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It is a well-planned, well-executed book." — Leader. " This little book, placing the duty on its true scriptural basis, would be a useful present to most young gentlemen, and even to some young ladies too." — Churchman's Magazine. London : J. F. HOPE, 16, Great Marlborough Street. Al£. » • » > :•: »•»••» : :•' : ■ c. r « 5, * c > « * * i r * it • • « < > < ' t ' r < • f < r f ' , • FIAS of the iOTY©iF CA1TT0W, 1 Sianfieid .1 Jimcs Hffu. La ■ > J » 1 > * « » » » • • * v * • • » » »>! > • CHINA: POPULAE HISTORY WITH g, C^nolotjkal ^ccomd OF THE MOST REMARKABLE EVENTS FROM THE EARLIEST PERIOD TO THE PRESENT DAY. BY SIR OSCAR OLIPHANT, Kt. LONDON: J. F. HOPE, 16, GREAT MARLBOROUGH STREET; JAMES BLACKWOOD, PATEENOSTEE EOW. MDCCCLVn. " c i < c t e , , . ■ . ' e ' c - ' -J < .' • « r r r ft r . - . | t c I C C t [ '• • r <■„ - c t r < < < t -ft 57 B 5 " » » _ » ' ' , ' • > » ' » J J 9 1 > ; TO HIS BEST BELOVED SISTEE, LIZZIE, SIR OSCAR OLIPHANT, AS A TOKEN OF HIS AFFECTION, INSCRIBES THIS HIS SKETCH OF THE CrlMtial ftapa. 546252 • t : .': - 4 I • ' * * I < I • CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. PAGE Introductory » - - - - --1 CHAPTER II. CHINA OF THE PAST — RULE AND CONSTITUTION. Ancient China — Character of its Government — How it works - 7 CHAPTER III. THE REIGNING POWER : ITS POLICY AND PERILS. Tartar conquest, not Chinese submission — The Emperors, late and living — English knowledge of China proved — Imperial troubles and increasing disloyalty - - - - 13 CHAPTER IV. THE ARMY AND NAVY : " PROPER AND COMMON." Strength, Distinction, Equipments, and Constitution of the Army — The Ships of China — Celestial Naval prospects - - *± VI CONTENTS. CHAPTER V. RELIGION IN CHINA. PAGE The three prevailing systems — Value of the popular belief — Who was the first Chinaman ?— The Pagan Parson — Prospects of Christian progress — A hint as to Russian influence - - 35 CHAPTER VI. GENERAL GLANCE AT THE COUNTRY AND PEOPLE. Facts that first impress the stranger — A rambling peep from Mon- golia — Roadside guard-houses and standpoints — Aspect of the country — Effect of meeting Mandarins — Temperate habits and peculiar tastes - - - - - --48 CHAPTER VII. TOILETTE AND TASTE. General Mode of Dress and Distinctive Costume — Celestial Polite- ness in all ranks - - - - - - 58 CHAPTER VIII. CHINESE CEREMONIES AND CUSTOMS. Celestial Marriages and Match making— Old Age in China — Celes- tial Funeral and Mourning — Complimentary Coffin — Value of a Cat's Eye — A really good Celestial Dinner — National Amusements — A New Year's Eve in China - - - 05 CHAPTER IX. PENAL LAWS AND PUNISHMENTS. Little Value of Human Life — Recollections of an Execution in China— Several Offences and their Penalties - - 80 CONTENTS. Vll CHAPTER X. TRADING IN CHINA. PAGE Tricks upon Travellers — Chinese craft and cleverness — Chinese Commerce — Revenue and Taxes - - - - 89 CHAPTER XL LITERATURE AND LEARNING IN CHINA. Position of Education — Present ignorance and past intelligence — The Literature and Language — Printing in China - - 100 CHAPTER XII. PRINCIPAL CHINESE PRODUCTS. Tea — Position of Agriculture — Chief Food Crops — Horticulture — Products for Manufacture - - - - - 1 1 1 CHAPTER XIII. CHIEF NATIONAL WORKS. The Great Wall — Chinese Canals, their use and peculiarity — Chinese Bridges : their number, aspect, and value — Roads in China, and Character of Travelling — Public and Imperial Landscape Gardening - 125 CHAPTER XIV. THE GREAT CITIES OF CHINA. Chinese Cities generally — Pekin, the Capital, as a model of Celes- tial Cities — Civic Regulations — Canton glanced at from more than one point ..---- 143 yiil CONTENTS. CHAPTER XV. THE OLD WAR : ITS CHARACTER AND CONSEQUENCES. • PAGE Hood's War with China — Termination of the War, and the Treaty — Sketch of Ki-Chan, the great Chinese Statesman — Hong Kong, Great Britain's great Chinese Possession — China Honouring France ..,--- 159 o CHAPTER XVI. THE NEW WAR : ITS CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES. What is the War about? — Sir John Bowring — Value of the Pretext for Quarrel — What was really the Insult? — The Treaty and its observance — Palmerston's opinion "now and then" — Chinese hatred of Britain, fondness of atrocities, and Yeh ! — British clemency as an example to the atrocious Chinese — Christianity in the Contest — Law and the Lorcha - - 170 CHAPTER XVII. Chinese Annals ... . 204 Supplementary Details ------ 218 THE HISTORY OF CHINA. CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTOEY. The Chinese have always been a " peculiar people." The remark is trite ; but it is now as true as ever. Unlike any na- tion under the canopy of heaven, they hold to a stubborn spe- ciality, and will admitof no trampling upon immemorial custom. One attribute of real Celestials attaches itself to their extraor- dinary history : they do not give to " outer strangers" the privilege of tasting the joys of life within their paradise. It is to all Europeans, and to all others who are not Chinese, the forbidden land. "We hear of its charms, but must not identify ourselves with them : they are to be contemplated from afar off. Only for Celestials are these wondrous regions preserved. But, events threaten to bear down upon the barrier which marks the distinction ; and time looks frowningly at the majestic obstinacy of the celestial " brother of the sun" who condescends to rule the mortals of China. The isolation of this vast portion of the universe must soon and for ever cease. It devolves upon the Anglo-Saxon race to tear up B £ « « « ftp • > * • • 4 -•...- CHINA. the imbedded prejudice, and plant the standard of progress where a gilded stagnancy has long continued to enervate every nobler energy of man. Already the charm of the cherished isolation which bound China to her traditions has lost its gloss ; and a nation, which boasted that it was ever imper- vious to alien influence, gains no advantage to its strength or dignity by recognising the authority and cringing before the very shadow of what it deems barbaric ignorance and insolence. Touching this point, many and significant are the signs of the times. The admixture of travelling Chinese with those who never move from their native villages — the spirit of emigra- tion, and the enterprise of trade with barbarians carried on in their own country — the laxity of the principle of obedience, and the growing disposition to rebel — the distrust of old cus- toms when new ones prove worthy of acceptance — the in- creasing dread of the long- despised foreigner — the gradual spread of Christianity ; — all this — to say nothing of causes which threaten from without — all this points to mighty and inevitable changes in the domestic policy of China. , They are an extraordinary people. Able to trace their his- tory to the remotest period, and connect their traditions with times fabulously distant, they are the least active, the least progressive, and the most backward of existing nations. Foremost in the first advance of civilization, they are now laggards in the march. When Europe was really a battle- field for barbarian hordes of men China was a bright spot upon the earth, and, when contrasted with the rest of the world, quite a celestial clime. The civilization, which for centuries had placed it far above Europe, remains still in its possession, but worn out from incessant use, and stiff with age. Enlighten- ment was so completely conserved that no means of throwing off branching advantages were permitted. The golden pea of civilization was bottled up, and never allowed an opportunity of extending its benefits beyond the period of its own matu- INTRODTJCTOUY. 3 rity. There it is, securely treasured in China to the present day, as large as when it was first secured, and no larger. The golden pea which dropped into the lap of Europe has, on the contrary, not only been scrupulously preserved but pro- pagated, and there it is now, ready to shame its elder brother into emulation, or to share its fructifying qualities with the utmost generosity. While contemplating the singular if not solitary phenomenon presented by the isolation of China, one cannot help marvel- ling how it happens that a country which, from its own re- sources, and without even the adventitious circumstances of trade or travel, invented the topmost triumphs of art, should leave them at the moment of projection, and quit improving either its conceptions or its condition. We owe printing, the foremost agent of civilization, to Chinese ingenuity. We owe gunpowder, the most fertile agent of bloody war, to the scien- tific cunning of the Chinaman. We owe the discovery of the arch to the ability of the Chinese architect. The compass, too, emanates from the same inventive source. The opera had its origin in China, and so had the drama. Even our most fami- liar street-side acquaintance, the " Punch-and-Judy" show, has passed from the villages of China to take its popular per- manence with us. It is, then, wonderful that a people so un- mistakably gifted and so singularly blessed with privileges, have made no greater progress than could have been noted to their credit so long ago as the period when the Saviour was born. It has been often said, and never with more emphasis than now, that there is perhaps no remote country, unconnected with us by the ties of subjection or alliance, concerning which so much curiosity has been felt as concerning China. Every one knows how this results from a combination of &uch various circumstances as can be applicable to no other country; and which, therefore, it may be said, renders our interest about China quite a peculiar feeling. That China stands alone 4 CHINA. among the nations is not so much a consequence of that re- strictive policy by which the government sedulously checks the intercourse with strangers, as a result of the character, habits, and institutions by which the Chinese are more palpably distin- guished from all other nations claiming to be civilised, than any two of the least approximating of these nations are dis- tinguished from each other. This of itself is a reason suffi- ciently active to excite our deepest interest. But how many other equally pressing causes co-operate to arouse our curiosity? Although it is not yet quite an easy task to gratify the eager desire for information which is natural as to this subject, still the difficulty is infinitely less than it was a very few years ago. Many close glances have Europeans had, recently, opportunities of taking, and the impressions are placed before the world ; but to accept as true all the accounts of China and the Chinese which one meets with would be a dangerous confidence. " The Chinese," says Mr. Davis, " have, upon the whole, been under-estimated, or rather unfairly despised, on the score of their moral attributes. The reason of this has probably been, the extremely unfavourable aspect in which they have appeared to the generality of observers at Canton ; just as if any one should attempt to form an estimate of our national character in England from that peculiar phase under which it may present itself at some commercial sea-port." Suppose a Turk did not choose to make more intimate acquaintance with our customs or character than he was en- abled to make from his ship's side, standing out before the Billingsgate market; — and suppose he went home with the visions of politeness there beheld — would he fairly represent the British character by what he saw of it at Billingsgate ? But take any trading part of the River Thames, and tell the Turkish sailor to study the phases of English life by what he can discern from his ship, and how far will all he beholds INTRODUCTORY. 5 indicate the truth of English customs and English character ? Pretty much so have we been for a long time looking at the Chinese. "We see them from our merchant vessels, and with the eyes of our intelligent sailors, and we see them at their slop- work, or see them under circumstances not much more favour- able to them or to truth. Imagination comes to colour up the squalid picture which imperfect knowledge has shadowed out. This is rather much the habit of " travellers" who do their work " on occasions," and for effect more than for fact. China has not been the only victim of such travelling descriptions as magnify the part into the whole, and make of every "slight gap" a yawning chasm. It barely needed the autho- rity of a public writer to remind us that "the moral destinies of so large a portion of mankind is a subject of deep import- ance." No one doubts it; and our future intercourse with them will exercise a considerable influence over these desti- nies ; nor is it at all likely that England will be permitted to hold the position which she occupies for her own exclusive advantage. Power and responsibility usually go together. It is true that "no talent is rightly employed which does not minister the blessing it was intended to convey, and no posi- tion is acquired which does not bring with it fresh duties to fulfil." It may be an object of intense interest with the merchant to know, when new possessions come into our power, what cotton may be required, and what market is open ; but, let us ask, "is it not the higher object to learn to what greater interests commerce may be subservient, and of what greater good she may be the precursor ? " Our foreign policy has not lately been characterised by forbearance under even little provocation ; but, though there are many things in our inter- course with heathen nations of which we may be justly ashamed, there are others " for which we may give God thanks." It has been remarked, and perhaps with justice, that " Eu- 6 CHINA. ropeaii civilization is generally fatal to the health, and even the social welfare, of the savage who comes into contact with it, because of the vices that follow in its train." But it is contended that in the case of China it is otherwise ; it is not civilization that she needs so much as knowledge and wisdom for its right regulation. She will probably listen to the truth, but she will also ask for example as well as precept ; she is happily, from her previous knowledge, in some measure forti- fied against the vice of the unfaithful Christian. The information compressed into the succeeding chapters of this work has been derived from various trustworthy sources. Wherever it was in our power to refer to official documents we have done so, and given briefly, but faithfully, the result of our inquiry. Special acknowledgments are made through- out the work where it seemed needful to be precise as to our authority, and the greatest care has been taken to render the account here given of this strange people as accurate as possible. CHINA OF THE PA.ST. CHAPTER II. CHINA OF THE PAST — RULE AND CONSTITUTION. Ancient China. — Character of its Government. — How it works. Foe such "barren facts" as are on record regarding the history of this singular nation, we thought of no more certain source than " Haydn's Dictionary of Dates." Turning, then, to the labours of that indefatigable compiler, our trouble was amply repaid. On the authority of Lenglet we find Haydn echoing the claim of antiquity, and reiterating the assertion that this empire existed many thousands of years before Noah's flood. Passing over the value of these earliest claims, we are content to accept the later evidence which a " multi- tude of witnesses" are ready to offer as to the existence of the present Chinese empire, as such, 2,500 years before the birth of Christ. Again, by others, the account is rendered so as to date their political existence from Tohi, supposed to be the Noah of the Bible, 2,240 years before Christ: this is on the authority of one Shuckford, who, in his " Connection of Sacred and Profane History," supposes Tohi to have been identical with Noah, and thence traces Chinese kings succes- sively through the several dynasties to which it has been subject to the present period. Marco Polo bears ample testimony to the great enlightenment and advanced condition of the Chinese in the useful arts of life in the time of Kublai Khan J and the productions of the little known but far-famed M Kathay," as they reached our fathers, though they increased 8 CHIXA OP THE PAST. the fabulous mystery with which it was surrounded, afforded positive proof of its civilization in remotest times. Prom what Haydn has collected we are given to believe that the Chinese knew the periods of the sun, moon, and planets, and were acute astronomers, in the reign of Yao, which is set down 2,357 b.c. But it seems clear that dates cannot be relied upon until towards the close of the seventh century b.c, when the history of China becomes more distinct. In the battle between Phraates and the Scythians, 129 b.c, the Chinese aided the latter, and afterwards ravaged the countries on the coasts of the Caspian, which is, we think, their first appearance in general history. It is not questioned that the polity of China has been in principle pretty much the* same until this moment, from the time when the immediate descendants of Noah handed their instructions to the great Indian family first ruling China. In some cases they have, perhaps, been slightly modified, and in others somewhat perverted, just to answer the whims or necessities of succeeding sovereigns. There is no doubt that the ancient form of government was the patriarchal. It was the best adapted to man in the first periods of the world's history; and now, as then, it fits a character, beautifully illustrating a noble principle of Divine truth. Indeed, we are not sure if there be not distinct traces of this patriarchal rule still to be found in the over- laden system of Confucius ; when divested of the despotic interpre- tation forced upon its effects by Chinese rulers, we can discern the principle itself at the heart of the whole — choked up and almost dead. Character of the Government. — The despotic character of the government of China is the completest known. It is a Chinese maxim — not a dead one, like the axiom of English law, which sets out that our sovereign can do no wrong — that the Emperor is responsible to no one on earth. It is sedulously ETJLE AND CONSTITUTION. 9 promulgated throughout the land, that the Emperor is the brother of the Deity ; the representative of all things which live, but especially of man. He is, therefore, the " all and all" for his people — one who is by them to be worshipped as a God on earth. This doctrine, under such a guise, originated with the Tartars. Too much freedom lay concealed and alive in the olden institutions of China, and upon its chances of bursting into activity the Tartar placed the weight of iron despotism. Notwithstanding the absoluteness which has swayed the land under the Tartar rule, a remnant of ancient principle peeps out here and there, and makes its presence visible. Perhaps it is to the little vitality left to this principle that the Chinese owe the power with which, although conquered by the Tartar, they have preserved the speciality of their race. It has been a constant and judicious policy of the Tartar sovereigns to claim the character of paternity in their rule. To carry it out all the better, the law requires the enforcement of parental duties. To this end, very stringent regulations exist. But the law has its object to serve at a higher and more dread aim of submission than that merely of son to sire ; for all things have an origin and end in the person of the Emperor. Filial obedience is sternly exacted, for the sole purpose of rendering it easier and much more essential in the loftier degree, connecting the ruled to the ruler, the subject to the sovereign, the slave to the master. That this relation- ship may be the better defined for those whom it most concerns, the son's obedience is not guided by any considera- tion of what the sire may naturally claim, but by regarding anything claimed by the father such as the father can insist upon. The wish to make the claim gives the right to enforce it. Thus, then, the son learns a duty in the family circle which shows him the virtue or the necessity of implicit obedience, and with that spirit so fastened into his feelings 10 CHINA OF THE PAST. he is ready to bow to every caprice of a greater than a father — his sovereign. Whatever changes there have been in the political admi- nistration of the empire, there has been none in the theory of government, which regards the sovereign and people in the light of father and children. To do the Celestial Emperors justice, the great majority of them endeavour to fulfil their heavy parental duties to the best of their abilities. liut only consider what it is to be the father of some three hundred and sixty millions of human beings ! Such a potentate, we should think, can scarcely have a moment of even ordinary satisfaction if he but partially respect his position. Without wading through old times and musty records for the sort of general government flourishing in China in its remotest times, we come to look at that now existing, and so existing from a period before Europe was civilized. Of course we give the account as it is given to us by Davis : — "The general government consists of two councils, six supreme boards, a censorate, a colonial office, and an imperial college. " The inner council is the emperor's office of business, from which all his commands are issued The number composing it is sixteen : their duties are to deliberate on the affairs of state, to declare the imperial will, and to aid the sovereign in governing the people. From the members of this council the governors of provinces are selected. " The general council is composed of members chosen from amongst those of the inner council, the presidents and vice- presidents of the six boards, and the principal officers of all the other courts in the city. They constitute a general executive. " The six supreme boards are — of civil office, of revenue and territorial resources, of ritual observances, of war, of punishments, and of public works : at the head of each board RULE AND CONSTITUTION. 1 1 are two presidents and four vice-presidents. The duties of these boards will readily be understood by the nature of the subjects over which they have control. The colonial office speaks for itself. The censorate investigates into the character and conduct of all the public officers in the empire. The members of this court, when in the presence of the emperor, give expression to their sentiments very freely : they are required to point out his faults, and the law makes them responsible for every bad act which he commits without a remonstrance on their part. " The imperial college is presided over by two officers who attend upon the emperor. '. Twice in every year they give in lists of officers, from which the emperor selects " speakers," whose duty it is to translate essays which have been written by his majesty, and read them aloud in his presence.' Four of their number always attend on him on public occasions to record his words and speeches. This board instructs the royal family." Were this system properly exercised, the Chinese would have little to lament in the way of inefficient or bad govern- ment machinery. But it is their misery to be ruled by a Tartar family, with whom rectitude of purpose does not seem to be an adorning virtue. Perhaps it is difficult or impossible to have an absolute monarch without a subservient council ; for when life and death rests in the smile or frown of a man, his creatures are not likely to banish the one for the other, and take the desolate chances. If travellers are to be cre- dited, it is a most dangerous thing to tell the truth to a Chinese emperor, if that truth in any way clash with his desires or his opinions. "Wholesale flattery is a golden link to tie on one's shoulders the favour of the sovereign ; but truth is a dangerous toy to play with. The present emperor (says Mr. Martin) has frequently commended the members of the censorate for their homely 12 CHINA OF THE TAST. truths; but under former reigns, and especially during that of Keen-lung, many censors were executed for fulfilling the duties of their office. It is the characteristic of the Tartar policy that the theories which read well are practically in- operative. Mr. Martin instances this in the case of the aged and the helpless poor, for whom it is enacted that the magis- trates shall see that they receive maintenance and protection ; but, as no funds nor any other available means are provided for this purpose, the enactment is a dead letter. In the present condition of our nature it is far from desirable that the destinies of millions should be absolutely trusted to the hands of one man. There is no possible guarantee that he will not mar the best interests of those whose welfare de- pends on his sole will. China is a sad example of this. But, as a writer of the day observes, she has felt the power of the spirit who will lay his hand upon every ancient institution and cause his voice to be heard in the remotest regions of the earth. Innovation has passed over the hitherto impenetrable threshold of Chinese isolation, to break up, and, perhaps, destroy — to model and mould the civilization, in the bulk, preserved in China — to polish the metal which has, as it were, been rust-eaten. THE REIGNING POWER. 13 CHAPTER III. THE REIGNING POWER — ITS POLICY AND PERILS. Tartar conquest, not Chinese submission. — The Emperors, late and living. — English knowledge of China proved. — Imperial troubles and increasing dislovalty. Tartar Conquest, not Chinese Submission. — Although the Tartar dynasty which now sways the destiny of China has been settled for two centuries, there are considerable tracts of the Empire yet unconquered. The succession of wars made waste the plains of the central nation, and a contest, which began in China about the same period that the Nor- man invasion took place in England, has not yet been wholly successful in attaining the end aimed at — the total subjection to one rule of that part of Asia comprised in China (general), Thibet and Tartary. Even within the compass of the Celes- tial Empire are hardy tribes who have never bent the knee to the regal representatives of the Mantchou Tartars. The victorious Timour has not all in China to cherish the perpetuated "glories" of the splendid horse-tamer. To the present day, many mountaineers deny, by practice, that they have " caught a Tartar." They have even dared to preserve a venerated sign of Chinese freedom, and wear the matted hair which distinguishes them from Tartarised- Chinese, who shave the top of the head, and gather the remaining locks into a long pigtail. This boldness is no slight token of the spirit which sleeps within these men, and may animate them yet to bolder signs of its presence. 14 TARTAR CONQUEST, Such trifling traits of a great national disposition — clinging to the hair — did not and dues not confine itself to China. It will not be forgotten, by readers of English history, what a great part the manner of dressing the hair played in the bloody rivalry subsisting between the sturdy Saxon and the usurping Norman. Hair has always been an emblem of honour. The Franks tore hair from the head, and presented it to the person they saluted. The slave cut his hair and offered it to his master. The Tartar, now as ever, esteems his pig- tail as a peculiar evidence of the spirit within him ; it is more than his dearest ornament — it is his palladium. He only loses it with honour, or when the headsman degrades him before an ignominious death. Many a true Chinaman has boldly set his life upon the hazard, rather than submit to what he deemed the discredit of wearing this badge of honour so coveted by his Tartar neighbours. There are instances on record of Chinamen suffering death sooner than have their heads shaven after the fashion of Tartars. It is not wonderful, in the face of incomplete conquest, that the ruling family of China finds itself frequently open to the miseries of national insurrection. Civil strife is ever at play in China. The spirit is abroad in that land which will ever keep alive the hope of freedom ; and, notwithstanding the formidable obstacles retained in national prejudices and stag- nant custom, the sun of liberty will sooner or later extinguish in its bright light the dim rays which now emanate from the despotism of the " great brother of the moon." People more intimate with the internal policy of China than its rulers suspect, assure us that there has long existed and now flourishes, even in that stolid empire, an active secret associa- tion of Carbonari, denominated the Triad society. Its declared object is the restoration of the native dynasty. Very often the oppressive acts of the government are made the means of fomenting revolt. A remarkable instance of this occurred in NOT CHINESE SUBMISSION. 15 1832, when a serious outbreak took place in the Island of Formosa. Not many years before that the empire, we are told on good authority, was disturbed by a great conspiracy which broke out in the province of Hi, at the head of which was a very determined officer, named Tchankor. This attempt took some time to repress ; it led to several battles between the rebels and the imperial troops, and much blood was shed on both sides before the chief conspirator was arrested. The day after this event, Tchankor was burned alive, and his ashes thrown into the river. One of the many things which tend to illustrate the yet imperfect nature of the Tartar conquest, may be gathered from the distrust which the emperors have of natives serving in the imperial army. The standing force, or regular army, is generally computed at about 100,000 men. Of these the immense majority are Tartars; and a Tartar, as such, is paid better than a mere Chinaman. How far this odd practice helps the Chinese to place confidence in the ruling powers we cannot guess. The militia are natives, and muster about 800,000 strong. But this force is perfectly ineffective, and has been purposely kept in a state of inactivity. There does not seem to be much "good policy" either in this fact or in the one that Tartars do all they can to preserve their native customs, and to decry the habits of the nation. Of course this excites and centres an increased attachment in the descendants of the ancient dynasty, who still exist in comparative obscurity. Thus, then, it is manifest that there has yet been no judicious amalgamation of the conqueror and the conquered. In the absence of this essential fusion there is hardly any guarantee for the stability of the present dynasty. The jealousy which has long lingered — the antipathy of race which has long been bitterly fondled — finds its vent in the present rebellion, and we are satisfied it will not stay its course until the triumph is complete, and the inamalgamable conquerors become the conquered. The cloud long gathering 16 THE EMrEROES, LATE AND LIVING. in the centre of China has burst, and the lightning shoots its vanquishing flashes into all the empire. From what we have intimated, as to the long existence of national dissatisfaction, it must be seen that the revolution of Tae-fing wang (the formidable rebel), however much it may at first astonish one, is not more than might have been expected. The Emperors, late and living. — The present emperor of China has only been a brief period in the occupancy of his perilous post. He is described as a brave, bad man. His predecessor had the latter quality without any great admix- ture of the former. Tao-Kwang, after reigning thirty years, died at Pekin, on the 25th of February, 1850. Here are the strange terms in which this event was communicated to the British consul : — " I have the honour to inform you that I have just received from the capital news of his majesty's departure on his great journey, mounted on the big dragon which is to carry him to Heaven, there to become one of the guests of the celestial abode, and consequently that the heir-presumptive has ascended the throne. I write these to inform you of these events, and I wish you at the same time all health and hap- piness from day to day." Of this defunct emperor little noteworthy has come down to us. But he is depicted as a sad miser. On the word of an able writer, we have it that he could never be got to put his hands in his own pocket to pay his expenses; and, among other similar eccentricities, he used to confer the repairing of his palaces, as a special mark of his regard, on some favoured courtier! Inundations, accordingly, and such-like costly disasters, grieved him exceedingly ; so that he adopted the notable plan (but not very original one, either in China or in Europe) of raising money by sales of rank. It is a pitiable state he holds — that great " brother of the moon." Danger is at all sides of him, and his is no heart to THE EMPEKORS, LATE AND LIVING. 17 resist its inroads. Public writers assure us that a deficiency of the circulating medium, a bad season, an inundation, an epi- demic, and suchlike miseries, are ever turning up to disturb his peace of mind, and literally lt set him to his prayers." "We are here parenthetically reminded that old Taou-kwang, the late emperor, was quite a pattern in this respect. " He was absent on no festive occasion," says Dr. Gutzlaff, and in China festive and religious are synonymous adjectives ; " and especially when threatened calamities seemed to be near at hand, he was very careful in the performance of his duties. If no rain had fallen for many months, he might be seen in sackcloth, like a common penitent, approaching the idols, imploring them to look down upon the nation for whom he interceded. He went through the regular fastings and pre- parations ; and not to be behind, he often appeared at the altar to perform the duties of a high-priest." It has been well observed, that though one may smile at these things, it is a lesson even for Christians of all degrees, to see a heathen potentate overwhelmed in cares, and burdened with the turmoil of a constant and all-important occupation, yet always finding time and heart for those rites and austerities by which he hopes to please heaven and benefit his people. The monarchy was, at first, elective; and the sovereign was generally chosen because of the possession of some quality by which he might be enabled to contribute to the well-being of the people. But in process of time, in proportion as the empire extended, this practice was changed ; although it was long before the principle of hereditary right was so completely established as to cause the son, in " a quiet and natural man- ner," to succeed to the kingdom. If the minister was reputed wise and prudent, he was often preferred; and the practice con- tinued for a long time to be regulated by a mixed principle, partly hereditary and partly elective, which seemed not ill calculated for inspiring the people with a respect for the office, c 18 TIIE EEIGNING POWEK : rather than the person, of the king, and the sovereign with a due regard for the welfare and the wishes of the people. The list of Chinese emperors, of the present dynasty, who have reigned for the last two centuries, is thus given by Haydn, in his " Dates :" — Chwang-lei ....•• 1627 Shun-che 1644 Kang-he ....... 1669 Yung-ching ....... 1693 Keen-lung . ... . 1736 Kea-ding ... .... 1796 Taou-Kwang ...... 182] Sze-hing, or Yih-chu, the present emperor of China Feb. 25, 1850 The ruling sovereign is by no means a popular man, and it will take more sagacity and vigour than he seems master of, to retain the position which is assailed from all parts of his empire, and many parts outside the empire. English knowledge of China proved. — Europeans know really little reliable of the habits and customs, the manners and etiquette, which prevail in the Imperial Court. Indeed the little that even the best informed amongst us seem to know, has been amusingly enough shown in the "blunder" made at the inauguration of the Crystal Palace Exhibition, in Hyde Park, six years ago. A real China " gentleman" was a rarity, and the sparse information we possessed on the external or other attributes of Chinese respectability, was no safe guide in the selection of a specimen of this rarity. It was not, then, much to be wondered at that immense attentions pursued a certain Chinaman who happened to figure in the throng at the opening of the Crystal Palace, in 1851. A magazine writer of the day, vastly amused at the "cause" and the " effect," " poked fun " at both. He asked if any one could tell the style or title of this Celestial cynosure of all ENGLISH KNOWLEDGE OF CHINA. 19 eyes ? And to this general query rapidly attached others more particular : " Was he a Mandarin of the red button or of the blue ? How many little packets of ginseng had he been complimented with by the old Emperor ? Or had he ever been permitted the rare distinction of riding on horseback within the precincts of the Imperial palace ? Finally, had he ever been presented with a three- eyed peacock's feather, that ne plus ultra of Celestial celebrity, or with a pavonian feather with any eyes at all ?" !Nbt he ! — he was no other than a coolie or artisan, who had been playing the part of a Mandarin on board the Chinese junk in the Thames — or, as some of the newspapers styled it, the " Imperial junk Keying" — and who, like a pig in rich trappings, had impudently thrust himself upon the elite of nations assembled within the fairy-like walls of the Crystal Palace ! The novelty of the sight, says the magazinist, "his droll deportment and bizarre costume, naturally enough excited the liveliest interest of the general audience; but sundry effronteries were perpetrated by him for which any less celestial visitor would have been put in the stocks, and an amount of gullibility displayed by the London journals for which we did not give them credit." It was provoking enough to see so venerable and illustrious a personage as the " Great Duke" duped by this impudent Chinese, and that even around the Queen of England there was no one sufficiently informed to save her from being imposed upon ; but it was supremely absurd and inexcusable on the part of the first- class newspapers to speak, and that editorially, of " the Mandarin Heshing," " the Chinese gentleman in full native costume," "his Excellency the Mandarin," " the Chinese Commissioner, attended by his Secretary," "the Illustrious Foreigner," the "Representative of the vast empire of China," and suchlike grandiloquent and hypothetical titles. And yet we find one of these same lead- ing morning papers commencing its notice of the Chinese 20 THE REIGNING POWER I department of the Exhibition with the self-satisfied assurance that " with no foreign country are the English more familiar than with China !" Then all we can say is, that if this be so, our knowledge of foreign nations is not worth the trouble of retaining. Imperial troubles and increasing disloyalty. — To pass from what may be deemed the mere puerilities of court or custom, we come again to the troubles which environ the throne of the " most peaceful court in the most peaceful nation on earth." This reputation, like most things in China, is a sham. It is an erroneous impression that which is abroad relative to do- mestic harmony in China. Travellers all agree it is difficult to guess the consequence of the rebellion which seeks to hurl the reigning emperor from his throne ; and when we recollect how little is after all really known of this shut-out empire, the difficulty becomes an impossibility. We can, however, speculate. The Triad chiefs may succeed ; and if, as the Times supposes, there be no real native emperor after all to be pro- duced, their victory may be but the commencement of a long and bloody series of intestine wars. The wild beasts may run down their prey, then fight over the carcase. There is no doubt that the vast band of foreign officials spread over the country have oppressed it in their efforts to pay themselves their own salaries. The government has been long pressed for means, and dare not impose fresh taxation. Even if they repulse the first onset of these mountaineers, they will want funds to raise fresh defences. The Chinese have long had a proverb which well expresses the graduated scale of officers that devour one another by mutual extortion: " The great fishes eat the small, the small eat the shrimps, and the shrimps eat the mud." Better rendered by our own Hudibras : — " E'en fleas have little fleas to bite 'em ; So fleas bite fleas ad infinitum." The excessive care with which Pekin has always been ITS TOLICY AND TEEILS. 21 guarded, shows the jealousy of the Tartars towards the native race. In 1813 only, some rebels entered the imperial palace, and were killed by the emperor's son and nephew, with the timely assistance of the guard. We are right in placing a bel- licose, though not a brave spirit, to the credit of the native population. There are frequent collisions and bursts of rebellion. When these ebullitions of discontent occur they are carried on with determination, for the dread of the cruel consequences of defeat urges on the mob to such excesses as make them savage. They have often broiled their magistrates over slow fires. If vanquished, an equally fearful doom awaited themselves. The political administration of China, resembling the centralized bureaucracy of France, has similar safe-guards, weak points, and general consequences for the ruling power. Thus, whoever holds Paris rules France, so whoever holds Pekin is master of China. The discontent of the masses there, when it threatens to seize upon the mob of the imperial city, or the classes danger euses adjoining, places the sovereign and his ministers in desperate peril. This is one of the troubles he most dreads, and has most reason to shrink from. "Everybody who has travelled'in China," says Mr. Fortune,* " knows that, wherever the natives are enterprising and bold, they set the government at defiance, whenever it suits their purpose to do so. For example, what can the government do, if the natives on the coast of Fokien — a bold and lawless race — choose to disobey its orders ? Positively nothing. Even farther north, where the Mandarins are more powerful — in Shanghae, for example — the Chinchew men, as they are called, often fight pitched battles, with firearms, in the streets and in the open day ; and the Mandarins, with all their soldiers at their backs, dare not interfere. The belligerents are allowed to fight as long and as fiercely as they choose, and the soldiers never interfere ; but when the weakest side is * " Three Years' Wanderings in China." 22 THE RKIGNING POWER'. overpowered, and probably a number of lives lost in the affray, they come down in great force, and seize and carry off to punishment the most defenceless ; and, in circumstances of this kind, they are not over-particular about seizing the most riotous, or those most implicated in the disturbances, provided those they seize are the weakest and least able to resist." Since the war with England, popular emeutes have become more dangerous. There is now no general confidence in the invincibility of Chinese arms, and no general scorn for the pretentious " outer barbarians." The effect of this new feeling has not been to relieve the weak emperor of his thickening troubles, but rather to render his position more perilous. It does not answer to manifest a yielding disposition in all cases of emergency ; yet this is a policy so characteristic of Chinese officials, that firmness is never expected from them in their dealings with the populace. To show how such matters operate, Dr. Gutzlaff instances a case of a " prefect having beaten an innocent man in the streets ; the sufferer appealed to his fellow- citizens, collected a crowd of more than ten thousand, and proceeded directly to the establishment of the obnoxious Mandarin, which was burnt down, and razed to the ground ; a declaration being made, that in such a manner would the sovereign people avenge themselves. The military were called out, but would not attack the people ; and the government, utterly powerless, had to overlook the insult. . . . Similar scenes of outrage and popular re- venge occurred in many parts of China, and the ascendancy of the populace daily increased. Men of the worst character, gifted with a glib tongue, put themselves at the head of the movement, and did incalculable mischief. The Mandarins were often obliged to buy off these demagogues, and to make their peace by very large and important concessions. Thus the whole state of society underwent a change, such as had never been anticipated. The people armed themselves, and ITS POLICY AND PERILS. ' 23 paraded in large masses, ostensibly for the purpose of ex- terminating the robbers, but in reality to terrify the Manda- rins." It may well be asked, if this is somnolent China ? this the peaceful region of the stolid war-hating Celestials ? It augurs ill for the security of the emperor or the stagnancy of the customs he is the centre of. But further, since the gold discoveries in California the working population of China has been diminished by thou- sands ; and not the least significant wonder of the age we live in is the emigration of that people in such large numbers, and for such a purpose. In California, as exiles, the " celestials" took up a new spirit, and daily fed and fostered it, until they at length tore themselves from embarrassing habits, and im- parted this spirit to those at home, who also learned to love the new principles. However, until the Chinese had in vast numbers fled from starvation at home, and commingled with even that bad specimen of civilization congregated about the gold fields abroad, they imbibed no detestation for the ridiculous customs, and worse than ridiculous religion, which held the entire nation' in unresisting servitude — in painful thraldom. Tempted by accounts from those already gone, month after month fresh accessions from the famishing, over- crowded population joined their adventurous friends, and in turn sent home inducements, until the monarch began to cry, " Stop !" It was too late. Enough had gone to give im- petus to the dissensions long smouldering at home. Enough had fled to slacken the tenacious tie which united the people with habits engendered from generation to generation. Echo- ing the independence proclaimed abroad, and cheered by the countenance and well- wishes of the exiles, and, better still, by their substantial sympathy, the insurgents at home have established the flame of rebellion. Verily the troubles of the reigning dynasty are many and mighty. 24 THE ARMY AND NAVY : CHAPTER IV. THE ARMY AND NAVY "PROPER AND COMMON." Strength, Distinction, Equipments, and Constitution of the Army. — The Ships of China. — Celestial naval prospects. Strength, Distinction, and Equipments. — Were we to take the army of China as its officers represent it, there would seem to be no army in the world so powerful. But as everything pro- perly belonging to this extraordinary nation passes through a magnifying process, which can transform without difficulty the least into the greatest — a dozen of ill-armed, ill-clad civilians into a regiment of well-equipped soldiers — the great army of China is greatest on paper. All things are nominally vast in China, while travellers fail to discover anything intrin- sically great. Although it is possible that the numerical strength of the Chinese army may exceed 100,000 men, leaving nearly ten times that number for the militia service, still the actual strength of the Imperial military force is nothing like so great as these figures denote. According to some writers, the Chinese coolie can lift and carry a heavier weight than a British soldier, and is often larger than our Lifeguardsmen ; and the Tartar, from his northern birth and education, is stronger still, though not of such large build. But the discipline is wanting. Tartars make up the immense majority in all divisions of the army ; and, however naturally given to soldiering, there is nothing in their military associa- tions calculated to foster and develope a war like boldness or DISTINCTION AND EQUIPMENTS. 25 a true martial spirit. The warriors of China have come to be looked down upon by the inhabitants. Their social position is lost, and they are snubbed as an inferior class. The effect of this feeling naturally telis to the discredit of the military service ; and here, without inquiring for other causes, is a reason to account for a degenerate set of fellows forming the bulk of the Chinese army. Pusillanimity, more than honour, is the distinguishing mark of those who fight at the bidding of the " great emperor of earth." Really faint-hearted men are proverbially cruel, hence the Chinese soldiers are not partial to clemency. They are savage in their revenge, and rapacious and unrelenting wherever victory shines upon their arms. The regular army of the emperor is, however, less open to these charges than is the militia ; the latter follow the profession of arms simply to please themselves. The trouble of joining is little ; the toil afterwards insignificant, and the responsibility a mere trifle. Peace is a blessing they all eagerly covet, and, attending to their agricultural pursuits, the vast majority of the peasants " lend a deaf ear" to the calls of patriotism on the one side, or loyalty on the other. When, however, they are driven, as sometimes happens, to take up the weapons of war, they go with a most becoming reluctance, and do credit in the field to the hesitation they evinced at the outset. We have seen descriptions in public prints, from which we find that a Chinese barracks is always a conspicuous object. " In front of a low, white-walled house, surmounted with dragon roofs, stand two poles, bearing the banners of the Mandarin in command. A red ball, surmounting a half- moon, is painted between every two window's, of which there are generally three on each side of the door. To the left of the building in front is a look-out station, like a sentry-box on stilts ; and to the left of that again are three small chim- neys lor watch fires. Besides making a military station, these 26 THE ARMY AND NAVY ! chimneys are in line, at visible distances from each other along the whole length of the coast, for the purpose of conveying intelligence of an attack." The information we have been able to collect on the state of the Chinese army is principally derived from an excellent work by Mr. Davis. Beginning with the manner of enlist- ment, we have a fair insight into a very curious custom. The way in which these matters are conducted in China is, how- ever, not very dissimilar from the practice usually prevalent in all the nations adjoining the Celestial Empire. Thus : Booths of a perfectly unique description being erected in the square in front of some public edifice, the Kwang-Choo-Eoo and other officers of high rank repair thither on the day ap- pointed for the examination of volunteers. Before the tent of the Kwang-Choo-Foo the lictors preserve a large open space, into which the candidates for military life are introduced. Each candidate is required to lift a spar of about five feet in length, with a circular or wheel-shaped piece of granite at each end, the combined weight of which is said to be about a hundred catties. This has to be taken off the ground with both hands, and elevated above the head till the arms are held straight. At a table stands a man armed with a large piece of chalk about two catties in weight. As those under trial advance, it is this man's duty to seize them by the wrist, and to rub the balls of the thumbs and fingers of both hands with chalk. After a long rubbing, he hands the new-made soldiers over, one by one, to a man who places their name in a registry- book. The Tartars muster under eight banners : yellow with border, yellow without, white with, red with, white without, red without, blue with, and blue without borders. The Tar- tar and the Chinese Generals in the different provinces are independent of each other, and have fixed official residences. A Tartar cannot command Chinese, nor a Chinese Tartar troops. " Their numbers," says a historian, "it would be DISTINCTION AND EQUIPMENTS. 27 impossible to arrive at ; but, as every tenth male capable of bearing arms is drawn by lot to serve, the force must be pro- digious. The Chinese work at their several trades, and some of them hold land ; but the Tartars are soldiers by profession. The pay of a common soldier is a mace (fourpence) a day. The military Mandarins wear chain armour and helmets, pre- sented to them by the Emperor on their arriving at that rank ; and, in common with all other Mandarins, are entitled to wear the Joe — an emblem of rank and office. Its use is to rest the arms upon when sitting." The odious distinction made between the regular Tartar troops, or the great war tiger tribe, and the real Chinese or militiamen, is in nothing more observable than in the costume. His favourite Tartars wear quilted woollen garments, dyed in royal colours. Their yellow togas are studded with metal buttons, and striped with black to illustrate the tigerine affinity between the wearer and the animal whose "heart" his valour is supposed to emulate. But, lest the intended idea should be insufficiently expressed by reference to the tiger's hide in the stripes of the toga, ears are appended to their caps, and the climax of the illustration is thereon fastened. "We are told that these caps are formed of split bamboo, " so com- pactly interwoven as to be capable of resisting a violent blow." The shield is of the same material and workmanship, and has generally the head or entire image of some monster painted on it, " to terrify the foe." The cavalry have an iron helmet, terminating in the shape of an inverted funnel, from the top of which a bunch of horse-hair depends, to which is added a ball in the case of officers. Many of the soldiers have inscribed on their breasts, in Chinese characters, on a round red badge, the word " yoong," valour ; " which," says Mr. Davis, " might be all very well ; but when the same individuals turn round, and display the identical word inscribed on their backs, the position seems particularly unsuitable, unless, indeed, in the sense of Hudibras." 28 THE ARMY AND NAVY I The care manifested in regard to the Tartar soldiers of China does not reach the real Chinese. Their dress is of a coarser sort and more careless construction. Little attention is paid to its " trim/' and no concern shown for its quality. Anything seems to the authorities to be good enough for those poor wretches, and anyhow it is pitched over them answers the purpose. They usually wear a large- sleeved blue jacket, hemmed up with white or red, or any colour given to their regiment by the caprice of officials. According to the authority we have now before us, the jackets are thickly padded with cotton, " the inside of the breast being closely inlaid with thin scales of iron, rendering that part of the dress perfectly ball- proof." Beneath this is a long, clumsy petticoat of coarse nankeen. The head is protected by a conical cap of bamboo, or sometimes of cloth or silk. This dress, and the thick-soled shoe or boot, impart a specially inactive and non-military appearance. For state occasions, however, superior soldiers have magnificent embroidered petticoats and satin boots, of the description to be seen any time during Easter at any estab- lishment where the entertainment is really got up " regardless of expense." These dresses are always carefully labelled, and locked up in the arsenals until again called for. An illustrated paper — we do not now remember whether the Times or the News, nor do we know upon what particular authority — gives an account of the Chinese implements of war, from which we learn that the weapons, offensive and defensive, of the Chinese army, "are as contemptible as their uniform is unwieldy, and are unworthy of so ingenious a people. They number iron cannons, matchlocks, spears, and shields among their principal arms, but they are all of the most wretched description." But it is confidently contended that, not on sword, spear, or shield, however, does the Tartar soldier place his reliance in war, but on his beloved bow — " that weapon to which he has been accustomed from childhood. The bow DISTINCTION AND EQUIPMENTS. 29 is remarkably neat in construction, and in shape similar to those of India. It is made of an elastic wood, cased in horn, and having a string of silken thread, strongly twisted. The arrows (of which each soldier has about a dozen in a quiver behind him) are straight, well-finished, and armed at the points with a shank or spear of steel." The sword consists of two blades and handles in one scabbard, so fitted together that when drawn out it is one or two weapons, to be used in one or both hands, according to the will of the wearer, who is usually very expert with it in either way. In one of the edicts the soldiers were ordered to strike the blades together, and so make a noise that the barbarians would be terrified. "The target or shield of the Tartar troops is painted with some hideous device." Another authority, treating on this subject, thus expresses himself: — " The Chinese soldier labours under every disad- vantage. His arms are bad, the matchlock is of the rudest kind, and not brought up in a line with the eye as an English musket. The powder is of the coarsest brand, and loose. Each soldier, besides his cartouch-box, is provided with a measure, with which he loads his piece. The lances are of the roughest order, being simply a pike placed on the head of a piece of bamboo. The bow might have been considered a superior weapon of its kind in the early part of the Ta-tsing dynasty, but decidedly is not fitted for modern warfare." There is a curious anecdote, which falls in here with effect: — A Tartar general at Chusan, before the war, petitioned the Em- peror to abolish the use of bows and arrows, and substitute the matchlocks as a more efficient weapon. An edict appeared in the Pekin Gazette to the following effect: — "Ignorant fool that you are, know you not that for the last 200 years our army has been placed on the firmest basis of military power, and would you now that I should alter it ? Had a Chinese petitioned me, I should have treated his ignorance 30 THE ARMY AND NAVY I with the contempt it would have deserved. But for you, a Tartar, I order you to be degraded from your rank and ren- dered incapable of ever after redeeming it. f> In six months after Chusan fell, and the inutility of the bow and arrow was fully shown. So progress works in China. To complete a glance at the constitution of the army, we have merely to add, that the artillery of a regiment consists of some large matchlocks, supported on the shoulders of one man. Behind him stands the gunner, who, using his comrade as the gun carriage, turns him in every direction that suits his aim. The gun so borne and discharged from this human " stand" carries balls of about two pounds weight. There is little to applaud in the character of the royal artillery of China ; and, from the newspaper account before us, it is mani- fest that the ordnance department is not much better off. The brass pieces are from four and five to twenty pounders, while the iron guns range as high as sixty-eight. They are nearly all of the same shape. On the centre is the name of the foundry, city, province, and Governor- General. They are all fixtures in their huge carriages. The guns are usually painted black, with red stripes, and the carriages red. The powder is provided in a large box, coarse and clumsy. The Ships of China — Of the navy which upholds "the honour of China over the seas of the world," we can say little complimentary. They are not a seafaring people, and small sense is evinced in the conduct of their maritime affairs. The difference in their naval architecture surprises one who is apt to consider the Chinese a clever, cunning race. The favourite junks are huge, lubberly, and frail vessels, such as might have been in good European repute about the times of Caesar. Notwithstanding the cumbrous large build of these vessels, the Chinese are said to have used them for frequent voyages in their commercial intercourse with the Philippine, Molucca, and other islands of the Indian Archipelago ; also to THE SHirS OF CHINA. 31 Java, the Malay peninsula, and the coasts of Siam and Cochin China. In crossing the China seas, they always take advan- tage of the monsoons, as, from their bulk and light draught of water, they are ill calculated to make way against the wind ; but these same reasons operate in assisting their velocity with favourable winds. From the published accounts we gather that they are fre- quently 300 and 400 tons, and sometimes as much as 800. Their rigging is described as of the simplest kind, consisting of two or three large masts composed of a single piece of timber, much stouter in proportion than European masts, on which traverse large square sails, which are increased according to the size of the vessel, but in number never exceeding three. These sails are said to be of a reed or straw matting, with stout bamboos at intervals of two to two-and-a-half feet, extending horizontally along the surface ; and to either extremity of these bamboos are attached lines for the purpose of adjusting the sails to the wind ; and when it is desired to reef the sails, they are rolled up from the bottom by as many of these spaces as are thought necessary. The anchors are described as of the rudest construction, the material being always of wood weighted with immense stones lashed about, unprovided with a stock across to insure its falling on the ground so as to take hold, and it appears to be indebted for the performance of its office more to its vis inertia than to its mechanical con- struction. A writer on the naval affairs of China remarks, that, among other peculiarities, is the custom of painting a large eye on each side of the bow, the Chinese very pertinently asking, "How can ship see, suppose he no hab eye?'' Large junks generally carry two long oars projecting forward, having the appearance of the antennae in insects ; their purpose is to ac- celerate the evolution of turning the vessel round. The hold is divided into compartments by partitions of stout plank, the 32 THE ARMY AND NAVY : seams being caulked with a cement of lime and oil, which becomes exceedingly hard when dry, each compartment thus becoming an independent vessel, which might be filled with water without damage to the cargo in the rest. The compass is shut up in a small bowl with a quantity of sand in its bot- tom, in which are stuck perfumed matches when an offering is intended to be made to the u Deity of the Sea." They generally embark in great numbers, and all the crew appear to take an equal interest and share in the conducting of the vessel ; they do not receive a fixed salary, but have a portion of the profit accruing from the voyage or service performed. All their fluids, water, spirits, &c, are contained in jars, and their solids are packed in cases or pail-shaped tubs — the Chi- nese never putting a second head into a cask ; whether this arises from ignorance or obstinacy, " it is certain that a cask closed at both ends is never seen in China." Celestial Naval Prosperity. — Judging from the details which the Illustrated News has recently collected as to the progress of ship-building in China, it is manifest that now, in the place of the deep-waisted craft of former times, they have vessels in which this peculiarity is modified, and in some vessels dis- pensed with. In the lorchas, snake-boats, smuggling craft, pirate junks, and other boats peculiar to the China Seas, the lines of the vessel are described as being of the most beautiful character, and they exhibit the greatest speed in all their movements and performances. The armament of war -junks, twenty years ago, consisted principally of matchlocks, mounted on the rails of the bulwarks ; at the present time, the junks of the first class carry guns between decks, like our frigates, and of a calibre that has astonished the officers of H.M. ships now in their waters ; many of the guns taken being larger in bore and weight of metal than any we manufacture in this country. Great improvements have also taken place in the material of their sails, and in the general handling of their THE NAVAL FACILITIES. 33 vessels. But no step in the way of improvement can tempt the Chinese to abandon the indispensable " ship's eye." It is the general opinion of travellers that the people of China have peculiar facilities of attaining greatness as sailors. Hue, the best and most trustworthy of all Chinese travellers, is satisfied that China would present inexhaustible resources for a navy. Without speaking of the vast extent of her coasts, along which the numerous population pass the greater part of their lives on the sea, the great rivers and immense lakes in the interior, always covered with fishing and trading junks, might furnish multitudes of men, habituated from their infancy to navigation — nimble, experienced, and capable of becoming excellent sailors for long expeditions. The officers of our ships of war that have visited the Chinese seas have often been astonished to meet, far away from any coast, their fishermen braving the tempests, and guiding their miserable vessels in safety over enormous waves that threatened every moment to swallow them. The Chinese would, it is but fair to suppose, very soon be able to build vessels on the model of those of Europe, and a few years would enable them to put to sea with such a fleet as has never been seen. Hue has expressed odd but not impracticable views on the vast and almost incredible benefits which such an armv and navy as China is capable of contributing to its nation's interest, did circumstances favour its organization. Perhaps, indeed, the reader will think the notion of this immense army, descending from the high tableland of Asia, these innumerable Chinese vessels ploughing all seas, and coming even to block- ade our ports, an exceedingly fantastic one, far from likely to be realised. But it may be fairly contended that when you become thoroughly acquainted with this empire of 300,000,000 of inhabitants, when you know what are the resources in soil and population of these rich and fertile countries, you cannot D 34 THE ARMY AND NAVY. but ask, what should prevent such a nation from exercising great influence over the affairs of the human race ? What it most wants, in such a case, is a man of genius, capable of assimilating the power and vitality of this nation, more populous than all Europe, and which counts more than thirty centuries of civilisation. We think that Chinese military maxims are frequently noble, and worthy of a more chivalrous people. As an example, here is one : — " The army may be one hundred years unemployed, but not a single day unpre- pared." Their articles of war and some of their military laws are such as, if judiciously enforced, ought to ensure a formidable army. But neither they who, in such cases, preach are equal to the practice of what they desire to incul- cate, nor able to enforce the sentiment, so as to make it serviceable for the end proposed. RELIGION IN CHINA. 35 CHAPTER V. RELIGION IN CHINA. The three prevailing systems. — Value of the popular helief. — Who was the first Chinaman? — The Pagan Parson. — Prospects of Christian progress. — A hint as to Kussian influence. The three prevailing systems. — In the festive amenities of our own advanced civilization, the " sovereign/' and the "army and navy," usually take precedence of the church. It is not always so, nor in all European countries ; but it is often so in this favoured "land we live in." Knowing this, we can with so much the better grace turn from the topics just discussed to matters of religion. The state superintends the national " faith," and the Emperor, of course, considers himself its head. He is the chief actor in all the grand ceremonies, and comports himself as the all-in-all of the religion he repre- sents. The public have no need to contribute for an expen- sive hierarchy, as the Confucian, or state system, requires no other vested Head than the sovereign. The principles of Confucius- are more philosophical than theological, and confine themselves to considerations affecting the relationship of man to man,, without reference to the relationship between God and man. It is admitted; by a majority of writers that, with a few exceptions, toleration has been, a, long received tenet in China. They have,, we are- assured, at various times received the gods of friendly or of conquered countries with as great readiness as the Romans^ Of their three religions, Buddhism is derived 36 RELIGION IN CHINA. from India, and Confucianism and Taonism are of compara- tively recent birth. Of their primeval faith we have no re- cord. It probably lingers unnoticed among the innumerable deities the toleration of Confucius permitted. Davis, in his treatise on this subject, observes, that it is a common argu- ment of the Confucians that the doctrine of Fo unfits men for life, and, by leading their minds constantly to think of a fu- ture state, leads many to anticipate the slow brevet by suicide. If they are less basely superstitious than the priests of Thibet, they are far less religious. If they don't grind prayers in a machine, they believe in charms and evil omens. Although Buddhism receives respect from the emperor in the person of the Lama, Confucianism is really the religion of the state. This species of sceptical moral philosophy is connected with a worship of the elements and of departed beings ; the one Supreme Being, if believed in, as is supposed, being quite lost sight of in the deification of his various attributes. Confu- cius is supposed to have been born about 550 b.c, a date which makes him contemporary with Pythagoras. Full of human sense and sound morality, the writings of Confucius pre- sent little which betokens extraordinary genius. About a century after Confucius came Mencius, whose works abound with maxims adapted for an enlightened and tolerant des- potism. He is rich in axioms like these : — H There are three things to beware of in life— in youth of appetites, in middle age of your passions, in old age of covetousness." " If a man searches within, and finds nought wrong, need he have either sorrow or fear ?" "To be known at home and abroad is mere notoriety. True renown consists in straightforward and honest sincerity, love of justice, and humility." He did not believe in the innate corruption of man ; and as Voltaire says, the heart never grows old, but becomes sad at living in a ruin, — so, this philosopher says, we are ruined by example forget the beautiful and the true, and become soiled with the PREVAILING SYSTEMS. 37 " dust of the world." The date of the establishment of Budd- hism is difficult to discover, and may be classed with such hopeless things as the age of the Pyramids, &c. The Brah- min places the advent of the reformer Buddh as early as 1,000 15. c., which may not unreasonably be brought down at a priestly discount to 100 B.C. He preached against the human sacrifices of Siva, and the voluptuous rites of Vishnu. A dreadful per- secution soon began, and, about 600 a.d., the sect were driven to two provinces, where they lingered till a few centuries ago. Buddhist temples are to be found scattered over India, and it is still the dominant religion of Ceylon, where the tooth of Buddh is shown, and a footprint on a mountain-top is at- tributed by Buddhists to the man- god — by the Mohammedans, to Adam. It was about 65 a.d., during the reign of Ming-ty of the Kan dynasty, that, in accordance with a prophecy of Confucius, ambassadors were sent to India in search of a saint, who was then to arise. The Hindoo's expectation of another incarnation of Yishnu, and the visit of the magi to Palestine, shows how universal was the tradition that promised the coming of a Messiah. The ambassadors went to India, and brought back the writings of Buddh. The Chinese agreed with the Hindoos in asserting Buddh to have been a king driven from his throne on account of his religion. Value of the popular belief. — We take it to be very fair to test the real value of the Confucian system by the effect which it produces on the character of all the great officers of state, who must be thoroughly conversant with its principles. Mr Martin says — "As to virtue, public or private, in a manda- rin, it may be sought for in vain. However writers and visi- tors to China differ in their descriptions of the country, all agree in one point, viz., that the mandarins are mean, corrupt, unjust, insincere, proud and assuming." Now, it is only just to infer, that as these are " the sages" of the empire, the in- fluence of Confucian principles is not worth very much. 38 RKXIGION IN CHINA. Bishop Heber discovered an Egyptian element in Budd- hism : figures of crocodiles twine round Buddh in his temple near Columbo. If Buddh was an Egyptian, it would account for the Chinese veneration for the lotus, and, perhaps, for the monkey and lotus worship of India, although the an- cient pyramid-temples of Hindostan would point to a far earlier connexion — Buddhism being Indian in its very es- sence, Confucianism and Taouism mere amalgams of pa- ganism, philosophy, and state policy. Of those great truths found imbedded in other false religions, and which have been the very soul of life to them, few are to be met with in China. They have, indeed, traditions of the Trinity and of the Deluge, and Buddhist books abound in beautiful descriptions of a future state, and of eternal glory all in shadow. Europeans are never edified upon paying a visit to a " re- ligious temple " in China. An author we have just been reading declares, in warm language, his disgust of the proceed- ings of this most incomprehensible people while they pretend to worship. He found that, instead of the gravity and de- corum which might have been looked for in a temple, the demeanour of the visitors was noisy, clamorous, and playful. They were at one moment prostrate before the idols, and at another engaged in some frolic, or singing an idle song. One man, named as an example, coolly lighted his cigar at an incense rod which a devotee had just placed as an offering before one of the idols; and another deliberately sat down before an image and played a meny air on a flageolet, while many were en- gaged at the same shrine in performing their devotions. The dilatory disposition of the devotees is carefully consulted by the adoption of an expeditious mode of praying. It is thus described by a catholic missionary: — "Kurde designates a chest with many angles, which turns on an axis, and which is placed in the temples of Boudha. These chests are a sort of prayer- books for those who cannot read ; the sides are covered with THE POPULAR BELIEF. 39 prayers, both in the Tibetan and Mongol languages, in large gold letters ; they also put into the chest prayers in both lan- guages, that the worshippers coming to the temple, kneeling before the kurde, and repeating their ' Om ma ni bat me kom/ may turn it round as long as their zeal prompts them, which is considered to be as efficacious as if they recited the prayer themselves. On one occasion I saw a lama who carried a small chest of this kind ; he turned it so rapidly, and at the same time recited his prayers with so much volubility, that his mind seemed to be very little interested in what he was doing." "We believe that there can be no question as to the religion of the lower, orders being principally Buddhism, the leading doctrine of which is, " that all things originated in nothing and will return to nothing ; annihilation is the summit of bliss, and nonentity the future anticipation of all its followers." The priests are held in great respect by their adherents, but are looked upon with great contempt by the Chinese literati. They are wretchedly poor and degraded. The sect of Taou would seem to constitute the puritans of China. The founder of this sect was Laou-tan or Laoutze, contemporary with Con- fucius. There is some approach in the tenets of this sect to the spiritual doctrines of Christianity, inasmuch as they recog- nize an incarnation — that of pure reason. "It is a curious fact," says M. Hue, in his recent work on the Chinese Empire, "that the greater part of those social theories which have lately thrown the public mind of France into a ferment, and which are represented as the sublime re- sults of the progress of human reason, are but exploded Chinese Utopias, which agitated the Celestial Empire cen- turies ago." Thus the socialism which obtains a lofty position in the scholastic sphere has had its origin and earliest patrons in China. But its operation amongst the Celestials does not favourably commend its acceptance to the nations of other 40 RELIGION IN CHINA. kingdoms. The effects of a despotic communism do not more delightfully show themselves in China than they do in France, the modern hot-bed of these theories. Who was the first Chinaman ? — The notions which the Chinese entertain as to the progenitor of our species are interest- ing. It appears that this tradition, like our Scriptural account, begins with a time when the earth was void and shapeless. Out of this sprang a dual power — rest and motion ; the former representing the female, and named Yin; the other representing the male, and named Yang. A competent writer in M House- hold "Words " tells us that of heaven and earth, of genii, of men, and of all creatures, animate and inanimate, Yin and Yang were the father and the mother. Furthermore, all these things are either male or female : there is nothing in Nature neuter. Whatever in the material world possesses, or is re- puted to possess, the quality of hardness (including heaven, the sun, and day) is masculine. Whatever is soft is feminine. Choofoots says on this subject, M The celestial principle formed the male ; the terrestrial principle formed the female." The Chinese have also a theory resembling one propounded by Pythagoras, concerning monads and duads. "One," they say, " begat two, two produced four, and four increased to eight; and thus, by spontaneous multiplication, the production of all things followed." As for the present system of things, it is the work of what they call " the triad powers, — Heaven, Man, and Earth." The following is translated from a Chinese Encyclopaedia, published about sixty years ago, — " Before heaven and earth existed, they were commingled as the con- tents of an egg-shell are." [In this egg-shell, heaven is likened to the yellow, the earth to the white of the egg.^\ " Or they were together, turbid and .muddy like thick dregs just beginning to settle. Or they were together like a thick fog on the point of breaking. Then was the beginning of time, when the original power created all things. Heaven and THE CHINESE ADAM AND PARSON. 41 eatib. are the effect of the First Cause. They in turn produced all other things besides." Another part of the tradition runs as follows: — "In the midst of this chaotic mass, Pwankoo lived during eighteen thousand years. He lived when the heaven and the earth were being created ; the superior and lighter elements forming the firmament, — the inferior and coarser the dry land." Again, u During this time the heavens increased every day ten feet in height, the earth as much in thickness, and Pwankoo in stature. The period of eighteen thousand years being assigned to the growth of each respectively, during that time the heavens rose to their extreme height, the earth reached the greatest thickness, and Pwankoo his utmost stature. The heavens rose aloft nine thousand miles, the earth swelled nine thousand miles in thickness, and in the middle was Pwankoo, stretching himself between heaven and earth, until he sepa- rated them at a distance of nine thousand miles from each other. So the highest part of the heavens is removed from the lowest part of the earth by a distance of twenty-seven thousand miles." The name of the Chinese Adam — Pwankoo — means " basin- ancient," that is, '* basined-antiquity." It is probably meant to denote how this father of antiquity was nourished originally in an egg-shell, and hatched like a chick. A Pagan Parson.— A. writer in " Household Words," who evidently witnessed all he describes, introduces us to a sketch of what he calls a "Chinese Parson." From his interesting paper we learn that, according to the Shooking, one of th < most ancient of the Chinese classics, it was, about four thou- sand years ago, a Chinese custom, each year, at the opening of spring, for a certain personage to deliver instructions to the people, travelling up and down the highways, and calling their attention thereto, by striking a wooden cylinder, or drum. The object of the drumming was to rouse the people, so that on the return of spring they might bestir themselves, 42 KELIGION IN CHINA. and go to work with all their wits about them. One or two thousand years later, under the Chow dynasty, part of the first day of every month was devoted to an expounding of the Chinese laws; but the custom grew into desuetude on the establishment, about two hundred years since, of the Tartar dynasty, now tumbling from the throne. The practice of public lecturing was revived, and is now in force twice a-month, at new and at full moon. Although in the provinces the preacher shirks his work, in the chief towns one may often have an opportunity of hearing him. 11 A few years ago," continues the writer, " I witnessed the ceremony in the city of Shanghai, on the first day of the new moon, in the grand hall of the city temple. Shortly after sunrise, the civil and military authorities of the place met in full dress at the public office of their chief official. At a given signal, the procession moved ; the officers in their sedans, servants on foot, every man placed according to his rank. The approach of the show towards the temple was announced by gongs and the shouts of runners calling on the public to keep silence and retire. A salvo of three popguns announced the arrival of the company at the gates of the great hall that had already been duly decorated for the occasion. After the officers had left their sedans, the master of ceremonies ordered them first to stand up, each in his own place, and then to kneel three times ; bowing their heads nine times, their bodies directed towards Pekin, the residence of the emperor, and before a small tablet that bore an inscription in honour of his long-lived majesty. They were next called upon to rise and retire into a small chamber ; where tea and refreshments were served. The spectators, having nothing more to see in this direction, gathered round a narrow platform, on which stood the public reader, with a desk and book before him. The crowd consisted of mere saunterers, a few fishmongers, and other people from the neighbourhood. When silence was CHRISTIAN PROGRESS. 43 obtained, the public instructor announced the maxim, or text, appointed for the day. It was selected from the book upon his desk — and he proceeded to explain its meaning. The service being concluded, the authorities moved off much in the same order in which they came, and the assembled multitude retired. The book from which the expounder gave out the lesson is the one universally used on these occasions, and the only one sanctioned by government for this especial purpose. It is named the ' Shing-yu,' a book sometimes known to foreigners as ' The Sacred Edict,' though more properly translated, The Book of Sage Maxims, or wise sayings. It is large, although not bulky — a manual in clear print. The ground-work consists of sixteen special apothegms, originally delivered in an edict by Kanghee, the second Tartar emperor, not long before his death. These sixteen texts bear upon the several duties of life, or what his Imperial Highness deemed the points most necessary to be punctually observed by his subjects." The principles embodied in the Sage Maxims of Kanghee, and in their commentaries or paraphrases, are, so far as they go, unexceptionable, being worthy of the dictates of common sense, and inferences from human experience and observation. To promote political morality, to get the taxes punctually paid, and to save trouble to the occupier of tne throne, was obviously the purpose of the Tartar maxims. The religion of the Chinese rarely takes a higher flight. Seldom does the Chinese preacher, never does the Chinese hearer, look beyond the world in which he lives. Prospects of Christian Progress. — It is enlivening to think that the doctrines of the Gospel are making great head- way against the dull faith which chains down China. St. Francis Xavier, a man whose deep devotion and undoubted piety have won the good-will of friend and foe, was the first to bear the true celestial bread to the obtuse Chinamen. He met with a cold reception, but without yielding to the harassing disap- 44 RELIGION IN CHINA. pointments on all sides tormenting him, he laboured to plant the " tree of life," and leave to others to water and nurture it. His extraordinary physical labours and mental anxiety bore him to an early grave, in 1552 ; he sank under the bur- then of his lot when in his 47th year. Since he paved the Way, many active missionary labourers have followed. Not the least amongst these ranks a man whose works on China have been of immense use in the compilation of this, as indeed they have been of every other work on China, issued since his missionary travels have been made known. A conversa- tion which M. Hue reported as having taken place between himself and an intelligent Chinese member of the literary order, illustrates very fully and pleasingly the difficulties attending the progress of the Christian faith in that part of the world. "In one of the principal towns of China," he says, "we were for some time in communication with a lettered Chinese, who appeared extremely well disposed to embrace Christianity. We had several conferences together, and we studied carefully the most important and difficult points of doctrine ; and, finally, by way of complement to our oral instruction, we read some of the best books. Our dear cate- chumen admitted, without any exception, everything we' advanced ; the only difficulty was, he said, the learning by heart the prayers that every good Christian ought to know, in order to say them morning and evening. As he seemed, nevertheless, to desire putting off to some indefinite period the moment in which he should declare himself a Christian, every time he came to see us we urged him to do so, and made the most earnest representation of the duty of following the truth, now that he knew where it lay. ' By and by,' said he ; ' all in good time. One should never be precipitate/ One day, however, he spoke out a little more. • Come/ said he, ' let us speak to-day only words conformable to reason. It is not good to be too enthusiastic. No doubt, the RELIGION IN CHINA. 45 Christian religion is beautiful and sublime ; its doctrine ex- plains, with method and clearness, all that is necessary for man to know. Now, just consider — we have a body ; how many cares it demands ! Its infirmities are great, and its maladies numerous. This body that we see, that we touch, must be taken care of every day, and every moment of the day. Now, is not this enough, without troubling ourselves about a soul that we never do see ? The life of man is short and full of misery. Our hearts and our minds are scarcely sufficient for the solicitudes of the present life : is it wise, then, to torment one's self about the future one ?' " The good missionary, Hue, could only urge, that inasmuch as men's bodies are frail and perishable, it seemed conformable to reason that they should concern themselves about their souls, which are immortal ; that the present life being a tissue of cares and dark anxieties, it was all the more rational to think of and prepare for that future life which will have no end. But he failed to convince the learned doctor of the possibility of providing for " two lives at the same time." Nevertheless great progress has been silently made, and continues to be so made, in the missionary field. The Catholics claim to have a native population of 400,000 ; and in order the better to augment these numbers, the Chinese language is carefully studied at the Propaganda College, where native Chinese are educated as Catholic priests. A hint as to Russian influence. — In referring to the labours of Christian missions, or reflecting on the prospect of Christian progress, we have to call to our mind a fact which has pressing suggestions of its own. This it is : — Russia has had a church at Pekin for a century and a quarter, with resident priests, assistants, &c; and this small colony is generally renewed every tenth year. The last mission* left Petersburgh in 1819, * Composed of an archimandrite, five other ecclesiastics, and four young men of from 22 to 27 years of age. 46 RELIGION IN CHINA. to relieve its precursor, which had been at Pekin since 1808: it arrived at Irkoutsk in February 1820 ; and after meeting the Chinese functionaries, Mongol troops, guides, interpreters, &c, ordered to attend it, it crossed the frontier at Kiakhta on the 31st of August, and took the route for Pekin. This route it is unnecessary for us to follow : suffice it to say, that it ran from nearly 51° to 40° latitude, in about a S.S.E. direction ; first across a mountainous region, next over sandy deserts, and finally over a district diversified by hill, water, and cultivation, towards the end of the journey. We have intimated that this fact has present suggestions which may bear upon no remote consequences. Let us throw a little more light upon the insinuation. There is a town called Kiakhta which marks the frontiers of the two empires. Prom the description before us we perceive that it is divided into two parts: to the north are the Russian factories, to the south the Tartaro- Chinese station; and the intermediate space be- longs, properly speaking, to neither power, but is reserved for commercial affairs. The Russians are not allowed to pass to the Tartar territory, nor the subjects of the Emperor of China to that of Russia. The trade carried on at this place is very considerable, and appears to be advantageous to both nations. It is well known that from here the Russians export cloth, velvet, soap, and various articles of hardware. They receive in exchange brick tea, of which they make a great consump- tion, and their cloths are sold in China at a lower price than they fetch in the markets of Europe. It is for want of being well acquainted with the commerce of Russia with China, that certain speculators have sometimes not been able to find at Canton a favourable opening for their goods. But it is also in our opinion for want of knowing exactly the com- mercial relations and good understanding between these two RELIGION IN CHINA. 47 nations that so many will not see any aims of Russia which trench upon China or are levelled at us through China. But to return to the affairs "religious," we must con- clude with a reference to a remark of that most exemplary missionary Hue. He says that "he has often asked himself how it happened that, whilst the Mussulmen in China walk erect, and compel the Chinese to respect their faith, the Christians are constantly oppressed, and living merely at the pleasure of the tribunals. But if the Christians are oppressed in China, it is greatly to be attributed to the isolation in which they live. When one of them is dragged before the tribunal, the others all hide themselves, instead of coming to his assistance and repressing, by their boldness, the insolence of the Mandarins." "At present," says Hue, " especially, when the new imperial decrees are favourable to Christianity — if the Christians were to rise at once at all points of the empire, enter energetically into possession of their rights, giving publicity to their worship, and performing their service fearlessly in the face of the sun, probably no one would at- tempt to interfere with them." It is true that in China, as everywhere else, we are only free when we will to be so, and this will results only from the spirit of association. 48 GENERAL GUNCE AT CHAPTER VI. GENERAL GLANCE AT THE COUNTRY AND PEOPLE. Facts that first impress the stranger. — A rambling peep from Mongolia. — Roadside guard-houses and standpoints. — Aspect of the country. — Effect of meeting Mandarins. — Temperate habits and peculiar tastes. Facts that first impress the stranger. — Having made our- selves somewhat acquainted with the grand features of the Chinese empire, — its dynast} r , its government, its army, its navy, and its religion, — we are all the better prepared to tread on the " sacred soil " itself, and mix with its people, and be a little more familiarised with its scenes. How shall we go on ? By showing, in the trim style of the geographer, that the Chinese empire is irregularly bisected by a great river called the Yang-tse-Kiang, towards the mouth of which Nankin, the southern Imperial capital, is situated ? — or shall we call to mind, what every schoolboy ought to know, that at the time of Lord Macartney's embassy, about 65 years ago, the whole Chinese empire was divided into 15 provinces, containing 4,402 walled cities ? — or that the popu- lation of the whole country was then given at 333,000,000, and its annual revenues set down at £66,000,000 ? — or that the whole army, Tartars and Chinese, was declared to muster 1,000,000 infantry, and 800,000 cavalry? — or that the religion was then, as it is now, Pagan, and the government absolute? — or that learning was encouraged and ethics studied with ardour? Bather shall we think for a moment with Prichard, that THE COUNTRY AND THE PEOPLE. 49 the Chinese, and the Koreans, and the Japanese, belong to the same type of the human species as the nations of High Asia ; but it seems among them to have become softened and miti- gated, and to display frequent deviation from the character which, if we may believe some travellers, is almost uniform among the Mongols. We are assured by Pallas, that at Maimatchin, on the northern boundary of the Chinese empire, many of the Chinese women have a fair complexion, with fine black hair, and good features. He adds that the Chinese idea of beauty is such, that those women are preferred who have the Manchu form — that is, a broad face, high cheek-bones, very broad noses, and enormous ears. We may hence infer that these characters are by no means so general among the Chinese as among the Manchiis. M. Abel Remusas, whose information on everything relating to China was singularly accurate, assures us that the women of the middle provinces have fine complexions, with as great variety of colour as those of the middle countries of Europe. The missionary, M. Gutz- lafF, says that at Tientsin he found the inhabitants more like Europeans than any Asiatics whom he had seen. He seems to include the natives of many parts of the Indian Archipelago. " The eyes had less of that depressed curve in the inner angle which is so characteristic of the Chinese countenance." The females are fair, and are rarely allowed to walk about. The women keep at home ; the rich spend their time in embroidery — the poor at their looms. The girls receive little or no edu- cation ; the boys, on the other hand, are sent to school at an early age. " Match-makers are in great repute ; the marriage vow is said to be strictly observed on the part of the women — the men are not so scrupulous. A small foot and a pale face are by many considered the tests of female beauty. Celibacy is only known to the poor man, who cannot buy a wife; all parents expect a dowry for their daughters, to repay them for the expense of bringing them up." E 50 GENERAL GLANCE AT Discursive thoughts like these, so to speak, are most akin to the reflections of a stranger who finds himself for the first time in close intimacy with a people like the Chinese. The impressions certain to he left on casual travellers are not likely to be favourable, while those derived from prolonged ac- quaintance seldom improve matters. The contemptuous inso- lence with which they generally treat helpless strangers is pro- vokingly offensive ; yet, from its very gross absurdity, it becomes bearable. There is something really ludicrous, and, at the same time, very provoking, in their designating Lord Macart- ney the " red-bristled barbarian tribute-bearer" — something beyond mortal endurance in the insulting appellation of poor Lord Napier as "the barbarian eye," " the English devil," and " laboriously vile." The first impulse on reading such passages is to be very angry — the next is to laugh heartily. In Lord Napier's case, however, it is a melancholy reflection that the death of this, "in every sense of the word, nobleman, was accelerated by annoyances which, in spite of their very contemptible nature, derived from local circumstances a posi- tive power of injury." As to their positive vices, their name is " legion ;" they are avaricious and dishonest, tyrannical to their inferiors, servile to those above them. His celestial majesty, " the son of Heaven," with his mouth full of the loving words of fatherly affection, fleeces the minor luminaries of his empire at his pleasure ; and these, followiug the parental example, lay violent hands upon everything comeatable around them whenever they have need ; so that the boasted idea of a family, as contained in the government and social constitu- tion of the Chinese, seems simply to resolve itself into this — a paternal solicitude on the part of the head in exacting the greatest possible amount from his children for his own con- sumption ; and, on the part of the stronger members, the very brotherly act of living on the industry of the weaker. M. de Guignes, who resided many years at Pekin, observes : — " The THE COUNTRY AND THE PEOPLE. 51 Emperor of China makes use of his grandees as sponges to suck up the wealth of his subjects; when the sponge is full he squeezes it, and sends it elsewhere to be filled anew." Mr. Martin, on the other hand, bids the stranger, guided by his opinion, to look upon the Chinese as mild, laborious, and patient. He does allow that they have a most inveterate passion for gain and gambling. Every pursuit which is profit- able is deemed honourable. Nothing which feeds the pocket demeans the hand of a real Chinaman. Strangers will find that the poor are divided into two classes — the labourer and the mendicant. The latter are a most degraded class, resem- bling somewhat the gipsys, and may be seen in the streets almost in a state of nudity ; no one will shelter them lest they should rob the house. They sleep at night on bridges and in public places, being denied even the caves of rocks lest they should die there ; for in that case the proprietor would be obliged to pay the officer whose duty it is to inter the corpse. In the land of the u celestials" an antiquarian stranger will find " ocular demonstration" of older refinements, older ab- surdities, older tyranny, older literature, and older everything else, than elsewhere. Habit controls every action of a China- man. From the age when his infant limbs are bruised to deformity, to the time when his law recognises him a man, and thence to the grave, he is the creature of fulsome forms, dull, pathetic, superstitious, and dishonest.. One will not, indeed, detect much cleanliness in them r though he can see a great effort at finery. A Rambling Peep from Mongolia. — Now let us for a short distance ask the stranger to travel in the company of past tourists, and take a peep at the country as they start along from the Mongolia districts. Hue says that the general aspect of Mongolia is wild and gloomy ; never is the eye relieved by the charm and variety of a landscape. The 52 GENERAL GLANCE AT monotony of the steppes is broken only by ravines, great fis- sures, and stony sterile hills. Towards the north, in the country of the Khalkas, nature appears more animated ; the summits of the mountains are crowned by forests ; and the rich pasturage of the plain is watered by numerous rivers ; but during the long season of winter the earth is buried under a thick covering of snow. From the side of the Great Wall, Chinese industry glides like a serpent into the desert. Towns begin to rise on all sides ; the " Land of Grass" is being gradually covered by crops, and the Mongol shepherds are by degrees driven back to the north by the encroachments of agriculture. The sandy plains are described as occupying perhaps the greater part of Mongolia : and in these not a tree is to be seen ; short brittle grass makes its way with difficulty through the barren soil, and creeping thorns, with some scanty tufts of heath, form the only vegetation, the sole pasturage of Gobi. Water is extremely scarce, being only found in deep wells dug for the use of the travellers who are obliged to <3ross this miserable region. There are but two seasons in Mongolia, nine months winter, and three summer. The heat is sometimes stifling, but it lasts a very short time ; the nights are almost always cold. In the Mongol countries cultivated by the Chinese all agricultural labours must be got through within three months. As soon as the ground is sufficiently thawed, it is ploughed or rather scratched on the surface, and the seed thrown in ; the crops grow with astonishing rapidity : while waiting for their maturity, the husbandmen are incessantly occupied in clearing away the profusion of weeds that encumber the ground. Scarcely is the harvest gathered than the winter sets in with terrible severity. This is the threshing season : as the cold makes huge cracks in the earth, water is thrown over the threshing-floor; it freezes immediately, and affords the THE COUNTRY AND THE PEOPLE. 53 labourers a smooth and perfectly clean surface for their opera- tions. B.oadside Guard-houses and Standpoints. — Travelling towards an inland town you usually meet a guard-house. These are very numerous in China ; indeed they ought, according to Hue, to he found on all the great roads at every two miles' distance. They are built of wood or clay, quite in the Chinese taste, and whitewashed ; and the3 T are intended for a refuge for un- fortunate travellers, who, during the night,, have been over- taken by bad weather, and have not been able to reach an inn. They have only one large opening in front, and on each side of the hall, or barn, two little rooms, with doors and windows, but seldom any other furniture than a wooden bench, painted red. The outside of the building is decorated with coarse paintings, representing the gods of war — horsemen, and fabulous animals. On the walls inside are drawings of sabres, bows and arrows, lances, and all the weapons in use in China. A little way off is a square tower, with five posts in a row to mark the five Us, which make the regular distance from one guard-house to another ; and very often a large pla- card, raised on two poles, indicates to the traveller the names of the nearest towns on the route. The one, for instance, which Hue has had to describe, stated that there was — "To the north to Ping-Lou-Kien, five lit?' " To the south to Ning-Hai, forty-five lis." In time of war these square towers serve for making signal fires ; and the Chinese have a story that a certain emperor, yielding to the foolish solicitations of his wife, ordered that, during the night, signals of alarm should be made — the em- press wishing to divert herself at the expense of the soldiers, and also to ascertain whether the fires would really summon troops to the capital. By degrees, as the signals reached the provinces, the governors sent off the military mandarins to 51 MINERAL GLANCK AT Pekin ; but learning, on their arrival, that the alarm had only been raised for the amusement and caprice of a woman, they went back full of indignation. Some time after there was really an irruption of Tartars, who advanced with rapidity to the very walls of the capital. But now no one in the pro- vinces would pay any attention to the signal fires, as they supposed the alarm was only another joke of the empress ; and the story adds that the Tartars entered the capital, and massacred the royal family. Aspect of the Country. — As you travel on, taking the route which Hue made southward, you see few villages, but many farms, large or small, separated from each other by fields. The houses are surrounded by large trees ; but there are neither groves nor pleasure -gardens, for all the land is de- voted to corn. There is not even a small space reserved to deposit the sheaves after the harvest; but the corn is piled up on the tops of the houses, which have all flat roofs. On the days of irrigation the country gives a perfect idea of those famous inundations of the Nile, of which the descriptions have become so classical. The inhabitants move about their fields in little skiffs, or in light carts on enormous wheels, and usually drawn by buffaloes. These irrigations, however, so valu- able for the fecundity of the soil, are detestable for travellers ; for the roads are filled with mud or overflowed, and you are obliged to walk on raised banks that run along the sides of the fields. It is the height of misery, says Hue, " to have to lead a camel along one of these paths : we could not make a single step without fear of seeing our baggage upset into the mud; more than once we were thrown into the greatest em- barrassment by accidents of this nature ; and if they were not more numerous, our escape must be attributed to the skill of our camels in sliding through the mire — a talent which they had acquired in the apprenticeship they had served in the marshes of the Ortous." THE COUNTRY AND THE TEOPLE. 55 The province of Kan- Sou is said to be especially remarkable for its grand and ingenious works for the irrigation of the fields. Large canals formed from the Yellow River feed others of smaller dimensions, and these again supply little rills which flow through all the fields. Effect of meeting Mandarins. — Strangers travelling in China have innumerable obstacles in the prejudices of the people, and the arbitrary law of exclusion. Hue gives a slight idea of the disgust which the lordly Chinaman generally evinces when he travels in contact with an outer barbarian. Having taken up his quarters at an hotel where a Mandarin was soon expected to halt in passing, it was with some difficulty the good missionary made it seem convenient to the hotel-keeper to give him shelter. All depended upon how the Mandarin might desire him further to act if he did take notice of the intrusion. Therefore Hue with impatience waited his coming. Immedi- ately after sunset, says Hue, "the procession began to arrive. The two great gates of the courtyard were solemnly opened, and there entered a coach drawn by three mules, escorted by a number of horsemen. In the coach was seated a man of about sixty years of age, with grey beard and moustache, and a red cap on his head ; this was the Grand Mandarin. At his entrance his eye had run with a sharp and rapid glance over the inn ; and as soon as he had caught sight of us, and more- over of our three camels at the end of the court, the muscles of his thin face became suddenly contracted. " What's that?" he cried, with a harsh, angry voice. ""Who are these Tartars ? where do these camels come from ? Send the landlord to me." At this summons the innkeeper instantly vanished, and the White Ball stood a moment as if petrified. His face became pale — then red — then olive-coloured. Never- theless he took courage, advanced to the coach, bent one knee to the ground, and then rising, and approaching his lips to his master's ear, he spoke with him some time in a low voice. 56 GENERAL GLANCE AT When the dialogue was over, the Mandarin expressed a wish to alight ; and, after having waved his hand with a protect- ing air towards us, he retired like a mere mortal into the room that had been prepared for him." Temperate Habits and peculiar Tastes. — The "stranger" glancing, generally, at the character of this country will be struck with the fact that moderation, both in eating and drinking, is a great and good feature of the Chinese people. They had been, as a race, wonderfully abstemious and temper- ate before the introduction of the seductive poison, opium, which avarice in trade has tempted Europeans to make them at last familiar with and fond of. Sir John Bowring describes the food of the Chinese, so far as he has been able to ascertain — and he had as many oppor- tunities as most Europeans — as, for the most part, hard, coarse, and of little cost, their beverages being singularly economical. Drunkenness is a rare vice in China, and fermented spirits or strong drinks are seldom used. " Tea may be said to be the national, the universal beverage ; and though that employed by the multitude does not cost more than from 3d. to 6d. per pound, an infusion of less costly leaves is commonly employed, especially in localities remote from the tea districts." The Chinese are temperate, and are satisfied with two daily meals — "the morning rice" at about 10 a.m., and "the evening rice" at 5 p.m. "The only repugnance I have observed in China is to the use of milk — an extraordinary prejudice, es- pecially considering the Tartar influences which have been long dominant in the land ; but I never saw or heard of butter, cream, milk, or whey, being introduced at any native Chinese table." Sir John Bowring, at another time writing from Victoria, Hong Kong, says : — " The Chinese have no prejudice what- ever as regards food ; they eat anything and everything from which they can derive nutrition. Dogs, especially puppies, THE COUNTRY AND THE PEOPLE. 57 are habitually sold for food ; and I have seen in the butchers' shops large dogs skinned and hanging with their viscera by the side of pigs and goats. Even to rats and mice the Chinese have no objection — neither to the flesh of monkeys and snakes. The sea slug is an aristocratic and costly delicacy, which is never wanting, any more than the edible birds' nests, at a feast where honour is intended to be done to the guests. Un- hatched ducks and chickens are a favourite dish. Nor do the early stages of putrefaction create any disgust ; rotten eggs are by no means condemned to perdition ; fish is the more acceptable when it has a strong fragrance and flavour, to give more gusto to the rice." Hue in his travels found reason to suspect many of the Chinese of epicurean inclinations. He tells us that venison is little esteemed by the Tartars, and still less by the Chinese. Black meat, they say, is not so good as white. However, in the great towns of China it is met with at the tables of the rich ; but that is on account of its rarity. The Mantchous, on the contrary, are great lovers of the produce of the chase, particularly of the flesh of bears, stags, and pheasants. 58 TOILETTE AND TASTE. CHAPTER VII. TOILETTE AND TASTE. General Mode of Dress and Distinctive Costume. — Celestial Politeness in all ranks. General mode of Dress. — Taking an account of the toilette on the authority of "a lady of rank," we think that the inhabitants of the Celestial Empire seem to agree with Beauty, in con- sidering that fashion mars instead of improving the charms of her votaries, for ever since the days of the wise and re- nowned Confucius, they have steadily resisted all her bland- ishments, closed their ears to her flatteries, and followed in every respect the ordinances of their great lawgiver with regard to dress. By this decree the poorer classes are obliged to wear their clothes of a dark blue, red, or black colour. The emperor and princes of the blood are alone allowed the privi- lege of having yellow dresses, and many of the most delicate colours are reserved exclusively for the ladies. Pure white is the emblem of mourning among all classes. So strictly is everything relating to the toilette managed among this grave people, that even when the seasons change, they are not allowed to clothe themselves in thick or thin coverings accord- ing to their fancy, but must wait with patience to change the winter for the summer, or the summer for the winter garb, till the viceroy of the province has performed this important ceremony, when the whole outward appearance of the people alters as if by magic ; and a stranger to their laws, who, the evening before, had seen the streets of Pekin crowded with TOILETTE AND TASTE. 59 people, all enveloped to their chins in the warmest furs, would imagine everybody struck by a magician's wand, when, on go- ing forth the following day, he finds the same people all, by one accord, habited in their summer attire. The dress of the men is suitable to the grave deportment that they so universally affect. It consists of a long robe which reaches nearly to the ground, and is fastened on the shoulders with gold or silver buttons. The sleeves, which are wide at the top, grow narrower towards the wrist, and end in the shape of a horse- shoe, covering all the hands except the ends of the fingers. This robe is fastened round the waist with a broad silk sash, to which are suspended a purse, and two small sticks, called chop-sticks, which are used as forks. In the summer they wear trousers made of linen, silk, or satin ; but during the winter, particularly in the colder parts of the country, they are made of furs of different kinds. In the summer also they have their necks uncovered, but in the winter they are shielded from the cold by collars of quilted satin or furs. The higher classes frequently wear a surtout of silk, satin, or velvet ; this garment is very short, has large sleeves, and is lined with the most costly furs. The men formerly wore their hair as long as they could induce it to grow, and plaited in tails hanging down their backs; but. now they only allow two or three tufts on the crown of the head. They either wear hats, in shape and size resembling large umbrellas, or else small conical caps, made of beautifully wrought cane-work, and frequently painted in flowers or birds. They also have another cap, which, though richer in material, is not so graceful as the former ; it is of the same shape, but made of black velvet with blue silk in the middle, and a red tassel surmounting the top. The upper dress of the Chinese ladies resembles that of the lords of the Celestial Empire ; but it is more decorated with rich and beautiful embroidery. The trousers are tied round 60 TOILETTE AND TASTE. the ankle, so as to give a full view of their small feet, encased in highly ornamented shoes. They appear anxious to conceal, rather than to display, the elegance of their figure, though a small waist is much admired. Their sleeves being very long, protect their hands, and render gloves unnecessary. The married ladies tie the hair on the top of the head ; and, to make the tuft as large as possible, add a quantity of false hair, and stick it full of long gold or silver pins, or bodkins, the ends of which are frequently highly ornamented with jewels; while the young women wear their jet black ringlets clustering on each side of the face. Artificial flowers are also often used to ornament the head. But the favourite coiffure, the object of a Chinese lady's greatest admiration, is an artificial bird, formed of gold or silver, intended to repre- sent the Fong-whahg, a fabulous bird, of which the ancients relate many marvellous tales. It is worn in such a manner that the wings stretch over the front of the head ; the spread- ing tail makes a kind of plume on the top, and the body is placed over the forehead, while the neck and beak hang down. The former being fastened to the body with an invisible hinge> it vibrates with the least motion. Distinctive Costume, Sfe. — In a Chinese novel, called by the euphonious title of Hung-how-Mung," is the following descrip- tion of a Chinese elegante : " On her head, her knot of hair was adorned with gold and silver, and eight precious stones pendant. It was fastened with a pin of pearls dropping from five little eagles. An ornament of virgin gold, enlivened with insects, embraced her neck. Around her waist was an upper dress of deep red-coloured silk, on which was embroidered an hundred golden butterflies fluttering among flowers ; over this a narrow garment made of the skins of stone-blue mice, and silk of five different colours. Below all was a petticoat of foreign crepe, of a green colour, sprinkled with flowers." The distinctive mark of different ranks among the mandarins TOILETTE AND TASTE. 61 consists in the colour and value of the buttons worn in the cap, in the jewels that adorn the girdle, and in the quality of the embroidery that ornaments the robe. The Chinese wear their nails of immense length ; and neither men nor women are often seen without a painted fan in their hands, many of them most beautifully figured. The extraordinary admiration of this people for small feet subjects them to much pain and inconvenience. As soon as a female child in the higher ranks is born, the toes are bent under the foot, and tightly bandaged day and night, till the growth of the foot ceases. This barbarous custom is attributed by some old writers to Takya, the wife of one of the first Chinese emperors. She is represented as having been very beautiful, but haughty and imperious. She persuaded her husband to allow her to make what laws she pleased, and having very deformed feet, she bound them with fillets, and ordered all the ladies of the country to imitate her example ; thus attempting to make a deformity pass for a beauty. The Chinese people of rank never go abroad without boots made of satin or silk, or sometimes made of cotton. They are made without heels, and fit with the greatest nieety. Their stockings are of silk stuff, quilted and lined with cotton, and ornamented with velvet or cloth. In summer they have light slippers, and the common people black cotton shoes. Besides wearing quantities of false hair, the Chinese women also em- ploy paint to heighten the charms of their complexion. In the "Journal of the Embassy to China," by Henry Ellis, we read that the dress of ceremony of the mandarins consists of blue gauze or crape, with some flowered satin beneath, and that it is plain and not unbecoming. An embroidered badge marking their rank, whether civil or military, is fixed upon their robe either before or behind. The peacock's feather, or more properly tail of peacock's 62 TOILETTE AND TASTE. feather, answering to our orders of knighthood, is worn be- hind. Two of these are equivalent to the garter. Celestial Politeness. — Personal civility is carried to an ex- cess in China. No people in the world seem so greatly addicted to the puerile in courtesy; and no people are more affected in displaying the amenities of politeness; so far do they go in the strict observance of etiquette, that they invariably count the number of their reverences. We have it on good evidence that these are their more remarkable postures: — The men move their hands in an affectionate manner, while they are joined together on the breast, and bow the head a little. If they respect a person, they raise their hands joined, and then lower them to the earth, in bending the body. If two persons meet after a long separation, they both fall on their knees, and bend the face to the earth ; and this ceremony they repeat two or three times. If a Chinese is asked how he finds himself in health ? he answers, " Very well, thanks to your abundant felicity." If they would tell a man that he looks well, they say, " Prosperity is painted on your face ;" or, " Your air announces your happiness." If you render them any service, they say, " My thanks should be immortal." If you praise them, they answer, "How shall I dare to persuade myself of what you say of me ?" If you dine with them, they tell you at parting, " We have not treated you with sufficient distinction." The various titles thev invent for each other it would be impossible to translate. We believe that it can be shown how consistent all this is with the instructions prescribed by the Chinese ritual, and that the Academy of Compliments is not an unfruitful guide in the mannerism of the Celestials. In that important place are determined the number of bows ; the expressions to be employed, and the inclinations which are to be made to the right or left hand ; the salutations of the master before the chair, where the stranger is to be seated — for he salutes it most TOILETTE AND TASTE. 63 profoundly, and wipes the dust away with the skirts of his robe ; all these and other things are noticed, even to the silent gestures by which you are entreated to enter the house. The lower class of people are equally nice in these punctilios; and ambassadors pass forty days in practising them before they are enabled to appear at court. A tribunal of ceremonies has been erected, and every day very odd decrees are issued, to which the Chinese most religiously submit. As to this it may fairly be observed that in almost all coun- tries and amongst every people the marks of honour are fre- quently arbitrary. Thus, to be seated with us is a mark of repose and familiarity ; to stand up, that of respect. There are countries, however, in which princes will only be addressed by persons who are seated, and it is considered as a favour to be permitted to stand in their presence. This custom especi- ally prevails in despotic countries ; a despot cannot suffer, without self-reproach, the elevated figure of his subjects ; he is pleased to bend their bodies with their genius; his presence must lay those who behold him prostrate on the earth ; he desires no eagerness, no attention, he would only inspire terror. But politeness does not confine itself to a class in the land of " celestial principles." The meanest trader employs the very neatest manner to ingratiate himself and win favours. Not even here is the restriction marked, for the highwayman is the pink of gentility. All travellers concur with Hue in holding that the robbers of these countries are in general remarkable for the politeness with which they flavour their address. They do not put a pistol to your head, and cry roughly, "Your money or your life!" but they say, in the most courte- ous tone, " My eldest brother, I am weary of walking on foot, be so good as to lend me your horse !" or, "lam without money, — will you not lend me your purse ?" or, " It is very cold to-dav, — be kind enough to lend me your coat." If the 64 TOILKTTE AND TA:>TK. eldest brother be charitable enough to comply, he receives thanks ; if not, the request is enforced by two or three blows of the cudgel, or, if that is not sufficient, recourse is had to the sabre. Then only politeness takes a sharp turn and be- comes so nice and keen that it cuts, and you are rejoiced when permitted to imitate the part and " cut " in turn. Politeness even with honest Chinamen is frequently made to wear a troublesome garb. Many of those who have visits of etiquette to pay, or a fete to attend, borrow without hesi- tation a hat, a pair of trousers, shoes or boots, as the case may be ; there is but one cause of hesitation ever felt in these mutual lendings, and that is, the fear that the borrower may sell them for his own profit or to pay his debts after he has done with them. They make, in point of fact, no more diffi- culty of wearing another man's trousers than of living in another man's house ; and this latter practice is tormentingly prevalent. A Chinese custom, hardly within the pale of mere polite- ness, we will take occasion to allude to here, as sufficiently in keeping with our subject to be of benefit in its consideration : " When any person dies, or leaves the house," says Marco Polo, " the name is struck out, and upon the occasion of a birth it is added to the list. By these means the great officers of the provinces and governors of the cities are at all times acquainted with the exact number of the inhabitants." CHINESE CKREMONIES. 65 CHAPTER VIII. CHINESE CEREMONIES AND CUSTOMS. Celestial Marriages and Match-making. — Old Age in China. — Celestial Funeral and Mourning. — Complimentary Coffin. — Value of a Cat's Eye. — A really good Celestial Dinner. — National Amusements. — A New-year's Eve in China. Celestial Marriages and Match- making. — Since the recent ''Canton affair" a good deal of curiosity has been aroused in what concerns China. Ever ready to gratify a public de- sire of this sort, the illustrated publications and the literary periodicals of the day have been at laudable pains to reproduce all the "Chinese sketches" they could lay hold of. There has yet been no exc2ss of Chinese scenes and informa- tion, and all that the magazines and other productions have contrived to obtain or arrange for general perusal is very interesting, although in many instances not very new. Erom one of these series of Chinese sketches we gather some parti- culars as to the mode in which the marriage contract is entered into in that strange land of " fixed customs." Even in China the innocent " turtle dove" is taken to be emblematic of meekness, love, and fidelity ; for, before the completion of the marriage contract, the "complying parties" have to approach a table upon which is a tablet bearing their names and sup- ported by doves. There is no doubt that early marriages are encouraged in China; among the Mandarins and wealthy classes the matrimonial age varies from sixteen to twenty 66 CHINESE CEREMONIES years in males, from twelve to fourteen in females. The poorer classes marry as soon as they acquire sufficient money to purchase a wife and defray the attendant expenses. Occa- sionally a poor man will go to the foundling hospital in his neighbourhood, and obtain a girl, that he may take her home and educate her, giving her in marriage to his son when the young folks have arrived at a proper age. The thrift and caution of the national character is truly developed in this arrangement. In the first place, the money is saved which must have been expended in the purchase of a wife ; in the second, the girl is educated by her mother-in-law elect, thereby falling into all the old lady's economical habits; thirdly and lastly, if the girl is not good-tempered, industrious, and respectful in her demeanour to her intended husband and his parents, she is very quickly sent about her business with- out the attendant fuss which ensues when a wife is sent back to her family for misconduct after her marriage. One good Celestial custom we note is, that daughters have no fortunes in China except themselves. The man who is about to marry agrees to give a certain sum, which is laid out in clothes and jewels for the bride. The sums of money vary according to the rank of the parties; the Mandarins frequently giving six thousand taels for a wife (a tael being six and four- pence sterling), and the bride is invariably selected from a family of equal station. The parties about to contract a marriage never see each other before the contract, the whole affair being arranged by their relations, or go-betweens, which are old women, who describe the lady in the most glowing terms, or the reverse, according to the presents which are made to them. One of their customs before marriage, although synonymous with our fashion of sending a lady's portrait, is most extraordinary. As the damsel cannot be seen her shoe is sent to the gentle- man, that he may be enabled to judge of the dimensions of AND CUSTOMS. 67 her crippled feet — the smallness of the foot being a Chinaman's beau-ideal of perfection. The presents given to the female's parents, in the middle and lower ranks, are sometimes described as of a ludicrous descrip- tion, being fat pigs, dried fish, live poultry, chests of tea, sugar- candy, preserved fruits, and such like unromantic gear ; the quality and quantity of these presents is invariably agreed upon when the bargain is first struck. The ceremony of the marriage is gone through at the bridegroom's house. Upon the nuptial day the bride leaves her father's home, accom- panied by a numerous train of attendants ; the bride is placed in a sedan-chair, most profusely gilded, and decorated most gaily with artificial flowers of brilliant hues; attendants, bearing torches and flambeaux, surround the chair, the ser- vant who bears the key of the precious casket walking nearest the sedan — for no sooner is the lady seated in the chair than the door is locked by her father or nearest male relative, the key being given to the confidential servant, who has orders to deliver it only to the bridegroom. Numerous attendants precede and follow the bride's chair, carrying flags, magnifi- cent lanterns, beating gongs, and sounding wind instruments ; the ladies of the two families are in sedan-chairs, which follow the bride's; the male relatives and friends walking in the procession. There is a great display of presents of all kinds, which are to accompany the bride to her new home ; — these consist of ladies' dresses, borne on stands; carved chests, which are to be supposed to contain all sorts of treasures; stands, in which are placed jars containing sam-shoo, wine, and preserved fruits ; cages, containing the Mandarin ducks, fowls, and frequently a fine fat pig, in a gaily-decorated bamboo cage, bring up the rear of the presents.. "-The gran- deur of a marriage procession is measured by the number of attendants." Old Age in China. — From what concerns the most hilarious f 2 68 CHINESE CEREMONIES and sprightly epoch of life — the spring time — to what treads on the laggard step-fall of old age, is a natural and almost inevitable transition. Therefore let us pause here to "groove in " and offer to the reader for what it is worth, an extract from a letter addressed, not many years ago (about two), by Sir John Bowring (of Canton fame) to the Registrar- General of London. He deals in the dark statistics of decay, and handles " age " in all its phases with the expertness of a pro- fessional statist. Thus he writes : — "I have no means of obtaining satisfactory tables to show the proportions which different ages bear to one another in China, or the average mortality at different periods of human life ; yet, to every decade of life the Chinese apply some spe- cial designation : — The age of 10 is called the * Opening De- gree ; \ 20, 4 Youth Expired.; ' 30, ' Strength and Marriage ; ' 40, 'Officially Apt;' 50, 'Error-knowing;' 60, 'Cycle- closing ; ' 70, ' Rare Bird of Age ; ' SO, ' Rusty- visaged ; ' 90, 'Delayed;' 100, ' Age's Extremity.' Among the Chinese the amount of reverence grows with the number of years. There are not only many establishments for the reception of the aged, but the penal code provides severe punishments for those who refuse to relieve the poor in their declining years. Age may also be pleaded in extenuation of crime, and in miti- gation of punishment. Imperial decrees sometimes order presents to be given to all indigent old people in the empire. I am not aware of any detailed statistics giving the number of such recipients since a return published in the time of Kanghi (1657). Kienlung (178-5) directed that all those claimants whose age exceeded 60, should receive five bushels of rice and a piece of linen; those above 80, ten bushels of rice and two pieces of linen ; those above 90, thirty bushels of rice and two pieces of common silk ; and those above 100, fifty bushels of rice and two pieces, one of fine, and one of common silk. He ordered all the elders to be enumerated AND CUSTOMS. 69 who were at the head of five generations, of whom there were 192, and, in 'gratitude to Heaven,' summoned 5,000 of the oldest men of the empire to receive Imperial presents, which consisted principally of embroidered purses and badges, bear- ing the character shau, meaning ' longevity.' " Celestial Funerals and Mourning. — We will not wait to as- certain if it be right to introduce in this chapter a funeral subject, having begun it with a wedding topic. But such is life in its own active chapters. The marriage ceremony is only a prelude, with a longer or shorter interval, to the obse- quies inevitably due to death. Without tarrying to enforce a moral which seems here to point itself, we place before the reader a description of a Chinese funeral, giving the details as we have had them from sketches already published. Our authority need have barely assured us that the Chinese indulge in elaborate ceremonies in the interment of their dead. A little insight into that people's habits would satisfy any one that such must be the case. According to our information, the coffin, which is made of the solid trunk of a tree, is, for the rich at least, finely worked, varnished, and hermetically closed. On arriving at the grave, the bier-cloth, and the flowers and rice which have previously been laid upon it, is taken off. A quantity of gold and silver paper is strewed over the tomb, into which the coffin is then lowered, the rela- tives throwing themselves on the ground, covering their faces, and howling piteously — a ceremony which must be performed whether the grief is simulated or real — and after which, if the process of placing the coffin is too long to admit of these demonstrations being sustained, they sit down in a circle and refresh themselves with provisions brought for the purpose. The placing of the coffin in the grave is a matter of consider- able ceremony. A compass is set up, and a cord placed over the index, so as to be in a line with the needle. A second line, with a lead attached, is then tied to the first, and dropped 70 CHINESE CEREMONIES into the grave, in which the coffin is pushed to and fro till its centre lies in the same line with the needle. "When this is done, it is covered several times with large sheets of white paper ; and then the relatives throw themselves again upon the ground while the funeral oration is being delivered, after which they and the coffin are sprinkled with rice, which they endeavour to catch by holding up the corners of their garments. The procession to the grave is led by a priest, holding up a lantern covered with white cambric; then come musicians with drum and cymbals ; then the coffin, over the head of which a servant holds a large open umbrella, the chief mourner walking by the coffin side, with hair dishevelled, and bearing a small white flag. White is the mourning of the Chinese, and they are in deep mourning when the dress is completely white. Those who only follow wear bands of white cambric round the arm, head, or body. When the coffin has been lowered and placed, and the grave filled up, the relatives again raise their wail, whether felt or not ; after which they place boiled fowls, ducks, pork, fruits and pastry, with endless cups of tea and a teapot, in two rows on the grave. Painted wax tapers are lighted and placed in the earth, and gold and silver paper burnt. Then the chief mourner approaches the grave again, throws himself down before it, and touches the ground with his forehead. Scented tapers are brought to him, which he waves in the air, and hands to an attendant to be stuck in the ground; the relatives imitating his example. Now the priest, who has been taking his ease at some little distance, under the shade of a monster umbrella, comes forward for the first time, recites a prayer, and rings a bell. The food is then taken away, the tea poured over the grave, and the procession turns its steps homeward with every manifestation of joy. Complimentary Coffin. — While still in the neighbourhood of Death we must recount a custom which amazed the travel- AND CUSTOMS. 71 ler, who was its object in this instance much more than it can surprise us prepared to hear any eccentricity of such a people. Our traveller was sick nigh unto dying. The Chinese of Hanpe, who entertained a high regard for the pining stranger, resolved to pay him the greatest compliment they could think of. Accordingly they devised a means which will certainly be new to Europeans. Thus the traveller tells the tale : — " In no other country than China, perhaps, could men be heard exchanging compliments on the subject of a coffin. People are mostly shy of mentioning the lugubrious objects destined to contain the mortal remains of a relation or friend ; and when death does enter the house, the coffin is got in in secrecy and silence, in order to spare the feelings of the mourning family. But it is quite otherwise in China ; there, a coffin is simply an article of the first necessity to the dead, ■ and of luxury and fancy to the living. In the great towns you see them displayed in the shops, with all sorts of tasteful decorations, painted and varnished, and polished and trimmed up to attract the eyes of passengers, and give them the fancy to buy themselves one. People in easy circumstances, who have money to spare for their pleasures, scarcely ever fail to provide themselves beforehand with a coffin to their own taste, and which they consider becoming; and until the moment arrives for lying down in it, it is kept in the house, not as an article of immediate necessity, but as one that cannot fail to be consoling and pleasant to the eye in a nicely furnished apartment. For well-brought-up children, it is a favourable method of expressing the fervour of their filial piety towards the authors of their being. If one is not suffi- ciently favoured by fortune to be able to afford the purchase of a coffin in advance, care is always taken that before " saluting the world," as the Chinese say, a sick person shall at least have the satisfaction of casting a glance at his last 72 CHINESE CEREMONIES abode ; and if he is surrounded by at all affectionate relations, they never fail to buy him a coffin, and place it by the side of his bed." Another view of the Chinese in the presence of death, or almost death, gave rise to strange reflections in the pious Abbe Hue's mind. He passed a crowd one day, com- posed of a great number of villagers, who looked at him with smiling faces, and had the appearance of being uncommonly pleased. After them came a litter, on which was borne an empty coffin, and then another litter, upon which lay extended a dying man wrapped in blankets. His face was haggard and livid, and his expiring eyes were fixed upon the coffin that preceded him. When every one had passed, " we," says Hue, " hastened to ask the meaning of this strange procession. 1 It is some sick man,' said the seminarist, * who has been taken ill in a neighbouring village, and whom they are bring- ing home to his family. The Chinese do not like to die away from their own house.' ' That is very natural ; but what is the coffin for ?' ' For the sick man, who probably has not many days to live.' They seem to have made everything ready for his funeral. I remarked by the side of the coffin a piece of white linen, that they mean to use for the mourning. These words threw us into the most profound astonishment, and we saw then that we had come into a new world — into the midst of a people whose ideas and feelings differed widely from those of Europeans." Value of a Oafs Bye. — The Abbe Hue made a discovery in China which will surprise our clock-makers. It is certainly a custom of pure Chinese origin. " One day," says our author, " when we went to pay a visit to some families of Chinese Christian peasants, we met, near a farm, a young lad who was taking a buffalo to graze along our path. We asked him carelessly, as we passed, whether it was yet noon. The child raised his head to look at the sun, but it was hidden AND CUSTOMS. 73 behind thick clouds, and he could read no answer there. 'The sky is so cloudy,' said he, 'but wait a moment; ' and witli these words he ran towards the farm, and came back a few minutes afterwards with a cat in his arms. ' Look here,' said he, ' it is not noon yet;' and he showed us the cat's eyes, by pushing up the lids with his hands. We looked at the child with surprise, but he was evidently in earnest : and the cat, though astonished, and not much pleased at the experiment made on her eyes, behaved with the most exemplary com- plaisance. 'Yery well,' said we, 'thank you;' and he then let go the cat, which made her escape pretty quickly, and we continued our route. To say the truth, we had not at all understood the proceeding ; but we did not wish to question the little pagan, lest he should find out that we were Europeans by our ignorance." As soon as ever he reached the farm, however, Hue made haste to ask the Christians whether they could tell the clock by looking into a cat's eyes. They seemed surprised at the question ; but as there was no danger in confessing to them ignorance of the properties of the cat's eyes he related what had taken place. That was all that was necessary ; the complaisant neophytes immediately gave chase to all the cats in the neighbourhood. They brought three or four, and explained in what manner they might be made use of for watches. They pointed out that the pupil of their eyes went on constantly growing narrower until twelve o'clock, when they became like a fine line, as thin as a hair, drawn perpendicularly across the eye ; and that after twelve, the dilatation recommenced. A really good Celestial Dinner. — From thoughts of noon to the midday meal one can easily pass. Leaving our agreeable missionary, then, let us accompany Dr. Meyer, who roved round the world, to a real Chinese dinner of the first class. We permit him to describe what be witnessed : — " The tables were placed together in the form of a half- 74 CHINESE CEltEMONIES circle, and the side towards the centre remained unoccupied. At the middle table sat the host, who did the honours of it. The empty sides of the table, where no one sat, were hung with scarlet drapery, beautifully worked in embroidery of gold and different coloured silks ; Chinese flowers, but not of very striking forms, furnished the pattern. On the front edge of each table were placed the finest fruits in little baskets, with beautiful flowers stuck between them. Besides these, the whole table was covered with little cups and plates, which were ranged with great precision, and contained fruits, preserves, confectionery, slices of bread and butter, with small birds cold, and hundreds of other things. An extra- ordinary degree of art had been expended in the arrangement of those articles ; amongst the rest were whole rows of little plates, filled with elegantly-raised three and four cornered pyramids, composed of little bits of pheasants, larded geese, sausages, and so forth. Here stood plates with small oranges ; there preserved plums; and here again almonds. Various little seeds of different colours were served upon shallow saucers, so arranged however that each colour occupied a particular field. We here recognised a kind of quince seed, of very delicate flavour ; chick-peas, which, if eaten frequently, are said to produce a very bad effect ; and chestnuts and hazel-nuts, which come from the province of Pecheli, and greatly excel our fruits of the same kind. There were, moreover, grapes, which likewise came from the northern provinces of the empire ; with preserved ginger, citrons, and lemons. After making but a short stay in China, one is accustomed to see daily and hourly that the Chinese conduct all their arrangements in a different style and manner from ourselves; it was thus also with the repast, for we began with the dessert. By way of cover, three small cups are placed before each seat; the first on the left hand is filled with soy, which the Chinese add to almost every sort of food ; the second serves for the ordinary eating ; and in the AND CUSTOMS. 75 third is a little spoon of porcelain for the soups. In front of these three cups, which are raBged in a line, lie the two round little chop-sticks, which in rich houses are made of ivory. It is extremely difficult for strangers to get at their food with these sticks, and the Chinese were amused with our unskilfulness ; one was overheard to whisper, ' Here are wise Europeans for you ; they cannot so much as eat properly.' Instead of napkins, small three cornered pieces of paper are placed near the covers ; these are ornamented with stripes of red paper, and are used by the Chinese to wipe their hands. The dinner began by the host's inviting us to eat of the finer dishes; whilst we were eating them, he kept calling our attention to the flavour or the rarity of this or that thing : and the mode of eating was to convey the food to the mouth, with the two sticks, out of the dish ; for a small bowl was the largest vessel placed upon the table during the whole entertainment. The Chinese place no cloths upon the tables, but instead, so soon as the course is finished, the whole board is removed, and a new surface, as it were, with fresh things, i§ served. As soon as the first course was removed, another small cup was added to each cover ; this was used for drinking hot samtschu, a fermented liquor made of rice, which at a Chinese table supplies the place of wine, and which is always served boiling; servants walk round with large silver cans, and help everybody to this nectar, which, principally on account of its heat, begins very soon to operate. The Chinese, in drinking wine, observe nearly the same rules as the English. They challenge to drink, then hold the cup with both hands, and, after wishing each other health and happi- ness, drink it off at a draught ; whereupon they turn the inside of the cup towards the person with whom they are drinking, and show that they have drained every drop. On one occasion, when I did not wish to drink off a whole cup, my Chinese friend held his own constantly before me, and kept making signs till I had finished mine. Samtschu is in 76 CHINESE CEREMONIES general of an insipid taste ; they have, however, a great many- kinds of it, which are constantly changed at the tables of the rich, and I tasted one variety which might be placed along- side of the best brandy. So soon as the first division of the dinner, consisting possibly of sixty ragouts, was over, the soups appeared; these were placed in small bowls, in the middle of the table, and every man ate, with his little porcelain spoon, out of the dish. In this way five or six different soups were served in succession, and between them various other things were placed before the guests in little cups; amongst the rest, pastry, prepared in many ways, articles of confectionary, and strong chicken-hashes. Between the different grand- divisions of the dinner, tea was handed round, and tobacco smoked ; during which we were enabled to rest ourselves, so as to begin again with fresh vigour. After several courses, five small tables were placed outside of the half-circle of the original tables ; these were completely covered with roasted pork and birds of all sorts. Then ten cooks came into the room, clothed all alike and very tastefully, and began carving the roasts. Two placed themselves before each table, and commenced, with long knives, to sever the hard-roasted skin of all these viands, which was done most skilfully. Other servants, who stood in front of the tables, received the little bits, into which all these roasts were cut, upon small plates, and then placed them on the middle of our tables. At the end of the whole meal, the cooks came again into the room, and returned thanks for the honour which had been done them in being permitted to cater for the illustrious company." National Amusements. — The active sports of China are very sober sort of affairs. Fishing best answers the character of the people, and is, therefore, one of their passionate pursuits. In the north of China this remunerative amusement only lasts till the beginning of winter, when all the waters become frozen. AND CUSTOMS. 77 According to custom the fish which has been kept in reservoirs is then taken out and exposed to the air, when it freezes, and can be packed up without inconvenience. During the long winters of the north of the empire, the rich Chinese can al- ways by this means procure fresh fish ; but they must take care not to lay in any greater stock than will last during the cold season, for at the first thaw it putrefies. A fishing prac- tice now some time extinct in England, flourishes in China to the present day — cormorant fishing. There is some diffe- rence between our cormorants, and those of China. The latter are much more tractable, and far better suited for the pur- koses for which they are employed. The colour of the Chinese ird is a blackish brown on the upper parts of the body, the )wer being white spotted with brown, the throat pure white. The process of fishing is thus explained by Le Comte, an old French writer : — " To this end cormorants are educated as men rear up spaniels or hawks ; and one man can easily manage a hundred. The fisher carries them out into the lake, perched on the gunwale of his boat, where they continue tranquil, and expecting his orders with patience. When arrived at the proper place, at "the first signal given each flies a different way, to fulfil the task assigned it. It is very pleasant, on this occasion, to behold with what sagacity they portion out the lake or the canal where they are upon duty. They hunt about, they plunge, they rise a hundred times to the surface, until they have at last found their prey. They then seize it with their beak by the middle, and carry it without fail to their master. When the fish is too large, they then give each other mutual assistance : one seizes it by the head, the other by the tail, and in this manner carry it to the boat together. There the boatman stretches out one of his long oars, on which they perch, and being delivered of their burden, they then fly off to pursue their sport. When they are wearied he lets them rest for a while ; but they are never fed till the 78 CHINESE CEREMONIES work is over. In this manner they supply a very plentiful table ; but still their natural gluttony cannot be reclaimed even by education. They have always, while they fish, the same string fastened round their throats, to prevent them from devouring their prey, as otherwise they would at once satiate themselves, and discontinue the pursuit the moment they had filled their bellies." Cunning, which is an attribute of the real Chinaman, supplies the place of mental ability, or physical strength. A curious instance of its employment in this latter service is mentioned by the Abbe Hue, who tells us that in the grand wrestling matches of the year 1843, an athlete of Efehad disabled every opponent who presented himself, Tartar or Chinese. No one had been able to withstand his herculean size and vast strength; the prize was about to be adjudged to him, when a Chinese presented himself in the arena. He was little, meagre, and seemed fit for nothing but to increase the number of the de- feated wrestlers. He advanced, however, with a firm and intrepid air, and the Goliath of Efe was already preparing to gripe him in his vigorous arms, when the Chinese, who had filled his mouth with water, suddenly discharged it full in his adversary's face. The first movement of the Tartar was natu- rally to carry his hand to his eyes, when the cunning Chinese seized him suddenly by the middle, and brought him to the ground amid shouts of laughter from the spectators. Wrest- ling is the favourite exercise of all the children of the country of Efe, where to be a good horseman and a good wrestler is the object of the highest ambition. Generally speaking the Chinese amusements are trifling and childish — even their favourite vice, gambling, is pursued in an insignificant form. They match crickets (the common gryllus campestris) together to fight one with another : for these they give a large price ; and on the issue of their contests they bet incredible sums. AND CUSTOMS. 79 A New-year } s Eve. — The new-year's day of China is observed quite in character with the peculiarities of that singular peo- ple. Taking the good missionary Hue's account of it, we can enter into the spirit of the moment, and fancy the scene as though it were before us : — " We were now approaching the first day of the Chinese year, and already preparations were everywhere making for its celebration. The sentences written on red paper, which decorate the fronts of the houses, were renewed ; the shops were filled with purchasers, and a more than ordinary activity reigned in all quarters of the town ; while the children, who everywhere like to anticipate days of festival and rejoicing, began to let off crackers. The last days of the old year are usually for the Chinese days of vio- lence and irritation. It is at this epoch that every one sets his accounts in order, and goes to dun his debtors ; and as there is no Chinese who is not at the same time a debtor and a creditor, it follows that every body is running after some- body, and himself being pursued by somebody else. This man who comes making such a noise to induce his neighbour to pay what he owes, goes home and finds his house turned topsy turvy by a creditor of his own. Vociferations, abuse, even cuffs are being exchanged in all quarters. On the last day the confu- sion is at its height ; so many people are anxious to raise money by any means, that the avenues to the pawnbrokers' are choked up. Clothes, bedding, cooking utensils, furniture >f every kind, is carried thither, and those who have emptied their houses begin to cast about for other resources. They run to their relations and friends, and borrow things which they say they are going to return immediately, but the moment they get hold of them away they go to the pawn- broker." 80 PENAL LAWS AND PUNISHMENTS. CHAPTER IX. PENAL LAWS AND PUNISHMENTS. Little Value of Human Life. — Recollections of an Execution in China. — Several Offences and their Penalties. Little value of human Life. — A sad stain on the Chinese character arises from the little value the people set on human life. Perhaps, as some contend, this is a consequence of a superabundant population. At all events, the Chinese estimate of life is small indeed. Except to shield his own life, it is believed that no Chinaman cares a tea-leaf for his brother's life. An example of indifference is, perhaps, given by the emperor himself, who visits with death those guilty of trivial offences. He is, so far as the human despot can be, lord of life and death, and thinks as little of ordering off an offending subject's head, as he does of quaffing his invigorating native beverage. Infanticide is carried on to a frightful extent within the limits of the Chinese empire, and carried on too with a tacit sanction. Considering that the laws of China practically make it more a virtue than a crime to snap the life-cord of new-born female infants, we question if the vice is in one sense, amongst the people, so odious there as it is here ; and, proportioning the circumstances, we deem it more prevalent here than there : we do not, of course, mean numerically so prevalent, but, if we can say so, morally more prevalent, as it is morally more offensive. The male children are less often the victims of this national propensity than the female. Hence there is a great preponderance PENAL LAWS AND TUNISHMENTS. 81 of the former sex over the latter throughout the whole of China. Whether, socially speaking, the Chinese have dis- covered this to be a lamentable and shocking evil we do not know. However, as they seem to encourage no steps to avert its continuance, it is to be presumed that they think it works well. "When one adds together the deaths that annually take place by infanticide, executions, and a variety of other un- natural and natural causes, and when one takes into the cal- culation the number of emigrants daily leaving that land, it seems difficult to understand the still steady and overflowing increase of the population of China. But there it is, as dense as ever, account for it how we may. The number of legal executions which occur in China every year, are reckoned at such an extraordinary amount as makes us fear to state the computation. One can judge of the figures most likely to express it by learning that from 400 to 500 executions take place every day in one single province, and that, too, not the worst death-given in the empire. That the reader may all the better see the good and bad sides of the Chinese character, under circumstances of horror sufficient to bring both into play, and that a good insight into the terrible custom of capital punishment, as existing in China, may be obtained ; we annex some interesting recol- lections of an execution in China, communicated by Frank Leslie, to a popular magazine, some few years ago : — "In the month of March, 183 — , Sam-se lost his life for having been found guilty of smuggling opium into the Celestial empire. The Chinese government had been for some time particularly indignant at the contemptuously open manner in which this forbidden traffic was carried on, and now that they had detected an offender, seemed bent on fully glutting their ire. The place of execution was a square, situated near the super- intendent's house in Macao. Strangulation was the mode chosen for the fulfilment of his sentence. It was a dark, 82 PENAL LAWS AND PUNISHMENTS. lowering day on which Sam-se suffered. The time fixed for his execution was four p.m. Being strongly prompted by curiosity to witness the manner in which this kind of death was carried into effect, and fearful lest, if I delayed, I should not obtain a favourable view of the culprit and the machine, I was on the ground by a little after three. There were then only a few Chinese present. Within six feet of me stood the instrument, which, in ignorance of its proper name, I shall call ' the strangling table ;' indeed, it presented much the appearance of a large and enormously strong kitchen- table. At the head, and about three inches apart, were two holes large enough to admit a tolerably stout rope ; underneath was fixed horizontally a strong wooden beam, acting as a roller, and reaching to either leg. In this, also, were two holes, through which, and through two in a similar beam at the other end of the table, protruded the iron spindles of the rollers ; in each of these, and immediately under the holes in the head of the table, was fixed a staple, having attached to it a small but strong rope, which, passing through the holes above, left a bight, or loop, of about a fathom's length, on the table. There were similar holes and rope at the foot; andatabout arm's length from the head were two staples, to each of which was fastened a piece of small cord. So interested was I in the ob- servation of this horrible machine, that since its arrival I had not raised my eyes from it ; and on doing so now, for the first time, I was surprised to see that, although it wanted but a few minutes to the fatal time, there were not above fifty or sixty persons present. The greater part of these were English or American sailors, with a few Portuguese residents. The sailors were ' skylarking' — pelting each other with oranges and bananas ; while the rest of the spectators found sufficient amusement in laughing at their gambols. The time was fast approaching, and I was anxiously on the look-out for the arrival of the victim. The mournful tolling of the prison-bell PKXAL LAWS AND PUNISHMENTS. 83 gave notice of the setting-out of the sufferer. All was silent in an instant. Again the thoughtless sailors crowded around the table, still preserving, as if involuntarily, on their coun- tenances the reflection of that good-humour with which they had been sporting. Soon was heard a loud hum, appearing to proceed from a distant part of the town: gradually it neared, and might be recognised as the clamour of loud voices, and the trampling of hurrying feet. Presently was heard the monotonous rattling of a drum, and almost at the same time the mournful procession appeared, escorted by a few manda- rins of inferior rank, accompanied by about twenty or thirty official servants. These pressed forward, the crowd eagerly making way for them, and ranged themselves around the table, the mandarins standing at each end. Lastly came the criminal, guarded by two well-armed Chinese soldiers, and looking as unconcerned as if he were going to his dinner ! But his countenance soon changed ; and on perceiving the instrument, he trembled excessively, shuddered, and turned deadly pale : indeed, he seemed as if, until that moment, he had not thought of the death to which he was doomed, and then the dread of it came upon him in excess. He was con- ducted to the head of the table, and immediately four of the officials, who proved to be the executioner and his three assis- tants, stepped forward and received him from the soldiers. His hands, which were tied behind his back by the wrists, were then unbound, and in no very gentle manner he was lifted, or rather thrown, upon the table. " The chief exeoutioner now called aloud, inquiring whether any of the sufferer's friends wished a final interview. Imme- diately I felt a shock in the crowd behind me, and there rushed forward a man who, I afterwards understood, was the brother of the unhappy w r retch ; he was much troubled, but quickly produced about a dozen pieces of circular paper, about the size of shillings, covered with tin-foil.. These he gave his 84 PENAL LAWS AND PUNISHMENTS. brother, and then proceeded by means of steel, flint, and touch- paper, to obtain a light, which he held, that the prisoner might burn his paper antidotes against suffering in the other world. He did so ; lighting one after the other until they were consumed: there were eleven of them. The brother then embraced him for the last time, and directly afterwards, setting up a loud, wailing cry, and covering his face with his hands, rushed amongst the crowd. The executioner now called again ; and, as he said, for the last time, making the same inquiry. No one answered ; and the culprit was then placed in the position in which he was to suffer. He was now dreadfully affected, and seemed almost dead with fright. The rope at the head of the table was then placed over his neck, his face being upwards; the rope at the foot was placed over his ankles, and his hands were bound to the staples I have men- tioned, by the wrists. Each of the executioners produced a handle like that of a grindstone, and fixing it on the spindle of the roller, stood awaiting the signal to commence their horrid operations. It was -given by one of the mandarins ; and the rope over the neck was soon drawn tight. Still they turned — tighter and tighter it became ; the sufferer's face grew black and livid — his eyeballs seemed starting from their sockets — the blood spouted from his eyes and nostrils — his tongue protruded from his mouth, and was much swollen — his hands, too, were swollen almost to bursting — his ankles were broken, and his feet almost separated from the legs by the cruel cord. They wound the handles with extreme slow- ness, evidently anxious to protract the poor wretch's suffer- ings. The sufferer was now writhing in a dreadful agony. He raised his head, knocking it violently on the table ; but on repeating this action two or three times, one of the execu- tioners seized his hair, and held his head to the table. At this time a drizzling shower fell, and for a few moments the executioners suspended the turning. The rain, which visibly PENAL LAWS AND PUNISHMENTS. 85 refreshed Sam-se, threw an indescribable gloom over the multitude, who had until now, remained in awful silence ; but now, when the prisoner's sufferings were thus inhumanly- protracted, loud threatening murmurs arose, which caused a mandarin to command the resumption of the labour of death. It was now plain that the dreadful scene was about to close, for the sufferer was apparently insensible. After a turn or two more he heaved two or three short gasps, and all was over. On a signal from one of the mandarins the turning ceased, and immediately the rope was removed from the neck, showing the head almost severed from the body. The inter- val between the first and last signal was nineteen minutes ! Such is their barbarous protraction of a culprit's sufferings." Several Offences and their Penalties. — General punishments for common offences are regulated in China by a strange rule — but yet not strange for China. We can give an elaborate enumeration of these punishments on the word of a Russian missionary, who made himself well acquainted with all things pertaining to Chinese customs. State criminals, such as rebels, &c, are executed immediately after sentence is pronounced. A list is presented to the emperor of all those who have been condemned by the supreme tribunal of Pekin, with their crimes specified at length. He marks those who are to suffer death ; the others are like- wise conducted to the place of execution, and then taken back to prison till their fate is determined. The day previous to execution, the condemned have an entertainment at the expense of government. Sometimes, though very rarely, the names of several criminals recur three times on the list presented to the emperor, because their sentence has been delayed, to punish others more criminal ; these cannot remain any longer in prison ; they are either emploved as jailers or exiled. During the reign of Kien Long these excep- tions were it seems of rare occurrence. During that of Kia King, 86 PENAL LAWS AND PUNISHMENTS. on the contrary, of fifty criminals taken to the place of execu- tion, only twenty suffered punishment. The most rigorous punishments are inflicted on those who make an attempt on the life of the emperor ; rebels, traitors who go over to another sovereign ; those who murder; those that steal things belonging to the priests or the crown; and especially those who steal the seal of the empire ; whoever does not perform his duty to his parents, whoever marries without wearing mourning so long as the law prescribes ; those who, during the life of their parents, leave them without permission, or soon after their death give balls, parties, &c. ; he who has killed or invidiously betrayed a relation ; a calumnious informer ; a murderer of his teacher or superior ; he who has illicit commerce with the concubines of his grandfather or his father is punished with the greatest severity. An unjust judge is beheaded. He who in time of war is guilty of embezzlement, or of malpractices with respect to the supply of the troops, is strangled. s Who- ever commits a robbery to the amount of more than three hundred rubles, is strangled ; the stealing of a smaller sum is punished by a severe bastinado, and the criminal is obliged besides to make restitution ; if he has not the means, he is condemned, with his wife and children, to hard labour for the government. Mandarins of a superior rank, convicted of neglect of their duty, are degraded two degrees, and lose two years' salary. All sums of money stolen from the public coffers must be made good by the chiefs of the tribunals where the robbery was committed, and by those who are employed to discover the thieves, if their search is fruitless. All per- sons belonging to convents or temples, who suffer females to enter them for the purpose of prayer ; military persons who sell effects belonging to the government, such as arms, cloth- ing, &c, are condemned to a hundred blows. A deserter from the army in the field, if an officer, receives a hundred blows; a private suffers death. He who voluntarily takes the PENAL LAWS AND PUNISHMENTS. 87 place of another, when the army is on its march, which is pretty common in China, is beaten without mercy. If it appears that there has been a collusion between them, the protegee is beheaded, his property confiscated, and his family sold as slaves, and the protector punished w T ith a hundred blows and banishment. At the end of every year the chiefs are obliged to ex- amine those under them, any one of the latter who has not improved his knowledge in the affairs of his own department, is punished ; if he has an office, with the loss of a month's salary ; and if he has none, with forty blows. A dismissed mandarin, who meddles in the affairs of government, has eighty blows, and pays a fine of two pounds of silver. Supe- riors who recommend the promotion of a man without merit, in preference to one more worthy, receive eighty blows. De- lays in executing the business of government are punished with ten blows every day, up to eighty blows. A physician who writes a prescription improperly, gets a hundred blows. A servant who makes a noise in the imperial palace, and does not behave with decorum, is punished with a hundred blows, and his master with fifty. If a woman buys or sells salt clandestinely, her husband or her son is beaten ; salt being a public monopoly : if the husband is at a distance, or the son a minor, she receives the hundred blows, and pays a fine in money. A peasant who does not observe the distinction of ranks when sitting down to table, is punished with five blows. An officer, guilty of corruption or licentious conduct, is de- graded. The Chinese use for the infliction of corporal punishment, bamboo canes at least four or five feet long, and about two inches thick. Less serious transgressions are punished by boxes on the ear, the number of which is prescribed by the law ; but it depends on the executioner to render this strange punishment more or less painful, according as he is bribed. 88 PENAL LAWS AND PUNISHMENTS. Prisoners have fastened to their necks a piece of wood three feet square, and weighing about six pounds ; this weight is increased according to the degree of the crime. This kind of punishment is chiefly inflicted on swindlers or insolvent debtors ; these boards then weigh from fifty to one hundred pounds ; and the head of the criminal alone being visible, looks as if placed on a large dish ; he cannot possibly raise his hand to his mouth, and must be fed by others. Torture is in frequent use in China ; but the law exempts from it princes, members of illustrious families, distinguished literati, citizens of the first class, and such persons as have rendered important services to the empire. A great defect in the Chinese legislation is the facility which it affords to compound for corporal punishment by money ; for instance, a person condemned to receive from sixty to a hundred blows, pays from four to seven ounces of silver, and from nine to fifteen tchetwerts of wheat ; one year's hard labour and sixty blows, may be bought off for about fourteen ounces of silver, and about thirty tchetwerts of corn. Yery old persons, minors, and cripples, pay about the value of six- pence for ten blows. The wife of a person in office may be excused from ten blows, on payment of about tenpence, &c. Whoever kills a man by accident, is exempt from punishment if he pays a pound of silver. Old people, ninety years of age, or children under seven years, do not undergo corporal punishment, except in cases of treason and conspiracy. It is also a custom permitted among the Chinese, for a condemned person to pay another to suffer the punishment in his stead ; this extends even to the penalty of death. Our authority for this enumeration is the celebrated travel- ler in China Timkowski, a priest engaged in the Russian mission, and honoured . f with the confidence of some of the Chinese high officials. TRADING IN CHINA. 89 CHAPTER X. TBADING IN CHINA. Tricks upon Travellers. — Chinese craft and cleverness. — Chinese com- merce. — Revenue and taxes. Tricks upon Travellers. — Commerce wears many shapes in this clime. But in all its phases there is a latent craft which never deserts its native professors. To deceive a Chinaman is a task of difficulty. To escape a Chinaman who places him- self in your way with any dishonest motive is a feat greater than Europeans have usually been able to achieve. An in- stance of this double difficulty which occurs to us just now, shows that there are exceptions even to this rule ; but since the exception helps to prove the rule, we must recount the circumstances of the case. This we do on the authority and in the words of M. Hue, who, with his missionary party had just entered a Chinese city (the Blue Town). After having travelled long and laboriously, they looked about anxiously in search of an inn, but in vain. It is the custom in the great towns in the north of China and Tartary, for each hotel to receive only one description of guests ; one is for merchants in corn, another for dealers in horses, &c. There is only one which lodges simple travellers, and this is called the inn of passing travellers. M. Hue and his friends were inquiring for this inn, when a young man darted out of a neighbouring shop, and accosted them officiously. " You are looking for an inn," said he ; " permit me to conduct you to one myself," and he 90 TftAMNG IX CHINA. began to walk by their side. " You will have a difficulty in finding what you want in the Blue Town. Men are innumer- able here, but there are good and bad men, are there not, my Lord Lamas ? and who does not know that the bad are al- ways more numerous than the good ? Listen while I say a word to you from the bottom of my heart. In the Blue Town you will hardly find a man who is guided by his con- science, yet conscience is a treasure. You Tartars, you know what conscience is. I know the Tartars, they are good, they have upright hearts ; but we Chinese, we are wicked, we are rogues. In ten thousand Chinese you will scarcely find one who has a conscience. In this Blue Town almost every one makes a trade of cheating the Tartars, and getting hold of their money." Whilst the young Chinese was uttering all these fine words in an easy off-hand manner, he turned from one to the other, sometimes offering them snuff, sometimes tapping them gently on the shoulder in token of comradeship, and then, taking hold of their horses by the bridle, insisted on leading them himself. But with all these obliging attentions, he never lost sight of the two large trunks carried by their camel. The lov- ing looks that he cast on them from time to time told plainly enough that he was speculating on their contents, fancying doubtless, that they were filled with precious merchandise of which he hoped to obtain the monopoly. Hue had been now on the road for more than an hour, and saw no signs of the inn promised with so much emphasis. " We are sorry," said Hue, to their conductor, M to see you take so much trouble. If we did but see whither you are leading us " Leave that to me, my lords, leave that to me ; I am tak- ing you to a good, to an excellent inn ; don't say I am taking trouble ; don't pronounce such words : they make me blush. Are we not all brothers ? what signifies the difference of Tar- TRADING IN CHINA. , 91 tar and Chinese ? The language is not the same, the habits are not alike ; but we know that men have but one heart, one conscience, one invariable rule of justice. Stop ! wait for me one moment, my lords; I will be with you in a moment," and he darted like an arrow into a shop. In a few minutes he returned, making a thousand excuses for having kept them waiting. '•' You are very tired, are 3 r ou not ? oh ! that is easily understood ; when one is travelling it is always so ; it is not like being in one's own family." Whilst he was speaking Hue was accosted by another Chinese ; he had not the joyous expansive countenance of their first acquaintance ; he was thin and emaciated ; his lips were small and pinched together; and his little black eyes deeply sunk in their orbits gave his physiogonomy a decided expression of villany. "My Lord Lamas, you are here at last," said he ; " you have made the journey in peace ; ah ! that is well. Your camels are magnificent ; you must have travelled quickly and fortunately. At last you are here; that's well. Se Eul," added he, addressing the individual who had first seized upon them, " take care that you take these noble Tartars to a good inn ; you must take them to the inn of Eternal Equity." "That is precisely where we were going," said Hue. " Excellent — the master is one of my best friends; it will not be amiss if I go myself. I will recommend him to take care of these noble Tartars. If I did not go myself, it would weigh upon my heart. "When one has the good fortune to meet with brothers, one should be useful to them. We are all brothers, are we not, my lords ? see us two !" he pointed to his young partner. " We two are clerks in the same shop — we are accustomed to deal with Tartars. Oh, it is a great thing in this miserable Blue Town to meet with people you can trust." To see these two worthies with their professions of eternal 92 TRADING IN CHINA. devotion, one would have taken them for old friends. Unfor- tunately for them, says Hue, "we knew something of Chinese tactics, and had not quite so much of Tartar bonhommie as they supposed. We were pretty well aware that we had to do with a couple of sharpers, who were preparing to appropriate the money of which they supposed us possessed. By dint of look- ing on all sides, we at last espied a sign, on which was written in large Chinese characters " Hotel of the Three Perfections, lodging for travellers on Horse or Camel ; all sorts of business negotiated with unfailing success." We turned our horses' heads towards the gate ; in vain our two esquires protested it was not the right place ; we entered, and making the caravan defile through a long avenue, we found ourselves in the great square court of the inn." At the sight of the little blue caps on the heads of the men swarming about the court Hue per- ceived that he was in a Turkish hostelry. This threw his two Chinese out of their reckoning ; how- ever, without losing courage altogether, they continued to play their parts. " Where are the people of this inn ?" cried they, with affected zeal; "let them show us a large room, a fine room, a clean room. Their excellencies are come ; they must be properly lodged." A principal waiter now made his appearance with a key between his teeth, a broom in his hand, and a dish with water. Hue's two protectors seized upon all these articles in a moment. "Leave that to us," said they ; "we ourselves will wait on our illustrious friends ; you innkeepers only do things by halves ; you only work for money." And to work they set, watering, sweeping and rubbing the chamber opened for Hue. When all was ready, " we took our places on the kang, and they, out of respect, persisted in squatting on the ground before us. Just as the tea was brought in, a young man of elegant figure, and very well dressed, entered the room j he held in his hand TRADING IN CHINA. 93 a silk handkerchief by the four corners. " My Lord Lamas," said the rogue, " this young man is the son of the principal of our house ; our master saw you coming, and has sent his son to inquire if you have made the journey in peace." The young man then placed his handkerchief on the little table before Hue. " Here are some cakes to eat with the tea • my father has given orders at home to prepare the rice for you. When you have drunk the tea, you will have the kind- ness to accept a poor and humble repast in our old simple habitation." " Why thus lavish your heart on our account?" Hue asked in his turn. " Oh, my lords, look at our faces," cried all three in chorus; "your words cover them with con- fusion ; " but fortunately the host bringing in the tea cut short all these Chinese civilities. " Poor Tartars," said Hue, " how you must be fleeced when you fall into such hands ! " These words, which Hue pro- nounced in French, greatly surprised the three obliging friends. "What is the name of the illustrious country of Tartary inhabited by your Excellencies?" they asked. "Our poor family is not of Tartary ; we are not Tartars," said Hue. " You are not Tartars ? ah, we guessed as much. The Tartars have not that air of majesty ; their persons do not breathe such grandeur. May we ask the name of your noble country? " " We are from the West ; our country is far from here." "Ah, you are from the West," said the old gentleman, " I was sure of that ; but these young men do not understand things; they do not know how to look at physiognomies. Ah, I know your country; I have made more than one journey thither." " Without doubt, then, you understand our language ? " " Your language ; I cannot say I know it completely, but in ten words I can always comprehend three or four. I find 94 TRADING I* CHINA. some difficulty in speaking it; but what does that signify, you know both Tartar and Chinese ; oh, the people of your country are people of great capacity. I have always been closely connected with your countrymen. When they come to the Blue Town, they always apply to me to make their purchases for them." "Listen," replied Hue gravely; " let us speak some words of reason. You have given yourselves the trouble to conduct us to an inn ; it is good ; it is your good hearts that have done that; you have done us much service, you have set things in order, your master has sent us cakes; evidently, you are endowed with hearts whose goodness is inexhaustible. If it were not so, why have you done so much for us who are strangers ? You invite us to dinner at your house, and that is good ; but it is good also on our part not to accept your invitation. To eat with people with whom we are not bound by long friendship, is not conformable to Chinese usages ; it is equally opposed to the customs of the West." These words, solemnly pronounced, completely disconcerted his sharper friends. "If we cannot, at present, visit your shop," Hue added, "have the goodness to excuse us to your master; thank him for the civilities he has shown us. Before leaving the town we shall have some purchases to make, when we will take the opportunity of paying you a visit. To-day we will take our repose at the Turkish tavern, which is close by." " It is well, the tavern is excellent," said the trio, in a tone that betrayed their mortification. Hue and his party then rose and all went out together; Hue to dine in the town, they to render account to their chief of the ill-success of their intrigue. Hue exclaims that any thing more iniquitous and revolting than the traffic between the Chinese and the Tartars can hardly be conceived ! When the Mongols, simple and ingen- uous beings, if there are such in the world, arrive in a trading town, they are immediately surrounded by Chinese, who al- TRADING IN CHINA. 05 most drag them into their houses. They unsaddle their cat- tle, prepare tea, render them a thousand small services, caress, natter, and, as it were, magnetise them. The Mongols, free from duplicity themselves, and never suspecting it in others, are generally completely duped by all this apparent kindness. They take seriously all the fine sentences about brotherhood and devotion that are lavished on them, and, aware besides of their own want of address in business, they are enchanted to find friends who will transact it for them ; a good dinner gratis given them in the back shop is sure to convince them of the good faith of their Chinese " brothers." " If these people were interested," say the simple Tartars, " if they wanted to rob me, they would not put themselves to so much expense on my account." Chinese craft and cleverness. — Barrow, in the Avork on his travels through China, relates an instance of fraud and inge- nuity quite characteristic of this people. It must be known to most readers, yet we will venture to repeat it. " An Armenian merchant brought a pearl of great size and value to Canton, in the expectation of making his fortune. Its size and beauty soon became known, and attracted the attention of the officers and the merchants, who paid their daily visits to the Armenian, offering him prices far inadequate to its value. At length, however, after minute and repeated examinations, a price was agreed upon, and a deposit made, but the Armenian was to keep possession of the pearl till the remaining part of the purchase-money should be ready ; and in order to obviate any possibility of trick, the box iu which it was kept was sealed with the purchaser's seal. Several days elapsed without his hearing anything further from the Chinese ; and at length the time approached when all foreign merchants are ordered down to Macao. The Armenian in vain endeavoured to find out the people who had purchased his pearl ; but he contented himself with the reflection that, 96 TRADING IN CHINA. although he had been disappointed in the main object of his journey, he still had his property, and that the deposit was more than sufficient to defray his expenses. On reaching hia home he had no longer any scruple in breaking open the seal ; but his mortification may easily be supposed, on discovering that his real pearl had been exchanged for an artificial one, so very like as not to be detected but by the most critical examination. The daily visits of these people, it seems, were for no other purpose than to enable them to forge an accurate imitation, which they had dexterously substituted for the real one ; when they proposed the cunning expedient of sealing the box in which it was enclosed." A writer, commenting upon this narrative, observes that, this is only one proof among many of the extraordinary talent for imitating whatever may be put before them, possessed by the Chinese, and reminds us that the same kind of fraud, except as far as the imitation, was, not long ago, practised on Ilundell and Bridge in this country The good missionary, Hue, grows most pathetic in consider- ing the miseries which trading innocence has to encounter from adroit knavery. The Mongol travellers personate the really guileless; and the Chinese, apt cunning. Hue laments to see these poor Mongols travelling in China : every one tries to cheat them, and every one succeeds ; they meet at every step custom-house officers, — people who have to make roads and bridges and build pagodas, and who all recommend them- selves to their generosity. Others pretend to give them ad- vice, — to warn them against evil- disposed, wicked persons ; they caress them, call them friends and brothers ; and if all these methods do not prove effectual in loosening the Tartars' purse-strings, they try that of intimidation : they talk to them of Mandarins, laws, tribunals, prisons, tortures : they tell them they are going to be arrested, and, in short, treat them quite like children. TRADING IN CHINA. 97. Chinese Commerce, Revenue, and Taxes. — The trade of China, so far as it relates to the Chinese themselves, is little known to " outer barbarians." From every source which we have been able to consult we find it agreed, that the only- coined monies of the Chinese are small pieces of copper about the size of a half-sou, pierced in the centre for the conveni- ence of stringing them on a cord. This money, called " tsien" by the Chinese, "dehos" by the Tartars, and "sapecks" by the Europeans, is the only currency of the empire. Gold and silver are never coined ; they circulate in ingots of different weights. Gold-dust and leaf-gold are also in use for commer- cial purposes ; but the bankers who buy gold and silver pay the value in sapecks, or notes, representing a certain amount of them. An ounce of silver generally sells for 1700 or 1800 sapecks ; but varies according to the greater or less amount of money in circulation in the country. The money-changers have two ways of gaining in their traffic : if they give a just price for the silver, they cheat in the weight ; if their scales are conformable to justice, they diminish the price of the silver. But when they have dealings with Tartars, neither of these methods of fraud is practised ; on the contrary, they weigh the metal accurately, and pay above the price current. They appear to be losers by the transaction, and do really lose, considering only the weight and value of the gold or silver ; it is in the calculation that they take their advantage. Trade is not confined to one class of men, but to all ranks and ages. Scarcely can a boy lisp when he begins to sell a few cakes or a little sugar-cane. The poorest try to gain a subsistence, if it be only by disposing of a few rags. It is agreed on all hands that the Portuguese were the first of the European nations by whom a commercial intercourse with China was attempted. They were desirous of propagat- ing their religion, as well as of carrying on an advantageous trade ; but they found an insuperable obstacle to their designs, 98 TEA DING IN CHINA. in the wary and jealous policy of the empire. However, the "sluice was cracked" by the Portuguese, and gradually the "waters" bore through the vent, and now threaten to flood the whole land. In some of the chapters which follow we have to speak more particularly of the commerce of China and British connection therewith. There does not seem to have been made any accurate valua- tion of the revenue of China ; at least, none that Europeans can rely on as authentic. They have been variously estimated ; but as nearly as careful calculations enable us to gather, our opinions are formed so as to compel us to question the high figures at which these revenues have been generally set down. From Dr. GutzlafFs calculation we take their value in his time, not long ago, to be about £63,934,000 sterling. Of this amount £ 12,000,000 go to Pekin. Though the reve- nue is chiefly derivable from the land-tax, yet a considerable portion of it is produced from exciseable articles : moreover, according to Dr. Gutzlaff, two-thirds of the land-tax itself are paid in kind ; and it is clear that the amount of consump- tion and agricultural production must always bear a certain proportion to the amount of population. The taxation, then, is at the rate of about four shillings a-head per annum ; but, if we remember, as we are here reminded, that probably five times as much is collected as finds its way into the State treasury, the amount of individual taxation will be consider- ably greater. A characteristic instance of the extent to which dishonesty is carried in high places, and of the loose manner iu which oflicial business is done, is afforded in the fact that, not many years ago, 9,000,000 taels (about £3,000,000 ster- ling) were abstracted from the imperial treasury, without the discovery of the offender, or even of the offence for some con- siderable time after its occurrence. There appears to be a unanimity of opinion amongst all travellers and writers on this matter of official delinquency. TKAD1NG IN CHINA. 99 Incapacity is not, as a few insist, the simple evil proved against the high officials of the government ; but dishonesty is. We take it, with others, that their main science of govern- ment seems to be, to give bribes to all above them, and to receive bribes from all below them. The government offices, from Pekin to Thibet, are described as one vast hive of pecu- lators. In Shan- tun g, for example, the salt- tax should yield a fixed revenue of £40,000, but the arrears in 1849 amounted to nearly £30,000, of which £22,000 was interest due on col- lections from 1844 to 1848. Notwithstanding all this, in China the taxes have never been oppressive, and in this respect the executive, against which too many deplorably corrupt practices have been proved home, is rather justly popular. 100 LITERATURE AND LEARNING. CHAPTEE XL , LITERATURE AND LEARNING IN CHINA. Position of Education. — Present ignorance and past intelligence. — The Literature and Language. — Printing in China. Position of JEducution. — The Chinese authorities are far from showing indifference on the great question of education. So eager, indeed, are they to promote knowledge, such as they think fit for their people, that state provision is largely made and the subject's duty steadily enforced respecting education. Every male peasant in ten is said to be able to read and write In such a matter, then, the " barbarous Chinese" leave us who scoff at their pretensions, far in the rear. Our vaunted progress has done less for " the millions" than seems to result to its own people from the despised stand- stillism of China. Even going from the sphere of peasants to that of state-officials, the custom of China sets us a bright example. The necessar}* - qualifications for governmental departments include intellectual attainments and a learned degree. In theory, merit decides the appointment, and ability is the unfailing test. Our own administrative reformers have no need to borrow a lesson on this subject from any other nation than the " insolent barba- rians." In the province of Nanhae " the people are remark- able for their literary spirit;" and, excepting agriculturists, gardeners, fishermen, with those who are engaged in providing fuel, nearly all the men are able to read ; but in other dis- tricts not more than four or five-tenths, that is, only one half, are said to be able to read. In Nanhae two or > » > » » • ' > > .' • > • ' > 1 i > » • ' ' ' • ' ' ' LITERATURE AND LEARNING. 101 three-tenths of the classes above the position of labourers devote themselves entirely to literary pursuits for life ; but in the five other provinces only one or two in a hundred apply them- selves wholly to study. The number of females able to read is ascertained to be very small. It is unquestionably creditable to the Chinese system of government appointments that in order to qualify himself for a government post, the " celestial " must have passed muster in the triennial examination, which is general, and taken out the degree, " Zyinszee," equivalent to our Bachelor of Arts. And if he aim at high office, he must have become a " Keu- jin," or LL.D. It is not unusual,, however, to purchase every place or any place under the crown, and the same posts have been re-sold several times within a year. There does not appear to be much, however, beyond the " idea " of the system which it would be worth our while to borrow. The course of instruction devised by the Tartar rulers, especially for the military sections of the empire, tends rather to narrow intellectual aims, to circumscribe the freedom of thought, than to develope mental activity and give reason full sway. When, too, the student reaches philosophy he is made to pause before any investigation into man's being. He is not suffered with impunity to examine man's nature, his in- tellectual or spiritual existence. Thus, then, is he deprived of any notions of the future or the spiritual value of the pre- sent. He ceases to be speculative, and grows up stupefied on all such questions as relate to the soul. Historical studies are also immensely restricted; being solely and exultingly national; and we are told, that scientific principles, as scientia, are nearly unknown. The knowledge of what is practical is traditionally handed down from father to son without the principle of which it is the result ; and hence, the plough and the shuttle, the staple instruments of Chinese prosperity, have been used ex- actly in the same fashion for centuries. Until the cordon, • » • « c , < • •••-••« « • • • *t « . « • « « t « * • •••••,[•*• • • ... • •/« •...; ; •. . 102 LITERATURE AND LEARNING. which authority has drawn around the region of national knowledge, be broken through, intelligence in China must be unaccompanied by religious faith : contemptuous ignorance as to the condition of the world at large must prevail ; and pro- gress, in the better sense of the word, amount to a moral im- possibility. We fear this is but plain truth. Present Ignorance and Past Intelligence. — Notwithstanding that, in theory, education and intelligence are to such an extent encouraged in China, there are practical proofs which strangely clash with this fact. For example: — the Chinese were so igno- rant of geography, that their literati, seeing a map of the world in the hands of the Jesuits, took one of the two hemispheres which contained Europe, Asia, and Africa, for the empire of China ; — and in mechanics it was the same, for one mistook a watch for a living creature.* To confirm this view is an assertion that though the Chinese affect to despise European ingenuity, they cannot mend a common watch ; when it is out of order, they say it is dead, and barter it away for a living one. But accounts do not very well tally on this matter. Eor instance : Sir J. Bowring, who does not appear to be very enamoured of Chinese law, or the desire of isolation which marks it, bears, nevertheless, a willing testimony to the won- derful intelligence, political proficiency, and social civilisation of that people. Be all that as it may, the most astonishing evidence of antiquity, intelligence, settled institutions, and political sagacity flows from the fact that 370,000,000 of men speak a similar language, submit to one rule, own a common country, and are of one national kindred. We can afford another "corroborative fact" mentioned to an "editorial friend," and which " speaks volumes " for Chinese advanced intelligence. "A gentleman has informed us he has seen a Chinese bank- * Jesuits' Travels, ii. 304; Boyle, Final Causes, 230. » LITERATURE AND LEARNING. 103 note 300 years old, which bears evidence that the joint stock system was then in a more advanced state in China than it is in England now." It ran very much in the terms of our Bank of England note, and the names of all the partners and shareholders were printed on the bach, so that it seems there was a daily advertisement of the partnership, every new issue having all the changes of holding. The following advice of a Chinese politician, to a king who was disposed to play the tyrant, nearly eight hundred years before the Christian era, indicates not only a shrewd observer of the signs of the times, but also presupposes a course of sagacious inductional observation upon a long-established and extensive empire : " An emperor knows how to govern, when he leaves poets at liberty to make verses, the populace to act plays, historians to tell the truth, the ministers to give advice, the poor to murmur while they pay taxes, students to repeat their lessons aloud, the people to talk of news, and old men to find fault with every thing, — affairs then go on without much inconvenience." Literature and Language. — An almanac, to all intents and purposes similar to that which flourishes in England as " Moore's prophetic," has a high standing in the periodical literature of China. While astrology has led, in other nations, to the study of astronomy, the Chinese, though they have studied astrology for some thousand years, have made no progress in the real knowledge of the stars. Their ancient boasted observations, and the instruments which they make use of, were brought by the learned men, whom Koubilai, the grandson of Gingis Khan, had invited from Balk and Samarcand. The government, at present, considers the pub- lication of an annual calendar of the first importance and uti- lity. It must do every thing in its power, not only to point out to its numerous subjects the distribution of the seasons, the knowledge of which is essentially necessary to them, to .... • « . " 4 * • • ♦ * • ■ >. ■ • / • •. i • • • • * * * . ■ 104 LITERATURE AND LEARNING. arrange the manner of gaining their livelihood, and distri- buting their labour ; but, on account of the general supersti- tion, it must mark in the almanac the lucky and unlucky days, the best days for being married, for undertaking a jour- ney, for making their dresses, for buying, or building, for presenting petitions to the emperor, and for many other cases of ordinary life. By this means, the government keeps the people within the limits of humble obedience ; it is for this reason that the emperors of China established the academy of astronomy, but we must not expect to find men really acquainted with that science. The literature of the Chinese, such as it is, is extensive enough : books are plentiful and printing cheap. In the higher departments of prosaic literature, the works that ap- pear contain nothing new ; they are mostly compilations of, and quotations from, what has been already written. Mr. Martin says that there is one work in the royal library on the topography of China, which consists of 5,000 volumes : it is said, however, to be a mass of confusion, without order or arrangement. There are several newspapers in China, but all are "official," or such as wear the badge of obedience. They display no ability, and report the " facts " useful in the tritest fashion. The most enlightened efforts have failed to make the English language take any worthy place in the lingual attain- ments of the Chinese doctors. Indeed, all alien tongues fare thus alike. Most amusing instances are related of the manner in which they contrive to translate the English into their own tongue, or impart their most pressing wants in English. They teach the words by sound, and put grammar out of the question as a useless and burthensome introduction. A dialogue in a shop affords a good specimen. "Any news ? " " Velly few, you have hear that govnor hab catchee die ? Last day he hab die." (Have you heard that IITEKATTTCE AND LEAENING. 105 the governor is dead? He died yesterday). "Yes, my hab hear. Just now which si your partner hab go ? two time before my come, no hab see he." " Just now he go country ; stop two day more, he come back." "Before time, I hab see one small boy stay this shop : he hab go country ? " " He catchee chow-chow (he is eating his dinner) ; come one hour so ; you wanchee see he ? " "Maskee, you have alia same ; before time, my have catchee one lackerware box, that boy have sendee go my house, no have sendee one chop." (Lately I bought a lackerware box ; that boy brought it to my house, but did not bring a permit.) '• Stop litty time, I sendee cal- lum, he come." "Well, more soon, more better, sendee chopchop." (The sooner the better; send the permit.) The imaginative or the poetic faculty is less cultivated in China than one would expeet who is accustomed to read the flowing and flowery phrases which have been translated for Europeans. With the double object of illustrating the poetic spirit and manner precisely as they seem to be, and exhibiting the historical impression of a Chinese stranger, we subjoin an extract or two from a poem of celebrity amongst the Celestials, called "London, in two stanzas." Thus runs a couple of verses, accurately rendered : — "Afar in the ocean, towards the extremities of the north-west, There is a nation, or country, called England : The clime is frigid, and you are compelled to approach the fire. The houses are so lofty that you may pluck the stars : The pious inhabitants respect the ceremonies of worship, And the virtuous among them ever read the sacred books: They bear a peculiar enmity towards the French nation, The weapons of war rest not for a moment (between them). The climate is too cold for the cultivation of rice, But they have for ages been exempt from the evils of famine : With strong tea they immingle rich cream, And their baked wheaten bread is involved in unctuous lard. 106 LITERATURE AND LEARNING. Here excellent meats are served in covers of silver, And fine wines are poured into gem-like cups : The custom of the country pays respect to the ceremony of meals, Previous to their repast they make a change in their vestments!" It is clear to every one that no spoken language is so little known as that of China, and it is needless to say, that it differs essentially from all others known, and even from those which have sprung from it. The characters signify not words, but things, and several provinces pronounce or jumble together these characters quite differently from others. If, however, they speak dissimilarly, they all recognise the same character, and, appealing to it, at once comprehend each other; but few, if any, know all the characters, of which there are several thousands. The general study of the Chinese language by Europeans, may be dated from Macartney's embassy to these far eastern regions. The change is referred to that period, for the very sufficient reason that Lord Macartney directed Sir George Thomas Staunton's attention to the study of Chinese ; and he was the first person in Europe who translated a Chinese work, not previously translated by the Catholic missionaries. Sir George Staunton's example has not been lost upon his country- men. Here it is well incidentally to observe how highly probable it is that the existence of a Russian college at Pekin for more than a century, has enriched Russian literature with many translations from the Chinese ; but we unfortunately know little of the state of Chinese literature in the Russian empire. The study of the language has been long and successfully cultivated at Rome, where, under the really illustrious Metzza- fonti, its lingual position has been settled. Anything previ- ously known of China, its habits or its tongue, broke on the world from the pious missionary priests, who cheerfully en- countered clanger always, and death often, in order to take the LITERATURE ANT) LEARNING. 107 tidings of salvation to the splendid barbarians. But to rush from reflections trenching on that quarter, let us return to the language itself. The essential difference between the Chinese language and such languages as have their cases, tenses, &c, formed bj adding to or altering the radical word, is thus ex- plained by M. de Humboldt:* — "The Chinese language employs all its words in the state in which they indicate ideas ab- stracted from all grammatical relations. All Chinese words, though enchained in a phrase, are m statu absoluto, and in that respect resemble Sanscrit radicals." The Chinese language re- nounces the precise and minute distinction of grammatical categories, ranges the words composing its phrases in the less restricted order of the current of the ideas, and gives to its periods the structure to which its system is applicable. Having stated that ft the grammars of other languages have an etymological and a syntactical part, while Chinese grammar acknowledges only the latter," M. de Humboldt proceeds to corroborate this assertion, and explain the general principles on which the Chinese arrange their words in sentences. The Chinese range the words of their phrases in an established order. The fundamental distinction on which this order rests consists in the words that limit the others preceding them, while the words to which the others are directed as their ob- ject follow those on which they are dependant. Now, it is in the nature of verbs, inasmuch as they express the idea of an ac- tion, to have an object towards which they direct themselves; while it is in the nature of nouns, as designating things, (either qualities or substances), to be limited in the extent assigned to them. Nouns, in Chinese, are therefore recognised by this circumstance, that they are preceded by their limitations, and * Lettre a M. Abel-Remusat sur la Nature dea Formes Grammati- cales en general, et sur le Genie de la Langue Chinoise en particulier. Par M. G. de Humboldt. Paris, 1827, 8vo. 108 LITERATURE AND LEARNING. verbs by being followed by their complement. But destitute of inflections, or anything substituted for them, the fixed point which is necessary for applying the rules of position is often wanting in Chinese. In the Chinese language, the sense of the context is the basis of intelligibility, and the grammatical construction must often be deduced from it. The verb itself is not distinguishable, except by its verbal sense. In relation to the comparative advantages of the Chinese grammatical system, and that of the classical languages, M. de Humboldt remarks : — " The Chinese language astonishes, by a singular pheno- menon, which consists in acquiring an advantage unknown to any other language, by the renunciation of an advantage com- mon to all others. By rejecting, as much as the nature of language permits, the colours and the shades which the ex- pression adds to the thought, the Chinese language makes the ideas stand forth more prominently. Its art consists in ar- ranging them immediately in contact with each other, so that their conformities and oppositions are not only perceived and felt, as in all other languages, but strike the mind with a new force, and excite it to pursue and to render present their mutual relations." Prom hence arises a pleasure evidently independent of the substance of the reasoning, and which may be termed purely intellectual, as it belongs solely to the form and arrangement of the ideas. After stating the particular advantages of each system, M. de Humboldt gives his decision in favour of the classical lan- guages above the Chinese in these terms : — u The Chinese language appears to be decidedly inferior, as the vehicle of thought, to Sanscrit, Greek, and other classical languages. It labours under an absolute impossibility of attaining the peculiar advantages of the languages with more perfect grammatical systems ; while these languages may, if the subject renders it necessary, use sparingly, or even suppress the words used for LITERATURE AND LEARNING. 109 connecting ideas — may employ the most indefinite terms — and if they cannot equal, may at least approximate to the laconism and boldness of the Chinese language." Printing in China. — Many contend that the art of printing was known and practised in China two thousand years ago. It is beyond question that a system of recording and repeating, upon a sort of cloth, state manifestos and important docu- ments, was in vogue in China long before the industrious monks of Christendom dreamt of relief, by any mechanical agency, from their invaluable and toilsome manual transcriptions. There is clear evidence extant, that under the great dynasty of Soong (a.d. 960) an attempt was made to print by means of moveable types made of burnt earth ; and the Emperor Kang-hi, of the present Mantchou dynasty, had, according to Dr. Morrison, a great quantity of moveable types cast in copper. Kien-lung, however, the second in succession to this wise prince, had all the types melted down during a period of great scarcity of money, in order to convert them into coin. In Dr. Morrison's extensive collection of Chinese books, there are a Chinese Dictionary, in 24mo., and a history of the Loo- Choo Islands, in four volumes, which were printed with these moveable types of Kang-hi' s, but the characters are far inferior in beauty and regularity to those of the ordinary wood blocks. Kien-lung subsequently, however, caused 250,000 moveable wooden types to be cut, which were then, and still continue to be, used in the printing of the ' State Calendar,' a work published every three months. Touching printing, as it now finds favour in China, all we have been able to collect amounts to this: — The Chinese printers have no notion of a real printing-press ; and besides, their paper is so thin that it could not resist a hard pressure. The printer holds two very fine brushes in his right hand, of which one contains ink, and the other is dry. With the former he blackens all the letters ; the latter he passes gently 110 LITERATURE AND LEARNING. over the paper which has been laid on them. By this process a single man can with great ease print off several thousand sheets in a day. The Ghinese paper is printed only on one side. Every page is numbered, commonly also the title of the work, or of the book and chapter. Two pages are usually worked together, and the sheet of paper has a black line down the middle as a guide to the bookbinder, who folds it double, and fastens the open leaves together. Every volume is either gummed at the back with a very fine paste, or stitched with silk in a manner peculiar to the Chinese. Eight or ten of such volumes are then placed in a pasteboard case covered with coarse silk or cotton to keep them from dust. In the southern provinces of the empire, books for ladies' libraries are bound in the European fashion in line silks. The natives, it seems, make use of wax plates in printing. Eor this purpose they cover a wooden plate with wax two or three inches thick, into which they cut the letters with a graving needle, and then proceed to the printing in the same way as with the wooden plates. Yarious attempts have been made by Europeans, both in Asia and Europe, to print entire Chinese works by means of moveable wooden and metal types; the college of San Jose at Macao printed a Life of the Virgin, in two volumes, and a History of the Saints, in twenty-six, but they are said to be far inferior in point of typographical execu- tion to those printed in the ordinary Chinese fashion. Many pages are scarcely legible, which indeed is the case with the Chinese provincial papers printed with wooden types. PRINCIPAL CHINESE PRODUCTS. Ill CHAPTER XII. PRINCIPAL CHINESE PRODUCTS. Tea. — Position of Agriculture. — Chief Food Crops. — Horticulture. — Froducts for Manufacture. Tea. — Foremost amongst the products of China ranks tea. The name of the Celestial empire is inseparably mixed up with the favourite beverage of the age, and in the delicate ware in which it is usually quaffed. Tea has without question made its best fame for China, and created for that land a world- wide celebrity. The Chinese ascribe its origin to a miracle, and its use to times fabulously remote. The earliest accounts of the plant are, however, found in a work venerated by all Chinamen — "The Kings" — said to be a compilation of the famous philosopher and moralist, Confucius. There is no occasion for us to dwell upon the importance of this valuable Chinese product. Were Englishmen now to suffer a deprivation of the wonderful " article" gathered from this little plant, we would have to mourn such a calamity, as, in its consequences, would soon convince any sceptic of the vast importance which is universally attached to this precious luxury. Everyone is more or less intimate with the tea-plant, and whatsoever con- cerns its habits. It does not, indeed, come within the scope of our work to do more than barely refer, in very general terms, to a few particulars condensed from Mr. Ball's work on the " Cultivation and manufacture of Tea." Cunningham states that the tea-shrubs flower at Chusan 112 PRINCIPAL CHINESE PRODUCTS. from October to January, and that the seed is ripe in Septem- ber or October. Ting Hing, a respectable green tea factor, states that they flower from September to November ; another green tea factor alleges that they flower so late as February. Kcempter observes that at Japan the shrubs flower from August until late in the winter. Von Siebold states from November to February. A Chinese manuscript informs us that in the mild and temperate season of spring the shrubs shoot forth their leaves, when such as are young and delicate must be chosen. Those that are partly unfolded, long like a needle and covered with down, must be gathered to be made into Pekoe. A few days after Ko Yu (20th April) the leaves become large, and are called the first gathering (Teu Chun). These are thick and substantial, fragrant in smell, and sweet in flavour. When the leaves of the first gathering are exhausted, cultivators wait till they shoot out anew, about Chung (6th June), when they must be gathered and made. These are called the second gathering (Ul Chun), the flavour of which has no fragrance, and the colour of the leaf is of a dingy black. The leaves shoot out again at the summer solstice (Hia Chy) ; these are called the third gathering (San Chun), and are of a light green colour and coarse in smell. The "VuYe Shan Chy," a work treating on black tea, states that the first gather- ing is fragrant in smell and full-flavoured. The second has no smell, and is weak in flavour. The third has a little smell, but is also weak in flavour. The Chinese say that the Yen or Padre Souchong tea must be gathered not only in clear and bright weather, but that those teas only are of the first quality which are gathered during a continuation of fine weather, and even after noon, during the greatest heat of the day. On the other hand, a Chinese manuscript states, that " those which are gathered in rainy weather are poor and tasteless, and unfit for Pao Chong or Padre Souchong ; though they will, never- theless, do for Siao Poey and Ta Poey, or fine Souchong." PRINCIPAL CHINESE PRODUCTS. 1 13 One sort of tea not very generally known to Europeans is called " Brick Tea." From a work by a Kussian ecclesiastic we get an account of this tea, setting forth how the Mongols and most of the nomades of Middle Asia make use of it. It serves them both for drink and food. The Chinese carry on a great trade in it, but never drink it themselves. In the tea manufactories, which are for the most part in the Chinese government of Fokien, the dry, dirty, and damaged leaves and stalks of the tea are thrown aside, they are then mixed with a glutinous substance, pressed into moulds, and dried in ovens. These blocks are called by the Russians, on account of their shapes, brick tea. The Mongols, the Bouriats, the inhabitants of Siberia, beyond lake Baikal, and the Kalmucks, take a piece of this tea, pound it in a mortar made on purpose, and throw the powder into a cast-iron vessel full of boiling water, which they suffer to stand a long time upon the fire ; adding a little salt and milk, and sometimes mixing flour fried in oil. This tea, or broth, is known by the name of Satouran. " I have drunk brick tea," says the Russian priest, "prepared both ways, and found it palatable enough : at least very nourishing ; all depends on the skill and cleanliness of the cook. This brick tea serves also instead of money in the dealings of these people, as well as in Daouria." Position of Agriculture. — Agricultural pursuits are highly honoured in the empire of China. But the position of " til- lage," and the customs surrounding the practice of all hus- bandry, denote most primitive and unprogressive tendencies. So greatly esteemed is the agricultural profession, that the sovereign himself steps from his throne on a special festival, and, equipped as becomes a royal ploughman, sets an example of industry, which has special reference to the cultivation of the soil. Considering the tardy disposition of the Chinese in the direction of any improvements, it is not surprising to find that the implements on which so many of the excellencies I 114 PKINCIPA1 CHINESE PRODUCTS. of agriculture depend, are not in a very advanced state among the Chinese. The plough they commonly use is a very sim- ple machine, and inferior to the very worst of ours a hundred years ago. They have, however, a drill plough in some pro- vinces. It consists, we are told, of two parallel poles of wood, shod with iron to open the furrows ; these poles are placed on wheels ; a small hopper is attached to each pole to drop the seed into the furrows, which are then covered with earth by a transverse board fixed behind, which sweeps the surface of the ground. But even their best plough seldom cuts deeper than four inches in the deepest and best soils, so that they sow from year to year on the same soil, without turning up new earth, and burying the worn-out mould to refresh itself. Their animals of draught, on which, also, much may be said to depend, in agricultural labours, are described as very infe- rior and weak. The mules and asses they use in ploughing could not draw our improved ploughs, if the Chinese had them. It must be observed, however, that in some provinces of the empire, horses are more abundant and the mules of better quality than what were noticed by Mr. Barrow and other of our travellers, and an industrious and swarming population may be supposed to do much in the way of spade husbandry. The barometer and thermometer, those invaluable instru- ments to the agriculturist, are practically unknown to the Chinese. Meteorological journals have, however, been kept for centuries, though the theory of such sciences has been suffered to slumber. These were formerly always in the pos- session of the public officers who superintended cultivation, but their contents are said to be now pretty generally dissemi- nated. There are also many agrarian calendars published from time to time, and the farmers have been observed to have a good knowledge of weather, the course of the seasons, and such other notions as experience invariably supplies. PRINCIPAL CHINESE PRODUCTS. 115 " Know your weather ! Know the proper season for sowing, planting, transplanting, and reaping, and miss it not," is a sentence continually occurring in their treatises on agriculture. Many of their old poets have detailed, with great precision, all that was known about the productions of the earth and other branches of natural history in their time. Every tra- veller describes the emperor as the universal land-owner — the sole proprietor of the soil ; but the tenant is never liable to be dispossessed, if he regularly pay his rent to the crown, which is calculated at about one-tenth of the produce of the farm or farms. In case any agriculturist have more land than lie and his family can .cultivate, he lets it to another, on con- dition of receiving half the produce, out of which he pays the whole of the emperor's taxes. On these terms land is culti- vated by the greater part of the poor peasantry. It has been said that the Chinese have the advantages and disadvantages attending the non-existence of great farms. There are, in fact, no great farmers. Every grower carries his own limited produce to an open and a free market — and, yet, scarcity and famine are not unfrequent occurrences in one province or other of this empire. In the days of Marco Polo, these casu- alties were provided for by the establishment of imperial granaries, which he thus describes:^ — "In times of great plenty, the emperor causes large purchases to be made of such kinds of grain as are most serviceable, which is stored in gra- naries, provided for the purpose, in the several provinces, and managed with such care as to ensure its keeping for three or four years without damage. It is his command that these granaries be always kept full, in order to provide against times of scarcity ; and when, in such seasons, he disposes of the grain for money, he requires, for four measures, no more than the purchaser would pay for one measure in the market." Every soldier, stationed on the different guards by the great 116 PRINCIPAL CHINESE PRODUCTS. wall and elsewhere, has his portion of land assigned to him, which he cultivates, and pays his quota of the produce to the state and the farmers of China : yet all are poor. In the "Memoirs concerning the Chinese," vol. xi., there are full translations of two government documents, addressed to all TcJd-hien, or governors of cities of the third class, which prove, at least, the anxious attention paid to the subject of cultivation. These papers insist that the first care of the governors ought to he to study well the map of the district submitted to their authority, to learn the nature of all the lands, their produce, and the good and bad qualities of the inhabitants. Then they must see that no persons remain idle ; and no grounds, particularly such as are productive of corn or rice, remain untilled. They are instructed to consult farmers on farming — gardeners on gardening. Except where wanted for fuel, they are to see that the mass of trees planted be fruit-trees, and such as will give fruit that may afford nourishment in case of a scarcity of grain, as chesnuts, &c. The three different modes of sowing grain, by drilling, dibbling, and broad cast, are all in use ; but chiefly the first, as being the most expeditious, and the crop most easy to be kept from weeds ; the last is rarely practised, on account of the great waste of seed, and dibbling is used only on small patches of ground near the houses, when they aim at neatness. The soil being, in general, loose and sandy, and free from stones, is worked without much difficulty, but it seems to require a good deal of manure ; and this necessary article, from the paucity of domestic animals, is extremely scarce. Chief Food Crops. — Authors differ on this subject, but we have it on general authority that the kinds of corn most cultivated in China seem to be millet and buck- wheat ; but rice, and not corn-bread, is the staff of life of the Chinese. "Wheat," says Marco Polo, "does not yield so good a crop as rice ; and bread not being in use among them, wheat is PIttK CIPAL CHINESE PRODUCTS. 117 eaten only in the form of vermicelli, or of pastry." This fact is confirmed, in all its points, by the missionaries and modern travellers. " A stronger proof of the old traveller's fidelity," adds Marco Polo's editor and commentator, Mr. Marsden, " cannot be required than is afforded by the minute agreement of these observations on the use made of certain grains as articles of food." It is generally agreed that the excessive cultivation of rice, to the exclusion of other grain, is one of the defects of Chinese agricultural policy: for, though rice yields, in favourable seasons, a more abundant and, perhaps, an easier crop, it is more liable to fail than most others. A want of water in its early stages, or a surplus of water in its maturer ones, is alike fatal to it. It is more subject than any other grain to the depredations of birds and locusts, which abound in China beyond European conception. The locusts, in particular, at times, literally lay waste the cultivation of whole provinces, and there seems to be no exaggeration in the picture of this scourge drawn by a native author: — "Their prodigious mul- titudes cover the whole canopy of heaven; — they are so close that their wings touch each other ; — their number is so vast, that, in lifting up your eyes, you might fancy you saw a high green mountain inverted over your head ; — and the noise they make in flying is like the beating of many drums." At other times, these destructive insects sweep in one long close line through a country, leaving utter desolation in their track, like the course of a lava- stream from a volcano, and freshness and verdure, or glowing harvests, on either side of their path. In the northern provinces of China, where less rice, and more wheat, millet, and pulse, are cultivated, the dreadful scourge of famine is less frequently felt; and it is argued by Euro- peans, that, if the potatoe were introduced in these provinces, and guinea-corn (zea-mays) in the middle and southern pro- vinces, the occurrence would be even less often. 118 PRINCIPAL CHINESE PRODUCTS. Besides gourds and cucumbers of different species, kidney beans, capsicums, and other things common to us, the Chinese have their famous petsai, which is a peculiar kind of cabbage. This is, indeed, essentially a national plant, as essential to the Chinese as the potatoe to the Irish. " The quantity con- sumed," says Mr. Clarke Abel, " all over the Chinese empire, but in Pekin especially, is immense ; the nine gates of this city, according to some authors, being frequently choked by various vehicles laden with it, which pass through them daily, from morning till night, during the months of October and November. It is prized by all classes, and esteemed by them as a necessary of life. It is cultivated all over the empire, and receives a greater share of horticultural labour and skill than any other plant. In rearing it, the Chinese consume an enormous quantity of their celebrated manure, called by them Ta Few, composed chiefly of human ordure. This plant, which I have eaten as a salad, and found equal to any lettuce, has somewhat the flavour, when boiled, of asparagus. It often weighs from fifteen to twenty pounds, and reaches the height of two or three feet. The Chinese preserve it, during the winter, by different methods ; many pickle it in salt and vinegar, others keep it fresh, either by planting it in large quantities in wet sand, at the bottom of trenches cut for the purpose, or, after drying it in the sun, by burying it deep in the earth. Those who wish to preserve it for a short time only, place it two or three feet beneath the surface, covering it with a layer of straw and earth." In the northern provinces of the empire, the Chinese culti- vate, on an extensive scale, the xing-ma or sida tilicefolia, and the ge ma or cannabis sativa, not as articles of food, but for the manufacture of cordage, which is formed of their fibres. With the usual intelligence of these people in detecting every useful quality of all the productions of nature, they have dis- covered a medicinal property in the root of the sida, which PRINCIPAL CHINESE PRODUCTS. 119 they use as a powerful sudorific. The castor-oil plant, or ricinus communis, valued by us solely as a medicine, is exten- sively cultivated by the Chinese as an article of food. They have ingeniously discovered some method of depriving the oil produced from the seeds of this plant of its purgative proper- ties and nauseous taste to such a degree that they use it in their dishes. They also eat the seeds, after the oil has been extracted from them. Throughout the country, machines, moved by men and buffaloes, keep up constant irrigation; granite sluices are constructed for the same purpose ; all the canals are full of boats, lighters, and junks, laden with grain, fruit, and other products. Horticulture. — Following in the steps of Mr. Barrow, if we descend from the great scale of agriculture to horticulture, we certainly may find more to commend in the Chinese. Indeed, it seems that the way in which the cultivation of the ground is conducted by the peasantry ought rather to be called horticul- ture than agriculture, whether we consider its scale, system, or implements. The skill and industry of the Chinese in this department are chiefly evinced in raising the greatest possible quantity of vegetables from a given piece of ground. Even those who are not their panegyrists admit, without hesitation, that " let as much ground be given to one of their peasants as he and his family can work with the spade, and he will turn that piece of ground to more advantage, and produce from it more sustenance for the use of man, than any European whatsoever would be able to do." They work the soil inces- santly, prepare it with the most scrupulous attention, and keep it free from the least weed. It appears, however, that they have no method of forcing vegetables by artificial heat, or of giving their plants the benefit of the sun's rays through glass, which at the same time excludes the cold air. Taking Mr. Barrow still as our authority, we find that the 1 20 PRINCIPAL CHINESE PRODUCTS. fruits of China are numerous ; almost every fruit known in Europe is found in China ; and though generally, from the want of a proper mode of cultivation, they are inferior to those produced in our gardens, there are some which surpass anything we can produce, and they have many fruits which we know only by name. The guava, the shaddock, the mango, and the pine-apple they possess, in common with the inhabi- tants of our Indian possessions ; but they have also some which are found only in China. The letchee, a fruit about as large as a walnut, is said to be delicious ; it is frequently ex- ported to India in a dried state, wrinkled like a French prune: the Chinese take it in this state with their tea, preferring the pleasant acid of this fruit to the sweetness of sugar. But the most curious of all the fruits of China is the petchee. This plant is described as a sort of water-lily, to the roots of which a white substance is attached, covered with a red skin ; the white substance is eatable, and is confidently said to have the strange property of rendering copper eatable. The fruit trees and forest trees of China are such as win the admiration of all travellers. Amongst the most likely to catch the attention of Europeans are the mulberry, the tallow tree, the black bamboo, the green willow, the paper tree, the cypress, the pine, and the wide- spreading banian tree — all of which, it seems, nourish there to the greatest degree of perfection. Products for Manufacture. — Sir G. Bonham and his imme- diate predecessors have placed before Europeans a good deal of information on this division of Chinese products. The fame of Chinese silks did not wait for the assistance of a Barrow or a Bonham. But they lead us to think that there is every reason to conclude that the silk- worm has been cultivated, and silk woven in China, from the most remote antiquity. It is unquestionably true that as the necessity for clothing must have long preceded that of recording events, the inventions of PRINCIPAL CHINESE PRODUCTS. 121 the loom and distaff are lost in the uncertainty of tradition. The mythologists of the West have ascribed those inventions to the gods ; and in like manner the ancient monarchs of China, who in their traditionary history play the part of gods, are said to have been the inventors of the silk-manufacture. For nearly twenty centuries Europe has received silk from the East : the names given to it on its introduction sufficiently indicate the country from whence it came. This manufactur- ing product is still a " staple trade ;" but India has sometimes stolen its richest rewards in a splendid rivalry. From our travellers we learn that in ancient times an ex- ample of industry was annually given by the empress of China, who fed the laborious insects with the leaves she had gathered with her own hands, from trees growing within the verge of the imperial palace. The produce of the worms was afterwards spun and woven by herself. This was a politic mode of inducing habits of industry ; and it appears to have been retained, on account of the pleasing nature of the occu- pation, long after the necessity of example had ceased. Since the accession of the present family the custom like other good ones has been discontinued : a part of the palace is, however, still stocked with insects and mulberry trees for the amuse- ment of the royal ladies ; and the government has not neglected the manufacture. After carefully reading the discussions as to the sundry distinctive merits of various classes of silk-worms, we con- cur in the opinion that the Chinese worm is preferable to all others. The silk- worm of Europe has, it is made manifest, one step of danger more than that of China, and casts its skin four times instead of three. It is the opinion of some natu- ralists that this difference must be the effect of climate ; but such a supposition is negatived by the fact that the silk-worm of three casts, like that of China, is known in Europe, and that in some districts in Lombardy it is reared as well as that 122 PRINCIPAL CHINESE PRODUCTS. of four casts, though the latter is preferred from the larger quantity of the produce. Davis of his own knowledge corroborates the assertion that a particular sort of wild silk is found in the province of Shan- tung. It is the produce of a caterpillar which feeds indiscri- minately on the mulberry and many other trees. They do not spin cocoons like the silk-worm, but they form long threads, which being driven about by the wind, are caught by the trees and bushes, whence they are carefully gathered, and spun like flax or wool. A thick sort of cloth is woven from this silk ; it is very strong and durable, does not easily spoil, and is considered verv valuable. Readers of the " Mantuan Bard" know well how the soft wool of the Chinese is celebrated by Virgil, as combed from trees; and nearly four centuries elapsed before a distinct knowledge of the truth found its way to Europe. The manu- factures of this precious substance — then more costly than gold — were patiently unravelled by the artists of Greece, and re-manufactured with a mixture of some less costly material ; the transparent garments formed of the mingled stuff were worn by ladies of high rank at Rome, and the moralists of the time were strong in their disapprobation of the indecent innovation. The terms of " woven air" and " textile clouds" clearly indicate its reputation. But if the Chinese have for the manufacture of silks been, from the earliest times, cele- brated — and some of their tissues, at the present day, still bear the highest price in the European market — in the manu- facture of porcelain they have never been equalled ; and the peculiar brilliancy and durability of the colours which they impress upon their ware, as well as the hardness and the fineness of the ware itself, renders it an article greatly ad- mired even in those places where it is most successfully rivalled. Another great Chinese product for manufacture is cotton. PRINCIPAL CHINESE PRODUCTS. 123 Wo make no doubt as to the extreme antiquity of the practice of employing this plant for its present purpose. It has evidently been known for its use in all ages of the empire. Marco Polo mentions the peculiarity of the Nankin cottons, being woven of threads naturally coloured ; and among the Chinese works on agriculture, collected and partially trans- lated by Europeans, is a very voluminous one which details the whole process of cultivating the cotton from the seed to the web, and which takes into consideration the difference be- tween the northern and the southern provinces ; and all the varieties of climate, soil, &c, with rules adapted for growing the valuable plant under all those varieties. These rules are laid down with the usual minuteness of the Chinese; with a few exceptions, where probably they have been mistranslated, they seem judicious and appropriate ; and judging from this work alone, it may be admitted that this singular people are not merely not deficient, but excel in writings on the science of agriculture. With the national disposition to make the most of everything, the Chinese, besides manufacturing the cotton produced, express an oil from the seed, and when the oil is expressed, use the seeds for manure ; the capsules or pods being hard and woody, they burn as fire-wood, and the leaves they give to their cattle, "so that," as the author ob- serves, " every part of the vegetable is appropriated to some useful object." Another great feature, barely within our present allusion, (touches upon the mining wealth of China, which has been as yet but little explored ; at least, Europeans are very little acquainted with it. But it is certain that it is very great, and consists of iron, copper, tin, mercury, gold, silver, zinc, coal ; and the more precious metals are supposed to exist in an abundance, which, if suffered to flow out upon general commerce, would very soon lower their value in the market of the world. China Porcelain has been famous in Europe for 124 TEINCIPAL CHINESE PRODUCTS. more than 300 years, but it is a product not now confined to the soil of its origin. There can be no question as to the beneficial consequences to China itself, and to the whole mercantile world, arising from a close acquaintance and a practical knowledge on the part of Europeans, in reference to these great natural products which China owns, and is capable of rearing, with immense success. The chief Chinese products imported by England alone, taking the dates from 1846 to 1855, are represented by the following figures : — Tea. 1846 54,534,248 lbs. 1847 55,355,590 1848 47,346,017 1849 ...., 53,102,129 1850 49,368,001 1851 69,487,977 1852 65,295,202 1853 68,639,727 1854 83,301,350 1855 81,560,207 It will be at once obvious, to every one who considers the productive character of China, that a most advantageous change in the Chinese trade generally, as regards its own imports and exports, must result from the arrangements likely to be forced on that country by the present war. Silk, raw. 1,834,310 lbs 2,016,598 2,200,132 1,845,525 1,769,882 2,055,002 2,418,343 2,838,047 4,576,706 4,436,862 CHIEF NATIONAL WORKS. 125 CHAPTER XIII. CHIEF NATIONAL WOBKS. The Great Wall. — Chinese Canals, their use and peculiarity. — Chinese Bridges, their number, aspect, and value. — Koads in China, and Character of Travelling. — Public and Imperial Landscape Gardening. The Great Wall. — T^he Vail of China is a national work of the vastest magnitude. It is an achievement of its kind without a rival in the w r orld, and, considered from any point of view, a subject of constant wonder. Many who have visited China, expressly to behold this marvel of olden great- ness, grow enthusiastic in recording their notes and recollec- tions about it. Joining company with one of the calmest of the many tourists, we find it important to give place to some description of this extraordinary national undertaking. Father Gerbillon, one of the missionaries, who travelled along the chief part of it, and passed through most of its prin- cipal gates, says, "it is, indeed, one of the most surprising and extraordinary works in the world ; yet it cannot be de- nied that those travellers who have mentioned it have over- magnified it, imagining, no doubt, that it was in its whole extent the same as they saw in the parts nearest Pekin, or at certain of the most important passes, where it is, indeed, very strong and well built, as also very high and thick." Accord- ing to the evidence of this important witness, we find that, from the Eastern Ocean to the frontiers of the province of Chan-si, or for the distance of 200 leagues, the wall is gene- 126 CHIEF NATIONAL WORKS. rally built of stone and brick, with strong square towers, suf- ficiently near, for mutual defence, and having, besides, at every important pass, a formidable and well-built fortress. In many places in this line and extent the wall is double, and even triple. But from the entrance of the province of Chan- si to its western extremity, the wall is nothing but a terrace of earth, in many places so much obliterated that the missionary could cross and recross it on horseback. There are numerous towers on this part of the wall, but they, too, are chiefly built of earth. The wall is, we are told, in many places car- ried over the tops of the highest and most rugged rocks. The missionary, P. Gerbillon, expresses his inability to comprehend how stones and bricks could be carried to such places, or how the Chinese could construct vast forts on spots where the boldest European architects would not attempt to raise the least building. The great wall, which has now, even in its best part, numerous breaches, is made of two walls of brick and masonry, not above a foot and a half each in thickness, and generally many feet apart ; the interval between them is tilled up with earth, making the whole appear like solid ma- sonry and brickwork : for six or seven feet from the ground these encasing walls are built of large square stones ; the rest is of brick. The mortar used is described as of excellent quality. The wall itself averages about 20 feet in height, but the towers which are distributed along it are seldom less than 40 feet high. At their base, these towers are about 1 5 feet square, but they gradually diminish as they ascend. Both walls and towers have battlements. There are stairs of brick and stone, as well as inclined planes, to ascend to the platform on the top of the wall, along which six horsemen may ride abreast. It must, however, be understood that this description applies only to the very best part of it. From his account of this huge work, we gather that near every one of the gates in the CHIEF NATIONAL WORKS. 127 wall that the missionary passed through he found a town or large village. Near one of the principal gates which opens on the road towards India, is situated Siningfu, a city of prodigious extent and population, which was several times visited hy the missionaries. The Jesuit fathers, Albert Dor- ville and Gruberus, stayed here thirty days, and had ample opportunity of examining the great wall in this part of the country. They described it as being so broad at the top, " that six horsemen placed abreast might run a race along it, without inconvenience to one another." Such a brief description as we are enabled to offer can give no adequate idea of the vast structure which has made men to wonder for centuries, and will so continue to do, perhaps, for ever. The rapidity with which this work was completed is, perhaps, as astonishing as the wall itself. The whole is said to have been done in five years, by many millions of la- bourers, the emperor impressing three men out of every ten throughout his dominions for its execution. It was finished 205 years before the birth of Christ, and is, therefore, now more than 2,000 years old. A magazine writer reminds us that Mr. Barrow makes some curious calculations which assist the conception of the magnitude of this wonderfnl wall. Ac- cording to him, the materials of all the dwelling houses in England and Scotland, supposing them to amount to 1,800,000, and to average, on the whole, 2,000 cubic feet of masonry or brick- work, are barely equivalent to the bulk or solid materials of the great wall of China. Nor are the projecting massy towers of stone and brick included in this calculation. These, alone, are calculated to contain nearly as much masonry and brick-work as London. The mass of matter is more than sufficient to surround the globe, on two of its great circles, with two walls, each six feet high and two thick ! But in this calculation, the earthy part in the middle of the wall is included. As to its 1,28 CHIEF NATIONAL WORKS. position and appearance at the present moment, we can offer "evidence" which may he deemed to impart ample explana- tion on that head. "This work," says the missionary Kireher, "is so wondrous strong, that it is for the greatest part of ad- miration to this day; for through the many vicissitudes of the empire, changes of dynasties, batteries and assaults, not only of the enemy, but of violent tempests, deluges of rain, shaking winds and wearing weather, yet it discovers no signs of de- molishment, nor is it cracked or crazed with age, but appears almost as in its first strength, greatness, and beauty; and well it may be, for whose solidity whole mountains, by rip- ping up their rocky bowels for stones, were levelled, and vast deserts, buried with deep and swallowing sand, were swept clean to the firm ground." Chinese Canals. — The most popular and important mode of travelling and conveying merchandize in the Celestial empire is one which dates from the remotest times in the history of its civilization. Availing themselves of the great number of rivers and lakes that exist in their country, the industrious Chinese have almost everywhere opened communications by water, and for this purpose, and for the object of irrigation, have dug so many canals that much of China is said to be like a vaster Holland. The traveller finds almost everywhere a large canal of fine, deep, clear water, flanked by two cause- ways, cased with flat stones or marble slabs, set in the ground and fastened by grooves made in posts or columns of the same materials. Everywhere these canals seem to draw and afford traffic and other facilities to the dense population of this vast empire. In many instances the canal works of China are noble specimens of skill and industry. "We believe (and have every reason to do so while crediting the de- scriptions given of it) that nothing in China or in any other part of the world is to be compared with the Yun Leang, or Eoyal Canal, which is 300 leagues in length. Of this Barrow CHIEF NATIONAL *70BB9. 129 as written — " I may safely say that, in point of magnitude, ur most extensive inland navigation of England can no more be compared to this grand trunk that intersects China than a ark or garden fish-pond to the great lake of Windermere." It was dug by an almost incredible multitude of men, and at a most prodigious expense, under the Emperor Chi- ou, (about the year 1280), the founder of the dynasty of the Western Tartars. " This canal," says Du Halde, " tra- verses the provinces of Pe-tche-li and Chan-tong ; then it enters the province of Kiang-nan, and discharges itself into the great and rapid Yellow ltiver. Down this river you sail for two days, when you come to another river, where you find k again the canal, which leads to the city of Hoai-ngan ; from thence it passes by many cities and large towns, and arrives at the city of Yang-tcheou, one of the most famous ports of the empire ; and a little beyond this place it enters the great, river Yang-tse Kiang, which divides the province of Kiang-si nearly into two equal parts, and runs as far as Nan-ngan, the chief city of the province of Uuang-tong, where you embark upon a river that leads to Canton, so that you may travel very conim odiously, upon the rivers or canals, from the capital to the remotest part of China, being about 600 leagues, by water." A canal of such length as the huge one, the Grand, of China, must of necessity be furnished with locks, or some- thing equivalent. It may be interesting on this point to compare the contrivance of the Chinese with our own : — " I have myself," says Father Kircher, " counted upon the grand canal above twenty cataracts or waterfalls, made of hewn stone, firm and nobly artificial, with a passage for ships, where they dam up the waters with a sluice, which is easily heaved up by benefit of an engine with a wheel, affording an outlet to the waters, and a passage to the ships ; and if they want water for great vessels, then in the middle passage, before you come to Cining, they let in from the lake Cang, through the greatest 130 CHIEF NATIONAL WORKS. cataract, as much as they please, timely closing the passage to prevent an inundation." These cataracts are commonly called Tung-pa. The method employed to enable the boats to go well and speedily through the locks is worth remembering. To pass the vessels from the one to the other, the most simple plan has been resorted to. A glacis or an inclined plane, at an angle of about forty degrees, built with stone and kept smooth or slippery, rises at the end of the canal, and the vessel that has to pass from the lower to the upper water, is dragged up, having cables attached to her, by means of two or more (sometimes as many as six) enormous capstans, which are placed by the sides of the canals above the inclined plane. Each windlass has four bars, manned by from twelve to six- teen men. Having once made the ascent, the vessel descends by the force of gravity into the upper canal by means of another but shorter inclined plane, the apex of the two planes being always , somewhat above the level of the water in the upper canal. "When the vessel has to pass from the upper to the lower canal, the labour is of course less, as she has only to be dragged up the shorter inclined plane, when she glides down the longer one of herself. According to Dr. Dinwiddie, who had an opportunity of examining more at leisure both the common canal and the other canals whose communication is maintained fey means of this glacis or inclined plane, " the floodgates of the Chinese are preferable to English locks, in every situation where the canal is nearly level, and are con- structed at a quarter of the -expense. The inclined plane down which the boats are launched, and up which they are drawn, is a mode superior to our practice, for besides their being cheaper they are much more expeditious. The time employed in one instance observed was only two and a half minutes, in another about three minutes." From the main canal there shoot off, at certain distance u CHIEF NATIONAL WORKS. 131 numbers of smaller canals, the waters of which are again let off. into innumerable rivulets, that are conducted to different large towns, or employed to irrigate the country. Besides these they have an infinite number of reservoirs and channels by which they can lay the fields under water, to produce rice, their prin- cipal food, and which requires almost constant humidity. Chinese Bridges — The scientific men of China seem to have ever made bridge building a prominent feature in the archi- tectural study of the nation. Hence the many tokens of suc- cess in this department of " masonry" to be found in China. Their suspension bridges are very numerous and very famous. Of these the most celebrated seems to be that in the province of Junnan, which traverses a very deep valley and an impe- tuous torrent. It was made in the year 65 of our era, we are told upon the authority of Kircher. He describes it with all the astonishment naturally resulting from its novelty to him ; for, it is well to remember, the plan of suspension bridges, of which we have now such beautiful specimens in England, was not adopted by the Europeans until two centuries after that traveller's death. From other sources we discover that the many suspension bridges are in some places built of enormous beams and spars laid from cliff to cliff, and supported by beams placed under them, which rest on the sides of the cliffs, much like the wooden bridges so common in Switzerland and other moun- ainous countries of Europe ; in other places where not a nar- row ravine but a wide deep valley is to be crossed, the road said to be supported by pillars of immense height and thick- ess, which rise from the bottom of the valley to the level of the ountains. For a third part of the great "Central Road" ese bridges are so lofty as to fill with alarm those who dare look over their sides into the abysses beneath them : they are sufficiently wide to allow four horsemen to pass abreast, and they have all rails of wood and iron on both sides. This so- 132 GDIEP NATIONAL WORKS. called " Central Road" was made to shorten the journey from the city of Hanchung to the great city of Siganfu, which was before of excessive length and tediousness. We have at an earlier period of this our historical sketch of China intimated that the Chinese have every right to the credit of having achieved the scientific feat of completing a bridge. They have not, however, gone on to improve the disco- very of the " arch stone" so as to render their bridges the most graceful, or the most useful, or the most excellent in the world. The arches of some of the principal bridges thrown over the canal are said to be so high as to admit of vessels passing under them without striking their masts. This is mentioned by Marco Polo, and has since been confirmed by many. " They have built an infinite number of bridges," says P. Le Comte, " these are of three, five, or seven arches ; the middle arch is of an extraordinary height, in order that the barks in passing be not obliged to lower their masts." " From all the suburbs," says Du Halde, in his description of a city in the neighbour- hood of Kin-sai, "one may approach, and enter, and go every- where about the town in a boat. There is no street without a canal, and this is why there are so many bridges, which are very lofty, and almost all of one arch." And we may agree with the observation of Mr. Barrow : — "Over the main trunk, and most of the other canals and rivers, are a great variety of bridges. Some have the piers of such an ex- traordinary height, that the largest vessels of 200 tons sail under them without striking their masts." Few great bridges and few public roads in China are without some good specimens of the Triumphal arch. But they are not confined to the provincial bridges and roads, for it seems they are also found in great abundance within the cities, where the great streets intersect each other. The Chinese call them Pai Lou. Our name of triumphal arch does not, it appears, exactly apply to them, as they are rather monuments erected CHIEF NATIONAL WORKS. 133 to the memory of those who have deserved well of the com- munity, or who, leading a life of virtue, have obtained an extraordinary longevity. Some of them are described as of stone, but it is agreed that they are more usually of wood, painted, varnished, and gilt in the most splendid manner. They are uniform, consisting of a large central gateway, with a smaller one on each side, like the entrances to the Chinese palaces. The whole is covered by projecting, shelving roofs, richly carved, on the friezes under which there is an inscrip- tion, generally in letters of gold. Guided in opinion by the accounts we have just been read- ing, there can be no question that some of these bridges are of extraordinary beauty, and many magnificent. There is one near Pekin, built entirely of white marble, elaborately orna- mented. Others are found over the canals of still greater magnificence, and with a grand triumphal arch at each end. And others again, instead of being composed of salient arches, are flat from one side of the canal to the other, stones or marble flags of great length being laid on piers so narrow and airy, that the bridge looks as if it were suspended in the air. It has been remarked as a somewhat curious fact, that the Chinese censors have considered these numerous bridges as luxuries, and have more than once reproached the emperors for erecting them. A bridge, constructed in the eighth century, of iron and bronze, was, we believe, one of the subjects of their reprehension, which fell very severely on an emperor of the dynasty of Souy, who built forty bridges, all in different styles of architecture, in the single city of Sou-Tcheou. There is every reason to believe that the canal bridges are surpassed in magnitude, and occasionally in beauty, by the bridges thrown across " rivers, or long swamps, and places exposed to inundations." Some of the latter are spoken of as of prodigious extent, and have triumphal arches on them, built of wood, in the pagoda style, and splendidly painted. 134 CHIEF NATIONAL WOKKS. One of the most celebrated of these is said to be the bridge of Loyang in the province of Pokien. It was seen and described by Marco Polo, and the author of the Atlas. According to the latter authority, it is 5,940 feet long by 104 feet broad; it has no arches, but is formed of 300 massy stone piles, over which are laid horizontally large stones of an equal length, which repose on the columns or piles, and afford a flat con- venient passage from one side to the other. The piles rising out of the water are shaped like a boat or barge " with a sharp bow, the acute angle being directed against the current, that they may suffer the less from the violence and lashing of the waves." The horizontal stones, which the author of the Atlas measured by walking leisurely over them, are twenty-two paces long by two broad, "so that there are," he adds, " 1,400 of these mighty stone beams all alike — a most stupendous work; and to prevent the passengers falling off, there are balustrades with lions cut in stone on both sides of the bridge, with many other ornaments." The whole of the bridge is built of one sort of black hewn stone. "Where this bridge stands there was formerly a ferry, which was rendered extremely dangerous by the rapidity and violence of the stream. In the province of Fokien there is another majestic bridge over an arm of the sea, built of yellow and white stone. It measures 2,475 feet long, and 84 feet broad; has 100 very lofty arches, and is adorned with sculptures of lions and other animals, in the prevailing taste of the country. The Chinese described to the missionaries a similar bridge, but of nearly twice the length, as existing near the city of Pocing. The Chinese have, besides, numberless bridges of boats, which correspond with those in use in Europe. We must notice that in addition to their bridges, simply for the pas- sage over waters, they have an immense number of others to level their roads, thrown from mountain to mountain, over CHIEF NATIONAL WORKS. 135 leep ravines ; and these are frequently approached by excava- tions and by roads hewn out on the mountains' sides of extra- ordinary dimensions and difficulty. In the Alpine regions of the province of Xensi, there is said to be a succession of these bridges and works for about ten miles. Roads in China. — Almost every tourist who has penned his thoughts of the celestial empire, has extolled its public roads as admirable from their regularity, good repair, and comfort. The missionaries usually speak of them, after their descent from the bridges and craggy mountains to the champaign coun- try, as being so pleasant and so nicely paved, that a traveller might fancy he was walking over the streets of a city. It is at once seen that wherever an irregularity of surface occurs, their industry has either levelled it, cut through it, or filled it up, as there was occasion. The roads are often paved with stones neatly laid in and fitted to each other. Lord Macartney assures us that as he approached Pekin the road was so finely coated with gravel that he doubted if he could pick up a stone so large as a bullet, or sufficiently sized to make a wateh seal of. In regular succession, stone columns, not unlike our mile- stones, mark the distances along the public roads. At each eighth of these pillars, which is computed a day's journey, there is an inn erected by Government under the direction of the local magistrate, where every person travelling on the business of the state is entertained according to his- rank. The common inns on the road are pretty numerous, but have the reputation of being narrow and mean, and badly provided. In these imperial highways, as in their canals, the Chinese delight in straight lines ; and,, like the bridges, the roads are often ornamented with triumphal arches, and with temples and pagodas, in which travellers may repose by day, but not stay all night, except indeed they be mandarins, when they may make very free with the houses of their gods, and with the idols 136 CHIEF NATIONAL WORKS. themselves if they stand in their way. In some provinces, the public roads are described as flanked by a row of trees on each side, when they are said to look like a pleasant mall or pro- menade, or by walls, eight feet high, to prevent the passengers damaging the well-cultivated fields and gardens. At proper distances there are seats erected in a neat style for the repose of the weary traveller, which are well guarded both against the winter cold and the summer heat. There are also occasionally found along these roads men employed by rich and charitable individuals to distribute to the poor travellers tea, and, when the weather is severe, a sort of decoction of ginger, for which no return is required, save that the wayfarers forget not the name of their benefactors. One thing which strikes all strangers in China as very prominent attractions, are the lofty pyramids, or Taas, met with occasionally on the roads, or near the bridges of the canals and rivers, and within the towns. Some of these are of great strength and antiquity. They are from seven to nine stories high, of a square form, without bells, but sur- mounted by a bronze urn. They are said to have been dedi- cated to Fo and the spirits, but no religious ceremonies are now performed in them. Antiquaries have endeavoured to identify them with the pyramids of Egypt, with the sacred obelisks of the Hindoos, with the upright stones of the Celts, the theoealis of the Americans, the obos of the Tartars, &c, and thus to attach them to a primitive and universal worship that has disappeared from the face of the earth. Without admitting this identity of faith, says one who has had to describe them, "we may observe that the glorious heavens spread above our heads have universally been considered the abode of superior and immortal essences, and that the pyramidal form, going off in an evanescent point, — vanishing as it were in those ethereal regions, — would naturally strike, the imagina- CHIKF NATIONAL WORKS. 137 tionsof men in different elimates and under different religious institutions." A word generally on good road travelling in China, and we shall pass into a more agreeable section of the great national works, which have impressed their stamp too legibly upon the empire's face for the ravages of time to make much havoc in their permanence and prominence. We believe that, according to law, there ought to be a tower with a certain number of soldiers for the security and peace of the road at every half league, and each tower ought to be provided with flag- staffs, to act as a sort of telegraph and make signals in case of alarm. On the authority of Ellis, we have it that " in some provinces these towers are also furnished with bells of cast-iron." Many of the towers have been allowed to fall to a ruin. "A watch- tower in ruins," says Ellis, " gave us an opportunity to ex- amine its structure : the brick-work was about four feet in thickness, with an opening in the interior sufficient for a staircase, leading to the platform ; on the top there were embrasures, but the parapet-wall was not of sufficient thick- ness to permit of cannon being mounted, — the form is a square." It appears, however, that in many places the towers do not exist, while in many others they are described as being very mean and often unprovided with a guard, serving merely to mark the distances. Their post-houses are described as regular and well provided, with a mandarin appointed to superintend each of them ; but, unfortunately, all the post- horses are the property of the Emperor, who does not as a rule permit any one to use them except his couriers, or the officers and persons despatched from court. The Government publishes an " Itinerary," or book of roads, where all the roads are laid down, from the capital to the different extremities of the empire, ** and proper directions given to travellers." These " proper directions" are not 138 CHIEF NATIONAL WOKKS. always trustworthy ; but there is no reason to think that any barbarian design interferes with their accuracy. Public and Imperial Gardening. — Landscape gardening has been an honoured pursuit in China from the earliest times. Many of the public pleasure-grounds scattered through the empire evince taste and magnificence rarely met with even now-a-days in Europe. "We are able to judge from all the descriptions given of them that the gardens of the Emperor, which are numerous, seem generally to have been laid out in magnificent extent and beautiful detail; but to have been neglected, in part, of late years, and suffered to go to partial decay. De Guignes the younger says, '* the gardens we saw near the lake Sy-hou, at Hang-tchu-fou, must have been very beautiful when they were properly kept ; but, as I have ob- served before, the works of the Chinese require continual care, and whenever so slightly neglected, are soon destroyed." The residences of the mandarins have nearly always a garden attached to them, even in the capital city, and some of their country-houses are described as situated in the midst of parks, groves, and gardens, where all the industry and ingenuity of the natives are exhausted. What is, we are without difficulty persuaded, more interest- ing than the immense demesnes of royalty, and the costly gardens of nobility, is to see that the people devote themselves, for their own gratification, to that beautiful industry by which the lowliest cottage may be adorned, and one of the purest of pleasures cheaply procured. The attention paid by many of our own peasantry to the neat hedge-rows before their cot- tages, to the little flower-plot, to the honeysuckle or the wood- bine, that clusters round the cottage porch or climbs its wall, is remarked to be among the things that first strike a foreigner, and which gives so much of its beauty and interest to old England ; and, it appears, that in some provinces this pleasing effect is rivalled by the peasants of China. Mr. Ellis, in one CHIEF NATIONAL WOEKS. 139 part of his journey, particularly mentions that " the front of all their houses is set off by some flowering shrubs, or dwarf trees ; and not seldom a bower of treillage work, with beauti- tiful creeping plants, adds convenience to ornament." Marco Polo dwells with enthusiasm on the vast park of Kin- sai, where 500 apartments of the palace had each its respec- tive garden of flowers and of shrubs ; and where two divi- sions of the inclosure, which was ten miles in circumference, were laid out in groves, pieces of water, beautiful gardens stored with fruit-trees, and preserves of all sorts of animals that are the object of sport. Magnificent as the description of the old Venetian may sound, it is almost borne out in fact by modern accounts of the Emperor's great park at Gehol. Lord Macartney, who was reputed to be a man of fine feeling and taste, and said to be skilful in the art of landscape-garden- ing, thus records what he saw of the royal gardens, and how he saw it : — " The Emperor," says his lordship, " having been informed that in the course of our travels in China we had shown a strong desire of seeing everything curious and interesting, was pleased to give directions to his first minister to show us his park, or garden at Gehol. It is called in Chinese Yan- shoo-yuen or paradise of 10,000 (or innumerable) trees. In order to have this gratification (which is considered as an in- stance of uncommon favour) we arose in the morning at three o'clock, and went to the palace, where we waited, mixed with all the great officers of state, for three hours (such is the etiquette of the place) till the emperor's appearance. At last he came forth, borne in the usual manner by sixteen per- sons on a high, open palankeen, attended by guards, music, standards, and umbrellas without number, and observing us, as we stood in the front-line, graciously beckoned us to ap- proach, having ordered his people to stop ; he entered into conversation with us, and with great affability of manner, 140 CHIEF NATIONAL WORKS. told us that he was on his way to the pagoda, where he usually paid his morning devotions ; that as we professed a different religion from his, he would not ask us to accompany him, but that he had ordered his first minister, and chief calaos, to conduct us through his garden, and to show us whatever we were desirous of seeing there. " Having expressed my sense of this mark of his condescen- sion in the proper manner, and my increasing admiration of everything I had yet observed at Gehol, I retired ; and whilst he proceeded to his adorations at the pagoda, I accompanied the ministers and other great calaos of the court to a pavilion prepared for us, from whence, after a short collation, we set out on horseback to view this wonderful garden. We rode about three miles through a very beautiful park, kept in the highest order, and much resembling the approach to Luton, in Bedfordshire; the grounds gently undulated, and che- quered with various groups of well- contrasted trees in the offskip. As we moved onward an extensive lake appeared before us, the extremities of which seemed to lose themselves in distance and obscurity. Here was a large and magnificent yacht ready to receive us, and a number of smaller ones for the attendants, elegantly fitted up, and adorned with number- less vanes, pendants, and streamers. The shores of the lake have all the varieties of shape which the fancy of a painter can delineate, and are so indented with bays, or broken with projections, that almost every stroke of the oar brought a new and unexpected object to our view. Nor are islands wanting, but they are situated only where they should be, each in its pro- per place and having its proper character ; one marked by a pagoda, or other building; one quite destitute of ornament; some smooth and level ; some steep and uneven ; and others frowning with wood, or smiling with culture. Where any things parti- cularly interesting were to be seen we disembarked, from time to time, to visit them ; and I dare say that, in the course of CHIEF NATIONAL WOKES. 141 our voyage, we stopped at forty or fifty different palaces or pavilions. These are all furnished in the richest manner with pictures of the Emperor's huutings and progresses ; with stu- pendous vases of jasper and agate ; with the finest porcelain and japan ; with every kind of European toys and sing- songs ; with spheres, orreries, clocks, and musical automatons, of such exquisite workmanship, and in such profusion, that our presents must shrink from the comparison, and f hide their diminished heads ! ' And yet I am told, that the fine things we have seen are far exceeded by others of the same kind in the apartments of the ladies, and in the European repository at Yuen-min-yuen. In every one of the pavilions was a throne, or imperial state ; and a Eu-jou, or symbol of peace and prosperity, placed at one side of it, resembling that which the Emperor delivered to me yesterday for the king. " It would be an endless task were I to attempt a detail of all the wonders of this charming place. There is no beauty of distribution, no feature of amenity, no reach of fancy, which embellishes our pleasure-grounds in England, that is not to be found here. Had China been accessible to Mr. Brown or Mr. Hamilton, I should have sworn they had drawn their happiest ideas from the rich sources which I have tasted this day ; for in the course of a few hours I have enjoyed such vicissitudes of rural delight, as I did not con- ceive could be felt out of England, being at different moments enchanted by scenes perfectly similar to those I had known there — to the magnificence of Stowe, the softer beauties of Wooburn, and the fairy-land of Paine' s Hill. " One thing I was particularly struck with — I mean the happy choice of situation for ornamental buildings. From attention to this circumstance they have not the air of being crowded or disproportioned ; they never intrude upon the eye ; but wherever they appear, always show themselves to advantage, and aid, improve, and enliven the prospect 142 CHIEF NATIONAL WORKS. "In many places the lake is overspread by the lotus (nelumbium) resembling our broad-leaved water-lily. Arti- ficial rocks and ponds, with gold and silver fish, are perhaps too often introduced, and the monstrous porcelain figures of lions and tigers, usually placed before the pavilions, are dis- pleasing to an European eye ; but these are trifles of no great moment ; and I am astonished that now, after a six hours' critical survey of these gardens, I can scarcely recollect any- thing besides to find fault with." THE GRF AT CITIES OF CHINA. 143 CHAPTER XIY. THE GREAT CITIES OF CHINA. Chinese Cities generally. — Pekin, the Capital, as a model of Celestial Cities. — Civic Regulations. — Canton glanced at from more than one point. Chinese Cities generally. — Although much that is merely nominally great belongs to China, there can be no question about the greatness of its cities. Every European who has been permitted to examine, with any closeness, the peculi- arities of Chinese city life, and the aspects of cities as they are in that empire, consents to acknowledge the greatness of the cities, and the greatness, in all respects, of the peculiarities which he cannot avoid noticing in connection with them. It is agreed, by national custom, that the cities of China are divided into classes, and the distinction is said to be nicely and precisely marked by the last syllable of their names, which is, in fact, a distinct monosyllabic word, indicating their size, rank, and municipal jurisdiction or dependance. These monosyllables, one or the other of which is found at the end of the name of every city, are fu or fou, cheu, and Men. Fu, all admit, denotes a city of the first class, having under its jurisdiction a certain number of cities of the two inferior classes. Cheu denotes a city of the second class, subject to the jurisdiction of its Fu ; and Hien, a city of the third class, subordinate to its Cheu, as well as under the jurisdiction of its Fu. With truth may it be noted that the study of geo- H4 THE GRKAT CITIES OF CHINA. graphy might be considerably facilitated if this practice of the Chinese were general, and eveiy nation, by a simple affix to the names of their cities and towns, would thus explain, at one glance, their relative rank or importance. One is hardly surprised that the cities of China are very numerous. According to Father Le Comte, there were, in his time, more than 160 cities of the first class, 270 cities of the second class, and upwards of 1,2 of the third, besides a number of walled towns not included in any of these classes. We collect from the various descriptions which we have seen, that the cities of China are all formed on a regular plan, which is square whenever the situation and nature of the ground will admit. They are also all enclosed by high walls, with large gates of more strength than beauty. Towers, which vary in elevation, but which are sometimes eight or nine stories high, and in form sometimes round, but more commonly hexagonal or octagonal, are built at regular distances ; and, when practicable, a wide ditch, filled with water, surrounds the whole. The streets are usually in straight lines ; the prin- cipal of them are about thirty feet wide, but the houses are said to be meanly built, having rarely more than one story above the ground-floor ; so that the width of the streets, though not too much for the thronging population and bustle of a Chinese town, conduces but little to beauty or effect.. The shops are invari- ably described as adorned with silks, porcelain, and japanned wares, the most brilliant of which are hung outside the door to attract customers, and give the main streets a gay and somewhat of a theatrical appearance. A large board is usually suspended from the front of each shop ; it is either gilt, or painted with some bright colour and varnished, or some fan- ciful sign, with the numcs of the principal articles sold in the shop inscribed upon it. These showy sign-boards, placed at equal distances on both sides the streets, give the whole extent THE GREAT CITIES OF CHINA. 14.) the appearance of a long colonnade, rather curious than beautiful. Pekin, the Capital, as a model. — Pekin has been, from time immemorial, the "city of residence," the emperors, both of Chinese and Tartar origin, having alike deigned to honour it as the imperial capital. The name of this city is intended to denote the " northern court," as distinguished from Nankin, the " southern court." At this latter city the emperors were frequently in the habit of taking up periodical residences. Any well arranged gazetteer ought to afford the reader such information of the former as we shall immediately subjoin in a few condensed passages. Pekin forms an oblong square, standing in a fertile plain, and is divided into two cities ; one inhabited by Chinese, the other by Tartars. These two cities are, according to recent as well as olden travellers, nearly fourteen miles in circuit ; the walls are 28 feet high, 24 thick at the base, and 12 at the top; and there are spacious towers at 70 feet- distance from each other. The gates are high, and well arched, supporting buildings of nine stories high; they are nine in number — three in the south wall, and two in each of the other sides. The middle gate, on the south side, opens into the Tartar, or imperial city, which is surrounded by a wall of large red polished bricks, 20 feet high, and contains the imperial palace and gardens, the public offices, lodgings for the ministers, also for the eunuchs, artificers, and tradesmen belonging to the court. On the authority of those who accom- panied Lord Amhurst, we have it that the streets are amazingly thronged, and to an European it is a curious sight, for not one Chinese female is to be seen among them. All the great streets are, it seems, guarded by soldiers, who patrole night and day, with swords by their sides and whips in their hands, to chastise those who make any disturbance, or take them into custody. The temples and towers of Pekin are so numerous 146 THE GREAT CITIES OF CHINA. that it is difficult to count them. This is pretty much a puzzling feature in Chinese cities. Provisions of all kinds are plentiful, they being, as well as the merchandise, intro- duced to the city by the various canals which centre there from all parts of the empire. Before entering Pekin, the traveller has to pass over a beautiful road of granite pavement, each stone or flag com- posing which can hardly, in any case, be less than six feet long and four broad. These must have been brought from a very great distance, as the only quarry whence they could be obtained is at least sixty miles distant. From the elaborate accounts of Barrow and other tra- vellers, we are satisfied that any one, once within the gates, must deem the sight presented at Pekin as novel, sin- gular, and impressive. Two streets, said to be as straight as a line, four English miles long, and 120 feet wide, run parallel from two gates in the southern wall to two gates in the northern wall, and these are crossed at right angles by other two streets of the same magnificent width. Opening on one of these main streets, which are described as four times as long as Oxford Street in London, or Princes' Street in Edin- burgh, the traveller is represented as seeing before him a double line of gay shops and warehouses, whose wares are displayed in full view, and whose gaudy sign-posts stand before them, not merely ornamented by the painted and gilded inscriptions, setting forth the nature of the goods and the exemplary honesty of the dealer, but generally entwined with silken ribands, and hung with flags, pennants, and streamers of every possible colour, from top to bottom, like, but said to be still more gay, than the mast of a man-of-war on some great holiday. The sides of the houses are represented as scarcely less brilliant, being generally painted of some delicate colour, mixed with gold ornaments. It could not but have been noticed that in singular contrast with our notions and THE GBEAT CITIES OF CHINA. 147 practice, the articles exposed for sale which make the greatest show are coffins for the dead. From what we have already seen as to the complimentary character of these coffins, one's sur- prise cannot be very enduring. Along these streets the lounger sees a continued crowd during the day, which has scarcely a break or interruption. It flows in a central and two lateral currents. In the middle stream are mandarins and grandees of the court, on horseback or in palankeens, attended by their numerous retinues, bearing umbrellas, flags, painted lanterns, and other insignia of rank ; — Tartar soldiers dashing along on horseback, or making their way by applying their whips to the crowd; — long strings of camels, bringing coals from Tartary, and wheelbarrows and carts, with vegetables from every corner; — ladies carried in sumptuous sedan chairs, which are used in great numbers ; — marriage processions, and funeral processions, the biers in the one case and the cars in the other being gilded and covered with canopies of silk, and the funerals being the most splendid portions of the moving picture. All this is " very fine," and far beyond what can be readily witnessed in Regent Street. The lateral streams are filled up by those who are busied in buying, selling, and bartering : the gaiety, buzz, and confusion that prevail, are shown to be greater than might have been expected from the general character of the Chinese. The dealer cries his goods, the purchaser chaffers and wrangles aloud, the barber flour- ishes his tweezers in the air, and clacks them together inviting custom ; comedians and quack doctors, mountebanks and musicians, pedlars and their packs, jugglers, fortune- tellers and conjurors, leave no space unoccupied on the sides of the street. And this noise, and bustle, and crowd, is not confined to any particular season or occasion,. but reigns every day of the year. " I scarcely ever passed the gates, which happened twice or oftener in the week," says Mr. Barrow, " that I had not to wait a considerable time before the passage 148 CIVIC EEGT7L ATIOtfS. was free, particularly in the morning, notwithstanding the exertions of two or three soldiers with their whips to clear the way." The number of women in this crowd is by no means proportionate to that of the men. The reason will not be difficult of comprehension when the reader remembers what we have already said on the subject of the sexes. The city itself, like the generality of those in China, is, as we have said, square. Each side is six miles in length, making altogether an extent of twenty-four miles. The walls are such as are common to the Chinese cities, but Marco Polo adds, that all the battlements were kept white. The whole plan of the city is laid out by line, and the streets are so straight, that when a person ascends the wall over one of the gates, and looks before him, he can see the gate opposite to him, on the other side of the city. The allotments of ground are square, and exactly in a line with each other, each allotment allowing room for houses, with corresponding courts and gardens. One allotment is assigned to each head of a family. " In this manner," continues the Venetian traveller, " the whole interior of the city was disposed in squares, so as to resemble a chess-board, and planned out with a degree of precision and beauty impossible to describe." Twelve gates, three on each side of the square, give ingress to and egress from the city, and each gate has a guard of 1,000 men. In the centre of the whole rises a lofty tower, or belfry, and when its bell, which is sounded regularly every night, has struck its third stroke, no one is to be found in the streets with impunity, unless upon some urgent occasion, — such as to call assistance to a female in labour, or to a person sud- denly attacked with sickness, and even then it is necessary to carry a light. To escape detection is difficult, for strong parties of the guards continually patrolled the streets during the night. Civic Regulations in Pehin. — It would be unfair to China CIVIC REGULATIONS. 149 were we to omit recording, what whoever has had access to this remarkable city has affirmed ; that the police main- tained in it is singularly strict. A few details may interest, apart from the purpose of sustaining this fact: At the two ends of each street there is a wooden gate or bar- ricade, closed at night, which cuts off the inhabitants of that particular street from communication with the rest of the town, nor will the sentries there permit ingress or egress to anyone who has not a lantern in his hand, and urgent busi- ness to plead. Night-watches also perambulate from gate to gate, who, instead of crying the hour as our watchmen used to do, strike upon a short tube of bamboo, which gives a dull, hollow and loud sound. To show their vigilance they exer- cise this instrument every two or three minutes as they go their rounds. Lord Macartney, who, it seems, had two or three of these noisy guardians of peace and tranquillity con- stantly near his house, could not sleep a wink for the first three or four nights, but, by degrees, became so accustomed to the noise that it did not disturb his slumbers. In addition to these measures, which, though they admirably secure the safety and tranquillity of the inhabitants, probably originate mainly from the jealousy and apprehension of their despotic government, the proprietor or inhabitant of every tenth house in the city, like the ancient ty thing men of England, takes it in turn to keep the peace, and be responsible for the orderly conduct of his nine neighbours. If any riot should take place he is obliged to give instant information at the nearest guard- house. All this which is part of as antiquated a custom as any prevailing in China, does not diminish the impartial stranger's view of Chinese civilization. The " Peeler" " brick" does not generally form a prominent feature in the national buildings of " insolent barbarians." However it is so here — Lord Palmerston and Sir Robert Peel to the contrary notwith- standing. 150 CANTON GLANCED AT. Canton glanced at. — Having described one Chinese city we may claim, the merit of having given the reader an idea of all. There is, as we have said a few pages before, no very observ- able difference between the plan and peculiarities of any one Chinese city and any other. But, since Canton has a sort of individuality, derived from its connection with European trade, and a present fame from recent circumstances, we may be expected to allude to it more lengthenedly than in a passing paragraph. That Canton is a sea-port and capital of the dis- trict or province of Quang-tong, every school-boy knows, and any respectable modern geography will inform them that it is the only Chinese port allowed by treaty for European maritime traffic. The city is said to consist of three towns, divided by high walls ; the streets are narrow, paved with small round stones in the middle, and flagged at the sides. The immense quantity of goods and money which foreign vessels bring in here, draws hither, we are told, a crowd of merchants from all the provinces ; and the factories and warehouses contain the rarest productions of the soil, and the most valuable of the Chinese manufactures. At several epochs of Chinese history sad events have harassed the greatness or prosperity of Canton, but all the miseries of the past sink into insig- nificance before the horrors resulting from the recent bom- bardment. A picture of the " inner life" in the streets of Canton has been attempted in these words : " The shops, being princi- pally open in front, and the whole of the merchandise being thus exposed to view, present a most showy, alluring appear- ance to the spectator. The interior of these shops are neatly fitted up, and the goods tastefully disposed for inspection ■ whilst the intermixture of various- coloured paper inscriptions hanging on the walls, and variegated lanterns pendent from the roof, have an extraordinary and pleasing effect. The inscriptions and notices are generally to the following effect : CANTON RIVER PEOPLE. 151 1 Much talk injures business.' ' Having once been cheated, we are made cautious.' (Cheat a Chinaman in money matters ! what European could accomplish a feat of that description?) 'No credit can here be given.' 'All here is sold at its true value, and being good, praise is needless,' &c." We are informed, on the additional authority of such British merchants as thought it worth while to test the statements of our learned travellers, that the river opposite to the town is almost covered with boats of various sizes and descrip- tions, in the principal part of which the owners, who are of the poorer class, reside. Thousands are born, brought up, and die in these boats, having no more communication with the shore than necessity compels. These boats are covered over in the after-part with a kind of bamboo-matting, suffi- ciently strong and waterproof to keep out the rain, and of length sufficient to allow them to lie down unexposed to sight. These poor creatures, from being confined in so small a place, — accustomed to squat upon their hams, and crawl about their boat, are generally very awkward in their motions when on their feet. Their male children are taught the art of swim- ming as soon as they know the use of their legs, until which time they wear a calabash suspended round their necks, to buoy them up in case of their falling overboard. These people are distinguished by the inland Chinese as the "water folk."* * The following quotation from Sir J. Bowring's account of China, not only confirms all this, but yields information of new interest: — " The enormous river population of China, who live only in boats, who are born and educated, who marry, rear their families, and die on the water, and never dream of any shelter other than the roof, and who seldom tread except on the deck or boards of their sampans-boats, show to what an extent the land is crowded, and how it fails to main- tain the cumberers of the soil. In the city of Canton alone it is esti- mated that 300,000 persons dwell upon the river. The boats, some- times twenty or thirty feet deep, cover some miles, and have their wants supplied by ambulatory salesmen, who wend their way through 15^2 CANTON GLANCKD AT. The Pearl river runs up Canton, and is shabbily guarded by the now somewhat celebrated Bogue forts. From the sides of the river spring high ascending grounds, placing the forts (mostly at the north side,) upon steeps of considerable magni- tude. From the newspaper accounts we gather that two other round forts, called the Dutch and French Follies, guard the river towards the eastern end of the town. In the middle, opposite the factories, we are. told, there usually lies an English war steamer, as a protection to the foreign residents. The river is crowded with boats, and above and below the every accessible passage. Of this vast population some dwell in deco- rated boats used for every purpose of licence and festivity — for theatres, for concerts, for feasts, for gambling, and worse ; some craft are employed in conveying goods and passengers, and are in a state of constant activity ; others are moored, and their owners are engaged as servants or labourers on shore. The immense variety of boats which are found in Chinese waters has never been adequately described. Some are of enormous size, and are used as magazines or stores for salt or rice — others have all domestic accommodations, and are em- ployed in carrying whole families, with all their domestic attendants and accommodations, from one place to another ; some, called centi- pedes, from their being supposed to have one hundred rowers, convey with extraordinary rapidity the more valuable cargoes from the inner warehouses to the foreign shipping in the ports — all these, from the huge and cumbrous junks, which remind one of Noah's ark, and which represent the rude and coarse constructions of the remotest ages, to the fragile planks upon which a solitary leper hangs upon the outskirts of society — boats of every form and applied to every purpose — exhibit an incalculable population, which may be called amphibious, if not aquatic. Not only are land and water crowded with Chinese, but many dwell on artificial islands which float upon the lakes — islands with gardens and houses raised upon the rafters which the occupiers have bound together, and on which they cultivate what is needful for the supply of life's daily wants. They have their poultry and their vege- tables for use, their flowers and scrolls for ornament, their household gods for protection and worship." CANTON GLANCED AT. 153 factories, where it is a little wider, they are moored in rows, like streets. Scarcely so much because it is a reminiscence of the recent bombardment, as on other and more appreciable grounds, we desire to preserve here the following discovery recorded by the Ifoniteur de VArmee : — "Avery curious discovery was made by the English during the late attack upon Canton, and one which will serve to illustrate the history of the use of artil- lery. The landing-party, which was sent ashore after the English vessels opened their fire, found, in one of the forts upon the river, from which the garrison had been expelled, a battery of six bronze pieces of artillery, of the calibre of 16lbs., the peculiar shape of which attracted the attention of the officer in command of the detachment. These cannon were stamped, near the touchhole, with the Imperial cipher, sur- rounded with Chinese characters enclosed within a series of arabesques very gracefully designed. In the middle of these ornaments was a cross, in relief, and below the cross was the date of 1697 in Koman letters. One of the cannon was put on board the admiral's flag-ship, to be sent to England ; the others were spiked. Investigations which were after- wards made show the origin of them. The cipher which they bear is that of the Emperor Hong Hi, one of the most eminent of the Chinese sovereigns, who was born in 1653, and died in 1723. This monarch, who was the author of several treatises on the arts and sciences, admitted the Jesuits to his court, and employed them in different branches of his administration. One of them, the Pere Bouin, was charged with the superin- tendence of the cannon foundry at Nankin, and this is probably a specimen of his workmanship." A recent traveller has supplied the public journals with some very interesting details of a visit to Canton. The im- portance now attached to every particular connected with that 154: CANTON GLANCED AT. city induces us to use the reliable information as freely as he has given it: — The population of the town itself is reckoned at about 400,000, while it is calculated that 60,000 persons live in the boats and schamps, and about 200,000 in the im- mediate vicinity. The number of Europeans settled here is about 200. The goods in the shops are exposed for sale either in large open boxes or on tables, behind which the shop- keepers sit and work. In the corner of the shop a narrow staircase leads up into the dwelling-house above. Here, as in Turkish towns, the same regulation is observed of each trader or calling having its especial street — in one nothing but crockery and glass is to be seen, in another silks, and so on. In the pl^sicians' street are situated all the apothecaries' shops as well, the two professions being united in one and the same person. The provisions, which are very tastily arranged, have also their separate streets. Between the houses are fre- quently small temples, not differing the least, however, in style from the surrounding buildings : the gods, too, merely occupy the ground -floor, the upper storeys being inhabited by simple mortals. The bustle in the streets is astonishing, especially in those set apart for the sale of provisions. Wo- men and girls of the lower classes go about with their pur- chases, just as in Europe. "They were all unveiled, and some of them waddled like geese, in consequence of their crippled feet, which extends to all ranks. The crowd was consider- ably increased by the number of porters with large baskets of provisions on their shoulders, running along, and praising in a loud voice their stock in trade, or warning the poople to make way for them." At other times the whole breadth of the street will be taken up, and the busy stream of human beings completely stopped by the litter of some rich or noble person- age proceeding to his house of business. " But worse than all were the numerous porters we met at every step we took, carrying large baskets of unsavoury matter. After threading CANTON GLANCED AT. 1;5>5 our way for at least two miles through a succession of narrow streets, we at length emerged into the open space, where we obtained a full view of the city walls, and from the summit of a small hill which was situated near them, a tolerably ex- tensive one over the town itself. The city walls are about sixty feet high, and for the most part so overgrown with grass, creeping plants, and underwood, that they resemble a living mass of vegetation. The town resembles a chaos of small houses, with now and then a solitary tree, but we saw neither fine streets or squares, nor any remarkable buildings, temples, or pagodas. A single pagoda, five storeys high, re- minded us of the peculiar character of the Chinese architec- ture. The Chinese do almost everything the opposite way to what we are accustomed. They begin with writing at the right hand of the page, what we should call the end of the book, and write down and across. The men wear petticoats and carry a fan. They get up on the right side of a horse. The old men walk on stilts and amuse themselves with flying paper kites, while the boys look gravely on. . . Our road now lay over fertile eminences, varied with fields and meadows in a high state of cultivation. Many of the hills are used as cemeteries, and are dotted over with small mounds of earth, walled in with stone flags or rough hewn stone two feet high, frequently covered with inscriptions. Family tombs are also to be seen, dug in the hill, and enclosed with stone wails of the shape of a horse shoe. All the entrances were built up with stones. I visited a tea factory. The proprietor con- ducted me himself over the workshops, which consisted of large halls, in which six hundred people, including a great many old women and children, were at work. My entrance occasioned a perfect revolt. Old and young rose from work, the elder portion lifting up the younger members of the com- munity in their arms and pointing at me with their fingers. The whole mass then pressed close upon me, and raised so 156 CANTON GLANCED AT. horrible a cry that I began to be alarmed. The proprietor and his overseer had a difficult task to keep off the crowd, and begged me to content myself with a hasty glance at the different objects, and then to quit the building as soon as possible." Our map of Canton explains itself. Before taking leave of Chinese cities and what properly appertains to them, we should observe that there is such a city in China as the pre-eminently "celestial" one. Marco Polo extols it, as surpassing all others in the world for grandeur and beauty. It is, or was, called Kin-sai, a name indicative of celestial greatness. There is little known now of this enchanting place, but it is worth while to recall, briefly, its existence, as painted by Polo. It was situated between a lake of sweet transparent water and a river of great magnitude, and traversed in every possible direction by canals, large and small, which carried with them all the filth of the city into the lake, and finally into the sea. These canals were traversed by almost innumerable bridges, without which there could have been no land communication from one place to another. " Those thrown over the principal canals, and connecting the main streets of the city, had arches so lofty and so well built that vessels could pass under them without striking their masts, while carts and horses were passing over them." It is scarcely just to limit mention of the famous city of Nankin to the curt notice we have already given. We have again to appeal to trustworthy travellers, and by using give practical expression of our confidence in what they relate. Nankin, once, to all intents and purposes, the capital of China, and, since the insurrection of 1851, the capital of the insurgent party, is situated in an immense plain, over which, intersecting one another in every direction, lie the canals, which are amongst the most astonishing proofs of what the Chinese have done for themselves in the way of NANKIN GLANCED AT. 157 physical civilization, without the aid of intercourse with other nations. It contains, we believe, half a million of inhabitants, but occupies an area very much out of proportion to this population, if we judge it by a European standard. Its cir- cumference is described to be three times as great as that of Paris. But it is said that in the midst of its deserted streets large pieces of ploughed ground are to be seen, and that " the grass grows upon the quays which were once bordered by a triple line of ships." The region in which the city lies is fertile. In addition to the canals, it is watered by many brooks and some navigable streams. It grows the yellow cotton, of which the material "nankeen" once so fashionable, was made ; and the empire is principally supplied with rice from the growth of this vast plain. There are two harvests in the year ; and their yield may be guessed, when it is stated that the province itself supports thirty-eight millions of in- habitants. Nankin is a city of luxury ; and, in the way of fashion, is supposed to be the Paris of China. It is the resort of literary men, of scholars and dancers, physicians and jug- glers, painters and courtesans. It has schools of science, art, and pleasure. " Its rivers and canals bear to the extremities of the empire the produce of its unbounded fertility." On the lake formed by the widening of the river, south of the city, float the most picturesque barques in the world. And, above all the other features of the place rises the porcelain tower of Nankin, two hundred and twenty feet high. The importance of this city, in a military point of view, is so great, that the Emperor never ceased to warn his subjects against the danger of its falling into the hands of the rebelf, believing that upon it depended the fate of both the northern and southern divisions of the empire. It did fall into their hands, however. "On the 19th of March, 1853, the insur- gents sprung a mine under the wall near the southern angle, which effected a breach of about twenty or thirty yards in 158 CANTON GLANCED AT. extent. At this opening they poured in, and, meeting with slight resistance, planted their standard in the Imperial City of the Mings." There seem to be differences of opinion with regard to the justice of our outcry against Chinese city exclusiveness in general, and Canton exclusiveness in particular. An American writer, of good commercial position, declares that the only plausible ground for British complaint is, that a comparatively small district in the interior portion of Canton, occupied altogether by the officials' residences and offices, and which is called the " old city," is not accessible to foreigners.* * A New York journal says on this subject : — " It has been often asserted that the Chinese Government has never fulfilled its treaties with Great Britain. Nothing can be more erroneous. At Shanghae, the most convenient portions of the banks of the Woosung are allotted to foreign trade, and foreigners of all nations, trading with that country, enjoy access to all parts of the city, as well as to the surrounding country (not embraced in treaty stipulations), for many miles. At Ningpo there has been little or no restriction. The same may be said of Foo-Chow-Foo and Amoy. The island of Hong Kong has become a regularly organised British colony ; and Macao, some 50 miles further south upon the China shore, is as free under the Portuguese govern- ment as Hong Kong is under the British. Trade has also been per- fectly free up and down Pearl Kiver, both at Whampoa and Canton." THE OLD WAR : ITS CHARACTER AND CONSEQUENCES. 159 CHAPTER XY. THE OLD WAR ITS CHARACTER AND CONSEQUENCES. Hood's War witty China. — Termination of the War, and the Treaty. — Sketch of Ki-chan, the great Chinese Statesman. — Hong Kong, Great Britain's great Chinese Possession. — China Honouring France. Hood's War with China. — The old Chinese war may be said to have lingered on from the year 1816 to the year 1842. Like many great conflicts, its origin was little, and its per- plexities and horrors multitudinous and great. Do all our readers forget Tom Hood's version of the old Chinese war? It was narrated just two years before the peace, and will not, in as short a trim as we can contrive to dress it, come inaptly in this part of our history. "I can't understand it," said my uncle, throwing down on the table the pamphlet he had been reading, and looking up over the fireplace, at the great picture of Canton, painted by his elder brother, when he was mate of an East Indiaman. My aunt was seated beside my uncle, with her cotton-box, playing at working, and cousin Tom was working at playing in a corner. As for my father and myself, we had dropped in, as usual, after a walk, to take our tea, which, through an old connection with Cathay, was certain to be firstrate at the cottage. " Why on earth," continued my uncle, " why on earth we should go to war about the opium business quite passes my comprehension." " And mine too," chimed in my aunt, whose bent it was to 160 THE OLD WAR : put in a word and put out an argument, as often as she had an opportunity; "I always thought opium was a lulling, soothing sort of thing, more likely to compose people's passions than to stir them up." My uncle looked at the speaker with much the same ex- pression as that of the great girl in Wilkie's picture, who is at once frowning and smiling at the boy's grotesque mockery of the blind fiddler — for my aunt's allusion to the sedative qualities of opium was amusing in itself, but provoking, as interrupting the discourse. " The sulphur question," she continued, " is quite a different thing. That's all about brimstone and combus- tibles ; and it would only be of a piece, if we were to send our men of war, and frigates, and fireships to bombard Mount Vesuvius. " "To go back," resumed my uncle, "to the very beginning of the business ; first, we have Captain Elliot, who wishes to give the Chinese admiral a chop — " " And a very civil thing of him too," remarked my aunt. "Eh! — what?" exploded my uncle, as snappishly as a AYaterloo cracker. "To be sure," said my aunt, in a deprecating tone, " it might be a Friday and a fast-day, as to meat" — "As to what?" "As to meat," repeated my aunt, resolutely. " I have always understood that the Catholic priests and the Jesuits were the first to go converting the Chinese." "Pooh! nonsense!" ejaculated my uncle. "A chop is a document." "Well, it 'snot my fault," retorted my aunt, "if things abroad are called by their wrong names. What is a chop, then, in Chinese — I mean a pork or mutton one — is it called a document? " "It's a sad job this war, and I am sorry for it," said my ITS CHARACTER AND CONSEQUENCES. 1G1 father, with a serious shake of his head. "I have always had a sneaking kindness for the Chinese, as an intelligent and ingenious people. We have outrun them now in the race of civilisation, but no doubt there was a time when, compara- tively, they were refined and we were the barbarians." "It is impossible to doubt it," said my uncle, with great animation. " To say nothing of their invention of gunpowder, and their discovery of the mariner's compass, look at their earthenware. For my own part, I am particularly fond of old china. It is, I may say, quite a passion — inherited, perhaps, from my grandmother, with several closets full of the antique oriental porcelain. She used to say it was a genteel taste. In the meantime we may gather some hints of the charac- ter of the people from their porcelain — that they are literary and musical, and, from the frequent occurrence of figures of children, that they are of affectionate and domestic habits. And above all, that they are eminently unwarlike, and inclined only to peaceful and pastoral pursuits. I do not recollect ever seeing an armed figure, weapons, or any allusion to war, and its attributes, in any of their enamels." " So much the worse for them," said my father ; "for they are threatened with something more than a tempest in a tea- pot. It will be like the china vessel in the old fable, coming in contact with the brazen one. There will be a fine smash, I brother, of your favourite ware." " A smash! where ?" inquired my aunt, who had just en- tered the room, and imperfectly overheard the last sentence. " What are you talking of ? " " Of a bull in a china shop," said my father, with a hard wink at my uncle. " Yes ; that's a dreadful smash, sure enough," said my aunt. " There was Mrs. Starkey, who keeps the great Staf- fordshire warehouse at Smithfield Bars— she had an overdriven M 162 THE OLD WAH : beast run into her shop only last week. At first, she says, he was quiet enough, for besides racing up and down St. John's Street, he had been bullock-hunted all over Islington, and Hoxton fields, and that had taken the wildness out of him. So at first he only stood staring at the jugs, and mugs, and things, as if admiring the patterns." "And pray," inquired my uncle, "where was Mrs. Starkey in the meantime ?" " Why, the shopman, you see, had crept under the counter for safety, and Mrs. Starkey was in the back parlour, and saw everything by peeping through a crack of the green curtain, over the glass door. So the mad bull stood staring at the crockery, quiet enough ; when unluckily with a switch of his tail he brought down on his back a whole row of pipkins that hung over head. I suppose he remembered being pelted about the streets ; for the clatter of the earthenware about his ears seemed to put him up again ; for he gave a stamp and a bellow that made the whole shop shake again, and down rattled a great jug on his hind quarters. Well, round turns the bull, quite savage, with another loud bellow, as much as to say; ' I should like to know who did that ? ' when what should he see by bad luck but a china figure of a Mandarin, as big as our Tom there, a grinning and nodding at him with its head." " Commissioner Lin," said my father, with a significant nod to my uncle. " Mrs. Starkey thinks," continued my aunt, " that the mad bull took the China figure for a human creature, and particu- larly as its motions made it look so life-like ; however, the more the bull stamped and bellowed, the more the Mandarin grinned and nodded his head, till at long and at last the bull got so aggravated, that, sticking his tail upright — Mrs. Starkey says, as stiff as the kitchen poker — he made but one rush at the China mandarin, and smashed him all into shivers." ITS CHARACTER AND CONSEQUENCES. 103 it And there you have the whole history," said my father, with another nod to my uncle, H of a war with China." Termination of the War and the Treaty. — But the bull in the China shop did an immense deal of actual mischief, and got considerably scratched himself, too. However he called the China shopman to order, if he did not keep him to it. When the Chinese Government had, at length, discovered the uselessness of attempting to resist the force of England, Sir Henry Pottinger found no difficulty in bringing its accre- dited agents to terms. It was at this time that it should have been well understood what it was most desirable to de- mand ; and yet it was at this time that an oversight took place, on the part of the British authorities, of which the keen sagacity of the Chinese enabled them instantaneously to avail themselves. In 1840 a treaty was framed for the guidance of Captain Elliott by the late Lord Sydenham, at the suggestion of Sir George Larpent and others. In this treaty there was left a blank after the words, " The cession of the islands of ;" and another blank after the words, " Indemnity money ." These blanks were left to be filled up at the discretion of Captain Elliott as circumstances might require. When Sir Henry Pottinger negotiated, our position was ma- terially altered and improved; the perfidy of the Chinese Government had been greater, the wrongs which we had suf- fered were said to have been increased in amount, and our rights had been consequently strengthened : there was more to demand in the way of redress on our parts — there was more to anticipate on the part of the Chinese in the way of retribution ; yet Sir Henry sent this old draft of a treaty on shore, with the letter " s " struck out of the word " islands," and the words " Hong Kong " alone left there. The terms of peace having been read, Elepoo, the senior commissioner, paused, expecting some- thing more, and at length 'said, " Is that all ? " Mr. Morrison inquired of Lieutenant-Colonel Malcolm if there were any- 164 THE OLD war: thing else, and being answered in the negative, Elepoo imme- diately and with great tact closed the negotiation by saying, " All shall he granted — it is settled — it is finished" The terms of this treaty were, the opening of five ports and cities, of which Canton was to be one, for the free use and settle- ment of British merchants and their families ; the cession of Hong Kong; the payment of six millions of dollars as com- pensation for opium delivered up to the Chinese Government ; and a further sum of fifteen millions for the expenses of the war, &c. : it was further agreed that Chusan should be held until the money payments were made and the towns opened. JSTo one questions that by this treaty Englishmen could have resided in any art of China, although trading merchants would be confined to five ports ; but the wily Tartar Keying " took measures to counteract even this small advantage, and at the same time craftily devised a plan of isolating Hong Kong from freedom of intercourse with the opened ports." This was done through the medium of a supplemental treaty, wherein it was agreed that all persons trading from any one of these ports to Hong Kong should be required to obtain a pass from the Chinese custom-house of the port in question. There was a promise, moreover, of full and free permission on the part of the Chinese authorities for such trading. The promise, as might naturally be expected, was broken — the restriction re- mains — and Hong Kong stands almost alone, as far as regards trade, not in its glory, but its misery. Canton is not opened ; and, although we have consuls at the other ports, yet every device which the ingenuity of Tartar cunning can suggest is put into practice to deprive us of the benefit of the treaty, and this by the consent of our own past policy. The English are strictly confined to their locations and interdicted from evon necessary intercourse with the natives. We are still, as usual, outwitted in diplomacy, and it will, according to Mr. Martin, " cost another war before we shall be able to compel the Chinese to fulfil ITS CHARACTER AND CONSEQUENCES. 165 their engagements. This war has been anticipated by the mandarins, and they look forward to it with confidence, con- sidering themselves in every way better prepared than for- merly to undertake it." That " other war" is now being waged, and likely to be the cause of ending all disputes by drowning them in blood. China is to be "shot" out of the highway of trade. It may be well here to note, on the authority of Mr. Martin, that British intercourse with China commenced legitimately in the reign of Elizabeth. This lady gave a grant to the Earl of Leicester and others to find out and trade with "Kathay; " she also wrote a letter to the Emperor of China, commending Richard Allot and Robert Rroomfield, London merchants, to his favourable notice, for the purpose of com- merce : a storm prevented the ship, conveying the letter, from reaching its destination. The East India Company then made many ineffectual attempts to open a trade with China : they were baffled by the Dutch. At last, in Charles I.'s time, an association of English merchants, called " Courteen's Associ- ation," made an agreement with the viceroy of Goa, by virtue of which Captain Weddell sailed for China. Having arrived at the Canton river, he was met by intrigue on the part of the Portuguese at Macao, and resistance on the part of the Chinese : he at length forced his way to Canton, by firmness gained his point, and received permission for a free trade and the liberty of fortifying himself in any place outside the river. The same course was, however, pursued with him which the Chinese adopted, more than two hundred years subsequently towards Captain Elliott. The English fought, the Chinese were beaten, acknowledged their fault, promised amendment, broke their promise, and Courteen's Association came to nothing. The East India Company managed, at last, to get a footing in China, and the intercourse continued, more or less, until the termination of the old war. After various reverses, the Chinese authorities consented, as 166 • THE old wae: we have already seen, to sign a treaty of peace on the 29th of August, 1842. This was done on board the "Corn- wallis," by Sir H. Pottinger on the part of England, and by Keying, Elepoo, and New Kein on the part of the Chinese Emperor. Here, in brief, are The Conditions of the Treaty. — Lasting peace and friend- ship between the two empires; — China to pay 21,000,000 of dollars, part forthwith and the remainder within three years; — the ports of Canton, Amoy, Foo-ehoo-foo, Ning- po, and Shang-hae to be thrown open to the British; — consuls to reside at these cities; — tariffs of import and export to be established ; — Hong Kong to be ceded in perpetuity to her Britannic Majesty, and her heirs and successors; — subjects of England, whether native or Indian, to be uncon- ditionally released in China ; — act of full amnesty, under the Emperor's own seal and sign-manual, to all Chinese, to be published ; — correspondence between the two governments to be conducted on terms of perfect equality; — the British forces to withdraw from Nankin, the grand canal, and Chin- hae, on the treaty receiving the Emperor's signature ; — but the islands of Chusan and Ku-lang-su to be held by the British until the money payments have been completed, and other provisions fulfilled. Since the signing of the treaty, of which these are briefly the conditions, all has not been smooth acting between the rela- tions of the high contracting parties. Only ten years ago, the Bogue forts were captured, to obtain redress for alleged insults : of these infractions of the treaty, and matters thereto belonging, we shall have to deal more at length in another chapter. Meanwhile, it may be interesting to give a sketch of a Chinese statesman who made a very prominent figure in the old war, and the negotiations which brought it to an end. A great Chinese Statesman. — This sketch we give on the authority of Abbe Hue, who knew Ki-chan, and was honoured ITS CHARACTER AND CONSEQUENCES. 167 with so much of his friendship as Chinese politeness allows to be shared with foreigners. The brief history of this man affords a good idea of Chinese state-life. Hue relates the interview which brings Kichan before him in his work on Thibet and Tartary. During the short period of our pros- perity at Lha-Ssa (says the abbe) " we were on pretty familiar terms with the Chinese ambassador, Ki-Chan. He sent for us two or three times to talk politics ; or, according to the Chinese expression, to talk idle words ; and we were surprised to find him so well-informed about the affairs of Eurcpe. He spoke much of the English, and of Queen Victoria." " She must be a woman of great capacity," said he; "but her husband plays a very ridiculous part ; he is not allowed to interfere in anything. She has had a magnificent garden planted with fruit-trees and flowers of all sorts, and there he is shut up, and passes his life in walking about. It is said that there are other countries in Europe where women govern — is that true ? Are their husbands also shut up in gardens r Is that the custom in France also?" "No; in France the women are in the gardens, and the men transact the business." " That is all right ; otherwise, nothing but disorder can result." Ki-Chan next asked Hue for news of LordHPalmerston, and if he was still at the head of foreign affairs. " And Ilu ?• What is become of him — do you know ? " " He has been recalled ; your fall occasioned his also." " Ilu had an excellent heart, but he could not take a reso- lution. Was he banished, or put to death ?" " Neither ; in Europe these matters are not managed so sum- marily as at Pekin." " That is true. Your mandarins are more fortunate than * "The Chinese name of Mr. Elliot, English plenipotentiary at Canton at the beginning of the Anglo-Chinese War ?" 168 THE old war: ours ; your government is better than ours. Our Emperor cannot know everything ; yet he is the judge of everything, and no one dares find fault with any of his actions. Our Emperor says, ' That is white ;' and we prostrate ourselves, and say, ' Yes, it is white.' He shows us afterwards the same object, and says, ' That is black ;' and we prostrate ourselves again, and answer, ' Yes, it is black.' " "But supposing you were to say that an object cannot be black and white at the same time ?" " The Emperor would perhaps say to one who had that courage, ' You are right ;' but, at the same time, he would have him strangled or beheaded. Oh, we have not, like you, an assembly of all the chiefs (Tchoung-Teou-Y).' It was thus that Ki-Chan designated our Parliament. " If your Emperor would act in a manner contrary to justice, your Tchoung- Teou-Y are there to stop him." Hue continues : " Ki-Chan then related to us the strange manner in which the great affair of the English in 1839 was transacted. The Emperor had convoked the eight Tchoung-Tang who compose his privy council, and spoken of the events which had taken place in the south. He said that the adventurers of the western seas had shown themselves rebellious and insolent ; that they must be severely chastised as an example to others who might be *tempted to imitate them. After having thus manifested his opinion, the Emperor asked the opinion of his council. The four Mantchoo-Tchoung-Tang prostrated themselves, and said, " Tche, tche, tche, Tchon-DzeTi, Fan Fou — Yes, yes, yes; that is the command of the master." The four Chinese Tchoung-Tang prostrated themselves in their turn, and said likewise, " Che, che, che, Hoang-Chang- Ti, Tien Ngen — Yes, yes, yes ; it is the celestial beneficence of the Emperor." After that, nothing more was to be said, and the council was dismissed. This anecdote is 'perfectly authentic, for Ki-Chan is one of the eight Tchoung-Tang ITS CHARACTER AND CONSEQUENCES. 169 of the empire. He added, that he himself was convinced that the Chinese were incapable of contending with the Euro- peans, unless they made a great change in their arms, and shook off their old habits ; but that he would take care to say nothing of the sort to the Emperor, as it would certainly be useless, and would probably cost him his life. His biographers count Ki-Chan a Mantchoo-Tartar by birth, and say that he began his career as a clerk in one of the six grand tribunals of Pekin. His rare capacity soon manifested itself, and while still very young he passed rapidly through the different degrees of the magistracy. Our information is still derived from Hue. At the age of twenty-two he was go- vernor of the province of Ho-Nan ; at twenty-five he was vice- roy ; but he was degraded from this dignity for not having foreseen and put a stop to an inundation of the Yellow River, which had caused great devastation in the province entrusted to him. His disgrace, however, did not last long ; he was soon reinstated, and sent as viceroy successively into the provinces of Chan-Tong, of Sse-Tchouen, and Pe-Tche-Ly. He was deco- rated with the red ball, the peacock-plume, and the yellow- tunic, with the title of Ueou-Ye (prince imperial). At last he was named Tchoung-Tang, the highest dignity to which a mandarin can ever attain. There are only eight Tchoung- Tang s in the empire, — four Mantchoos, and four Chinese, — who together compose the privy council of the Emperor, and have the right of corresponding directly with him. Towards the end of the year 1839 Ki-Chan was sent to Canton as vice- roy of the province and imperial commissioner, with full power to treat with the English, and re-establish the peace which had been disturbed by the unwise and violent measures of Lin, his predecessor. A decisive proof of the superiority of Ki-Chan' s capacity was, his recognition of the immense supe- riority of the Europeans over the Chinese on his arrival at Canton, and his immediate conviction that war between them 170 THE OLD WAR I was impossible. He directly entered into negotiations with Mr. Elliot, the English plenipotentiary, and peace was con- cluded with the cession of the little island of Hong Kong. To cement the good understanding between the Chinese Em- peror and Queen Victoria, Ki-Chan gave a splendid fete to the English authorities, at which M. de Rosamel, commander of the corvette the " Danaide," then just arrived in the roads of Macao, had the honour to be present. Every one was charmed with the graceful manner and amiability of the imperial commissioner. But before many days had passed after the conclusion of the peace, the intrigues of Lin, the former imperial commissioner at Pekin, succeeded so far as to procure the cassation of the treaty by the Emperor. Ki-Chan was accused of having allowed himself to be bribed by English gold, and of having sold to the " Sea Devils" the territory of the Celestial empire. The Emperor sent him a thundering letter, declaring him worthy of death, and ordering him to repair forthwith to Pekin. The poor commissioner did not lose his head as every one expected ; the Emperor in his paternal goodness granted him his life, and contented himself with degrading Ki- Chan from all his dignities, taking away his decorations, confiscating his propert} 7 , razing his house, selling his wives by auction, and exiling him to the extremity of Tartary. However, the numerous and influential friends whom Ki-Chau had at court did not abandon him in his mis- fortunes. They laboured with courage and perseverance to restore him to the good graces of the Emperor. In 1844 he was recalled from exile, and sent to Lha-Ssa to manage the business of the Nomekhan. He set oif decorated with the blue ball instead of the red, which he had borne before his fall ; his peacock feather was restored, but the privilege of wearing the yellow tunic was still denied him. His friends raised a contribution among themselves, and built him a magnificent house at Pekin. The post of Kin-Tchai in the ITS CHARACTER AND 0OKSEQTTK5CE8. 171 midst of the mountains of Thibet was still considered as a place of exile ; but it was a step towards a complete and glorious rehabilitation. Hue's hope has been realised. Hong Kong, Great Britain's Chinese Possession. — Hong Kong became British territory by virtue of the treaty of 1842, and for a purpose which, so far as our observance of the treaty is concerned, we have not attended to. But why England con- sented to have Hong Kong, the least respectable concession which might have been made to Britain, we have never been able to discover. Mr. Martin gives no flattering account of this great mark of reward for our successful hostilities in the old war. According to him, the island consists of a broken ridge, or ■ hog's back ' of mountainous hills, running from W.N.W. to E.S.E., at the average height of about one thousand feet; but from this ridge and its spurs, various conical mountains are elevated to the height of one thou- sand five hundred to two thousand feet above the sea, and very precipitous : the whole island, indeed, rises abruptly from the ocean, particularly on the north face; there are a few narrow valleys and deep ravines through which the sea occasionally bursts, or which serve as conduits for the mountain torrents ; but on the north side of the island, especially where the town of Yictoria is built, the rocky ridge approaches close to the sea, and it was only by hewing through this ridge that a street or road could be made to connect the straggling town of Victoria, which stretches along the water's edge for nearly four miles, though only comprising about sixty European houses and several Chinese huts and bazaars. Here and there, on the tops of some isolated hills, or along the precipitous slopes of the mountains, some houses have been constructed ; but the rugged, broken, and abrupt preci- pices and deep rocky ravines will ever effectually prevent the formation, at Victoria, of any concentrated town, adapted for mutual protection, cleanliness, and comfort. Hong Kong 172 THE OLD wak : cannot be said to possess any vegetation ; a few goats with difficulty find pasturage. After the heavy rains of May, June, July, and August, the hills assume somewhat of a greenish hue; but the whity-brown or red-streaked ridges, Avith the scattered masses of black rocks, give a most unin- viting and desolate aspect to the island, which is unrelieved by the adjacent mainland, whose physical features are precisely similar to that of Hong Kong. The causes of disease arise from its geological character, the quantity of rain that falls, and the continual accumulation of putrescent matter carried from the hills down the ravines. No drainage can obviate the destructive miasm which is constantly generated, because it proceeds from sources which drainage can never reach. Such, in a few words, seems to be the opinion of Mr. Martin as to the sanitary condition of Hong Kong ; and in this he appears to be borne out by Dr. Thompson, the head of the medical department on the island, who considers that it never will be healthy. Mr. Martin backs his opinion, with respect to the un- healthiness of Hong Kong, by a frightful list of facts. The quantity of rain that fell in the island during one half-year was nearly ten feet in depth! — " Military and naval men, who have served in Africa and India, feel the effects of the sun at Hong Kong in a manner never before experienced. Neither the Indian sepoys, Malays, or Chinese, can endure the climate as well as Europeans, whose stamina they do not possess The Chinese deem it a dangerous experiment to prolong their abode in the island beyond a certain period The Europeans who survive a brief residence in the climate, generally get a lassitude of frame and an irritability of fibre, which destroy the springs of existence." A return to England does not benefit the sufferer : on the contrary, he generally dies shortly after lie reaches his native land, or lives in lingering debility. ITS CHARACTER AND CONSEQUENCES. 173 This is a gloomy picture of our boasted Chinese acquisition, and may serve to teach us the way of making a better choice when next the occasion offers. The only commerce of any conse- quence which is carried on in Hong Kong seems to be in that detestable drug opium. This makes the island the resort of pirates, smugglers, and disreputable characters of all descrip- tions, so that robberies and murders are of nightly occurrence. In 1844, the number of Chinese on the island was nineteen thousand, of whom, not more than one thousand were women and children. In the census were included ninety-seven women, slaves, and females attendant on thirty-one brothels, eight gambling-houses, and twenty opium shops! In six years not one respectable Chinese has settled at Hong Kong. For the whole of these melancholy details Mr. Martin gives ample documentary evidence, and the conclusion left on the reader's mind, as far as these documents go, is, that Hong Kong is nothing better than a grave for Europeans, and a refuge for the smuggling desperadoes of the mainland. This need not have been so, and ought not to remain so. The revenue of Hong Kong has hitherto been somewhat less than £6,000 per annum; the expenditure, on an average, £200,000 yearly. China Honouring France. — It is worthy of remark that, on the cessation of the old war, the French government despatched a special embassy, on a grand scale, to China, under the direction of M. Lagrene, a very able and experienced diplo- matist. He met with a most flattering reception, and created a great impression : he astonished the Chinese by his display of the most beautiful specimens of Parisian art, and by the demonstration of naval force which accompanied him. It is said that he succeeded in " adroitly instilling into the mind of Keying that France is an intellectual power, ani- mated by the noblest and purest motives ; whilst England, on the other hand, is nothing more than a trading country, whose chief object is gain— a character that stands very tow in the 174 THE OLD WAR : estimation of the Chinese government and people." The remarks of the Journal des Debats made at the time on this subject were sufficiently characteristic both of French vanity and French fairness. In the number for November 23, 1 845, there was a long article on the objects of the embassy, in which the writer stated that Keying said to M. Lagrene — " You demand nothing like other nations : this is a proof that you are a great empire: it is not the spirit of trade which animates you, like England and America." So recently as in the commencement of this year, 1857, the Chinese, at Sarawak, gave us a painfully practical exposition of similar views. Like nearer neighbours, they hold our reputation at a purely commercial, or shop-keeping standard, and act accordingly. They prefer any nation to us. In the treaty which France obtained from China, and which was more favourable than that accorded to America or England, there is a peculiarity in the preamble which deserves to be mentioned : — " The words trans- lated ' Empereur de France,' are inserted in the Chinese text in characters used only for the name of the Emperor of China. It appears that they are sacredly reserved for designating the son of the sun, and this is the first time that they have been used for any one else." Thus, to us, even the honours and privileges of creeping out of the old war did not bring favour- able consequences home, or leave favourable impressions abroad. THE SEW WAR : ITS CAUSFS AJJD CONSEQUENCES. 1/5 CHAPTER XVI. THE NEW AViE : ITS CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES. What is the War about? — Sir John Bowring.— Value of the Pretext for Quarrel. — What was really the Insult? — The Treaty and its observance. — Palmerston's opinion "now and then." — Chinese hatred of Britain, fondness of atrocities, and Yeh ! — British clemency as an example to the atrocious Chinese. — Christianity in the contest. — Law and the Lorcha. What is the war about ? — Are we at war with China in this year, 1857? Our Colonial Secretary interrupted Mr. Gladstone while he spoke in the celebrated debate upon the " Canton affair," to assure him that we were not at war with China ; whereupon Mr. Gladstone thanked him, and continued, with the warm approbation of an indignant assembly: "Ko, Sir, there is no war with China. There is hostility and bloodshed; there is trampling on the weak by the strong; there is terrible and abominable retaliation by the strong upon the weak." Is this true, or faintly true ? Is it true that by his foresight, his wisdom, and his vigour Lord Palmerston has pre- cipitated us into a Chinese war, and applauded a butchery ? There can be no doubt that terrible chastisement for something or other has been inflicted on, and retaliation attempted by, the Chinese. If we are not at war, we have been fearfully mixed up in bloodshed. An insult to our flag has been given or imagined, and there has been a calamity in consequence. Thousands of valuable lives have paid the penalty of death for a supposed insult to a piece of silk — used as an emblem, 1 76 THE NEW WAR : no doubt, with claims potent for good or for evil. Our flag, in very questionable keeping, is made an object of petty insult, and, therefore, we must blow Canton to pieces ! "When a certain Austrian general, who, in himself, was a greater emblem of his nation's nationality than any impromptu ship-flag, had to endure all the indignities, physical and other, of a few London draymen, did his country enforce reparation or excuse, or did we think there was any occasion to offer either ? The insult was deliberate, and aimed at the nation through the man, yet never atoned for. But there is found no excuse for this wretched Chinese insult, supposing it to have been exactly as reported ; and forthwith we do an enormous amount of evil that some corresponding good may result from it. This affair has been the "Bull in a China shop" with a vengeance. "We wish to pause for a moment, in order to ask if it be true that — as we believe it to be, and as a noble lord insisted when discussing the question in the House of Lords — on the 8th of October last, when this unhappy occurrence took place, we had then for more than ten years been carrying on, without the slightest interruption of any kind, the most advantageous trade ? Is it not true that there had been no difficulty what- ever in carrying on that trade ? Is it not true that the com- mercial facilities at the five Chinese ports were equal to the facilities we found at New York, or at any of the other great commercial emporia in the world ? Is it not true that we had no disputes of any consequence on the one hand or on the other ? Is it not undeniable that the slight grievances we had expe- rienced had every one been redressed ; and the Chinese had gone much further towards producing a feeling of reconcilia- tion than we had ? This must be manifest to any candid man who has studied the blue books, and if it be so, we ask, was there not good reason, then r apart from all other considera- tions, for a little more forbearance than followed the paltry affair of the lorcha ? ITS CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES. 177 But of the lorcha affair itself. — Here is its history, as penned by British official hands. On the 8th of October, 1856, Consul Parkes addresses Commissioner Yeh in these terms : — " This morning, shortly after eight o'clock, a Chinese warboat boarded an English lorcha, the ' Arrow,' lying at anchor in the river near the Dutch Folly, and, regardless of the remonstrances of her master, an Englishman, seized, bound, and carried off twelve of her Chinese crew, and hauled down the English colours, which were then flying. Hesitating to rely solely on the master's account of so gross an outrage, I at once des- patched people to make inquiries, and found that the facts were as he had stated, and that the warboat, said to be under the command of Liang-quo-tung, a captain in the Imperial service, after leaving the lorcha had dropped down the river, and was lying off Yung- Tsing gate, with the crew of the lorcha still on board as prisoners." All this the consul really has had on the authority of Ken- nedy, the ship's master, whose interest it was to make the best of the matter in a national sense, and upon whose evidence we would certainly not place such reliance as must end in bloodshed. That the vessel itself was not free from suspicion is clear from another despatch, dated October the 10th, 1856, when Consul Parkes reports to Sir John Bo wring : — " I should mention that the ' Arrow' is sailing under a colonial certifi- cate of registry, renewable annually, bearing the date ' Hong Kong, September 27, 1855,' and the number 27. She is therein said to belong solely to Eong-a-Ming, of Victoria, Hong Kong, Chinese trader, but the place and date of her bill are not given. The master's name is Thomas Kennedy, a native of Belfast, and a very respectable man of his class, who informs me that he was engaged by Mr. Block (Danish Consul at Hong Kong) as nominal master of the lorcha, which he has hitherto believed to belong to Mr. Block's comprador, and he supposes that it is the comprador's name which appears on the register." V 1 78 THE NEW WAR : Nothing can be clearer than the apprehension which broadly is surmised in this private communication. There is a doubt about everything- connected with the ship, from the existence of its rights to the position of its trade. The master had been employed by a foreigner, for a foreign vessel on foreign com- merce. This has not been denied. He was even ignorant of the real owner, and his register at best a bungle. Indeed it is not clear that the vessel had any papers. Upon our own showing, the case looked favourably for the Chinese, in whose waters the suspected vessel sailed, and they seem to have had every legal right to do what they did. But when we pass away from the version of this matter, now almost universally known as "Bowring's bungle/' and come to the account given by the Chinese themselves, there can hardly be a doubt as to where the fault lay. At worst the Chinese .exercised,, offensively it may be, a right which the customs of all nations will not deny them. They board a suspected ship, and having done so on suspicion, seem to have their suspicions verified, and in proof of it arrest all the sailors — Chinese subjects. Our officials, for rea- sons of their own, choose to regard the matter in another light, and, repudiating the Chinese impertinencies, demanded such satisfaction as they thought fit, while they provokingly con- fessed that the pretext for the dispute was not tenable on grounds of truth or justice. Sir John Bowring. — We will not tarry to investigate the crooked question about Sir J. Bo wring's famous contradictory statements. They may be reconcilable with truth, and we think they are, notwithstanding the seeming inconsistency of one with the other. Nor is it worth while to enter duly and systematically into every variety of detail which has been published touching the history of this lorcha. What we have to say of its whole history must come out as regarding the divisions of the general question we see fit to deal with. But a word, by the way, on Sir J. Bo wring : his character has >S ITS CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES. 179 been hardly dealt with in this dispute. In our opinion, he is not like the man he has been popularly painted. It serves little to the justice of the humanity side of the question to treat the fame of Bowring with unfairness. He has risen from the people, and by the conquering force of ability and honesty shaped out a career of honour and usefulness. He held many responsible official appointments ere his name came with any prominence before England. As a financier his reputation always stood high — so high, indeed, that he was chosen by Lord' Clarendon^ in 1831, as one of the commissioners sent to investigate the condition of our commercial relations with France. Although his politics are, and have ever been, Ra- dical, they have been deemed by no administration a sufficient obstacle to 'his financial service. He sat for Bolton in two Parliaments having previously and repeatedly, in vain, con- tested the borough of Blackburn. Sir John is not now more than sixty-five years of age, having been born, in Exeter, on the 17th of October, 1792. His educational efforts began in a charity school, where he showed marked intelligence. He is chiefly a self-taught man,. and his proficiency as a linguist is entirely the result of personal application, his efforts continuing with little or no tutorial aid. His " business life' ' — for he began a commercial career about the middle of 1815 — was one of trial and vicissitude. A t one time wealthy — again poor — now toiling up hill, but at liberty — again struggling against a fall and in prison ; he finally relinquished commercial pursuits on his own account in 1828. It was Sir J. Bowring. who,, with Jeremy Bentham, founded " The Westminster Review," and for a- long time ably conducted- it. Honour is due to Bowring for attaining his position, and he is not the man to tarnish that honour by acts of deceit and treachery such as have been charged against him. That he has been, the instrument of a mistaken and merciless policy is the worst accusation we admit against him.; and that he will be able in due time to explain satisfactorily 180 THE NEW WAB I his own part in the matter, we firmly believe. He was, in short, told to make good any excuse for enforcing a by-gone treaty, — the " Arrow" being but the paltry means, and he the dutiful agent. Value of the Pretext for Quarrel. — All who have taken an in- terest in the Chinese dispute must have been struck with the fact which transpired in the debate, namely, that a vast smuggling trade has been carried on by " protected" lorchas along the China coast.* Every scheme it was possible for the masters of these piratical craft to devise had been recurred to in order to evade the vigilance of the Canton officials. Many of these unlawful vessels hoisted false colours, and to "save their bacon" did not care whether they deceived the Chinese under British, Trench, or American flags. This practice was well known to the authorities, and greatly perplexed them at times. If, then, the Canton officials had any reason to suspect a Chinese- built craft flying British colours and sailing in a river of the empire, surely, considering the deceit they were so much exposed to, there is nothing astounding in the desire to board and see if all con- * All accounts agree that scarcely a bay or inlet affording a chance of cover or escape from an attacking force but " swarms with hordes of these miscreants; and the substantial character and appointments of their vessels, their great speed under sail, or propelled hy sweeps, light draught of water, and the quantity of combustible annoyances with which they are always provided, make them the most dangerous adversaries which the cruisers for the protection of the traders can fall in with." These vessels almost invariably attack in company : instances are very rare of one of them venturing alone into open water. The lorcha is the class of vessel gene- rally used for their purposes, and some of these are of great size, and mount several guns — pieces of cannon as heavy as 68-pounders having heen found on them when captured. A most formidable in- strument of annoyance among them is the stink-pot, a vessel contain- I ing a highly-combustible and suffocating composition, which is gene- rally thrown from the masthead of the pirate into the attacking vessel ; and they have, also, " a clever knack of hampering their opponents' movements, by throwing mats over them." ITS CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES. 181 nected with the suspected vessel was right and proper. The insult does not certainly belong to a proceeding so ger- man to official sense as that. The Chinese authorities went on board to examine the grounds of their suspicion, and found that the vessel quietly resting in the waters under a British flag had no legal right to hoist that flag, since the nominal permission to do so had expired by thirteen days. Surely the hauling down the British flag under such circumstances might as charitably be construed into a concern for the purity of that flag as into anything else. Where is the insult in Chinese official's having shown to that Chinese crew how wrong it was to sail under false colours ? But, in point of fact, we take the case to be stronger in favour of the Chinese, and we cannot help being reminded, at every fresh step in the in- quiry, that an extension of commerce, and not solicitude for the justice of the case or the honour of the British flag, was, after all, the single object aimed at by our officials. — It were but honesty to say so, and we should much prefer that bold but true declaration. Upon what just grounds can we defend the asser- tion that the lorcha "Arrow" was, in all respects, a British vessel at the time of the dispute ? Ministers have maintained the dis- cussion as though this were undeniable; while it is, at the same time, confessed that no quality of British ships appertained to this particular lorcha; but, on the other hand, everything essen- tial to a thorough Chinese character was recognisable in the history and condition of the same ship. The vessel was Chinese built, Chinese manned, Chinese owned, and had — so far as evidence shows — no legal claim to participate in any British privilege. "Were we to encourage foreigners in resisting or evading the laws which it seems good to any nation to enforce for itself, there would be, practically, an end to the spirit or independence of all international law. In our opinion the claim set up under the assumed protec- tion conferred by the colonial register amounts to nothing 1 82 THE NEW WAR : likely to favour our position in the dispute. It has been proved that the rule which applies to the particular phase of colonial register involved in this question was not itself legal. It had not even then — has it since ? — received the royal assent. If not, how came we to strain so much in the name of formality, when a fatal obstacle stands before us in the character of a most formidable formality ? Our officials do not overlook this important fact, and question the legality of the register, even supposing that it were in all respects adhered to. But in what else emanated the right of this identical ship to our protection ? Was it not Chinese in every particular — built, armed, sold, bought, manned ? The adven- titious circumstance of possessing a British-born master, hired to do a certain marine duty, and avowedly ignorant of the national or mercantile position of this ship, amounts to nothing. The ship was suspected, and it appears with some reason, of harbouring pirates amongst the crew, — if it was not suspected of piratic tendencies itself. The Chinese entered the ship, seized the suspected crew — all being Chinese engaged in the Chinese trade, and under a Chinese employer, aboard a Chinese vessel. "What wrong has been done, then, in the officials of their country arresting them upon what ap- peared valid information, and subjecting them to the ordeal of a trial ? It was precisely what we would have done under similar circumstances. However, there was a something said about an insult to the flag of England, (and although this rests upon no very trustworthy foundation, and it is not clear that there was a flag at all flying, while it is clear that they had no right to have one,) and reparation therefore demanded — the return of the Chinese subjects to the vessel by their Chinese masters. This was done as soon as Chinese routine allowed, and even Consul Parkes admits that more could not have been done in that particular case, and that, in point of fact, "the Arrow" affair and the alleged insult to the British ITS CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES. 183 flag had been fully compensated for, notwithstanding the in- justice of the demand ; but, then, and there it was the secret lay : a means has offered to rip up the old sore in the treaty of 1842. The lorcha becomes only a pretext — a shabby one — the real cause lies deeper. But, all do not see this " Arrow" question in the light we do. There are even some who contend that we had a right to refuse the pirate's father to the Chinese authorities, and who go so far as to wish to see that right enforced. If Chinese laws so place an unfortunate sire as to render him, however morally inno- cent, legally compromised in the ill deeds of a son, surely it is not for us to resist. Were our authority to be exercised for the prevention of some cruel enactments, how can we avoid the consequences, and where can we draw the line of limit ? There are many legal absurdities honoured in China, equally productive of injustice, and many more pressing upon the disposition of our clemency. We must boldly assert our claim to reform China and manifest our might in the effort ; we must fearlessly trample upon the laws of other nations, and force our own down the throat of every foreign authority ; we must set out on a Quixotic errand and declare ourselves the arbiters and dictators of the world, before any such political doctrines as springs from this view of the matter .could be proclaimed. And what then ? Why China would not be the only imperial windmill against which it would be necessary to ride our maritime Rosinante. One of the many private causes attending the main private cause of complaint against the exclusiveness of Chinese offi- cials is, that there is the greatest repugnance on their part to hold any communication with foreigners. We have seen it somewhere stated, and we believe all travellers can bear out the assertion, that the Emperor is the only person in China who can legally make treaties, or enforce those which by agreement have been held in abeyance. The Commissioner 184 THE SEW WAR : would have superseded his master by doing it. Be that so or not, the Commissioner Yeh made a reply to the following purport to Sir John Bowring's request, last April, for an inter- view: " During your Excellency's residence of some years at Canton, you administered your official duties at that port with invariable penetration and integrity, and conducted public affairs with impartial justice. . . . We earnestly desire a personal interview with your Excellency, that we may have an opportunity for open and unreserved communication with you. At present, however, we really have not the leisure to admit of it." The reason for delaying this interview was one which we ought not to disrespect. Yeh had then been in the midst of conflict with the rebels, and he intimated that, as soon as had reduced them, "he would," he said " name a time for the interview, which we mutually anticipate with so much delight." Really there was no insult given or intended ; nor any greater cause of quarrel then than for many years before. The Treaty and its Observance — Pahnerstori 's opinion now and then* — The treaty, the conditions of which we have * Since there has been made so great apoint of the inactive condition of the Chinese treaty, we think it right to extract here a quotation from one of the ablest speeches delivered in the Parliamentary discussion* of the question, which well puts the worthlessness of such an impu- tation coming from us : — " You have spoken about the treaty obligations of the Chinese to ourselves. Do you remember your treaty obligations to the Chinese ? For what purposes did you acquire Hong Kong ? The object is plainly stated in the treaty. It was in order that British vessels might have a careening port in which they might refit. How have you carried out that treaty ? There are in Hong Kong at this moment a population of 60,000 persons; but how many were they when it was ceded to us as a careening port? Not 500. The twelfth article of the supplemental treaty is in these terms : — ' A fair and regular tariff of duties and other dues having now been established, it is to be hoped that the system of smuggling which has hitherto been ITS CATJSKS AND CONSEQUENCES. 185 given in the preceding chapter, had been practically in abey- ance from the first moment of its existence to the day when earned on between English and Chinese merchants — in many cases with the open connivance and collusion of the Chinese Custom-house officers — will entirely cease ; and the most peremptory proclamation to all English merchants has been already issued on this subject by the British Plenipotentiary, who will also instruct the different consuls to strictly watch over, and carefully scrutinise, the conduct of all persons, being British subjects, trading under his superintendence.' Here you have contracted a most solemn obligation to do the best in your power to put down smuggling; and is there nothing peculiar in the smuggling which is engaged in on the coast of China? Sir, it is the worst, the most pernicious, the most demoralising, and the most destructive of all the contraband trades which are carried on upon the surface of the globe. A part of it is in salt ; and to that there is of course no objec- tion other than its being contraband. Part of it, however, is in opium. Have you struggled to put down that trade? Perhaps it might be too much to ask that ; but have you done anything to encourage that trade ? Yes, sir, they have done the very thing which has given rise to all these troubles : they have created this fleet of lorchas for the purpose. I have given you the very words of the treaty. Now I will read you an extract from page 7 of the correspondence : — ' If anything has been, and will be, pre-eminently beneficial to this colony, it is that very system of granting colonial registers, particularly to respectable Chinese settled here, or, as the ordinance says, ' Chinese Crown lessees entitled to hold colonial registers,' since it has already added to, and still tends to increase, the coasting trade in goods the manufacture of Great Britain, or the produce of India, such as cotton, opium,' &c. It is quite plain that this coasting trade has mainly reference to smuggling. You have received the territory of Hong Kong as a careening port, and you have created a population of 60,000, and a fleet of lorchas to carry on a trade which you have enlarged, which is enlarging, and which will be still further enlarged, by means of that very smuggling which you have engaged to do your best to put down. And now you cumulate all these acts of injustice by trumping up a claim built upon a mere tech- nicality ; and because we tell you that these proceedings are not to be endured, you reproach us with indifference to the honour due to the ensign of our country." 186 THE NEW W\K '. offence was extorted from the lorcha affair — an offence forced upon the circumstances obviously with the view of making more extensive claims. Ten years ago Sir J. Bo wring's predecessor undertook to carry out a policy like that recently attempted and with no satisfactory result. Lord Grey, as the then home representative of the Queen, peremptorily refused to recog- nise any such policy, and thus repudiated the hostilities begun, with the intention of enforcing the terms of the treaty : M I have desired the Governor of Ceylon not to send to Hong Kong the detachment for which you have made application ; and I have further to signify to you, that her Majesty's Go- vernment peremptorily forbid you to undertake any further offensive operations against the Chinese, without their pre- vious sanction." This is practically what the British Parlia- ment made the most of in its censure of Lord Palmerston. That which seemed wise and just to our officials in 1847 did not change its character so completely in ten years as to appear to the Senate less wise and just now than ever. The effort to disentangle Lord Palmerston from any share in the official transactions of 1847 cannot be successful. That noble Lord was as completely committed to the judicious course then pursued by Lord Grey as he is now to the less pleasant alternative, which it seemed good to him to accept on his own account. It will be remembered that Keying was, at that time, the " insolent barbarian" who held the Chief Commissioner's place, now occupied by Yeh. "What we have already been able to say of him will leave the reader pre- pared to consider him of, perhaps, a more conciliatory spirit than Yeh. But he was a man in all respects superior to his successor. His native cunning had much of the tact of Europe to polish off, with effect, his deeper designs, and we should fancy him a more dangerous diplomatist than the more blustering Yeh. Now, although Keying consented to recog- nise the clause sanctioning the admission of strangers to Canton, ITS CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES. 187 still he caused it to be a "dead letter," and asked the British officials to countenance a postponement of its enaction. It was then the duty of Sir G. Bonham, the predecessor of Sir J. Bowring, as British Envoy, to announce to the Home Go- vernment that this particular clause was vexatiously inope- rative, and Lord Palmers ton was the very man to send him in- structions on that point. His letter is dated October 7, 1848, and has the following significant passage: "It is inexpedient to resort to force to compel the Chinese to execute promises from the performance of which no real benefit to British interests would accrue. It has always appeared to me doubtful whether the right of entering the city of Canton would be productive of any material advantage to British residents." The admission in the second sentence of this extract is most important. There has been advanced no proof whatever upon which to sustain the assertion, that any decided advantage must arise from the right of entering that city. Lord Palmerstou has not favoured us with the reasons for his change of opinion, and the change is great enough to need the most cogent reasons he could have urged. Having re- ceived from Bonham ample explanations to inquiries he made, Lord Palmerston did not alter his olden opinion. The then envoy did not deem the exaction of the treaty worth our trouble, and the then Lord Palmerston wrote thus on the 8th December, 1848: — "I am clearly of opinion that it would not be advisable to proceed to hostile measures against Canton, or to take the unusual step of a mission to Pekin, in regard to a privilege which, like the admission of British subjects into the city of Canton, we have indeed a right to demand, but which we could scarcely enjoy with security or advantage if we were to succeed in enforcing it by arms." To this statesman-like instruction we can append, by way of endorsement, an extract from a subsequent despatch from Bonham : — " If the gates of Canton can only be opened by 188 TJIE NEW WAR : force of arms, the consequences of such a step become matter for deep consideration. I am thoroughly persuaded that the populace and the 'braves' of the adjacent country will join heartily in resisting our approach, and the result will be that we should require a very respectable force to gain our point ; for the opposition will be infinitely greater than in 1841, when the troops and mandarins were in the first instance its only defenders. A military operation of this nature would, under the most favourable circumstances, not only for the time put an entire stop to all trade, but it would furthermore require a very long period to elapse before confidence would be restored. This would cause much loss to the native as well as our own merchants, and operate most detrimentally on our revenues at home." It is right to add that Bonham felt satisfied how useless any means, short of severe means, were, if it had been de- termined to enter the city, and that it was to be entered then, or never after with equal success and ease, was his fixed belief. He had no desire to hesitate about inflicting chastisement upon the Chinese, but he questioned always if the end in view would justify the extreme measures essential to secure it. Nothing could be more explicit, in the shape of despatches, than those emanating from Bonham on this question of opening up the city of Canton in 1848, when it was a much easier, and would have been a less bloody, matter than now. But, Lord Palmerston hesitated then to take any hold of the ad- vantages which the envoy pointed out, and thus again ventured his opinion : " Although it would possibly place our future relations with China upon a more certain and satisfactory footing to compel the Chinese Government to fulfil this en- gagement, which there can be little doubt that they could do if they chose, yet, all things considered, her Majesty's Govern- ment are not disposed to take this course. An enforcement of the treaty right, by military and naval operations, would ITS CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES. 189 require an expensive effort, might lead to loss of valuable lives on our part, and much, loss of life and destruction of property to be inflicted on the Chinese; while the chief advantage, which it seems by your account we should derive from a successful result would be that, giving such an example of our determi- nation and power to enforce a faithful observance of the treaty, we should deter the Chinese from attempting future and other violations of that treaty. Her Majesty's Government are not disposed for this object to make the effort, or to produce the consequences above mentioned." This was all very well then and would be so now, if it had not been that, for the accomplishment of much less than was then contemplated, many valuable lives have been lost and an enormous destruction of property has taken place. That which Lord Palmerston, ten years ago, feared to do because of the probable consequences, he sanctions in the face of these same consequences now that they are plainly unavoidable. Considering how the noble viscount has been reproaching men of every party who differ from him on this question, we would think it but fair did they turn round and stigmatise him in no complimentary phrase, for they only uphold a policy which he has suddenly deserted. If faction and coalition are to fix the title of any given course of conduct, they seem most applicable to that conduct which the noble lord has been guilty of. He § has turned away, with haste and violence, from a line of action fathered and fondled by himself — he coalesces with emergency — he renounces the past — and, because others will not go and do likewise, he is vexed. It is not too much to respect the opinions of those who now hold views in nothing dissimilar from those expressed by Lord Palmerston ten years ago ; nor is it right to deny to Lord Palmerston full liberty to act now as completely opposite to his then views as he may think well. But if he is given, without reproach, liberty to approve new advice which he then condemned, they who differ from 190 THE NEW war: him now by agreeing with his then views are none the less entitled to respect. Before we can accept him as the " best of English states- men," Lord Palmerston must be made to remember that "JETomo sum" is a nobler axiom than the proud one which he fastens to his principle in his Civis Momanus sum. The idea em- bodied in this latter motto at one time displayed itself in a generosity which subsequently deserted it. From being the emblem of greatness it became the text of tyranny. " We are a Christian nation" should be our foremost boast, and the effort to deserve the title should dictate our every policy and adorn our every practice. " We are a truthful nation" should be a character for England all over the world. Yet how fares truth in this Canton affair? What looks like a lie is paraded against the account of the matter given by our officials to the Chinese, and what is not a truth has been calmly named by Lord Palmerston in his address to the people of Tiverton, to whom he would make it appear that Canton was bombarded because some Chinese poisoned people at Hong Kong, when the alleged poisoning was the alleged consequence, not the cause, of the hostilities. Let it not be inferred that we, who protest against the Canton bombard- ment, are indifferent to the many advantages of opening up the greatest possible intercourse with China. But, we desire to see the method resting upon a sounder footing than any shadowy cause like that of the lorcha affair. A bold course at a proper moment and with a sound cause might be made to shake the insolence of high official China ; nor are we prepared to deny that in a reverse course of action we must deal firmly against the odds of China. Our measures must, however, be more bold, more straightforward, more defined, more justly founded than any which can spring simply from this " Arrow" question. A judicious observance of the non-intervention principle may fail at first, but will be less dangerous in its results than any more ITS CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES. 191 precipitate course. Our first great mistake — and it was Lord Palmerston'8 — was the suffering any laxity to attend the fulfilment of the treaty in 1842. By permitting the terms of this treaty to lapse and be regarded as practically inoperative we lost our hold of the position, and stand now, in effect, out of court, claimants for a new order of admission. Yeh him- self saw clearly that practice favoured the view he took of the now impracticable treaty, for in one of his letters to Sir J. Bowring he alludes to the matter thus : " Sir G. Bonham also caused a proclamation in foreign characters to be exposed at the doors of the Consulate factories, prohibiting foreign merchants and people from entering the city, which document was published in the newspapers, and was well known to every one, both Chinese and foreigners. These facts make it evident that Sir G. Bonham perfectly understood how im- possible it was to use compulsion in the adjustment of this question. It must be observed, too, that during the few years that have passed since the publication of Sir G. Bon- ham's proclamation, both Chinese and foreigners have been somewhat more tranquil ; and I have foeard it said that the proceedings of Sir G. Bonham in this matter received the full approval of the Home Government, from which it is evident that the British Government, being only anxious to maintain a peaceful commercial intercourse, would not allow so fruit- less a discussion as this to endanger that which they found to be really beneficial." So matters were really understood between the two powers, and so they continued to be acted up to. The quotations we have made from Lord Palmerston more than justify the opinion of Yeh, and place it beyond doubt that by " common consent" the treaty was to remain inoperative. Chinese Atrocities, and Yeh / — In vain have we searched for evidence to bear out the charge of Chinese animosity to- wards Britain. Since the bombardment, there has been a 192 THE SEW war: natural hatred engendered and acted up to; but even this hatred does not confine itself to British subjects, since all foreigners are equally its objects. Where are the proofs that China thirsted for a means of showing contempt for our people ?* Were not there many and more likely occasions than this affair about the "Arrow ?" How is the virus traced, and wherefore is the motive assumed ?f Were they not ever wil- ling and ready to give redress when asked? Were we? Supposing the offence was committed by the over-officious interference of an intemperate mandarin, how can we take it beyond him ? In China the dignity of authority, we know, does not dare openly submit even where error has been proven. Surely we might have had magnanimity enough to smile at this haughty weakness, so to call it, and read the "Arrow" affair by the light of our knowledge of an obstinacy which is more the effect of an insignificant prejudice, than a design to insult. This we say, let us repeat, assuming that the Chinese were * Just a month before the quarrel, an Englishman had, in defiance of treaty and of Chinese law, penetrated into the interior, and the Commissioner Yeh, instead of punishing him as he was authorised to do, handed him over to the British Consul. The Emperor also, instead of combining all his forces and crushing the invaders, orders the autho- rities at the other ports not to interfere in the Canton quarrel, but to keep up friendly relations with foreigners. + In the blue-book lately published there was a correspondence regarding some gentlemen who, shooting beyond the bounds assigned by the treaty, were in danger of their lives from a mob, but were pro- tected by a mandarin, at the risk of his own life, some of his soldiers being wounded in repelling the assault. The English authorities, however, would not, on that occasion, listen to any excuse offered by the Chinese Government, to the effect that they could not find the offenders. They said, " We must have redress, or else we will take it ourselves. Some people must be punished for what has been done." That was the spirit in which we had habitually dealt with the Chinese. Are they or we the more to blame ? ITS CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES. 193 completely at fault, and that justice entirely remains at our side. As regards Yeh's original part in this deplorable matter, it has yet to be shown how far it went, and what it proposed. Did he suggest the " insult " ? Did he know anything what- ever of the transaction until it came officially under his notice? We see no reason to think that he did. Lord Palmerston, with his accustomed freedom, has shouted down the unfor- tunate commissioner thus: — ""Why, sir, he is one of the most savage barbarians that ever disgraced a savage nation ; he is a creature who is guilty of vices that are a disgrace to human nature." Hard language, and none the less so that it was unaccompanied by a little of proof ! This Yeh is blamed for everything which happened, while it is not at all clear that any Chinese governor can command the duty of his people in their hatred for all foreign interference. Sir G. Bonham thus wrote respecting the popular prejudice manifested upon a former occasion : — " I confess that I rather incline to believe that the commissioner has not the power to coerce the mob by any immediate demonstration of his authority, and such, as far as I am able to judge, is the belief of those whom a long residence at Canton, and daily contact with its people, may entitle to be considered as most competent to form an accurate j udgment on the subject." This opinion is now most opportune. To read and believe all that is daily written upon the atroci- ties of Chinese officials generally, and of this Yeh in particular, one is likely to be in a perpetual tremble. What are the facts of the great Chinese atrocities ? Instead of orders to give no quarter, but horrible deaths to all Englishmen, the Chinese proclamations demand just what all other nations during war time ask : that all enemies be detained until peace is restored. Now Yeh is said to be a wholesale murderer, and one who makes it his boast. On what grounds ? We all know that every year in England there occur ten or twelve executions 1 94 THE NEW WAR I for murder. Is it correct, then, to say that every year Queen Victoria hangs a dozen people ? Were the internal condition of England so sad as to necessitate a thousand hangings for as many murders, would it be even then correct to call Queen Victoria a hanging Queen ? Now, why do we hesitate to make some charitable allowance to Yeh ? Is he not the official of law rather than the framer ? Are not the tens of thousands who are said to have lost their heads under his sway, the victims of a law they have outraged? "If," says a public writer, " Yeh beheaded seventy thousand Tai Pings, generally taken in arms against the Government at Canton, the Tai Pings had before butchered twenty thousand Mantchoos on the capture of Nankin — the whole Mantchoo portion of the population, men, women, and children." "Was this doing more than our European notions authorise under similar circum- stances ? "We who write these lines are strongly opposed to capital punishment, and can, therefore, with the safer grace, claim justice for this butchering Yeh, who only, from force of circumstances, carries out to a numerically enormous extent a law which finds favour even with those who now most loudly denounce his brutality and barbarism. But looking at the dark probability of outrages on the per- sons or property of British in China, it is nothing more than always happens, and in all places during war times. However, has our conduct abroad inspired the Chinese with much respect or moderation towards us ? Will they not, very likely, echo the cry : — " There, the English, in order to avenge a supposed insult to their flag, have destroyed hundreds of junks, have battered down 10,000 shops, killed thousands of people, and violated the chastity of women. They have, also, upon suspicion of crime, crushed forty-two human beings into a cell, 16 feet long by 15 feet broad, for twenty days, without beds or conveniences of any kind ; for days without food ; ITS CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES. 195 and obliged to perform all the offices of nature in their den. Are not the English barbarians ?" What of the " refined character" which appertains to the manner of our entering the Chinese territory ? Is it true that the Chinese " barbarians" have " a sense of virtue so severe as to equal the most distinguished illustrations in classic history?" Is it true that the " women of Lish-teh destroyed themselves after the brutal assaults committed by those who bear the English name, thus rivalling the deeds of Lucretia, who com- mitted suicide that she might not outlive her chastity, or of Theoxena, who cast herself into the sea rather than allow the excesses of the soldiers." Have we, in point of fact, made ourselves so much masters of our position as to excite in them a feeling emulative of our boasted mercy ? Is this mercy il all at one side ?" British Clemency. — Was there any clemency in the period allowed for non-combatants to leave the city of Canton, when it was thought right at last to bombard it? Eorty-eight hours was no sufficient warning, even under the best circum- stances; but forty-eight hours, considering how circum- stanced were the people of Canton, seems little else than a mockery. In the morning the people are all intent upon business, suspecting nothing like war at the hands of foreigners — they are not, as were the people of Odessa, Sweaborg, and other coast towns of Russia, aware of actual hostilities be- tween their own and other nations. They do not dream of the events fast thickening over their heads. Suddenly it comes upon them like a thunder-clap that, in forty-eight hours, they must prepare to save themselves, as best they can, from a fearful bombardment. They hardly credit the announcement. Where can the women and civilians fly to ? Rebels in large forces block up the avenues to the inland — a bombarding force stands menacingly seaward. What can they do ? Merciful 196 THE NEW WAR : England, in her representatives, is listless ; and knowing, full well, the impossibilities of escape, the missiles of death are, nevertheless, poured into the dense population with fatal precision, as soon as the brief time allowed for u consideration" has passed. The people are at our mercy, and where is it? The rebels on the hill- side savagely exult in the misery which an hour has created, and bless the British for the fatal storm which all unexpectedly burst over the doomed city. They bless the British! Maledictions from other lips were more precious far than the earnest blessings of these unpatriotic wretches who delighted in the agonies of innocent thousands of their own nation and race. For eight-and-forty hours there is an incessant " boom " of the dreadful English cannon. For eight-and-forty hours the crazed people of that teeming city fly frantic in all directions to escape the unlooked-for curse which had quickly fallen on their heads. Into the sea — into the canals — into anywhere offering the most desperate means of death or escape, they fled in con- sternation, not one in a thousand knowing what to do or how to do what he felt he ought to do ; and not one in a hundred having the remotest idea of the cause of all this bloody work. Surely there was nothing merciful in showering the arrows of death amongst a people so unprepared, so little warned? Surely the offence — assuming the cause to be what it is reported — was not to be measured by any calamity so vast ? Was it morally right, even apart from its mercilessness ? Was it politically wise, even apart from the unpitying haste in which the deed was consummated ? Was it asked if there were no other means at the call of the British authorities likely to be less severe but equally effective ? Was it not a cause for greater mode- ration that the friendly power we so ruthlessly assailed, to vindicate a debatable point of international etiquette, had, at the moment of our impromptu hostility, a formidable internal contention to subdue on its own account? or, was this pro- ITS CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES. 197 ductive of an opposite spirit ? If Yeh were a brute, and of the worst species, did not that furnish a fresh cause for mode- ration ? Was it politic, was it chivalrous, to visit upon the innocent people chastisement due, if due at all, to- the barba- rian and guilty ruler ? "Was it magnanimous to inflict such a terrible penalty, knowing that we had fearful odds in our favour ? Was it becoming us to mete violence with an infe- rior power when we could have punished in any other way with equal advantage, and without resorting to such a terrible extreme ? lleally we have not established an over ^generous character with these scorned barbarians. They do not forget that we who now, with such cruel precipitancy, plunge them into the horrors of a war they are most unfit for, are the same people who forced upon their commerce the opium trade, and employed a fleet of vessels to protect it ; while we who did so in their neighbourhood bore nobly the spirit of freedom on the coast of Africa in suppression of the odious slave trade. Now we are far from inclining to what are called peace principles. But there are extremes in war principles quite as un-English as the extremes to which the " peace party" plead guilty. In our opinion, much of the question of the origin of this last Chinese dispute attaches itself to the extreme of the war principle. Everything was not done or tried which could have been done or tried, to avert the blow so hurriedly struck. Moreover, what has been demanded and what has been done do not harmonise with what might have been expected or with what has been practised. We are guilty of inconsistency as well, in more points than one arising from this question. At the moment it seems to us right and proper to insist upon protecting native Chinese, acting nominally or on pretence, in the service of a Chinese, who hires (as it were) our flag, we are positively shrinking from a like course in Persia, and signing a treaty recognising there the justice of a claim which we desire to repudiate in China. 198 THE LATE WAlt I When the name of Christianity is solemnly invoked by pious " preachers" to favour the warlike proceedings against Canton, it perhaps becomes such people as ourselves to deal with that question in fear and trembling. But no stress which we can force upon the consideration of this question tends to bring to our convictions anything likely to connect the Canton affair, or any such affair, with the principle of Christianity ; nor can we be made to see, how " opening the way for the Gospel " is best done by fire and sword. To plant the glorious emblem of man's redemption in the midst of blood — to lift the spotless banner of the sacred victim who came to save, and to sow " Peace on earth, and good-will toward men," in the midst of carnage, and point to it as an inciting cause, seems, to our unsophisticated mind, a something like unto blasphemy. But we must be cautious, for we are a layman, and the titled divines, who sit in Parliament to legislate for England upon these delicate questions, distinctly differ from us. So also do many of the " good men and true " who support all the evangelical dignity and piety of the realm. We confess to feel the littleness of ourselves when confronted with such decided views, coming from so important a source, and while our heart tempts the tongue to utter an indignant cry of "cant and cruelty," the sway emanating from the head compels us to pause and " pray for light." A Chinese proverb declares that whoever rejoices at victory gloats over murder. This may not be so pointedly applicable in all cases as it certainly is in some. Many of the good sayings of these poor barbarians might be repeated to the advantage of some of our most illustrious civilizers. Let us cull a few, and jot them down here en passant. " Men of superior virtue are ignorant of their virtue. Men of inferior virtue do not forget their virtue. Men of superior virtue practise it without thinking of it. Men of inferior virtue practise it with intention." ITS CAUSES A.ND CONSEQUENCES. 199 " The saint seeks not to do great things ; for that reason he can accomplish great things. He who thinks many things easy is sure to encounter numerous difficulties. Hence it happens that the saint who esteems everything difficult encounters no difficulty to the end of his life." " There is no greater misfortune than not to be able to suffice to oneself." M There is no greater calamity than the desire of acquiring." " Men leave affection to abandon themselves to courage ; they leave economy to give themselves up to confusion ; they leave the lowest place to seek the highest. These things lead to death." Perhaps the appositeness, just here, of these specimens of barbarian sentiment will be disputed ; nevertheless, we have a fancy, and it is only a fancy, that they may prove to many not to be quite out of place, as they are certainly not meant to be out of purpose. Sufficient may seem to have been said, in the previous pages of this sketch, concerning our present Chinese dispute, to excuse all further allusion to the subject. But the few days which have elapsed since the preceding observations were penned have served to warm our judgment ; and to excite our wonder, that so much which is confessedly wrong can continue to retain public favour. True it is, that this chiefly arises from the circumstances which are used so adroitly to lash up that public favour to " boiling point." The means so employed are many and unscrupulous. We hear incessantly of Chinese barbarism, Chinese treachery, Chinese atrocity ; but we seldom see put in juxtaposition evidences of an opposite character. In the anger of the moment, Britain looks sheared from her propriety, and, forgetting her noble maxim of " fair play," seems to seek for nothing but constant cause to justify more blood, more extermination. Is it come to that time when we, for a trivial or no cause, can, with impunity, commit and 200 THE LATE WAR! applaud an act which admits of such a description as this by " An Eye-witness :" — "The carnage was horrible, the quantity of blood and limbs seen on the junks when they were boarded being disgusting in the extreme." Can we so act as to lead to such results, and be merely the meek civilized Christian, while, for a natural retaliation, Chinese are no better than bloody barbarian dogs ? It is all very well for us to recognise so much of the exploded (is it?) principle of fair play as inclines to paint the Chinese horrors, but what place have we preserved, and what faith given to their pictures of us ? Thus talk the insolent barbarians of the polished British : — "The English barbarians having commenced a quarrel without a cause, imputing to us their own offence against what is proper (or decorous), having destroyed our forts, have assaulted our city, have burned the owly dwellings of the people, have sacked their villages ; merchant vessels and passage-boats have been plundered, the wayfarer and travelling merchant have been assassinated. At the village of Lieh-teh (by the Barrier Fort), three women were ravished, and, for shame, have destroyed themselves. Such is their brigand soul, such their wolfish nature ; woe be to the city of Canton if they be suffered to dwell there long \" Hear that, and weigh it well, all ye scoffers at the barbarian ! The sons of England, in the zenith of their nation's glory, branded by insolent barbarians as ravishers and — but let us forbear ! Does not that reverse of the picture, even assuming it to be highly coloured, does it not more than outface the side presented as unfavourable to the barbarian ? Another Chinese placard tells the same sad tale in these words : — u They have committed various atrocities in the villages all along the river, killing the inhabitants, destroying their dwellings, carrying off property from their houses, driving off their domestic animals, and ravishing their women. They are a poison to life ; their crimes have reached the high- ITS CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES. 201 est point. There is not a man in the province who does not desire to annihilate them before he eats his morning meal." These statements are true or false; so are those made by our own officials either true or false. We confess that it rests not with us to so closely examine them as to become satisfied with the quantity of truth or falsehood contained at one side or the other. Perhaps there is much exaggeration in both, and per- haps not. They tell tales of misery and suffering each; and both set up, upon terms named, the completest grounds to'cast the imputation of atrocity, and cruelty, and perfidy, and all that in the teeth of each other. But these remarks apply more immediately to the sort of events at the commencement of the hostilities, than to those, unhappily, no longer avoidable. The insolent barbarian is not very likely to get much quarter now until he cede every demand made ; nor is he likely, during this torturing process, to act with anything approaching that "commendable moderation" for which Mr. Consul Parkes gave him express credit no longer ago than the 6th of October, 1856. As we are now clearly committed to the war, and beyond benefitting much by the Chinese proverb which reminds us that he who knows when to stop never stumbles or falls, it is perhaps vain to recur to the question of the legality or ille- gality of the "Arrow's" claims. But the point more and more assumes historical importance, and, therefore, justifies us in again pausing to record yet another word upon it. We doubt if it ever will be satisfactorily shown that the unlucky vessel hauled into this dispute had or had not hoisted a British en- sign at the time the Chinese officials undertook the duty of searching her for pirates. Some nameless British officials say she had — all the Chinese officials distinctly deny that she had. Even so much argument as we could readily extort from this Chinese denial does, to our mind, help to soften the bitter inten- tion imputed to the alleged offence. Be this as it may, we 202 THE new war: ask, had the " Arrow" a recognised legal right to hoist that flag? Was it, in short, properly hired — there is no use in mincing words — for this occasion ? The Chinese dispute her right, even as it is, and declared themselves wholly ignorant of her claims to it as it was. Sir J. Bowring admits the absence of all legal right to the claim urged, but rides off on the quibble that the Chinese did not know anything to the contrary, and, therefore, are just as guilty as if the " Arrow " had been lawfully British. But it does not seem quite made out how it happened that Sir J. Bowring was well informed as to the extent of the Chinese information on this point. Had they certain means of ascertaining ? How comes Sir John to conclude that they were or were not cognizant of the matter? He was, himself, wholly ignorant of it up to the time of the dispute. And when he did know the truth he somewhat prevaricated to the Chinese. Perhaps, being in Rome, he obeyed the "old saw," to do as Rome did; and, as the Chinese have the fame of liars, thought it best to meet them with the front of their fame. But to come to another way of viewing the point — was this "Arrow," in any sense, a British ship, having any right to British protection ? We have elsewhere said that her owner was neither British subject born nor naturalised. He was a Chinese, with all the honours or miseries of imperial citizenship. If our law be only a sober sham for lawyers to toss to and fro, the national quality of the owner decides the national quality of the ship. Waving this, it seems fair to ask, what right have we to force the Emperor of China, or of anywhere else, to be familiar with, and regular in acting up to, every colonial ordinance which it may please us or our representatives to frame and wish to enforce ? The Canton river is, moreover, a Chinese, and not a British river. But what if it should happen, as it does in this case, that our Parliamentary code contains Acts in force little in accordance with the terms of these colonial regu- t ITS CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES. 203 lations ? Listen to a high legal authority, Sir F. Kelly, who puts the matter in an unanswerably distinct manner : — "This ordinance was made on the 3rd of March, 1855, By the Acts of Parliament then in force no ship belonging to a Chinese could be registered as a British ship. The ordinance, then, which permitted the Chinese residents of Hong Kong to register their ships as British ships, was in violation of those Acts of Parliament, and illegal, and void. But the Merchant Shipping Act of 1854 is also fatal to this ordinance. That Act came into operation on the 1st of May, 1855. It expressly applies to all British colonies ; and it contains no exception in favour of any Act of any Colonial Legislature. If, therefore, the ordinance had legalised the registration of a ship of a foreigner on the 3rd of March, it was repealed and made void by this Act on the 1st of May. It is true, that by the 547th section, the Act of 1854 may be repealed, wholly or in part, by a legislative ordinance in any colony as to ships registered in such colony. But the ordinance of repeal must be confirmed by the Queen in Council; and the ordinance in question, besides having been made before the Act of 1854 came into ope- ration, has never been confirmed by the Queen in Council. 11 Such being the plain facts, how can we regard with dis- favour that censure which the Parliament of the empire pro- nounced upon conduct of our own, which we, of all nations on earth, would be the most ready, and rightly too, to condemn in others ? It seems to us that, in accepting, by a majority, Mr. Cobden's motion, the senate of Great Britain presented a far nobler spectacle to foreign nations, as the exponent of British magnanimity, than it would have presented did it stand forward as the abettor of pure aggression ; for as such, after all, honesty obliges us to regard the proceedings before Canton. Our pretext — was it but a sham ? and our after-conduct — is it a sham ? Let cool English reason, reviewing the facts, and common English honesty, considering them, decide. 204 CHINESE ANNALS. CHAPTER XVII. CHINESE ANNALS. Haydn has rendered comparatively easy the task of pro- curing and arranging the dates of what events in the history of China Europeans can safely accept as within the range of fact. In the list of dates which we make to follow, the industrious Haydn has been our main guide, and to his labour we acknowledge our chief debt of gratitude. We have not, however, been satisfied without other proof that the statistics, which it becomes our duty now to furnish, are such as may be fully relied on. To many readers they must prove very important — and to all somewhat interesting. They will form, at all events, an indispensable chapter in this our sketch of the most extraordinary empire in the world: — 2700 (b.c). — The Chinese state their first cycle to have com- menced. 2207. The first of the 22 Chinese dynasties commenced. 651. In the history of China, the first dates which are fixed to his narrative, by Se ma-tsien begin. 551. Confucius, the father of the Chinese philosophers, born. 211. Stupendous wall of China completed. 200. The dynasty of Han. 202. Literature and the art of printing encouraged (?). 15. (a.d.) Religion of Tao-tse commenced. 00. (a.d.) Religion of the followers of Fo commenced. CHINESE ANNALS. 205 166. Embassy from Home. Christianity introduced. 420. Nankin becomes the capital. 449. The atheistical philosopher, Fan-Shin, nourishes. 635. The Nestorian Christians permitted to preach their doctrines. 845. They are proscribed, and extirpated. 1260. The seat of the imperial government is transferred to Pekin. 1400. Wonderful canal, called the Yu Ho, completed. 1517. Europeans first arrive at Canton. 1536. Macao is granted as a settlement to the Portuguese. 1575. Jesuit missionaries are sent by the pope from Rome. 1644. The country is conquered by the eastern Tartars, who estab- lish the present reigning house. 1662. An earthquake throughout China buries 300,000 persons at Pekin alone. 1692. Jesuit missionaries endeavour to re-establish Christianity. m 1724. The Jesuits are expelled. 1731. Another general earthquake destroys 100,000 persons at Pekin, and 80,000 in a suburb. 1785. July 2. In a salute by one of our India ships in China, a loaded gun was inadvertently fired, which killed a native ; the government demanded the gunner to be given up ; he was soon strangled. — Sir George Staunton. 1792. Sept. 26. Earl Macartney's embassy; he leaves England. 1793. Sept. 14. He arrives at Pekin ; his reception by the Em- peror. 1793. Oct. 7. He is ordered to depart from Pekin. 1 794. Sept. 6. And arrives in England. 1807. The affair of the Company's ship "Neptune," when a Chinese was killed. 1812. Edict against Christianity. 1816. Feb. 8. Lord Amherst's embassy ; he leaves England. [His lordship failed in the objects of his mission, haying refused to make the prostration of the kou-tou, lest he should thereby compromise the majesty of Englan 1834. April 22. The exclusive rights of the East India Company cease. 208 CHINESE ANNALS. 1834. (a.d.) April 25. First free-trade ships, with tea, set sail for England. 1834. July 15. Lord Napier arrives at Macao, to superintend Bri- tish commerce. 1834. Sept. 5. Affair between the natives and two British ships of war; several Chinese killed. 1834. Oct. 11. Lord Napier dies, and is succeeded by Mr. Davis. 1834. Nov. 7. Opium trade interdicted by the Chinese. 1835. Jan. 31. Seizure of the " Argyle" and her crew by the natives. 1835. Feb. 23. A quantity of opium burnt at Canton by the Chinese. 1836. Dec. 14. Captain Elliott becomes chief British commis. sioner. 1838. July 12. Admiral Sir Frederick Maitland arrives at Macao. [The events connected with this empire, relatively to Great Britain, now increase in importance.] 1839. March 18. Commissioner Lind issues an edict for the seizure of opium. 1839. March 19. British and other residents forbidden to leave Canton. 1839. March 24. The factories surrounded, and outrages committed. 1839. March 27. Captain Elliot requires of British subjects their surrender to him of all opium, promising them, on the part of Government, the full value of it. 1839. April 20. Half of the opium is given up, as a contraband article, to the Chinese authorities. 1839. May 21. The remainder of the opium (20,283 chests) is surrendered. 1839. May 24. Captain Elliot and the British merchants leave Canton. 1839. June 3. The opium destroyed during several days by the Chinese. 1839. July 7. Affair between the British and American seamen and the Chinese ; a native killed. 1839. Aug. 23. Capt. Elliot leaves Macao for Hong Kong. 1839. Aug. 24. The British boat " Black Jock" attacked by the natives, and the crew, consisting of Lascars, murdered. CHINESE ANiXALS. 207 1839 Aug. 26. The whole of the British merchants retire from Macao. 1839. Sept. 4. Affair at Kow-lung, between British boats and Chinese junks. 1839. Nov. 3. Attack by 28 armed junks on the British frigates " Volage" and " Hyacinth :" several junks blown up. 1839. Dec. 6. The British trade with China ceases, by an edict of the emperor, and the last servant of the company leaves the country this day. 1840. Jan. 5. Edict of the emperor interdicting all trade and intercourse with England for ever. 1840. May 22. The " Hellas" ship attacked by a number of armed junks. 1840. June 9. Fire-rafts floated in order to destroy the British fleet. 1840. June 28. Blockade of Canton by a British fleet of 15 sail and several war steamers, having 4,000 troops on board, by orders from Sir Gordon Bremer. 1840. July 2. The " Blonde," bearing a flag of truce, is fired on at Amoy. 1840. July 5. Ting-hai, in the island of Chusan, surrenders to the British. 1840. July 10. An extensive blockade is established along the Chinese coast. 1840. Aug. 6. Seizure of Mr. Stanton, who is carried off to Canton. 1840. Aug. 11. Capt. Elliot, on board a British steam-ship, enters the Pei-ho river, near Pekin. 1840. Sept. 15. The ship "Kite" lost on a sand-bank, and the cap- tain's wife and part of the crew are captured by the natives, and confined in cages. 1840. Sept. 16. Seizure of Capt. Anstruther. 1840. Sept. 16. Lin deprived of his authority, and finally degraded; Keshin appointed imperial commissioner. 1840. Nov. 6. Capt. Elliot declares a truce with the Chinese. 1840. Nov. 20. British plenipotentiaries sail from Chusan, and arrive off Macao. 208 CHINESE ANNALS. 1840. Nov. 29. Admiral Elliot's resignation is announced. 1840. Dec. 12. Mr. Stanton released. 1841. Jan. 6. Negotiations cease, owing to breaches of faith on the part of the Chinese emperor. 1841. Jan. 7. Chuen-pe and Tae-coc-tow, and 173 guns (some sent to England), captured by the British. 1841. Jan. 20. Hong Kong ceded by Keshin to Great Britain, and 6,000,000 dollars agreed to be paid withm ten days to the British authorities. 1841. Jan. 26. Formal possession of Hong Kong taken by the British. 1841. Feb. 11. Imperial edict from Pekin rejecting the conditions of the treaty made by Keshin. 1841. Feb. 23. Hostilities are in consequence resumed against the Chinese. 1841. Feb. 24. Chusan evacuated. 1841. Feb. 25. Rewards proclaimed at Canton for the bodies of Englishmen, dead or alive ; 50,000 dollars to be given for ringleaders and chiefs. 1841. Feb. 26. Bogue forts taken by Sir Gordon Bremer; admiral Kwan killed, and 459 guns captured. 1841. March 1. The British spuadron proceeds up the river of Canton. 1841. March 2. Sir Hugh Gough takes the command of the army. 1841. March 3. Hostilities again suspended. 1841. March 6. And again resumed. 1841. March 12. Keshin degraded by the emperor, and arrested. 1841. March 18. Flotilla of boats destroyed, Canton threatened, the foreign factories seized, and 461 guns taken by the British forces. 1841. April 14. New commissioners from Pekin arrive at Canton. 1841. May 1. The first number of the Hong Kong Gazette pub- lished. 1841. May 17. Capt. Elliot again prepares to attack Canton.* * 1841. Attack of Canton. — Active operations were resumed in the early part of May. On the 21st, the 74-gun ship " Blenheim" took up a position in the Macao passage, within six miles of Canton; but it was CHINESE ANNALS. 209 1841. May 21. Chinese attack the British ships with fire rafts. 1841. May 24. Operations against Canton. 1841. May 25. Heights behind Canton taken, and 94 guns cap- tured.* not until the 23rd that the whole force had there assembled. On that day the debarkation was effected, and the troops moved to the attack as follows : right column to attack the factories, Major Pratt, 26th regiment, 17 officers, 344 men ; left brigade, Lieut.-Col. Morris, 49th regiment, 40 officers, 606 men; artillery, Capt. Knowles, 16 officers, 401 men ; naval brigade under Capt. Bourchier, 27 officers, 403 men ; reserve under Brigadier-Gen. Burrell, royal marines, Capt. Ellis, with 9 officers, 372 men; and 18th Royal Irisb, Lieut.-CoL Adams, 25 offi- cers, and 494 men ; making a total of 3,800 men. The factories were taken possession of at 5 p.m., and, at an early hour on the morning of the 24th, the whole of the force had reached the shore. The brigade then moved forward until within reach of the four strong forts on the heights and the northern face of the city walls. The artillery arriving at 8 a.m., kept up a smart fire on the two western forts, as the troops advanced en Echelon of columns from the left : — the 49th regiment, supported by the 37th Madras Native Infantry and Bengal Volunteers, to carry a hill on the left of the nearest eastern fort ; the 18th regi- ment, supported by the marine battalion, to carry a hill in their front ; and then, as the 49th made their rush, the reserve was to carry the principal square fort. Simultaneous with these attacks, the brigade of seamen was to cany the two western forts. During the advance, a large body of the enemy having assembled on the right, the battalion of marines was detached to support the brigade of seamen, and to cover the right and the columns of attack. In little more than two hours the two forts were captured, and the British army looked down upon Canton, within a hundred paces of the city. Meanwhile, the naval brigade had carried the two western forts, and the British flag waved proudly on their walls. * 1841. Reduction of Canton.* — On 26th May, arrangements were made by the troops which had invested Canton for an immediate as- sault on the city, and the right column, composed of the marines under Capt. Ellis, was to force its way through the north gate. On the 27th when the troops wete about to move forward to the assault, an officer arrived with a letter from Her Majesty's Plenipotentiary, addressed to Sir Hugh Gough and Sir Fleming Senhouse, to the following effect : — P 210 CHINESE ANNALS. 1841. May 31. The city ransomed for 6,000,000 dollars, of which 5,000,000 are paid down, and hostilities cease. 1841. June 1. British forces withdrawn. 1841. July 16. British trade re-opened. 1841. Aug. 10. Arrival at Macao, of Sir Henry Pottinger, who, as plenipotentiary, proclaims the objects of his mission. Capt. Elliot superseded. 1841. Aug. 27. Amoy taken, and 296 guns found and destroyed. 1841. Sept. 14. The Bogue forts destroyed. 1841. Oct 1. The city of Ting-hae taken, 136 guns captured, and the island of Chusan re-occupied by the British. 1841. Oct. 10. Chin-hae taken, with 157 guns ; many of them brass. 1841. Oct. 13. Ning-po taken. 1841. Dec. 28. Yu-yaou, Tsze-kee, and Foong-hua earned by the British.* " The imperial commissioner and all the troops, other than those of the province, to quit the city within six days, and remove to a distance of sixty miles. Six millions of dollars to he paid in one week for the use of the crown of England, — one million before to-morrow at sunset. The British troops to occupy their actual positions until the whole sum be paid, and then return, as well as the ships of war, without the Bocea Tigris." *o* * 1841. Successful Operations in China. — Since the British forces had been withdrawn in February, the Chinese were actively engaged in erecting batteries. From the western extremity outside Guard Island to the eastern termination of their works, there was a continuous line of strong batteries on the sea-face, principally constructed of mud, comprising 267 embrasures, and 95 guns of various calibre, actually mounted on different points, independently of 41 on the ramparts, besides numerous gingals in every direction. The "Modeste" and small vessels anchored close to the battery on Guard Island, to prevent its occupation, while the guns of the " Nemesis" made a considerable breach in the walls of the fortified encampment. The northerly gales pre- vented the removal of the fleet from the anchorage of Just-in-the-way before the 29th September, when the men-of-war and part of the trans- ports reached the outer harbour of Chusan. The "Modeste," "Blonde," CHINESE ANNALS. 211 1842. March 10. Chinese force of 12,000 men attack Ning-po and Chin-hae, and are repulsed with great loss. 1842. March 15. Eight thousand Chinese are routed with consi- derable loss near Tsze-kee. 1842. May 18. Cha-pou attacked, and its defences destroyed, 45 guns taken. 1842. June 13. The British squadron enter the great river Kiang. 1842. June 16. Capture of Woosung, and of 230 guns and stores 1842. June 19. The town of Shang-hae taken. 1842. July 6. The British fleet advance farther up the river. 1842. July 20. The whole British armament anchor near the " Golden Isle." 1842. July 21. City of Chin-Keang taken ; the Tartar general and many of the garrison commit suicide. 1842. Aug. 4. The advanced British ships reach the city of Nankin. 1842. Aug. 0. The whole fleet arrives, and the disembarkation commences. 1842. Aug. 12. Keying arrives at Nankin, with full powers from the emperor, with the sincere object of treating with the British for peace. 1842. Aug. 20. First interview of the respective plenipotentiaries on board H.M.S " Cornwallis." and "Jupiter," with the " Queen " steam-vessel, proceeded to take up a position on the south side of the Macclesfield and Trumbull islands, to cover a party of artillery erecting a battery there. The "Wellesley" was moved as close as possible to the intended place of landing, while the "Cruiser" and "Columbine" were advanced within 200 yards of the beach ; and, by well-directed shot from these vessels and shells from the " Sesostris," the Chinese were completely kept in check. The re- mainder of the transports arrived on the 30th ; and on the 12th October the disembarkation took place. The 49th regiment and the battalion of marines, together with a body of seamen, formed the right column under Lieut.-Col. Morris, and were to have attacked the sea- defences ; but as the 49th was not landed in time, the marines imme- diately pushed forward in support of the 18th regiment. The Chinese suffered very considerably and fled in all directions. The British troops had only 2 killed and 27 wounded, and the navy 3 men wounded. 212 CHINESE ANNALS. 1842. Aug. 24. Sir Henry Pottinger, Sir Hugh Gough, and Sir William Parker visit the Chinese authorities on shore. 1842. Aug. 29. Treaty of peace signed before Nankin on board the " Comwallis " by Sir Henry Pottinger for England, and Keying Elepoo and Neu-Kien on the part of the Chinese emperor. 1842. Sept. 8. The emperor signifies his assent to the conditions. 1842. Dec. 31. Grand seal of England affixed to the treaty. 1843. July 22. The ratifications signed by Queen Victoria and the emperor respectively are formally exchanged. 1843. July 27. The commercial treaty between the two empires is announced as finally adjusted; and Canton opened by an imperial edict to the British. [The other ports, according to the stipulations, to be opened as soon as edicts from the emperor are received.] 1844. Feb. 1. The Queen congratulates Parliament on the termi- nation of the war, and its auspicous consequences. 1844. Feb. 16. Appointment of Mr. Davis is gazetted in England, in the room of Sir Henry Pottinger, who has signified his wish to resign. 1847. April 5. Bogue forts captured by the British to obtain redress for insults. 1848. Oct. Hong Kong and the neighbourhood visited by a typhoon of unusual violence; immense damage done to the shipping ; upwards of 1,000 boat-dwellers on the Canton river drowned. 1850. March. H.M. steam-ship "Medea" destroys 13 pirate junks in the Chinese seas. 1850. Aug. Rebellion spreads out in Quang-si, spreading rapidly. 1851. March. Appearance of the Pretender Tien-teh. 1852. June 1'.). Defeat of Seu, the imperial commissioner, and destruction of half the army. 1853. March and April. Successful progress of the rebels towards Shang-hae and Nankin ; the emperor applies to the Euro- peans for help without success. 1853. March 19, 20. The rebels take Nankin. 1853. May 19. The rebels take Amoy. CHINESE ANXALS. 213 1853. Sept. 7. The rebels take Shang-hae. 1854. Aug. — Nov. The rebels besiege Canton without success. 1854. Oct. 17. Defeat of Chinese pirates. Lieut. Wray Palliser, as- sisted by Lieut, of Marines E. G. Stokes, with three boats of the " Spartan," 26, containing 85 seamen and marines, on the 17th Oct., proceeded in company with the "Ann," steamer, Lieut. Morrell, to rescue a French lady, held in captivity by some Chinese pirates ; and in the evening anchored in Coulan bay. On the following morning the boats gave chase to three junks, which made for the shore, whose crew, after throwing the guns overboard, escaped into the jungle. The French lady, together with a Chinese mer- chant, were, however, fortunately recovered, and sent to the steamer. The three junks being destroyed, the boats pulled to the village of Coo-choo-mee, which, with two other hamlets, were burnt. Lieut. Palliser then attacked a village in an adjacent valley, defended by four guns, five wall-pieces, and by large stones thrown from a height. In spite of this opposition, the battery was speedily cleared, and the Chinese, not killed or wounded, hastily fled. Having burnt the village and 17 boats on the beach, the party returned to the "Ann," without sustaining any loss. 1855. June. The imperialists retake Shang-hae, Amoy, and many important places. 1856. Sept. 27. A little vessel called the "Arrow," now of world-wide fame because of events connected with its recent history, ceased to be under the formal protection of Great Britain, the right, by colonial registry, needful for the purposes of this protection, having expired. 1856. Oct. 8. Chinese officers board a suspected vessel, the " Arrow," claiming to be under British protection. They seize and carry off twelve of the crew, and find that two of that number are notorious pirates. 1856. Oct. 9. The British Consul, Mr. Parkes, insists upon the return of the captured " Arrow" seamen, and the Imperial Commissioner, Yeh, with reluctance complies by sending 214 CHINESE A.NXALS. back those against whom no accusation could be sustained. 1856. Oct. 11. Sir J. Bo wring wrote to Consul Parkes, declaring that the lorcha " Arrow" had, at the time of the Chinese boarding her, no right to hoist the British flag, the term of British protection having expired some time previously. He also wrote to the Chinese commissioner declaring the same ship to be lawfully under British protection. 1856. Oct. 22. The Chinese commissioner returns the remainder of the men taken from the "Arrow," but they are refused by the British authorities, who setup claims to a full national apology for an alleged insult to the British flag. 1856. Oct. 27. Mr. Consul Parkes wrote to Commissioner Yeh : — " A reference to my previous letters of the 8th, 12th, and 22nd October, will shew very clearly that your Excellency has never yet offered the satisfaction demanded in the matter of the "Arrow," and you now refuse to entertain the proposal for direct personal intercourse made to you by the Naval Commander-in-Chief in my letter of the 25th." 1856. Oct. 29. Admiral Seymour paid the Canton palace and official residences a visit, and thus coolly told the fact to the commissioner: — "Your Excellency sent no reply to my message, and according to the intention of which I had given notice to your deputy, I breached the wall of the city, and thus obtained access to your Excellency's official residence, which I visited yesterday afternoon." 1856. Dec. 4. Sir M. Seymour reports that "the Dutch Folly Fort, in charge of Commodore the Hon. C. Elliot, threw shells from the mortars into the city, where troops had been previously observed, which, fortunately, exj)loded two magazines." 1857. Jan. 12. A bombardment by which a great part of the suburbs was destroyed, and a space within the city, 250 yards in extent, " cleared." These suburbs were not un- inhabited, as the Chinese townspeople saved the life of a wounded Englishman, and helped him to retreat to his comrades. Our forces, however, met an unexpected re- CHINESE ANNALS. 215 sistance, and had to retreat with some loss. At a subse- quent period it was deemed advisable to retire, the naval forces being somewhat embarrassed. 1857. Jan. 14. Instructions like the following were posted through- out Canton: — " 1. Until further orders, all the inhabitants of the Celestial Empire are prohibited from trading with the subjects of her Majesty the Queen of Great Britain. 2. The opium markets, which have been open for the trade of the two nations, are provisionally closed. [These marketswere subjected to some very severe regulations, and only a very limited quantity of opium eould be legally sold in them.] 3. Around the five ports which are open to Europeans, a cordon of troops is placed, for the purpose of preventing strangers from penetrating into the interior of the empire. The canals and roads are closed against their goods, which will be confiscated, in case of a contravention of this decree. 4. Smuggling, until further orders, will be pun- ished with death. 5. The imperial fleets and troops are to attack the English wherever they meet them ; the trea- ties made with them are suspended. 6. The penalty attached to any violation of the above decrees will be death for the Chinese, and, for foreigners, detention until the restoration of peace. 7. The provisions of these de- crees are not applicable to the markets which are open for goods conveyed by land transport across the frontiers of Siberia." 1857. Feb. 17. The Chinese in Sarawak, Borneo, mutinied and massacred several Europeans ; Sir James Brooke saved his life by swimming across a creek. One of the Borneo Company's steamers subsequently arrived at Sarawak, and, with the aid of Sir James, at the head of a body of Malays and Dyaks, avenged the destruction of the settlement by killing 2,000 Chinese.* * The origin of this outrage is involved in mystery. Some say that the Chinese revolted against the iron rule of Brooke; others, that the Chinese did not relish his interference with trade ; and others, that it was only part of a general Chinese scheme to exterminate Europeans. 216 CHINESE ANNALS. 1857. Feb. 23. As the " Queen" steamer was on her way from Hong Kong to Macao, and when the officers and Euro- pean passengers were at tiffin, the Chinese passengers, with the crew, amounting in all to about thirty-five, turned one of the cannon placed in the gangway into the cabin door, and fired its contents (grapeshot) among the Euro- peans there, consisting of the captain and engineers. The captain received a blow on the head, and immediately jumped overboard. The two engineers were killed. The " Queen" had on board about 120 chests of opium, besides other cargo. She was taken to Chun-Chune, and is at this date there at anchor, surrounded by a fleet .of fifty- seven mandarin junks; her female passengers alive and well. 1851. March 1. The Peruvian ship "Carmen" left Swatow with This last opinion, however, fails before the confession of Sir J. Brooke himself, who accuses the Chinese of ambitioning the upperhand in the colony ; and, not liking his personal rule, aimed at imitating his own past example in usurping power, but they did not mean to check the fullest intercourse with Europeans. A great English newspaper, echoing the imputation of Sir J. Brooke, accuses theunlucky Chinese of everywhere thirsting for power, and seems to scorn them all the more because they evince a" lust of rule." Considering the source of this charge it looks to us as being rather " cool " of its kind. We remember nothing like it since Sally May said of her cousin Sarah- -"Well, who'd have dreamt it; there is cos Sarah a-going to be married. Lawks! the idea is sickening ! She is just my age, too ; and I'd like to know what right she had to a husband, while I, Sally May, aint got one yet." So many absurdities coming on the surface of the Times run down with popular favour that we have ceased to be surprised at anything, however absurd it be, which people cherish upon seeing it in the leading journal. The idea of the Chinese caring for power or thirsting for rule! The impudent fellows, as if slavery was not good enough for them ! Well, what next? We may next look for a wonder in common with the spirit of "fair play" which the Times boasts of, but mocks while it boasts. Another funny point in the gallant indignation of the Times directs its vengeance towards the Chinese as a people who must be chas- tised and coerced for having presumed to lift a hand against us " in CHINESE ANNALS. 2 1 7 200 Chinese coolies for Callao. During the passage down the China sea, some time at night, the coolies rose en masse, but were driven below and the hatches closed. The coolies, secured down below, set fire to the ship, which was soon a mass of flames. The crew took to the boats. The boat in which was the captain must hare been taken down with the sinking ship, as nothing was afterwards seen of the captain or the people in the boat. The mate's boat got into Singapore. The greater part of the coolies must have been suffocated by the smoke — all perished except an interpreter. 1857. March 6. The bakery lately belonging to Eshing or Allum was burnt by incendiaries. The present owner had a large contract for bread for the army and navy on hand. About 700 barrels of flour were destroyed. every region where it has set foot." Miserable Chinese! they are de- voted to the death for resisting us where we have set foot — in their own regions — and not in places where they have themselves unbidden or unexpectedly set foot. Of these wretched people who rose in Sarawak " There is not," writes Sir James Brooke, " left a rooftree to cover their dastard heads in the country." " Out of a population of from 4,000 to 5,000 not more than 2,000 have escaped, and half this number is com- posed of women and children." This being so, the Times is in rap- tures ! Vengeance with us sounds very differently from the same term in practice with others. For striving to retaliate at Canton, where they were slaughtered not by the half dozen but by thousands, the Chinese were brutes, savages, and devils, and as such cursed here and hereafter; for retaliating against their pitiful attack upon us at Sara- wak, and exterminating their whole kith and kin, we are eminent sufferers, nobly gallant heroes, and can sing praise and thanks ! Such is the logic of one-sided honesty ! 218 CHINESE annals: CHINESE ANNALS SUPPLEMENTARY DETAILS. Having now named, in the best order we could contrive, the most memorable transactions recorded in Chinese history, we shall take leave to append, by way of conclusion, a chapter of "Supplementary Details," which will not, perhaps, very inaptly follow such particulars as more consecutively attach themselves to the annals of that empire : — Old, old China. — From the dates and events we have pre- viously classified the reader will obtain a somewhat compre- hensive idea of the interests which cleave to the singular domestic history of this singular people. In the body of this our historical compilation it was impossible to do more than sketch, in outline, the points which struck us as most charac- teristic of the nation, and most likely to constitute a com- pact popular history of the people. We cannot, however, pass away from the historical events, just narrated in the order of occurrence, without recording some few additional particu- lars which properly belong to this division of our subject. To account for the difficulty which stands in the way of ascertaining much that is reliable, as to the very ancient his- tory of China, we have to note the fact that, 2 1 3 years before Christ, the then reigning Emperor Si- whang-ti caused all the books in the empire to be burned, except, indeed, such as were written by lawyers and physicians. The first division of the empire into provinces was made at so very remote a period of its history that it is impossible to trace the time with any degree of certainty. "We know, how- ever, that the fifteen provinces, exclusive of Leigou, which is SUPPLEMENTARY DETAILS. 219 situated without the great wall, though under the imperial dominion, are named Chanse, (2), and Pechli, situated on the north side along the wall ; Shangtong, Kyannang, Chekang, and Fokyen, on the eastern ocean ; Quangtong, Quangsi, Yunan, and Sachuen, towards the north-west ; and Honan, Huquand, Quenchew, and Kyangsi, taking up the middle. There are nine Chinese periods (or i£V-"ages") which may be set down as purely fabulous. The first of these periods began with Penncu, and the last ended with Fo-hi, who is, after all, the only traceable founder of their empire. The way in which the Chinese account for the remoteness of these periods is far from being distinct, and is by no means inter- esting. Some of the emperors who flourished in these ages are supposed to have reigned for upwards of 350 years, and few of them to have lived less than 200 years. In the ninth period we find the invention of letters attributed to Tsanghie, who received them from a divine tortoise that carried them on his shell, and delivered them into the king's hands. Music, money, merchandize, carriages, commerce, &c, were origi- nated in this Ki or period. Various calculations have been made of the length of these periods. The calculations go to two extreme points : both comprised in the time from Puenku the first Chinaman to Confucius the best Chinaman, who flourished five centuries before Christ ; and the estimates vary from making the whole period contain 279,000 years, on the authority of the more moderate, and no less than 96,000,000 on the authority of others. In explanation of many singular traditions current in China as to the ideas prevalent in the "ages" they claim in past history, we find it asserted that many Jews had passed into that country several centuries before the birth of Christ, and made known the Mosaic writings. Hence it is inferred that their "ages" mean the generations preceding Noah; and their real history having a traceable commencement with Fo- 220 CHINESE ANNALS : hi, who began to reign at the tenth " age," that personage is set down to represent the Noah of the Bible. There is a great deal of interest attached to the story of Fo- hi's birth and accession to power. He was born in the province of Chansi (upper). It is said that his mother, walking upon the bank of alake in thatprovince, saw the " strangest print of a man's foot in the sand." While contemplating this she was suddenly surrounded by an iris or rainbow, and became im- pregnated. The child, born in due time, was named Fo-hi. When he arrived at an age equal to the duty, he was chosen king by his countrymen solely on account of his merit, and he obtained from them the title of " son of heaven." To him China owes her origin as a great empire, and to him she assigns all her pristine intelligence and acquisitions, beginning with the national symbols and ending with the emblematic dragon-horse used by the emperors, even now, as the national device for their banners. Another curious traditional incident in olden Chinese history belongs to the reign # of Yau, the seventh after Fo-hi. For ten days, soon after Yau's accession, the sun did not set, and the Chinese were in the utmost alarm lest a general conflagration should ensue. The compilers of the Universal History contend that this event was coincident with that mentioned in the Book of Joshua, when both sun and moon stood still "for the space of a day" — a phrase supposed by the historians to be just as construable into ten days as one ; taking, as the mea- sure of that period, the time we now call a day. Dates of Dynasties. — The whole of the Chinese emperors, abstracting those who are said to have reigned in the fabulous times, are comprehended in twenty- two dynasties, mentioned in the following table : — SUPPLEMENTARY DETAILS. 221 DYNASTIES. EMPERORS. 1. Hyn, containing 17 2207 B.C. 2. Shang, orlng 28 1766 3. Chew, 35 1122 4. Tsin, 4 248 5. Han, 25 206 6. Hew-han, 2 220 a.d. 7. Tsin, 15 465 8. Song, 8 220 9. Tsi, 5 479 10. Lyang, 4 502 11. Chin, 4 557 12. Swi, 3 13. Twang, 20 618 14. Hew-lyang, 2 907 15. Hew-tang, 4 ... 923 16. Hew-tsin, 2 936 17. Hew-han, 2 947 18. Hew-then, 3 951 19. Song, 18 960 20. Iwen, 9 1280 21. Ming, 16 1368 22. Tsing (Mantchoo), 8 j J™ The real Chinese dynasty terminated in 1644 with "Whay- thong, who was the last pure-blooded native, descended from Chu, the founder of the celebrated Ming rule, destined to sit upon the throne of the celestial empire. This, the last em- peror of Chinese family, was an excellent man, a lover of the sciences, and most partial to Christianity. Centuries before civilisation had given shape to European Civil or Military Rank, China had, under its famed lawgiver, Fo-hi, marked for its great men sundry official distinctions, and had a plan of social honours working then as now. Therefore, the oldest class of nobility existing on earth is, without question, the Mandarin class of China. These mandarins are now, as the Chinese annals show them to have always been, of two classes — those of letters and those of arms. The latter do not enjoy equal consideration in the empire with the others. From what we have elsewhere had occasion to observe, it will II 222 CHINESE annals : be remembered how highly honoured, in all things, the literati are in China.* The mandarins of arms are never indulged with any share in the government of the state. The chief accomplishments for a mandarin of arms are strength of body and activity of mind. These mandarins have tribunals, whose members are chosen from the highest ranks in the country. Both ranks form the nobility, but it is not a hereditary one. The number of literary mandarins now in China is nearly 15,000, and that of arms is about 18,500. The former, however, are regarded and treated as superior to the latter in every respect; whence is said to arise, in a great measure, that want of Chinese military ardour manifested for many a century. The Civil Government of China, as now administered, holds a most ancient place in the annals of the country. Its origin dates as far back as three centuries before the Christian era, and it seems always to have been managed by the Imperial Courts somewhat thus classed: — The Emperor's grand council, consisting of the presidents and assessors of the six sovereign courts and of three others. The chief of the other courts furnishes mandarins for the different provinces, watches over their conduct, and keeps a journal of their transactions. The second tribunal may be called a sort of civil inquisition, and is sub-divided into four others, the first of which is en- trusted with the selection of qualified persons to fill govern- ment offices ; the second, to watch the conduct of the nobles ; the third, to affix the seals to public acts and to inspect public documents ; and the fourth, to inquire into the merits of the * When several vacancies occur in the government of cities, the Emperor invites to court a corresponding number of the literati, whose names are written down in a list. The names of the vacant govern- ments are then put into a box, raised so high that the candidates are able only to reach it with their hands ; after which, they draw in turn, and each is appointed governor of that city whose name be has drawn. SUPPLEMENTARY DETAILS. 223 grandees of the empire, excepting not even "the princes of the blood." There is then the court of the grand treasurer (or ITau-pau), which sees to the finance of the state — fourteen courts in the same department are constituted to assist this. Then there is the court of ceremonies (or Li-pau), which, with its other duties, undertakes to receive and entertain foreign ambassadors, and preserve tranquillity amongst the religious sects of the empire. — This court has four subordinate tribunals in its department. Then there is the tribunal of arms (or Ping-pau), which takes to its care the vast militia of the empire as well as all the branches comprised in the idea of a war department. This, though a military court, is, like all the others, composed entirely of literary mandarins, and its four inferior courts consist also of literati. Then there is the criminal bench (or ITong-pau), which is assisted by fourteen inferior courts. Then there is the tribunal of public works (or Cong-pau), which seems to extend its attention to everything in the way of work, whether it be public or pri- vate. All these tribunals are composed of one-half Chinese and one-half Tartar, but the president of each superior court must be a Tartar born. To prevent any unlawful combination amongst the courts, each has its censor appointed, and he watches his court, without ever interfering himself in any decision. There are two other courts in China which merit enumera- tion, because they happen to be most peculiar. One is a Court of Princes, and is only composed of men holding the rank of princes. The registers of this tribunal receive the names of each royal child as it is born. It is only before this tribu- nal that a prince can be tried. The other tribunal is that of History, and called by the Chinese Han-li-yivan. It is exclusively composed of the sages of the empire — men of known erudition and famed as geniuses. To them is com- mitted the task of arranging the annals of the nation, and upon them devolves the education of the royal children. Out 224 cnixEsr: an>*als : of this body come the mandarins of the first class, chosen as presidents of supreme courts. The administrative system in China may seem to be complicated, but it is in reality simple.* The laws are designed with a full view to justice, and there is much to admire and much to emulate in them. The annals of China do not startle us with the constant recurrence of Savage Cruelties such as people have been recently led to fancy who welcome the stories levelled at the " savage and insolent barbarians." Many of the law punishments are * Mr. White, M.P., addressed an English audience not very long ago in these words — words well worth preserving here : — " I would observe that if there is one subject on which a greater amount of igno- rance has prevailed in this country than on any other, it is as to the government of that vast empire. That government is essentially patriarchal in theory, and, so far as it can be, in practice also. The emperor is the father, and his officers the elders, responsible for the good ordering of the provincial, departmental, or district households. The emperor assumes to himself all the national misfortunes that fall on his people as consequences of his misdeeds. If a famine, or any other severe calamity, for instance, occurs, he offers up sacrifices, indulges in strong self-reproaches, and bewails these calamities as having resulted from his own incompetency, weakness, and want of forethought. He does not accuse the people, but he says that he alone is responsible, and that he alone must make the amende ; that if sins have been committed, he and not the people must have com- mitted them, as the head of the national household. This principle is carried down through the various officers of the government and the army and navy ; and it will doubtless appear very ridiculous to you when I tell you that if a Chinese general is defeated he does not, if an honest officer, seek to cast the blame here or there, but he assumes to himself the whole disgrace, and he applies to the emperor to adjudge him the punishment he ought to undergo. Now, how very singular we should have thought it, if, when our cavalry dwindled away or were destroyed in the Crimea, my Lords Lucan and Cardigan had confessed or exaggerated their personal delinquencies as commanders, and in- voked the imperial wrath ; and how greatly we should have been sur- prised if one, for instance, had asked to be transported to Botany Bay, and another to Van Diemen's laud." SUPPLEMENTARY DETAILS. 225 dreadful, indeed, and some of the customs, such as infanticide, fearful ; but China is not more savage in this respect than are many of its pretentious neighbours. It is true that the annals of the land show how some sovereigns have indulged them- selves in gratifying sanguinary caprices ; but the law of China does not, in spirit or letter, countenance anything of the sort. Even now, the Chinese speak of their defunct tyrants as Englishmen may speak of a Bluff Harry, or any other regal blood- spiller. So far from Chinese law favouring cruelty for its own sake, it is almost impossible for an innocent man to become a victim of false accusation, so well do the usages of the tribunals work in the interest of justice, and so well are they framed to secure it. The accused are invariably treated with lenity, and, as with us, accounted innocent until they are proved guilty. A jailer who behaves rigorously towards his prisoners is severely punished, and if a judge pronounce a heavier sentence than the law desired to have inflicted, he does so at his peril. The relations of a condemned man are never forbad to see him, or assist him in prison, in any way short of securing his liberty. Exiled Chinamen are permitted to take their families with them in their exile, and allowed the means ; and, in short, greater kindness seems to belong to these " savage barbarians" than we are wont to pride in as a cha- racteristic of ourselves.* All this we assert on the good authority of the trustworthy traveller, M\ Grasier. * Mr. White, M.P., whose opinion we have previously quoted, thus speaks of Chinese cruelty, and he speaks from experience : — " I have seen in the newspapers long statements as to the cruelty of Commis- sioner Yeh, and of his having slaughtered 70,000 inhabitants in one year. Now I do not believe he has executed nearly so many. I am satisfied, on the contrary, that a cypher has been added to the 7, and that it will be found that 7,000 is in reality all that have been killed — a large number, no doubt, for one person to consign to the execu- tioner, but it ought to be stated that it was discing a period when martial law was proclaimed. From my knowledge of Chinese criminal Q 226 CHINESE annals: The Healing Art has been long of high repute in China, and many dates in the earliest annals of that country show in what esteem it was held, and how greatly encouraged before Europeans knew anything whatever of medicine as a science ; nevertheless it has never much progressed in China. A cure for hydrophobia has, however, been practised by the Chinese since the filth century of our era: we know not if it has been tried in Europe. It is made from the milky juice of a plant called Poly gala.* Almost all their medicine consists of herbs, of which tea is a chief one ; and although the art of healing has law, I am induced to state that not one of these 7,000 individuals has heen decapitated, or executed, until he has been tried by a number of the respectable inhabitants, and a majority had decided that he was guilty, and that it would be better for the state if he were out of the way. Although in a troubled state some disasters and disorders may be committed, yet there is nothing sanguinary or despotic in the Chinese character, and I am confident that if a harsh or extreme system were adopted, it would not last a day longer than was abso- lutely necessary, or without the full approval of the people. Much as we may deplore the bloodshed that has taken place in the country, yet I am satisfied there is not one of us that will not rejoice at the energy and firmness he has shown in exterminating a class of people who were guilty of perpetrating most frightful injury and direful crimes in that part of the empire over which Yeh was appointed as Governor. * The accounts tell us that "this plant has thick leaves, and its stem contains a milky juice ; it grows to the height of two feet, with a thick- ness like that of a goosequill. The flowers are small, and of nearly the same colour as the leaves. Its root is perennial, and annually produces new shoots and stems. There are several kinds of poly gala in Europe, two of which are used in medicine against the bite of repiiles. In order to apply this plant as a remedy, the Chinese gather a handful of the stalks, crush them, and cook them in water in which about two pounds of raw rice have been washed. The decoction is effected by means of a water bath. The juice is then strained, and half a quart of it is admin- istered to the patient, if he be an adult, tind this draught is continued for several days, gradually diminishing the dose. Sometimes a single dose suffices for a radical cure. It is also administered to animals with their food, large cattle requiring a much larger quantity.'* SUPPLEMENTARY DETAILS. 227 been so long studied, they do not evince any surgical skill or true knowledge of anatomy. Amongst the many absurdities which the Chinese medical profession countenance is one claiming for the science the power of discovering whether or not a man had died a "natural death;" and the quacks usually succeed in persuading people of their success in finding out this important fact. The method employed to do this is quite characteristic of the Chinese : — The body having been ex- humed is washed with vinegar. Then a large fire is kindled in a pit dug on purpose, six feet long, three wide, and the same in depth — for there is a charm in these measures. The lire is kept up until all the surrounding earth becomes per- fectly hot ; the remaining fire is then taken out, and the pit preserves the intense heat of an oven. A large quantity of wine is immediately poured into it, and it is at once covered with a hurdle made of osier twigs, upon which the body is stretched out at full length. A cloth is then raised over all in the form of a canopy, with a view of concentrating the steam of the wine so as that it may act upon the corpse from every direction. Two hours suffice to produce the effect expected ; for when, after the lapse of that time, the cloth is removed, the "evidences of the manner of death" are supposed to appear in the body. How the Chinese manage to read these "evidences" we know. not, but they have implicit confidence in the "signs" which the " wise men" say they see. It is right to add, that the wine used in these trials is only a kind of beer made from rice and honey. It is Chinese wine. At all stages of the "annals of China" one meets with honourable Records of the Lead. From the earliest period to which history can guide one are to be traced, near every city, memorials telling to all times with what concern the Chinese of past ages piled up the mortal remains of their people. We gather from the " annals " that now, as always, the coffin used resembles a trunk of a tree, and varies in expense 228 • CHINESE ANNALS I according to the condition of the family. Sometimes the body- is not interred, but retained for a protracted period in a por- tion of the house set apart for the purpose, which is daily scented with spices. It has been customary to have several strange and superstitious ceremonies performed, and many are the ideas entertained as to the destiny of the soul after death. AVhen the coffin is lowered into the grave a tombstone, with a rounded head, is reared over it, on which is inscribed a simple epitaph. The dynasty is almost invariably noted. The form of the tombs is very various, according to the diffe- rent provinces and the ranks of those for whom they are in- tended. The coffins of the poor are generally placed under a shade covered with thatch. The tombs of the rich are usually shaped like a horse-shoe, well whitened and finished with great taste ; but those of the mandarins are much more sump- tuous and elegant. A vault is constructed, in which the coffin is first shut up ; over this vault is raised a pyramid of earth well beat together, about 12 feet in height, and 10 feet in diameter. A layer of lime and sand laid over this earth makes a kind of plaster, which renders the whole very durable and solid. Various kinds of trees are then planted around it in regular order. To these are added figures representing officers, eunuchs, soldiers, saddled horses, camels, lions, tor- toises, &c, ranged around in different . rows. Du Halde de- clares that all this produces a very striking effect. As possessing a merit distinct from other tomb records, we print here an impressive inscription, copied twenty years ago, from the walls of some ruined vaults, testifying to the residence of the children of St. Ignatius, which was situated about one league from Pekin. Thus runs the sad memorial : "In the name of Jesus, Amen. Long immovable, but vanquished at last — it has fallen under the assaults of so many storms. Traveller ! stop, and read, and ponder over the inconstancy of human things! SUPPLEMENTARY DETAILS. 229 • " Here lie the French raissioners, formerly members of that celebrated society which, in every quarter of the globe, taught and disseminated, in all its purity, the worship of the true God, which, taking Jesus for model, as, likewise, it had as- sumed His name, imitated Him as much as such imitation is practicable to human weakness ; pursued, in the midst of toils and contradictions, its exercises of virtue, its mission of charity, and, making itself all to all, to gain them to God, gave, during more than two centuries of its prosperity, con- fessors and martyrs to the Church. "I, Joseph Mary Amiot, and the other French missioners of this society, whilst we still maintain in Pekin, under the auspices and the protection of the Tartar- Chinese monarch, the religion of Christ, sheltered by art and science — whilst our Gallican Church still glitters in the bosom of the imperial palace, amidst the altars of a thousand false gods (alas ! secretly sighing for our last hour), we have raised this monu- ment of brotherly attachment, in funereal gloom. " Pass, traveller — congratulate the dead — mourn the living — pray for all — wonder, and be silent ! " In the year of Christ, 1774, upon the 14th day of Octo- ber, in the 20th year of Kiang-Lonng, the 10th day of the 9th moon." The annals of China bear testimony to the existence in China of a colony of Jews about 206 years before our era. There are, however, very few Hebrews now in the Celestial Empire, and the ancient colony does not seem to have sur- vived the first century of its settling. Its existence may go far to account for many traditions in China which mix up biblical knowledge with their idolatries and superstitions. Much difference of opinion exists as to the value of the dates which give a very early place in the Chinese annals to the Introduction of Christianity. Some ascribe the first effort to convert the Chinese to St. Thomas. However, if he did 230 CHINKSE ANXALS: enter China with the " glad tidings," it was reserved to St. Ignatius to make the work of Christianity more completely recognised in the empire. The annals of China, as they are scattered through Europe, yield us some curious information on this head, and we are tempted to give it here as fully as we can. Thus, then, shall the narrative run, and on the authority of a zealous French missionary, whose labours have been of use to everyone desirous of knowing anything of China and its people : — • It appears that during the year 1625 some Chinese work- men were sinking foundations for an edifice in a small city, Chin -si, called Si-gan-fou, and formally the capital of the empire. They found during their excavations a stone slab, ten feet long and five feet broad ; a cross was sculptured upon it, with a legend, in characters partly foreign and partly national. This antique stone being raised by order of the authorities, was deposited as a monument in a temple of idols; the mandarins little fancied that by placing this inscription under the safeguard of their gods it should one day render testimony to the Gospel. Now it so happened that a Euro- pean, stopping to decipher this mysterious text, recognised, with the surprise of a learned individual who chanced to read upon an unknown tomb the history of a vanished kingdom, that the torch of the faith having been brought to China in the seventh century had shone there for a long time with extreme lustre. Let us recapitulate briefly this detached page of ecclesiastical annals, extending over a period of one hundred and -forty-six years. " In the year 635," says the inscription, "under the reign of Tai-sung, the founder of the thirteenth dynasty, a man of great virtue came to Tchang- gan (now-a-days Si-gan-fou). His name was O-lo-pen, and he was a priest of Ta-sin (of the Roman* empire). He brought the true Scriptures with him. The high court digni- taries came forward to receive him at the east gate, and pre- SUPPLEMENTARY DETAILS. 23 1 sented him to the sovereign, who invited him to translate into Chinese the holy books in the imperial library. After a mature examination of their doctrine, Tai-sung became con- vinced that they were based upon truth, that their object was perfection and peace their result ; and he ordered it to be announced to all his people, and decreed that a church should be erected in the capital to the true religion. " Under the successors of Tai-Sung the faith was rapidly propagated over the ten provinces of the empire ; the cities were filled with temples ; the prosperity of the state flourished with the Gospel, and families enjoyed felicity hitherto un- known. " In the meantime, the bonzes and Chinese men of letters, backed by the Empress Wonheon, wage a war of calumny against the new worship. The cross bent for an instant under the effort of their hatred ; but the powerful hand of Sohan, chief of the Christian priests, set it up once more and strengthened it. "Anew Emperor, the wise Hi vent- Sing, came to his aid; he ordered Nimhue and four other kings to go in person and visit the churches, and protect there the Divine worship. "A new pontiff of Ta-Sing appeared at Si-gan-fou, in 748. His presentation at court was the signal for conferring striking favours; the holy sacrifice was thenceforth celebrated in the palace ; an inscription to the true God was hung upon the gate of the church, inviting the people to associate in this homage. The whole empire bowed in respect before re- ligion." The monument of Si-gan-fou bears date for the year 78 1 , and ends with these words, which enable us to estimate the whole extent of the Chinese church at this epoch: — "At that time Nimon, pontiff of the law, ruled the multitude of Christians in the eastern country." J. F. HOPE'S NEW WORKS. Post 8vo., price 10s. 6d. (In the Press.) Holland ; its Institutions, Press, Kings, and Prisons, with an Exposure of Court Secrets and Intrigues. By E. M. 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