass. Occasionally, when prac- 
 ticable, a stream supplies the motive-power, which 
 transports a portion of itself to the field above. When
 
 AGRICULTURE. 139 
 
 the supply of water has to be drawn from a well, 
 an upright post, some ten or twelve feet high, is 
 fixed near it, on which a long cross-beam is balanced. 
 From one end of this beam hangs a bucket, while 
 on the other extremity is fastened a weight, generally 
 a large stone, which is so regulated, that the only 
 exertion required is to lower the bucket into the 
 well. The stone at the end of the beam brings the 
 bucket to the surface by its weight, and the water 
 is then emptied into a conduit which carries it to 
 the field or garden where it is required. 
 
 The crop is generally fit to cut in a hundred days 
 after the seed is put in. When it is cut, as it generally 
 is, close to the ground, a sickle is used, and the 
 sheaves are bound up and put into shocks, as corn 
 is among ourselves; but in some parts of the country 
 only the ears are reaped, and when this is the case, 
 the reaper drags after him a basket on a small 
 wheeled truck, into which he throws the cars as he 
 severs them with a knife. 
 
 The act of threshing is performed in different ways, 
 in different parts of the country. Sometimes the 
 thresher takes a double handful of the corn, and 
 strikes it against the bars of an open frame in such a 
 way that the grain falls through to the ground ; some- 
 times, instead of an open frame, a tub is used, against 
 the inside of which the corn is struck. In other 
 places the corn is carried to a carefully swept
 
 140 CHINA. 
 
 threshing-floor, and is then threshed out with 
 flails. Not unfrequently, also, the corn is trodden 
 out by buffaloes, mules, or ponies, or is separated 
 from the ear by means of rollers drawn by beasts of 
 draught. Winnowing, in its most primitive form, is 
 practised by many of the smaller farmers. A windy 
 day is chosen to throw the grain and husks up in the 
 air from the threshing-floor, with the usual result. 
 But quite as generally, machines, not unlike those in 
 use among ourselves are used. Most of these are 
 turned by hand, but others draw their motive power 
 either from water-wheels, or from oxen or donkeys. 
 The mills for grinding the corn are worked by the 
 same agencies. Tobacco, beans, tea-oil, sweet pota- 
 toes, turnips, onions, fruits, and tea, are among the 
 best-known products of Southern China. 
 
 The tea-plant, which resembles a whortle-berr}', is 
 grown from seed which is gathered in the winter 
 months, and dried in the sun. In the beginning of 
 the following spring the seeds are moistened and 
 dried again, until they begin to sprout, when they are 
 lightly covered with earth. As soon as the plants 
 have grown four or five inches in height they are trans- 
 planted to the plantations, where they are arranged 
 in rows at a distance of two or three feet apart. No 
 manure is used in the cultivation, but great care is 
 taken to keep the ground clear from weeds. The 
 blossom is white, and is not unlike the orange flower,
 
 AGRICULTURE. 141 
 
 and blooms in November. The plant itself, which 
 is an evergreen, is allowed to grow to heights varying 
 with the necessities of the plantations. In high and 
 exposed positions the plant is kept low, that it may- 
 avoid injury from storms and wind, while in more 
 sheltered places it reaches the height of six or eight 
 feet. The first crop of leaves is gathered from it at 
 the end of the third year, but care is taken not to 
 exhaust the plant by stripping it too closely. Thrice 
 in the year the leaves are picked, in the third, fifth, 
 and eighth months. The best leaves are the young 
 ones, and, as the youngest are first picked, the earliest 
 gathering is the best. Women and children are 
 mainly employed in this work. Having been first 
 dried in the sun, the leaves are then trodden out by 
 naked-footed labourers, in order to break the fibres 
 and extract the moisture. This done, they are heaped 
 up. and allowed to heat for some hours, until they 
 have become a reddish-brown colour. They are next 
 rolled up by the hand, and are afterwards again ex- 
 posed to the sun should the w^eather be propitious, 
 but if not, they are slowly baked over charcoal fires. 
 
 With this process their preparation for the market 
 is complete, and they pass from the hands of the 
 growers to those of the native merchants. By these 
 purchasers they are carefully sifted, the leaves of dif- 
 ferent sizes and ages are separated, and the stems 
 and damaged leaves are removed. They are then
 
 142 
 
 CHIXA. 
 
 thoroughly dried in iron pans over slow fires, and are 
 shipped to Europe and America. These processes 
 differ slightly in the case of some teas, but they are 
 all dried, trodden on, baked, and rolled, excepting 
 green tea, which is not dried in the sun, but is fired, 
 
 and is rubbed with the hands instead of being trodden 
 on. The principal kinds of tea exported are Congou, 
 which is grown in the provinces of Hoonan and 
 Kwang-tung ; Souchong, the best of which is pro-
 
 AGRICULTURE. 
 
 143 
 
 duced in the north-eastern part of the province of 
 Fuh-keen ; Flowery Pekoe and Oolong, or " Black 
 dragon," which also comes from Fuh-keen ; scented 
 
 Orange Pekoe and scented capers from Kwang-tung 
 and Fuh-keen ; and green tea from the neighbourhood
 
 144 CHINA. 
 
 of Wooyucn in Keang-sc. Tea is drunk universally 
 throughout the empire by all except those who are too 
 poor to buy it ; but this was not always the case. In 
 some places, as at Hang-chow, for example, wine- 
 shops used to be as numerous as tea-shops are now. 
 To the honour of the temperance of the people it is to 
 be said, that when tea-shops were first introduced, 
 they were received with such favour, that the publi- 
 cans had to shut up their establishments. The price 
 of teas in the country varies enormously, the common 
 kinds being very cheap, while some of the choicest 
 sorts fetch among native epicures such prices as make 
 the export of them impossible. The orthodox way 
 of making tea is to put a pinch of the leaves into a 
 cup and to pour boiling water on them, the drinker 
 being protected from swallowing the leaves by an 
 inverted saucer, which covers the cup, and which is so 
 held as to keep back the leaves during the act of 
 drinking. Among ser\-ants and the poorer classes, 
 however, when tea has to be made for a number of 
 persons, tea-pots are used, and the landlords of way- 
 side inns, and charitable people who seek to win for 
 themselves a happy future, by attending to the com- 
 forts of travellers here on earth, provide at stations 
 along the high-road brews of the compound in large 
 vessels. 
 
 In point of antiquity the use of tea cannot com- 
 pare with the cultivation of silk. History tells us that
 
 AGRICULTURE. 145 
 
 Se-ling she, the wife of Shin-nung (B.C. 2737-2697), was 
 ■the first spinner of silk and weaver of cloth, for which 
 discovery she has been canonised, and is annually- 
 worshipped on a certain day in the ninth month. On 
 that occasion the empress and her ladies worship at 
 her shrine, and just as the emperor sets an example 
 •of industry to the agriculturists throughout the 
 empire, by ploughing a piece of land at the opening 
 of spring, so the empress and her court stimulate the 
 -busy fingers of Chinese housewives, by going through 
 the form of collecting mulberry-leaves, feeding the 
 palace silk-worms, and winding off some cocoons of 
 silk. 
 
 The eastern central and southern provinces of the 
 empire are the home of the silk industry. There the 
 mulberry-trees flourish, and there the climate best 
 suits the insects. Great care is taken by the breeders 
 in the choice and matching of the cocoons, and un- 
 healthy or in any way deformed moths are destroyed 
 as soon as they free themselves from their shells. 
 " The number of eggs which one moth lays," says 
 Archdeacon Gray, " is generally five hundred, and 
 the period required for her to perform so great a 
 labour is, I believe, about seventy-four hours. The 
 females often die almost immediately after they have 
 laid their eggs, and the males do not long survive 
 them. The Qgg of the silk-worm, which is of a 
 whitish or pale ash colour, is not larger than a grain 
 
 L
 
 146 CHINA. 
 
 of mustard-seed. When eighteen days old the eggs 
 are carefully washed with spring-water. The sheet 
 of coarse paper or piece of cloth on which they arc 
 laid, and to which they adhere, is very gently drawn 
 through spring-water contained in a wooden or 
 earthenware bowl. During the autumnal months 
 the eggs are carefully kept in a cool chamber, the 
 sheets of paper or pieces of cloth being suspended 
 back to back from bamboo-rods placed in a hori- 
 zontal position. In the tenth month of the Chinese 
 year .... the sheets are rolled up, and then de- 
 posited in a room, which is well swept, and free from 
 all noxious influences. On the third day of the 
 twelfth month the eggs are again washed, and then 
 exposed in the air to dry. In the spring of the year, 
 the eggs being now ready to be brought forth, the 
 sheets are placed on mats, and each mat placed on a 
 bamboo shelf, in a well-swept and well-warmed 
 chamber, containing a series of shelves arranged 
 along the walls. The shelves are almost invariably 
 made of bamboo, the wood of Avhich emits no 
 fragrance, aromatic wood being especially avoided 
 as unsuitable for the purpose." 
 
 As soon as the worms are hatched they are carefully 
 tended and fed. Twice every hour during the first 
 few days of their existence, they are given chopped 
 mulberry-leaves. Gradually this number of meals is 
 reduced to three or four in the day, when occasionally
 
 AGRICULTURE. 147 
 
 green-pea, black-bean, or rice-flour is mixed with 
 their staple food. On the fourth or fifth day of their 
 lives they fall into a sleep known among the Chinese 
 as the " hair sleep," which lasts for twenty-four hours. 
 Twice again, after similar periods, they enjoy long 
 slumbers, and on the twenty-second day a deep sleep 
 of still longer duration overtakes them. During these 
 periods of rest the worms cast their skins, and finally 
 reach their full size at the end of a month, when they 
 appear of a deep yellow colour, and about the thick- 
 ness of a man's little finger. After arriving at 
 maturity the worms cease to eat, and begin to spin. 
 As the silk issues from their mouths they move 
 their heads from side to side, and thus envelope 
 themselves in cocoons. When completely enclosed, 
 they fall into a state of coma, and become chrysales. 
 The shelves on which they are, are then placed near a 
 fire to kill the chrysalids, which, when accomplished, 
 the silk is unwound and the chrysalids are eaten. 
 
 As many superstitions surround the cultivation 
 of silkworms, as encumber every other occupation 
 in China, and, as might be expected, most of 
 them are founded on natural causes. Such are 
 the beliefs based on the silkworm's love of clean- 
 liness, that persons, before entering the room where 
 they are kept, should be sprinkled with water in 
 which mulberry-leaves have been soaked ; that no 
 fish should on any account be brought into the 
 
 I. 2
 
 143 CHINA. 
 
 chamber; that no woman who is pregnant, or who 
 has lately become a mother, should have anythhig to 
 do with them ; and that no one smelling of wine, 
 ginger, garlic, or anything aromatic, should approach 
 them. Speaking generally, the male principle is 
 believed to be congenial to them, and the female 
 principle to be the reverse. If this be really so, they 
 are most unfortunate insects, since they are attended 
 to almost exclusively by women and girls. They are 
 said also to be peculiarly susceptible to thunder, and 
 to all sudden and violent noises. 
 
 The looms for weaving the silk are simple in con- 
 struction, and are similar to the hand-looms used in 
 Europe. The principal seats of the silk manufacture 
 are Soo-chow, Hang-chow, Nanking, and Canton. The 
 three first-named places are noted for the beauty of 
 their silk stuffs, and they are those from which the 
 imperial palace receives its annual stores of silks and 
 satins. The Peking Gazette acknowledged the receipt 
 from Soo-chow, in 1877, of a thousand rolls of satin 
 for the Board of Revenue, and for the palace three 
 hundred and seventy rolls of satin, three thousand 
 four hundred rolls of silk gauze, six hundred large 
 handkerchiefs, eight hundred catties of sewing-silk, 
 five hundred catties of white silk, and three thousand 
 pieces of fine calico ; while at the same time the 
 superintendent of the imperial manufactory at Nan- 
 king reported the completion of an order for five
 
 AGRICULTURE. 149 
 
 hundred rolls of yellow brocaded satin. Canton is 
 famous for its gauzes, and Pak-kow, in the province 
 of Kwang-tung, for its crape shawls. 
 
 Besides the cultivated silkworms, there is, in less 
 favoured parts of the empire, a kind known as 
 " the wild silkworm," which feeds as surrounding cir- 
 cumstances determine, on either the leaves of the pep- 
 per-tree, or the ash, or a particular kind of oak. This 
 species is far less manageable than its mulberry-fed 
 relative, and is infinitely more hardy. Much less 
 trouble is bestowed on the worms by the breeders 
 but though the return of silk they yield is consider- 
 able, it is not to be compared with the other kind, 
 either in beauty or fineness. In the province of 
 Shan-tung a great quantity of Nankeen silk is made 
 from the cocoons spun by the " wild silkworms " of 
 that province, and in Sze-chuen a large trade is 
 carried on in silk similarly manufactured. Though 
 inferior in quality to that grown in eastern China, 
 yet in strength and durability Sze-chuen silk is far 
 superior to it, and is able to compete successfully 
 with it in the market. Being purely a Chinese 
 product, silk was introduced into Europe by its 
 native name (Sze), which it still retains under a guise 
 sufficiently flimsy to leave it quite recognisable. The 
 same is the case with satin (Sze-tun), and tea (Te). 
 
 Another product which is peculiar to China, is 
 white insect wax. This curious substance is pro-
 
 ISO CHINA. 
 
 duced exclusively in the prefecture of Kea-ting Foo, 
 in Sze-chuen, the climate of which district appears to 
 favour the propagation of the disease, which is be- 
 lieved by the natives to be the cause of the secretion 
 of the wax. This belief is supported by the fact that, 
 in the districts where the insects breed, only a small 
 quantity of wax is made, and experience has there- 
 fore taught the natives the advantage of breeding 
 the insects in one district and removing them to 
 another to produce the wax. The neighbourhood of 
 Keen-chang, in the south of the province has been 
 found most suitable for breeding-purposes, and it is 
 there, therefore, that the breeding - processes are 
 carried on, on a particular kind of evergreen tree, 
 with large and ovate leaves. At the end of April, the 
 breeders start, each with a load of the insects' eggs, 
 for the district of Kea-ting Foo, a journey which, when 
 made on foot, occupies about a fortnight. The road 
 between the two districts is very mountainous, and as 
 exposure to the heat of the sun would hatch the eggs 
 too rapidly, the men travel only by night. At Kea- 
 ting Foo the eggs are eagerly bought up, and are at 
 once put upon the wax tree. " When the &g^ balls 
 are procured," writes Baron Richthofen, " they are 
 folded up,sixor seven together, in a bag of palm-leaves. 
 These bags are suspended on the twigs of the trees. 
 This is all the human labour required. After a few 
 days the insects commence coming out. They spread
 
 AGRICULTURE. 
 
 151 
 
 as a brownish film over the twigs, but do not touch the 
 leaves. The Chinese describe them as having neither 
 shape, nor head, nor eyes, nor feet. It is known that 
 the insect is a species of coccus. Gradually, while 
 the insect is growing, the surface of the twigs becomes 
 •encrustated with a white wax ; this is the wax. No 
 care whatever is required. The insect has no enemy, 
 and is not even touched by ants. In the latter half 
 of August the twigs are cut off and boiled in water, 
 when the wax rises to the surface. It is then melted 
 and poured into deep pans. It cools down to a 
 translucent and highly-crystalline substance. Two 
 taels weight of eggs produce from two to three 
 catties* of wax." 
 
 * A Tixel = i^ oz., and a Catty = i5 Tacls.
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 MEDICINE. 
 
 'HE medical art in China, 
 has a long ancestry, 
 and dates back to the 
 time when H\vang-te 
 is said to have in. 
 vented music, and 
 many other arts which, 
 added to the elegan- 
 cies and comforts of life. The prevalence 
 of disease and death among his subjects 
 so affected him that, as it is said, he 
 wrested from nature a knowledge of the 
 operations of her opposing principles, and 
 of the virtues of herbs and other medical 
 remedies. The results of these studies he embodied 
 in a work entitled the Nuy king, or the " Classic of 
 the Interior," by means of the knowledge contained.
 
 MEDICINE. 155 
 
 in which, disease lost half its terrors, and the length 
 of human life was extended, 
 
 Chinese authors assume, with that complete self- 
 complacency which is common to them, that the 
 wide medical knowledge which was imparted to the 
 world by Hwang-te, has since been so vastly in- 
 creased that at the present time the science of 
 medicine in China has reached its highest develop- 
 ment. An acquaintance, however, with their medical 
 practice and pharmacopoeia completely dispels this 
 delusion, and brings us face to face with the fact that 
 their knowledge of medicine is entirely empirical, and 
 is based neither on accurate observation nor scientific 
 research. Of physiology, or of human and compara- 
 tive anatomy, they know nothing. The functions of 
 the heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, and brain are sealed 
 books to them, and they recognise no distinction 
 between veins and arteries, and between nerves and 
 tendons. Their deeply-rooted repugnance to the use 
 of the knife in surgery, or to post-mortem examina- 
 tions prevent the possibility of their acquiring any 
 accurate knowledge of the human frame, and their 
 notion of the position of the various organs is almost 
 as wild as their idea of their different functions ; 
 which is saying a good deal, when one recollects that 
 they consider that from the heart and pit of the 
 stomach all ideas and delights proceed, and that the 
 gall-bladder is the seat of courage. So firmly is this
 
 154 CHINA. 
 
 last belief held, and so strange is the perversion of 
 their ideas on the subject of processes through which 
 all food has to go, that it is not uncommon for men 
 desirous of gaining additional courage to devour the 
 gall of savage beasts, and even of notorious mur- 
 derers and rebels who have expiated their crimes at 
 the hand of the executioner. 
 
 No Harvey has arisen in China to enlighten his 
 countrymen on the circulation of the blood, and 
 beyond having a general notion that it ebbs and 
 flows, they know nothing of its movements. They 
 even consider that there is a difference in the pulses 
 on the two wrists, and not only this, but that there 
 are differences to be observed in each pulse. And 
 this they profess to account for by saying that the 
 different parts of the pulse reflect the condition of 
 the organs which they represent. For example, the 
 parts of the pulse on the left wrist are believed to 
 discover the state of the heart, small intestines, liver, 
 gall-bladder, kidneys, and bladder ; while those on 
 the right wrist reflect the condition of the lungs, 
 larger intestines, spleen, stomach, gate of life, and 
 membranes of the viscera. There are, also, they con- 
 sider, seven distinct indications, given by the pulse, 
 of the approach of death, and each of the seven 
 passions is represented by pulsations which may be 
 distinguished. 
 
 Man's body is believed to be composed of the five
 
 MEDICINE. 
 
 elements — fire, water, metal, wood, and earth — all of 
 which are mysteriously connected with the five 
 planets, five tastes, five colours, five metals, and 
 five viscera. To keep these five antagonistic prin- 
 ciples in harmony is the duty of the physician, and 
 to restore the equilibrium when any one of them is 
 in excess or deficiency, is the main object of his 
 endeavours. 
 
 The medical profession in China is in every sense 
 an open one. There are no medical colleges, and no 
 examination-tests exist to worry the minds of the 
 would-be practitioners. And neither are diplomas 
 asked for or granted. Any quack or the most igno- 
 rant bumpkin may become a practising physician, 
 and by his success or non-success in the profession, 
 he stands or falls. 
 
 Speaking generally, doctors in China may be 
 divided into three classes : — namely, those who have 
 inherited prescriptions of merit ; men, who having 
 failed at the examinations, have taken to the study 
 of medicine ; and the merest quacks. This classifi- 
 cation is intelligible when it is remembered, that the 
 practice of medicine is not based on any well-ascer- 
 tained knowledge, but is simply empirical, and consists 
 mainly in the use of herbs and vegetable medicines. 
 Many an old woman in the country districts of 
 England has as useful a pharmacopoeia as the most 
 prosperous Chinese doctors, who, however, supple-
 
 156 CHINA. 
 
 ment the more efficacious remedies they possess by- 
 others which have no remedial quahties at all. For 
 example, among many herbal medicines, which un- 
 doubtedly are more or less tonics, we find that the 
 same qualities are ascribed to Stalachite, fresh tops 
 of stag-horns, dried red-spotted lizards, silk-worm 
 moths, black and white lead, tortoise-shell, and dog's 
 flesh. By the same stretch of the imagination the bones 
 and teeth of dragons, oyster-shells, loadstone, talc, 
 and gold and silver leaf are regarded as astringents ; 
 while verdigris, calcareous spar, catechu pearls, bear's 
 gall, shavings of rhinoceros' horns, and turtle-shell, 
 are used as purgatives. Elephant's skin, and, with a 
 certain consistency, ivory-shavings are considered to 
 be antidotes to poison. It has been calculated by 
 Dr. Henderson, that out of the whole Chinese phar- 
 macopoeia, three hundred and fourteen remedies are 
 taken from the vegetable kingdom, about fifty from 
 the mineral kingdom, and seventy-eight from the 
 animal kingdom. 
 
 All these remedies, good, bad, and indififcrcnt, 
 are sanctioned by the medical board at Peking 
 which has, in the exercise of its wisdom, divided all 
 diseases into eleven classes ; viz., — diseases of the 
 large blood-vessels, and small-pox ; diseases of the 
 small blood-vessels ; diseases of the skin ; diseases of 
 the eye ; of the mouth ; of the teeth ; of the throat ; 
 of women ; of the bones ; and fevers and cases
 
 MEDICINE. 157 
 
 arising from acupuncture. Fortunately for the people 
 whose health is at the mercy of these ignorant pro- 
 fessors of the art of healing, inflammatory diseases, 
 to which are attributable three-fifths of the mor- 
 tality in England, are almost unknown in China, 
 where, however, small-pox, phthisis, dysentery, and 
 diarrhoea, rage almost unchecked by medical help, 
 and skin diseases lay a heavy burden on the popula- 
 tion. Of late the practice of vaccination has begun 
 to make way among the people, having been first 
 introduced to their notice by a pamphlet on the 
 subject which was translated into Chinese by Sir 
 George Staunton. Previously inoculation by putting 
 the virus up the nose was universally employed, as 
 it still is, by all, except those few who have been 
 shown the better way by Sir G. Staunton. Cancer 
 is by no means uncommon, and for this disease 
 human milk is largely used. At the present time 
 the empress dowager is said to be suffering from 
 this frightful malady, and it is stated that in her case, 
 the remedy referred to has been employed with the 
 most beneficial results. 
 
 The scale of doctors' fees is low, being from about 
 sixpence in the case of poor people to five shillings 
 in the case of wealthy persons ; but it will probably 
 be considered that even this lower sum is more than 
 an equivalent for the good likely to be gained from 
 their advice. As a rule, when a lady is the sufferer,
 
 158 CHINA. 
 
 the doctor never sees his patient except in extreme 
 cases, and is content to form his opinion of her 
 ailment by feeling the pulse of her wrists, which are 
 allowed to appear beneath the screen behind which 
 she sits or reclines. One of the most curious and 
 dangerous extra medicinal remedies used by the 
 Chinese is acupuncture. This is generally resorted 
 to in cases of chronic rheumatism or dyspepsia. For 
 the first malady the needle, either hot or cold, is thrust 
 boldly into the joint or joints affected, and though 
 valueless as a curative, it is at least less dangerous 
 than when applied for dyspepsia. In such cases it is 
 thrust into the abdomen, regardless of the injury 
 which is likely to be done to the intestines and 
 organs. Among people of western nations and 
 constitutions, this reckless use of the needle would 
 constantly produce serious if not fatal evils, but 
 thanks to the phlegmatic temperament of Chinamen, 
 it does not often bring about mortal results. Occa- 
 sionally patients are admitted to the foreign hospitals, 
 suffering from injuries to intestines and liver inflicted 
 by the needle, but these do not, as a rule, enter any 
 more serious category than that of troublesome cases. 
 Madness is by no means uncommon in China, but 
 it is less conspicuous than in western lands, owing to 
 the repressive treatment which the patients receive. 
 On the first symptom of violence, they are bound 
 down and kept so until their strength fails them or 
 death releases them from their bondage. When
 
 MEDICINE. 159 
 
 harmless, they arc allowed to wander about, and 
 in the northern provinces, where insanity seems to 
 prevail more than in the south, the wretched 
 creatures, clothed or unclothed, may be met with on 
 the roads and in the streets. On one occasion, the 
 present writer saw a maniac lying by the way-side, in 
 the midst of winter, without a particle of clothing 
 upon him. Lunatic asylums are unknown, and the 
 malady is so little recognised by the mandarins that 
 madmen are held responsible to the law for their acts 
 prompted by mania. 
 
 The ignorance prevailing among Chinamen ot 
 chemistry and anatomy make their post-mortem 
 examinations valueless, as may be gathered from 
 the following finding, lately reported in the Peking 
 Gazette^ in the instance of a suspected case of 
 poisoning. " We find," wrote the coroners, " in the 
 remains of Koh P'in-leen that there is no reddish 
 exfoliation on the surface of the skull ; that the 
 upper and lower bones of the mouth, the teeth, jaw- 
 bones, hands, feet, fingers, toes, nails, and joints are 
 all of a yellowish-white colour ; . . . through the 
 remainder of the body the bones of all sizes are of 
 a yellowish-white, showing no signs of the effects of 
 poison ; and our verdict is that death in this case 
 was caused by disease, and not by poison." The 
 one point, in which, at an early period, the Chinese 
 were in advance of ourselves was in their know- 
 ledge of the value of mercury.
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 MUSIC. 
 
 USIC, like some of the 
 other sciences, is said to 
 have been invented by 
 the Emperor Fuh - he 
 (B.C. 2852-2737). He 
 it was, we are told, who 
 made the first She, a sort 
 of lute. At first this in- 
 strument had twenty-five 
 strings, but, according to 
 the legend, a damsel was 
 one day playing on one such instrument 
 before the Emperor Hwang-te, who became 
 so affected to melancholy by the music, that 
 he ordered that, from that time, the number 
 of the strings should be reduced by one 
 half To Fuh-he belongs also the credit of 
 being the inventor of the ICin, another form 
 of lute, and which stands in popular estima-
 
 MUSIC. i6? 
 
 tion at the head of Chinese instruments. The name 
 which was originally given it of Lung Kin points to 
 the fact, which we have abundant evidence to prove, 
 that the aborigines of China were musicians before 
 the arrival of the Chinese. The Lung were a powerful 
 tribe occupying a portion of south-western China, 
 and judging from the name, it is reasonable to sup- 
 pose that the knowledge of the K'in was first brought 
 to the Court of Fuh-he by men of that race. The 
 K'in was known also among the ancients as " a 
 reminder of distant affairs," which would seem 
 to indicate a geographically remote origin for it. 
 History further tells us that, during his reign, men of 
 the great Pung (Fung) tribe, which at that time occu- 
 pied a large tract of country south of the Yang-tsze 
 keang, arrived at court and made music. 
 
 In considering these early chapters of ancient 
 Chinese history, it is necessary to bear in mind that we 
 are dealing with the mixed records of the aborigines 
 and of the Chinese. So far in the history of music 
 we are plainly in the pre-Chinese stage, but with 
 the reign of Hwang-te the Chinese element is intro- 
 duced. The account of Hwang-te's musical efforts 
 are very interesting, and bear out in a remarkable 
 degree the supposition that he was one of the rulers 
 of the race when they had their homes in the south 
 of the Caspian Sea. We are told that he sent his 
 minister Ling-lun from the west of Ta hea to a par- 
 
 M
 
 r62 CHINA. 
 
 ticular valley in the Kwan-lun mountains, where he 
 was ordered to make choice of bamboos fitted for 
 musical pipes. Ta liea we know to have been Bactria, 
 and Hwang-te must therefore have been living to the 
 west of that country, exactly where we should expect 
 to find him. Ling-lun did as he was told, and cut 
 twelve pipes of varying lengths, so arranged as to 
 emit the twelve demi-tones. These, it is said, he 
 arrived at by listening to the singing of the Pungs, 
 the voices of the men giving him, so runs the story, 
 six demi-tones, and those of the women the remaining 
 six. Here again it will be obser\-ed the help of the 
 Pungs is called in, and it is worth mentioning that 
 the descendants of these people and of the Lung and 
 Kwei tribes who are still to be found in the south- 
 western provinces of the empire, retain the same 
 passion for music and dancing which made them 
 famous in the time of Fuh-he, and subsequently. 
 
 Chwan Hii, the next Emperor but one to Hwang-te, 
 was born, we are told, at the Jo waterin Sze- chuen, and 
 on reaching the throne, used to recall with pleasure, 
 the sound made by the wind as it whistled through 
 the forests of mulbeny-trees which grew in his native 
 district. That he might again listen to such music, 
 he sent a Fei-lung to the Jo water to imitate the 
 sounds of the eight winds. The Fei-lung (Flying 
 Dragon) tribe was one of the most important in 
 primitive China. We read of them in the first chapter
 
 MUSIC. 163 
 
 of the YiJi king, and repeatedly in the earlier historical 
 works. They were a branch of the great Lung people, 
 who were divided into the Fei-lung, the Hwo-lung 
 (Fire Dragons), the Ho-lung (River Dragons), &c. 
 The existence of these prefixes has served to conceal 
 the fact that the compound expressions represented 
 tribal names, and has encouraged those who looked 
 on all mentions of the Lung as so many myths in 
 their incredulity. But in point of fact, they serve 
 as confirmations of the opposite sense. In his 
 recent work of travels in Cambodia, Mons. De- 
 la-porte says that he encountered in his journeys 
 several sections of the Kwei tribe, which were 
 distinguished as Fei-kwei (Flying kwei), Hwo-kwei 
 (Fire kwei), Ho-kwei (River kwei), and so on. 
 The Fei-lung who w^as sent by Chwan Hii on the 
 difficult mission of reproducing the sounds of the 
 wind, is said to have been successful. By means of 
 what instrument he preserved the notes we are not 
 told, but as the invention of the Pan pipes is put 
 down to this period, it is possible that they 
 may have been the instrument chosen by the 
 Fei-lung. 
 
 Stringed and reed instruments, such as are used by 
 the aboriginal tribes of China at the present day, were 
 the first known. Next in order, probably, came drums, 
 which seem, in the first instance, to have been used to 
 excite warriors in the battlefield to deeds of prowess. 
 
 M 2
 
 i64 
 
 CHINA. 
 
 Of these there are eight kinds, distinguished by names 
 indicating their size and use. Stone seems also to 
 have preceded metal as a musical substance. In the 
 earliest classics we have mention of musical stones, 
 which were sixteen in number, and were hung from a 
 
 frame by cords. They were cut somewhat in the 
 shape of a carpenter's square, one side being twice 
 the length of the other. The stones played upon by 
 the emperors are said to have been of jade, the use of 
 which, for this purpose, was forbidden to subjects.
 
 MUSIC. 165 
 
 In most parts of the world the trumpet has held 
 the first place among metal instruments, but in China 
 the bell had the priority, and at the present day it 
 still holds its own against the louder-tongued horn, 
 which is used only as a military call, and in pro- 
 cessions. Bells were originally made of six parts of 
 copper to one of tin. Tongues were never used, but 
 sound was emitted by striking the rim with a stick, 
 or, in after-times, the knobs with which the bell was 
 studded, and which were so arranged as to give out 
 the different musical notes when struck. The form 
 of the most ancient bells was square, but in sub- 
 sequent ages they assumed the round shape, and at 
 the present day are universally so made. They are 
 moulded in every size, from the little Fiing ling, or 
 " Wind-bell," which swings on the eaves of pagodas 
 to the huge bells which hang in some of the most 
 notable temples. One of the largest of these is in a 
 temple at Peking, and forms a wonderful example of 
 the mechanical ingenuity of the Chinese. It is about 
 fifteen feet in diameter, twenty feet in height, and 
 weighs about 53 tons. The lower rim is about a 
 foot thick, and the whole bell is covered inside and 
 out with the Chinese text of a long Buddhist litur- 
 gical work. This bell is one of a set of five which 
 were cast by order of the Emperor Yung-loh (a.d. 
 1403-1425). One of its companions hangs in the 
 Drum-Tower at Peking, and, " in the stillness of the
 
 i66 CHINA. 
 
 midnight hour, its deep mellow tone is heard at four 
 miles distance throughout Peking as it strikes the 
 watch." In the "Great Bell Tower" at Canton there 
 is a huge bell, which, however, is never voluntarily- 
 struck, as it is believed, that if it be sounded, some 
 misfortune will overtake the city. The capture of 
 the town by the English and French, in 1857, is said, 
 by the natives, to have been the result of a shot from 
 one of the guns of H.M.S. Encounter having struck 
 and sounded the bell during the bombardment. 
 
 As musical instruments bells are principally used 
 at religious services and in processions. In ancient 
 times they seem to have been generally sounded with 
 drums. In the SJie king we have constant mention 
 of bells and drums being used on the occasions of 
 bringing home brides, or in royal processions. Some- 
 times we hear of them concerted with other instru- 
 ments, as when speaking of the expedition of King 
 Yew to the Hwai the poet says, 
 
 "AY;/ kin peal the bells, peal on, 
 
 And the lutes in the concert we hear. 
 
 Deep breathes the organ tone ; 
 
 Sounding stones join their notes, rich and clear. 
 
 The while through the vessel there ring 
 The Ya and the Nati which they sing, 
 
 And the dancers with flutes now appear." 
 
 They were sounded also at the opening and the 
 close of sacrificial rites, and were even attached to
 
 MUSIC. 1G7 
 
 the sacrificial knives. It was customary also to 
 fasten them to the harness of horses driven by 
 potentates, and to their carriages and banners. 
 
 A more popular instrument than the bell is the 
 gong, of which there are three kinds in common use, 
 the Temple Gong, which, as its name implies, is used 
 in temples; the Soochow Gong, which is shaped "like 
 a boiler " ; and the Watch Gong, which is a small 
 kind used to strike the watches. At religious ser- 
 vices, on occasions of ceremony, and at theatrical 
 performances, the gong bears a conspicuous part. 
 But though considered an element of harmony by 
 men, its sound strikes terror into evil spirits, and it is 
 consequently used with pealing effect on all occasions 
 when it is considered advisable to get rid of evil in- 
 fluences. When a vessel puts to sea, when it returns 
 to harbour, when a house is supposed to be haunted, 
 or when any unnatural phenomena occur, such as an 
 eclipse, the gongs are vigorously sounded to dispel 
 the malign influences which are believed to be present. 
 On the outbreak of a fire they are used as signals, first 
 of all to indicate what quarter of the town is threa- 
 tened ; next, by the rapidity of the beats, to make 
 known the progress and fierceness of the fire, and 
 again, by tolling, to show that the danger is over. 
 Cymbals and horns are other metal instruments used 
 by the Chinese. 
 
 Flutes, fifes, clarionets, and conch shells, are, with
 
 i68 CHL\A. 
 
 the " Reed Organ," the commonest wind-instruments. 
 This last is made with a gourd, into the upper sur- 
 face of which nineteen reed tubes are inserted. 
 These reeds have holes near the base to prevent 
 them emitting sounds, until stopped by the per- 
 former. The mouth-piece, which is not unlike the 
 spout of a kettle, is inserted in the side of the gourd, 
 and the instrument is played either by drawing in the 
 breath or by blowing. 
 
 But the favourite instruments of the Chinese are 
 stringed instruments. The Site and the KHu, of 
 which mention has already been made, are the chief 
 among these. " The K'in," says Dr. Wells Williams 
 in his ' China,' " is very ancient, and derives its name 
 from the word K'in, to prohibit, ' because it restrains 
 and checks evil passions, and corrects the human 
 heart.' It is a board about four feet in length and 
 eighteen inches wide, convex above and flat beneath? 
 where are two holes opening into hollows. There are 
 seven strings of silk, which pass over a bridge near the 
 wide end, through the board, and are tightened by 
 nuts beneath: they are secured on two pegs at the 
 smaller end. The sounding board is divided by 
 thirteen studs, so placed that the length of the 
 strings is divided, first into two equal parts, then 
 into three, etc., up to eight, with the omission of the 
 seventh. The seven strings enclose the compass of 
 the ninth or two-fifths, the middle one being treated
 
 MUSIC. 169 
 
 like A upon the violin — viz., as a middle string, 
 and each of the outer ones is tuned a fifth from it. 
 This interval is treated like our octave in the 
 violin, for the compass of the K'in is made up of 
 fifths. Each of the outer strings is tuned a fourth 
 from the alternate string within the system, so that 
 there is a major tone, an interval tone less than 
 a minor third, and a major tone in the fifth. The 
 Chinese leave the interval entire, and skip the half 
 tone, while we divide it into two unequal parts. It 
 will, therefore, readily appear, that the mood or cha- 
 racter of the music of the Kin must be very different 
 from that of western instruments, so that none of 
 them can exactly do justice to the Chinese air.'^. 
 One of the peculiarities of performing on the lute, is 
 sliding the left-hand fingers along the string, and 
 the trilling and other evolutions they are made to 
 execute." 
 
 Besides the She and the 1\ in there are several kinds 
 of fiddles and guitars, among the best-known of which 
 are the P'i-P'a, a four-stringed guitar which is played 
 with the fingers, the Yneh K'in, or " Moon K'inl' 
 named from the moon-like shape of the sound-board, 
 which has four strings standing in pairs, tuned as 
 fifths to each other, and the Sn-chnn, or " Standard 
 Lute," with twelve strings, yielding exactly the 
 notes of the twelve LnJi or tubes invented by Ling- 
 lun.
 
 MUSIC. 171 
 
 Music has at all times held an important part in 
 the political system of the Chinese. Its influence 
 for good or evil on the people is regarded as potent, 
 and, according to a celebrated saying of Confucius, 
 it gives the finish to the character which has first 
 been established by the rules of propriety. So 
 marked has the impression produced by it been held 
 to be, that Confucius, when on his way to Ts'e, re- 
 cognised, in the gait and manner of a boy whom he 
 met carrying a pitcher, the influence of the Shaou 
 music, and hurried on to the capital of the state that 
 he might enjoy its excellencies to perfection. On 
 another occasion, we are told that he perceived with 
 delight, in the sound of stringed instruments and the 
 singing at Woo-shing, the effect produced on a people 
 turbulent by nature, by the rule of his disciple, Tsze- 
 yo-w. But in this, as in other matters, Confucius only 
 reproduced the opinions of those who had gone 
 before him, and from the time that Ling-lun made 
 the first pan-pipe, the influence of music on morals 
 and politics has been an established creed amongst 
 the Chinese. The purity of the prevailing music be- 
 came the test of the virtues of the sovereign, and one 
 of the gravest charges brought against the dissolute 
 Chow Sin, the last emperor of the Yin Dynasty 
 (B.C. 1 1 54-1 1 22) was that, to gratify his consort, the 
 notoriously vicious T'an-ke, he substituted licentious 
 airs for the chaste music of his ancestors. Time has
 
 1/2 
 
 CHIXA. 
 
 done little to change the opinions of the Chinese on 
 this subject, and at the present day a careful watch is 
 kept over the efforts of composers by the Imperial 
 Board of Music, whose duty it is to keep alive the 
 music of the ancients, and to suppress all compo- 
 sitions which are not in harmony with it.
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 (3//T IS a curious cu-cum- 
 stance that in China, a 
 land where there exists 
 such a profound ven- 
 eration for everything 
 old, there should not be 
 found either any ancient 
 buildings or old ruins- 
 While every other nation possessing a his- 
 tory has its monuments and remains, China 
 has nothing which illustrates a past age, 
 except possibly a few pagodas scattered 
 over the land. No emperor has sought to 
 hand down his name to generations yet to 
 come by the erection of any building, useful or 
 ornamental. It would seem as though their original 
 nomadic origin haunted them still, and that the
 
 174 CHINA. 
 
 recollection of old tent-homes which were pitched 
 to-day and struck to-morrow, still dominates their 
 ideas of what palaces and houses should be. That 
 there is an abundant supply of the most durable 
 materials for building in the land is certain, and 
 that for many centuries the Chinese have been 
 acquainted with the art of brick-making is well- 
 known, but yet they have reared no building pos- 
 sessing enduring stability. Neither do they pos- 
 sess any respect for ancient edifices, even when they 
 have the odour of sanctity attaching to them. If 
 any house in the empire should have been preserved, 
 it should have been Confucius's, and yet we are told 
 that in the reign of Woo-ti (140-86 B.C.), a prince of 
 Loo pulled it down to build a larger one in its 
 place. 
 
 But not only does the ephemeral nature of the 
 tent appear in the slender construction of Chinese 
 houses, but even in shape they assume a tent-like 
 form. The slope of the roof, and its up-turned 
 corners, coupled with the absence of upper stories, all 
 remind one irresistibly of a tent. The main supports, 
 also, of the roof are the wooden pillars, not the walls, 
 which only serve to fill up the intervening spaces, 
 and form no addition to the stability of the building. 
 As etiquette provides that, in houses of the better 
 class, a high wall should surround the building, and 
 that no window should look outwards, streets in the
 
 ARCHITECTURE. 175 
 
 fashionable parts of cities have a very dreary aspect. 
 The only breaks in the long line of dismal wall, are 
 the front-doors, which, however, are generally closed, 
 ■or if by any chance they should be left open, moveable 
 screens bar the sight of all beyond the doors of the 
 immshang's, or doorkeeper's rooms. If, however, we 
 pass round one such screen, we find ourselves in a 
 courtyard, which may possibly be laid out as a 
 garden, but more frequently is flagged with paving- 
 stones. On either side are rooms usually occupied 
 by servants, while in front is a building to which 
 we have to ascend by two or three steps, and 
 through which a passage runs, having a room or 
 rooms on either side. At the other end of the 
 passage a descent of two or three steps lands us in 
 another courtyard, in the rooms surrounding which 
 the family live, and behind this again are the women's 
 appartments, which not unfrequently look into a 
 garden at the back, A passage, either running along 
 the inside of the courtyards or beyond them, enables 
 servants and tradespeople to pass to any part of the 
 house without trespassing on the central way, which 
 is reserved for their betters. As has been already 
 said, wooden pillars support the roofs of the build- 
 ings, which are a reminiscence of the earlier tent, and 
 the intervals between these are filled up with brick 
 work, but often so irregularly, as to point plainly to 
 their being no integral part of the construction. The
 
 176 CHINA. 
 
 window-frames are wooden, over which is pasted 
 cither paper or calico, or sometimes pieces of talc are 
 substituted, the better to transmit the light. The 
 doors are almost invariably folding doors, and turn 
 in wooden sockets. The floors of the rooms are 
 generally either stone or cement, and when laid down 
 with wood, are so uneven and creaky, as considerably 
 to mitigate its advantages. Ceilings are not often 
 used, the roof being the only covering to the rooms. 
 As a rule, the roof is the most ornamental part of the 
 building. The woodwork which supports it is intricate 
 and handsome, the shape is picturesque, and the 
 glazed tiles which cover it give it a bright aspect. A 
 ridge-and-furrow-like appearance is given to it by 
 putting, at regular intervals, on the under layer of flat 
 tiles, lines of semi-circular tiles from the summit to 
 the eaves. Yellow is the colour commonly used, 
 both for temples and such houses which, by the 
 sumptuary laws in force, are entitled to have glazed 
 tiles. At the altar of heaven at Peking a magnificent 
 effect is produced by the use of deep-blue glazed 
 porcelain tiles, which in hue and brightness make 
 no bad imitation of the sky above. 
 
 Carpets are seldom used, more especially in south- 
 ern China, where also stoves for warming-purposes 
 are unknown. In the north, where, in the winter, the 
 cold is very great, portable charcoal stoves are em- 
 ployed, in addition to the heated kangs, and small
 
 
 A MANDARIN S YAMUN. 
 
 To face pa^e ijo.
 
 ARCHITECTURE. 177 
 
 chafing dishes are carried about from room to room. 
 But the main dependence of the Chinese for personal 
 warmth is on clothes. As the Avinter approaches 
 garment is added to garment, and furs to quilted 
 vestments, until the wearer assumes an unwieldy and 
 exaggerated shape. Well-to-do Chinamen seldom 
 take strong exercise, and they are therefore able to 
 bear a weight of clothes which to a European would 
 be unendurable. 
 
 Of the personal comfort obtainable in a house 
 Chinamen are strangely ignorant. Their furniture is 
 of the hardest and most uncompromising nature. 
 Chairs, made of a hard, black wood, and of an 
 angular shape, and equally unyielding divans, covered 
 possibly with hard, red cushions, are the only seats 
 known to them. Their beds are scarcely more com- 
 fortable, and their pillows are oblong cubes of bam- 
 boo, or other hard material. For the maintenance of 
 the existing fashions of female head-dressing this 
 kind of pillow is essential to women at least, as their 
 hair, which is only dressed at intervals of days, and 
 which is kept in its grotesque shapes by the abun- 
 dant use of bandoline, would be crushed and dis- 
 figured if lain upon for a moment. Women, therefore, 
 who make any pretension of following the fashion, are 
 obliged to sleep at night on their backs, resting the 
 nape of the neck on the pillow, thus keeping the 
 head and hair free from contact with anything. 
 
 N
 
 178 CHINA. 
 
 The use of paint in ornamenting the inside of the 
 roofs and other parts of the house is subject to sump- 
 tuary laws, which regulate not only what shall be 
 painted, but also what colours shall be used. No let 
 or hindrance, however, is placed in the way of inter- 
 nal ornament, and the wood carvings, representing 
 flowers and fruits, which not unfrequently adorn the 
 door-Avays and walls of the houses of the rich, are 
 often extremely handsome,combiningbeautyof design 
 with wonderful skill in execution. The shapes of their 
 cabinets and ornamental pieces of furniture are very 
 tasteful, and the rare beauty of their bronzes and ar- 
 ticles of porcelain-ware, with which they delight to fill 
 their rooms, are too well known to need mention here. 
 On a hot day, the large reception-hall in a wealthy 
 Chinaman's house, shaded from every ray of sun by 
 the wide overhanging roof, lofty and spacious, is a 
 welcome retreat, while the absence of carpets, and 
 "stuff" from the furniture, gives it a refreshingly cool 
 aspect. 
 
 Like the country roads, the streets in towns differ 
 widely in construction in the northern and southern 
 portions of the empire. In the south, they are nar- 
 row and paved, in the north, they are wide and 
 unpaved. Both constructions are suited to the local 
 wants of the people. The absence of wheel-traffic in 
 the southern provinces makes wide streets unneces- 
 sary, while, by contracting their width, the sun's rays
 
 ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 179 
 
 have less chance of beating down on the heads of 
 passers by, and are the more easily altogether excluded 
 
 -_,^- 
 
 by the use of awnings stretched across from roof to 
 
 N 2
 
 i8o 
 
 CHINA. 
 
 roof. It is true that this is done at the expense of 
 fresh air, but even to do this is a gain. Shops are all 
 open in front, the counters forming the only barriers 
 between the street and their contents. In the more 
 populous parts of the empire the streets of large 
 
 cities present a very animated appearance. Crowds 
 of pedestrians, sedan-chairs carrying numbers of the 
 wealthy and official classes, horsemen, and coolies 
 carrying their loads balanced at each end of bamboos 
 slung across their shoulders, jostle one another in the 
 narrow thoroughfares, in such close and constant
 
 ARCHITECTURE. 18 1 
 
 proximity, that it is due only to the untiring patience 
 and good humour of the crowd that any movement 
 is possible. 
 
 This inconvenience is avoided in the wide streets 
 of the cities in the north, where the necessities of 
 wheel-trafHc make more room necessary. But in the 
 present degenerate condition of municipal regulations 
 the wide streets are not an unmixed good. Though 
 professing to be macadamised, they are destitute of 
 " metal," with the natural consequences that in wet 
 weather they are sloughs, and in dry seasons they are 
 covered inches deep in dust. Of the large cities of 
 the north and south, Peking and Canton may be 
 taken as typical examples, and certainly, with the 
 exception of the palace, the walls, and certain im- 
 perial temples, the streets of Peking compare very 
 unfavourably with those of Canton. The shops have 
 a meaner and less prosperous look, and there is a 
 general air of dirt and decay about the city. From 
 the fact of the better class of houses being enclosed 
 within high blank walls, the existence of the palaces 
 belonging to the imperial princes, instead of bright- 
 ening the aspect of the town, serves only to add to 
 its dreariness. These palaces, or " foos," of which 
 there are fifty at Peking, are given in perpetuity 
 to certain princes of the blood for signal services, 
 and also to sons of the emperor for their lives 
 and for two later generations, the great grandson
 
 1«2 
 
 CHINA. 
 
 of the original recipient being in each ease obliged 
 to resign the gift again to the sovereign. The 
 general plan of one of these " foos " is thus described 
 by Dr. Williamson : — " A foo has in front of it two 
 large stone lions, with a house for musicians and for 
 gate-keepers. Through a lofty gateway, on which are 
 hung tablets inscribed with the prince's titles, the 
 visitor enters a large, square court, with a paved 
 terrace in the centre, which fronts the principal hall. 
 Here, on days of ceremony, the slaves and depen- 
 dants may be ranged in reverential position before 
 the prince, who sits as master of the household, in 
 the hall. Behind the principal hall are two other 
 halls, both facing, like it, the south. These buildings 
 all have five or seven compartments divided by 
 pillars which support the roof, and the three or five 
 in the centre are left open to form one large hall, 
 while the sides are partitioned off to make rooms. 
 Beyond the gable there is usually an extension called 
 the wi-fang, literally, the ear house, from its resem- 
 blance in position to that organ. On each side of 
 the large courts fronting the halls is a side-house, 
 ' siang fang,' of one or two stories. The garden of a 
 foo is on the west side, and it is usually arranged as 
 an ornamental park, with a lake, wooded mounds, 
 fantastic arbours, small Buddhist temples, covered 
 passages, and a large, open hall for drinking tea and 
 entertaining guests, which is called Hwa-ting. Gar-
 
 A C111M'..SK r.AKDKX. 
 
 roJiii:e page i8j
 
 ARCHITECTURE. . 183 
 
 den and house are kept private, and effectually 
 guarded from the intrusion of strangers by a high 
 wall, and at the doors a numerous staff of messengers. 
 The stables are usually on the east side, and contain 
 stout Mongol ponies, large Hi horses, and a goodly 
 supply of sleek, well-kept mules, such as North 
 China furnishes in abundance. A prince or princess 
 has a retinue of about twenty, mounted on ponies or 
 mules." 
 
 As these Foos are built on an officially prescribed 
 plan, there is very little variety among them, and 
 the same sumptuary laws which regulate their con- 
 struction, take cognizance also of the country mansions 
 of the great. These were originally occupied only 
 by "Kung" or Dukes, and were built on much the 
 same model as the Foo, except that their grounds 
 Avere more extensive, and the detached pavilions and 
 summer-houses more numerous. The gardens sur- 
 rounding these and other large country houses are 
 wonderfully " landscaped." Every inequality of 
 nature, whether hill or valley, rock or dale, is repre- 
 sented in them, while artificial water, caverns, and 
 grotesque bridges, complete the microcosm they are 
 intended to represent. 
 
 Every Chinese city is surrounded by a wall, which 
 in the present state of the military knowledge of the 
 people, is often sufficient to turn back the tide of war. 
 These walls vary very much in height and state of
 
 1 84 
 
 CHINA. 
 
 repair with the circumstances of each city. Those 
 surrounding Peking are probably the finest and best 
 kept in the empire. In height they are about forty 
 feet, and the same in width. The top, which is 
 defended by massive battlements, is well paved, and 
 is kept in excellent order. Over each gate, and there 
 
 are twelve of them, is built a fortified tower between 
 eighty and ninety feet high, and each gate is further 
 defended on the outside by a large semi-circular 
 enceinte, with walls of the same dimensions as those 
 of the main wall. Seen from the wall, the city, like all 
 Chinese cities, presents an uninteresting appearance.
 
 A CITY GATE, 
 
 To face page 1S4.
 
 ARCHITECTURE. 185 
 
 The dwelling-houses, being both in height and con- 
 struction alnnost identical, the scene is one of curious 
 monotony, which is broken only by the up-lifted 
 roofs of temples and palaces. 
 
 In every city the temples form a noticeable feature, 
 and prominent among them, are invariably those dedi- 
 cated to Confucius. The law provides that at least 
 one of these should be built in every city and market- 
 town throughout the empire, and it is ordained with 
 equal fixity that it should consist of three court- 
 yards, built one behind the other, and all facing south. 
 The entrances should be on the eastern and western 
 faces of the outer court-yard, and only when a native 
 of the district has won the supreme honour at the 
 competitive examinations, viz., the title of Chwang- 
 yuen, is the southern wall, which is always painted 
 red, pierced for a gateway. Even when this is done, 
 the right of passing through it is reserved only for 
 emperors and Chwang-yuens, who alone also have 
 the right of crossing the bridge which spans the 
 semi-circular pond, which occupies part of the lower 
 end of the courtyard. In the right-hand corner, at 
 the upper end, is the house where the animals for 
 sacrifice are kept, and on the opposite side is the 
 pavilion where the chief worshipper rests when first 
 entering the temple, and where he dons his official 
 clothes. Across the northern end of the hall runs a 
 large hall, in the middle of which is the "Gate of
 
 i£6 CHINA. 
 
 Great Perfection," and through which, only those who 
 are privileged to enter the temple by the southern 
 wall, and to cross the bridge, are allowed to pass into 
 the next or principal court. On each side of this are 
 covered passages, containing the tablets of illustrious 
 Confucianists, famous for their piety and learning. 
 Cypresses grow in the intervening space, and here 
 the worshippers prostrate themselves before the tab- 
 let, or, in some cases, image of the Sage, which rests 
 on an altar in the " Hall of Great Perfection," which 
 faces southward. On either side of the high altar 
 are arranged the tablets and altars of the four prin- 
 cipal disciples of Confucius, and of the twelve " Wise 
 j\Ien." In the hindermost court, stands the " Ances- 
 tral Hall of Exalted Sages," which contains the 
 tablets of the five ancestors of Confucius, of his half- 
 brother, of the fathers of the principal disciples, and 
 of other worthies. The largest Confucian temple at 
 Peking is a very handsome structure. The roof, 
 which is painted an azure blue, is elaborately deco- 
 rated, and rows of cedar-trees, which are said to be 
 upwards of five hundred years old, adorn the court- 
 }ards. But its most interesting contents are a set of 
 ten stone drums, on each of which is inscribed a stanza 
 of poetry. It is currently believed that these drums 
 were first shaped in the days of Yaou and Shun (B.C. 
 2356-2205), but, unfortunately for this theory, the 
 forms of the characters point to their having been cut
 
 ARCHITECTURE. 187 
 
 at a considerably later period, probably in about the 
 seventh or eighth century B.C. 
 
 The Buddhist temples differ little in general con- 
 struction from the Confucian temples. Like them 
 they are built in a succession of courtyards, the 
 minutiae of which are different, and in the all-impor- 
 tant point of the objects of worship they are, of 
 course, dissimilar. In place of the tablets of Con- 
 fucius and his four disciples stand images of Buddha, 
 Past, Present, and Future, and the shrines of the 
 twelve Wise Men are exchanged for a number of 
 idols representing the numerous incarnations of 
 Buddha. In some few of the larger temples stand 
 Dagobas, containing relics of the founder of the 
 religion. " On each side," says Archdeacon Gray, 
 ^' of the large courtyards, in which the principal halls 
 of the temple are erected, are rows of cells for the 
 monks, a visitors' hall, a refectory, and sometimes a 
 printing-office, where the liturgical services used by 
 the priests, new works on the tenets of Buddha, and 
 tracts for general distribution are printed." 
 
 Among the most ancient buildings in China are 
 Buddhist pagodas, which were first built on the 
 introduction of Buddhism into China from India. 
 Originally they were designed as depositaries of 
 relics of Buddha, but in later ages numbers have been 
 erected to form the tombs of celebrated Buddhist 
 priests, or as memorials of saintly personages, or
 
 i88 CHINA. 
 
 again, to secure beneficial geon^antic influences for 
 the surrounding districts. Pagodas are generally built 
 of bricks, and are made to consist of an uneven 
 number of stories ; five, seven, and nine being the 
 most common numbers. In most cases the Avails are 
 double, and between the inner and outer walls winds 
 the staircase leading to the summit, from which, by- 
 means of doorways, access is also obtained to the 
 chambers on each flat. The outer wall, which in- 
 \ ariably tapers, is usually octagonal, and its surface 
 is broken by the projecting roofs of tiles which sur- 
 mount the diflercnt stories. These roofs, turned up 
 at the corners, covered with green glazed tiles, and 
 hung about with bells, form the most attractive 
 features of the building. In some pagodas containing 
 relics of Buddha, as is the case with one at How- 
 chow, no stories divide the interior of the pagoda, 
 but in the centre of the ground floor rises a marble 
 pagoda-shaped column, beneath which rests the relic, 
 and upon the sides of which are carved 10,000 small 
 images of Buddha. 
 
 The most celebrated and magnificent pagoda ever 
 built in China was the well-known porcelain tower 
 at Nanking, which was erected by the Emperor 
 Yung-loh (1403-142 5), to commemorate the virtues 
 of his mother. The outer walls were built of bricks 
 of the finest white porcelain, and the inner walls of 
 ordinary bricks encased in richly-enamelled yellow
 
 ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 189 
 
 and red tiles. In shape it was an octagon. It con- 
 sisted of nine stories, and stood about 270 feet in 
 height. The pinnacle was surmounted by a large 
 gilt ball fixed to the top of an iron rod, which was 
 encircled by nine iron rings, and on the roof were 
 fastened five large pearls for the purpose of protecting 
 the city from as many evils. Nineteen years and 
 pf 200,000 were spent in building this unique struc- 
 ture, which, after standing for about 450 years, was 
 destroyed by the Tai-ping rebels in 1856 so com- 
 pletely, that one brick was not left standing on 
 another.
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 DRAWING. 
 
 HE art of drawing is held 
 in great esteem in China, 
 and the works of the most 
 renowned artists are eager- 
 ly sought after, and are as 
 carefully treasured as those 
 of Raffaelle or Rubens are 
 among ourselves. The art 
 k claims for itself a great 
 antiquity, and as is the 
 case with some other arts, 
 lave had its origin among the 
 It is curious also to observe 
 the cradle of much that has 
 since increased the sum of Chinese civiliza- 
 tion, is credited with having been the home 
 of drawing as well as of the written character. 
 Fuh-he, who invented the celebrated eight 
 diagrams, made drawings and plans, we are 
 
 s:mes.
 
 DRAWING. 191 
 
 told, in imitation of the records he found at the 
 Jung river in Honan, and Hwang-te is said to have 
 obtained a likeness of Ts'ang Hieh, the inventor of 
 writing, from the Lo river. These and other tradi- 
 tions appear to prove that the inscriptions drawn 
 on the banks of the rivers by the aborigines of that 
 part of China, served not only as materials for the 
 formation of new characters by the Chinese, but also 
 as patterns for designs. 
 
 From that beginning, the art of drawing grew, and 
 though it cannot be said that the Chinese are an 
 artistic people, it is equally impossible to deny that 
 they are possessed of great skill in producing won- 
 derful effects with a few strokes of the pencil. They 
 have never understood perspective, but at the same 
 time some of their landscapes are admirable for 
 their picturesqueness and for their life-like repre- 
 sentations of nature. Their studies of trees, boughs, 
 and flowers are exceedingly accurate and tasteful, 
 and their use of colours is highly effective. But after 
 all there is a sameness in their drawings which sug- 
 gests that the art is mechanical, and a study of the 
 works on drawing fully confirms the suspicion. In 
 these we find detailed directions for representing 
 every kind of scenery and under all circumstances. 
 In all such works mountains and streams are de- 
 scribed as the highest objects for the painter's skill, 
 and the student is told how to depict their beauties
 
 192 CHINA. 
 
 under every varying circumstance of season and 
 weather. The ideal mountain should have a cloud 
 encircling its " waist," which should hide from view 
 a part of the stream which should pour over rocks 
 and waterfalls, down its sides. A temple or house, 
 shaded and half-concealed by a grove, should be 
 nestled in its embrace, and a high bridge should span 
 the neighbouring torrent, over which a winding road, 
 bordered by trees, should lead round the mountain. 
 At inter\-als travellers should be seen mounting to 
 the summit. Three sides of a rock, if possible, 
 should be shown, and water should appear as though 
 ruffled by wind. A ford is a fitting adjunct to a 
 precipitous bank, and smoke and trees add to the 
 picturesqueness of a stretch of water. A large sheet 
 of water should always be dotted with sails. A 
 solitary city in the distance and a market town at 
 the foot of the mountain may be introduced with 
 advantage. 
 
 Houses should always form part of forest scener)-, 
 and an old tree with broken and twisted roots is an 
 appropriate finish to a rocky cliff. The boughs of 
 trees having leaves, should be supple, but if bare, 
 should be stiff Pine bark should be drawn as fishes' 
 scales, and cedar bark is always, it should be remem- 
 bered, entwining. The branches on the left side of a 
 tree should be longer than those on the right. Rocks 
 should be heavy above and slight beneath. There
 
 DRA WING. 
 
 193 
 
 should never be too much either smoke or cloud, nor 
 should woods have too many trees. On a snowy day 
 no cloud or smoke should be seen, and when rain is 
 
 4^ 
 
 falling distant mountains should be invisible. Such 
 are some of the directions given for landscape 
 
 O
 
 194 CHINA. 
 
 drawing, and a glance at Chinese pictures of scener}* 
 is enough to show how closely the rules of the 
 text-books are followed. 
 
 Writers on art advise artists, before beginning to 
 paint a flower, to examine it carefully from above, so 
 as to become thoroughly acquainted with its every 
 aspect ; and to watch the shadow cast in bright 
 moonlight by a bamboo tree on a white wall. 
 The different aspects of the clouds in the four 
 seasons should be carefully noted. In spring, clouds 
 appear in harmonious concord, in summer, they con- 
 gregate in profusion, in autumn, they are inter- 
 mittent and light, and in winter, they are dark and 
 cold. 
 
 With the same minuteness every branch of the art 
 is legislated for, and young artists desiring to make 
 themselves proficient in any direction will find full 
 instructions in the manuals published for their 
 guidance. 'Admirable, however, as some of the 
 effects produced are, the result of drawing by rule is 
 to produce a considerable amount of purely mechan- 
 ical skill, and to reduce the exercise of the imagina- 
 tion to a minimum. The birds and flowers, moun- 
 tains and streams, which seem to have been struck 
 off in a few lines as the spirit of the artist moved 
 him, are really the products of patient and repeated 
 imitation, and the probability is, that the artist whose 
 birds or flowers we all so much admire, would be quite
 
 DRA WING. 195 
 
 unable to draw a dog or a house, if suddenly called 
 upon to do so. The books enforce the doctrine that 
 there is no difference between learning to write and 
 learning to draw. It is possible, by constant appli- 
 cation, to learn to write characters correctly and 
 elegantly, and the same is the case with pictures. 
 This is not art of a high order, but it produces 
 striking and well arranged effects. So skilful was, it 
 is said, a certain artist of the third century in repre- 
 senting insects, that having carelessly added the form 
 of a fly to a picture he had painted for his sovereign, 
 the emperor, on receiving the painting, raised his 
 hand to brush the insect away. 
 
 The rules which are laid down for landscape draw- 
 ing cannot, of course, apply to portrait painting, in 
 which the artist has to follow a fresh model in every 
 picture ; and for this reason Chinese portraits are not 
 generally successful. Occasionally, artists have arisen 
 who have deservedly won renown in this branch of 
 the art. One of the earliest of these was Maou Yen- 
 chow, who, in the words of Mr. Mayers, " having been 
 commissioned by Yuen-te, of the Han Dynasty 
 (48-32 B.C.), to paint the portraits of the beauties of 
 his harem, is said to have falsified the lineaments of 
 the lovely Chaou Keun on being denied a bribe, and 
 subsequently, on the lady's real beauty being dis- 
 covered by the emperor, to have fled with her true 
 portrait to the Khan of the Hiung-nu. The Khan, 
 
 O 2
 
 196 CHINA. 
 
 fired by the hope of obtaining possession of so peerless 
 a beauty, invaded China in irresistible force, and only 
 consented to retire beyond the Wall when the lady 
 was surrendered to him. She accompanied her 
 savage captor, bathed in tears, until the banks of the 
 Amur were reached, when, rather than go beyond 
 the boundary, she plunged into the waters of the 
 stream. Her corpse was interred on the banks 
 of the river, and it is related, that the tumulus 
 raised above her grave remained covered with un- 
 dying verdure." 
 
 X^^^^^
 
 CHAPTER XI, 
 
 TRAVELLING. 
 
 RAVELLING in China 
 is slow and leisurely. 
 Time is of little or no 
 object to the fortunate 
 inhabitants of that 
 country, who are con- 
 tent to be carried for 
 long distances by cart, 
 boat, sedan-chair, or on horseback, without 
 the least troubling themselves about the 
 pace at which they journey. The pre- 
 vailing modes of conveyance vary in ac- 
 cordance with the nature of the country. 
 In the north, where the country is level 
 and open, the existence of broad roads enables the 
 inhabitants to use carts for the conveyance of pas- 
 sengers and goods. These carts are rude in con-
 
 198 CHINA. 
 
 struction and extremely uncomfortable. Those used 
 as carriages consist of the bed of the cart, with a 
 tilted cover and two wheels. They are entirely 
 destitute of springs, and the passenger sits cross- 
 legged on the bed of the cart, exactly above the axle, 
 without any support for his back. Even on good 
 roads such conveyances would be uncomfortable ; 
 but in China, where the roads arc rarely, if ever, 
 mended, and are either stone causeways or unmade 
 tracks, they are, to all those who are not accustomed 
 to them, instruments of torture. The great art in 
 travelling in them is to sit bolt upright, and to allow 
 the body to sway to and fro with the motion of the 
 cart, and to avoid touching the sides. In Peking and 
 other large cities, the private carriages of rich men 
 sometimes have the wheels placed behind the cart, so 
 that the cart itself is swung, as it were, between the 
 animal drawing it and the axle. In this way, the 
 severe jolts, which harass the passenger seated imme- 
 diately above the axle, are avoided. Carts for the 
 carriage of goods generally have only two wheels, 
 though there are also waggons with four. ]\Iules are 
 generally driven in private carriages and in the best 
 hack carts, but other carts are drawn by ponies, 
 donkeys, or oxen, as the convenience of the owner 
 dictates. 
 
 For riding purposes, also, mules are preferred to 
 ponies. They are considered to be more manage-
 
 TRAVELLING. 199 
 
 able, and when taught, as they generally are, to 
 amble, their pace is easy and expeditious. History 
 tells us that horses are not indigenous to China, and 
 this statement is borne out by the fact that the 
 hieroglyphic now used for a horse was originally 
 drawn to represent a donkey, the ears being long out 
 of all proportion to those of a horse. Messengers 
 and bearers of official despatches generally ride, but, 
 as a rule, travellers prefer going long journeys either 
 by cart or by boat. In the province of Shantung, 
 and in other mountainous districts in northern China, 
 a kind of horse palanquin is used by travellers. Either 
 two ponies or two mules are harnessed in the poles, 
 one in front and one behind, and thus carry the 
 palanquin between them. 
 
 But the most general way of travelling throughout 
 the empire, is by boat. In every direction the 
 natural " water highways " dissect the country, and 
 in parts, where these fall short of the wants of the 
 people, they are supplemented by canals. The boats 
 are admirably adapted to the people and the cir- 
 cumstances. They are built rather for comfort 
 than for speed, and their clean and comfort- 
 able cabins and easy motion form a most desirable 
 contrast to the jolting of carts, the monotony of posi- 
 tion necessary in a sedan-chair, or the fatigue of 
 riding. The official junks in which mandarins travel 
 are very like floating houses. They are fitted up
 
 200 
 
 CHINA. 
 
 with every convenience, and are manned by an arm)^ 
 of boatmen, who tow, pole, or row the vessel along, 
 as the case may be, when the wind is adverse. On 
 all such boats the flag of the mandarin on board is 
 hoisted on the mast. 
 
 Less distinguished passengers have to put up with 
 less commodious junks, but what they lack in com- 
 fort, they make up in superior facilities for travelling. 
 Not like the masts of mandarin junks, which are so 
 arranged that the sail can only be hoisted when the 
 wind is " right aft," the rig of the smaller passenger-
 
 TRAVELLING. 
 
 20 1 
 
 vessels is such, as to enable them to sail as near the 
 wind as a Portsmouth wherry. They are consider- 
 ably lighter also, and are consequently far more 
 easily towed. The fore part of such vessels consists 
 of a flush deck, the boards of which are movable, 
 and the holds, which, in the day-time, these conceal. 
 
 serve as sleeping-places for the crew. Captain Gill, 
 in his " River of Golden Sand," thus describes the 
 above-deck arrangements of the boat in which he lived 
 during a part of his voyage up the Yang-tsze keang: — 
 " The bows, for a space of twenty feet, were un- 
 covered ; aft of this a house about twenty feet long
 
 202 CHIXA. 
 
 was built right across the deck, leaving no room to 
 pass round the sides. There was a small open space 
 aft of the house, and right over the stern another 
 high building, where our skipper lived, was piled up 
 to a great height. The house was about seven feet 
 high, and was divided into four compartments, giving 
 us a living room and two bedrooms for ourselves, and 
 a room for the servants." 
 
 The sea-going junks are very much larger than 
 the river craft, and are built on different lines. They 
 are high at both ends, and are square at bow and 
 stern. On the latter is painted a phoenix standing 
 on a rock in the midst of the ocean, and at the bows 
 two large staring eyes, reminding one, as ]\Ir. Tylor 
 has pointed out, of the eye of Osiris, which was painted 
 on the Egyptian funeral-bark that carried the dead 
 across the lake to the western burial-place. The 
 Canton -English -speaking Chinese of Hong-kong 
 have another explanation of the custom, " No have 
 got eye," they say, " how can see ! no can see, how 
 can savey ! " All junks of this kind are divided into 
 water-tight compartments, and are capable of carry- 
 ing several thousand tons of cargo. They are gene- 
 rally three-masted, and carry a huge main-sail made 
 like the others of matting. The rudder projects con- 
 siderably beyond the stern, and is large in proportion 
 compared with those of European vessels, giving the 
 helmsman immense power of turning the vessel where
 
 TRA YELLING. 
 
 203 
 
 he Hsteth. The choice of feHcitous names by which to 
 christen the junks is a matter of serious consideration 
 to the owners who love to adorn the masts and rud- 
 ders with mottoes of good omen. Though possessed 
 of the compass Chinese sailors are W'ithout the know- 
 
 ledge necessary for taking nautical observations, and 
 consequently they are compelled to hug the land, or, 
 where that is impossible, to trust themselves entirely 
 to the guidance of the compass until they reach some 
 coast with which they are acquainted.
 
 204 CHINA. 
 
 In these circumstances it may readily be imagined 
 that the loss of junks and lives on the China coasts 
 is annually very large. Xot only are there the 
 ordinary difficulties of navigation to be contended 
 with, but the southern waters are periodically visited 
 by typhoons, which sweep the seas affected by them 
 of every junk outside the shelter of harbour, and 
 which, even within these limits, do incalculable 
 damage. In 1862 and 1871 the neighbourhood of 
 Canton was devastated by two such storms, and. 
 says Archdeacon Gray, " these were, if possible, sur- 
 passed in violence, and in the number of casualties 
 which attended them, b}^ a typhoon which visited 
 Hong-kong and Macao in the month of September, 
 1874. According to the inhabitants this distructive 
 cyclone was the greatest calamity which had befallen 
 Hong-kong and Macao within the memory of man." 
 It has been reckoned that 20,ooo persons perished 
 in the seas and rivers of the province of Kwangtung 
 on that occasion. 
 
 The immense number of people who live in 
 boats on the rivers in this part of China render 
 typhoons especially destructive. For the most part 
 these boat-people are not of Chinese origin, but are 
 remnants of the aborigines of the countr}'. They 
 are known as Tanka, and are nearly related to the 
 Miaou-tsze of southern and western China. At the 
 present day there is not much in their appearance to
 
 77?^ YELLING. 205 
 
 distinguish them from the Chinese, except that they 
 are more vivacious in manner, and brighter in coun- 
 tenance ; and they have so entirely discarded their 
 own language in favour of Chinese that their speech 
 in no way betrays them. They are regarded with an 
 affectation of contempt by the Cantonese, who have 
 nicknamed them SJninii ke, " Water fowl," or Hoi 
 ch'at, " Sea otters." At various times they have been 
 much persecuted, and attempts have not been want- 
 ing to subject them to complete ostracism. Even 
 now marriages between the Tankas and Cantonese 
 are rarely celebrated, and their youths are not allowed 
 to compete at the literary examinations. That the 
 race has ever survived is a constant wonder, seeing 
 the hourly and almost momentary danger of drown- 
 ing, in which the children live on board their boats. 
 That they do not all fall overboard from the unpro- 
 tected decks is only another proof that human beings 
 can adapt themselves to any circumstances. The 
 only precaution that is ever taken, even in the case 
 of infants, is to tie an empty gourd between their 
 shoulders, so that, should they fall into the water, 
 they may be kept afloat until help comes. Hardly 
 a less cause for amazement is the way in which 
 whole families and large families pack away in 
 their boats. A space which would appear infinitely 
 cramped and confined to one of ourselves serves a 
 father and mother, sometimes a mother-in-law, and
 
 2o6 
 
 CHINA. 
 
 a host of children, for every purpose of Hfe. They 
 are born in their boats, they marr}- in their boats, 
 and die in their boats. 
 
 One great advantage of travelling by boat in 
 China is, that by so doing the traveller avoids the 
 necessity of going to inns. He carries ever>'thing 
 he wants with him. The sto\-e which cooks the 
 
 boatmen's dinner cooks his also, and even in the 
 smallest passenger boats he may sleep comfortably, 
 protected by the mat-co\-ering from rain and cold. 
 Compared with the accommodation commonly found 
 in village - inns, boats are clean and commodious. 
 Except in very large inns a single courtyard sur-
 
 TRA YELLING. 207 
 
 rounded by mean and dirty rooms is all that is at 
 the disposal of travellers. The kitchen and offices 
 adjoin the entrance, and in the four or five other 
 apartments live the host and his family, and there 
 also are lodged the travellers who present them- 
 selves. In the north of China the most conspicuous 
 object in a room of an inn is the kang, or raised 
 brick bed place, which generally extends along the 
 whole side of the chamber. It is built hollow, so as to 
 admit, in cold weather, of a fire of brushwood being 
 lit inside. The caloric thus communicated quickly 
 heats the bricks through, and the weary traveller 
 finds a warm place on which to roll himself in his 
 bedding. But even when thus comfortably placed 
 he must be a hardened sleeper who can forget in 
 slumber the noises which are constantly going on 
 around him. It is seldom that among the inhabitants 
 of an inn there is not a guitar and a guitarist, and 
 long into the night the melancholy notes of this 
 instrument, which would be provocative of sleep 
 were it not for the shrill long drawn-out notes which 
 diversify Chinese airs, wail through the rooms. 
 When at last these cease to disturb, the silence 
 which follows only makes more audible the quarrels 
 and fights between the ponies and mules which 
 stand in the stable, or sometimes in the open court- 
 yard. When towards morning these sounds have 
 died away the traveller is fortunate if he is not tor-
 
 2oS CHINA. 
 
 merited with the crowinj^ of cocks, which not un- 
 frequently landlords, and those of their guests who 
 wish to make an early start, tie beneath their beds, 
 and which, as may be imagined, keep up a shrill 
 chorus on the approach of day. 
 
 One other means of travelling remains to be 
 noticed, and one which is peculiar to China, namely 
 by wheelbarrow. On the plains in the northern 
 portion of the empire it is not at all unusual to see 
 one or two persons seated on a wheelbarrow, which 
 is propelled by a man or men, whose labours arc 
 lightened when going with the wind by a sail which 
 is hoisted on a moveable mast. Dr. Williamson, in 
 his "Journeys in North China," thus describes these 
 means of conveyance : — " Here we met many of 
 their extraordinary wheelbarrows moving along on 
 dry ground with a sail set, each barrow having a 
 great wheel in the centre, finely balanced. Those 
 we saw were laden heavily, and had a large sheet of 
 cloth set on a frame-work in front ; many of these 
 sails were so rigged as to be capable of being raised 
 or reefed at pleasure, the ropes or braces being at- 
 tached to a hook close to the driver. We have 
 never seen these wheelbarrows without pity ; the 
 strain to the men who manage them is enormous ; 
 indeed, we have never witnessed human beings under 
 such hca\y labour. We met many with fourteen 
 bean-cakes on one barrow, equal to seven small
 
 A W llKKl.IiAKKOW WITH SAIL. 
 
 To /,u\- />ii£t: 209.
 
 TRA VELLING. 209 
 
 donkey-loads ; and often saw six bails of cotton on 
 one barrow, though two are considered sufficient for 
 a mule; but human labour is cheaper than animal. 
 In many cases there were two men to one barrow, 
 one dragging and another pushing ; but, in such 
 cases, the load was increased." 
 
 Another traveller, writing on this subject, also 
 speaks of the enormous loads carried on these 
 barrows : — " We saw a large wheelbarrow so heavily 
 laden that, while it required only one man to guide 
 and manage it from behind, two men were employed, 
 one on each side, to steady and force it along, while 
 a fourth man was engaged in driving two mules and 
 one ass, which were fastened abreast to the front part 
 of the vehicle, in order to assist in its progress." 
 
 At the present day, however, there are not wanting 
 signs that before long the " iron horse " will have to 
 be added to the list of the means of travelling in 
 China. The knowledge of the material results of 
 Western civilisation which has been gained of late 
 years by the officials of China, with the example set 
 by Japan of the practicability of their adoption in 
 Eastern countries, has stirred the minds of some of 
 the most powerful men in China on the subject of 
 introducing railways and telegraphs into the " flowery 
 land." The advantages of railways also, in a military 
 sense, will be a powerful argument for their adoption, 
 and in the physical features of the country few ob- 
 
 P
 
 210 CHINA. 
 
 stacks will be found to their construction. Over the 
 vast plains of northern China scarcely a gradient 
 would be necessary, and through the hilly and 
 mountainous districts the routes marked out by the 
 existing highways would easily yield to the engineer's 
 skill. Both from their natural aptness, and from the 
 fact of their striking all the great centres of trade, 
 these highways will, when the time comes for laying 
 down the rails, probably direct the course of the 
 lines. 
 
 Nothing is more suggestive of the former greatness 
 of the empire, and of its present degenerate condition, 
 than its magnificent system of highways, and the 
 uncared-for, miserable state in which they now are. 
 From Peking, as the political centre of the " middle 
 kingdom," four great main roads radiate. One goes 
 north to Urga by way of Seuen-hwa Foo, passing 
 through the Great Wall at Chang-kea kow ; another 
 enters Mongolia through the Koo-pei Kow, and passes 
 in a north-easterly direction to Fung-ning, where it 
 tiu'ns north-west and continues on to Dolanor ; a 
 third strikes eastward by way of Tung-chow, Yung- 
 ping Foo, Shan-hai-kwan, King-chow- Foo, Moukden, 
 Kirin, Ning-gu-ta, and on to Poissiet, a Russian port 
 on the eastern coast of the continent ; and a fourth, 
 which trends in a south-westerly direction to Paou- 
 ting Foo, Tai-yuen Foo, Tung-kwan, the celebrated 
 fortress at the point where the Yellow^ River after
 
 TRA YELLING. 
 
 pursuing a southerly course, turns eastward to the 
 sea, and Se-ngan Foo in Shen-se. At this point it 
 bifurcates, one branch turning north-west to Kan-suh 
 and Tibet, and the other continuing the original 
 direction through Sze-chuen to Siam. At Paou-ting 
 Foo also, two highways diverge from the main road, 
 one leading to Nanking and another to Nan-chang 
 Foo on the Po-yang Lake, where travellers embark 
 on the Kea River for Canton. 
 
 The original construction of these roads was as 
 masterly as their design was magnificent. The 
 bridges by which they cross all but the largest rivers 
 were all well built and many of them were handsome 
 structures ; the passage through mountain-passes 
 and hilly districts was in all cases ably executed in 
 spite of often great engineering difficulties ; and the 
 width of the road-ways, from seventy to eighty feet, 
 gave ample room for the passage of camels, carts, 
 sedan-chairs, and beasts of burden which frequented 
 them. Many of these roads are planted on each side 
 with rows of trees, and at every ten Chinese miles 
 there stands a signal-tower, on which, in bygone 
 days, when evil threatened, fires were lit, which at 
 night gave warning of danger by their flames, and in 
 the day-time were made to emit dense clouds of 
 smoke to serve the same purpose. At frequent 
 intervals are the remains of guard-houses, where 
 soldiers used to be stationed for the protection of 
 
 r 2
 
 212 CHIXA. 
 
 travellers, and wherever necessar}' wells and troughs 
 are provided for the use of men and their beasts. 
 Inns and tea-houses repeat themselves constantly 
 along the lines of route, and post-horses stand ready 
 prepared in the stables of the frequent post-houses 
 to relieve at the instant the tired steeds of the official 
 couriers. In cases of emergency these men are said 
 to travel over two hundred English miles a-day. 
 They carry a few hen's feathers fastened to the top 
 of their lanterns as a signal of their commission, and 
 their despatches are tied in a parcel on their backs. 
 The speed with which these men travel is illustrated 
 by the following mention made by Captain Gill, in his 
 '• River of Golden Sand," of a nocturnal visit of one 
 at a little village in Western China : — " The clatter 
 of an imperial despatch from Peking awoke the 
 echoes of the slumbering village at three o'clock in 
 the morning : a few dogs barked, a cock crowed, but 
 in less than a minute the rattle of the hoofs was lost 
 in the distance, and the place lapsed into its normal 
 silence."
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 HONOURS. 
 
 jHE question of what should 
 be done to the man whom 
 the king delighteth to 
 honour is one which re- 
 ceives different answers 
 in almost every country 
 in the world. In all, how- 
 ever, some accession of 
 dignity, or insignia of 
 honour are the rewards 
 awaiting those who have 
 deserved well of their country. The satis- 
 faction arising from popular fame is short- 
 lived, and some more lasting evidence is 
 therefore demanded of the favour of the 
 sovereign. In China, the highest rewards 
 for military services are unlike all other 
 official honours which die with the wearer, 
 and are hereditary. Nine titles of nobility^
 
 214 CHINA. 
 
 viz., Kuiig, or duke, Hozv, or marquis, Pih, or earl, 
 Tsze, or viscount, Na7i, or baron, and lying cJik Too- 
 yii, K'e Too-yii, Yun K'e-yic, and Ngan K'e-yil, which 
 may be considered equivalent to as many degrees of 
 knighthood, are set apart for military heroes. With 
 the exception of the last title, all these are hereditary 
 during- a specified number of lives, ranging from 
 twenty-six for a Kttng to one for a Yun K'e-yii. 
 They have the peculiarity also, on occasions, of not 
 only descending to future generations, but of ennobling 
 the dead, and especially those who have been killed 
 in battle. 
 
 The system of conferring posthumous honours of 
 various kinds is very common, and is not by any 
 means confined to the victims of war. It is practised 
 in the case of officials who lose their lives at sea or in 
 the inland waters while travelling on duty, of virtuous 
 sovereigns, of chaste widows, of filial sons, and of 
 patriots. Such rewards are often only titles of 
 honour, which are not hereditary, and which may be 
 either conferred on the meritorious individual in 
 person, or granted to him posthumously, or may be 
 bestowed on his wife, or his parents, or his grand- 
 parents. As in the case of the hereditary patents 
 mentioned above, these titles are divided into nine 
 ranks, each of which is subdivided into two grades, 
 and are as follows : — i a. Kivang Ink ta foo, b. Yung 
 Ink ta foo ; 2 a. Ts2e ching ta foo, b. T'ling fung ta
 
 HONOURS. 215 
 
 foo ; 3 a. T'ling e ta foo, b. Cluing e ta foo ; 4 a. CJinng 
 /lien ta foo, b. 67^'<7^ e ta foo ; 5 a. Z^?/;/^ <r/////^ ta foo, 
 b. i^?/;/^ ^/z/Z; /« /^<? / 6 a. CJHng tih lang, b. /(?<? //« 
 /it;/^; 7 a. Wait lin lang, b. Cliing sze lang ; 8 a. Sew 
 chih lang, b. vS^w chili tso lang ; 9 a. Tang sze lang, 
 b. Z^w^ J^^ tso lang. The wives of officers on whom 
 these titles are conferred are styled respectively, 
 I. Yihfin foo fin, 2. Urh p'in foo Jin, 3. S huh Jin, 
 4. Kungjin, 5, EJin, 6. Ngan Jin, 7. foo Jin, 8. Ta 
 p in Joo Jin, 9. Kin fin Joo Jin. 
 
 These titles are highly prized by those upon whom 
 they are bestowed, and invariably accompany the 
 mention of their names in all state papers and family 
 records, as well as on their funeral cards, ancestral 
 tablets, and tombstones. " The patents," says Mn 
 Mayers, in his " Chinese Government," " are inscribed 
 on long scrolls of damask silk, woven in five colours, 
 with figures of the phoenix in relief, upon which the 
 particulars of the grant are inscribed successively in 
 the Chinese and Manchu languages." To military 
 officers, as rewards of distinguished services, are con- 
 ferred, not only honorary titles, such as Tseang keun, 
 " general," etc., but articles of clothing, among which 
 the most coveted is the yellow riding-jacket. This 
 jacket is supposed only to be worn when in attendance 
 on the emperor, and though it is invariably called 
 "yellow," the colour, as a matter of fact, follows that 
 of the banner to which the recipient belongs. Only
 
 2i6 CHIXA. 
 
 two Europeans have been granted this distinction, 
 namely, Colonel Gordon, and M. Giguel, the Com- 
 mandant of the Foochow Arsenal. 
 
 To Colonel Gordon also were presented by the 
 emperor four " suits " of clothes, the first of which a 
 "suit of court-clothes," consisted of an embroidered 
 robe, a heavenly-blue satin jacket embroidered with 
 insignia of office, a moon-coloured camlet coat, a 
 moon-coloured satin collar, a sea-dragon court-cap, a 
 purple cap button, a jadite holder for peacock's 
 feather on cap, a peacock's feather, an untrimmed 
 court-cap, a purple quartz button, a white jade-holder 
 for peacock's feather, a peacock's feather, a necklace 
 of golden amber beads, a girdle, a sash-purse, and a 
 pair of satin boots. The second, or variegated suit was 
 made up of a silk robe embroidered with four-clawed 
 dragons, a heavenly-blue Nanking camlet jacket, a 
 rice-coloured spring camlet robe, a moon- coloured 
 gauze collar, a floss silk cap, a coral button of the 
 first rank, a white jade-holder for peacock's feather, 
 a peacock's feather, a peach-stone necklace, a stone- 
 blue silk girdle, a sash-purse, and a pair of satin 
 boots. The third, or " suit of ordinarj' clothes," con- 
 sisted of a pale silver Nanking camlet robe, a 
 heavenly-blue Nanking camlet jacket, a spring gauze 
 robe of the colour of " lake water," a fringed official 
 summer-cap, a red coral button of the first rank, a 
 flesh-coloured holder for peacock's feather, a pea-
 
 HONOURS. 217 
 
 cock's feather, a white jade girdle-clasp, a stone-blue 
 silk girdle, a small knife, a red snuff-box, a purse, a 
 letter-case, a fan-case, a large and small purse, and 
 a pair of satin boots. And the fourth, or " walking- 
 suit," consisted of a blue Nanking camlet robe, a 
 yellow Nanking riding-jacket, a spring camlet robe of 
 the colour of " lake water," a drab felt fighting-coat, 
 a "victorious cap," a foreign porcelain button of the 
 first rank, a long crane-shaped red holder for a pea- 
 cock's feather, a peacock's feather, a set of double- 
 forked sable tails, a stone-blue silk girdle, a waist- 
 knife, a walking sash-purse, and a pair of satin boots. 
 Next to the yellow jacket, the peacock's feather is 
 the imperial reward which is most highly prized, and 
 of this distinguished decoration there are three ranks. 
 The highest is the San yen Jnva-ling, or three-eyed 
 peacock's feather, which is conferred only on imperial 
 princes, or nobles of the highest degree, or for the 
 most signal military services. The second, the SJnvang 
 yen Jnua-ling, or " double-eyed peacock's feather," is 
 bestowed upon lesser dignitaries, and for less con- 
 spicuous merit. And the third, the Tan yen hzua- 
 ling or " single-eyed peacock^s feather," is given as 
 a reward for good service, without regard to rank. 
 Of late years the necessities of the imperial ex- 
 chequer have been such as to compel the government 
 to sell rank in the open market, and among other 
 insignia of imperial favour "single-eyed peacock's
 
 2i8 CHINA. 
 
 feathers " have been freely purchased. One other 
 kind of feather, known as the Lan ling, " blue 
 feather," or more commonly Lno kiva ling, " crow's 
 feather," is reserved for all officials under the sixth 
 rank who have won their spurs on the battle-field, 
 and, according to regulation, it is a distinction which 
 is open also to the rank and file of the imperial 
 guard. But more commonly private soldiers receive 
 as a reward for merit an oblong plate of thin silver, 
 on which is inscribed the character Shang, " reward." 
 
 By the present dynasty a Manchoo title of distinc- 
 tion has been imported into the Chinese service, and 
 is now much coveted, both for the honour it brings, 
 and for the increased allowances which the bearers 
 of it enjoy when on active service. Ba-too-roo, 
 " Brave," is a title which by imperial order is added 
 to the names of soldiers who have performed acts of 
 gallantry in the field, and, in cases of more than 
 ordinary merit, it is supplemented by prefixed epi- 
 thets, such as " magnanimous," " heroic," etc. 
 
 As an additional mark of the imperial appreciation 
 for military services rendered, it is permitted to cer- 
 tain officers to ride on horseback a certain distance 
 within the outer gateways of the palace when bidden 
 to an audience, instead of being obliged to dismount 
 at the gates of the " forbidden city," as all officials 
 now are who do not possess this privilege. 
 
 In China, as elsewhere, it is fully recognised that
 
 HONOURS. 219 
 
 the same power which grants honours and privileges 
 may at any time withdraw them, and each and all of 
 the distinctions mentioned are revocable by imperial 
 decree. Nor is this power allowed to remain a dead 
 letter. The Peking Gazette frequently contains edicts 
 stripping offending officials of their yellow jackets, 
 their patents of nobility, and their titles Ba-f oo-roo, 
 etc., or reducing the number of eyes in peacock's 
 feathers, or changing the colours of the buttons worn 
 by them, either temporarily or permanently. 
 
 But the bestowal of imperial honours is by no 
 means confined to officials of either service, or to 
 members of either sex. In every city in the empire 
 are to be seen Pai loiv, or " honorary portals," 
 stretching across the streets, which have been erected 
 by imperial order to perpetuate the rare virtues of 
 some filial daughter or chaste widow. It might be 
 argued that the existence of these laudatory monu- 
 ments points to the rarity of the virtues which they 
 commemorate. And this is, to a certain extent, no 
 doubt true ; at the same time, the formalities to be 
 gone through and the expenses incurred in obtaining 
 the necessary decrees are so burdensome, that doubt- 
 less the friends of many fit candidates for the honour 
 allow them to waste their sweetness on the desert air 
 of obscurity. 
 
 As an instance of the merit in such cases de- 
 manded, and of the reward granted, the following
 
 220 CHJXA. 
 
 edict in the Peking Gazette of May 25th, 1877, affords 
 a good example. Le Hung-chang, the Viceroy of 
 Chih-li, there reports the case of a Miss Wang, who, 
 from her earhest youth, " exhibited a decorous pro- 
 priety of conduct and a love of study. She was a 
 diligent reader of Lew Heang's ' Lives of Virtuous 
 Women,' and the poems of Muh Lan. At the age 
 of thirteen it was proposed to betroth her. At the 
 first hint of this reaching her ears, she retired to her 
 room, and drew, with a pointed instrument, blood 
 from her arm, with which she wrote a sentence 
 declaring her intention to remain single in order to 
 devote herself to the care of her parents. At the 
 age of eighteen she refused in like manner ; and 
 when, in 1S52, the remains of her father and 
 second brother, who had perished at the taking of 
 Woo-ch'ang by the rebels, were brought back to 
 Kao-yeo, she exclaimed, amid her tears, that since she 
 could not follow her father to the tomb, her mother 
 being still alive, her blood should at least serve to 
 varnish his coffin ; so saying she gashed her arm 
 with a knife, allowing a stream of blood to mingle 
 with the lacquer of the coffin. She had reached the 
 age of twenty-six when her father's obsequies were 
 completed, and her mother and elder brother were 
 anxious that she should marr}- ; but she steadfastly 
 refused to do so, and devoted herself to attending 
 upon her mother, with whom she shortly afterwards
 
 HONOURS. 
 
 removed to Choh-chow, on her brother receiving an 
 appointment at Peking, as a reward for his services. 
 She allowed no other hands but her own to wait 
 upon her mother, and when, in 1862, her mother was 
 attacked with dangerous illness, she cut a piece of 
 flesh from her left thigh to be administered as a 
 remedy. In less than a year a fresh attack of illness 
 supervened, and she cut a piece of flesh from her 
 right thigh on this occasion, recovery ensuing as 
 before. On subsequent occasions, when her parent 
 was attacked with slight ailments, she applied burn- 
 ing incense-stick to her arms, and used the calcined 
 flesh to mingle with the remedies prescribed, with 
 invariably successful results. After her mother's 
 death, in 1872, she refused all sustenance during a 
 period of three days, and Avas with difficulty per- 
 suaded at length to take food. Her brother shortly 
 afterwards died, whereupon she escorted his remains 
 to the ancestral home at Kao-yeo, and afterwards, 
 returning thence, performed the same journey once 
 more in attendance on her mother's coffin. The 
 devotion and energy she has displayed, exceed what 
 might be expected from one of the opposite sex, and 
 it is solicited, in view of the wide repute which has 
 been gained by her virtues at Choh-chow, that a 
 monument may be erected to her honour under im- 
 perial sanction. — Granted by rescript." 
 
 A similar honour is frequently conferred on young
 
 222 HONOURS. 
 
 ladies who, their betrothed having died before mar- 
 riage, devote themselves to a life of single blessed- 
 ness, and to the discharge of filial duties towards 
 the parents of their proposed husbands. Even the 
 passive virtue of longevity comes within the far- 
 reaching circle of imperial favours. The Chinese, 
 and especially Chinese women, are not long-lived, 
 and when, therefore, a case occurs of a lady living to 
 an unusual age, such as approaching a hundred, the 
 circumstance is regarded, in the words of the usual 
 edict issued, as " conspicuously a glory to our reign, 
 and an auspicious omen for our people," and a tablet, 
 inscribed in obedience to the order of the emperor by 
 the Imperial Studio and the Han-lin College, is the 
 least honour which is conferred upon her.
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 NAMES. 
 
 IKE most institutions in 
 China, surnames have 
 a long ancestry. Thou- 
 sands of years before 
 the Aryan races adopt- 
 ed the hap - hazard 
 epithets which serve 
 them for surnames, 
 the Chinese had_ established for themselves 
 tribal names, which are the true surnames. 
 History tells us, that the Emperor Hwang- 
 te (B.C. 2697) was the first to introduce sing 
 or surnames. He had, we are told, a family 
 of twenty-five sons by four wives. To 
 thirteen of them he gave his own traditional name of 
 Ke, and to the remaining twelve he gave eleven sing, 
 namely K'e, Yiii, T'ang, Chin, Jin, Kozu, Le, Kih,
 
 224 CHINA. 
 
 Hzvdn, and E. Following the example thus set, suc- 
 ceeding emperors conferred names on meritorious 
 subjects, taken cither from their native places, 
 countries, or cities, or chosen on account of epithets 
 attaching to them, or of their titles, trades, dwellings, 
 or personal characteristics. The earliest si7ig are said 
 to have been derived from the mother's side, and for 
 this reason, in most of such, the hieroglyphic for a 
 woman enters into the composition of the compound 
 characters which express them in writing. 
 
 It is noticeable that, from the earliest times, the 
 sing were conferred by the emperor, and no China- 
 man has, down to the present day, ever had a right 
 either to adopt a sing or to change it, without imperial 
 sanction. So fully is this recognised, and so strictly 
 tribal are the sing, that an inexorable law forbids a 
 man from marrying a woman bearing the same sing 
 as himself. When this law was first instituted is not 
 quite clear. It is certain that during the Shang and 
 earlier dynasties there existed no such bar to inter- 
 marriage, but we find it in force during the Chow 
 Dynasty, and since that time it has been rigidly 
 adhered to. As years went on. the list of sing rapidly 
 increased, until, at the present day, there are, according 
 to K'ang-he's great encyclopaedia, 3,038 single sing, 
 and 1,619 double ones. Wells Williams gives only 
 1,678 and 176 respectively. Legend says that 
 Hwang-te arranged the twelve sijig, which he con-
 
 NAMES. 225 
 
 ferred on his sons by the notes he blew from a 
 jewelled flute. Like many other early Chinese legends, 
 however, it is probable that this one arose from a 
 misapprehension of the original K21 ivan text, and 
 that the fact of the number of the musical notes 
 fixed by Hwang-te agreeing with the number of his 
 son's sing has given currency to it. At the present 
 day, the surnames in the well-known work on the 
 Pih sing are, following this tradition, arranged under 
 the twelve musical notes. The Chinese pride them- 
 selves much on the possession of surnames, and no 
 foreigner, not even the countrymen of the reigning 
 Manchoo sovereigns, are allowed to borrow them, or 
 even officially to use their own surnames in China. 
 In the same way, the Annamese flaunt their pos- 
 session of sing as a badge of superiority over the 
 Cambodians, who are not so privileged, and who are 
 thus driven to distinguish each other by names crys- 
 tallising either physical or mental characteristics. 
 At the present day there yet linger traces of the old 
 tribal associations. Such names of places as Le kea 
 ehwang and Chang kea zvan recall the time when 
 the Le family were in possession of the first-named 
 village, and the Chang family owned the shores of 
 the wan or bay where the allied fleets rendezvoused 
 in i860 before the attack on the Taku forts. In every 
 town and large village, also, every family has its 
 ancestral hall, in which are placed the tablets of th: 
 
 Q
 
 226 CHINA. 
 
 deceased heads of the various households which 
 constitute the family, and where the great family- 
 reunions, especially that known as the autumnal 
 sacrifice, are held. 
 
 It is customary for the members of a family esta- 
 blishing an ancestral hall, to subscribe together a sum 
 for the purchase of a piece of land, the income of 
 which is devoted to the maintenance of the hall. This 
 land, as well as the hall and its furniture, are vested 
 in the entire family, and can be alienated only by the 
 unanimous consent of the elders of all the house- 
 holds interested in them. The first annual festival 
 of any importance is held on one of the early days 
 of the first month, when the representatives of the 
 various households stand in a circle round the tablets 
 in the principal room, and with joined hands together 
 bow and worship before the tablets of their ancestors. 
 After this and other ceremonies have been performed, 
 the assembled worshippers sit down to a feast. From 
 the eleventh to the fifteenth of the same month, acts 
 of worship are performed, and in the second month 
 the vernal sacrifices, consisting of meats, vegetables, 
 and fruits, are offered before the shrines of the 
 deceased. In the seventh month mock money and 
 mock clothing are burnt, under the delusion that, by 
 so doing, the things they represent will pass to the 
 dead, who will thus be prepared to withstand the 
 cold of the api reaching winter. But the principal
 
 NAMES. 227 
 
 festival is later in the autumn, when the sacrifices 
 offered and the ceremonies performed are of a more 
 important and formal kind than on other occa- 
 sions. Describing a particular festival of this kind, 
 Mr. Doolittle, in his " Social Life of the Chinese," 
 says : — "A professor of ceremonies was present, 
 directing the worshippers when to kneel, bow, and 
 rise up. The faces of these worshippers were turned 
 towards the tablets. The head person among them 
 was a lad some six or eight years old, being the 
 eldest son of the eldest son, &c., of the remote male 
 ancestor from whom all the Chinese, having his ances- 
 tral name, living in the city claim to have descended. 
 He was the chief of the clan, according to the Chinese 
 law of primogeniture. This lad, instructed by a 
 professor of ceremonies, took the lead in the worship, 
 all the rest kneeling down when he knelt, bowing 
 their heads towards the ground when he bowed his 
 head, and rising to their feet when he rose. The 
 head man, at the proper time during the ceremony, 
 while on his knees, all the rest of the worshippers 
 being also on their knees, received three cups of 
 wine, which he poured out, one by one, upon some 
 straw placed in the bottom of a certain vessel. These 
 cups were then refilled and replaced on a table 
 before the tablets, whence they were taken by the 
 professor of ceremonies. Before the wine was poured 
 out, he lifted the cups up reverently in front of him, 
 
 O 2
 
 228 CHIXA. 
 
 as though offering them to the spirits supposed to be 
 in the tablets. Three bowls of vegetables were pre- 
 sented ... in like manner, and then taken away and 
 placed upon a table. The professor of ceremonies . . . 
 knelt down, and read, or rather chanted, a kind of sacri- 
 ficial prayer to the spirits of the departed ancestors 
 of the company present. They, being all the while 
 on their knees, then bowed down their heads towards 
 the ground three times, when several rolls of coarse 
 silk, or something in imitation of silk, were burnt. 
 The great drum was beaten. All rose up at the 
 command of the professor, and left their allotted 
 places. The cooked provisions intended for the feast 
 were soon arranged on tables, in the proper . . . 
 manner at feasts. The representatives of the families 
 interested in the hall took their seats, and partook of 
 the feast provided in the presence, as they believed, 
 of their ancestors. All of them were males, no 
 female being allowed to be present or participate in 
 the festivities or solemnities of such occasions. At 
 the close of the feasting, each representative took 
 home with him some of the flesh of the pig which 
 had been offered whole before the tablets." The 
 flesh thus taken home is highly prized, it being be- 
 lieved that those who partake of it are likely to 
 become the parents of sons. 
 
 In addition to the Sing, every Chinaman possesses 
 one or more personal names. In his infant days a
 
 XAMES. 229 
 
 designation known as his " milk name " is conferred 
 upon him, and subsequently, on his arriving at the 
 age of puberty, a miiig, or cognomen, is given him. 
 In after-life, more especially if he becomes an author, 
 he takes a ts-':c, or literary appellation, and it is by 
 this that he is afterwards best known in every-day life 
 and in the literary world. Often, again, he adds one 
 or more haou, pseudonyms, to his other names, 
 which not unfrequently he uses on the title-page of 
 his works, thus considerably adding to the difficulty of 
 identifying him. The well-known philosopher Choo 
 He affords an instance of the number of names which 
 a Chinaman may accumulate. To his Sing, Choo 
 was added his ining, He. Subsequently he adopted 
 the tsze, Yucn-hwuy, and Chung-hwuy, and at diffe- 
 rent times, afterwards, christened himself with the 
 pseudonyms Hwuy-gan, "The dark cottage"; Hwuy 
 ung, "The obscure gentleman"; Ts'ang-chow t'un 
 ung, " The concealed gentleman of Ts'ang-chow " ; 
 Yun kuh laou jin, "The old man of the cloudy 
 valley " ; and Tsze yang, from the name of his 
 study. 
 
 As a rule, high-sounding or felicitous names are 
 chosen, for the ining and tsze, and, as generally, the 
 pseudonyms adopted by authors bear depreciatory 
 meanings, or indications of their dwellings. For ex- 
 ample, we meet with such viing as " The fairy guest" ; 
 ' The pacifier of the age " ; " Protracted longevity " ;
 
 230 
 
 CHINA. 
 
 or " The shield of the empire," the Diing borne by 
 the father of the present Chinese ambassador; and 
 among pseudonyms we find "The dull scholar"; 
 "The obscure student"; "The stupid old man"; as 
 well as "The western river"; "The mountain valley," 
 and " The five mountain peaks,"
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 THE CHINESE YEAR. 
 
 [ROM time immemorial 
 that is to say, from a 
 date anterior to the ar- 
 rival of the "black-haired" 
 race in China, the Chinese 
 divided their year into 
 twelve lunar months, with 
 an occasional intercalary 
 month to make up the 
 required number of days 
 for the full year. The 
 earliest written character for a year repre- 
 sented a grain of wheat (5\), which is 
 
 preserved in the modern form of the same 
 character which is now pronounced nicn 
 
 (i^). The months were in those early 
 
 days called by names the origin of which
 
 232 CHINA. 
 
 has, according to the author of the earliest Chinese dic- 
 tionary, the UvJl ya, been lost, and, in default of any 
 intelligible explanation, the lexicographer gives the 
 list without attempting to elucidate them. The first 
 is T'soii', "The north corner" ; the second Joo, " As, 
 Like"; the third Pin^, "To start in sleep"; the 
 fourth Vu, " I " ; the fifth Hao, " Bright " ; the sixth 
 Ts'ie/i, " Sacrificial Table "; the seventh SeaJig, " To 
 examine, to assert, to watch " ; the eighth Chivang, 
 "Stout, Strong, Abundant"; the ninth //mv/, "Dark"; 
 the tenth Yang, "Bright," "The sun," "The day"; the 
 eleventh Koo, " A crime," " A failure " ; the twelfth 
 Tsoo, " Heavy dew or rain." But though the source 
 from whence these names were derived is hidden 
 from the Chinese, the affinity, as has already been 
 shown, which we now recognise as existing between 
 early Chinese and Accadian gives us a clue by 
 means of which some of these names at least may 
 be explained. In accordance with the Babylonian 
 custom, also, the year of the ancient Chinese began, 
 as at the present time, with the third month of the 
 solar year. 
 
 The fact of the introduction of a intercalary month 
 in about once every thirty months causes a consider- 
 able variation in the day on which the first day of the 
 year falls. It varies between the middle of Januar)' 
 and the last part of February, but whenever it occurs 
 it is the signal for national rejoicing and individual
 
 THE CHINESE YEAR. 
 
 merry-making. All public offices are closed for the 
 space of twenty days, and, in like manner, the doors 
 of warehouses and shops are shut in the faces of cus- 
 tomers. A day or two before the end of the old year 
 a thanksgiving service is peformed in each household, 
 before the shrine of the tutelary deity of the dwelling, 
 in acknowledgment of the safety and comfort en- 
 joyed during the past year ; and, among traders of 
 all kinds, extreme anxiety is manifested to get in 
 outstanding debts, and to provide money for the 
 payment of sums due. To be a defaulter on New 
 Year's Day is to lose credit and reputation, and, 
 rather than begin a new year under such ill-omened 
 circumstances, shopkeepers often offer their stocks- 
 in-trade at prices which, not only leave them 
 without a profit, but which are, not unfrequently, less 
 than cost-price. The last night of the year is de- 
 voted to preparations for the ceremonies of the 
 morrow. Before daybreak the members of each 
 household offer sacrifice, with many genuflections 
 and prayers, to Heaven and Earth, and to their 
 tutelary gods. After each service crackers are dis- 
 charged in the street or road with so universal a 
 consent that the morning breaks perfumed with 
 sulphur and saltpetre. Next to the tutelary gods 
 the deceased ancestors of the household, and after 
 them the living elders of the family receive homage 
 from their kinsfolk.
 
 234 CHIXA. 
 
 Early in the day the provincial mandarins pay 
 their respects, when practicable, to the governors and 
 viceroys of their respective provinces ; and, at the 
 capital, the male members of the imperial household 
 and the high officers of state prostrate themselves 
 before the emperor, and offer to him their congratu- 
 lations and good wishes. In theor)-, this ceremony 
 should be observ^ed by every official in the empire ; but, 
 as this is impossible, the mandarins of each city repair 
 to the emperor's temple, and there perform the cere- 
 monies of devotion before a throne made in exact imi- 
 tation of the Dragon Throne, and on which is placed 
 a tablet bearing the inscription " May the emperor 
 reign ten thousand years, and ten times ten thousand 
 years." The fact of many hundreds of thousands of 
 mandarins throughout the empire simultaneously 
 prostrating themselves in humble adoration before 
 thrones, each tenanted but by an ascriptive tablet, is 
 highly suggestive of the power wielded by the 
 sovereign, and of the extent of the superstitious awe 
 with which he is surrounded. 
 
 In private life, after the morning sacrifices have 
 been performed, the men of the family go out to pay 
 complimentary' visits to their friends. A more than 
 usual obsequiousness is required of acquaintances 
 when meeting in the streets, and an invariable law 
 makes it obligator}' for every one to appear on New 
 Year's Day in his best attire. On a day of such
 
 THE CHINESE YEAR. 235 
 
 importance and ceremony superstition is sure to be 
 busy. Astrologers have laid it down that it is a 
 fortunate day for making matrimonial engagements, 
 marrying, setting out on a journey, ordering new 
 clothes, beginning repairs to a house, or laying the 
 foundations of one, for entering into business-con- 
 tracts, for sowing, planting, and grinding, and, in fact, 
 for almost every enterprise. To students of folklore 
 the Chinese superstition of the " first foot " of the 
 person first seen on New Year's Day will be familiar. 
 To meet a fair man when first going out is an omen 
 of good luck, but to meet a woman is only one 
 degree better than to meet a Buddhist priest, who is 
 regarded as foreboding the worst possible fortune. 
 In the same way, on New Year's Night, a person 
 wishing to peer into the future, places a sieve on an 
 empty stove, and on the sieve a basin of water and a 
 looking-glass. Having made these arrangements, he 
 steals out and listens for the first words spoken by 
 passers-by, and gathers from them an omen of good 
 or evil for the coming twelve months. 
 
 The leading idea among the Chinese, at New 
 Year's time, is that with the new year a fresh lease of 
 life begins. The account of all the thoughts, words, 
 and deeds of the past year has to be closed, and a 
 new era breaks upon them with the dawn, in pre- 
 paration for which they seek to bind fortune to their 
 chariot-wheels by the performance of endless super-
 
 22>e CHLYA. 
 
 stitious observances, and by calling down blessings 
 on one another. In some parts of the country boys, 
 on the last day of the year, shout out in the streets 
 Mai saoit, " I will sell my idle ways," with the osten- 
 sibly laudable desire of devoting the new year to 
 busy diligence. On the accession of an emperor 
 his reign counts only from the first day of the year 
 following the decease of his predecessor, who is 
 regarded as sitting on the throne for the remaining 
 months of the year in which he died. On each suc- 
 ceeding New Year's Day the emperor is re-enthroned, 
 amidst a display of imperial insignia and the strains 
 of music. In a pavilion in the palace he then pro- 
 strates himself before heaven and earth, and after- 
 wards, as mentioned above, receives the congratula- 
 tions of his ministers and the members of his 
 household, and separately the obeisances of the 
 imperial princesses and the ladies of the court. 
 A state banquet follows, to which all the high 
 officers of state, as well as the imperial princes, arc 
 invited. 
 
 The evening of New Year's Day by no means 
 brings to a close the festivities of the season, which 
 are prolonged until after the fifteenth da}\ The first 
 week is spent in paying visits, exchanging presents, 
 and feasting. Loose-skinned oranges are common 
 presents in the south of China, at this period, from 
 the fact of the native name for them having exactly
 
 THE CHINESE YEAR. 237 
 
 the same sound as the word meaning " Good for- 
 tune,"^ and the streets of cities are thronged with 
 servants carrying sweetmeats and cakes from house 
 to house. But from superiors to inferiors presents of 
 a more substantial value pass, and considerable 
 sums of money are bestowed by the wealthy on 
 their servants and dependants. Beggars reap a rich 
 harvest at the houses of the well-to-do, and itinerant 
 musicians levy a compulsory tax on their rich fellow- 
 townsmen. 
 
 Ladies break through the monotony of their lives 
 at this season and give themselves up to feasting and 
 merry-making among themselves. From the fourth 
 to the seventh day they worship at the shrine of the 
 goddess who presides over marriage, and on the 
 seventh they go in large numbers to the public 
 gardens, where they show themselves off in their best 
 attire and in the full disfigurement of obvious paint 
 and cosmetics. When paying New- Year's visits, it is 
 customary for ladies to carry with them to their 
 friends sticks of sugar-cane which, however, as a 
 matter of fact, are seldom presented, the will being 
 accepted, with common consent, for the deed. 
 
 ' The Chinese are very fond of this kind of symbolism ; two 
 of the commonest instances of which, especially on porcelain, 
 are the use of the Bat {FiiJi), to signify " happiness," and of the 
 sonorous stone (King), to emblematise " prosperity."
 
 238 CHINA . 
 
 The evening of the fifteenth day of the first month, 
 when the Feast of Lanterns is celebrated, is another 
 ladies' night. For days previously, the lantern-shops 
 are crowded with purchasers, who indulge in wild 
 fancies in the choice of the lanterns they buy. All 
 are highly coloured and are shaped in every con- 
 ceivable mould. From the ordinary round shape, to 
 the most grotesque figures of men or animals, the 
 changes are rung in every variety ; and no less 
 divergent than the forms are the prices asked. The 
 poorest is sure to find some to suit his pocket, while 
 others covered with gauze or silk, and tastefully 
 painted, are within the reach of the wealthy only. 
 When the night arrives the lanterns, which have pre- 
 viously been hung up, are lighted, and give the signal 
 for the commencement of the festivities. The viands 
 which have been placed on the family altar as an 
 accompanying sacrifice to the worship of the tutelary 
 deity of the household are transferred to the dining- 
 table, and with copious supplies of samshu form the 
 family supper. As the night advances crowds, 
 among whom are numbers of ladies, Avho, on no 
 other occasion, venture out after dark, throng the 
 street to gaze at the illumination and, in some 
 instances, to guess the riddles which are inscribed on 
 lanterns hung at the doonvays of houses. Prizes, 
 such as parcels of tea, pencils, fans, &c., are given to 
 the successful solvers of the rebuses, but these have
 
 THE CHINESE YEAR, 239 
 
 little to do with the interest which is shown in the 
 amusement which, partaking of the nature of a 
 Hterary exercise, is well suited to the national taste. 
 
 With the opening of the official tribunals on the 
 20th of the month the New Year festivities may be 
 said to come to a close, and the work of the new 
 year to begin in earnest. Very early on the morning 
 ot that day the lowest mandarins, both civil and 
 military, open their seals of office in the presence of 
 their subordinates. The yamun is brilliantly lighted 
 on the occasion, and with due ceremony the box 
 containing the seal is placed on a table in the 
 tribunal surrounded by burning candles and incense. 
 The mandarin, then, having performed the kotow 
 before it, the principal clerk lifts the box reverently 
 above his head, and offers his congratulation to his 
 chief The seal is next taken out of the box and 
 placed on the table, and again becomes the object of 
 the kotow on the part of the mandarin. Four im- 
 pressions of the seal are made on a piece of red 
 paper bearing an inscription of good omen, which is 
 hung up at the gate of the yamun. As soon as 
 these forms have been gone through the mandarin 
 goes to the yamun of his next superior, and there 
 takes part in an identical ceremony. With him 
 again he goes to the next in rank, and so on until 
 officials of all grades take part as witnesses in the 
 opening of the vice-regal seal in the yamun of the
 
 240 CHINA. 
 
 provincial Governor-general. In the southern pro- 
 vinces of the empire discharges of cannon and 
 crackers announce the opening of the seals ; and, as 
 no business is entered upon until the next morning, 
 the later part of the day and evening are devoted to 
 complimentar}' visits and merr}--making. 
 
 According to a very ancient tradition, New Year's 
 Day is called the fowl's day, the second the dog's 
 day, the third the pig's day, the fourth the sheep's 
 day, the fifth the cow's day, the sixth the horse's 
 day, and the seventh man's da}-. During the first 
 six days the flesh of all those animals to whom the 
 days are dedicated are forbidden as food, and the 
 consequence is that feasters at New Year's time have 
 mainly to content themselves with such viands as 
 vegetables and fish. The seventh day is one of great 
 importance, and, if fine, it is said to presage a plen- 
 teous year, and, if the reverse, scanty harvests and 
 misfortunes. In all parts of the empire it is cele- 
 brated with honour. Figures, intended for the gods 
 of happiness, rank, and longcvit}', cut out and dressed 
 in many-coloured garments, are hung up at the doors 
 as omens of good luck, and, in some districts, pictures 
 representing rats marrying women arc hung up, 
 curiously to relate, with the same object. Generally 
 it is a day devoted to feasting and merrj'-making, 
 and in the south, where the climate admits of out- 
 door pleasures, picnics are common among the
 
 THE CHINESE YEAR. 241 
 
 people. One of the many customs peculiar to the 
 day is to put a new cloth bag full of red beans in a 
 well, and, after allowing it to remain there three 
 days, to distribute its contents among the house- 
 hold, the men eating seven of the beans each, and 
 the women fourteen. This is supposed to secure 
 them against illness during the year. 
 
 As stated above, the year is divided into twelve 
 months^ of twenty-nine and thirty days each, and as 
 these periods represent with sufficient exactness the 
 lunar month, it follows that the new moon falls on 
 the first of every month, and that on the fifteenth the 
 moon is at its full. The month is thus associated 
 with the moon, and is called by the same name, and 
 is written with the same hieroglyphic. In an 
 ancient work, entitled the San fun, part of which 
 was probably written in the 23rd century D.C., there 
 is evidence that among some of the aboriginal tribes 
 of China the year was, as among the Egyptians 
 and some of the peoples of India, divided into three 
 periods, known as the grass-springing period, the 
 tree-reigning period, and the tree-decaying period. 
 Under the influence of the higher culture of the 
 Chinese, these divisions disappeared, and the twelve 
 months became the recognised parts of the year. 
 The Chinese do, however, divide the year by seasons 
 as well as by months, and recognise eight main 
 divisions and sixteen subsidiary ones, " which corre- 
 
 R
 
 242 CHINA. 
 
 spond to the day on which the sun enters the first 
 and fifteenth degree of a zodiacal sign ; when an 
 intercalary month occurs they are reckoned on as in 
 other years, but the intercalation is made so that only 
 one term shall fall in it. Their names and approxi- 
 mate positions in the foreign year are here given : — • 
 Feb. 5. LiH ch'ux, commencement of spring. 
 „ 19. Yii shui, rain-water. 
 March 5. A"/;;!^ ^/^z7/, the torpid insects are excited, 
 „ 20. Ch'ux fun, the vernal equinox. 
 April 5. Tsing ming, clear brightness. 
 „ 20. Kuhyii, grain rains. 
 j\Iay 5. LiH HEA, commencement of summer. 
 
 „ 21. Seao viivan, the grain begins to fill. 
 June 6. JMang cJmng, the grain is in ear. 
 „ 21. Hea CHE, the summer solstice. 
 July 7. Scao shoo, slight heat, 
 
 „ 23. 7a shoo, great heat. 
 Aug. 7. LiH Ts'lU, commencement of autumn. 
 
 „ 23. Ch'oo shoo, limit of heat. 
 Sept. 8. Pih loo, white dew. - 
 
 „ 23. Ts'lU FUN, autumn equinox. 
 Oct. 8. Hail loo, cold dew. 
 
 „ 23. Seaiig kcajig, hoar-frost descends. 
 Nov. 7. LiH TUNG, commencement of winter. 
 
 „ 22. Seao siieh, little snow. 
 Dec. 7. Ta siieh, heavy snow. 
 „ 22. Tung chi, winter solstice.
 
 THE CHINESE YEAR. 243 
 
 Jan. 6. Seao hail, little cold. 
 „ 21. Ta hail, severe cold." ^ 
 
 It is considered among the Chinese that these 
 periods very accurately mark the changes in the 
 atmosphere which directly affect the constitution. 
 For this reason it is customary for people who have 
 both wealth and time to devote to such conside- 
 rations to fortify themselves against the evil effects 
 of atmospheric changes by eating nourishing and 
 invigorating food. Guiseng soup is largely consumed 
 on these occasions, and it is said that in the neigh- 
 bourhood of Canton the flesh of black dogs is sought 
 after as possessing eminently strengthening properties. 
 
 The greatest festival of the year next to that at 
 New Year's time, occurs at the first great division of 
 the year, the commencement of spring. Agriculture 
 has always held a high place in the estimation of the 
 Chinese. It is said to have been taught to the 
 people by the Emperor Shin-nung (B.C. 2737-2697), 
 who has been canonised as its patron-god, and this 
 imperial ancestry has entailed on each succeeding- 
 emperor the duty of leading the way for his subjects 
 in the agricultural year. In obedience to this custom, 
 on the arrival of Lih diuii, the emperor, attended by 
 his court, goes out of the east gate of the capital to a 
 temple set apart for the purpose, " to receive the 
 
 * Dr. Wells Williams's " Dictionary." 
 R 2
 
 244 CHIXA. 
 
 spring." In like manner, as representatives of their 
 imperial master, the officials in every provincial 
 capital head processions which, composed of the 
 leading gentry of the district and accompanied by 
 bands of music and gay banners, march through the 
 principal streets, and pass out by the east gate to the 
 appointed temples. Here the clay and paper images 
 of oxen, and in some cases men and ploughs, which 
 have been brought in the procession, are placed on 
 the altar, and sacrifices are offered up to the god of 
 spring. This done, the images of the oxen are beaten 
 with sticks by the officials, and are then destroyed, 
 those made of paper by fire, and those of clay by 
 being broken to pieces. The custom varies slightly 
 in different places. In some, a young lad is chosen 
 who must be without spot or blemish, and who, 
 having been dressed in green clothes, is sent out into 
 the country through the east gate. After a certain 
 interval the official procession starts in the same 
 direction, and meets the lad, whom they worship as 
 the god of spring, and with whom they return to the 
 city in triumph. A fine day is earnestly desired for 
 the Lih c/nin procession, and the saying runs that, 
 " if rain falls on the oxen in the procession, it will be 
 wet for a hundred days." 
 
 Connected with the Lih c/iun is the turning of the 
 first sod by the emperor. On the appointed day, 
 attended by his court and all the high officials of the
 
 THE CHINESE YEAR. 245 
 
 capital, the emperor again goes out of the east gate 
 to the temple of Earth, in the grounds of which, with 
 his own hand, he ploughs up nine furrows, while 
 officials follow at his heels casting seed into the 
 newly-turned earth. As soon as his allotted task is 
 finished, the imperial princes holding yellow ploughs 
 go through the same formalit}', and following on 
 these the accompanying high officials perform the 
 like duty, but with red in place of the imperial yellow 
 ploughs. 
 
 Similar ceremonies are performed in the provinces, 
 and Archdeacon Gray gives the following account 
 of the ceremonies witnessed by him on one such 
 occasion at Canton : — " The governor-general, the 
 governor, the treasurer, the commissioner of customs, 
 the literary chancellor, and the criminal judge of that 
 city repair at an early hour, on the fifth day of the 
 ploughing season ... to the temple in honour of 
 Shin-nung, the god of agriculture. This temple is 
 situated at an English mile beyond the eastern gates 
 of the city. Its principal shrine is two stories high. 
 In the court-yard, enclosed by walls of brick, there 
 are three chambers, in the first of which certain 
 implements of husbandry are kept; in the second, 
 grain for seed and offerings ; in the third, stalled 
 sheep or swine, intended victims in honour of the 
 god. The officials, having arranged themselves be- 
 fore the altar, proceed to perform the kotow. The
 
 246 CHINA. 
 
 governor-general then offers to the god, as expiatory 
 sacrifices, a sheep and a pig. Nine kinds of grain 
 and vegetables are also presented as thank-offerings. 
 The kotow is then performed once more, the officials 
 knocking their heads upon the earth nine times. 
 Upon rising to their feet a letter addressed by them to 
 the idol of the god of agriculture is read aloud in the 
 hearing of all assembled, the reader looking towards 
 the idol. The letter, which is written according to a 
 form prescribed by the Board of Ceremonies, runs 
 thus : — ' Upon this auspicious day, we, the principal 
 officials of this city and province stand, O god, before 
 thy altar, and render to thee, as is just, heartfelt 
 homage. We depend upon thee, O god, to grant 
 speed to the plough, and to give food sufficient for 
 the wants of the people over whom we rule. As high 
 as the heaven is above the earth, so great are thy 
 virtues. The ploughing season has this day begun, 
 and all agriculturists are now prepared to prosecute 
 their labours with diligence. Nor is his imperial 
 majesty, the emperor, though so high in rank, at all 
 behind in his preparations for the discharge of such 
 important duties. We therefore, the officials of this 
 city, pray to thee as in duty bound, to grant us 
 favourable seasons. Grant us then, we ferv^ently 
 beseech thee, five days of wind, and afterwards ten 
 days of rain, so that each stem may bear two ears of 
 grain. Accept our offerings, and bless us, we pray
 
 SACRIFICIAL PLOUGHING. 
 
 To/aci pagi 246.
 
 THE CHINESE YEAR. 247 
 
 thee.' When they have again performed the kotow, 
 knocking their heads nine times upon the ground, 
 the officials put off their tunics, and proceed to certain 
 government lands, which are adjacent to the temple, 
 for the purpose of ploughing nine furrows each. 
 Here each official, having been presented with a 
 whip, is escorted to a plough to which a buffalo is 
 yoked ; and when the word is given by a conductor 
 of ceremonies, the ploughs are set in motion. At the 
 head of each buffalo, to direct its course, a peasant 
 is stationed, who is permitted on this occasion to 
 wear a yellow jacket. Behind each of the illustrious 
 ploughmen walk three or four officers of the civil 
 service, whose duty it is to sow, at each step, seeds 
 of grain in the newly-made furrows. While the 
 governor-general and his colleagues are engaged in 
 ploughing, youths in gay dresses, stationed at each 
 side of the field, sing, at the very top of their voices, 
 paeans in praise of the god of agriculture. In a long 
 line at the south end of the field stand aged husband- 
 men, wearing gay garments suited to the occasion ; 
 while at the north end are a body of graduates.'' 
 
 At the period Ts'ing ining, which, as stated above, 
 falls generally at the beginning of April, is performed, 
 the rite of worshipping at the ancestral tombs. This 
 is regarded as the most sacred duty, and he who 
 would wilfully fail in performing it would be looked 
 upon as an outcast. On the morning of the day in
 
 2^S CHIXA. 
 
 question the male members of each household repair 
 to the family graveyard, and, having weeded and 
 swept the tombs, light incense, and arrange in front 
 of the grave sacrificial offerings consisting of boiled 
 pork, fish, poultr)-, cakes, tea, and wine. The family 
 representative then performs the kotow in honour of 
 the deceased, and each in turn follows his example. 
 Crackers are then fired and paper-money burnt, on 
 the ashes of which is poured out a libation of wine. 
 A second time the kotow is performed, and this 
 brings to a close the ancestral worship, which is a 
 mixture of homage and prayer. It is the universal 
 belief that the spirits of ancestors watch over and 
 protect their descendants during life, and that they 
 pass backwards and forwards between their resting- 
 places in the graves and the dwellings of their repre- 
 sentatives. It is obviousl}- important, therefore, that 
 there should be no let or hindrance to their power of 
 ingress and egress to and from the tombs, and the 
 first object of the visitors to the graves is to clear 
 away all and ever}- obstruction which may have 
 accumulated during the preceding twelve months. 
 The kotow and sacrificial offerings satisfy the pre- 
 vailing idea of homage and prayer, and by their due 
 obser\-ance are supposed to secure the protection and 
 support of the dead. 
 
 Having reached this stage, it is considered necessarj-, 
 for the comfort of the spirits, to propitiate the local
 
 THE CHINESE YEAR. 249 
 
 deity by the presentation of offerings consisting of 
 meat, wine, and paper-money. With a strange 
 mixture of superstition and materialism, they further 
 follow in imagination the ancestral spirits into Hades, 
 and picture them seated at table enjoying the viands 
 presented to them as sacrificial offerings, but subject 
 to annoyance from the numbers of beggars who haunt 
 the unseen regions. To relieve the spirits from the 
 importunities of these unfortunates, they offer to 
 them sacrifices of cakes, paper clothing, and paper- 
 money. The immediate and prospective well-being 
 of the ancestral spirits having thus been provided for, 
 the living worshippers seat themselves on the ground, 
 and make a hearty meal of the sacrificial meats, from 
 which the spirits are supposed to have extracted only 
 the essential and immaterial elements. 
 
 It is, perhaps, due to the belief, mentioned above, 
 in the necessity of not allowing any obstruction to 
 grow up between the tomb of an ancestor and the 
 dwelling of his representative, coupled with a regard 
 for the health of the inhabitants, that the Chinese 
 never bury within a city wall. Graveyards are almost 
 invariably made in the open country, cither on the 
 sides of hills or on plains. The feeling against con- 
 fining the dead, even temporarily, within city walls, is 
 so great, that the relatives of an inhabitant of a city 
 who dies away from home are not allowed to bring 
 the coipse back to its former dwelling. As a rule
 
 250 CHINA. 
 
 funeral processions from houses in cities are bidden 
 by law to take the most direct route from their 
 starting points to the nearest city gates, and only in 
 the case of a meritorious official who dies in harness 
 is permission ever given, and then only by a special 
 decree from the emperor, for the procession to make 
 a progress through the principal streets of the city 
 where he died. 
 
 At the Ts'ing viing festix-al, as at most high days 
 and holidays, the superstition connected with the 
 willow is brought prominently forward. Bunches of 
 willow-branches are used for sweeping the tombs, and 
 other branches are hung at the eaves of houses or 
 over the doorAvays. Women wear sprigs of it in their 
 hair, " to keep their eyes clear and to ward off blind- 
 ness." These customs plainly point to the common 
 belief, that the willow possesses power over demons, 
 and can drive them off or raise them, as the occasion 
 demands. Thus, at a wedding, fruits are handed to 
 the bride and bridegroom on willow plates ; and 
 spiritualist mediums make use of images carved out 
 of willow-wood, to communicate with the spirit-world. 
 Of the bunch of willow-branches hung at the eaves 
 of houses, a more rational explanation is sometimes 
 offered. It is said by some, that they are placed 
 there to welcome and attract the swallows which first 
 arrive about that time. One custom practised by the 
 Chinese at Tsing niing^nds a parallel in the custom,
 
 THE CHINESE YEAR. 
 
 which is followed in country districts in England., at 
 nearly the same time of the year. While English 
 girls and women are observing the time-honoured 
 institution of " Mothering Sunday," Chinese young 
 married women " return for rest " to their mother's 
 roof 
 
 If it were not that Buddha's birthday is commemo- 
 rated during the fourth month, no distinctive festivals 
 would mark that period. As it is, the rites are con- 
 fined to Buddhists, and more especially to the confra- 
 ternities of priests and monks. On the eighth, the day 
 on which it is said, that Buddha was taken from the 
 side of his mother, the ceremony of "bathing Buddha" 
 is performed. A small image of the god is placed in 
 a vessel, partly filled with water, in each temple 
 devoted to his worship, and on the head of this image 
 devotees are expected to pour a handful of copper 
 cash, and several ladles of the surrounding water. 
 These acts are accompanied by adoration and prayer, 
 and at least have the effect of adding to the revenues 
 of the temples. On the same day novitiates are ad- 
 mitted to the priesthood, and, as a sign of th^ir new 
 office, submit to have their heads burnt in the pre- 
 scribed manner. Dried leaves of the artemisia are 
 rolled up into small balls, and placed on the head on 
 the places to be burnt. The balls are then ignited, 
 and the fire bums away the skin. This ceremony 
 having been performed, the presiding priest gives
 
 2 52 CHINA. 
 
 the new brother his credentials as a member of 
 the priesthood, and from that time forth he en- 
 joys immunity from punishment for past offences 
 against the law, should he have committed an}% 
 and all the privileges and perquisites of his 
 order. 
 
 The fifth month opens with the festival, called by 
 the Chinese, King, or " Cautious searching," and 
 which is known among foreigners as the dragon-boat 
 festival. On the fifth of that month, in the year 
 298 B.C., a faithful minister, of the State of Tsoo, 
 named Kiu Yuen, drowned himself in the Me-lo river, 
 an affluent of the Yang-tsze-keang, to avoid witnessing 
 the disasters which he saw were coming upon his 
 country, and which the fatuity of his sovereign, Hwai 
 wang, rendered him powerless to prevent. By the 
 people his death was regarded as a national calamity, 
 more especially as the misfortunes which he had pre- 
 dicted befell the state in rapid succession. With 
 pious zeal the inhabitants near the spot where he 
 plunged into the Me-lo offered sacrifices to his manes, 
 while boatmen traversed the river in search of his 
 body. With that respect for virtue and reverence for 
 tradition which characterises the Chinese, the anniver- 
 sary of his death has since been strictly observed 
 throughout the empire. On the day in question, on 
 most rivers, especially in the neighbourhood of large 
 towns, boatmen traverse the rivers backwards and
 
 THE CHINESE YEAR, 253 
 
 forwards, as though in the act of searching, in long 
 boats which, from their shape, are called dragon- 
 boats. Each boat holds about twenty rowers, who 
 regulate the speed of their stroke by the beat of a 
 drum placed in the centre. At the bow stands a 
 man waving a flag, who is supposed to be on the 
 look-out for the body of Kiu Yuen, and throughout 
 its length the boat is decorated with flags. No doubt, 
 at first, the progress of the boats was merely a pro- 
 cession ; but before long the presence of numbers, 
 and the desire to excel which is instinctive every- 
 where, caused it gradually to developc into a series of 
 races. At the present time a keen rivalry exists 
 between the owners of the several boats in a district, 
 more especially when they are the property of diflercnt 
 clans, and intense interest is excited in the results of 
 the races. At first starting the drum is beaten to a 
 slow and regular beat, but as the men warm to their 
 work the beat becomes faster, and with an accompani- 
 ment of clashing gongs, deafening shouts, and waving 
 flags, the men, with their short paddles, send the 
 boats along at a great rate. Not unfrequently dis- 
 putes, arising out of the contests, end in fights, in 
 preparation for which sticks and stones, as well as 
 gongs and flags, are shipped before starting. 
 
 In cities remote from large rivers, all obvious re- 
 ference to the origin of the observance has, speak- 
 ing generally, disappeared, and the racing alone
 
 254 CHINA. 
 
 remains. At Peking, for example, the day is cele- 
 brated by horse and cart races, which are held in an 
 open space in the outer city. But throughout the 
 empire the day is kept as a holiday, and after mid- 
 day all shops and places of business are, as a rule, 
 closed. 
 
 On this day falls also the beginning of summer, 
 when it is necessary to take precautions against the 
 evil influences which accompany the supposed change 
 of weather, and the insects which begin to abound at 
 this season. Yellow charm papers, pasted on the 
 doorposts and bedsteads, and bunches of garlic and 
 other herbs hung at the front-doors of houses, are 
 believed to be efficacious in accomplishing the first 
 object ; and the sulphurous smoke from a particularly 
 pungently composed fire-cracker, is said, and probably 
 with good reason, to be a complete antidote against 
 the plague of obnoxious insects. 
 
 The sixth month, like the fourth, is without any 
 marked observance of interest; but with the beginning 
 of autumn, in the seventh month, superstition again 
 proclaims itself in the customs of the people. On the 
 seventh day is commemorated a curious legend. A 
 certain star, called by the Chinese "the spinning 
 damsel," and which is identified as a Lyra in our 
 system, was, many centuries ago, sent on a mission to 
 earth. There she fell in love with a cowherd, whom 
 she ultimately married. Before long, however, she
 
 THE CHINESE YEAR. 255 
 
 was recalled to her place in the heavens, and on her 
 way thither her grief at leaving her husband found 
 vent in bitter tears, which fell upon the earth as rain. 
 Unable to bear his separation from his wife, the cow- 
 herd died of grief, and as a reward for his exemplary 
 life was transformed into the star, j3 Aquila, separated 
 only by the milky way, from his wife. Once a year, 
 since that time, namely, on the seventh day of the 
 seventh month, magpies form themselves into a bridge 
 across the milky way, over which the spinning damsel 
 passes to the cowherd. 
 
 On the evening of this day Chinese women offer sa- 
 crifices, consisting of melons and fruits, to the spinning 
 damsel, and pray that she would vouchsafe to them 
 skill in needlework. They then go up to the upper 
 story, if there be one, of the house, and thread seven 
 needles with coloured thread, by the light of the 
 moon. If they succeed, it is understood as a favour- 
 able omen from the goddess. Water drawn from 
 wells on this evening is supposed to impart clearness 
 and purity to the complexion, and is consequently 
 much used by the devotees of the spinning damsel. 
 
 That there is intimate communion between the 
 dead and the living is a leading article in the Chinese 
 creed, and at this time of the year a festival is held, 
 which is known as that of " Feeding the hungr}- 
 ghosts," which has for its object the clothing and 
 feeding of the ghosts of those who have died by mis-
 
 256 CHIXA. 
 
 adventure, or have perished friendless and alone, and 
 who are therefore without those suppHes for their 
 comfort which are furnished to the more fortunate 
 dead by surviving relatives at the festival of " visiting 
 the tombs." On this occasion, as on that, paper- 
 money and clothes are offered up, and burned before 
 the ancestral tablets, while the members of each 
 family go through the service of the worship of the 
 dead. Now, also, substantial viands are placed on 
 the ancestral altar, to be transferred to the family 
 dining-table as soon as the " hungr}^ ghosts " have 
 abstracted their share, in the shape of the immaterial 
 essence. Meanwhile, at the Buddhist and Taouist 
 temples a succession of services are said for the repose 
 of the destitute spirits, and of an evening large boats, 
 brilliantly lighted, pass up and down the rivers, from 
 which rice is thrown into the stream, to assuage the 
 hunger of the ghosts. On board these vessels priests 
 chant their liturgies, and offer up paper-money and 
 clothes. The ghosts for whom this work of charity is 
 performed, are divided into thirty-six classes, " and 
 are represented like Titans in size, with mouths like 
 needles' eyes." Their condition, like that of Pretas, 
 is one of the six paths of transmigration, and their 
 office is that of gaolers in hell. No doubt, in the 
 rites observed on their behalf, there is a desire to 
 propitiate spirits which might be troublesome if 
 hostilcly inclined, as well as a charitable wish to
 
 THE CHINESE YEAR. 257 
 
 satisfy the wants of those who are deprived of the 
 natural supply of comforts from dutiful descendants. 
 But, in the main, the idea is a humane one, the very 
 general observance of which reflects credit on the 
 national kindliness, though at the expense of the 
 national intelligence. 
 
 Legend says that many centuries ago, on the four- 
 teenth of the eighth month, a certain doctor was 
 gathering medicinal herbs on a mountain-side, when 
 he saw a youth take from a many-coloured bag a 
 bunch of herbs, which he dipped in dew, and with 
 which he then anointed his eyes. On being asked 
 his reason for doing so, he explained that it was to 
 keep his eyes bright. Having said this, he disap- 
 peared, and the doctor returned, wondering at what 
 he had seen and heard. The prescription thus com- 
 municated was regarded by the people as being 
 something more than human, and ever since, on the 
 anniversary of this day they anoint their eyes with 
 dew applied with herbs kept in gaily-coloured bags. 
 On the same day children's heads are marked with 
 red paint, known in superstitious language as " Hea- 
 ven's cauterisation," as a preventive against disease. 
 
 On the next evening falls the festival of the moon, 
 which is accompanied with a display of illuminations 
 second only in brilliancy to the Feast of Lanterns in 
 the first month. Every house is lighted up, and the 
 inhabitants crowd on to the upper verandahs and 
 
 S
 
 258 CHINA. 
 
 roofs, to gaze on the object of their adoration. At 
 intervals they worship before the ancestral altars, 
 and feast on cakes, some made round to imitate the 
 moon, and others shaped after all sorts of fantastic 
 designs, among which representations of pagodas 
 find a prominent place. Remarking on this custom, 
 Mr. Dennys says, " The moon, it is well known, 
 represents the female principle in the Chinese cos- 
 mogony, and she is further supposed to be inhabited 
 by a multitude of beautiful females ; the cakes made 
 in her honour are therefore veritable offerings to this 
 Queen of the Heavens. Now, in a part of Lancashire, 
 on the banks of the Ribble, there exists a precisely 
 similar custom of making cakes in honour of the 
 ' Queen of heaven,' — a relic, in all probability, of the 
 old heathen worship, which was the common fount 
 of the two customs." 
 
 The ninth month is fruitful in curious observances. 
 It is the end of the autumn, and on the ninth 
 occurs one of the Tsieh, or divisions of the year, upon 
 which the Chinese lay such stress. At court, the 
 emperor, on this day, opens the hunting-season, and 
 goes to cover dressed in white, driving white horses, 
 and surrounded with white flags. If he follow the 
 rules laid down for his guidance in the book of rites, 
 his meals at this time will consist of a preparation of 
 hemp and dog's flesh. By his subjects the ninth is 
 spent on the highest bit of ground or the loftiest
 
 THE CHINESE YEAR. 
 
 259 
 
 roofs within their reach, and is employed in flying 
 kites and drinking wine in which the petals of Chrys- 
 
 anthemums have been soaked. The origin of this 
 
 S 2
 
 26o CHINA. 
 
 custom has to be sought for nearly a thousand years 
 ago. Legend has it, that a scholar named Joo Nan was- 
 suddenly warned by a heavenly messenger to betake 
 himself with his family to a high mountain, to escape 
 a calamity which was suddenly to overtake the dis- 
 trict in which he lived. On the mountain-top he was 
 bidden to wear a bag containing bits of dog-wood,. 
 and to drink wine in which the petals of Chrysanthe- 
 mums had been soaked, to ward off all evil influences. 
 These injunctions he obeyed to the letter, and was 
 rewarded by escaping from an overwhelming cata- 
 strophe which destroyed his flocks and herds in the 
 plains below. In memory of this signal deliverance, 
 people on this day go up the mountains and hills 
 in imitation of Joo Nan. The kite-flying, which is 
 now invariably associated with these expeditions, 
 finds no foundation in the original fable, and was 
 vciy likely suggested by the combination of circum- 
 stances, a high elevation, and a fresh autumn breeze. 
 The sight of men of all ages flying kites at this time 
 of the year is one which is always astonishing to 
 foreigners, who are accustomed to regard such amuse- 
 ments as childish, and in this instance the apologists 
 of the custom cannot even find a superstitious origin 
 for it. The injunction given to Joo Nan to wear a 
 bag containing pieces of dog-wood is now generally 
 obeyed by Chinese women, who look on the charm 
 as a sure safeguard against disease.
 
 THE CHINESE YEAR. 261 
 
 The approach of cold weather at the beginning of 
 the tenth month suggests the necessity of providing 
 for the dead suitable covering for the coming winter, 
 and the ancestral tombs again witness assemblies of 
 survivors eager to pay their respects and to consider 
 the comfort of the departed. On this occasion paper 
 clothes are carried to the graves, and burnt before 
 them, in the belief that through the fire they reach 
 the dead. Food is also as at the spring festival 
 offered up, and as a matter of fact is, as then, eaten 
 by the sacrificers. 
 
 On the first of the month, in some parts of the 
 country, farmers set free their sheep and cattle. The 
 origin of this custom seems to be unknown, and its 
 perpetuation unintelligible. The twelfth of the month 
 is a day of great festivity in the palace of the em- 
 peror. For days beforehand preparations are made 
 for a great theatrical display, the results of which are 
 that the court is kept amused " from morn to dewy 
 eve." First of all, the high officials of the palace 
 present themselves before their imperial master dis- 
 guised as birds and beasts, and dance and pose in a 
 somewhat monotonous ballet. This custom probably 
 owes its existence to the historical references to the 
 appearance at court of ambassadors of the Lung 
 (Dragon), Fung (Phoenix), and other tribes of abori- 
 ginal China, whose names have been treated by his- 
 torians and commentators as though they actually
 
 262 CHINA. 
 
 stood for the beasts and birds they happen to signify. 
 In succession to these disguised mandarins come 
 conjurors, dancers, and acrobats, whose skill is won- 
 derful, and who, if native records are to be trusted, 
 realise to the full the extraordinary accounts cur- 
 rent of the legerdemain and activity of Eastern 
 magicians. 
 
 The winter solstice, which generally falls in the 
 eleventh month, is one of the most noted sacrificial 
 periods of the year. The night before the shortest 
 day the emperor is supposed to spend in watching 
 and meditation at " the Hall of Fasting," adjoining the 
 sacrificial altar known as the Yuen kin, or " Round 
 mound," outside the southern gate of the capital. 
 The altar, which is of marble, is built in three terraces, 
 and is ascended by twenty-seven steps. The summit 
 is paved with marble stones arranged in nine con- 
 centric circles, in the centre of which is a round stone 
 upon which the emperor kneels ; "and thus," as is re- 
 marked by Dr. Edkins in his account of Peking, "he 
 is surrounded first by the circles of the terraces and 
 their enclosing walls, and then by the circle of the 
 horizon. He thus seems to himself and his court 
 to be in the centre of the universe . . . Round him, 
 on the pavement, are the nine circles of as many 
 heavens, consisting of nine stones, then eighteen, 
 then twenty-seven, and so on in successive multiples 
 of nine, till the square of nine, the favourite number
 
 THE CHINESE YEAR. 263 
 
 of Chinese philosophy, is reached in the outermost 
 circle of eighty-one stones." 
 
 Very early on the solstitial morning, the emperor, 
 who on the previous day has examined the sacrificial 
 offerings, consisting of a bullock, a sheep, a pig, and 
 other animals, puts on his sacrificial robes, and, at- 
 tended by his court, ascends to the second terrace of 
 the altar, where he kneels in prayer. This is a signal 
 for setting fire to the burnt sacrifice in honour of 
 Shang-te, and for the musicians to breathe appropriate 
 music. The emperor presently ascends to the summit, 
 and there again kneels, and burns incense to Shang-te 
 and his ancestors. While performing these acts of 
 adoration he offers up "bundles of silk, jade-cups, 
 and other gifts." A prayer composed for the occasion 
 is next read by an official, to which the emperor 
 listens on his knees, and emphasizes by bowing three 
 times to the ground. "At this point," says Dr. 
 Edkins, " certain officers bring forward what is called 
 the ' flesh of happiness ' to the front of the tablet 
 of Shang-te, and hold it up. The emperor then goes 
 to the spot for drinking the * cup of happiness ' and 
 receiving the ' flesh of happiness,' and prostrates him- 
 self three times, receiving the cup and flesh kneeling." 
 
 On his return to his palace the emperor receives 
 in audience all the high ofiicials of his court, who con- 
 gratulate him on their knees on the return of the 
 winter solstice, and express the wish which has
 
 264 CHINA. 
 
 greeted the ears of Oriental sovereigns through all 
 time, that he may live for ever. In the provinces a 
 repetition of the ceremonial which accompanies the 
 arrival of spring takes place. The mandarins, while 
 it is yet dark, assemble at the local imperial temples, 
 and there in solemn silence, except for the words of 
 command given by the master of ceremonies, bow the 
 knee and strike their foreheads on the ground before 
 the empty throne of the emperor. 
 
 By the people the day is observed in sacrificing to 
 their ancestors. Offerings of cooked meat, fish, &c., 
 are presented before the ancestral tablets in each 
 house, and each member of the household in order 
 of seniority bows to the ground in adoration and as 
 an expression of thanks to his progenitors for the 
 return of the winter solstice. The offerings having 
 played their part on the altar are then feasted upon 
 by the household, and the rest of the day is given 
 up to merry-making. On this day, also, numerous 
 minute domestic observances are followed, among 
 others the occasion is taken of pickling ducks' eggs 
 for consumption in the following year. 
 
 The eighth of the last month in the year is set apart 
 as a solemn thanksgiving-day for the mercies received 
 during the year. From time immemorial it has been 
 customary for the emperor to proceed in state to an 
 altar to the south of the capital, and there to offer 
 up sacrifices and thanksgivings for the mercies vouch-
 
 THE CHINESE YEAR. 265 
 
 safed to the empire. An ancient prayer used on 
 these occasions ran thus: — "May the earth remain 
 at rest, and the rivers return to their beds. May the 
 myriad insects forget to be harmful, and trees and 
 shrubs grow only in waste places." Especial honour 
 used at the same time to be paid to cats for destroy 
 ing field-mice, and tigers for keeping down wild 
 boars. These passages have dropped out of the 
 modern observance, but with equal exactitude the 
 emperor now as then testifies his gratitude to 
 Heaven and earth for the past, and beseeches their 
 protection and favour for the time to come. 
 
 Following the example thus set them, the people 
 throughout the empire offer sacrifices and thanks- 
 givings to the gods of the hearth and before the 
 ancestral tablets. The offerings having been arranged, 
 accompanied vi^ith burning incense, on the family 
 altar, the head of the family prostrates himself before 
 it, and returns thanks in the name of the household, 
 for the food, clothing, and mercies of the past year. 
 At this time also, in preparation for the new year, rites 
 are performed for exorcising evil influences. Proces- 
 sions march through the streets of the cities formed 
 of the townspeople, divided into companies, and 
 dressed and painted in all kinds of grotesque dis- 
 guises. The distortions of form and feature thus 
 produced, coupled with the beatings of drums, the 
 clashing of gongs, and the shouts of the people,
 
 266 CHINA. 
 
 are supposed to frighten away evil demons. By 
 strict right the processions pass through and 
 through the yamuns of official residences to clear 
 them of all evil, and for the rest it is but considered 
 necessary to parade the streets. In some places a 
 paper boat is carried in the procession, which, at the 
 end of the day, is carried down to the river's edge, 
 and is launched, burning, on the water, the idea 
 being that it bears away the malign influences which 
 have been collected in it while passing through the 
 streets. Having thus got rid of the existing evil 
 spirits, care is taken to prevent their return by past- 
 ing up peach-charms over the doorways of the houses. 
 The peach and willow-trees are supposed to exercise 
 control over spirits, and it is a common thing, in cases 
 of illness which are believed to be due to possession 
 by the Devil, to have the bed and furniture of the 
 sick-room beaten with bunches of peach and willow- 
 twigs, in order to drive out the arch-fiend. But the 
 peach-charms are but pieces of paper cut into the shape 
 of peach -leaves, and bearing on them certain characters 
 designed to protect the houses where they appear. 
 
 Theeighthof the last month,beingtheday upon which 
 Buddha " perfected his doctrine," is chosen as a fortu- 
 nate one on which to shave the heads of children and to 
 bore the ears of women. What connexion this last act 
 can have with the saintship of Sakya muni it is difficult 
 to say,unless it be that the infliction of pain on members
 
 THE CHINESE YEAR. 267 
 
 of the sex, which assailed him so pertinaciously with 
 temptation, may be considered pleasing to the saint. 
 
 On the twentieth of the month the ceremony of 
 sealing up the seals of all the offices is performed. 
 Unlike the opposite rite, when in the first month the 
 seals are opened, those of the highest officials are 
 sealed up first. Before daylight all officials inferior 
 to the highest, in each city, go to the yamun of their 
 chief, who, dressed in full uniform, prostrates himself 
 before the seal which stands surrounded with incense 
 on the official table. The senior secretary next reve- 
 rently lifts the seal with both hands, and, kneeling 
 before his master, wishes him long life and promotion. 
 The seal is then deposited in a box, which is care- 
 fully sealed up, and the ceremony is brought to a 
 close. This done, the yamun of the next highest 
 dignitary is visited by all his subordinates, who are 
 called upon to witness the same formality, and thus 
 with an ever-decreasing crowd the yamuns of every 
 official are visited, until that of the lowest is reached. 
 In each case before the seal is finally locked up 
 several impressions are taken, to be used in cases of 
 emergency, should such arise, during the closed 
 month. 
 
 Towards the end of the month, generally on the 
 23rd, the festival in honour of the kitchen-gods i^ 
 celebrated. It is the popular belief that these deities 
 ascend to heaven on this day, to report to the supreme
 
 268 CHINA. 
 
 ruler on the conduct of the households over which 
 they have presided, and the desire is equally general 
 to propitiate them on the eve of their departure. To 
 this intent, sacrificial meats, fruits, and wine are 
 placed on a table in the kitchen, before a picture of 
 the particular deity to be worshipped, and are offered 
 up to him with prayer and thanksgiving. Each 
 member of the family prostrates himself before the 
 god, while crackers are exploded to frighten off all 
 evilly - disposed spirits. The ceremony over, the 
 picture which has done duty during the past year 
 is torn down and burnt, together with the paper- 
 money presented to the god, and the toy-horse 
 which is provided to carry the god heavenwards. 
 
 On the following evening a new picture of the deity 
 is pasted up in the kitchen, and a congratulatory 
 sacrifice of vegetables is offered up to him. This, it is 
 thought, will secure his goodwill and favourable coun- 
 tenance towards the household, for the coming year. 
 
 But what year .' How do the Chinese designate 
 and compute their years } Having no fixed starting- 
 point of chronolog)-, as among ourselves, they are 
 obliged to point to the individual years by a kind of 
 circumlocution. To each emperor is given a Necn-hao, 
 or title, or sometimes two or three in succession, 
 for his reign, which may be considered in the light of 
 adopted names, much as a pope, on attaining to the 
 pontificate, assumes a title other than his patronymic.
 
 THE CHINESE YEAR. 269 
 
 These Neeti-hao are perfectly known by every one 
 making any pretence to education, and it is sufficient 
 therefore to say that such an event occurred in such 
 and such a year of such and such a Nee7i-hao, to 
 enable every Chinaman approximately to arrive at 
 the date which is referred to. For instance, the 
 present year is the seventh year of the reign of 
 Kwang-sii, and is known to every Chinaman as 
 Kivatig-sii ts^ih neen. 
 
 Another mode of computing the years is by 
 reckoning by sexagenary cycles. This system was, 
 according to native historians, introduced by the 
 Emperor Hwang-te in the sixty-first year of his 
 reign (2637 B.C.), which was the first year of the first 
 cycle, and the present year (188 1) is therefore the 
 eighteenth of the seventy-sixth cycle. In order to 
 express the years of the cycle in writing, the plan 
 was adopted of taking two sets of twelve and ten 
 characters respectively, and combining them in suc- 
 cession, by means of which process the two last 
 characters of the two series are combined to indicate 
 the last year of the cycle. This will be made plain 
 by the following table : — 
 
 The ten characters, or celestial The twelve characters, or ter- 
 stems. restrial branches. 
 
 I. 
 
 Keah. 
 
 6. 
 
 Ke. 
 
 I. 
 
 Tsze. 
 
 7- 
 
 Woo. 
 
 2. 
 
 Yueh. 
 
 7- 
 
 K&ng. 
 
 
 
 Ch'ow. 
 
 8. 
 
 Wei. 
 
 3- 
 
 Ping. 
 
 8. 
 
 Sin. 
 
 3- 
 
 Yin. 
 
 9- 
 
 Shin. 
 
 4- 
 
 Ting, 
 
 9. 
 
 Jin. 
 
 4. 
 
 Mao. 
 
 10. 
 
 Yew. 
 
 5- 
 
 Woo. 
 
 10. 
 
 Kwei. 
 
 5- 
 
 Shin. 
 
 II. 
 
 Suh. 
 
 
 
 
 
 6. 
 
 Sze. 
 
 12. 
 
 Hai.
 
 270 CHINA. 
 
 The first year of the cycle would therefore be 
 Keah tsze, the second Yueh chow, and so on to the 
 tenth, Kwei yew. But the eleventh would be Keah suk, 
 the twelfth Yueh Jiai, the thirteenth Ping tsze, the 
 fourteenth Ting ch'ow, the fifteenth Wu yin, the 
 sixteenth Ke mao, the seventeenth Rang shin, the 
 eighteenth Sin sze, and so on until we come to the 
 sixtieth, which is Kwei hai. But these designations 
 only refer to the years in each cycle, and in no sort 
 of way point to which cycle they belong. To obviate 
 this difficulty recourse is again had to the Neen hao, 
 and any given year is fixed by its cyclical name 
 preceded by the Neen hao during which it occurred. 
 As stated above, Kwang-su is the present Neen hao, 
 and, this being the eighteenth year of the cycle, it 
 would be described as Kwang-sii Sin-sze 7iee7i, or the 
 Sin sze (eighteenth) year which occurred during the 
 reign of Kwang-sii. Within modern times it has 
 once happened that an emperor has reigned over 
 sixty years. K'ang-he, who sat on the throne from 
 1662 to 1723 was this fortunate sovereign. He began 
 his reign in the cyclical year//«jz« (the thirty-ninth), 
 and ruled through the whole of the cycle, until, in 
 1722, the same year {Jin yin) recurred. Both these 
 years would therefore be, in the natural order of 
 things, K'ang-Jie Jin yin neen. But, as it was necessary 
 that some distinction should be made between them in 
 order to avoid confusion, the character yew, meaning
 
 THE CHINESE YEAR. i-jx 
 
 " repeated," or " for the second time," was prefixed to 
 the cyclical characters, and 1722 was consequently- 
 known as K'ang-he yew Jin yin iieen, " the Jin yin 
 year which occurred for the second time during the 
 reign of K'ang-he." 
 
 The first thirty, or twenty-nine, as the case may 
 be, of same cyclical characters are used to denote the 
 days of the month, and the twelve divisions of the 
 day are indicated by the twelve "terrestrial branches." 
 The European hour is unknown in China, and its 
 place is taken by a period which corresponds to 
 120 minutes. In speaking of these periods, however, 
 the practice, which was originally introduced into 
 China by the Mongols, is commonly adopted, of sub- 
 stituting for the twelve stems the names of the twelve 
 animals which are held to be symbolical of them. 
 Thus the first period, that between 1 1 p.m. and i a.m., 
 is known as the Rat, the second as the Ox, the third 
 as the Tiger, the fourth as the Hare, the fifth as the 
 Dragon, the sixth as the Serpent, the seventh as the 
 Horse, the eighth as the Sheep, the ninth as the 
 Monkey, the tenth as the Cock, the eleventh as the 
 Dog, and the twelfth as the Boar. The night is 
 divided into five watches, each of two hours' duration, 
 beginning with the period of the Dog, 7 to 9 p.m., 
 and ending with that of the Tiger, 3 to 5 a.m.
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 rV UPERSTITIOUS ob- 
 servances are always 
 found existing among 
 a people in inverse 
 ratio to the extent of 
 their scientific know- 
 ledge. They are often, 
 in fact, based on crude 
 observation of the processes of nature, or 
 more commonly upon accidental coinci- 
 dences. For example, the common super- 
 stition in England that it is unlucky to 
 see magpies flying singly in spring-time, is 
 founded on the fact that in stormy or cold 
 weather one bird remains in the nest to keep the 
 eggs warm, while the other goes in search of food, 
 and the omen, therefore, foretells rain and storms. In
 
 S UPERS TITIONS. 273 
 
 the same way the appearance of sea-gulls inland, 
 which is rightly interpreted to mean that there is 
 rough weather at sea, is attributed to their having 
 been driven landways by the force of the wind ; 
 whereas the true explanation is, that during storms 
 fish leave the surface of the water and go deeper, 
 and the gulls, being thus deprived of their natural 
 food, seek on shore to supply its place with worms 
 and grubs. 
 
 There are, however, a host of superstitions, some 
 of which are met with all over the world, which are 
 the results of accidental coincidences, and do not 
 yield to any explanation from natural causes. One 
 of the most universal of these is the belief in the 
 malign influences of comets. During the Middle 
 Ages, and even later, these " broom-tailed stars " 
 were regarded in Europe as foretelling war and 
 disaster, and more especially calamities to the ruling 
 houses. Throughout the East the same belief pre- 
 vails, and in China it is firmly held by all classes of 
 the community. It is curious to notice, and cannot 
 be denied, that occasionally circumstances have justi- 
 fied its existence. At the same time, it is a belief 
 which not unfrequently finds its own fulfilment by 
 suggesting to rebellious and unruly spirits the idea 
 that the time is favourable for the prosecution of sedi- 
 tious designs. No such explanation is, however, to 
 be found for the circumstances, which were regarded 
 
 T
 
 274 CHINA. 
 
 by the Chinese as cause and effect, of the appearance 
 of the comet of 1858, and the totally unexpected 
 outbreak of hostilities between China and the allied 
 forces of England and France in that year, or three 
 years later, of the appearance of another comet, and 
 the immediate death from illness of the emperor, 
 who up to that time had been in good health. 
 
 The same superstition exists with regard to the 
 eclipses of the sun and moon ; and, on rare occasions, 
 when expected eclipses have either not taken place, 
 or have been invisible in China, the circumstance has 
 been regarded as a direct intervention of Heaven in 
 favour of the emperor, its sense of whose virtue it 
 thus signalises. The popular notion with regard to 
 an eclipse is that some monster is attacking, and 
 unless prevented would devour the sun or moon as 
 the case may be. The danger, therefore, to the em- 
 pire is great, and the intervention of every official 
 in the country is called for to save the threatened 
 luminary. Some months before the expected eclipse, 
 the Board of Astronomers notifies the exact date of 
 its appearance to the officials of the Board of Rites, 
 who in turn announce its approach to the viceroys 
 and governors of the provinces. These transmit the 
 message to all their subordinates, so that, when the 
 the time arrives, an army of mandarins stands pre- 
 pared to avert the disaster. Their procedure is 
 simple, and as neither the sun nor moon have ever
 
 SUPERSTITIONS. 275 
 
 been devoured, it is regarded as efficacious. At the 
 appointed time, the mandarins assemble at the yamun 
 of the senior official, and arrange themselves before 
 an altar set up in the courtyard, and on which 
 incense is burning. At a given signal they fall 
 down on their knees and perform the kotow, after 
 which the attendants beat drums and gongs, to 
 frighten away the oppressive monster, while priests 
 move in a procession round the altar chanting 
 prayers and formulas. To assist the mandarins in 
 their patriotic efforts, the people mount on to the 
 roofs of their houses, and add to the din which issues 
 from the yamuns, by beating everything which is 
 capable of emitting resounding noises. 
 
 The different phases of the planets are watched 
 with equal solicitude, and portents are derived from 
 every real or imaginary chance in their relative posi- 
 tions and colours. 
 
 In an astrological sense Mars symbolises fire, and 
 rules the summer season. It is the author of punish- 
 ments, and is the producer of sudden confusion. 
 Saturn represents earth, and, when it meets Jupiter 
 in the same " house," it portends good fortune to the 
 empire. If, however, Saturn, with the four other 
 planets, should appear white and round, mourning 
 and drought are in store for the country ; if red, 
 disturbances are to be expected, and troops will take 
 the field; if green, floods are to be looked for; if 
 
 T 2
 
 276 CHINA. 
 
 black, sickness and death will spread over the land ; 
 and if yellow, a time of prosperity is at hand. Venus 
 represents gold, and is deemed a complacent planet ; 
 but, while in many of its phases it foretells peace and 
 plenty, it at other times presages the movements of 
 troops, and the disruption of the empire. If it at first 
 looms large, and afterwards small, the national forces 
 will be weak, and if contrarywise, they will be strong. 
 If it appears large and extended, trouble will fall 
 upon princes and nobles, and military expeditions, 
 then undertaken, will begin fortunately and end with 
 disaster ; but, if it should appear compact and small, 
 campaigns which begin in misfortune will end suc- 
 cessfully. 
 
 Mercury symbolises water, and when, seemingly, 
 of a white colour, it forecasts drought ; when yellow, 
 the crops will be scorched up ; when red, soldiers will 
 arise ; and when black, floods are at hand. If it 
 appears large and white in the East, troops beyond 
 the frontier will disperse ; if red, the middle kingdom 
 will be victorious ; in certain conjunctions with Venus, 
 it portends great battles in which strangers will be 
 victorious ; and if it approaches Venus, several tens of 
 thousands of men will meet in strife, and the men 
 and ministers of the ruler will die. 
 
 Such are some of the innumerable portents which 
 are based on the movements and appearances of the 
 planets. But, not content with peering into the
 
 SUPERSTITIONS. 277 
 
 future lying before the nation and its rulers, Chinese 
 astrologers busy themselves with the fortunes of 
 individuals, and the Imperial Board of Astronomers 
 so far gives its sanction to this inquisitorial astro- 
 logy as to publish annually an almanac, in which are 
 given the lucky and unlucky days throughout the 
 year, and the kind of business which may be under- 
 taken with advantage on those days which are 
 described as kih, or lucky. For instance, the first day 
 of the first month is appropriate for sacrificing, begin- 
 ning to learn, and bathing. The second is an un- 
 lucky day, and nothing of importance should be 
 done upon it. The third, on the other hand, is 
 suitable for meeting friends, marrying, taking a 
 concubine, asking names, cutting out clothes, putting 
 up pillars, trading, opening granaries, and burying. 
 The fourth is lucky for cutting toe and finger nails, 
 shaving the head, sending for doctors, taking medi- 
 cine, receiving appointments, entering on official 
 posts, starting on journeys, etc. And, just as certain 
 doings are appropriate to certain lucky days, so other 
 specified undertakings should on no account be be- 
 gun on such days which may not be otherwise 
 unlucky. The prognostics for each day are carefully 
 set out, and are eagerly studied by the educated 
 among the people. Those who have not this in- 
 valuable source of information ready at hand have 
 recourse to the professional fortune-tellers, of whom
 
 278 CHINA. 
 
 there is no lack in every city in the empire. Some 
 of these mystery-men occupy shops, but a great 
 majority of them are possessed of only a small por- 
 table table and the usual stock-in-trade of their 
 calling, and with these they daily establish them- 
 selves in the outer courtyards of much-frequented 
 temples, or by the sides of crowded thoroughfares. 
 
 Their modes of procedure are various. The most 
 ancient and approved methods of divining the future, 
 and reading the will of the gods, are by means of the 
 Kwei, or Tortoise, the She, or Millfoil, and the She, 
 or a kind of Mayweed. The questions put through 
 the instrumentality of these media are as multifarious 
 as are the wants of man. Whether the enquirer 
 should embark in trade or no, whether he will be 
 able to catch the thieves who have left him destitute, 
 whether he should follow the bent of his wishes in 
 some matter or not, whether he should take office, 
 whether he should live in his father's house, whether 
 his matrimonial project will turn out favourably or 
 the reverse, whether he will gather in good crops or 
 not, whether disease will be rife, whether war be at 
 hand, whether he of whom he has requested an inter- 
 view will grant it, whether he will be able to find 
 that which is lost, whether he will be successful in 
 hunting and fishing, whether he will encounter thieves 
 on the journey he is about to undertake, these and a 
 host of other questions, when incense has been duly
 
 SUPERSTITIONS. 279 
 
 burnt, and prayers offered to the god, find their 
 answers in the attitude of the divining-tortoise. The 
 direction of the animal's gaze, the extent to which he 
 stretches his neck, the attitudes which he assumes 
 with his feet and toes, and other indications of the 
 same kind, serve to guide the fortune-teller to sure 
 and ready answers to the enquiries put him. 
 
 No less ancient is the system of enquiring into the 
 future by means of stalks of Millfoil. This process 
 is complicated by an application of the lots to the 
 diagrams of Fuh-he, in connexion with which, by 
 observing the various combinations of whole and 
 parts of lines which they form when cast from the 
 hand, the diviner finds as certain a response as in the 
 attitude of the tortoise. The Mayweed is used in the 
 same way, but has especial efficacy attaching to it as 
 coming from the grave of Confucius. The stalks 
 from the shrubs growing around the tomb of the 
 sage are gathered and made up into parcels of sixty- 
 four, the number of Fuh-he's diagrams, and are sold 
 for divinatory purposes. 
 
 But in modern times other and readier systems 
 have come into vogue, and the probability is that an 
 itinerant fortune-teller would be sorely perplexed if 
 called up to interpret the movements of a tortoise. 
 He finds it easier to dissect written characters, and to 
 infer from their component parts the future of his 
 client. Those who affect this particular branch of the
 
 2So CHINA. 
 
 profession require only, as their stock-in-trade, a piece 
 of cloth spread on the ground, on which they arrange 
 pencil, ink, and paper, and a small box, in which are 
 placed a number of bits of folded paper, each con- 
 taining a single written character. The client, after 
 paying the necessary fee, is required to draw out one 
 of these pieces of paper. This the fortune-teller un- 
 folds, and reads the character contained in it, which 
 he proceeds to resolve into its component parts. The 
 character Tih, " to obtain," is generally one of the 
 characters which finds its place in the box. This, 
 the fortune-teller points out, is composed of " two 
 men walking," " the sun," and " an inch." From the 
 first he assures his customer that he will agree well 
 with his fellows, and will mate with a congenial wife. 
 The sun is life and light bringing ; his lot will there- 
 fore be to live to a bright old age. And whereas the 
 character for " inch " is almost identical with that 
 meaning " talented," a brilliant future lies before him, 
 whether he directs his efforts to acquiring literary 
 fame, or to gaining wealth by mercantile enterprise 
 In this kind of rough and ready dissection of cha 
 racters considerable skill, gained by constant prac- 
 tice, is shown by the learned diviner, who enlarges 
 with much fluency on the meaning of the several 
 parts, and on the interpretations which, in accordance 
 with the rules of his art, are to be placed upon 
 them.
 
 SUPERSTITIONS. 281 
 
 Another curious way of giving oracular responses 
 to seekings after knowledge of futurity is by means of 
 a bird, which is trained to pick out at random two 
 out of sixty-four cards which are laid before it. On 
 each card is drawn either a god, a beast, a bird, or a 
 man, and on the reverse side is written a stanza of 
 poetry. When all the cards have been spread on a 
 table, the bird is let out of his cage, and forthwith 
 picks up two cards, one after the other, and presents 
 them to his master, who, after studying the pictures 
 and the poetry, deduces from them an answer to the 
 inquiry laid before him. 
 
 To another class of fortune-tellers the inquirers' 
 own person supplies the materials from which his 
 horoscope is cast. Not only are the face and head, as 
 among ourselves, studied to afford answers as to the 
 mental capacity and leading characteristics of the 
 enquirer, but from the features of the whole body are 
 deduced symptoms of the destiny of the individual, 
 as well as the nature of his disposition. Masters of 
 this art proclaim their profession to passers-by by a 
 sign bearing representations of the human counten- 
 ance, which may be seen suspended over stalls in the 
 byeways of cities, as well as outside shops. Books 
 for their guidance are numerous, and are minute in 
 their details. The following gleanings have been 
 gathered from one of the best-known native works 
 on this curious subject : —
 
 282 CHINA. 
 
 The face of a man favoured by fortune should be 
 long and square ; but for the man with a face pointed 
 at each end like a date stone, poverty is in store. 
 High cheek bones are a sign of a cruel disposition, 
 and a matron so distinguished is likely to prove a 
 husband-killing wife. A broad chin belongs to a 
 man born to wealth, and a pointed chin to a man 
 whose lot it is to be poor. A man whose jawbone 
 is so wide as to be seen from behind the ears has a 
 heart full of poison. The possessor of a high fore- 
 head will be held in esteem, and will live to old age ; 
 but he whose nose is long is a man devoid of a fixed 
 purpose. If you cannot see the ears of a man when 
 meeting him face to face, ask who he is, for he is a 
 somebody. If you cannot see the jawbones of a 
 man under like circumstances, ask where he comes 
 from, that you may avoid him. A large face and a 
 small body are signs of happiness, and the reverse is 
 an omen of evil. He who has no vestige of hair on 
 the bone above the neck is unrighteous, and will be 
 destitute of relations. A man who does not move 
 his head when walking, nor bend it when sit- 
 ting, will come to poverty, and the possessor of a 
 small head and long hair will leave no traces behind 
 him, A man with a narrow head and long hair will 
 encounter difficulties, and death from starvation will 
 overtake him whose hair grows long down to his ears. 
 He whose hair turns white at an early age will not be
 
 SUPERSTITIONS. 283 
 
 fortunate ; but for him whose hair after turning white 
 should recover its original colour, great happiness is 
 in store. 
 
 History asserts that in antiquity no instance was 
 known of a man with thick hair becoming prime- 
 minister. Women with ultramarine-coloured hair, 
 like Buddha's, will marry men of distinction, and she 
 who is the owner of glistening hair and a round and 
 sleek face, will enter the emperor's harem. People 
 with dimples, both men and women, will marry more 
 than once. Long hair in the eyebrows indicates 
 long life, but thick and coarse eyebrows mean 
 poverty ; while a man who has the misfortune to 
 have eyebrows which are unruly as well as coarse is 
 a man not to be spoken of The possessor of eye- 
 brows widely separated will be rich and prosperous ; 
 but if they be thin and yellow in colour, though he 
 may be fortunate at first, misfortune is sure to over- 
 take him. 
 
 The eyes, we are told, are to the body what the 
 sun and moon are to the earth. They are also the 
 resting-places of wandering spirits. Long, deep, and 
 brilliant eyes belong to men of consideration. A 
 woman with much white in her eyes will probably 
 murder her husband, and a boy so disfigured will be 
 stupid. Noses are also important features, and are 
 distinguished as cows' noses, monkeys' noses, dogs' 
 noses hawks' noses, etc. A man with a dog's nose,
 
 i84 CHINA. 
 
 will live long, and the marrow of the heart of the 
 man will be evil whose nose is like a hawk's beak. 
 The growth of hair inside the ear holds out a 
 promise of longevity, and ears broad and large 
 belong to men of ability and wealth. 
 
 The mouth is " the door of the heart, and out of it 
 proceed blessings and cursings ; " its shape, therefore, 
 is an important indicator of the individual. A 
 man with a mouth shaped like a horned bow will 
 enjoy the sweets of office, and he who is blessed 
 with a broad and full mouth v\-ill attain to riches 
 and honour. The possessor of an evenly-shaped 
 mouth with lips which are neither thick nor thin, 
 will have through life enough to eat and drink, but 
 a man with a horse's mouth will die of starvation. 
 And among the many animal-like mouths, pos- 
 sessing peculiar characteristics, is noted that like a 
 mouse's, which, we are told, belongs to an envious 
 and jealous man, and is the channel for vilifying 
 words which scorch like fire. 
 
 Such are some few of the points of feature par- 
 ticularly obser\-ed by Chinese" physiognomists. The 
 art is at the present day a very popular one, and 
 though it cannot claim the sanction of antiquitj' 
 which belongs to the practice of divination by the 
 Tortoise and the Millfoil, it can boast of an ancestry 
 which, to us, seems far-reaching. We read, for 
 example, in history, that on one occasion, Kaou-tsoo,
 
 SUPERSTITIONS. 285 
 
 the first emperor of the Han Dynasty (B.C. 206- 
 25 A.D.), when a young man, and before he had 
 attained to any eminence, was met on the road by 
 a physiognomist, who fell on his knees before him 
 and thus addressed him : — " I see by the expression 
 of your features that you are destined to ascend the 
 throne, and I offer you in anticipation the tribute 
 of respect, that a subject owes to his sovereign. I 
 have a daughter, the fairest and the wisest in the 
 empire; take her as your wife." The man's prescience 
 was justified by the event, and had its reward. 
 Kaou-tsoo rapidly acquired fame, and, before long, 
 the prophet's daughter was proclaimed empress. 
 
 Not content, however, with divining by the out- 
 ward appearance and by external signs, the Chinese, 
 like some among ourselves, resort to spiritualism, 
 and in some cases invite the invoked spirit to reveal 
 the future by writing on a sand-covered table with a 
 peach-stick. Great care is necessary in the choice 
 of this stick. It must be bent at the end, and must 
 be cut from a branch pointing towards the East. 
 But before cutting it oft" the following magic formula 
 has to be pronounced : " Magic pencil most efficacious, 
 daily possessing subtle strength, now I take thee to 
 reveal clearly everything," and a mystic character has 
 to be cut on the tree. The stick having been secured, 
 is then fastened into a cross-piece of wood, about 
 six inches long. At the time of the seance two tables
 
 286 CHINA. 
 
 are prepared ; on one of which are placed sacrificial 
 wine, fruit, and confectionary, and on the other fine 
 red sand is strewn. A petition is then written, ad- 
 dressed to the Great Royal Boddhisattwa, informing 
 him that the sacrifices are prepared, and requesting 
 that one of the great spirits wandering through the 
 clouds should be sent to the house of the writer. 
 This petition is burnt before the shrine of the deity, 
 and the name and address of the petitioner is posted 
 up outside the door for the information of the spirit. 
 
 " Later in the evening, two or three of the company 
 assembled go to the door, burn there some gold 
 paper and make an indefinite number of bows and 
 prostrations, receiving, as it were, the spirit on entering 
 the house. Having conducted him into the hall, an 
 armchair is moved to the table, whilst incense and 
 candles are lighted. At the same time the medium 
 approaches, the magic pencil resting on the palms 
 of both hands, but so that the end of the twig 
 touches the surface of the table strewn with sand. 
 He places his outspread hands near the head of the 
 table, and, addressing the spirit with becoming re- 
 verence, says, ' Great spirit, if you have arrived, be 
 pleased to write the character ' arrived ' on this 
 table.' Immediately the magic pencil begins to 
 move, and the required character appears legibly 
 written on the sand, whereon all present request the 
 spirit to sit on the large armchair, whilst the deity,
 
 SUPERSTITIONS. 287 
 
 which is supposed to have conducted him thither, 
 is likewise politely asked to sit down on another 
 chair. The whole company now bow and prostrate 
 themselves before the seats of both spirits, and some 
 pour out wine and burn gold paper. Then the medium 
 approaches again with the magic pencil on the palms 
 of his hands, whilst all assembled say with one voice, 
 ' Great spirit, what was your august surname, what 
 your honourable name, what offices were you invested 
 with, and under which dynasty did you live on earth .^' 
 Immediately the magic pencil is seen moving, and 
 answers to these questions appear written in the 
 sand. After this every one of the assembled may 
 put a question one after the other, but each question 
 is to be written on a slip of paper and burnt together 
 with some gold paper. As soon as each paper is 
 fairly consumed by the fire, the magic pencil writes 
 down the answer to it, generally in poetical form, 
 and each sentence is followed by the character, ' I 
 have done,' whereupon the pencil ceases to move. 
 Then all assembled try to read the characters aloud. 
 If they fail to decipher them, the pencil moves 
 again and writes the same sentence more distinctly, 
 until it is intelligible. As soon as one of the assembly 
 succeeds in deciphering a sentence, the magic pencil 
 moves again and writes on the sand the two characters 
 ' That's it.' When a sentence is finished in this 
 way, the sand on the table has to be smoothed again
 
 288 CHINA. 
 
 with a bamboo roller, and whilst this is being done, 
 the whole company address flattering speeches to 
 the spirit, praising his poetical talents, to which the 
 magic pencil replies by writing on the table the 
 characters ' it 's ridiculous.' If any one present be- 
 haves improperly, displaying a want of reverence, 
 the spirit writes down some sentences containing a 
 sharp rebuke. The motions of the pencil are quite 
 extraordinary, and apparently not produced by the 
 medium on whose bare palms the handle of the pencil 
 rests, and who merely follows the spontaneous move- 
 ments of the magic pencil. In this way conversation 
 is kept up without flagging until midnight (when 
 the male principle begins to be active). Then the 
 spirit breaks off the conversation, and, addressing the 
 whole company, writes on the table, " Gentlemen, I 
 am much obliged for your liberal presents, but now 
 I must beg leave to depart.' To this all persons 
 present reply, saying, ' Please, great spirit, stop a 
 little longer,' but the spirit jots down, as if in a great 
 hurry, the two characters, ' Excuse me, I am off.' Then 
 all assembled say, ' If there was any want of respect 
 or attention, great spirit, we beseech thee forgive us 
 this sin.' All walk then to the house-door burning 
 gold paper, and there take leave of the spirit with 
 many bows and prostrations." ^ 
 
 ^ " Notes and Queries on China and Japan."
 
 5 UPERSTITIONS. 
 
 289 
 
 Clairvoyantism, mesmerism, and palmistry are 
 commonly practised to discover that which is beyond 
 the reach of man's ken, and, in fact, it may be said, 
 that there is no magical art which is not known to 
 the grossly superstitious people of China. 
 
 U
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 FUNERAL RITES. 
 
 [HE disposal of the dead 
 has never been a vexed 
 question in China. From 
 time immemorial they 
 have buried their dead 
 out of their sight. The 
 grave of the Emperor 
 Fuh-he (B.C. 2SS2-2j^y) 
 is still pointed out in 
 Honan, and the last rest- 
 ing - places of his suc- 
 cessors are to this day recognised b}- tradi- 
 tion. What rites accompanied funerals in 
 ver>- primitive times we know not, but we 
 have evidence in the S/ie king and else- 
 where that under the Chow Dynasty the 
 practice of immolating men at the tombs 
 of the departed great was at least occa- 
 sionally carried out. The probability is
 
 FUNERAL RITES. 291 
 
 that the Chinese adopted the custom from the abo- 
 riginal tribes ; but, however that may be, we read that 
 at the funeral of Duke Ch'ing, in the tenth century 
 B.C., sixty-six persons were buried alive in his tomb, 
 and even this number was exceeded on the occasion 
 of the entombment of his brother, the Duke Muh, 
 when 177 men were immolated at the grave. 
 
 The custom never seems to have become a regular 
 practice, but to have been conformed to at the caprice 
 of the survivors. It is told of Tsze-k'in, a disciple of 
 Confucius, that on the death of his brother the widow 
 and major-domo wished to bury some living persons 
 with the deceased to serve him in the regions below. 
 The thing being referred to Tsze-k'in, he proposed 
 that the widow and steward should themselves be 
 the victims of their own affectionate zeal, upon which 
 the matter was dropped. After many centuries of 
 disuse it was, according to Dr. Wells Williams, re- 
 vived by Shun-che, the first emperor of the present 
 dynasty (a.d. i 644-1 661), who ordered thirty persons 
 to be immolated at the funeral of his empress. On 
 a like occasion in the career of his son and successor, 
 K'ang-he, four persons offered to sacrifice themselves 
 at the tomb of their imperial mistress. But K'ang- 
 he forbade it, and since then there has been no recur- 
 rence of the barbarous practice. 
 
 Of these living sacrifices the rituals make no men- 
 tion ; but, according to them, it was the habit among 
 
 U 2
 
 292 CHINA. 
 
 the ancients to bury suits of clothes with the dead for 
 their use in the other world, just as the red Indian's 
 horse, canoe, and paddle are made to share his tomb, 
 that they may serve him in the hunting-grounds of 
 the blessed. An emperor's trousseau for the next 
 state of existence was fixed at a hundred and thirty 
 suits, a prince's at a hundred, a minister's at fifty, and 
 an official's at thirty. In the same way the mound on 
 an emperor's tomb was raised 30 feet high, and sur- 
 rounded by fir-trees ; that of a prince was not to be 
 more than 15 feet, and surrounded by cypresses ; 
 8 feet were allowed to a minister, whose resting-place 
 was guarded by Lwan-trees (a kind of malvaceous 
 tree) ; an official lay under only half that height of 
 earth, and under the shadow of ebony-trees ; while the 
 people were forbidden to raise any mounds on their 
 graves, and were allowed only to plant willow-trees 
 at their tombs. 
 
 Even the very name of death — the great leveller 
 — was not, and still is not, common to all. Emperors 
 p&ng, or " fall as mountains fall " ; princes hung, or 
 " demise " ; ministers tsiih, or " come to an end " ; 
 officials puh Ink, " resign their dignities " ; while the 
 common people sze, " die." When an emperor " falls" 
 the rituals prescribed that the mourners should live 
 for seven days in huts outside the central door of the 
 palace, weeping morning and night. But courtly 
 funerals are far too cumbersome in ceremonial and
 
 FUNERAL RITES. 293 
 
 elaborate in detail to be described here, and even in 
 the homes of the people the rites are so numerous 
 that it will be impossible to follow the mourners 
 through all the observances proper to the twenty- 
 seven months of mourning. 
 
 Great importance is attached by the Chinese to the 
 presence of the whole family at the death-bed of the 
 head of the household. His last words are eagerly 
 listened to, and are written down as they are spoken, 
 and when the silver cord is loosed and the golden 
 bowl is broken a loud wail of lamentation is uttered 
 by all present. On the approach of death the suf- 
 ferer is carried into the principal hall, where subse- 
 quently the processes of washing the corpse and 
 placing it in the coffin are gone through. The water 
 used for the washing is " bought " from the nearest 
 river. The purchaser, who is the chief mourner, goes 
 in procession, supported by his friends and accom- 
 panied by musicians to the water's edge, whence he 
 throws four cash, and sometimes also a live fish into 
 the stream. The cash is payment for the water 
 taken, and the fish is supposed to vouch for the 
 receipt to the River King. The washing being over, 
 the corpse is dressed in handsome silken robes, three 
 being the number allowed by the sumptuary laws to 
 officials of the first, second, or third rank, and two to 
 officers of a lower grade. At the same time five 
 small valuables, such as pearls, precious stones, bits
 
 294 CHIXA. 
 
 of jade or gold, are placed in the mouth of the 
 deceased. The encoffinment takes place on the third 
 day after death, in the presence of the assembled 
 family ; the women standing on the west side of the 
 coffin, and the men on the east. Great pains are 
 taken to place the corpse exactly straight in the 
 coffin, and care is taken that this position should be 
 maintained by filling in the empty spaces with clothes, 
 and any object or objects which may have been 
 personally prized by the deceased. This is intelli- 
 gible enough, but it is difficult to understand the 
 obligation the sur\'ivors are under of placing the 
 combings of his hair and the parings of his nails in 
 the coffin. 
 
 In some parts of the country two cash are put into 
 the sleeve of the deceased, and are then shaken out, 
 to test his satisfaction, or the reverse, at the arrange- 
 ments made for his future comfort. If the cash fail 
 with the same side upwards, it is taken as a sign of 
 approval ; if not, as a sign that something has been 
 omitted. The coffin is placed in the centre of the 
 hall, with the head facing towards the south, which, 
 in all houses of any pretensions, is in the direction of 
 the door. On the right of the coffin the portrait of 
 the deceased stands, and by it his clothes, washing- 
 basin, towels, &c. are arranged as though he were 
 yet alive. In contradiction, however, to this suppo- 
 sition, a sedan-chair is transmitted for his use to the
 
 FUNERAL RITES. 2% 
 
 other world by the act of burning a paper effigy of 
 one in the courtyard. 
 
 On the third day, also, the mourners put on their 
 mourning, which consists of coarse white sackcloth, 
 white shoes, and a strip of sackcloth tied round the 
 head. The eldest son supplements this attire by 
 carrying a bamboo staff, on which he leans as though 
 overcome by sorrow when mourning for his father, 
 and a t'ung (elaococca sinensis) staff when mourning 
 for his mother, the bamboo being symbolical of great 
 grief, and the t'ung of less overwhelming sorrow. For 
 a hundred days men allow their hair to grow, and 
 leave their finger-nails uncut ; and for the whole 
 period of mourning for a parent — that is, twenty-seven 
 months, the sons holding official appointments resign 
 their posts, and such as are candidates for examina- 
 tion refrain from competing. All scenes of festivity 
 are avoided, and even the procreation of children is 
 regarded as a slight on the deceased. 
 
 On the seventh day letters announcing the death 
 are sent round to all relations and friends, who at 
 once proceed to the house of mourning, bringing 
 with them presents of money, incense, viands, or other 
 things likely to be useful on such an occasion. On 
 entering the house they put on mourning-clothes, 
 and, approaching the bier, make obeisance before it, 
 at the same time presenting incense. As at each and 
 all the innumerable ceremonies, the family keep up
 
 296 CHINA. 
 
 an accompaniment of wailing and stamping with 
 the feet while the visitors pay their respects. 
 
 Each morning fresh water is poured into the basin 
 placed by the coffin, and before beginning each meal 
 rice and other viands are put within reach of the bier. 
 On the same table also are placed smaller quantities of 
 the same food to propitiate the " little devil " who is 
 supposed to serve the dead man in the land of spirits. 
 
 As the rites command that the coffin should remain 
 in the hall for forty-nine days (and as a matter of 
 fact it is more often than not kept very much longer 
 above ground), it is necessary that it should be made 
 both substantial and air-tight. The planks, which 
 are cut from the hardest and most endurable trees, 
 are from four to five inches thick, and are not only 
 strongly and accurately morticed together and caulked 
 on the outside, but are cemented over on the inside. 
 The coffins of men of high rank are covered with 
 coatings of red lacquer, while black lacquer is pre- 
 scribed for mandarins of the lower grades, and, to 
 the people, lacquer of any kind is forbidden. 
 
 The notions which Chinamen entertain concerning 
 the future life rob death of half its terrors, and lead 
 them to regard their funeral ceremonies, and the due 
 performance of the proper rites by their descendants 
 as the chief factors in their future well-being. Among 
 other things, the importance of securing a coffin 
 according to the approved fashion, is duly recognised.
 
 FUNERAL RITES. 297 
 
 and as men approach their three-score years-and-ten 
 this consideration not unfrequently impels them to 
 buy their own coffins, which they keep carefully by 
 them until their time comes. The present of a coffin 
 is considered a dutiful attention from a son to an aged 
 father, and in cases where it is inconvenient, from want 
 of room, to keep it in the house, a resting-place is 
 willingly given it in the neighbouring temple. 
 
 The next event of importance is the choice of a site 
 for the grave. This has to be determined by a pro- 
 fessor of the "Fung-shuy" superstition, who, compass 
 in hand, explores the desired district to find a spot 
 which combines all the qualities necessary for the 
 quiet repose of the dead. This should be at the junc- 
 tion of the two supposed magnetic currents which are 
 known as the " azure dragon " and the " white tiger," 
 whose presence is made known by the configuration 
 of the ground. It must be perfectly dry, and be free 
 from white ants and all such disturbing influences 
 arisingfrom conflicting heavenlyor terrestrial elements 
 as may interfere with the soul's unrestricted egress 
 and ingress. When such a favoured spot has been 
 discovered a Taouist priest is called in to determine 
 a lucky day for the burial. This is by no means an 
 easy matter, and it often happens that the dead 
 remain unburied for months, and even for years, on 
 account of the difficulties in the way of choosing 
 either fortunate graves or lucky days. It is probable
 
 298 CHINA. 
 
 that the increased fees demanded by protracted in- 
 vestigations do not tend to hasten the process. 
 Another occasional cause of delay is the rule that 
 the funeral should not take place while any lady in 
 the household is enceinte. Archdeacon Gray mentions 
 a case within his own knowledge, where a lady 
 remained unburied for several years because one or 
 other of the ladies of the family were constantly in 
 that condition. 
 
 But, as soon as the site is chosen and the other 
 rites are completed, the chief mourner goes with 
 workmen to the spot to dig the grave. Before begin- 
 ning he worships the genii of the mountain, and reads 
 aloud a notification addressed to those spirits, in 
 these words : " We, the sons and relatives of such 
 and such a one, who died on such and such a day, 
 intend to bury his remains here, and, as now it is our 
 desire to make ready the tomb, we pray you not only 
 to grant your sanction to such a proceeding on our 
 part, but at all times to care for and prosper us. 
 Moreover, we respectfully beg to present to you 
 offerings of fruits and wines, which be graciously 
 pleased to accept." This letter having been sent on 
 its way, by being burnt to ashes, the work begins, 
 and, when the requisite depth is attained, the bottom 
 of the grave is protected from damp by a layer of 
 lime mixed with charcoal. 
 
 Everything being now ready for the interment, a
 
 FUNERAL RITES. 299 
 
 special service is held before the ancestral tablet of 
 the deceased, and the following announcement is 
 made to the spirit: "Perpetuating the rite of removal, 
 and the propitious hour no longer delaying, we arc 
 now about to escort the funeral car, and thus reve- 
 rently to walk in the paths of our ancestors." The 
 assembled family then prostrate themselves before 
 the tablet, with tears and loud lamentations. 
 
 As the coffin is lifted the members of the family 
 rush into the adjoining rooms lest the ghost of the 
 dead man should, owing to some sin of commission 
 or omission, strike them, in his wrath, with sickness 
 or a curse. At the door of the house the coffin is 
 placed upon a bier, and the procession, which varies 
 in length and arrangement according to the wealth 
 of the mourners and the part of the empire, marches 
 off in the following order : " two men bearing large 
 lanterns, recording the family name, age, and titles of 
 the deceased ; two men, each bearing a gong, which 
 he beats loudly at intervals, to give warning of the 
 approach of the cavalcade ; and sixteen musicians, 
 immediately followed by men with flags, and by 
 others carrying red boards with the titles of the 
 deceased and of his ancestors inscribed on them in 
 letters of gold .... The ancestral tablets are fol- 
 lowed by four richly carved and gilded canopies — 
 carried sometimes by horses, sometimes by men — 
 under each of which are arranged offerings for the
 
 300 CHINA. 
 
 dead. The portrait of the deceased comes next, 
 carried in a sedan-chair, and followed by a band of 
 musicians. Next comes a sedan-chair, with a wooden 
 tablet inscribed with the names of the deceased. 
 Then follows a man called Fung-loo-chun-jin, who 
 scatters, at intervals, pieces of paper supposed to 
 represent ingots of silver and gold. The mock-money 
 is intended for hungry ghosts, i.e., for the souls of 
 men who have died at the corners of the streets . . . 
 Next come the sons of the deceased," ^ immediately 
 in front of the bier, which is followed by the rest of 
 the relatives, both male and female. The only 
 animal which is carried in the procession is a white 
 cock, which is supposed to be the depository of one 
 of the three souls with which men are credited. The 
 argument is, that as cocks are birds of the East, and 
 as the East is the door of life, that they can best con- 
 tain that part of man which is immortal. At the 
 brink of the grave the cock is either sacrificed, by 
 which means the soul is released into the tomb, or it 
 is made to incline forward three times into the grave, 
 by each member of the family. 
 
 If the distance to the grave is short, the mourners 
 walk in the procession, with the exception of the small- 
 footed Avomen, who are, for the most part, carried on 
 the backs of their female attendants. But, when the 
 
 * Archdeacon Gray's " China," vol. i.
 
 FUNERAL RITES. 301 
 
 distance is considerable, the mourners, both male and 
 female, travel in sedan-chairs, if in the south of China, 
 and in carts or on horseback, if in the north. On 
 arrival at the grave the mourners perform the Kot'ow 
 before the coffin, the men on the left and the women 
 on the right. The coffin is then lowered in the grave, 
 and the Fung-shuy professor, having satisfied himself 
 that it is in exactly the right position, proceeds to 
 burn a quantity of mock-money, carriages, images of 
 men-servants and maid-servants, for the use of the 
 deceased in his next existence. 
 
 The procession returns to the house in the order in 
 which it went out, and, the ancestral tablet having 
 been placed in the position proper for it during the 
 first hundred days of mourning, the mourners sit 
 down to the baked meats of the funeral feast. At 
 the end of a hundred days the sons and near relatives 
 shave their heads and exchange their w^hite shoes, and 
 white silken additions to their queues, for blue ones, 
 that colour being the next stage towards a return to 
 the ordinary colours of every-day life. By a common 
 fiction the period of three years' mourning is reduced 
 to twenty-seven weeks, at the end of which time the 
 family return to the use of red visiting-cards, and 
 remove from their dwelling and attire all traces of 
 their grief Sons holding official rank return to their 
 posts, candidates for examination present themselves 
 before the examiners, and the pent-up ceremonies of
 
 302 CHINA. 
 
 marrying and giving in marriage are entered upon 
 with alacrity. 
 
 On the anniversary of the death of the deceased, and 
 also in the third month in each year, the family go to 
 the tomb to sacrifice at it to their ancestors. The 
 tombs, which are all designed, not according to the 
 taste of the survivors, but in obedience to recognised 
 rules, vary in size and in various particulars, according 
 to the rank of the deceased and the part of the 
 empire. In the southern provinces and on the plains 
 in the north, the tombs and graveyards are shaped in 
 the form of an Q, which, if it were not traceable to 
 the requirements of Fung-shuy, might be supposed 
 to have been adopted from the conventual symbol 
 for the end among the Greeks. A duke, marquis, or 
 carl, is entitled to a sepulchre 130 yards in circum- 
 ference, with four entrances ; officials of the first and 
 second rank must be content to lie \\ithin a boundary 
 of no yards long, and to possess only two doors; 
 officials of the third, fourth, and fifth ranks are reduced 
 to a hundred yards ; and the still lower grades to 
 sixty yards. 
 
 A sliding-scale is also provided in the matter of 
 the avenues of stone figures which lead up to the 
 sepulchres of the great. For every one, from a duke 
 to an official of the second rank, it is decreed that 
 their tombs may be protected by two stone men, two 
 horses, two tigers, and two rams, besides two pillars
 
 FUNERAL RITES. 
 
 303 
 
 at the entrance. The figures are generally made life- 
 size or larger, and of granite. The tombstone, which 
 records the name and titles of the deceased and the 
 dates of his birth and death, stands on the back of a 
 stone tortoise, and above the inscription is carved the 
 
 figure of a weird-looking, hornless dragon. In 
 Shanse and other parts of the empire the sepulchral 
 monuments vary very much in shape. Black glazed 
 tiles generally cover the tombs in Shan-se, and a not 
 infrequent form of monument is that of a huge 
 lighted candle. 
 
 The imperial tombs infinitely excel the tombs of
 
 304 CHINA. 
 
 the highest nobles in size and grandeur. The burying- 
 place of the emperors of the Ming Dynasty was in 
 the neighbourhood of Nanking, while those of the 
 present line repose among the mountains to the 
 north-east of Peking. 
 
 But, universal as the practice of burying may be 
 said to be in China, there are exceptions to it. The 
 Buddhist priests prefer, as a rule, cremation ; and this 
 custom, which came with the religion they profess 
 from India, has at times found imitators among the 
 laity. In Formosa the dead are exposed and dried 
 in the air, and some of the Meaou-tsze tribes of 
 central and southern China bury their dead, it is true, 
 but after an interval of a year or more, having chosen 
 a lucky day, they disinter them. On such occasions 
 they go accompanied by their friends, to the grave, 
 and, having opened the tomb, they take out the 
 bones, and, after having brushed and washed them 
 clean, they put them back enwrapped in cloth.
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 THE RELIGIONS OF CHINA. 
 
 HE Chinese describe 
 themselves as possess- 
 ing three religions, or 
 more accurately, three 
 sects, n amely Joo keaoic, 
 the sect of Scholars ; 
 Fuh keaojt, the sect 
 of Buddha ; and Taoti 
 keaou, the sect of Taou. Both as regards 
 age and origin, the sect of Scholars, or, as 
 it is generally called, Confucianism, repre- 
 sents pre-eminently the religion of China. 
 It has its root in the worship of Shang-te, 
 a deity which is associated with the earliest 
 traditions of the Chinese race. Hwang-te (2697 
 B.C.) erected a temple to his honour, and suc- 
 ceeding emperors worshipped before his shrine. 
 
 X
 
 3o6 CHINA. 
 
 The very uncertain light that history throws on the 
 condition of the empire during the Hea Dynasty and 
 the preceding centuries, makes it impossible to pre- 
 dicate anything of the relations in which the sove- 
 reigns and people stood to Shang-te ; but with the 
 rise to power of the Shang Dynasty (B.C. 1766 — 1401), 
 we find a belief prevailing in the personal interference 
 of Shang-te in the affairs of man. It was due to 
 him that, as a reward for virtuous and godly living, 
 men were raised to the throne, and, contrariwise, his 
 was the avenging hand which drove into obscurity 
 those sovereigns who had deserted the paths of recti- 
 tude. Thus we read in the Shoo-king that, " moved 
 with indignation at the crime of King Show, Great 
 Heaven {i.e. Shang-te) charged King Wan (the 
 twelfth century B.C.) to display its majesty, and to 
 destroy the tyrant." 
 
 But, during the troublous times which followed 
 after the reign of the few first sovereigns of the Chow 
 Dynasty, the belief in a personal deity grew indistinct 
 and dim, until, when Confucius began his career, 
 there appeared nothing strange in his atheistic doc- 
 trines. He never in any way denied the existence 
 of Shang-te, but he ignored him. His concern was 
 with man as a member of society, and the object of 
 his teaching was to lead him into those paths of 
 rectitude which might best contribute to his own 
 happiness, and to the well-being of that community
 
 THE RELIGIONS OF CHINA. 307 
 
 of which he formed part. Man, he held, was born 
 good, and was endowed with qualities which, when 
 cultivated and improved by watchfulness and self- 
 restraint, might enable him to acquire godlike wisdom 
 and to become " the equal of Heaven." He divided 
 mankind into four classes, viz., those who are born 
 with the possession of knowledge ; those who learn, 
 and so readily get possession of knowledge ; those 
 who are dull and stupid, and yet succeed in learning; 
 and, lastly, those who are dull and stupid, and yet do 
 not learn." To all these, except those of the last 
 class, the path to the climax reached by the " Sage " 
 is open. Man has only to watch, listen to, under- 
 stand, and obey the moral sense implanted in him by 
 Heaven, and the highest perfection is within his 
 reach. The self-cultivation of each man was the 
 root of the system which is thus epitomised in the 
 ■■' Great Learning," by Tsang, one of Confucius's 
 disciples : — " The ancients who wished to illustrate 
 illustrious virtue throughout the empire, first ordered 
 well their own states. Wishing to order well their 
 own states, they first regulated tneir families. Wishing 
 to regulate their families, they first cultivated their 
 persons. Wishing to cultivate their persons, they 
 first rectified their hearts. Wishing to rectify their 
 hearts, they first sought to be sincere in their thoughts. 
 Wishing to be sincere in their thoughts, they first 
 extended to the utmost their knowledge. Such 
 
 X 2
 
 3o8 CHINA. 
 
 extension of knowledge lay in the investigation of 
 things. When things were investigated, knowledge 
 became complete. Their knowledge being complete, 
 their thoughts became sincere. Their thoughts being 
 sincere, their hearts were then rectified. Their hearts 
 being rectified, their persons were cultivated. Their 
 persons being cultivated, their families were regu- 
 lated. Their families being regulated, their states 
 were rightly governed. Their states being rightly 
 governed, the whole empire was made tranquil and 
 happy." Like the widening ripple caused by dropping 
 a stone into a pool, all these consequences were to 
 flow from self-cultivation, the effect of which finds its 
 expression in words and conduct. Principally, how- 
 ever, in the exercise of filial piety, which is the corner- 
 stone of the Confucian edifice. 
 
 But in this system there is no place for a personal 
 God. The impersonal Heaven, according to Con- 
 fucius, implants a pure nature in every being at his 
 birth, but, having done this, there is no further super- 
 natural interference with the thoughts and deeds of 
 men. It is in the power of each one to perfect his 
 nature, and there is no divine influence to restrain 
 those who take the downward course. Man has his 
 destiny in his own hands, to make or to mar. Neither 
 had Confucius any inducement to offer to encourage 
 men in the practice of virtue, except virtue's self. 
 He was a matter-of-fact, unimaginative man, who was
 
 THE RELIGIONS OF CHINA. 309 
 
 quite content to occupy himself with the study of his 
 fellow-men, and was disinclined to grope into the 
 future or to peer upwards. No wonder that his system, 
 as he enunciated it, proved a failure. Eagerly he 
 sought in the execution of his official duties to effect 
 the regeneration of the empire, but beyond the circle 
 of his personal disciples he found few followers, and 
 as soon as princes and statesmen had satisfied their 
 curiosity about him they turned their backs on his 
 precepts and would none of his reproofs. 
 
 Succeeding ages, recognising the loftiness of his 
 aims, eliminated all that was impracticable and unreal 
 in his system, and held fast to that part of it that was 
 true and good. They were content to accept the 
 logic of events, and to throw overboard the ideal 
 " sage," and to ignore the supposed potency of his 
 influence ; but they clung to the doctrines of filial 
 piety, brotherly love, and virtuous living. It was ad- 
 miration for the emphasis which he laid on these and 
 other virtues which has drawn so many millions of 
 men unto him ; which has made his tomb at Keo-foo 
 heen to be the Mecca of Confucianism, and has adorned 
 every city of the empire with temples built in his 
 honour. Twice a year the emperor goes in state to 
 the Kwo-tsze-keen temple at Peking, and having 
 twice knelt and six times bowed his head to the 
 earth, invokes the presence of the sage in these 
 words : — " Great art thou, O perfect Sage ! Thy
 
 3IO CHINA. 
 
 virtue is full ; thy doctrine is complete. Among 
 mortal men there has not been thine equal. All 
 kings honour thee. Thy statutes and laws have come 
 gloriously down. Thou art the pattern of this im- 
 perial school. Reverently have the sacrificial vessels 
 been set out. Full of awe we sound our drums and 
 bells." 
 
 On the same dates, in the spring and autumn, the 
 officials in every city go to the local temples, and 
 there imitate the reverence and worship of their im- 
 perial master. But concurrently with the lapse of 
 pure Confucianism, and the adoption of those prin- 
 ciples which find their earliest expression in the pre- 
 Confucian classics of China, there is observable a 
 return to the worship of Shang-te. The most mag- 
 nificent temple in the empire is the Temple of 
 Heaven at Peking, where the highest object of Chinese 
 worship is adored with the purest rites. The em- 
 peror, as representative of the empire, alone worships 
 at this sacred shrine, where no trace of idolatry finds 
 a place. Thrice a year he proceeds in state to this 
 azure-tiled holy place, as well as on other special 
 occasions. The e\-ening before the day of sacrifice 
 he goes in an elephant carriage, and accompanied by 
 his princes and ministers, to the Palace of Fasting 
 adjoining the temple, and there spends the night in 
 meditation. At dawn of day he ascends the Altar of 
 Heaven, which consists of three round marble terraces.
 
 THE RELIGIONS OF CHINA. 311 
 
 and which is reached by twenty-seven steps. Here 
 he prostrates himself before the tablet of Shang-te, 
 and, having presented the sacrifices prescribed in the 
 rituals, he offers up a prayer, in which he humbles 
 himself before the deity, and beseeches him to bestow 
 his blessings on the land. What is popularly known 
 in Europe as Confucianism is, therefore, Confucianism 
 with the distinctive opinions of Confucius omitted — 
 the play of Hamlet without the ghost ; and is far 
 more correctly described by the Chinese denomi- 
 nation oi Joo keaoii, or sect of scholars, since it finds 
 its expression in those ancient classical works from 
 which alone the scholars of the empire draw their 
 faith and wisdom. 
 
 But this worship of Shang-te is confined only to 
 the emperor. The people have no lot or heritage in 
 the sacred acts of worship at the Altar of Heaven. 
 Their part in the Joo keaon is to reverence their 
 parents, to love their brothers, to obey their rulers, to 
 be content with the knowledge placed within their 
 reach, to live peaceably with their neighbours, and to 
 pay their taxes. These are the main points insisted 
 on in the sixteen Maxims of the Emperor K'ang-he, 
 and they are the popular outcome of an impossible 
 system, which appealed only to the intellects of a 
 small body of scholars. 
 
 Side by side with the revival of the Joo keaou, 
 under the influence of Confucius, grew up a system of
 
 312 CHINA. 
 
 a totally different nature, and which, when divested 
 of its esoteric doctrines, and reduced by the prac- 
 tically-minded Chinamen to a code of morals, was 
 destined in future ages to become affiliated with the 
 teachings of the Sage. This was Taouism, which 
 was founded by Laou-tsze, who was a contemporary 
 of Confucius. An air of mysterj^ hangs over the 
 history of Laou-tsze. Of his parentage we know 
 nothing, and the historians, in their anxiety to conceal 
 their ignorance of his earlier years, shelter themselves 
 behind the legend that he was born an old man. He 
 certainly first appears on the stage when past middle 
 age, and in this he affords a marked contrast to his 
 great rival, about whose birth, childhood, and youth 
 we have abundant detail. His appearance also was 
 unusual. His ears were large, his eyebrows were 
 handsome, he had large eyes, a double-ridged nose, 
 and a square mouth. These are very un-Chinese 
 features, and, coupled with the fact that nothing is 
 known either of his early days nor of his declining 
 years, they suggest the possibility that he was a 
 foreigner, or perhaps a member of an aboriginal 
 frontier tribe. This supposition finds some counte- 
 nance in the name of Le, which he assumed, that being 
 the name of one of the most powerful tribes in ancient 
 China. Bj- some it is said that he was born at the 
 village of Keuhjin ("oppressed benevolence"), in the 
 parish of Le (" cruelty "), in the district of K'oo
 
 THE RELIGIONS OF CHINA. 313 
 
 ("bitterness"), in the state of Ts'oo ("suffering"). 
 This K'oo is commonly identified with an ancient 
 city of that name, which stood near the modern 
 Kwei-tih Foo, in the province of Honan. At K'oo- 
 yang, which now occupies the same site, a house is 
 shown in which Laou-tsze is said to have lived, and 
 his memory is still further preserved there by a 
 temple which is dedicated to his honour. 
 
 This is all that his biographers have to tell us of 
 him until he appears as Keeper of the Archives at 
 the Court of Chow, which occupied a part of the 
 same province. Here we find him, surrounded by a 
 band of disciples, teaching a system which embodied 
 so many of the leading doctrines of the Indian phi- 
 losophers, that the question suggests itself, whether or 
 no he might not have become, in some way, imbued 
 with the tenets of those men. We know that com- 
 munication with India was open, even at that period, 
 and it might be that he was either a native of that 
 country or of one of the intervening states. If this 
 were so, it would account for the existing ignorance 
 of his family history, and for his being lost to sight 
 when he resigned his office at the Court of Chow, 
 and passed westward through the Han-koo Pass. 
 The object of his teaching was to induce men, by the 
 practice of self-abnegation, to arrive at being ab- 
 sorbed in something which he called Taou, and which 
 bears a certain resemblance to the Nirvana of the
 
 314 CHINA. 
 
 Buddhists. The primary meaning of Taoii is " The 
 way," " The path," but in Laou-tsze's philosophy it 
 was more than the way, it was the way-goer as well. 
 It was an eternal road ; along it all beings and things 
 walked ; it was everything and nothing, and the 
 cause and effect of all. All things originated from 
 Taou, conformed to Taou, and to Taoii at last re- 
 turned. " Taou is impalpable. You look at it, and 
 you cannot see it ; you listen to it, and you cannot 
 hear it ; you try to touch it, and you cannot reach it ; 
 you use it, and you cannot exhaust it. It is not to 
 be expressed in words. It is still and void; it stands 
 alone and changes not ; it circulates everywhere and 
 is not endangered. It is ever inactive, and yet leaves 
 
 nothing undone Formless, it is the cause of 
 
 form It is the ethical nature of the good man, 
 
 and the principle of his action. If, then, we had to 
 express the meaning of Taou, we should describe it 
 as the Absolute ; the totality of Being and Things ; 
 the phenomenal world and its order ; and the ethical 
 nature of the good man, and the principle of his 
 action."^ 
 
 It was absorption into this " Mother of all things " 
 that Laou-tsze aimed at. And this end was to be 
 attained to by self-emptiness, and by giving free 
 scope to the uncontaminated nature which, like Con- 
 
 ^ Confucianism and Taouism.
 
 THE RELIGIONS OF CHINA. 315 
 
 fucius, he taught was given by Heaven to all men. 
 His was a more radical cure /or the evils of the age 
 than that of his rival's. Confucius said that the great 
 reformation necessary was to rectify names. Laou- 
 tsze said, Return to the manners of the time before 
 vice had made names necessary, before disobedience to 
 parents had given rise to the expression " filial piety," 
 and before family contentions and rudeness had 
 made men formulate the terms " brotherly love and 
 propriety." But these subtleties, like the more ab- 
 struse speculations of Confucius, were suited only to 
 the taste of the schools. To the common people 
 they were foolishness, and, before long, the philo- 
 sophical doctrine of Laou-tsze of the identity of 
 existence and non-existence, assumed in their eyes 
 a warrant for the old Epicurean motto, " Let us eat 
 and drink, for to-morrow we die." The pleasures ot 
 sense were substituted for the delights of virtue, and 
 the next step was to desire prolongation of the time 
 when those pleasures could be enjoyed. Legend 
 said that Laou-tsze had secured to himself immunity 
 from death by drinking the elixir of immortality, and 
 to enjoy the same privilege became the all-absorbing 
 object of his followers. The demand for elixirs and 
 charms produced a supply, and Taouism quickly de- 
 generated into a system of magic. Mountains were 
 searched for life-giving herbs, and the seas were 
 swept to discover the "Isles of the Blest." Magicians
 
 3i6 CHINA. 
 
 and sorcerers occupied high places at the courts of 
 emperors, and all the unselfish and virtuous teachings 
 of Laou-tsze were forgotten. 
 
 The superstitious credulity of the people almost 
 exceeded belief, but had at last, as far as the elixir of 
 immortality was concerned, to yield to the stern logic 
 of facts, and the attempt to avert those ills of life, 
 disease and poverty, which have pressed so hardly on 
 humanity through all ages, took the place of vain 
 seekings after perpetual youth. Charms and magical 
 formula were invented to abolish want and sickness, 
 and gods were called into being to preside over the 
 distribution of blessings to mankind. But, while this 
 was the facet of the many-sided religion which 
 caught the eye of the vulgar and illiterate, there was 
 shown to the educated and upper classes an ethical 
 system, moulded out of the moral sayings of Laou- 
 tsze, which differed little from the popular aspect of 
 Confucianism. The concessions thus made were met 
 by corresponding concessions on the part of Con- 
 fucianists, who have practically adopted into their 
 cult the worship of many of the gods which were 
 invented by the Taouists. Wan cJiang ie keun, the 
 God of literature, for example, receives imperial 
 worship twice in each year, and is universally invoked 
 by competitors at the literar^^ examinations on behalf 
 of their efforts. The monopoly which Taouist priests 
 enjoy, as the exponents of the mysteries of nature,
 
 THE RELIGIONS OF CHINA. 
 
 317 
 
 make them indispensably necessary to all classes, and 
 the most confirmed Confucianist does not hesitate to 
 consult the shaven followers of Laou-tsze on the 
 choice of the site for his house, the position^'of his 
 
 family graveyard, or a fortunate day for under- 
 taking an enterprise. Apart from the practice of 
 these magical arts, Taouism has become assimilated
 
 31 8 CHINA. 
 
 with modern Confucianism, and is scarcely distin- 
 guishable from it. But in its more debased and super- 
 stitious form it is as far removed from Confucianism 
 as Shamanism is from the teachings of Sakyamuni. 
 The teachings of Laou-tsze having familiarised the 
 Chinese mind with philosophical doctrines, which, 
 whatever were their direct source, bore a marked 
 resemblance to the musings of Indian sages, served 
 to prepare the way for the introduction of Buddhism. 
 The exact date at which the Chinese first became 
 acquainted with the doctrines of Buddha was, accord- 
 ing to an author quoted in K'ang - he's Imperial 
 Encyclopaedia, the thirtieth year of the reign of 
 She Hwang-te, i.e., B.C. 216. The story this writer 
 tells of the difficulties which the first missionaries 
 encountered is curious, and singularly suggestive 
 of the narrative of St. Peter's imprisonment. The 
 Western Shaman, Le-fang, with seventeen others, 
 arrived, we are told, at Loyang, in the year men- 
 tioned, bringing with them original sutras in 
 Brahma's [Fan] characters. Being foreigners, they 
 were examined by the officials, and by the emperor's 
 orders were thrown into prison as " strange cus- 
 tomers." But Le-fang and his comrades continued 
 chanting the Maha Prajna Paramita, when suddenly 
 a brilliantly bright and shining light, accompanied by 
 an auspicious halo, permeated into and filled the prison. 
 And at the same time appeared a deity, bright as
 
 THE RELIGIONS OF CHINA. 319 
 
 gold {lit. golden deity), holding in his hand a sceptre 
 with which, with exceeding majesty, he struck the 
 prison [walls], which shivered to atoms at his blow. 
 Le-fang and his companions then came forth, and 
 the emperor, alarmed at the miracle, repented of his 
 sin, and treated his quondam prisoners with every 
 sign of marked respect. 
 
 But what became of them we are not told ; pos- 
 sibly, disgusted with the reception they had met with, 
 they returned whence they came. At all events, 
 they left no mark on the minds of the people, and 
 the next reference to Buddhism, or what is claimed 
 for Buddhism, is found in the history of the reign of 
 Woo-te, who, in B.C. 120, sent General Ho K'ii-p'ing 
 with a large force against the Heung-noo Tartars. 
 This officer, we are told, having crossed the Yen-k'e 
 Mountains (in Turkestan .''), defeated the enemy, and 
 carried back with him, as a trophy of his victory, a 
 golden image which had been the object of the king 
 Heo-t'u's worship. But, even if the image was that of 
 Buddha, no instruction in the religion was received 
 with it, and it was reserved for the Emperor Ming-te, 
 a hundred and eighty-two years later, to introduce a 
 knowledge of that system which, in purity and lofti- 
 ness of aim, takes its place next to Christianity among 
 the religions of the world. One night he dreamed 
 that a monster golden image appeared, and ad- 
 dressing him, said : " Buddha bids you send to the
 
 320 CHINA. 
 
 western countries to search for him, and to get books 
 and images." Ming-te obeyed, and sent an embassy 
 to India, which returned after an absence of eleven 
 years, bringing back images, drawings, and the Sutra 
 of forty-two Sections, and, what was more important 
 the mission was accompanied by the Indian, Kasyapa 
 Matanga, who, on his arrival at Loyang, translated 
 the Sutra into Chinese. Kasyapa Matanga was fol- 
 lowed by Fa-lan, who brought with him, among other 
 works, the Dasabhumi Sutra and the Lalita Vistara. 
 These, in conjunction with his fellow-labourer, he 
 translated into Chinese, and from this time Buddhism 
 grew and prevailed in the land. 
 
 During the next few centuries constant additions 
 were made to the number of the Indian missionaries, 
 who were indefatigable in their work as translators. 
 But in many cases their zeal was greater than the 
 accuracy of their knowledge of the Chinese language, 
 and in the beginning of the fifth century it was deter- 
 mined to have a revised version of the translated 
 Sutras made. For this purpose Kumarajiva, a learned 
 Indian priest, was invited to the Court of Tsin, 
 where he was given office, and where, with the help 
 of eight hundred priests, he revised three hundred 
 volumes. While this work was in contemplation, a 
 Chinese Buddhist, Fa-heen by name, started on a 
 journey to India, to procure the texts of Buddhist 
 works yet unknown to his countrymen. By a some-
 
 THE RELIGIONS OF CHINA. 321 
 
 what circuitous route by the Steppes of Tartar}^ the 
 Country of the Ouighurs, and Afghanistan, he reached 
 the goal of his desires. With all the zeal of a convert 
 he visited, with devotion, the spots made sacred by 
 the presence of Buddha, never, however, forgetting 
 the main object of his journey, and finally returned 
 to China by sea from Ceylon, after an absence of 
 fourteen years, laden with books. 
 
 But, besides books and images, relics of Buddha 
 were brought to China, and were received with every 
 token of honour. The priest, Hiuen-tsang, who 
 visited India rather more than two centuries later 
 than Fa-heen, carried back with him a hundred and 
 fifteen bits taken from Buddha's chain. At other 
 times, bones of the Saint aroused the religious rapture 
 of the Chinese converts, and at the present time, in a 
 dim glass case in a temple on the sacred Mount of 
 Teen-tai, near Ningpo, there is shown a scrap of the 
 body of Buddha, which was saved from the burning. 
 To those devout disciples, who have the mind of 
 Buddha, this precious relic appears to be of a yellow 
 colour, but to those of less spiritual discernment no 
 such golden hue is vouchsafed. 
 
 The literati protested against the worship of the 
 relics as vehemently as they have done against Chris- 
 tianity ; but the instinct of the nation declared 
 against them, and they had the mortification of 
 seeing pagoda after pagoda raised to cover a bone, or 
 
 Y
 
 322 CHINA. 
 
 a scrap of the flesh, or, it may chance, a hair of the 
 head, of Buddha. At the beginning of the sixth 
 century it is said that there were 3,000 Indians in 
 China, and it was at this time that Bodhidharma, the 
 first of the six patriarchs, arrived at Canton by sea. 
 By his teaching was first brought to the knowledge 
 of the Chinese the Mahayana system, which was the 
 outcome of the change which Buddhism had under- 
 gone in India. It was prophesied by Buddha that for 
 five hundred years the purity of his doctrine would be 
 maintained, but that a thousand years after his time 
 men would depart from the true path and wander in 
 the labyrinths of heresy. 
 
 Even before the time foretold by the saint his 
 professing followers began to weary of the moral 
 asceticism and active self-denying charity of which 
 his system consisted, and turned aside in pursuit of 
 philosophical and abstrusely metaphysical ideas, and 
 in search of ritualistic emblems and idolatrous symbol- 
 ism. The non-existence of existence, and the un- 
 reality of everything beyond the mind, were the texts 
 on which these men loved to enlarge, and when weary 
 ■ft'ith disputations they retired to cloistered cells and 
 mountain-caves, to practise that abstraction of the 
 mind which alone they believed would enable them 
 to suppress lust, to conquer the sensations, and to 
 attain bliss. For nine years Bodhidharma sat with 
 his face to a wall at a monastery in Loyang, and
 
 THE RELIGIONS OF CHINA. 
 
 earned for himself a high reputation for spirituality by 
 so doing, and when the time came for him to die he 
 departed in the full odour of sanctity. " Where are 
 you going ? " inquired Sung-yun the Traveller of his 
 corpse, as it lay in the coffin, holding one shoe in its 
 hand. " To the western heaven," was the confident 
 and ghostly rcph'. 
 
 For with the introduction of the Mahayana system 
 
 the mysterious Nirvana had, as a reward for virtue 
 
 been supplemented by a " Pure land in the West," 
 
 where there is " fulness of life, and no pain nor sorrow 
 
 Y 2
 
 324 CHINA. 
 
 mixed with it, no need to be born again, no Nirvana 
 even. In the second instance there is there a seven- 
 fold row of railings or balustrades, thirdly a sevenfold 
 row of silken nets, and lastly a sevenfold row of trees 
 hedging in the whole country'. In the midst of it 
 there are seven precious ponds, the water of which 
 possesses all the eight qualities which the best water 
 can have, viz., it is still, it is pure and cold, it is sweet 
 and agreeable, it is light and soft, it is fresh and rich, 
 it tranquillises, it removes hunger and thirst, and 
 finally it nourishes all roots. The bottom of these 
 ponds is covered with golden sands, and round about 
 there are pavements constructed of precious stones 
 and metals, and many two-storied pavilions built of 
 richly-coloured transparent jewels. On the surface 
 of the water there are beautiful lotos-flowers floating, 
 each as large as a carriage-wheel, displaying the most 
 dazzling colours, and dispersing the most fragrant 
 aroma. There are also beautiful birds there, which 
 make delicious enchanting music, and at every breath 
 of wind the very trees on which these birds are resting 
 join in the chorus, shaking their leaves in trembling 
 accords of sweetest harmony .... This music is 
 like Liedey oJinc Worte ; its melodies speak to the 
 heart ; but they discourse on Buddha,^ Dharma, and 
 Samgha, and wake an echo in ever}' breast, so that all 
 
 * Eitel's " Lectures on Buddhism."
 
 THE RELIGIONS OF CHINA. 325 
 
 the immortals that live in this happy land instinctively 
 join in hymns of praise, devoutly invoking Buddha, 
 Dharma, and Samgha." 
 
 Such was the blissful region to which Bodhid- 
 harma declared himself to be marching on, and such 
 is the heaven which Chinese Buddhists of the present 
 day hope to reach. But this goal is not to be at- 
 tained by any effort, however praiseworthy, which 
 would only contaminate the mind, but is to be won 
 solely by abstracting the mind from everything beyond 
 itself, by sitting before a wall, if not actually, as the 
 first patriarch did, yet mentally, by seeing nothing, 
 hearing nothing, and thinking of nothing. The in- 
 vention of this pure region has, no doubt, been of in- 
 finite advantage to the cause of Buddhism in China, 
 since it presents a practical reward for merit, and is 
 one that the ordinary Chinaman can realise. But its 
 existence is obviously inconsistent with the orthodox 
 belief in Nirvana. However much schools may differ 
 as to what Nirvana is, they must be all agreed that it 
 is not a material paradise, such as the Pure land in 
 the West, but, like Dan and Beersheba conse- 
 crated by Jeroboam who made Israel to sin, that 
 abode is intended as an easily attainable substitute 
 for the Jerusalem of Nirvana. 
 
 To that school of Buddhists which regards Nirvana 
 as absolute annihilation, the idea of a paradise into 
 which neither pain nor sorrow nor death can enter,
 
 326 CHINA. 
 
 where there is perfect happiness and rest, and where 
 every surrounding is but a note in one harmonious 
 melody of peace and joy, is a temptation strong 
 enough to try the orthodox)- of the staunchest Budd- 
 hists. But in China, as elsewhere, the views held by 
 Buddhists on the subject of Nirvana differ widely. 
 There are those who believe in the annihilation 
 theor}', and there are those who hold that the an- 
 nihilation refers only to the material body of man, 
 and that when this is extinguished, " like the flame of 
 a lamp," the spiritual body enters into a state of 
 absolute and complete purity, where it is free from 
 the circles of metempsychosis, and is beyond the 
 reach of all sin and passion. Some, again, hold that 
 the Pure land in the West is but a preliminary stage 
 on the way to Nirvana, and that there the righteous 
 soul is allowed to enjoy ages of happiness before it 
 has again to enter the circles of metempsychosis, and 
 by a fresh course of virtue to win its \\-ay to the 
 supreme bliss of Nir\'ana. 
 
 But such a theme admits of the wildest speculations, 
 and the philosophers of each school have given full rein 
 to their imaginations in the exercise of their sophistical 
 casuistry upon it. The followers of the Mahayana 
 system dissolve eveiy possible proposition on the 
 subject of Nirvana into a thesis and its antithesis, and 
 deny both. Thus they say that Nirvana is not annihi- 
 lation, and quote a noted saying of Sakyamuni's,
 
 THE RELIGIONS OF CHIXA. 
 
 " the name Nirvana does not imply that it is a state 
 of annihilation " ; but they also deny its positive 
 objective reality. According to them, the soul enjoys 
 in Nirvana neither existence nor non-existence, it is 
 neither eternal nor non-eternal, neither annihilated 
 nor non-annihilated. Nirvana is to them a state of 
 which nothing can be said, to which no attributes 
 can be given ; it is altogether an abstract, devoid 
 alike of all positive and negative qualities." ^ 
 
 But, just as it was found necessaiy to invent a ter- 
 restrial paradise to suit the material aspiration of the 
 people, so it was imperative to develope out of the 
 extreme transcendentalism of the Mahayana school, 
 a system which should appeal to their superstitious 
 materialism. Like the Jews of old, they were eager 
 after signs, and self-interest made their spiritual 
 rulers nothing loth to grant them their desire. From 
 the mountains and monasteries came men who 
 claimed to possess the elixir of immortality, and pro- 
 claimed themselves adepts in witchcraft and sorcery 
 By magic incantations they exorcised evil spirits, and 
 dissipated famine, pestilence, and disease. By the 
 exercise of their supernatural powers they rescued 
 souls from hell, and arrested pain and death. In the 
 services of the church they added ritual to ritual, and 
 surrounded with tawdry ceremonial the worship of 
 
 * " The Chinese Recorder,'' vol. iii., No. i.
 
 328 CHINA. 
 
 their multiplied images. By such means they won 
 their way among the people, and even sternly 
 orthodox Confucianists make use of their services to 
 chant the liturgies of the dead. 
 
 But, while that inexorable taskmaster, Superstition, 
 compels even the wise and the learned to pay their 
 homage to folly, there is scarcely an educated China- 
 man who would not indignantly repudiate the impu- 
 tation of being a follower of Buddha ; and, though 
 the common people throng the temples to buy 
 charms and consult astrology, they yet thoroughly 
 despise both the priests and the religion they profess. 
 But Buddhism has after all been a blessing rather 
 than a curse in China. It has, to a certain extent, 
 lifted the mind of the people from the too exclusive 
 consideration of mundane affairs, to the contempla- 
 tion of a future state. It has taught them to value 
 more highly purity of life ; to exercise self-constraint 
 and to forget self; and to practise love and charity 
 towards their neighbours. 
 
 From what has been said it will be seen that no 
 clearly defined line of demarcation separates the 
 three great sects of China. Each in its turn has 
 borrowed from the others, until at the present day it 
 may be doubted whether there are to be found any 
 pure Confucianists, pure Buddhists, or pure Taouists. 
 Confucianism has provided the moral basis on which 
 the national character of the Chinese rests, and
 
 THE RELIGIONS OF CHINA. 329 
 
 Buddhism and Taouism have supplied the super- 
 natural elements wanting in that system. Speaking 
 generally, then, the religion of China is a medley of 
 the three great sects, which are now so closely inter- 
 laced that it is impossible either to classify, localise, 
 or enumerate the members of each creed. 
 
 The only other religion of importance in China is 
 Mahommedanism, which is confined to the south- 
 western and north-western provinces of the empire. 
 In this faith, also, the process of absorption into the 
 national pot pomn-i of beliefs is making way, and 
 since the suppression of the Panthay rebellion in 
 Yunnan, there has been a gradual decline in the 
 number of the followers of the Prophet.
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 THE LANGUAGE. 
 
 T is a curious circumstance 
 that the Chinese, who 
 have such a respect for 
 antiquity, and who are 
 so proud of their writing, 
 should have no clear ac- 
 count of its origin. As 
 has been said, there is 
 evidence to show that 
 the Chinese brought a 
 knowledge of writing with 
 them into China. If this were not so, we 
 should expect to find in China inscrip- 
 tions in the most primitive form of writing 
 namely, hieroglyphic. But no such inscrip- 
 tions exist, showing that the writing had 
 already passed the purely hieroglyphic 
 stasfe before its introduction into the 
 country-. But, though the Chinese brought
 
 THE LANGUAGE. 331 
 
 a knowledge of writing with them, it is quite possible 
 that they added to their stock of characters by 
 adapting to their own purposes the rude lines and 
 marks which some of the aborigines used to express 
 their thoughts. And of this process we have some 
 traces in the accounts which the Chinese give of the 
 invention of writing. 
 
 The earliest combination of lines of which we 
 hear in Chinese works is found in the eight diagrams 
 which are said to have been drawn by Fuh-he 
 (B.C. 2852-2737). These figures consist alternately of 
 whole and broken lines, and have been made the basis 
 of an ancient system of philosophy and divination. 
 But they have never been read. They bear no resem- 
 blance to Chinese characters, and therefore the state- 
 ment made in the Ts!:e lieo peen of the Too shoo tscih 
 eking, that " Fuh-he imitated the Kwei writing, and 
 made the eight diagrams," is worthy of consideration 
 in lieu of any better derivation of them. But what 
 was the Kwei writing.^ In Ts'ai Yung's (a.D. 133- 
 192) work on the lesser seal characters he says : — 
 "The Kwei writing was written irregularly and comb- 
 wise, like a dragon's scales. It hung down like a 
 dropping ear of millet, and was as abstruse as the 
 tangled web of insects. Whether in combination or 
 not, it was like drops of rain finely drawn out and 
 freezing as they fall. Seen from a little distance they 
 look like a flock of geese and swans wandering in a
 
 332 CHINA. 
 
 continuous line. However long it is studied, its 
 intricacies cannot be reckoned. Seen further off, its 
 divisions cannot be distinguished." 
 
 Such was the writing of the Kwei people, who 
 were scattered over the district, part of which is now 
 known as the Province of Honan. This tract of 
 country is bounded on the north by the Hwang-ho, 
 Yellow Riv-er, or, as it used to be called, Ho, or Tlie 
 river, and is traversed by the Loh River, which empties 
 itself into the Ho. Now, one of the commonest 
 expressions used in Chinese books, in describing the 
 origin of writing, is that writing came from the Loh 
 (Loh shoo), and drawings from the Ho (Ho too). 
 The locality from which these were derived is, there- 
 fore, sufficiently plainly indicated ; the next question 
 is, Who were their authors } 
 
 By common consent, Chinese writers declare that 
 Ts'ang Hieh, a minister of Hwang-te (B.C. 2697-2597), 
 invented writing, but we are also told that Ts'ang 
 Hieh imitated the coloured writing of the Kwei of 
 Loh, and developed from it his characters. This 
 statement is repeated over and over again in varjnng 
 forms. Ts'ang Hieh, we are told, looking up to 
 heaven and observing the constellations, and down 
 to the earth and examining the Kwei writing and 
 the footprints of birds, invented written characters. 
 According to tradition, he was a resident in what is 
 now Honan, and what more natural, therefore, that
 
 THE LANGUAGE. 
 
 333 
 
 he should have borrowed the rude attempts at writing 
 carved by the Kwei aborigines on the banks of the 
 Ho and Loh, and moulded them into characters. 
 But, though the Kwei hieroglyphics were rude, the}- 
 were yet sufficiently explicit to be used to record 
 events, since, as we are told, during the reign of 
 Yaou,^ when the Yue-chang people visited the court, 
 they brought with them a sacred tortoise (Kwei), 
 which was said to have been a thousand years old, 
 and upon whose back was inscribed a legend, which 
 contained a narrative of events from the creation 
 downwards.- Yaou, it is said, ordered this primitive 
 history to be transcribed, and called it the " Kwei 
 Annals." And again of the same writing Ts'ai 
 Yung, in his work on the large seal characters says : — 
 " The oldest characters were those of the Yue-chancr 
 people. They consisted of a thousand varieties, and 
 of ten thousand shapes either resembling dragons or 
 fishes. There was no phrase which did not occur in 
 them, nor was there any thing which was not men- 
 tioned in them." 
 
 We know, therefore, on the faith of Chinese writers 
 of antiquity, that the Kwei used characters, and that 
 these were found on the banks of the Loh and of the 
 Ho. We are further told, in the Shih chow ke, that 
 
 ' Heaou king Yuen Shin k'e wan chang. 
 " Suh Wiin hien t'ung kaou.
 
 334 CHINA. 
 
 when Yu regulated the waters he employed workmen 
 to carve an inscription on a rock, and that beneath 
 this inscription were tadpole characters which were 
 not such as were written by Chinamen. The Kwang 
 poll wuh che tells the same story. 
 
 The probability is, therefore, that Ts'ang Hieh, or 
 one of the early Chinese, did adopt the Kwei cha- 
 racters which he found on rocks and the banks of 
 rivers for his own requirements, and very possibly 
 Fuh-he's diagrams may have owed their existence to 
 the same origin. But such characters merely supple- 
 mented the writing which the Chinese brought with 
 them into China, and we may dismiss, therefore, as 
 legendary the statement that the writing ever went 
 through the primitive hieroglyphic stage in China. 
 That had long been passed, and had been succeeded 
 by a system of phonetic writing, by which the com- 
 ponent parts of the characters were so arranged as 
 to give the sounds of the words, which in those days 
 were as often as not polysyllabic. By degrees, how- 
 ever, as the Chinese colonies advanced further and 
 further into the country, and separated themselves 
 more and more from the head-quarters of the race, 
 dialects sprung up, differing phonetic values were 
 given to the characters and their component parts, 
 and consequently things were either called by different 
 names in different parts of the countr)^', or the cha- 
 racters representing them were made to undergo
 
 THE LANGUAGE. 335 
 
 modifications as the original pronunciation of their 
 parts changed. 
 
 Such was the state of things when She Chow, the 
 minister of Seuen Wang (B.C. Z2'j-']^\), attempted 
 to reimpose a uniform system of writing, and for this 
 purpose invented the " large seal characters " with 
 which his name will be for ever associated. The 
 project, however, was only partly successful. The 
 inevitable laws which govern the growth of language 
 were not to be confined within arbitrary limits, and the 
 same process of change which had metamorphosed 
 the Koo wan, or ancient writing, wrought havoc also 
 with the large seal characters. But this was essentially 
 a period of change. The feudal system which until 
 then had prevailed in the country was fast disap- 
 pearing to make way for an empire. The right of 
 the sovereigns of Chow to the supremacy among the 
 states was openly questioned by feudatories, who 
 sought vi et arniis to usurp their throne. Loyalty 
 had ceased to exist, and might was made the measure 
 of right. " The nobles," says Heu Shin, in his preface 
 to the Shwo wan, " ruled by violence, and ceased to 
 be controlled by the king ; they hated rites arid 
 music, and did injury to them. Departing from the 
 canonical records, they divided the empire into seven 
 states. They changed the measurements of the arable 
 fields; they changed the wheel-gauge of the car- 
 riages ; they changed the code of the statutes and
 
 336 CHIXA. 
 
 commands; they changed the fashions of clothes and 
 caps ; and they changed the sounds of the words 
 and the forms of the characters," 
 
 On the establishment of the empire under the Ts'in 
 Dynasty, Le Sze attempted again to introduce a 
 fixed system of writing, and one which should at the 
 same time be less cumbrous than the large seal 
 characters. These new characters, which were known 
 as Scaon cJiucn, or " Small Seal " characters, were less 
 complicated and less square than the older forms. 
 But as public business and the corresponding neces- 
 sity for writing increased, the Seaoii cliiicn was voted 
 too elaborate, and a modified form of character called 
 Le shoo was introduced in its stead. In the Le sJioo 
 a tendency is observable to convert the curves of 
 the Seaoii c/men into angular strokes, and the shapes 
 of some characters, in obedience to the changes 
 which had taken place in their pronunciation, under- 
 went modifications. To the Le shoo and Tsaou shoo^ 
 or "running hard," succeeded the K'eae shoo (the 
 fourth century) of the present day. 
 
 Chinamen are ignorant of the science of philolog)-, 
 and lack that power of critical observation which 
 might enable them to arrive at the true history of 
 their written characters. Their tendency has been, 
 therefore, to deal onl}- with their later forms, and 
 these they have classified and arranged in the six 
 following classes : — 1st. Sea)ig hiiig; or hieroglyphics.
 
 THE LANGUAGE. 337 
 
 which are the primitive characters of the language. 
 2nd. Che sse, or characters intended to represent ideas 
 to the mind by the position of their parts. Thus a 
 character composed of parts representing the sun 
 above a straight line stands for the dawn. 3rd. 
 Hwtiy e, or signs formed by writing two or more sig- 
 nificant characters to suggest a new idea. For in- 
 stance, the character Sin, " sincere," is made up of 
 the signs for " a man " and " words," a collocation of 
 ideas which at least speaks well for the theoretical 
 morality of the people. Another character in this 
 class is Ming, " brightness," which is composed of a 
 combination of the signs for a star and the moon, 
 and is identical with the modern Turkish imperial 
 emblem. Chinese writers say that the smaller cha- 
 racter of the two is that of the sun, but they have 
 forgotten that in the Koo wan the characters for sun 
 and star were identical in form ; and the fact of its 
 being completely overshadowed by the moon is an 
 argument against its having been originally intended 
 for the greater light. 4th. Chuen cJioo, or characters 
 which, being inverted either in form or sound, assume 
 different meanings. Thus the character which, when 
 read Lo means " pleasure," means music when pro- 
 nounced yo. 5th. Kea tsich, or characters having 
 borrowed meanings. As an illustration of this class 
 Chinese writers adduce the character She, an arrow, 
 which, from the straight course of an arrow, has 
 
 z
 
 338 CHINA. 
 
 come to signify "direct," " right," "a word spoken to 
 the point." 6th. Kcae sJiing, or Phonetic. The adop- 
 tion of these characters was a cardinal feature in the 
 change effected in the writing by She Chow. It is 
 seldom in the history of nations that a writing is 
 found to deteriorate, and nothing proves more con- 
 clusively that the Chinese characters were no inven- 
 tion of the people themselves, than the fact that 
 the first time they attempted a modification of 
 them they took a step backwards. Up to the 
 time of She Chow a well - defined and elaborate 
 system of syllabic writing had been in vogue, but 
 in the hands of the Chinese reformer this retro- 
 graded in the direction of ideographic writing, 
 and the Keae sJiing characters were brought into 
 existence. These, speaking generally, consist of 
 two parts — a phonetic element and an ideographic 
 character. To illustrate this system of formation we 
 may take the phonetic ^, Ngo, which stands for 
 the first personal pronoun, and which, by combi- 
 nation with twenty-seven ideographic characters, pro- 
 duces as many derivations having the same phonetic 
 value. In this way — combined with the ideograph 
 1 1| (originally ^vA/\ ), " a mountain," it becomes 
 |ll|j^, ngo, "a high mountain"; with ^, "a woman" 
 ^1^, 7igo, " fair ", " beautiful " ; with j|ii|j (originally 
 f^) "grass," ^ ^^£-0, "a certain herb"; with ,|^,
 
 THE LANGUAGE. 339 
 
 "a bird," ^^, ngo, "a goose," and so on. From 
 these examples it will be observed that the ideo- 
 graphic characters in combination with their phonetics 
 form an exact parallel with many Egyptian and 
 Assyrian idiophonetics. I have been favoured by 
 Dr. Birch, of the British Museum, with the following 
 example in Egyptian, showing precisely the same 
 formation in the composition of the characters and 
 in the respective value of their parts, as is seen in 
 the Chinese instance I have just referred to. -^^. 
 Uny means in Egyptian "a hare"; combined with 
 
 the ideograph ^^ it becomes ^^ Un, "to open",; 
 
 and with this ^^ -^^^^ Uit, "an hour." 
 Speaking of Assyrian hieroglyphics, Sir Henry 
 Rawlinson says, " Certain classes of words have a 
 sign prefixed or suffixed to them, more commonly 
 the former, by which their general character is indi- 
 cated. The names of gods, of men, of cities, o.f 
 tribes, of wild animals, of domestic animals, of metals, 
 of months, of the points of the compass, and of dig- 
 nities are thus accompanied. The sign prefixed or 
 suffixed may have originally represented a word ; 
 but, when used in the way here spoken of, it is 
 believed that it was not sounded, but served simply 
 to indicate to the reader the sort of word which 
 was placed before it." 
 
 z 2
 
 340 CHINA. 
 
 Marking, then, the forces of the two parts of the 
 Keae Shmg characters, it is easy to imagine the way 
 in which She Chow set to work to modify existing 
 characters, and to invent new ones. We may sup- 
 pose, for instance, that a tree to which he wished to 
 give a name on paper was known to him colloquially 
 as Ma. He w^ould then, in the first place, choose a 
 common phonetic possessing that sound, very pos- 
 sibly the hieroglyphic ,|^ ma, " a horse," and would 
 combine with it the ideographic character ^ uinh, 
 meaning "wood." The new character would then 
 stand thus, ;j'^, and the reader would at once re- 
 cognise that it was to be read as ma, and the ideo- 
 graphic character prefixed would make him aware 
 that it was either the name of a tree or of something 
 made of wood. 
 
 These ideographic signs, with the addition of some 
 few others, have been taken by lexicographers as 
 offering the best means of classifying the characters 
 of the language. Two hundred and fourteen of such 
 signs have been chosen (one or more of which enter 
 into the composition of every character in Chinese), 
 under which to arrange the 50,000 characters, more 
 or less, of which the language consists. As the 
 language is without an alphabet some such system 
 was necessary, and this one probably answers as well 
 as any other. Most of these radicals or determi-
 
 THE LANGUAGE. 341 
 
 natives, as they have been variously called, being 
 primitive characters, are hieroglyphics, and include, 
 as might have been expected, " the most remark- 
 able objects of nature, such as the sun, moon, a 
 river, a mountain, fire, water, earth, wood, a stone, 
 etc. ; the chief parts of the human body, as the 
 head, the heart, the hand, the foot, the eye, the 
 ear, etc. ; the principal parts of a house, as the 
 roof, the door, etc. ; domestic animals, such as 
 the sheep, the cow, the horse, the dog, etc. ; the 
 primary relations of society, as father, mother, son, 
 daughter, etc.; qualities, such as great, small, crooked, 
 high, low, long, etc.; and actions, such as to see, to 
 speak, to walk, to run, to stop, to enter, to follow, etc. 
 They are thus admirably adapted to form generic 
 terms, and this is the part they play in composition." 
 In the dictionaries the characters are arranged under 
 each radical, in order of the number of strokes of 
 which the part combined with the radical is com- 
 posed. For example, under the radical -^ iniih, 
 ** wood," the first character is "^ in which only one 
 stroke is added to the radical, and the last is ^ 
 which consists of twenty-two strokes besides the 
 radical. 
 
 That such a cumbersome system of writing should 
 have remained unimproved argues a strange inability 
 to advance in the people. And this inability is
 
 342 CHINA. 
 
 noticeable, not only in the writing, but in every 
 institution, and in every branch of knowledge. They 
 have advanced up to a certain point — a point to 
 which they have been led by others — and beyond 
 this they are unable to ^o. On their first arrival in 
 China, they brought with them a knowledge of the 
 arts and sciences of the west, but, during all the 
 centuries they have lived in China, they had added 
 nothing to the knowledge they thus possessed. If 
 they have moved either way, it has rather been back- 
 wards, so that their reverence for the wisdom of the 
 ancients is a genuine, though melancholy, confession 
 of their national incompetence. 
 
 But though the characters in the language are 
 numerous beyond all comparison, numbering, as has 
 been said, 50,000 in all, the sounds they represent are 
 out of all proportion few. The various dialects differ 
 in the number of vocables they each possess, but the 
 richest, that of Canton, contains only about 700 
 sounds. It follows, therefore, that frequently a num- 
 ber of objects and ideas are expressed by the voice 
 by the same sound, though, when written on paper, 
 they are each represented by a distinct and appro- 
 priate character. The confusion with which such a 
 system is fraught is mitigated somewhat by the 
 constant use in conversation of double-words, in 
 some cases bearing the same, or nearly the same 
 meaning, and in others, being made up, when the
 
 THE LANGUAGE. 343 
 
 word used expresses a noun substantive, by com- 
 bination with a classifying word pointing generally 
 to the leading characteristic of the object. "These 
 classifiers bear some resemblance to our expressions 
 herd, head, fleet, troop .... For example, the word 
 ;jf2» pa, ' to grasp with the band,' is used as a classi- 
 fier to precede anything which is held in the hand, 
 such as a knife, a spoon, a hatchet, etc. Instead of 
 expressing a knife by j^ih taou, which might either 
 mean a knife, a small boot, or a fringe, the classifier 
 is introduced to show which tao7L is meant, and a 
 speaker would say yih pa taou, literally, * a grasped 
 knife.' In like manner ^ keen, a ' space,' is used as 
 a classifier for houses and enclosures ; /j^U kan, * a 
 root,' for trees, poles, clubs, etc. ; and so on." 
 
 It is difficult to point definitely to the origin of the 
 double-words referred to above. It is possible that 
 they may be survivals of polysyllabic words which, 
 owing to phonetic decay, have lost their full expres- 
 sion in the characters which represent them on paper. 
 But, whatever their origin, they serve a useful pur- 
 pose in defining the meaning of the speaker, and in 
 pointing out which of the many words having the 
 same sound he intends should be understood. For 
 .nstance, if a Chinaman were writing the verb " to 
 see," he would write ^ keen ; but, if he were using 
 the word in conversation, he would say ^^
 
 344 CHINA. 
 
 kan keefi, which would mean, literally, " to look and 
 see," and by which combination he indicates that 
 keen, *' to see," is the hrn which he means. 
 
 But there are other combinations of characters, 
 which are unmistakably representations of poly- 
 syllabic words, whether native or foreign, and a close 
 examination of any of the dialects shows that these 
 words bear no inconsiderable proportion to the entire 
 number of words. In Pekingese these polysyllabic 
 words are very numerous, partly owing, no doubt, to 
 the introduction of Manchu and Mongolian words 
 into the vocabulary. But there are, also, quite 
 enough native polysyllabic words to redeem the 
 spoken language, at least, from the charge of mono- 
 syllabism. A study of a few pages of Sir Thomas 
 Wade's Tsn erh cJii is instructive reading on this 
 point. 
 
 There are, however, other combinations of cha- 
 racters besides those just mentioned, which often 
 add considerably to the difficulty of translating 
 Chinese texts. Such arc compound words composed 
 of two or more characters, having traditionally ac- 
 quired meanings to which the characters used to 
 express them afford no clue. For instance, we find 
 the expression Fu ma, which, translated literally, 
 would mean either " to help a horse," or " a helping 
 horse," but which is invariably used to denote " the 
 son-in-law of the emperor." Or, again, the combi-
 
 THE LANGUAGE. 345 
 
 nation Heuefi tang, the first character of which the 
 dictionaries tell us, means " a kind of onion," and the 
 second " a hall." But together they have acquired 
 the signification of " a mother," from the facts that 
 married women carry about them roots of the Heuen, 
 under the impression that they promote pregnancy, 
 and that the hall is the proper place for the mistress 
 of the house. The same remark applies to a number 
 of single characters, which, from association of ideas, 
 have assumed meanings to which their primary sig- 
 nifications bear no apparent resemblance. Such a 
 word is yen, " a swallow," which, by a curious coin- 
 cidence, means also " to swallow." A number of 
 others might be quoted having " a plurality of signi- 
 fications which depend upon their combination with 
 other characters, upon the branch of science of which 
 the work treats, as also upon the period when the 
 same was written." 
 
 Turning to the language, we find that it bears all 
 the characteristics of an Ural-Altaic origin. As in all 
 such languages, so in Chinese the subject in every 
 sentence comes first, then the verb, which is followed by 
 the complement direct and the complement indirect. 
 In the same way every word which defines or modifies 
 another invariably precedes it. Thus the adjective 
 precedes the substantive, the adverb the verb, the 
 genitive the word which governs it, and the preposi- 
 tion the word governed by it.
 
 346 CHINA. 
 
 But in speaking of the language we must be under- 
 stood to be speaking of it as we now find it. Even 
 at the present day it is, as has been shown, less purely 
 a monosyllabic language than has generally been 
 supposed, but in bygone ages there are evidences that 
 it was polysyllabic. We find, for instance, many 
 words with aspirates in them, which point to the loss 
 of a syllable. For example, such a word as K'an 
 leads us to the conclusion that in all probability it 
 was originally Kalian. And it must be remembered 
 that while there is no example on record of a mono- 
 syllabic language, we are surrounded by evidences of 
 phonetic decay in our own and every other language. 
 
 For instance, the^ in the German words Jiagel ^lW^ 
 regen disappears in our hail and 7'ain. In Greek also 
 the a falls out in the genitive of such neuter nouns in 
 DC as ycvocj yivzaog, contracted to yzvovg. Again, in 
 the Romance language, the elision of d and / is very 
 common ; e. g., French /tV'^, Dia-e, (or pater and mater; 
 cpcc for espede, etc. 
 
 Chinese is, then, a language which, like many 
 others, has suffered loss through phonetic decay, and, as 
 we now see it, it is equally poverty-stricken in a gram- 
 matical sense. It is without inflexions or even agsrlu- 
 tination, and there is nothing, therefore, to mark the 
 grammatical value of a word except its position in a 
 sentence, since very few words absolutely belong to 
 one part of speech. The result is that the same word
 
 THE LANGUAGE. 347 
 
 is often capable of playing the part of a substantive, 
 an adjective, a verb, or an adverb. But when this 
 is so it not un frequently happens that the transition 
 from one part of speech to another is marked by a 
 change of tone in the pronunciation. 
 
 To illustrate these rules and this peculiarity we will 
 take the word ^ haou, which means " to love," 
 " good," " excellent," " goodness," " well," etc. If, then, 
 following the rules laid down above, we. find it in such 
 a connexion as the following ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^> 
 Kwei keen chih kea che haou, we recognise it at once 
 as a substantive, since, w^ere it an adjective, it would 
 be followed by a substantive ; were it a verb, it would 
 be followed by its complement, and also because it 
 follows the substantive chih kca, to which is added the 
 particle che, the sign of the possessive case. The sen- 
 tence should then be translated kwei keen, " to peep 
 and see," chih kea che, " the apartment's," haon, " ex- 
 cellence." But in the sentence ^p ^ ;{tf "^j 
 Joo haoiL haon sih, we see by the position of the two 
 haotis that the first must be a verb, and that the 
 second must be an adjective, since it is followed by a 
 substantive, with which it forms the direct complement 
 to the verb. The meaning of the sentence then is 
 Joo, "as when," haoii, " we love," haou sih, "excellent 
 beauty." But, in reading this sentence, the dictionaries 
 tell us that, having recognised the first haou as the
 
 348 CHINA. 
 
 verb " to love," it must be pronounced in a falling 
 tone of voice, whereas, when it occurs as an adjective, 
 a substantive, or an adverb, it is sounded in aa 
 ascending tone. 
 
 These tones, which add so greatly to the difficulty 
 of learning to speak Chinese, vary in number in 
 almost every dialect, from the four in Pekingese to 
 the eight in Cantonese. In his introduction to the 
 Tzu erh chi. Sir Thomas Wade, speaking of the four 
 tones in use in Peking, says : — " In the first tone, the 
 upper even, it may be enough to observe, the vowel 
 sound, whether the word be pronounced quickly or 
 slowly, proceeds without elevation or depression. . . . 
 In the second tone, the lower even, the voice is 
 jerked, much as when in English we utter words ex- 
 pressive of doubt and astonishment. In the third 
 tone, the ascending, the sound becomes nearly as 
 abrupt, but more resembling what with us would 
 indicate indignation or denial. In the fourth tone, 
 the receding, the vowel sound is prolonged, as \t 
 were, regretfully The sounds of a syllable re- 
 peated in the above order form a sort of chime which 
 can only be learnt by the ear, but which it is not 
 
 difficult to learn We will hazard but one 
 
 parallel for better or for worse. Let A, B, C, D be 
 four persons engaged in conversation, and a question 
 be put by B, regarding the fate of some one known 
 to them all. In the four lines below, I have supposed
 
 THE LANGUAGE. 349 
 
 A to assert his death in the ist tone ; B to express 
 his apprehension that he has been killed in the 2nd 
 tone ; C, to scout this suspicion in the 3rd ; and D, to 
 confirm it sorrowfully in the 4th. 
 
 1st tone. A. Dead. 
 
 2nd tone. B. Killed ? 
 
 3rd tone, C. No ! 
 
 4th tone. D. Yes." 
 
 In Cantonese, in addition to these tones are four 
 others having the same "chime," but on a lower scale. 
 Many explanations have been offered for the existence 
 of the tones in Chinese, and, though they now un- 
 doubtedly serve the very useful purpose of distin- 
 guishing the meanings intended by the speaker when 
 making use of the same syllabic to express different 
 things, it is impossible to suppose that they were 
 invented with that object. In no language in the 
 world has such a refinement ever been attempted ; 
 and that they are of natural growth and of no arti- 
 ficial origin is shown by the facts that they vary in 
 different dialects, that they are constantly changing, 
 and that they may be said to follow the fortunes of 
 the initial and final consonants of the words. The 
 most reasonable explanation of their being is, then, 
 that they are the natural compensations necessary 
 to counterbalance the contractions caused in the 
 simple and compound vocables of the language by
 
 350 CHIXA. 
 
 that muscular sloth which belongs to the Chinese 
 people and the races in the extreme east more or 
 less related to them, as well as to some of the African 
 tribes. It is a noteworthy fact that, wherever tones 
 are found, there exist also obvious signs of phonetic 
 decay. 
 
 In the absence of all inflexion, it is, as may be 
 imagined, necessary to indicate gender and number 
 by prefixes or affixes. The word Jin, for example, 
 is man in its generic sense, and to distinguish man 
 from woman it is necessary to prefix nan, male, in 
 the one case, and nil, female, in the other. In the 
 same way, Knng, " noble " or " superior," is prefixed 
 to denote the male of birds, and vioo, mother, to 
 indicate the female. But number is not so definitely 
 marked, and as often as not the context has to 
 supply the information whether one or more is meant. 
 
 The numerals are very simple, seventeen supplying 
 all the combinations necessary to reckon any number. 
 They begin with ,— yih " one," ^ urh, " two," 
 ^ san, "three," f^ jrr, "four," ^ zfoo, "five," 
 •^ Ink, " six," -t; tseiJi, " seven," /\ />a, " eight," 
 Jl keiv, " nine," -\- s/ii/i," " ten." With these 
 numerals every number up to a hundred is counted. 
 Thus -}- — ' is " eleven," and so on to twenty, which 
 is expressed by H -}- " two tens," etc. "g* ////,
 
 THE LANGUAGE. 351 
 
 is " a hundred," =f* tseen, " a thousand," || w<7;/, 
 "ten thousand," 'g j///, "one hundred thousand," 
 S^ chaou, " a million," "^ -^^"^^^j " ten millions," 
 and :^ >^<^^, " a hundred millions." The four last 
 are now very seldom employed. The character ivan, 
 as has already been pointed out, derives its numerical 
 significance from its original meaning of a " bee," 
 the numbers in the swarms of these insects being 
 past counting. 
 
 As in all oriental languages, the complimentary 
 and self-depreciating style of conversation used in 
 Chinese leads to the adoption of a vast number of 
 equivalents for the personal pronouns. In the per- 
 sonal pronouns themselves no distinction of gender 
 is made. Colloquially the third person, whether man, 
 woman, or thing, is spoken of as Ta, Ne is the 
 second person, and Ngo the first. But in polite con- 
 versation it would be considered a breach of etiquette 
 either to address one's interlocutor as Ne, or to speak 
 of oneself as Ngo. Should your friend not be an 
 office-holder, he must be addressed as " Master," or 
 " Elder," or " Your Honour." Should he be in the 
 junior ranks of the mandarinate, the law provides 
 that he must be addressed as Laou yeh, or " Old 
 Father." If he be above a certain rank, he becomes 
 Ta la'oii yeh, " Great Old Father " ; and the title of 
 Ta Jin, "Your Excellency," belongs by right to
 
 352 CHIXA. 
 
 officials in the higher grades. Meanwhile, for Ngo 
 is substituted such humble expressions as "The little 
 one," "The mean one," "The stupid one," or "The 
 cheap one." The same kind of phraseology is em- 
 ployed in the sense of possessive personal pronouns. 
 All that belongs to another is " Honourable," " Wor- 
 shipful," or " August." " Where is your honourable 
 abode ? " asks one stranger of another. " My un- 
 worthy dwelling is at such and such a place," is the 
 reply. Another's house is " an illustrious mansion " ; 
 one's own is " a vile hovel." One's friend's father is 
 " your honoured noble one," and his mother " your 
 honoured loving one." But here respect for parents 
 steps in and prevents the use of any depreciatory 
 terms being applied to one's own father or mother. 
 One of the commonest complimentary questions put 
 to an acquaintance is, " What is your honourable 
 age.''" and "I congratulate you on having acquired 
 wealth," is a usual form of salutation to a passing 
 stranger on the road regardless of his possible rags 
 and tatters. 
 
 But quite separate and apart from all other forms 
 of the first personal pronoun is the expression chin^ 
 which is reserved especially for the emperor's use, 
 and has been the imperial " We " since the time of 
 Che Hwang-te of the Ts'in Dynasty (B.C. 221). But 
 not always does he feci himself entitled to use this 
 imperial " We." In times of national misfortune he
 
 THE LANGUAGE. 
 
 chooses to believe that his own remissness is the 
 cause of the evils which have overtaken the country, 
 and then it is customary for him to designate himself 
 Kwajin, "The unworthy man." In addressing the 
 emperor, the ministers speak of themselves as "Slaves," 
 or "We who are beneath the steps of the throne," 
 in reference to the position they are accustomed to 
 occupy when receiving imperial orders. " Prostrate, 
 they beseech that the imperial glance may fall " on 
 their memorials, and Wan sity ych, " Lord of all 
 ages," is one of the common epithets applied to His 
 Majesty. In letter and despatch writing compli- 
 mentary expressions find their fullest development, 
 and if the recipients of such documents realised the 
 wishes expressed for their happiness and advantage, 
 their "abundant prosperity would flourish and in- 
 crease," " the good fortune which follows on their 
 footsteps would be increasingly magnified," and 
 " length of days, riches, and honour would be their 
 lot." 
 
 As the verb in common with every other part of 
 speech is without inflexion, the force of the past and 
 future tenses has either to be expressed by the context 
 or by the addition of certain prefixes or suffixes. 
 
 For example, in the sentence ^ jjjg^ -^ — iEBi, 
 f^ [^ !^ Kaou-tsoo sJiih yiJi nccn cJiu CJiin-he, 
 
 " Kaou-tsoo, in the eleventh year (of his reign), 
 
 2 A
 
 354 CHINA. 
 
 killed Chin-he," the context is sufficient to show 
 that the verb cJioo is in the past tense, and no 
 prefix or suffix is necessary. But in the phrase -^ 
 B S?^ ^ § ^^^^ ^ ^^^^^ Choo-Leu, " Now he has 
 killed Choo-leu," the verbal particle e is required 
 to mark that the action is past, since without it the 
 meaning might be " Now he kills, or will kill, Choo 
 Leu." In the literary style, several other particles 
 are used to express the past tense, which may be said 
 to resolve themselves in the colloquial to the suffixes 
 "j' leaoii " to complete," and )^ Kwo " to pass over." 
 In the same way with the future tense ; in such a 
 passage as ;^ ^ |^ ;^ 3E >2 "^^^'^ J"^^ Kwan 
 cJiay wang cJie, " He who first enters the Pass shall 
 rule over it," the context shows us that ivang 
 " shall rule " is in the future tense. But when the 
 context fails to point to the time of the action, 
 the particle *j^ tseang " to take " is sometimes pre- 
 fixed to make the meaning clear, as in the sentence 
 ^ ^ ||^ ;^ Ngo tseang zvaii che, " I will (tseang) 
 ask him." In the colloquial the verb ^ jaott " to 
 
 want," is commonly prefixed in place of tseang. 
 
 By similar devices the different moods are with 
 more or less distinctness indicated, and tliough it not 
 unfrcquently happens that, in the absence of added 
 verbal particles, the mood and tense of the verb may
 
 THE LANGUAGE. 
 
 3S5 
 
 be a matter of uncertainty, yet, speaking generally, 
 the meaning of the writer becomes plain to the patient 
 student A difficulty of certainly equal importance, 
 with which he has to contend, is the absence of all 
 punctuation in most Chinese books. But even here 
 he is helped by the use of final particles which, either 
 as signs of affirmation, exclamation, or interrogation, 
 frequently mark the close of a period. 
 
 2 A 2
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 THE LITERATURE. 
 
 X the literature of a civil- 
 ised countr}' is reflected 
 the national mind. And 
 more especially is this 
 the case with a people 
 so addicted to the use 
 of pen, ink, and paper, 
 as the Chinese, In the 
 countless volumes which have appeared and 
 are appearing from the many publishing 
 centres, we see mirrored the temperament 
 of the people, their excellencies, their de- 
 ficiencies, and their peculiarities. Abundant 
 evidence is to be found of their activity in 
 research and diligence in compilation, nor are signs 
 wanting which point to the absence of the faculty 
 of imagination, and to an inability to rise beyond a
 
 THE LITER A TURE. 357 
 
 certain degree of excellence or knowledge, while at 
 the same time we have displayed the characteristics 
 both of matter and manner, which most highly com- 
 mend themselves to the national taste. 
 
 As a consequence of the very unplastic nature of 
 the language, there is wanting in the literature that 
 grace of diction and varying force of expression which 
 are found in languages capable of inflexion and of 
 syntactical motion. The stiff angularity of the written 
 language, composed as it is of isolated, unassimilating 
 characters, robs eloquence of its charm, poetry of its 
 musical rhythm, and works of fancy of half their 
 power ; but in no way interferes with the relation of 
 facts, nor the statement of a philosophical argument. 
 And hence to all but the Chinese mind, which knows 
 no other model of excellence, the poetical and fanciful 
 works of Chinese authors offer fewer attractions than 
 their writings on history, science, and philosophy. 
 Unlike the literatures of other countries, one criticism 
 applies to the whole career of Chinese letters. It is 
 difficult to imagine a nation of busy writers pursuing 
 a course of literature for more than 3,000 years, and 
 yet failing to display greater progress in thought and 
 style than Chinese authors have done. That their 
 works vary in quality no one who has read two 
 Chinese books can doubt ; but the variations are 
 within limits, and, except perhaps in a few modern 
 works in which the effect of European influence is
 
 353 CHINA. 
 
 observable, the width of thought and power of ex- 
 pression have in no wise increased, at least, since the 
 revival of letters under the Han Dynasty (B.C. 206- 
 A.D. 25). The fragments which we have of an earlier 
 literature make it difficult to institute a comparison 
 with them. We have the nine classics — of which more 
 anon — the early Taouist literature, and a few scientific 
 works ; but these are all that remain to us of the 
 very considerable literature which existed in what is 
 now China, prior to that period. 
 
 If we were to accept the accounts given us by the 
 people themselves, of the origin of their literature, we 
 should be compelled to believe that it took its rise 
 from the rock inscriptions cut by the Kwei and Ma 
 tribes of aborigines on the banks of the Hwang and 
 Lo rivers, or, as the legend is now understood, from 
 the inscriptions brought out from the waters of those 
 rivers on the backs of a tortoise (Kwei) and a horse 
 (Ma) ; but we may safely assume that the Chinese 
 not only brought a knowledge of writing with them 
 into China, but that they brought also books with 
 them, — and there is internal evidence to support the 
 assumption that parts of the Yih king, or Book of 
 Changes, the book for which the Chinese claim the 
 greatest antiquity, were among these writings. That 
 it belongs to a very early period, is sufficiently proved 
 by the fact that until now the key to its interpretation 
 has been entirely lost, and that, though the ablest
 
 THE LITERATURE. 359 
 
 native scholars of all ages, including Confucius, have 
 attempted to explain it, they have one and all failed 
 to offer a satisfactory interpretation of its pages. 
 But that which Chinese scholars have been unable to 
 do M. Terrien de la Couperie has accomplished, and 
 instead of being a mysterious depository of deep 
 divinatory lore, it turns out to be a collection of sylla- 
 baries such as are common in Accadian literature, 
 interspersed with chapters of astrological formulae, 
 ephemerides, and others dealing with ethnological facts 
 relating to the aboriginal tribes of the country ; but all 
 taking the form of vocabularies, and therefore as im- 
 possible to be translated in the sense in which every 
 commentator, from Confucius downwards, has at- 
 tempted to translate them as Johnson's Dictionary 
 would be. 
 
 The work consists of sixty-four chapters, at the 
 head of each of which stands a hexagram composed 
 of straight, whole, and divided lines, which may very 
 probably have been derived from the rock inscrip- 
 tions of the Kwei and Ma tribes. Following each 
 hexagram occur a few sentences of the original text, 
 which, however, have been largely supplemented by 
 the orthodox commentaries upon them. The deviser 
 of the hexagrams is said to have been Fuh-he (B.C. 
 2852-2737), to whom also the authorship of the 
 original text is attributed by some critics. The com- 
 mentaries which are now embodied with the text
 
 36o CHIXA. 
 
 are, by common tradition, believed to have been the 
 work of Wan Wang (B.C. 1231-1135), his son Chow 
 Kung, and Confucius. 
 
 The YiJi king is, then, the oldest book extant in the 
 Chinese language ; and in the long interval which 
 separates it from the Confucian period when most of 
 the other early canonical works took their present 
 shape, but few works appeared of which we know 
 more than the name. Among those, however, which 
 have maintained an existence from a remote period 
 are the San fiin, "the three records" of the emperors 
 Fuh-he, Shin-nung, and Hwan-te (b.C 2852-2597), 
 or rather a portion of it, and the Hea seaou cJiing, 
 or " Calendar of the Hea Dynasty," which bears 
 evidence of having been written about 2000 B.C. The 
 first of these works throws considerable light on the 
 condition of the aboriginal tribes at the time of 
 immigration of the Chinese, and though through a 
 confusion which has arisen owing to the tribal names 
 being read ideographically instead of phonetically 
 it is generally regarded both by native and foreign 
 scholars as a collection of idle legends, it }-et supplies 
 much ethnological information of importance. The 
 same remark applies, though not to the same extent, 
 to the Hea Calendar ; but what is additionally inter- 
 esting in this work is the evidence it furnishes of the 
 influence exercised upon the Chinese language by 
 its contact with tongues of a different morphology.
 
 THE LITERATURE. 36? 
 
 Nothing, as has been remarked in the preceding' 
 chapter, is more marked and immutable in Chinese 
 than the construction of a simple sentence. As iri' 
 English the subject comes first, then the predicate, 
 and, lastly, the object. But in the Hea Calendar we 
 find the position of the subject and predicate occa- 
 sionally reversed, and if any other evidence were re- 
 quired to point to such an arrangement being foreign 
 to Chinese, the remarks of the commentators on such 
 passages would supply it. Among the signs of the 
 ninth month the Hea Calendar says Te Jning yen, 
 literally ' migrate, the wild geese.' This reversal of 
 the recognised order of the words is so conspicuous- 
 that the commentators would fain find a reason for 
 it ; and they can offer no better explanation than that 
 the act of emigration would probably produce the 
 first effect upon the mind of the writer, and after- 
 wards the fact that the emigrants were geese, and 
 they suggest that the writer's pen would follow the 
 order of his thoughts ! 
 
 But though only a few ancient works are extant, 
 we know from references which they contain that 
 both the Chinese and the aborigines possessed con- 
 siderable literatures. We have the titles of a number 
 of Chinese works which would now be invaluable 
 aids to clearing up many obscure points in the early 
 history of the Chinese and their language ; and we 
 have also mention made of Kwei records, and books-
 
 362 CHINA. 
 
 of the Lung, Ma, Pung, Yue-chang, and other ab- 
 original tribes. On all sides there seems to have been 
 a certain literary activity. We read, for example, 
 of officials being sent at regular intervals into dif- 
 ferent parts of the Chinese states to note and collect 
 the various dialectical differences as they developed, 
 and for many centuries it was customary to collect 
 the popular songs current in the several principalities 
 for the purpose, as we are told, of judging from them 
 of the character of the rule exercised by the princes. 
 In this way three thousand odes were collected in 
 the royal archives. Of these a careful selection 
 was made either by Confucius, as is very generally 
 believed, or by one of his contemporaries, which 
 now under the title of Slie king, or " Book of Odes," 
 forms the second of the nine classical works. The 
 odes, as might be expected from the above account 
 of their origin, refer principally to local affairs, both 
 political and social. The picture they draw of the 
 condition of the states is not unfavourable. They 
 teach us that side by side with occasional tyranny, 
 violence, and outrage, there existed political loyalty 
 and many social virtues, and, in fact, that then as 
 now the Chinese were a patient, industrious, and 
 law-abiding people. Of their poetical value it is diffi- 
 cult to speak, owing to the impurity of the text and 
 the changes which the characters have undergone in 
 sound. By the Chinese they are regarded with re-
 
 THE LITERATURE. 363 
 
 spectful reverence, and endless commentaries mani- 
 fest the interest taken in them. 
 
 The Shoo king, or " Book of History," the third of 
 the classical works, also took its present shape about 
 the time of Confucius. Like the She king, too, it 
 is a compilation, and shares with that work the 
 reputation of having been edited by Confucius. It is 
 stated in the history of the Suy Dynasty, that 
 *' Confucius inspected the documents in the library of 
 the state of Chow, and having found the records 
 of the four dynasties of Yu, Hea, Shang, and Chow 
 (B.C. 2356-700), he preserved the best among them and 
 rejected the others. Beginning with Yu and coming 
 down to Chow, he compiled together a hundred books, 
 and made a preface to them." Whether this author, 
 who in the above sentence reproduces a common belief, 
 was right or wrong in attributing the compilation of 
 the records to Confucius, his account of their nature 
 and scope is at least correct. Like everything else in 
 ancient Chinese history the laws for the compilation 
 of history were minute and definite. The historians 
 were court ofificials, and among them were historians 
 of the left hand and historians of the right hand. 
 The former were charged with the duty of recording 
 imperial charges, ministerial speeches, etc., and the 
 latter with that of narrating facts. The contents of 
 the SJioo king mark that the compilation was the 
 work of an historian of the left, since they consist
 
 3^4 CHIXA. 
 
 only of the speeches and charges of the rulers and 
 their ministers. These, and especially those contained 
 in the earlier chapters, are extremely interesting, and 
 throw considerable light on the early histor}^ of the 
 settlement of the Chinese in China, as Avell as on the 
 scientific knowledge they possessed and the religious 
 sentiments they professed. 
 
 As has been already pointed out in the case of the 
 language, we have no traces of an early growth of 
 either scientific knowledge or religious professions 
 among the Chinese in China. They step on to the 
 stage as full-grown scientists, in the Chinese sense, 
 and religionists. There is no beginning with the A, B, 
 C, of knowledge or religion. That was worked out for 
 them b}' a people in Western Asia, among whom they 
 sojourned, and of the results of whose toil they pos- 
 sessed themselves. If this were not so, it would be 
 startling to read, in the first chapter of the Shoo king, 
 the glib utterances of Yaou (2356-2255 B.C.) on the 
 subject of the equinoxes and the solstices, and the 
 position of the stars. But scarcely less striking is 
 the high moral tone which pervades every utterance 
 of sovereign and minister. No higher system of 
 morality could possibly be devised than that which 
 is put into the mouths of these men whom, if we were 
 to follow the Chinese belief, we should be compelled 
 to regard as the pioneers of a struggling civilisation. 
 Such a conjunction is manifestly inconsistent. In
 
 THE LITERA TURE. 365 
 
 the early stages of society elevated sentiments find 
 their utterance in isolated deeds and inspired ex- 
 pressions, not in evenly - maintained and well- 
 thought-out discourses of a highly moral order. 
 
 Imagine, for example, such sentiments as the 
 following, uttered at the dawn of history of any 
 nation : — " Yu said, ' If the sovereign can realise the 
 difficulty of his sovereignship, and the minister can 
 realise the difficulty of his ministry, government 
 will be well ordered, and the people will sedulously 
 seek to be virtuous.' The emperor said, ' Yes ; let 
 this really be the case, and good words will nowhere 
 lie hidden ; no man of virtue and talents will be 
 neglected away from court ; and the myriad states 
 will enjoy repose. But to ascertain the views of all, 
 to give up one's own opinion and follow that of 
 others, to refrain from oppressing the helpless, and 
 not to neglect the straitened and poor : — it was only 
 the Emperor Yaou ;\ho could attain to this.' "^ 
 
 Either, then, we must imagine that these speeches 
 were invented for the speakers many centuries after 
 they were supposed to have been uttered, or that 
 the Chinese had reached the high level at which they 
 appear before they entered China. 
 
 An instance of a work by an historian of the right 
 hand is furnished by the one work of which we know 
 
 * Legge's " Shoo King," Book 1 1.
 
 366 CHINA. 
 
 Confucius to have been the author, and in which^ 
 under the title of the Clitm tseiv, or " Spring and 
 Autumn Annals/' he records the history of his native 
 state of Loo extending over 242 years. This being 
 the undoubted work of the sage, an unusual interest 
 at first sight attaches to it, and one's expectations 
 are certainly not lessened by the statements of the 
 author, and of contemporarj- scholars concerning it 
 " The world," says ]\Iencius, " was falling into decay, 
 and right principles had dwindled away. Perverse 
 discourses and oppressive deeds were again waxen 
 ripe. Cases were occurring of ministers who mur- 
 dered their rulers, and of sons who murdered their 
 fathers. Confucius was afraid, and made the C/nin 
 Ts'ew." As soon as it appeared, we are told that 
 rebellious ministers quaked with fear, and undutiful 
 sons were overcome with terror. " Its righteous 
 decisions," said Confucius, " I ventured to make." 
 
 Such statements naturally prepare us to expect to 
 find in the C/iim Ts'ezu a history in which the narra- 
 tive of events would be interspersed with sage reflec- 
 tions and deep-sighted criticisms. We should expect 
 to find praise and blame distributed with a severely 
 discriminating pen, and crimes denounced, and good 
 deeds commended, with impassioned earnestness. But 
 most of all we should expect to find the history 
 strictly accurate. On tsach of these points the reader 
 will be disappointed. Taking the strictest view of
 
 THE LITERATURE. 367 
 
 his duty as an historian of the right-hand, Confucius 
 confined himself entirely to the barest narration 
 of facts. Absolutely without a remark or reflection, 
 the events are strung together without any attempt 
 to point a moral, or to weave them together in a con- 
 nected history. Each chapter consists of a number 
 of short paragraphs, embodying as many facts, con- 
 cerning which the reader is left to draw his own 
 conclusions. The following, which is the first 
 chapter, may be taken as a specimen of the whole 
 work : — 
 
 " [His] first year [began], in the Spring-reigning 
 first month. 
 
 " In the third month the Duke and E-foo of Choo 
 made a covenant in Meeh. 
 
 " In summer, in the fifth month, the Earl of Ch'ing 
 overcame Twan in Yen. 
 
 " In autumn, in the seventh month, the Heavenly 
 King sent the administrator Heuen with a present of 
 carriages and horses, for the funerals of Duke Hwuy 
 and his [wife] Chung-tsze. 
 
 " In the ninth month [the Duke] and an officer of 
 Sung made a covenant in Suh, 
 
 *' In winter, in the twelfth month, the Earl of Chai 
 came [to Loo]. Kung-tsze Yih-sze died." 
 
 This specimen of the style of the Cliun T'scw 
 makes further remark on the subject unnccessar}-, 
 but something might still be said for it, if it were a
 
 368 ■ CHIXA. 
 
 faithful record ; but even here it is found wanting. 
 Facts are notoriously suppressed and misrepresented. 
 But notwithstanding this, so great is the faith of the 
 Chinese in Confucius that it is enshrined among the 
 ■classics, and has not even yet ceased to excite the 
 admiration of his countrymen. 
 
 The fifth of the Five King which, with the Four 
 Shoo, make up the nine classics, is the Le ke, or 
 "" Book of Rites." As in the case of the majority of 
 the ancient books, its authorship is uncertain, but it 
 is generally attributed to the Duke of Chow, in the 
 twelfth century B.C. As its name implies, it deals 
 with the rites and ceremonies of tlie nation, and so 
 minute is it in detail, that it provides not only for 
 courtly pageants and royal procedure, but for the 
 •ever)''-day social and domestic relations and duties of 
 the people. At the present day it is still the ultimate 
 court of appeal in all doubtful ceremonials, and one 
 of the six governing boards at Peking — the Board of 
 Rites — is especially charged with the duty of seeing 
 its precepts carried out throughout the empire. 
 Speaking of this work, Callery says : — " In ceremonial 
 is summed up the Avhole soul of the Chinese, and to 
 my mind the ' Book of Rites,' is the most exact and 
 complete monograph that this nation can give of 
 itself to the rest of the world. Its affections, if it 
 has any, are satisfied by ceremonial ; its duties are 
 fulfilled by means of ceremonial. Its virtues and
 
 THE LITERATURE. 369 
 
 vices are recognized by ceremonial ; the natural rela- 
 tions of created beings are essentially connected ^^'ith 
 ceremonial ; in a word, for it ceremonial is man, the 
 man moral, the man politic, and the man religious, in 
 their numberless relations with the family, society, 
 the state, morality, and religion." 
 
 Such was the existing literature at the time of 
 Confucius, and so great was the influence of his 
 teachings and opinions, that almost immediately 
 after his death, the Five King, all of which had 
 received his imprimatur, and one of which, as has 
 been said, was actually written by him, were 
 generally accepted as containing the true basis of 
 all knowledge and morality. To these were added 
 four books which were subsequently written by the 
 disciples and followers of the sage, viz., the Taheo, 
 or " Great Learning ;" the Chting yimg, or " the Doc- 
 trine of the Mean ;" the Liin yu, or " Confucian 
 Analects ; " and the Mang-tsze, or the " Works of 
 Mencius." The first three directly embody the teach- 
 ings of Confucius, and the fourth those of his great 
 successor, Mencius. Through all succeeding ages 
 these nine works have been regarded as the sum 
 total of all wisdom ; they have been the primary 
 objects of study of every succeeding generation of 
 scholars ; their texts have been commented on until 
 almost every word has been the subject of minute 
 criticism, and through the many centuries, during 
 
 2 B
 
 370 CHINA. 
 
 which competitive examinations have been in vogue, 
 they have formed the principal subjects for examina- 
 tion. 
 
 But, notwithstanding that this foundation of a 
 national literature had been laid, little of importance 
 was added to it during the centuries which imme- 
 diately succeeded the time of Confucius. Literature, 
 like every other art, requires congenial surroundings, 
 that it may flourish and grow. Peace and freedom of 
 tliought are as essential to its well-being as turbulence 
 and political uncertainty are destructive to it. Un- 
 fortunately, the disorder in and the rivalries between 
 the Chinese states, which Confucius had striven to 
 avert, increased in virulence after his death. On all 
 sides were wars and rumours of wars, government 
 had ceased to exist, and all rights, whether political 
 or social, were trodden under foot by armed men. 
 At such a time scholars were not likely to gain a 
 hearing, and beyond some dissertations on the 
 classics, and commentaries on, and musings con- 
 sequent on Laou-tsze's Taoic tih king, or Sutra of 
 Reason and Virtue, which appeared probably in the 
 lifetime of Confucius, little was written which needs 
 mention. 
 
 Even the restoration of peace and the establishment 
 of an empire under She Hwang-te (B.C. 221-209), 
 far from advancing the cause of letters, brought about 
 the greatest calamity that has ever befallen a national
 
 THE LITERATURE, 371 
 
 literature. By the advice of his ministers, in order 
 to build up his empire on a tabula rasa, She Hwang-te 
 ordered the destruction by fire of all books except 
 those of his native state, as well as works on 
 medicine and divination. How great was the de- 
 struction caused by this enactment, we shall never 
 know ; but as it could only be put in force within 
 the area of the Chinese principalities, it is probable 
 that the literature current in the outlying states 
 escaped the flames, but all the works which had 
 been collected in the state libraries during the Chow 
 Dynasty relating to the history, science, and art of 
 the people ; all the works on the dialectical dif- 
 ferences and variations of the language ; and all the 
 records of and in the Koo wait perished at the hands 
 of the executioner. 
 
 But as if every change in the condition of the 
 empire was to be equally hostile to literature, the 
 contest which brought about the fall of the short- 
 lived Dynasty of She Hwang-te (B.C. 221-206) ended 
 with the sack and burning of the capital, when the 
 flames, we are told, raged among the palaces and 
 public buildings for the space of three months. Thus 
 the probability is that most of the books which were 
 exempted from the flames fired by She Hwang-te 
 perished in the conflagration which heralded the 
 overthrow of his successor. 
 
 But no sooner had Kaou-tsoo, the founder of the 
 
 2 B 2
 
 372 CHINA. 
 
 Han Dynasty, shown a disposition to encourage 
 letters than phcenix-like the old literature rose from 
 its ashes. From the walls of houses, from caves in 
 the mountains, and even from the beds of rivers, the 
 people produced their literary treasures which had 
 been hidden away until the tyranny of She Hwang- 
 te should be overpassed. What these sources failed 
 to reproduce, old men came forward to supply from 
 their well-stored memories, and thus were kept alive 
 the torches which had been lit by the genius of 
 bygone writers. 
 
 " After the death of Confucius," says the historian 
 of this period, " there was an end to his exquisite 
 words ; and when his seventy disciples had passed 
 away, violence began to be done to their meaning. 
 Thus it came about that there were five different 
 editions of the " Spring and Autumn Annals," four 
 of the " Book of Odes," and several of the " Book of 
 Changes." Amid the disorder and collision of the 
 warring states (B.C. 480-221), truth and falsehood 
 were still more in a state of warfare, and a sad 
 confusion marked the words of the various scholars. 
 Then came the calamity inflicted under the Ts'in 
 Dynasty, when the literary monuments were des- 
 troyed by fire, in order to befool the " black heads " 
 {i.e., the people). But the Han Dynasty arose, and 
 reversed the ruin wrought by Ts'in, and carefully 
 gathered together the (bamboo) slips and tablets,
 
 THE LITERATURE. 373 
 
 and threw wide open the way for the bringing in 
 of books. In the time of the Emperor Heaou-wu 
 (B.C. 139-86), portions of books being wanted and 
 tablets lost, so that ceremonies and music were 
 suffering great damage, he was moved to sorrow, and 
 said, "I am grieved at this": and forthwith he formed 
 a plan of repositories in which the books might be 
 stored ; and he further appointed officers to tran- 
 scribe all works of the various scholars, and directed 
 that the manuscripts thus obtained should be placed 
 in the repositories. The Emperor Ch'ing (B.C. 31-6), 
 finding that a portion of the books were still dis- 
 persed and missing, commissioned Ch'in Nung, the 
 superintendent of guests, to search for undiscovered 
 books throughout the empire, and by special edict 
 ordered the chief of the banqueting-house. Lew Heang, 
 to examine the classics, together with the commen- 
 taries on them, the writings of the scholars, and all 
 poetical works ; the guardian of the city gates, Jin 
 Hwang, to examine the books on the art of war ; 
 the grand historiographer, Jin Heen, to examine the 
 books on divination ; and the imperial physician, Le 
 Ch'u-kwo, to examine the books on medicine. As 
 soon as a work was completed, Lew Heang arranged 
 it, indexed it, and made a digest of its contents, 
 which was presented to the emperor. While the 
 undertaking was in progress Lew Heang died, and 
 the Emperor Gai (b.c.-A.D.) appointed his son Hin, a
 
 374 CHINA. 
 
 master of the imperial carriage factor)', to complete his 
 father's work. On this Lew Hin collected the books, 
 and presented a report of them under seven categories, 
 viz.: 1st, General Resumes ; 2nd, the Six Arts ; 3rd, 
 Philosophical Works ; 4th, Poetry ; 5th, Military 
 Works ; 6th, jNIathematics ; and 7th, Medicine. 
 
 In this way were collected 3,123 sections on the 
 classics, 2,705 on philosophy, 1,318 on poetry, 790 
 on military matters, 2,528 on mathematics, and Z6Z on 
 medicine. Strange stories are told of the way these 
 treasures were unearthed. The text of four of the 
 classics, together with a work on filial piety, were 
 found concealed in the walls of the house which had 
 been Confucius's. But so long and dark had been 
 the night, which had settled down on the literature 
 of the country since the time of the sage, that these 
 recovered works were unintelligible to all but a few 
 ripe scholars. By these, however, they were tran- 
 scribed, and were eagerly studied by the people. 
 The impetus given to literature by these discoveries 
 was prodigious. It was as though in the long period 
 of apparent sterility men's minds had been gaining 
 depth and force preparatory for the first appearance 
 of spring after the long winter of their discontent. 
 In Sze-ma Tseen, the Herodotus of China, as he has 
 been called, and Pan Koo, the historian of the Han 
 Dynasty, history found exponents who have never 
 been surpassed in China, either before or since, for
 
 THE LITERATURE. 375 
 
 arrangement of material and comprehensiveness of 
 detail. On philosophical subjects the writers of this 
 period, among whom the names of Kea E, Lew 
 Gan, Yang Heung, and others, stand conspicuous, 
 are pre-eminent at the present day ; and in the light 
 literature of the time was established a style which 
 has been a model for all future ages. Tales of the 
 imagination then first found their expression on 
 paper, and in the festive poems of the wine-bibber, 
 philosopher, and musician, Ts'ai Yung, are fore- 
 shadowed the wine-extolling poems of Too Foo and 
 other poets of the T'ang Dynasty. 
 
 From this period the tide of literature has flowed 
 onward in an ever-increased volume, checked only, 
 every now and again, by one of those signal calamities 
 which have from time to time overtaken the imperial 
 libraries of China. In times of political tumult the 
 capital for the time being has not once nor twice 
 been burnt to the ground with its palaces and 
 libraries ; but it is noteworthy that however ruth- 
 lessly on such occasions these intellectual centres 
 have been destroyed, one of the first acts of the suc- 
 cessful founders of succeeding dynasties has been 
 to restore them to their former completeness and 
 efficiency. 
 
 But though, as has been said, the works of the 
 ancients were the foundation of all succeeding litera- 
 ture, and though, therefore, the same main lines have
 
 376 CHINA. 
 
 been observed through all subsequent ages, certain 
 prominence has under different dynasties been given 
 to particular branches of letters. Historical and philo- 
 sophical research marked the Han period; under 
 the T'ang Dynasty there arose generations of elegant 
 prose and brilliant verse writers, at the bidding of 
 whose pencils the angularity of the language yielded 
 to their well-turned periods, and the short, formal 
 lines of the earlier poetry were exchanged for more 
 musical and plastic verses. Under the Sung Dynasty 
 philosophy again held sway, while dramatic writings 
 distinguished the succeeding Mongol Dynasty, and 
 during the Ming Dynasty arose that desire to com- 
 pile encyclopaedias which has been so marked during 
 the last four centuries. Of late years, howev^er, there 
 has been displayed a keenness of research and power 
 of independent criticism which will give the present 
 period a prominent place in Chinese literature. 
 
 The Chinese divide their literature into four 
 divisions, viz., classical, philosophical, Ijistorical, and 
 belles-lettres. Of the nine classics we have al- 
 ready spoken ; but though they alone are styled 
 King, or classics, they form but the nucleus of 
 the immense mass of literature which has gathered 
 round them. Unfortunately, the immense industry, 
 which has served to produce this huge literature, has 
 been too often mis-directed. The Chinese are singu- 
 larly wanting in real critical ability. They will split
 
 THE LITERATURE. 377 
 
 straws about an expression, and find fifty reasons for 
 supporting an opinion, however absurd it may be ; but 
 they are incapable of genuine antiquarian research, 
 and are equally incapable of judging of the true value 
 of facts. This, coupled with the loss of the original 
 texts of the classics — for it will be remembered that 
 the latest of the classics was written in a character 
 which underwent two very marked changes, before it 
 assumed its present form — has robbed most of that 
 they have written of any value. In matters on which 
 history can throw light, the remarks of the commen- 
 tators are often apposite, but it is obvious that where 
 the entire text is misunderstood, "from the egg to the 
 apples," as in the YiJi king, or where it is corrupt, as 
 in the SJie king, there is abundant room for the 
 career of any hobby-horse and the flight of any 
 fancy. Wonderful things have been evolved from 
 the Yih king; but it has been reserved for a learned 
 Chinaman of the present day to see in Confucius's 
 mention of the Yang and Yin, or the male and 
 female principles of Nature, a direct reference to posi- 
 tive and negative electricity. 
 
 The historical literature of China is the most im- 
 portant branch of the national literature. Bearing in 
 mind that the ancients considered that an historian 
 of the left hand to record speeches, charges, etc., and 
 an historian of the right to record facts, were all that 
 were necessary to compile history, writers have
 
 37 S CHINA. 
 
 generally confined themselves to the lines thus traced 
 out for them. Following the example of Confucius 
 in the Spring and Autumn Annals, they have re- 
 frained from all reflections, drawn no inferences, and 
 abstained from even remarks. By so much is the 
 reader probably benefited, since the historian is not 
 tempted to distort events in order to support a 
 favourite theory, and the student is left to draw his 
 own inferences from a plain statement of facts. The 
 She /^^, or" Historical Record," by Sze-ma Ts'een, and 
 the Han shoo, or " History of the Han Dynasty," by 
 Pan koo, are the models upon which all future his- 
 tories have been written. First come the Imperial 
 Records, which contain the purely political events of 
 each reign. Then follow sections on chronology, 
 rites and music, jurisprudence, political economy, 
 state sacrifices, astronomy, elemental influences, 
 geography, literature, biographies, and records of the 
 neighbouring countries. 
 
 On all these subjects they contain an immense 
 store of valuable and varied information, and consi- 
 dering that the histoiy of each dynasty is published 
 under its successor, they display an impartiality and 
 absence of bias which is in every sense admirable. 
 The plan of dividing the histories into sharply-defined 
 sections, while possibly in some instances convenient, 
 gives a disjointed air to the compilations, and neces- 
 sitates a considerable amount of repetition, since in
 
 THE LITERA TURE. 2>79 
 
 the biographical portions, for example, events have 
 to be narrated which have already appeared in the 
 Imperial Records, and in the same way chronolog}', 
 astronomy, and literature must frequently trench on 
 each other's special domains. But notwithstanding 
 these imperfections, the " Twenty - four Imperial 
 Histories " of as many dynasties form a worthy 
 monument of the indefatigable industry of the im- 
 perial historiographers. As to their accuracy, it is 
 very difficult to speak with any degree of certainty, 
 as the published authorities, by which it would be 
 possible to verify the statements they contain, are 
 practically nil. Large portions of Sze-ma T'seen's 
 history have no surer basis than tradition. Much of 
 its contents deal with a period when written records 
 were of uncertain value, and which, if existing at the 
 time of Sze-ma Ts'cen, must have been wholly or in 
 part unintelligible to him. But beginning with Pan 
 Koo's history of the Han Dynasty (B.C. 206-A.D. 25) 
 down to the history of the last, or Ming Dynasty, 
 which came to an end in 1644, the annals have been 
 based on the imperial records, and though accuracy 
 is not a virtue generally enjoyed by Chinese authors, 
 they may fairly be accepted as generally correct. 
 
 A geographical counterpart to these d}-nastic his- 
 tories is found in the topographies which are officially 
 published of each province, each prefecture, each 
 department, and each district, throughout the empire.
 
 380 CHINA. 
 
 In these publications, also, a systematised plan of 
 arrangement is followed, and their contents are, with 
 exceptions, classified under twenty-four headings, 
 viz, : — r. A table of the changes which the district 
 to be described has undergone during the successive 
 dynasties, from the Han downwards. 2. Maps. 3. 
 A list of the distances from the various places to the 
 chief towns of the department. 4. Its astronomical 
 bearings. 5. Its ancient geography. 6. Its geo- 
 graphical position, and its notable localities. 7. The 
 manners and customs of the inhabitants. 8. Its 
 fortified places. 9. Its colleges and schools. 10. 
 The census of the population. 11. The taxes on 
 land. 12. Its mountains and rivers. 13. Its anti- 
 quities. 14. Its means of defence. 15. Its bridges. 
 16. Its dykes. 17. Its tombs and monuments. 18. 
 Its temples and ancestral halls. 19. Its Buddhist 
 and Taouist temples. 20. Biographies of patriotic 
 native officials, from the time of the Han Dynasty 
 downwards. 21. Celebrated men and things. 22. 
 Illustrious women. 23. Saints and immortals. And 
 24. Products of the soil. 
 
 Here, again, the same evils result from the division 
 of subjects, as has been noticed in the histories. 
 There is a great assemblag of isolated detail, but no 
 general view. Dry statisLics and bald, unconnected 
 facts meet one at every turn, but we have no descrip- 
 tion of the lie or general as2:)ect of the countiy, or
 
 THE LITERATURE. 38 r 
 
 the appearance of the towns. The power of such 
 description does not accord with the narrow train of 
 thought, which is the outcome of the Chinese system 
 of education. Detail is dear to the Chinese mind, 
 but accurate generah'sation is beyond it. This is 
 plainly shown in the inability of Chinamen to draw a 
 map. Set down to draw a town, or a mountain, or a 
 village, and they may be trusted to do it correctly, 
 but, if told to draw a map of the tract of country 
 in which these occur, and to place them in their 
 true, relative positions, they are at once at fault. 
 It is this that makes Chinese maps so untrust- 
 worthy, and renders them valueless as a guide to 
 travellers. 
 
 Besides these topographies are copious works on 
 the water-ways of China, the rivers of Manchuria,. 
 Mongolia and Tibet, as well as the outlying depen- 
 dencies of China, from the Great Wall to Kuldja 
 and Kashgaria, and from Szechuen to the frontiers of 
 India. These possess the same excellencies, and the- 
 same faults, as the topographies. 
 
 Biographies form a considerable section under the 
 general heading of histories. Among the Chinese 
 there exists the same desire to add that " new terror 
 to death " which among ourselves is represented by 
 " Lives." Statesmen of eminence, literary men who 
 have gained notoriety, Buddhist or Taouist priests who 
 have died in the odour of sanctity, all find those who-
 
 382 CHINA. 
 
 are eager to make the nation share their appreciation 
 of the virtues of the dead. 
 
 Chronology and catalogues are also favourite 
 themes of Chinese authors and compilers. Their 
 early knowledge of astronomy, and of the sexa- 
 genary cycle, has given them the means of calcu- 
 lating times and seasons back to a very early date. 
 But, as with the catalogues, the chronologies belong 
 to the modern phase of the literature, when com- 
 pilation became preferred to original authorship. 
 The Chinese are great bibliophiles and antiquarians, 
 and in the houses of the wealthy and educated 
 classes there are often to be found splendid libraries 
 and museums. The catalogues of the most celebrated 
 of these have been published, and give a good general 
 idea of the literary and antiquarian treasures existing 
 in the empire. The largest and most celebrated 
 literary catalogue is that published by order of the 
 Emperor K'een-lung of the contents of the imperial 
 library. This work, which is entitled. Kin ting sze 
 koo tsenen shoo tsnng iniih, "A catalogue published by 
 imperial order of all the books in the four treasuries 
 {i.e., classics, history, philosophy, and belles-lettres) 
 of literature." In this work, which consists of two 
 hundred books, there are appended to the titles of 
 the works short epitomes of their contents 
 
 The philosophy of China mainly relates to the art 
 of government, and proceeds, except in the writings
 
 THE LITERATURE. 383 
 
 of a few heretics, on the lines laid down by Confucius 
 and Mencius. Man's nature, according to the ortho- 
 dox view, is in its origin entirely good, and its 
 natural course is along the paths of virtue. From 
 these paths it is only induced to stray by evil 
 example and influences. In the absence of these 
 seductive lures it advances in spotless purity, until 
 virtue becomes so confirmed a habit that it is proof 
 against all attacks of evil. The object, therefore, of 
 a ruler should be, to keep his people in a state of 
 primitive simplicity, and, by the force of his own 
 example, by the promotion to places of honour only 
 of men of virtuous lives, and by rigid adherence to 
 the laws of social order, to cultivate that nature 
 which is the heaven-sent gift to every man, and by 
 the firm establishment of which man reaches a secure 
 perfection. 
 
 Such were the views of the leading philosophers of 
 the Han and Sung Dynasties, of Ch'ing Haou, Ch'ing 
 E, and Choo He. But, taking this view of man's 
 nature, the question naturally suggests itself : — 
 Whence, then, is the source and prevalence of evil .^ 
 To this point Choo He (a.d. i 130- 1200) addressed 
 himself, and expounded his theories on the subject in 
 numerous treatises. He opposed himself strenuously 
 to the theory, held by a school of philosophers led by 
 Seun, that the nature of man was evil, and adopting 
 a middle course, between that and the theory of the
 
 384 CHINA. 
 
 orthodox Confucianists, that the nature of man was 
 perfectly good, he taught that good and evil were 
 present in the heart of every man, and that, just as 
 in nature a duality of powers is necessary to the 
 existence of nature itself, so good and evil are 
 inseparably present in the heart of every human 
 being. 
 
 It is sometimes difficult to understand the systems 
 of classification pursued by the Chinese, and by what 
 process of reasoning they include works on agri- 
 culture, astronomy, and the arts, encyclopaedias and 
 essays, under the head of philosophy, it is impossible 
 to say. Agriculture, being a pursuit which is re- 
 garded with peculiar veneration, as being productive 
 of the food of man, has found many exponents on 
 paper, and imperial authors have not thought it 
 derogatory to describe the processes of ploughing, 
 of seed-time, and harvest. In two well-known works 
 by the Emperor K'een-lung, every act of the farmer 
 in the cultivation of rice, from the time that he first 
 turns the soil with his buffalo-drawn plough to the 
 time when he threshes out the grain, and every act 
 in the cultivation of silk, from the first stage of the 
 silk-worm to the weaving of pieces of silk, are 
 described by engravings and verses of poetry. 
 
 Astronomy has from time immemorial been a 
 favourite study with the Chinese, and the literature 
 on the subject is large. Their knowledge of this
 
 THE LITERA TURE. 38$ 
 
 subject, which is of Chaldean origin, is consider- 
 able though not profound. It has enabled them 
 to calculate eclipses and to recognise the precession 
 of the equinoxes, but it has left them with confused 
 notions on subjects which are matters of common 
 knowledge among western peoples. The earth, ac- 
 cording to their notions, is flat, immovable, and 
 square, measuring about 1,500 miles each way. The 
 sun, the diameter of which is 333 miles, stands at a dis- 
 tance of 4,000 miles above it, but considerably below 
 the sidereal heaven, the distance of which from the 
 earth has been found, by " the method of right- 
 angled triangles," to be 81,394 le (3 le = i mile), 
 30 paces, 5 feet, 3 inches, and 6 tenths of an inch ! 
 The months and seasons are determined by the 
 revolution of Ursa Major. The tail of the constel- 
 lation pointing to the east at nightfall announces 
 the arrival of spring, pointing to the south the 
 arrival of summer, pointing to the west the arrival 
 of autumn, and pointing to the north the arrival of 
 winter. This means of calculating the seasons be- 
 comes more intelligible, when it is remembered that 
 in ancient times the Bear was much nearer to the 
 north pole than now, and revolved round it like the 
 hand of a clock. 
 
 Scarcely inferior in bulk to the literature on 
 astronomy is that on medicine. Here, again, their 
 knowledge lacks a scientific basis, and their practice 
 
 2 C
 
 386 CHINA. 
 
 is purely empirical. Of surgery they know next to 
 nothing, and their diagnoses of diseases are primitive, 
 to say the least. One of the most celebrated medical 
 works is the " Golden Mirror of Medicine," which 
 was published by a commission appointed by the 
 Emperor K'een-lung. It consists of ninety books, 
 and contains, besides several entire works of note, 
 a large assemblage of prescriptions by celebrated 
 physicians, and full directions for understanding 
 aright the indications furnished and imagined to be 
 furnished by the pulse. 
 
 On drawing and painting much has been written, 
 and the books on this subject present a very interest- 
 ing study. They lay bare the secrets of the art, and 
 place us en rapport with the feelings and intentions 
 of the artists. In no country in the world, with the 
 exception of China and Japan, would it probably be 
 possible to say this. But Chinese and Japanese art, 
 for they are one and the same, is mainly mechanical. 
 The graceful bamboo sketches which appear to be 
 traced with such individual freedom, the birds, the 
 trees, the picturesque landscapes, etc., all of which 
 seem to be the result of inspiration, are, after all, 
 drawn according to fixed rules and after long-con- 
 tinued practice from authorised models. Read by 
 the light of such works as the Leih tai ming 
 hwa ke, every Chinese picture is explained, and 
 we are able to recognise that there is nothing
 
 THE LITERATURE. 387 
 
 new under the sun in Chinese drawing and 
 painting. 
 
 During the Sung Dynasty (A.D. 960-1,127) Chinese 
 literature reached its high-water mark. The writings 
 of authors of that period are distinguished for origin- 
 ality, research, and elegance. But from that time 
 there has, until quite lately, been a marked decline. 
 Men have given up thinking for themselves, and, 
 instead of seeking new fields of knowledge, they have 
 studied only how to reproduce the results gained by 
 others. One symptom of such a decline in a nation's 
 literary career is the appearance of encyclopaedias 
 of ready-made knowledge. It is always easier to 
 remember than to think ; and the state of mind 
 which led to the productions of such compendiums 
 is likely rather to content itself with mastering 
 results, than to step out on the thorny paths of 
 knowledge. 
 
 The first work which really deserves the name 
 of encyclopaedia is the Wan keen tiing kaou, which 
 was compiled by Ma Twan-lin in the fourteenth 
 century. It consists of 348 books, and contains 
 a resume of the existing knowledge on the 
 government, history, literature, religion, and lan- 
 guage, as well as the colonial and tributary states, 
 of the empire. " One cannot cease to admire," 
 says Remusat, "the depth of research which the 
 author was compelled to make in order to collect 
 2 c 2
 
 388 CHINA. 
 
 his materials, the sagacity he has shown in the 
 arrangement of them, and the clearness and pre- 
 cision with which he has presented this multitude 
 of objects in every light." With some qualification 
 this praise is fairly earned by the compiler of this 
 immense work, but, like most of his confraternity, 
 he lacks accuracy. His references are often faulty, 
 and in all cases it is necessary to turn to the passage 
 quoted to verify his readings. A century later, the 
 Emperor Yung-lo determined to signalise his reign 
 by the publication of an encyclopaedia, which was 
 intended to throw ]\Ia Twan-lin's undertaking into 
 the shade. An imperial commission, consisting of 
 upwards of two thousand members, was appointed 
 to carry out the work, and at the end of four years 
 they were able to report to the emperor the com- 
 pletion of their labours, which were represented by an 
 encyclopaedia in 22,937 books. Whether the difficulty 
 and expense of printing so huge a compilation were 
 considered to be insurmountable, or whether the 
 emperor had grown tired of his project, history does 
 not tell us, but for some reason the MS. was never 
 sent to press, and was allowed to lie barren and 
 useless in the imperial librarj^ where such por- 
 tions of it as have not mouldered into dust remain 
 to this day. 
 
 Three centuries later, K'ang-he (1612-1723), the 
 second emperor of the present Manchoo Dynasty,
 
 THE LITERATURE. 389 
 
 conceived the idea of renewing Yung-lo's project, 
 and like that emperor he appointed a commission 
 to give effect to his design. Their orders were simple, 
 though their work was colossal. It was required of 
 them that they should extract from every work of 
 authority, from the Yih /&m^ downwards, all passages 
 bearing on the 6,109 headings, which it was the will 
 of K'ang-he should be illustrated. For forty years 
 the commissioners toiled. Meanwhile K'ang-he " be- 
 came a guest on high," and his son,' Yung-ching, had 
 been five years upon the throne when the weary 
 commissioners were able to write " Finis " on the 
 last page of the 5,020th volume of the Kiii tmg koo 
 kin foo shoo tseih ching, "Imperially ordered complete 
 collection of ancient and modern literature, with 
 illustrations." Tradition says that only a hundred 
 copies of this work were printed. However this may 
 be, the copies issued were few in number, and were 
 all distributed as imperial presents among princes 
 of the blood and the highest officials in the empire. 
 It was thus many years before a copy found its way 
 into the market, and it has only been in obedience to 
 stern pecuniary pressure that of late two or three 
 copies have been offered for sale at Peking by the 
 descendants of the original recipients. Fortunately, 
 through the instrumentality of the late Mr. Mayers, 
 Her Majesty's Chinese Secretary of Legation, one of 
 these copies was secured for the trustees of the
 
 390 CHINA. 
 
 British Museum, who, when the prevalence in China 
 of the agencies destructive of Hbraries — fire, careless- 
 ness, thieves, and insects — is remembered, may very 
 probably before many years prove to be the only 
 possessors of a complete copy of this rare and 
 valuable work. 
 
 In arranging their materials, the commissioners 
 adopted six general categories, which they sub- 
 divided into thirty-two sections, as follows : Cate- 
 gories — I. The Heavens ; 2. The Earth ; 3. Man- 
 kind ; 4. Inanimate nature ; 5. Philosophy ; and 6. 
 Political economy. Sections — i . The heavenly bodies ; 
 2. The calendar ; 3. Astronomy and mathematical 
 science ; 4. Astrology ; 5. The earth ; 6. The 
 dominions of China ; 7. The topography of the 
 empire; 8. The frontier nations and foreign countries ; 
 9. The imperial court ; 10. The imperial buildings ; 
 II. Official institutes ; 12. Domestic laws; 13. Private 
 relationships; 14. Genealogy and biography; 15. 
 Mankind ; 16. Womankind ; 17. Arts and divination ; 
 18. Religion and phenomena; 19. The animal king- 
 dom: 20. The vegetable kingdom; 21. Canonical 
 and general literature ; 22. Education and conduct ; 
 23. Belles-lettres ; 24. Etymology ; 25. The official 
 examination system ; 26. The system of official 
 appointments ; 27. Articles of food and commerce ; 
 28. Ceremonies ; 29. Music ; 30. Military organisation ; 
 31. Administration of justice; and 32. Handicrafts.
 
 THE LITERATURE. 391 
 
 These headings sufficiently describe the scope of 
 the work, which contains very little original matter, 
 but consists, as designed by K'ang-he, of literary 
 extracts bearing on each subject, which are arranged 
 in chronological order, so that the reader has laid 
 before him the collective wisdom of every writer of 
 note on the subject of his study. The accuracy of 
 the quotations forms a marked contrast to all other 
 works of a similar kind, and we have therefore col- 
 lected in one thesaurus a trustworthy and exhaustive 
 resume of Chinese literature. 
 
 Next to a knowledge of the classics essay-writing 
 is the most important aim of education in China. It 
 is by essays that the degrees are mainly determined 
 at the competitive examinations, and it is as essayists 
 that men win the highest renown in the field, of 
 literature. According to the cut-and-dried model 
 upon which every essay should be framed, the writer, 
 after stating his theme, gives a short " analysis " of it, 
 and then an " amplification " in general terms. Next 
 follow an " explanation " with a postscript, the " first 
 argument," a " reassertion of the theme," the " second 
 argument," and the " third argument." These last 
 divisions are more formal than real, and it is difficult 
 to see any difference in the subject-matter between 
 the first, second, and third arguments. But the in- 
 exorable laws of essay-writing, confirmed by centuries 
 of habit, have made their outward observance indis-
 
 392 CHINA. 
 
 pensable ; and a competitor at an examination would 
 as soon dream of throwing doubt on the wisdom of 
 Confucius as of disregarding them. As has already 
 been said, the themes given at the examinations are 
 invariably texts taken from the canonical books. 
 Competitors know, therefore, the style and drift of 
 the texts on which they will have to write, but they 
 find further help in the immense quantity of suc- 
 cessful essays which are constantly published. These, 
 with the essays by celebrated writers, which are to 
 be found in their collected works, form quite a lite- 
 rature. Unfortunately the circumstances of their 
 production, and the prejudices which surround their 
 authors, rob them of that freedom of expression and 
 breadth of thought which might be expected to give 
 them point and value. 
 
 It is fair to assume, though dates altogether fail to 
 help us, that as in all other countries so in China 
 the first literary efforts of the people were in the 
 shape of poetry. Some of the odes of the SJic king 
 carry us back to very remote times, and even before 
 these found expression in words, there probably 
 existed a still earlier stratum of verse. As has 
 already been explained, it is very difficult to criticise 
 minutely the merits and measures of these old odes, 
 owing to the changes which both the sounds and the 
 characters have undergone. But we find that the 
 lines for the most part consisted of only four cha-
 
 THE LITERATURE. 393 
 
 racters each. When the language lost its polysyllabic 
 character, such a measure was plainly inadequate to 
 give the rhythm which is necessary for polished 
 versification, and consequently the common metre 
 was changed to lines of five characters, and later 
 still to lines of seven. This last metre was generally 
 adopted by the poets of the T'ang Dynasty (A.D. 618- 
 907), the golden age of poetry, and has since con- 
 tinued the favourite measure. 
 
 But, though it is true that the spoken language is 
 by no means monosyllabic, the characters do as a 
 rule represent single syllables, and it may therefore 
 at first sight appear strange that lines of seven mono- 
 syllabic words can ever be rhythmical. But the laws 
 of Chinese verse-making are such as to ensure a 
 pleasing cadence in the lines, and the tones of the 
 characters give a musical intonation to them. Strict 
 rules are followed in the arrangement of the cha- 
 racters, and in verses of seven syllables a caesural 
 pause occurs after the fourth syllable, which serves 
 to divide also the grammatical sense of the verse. 
 Rhymes are observed at the end of lines, but in 
 Chinese an element in rhyming exists apart from the 
 identity of sound which is unknown in European 
 languages ; and that is, that in order to constitute a 
 rhyme the similarly sounding syllables must be in 
 the same tone. For example, ^ Fang and ^ 
 Kwang rhyme because they are both pronounced in
 
 394 CHINA. 
 
 the even tone, but a poet who attempted to make 
 ^ Fang (even tone), and I^ Kwang (rising tone), 
 rhyme, would be scouted as an ignorant fellow. 
 As a rule, all the lines do not rhyme. More com- 
 monly than not, alternate lines beginning with the 
 second are made to rhyme, while no regard is paid 
 to the sounds, apart from the tones, of the concluding 
 syllables of the intermediate verses. The following 
 is an example of a stanza in eight lines, in which it 
 will be observed that the second, fourth, sixth, and 
 eighth lines rhyme, while the first, as is often the 
 case, gives the cue to the rhyming syllable. The ode 
 is by the celebrated poet of the T'ang Dynasty, Le 
 Tai-pih, and is entitled " On ascending the Phoenix 
 tower at Nanking" : — 
 
 Fung hwang tai shang — fung hwang yew 
 The phoenixes are on the tower — the phoenixes wander. 
 
 Fung k'ii t'ai k'ung — keang tsze lew 
 The male bird goes, the tower is empty — the river alone flows 
 
 by. 
 
 Woo kung hwa tsaou — mai yew king 
 [So] in Woo's palace the flowers and shrubs — bury the hidden 
 paths, 
 Tsin tai e kwan — ch'ing koo kew 
 [And methinks I see] Tsin dynasty clothes and caps — filling the 
 ancient hill. 
 San shan pan loh — ts'ing t'een wai 
 The three mountains in half separate — and the azure sky is 
 beyond. 
 Urh shuy chung fun — pih loo chow 
 The two streams midway divide — for the white egret's isle.
 
 THE LITERATURE. 395 
 
 T'sung wei fow yun — nS.ng pe jih 
 In all directions are floating clouds — sufficient to obscure the 
 sun. 
 
 Ch'ang-ngan puh keen — she jin ts'ow 
 Ch'ang-ngan is out of sight — and the envoy is sorrowful. 
 
 In this stanza we have all the leading character- 
 istics of Chinese poetry. The last syllable of the first 
 line gives the cue to the rhyme which is followed in 
 the second, fourth, sixth, and eighth lines, by the 
 words lew, kew, chow, and fsow, which are all in the 
 same tone, the even tone. After the fourth syllable 
 in each line is a marked caesural pause, by observing 
 which the rhythmical harmony of the verses is much 
 increased, and which coincides with a break in the 
 sentence. There is also the parallelism in which 
 Chinese poets delight. We have " the flowers and 
 shrubs of the Woo Palace," and " the clothes and 
 caps of the Tsin Dynasty;" we have the " three moun- 
 tains in half separate," and " the two streams midway 
 divide." But not only is this a good specimen of 
 the mechanical peculiarities of Chinese poetry, but it 
 gives a fair idea of the kind of stuff Chinese poetry is 
 made of There is nothing striking in thought or 
 sentiment ; such merits are seldom met with ; the 
 main object being to conform as closely as possible 
 to the recognised canons of the art, and to perfect 
 the diction. But this perfunctory way of manufactur- 
 ing poetry is inevitable in a country where every 
 student has as a part of his education to learn to
 
 396 CHINA. 
 
 write poetry. By the flood of indifferent verses 
 which annually inundate the empire the national 
 taste is destroyed, and the ordinary run of poetry has 
 been reduced to the level of schoolboys' exercises. 
 So entirely is this practically recognised, that diction- 
 aries of poetical quotations are as essentially a part 
 of the poet's literary tools as a Gj-adiis ad Pamassmn 
 is indispensable to a fourth-form English schoolboy. 
 Under the present d}-nasty poetry as well as other 
 branches of literature are held to have revived, and 
 the following quotation has been taken from a collec- 
 tion as a specimen of the present condition of the 
 muse in China : — 
 
 Shan kii tsin jih — woo kaou muh ; 
 She nii k'een lo — foo maou wuh. 
 Fang ts'aou ch'un she — shin pe mun ; 
 Yue ming tsze pan — mei hwa suh. 
 
 " In the mountains I Uve all the day — humble and rude is my 
 
 lot; 
 The creepers my maiden entwines — which cover my primitive 
 
 cot. 
 In spring-time the sweet-smelling plants —completely the door 
 
 over-creep . 
 The moon's beams alone fill the sky— while the plum-blossoms 
 
 peacefully sleep." 
 
 In addition to the regular poetr}- spoken of above 
 there are, a kind of poetical composition known as 
 Foo, which has a metre of four and six feet in alter- 
 nate lines ; irregular poems, termed Tsoo ts'se, where
 
 THE LITER A TURE. 
 
 397 
 
 the rhyme recurs at the end of lines of various lengths ; 
 and Tsze, a kind of roundelay in the extempore 
 composition, of which scholars amuse themselves at 
 their festive gatherings. 
 
 The Drama received a comparatively late develop- 
 ment in China, as it was not until the latter end of 
 the T'ang Dynasty that a Chinese Thespis arranged 
 the wild dances and songs, the precursors of the 
 drama, into connected and orderly plays. From this 
 period the art of dramatic writing improved until 
 the time of the Mongol Dynasty founded by Jenghiz 
 Khan, when it may be said to have reached its highest 
 excellence. But even in the most finished works of 
 the best period there is a want of " those touches of 
 fancy and that play of imagination which we look 
 for in the works of European playwrights. No great 
 author has arisen to teach them to analyse the mo- 
 tives which sway men in the concerns of every-day 
 life, and novelists and playwrights, therefore, are con- 
 tent to make their characters move, act, and converse 
 at will, without troubling themselves to make a psy- 
 chological study of the thoughts which influence 
 them. Thus even in the best plays the characters are 
 moved about in a somewhat disconnected and arbi- 
 trary way to suit the design of the author, too often 
 in defiance of the probabilities, and with a total dis- 
 regard of the old-fashioned unities. But, if they are 
 unable to reach a high standard of dramatic writing,
 
 398 CHINA. 
 
 they show considerable skill in inventing incidents 
 and in introducing clever and humorous dialogues. 
 Thus they startle and amuse more than they interest, 
 and cater for the eye and ear rather than for the 
 mind." ^ 
 
 The absence of all scenery on the Chinese stage 
 necessitates the awkward expedient of putting into 
 the mouth of each character as he appears on the 
 stage a monologue explaining who he is, where he is, 
 and the object of his being there. In the same way 
 a change of scene has to be indicated by the actor 
 announcing, " Now I am at such and such a place." 
 These interruptions materially mar the literary effect 
 of a Chinese play, which otherwise is often not with- 
 out merit. The best collection of dramas is known 
 as the " Hundred Plays of the Yuen Dynasty." The 
 tone of these is higher and purer than most of the 
 modern dramatic writings, which are too often grossly 
 indecent, but even in these many of the incidents 
 introduced would, if judged by a European standard, 
 be considered coarse. But, though the moral teach- 
 ing may not be all that could be desired, the audience 
 are yet taught that a sure nemesis follows on evil 
 deeds, and that to live happily one must live vir- 
 tuously. 
 
 * " The Chinese Drama," by the Author. See Contemporary 
 Review, Jan., 1880.
 
 THE LITERATURE. 399 
 
 The same poverty of imagination which marks the 
 poetry is observable also in the novels and tales. A 
 Chinese novelist never attempts to make analyses of 
 his characters, and there is no interweaving of a subtle 
 plot in his pages. His canvas is covered with a 
 succession of incidents more or less isolated, all of 
 which are depicted in the broadest colours. No 
 softening lines or gradual shadings mitigate the 
 villany of the profligate characters, or the supreme 
 excellence of the virtuous personages. These are as 
 incapable of doing anything but evil as those are of 
 doing anything but good. They are all either very 
 black or very white. The hero, who in every case is an 
 Admirable Crichton, is perfectly virtuous, as strong as 
 Hercules, as brave as Achilles, and a very Nestor for 
 wisdom. As the end of all Chinese novels is to pro- 
 claim the triumph of virtue, it becomes the invariable 
 role of the hero to defend the oppressed, to make 
 straight the crooked paths of corrupt and vicious 
 officials, and to redress every wrong that presents 
 itself to him. At the examinations he takes the 
 highest honours, and rises to a supreme position in 
 the state. Imperial favours are lavished on him, or, 
 if for a moment the wiles of the first villain clouds his 
 career, the mist is soon cleared away, to his additional 
 renown and to his enemy's infinite discomfiture. 
 
 The best novel which is translateable is the Haou 
 K'ew chuen, which has been rendered into English by,
 
 400 CHINA. 
 
 among others, Sir John Davis. In this work the chief 
 interest centres in a succession of endeavours made 
 by the villain of the story to prevent the marriage of 
 the heroine with the hero, and to carry her off as his 
 own bride. The inevitable result follows ; the villain 
 is defeated, and the hero and heroine receive at the 
 hands of the emperor the reward of their deeds ; and 
 the work comes to the following gratifying end. In 
 the words of Sir John Davis's translation, " Teih- 
 chungyu, his bride, and the assembled court then 
 bowed down and acknowledged the imperial bounty, 
 and the hum of joy and gratulation resembled the 
 distant roll of thunder. The attendants had re- 
 ceived their orders, and as they filed off in pairs, the 
 ornamental lanterns in all their radiance, the har- 
 monious band in full sound, and the marshalled 
 banners in their variegated splendour, escorted the 
 renowned and happy couple as they proceeded 
 homewards, attended by a vast company. 
 
 The choicest bud, unblown, exhales no sweets, 
 No radiance can the untried gem display : 
 Misfortune, like the winter cold that binds 
 The embryo fragrance of the flower, doth lend 
 A fresher charm to fair prosperity. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 WYMAN AND SONS, PRINTERS, GREAT QUEEN STREET, LONDON.
 
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 are undertinedas Shagrfim, hen-tnn . 
 
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