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 M R. Dunn 
 
 CHINESE COLLECTION. 
 
Henry Byron Phillips 
 
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PEEP AT CHINA, 
 
 m 
 
 MR. DUNN'S CHINESE COLLECTION. 
 
 lERKELEY, CALIFORNIA 
 
 mi^. 
 
 THIS BOOK 
 
 WAS SOLD TO 
 
 HENRV BVRON PHILLIPS 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
 in 2007 with funding from 
 
 IVIicrosoft Corporation 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/chinapeepatinmrdOOwinerich 
 
PEEP AT CHINA, 
 
 MR. DUNN'S CHINESE COLLECTION; 
 
 WITH 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS NOTICES 
 
 RELATING TO THE 
 
 INSTITUTIONS AND CUSTOMS OF THE CHINESE, 
 
 COMMERCIAL INTERCOURSE WITH THEM. 
 
 BIT E. C. WIITES. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA: 
 
 PRINTED FOR NATHAN DUNN. 
 
 1839. 
 
 ■'M 
 

 ^5.>^ 
 
 Entered according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1839, by 
 NATHAN DUNN, 
 in the Clerk*s Office of the District Court of the United States, in and for the 
 Eastern District of Pennsylvania. 
 
 I. AflRMEAD AND CO., PRINTER*. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Fag8 
 
 I. Preliminary Remarks, ----.. 9 
 
 II. General Viev/ of the Interior of the Saloon, - - 15 
 
 III. The two Octagonal Glass Cases, ..... 16 
 
 IV. Lamps and Lanterns, 19 
 
 V. The Screen-work at the entrance, - - - . 21 
 
 VI. Picture of Canton, 82 
 
 VII. Picture of Whampoa, ----- . 25 
 
 VIII. Picture of Honan, 26 
 
 IX. The first Case on the north wall, with the two Cases 
 
 opposite, ....... 27 
 
 X. The second Wall Case, 31 
 
 XI. Third Wall Case, 34 
 
 XII. Fourth Wall Case, with the two opposite, - . 39 
 
 Xm. Fifth Wall Case, . 44 
 
 XIV. Three Cases in the inter-columniations, containing 
 
 Ornamental Articles, 46 
 
 XV. Sixth Wall Case, 49 
 
 XVI. Seventh Wall Case, with the smaller Cases opposite, 52 
 
 XVII. The Silk Mercer's Shop, 55 
 
 XVIII. A Street, with Sedan and Bearers, ... 58 
 XIX. The Pavilion, 59 
 
 XX. The room in the south-east corner of the Saloon, ■ 62 
 XXI. First Wall Case on the south side, with the two 
 
 opposite Cases, 65 
 
 593fif» 
 
VI 
 
 Page 
 
 XXII. Second Wall Case on the south side, with the two 
 
 opposite Cases, ...... 68 
 
 XXIII. The Cases containing Porcelain Articles, - - 69 
 
 XXIV. The Export Case, 72 
 
 XXV. Fifth Wall Case on the south side, ... 74 
 
 XXVI. Two Wall Cases containing Models of Boats, - 74 
 
 XXVII. Three Natural History Cases, ... - 76 
 
 XXVIII. Picture of Macao, 77 
 
 XXIX. Picture of the Bocca Tigris, .... 78 
 
 XXX. Picture of a Marriage Procession, . . 78 
 
 XXXI. The other Paintings in the Collection, ... 80 
 
 XXXII. Thetwoinner Rows of Cases, .... 83 
 
 XXXIII. General Remarks on the Government and People of 
 
 China, 84 
 
 XXXIV. Our Trade with China, 97 
 
ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 The author of these sheets has never been in China, 
 and yet he has attempted, to some extent, a development 
 of Chinese character and customs. It is a fair claim on 
 the part of the reader that he be informed of the degree 
 of credibility that attaches to the statements made. With 
 the view solely of satisfying this claim, he takes leave to 
 say, that numerous works on China, of the highest re- 
 pute, have been fully consulted, and the truth carefully 
 sought. 
 
 The author acknowledges also his indebtedness to Mr. 
 Dunn for much original information, and the correction 
 of some errors, into which he had been led by the autho- 
 rities on whose guidance he was obliged to rely. The 
 Collection itself has been as a well spring of instruction. 
 It is due to the Proprietor to state, that he objected to 
 the few sentences complimentary to himself; but the 
 author, being a thorough-paced opponent to the '' ex- 
 punging" doctrine, insisted on their being retained. 
 This he considered as a mere act of justice ; for he is 
 free to express the opinion, that Mr. Dunn, in the Col- 
 lection he has made and now offers to public examination, 
 has done more than any other man to rectify prevalent 
 
vni 
 
 errors, and disseminate true information; concerning a 
 nation, every way worthy to be studied by the philoso- 
 pher who delights in the curious, by the economist who 
 searches into the principles of national prosperity and 
 stability, and by the Christian who desires the universal 
 spread of that Gospel, in which are embarked the highest 
 temporal welfare and the immortal hopes of the human 
 race. 
 
 By some the following pages may be regarded as an 
 " Apology for the Chinese ;'^ but, unless the author's 
 convictions are entirely erroneous, it is no more an apo- 
 logy, than truth and justice make it. 
 
 Philadelphia^ April, 1839. 
 
DESCRIPTIVE SKETCH 
 
 OF THE COLLECTION. 
 
 I. Preliminary Remarks, 
 
 Nathan Dunn, Esq., tlie proprietor of this vast and 
 splendid Collection of Chinese Curiosities, having so far 
 completed his arrangements as to be able to open it to the 
 public, on the evening of Saturday, the 22d December, 
 1838, entertained a select party of his friends in the 
 Saloon in which it is fitted up. We should think that 
 considerably over a hundred gentlemen were present 
 upon that occasion, and among them were many of our 
 most eminent citizens. Artists, merchants, mechanics, 
 editors, literati, military and naval oflicers, and a goodly 
 representation from all the learned professions, graced 
 that ample and magnificent hall, which now contains the 
 richest deposit of curiosities from the Celestial Empire, 
 in the whole world. Rarely have we passed a pleasanter 
 hour, or formed one of a happier company. Every body 
 was at his ease ; conversation was brisk ; the joke and the 
 laugh were intermingled with the graver reflections which 
 
 2 
 
10 
 
 could not be wholly suppressed ; and all seemed filled 
 with admiration at the splendour of the scene, and the 
 enterprise and taste which had called it into being. Our 
 host did the honours of his station with refined and easy 
 dignity, and with evident, though certainly pardonable, 
 gratification at beholding his labours so happily termi- 
 nated, and the long cherished object of his ambition 
 crowned with so brilliant a success. The beverage ex- 
 tracted from China's most celebrated plant, of a richness 
 and delicacy of flavour extremely rare among us, was 
 served to the guests in cups of native manufacture, vari- 
 ous in shape and size, though not without those heretical 
 accompaniments of sugar and cream, which would de- 
 stroy its value in the eyes, or rather to the palate, of a 
 true Chinaman. The vineyards of France, and the skill 
 of our own unrivalled confectioners, were also put under 
 levy by our entertainer, to minister to the gratification of 
 his guests. 
 
 The proprietor enjoyed facilities for gathering curiosi- 
 ties such as no foreigner perhaps besides himself ever 
 possessed. He did not, indeed, go to China with this 
 view originally, but, soon after his arrival there, the 
 thought occurred to him that it would be easy to collect 
 a cabinet sufiicient to fill a small apartment, which would 
 be both amusing and instructive to his friends in America. 
 This ha])py conception, upon which he immediately pro- 
 ceeded to act, was the germ of that vast and astonishing 
 gallery of rare and curious objects, which has now be- 
 come one of the chief ornaments and attractions of our 
 city. Most Americans who trade to China are more or 
 less engaged in the opium traflic, which is contrary to 
 the laws of the Empire. Mr. Dunn was never interested 
 to the amount of a dollar in that illicit commerce. This 
 fact was well known to the officers of the government, and 
 
11 
 
 even to the Emperor himself, and created -a strong preju- 
 dice in his favour. He always treated the dignitaries of 
 the Crown and other gentlemen of distinction with the 
 consideration due to their rank and standing. This 
 tended still further to secure their friendship and co- 
 operation. It was by availing himself of facilities thus 
 obtained, that he was enabled to complete his Collection, 
 and the extensive and powerful influence he had secured 
 in high places, enabled him, when ready to embark with 
 his treasures, to overcome obstacles which would other- 
 wise have been insurmountable. It is thus that Mr. Dunn 
 has reared a monument which will perpetuate his own 
 memory, and has enriched our city and country with an 
 exhibition such as cannot be matched elsewhere in any 
 part of the world. 
 
 We have called this the richest Chinese Collection in 
 the world. Let us make good our assertion. There are 
 but three others any where, so far as we are informed, 
 between which and this one of Mr. Dunn any sort of 
 comparison can be instituted. Those three are, the^col- 
 lection at the Hague, that in the rooms of the East India 
 Company in London, and the Museum at Salem, Massa- 
 chusetts. The first mentioned of these collections does 
 not occupy more than one-fifth of the space devoted to 
 our townsman's, and its main, nay, almost its only object, 
 is a display of the national costumes of China. To this 
 end, a multitude of miniature men and women, not like- 
 nesses, as are those of Mr. D., have been dressed in illus- 
 trative attire. In this one particular, viz : the exhibition 
 of the distinctive dresses of the Chinese, there may be a 
 difference in favour of the European over the American 
 collection, but the advantage goes no farther. The gath-, 
 ering of Oriental curiosities displayed in the Rooms of 
 the London East India Company is rich in whatever can 
 
12 
 
 illustrate life and science in India, but boasts compara- 
 lively few objects, either natural or artificial, from the 
 Celestial Empire. The same remark holds true, to a 
 considerable extent, of that large, interesting, and valua- 
 ble deposit of eastern curiosities in the Salem Museum, 
 which has been accumulating through a long series of 
 years by the intelligent and generous enterprise of the 
 hardy sons of the ocean. 
 
 The Chinese Collection occupies the lower saloon of 
 that noble edifice recently erected in Ninth street by the 
 Philadelphia Museum Company. This apartment is one 
 hundred and sixty-three feet in length, by seventy in 
 breadth, with lofty ceilings, supported by twenty~two 
 neat and substantial wooden pilasters. Behind each co- 
 lumn, on either side of the vast and well-proportioned 
 hall, has been fitted up a capacious case, which is en- 
 closed by plate glass windows of the purest transparency. 
 The inter-columniations arc each occupied by two cases 
 exactly the width of the pilasters, in like manner en- 
 closed with plate glass. Not far from the entrance are 
 two octagonal glass cases, occupying a portion of the 
 ample space between the two ranges of pilasters, one of 
 which is completely filled with a superb Chinese state 
 lamp, of huge proportions, gorgeous materials, and rich 
 workmanship. At the extreme end of the saloon, are a 
 large pavilion, a silk draper's shop, and a Chinese street, 
 nearly filled up by a palanquin and its bearers. So ample 
 is the space, and so capacious and numerous the recepta- 
 cles of this grand apartment ; and yet such is the extent 
 of the collection of curiosities gathered by Mr. Dunn, 
 during his nine years' residence in China, that a large 
 residuum remains in the store-rooms, for want of suffi- 
 cient space in the hall for their convenient display. 
 
 It is no longer necessary to measure half the circuit of 
 
13 
 
 the globe, and subject one's self to the hazards and priva- 
 tions of a six months' voyage on distant and dangerous 
 seas, to enjoy a peep at the Celestial Empire. This is a 
 gratification which may now be enjoyed by the citizens 
 of Philadelphia, for the trouble of walking to the corner 
 of Ninth and Sansom streets, and by the citizens of other 
 parts of the United States, at no greater peril of life and 
 limb than is connected with locomotion by means of our 
 own steamboats and railroads. The Collection is a splen- 
 did pageant, no doubt; and many, probably, will look 
 upon it merely as such. To these it will be a merd nine 
 days' wonder ; an object to be stared at with idle curio- 
 sity, and remembered only as a useless gewgaw. For 
 ourselves, we see it with far other eyes, and linger among 
 its strange and multitudinous variety of objects for a 
 widely different purpose. To us it is a volume redolent 
 of instruction ; the best we have ever seen on the Celes- 
 tial Empire. It is, in effect, China in miniature. It al- 
 most realizes, in reference to the manners and civiliza- 
 tion of that remote, unique, and interesting people, the 
 fable of the woods moving to the sound of the lyre of 
 Orpheus. 
 
 Some readers, perhaps, will regard such expressions 
 as sheer hyperbole, a mere rhetorical flourish. We utter, 
 however, a simple verity, which will be responded to by 
 every person of taste and intelligence who visits and exa- 
 mines the Collection. And we are prepared even to ex- 
 press a stronger opinion than this of the merits of this 
 unique exhibition. It is well known that an impassable 
 barrier excludes foreigners from all but a small patch of 
 the Celestial Empire. Considering these restrictions, and 
 the very limited sphere of observations that can be en- 
 joyed by any stranger not connected with a diplomatic 
 embassy, we have little doubt that a better idea may be 
 
14 
 
 obtained of the characteristic intelligence and national 
 customs of the Chinese from Mr. Dunn's Collection, than 
 by an actual visit, we do not say to China, but to the 
 small portion of the suburbs of Canton, which is all that 
 foreigners are permitted to see. Mr. D.'s Collection 
 embraces innumerable objects from all parts of the Em- 
 pire, the interior as well as the sea coast districts. 
 
 The many thousands of individual objects which this 
 Collection embraces, are not, of course, susceptible of a 
 perfect classification ; yet the principal and most instruc- 
 tive of them may be ranged under the following heads : — 
 Figures, of the size of life, in full costume, representing 
 Chinese men and women, all of them being real like- 
 nesses ; implements of various kinds ; paintings ; speci- 
 mens of japan and porcelain ware ; models of boats and 
 summer houses ; lanterns ; natural productions, including 
 birds, minerals, shells, fishes, reptiles, insects, etc.; mo- 
 dels of pagodas ; with a numerous assemblage of et cetera^ 
 which refuse to be classed. 
 
 We do not propose a full description of these numer- 
 ous, or, to speak more correctly, these innume7^ahle 
 curiosities. All that we can undertake is to throw off a 
 few imperfect sketches, interspersing them with such 
 items of information, gleaned in the course of our read- 
 ing as may seem fitted to relieve our own dullness, and 
 afford somewhat of entertainment, if not of instruction, to 
 our readers. To our sketches of this kind, will be added 
 a brief account of our trade with China — its nature, his- 
 tory, value, and prospects. 
 
15 
 
 II. General View of the Interior of the Saloon, 
 
 Taking the reader for our companion, we pass into the 
 Museum building, by the grand entrance at the western 
 end of the vast pile. Over the door on our left, is a 
 handsome but odd looking sign, with several Chinese 
 characters in gold upon it. Easily divining the meaning, 
 though unable to interpret the writing, we instinctively 
 take this direction, and find ourselves, upon the instant, 
 in the vestibule of the green-room, where we are to pro- 
 cure our tickets of admission. Here we appear to our- 
 selves to be suddenly multiplied into a small army by the 
 numerous mirrors, which serve as panels to the partitions 
 and doors by which we are surrounded. The exterior 
 of the green-room is as elegant a piece of work as one 
 need desire to look upon. The mirrors, especially, are 
 a capital idea. They will be the source of infinite diver- 
 tisement, and will put every body in a good humour just 
 at the right time. Passing through another vestibule, 
 that of the grand saloon, which is separated from it by a 
 beautiful Cliinese screen, such as is seen in most houses 
 of the better sort in the Celestial Empire, we find our- 
 selves within full prospect of all the glories treasured 
 within the spacious Hall of the Collection. Here, as if 
 touched by the wand of an enchanter, we are compelled 
 to pause, for the purpose of taking a general survey, and 
 giving vent to our admiration. The view is imposing in 
 the highest degree. But it is so unlike any thing we are 
 accustomed to behold, that we are at a loss for epithets 
 exactly descriptive of it. Brilliant, splendid, gorgeous, 
 magnificent, superb — all these adjectives are liberally 
 used by visiters, and they are strictly apposite, but they 
 want the proper explicitness ; they do not place the 
 
16 
 
 scene, — new, strange, and bizarre as it is, — distinctly 
 before the mind. The rich screen-work at the two ends 
 of the saloon, the many-shaped and many-coloured lamps 
 suspended from the ceiling, the native paintings which 
 cover the walls, the Chinese maxims adorning the co- 
 lumns, the choice silks, gay with a hundred colours, and 
 tastefully displayed over the cases along the north side, 
 and the multitude of cases crowded with rare and inte- 
 resting sights, form a tout- ensemble, possessing an inte- 
 rest and a beauty entirely its own, and which must be 
 seen before it can be appreciated. The beauty of the 
 general view, and the attractiveness of the whole exhibi- 
 tion, will be greatly enhanced by an improvement soon 
 to be commenced. Mr. Dunn is about to have constructed 
 an elegant fountain in the centre of the saloon, with a basin 
 enlivened by gold fish, and surrounded by a row of Chi- 
 nese plants and flowers. There will be a jet in the centre, 
 and a waterfall on each side ; and the whole will be illu- 
 minated at night with gas lights underneath. The scene 
 cannot fail to be singularly brilliant and beautiful ; and, 
 during the hot summer months, the refreshing coolness 
 diffused throughout the saloon, must make it ever a place 
 of general resort. 
 
 III. The iioo Octagonal Glass Cases, 
 
 In our preliminary notices, we referred to these cases 
 as being near the door. On this account, as well as on 
 some others, they are, to a person entering, the most 
 conspicuous objects in the saloon ; and they contain some 
 of the most splendid and costly articles in the whole Col- 
 lection. They are about fifteen feet high, and are covered 
 with an exact fac-simile of a Chinese roof, each corner of 
 
17 
 
 which terminates in a golden dragon, from whose fiery 
 mouth depends a bell, such as we see in pictures and 
 models of pagodas. The dragon is an imperial emblem 
 in China, and this fact explains the frequency with which 
 we see the figure in their various works of art. 
 
 The case on the south side of the saloon, contains, and 
 is nearly filled by, a superb lamp, used only upon occa- 
 sions of state. This lamp is totally gnlike any thing we 
 have, and no description can convey an adequate idea of 
 it. It is hexagonal, and cannot be much, if any, less than 
 ten feet in height, and three feet in diameter at the two 
 extremities. The frame is richly carved and gilt, and is 
 covered with crimson and white silk, adorned with the 
 most costly and beautiful embroidery. The trappings 
 which depend from the bottom, and from a projecting 
 portion of each corner of the upper part, are in keeping 
 with the i^st. There are no less than two hundred and 
 fifty-eight crimson silk tassels, pendent from various parts. 
 In short, this national lamp is as magnificent as carving, 
 gilding, silks, embroidery, and bead-work, can make it. 
 
 The bottom of the case is covered with numerous spe- 
 cimens of fans, an article in universal use. Gentlemen as 
 well as ladies carry it, not laying it aside even in cold 
 weather. 
 
 The octagonal case on the opposite side of the saloon, 
 contains a variety of interesting, and, to us, strange arti- 
 cles. We have here three national lamps, each made for 
 a distinct purpose, a saddle and bridle, six Chinese can- 
 dles, specimens of indigenous fruits in enamel and clay, 
 divers specimens of embroidery, and a sample of their 
 woollen fabrics. This last, which is spread out upon the 
 floor, covering almost the whole of it, is not of wool alone, 
 but has a mixture of cotton in it. It is a rather favour- 
 
 3 
 
18 
 
 able specimen of their skill in this kind of manufactures, 
 but would not gain much applause among us. The Chi- 
 nese do not excel in the making of woollen goods. Tlie 
 fine broadcloths in which they clothe themselves in win- 
 ter, are imported from foreign countries. 
 
 The saddle would be taken, at first sight, for two or 
 three, piled one on the other. It is covered with rich 
 embroidery, and, though clumsy in appearance, looks as 
 if it would make a very pleasant riding s ^at. The bridle 
 has silver mountings ; and there is a trapping consisting 
 of two large tufts of red horse hair, worn under the 
 animaFs neck. 
 
 The candles are of enormous size, being not less than 
 three feet in length, and over two inches in diameter, with 
 wicks of corresponding dimensions. They are gaily 
 adorned with artificial flowers made of wax. This kind 
 is used only in temples, on public festival occasions, and 
 at the most sumptuous private entertainments. Candles 
 in China are made of a material obtained by crushing and 
 boiling together the seeds and capsules of the tallow tree. 
 They are naturally very white, but a colouring substance 
 is sometimes mixed with that of which they are made. A 
 portion of linseed oil and wax is also occasionally added, 
 to give consistence. 
 
 The specimens of embroidery are exceedingly beauti- 
 ful. In this art, the Chinese excel all others; and their 
 fondness for it seems scarcely less than a passion. Men, 
 as well as women, labour at this occupation ; and it must 
 be one. of the most productive kinds of industry, as we 
 are informed that some females earn by it twenty, and 
 even twenty-five dollars a month. 
 
 Of the three lamps in this case, one, like that before 
 described, is a state lamp. This is suspended in the 
 centre. It is of smaller dimensions and less costly work- 
 
19 
 
 manship, but in other respects similar to that in the 
 other case. There is another, differing materially in its 
 form from these, but made chiefly of silk, which is much 
 used in theatrical representations. This is of exquisite 
 beauty, both in materials and manufacture. The third, 
 again, differs totally from either of those before noticed. 
 It is carried in marriage processions, and the gayness 
 of its appearance harmonizes well with the joyousness 
 supposed to characterize such occasions. 
 
 IV. Lamps and Lanterns, 
 
 We may as well, in this connexion, notice briefly the 
 other lamps and lanterns in the Collection, of which there 
 is a liberal supply. They depend from the ceiling in all 
 parts of the saloon, and are of almost every imaginable 
 form and size. In scarcely any thing do the taste and 
 ingenuity of the Chinese appear to better advantage than 
 in the manufacture of these curious and characteristic 
 articles. They are made of horn, silk, glass, paper, and 
 sometimes of a netting of fine thread overspread with a 
 thick coating of varnish. The frame-work is often carved 
 in the richest manner, the silk which covers it is elegantly 
 embroidered or painted with landscapes representing na- 
 ture in her gayest moods, and the various decorations 
 lavished upon them are in a corresponding style. As a 
 national ornament, peculiar to the Chinese, the lantern 
 does not give place to any thing found in any other 
 country. 
 
 The fondness of the Chinese for lamps and lanterns, 
 and the universal use of them, constitutes one of the 
 marked peculiarities in the customs of the race. The 
 ^' Stranger in China '^ remarks, that a Chinaman and his 
 
20 
 
 lantern seem wedded together, and the former is rarely 
 found without the latter. They are placed in the streets, 
 temples, boats, ^S:c., and are always to be seen in the 
 hands of the pedestrians after dark. The same writer 
 relates the following amusing anecdote, as affording a 
 striking and original exemplification of both the power 
 of habit and the national peculiarity above referred to. 
 When Captain Maxwell passed the Bogue in the Alceste 
 frigate, as he came up with the battery of Annahoy, the 
 fort appeared well lighted, and a brisk cannonade was 
 commenced upon the ship. However, after the first 
 broadside had been fired upon the fortress, and when 
 the vessel was scarcely a half musket-shot from it, the 
 whole place was deserted, and the embrasures were 
 quickly as dark as before. The Chinese were thoroughly 
 frightened, and ran off with a most edifying precipita- 
 tion. At the same time, instead of concealing their flight 
 in the darkness of the night, each man seized his lantern, 
 as he had done a hundred times before, and clambered 
 with it up the steep side of the hill immediately behind 
 the fort. The sight of so many bald-pated soldiers, with 
 their long pig- tails dangling at their back, each with a 
 great painted balloon in his hand, was extremely ludi- 
 crous, and took away any slight inclination the marines 
 might have had to get a shot with their muskets at such 
 excellent marks. 
 
 The lamp oil in common use is extracted from the 
 ground-nut, so abundant among us, which grows luxuri- 
 antly in China. The same kind is used for culinary pur- 
 poses, and supplies almost entirely the place of butter. 
 It is said to be of a very good quality, burning freely, 
 and with but little smoke. 
 
21 
 
 V. The Screen-woi'k at the entrance. 
 
 Let us now retrace our steps to the entrance, and 
 make the circuit of the hall in order. In the partition 
 which separates the vestibule from the grand saloon, we 
 have an admirable specimen of Chinese screen-work. By- 
 many persons this will be pronounced the most beautiful 
 object in the whole Collection, and may, without exagge- 
 ration, be said to be of itself well worth the price of ad- 
 mission. It is richly and tastefully gilded ; the portion 
 of the wood work not covered with gold is painted of a 
 delicate green ; and the silk inserted in the panels is as 
 gay as it can be rendered by a profusion of exquisitely 
 executed paintings of the most delicate and magnificent 
 of eastern flowers. The whole view is redolent of the 
 spirit and beauty of spring. The drawings and colouring 
 of the flowers are admirable, and show the perfection 
 which has been attained in these bmnches of their art by 
 Chinese painters. Besides the floral delineation, there is 
 also a row of silk panels, if we may be allowed the ex- 
 pression, exhibiting views of naval architecture, both 
 curious and instructive. 
 
 At each end of this screen-partition there is a superb 
 China vase, about six feet high, including the base. 
 These are of a size and beauty such as we rarely meet 
 with in this country. They are covered with a profusion 
 of characteristic figures, among which the imperial dra- 
 gon holds a distinguished place. 
 
22 
 
 VI. Picture of Canton, 
 
 We will commence our peregrination round the saloon 
 at the north-west corner, that is, on the left side as you 
 enter. The first object to which we call the attention 
 of the visiter here is a picture of Canton, nine feet by 
 five, painted by a native artist. A glance at this produc- 
 tion will correct a prevalent error respecting the inabili- 
 ty of Chinese painters to produce perspective. Though 
 light and shade are certainly a good deal neglected here, 
 and the perspective is not perfect, yet the picture is by 
 no means deficient in this regard ; and the drawings of 
 individual objects are extremely accurate. The point 
 from which the view has been taken is the bank of the 
 river opposite Canton, directly in front of the foreign 
 factories, which occupy about one half the canvass. The 
 scene, particularly upon the surface of the intervening 
 river, is altogether novel to American eyes, and highly 
 characteristic. The national boats, of which there is a 
 very great variety, have, all, their representatives here, 
 from the gaudy flower barge, in which large parties are 
 borne gaily over the waters, to the tiny sanpan, whose 
 contracted dimensions will admit only a single navigator. 
 This part of the view is peculiarly animated and interest- 
 ing. The foreign factories occupy the central part of 
 the picture, and the French, English and American 
 ensigns float gaily above them. On each side of these, 
 we have a view of a small portion of Canton bordering 
 upon the river; but as the city is built upon low and flat 
 ground, almost the whole of it is invisible from our pre- 
 sent point of observation. 
 
 In connexion with this description of the picture, we 
 offer a few general remarks upon the southern capital. 
 
23 
 
 which will not, we trust, be without their interest to the 
 reader. Canton stands upon the north bank of the Choo- 
 keang or Pearl river, about sixty miles inland from the 
 " great sea.'' It is one of the oldest cities in the southern 
 provinces, and second in importance to no other in the 
 Empire, except Peking, where the Emperor holds his 
 court. It is the great commercial emporium of China, 
 and the only port where foreign trade is permitted. It 
 is not very large in extent, the whole circuit of the walls 
 not exceeding probably six miles ; but it is densely peo- 
 pled, and the suburbs, including the river population, 
 contain as many inhabitants as the city proper. 
 
 The streets of Canton are very numerous, being over 
 six hundred. Their names sound oddly to us, and have 
 rather an ambitious air. " Dragon street," " Flying-dra- 
 gon street," ^'Martial-dragon street," ^^ Flower street," 
 ^^ Golden street," ^^Golden-flower street," &c. are high- 
 sounding enough ; but some of them, it is said, have names 
 which would hardly bear to be translated for " ears po- 
 lite." The Rev. Mr. Bridgman states that they vary in 
 width from two to sixteen feet, and gives it as his opinion 
 that the general average is from six to eight feet. Mr. 
 Dunn thinks this an over-estimate by one or two feet. 
 They are all paved with large flag stones, chiefly granite. 
 Wheel carriages are never used. Those who can afford 
 to ride are borne in sedan chairs on the shoulders of coo- 
 lies, and all heavy burdens are carried by porters. The 
 streets are generally crowded, and present a busy, bus- 
 tling, animated appearance. They all have gates at each 
 end, which are closed at night, and guarded by a sentinel. 
 
 The houses are but one story high. A few of them are 
 of wood or stone ; many, belonging to the poorer classes, 
 of mud, and with but a single apartment: but the largest 
 portion, of bricks. The dwellings of those in easy cir- 
 
24 
 
 cumstances contain various well-furnished apartments, the 
 walls of which are generally ornamented with carving, 
 pictures, and various scrolls, inscribed with moral maxims 
 from Confucius and other sages. The houses of the 
 wealthy are often furnished in a style of great magnifi- 
 cence, and the occupants indulge in the most luxurious 
 habits. Official personages, however, for the most part 
 set a commendable example of simplicity and economy in 
 their manner of living. The doors have no plates to tell 
 who the occupant of the mansion is, but cylindrical lan- 
 terns are hung up by the sides of the gates of all houses 
 of consequence, Vvith the names and titles of the owners 
 inscribed, so as to be read either by day, or at night, 
 when the lanterns are lighted. 
 
 Canton is a large manufacturing as w-ell as commercial 
 town. Mr. Bridgman informs us that there are no less 
 than 17,000 persons engaged in weaving silk, and 50,000 
 in manufacturing cloth of all kinds ; that there are 4,200 
 shoemakers ; and, what will startle and astound every 
 one, that there is an army of barbers amounting to 7,300 ! 
 The important office of tonsor can be held only by license 
 of government. Why the number is so great, will be 
 explained subsequently. The manufacture of books is 
 extensively carried on in this city, but we are not in 
 possession of the exact statistics. ^^ Those likewise,'' 
 says Bridgman, " who work in wood, brass, iron, stone, 
 and various other materials, are numerous; and they who 
 engage in each of these respective occupations, form, to 
 a certain degree, a separate community, and have each 
 their own laws and rules for the regulation of their busi- 
 ness." 
 
 Both operatives and tradesmen arc very much in the 
 habit of herding together. Entire streets are devoted to 
 thw same kind of business. There is even a street occu- 
 
25 
 
 pied almost exclusively by professors of the healing art, 
 and is thence called by the Fanquis,* " Doctor street." 
 The signs, gaily painted and lettered on each side, and 
 hung out like tavern signs among us, give the business 
 streets a lively and brilliant appearance. 
 
 The population of Canton is a difficult subject. No 
 certain data exist for an accurate estimate. The author 
 above quoted enters into conjectures and calculations, 
 which give him a result of nearly a million and a quarter, 
 including the suburbs and river. It seems probable that 
 this estimate is considerably beyond the mark. The river 
 population is an interesting subject, to which we shall 
 recur. 
 
 VII. Picture of Whampoa. 
 
 Above the picture just described, is another, of the 
 same dimensions and by the same artist, presenting us 
 with a view of Whampoa and the surrounding country. 
 The point from which the view is taken is French island, 
 a small portion of which appears in the fore-ground. 
 Considering ourselves as occupying this position, we have 
 immediately before us Whampoa Reach, in which several 
 foreign vessels are riding at anchor, and Whampoa Island, 
 with its walled town, its plantations of rice, sugar-cane, 
 &c., its orange groves, and its picturesque and lofty pa- 
 goda crowning a distant eminence. Beyond appear the 
 winding channel called Junk River, the level coast, and 
 the far-off mountains, that swell out, in undulating outline, 
 to the northward of Canton. The view represented in 
 the picture is extensive and beautiful, and the execution 
 of the painting is creditable to the skill of the artist. 
 
 ♦ Foreigners. 
 
 4 
 
26 
 
 Whampoa Reach, the southern channel, is the anchor- 
 age of all foreign shipping. It is nine miles from Canton. 
 The cargoes imported iwe here unladed, and taken up to 
 the factories in a kind of lighter, called chops; and 
 whatever is to be exported is brought down in the same 
 way. 
 
 VIII. Picture of Hormn, 
 
 Directly opposite these two pictures, is a smaller one 
 of Honan, a village on the south side of Pearl river, 
 over against Canton. This village is chiefly celebrated 
 for its extensive and magnificent temple of Budha, 
 the richest religious establishment in this part of the 
 Empire. No part of the splendid structure is visi- 
 ble in the painting, which is mainly interesting as 
 affording the best view of river life in the Collection. 
 This is a mode of existence peculiar to the Chinese. The 
 people of other nations resort to the water for purposes of 
 gain, warfare, health, or pleasure, for a season, but they 
 never cease to regard the land as their natural and per- 
 manent dwelling-place. They would be miserable if 
 they believed themselves confined for life to floating 
 habitations, whatever temporary attractions these might 
 possess. But millions on millions of people in China are 
 born, vegetate, and die, upon the bosom of its numerous 
 streams. They occasionally make a " cruise on shore,'' 
 but they return to the water as their natural home and 
 element. It is computed that there are not less than 
 84,000 dwelling boats within the immediate neighbour- 
 hood of Canton. These are arranged in regular streets, 
 which are lighted up at night. Besides the boats used as 
 habitations, the river is covered with innumerable craft 
 
27 
 
 ill perpetual motion ; yet such is the skill with which 
 they are managed, and the peaceableness of the boat- 
 men, that jostlings rarely occur, and quarrels are almost 
 unknown. 
 
 The visiter will observe, on the window-sill in this 
 corner of the saloon, two specimens of Chinese windows. 
 The substance used for transmitting the light is mother- 
 of-pearl. A variety of other substances is employed for 
 the same purpose, as mica, horn, paper, silk-gauze, &c. 
 Glass windows are seldom seen. There is a frame-work 
 in front of the translucent substance, dividing it into 
 small panes, of various shapes. This is the general style 
 of Chinese windows, but the passion of the people for 
 variety leads them to adopt an endless diversity of pat- 
 terns, as any one may easily assure himself by examining 
 divers of the paintings in Mr. Dunn's Collection. 
 
 IX. The first Case on the north wall, with the two 
 Cases opposite. 
 
 We now proceed to notice the contents of the glass 
 cases in order. The first contains two civil mandarins, 
 of the first and second grades. The one highest in rank 
 is seated, with his head uncovered ; the other, with his 
 cap still on, is paying the customary respect to his supe- 
 rior, previous to his occupancy of an adjoining chair. 
 The former is upon the left, this being the post of honour 
 among the Chinese. A secretary is in waiting behind 
 each, with some oflicial documents in his hand. The two 
 dignitaries are attired in their state robes, which are lite- 
 rally stiff with embroidery, a liberal proportion of which 
 is wrought with gold thread. Each has an enormous 
 bead neck-lace, extending below the waist in front, with 
 
28 
 
 a string of ^^ court beads'' attached to it at the hinder 
 part of the neck, which reaches down to the middle of 
 the back. The caps are dome-shaped, with the lower 
 portion turned up, and forming a broad rim, which is 
 faced with black velvet. The top of the cap is sur- 
 mounted by a globular button, or ball, from which there 
 depends a sufficient quantity of crimson silk to cover 
 completely the whole of the upper portion. The mate- 
 rial and colour of the crowning sphere indicates the rank 
 of the wearer. Besides this distinctive button, each 
 grade of mandarins has a characteristic badge, worn both 
 upon the breast and the back. This is a square piece of 
 black silk, covered with various embroidery, but having 
 its centre occupied with the embroidered figure of a bird, 
 a dragon, or a tiger. The rank of the officer is desig- 
 nated by the kind and colour of the central figure. In 
 the badges of the two mandarins in this case, for example, 
 the figure in each is a bird, but in one it is white, and in 
 the other blue. 
 
 The articles of furniture in the first case are such as 
 are commonly met with in the houses of the higher classes. 
 There are two massive arm chairs, of a dark-coloured 
 wood, the enormous breadth of which will attract general 
 notice. There is also a square table, with abundance of 
 carving upon it, the top of which is inlaid with porcelain. 
 In front depends an elegant and costly piece of golden 
 embroidery. The back wall of the apartment is hung 
 with crimson drapery thickly sprinkled wdth gold, and 
 containing maxims from the philosophers, in large and 
 elegant Chinese characters. 
 
 The nobility of China is of two kinds, hereditary and 
 official. The former class of nobles is not numerous, nor 
 greatly influential. It consists cliiefly of the relations of 
 the Emperor, who are styled princes, and are bound to 
 
29 
 
 live within the precincts of the imperial palace. The 
 real nobility, or aristocracy, of the country, are the man- 
 darins. Of these there are estimated to be, on the civil 
 list of the Empire, not less than 14,000. The mandarins 
 are divided into nine ranks, or piuj each of which is 
 indicated by a double badge — the colour of the globe on 
 the apex of the cap, and the embroidery on the front and 
 back of their official robes. The colours employed are 
 red, blue, crystal, white, and gold ; and these, with 
 certain modifications of shade, serve to distinguish what 
 are denominated " the nine ranks.'' The nominal rank, 
 and of course the distinctive costume, of any of the offi- 
 cial grades, may be purchased of the Emperor. It is, 
 however, rarely done, as the sum demanded is very large. 
 Houqua, for instance, the richest of the Hong merchants, 
 whose likeness we have in the figure of the mandarin of 
 the first class, purchased his nominal rank at the enor- 
 mous price of 8100,000. 
 
 Persons are selected for civil office in China with an 
 almost exclusive reference to their talents and education. 
 Strange as it may seem, there is probably no other coun- 
 try on the globe where cultivated talent exercises its 
 legitimate sway to an equal extent. Wealth, and titular 
 nobility, and purchased rank, have their influence, no 
 doubt ; but, unless accompanied by personal merit, and 
 above all, by education, their power is comparatively 
 limited and feeble. That the Emperor takes good heed 
 to choose for his officers none but men of the highest at- 
 tainments and most commanding abilities, is certain ; whe- 
 ther he is equally careful to secure men of the ])urest 
 virtue, seems at least questionable. Most writers on 
 China agree in ascribing to the mandarins no very envia- 
 ble character for moral honesty or civil justice. They 
 represent them as crafty, rapacious, and oppressive; 
 
30 
 
 traitors alike to the interests of their master, the princi- 
 ples of equity, and the sentiment of mercy. The lower 
 orders of Chinese are presented to our imagination under 
 the similitude of pigeons, while the mandarins are repre- 
 sented as the hawks who are watching to despoil them of 
 their property. 
 
 Mr. Dunn thinks this picture quite too highly colour- 
 ed. Mr. J. F. Davis, also, — an English gentleman of 
 education and intelligence, who, having accompanied 
 Lord Amherst on an embassy to Peking, in 1816, after- 
 wards resided over twenty years in China, and whose 
 opportunities of observation were therefore the best that 
 could be, — gives a greatly modified, if not an entirely 
 different, view of the mandarin's character. He says that 
 the worst phases under which the Chinese character is 
 any where seen, is at Canton ; and that it is not fair to 
 reason from the malpractices of the government ofiicers 
 in that city to a similar line of conduct in those of other 
 parts of the Empire. There is doubtless considerable 
 force in this observation. Foreigners are considered by 
 all Chinamen as fair game. 
 
 Such, then, is the view of Mr. Davis : nevertheless, he 
 is obliged to confess that malversations in the public func- 
 tionaries are of frequent occurrence, and that the patri- 
 archal character claimed for the government has dege- 
 nerated into ^^a mere fiction, excellently calculated to 
 strengthen and perpetuate the hand of despotism, but 
 retaining little of the paternal character beyond its abso- 
 lute authority." 
 
 It is well known that the civil institutions of China 
 claim to be framed and fashioned upon the exact model 
 of a wise family government. The Emperor is invariably 
 spoken of as the father of the nation ; the viceroy of a 
 province arrogates the same title in reference to his 
 
31 
 
 satrapy; a mandarin is regarded as holding a similar 
 relation to the city which he governs ; and even a mili- 
 tary commander is the father of his soldiers. This idea^ 
 and the sentiments corresponding to it, are sedulously 
 instilled into every subject of the Empire, from the ear- 
 liest dawn of the intellect till its powers are extinguished 
 by death. The book of Sacred Instructions, whose six- 
 teen discourses are read to the people twice every moon, 
 inculcates the doctrine again and again. " In our gene- 
 ral conduct,^' it says, " not to be orderly is to fail in filial 
 duty ; in serving our sovereign, not to be faithful is to fail 
 in filial duty ; in acting as a magistrate, not to be careful 
 is to fail in filial duty ; in the intercourse of friends, not 
 to be sincere is to fail in filial duty ; in arms and in war, 
 not to be brave is to fail in filial duty." In the early, 
 steady, earnest, and universal inculcation of this precept, 
 doubtless, we may discover the seminal principles of the 
 idiosyncrasy, the repose, the stability, the incwable con- 
 servatism of the Celestial Empire. 
 
 The two cases opposite the one whose contents have 
 been just described, together with the next in a range 
 with them, contain numerous rare and beautiful speci- 
 mens of shells and corals from the Chinese waters. 
 
 X. The second Wall Case. 
 
 The second case, on the north side of the saloon, con- 
 tains two mandarins of the inferior grades, a secretary, 
 and a common soldier, together with specimens of most 
 of the national military implements. The costume of 
 these mandarins — one being of the fourth, the other of 
 the sixth class — is far inferior to that of the two in the 
 first case. Their long silk petticoats are fastened round 
 
32 
 
 the waist by means of belts, one of which is united in front 
 by a clasp, and the other is tied in a knot behind. The 
 visiter will notice a variety of accoutrements attached to 
 these belts, rather military in their appearance, but not 
 at all so in reality. In fact, a Chinese never goes armed, 
 as the jealousy of the government has denied the privi- 
 lege of wearing arms to all except the soldiers on parade. 
 The appendages referred to are, therefore, altogether 
 peaceful, such as a silk fan-sheath, embroidered tobacco- 
 pouches, &c. The caps are of bamboo, cone-shaped, but 
 not turned up at the edges ; one of them having crimson 
 silk, the other horse-hair dyed red, pendent from the 
 crowning ball. These are summer caps. 
 
 The secretary is standing behind his superior, and 
 reaching out to him a red-covered official document. He 
 is attired in a gown and spencer of dark nankeen, the 
 common material of the dresses of the lower orders. 
 
 The soldier in this case is a dark-visaged, hard-favour- 
 ed son of Mars, solemn as an owl, but, we fear, without 
 his wisdom. He flourishes in a huge pair of coarse blue 
 nankeen trowsers, and a red tunic of the same, with white 
 facings. The cap, in the present instance, is of quilted 
 silk, with the edge turned up, and a red knot at the top. 
 More commonly, it is either of rattan or bamboo painted, 
 being in a conical shape, and well suited to ward off a 
 blow. The warrior is armed with a rude matchlock, the 
 only kind of hand fire-arms known among the Chinese. 
 There is hung up on the wall a shield, constructed of 
 rattan turned spirally round a centre, very similar in 
 shape and appearance to our circular basket lids. Be- 
 sides the matchlock and shield, a variety of weapons, 
 offensive and defensive, are in use in China ; such as hel- 
 mets, bows and arrows, cross-bows, spears, javelins, 
 pikes, halberds, double and single swords, daggers. 
 
33 
 
 maces, a species of quilted armour of cloth studded with 
 metal buttons, &c. 
 
 The standing army of the Celestial Empire numbers 
 about 700,000 men, of whom 80,000 are Tartars, the 
 rest native Chinese. The military power of '^ Heaven's 
 Son'' appears formidable in figures, but has little claim 
 to be so considered in reality. If the universal testimony 
 of eye- witnesses may be taken as proof, the army is little 
 better than a rabble rout, mere men of straw, destitute of 
 discipline, bravery, science, skill, and every other sol- 
 dier-like quality. Of artillery they know nothing. They 
 have no gun-carriages, their cannon being fixed immove- 
 ably in one position. When the Sylph and Amherst, 
 British men-of-war, sailed up the coast, the Chinese sol- 
 diers threw up numerous mounds of earth, and white- 
 washed them, to give them the appearance of tents ! In 
 the absence of all truly martial qualities, they have abun- 
 dance of cunning and trickery ; and Chinese military faith 
 is, at the present day, what Punica fides was in the olden 
 times. 
 
 The costumes of the Chinese, as displayed in the 
 figures of Mr. Dunn's Collection, form an interesting 
 subject of observation. The dress of every grade of 
 society in China, is, to a certain extent, fixed by usage ; 
 that is, there are certain limits which it is not allowable 
 by custom to overstep. Persons in the lower classes wear 
 coarse and dark-coloured fabrics ; while those who have 
 been more favoured in the accidents of birth and fortune, 
 seek the gratification of their taste in rich and costly 
 silks, satins, furs, broadcloths, and embroidery. There 
 is a great variety in the dresses, yet, as Mr. Wood ob- 
 serves, " the general model is not departed from, the 
 usual articles being a shirt, drawers, a long gown or 
 pelisse buttoning in front over them, stockings and 
 
 5 
 
34 
 
 shoes. '^ The shoes are singular enough. The uppers 
 are generally of embroidered cloth, sometimes one co- 
 lour, sometimes another, the lower stratum of the soles 
 is leather made of hogs' skins, while the intermediate 
 space, commonly about an inch in thickness, is filled up 
 with bamboo paper, with the edge painted white. They 
 are quite light, notwithstanding their clumsy appearance. 
 The Chinese seem to have a great partiality for blue in 
 their dresses. Frequently the whole garment is of this 
 colour, and even when this is not the case, the collar, 
 cuffs, and lower edges of the drawers, are, for the most 
 part, of the favourite hue. 
 
 The wealthier Chinese are extravagantly fond of showy 
 dresses, and a well- provided wardrobe is an object of 
 great pride. Handsome garments often descend, as an 
 heir-loom, from generation to generation, and constitute 
 the chief riches of a family. A deficiency of clean body- 
 linen is not regarded as a calamity by a Chinaman. A 
 fair outside is what he mainly covets, being little heedful 
 of either the quality or condition of what is underneath. 
 The change from a summer to a winter costume, and vice 
 versa, is made simultaneously throughout an entire pro- 
 vince, the viceroy setting the example by assuming the 
 cap appropriate to the season. 
 
 XI. Third Wall Case, 
 
 This case contains a group of three literati, in summer 
 costume. Their dresses, which are light and free, con- 
 trast advantageously with those tight and high-collared 
 garments with which fashion obliges us to encumber our- 
 selves. The visiter will observe, in the hand of one of 
 these philosophers, what he would naturally take for a 
 
35 
 
 smelling-bottle, but what is really a receptacle for snuff. 
 Tobacco, in all the forms of its preparation, is exten- 
 sively used. Transmuted into snuff, it is carried, not in 
 boxes, but in small bottles, with stoppers, to which there 
 is attached a little spoon or shovel. With this they take 
 out the pungent dust, and place it upon the back of the 
 left hand, near the lower thumb joint, whence it is snuffed 
 up to the olfactories, there to perform its titillating office. 
 
 There is placed here, very appropriately, a Chinese 
 book-case, beautifully carved and highly polished. The 
 books are kept in the lower section, where they are pro- 
 tected from dust by doors in front ; the upper section is 
 an open cabinet, divided into five unequal compartments, 
 set off by divers ornamental articles. The books are 
 placed in a horizontal position, and the titles are put on 
 the end instead of the back. 
 
 We regret that our restricted limits forbid our enter- 
 ing at any length into the consideration of the education 
 and literature of China. This is, beyond comparison, the 
 most interesting and instructive point of view in which 
 the Chinese can be contemplated. We cannot, indeed, 
 praise the kind of education practised in China. The 
 studies are confined to one unvaried routine, and to de- 
 viate in the smallest degree from the prescribed track, 
 would be regarded as something worse than mere eccen- 
 tricity. Science, therefore, properly speaking, is not 
 cultivated at all. There is no advancement, no thirsting 
 after fresh achievements of knowledge, no bold and pry- 
 ing investigations into the mysteries of nature. Chemis- 
 tO"? pJ^ysiology, astronomy, and natural philosophy, are 
 therefore at a low ebb. The instruction given in their 
 schools is almost wholly of a moral and political com- 
 plexion, being designed solely to teach the subjects of 
 the Empire their duties. Within the allotted circle all 
 
56 
 
 are educated, all must be educated. According to Mr, 
 Davis, a statute was in existence two thousand years ago, 
 which required that every town and village, down even 
 to a few families, should have a common school ; and one 
 work, of a date anterior to the Christian era, speaks of 
 the " ancient system of instruction." There are annual 
 examinations in the provinces, and triennial examinations 
 at Peking, which are resorted to by throngs of ambitious 
 students. The whole Empire is a university, a mighty 
 laboratory of scholars. The happy men who pass suc- 
 cessfully through the several ordeals necessary to be un- 
 dergone, are loaded with distinctions. They are feasted 
 at the expense of the nation ; their names and victories 
 are published throughout the Empire ; they are courted 
 and caressed ; and they become, ipso facto, eligible to all 
 the offices within the gift of the sovereign. All this is 
 that the Emperor may " pluck out the true talent'' of the 
 land, and employ it in the administration of the govern- 
 ment. The fourteen thousand civil mandarins are, almost 
 without exception, the beaux esprits — the best scholars 
 —of the realm. Educated talent here enjoys its just con- 
 sideration. All other titles to respect, all other qualifi- 
 cations for office, are held as naught compared with this. 
 This, undoubtedly, in connexion with the rigid enforce- 
 ment of the doctrine of responsibility, is the true secret 
 of the greatness and prosperity, the stability and repose, 
 of the Celestial Empire. For, as Dr. Milne truly re- 
 marks, they are the ambitious who generally overturn 
 governments ; but in China there is a road open to the 
 ambitious, without the dreadful alternative of revolution- 
 izing the country. All that is required of a man is that 
 he should give some proof of the possession of superior 
 abilities ; not an unreasonable requisition certainly. 
 Dr. Morrison has given a very curious and interesting 
 
37 
 
 account of the principles of study upon which the aspir- 
 ants for literary and political honours are enjoined to 
 proceed. There exists, it would seem, a work which 
 might properly enough be called a treatise on the conduct 
 of the understanding. The first thing needful is to 
 "form a resolution." This must be "firm and persever- 
 ing." Their maxim is that " the object on which a de- 
 termined resolution rests must succeed." The use of 
 common-place books, frequent repetitions, reflection, 
 fixed attention, patient plodding, thoroughness, the mas- 
 tery of a little rather than the skimming over of much, 
 the diligent improvement of scraps of time, and many 
 other excellent rules, are earnestly enjoined. There is a 
 a vein of common sense and practical wisdom running 
 through this development of the principles of mental cul- 
 ture, which cannot fail to increase our respect for the 
 people where such rules prevail. 
 
 The Chinese are a reading people, and the number of 
 their published works is very considerable. In the de- 
 partments of morals, history, biography, the drama, poe- 
 try, and romance, there is no lack of writings, " such as 
 they are." Of statistical works the number is also very 
 large. Their novels are said to be, many of them, excel- 
 lent pictures of the national manners. The plot is often 
 very complex, the incidents natural, and the characters 
 well sustained. China has had, too, her Augustan age of 
 poetry. It is remarkable that this brilliant epoch in 
 Chinese letters was during the eighth century of our era, 
 when almost the whole of Europe was sunk in gross igno- 
 rance and barbarism. We subjoin a single specimen of 
 their poetry, in a touching little piece, published in the 
 second volume of the Royal Asiatic Transactions, and 
 written 3000 years ago. Besides the pleasure its intrinsic 
 beauty will afford, it offers a convincing proof of the sub- 
 
38 
 
 stantial identity of human feelings in all times and coun- 
 tries. The piece bemoans the fate of a maiden, betroth- 
 ed to an humbler rival, but compelled to become the bride 
 of a rich and powerful suitor : — 
 
 1. 
 
 The nest yon winged artist builds, 
 Some robber bird shall tear away ; 
 
 So yields her hopes the affianced maid, 
 Some wealthy lord's reluctant prey. 
 
 2. 
 
 The fluttering bird prepares a home, 
 In which the spoiler soon shall dwell ; 
 
 Forth goes the weeping bride, constrained, 
 A hundred cars the triumph swell. 
 
 Mourn for the tiny architect, 
 
 A stronger bird hath ta'en its nest ; 
 Mourn for the hapless, stolen bride, 
 
 How vain the pomp to soothe her breast! 
 
 In their education, the greatest stress is in the incul- 
 cation of the social and political duties. Their teaching 
 is chiefly by authority. Hence the great use made of 
 maxims. These are suspended upon the walls of every 
 apartment, where they are constantly seen and read from 
 early childhood to decrepit old age. They say, " Good 
 sayings are like pearls strung together : inscribe them on 
 the walls of your dwelling, and regard them night and 
 day as wholesome admonitions.'' Of their maxims we 
 have numerous specimens in this Collection of Mr. Dunn. 
 They are suspended upon the walls of several of the 
 apartments, and upon all the ce+timns. We have before 
 us a volume of these apothegms, selected, compiled, and 
 translated by J. F. Davis, Esq. Mr. D. justly remarks 
 
39 
 
 that as, according to the Chinese proverb, ^^a man's con- 
 versation is the mirror of his thoughts, so the maxims of 
 a people may be considered as a medium which reflects 
 with tolerable accuracy the existing state of their man- 
 ners and ways of thinking/' In the work of Mr. D. there 
 is both a literal and a free translation. In the few speci- 
 mens subjoined, we shall take the former in preference, 
 as affording some insight into the grammatical structure 
 of their language, as well as their modes of thinking: — 
 " Mulberry slip accords with its youthful bent." " Em- 
 peror offending against the laws, with people's the same 
 crime is." " Loving your child, much give the cudgel ; 
 hating your child, much give to eat." " In learning, no 
 aged nor youthful ; learned who is, is the first." " High 
 talking and big expressions not have one speck of true 
 action." " Not to attend to small actions ultimately in- 
 volves great virtue." 
 
 XII. Fourth Wall Case, with the two opposite. 
 
 The fourth case introduces us to a group of Chinese 
 beauties. We have here three young ladies of rank, in full 
 costume. Their hair, which is done up on the back of the 
 head in bunches, and fastened with two bodkins stuck in 
 crosswise, is gaily adorned with WTcaths of flowers. There 
 is considerable variety in their dresses, but they are all 
 of the richest materials, and magnificently embroidered. 
 They are exceedingly modest and becoming, concealing 
 entirely the contour of the person. The exposure which 
 fashion allows to European and American ladies, would 
 be looked upon by Chinese women as a flagrant offence 
 against true modesty. The ^^ golden lilies," as the small 
 feet are called, figure, we cannot say ^^ largely," but 
 
40 
 
 interestingly, in these fair ones. Their hands are very 
 delicate ; their eyebrows gracefully arched ; their fea- 
 tures regular and oval ; their noses too flat for beauty ; 
 and the whole countenance, though rather pretty, and 
 certainly not unamiable, is deficient in strength of ex- 
 pression. Their occupations are characteristic ; one of 
 ihem is fingering a guitar, another is smoking, while the 
 third is amusing herself with a fan. From the waist de- 
 pends the never absent tobacco-pouch, elegant in mate- 
 rial, form, and workmanship. Each has three plain rings 
 in either ear. The footstools upon which their " golden 
 lilies'^ rest, are covered with embroidered silk. 
 
 This case also contains two female domestics, with feet 
 of the natural size, as it is only parents of the wealthier 
 sort who can afford to their daughters the luxury of small 
 feet. One of them is bringing tea to her mistress, in a 
 cup with a saucer-like cover. The common mode of 
 making tea in China, is to place a few leaves in each cup, 
 and pour boiling water upon them. The cups are always 
 provided with tops, to preserve the delicate aroma of the 
 tea, and the infusion is drunk without admixture of any 
 kind. 
 
 The women of China, as in all other countries not 
 blessed with Christianity, occupy a rank in society far 
 inferior to that of the men. Nevertheless, their place on 
 the social scale is higher, their influence greater, and 
 their treatment better, than can be predicated of the sex 
 in any other Asiatic nation. Of school education the 
 mass receive none, though there are occasionally shining 
 exceptions ; but Gutzlaff ascribes to them the possession 
 of a large share of common sense, and says that they make 
 devoted wives and tender mothers. 
 
 The generality of Chinese ladies cannot boast of great 
 beauty. They make a free use of rouge, and this article 
 
41 
 
 is always among the presents to a bride on the occasion 
 of her nuptials. In what circumstances the ^^ golden 
 lilies/' the highest of personal attractions, originated, 
 is not known. The distortion is produced by turn- 
 ing the toes under the soles of the feet at birth, and 
 confining them in that position by tight bandages, till 
 their growth is effectually checked. The bandaging 
 is continued for several years, during which the poor 
 child suffers the most excruciating tortures. This is, 
 no doubt, an absurd, cruel, and wicked practice ; but 
 those who dwell in glass houses should not throw stones. 
 It is not a whit worse, nay, we maintain that it is less 
 irrational and injurious, than the abomination of tight 
 lacing. No vital part is here attacked, no vital functions 
 disordered ; and, on the score of taste, if the errors of 
 nature are to be rectified, and her graceful lines and 
 proportions improved, we see not why the process of 
 amendment may not be as reasonably applied to the feet 
 as to the waist. Almost every family in China, however 
 poor, has one daughter with the small feet. 
 
 Head-dresses of natural and artificial flowers are always 
 worn. No woman, says Sir George Staunton, is so poor 
 as to neglect, or so aged as to give up, adorning herself 
 in this manner. The culture of flowers for this purpose 
 is a regular occupation throughout the country. 
 
 Among the accomplishments of the Chinese ladies, 
 music, painting on silk, and embroidery, hold the chief 
 places. The musical instruments are various in kind and 
 material, and a supply of them is held to be an indispen- 
 sable part of the furniture of a lady's boudoir. Painting 
 on silk is a very common recreation ; and embroidery is 
 an almost universal accomplishment. 
 
 Of the two cases opposite, one contains a variety of 
 highly interesting curiosities. The most beautiful is 
 
 6 
 
42 
 
 a model of the celebrated flower-boat, with all its fur- 
 niture and decorations complete. Nothing of the kind 
 could well be imagined more rich, gay, and showy. 
 The central portion forms what may be called a suite of 
 drawing-rooms, enclosed with the usual carved and gilded 
 screen-work of the country, and provided with elegant 
 miniature furniture. The kitchen is in the hinder part, 
 where are seen models of all the utensils used. The stern 
 is as gay as the gayest trappings can make it, and near 
 the bows there are representations of the flower- pots and 
 flowers, from which the barge receives its name. This 
 boat is much employed for pleasure excursions, particu- 
 larly in the calm summer evenings ; and it is also some- 
 times used as a dwelling-place by a not very reputable 
 class of females. 
 
 In the lower section of this case there is a model of a 
 bridge, with hve arches, the original of which is of gra- 
 nite, and must be a handsome structure. The arches 
 are formed on strictly scientific principles, though the 
 bridge is several hundred years old. 
 
 Besides these large articles, there are, in the case we 
 are describing, an air-gun with wooden barrel ; a duck- 
 gun with matchlock ; a curious double sword, capable of 
 being used as one, and having but one sheath ; specimens 
 of Chinese bullets, shot, powder, powder-horns, and 
 match-ropes ; numerous specimens of tobacco and opium 
 pipes ; samples of divers kinds of fruits ; two carved 
 ivory balls ; and several small wooden stands, of beautiful 
 patterns and elegant workmanship, made for ornamental 
 display on parlour tables, book cases, &c. 
 
 The national taste for tobacco is well represented by 
 the large collection of pipes. The fondness of the Chi- 
 nese for this exotic weed is not less strong than for the 
 most celebrated indigenous plant of their own country. 
 
43 
 
 nor its use less prevalent. It is used alike by men and 
 women, rich and poor, high and low, old and young, for 
 the soothing, tranquilizing effect it produces upon the 
 mind. The Chinese tobacco is of a mild, agreeable fla- 
 vour, and in colour is almost white. The stems of the 
 pipes are generally long, slender pieces of bamboo ; the 
 mouth-pieces amber, ivory, glass, &c.; and the bowls, of 
 some metallic substance, more or less valuable according 
 to the wealth or taste of the owner, arc commonly mode- 
 rate in their dimensions. Pipes which have been used a 
 long time are usually preferred, *^and the age of a pipe- 
 stem is a pretty certain proof of its valye.^' Opium is 
 also smoked in large quantities, but the pipe used for this 
 drug differs essentially from that employed in tobacco- 
 smoking. 
 
 Carved ivory balls have become common, but it is rare 
 to see as fine a specimen as one of those in this case. This 
 is composed of seventeen balls, one within the other, 
 covered with ornamental carving of the most delicate 
 kind. How this can be done is a problem which has 
 puzzled Europe for ages. It was long supposed that 
 there was some deception about it, but it is now ascer- 
 tained that the whole is carved out of a solid block of 
 ivory, by the slow and patient pains-taking of plodding 
 ingenuity. In the art of carving, as well as in that of 
 embroidering, the Chinese undoubtedly excel all other 
 nations. Witness their tables, screens, ivory balls, and 
 another article less known, but evincing equal ingenuity 
 and skill ; we mean the snuff-bottle. These are often of 
 rock crystal, and hollowed into perfect bottles of about 
 two inches in length, through openings in the neck not a 
 quarter of an inch in diameter ; and, what is more sur- 
 prising, the inside is inscribed with minute charactei-s, so 
 as to be read through the transparent substance. 
 
44 
 
 The case on the opposite side of the column is filled 
 with Chinese shoes. The most curious are those for the 
 golden lilies, some of them not more than three inches in 
 length. The others are extremely clumsy, with soles 
 varying from half an inch to three or four inches in 
 thickness. 
 
 XIII. Fifth Wall Case. 
 
 In the fifth case we have a specimen of Chinese thea- 
 tricals. There are three figures of actors, — an adult and 
 two children, — a gorgeous state umbrella, a number of 
 theatrical caps, and a sample of embroidered tapestry. 
 The dresses and adornments of the actors are of rich 
 materials, elegantly wrought. 
 
 Theatrical exhibitions are favourite amusements of the 
 Chinese, and, as among the ancient Greeks and Romans, 
 they are sometimes connected with religion. The esti- 
 mation in which they are held may be inferred from a 
 single fact. The money expended upon them in one 
 year at Macao, a place where there are but few wealthy 
 Chinese, amounted to nearly seven thousand dollars. 
 
 It is remarkable that there are no regular theatres. 
 The actors are literally vagabonds, strolling about from 
 city to city, and from province to province. In Canton, 
 for example, the inhabitants of a certain quarter club to- 
 gether and make up a purse, with which a company is 
 engaged. A temporary theatre is erected, and the whole 
 neighbourhood is at liberty to attend. When the quid pro 
 quo has been rendered by the actors, they move off to 
 another quarter, and the same thing is repeated. It is cus- 
 tomary to employ play-actors at private entertainments, 
 which are never considered complete without a theatrical 
 
45 
 
 exhibition. Upon such occasions a list of plays is handed 
 to the most distinguished guest, who selects whichever 
 best jumps with his fancy. The principal inns and all 
 large private establishments have a room expressly for 
 this purpose. Females are not allowed to appear on the 
 stage. 
 
 Some notice of the other national amusements will not 
 be out of place here. The Chinese have fewer holidays 
 than perhaps any other people ; yet they have a number 
 of festivals, which are enjoyed with a keen relish. The 
 chief of these is the Feast of the New Year, a species of 
 Saturnalia, when the whole Empire abandons itself to a 
 phrenzy of merriment. All labour is intermitted for 
 several days ; public business is suspended ; servants are 
 dressed out in all the finery at their command ; visits of 
 ceremony and presents are interchanged among friends ; 
 the rites of religion are conducted with unusual pomp ; 
 and, in short, gaiety and pleasure are the reigning divi- 
 nities. 
 
 The Feast of Lanterns, which occurs soon after this, 
 is a general illumination throughout the Empire. The 
 object seems to be to afford an occasion for the display of 
 ingenuity and taste in the construction and mechanism of 
 an infinite variety of lanterns. It is computed that, upon 
 this occasion, there are not less than 200,000,000 blazing 
 at the same time in different parts of the Empire. 
 
 There are several agricultural festivals ; an annual trial 
 of skill in boat- racing ; a festival in honour of the dead ; 
 and a sort of general thanksgiving, a holiday highly en- 
 joyed, which takes place in September, at the com- 
 mencement of the business year. 
 
 Gaming prevails among the lower orders, but so much 
 infamy attaches to gamblers, that government ofiicers and 
 the more respectable of the people are free from this taint. 
 
46 
 
 Dominoes, cards, dice, and chess, are favourite games. 
 The venders of fruits often gamble with purchasers in 
 the following manner: — A boy wishes a half dozen 
 oranges. The fruit and half the price demanded for it 
 are laid down together. Recourse is then had to the 
 dice-box. If the urchin throws the highest number, he 
 pockets his money again, and gets the fruit for nothing ; 
 if the seller, he in like manner sweeps the stakes, and the 
 disappointed gamester may whistle for oranges, or try his 
 fortune elsewhere. Quails are trained for fighting, and 
 even a species of cricket, two of which are placed in a 
 bowl together, and irritated till they tear each other in 
 pieces. Fire- works, and the tricks of jugglers, tumblers, 
 rope-dancers, &c. are greatly relished. 
 
 Of out-door games, the most popular is kite-flying. 
 In this the Chinese excel. They show their superiority 
 as well in the curious construction of their kites, as in 
 the height to which they make them mount. By means 
 of round holes, supplied with vibrating cords, their kites 
 are made to produce a loud humming noise, like that of 
 a top. A game at shuttle-cock, in which the feet serve 
 as battledores, is also a favourite " field sport." In Pe- 
 king, during the winter, skating, and other amusements 
 on the ice, in which the Emperor takes a part, are among 
 the national pastimes. 
 
 XIV. Three Cases in the inter- columniations^ contain- 
 ing Ornamental Articles, 
 
 The contents of these cases will be examined with 
 special interest by the ladies. Each is divided into three 
 horizontal compartments, all filled with articles of virtu 
 and pieces of ornamental furniture, of wood, stone, jade. 
 
47 
 
 ivory, metal, &c. The little stands, inlaid with marble 
 or porcelain, are numerous, and the variety of their forms 
 can only be equalled by the beauty of their proportions, 
 and the exquisite style in which they are finished. 
 
 In the first of these cases there is a curious ornament, 
 rare even in China, and of great cost. It is thus de- 
 scribed by Mr. Davis : — '' The ornament which has 
 sometimes, for want of a better name, been called a 
 sceptre, is, in fact, an emblem of amity and good will, of 
 a shape less bent than the letter S, about eighteen inches 
 in length, and cut from the jade or i/u stone. It is called 
 joo-eCf 'sls you wish,' and is simply exchanged as a costly 
 mark of friendship ; but that it had a religious origin 
 seems indicated by the sacred flower of the lotus (Nym- 
 phaea nelumbo) being generally carved on the superior 
 end.'' 
 
 In the lower compartment of the second case there is 
 a framed specimen of a singular kind of stone found in 
 some parts of China, which, when polished, presents rude 
 resemblances of birds, insects, &c, ; and also a specimen 
 of painted glass, the subject of the painting being of an 
 astrological nature. 
 
 The middle section contains a handsome model of a 
 Chinese settee. These are sometimes made with marble 
 seats and backs, for summer use, as may be seen in ano- 
 ther model in the third case. 
 
 The gayest portion of this case is the upper division. 
 The visiter will be first attracted by two splendid speci- 
 mens of the shell of the pearl oyster, the surfaces of which 
 are carved after the peculiar fashion of the Chinese. On 
 one of them there is a bee, ingeniously wrought out of 
 gold wire, a novel and brilliant imitation of that useful 
 insect. 
 
 There are several strings of beads, of odoriferous wood, 
 
48 
 
 some of them tastefully enclosed in sewing silk. These 
 are much esteemed in China, and are worn by both sexes. 
 
 We have also in this case, two neat hand mirrors, with 
 carved ivory backs ; several groups of figures in ivory of 
 men and animals ; two handsome chop-stick cases, with 
 their appropriate contents ; besides a variety of other 
 articles peculiar to the country. But the most graceful 
 of these unique ornaments, are certain specimens of fila- 
 gree fruit, made of silver wire, attenuated to the last de- 
 gree of fineness. The patience and skill evinced in them, 
 and their delicate beauty, elicit the highest admiration. 
 
 A characteristic apparatus remains to be signalized and 
 explained. It consists of a silver tooth-pick, ear-pick, 
 and tongue-scraper, worn in the girdle around the waist, 
 to which it is attached by means of a chain of the same 
 material. 
 
 The lower section of the third case is taken up with a 
 fanningmill, which bears a close resemblance to those in 
 use among us. The other two divisions contain snufi*- 
 bottles, of various patterns and materials ; elegant silken 
 pocket-books, some of them in shape much like a lady's 
 reticule; tobacco and other pouches; a cylindrical pen- 
 holder, made of the bark of a tree ; specimens of the 
 Chinese cashy^ the only coin they have ; a pair of specta- 
 cles, with their silken case ; together with stands, carved 
 images, &c. &c. There is likewise what the Chinese 
 call a suan-pan, — calculating-dish, — ^^ having balls of 
 wood strung upon wires in separate columns, of which 
 one column represents units, with a decimal increase and 
 diminution to the left and right, as in our system of enu- 
 meration. Each ball above the longitudinal division of 
 
 * Eight of them are about equal to our cent. They have a square hole 
 in the middle, and are carried on strings. 
 
49 
 
 the board represents five, and each below it stands for 
 one. In anthmetical operations, the above machine is 
 always used.*'* 
 
 XV. Sixih WaU Case. 
 
 This ease contains several highly interesting figures ; 
 viz : two priests ; a gentleman in raooraing apparel ; his 
 servant; and, in the back ground, two women of the 
 middling classes, with a little boy. The figure on the 
 viater^s left is a priest of Bodha^ or Fo. He is in full 
 canonicals, connsting of a loose robe of dari^-coloured 
 2»lk, over which is thrown a sort of surplice, made of 
 yellow gauze linen. His entire head is shorn, but the 
 top of it is covered with a ring-like cap. To the right 
 of the Badhist is a priest of the Taoa sect, also fully ap- 
 parelled. Over loose tro ws cr s of some daA-cokwrcd stoff, 
 he wears a gown of yeUow crape, variously ornamented 
 on the breast. His head is also shaved, except a small 
 spot just hack of the crown. The hair is not braided into 
 a cae, hot done up in a bunch, and confined, by means 
 of bodkins, within a kind of wooden case. Each has an 
 rosary about the neck, with a smaller one in his 
 
 The two sects fHiose ministers are thus represented, 
 are, properiy speaking, the only rdigiaut sects in China. 
 There is, indeed, a third — the Confucian — but its doc- 
 trines coBstitote a system ratiier of philosophy than of 
 thcfdogy. It has M» ptiodiood hot the Emperor and his 
 civilmaBdariiis,aotcmplci,aadnoi«s<nbrworslnp. The 
 Taoo,orBatioiial,re^poB,isind%;eMNisinChiBa« Laoa- 
 
 7 
 
50 
 
 tze, the founder of the sect, has been called the Epicurus 
 of China ; and, in some points, there would seem to be a 
 resemblance between the doctrines of the Chinese sage 
 and the Grecian philosopher. The intelligible part of his 
 system consists in the inculcation of a contempt of riches, 
 fame, pleasure, and all worldly distinctions. He placed 
 the chief good in tranquillity and self-enjoyment. Along 
 with these dogmas, there is mixed up much that is mys- 
 tical, puerile, and silly. The priests of the Taou sect 
 pretend to a knowledge of alchymy, practice magic, and 
 seem, in fact, to be a set of mere cheats and jugglers. 
 
 Budhism, or the worship of Fo, was imported from 
 India about the middle of the first century of our era. 
 With the exception of Christianity and Mohammedanism, 
 this religion is more widely disseminated than -any other. 
 It prevails in Thibet, Siam, Ava, Tartary, Japan, Cochin- 
 China, and, to a considerable extent, in China Proper. 
 The leading dogma of the Budhists is the metempsy- 
 chosis ; and the consummation of felicity held out to de- 
 votees, is annihilation. Their five principal moral rules 
 are — 1. Do not kill any living creature. 2. Do not 
 marry. 3. Do not steal. 4. Speak not falsely. 5. Drink 
 no wine. — The priests of this sect live in a kind of 
 monasteries, connected with the temple of Fo, practise 
 celibacy, fast, pray for the souls of the dead, use holy 
 water, count beads in saying their prayers, worship 
 relics, and pray in an unknown tongue. Tl»e Budhists, 
 and many of the Chinese not belonging to this sect, keep 
 what may be called an account current vyith heaven, upon 
 a system of double entry. Every good act is set dovvu at 
 so much on the credit side ; every bad one, at an esta- 
 blished valuation, on the debtor side ; and the books are 
 balanced, like other account books, annually. This sect 
 does not flourish under the present dynasty. Its minis- 
 
51 
 
 ters are veritable mendicants^ ignorant, grovelling, lazy, 
 and without influence. 
 
 The only religious community in China which seems 
 entitled to any portion of our respect, is that which at- 
 taches itself to the doctrines of Confucius ; and this, as 
 already hinted, is rather a sect in philosophy, than reli- 
 gion. The doctrines of the Confucians are embodied in 
 nine classical or sacred books, called " The Four Books," 
 and ^^The Five Canonical Works.'' These contain a 
 complete body of rules, first, for the government* of one's 
 self, and the regulation of social intercourse ; secondly, 
 for the government of a family, and the education of a 
 community ; and thirdly, for the government of an em- 
 pire, and the management of its complex machinery. 
 The sententious brevity of style that characterizes these 
 celebrated productions, renders the meaning often ob- 
 scure, and has induced a mass of commentaries, of formi- 
 dable bulk ; but it cannot be doubted that they contain 
 many maxims just in sentiment, wise in policy, and ad- 
 mirably suited to the genius of the people, — maxims 
 which have conferred merited immortality upon the 
 memory of their author, and done more for the stability 
 of the Empire than all other causes combined. Confu- 
 cius, however, avoided, almost entirely, strictly reli- 
 gions subjects. Dr. Morrison says that he admitted he 
 did not understand much concerning the gods; and he 
 adds, that his most celebrated commentator, Choo-foo- 
 tsze, aflirmed that sufficient knov^rledge was not possessed 
 to say positively that they existed. The system of Con- 
 fucius is the state religion. The Emperor is Pontifex 
 Maximus, the mandarins form the only priesthood, and 
 the whole body of literati are its adherents. 
 
 The figures, in this case, representing mourners, are 
 habited in coarse sack-cloth, the universal mourning ap- 
 
52 
 
 parel in China. The shoes are white ; the hair and 
 beard are permitted to grow unshaven ; and an odd spe- 
 cies of head-gear surmounts the cranium. The full 
 period of mourning for a parent is three years, but this 
 is commonly reduced in practice to twenty-seven months; 
 a shorter period is allotted for other relations. Three 
 years must elapse after the death of a parent before a 
 child is permitted to marry. On the death of an Em- 
 peror, his hundreds of millions of subjects mourn for 
 him exactly as children do for a parent. All officers 
 of government take the ball and crimson silk from their 
 caps. 
 
 XVI. Seventh Wall Case, with the smaller Cases 
 
 opposite. 
 
 This case offers to our observation some queer speci- 
 mens of Chinese life. We have in it an itinerant barber, 
 shoemaker, and blacksmith, and two boat-women, one of 
 whom is carrying an infant on her back. The barbers 
 in China are a numerous class. Every town is thronged 
 with them. The reason is, that, as the head, as well as 
 face, is shaved, no Chinaman ever shaves himself. The 
 barbel's are all ambulatory. Each carries his shop on his 
 back, and performs his operations tonsorial in the open 
 street. The usual implements are a stool, provided with 
 a case of drawers, and a kind of tub, with a small char- 
 coal furnace and a basin. We have the apparatus here 
 complete. The operation is usually performed in perfect 
 silence, a fact meriting the attention of our own practi- 
 tioners in this line. The razor is a clumsy-looking affair, 
 but is said to shave sufficiently well. It is sharpened on 
 iron. No soap is used, the beard being softened by the 
 
53 
 
 application of hot water alone. The compensation is left 
 entirely to the employer's generosity ; it is commonly 
 from five to ten cash. 
 
 The ambulatory shoemaker, with his rude instruments, 
 and his spectacles, resembling those with which idle boys 
 in school are sometimes punished, is a study for a painter. 
 He carries with him in a basket wherever he goes, all 
 his implements, together with his whole stock in trade. 
 A fan and a pipe, without which, it would almost seem, 
 a Chinaman could not exist, complete his equipment. 
 
 The visiter will notice the novel manner, in which our 
 shoemaker's spectacles are kept in their place. This is 
 effected by no greater expenditure of ingenuity than is 
 involved in passing a loop fastened to the ends of the 
 spectacles round each ear. They are sometimes retain- 
 ed in their position by silver cords slung over the ears, 
 to which small weights are attached, to preserve the equi- 
 librium^ The glasses, or rather crystals (for rock crys- 
 tal, ground with the powder of corundum, supplies the 
 place of glass,) are perfectly circular in shape, and of 
 enormous dimensions, which gives the wearer a very sa- 
 pient appearance. 
 
 By the side of the honest cobler, we have an itinerant 
 blacksmith, — par nobile fratrum. He also, when in- 
 clined to try his fortune in a new place, stows forge, 
 bellows, anvil, tools, c^c, into a basket, which he slings 
 on his shoulder, and thus takes up his line of march. 
 This figure, with the implements and appliances that 
 surround it, will attract special notice. The anvil, in- 
 stead of having a flat surface, is slightly rounded on the 
 top, which causes the iron to extend more readily under 
 the hammer. The bellows is a hollow cylinder with a 
 piston, so contrived that the blast produced by it is con- 
 tinuous. The Chinese have the art of repairing cast iron 
 
54 
 
 vessels when injured, — an art, so far as we know, not 
 possessed by any other nation. 
 
 The female figures in this case represent a large class 
 in China, viz. the boat-women. One of them has an in- 
 fant on her back, who finds a convenient handle to hold 
 by in her long plaited cue. She carries also a painted 
 block of wood, which it is usual to attach to the waist of 
 young children who live in the boats, to prevent them 
 from sinking in case of falling overboard, till help can be 
 afforded. 
 
 The huge bamboo hats suspended on the wall of this 
 case, deserve to be noticed. They are a capital article 
 for a hot or rainy day, but would not be so convenient in 
 a whirlwind. The bamboo is as useful to the Chinese as 
 the reindeer is to the Laplander. Of this gigantic grass, 
 or reed, there are numerous varieties, and the uses to 
 which it has been put are quite as various. Hats, 
 baskets, shields, umbrellas, ornamental furniture, ropes, 
 paper, poles for scaffolding, temporary theatres, &c., 
 are constructed from it. The young shoots are used for 
 food, being boiled or stewed, like asparagus; and sweet- 
 meats are sometimes made of them. The tubes serve as 
 pipe-stems, and for every purpose wherein strength, 
 combined with lightness is required, they are admirably 
 suited, being formed upon the same principle as the 
 bones of birds. Farmers make great use of the bamboo, 
 many of their implements being formed of it; and a 
 silicious concretion, found in the joints, is an item in the 
 Chinese materia medica. 
 
 The cases opposite to this contain specimens in Chi- 
 nese Natural History, chiefly denizens of tlie water. 
 
55 
 
 XVII. The Silk Mercer's Shop. 
 
 This is in the north-east corner of the saloon. It is 
 much larger than any of the cases hitherto noticed, and 
 has been arranged so as to afford an exact idea of a 
 Chinese retail establishment. The scene which it offers 
 to our view, is, to our taste, more life-like than any 
 thing else in the Collection. Two purchasers have been 
 placed at the counter, one of whom is scrutinizing a 
 piece of silk that lies before him. The owner, behind 
 the counter, is carelessly leaning forward, and intent on 
 casting an account on the '' calculating dish," while his 
 clerk is busy making entries in the book, in doing which 
 he shows us the Chinese mode of holding a pen, or rather 
 brush, which is perpendicularly between the thumb and 
 all the fingers. A servant is preparing breakfast. A 
 circular, eight-legged table^ very similar to those used 
 by our great-grandfathei^, is spread in the centre of the 
 shop. Among its furniture, the ivory chop-sticks are 
 the most novel. On the visiter's right hand, sits a gen- 
 tleman with a pipe, apparently a chance-comer, ^^ just 
 dropped in'' about meal time; on the left, a blind beg- 
 gar stands beating two bamboo sticks against each other, 
 an operation with which he continues to annoy all whom 
 he visits, till he is relieved by some trifling gratuity, 
 usually a single cash. A gilt image of Fo is inserted in 
 the front part of the counter, and a small covered tub 
 filled with tea, with a few cups near by, stands on the 
 counter, from which customers are always invited to 
 help themselves. 
 
 The merchants and shopkeepers of Canton, are prompt, 
 active, obliging, and able. They can do an immense 
 deal of business in a short time, and all without noise, 
 
56 
 
 bustle, or disorder. Their goods are arranged in the 
 most perfect manner, and nothing is ever out of its place. 
 These traits assimilate them to the more enterprising of 
 the western nations, and place them in prominent con- 
 trast with the rest of the Asiatics. It is confidently as- 
 serted, by those who have had the best opportunities of 
 judging, that, as business men, they are in advance of 
 Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese merchants. 
 
 It has been charged upon the whole body of Chinese 
 dealers, that they will cheat and deceive, whenever an 
 opportunity falls in their way. That there is much dis- 
 honesty in China, particularly among the inferior traders 
 and lower orders of people, it would be folly to deny. 
 Some of the shops have the word Pouhoa — " no cheating 
 here'' — in large characters over the door ; and on the 
 masts of the canal boats, in which the poorer people 
 travel, there is generally pasted this caution : — ^' Kin 
 shin ho paou^^ — ^^ Mind your purses.'' But there can 
 be as little doubt that injustice has been done the Chinese 
 by the sweeping charges of corruption levelled at their 
 merchants. We have conversed with several American 
 merchants, who resided many years at Canton — particu- 
 larly Mr. Cushing, of Boston, and Mr. Dunn, of Phila- 
 delphia — and their testimony is, that the higher class of 
 merchants there, are as honourable a body of business- 
 men as exists in any country, that a contract, though 
 merely verbal, is always held by them to be binding, and 
 that, in short, there are fewer of the tricks of trade among 
 the Chinese, than in some countries where the pure light 
 of Christianity ought, long since, to have produced a 
 different state of things. There is a variety of amusing 
 inscriptions on the scrolls hung up in the interior of some 
 of the shops, which serve at the same time to mark the 
 thrifty habits of the traders. A few specimens are sub- 
 
57 
 
 joined : — " Gossiping and long sitting injure business." 
 " Former customers have inspired caution — no credit 
 given. '^ ^^A small stream always flowing.'' ^' Goods 
 genuine, prices true." " Trade circling like a wheel," 
 &c. 
 
 The sight of the breakfast table, induces natural- 
 ly a few observations on the articles of food and drink 
 used by this people. The wealthier Chinese are much 
 addicted to gastronomic pleasures, and are as deli- 
 cate in their tastes as any other epicures ; but pinching 
 poverty makes the mass as little fastidious as can well be 
 conceived. They make little use of beef or mutton, 
 owing to the scarcity of pasturage. Of animal food, the 
 most univei-sal is pork. Their maxim is, " The scholar 
 forsakes not his books, nor the poor man his pig." Im- 
 mense quantities of fish are consumed. Ducks are reared 
 in large numbers, and wild fowl, of various species, are 
 abundant. The flesh of dogs, cats, rats, and mice, en- 
 ters into the bill of fare of the Chinese poor. The larvae 
 of the sphinx-moth and a grub bred in the sugar-cane 
 are much relished, as also sharks' fins, the flesh of wild 
 horses, the sea-slug, and a soup made of a species of 
 birds'-nests. At an imperial feast given to the last Bri- 
 tish embassy, a soup concocted of mare's milk and blood 
 was among the dishes ! 
 
 Of vegetables they have a large variety, not needful 
 to mention. Rice is the most esteemed and the most 
 abundant. This is the chief thing for which they wish 
 and work. Certain sailors once asked Gutzlaff*, whether 
 the western barbarians used rice, and, as he was rather 
 slow in replying, they exclaimed, " O, the sterile re- 
 gions of barbarians, which produce not the necessaries 
 of life : strange that the inhabitants have not long ago 
 died of hunger!" 
 
 8 
 
58 
 
 The Chinese are not at all addicted to water-drinking. 
 They distil from rice certain liquors resembling our beer, 
 wines, and whiskey. The grape, though abundant, is not 
 used for any such purpose. The universal national beve- 
 rage is tea. This is drunk in unstinted quantities by all 
 classes of the people, from the self-styled '^ Son of Hea- 
 ven,'^ to the occupant of the meanest hovel or sanpan. 
 So enormous is the consumption of tea by the natives, 
 that McCartney is of opinion that, if the whole foreign 
 demand should, by some accident, suddenly cease, the 
 price of the article would not be materially affected. 
 Many of the wealthier natives are exceedingly fastidious 
 in their taste, which they gratify by the use of teas ob- 
 tained at prices that would startle us by their enormity. 
 It is, however, only the very rich and the very luxurious 
 who indulge habitually in such extravagance. 
 
 XVIII. A Street, with Sedan and Bearers. 
 
 Adjoining the mercantile establishment is a passage, 
 five feet broad, — about the average width of a Canton 
 street, which it is intended to represent. It is nearly 
 filled by a sedan, in which the owner is comfortably seat- 
 ed, while he is borne gently along by a couple of coolies. 
 The one in front is as intelligent and merry-looking a fel- 
 low as the Collection contains. A body servant is in at- 
 tendance, who trots along by the side of the lordly chair. 
 The interior is just large enough for the convenient 
 reception of a single occupant. Instead of pannels, the 
 sides are covered with a woollen cloth for lightness, and 
 there is an additional covering of oilcloth, to be used in 
 case of rain. Two bearers place the light, elastic poles 
 upon their shoulders, and move, sometimes at consider- 
 able speed, with measured tread, and a scarcely percep- 
 
59 
 
 tible motion. The sedan looks like the very home of 
 comfort and repose. The illustrious Falstaff never took 
 ^^mine ease in mine inn" more luxuriously, than the rich 
 Chinaman in his vaunted palanquin. This vehicle is much 
 used by the wealthy, and affords almost the only mode of 
 land-travelling known, the horse being rarely, though 
 sometimes, employed. Private gentlemen are allowed 
 only two bearers; the herd of civil officers, four; vice- 
 roys, eight; while the Emperor's dignity requires six- 
 teen. 
 
 The sedan has often been a bone of contention between 
 the foreign merchants and the native authorities. The 
 former have, again and again, demanded earnestly the 
 privilege of using it ; the latter have as vigorously resist- 
 ed the demand, and hitherto with success. 
 
 XIX. The Pavilion. 
 
 This is a large apartment, forming the eastern termi- 
 nation of the saloon, from which it is separated by what 
 mfiy be called a species of carved net- work. The carving 
 penetrates entirely through the wood, and represents 
 figures of men, animals, birds, flowers, &c. The colours 
 of this open work are as gay, rich, and even gorgeous, as 
 gilding and paint can make them ; yet so skilfully are 
 they disposed, so well do they blend and harmonize, that 
 their effect is altogether agreeable. The room thus 
 inclosed is a perfect fac-simile of an apartment in a 
 wealthy Chinaman's palace. The visiter will be not less 
 struck by the quantity than by the kind and disposition 
 of its furniture and decorations. There is a book-case in 
 one corner, a long high table for the reception of orna- 
 ments in the back part of the room, a large square tabic 
 at each end of this, with another of smaller dimensions in 
 
60 
 
 front of it, two tea-stands, two rows of chairs facing each 
 other on opposite sides of the apartment, with a footstool 
 for every chair, besides flower-pots, spittoons, porcelain 
 stools, lamps, &c. &c. The walls are hung with a variety 
 of decorations, chiefly long silken scrolls, with maxims, 
 as before described ; and the tables arc covered with 
 characteristic ornamental articles. 
 
 There are six figures in the pavilion, intended to 
 represent the mode of paying and receiving visits. Tea 
 and pipes are always served on these occasions, and fre- 
 quently sweetmeats or dried fruits. The common mode 
 of salutation is to join the closed hands, and lift them 
 twice or thrice towards the head, saying, Haou — tsing^ 
 taing; that is, ^^ Are you well? — Hail, hail!'^ 
 
 Here terminate the cases that contain representations 
 of men and w^omen. The figures are modelled out of a pe- 
 culiar species of clay, admirably adapted for the purpose. 
 They are highly creditable to the taste and ingenuity of 
 the Chinese, who, though not good sculptors, are excel- 
 lent modellers, and they afford specimens of a style of art 
 altogether novel to an American. The attentive observer 
 will have noticed a remarkable sameness of feature and 
 expression running through the whole collection, though 
 all are accurate likenesses of originals, most of whom are 
 now living. High cheek bones, flat noses, small black 
 eyes, a yellowish complexion, and a rather dull, heavy 
 expression of countenance, are the general character- 
 istics. Chinese physical nature is said to be cast, as it 
 were, in the same mould, throughout the whole Empire, 
 notwithstanding its various provinces differ so w idely in 
 soil and climate. And this characteristic sameness ex- 
 tends to the mind as well as body. The phenomenon has 
 been ingeniously explained by the author of ^^ Egypt and 
 Mohammed Ali,'' who traces it to despotism as its prima- 
 
61/ 
 
 ry cause : for, he reasons, the multitude, all reduced to 
 the same level, urged by the same wants, engaged in the 
 same pursuits, actuated by the same passions, through a 
 long succession of ages, necessarily assimilate, both men- 
 tally and physically. 
 
 The Chinese habit of cultivating long nails is not re- 
 presented in these figures, on account, we presume, of 
 the difiiculty of achieving this object in the clay out of 
 which they are made. This custom, indeed, does not 
 prevail to any thing like the extent sometimes represent- 
 ed. Still, long finger nails are held in estimation as one 
 of the marks of gentility. Mr. Wood asserts that they 
 sometimes acquire the extraordinary and almost incredi- 
 ble length of eight or nine inches. 
 
 Corpulency, and small, delicate, taper fingers, are 
 also much esteemed as indications of gentility. There is 
 a goodly rotundity of person in most of the figures in 
 this Collection, but the attentive observer will be parti- 
 cularly struck with the characteristic smallness and deli^ 
 cacy of the hands. The carefully cultivated and well 
 braided pigtails, so long in some instances as almost to 
 trail upon the ground, and affording admirable bandies 
 to an antagonist in a passion, form a curious subject of 
 observation. The history of this singular appendage 
 affords a remarkable illustration of those revolutions 
 which sometimes occur in national taste and manners. 
 Previous to the conquest of their country by the Tartars, 
 the Chinese permitted the hair to grow over the whole 
 head. Shunche, the first of the Tartar emperors, is- 
 sued an imperial edict requiring the conquered people 
 to conform in this particular to the custom of their vic- 
 tors. So stoutly was this decree at first resisted, that 
 many of the nobles preferred death to obedience, and 
 actually perished by the command of the conqueror. 
 
62 
 
 At the present day, however, the loss of this very badge 
 of servitude is considered one of the greatest of calami- 
 ties^ scarcely less dreaded than death itself. To be de- 
 prived of it is one of the most opprobrious brands put 
 upon convicts and criminals. Those to whom nature has 
 been sparing in respect to the natural covering of the 
 head, supply her deficiencies by the artificial introduc- 
 tion and intermingling of other hair with their own, thus 
 seeking to '' increase it to a reputably fashionable size.'^ 
 We must not take leave of these our good Chinese 
 friends, without observing that they put faith in the ex- 
 ternal developments of the skull, and are, therefore, to 
 a certain extent, phrenologists. They look for the prin- 
 cipal characteristics of a man in his forehead, and of a 
 woman on the back of the cranium. 
 
 XX. The Room in the south-east corner of the Saloon* 
 
 This is an apartment corresponding in size with the 
 silk store. It is filled with a great number of imple- 
 ments, chiefly agricultural ; but as they have not been 
 arranged, we cannot attempt a description. We notice, 
 however, confusedly thrown together, axes, hoes, rakes, 
 forks, shovels, spades, flails, a plough and harrow, a 
 wild-looking husbandman's dress made of flags, for rainy 
 weather, &c. &c. These are, for the most, simple and 
 rude ; and there is little to be learned from them. We 
 have before had occasion to mention the Chinese winnow- 
 ing machine. It is almost identical with ours, and there 
 is reason to believe that it, together with our flail, came 
 originally from China. Mr. Davis says, that a model 
 was carried to Holland, and that from Holland the first 
 specimen reached Leith. 
 
63 
 
 The most cursory account of the Celestial Empire^ 
 should include some notice of its agriculture. Of all 
 classes who labour with their hands, the husbandman is 
 there the most honoured, being accounted second only 
 to the literati of the realm. Nothing appears so strongly 
 to have roused the wonder of the early missionaries to 
 China, as the agricultural skill of the natives ; and in 
 nothing, perhaps, did they so much indulge in exagge- 
 ration, as in their accounts of it. But, whatever abate- 
 ments truth may require to be made from their glowing 
 descriptions, there can hardly be a doubt that the Chi- 
 nese manage to get more out of an acre of ground than 
 any other nation, the English alone excepted. 
 
 The '' Stranger in China,'^ on the authority of Amiot, 
 states the cultivated lands of the country at 596,172,500 
 English acres. This immense territory is divided into 
 patches of a few acres each, generally owned by the oc- 
 cupants. A rigid economy of soil is practised. With 
 the exception of the royal gardens at Peking, no land in 
 the empire is taken up with parks and pleasure grounds. 
 Of meadows, there are none; of pasture grounds, 
 scarcely any. The few ruminating animals, scattered 
 thinly over the country, gather a scanty subsistence, as 
 best they may, on mountains and marshes, unfit for cul- 
 tivation. As wheel carriages are not used, the highways 
 are but a few feet wide, and nothing is thrown away 
 there. No fences are allowed to encumber the soil, no 
 hedges to prey upon its strength. Sepulchres are al- 
 ways on hills too barren for cultivation. A' narrow foot- 
 path separates neighbouring farms, and porcelain land- 
 marks define more permanently their respective limits. 
 Even the sterile mountains are terraced into fertility, and 
 glow with ripening harvests, intermingled with the bril- 
 liant foliage of clustering fruit-trees. 
 
64 
 
 But their economising of the soil is not more rigid^ 
 than the methods by which they seek to preserve or to 
 renovate its strength, are new and various. Necessity 
 may here truly be said to have been the mother of inven- 
 tion. Every conceivable substance, possessing any en- 
 riching qualities, has been converted into a manure. 
 Not only lime, ashes, dung of animals, &c., but hair of 
 all kinds, barber's shavings, horns and bones reduced to 
 powder, soot, night soil, the cakes that remain after the 
 expression of their vegetable oil, the plaster of old 
 kitchens, and all kinds of vegetable and animal refuse, 
 are among the substances used as manures. These are 
 all carefully collected and husbanded, being frequently 
 kept in cisterns constructed for the purpose, or in earthen 
 tubs sunk in the ground, where, covered with straw to 
 prevent evaporation, and diluted with a suflSicient quan- 
 tity of water, they are left to undergo the putrefactive 
 fermentation, after which they are applied to the land. 
 
 The Chinese understand well the enriching effect of 
 frequent ploughings.* Horses or oxen are rarely attached 
 to their ploughs ; more commonly a small species of buf- 
 falo ; and oftener still, men and women. Frequently the 
 plough is not used at all, the spade and hoe supplying its 
 place. In the irrigation of their lands, they display great 
 ingenuity and diligence. Their numerous rivers are here 
 of essential utility. 
 
 Rice is their staple grain. They always get two crops 
 a year out of their land ; sometimes three. When a third 
 is not raised, the soil is, nevertheless, again taxed in the 
 production of pulse, greens, potatoes, and other vegeta- 
 bles. Millet is extensively cultivated. Women labour 
 
 * Sir Joseph Banks expresses his surprise that this principle is not turned 
 to greater account by the Europeans. Repeated ploughings are almost the 
 only fertilizing process known among the Hindoos. 
 
63 
 
 on the farms equally with the men. A stout and healthy 
 wife is therefore a great desideratum with a Chinaman, 
 and the '' working wives of Kiang-see '' are said to he 
 held in high estimation throughout the provinces. 
 
 Notwithstanding the immensity of labour bestowed on 
 the cultivation of the earth — and the Chinese agricul- 
 turists are like ants or bees in respect to both their num- 
 ber and industry — it seems incapable of sustaining the 
 swarming population of the Empire. Hence every har- 
 bour, lake, river, and stream of whatever description, are 
 literally thronged and darkened by fishermen, who resort 
 to the most ingenious and novel methods of alluring and 
 entrapping their victims. Nor do they forget or omit to 
 take care that the waters be not, as it were, depopulated 
 by these ceaseless ravages. They take the utmost pains 
 to collect the spawns of fishes, and to deposit them in 
 convenient places for breeding. 
 
 " Such is their toil, and such their busy pains, 
 As exercise the bees in flow'ry plains, 
 When winter past, and summer scarce begun. 
 Invites them forth to labour in the sun."* 
 
 XXI. First Wall Case on the south side^ with the two 
 opposite Cases, 
 
 Continuing our course around the saloon, and number- 
 ing the cases on the south wall in a reverse order, we 
 next come to one containing a numerous collection of mis- 
 cellaneous articles, which throw no little light on the 
 characteristic intelligence, skill, and taste of the Chinese. 
 Those which will first attract notice, as being the most 
 
 * Dryden's Virgil. 
 
 9 
 
66 
 
 new and grotesque, are the figures carved out of the 
 gnarled roots of trees. This is a kind of ornament highly- 
 esteemed by the natives. The more distorted the roots, 
 and the more hideous the figures wrought upon them^ the 
 greater is the pleasure they afford. 
 
 " Gorgons, hydras, and chimeras dire," 
 
 the wildest forms that nature has revealed or imagination 
 invented, please best the superstitious fancy of this mar- 
 vel-loving people. 
 
 Besides the figures just noticed, there are in this case 
 many images of idols, of w^ood, stone, and porcelain. 
 
 There are several elegantly shaped vessels for jhos- 
 sticks,(«) usually placed in temples and pagodas. The 
 central portion, which swells out most gracefully, is gene- 
 rally of fine porcelain, while the lower part and the cover- 
 ing are of odoriferous wood. 
 
 There are two gentlemen's toilet-glasses, of different 
 patterns,(6) and two circular metallic mirrors,(c) of which 
 latter we see only the ornamented backs. 
 
 There are two common lamps,((/) which are nothing 
 more than shallow metallic bowls, fixed upon a stand of 
 the same material. The oil is poured into its uncovered 
 receptacle, and a small wick immersed in it, and the ap- 
 paratus is then complete for use. 
 
 This case contains also a handsome pair of scales, with 
 weights of a novel form;(^) a queer-shaped night-rat- 
 tle,(/) which the watchman strikes with a bamboo stick 
 to sound an alarm ; a Chinese compass and dial, ingeni- 
 ously combined ;(^) two pen-holders; (A) specimens of 
 
 (fl) 147, 149, 174, 181, 178,213.— (6) 145, 156.— (c) 155, 157.— (t?) 148, 
 153.— (p) 142.— (/) 150.— (^) 144.— (A) 14.3, 165. 
 
67 
 
 bamboo pillows ; (a) a model of a pagoda; (6) earthern pots 
 made in imitation of iron;(c) paintings on marble ;(rf) 
 two beautiful specimens of enamelled ware,(6) one of 
 them in shape like an old-fashioned coffee-pot, being 
 used for holding hot wine at entertainments ; a jhos- 
 bell;(/) a small hand-furnace,(^) for keeping the fin- 
 gers warm in walking out on a cold day, no gloves being 
 ever worn ; together with other objects too numerous for 
 specification. 
 
 But we have reserved to the last the most rare and 
 valuable of the articles in this case : we refer to the 
 splendid cameo, (A) which Mr. Dunn could not have 
 purchased, however much he might have desired to do 
 so, but which was generously presented to him by one of 
 the Hong merchants. Its dimensions cannot be much 
 under three feet by two, and it is carved to represent an 
 extended landscape, including earth and sky, and em- 
 bracing various rural scenes and objects. We would 
 praise the beauty of the frame, were it not that, under 
 the circumstances, we can hardly divide our admiration. 
 
 The two cases opposite contain many interesting mine- 
 ralogical specimens, but are mainly taken up with a dis- 
 play of musical instruments. " The Chinese musical 
 instruments," says Davis, ^* are very numerous, consist- 
 ing of diff*erent kinds of lutes and guitars ; several flutes 
 and other wind instruments; a squeaking fiddle with 
 three strings ; a sort of harmonicon of wires, touched 
 with two slender slips of bamboo ; systems of bells, and 
 pieces of sonorous metal ; and drums covered with snake- 
 skins." All these, together with the war gongs, cymbals, 
 and trumpets, have their representatives in the Collec- 
 
 (fl) 128, 134.— (6) 183.— (c) 160, &c.— (rf) 180, 182— (e) 173, 175 
 
 (/) 216 — {g) 140.— (A) 214. 
 
68 
 
 tion. It was these latter particularly, we suppose, that 
 caused De Guignes to characterize the Chinese rausic as 
 a ^^ frightful racket" — bruit epouvantable. Some of 
 their instruments, the harmonicon especially, are said to 
 produce very sweet tones ; and they have one (which is 
 also in Mr. D/s Collection) consisting of a great number 
 of pipes varying in length, and arranged circularly. The 
 tones emitted by this instrument are very similar to the 
 music of the Scotch bagpipe. They do not employ cat- 
 gut in stringing their instruments, but substitute silk and 
 wire. Sounding-boards are not used. According to Mr. 
 Huttner, one of the attaches of Lord Macartney's em- 
 bassy, the gamut of the Chinese is very imperfect. They 
 have no knowledge of semitones, counterpoint, or parts in 
 music. Harmonies are never attempted. Whatever the 
 number of performers, there is always one melody. 
 
 XXII. Second Wall Case on the south side^ with the 
 two opposite Cases. 
 
 The second case is chiefly filled with specimens of 
 lackered ware. There are some very elegant gilt boxes, 
 of square, circular, and nondescript patterns. But the 
 most interesting articles are what may be termed a com- 
 plete travelling apparatus for a mandarin or private gen- 
 tleman, including boxes of all shapes and sizes, and a 
 table service consisting of teapot, cups, bowls, spoons, 
 &c. The largest of the boxes is round, and consists of 
 a succession of compartments. It answers the purpose 
 of a wardrobe. In travelling on land, the whole are 
 slung on bamboo poles, and carried on the shoulders of 
 coolies, who are more or less numerous, according to the 
 
69 
 
 wealth and state of the owner. Most of the articles in 
 this set are red, with a very little gilding. 
 
 The lackered, or japanned, ware of China is well 
 known. All substances that are dry and rigid, as woods, 
 metals, and prepared paper, admit of being japanned. 
 The fine varnish used for this purpose is obtained from a 
 shrub, called atsieshoo, a species of rhus, from which it 
 distils like gum. It is poisonous in a liquid state, and 
 hence great caution is used both by those who gather and 
 those who work in it, to shield themselves from its nox- 
 ious qualities. It is capable of receiving all colours, 
 though black is the most common. More than fifty coats 
 of varnish are sometimes put on. 
 
 We have also in this case, specimens of Chinese tiles 
 and shop-signs ; two cameos ; a paint box, with paints ; 
 two very beautiful bamboo pillows, on a kind of stand or 
 frame ; a small compass ; two handsome bamboo pen- 
 holders ; spittoons of divers patterns, &c. (fee. 
 
 An object of peculiar interest is a model of a Chinese 
 coffin, perfectly original. Every man in China provides 
 his own coffin, which is sometimes kept many years. 
 This is considered as necessary there, as making a will is 
 among us. They are often made of rare and costly kinds 
 of wood, and are finished with great elegance, being, in 
 such case, of course, a very expensive article. 
 
 The two cases opposite, contain some specimens of the 
 coarser kinds of porcelain ware. 
 
 XXIII. The Cases containhig Porcelain ,/lriides. 
 
 Of these there are five or six. We group them toge- 
 ther in our notice, because it would occupy too much 
 space to specify even the principal objects contained in 
 
70 
 
 them, and it is not necessary to do so, if space were 
 abundant. The specimens in this department are ex- 
 ceedingly numerous, and include vases, jars, pipe-stands, 
 summer-seats, bowls of enormous size, landmarks, pago- 
 das, screens, and various services. No pains have been 
 spared to collect whatever the country afforded of rare 
 and beautiful in the porcelain manufacture. The vases 
 will attract attention not only by their number, size, and 
 variety, but by the beauty of their forms and the rich- 
 ness of their colouring. Several of them are ornamented 
 with raised figures of dragons, serpents, insects, &c. 
 These are much prized by the natives. Others have 
 acquired a high value from their antiquity, a quality 
 which sanctifies every thing in China. Mr. Wood states, 
 that an idea prevails that antique vases have the property 
 of preserving flowers which are placed in them fresh and 
 blooming for a long time. The specimens of ware, 
 cracked on the surface in burning, are singularly elegant. 
 The art of producing these lines is now lost. 
 
 Two lettered landmarks, such as are used to designate 
 the corners of adjoining possessions, merit the visiter's 
 notice ; as also two octagonal pipe-stands, several feet in 
 height. Landmarks are sacred in the eyes of a China- 
 man, and to deface or destroy them is a high crime. 
 
 The pagoda is intended as a model of the famous porce- 
 lain pagoda at Nanking. The original is merely roofed 
 with porcelain, and not, as might be imagined from the 
 name, constructed of that material. This stately struc- 
 ture is nearly two hundred feet in height. The pagodas 
 are generally supposed, as before stated, to have had a 
 religious destination. Sir George Staunton, on the con- 
 trary, says that they are dedicated to several uses in 
 China, without specifying what; but none to religious 
 worship. 
 
71 
 
 The cups, bowls, spoons, teapots, &c., form a choice 
 and extensive collection, and embrace many patterns en- 
 tirely new to us. Some of the cups are scarcely thicker 
 than a wafer, and almost transparent. They are of the 
 tiniest dimensions, and, with teapots to match, seem more 
 fitted for the use of Queen Mab and her troop, than for 
 beings formed in a grosser mould. There are several 
 teapots of white copper, with an interior lining of stone. 
 
 The porcelain manufacture undoubtedly had its origin 
 in China, and we must, therefore, hold ourselves indebted 
 to the Chinese for all that rich variety of useful and or- 
 namental chinaware articles, which load our tables, and 
 adorn our parlour and cabinets. It was introduced to 
 the knowledge of Europeans by that famous Venetian 
 traveller, Marco Polo. The first furnace on record was 
 in Keang-sy, which dates as far back as the commence- 
 ment of the seventh century of our era. King-tse-ching, 
 a place near the Poyang lake, is now the most celebrated 
 for this manufacture. The factories were commenced 
 there about A. D. 1000, and have increased to the num- 
 ber of several hundred. Staunton says that the flames 
 which issue from them cause the place to appear at night 
 like a vast city enveloped in a general conflagration. 
 The spectacle is terrific and sublime. The furnaces give 
 employment to the male working portion of a population 
 said to amount to a million. The division of labour is 
 carried to its acme. A teacup, from the time when it 
 lies embedded in its native quarries, till it comes forth in 
 its perfection from the furnace, passes through more than 
 fifty different hands. The painting alone is divided be- 
 tween a half dozen persons, one of whom sketches the 
 outline of a bird, another of a plant, a third of some 
 other figure, while a fourth fills in the colours. The 
 brilliancy of their colouring has never been surpassed ; 
 
72 
 
 but the designing is not, as a general thing, to be com- 
 mended. The reason probably is, that no higher wages 
 are paid to those who labour in this department of the 
 manufacture, than to those who perform the coarser ope- 
 rations. 
 
 It is perfectly obvious, from an inspection of the arti- 
 cles embraced in Mr. Dunn's Collection, that the excel- 
 lence of the porcelain manufacture has been on the decline 
 for the last three centuries. The deterioration, as well 
 as the high degree of perfection it had then attained, are 
 easily explained. The Emperors who flourished about 
 that period, encouraged the manufacture by munificent 
 premiums on the most beautiful specimens, and by large an- 
 nual orders for the finer wares. A premium of 15,000 tael, 
 or more than 1820,000 was bestowed on the manufacturer 
 of the best specimen ; 10,000 tael on him who produced 
 the second-best ; while third-rate excellence received a 
 reward of 5,000. The Emperors no longer bestow any 
 special encouragement, and hence the decline of compe- 
 tition, and consequently of excellence. 
 
 The origin of the word porcelain, oy porcellana, may 
 not be generally known. Marsden, as quoted by Davis, 
 shows that it was applied by the Europeans to the ware 
 of China, from the resemblance of its fine polished sur- 
 face to that of the univalve shell so named ; while the 
 shell itself derived its appellation from the curved shape 
 of its upper surface, which was thought to resemble the 
 raised back of ^ porcella^ or little hog. 
 
 XXIV. The Export Case, 
 
 This case, which follows immediately those containing 
 the porcelain manufactures, has been so named because it 
 
73 
 
 contains articles made only to be exported. They are 
 japanned boxes, writing desks, numerous stands, and a 
 pair of work-tables. We fear they have caused, and will 
 cause, many a female heart to indulge desires not quite 
 consistent with the tenth commandment. The richness 
 of the gilding and the elegance of the entire work cannot 
 certainly be surpassed. The work-tables, which are per- 
 fectly well proportioned and beautiful in themselves, are 
 provided each with a complete apparatus in ivory, suited 
 to a lady's wants, and carved in the most delicate and 
 tasteful style. 
 
 At one end of this case is appropriately suspended a 
 foreign vessel's chop. This is a port-clearance from the 
 Viceroy and Hoppoo.* It states the captain's name, the 
 tonnage and cargo of the vessel, and the compliance, on 
 the part of the former, with the customary port requisi- 
 tions. It requires the commander of the fort to allow the 
 ship to pass unmolested, and, in case of accident befalling 
 her any where on Chinese waters, it enjoins upon the 
 mandarins to render every aid in their power, free of all 
 charges. This must certainly be regarded as a liberal 
 policy. Before a chop can be obtained, the Hong mer- 
 chant to whom the vessel has been consigned, must cer- 
 tify to the proper officers that all the necessary conditions 
 have been complied with on the part of her officers, and 
 that no debts remained unpaid. 
 
 This case is to receive several other ornamental arti- 
 cles. 
 
 * Chief custom-house officer. 
 10 
 
74 
 
 XXV. Fifth Wall Case on the south side. 
 
 Here we have four models of the summer-house, so 
 common in China, with their scalloped roofs, gilding, 
 painting, &c. Three of them are two stories high. They 
 are surrounded with colonnades, and have a cool, inviting 
 appearance. One is very showy, and affords a good spe- 
 cimen of the Chinese mother-of-pearl windows. These 
 ornamental pavilions are in every garden. They often 
 stand in the midst of a sheet of water, and are of course 
 approached by bridges. They must be delightful lounges 
 for a summer evening. 
 
 This case contains, besides the pavilions, a model of a 
 one-arched bridge ; and a small, but highly ornamented, 
 domestic shrine, with three gilt idols. A family shrine, 
 of some kind, is found in every house and sanpan. These 
 paraphernalia of heathenism cannot be contemplated by a 
 Christian mind without a sigh over the moral darkness in 
 which they have their origin, and the breathing of a 
 heartfelt prayer that the true light may speedily en- 
 lighten the nations. 
 
 XXVI. Two Wall Cases containing Models of Boats. 
 
 The author of the Stranger in China says, that the 
 Chinese boats may be divided into two classes, those that 
 have eyes and those without them. To the former class 
 belong the military and trading junks, that navigate the 
 " great sea." Of these we have no model in Mr. Dunn's 
 Collection, but there is an exact representation of them 
 in a painting on one of the pannels of the screen-work, 
 before noticed. They are nearly in the shape of a new 
 
75 
 
 moon, and as clumsy a craft as could well be contrived. 
 The Emperor not only affords no encouragement to im- 
 provement, but actually puts a price on the opposite, in 
 the exaction of foreign port-duties from junks constructed 
 on improved principles. These vessels have always a 
 great eye painted on each side of the bows. This usage 
 had its origin probably in some superstition. If a Chi- 
 nese is questioned as to its cause, his reply is, — ^^Have 
 eye, can see ; can see, can saavez : no have eye, no can 
 see ; no can see, no can saavez." 
 
 The variety of craft used upon the inland waters of 
 China is very great. Of most of the different kinds we 
 have models in the two cases before us. There are, for 
 example, the sanpan, or family boat ; a boat used by the 
 wealthy for the conveyance of themselves and families ; 
 the chop, or lighter, used in transporting merchandise 
 between Canton and Whampoa ; a small boat employed 
 on canals in the northern part of the empire ; tw^o canal- 
 boats of those in common use ; and a mandarin boat, or 
 revenue cutter. These all appear well contrived for the 
 purpose to which they are applied, and are by no means 
 destitute of beauty. They are provided with bamboo 
 sails, used only occasionally, and the rudders are univer- 
 sally perforated with small holes, which may be set down 
 as a wonder for the wise. They are generally propelled 
 by sculling, a method which is made absolutely necessary 
 by the number of boats always in motion. The skill 
 with which the Chinese perform this operation confirms 
 the old proverb, that "practice makes perfect;" for 
 the boat is made to dart forward at a rapid rate, and in a 
 line as direct as any well-managed sail vessel could de- 
 scribe. The foreign sailors sometimes try their skill, but 
 make a sorry business of it : " no can do." 
 
 All the models of boats in Mr. Dunn's Collection, 
 
76 
 
 "have been made by reducing the dimensions to the 
 proper scale ; and in every particular, even to the em- 
 ployinent of the same descriptions of wood, the oars, 
 sculls, rudders, setting poles, cordage, &c., are fac-similes 
 of those in actual use."* 
 
 XXVII. Three JSTatural History Cases. 
 
 These are directly opposite the cases just described. 
 They contain a number of interesting specimens of the 
 feathered tribe ; among which are the Chinese partridge, 
 various species of song birds, and several varieties of the 
 duck. Immense quantities of this domesticated bird are 
 reared by the Chinese, particularly by those who live on 
 the water. It holds the same rank in the winged race 
 that the pig occupies among quadrupeds. There is a 
 particular kind of boat appropriated to duck-rearing. It 
 has a broad platform projecting over the water for the 
 use of the ducks, who are also honoured with the most 
 roomy apartments within the boat itself. During the 
 day, they are permitted to make cruises on the water or 
 expeditions on land, seeking what they may devour ; but 
 they are trained to obey the call of a whistle, and when- 
 ever the signal is sounded, they instantly hasten back 
 from their wanderings. 
 
 There is one variety here, called the " mandarin 
 duck,'' which will attract special notice from the bril- 
 liancy of its plumage and the singularity of its wings. 
 Its disposition, too, is as remarkable as its beauty. The 
 female never mates a second time. An interesting anec- 
 dote, illustrative of this fact, is related by Davis. Of a 
 
 * Silliman's Journal. 
 
77 
 
 pair of these birds in Mr. BeaPs aviary at Macao, the 
 drake happened one night to be stolen. The duck was 
 perfectly inconsolable, like Calypso after the departure 
 of Ulysses. She retired into a corner, neglected her 
 food and person, refused all society, and rejected with 
 disdain the proffer of a second love. In a few days, the 
 purloined drake was recovered and brought back. The 
 mutual demonstrations of joy were excessive, and, what 
 is more singular, the true husband, as if informed by his 
 partner of what had happened in his absence, pounced 
 upon the would-be lover, tore out his eyes, and injured 
 him so much that he soon after died of his wounds. 
 
 XXVIII. Picture of Macao, 
 
 This is by the same artist, and of the same dimensions, 
 as the Picture of Canton, already described. It is a view 
 of Macao, as it appears from the harbour. The town is 
 handsomely situated on a steep declivity, and protected, 
 as it were, in the rear by a mountain wall. One of the 
 neighbouring summits is crowned with a Portuguese 
 church, which shows like a fortress in the distance. The 
 effect must be imposing in approaching by sea, as nearly 
 the whole city is visible, and of a prepossessing appear- 
 ance. Macao is a place of some importance ; and inter- 
 esting on several accounts. It belongs nominally to the 
 Portuguese, to whom the privilege of building a town 
 there was granted about two hundred and fifty years ago, 
 in consideration of services rendered in clearing the 
 Chinese waters of a desperate gang of pirates ; but the 
 government is really in the hands of the viceroy at Can- 
 ton. Here all foreign merchantmen, bound to Canton, 
 have to procure a chop^ or permit to pass the forts, and 
 
78 
 
 take on board an inside pilot. This is the utmost limit 
 to which European or American ladies are ever permit- 
 ted to intrude into the Celestial Empire. Most of the 
 foreign merchants resident at Canton, rusticate at Macao 
 during the summer months. 
 
 Lintin, that paradise of smugglers, lies to the left of 
 the view contained in this picture. 
 
 XXIX. Picture of the Bocca Tigris. 
 
 The Bocca Tigris is the entrance of the Canton river, 
 and is so called from the appearance of one of the islands 
 in front of it. It is, as described by Weddel, the first 
 Englishman who approached it, " a goodly inlet,'' flanked 
 on each side by mountains and fortresses. The latter ap- 
 pear formidable, but, owing to an entire want, on the part 
 of the Chinese, of a knowledge of gunnery, and to other 
 causes, they are without any real efficiency. They have 
 been repeatedly passed without difficulty by English 
 men-of-war. 
 
 XXX. Picture of a Marriage Procession, 
 
 Opposite the two pictures just described, is another 
 large painting, representing a wedding procession. The 
 bride is carried in a gaudy chair, adorned with flowers, 
 and preceded by a lengthened train of attendants, clad in 
 garments of various colours. There are not less than a do- 
 zen sedan chairs in the procession, filled with presents to 
 the bride. These constitute her whole marriage dowery. 
 The persons composing the train are hired for the occa- 
 sion. There are large establishments in China, provided 
 
79 
 
 with men, chairs, and dresses, to be hired out for^escorts 
 of this kind. The dresses and sedans range through all 
 the degrees of costliness and elegance. Articles of this 
 kind, more or less expensive, and a more or less numer- 
 ous train of attendants, are employed, according to the 
 rank and wealth of the parties to be united. Houqua, the 
 rich Hong merchant, expended over 1850,000 on a daugh- 
 ter's wedding, including the bridal presents. Live geese 
 are always among the presents, and they are carried in 
 the procession, being considered, apparently without any 
 good foundation, patterns of concord and fidelity in the 
 married state. The beautiful mandarin duck, already 
 described, would be a fitter emblem. When the bride 
 reaches the residence of her lord, she is lifted by matrons 
 over a pan of charcoal, — a usage the exact import of 
 which is not understood. Various ceremonies follow, 
 which end in the husband unveiling his bride, whom he 
 now sees for the first time, and drinking with her the 
 cup of alliance. 
 
 Marriages are promoted by every consideration that 
 can act upon the human mind. The national maxim is, 
 that " there are three great acts of disregard to parents, 
 and to die without progeny is the chief." The barren- 
 ness of a wife is therefore regarded as a great calamity, 
 and is one of the seven grounds of divorce allowed to a 
 Chinese husband, notwithstanding there would seem to be 
 an all-sufficient remedy in legal concubinage. The six 
 other causes of separation are, adultery, talkativeness, 
 thieving, ill temper, and inveterate infirmities. 
 
 A lucky day for the marriage rites is considered im- 
 portant. On this point, recourse is had to astrology, and 
 the horoscopes of the parties are diligently compared. 
 Sometimes the ceremony is postponed for months, be- 
 cause the stars are not propitious. These superstitious 
 
96 
 
 cfwntry. In the Ii^hi^e^rni^ of Kttri|^fRs^ Clyl«iiiiis$tr% 
 «sk$ A^m^^mmxn when Ihdr dniighlor sKull wed? Ho 
 replies^ ** When thc> ti>rh of « KWrtwiMitt^ moon sImII wrrtvo*'^ 
 llir $|mns in Chinsn is gifnewlW prrfcrwHl ftir woddinj) 
 when lh« piMicli^tre« k; in b)os:$ioni« This eironttstiAeft is 
 ;iilhiddl to in n liuk poem in Iho ''* Book of Od<^' ^ thus 
 dr^^nllT pijivophTO^rd hy thc^ oooomplishcd Sir WilfiuR 
 Jontts; — 
 
 I. 
 
 XXXL lU^ikorFnimHng^mil^ 
 
 Of Ihcsie^ tdioQi^ verjr nnmetoos, our notke musl ho 
 CNureoty «nd sowhoI. We taiko the IbHowing remwiel' 
 llrom » \rxy ^ood sitti^h of the CoUootiott^ pahlbhed ui 
 SffliwMi'^ Jowmil: '^'^ Many of them^^ the writer saiips, 
 "^mte ptesseftted h^i^ disdi^goisiied men of Oiimi^ md 
 mMiy xcere piunted hj the most eddmittd 9urti$ts of the 
 prindpul inbnd eltie% inehidins dm copitd« They f^ 
 pr(t$««i in the trst pbci^ til Aose seeftes wlueh aure chat- 
 imetetistie of Cliincse Bl^ in its detnil^ inchidins n series 
 showini^ eTery process of the teai mamnfiietnre^ from the 
 plnntins to die pMliins np. The poitraats will «sto«sli 
 
SI 
 
 those who have seen only the paltry daubs usually brought 
 as specimens of the art in China. There is one of the high 
 priests in the Honan temple, and others of distinguished 
 men well known in Canton, worked with the minuteness 
 of miniature painting. This department comprises also 
 a variety of paintings on glass, an art much practised by 
 the natives ; pictures of all the boats peculiar to the 
 country ; of rooms, their domestic arrangements, of all 
 the costumes of people of rank ; of furniture, lanterns, 
 and, in short, every variety of Chinese life, from the most 
 degraded class to the Emperor.'^ 
 
 The fine arts in China are undoubtedly far from having 
 reached the perfection that belongs to them in the en- 
 lightened nations of Christendom ; yet an examination of 
 the paintings collected by Mr. Dunn, will satisfy every 
 candid mind that great injustice has been done to Chinese 
 artists, in the notions hitherto entertained respecting 
 their want of ability and skill. They paint insects, birds, 
 fishes, fruits, flowers, and the like, with great correct- 
 ness and beauty ; and the brilliancy and variety of their 
 colours cannot be surpassed. They group with conside- 
 rable taste and effect; and their perspective, a depart- 
 ment of the art in which they have been thought totally 
 deficient, is often very good. Let the views already de- 
 scribed, and a large and beautiful landscape painting over 
 one of the cases on the south side of the saloon, attest 
 the truth of these statements. Shading they do not well 
 understand, and they positively object to the introduction 
 of shadows in pictures. Barrow, as quoted by Davis, 
 says, that " when several portraits by the best European 
 artists, intended as presents for the Emperor, were ex- 
 posed to view, the mandarins, observing the variety of 
 tints occasioned by the light and shade, asked whether 
 the originals had the two sides of different colours. They 
 
 11 
 
82 
 
 considered the shadow of the nose as a great imperfection 
 in the figure, and some supposed it to have been placed 
 there by accident.'^ 
 
 There is one picture in the Collection, which, on account 
 of the interest of the subject, and the insight it affords into 
 the administration of public justice in China, deserves spe- 
 cial notice. Its place is on the wall between the window 
 and the silk mercer's shop. Seldom does it fall to the 
 lot of foreigners residing in Canton, to witness a more 
 painfully interesting scene than the one portrayed in 
 the above painting. It represents a court sitting in the 
 Consoo House, at the head of China Street, near the fo- 
 reign Factories, in 1829, for a final decision on a charge 
 of piracy committed by the crew of a Chinese junk, on 
 a French captain and sailors, at a short distance from 
 Macao. 
 
 The French ship Navigatre, put into Cochin-China 
 in distress. Having disposed of her to the Government, 
 the captain, with his crew, took passage for Macao, in a 
 Chinese junk, belonging to the province of Fokien. Part 
 of their valuables consisted of about JS100,000 in specie. 
 Four €hina passengers bound for Macao, and one for 
 Fokien, were also on board. This last apprised the 
 Frenchmen, in the best way he could, that the crew of 
 the junk had entered into a conspiracy to take their 
 lives, and seize their treasure. He urged that an armed 
 watch should be kept. On making the Ladrone Islands, 
 the four Macao passengers left the junk. Here the 
 Frenchmen believed themselves out of danger, and, ex- 
 hausted by sickness and long watching, yielded to a fatal 
 repose. They were all massacred but one, a youth of 
 about nineteen years of age, who escaped by leaping into 
 the sea, after receiving several wounds. A fishing boat 
 picked him up, and landed him at Macao, where infor- 
 
83 
 
 Kiatioii was given to the officers of government, and the 
 crew of the junk, with their ill-gotten gains, were seized 
 on arriving at their port of destination in Fokien. Hav- 
 ing been found guilty by the court in their own district, 
 they were sent down to Canton by order of the Emperor, 
 to the Unchat-see (criminal judge,) to be confronted with 
 the young French sailoi*. This trial is represented in 
 the painting. The prisoners were taken out of their 
 cages, as seen in the foreground. The Frenchman re- 
 cognised seventeen out of the twenty-four, but when 
 the passenger who had been his friend was brought in, 
 the two eagerly embraced each other, which scene is 
 also portrayed in the painting. An explanation of this 
 extraordinary act was made to the judge, and the man 
 forthwith set at liberty. A purse was made up for him 
 by the Chinese and foreigners, and he was soon on his 
 way homeward. The seventeen were decapitated in a 
 few^ days, in the presence of the foreigners ; the captain 
 was put to a " lingering death,'^ the punishment of trai- 
 tors; and the stolen treasures were restored. 
 
 XXXII. Tlte two inner Rows of Cases, 
 
 In our introductory notices, we stated that many arti- 
 cles were held in reserve for want of space for displaying 
 them. During the composition of these pages, changes 
 have been going on continually; and now having com- 
 pleted the circuit of the hall, we find two new rows of 
 cases constructed within the others, and several of them 
 already filled. The first two contain specimens of manu- 
 factures in silk, linen, and cotton fabrics. One, near the 
 other extremity of the saloon, on the right, is filled with 
 complete sets of cabinetmakers and carpenter's tools. 
 
84 
 
 Next to this, on the same side, is a case containing some 
 beautiful specimens of castings, in pots and kettles of 
 different sizes, together with a set of implements for 
 working in iron. 
 
 But of these newly constructed cases, that which con- 
 tains the greatest variety of novel articles is on the north 
 side of the saloon, and nearly midway between its two 
 ends. Here we have two bamboo shirts, with meshes 
 resembling those of a very fine fishing net, and worn in 
 summer to protect the skin from the cotton or silk with 
 which it would otherwise be in contact ; a refinement of 
 luxury, in which we may presume the multitude do not 
 indulge. There are also, in this case, two very elegant 
 circular fans, one of which is made partly of bird's fea- 
 thers, of gay plumage; a white silken scarf adorned with 
 rich embroidery; a ring-shaped flat iron, containing a 
 furnace within itself, with a handle projecting from the 
 side ; embroidered knee cushions ; elegant pouches of 
 various descriptions ; and tiny books, used as a kind of 
 amulet. 
 
 XXXIII. General Remarks on the Government and 
 People of China, 
 
 The Chinese government is, nominally, at least, patri- 
 archal. The authority of a parent over his children is 
 the type of the imperial rule. The Emperor claims to 
 be the father of his subjects. As such, he exercises su- 
 preme, absolute, unchecked power, over more than one- 
 third of the human race. He has but to sign the decree, 
 and any one of three hundred and fifty millions of human 
 beings is instantly deprived of rank, possessions, liberty, 
 or life itself. This is a stupendous system, a phenomenon 
 
85 
 
 unmatched in the annals of time, and worthy to engage 
 the profound attention of statesmen and philosophers. 
 The subjects of the Macedonian were but as a handful 
 compared with the teeming millions of Eastern Asia ; the 
 Roman Empire, when at its widest extent, numbered not 
 more than one-third of the present population of China ; 
 and the throne of the Caesars was, in the power it con- 
 ferred upon its occupant, but as a child's elevation in 
 comparison with that on which the Tartar sits. We can 
 but glance at a few of the details of this system, and the 
 causes which have given it stability. 
 
 At the head of the system stands, of course, the Empe- 
 ror. His titles are, the " Son of Heaven," and the " Ten 
 Thousand Years." Ubiquity is considered as among his 
 attributes ; temples are erected to him in every part of 
 the Empire ; and he is worshipped as a god. Yet he 
 sometimes styles himself '^ the imperfect man," and his 
 ordinary dress is far from splendid. While the grand 
 mandarins that compose his court, glitter in gold and 
 diamonds, he appears in a plain and simple garb. Never- 
 theless, no means are omitted to keep up the prestige of 
 his majesty. The outer gate of the imperial palace can- 
 not be passed by any person whatsoever, in a carriage or 
 on horseback. There is a road between Peking and the 
 Emperor's summer residence in Tartary, wide, smooth, 
 level, and always cleanly swept, on which no one but 
 himself is permitted to travel. At the palace, a paved 
 walk leads to the principal hall of audience, which is 
 never pressed but by imperial feet. Despatches from the 
 Emperor are received in the provinces with prostrations 
 and the burning of incense. The succession is at the 
 absolute disposal of the Emperor. Instances have oc- 
 curred, though they arc rare, in which persons not con- 
 
86 
 
 nected with the imperial family have been named. The 
 immediate assistants of the Emperor are — 
 
 I. The Nuy-ko. This is the great council of state. 
 The chief counsellors are four, two Tartars and two Chi- 
 nese. Besides these, there are several others, of inferior 
 rank^ who, in conjunction with them, constitute the coun- 
 cil. Almost all the members of the Nuyko are selected 
 from the imperial college of the Hanlin. 
 
 II. The Keun-ky-ta-chin. This is a body of privy 
 councillors. 
 
 III. The Lew- poo, or six boards for conducting the 
 details of public business. They are, 1. The Board of 
 Appointments, having cognizance of the conduct of all 
 civil officers ; 2. The Board of Revenue, whose duties 
 extend to all fiscal matters ; 3. The Board of Rites and 
 Ceremonies, which keeps watch and ward over the pub- 
 lic morals, and is the only setter of the fashions in China ; 
 4. The Military Board, charged with the affairs of the 
 army and navy; 5. The Supreme Court of Criminal Ju- 
 risdiction ; and 6. The Board of Public Works. 
 
 IV. The Lyfan-yuen, or Office for Foreign Affairs. 
 Its duties embrace all the external relations of the em- 
 pire. The members of the Lyfan-yuen are always Mon- 
 gol or Manchow Tartars. 
 
 V. The Too-cha-yuen. This is a body of censors, 
 forty or fifty in number. They are sent into different 
 parts of the empire as imperial inspectors, which means 
 spies. By an ancient custom, they are at liberty to give 
 any advice to their master without the hazard of losing 
 their life ; but blunt honesty is not often relished by the 
 great from any quarter, and unpalatable remonstrances 
 have not seldom cost their authors the favour in which 
 they had before basked. 
 
 The provinces are governed each by a chief magis- 
 
87 
 
 trate, entitled foo-yuen, or two together are under the 
 government of a tsoong-to^ who has foo-yuens under him. 
 Canton and Kuang-sy are subject to a tsoong-to^ called by 
 Europeans, viceroy of Canton. The governors of the 
 provinces have, subordinate to them, an army of civil 
 magistrates amounting to fourteen thousand. No indivi- 
 dual is permitted to hold office in the province where he 
 was born ; and public functionaries interchange places 
 periodically, to prevent the formation of too intimate 
 connexions with the people under their government. A 
 quarterly publication is made, by authority, of the name, 
 birth-place, &c. of every official person in the Empire ; 
 and once in three years, a report is sent up to the board 
 of official appointments, by the foo-yuen of each pro- 
 vince, containing the names of all the officers in his 
 government, and a full statement concerning their con- 
 duct and character, received from the immediate supe- 
 riors of each. Every officer is held to a strict responsi- 
 bility for the good behaviour and fidelity of all who are 
 under him. Letters are held in higher esteem than arms, 
 and the civil officers of course outrank the military. This 
 may be set down to their credit, as it is certainly a mark 
 of social advancement. 
 
 No man in China inherits office, nor does hereditary 
 rank enjoy much consideration or influence. This fact 
 is placed in a strong light by the following anecdote, re- 
 lated by Sir George Staunton, secretary to Lord Macart- 
 ney's embassy. Among the presents for the Emperor 
 was a volume of portraits of the British nobility. That 
 the inspection of them might be more satisfactory to his 
 Majesty, a mandarin was employed to mark, in Chinese 
 characters, on the margin, the names and rank of the 
 persons represented. When he came to the print of an 
 English duke, from a portrait taken in childhood, and 
 
88 
 
 was told that the original was a ta-zhin, or great man, of 
 very high rank, he had so little conception of a child's 
 being qualified, by hereditary right, to be possessed of 
 such a dignity, that he gave a look of surprise, and lay- 
 ing down his pencil, exclaimed, that he could not venture 
 to describe him in that manner, for the Emperor knew 
 very well how to distinguish a great man from a boy. 
 
 The penal code of China is an interesting subject. If 
 we go upon the principle of judging the tree by its fruits, 
 and look at this code in connexion with its results, we 
 shall be compelled to allow that it is wisely framed and 
 efficiently administered. It is lucidly arranged under six 
 principal divisions, corresponding to the six boards above 
 described. It is not needful to enumerate the several 
 heads of chapters embraced in these divisions. The prin- 
 cipal defects of the code, in the opinion of Mr. Davis, 
 are, 1. A constant meddling with those relative duties 
 which had better be left to other sanctions than positive 
 laws ; 2. A minute attention to trifles, contrary to the 
 European maxim, de minimis non curat lex ; and 3. An 
 occasional indulgence in those vague generalities, by 
 which the benefits of a written code are in a great mea- 
 sure annulled. A prominent feature of the Chinese cri- 
 minal law is the marked and unrelenting severity with 
 which it punishes treason, not only in the person of the 
 traitor, but in those of his unoffending offspring, even the 
 suckling at the breast. The whole are cut off at one fell 
 blow. It is impossible to read the recital of some of these 
 punishments, so abhorrent to humanity and justice, with- 
 out a sentiment of indignation as well as of sympathy. 
 
 ^^The most common instrument of punishment is the 
 bamboo, whose dimensions are exactly defined. The 
 number of blows, attached gradatim with such preci- 
 sion to every individual offence, answers the purpose of 
 
89 
 
 a scale or measurement of the degrees of crime ; and this 
 punishment being often commutable for fine or otherwise, 
 the apparent quantity of flagellation is of course greater 
 than the real. The next punishment is the kea^ or can- 
 gue, which has been called the wooden collar, being a 
 species of walking pillory, in which the prisoner is pa- 
 raded, with his offence inscribed. It is sometimes worn 
 for a month together, and as the hand cannot be put to 
 the mouth, the wearer must be fed by others.'^* After 
 this comes banishment to some place in China, and then 
 exile beyond the Chinese frontier, either for a term of 
 years or for life. There are three kinds of capital punish* 
 ment, — strangulation, decollation, and, for treason, ling- 
 chy, " ?L disgraceful and lingering death,'' styled by 
 Europeans, cutting into ten thousand pieces, A debtor 
 who does not ^^pay up," after the expiration of a certain 
 specified period, becomes liable to the bamboo. 
 
 We will close this very imperfect notice of the Chinese 
 criminal law, with the following testimony of an able 
 writer in the Edinburgh Review. He says : — " The 
 most remarkable thing in this code is its great reasona- 
 bleness, clearness, and consistency ; the business-like 
 brevity and directness of the various provisions, and the 
 plainness and moderation of the language in which they 
 are expressed. It is a clear, concise, and distinct series 
 of enactments, savouring throughout of practical judg- 
 ment and European good sense. When we turn from the 
 ravings of the Zendavesta, or the Puranas, to the tone of 
 sense and of business of this Chinese collection, we seem 
 to be passing from darkness to light — from the drivellings 
 of dotage to the exercise of an improved understanding: 
 and, redundant and minute as these laws are in many 
 
 Davis. 
 12 
 
90 
 
 particulars^ we scarcely know any European code that is 
 at once so copious and so consistent^ or that is nearly so 
 free from intricacy, bigotry and fiction.'^ 
 
 It is generally supposed that the Chinese claim to have ' 
 authentic annals extending back to a date anterior to the 
 period usually assigned to the creation of the world. 
 This, however, is an erroneous supposition. It is true 
 that they have a fabulous history which pretends to relate 
 events occurring we know not how many thousand ages 
 ago ; but intelligent Chinese scholars consider and admit 
 this to be a pure invention. They claim, indeed, a high 
 antiquity, and there can be no doubt that the claim is 
 well founded. It is probable, that Alexander might have 
 spared his tears, and saved himself the perpetration of 
 an egregious folly, had he known that, far beyond the 
 Ganges, there lay an empire vaster and mightier than any 
 with whose power he had grappled ; — ^an empire flourish- 
 ing in the arts of civilized life, and destined to survive, in 
 ^ a green and vigorous old age, long after the last vestiges 
 of his ill-gotten power had disappeared from the earth. 
 
 A full development of the causes which have given 
 strength and stability to the Chinese empire, which have 
 matured and perpetuated its institutions, would be an in- 
 teresting and instructive labour. We cannot pretend to 
 attempt it, but may, in passing, throw out a few hints upon 
 the subject. There can be no doubt, that the sea and the 
 mountain barriers by which China is surrounded, the un- 
 warlike character of her neighbours, her almost total 
 isolation from the rest of the world, her vigilant po- 
 lice, the elegibility of all classes to the trusts and digni- 
 ties of office, and the rigid system of responsibility en- 
 forced upon her officers, have all had their share in the 
 result. But these causes are insufficient to explain the 
 phenomenon. The most powerful agent, beyond all ques- 
 
91 
 
 tion, is the education of her people. We speak here not 
 so much of the education received in schools, as of that 
 which consists in an early, constant, vigorous, and effi- 
 cient training of the disposition, manners, judgment, 
 and habits both of thought and conduct. This most effi- 
 cient department of education is ahnost wholly overlook- 
 ed and neglected by us ; but it seems to be well under- 
 stood and faithfully attended to by the Chinese. With 
 us, instruction is the chief part of education, with them 
 training ; let the wise judge between the wisdom of the 
 two methods. The sentiments held to be appropriate to 
 man in society, are imbibed with the milk of infancy, 
 and iterated and reiterated through the whole of subse- 
 quent life ; the manners considered becoming in adults, 
 are sedulously imparted in childhood ; the habits regard- 
 ed as conducive to individual advancement, social happi- 
 ness, and national repose and prosperity, are cultivated 
 with the utmost diligence ; and, in short, the whole 
 channel of thought and feeling for each generation, is * 
 scooped out by that which preceded it, and the stream 
 always fills but rarely overflows its embankments. The 
 greatest pains are taken to acquaint the people with their 
 personal and political duties, wherein they again set us 
 an example worthy of imitation. " Our rights," is a 
 phrase in every body's mouth, but our duties engage but 
 a comparatively small share of our thoughts. Volumes 
 are written on the former where pages are on the latter. 
 The sixteen discourses of the Emperor Yong-tching, on 
 the sixteen sacred institutes of Kang-hy, the most accom- 
 plished and virtuous of Chinese sovereigns, are read 
 twice every moon to the whole empire. We subjoin the 
 texts of these discourses as curious, and at the same time 
 highly illustrative of Chinese character. 
 
 1. ^^Be strenuous in filial piety' and fraternal respect, 
 
92 
 
 that you may thus duly perform the social duties. — 2. Be 
 firmly attached to your kindred and parentage, that your 
 union and concord may be conspicuous. — 3. Agree with 
 your countrymen and neigbours, in order that disputes 
 and litigation may be prevented. — 4. Attend to your 
 farms and mulberry trees, that you may have sufficient 
 food and clothing. — 5. Observe moderation and econo- 
 my, that your property may not be wasted. — 6. Extend 
 your schools of instruction, that learning may be duly 
 cultivated. — 7. Reject all false doctrines, in order that 
 you may duly honour true learning, — 8. Declare the 
 laws and their penalties, for a warning to the foolish and 
 ignorant. — 9. Let humility and propriety of behaviour 
 be duly manifested, for the preservation of good habits 
 and laudable customs. — 10. Attend each to your proper 
 employments, that the people may be fixed in their pur- 
 poses. — 11. Attend to the education of youth, in order 
 to guard them from doing evil. — 12. Abstain from ftdse 
 accusing, that the good and honest may be in safety. — 
 13. Dissuade from the concealment of deserters, that 
 others be not involved in their guilt. — 14. Duly pay your 
 taxes and customs, to spare the necessity of enforcing 
 them. — 15. Let the tithings and hundreds unite, for the 
 suppression of thieves and robbers. — 16. Reconcile ani- 
 mosities, that your lives be not lightly hazarded." 
 
 The discourses founded on these excellent maxims are 
 clear, direct, and simple in their style, and are charac- 
 terized by nervous thought and practical sense. They 
 might be taken as a model for didactic compositions. 
 The imperial pen deals summarily and rather cavalierly 
 with the ministers of the Budhist and Taou sects. We 
 offer a few specimens from the ^^Book of Sacred In- 
 structions.'^ The curious will find them interesting. 
 
 ^^This filial piety is a doctrine from Heaven, the con- 
 
93 
 
 summation of earthly justice, the grand principle of ac- 
 tion among mankind. The man who knows not piety to 
 parents, can surely not have considered the affectionate 
 hearts of parents towards their children. When still 
 infants in arms, hungry, they could not feed themselves ; 
 cold, they could not clothe themselves ; but they had 
 then parents who watched the sounds of their voice, and 
 studied the traits of their countenance ; who were joyful 
 when they smiled ; afflicted when they wept; who fol- 
 lowed them, step by step, when they moved ; who, when 
 they were sick or in pain, refused food and sleep on their 
 account. Thus were they nursed and educated until 
 they grew up to manhood." — ^^ Formerly, in the family 
 of Chang-kung-ze, nine generations lived together under 
 the same roof. In the family of Chang-she of Kiang-cheu 
 seven hundred partook of the same daily repast. Thus 
 ought all those who are of the same name to bear in re- 
 membrance their common ancestry and parentage." — 
 " Economy should, therefore, be held in estimation. A 
 store is like a stream of water, and moderation and eco- 
 nomy are like the dams which confine it. If the course 
 of the water is not stopped by the dam, the water will 
 be constantly running out, and the channel at length will 
 be dry. If the use of the store is not restricted by mo- 
 deration and economy, it will be consumed without stint, 
 and at length will be wholly exhausted." — ^^ Wisdom 
 should precede, and letters follow." — " He who pretends 
 to profound learning, without regarding first himself, and 
 his own duties ; fame indeed he may acquire, but when 
 he is examined, he will be found to possess no solidity." 
 — " These wandering and mendicant sectaries* are glad 
 
 * The Taou and Budhist priests. 
 
94 
 
 to disguise their views, because of the corruption of 
 their practices. Their chief pursuit is to diffuse false 
 auguries, and omens of good and bad fortune ; and they 
 thus make a livelihood by the sale of their idle tales and 
 vain predictions. At firsts they go no farther than to 
 delude the people out of their money, to enrich them- 
 selves; but, by degrees, they lead the people of both 
 sexes to meet indecorously together ; and burning in- 
 cense, they initiate them into their sect. — Husbandmen 
 and artisans desert their respective callings, and flock 
 after these vain and deceitful talkers.'' 
 
 Such, then, are the constitution, laws, and education 
 of China. The conclusion of the whole matter, the grand 
 results secured, are a stable throne ; a country enjoying 
 an extraordinary degree of internal quiet ; a population 
 mild, peaceful, obedient, cheerful, and industrious ; and 
 a perpetuity of national existence unequalled in the 
 world's history. 
 
 The population of China has been variously estimated. 
 Lord Macartney states the number of inhabitants at 
 333,000,000 ; Dr. Morrison's son at 360,000,000. It is 
 well known that the learned doctor's own estimate was 
 only 150,000,000, but he stated to Mr. Dunn, two years 
 before his death, that he was then convinced that the 
 highest number ever given did not exceed the true one. 
 Wherever the truth may lie, it is certain that every part 
 of the Empire teems with life. The whole policy of the 
 government, and all the tendencies of the Empire, that 
 can at all bear upon the matter, are in favour of multipli- 
 cation. Children are obliged to provide for the old age 
 of their parents ; and the want of offspring, who may pay 
 the customary honours at the family tombs and in the hall 
 of ancestors, is considered the most grievous of calamities. 
 These considerations are vigorous stimulants to marriage, 
 
95 
 
 and, coming in aid of the natural instincts of the race^ 
 leave fewer bachelors and maids in China than in any 
 other country on the globe. The owners of slaves, who 
 do not procure husbands for their females, are liable to 
 prosecution. Three generations, and more, often live 
 under the same roof, and eat at the same board ; a system 
 oi clubbing, which, by diminishing the expenses of living, 
 tends strongly to the increase of population. Again, the 
 laws of the Empire, and all the prejudices and sentiments 
 of the people, are against emigration, which prevents that 
 drainage by means of which other civilized and trading 
 nations are relieved of their surplus inhabitants. 
 
 The government of so extensive an Empire, swarming 
 with its hundreds of millions, must be an expensive 
 affair. Du Halde, apparently, however, without the 
 means of exact accuracy, sets down the total expenses of 
 the imperial government in the round sum of 200,000,000 
 taels, or considerably over S250,000,000 ; of which only 
 40,000,000 reach Peking, the balance being expended 
 in the provinces. The sources whence these moneys 
 come are, a land tax, for which the land-owners, and not 
 the tenants, are responsible ; a tax on salt, which is a 
 government monopoly ; certain revenues derived from 
 tea and alum, which are also monopolies to a limited ex- 
 tent ; taxes on the transit of goods within the Empire ; 
 and customs on imports and exports. The government 
 at this moment appears to be hard pressed for means, and 
 the difficulty of fixing upon modes of increasing the reve- 
 nue, is a pretty clear indication that there are practical 
 checks to the exercise of imperial authority, which it is 
 not thought prudent to disregard. 
 
 In whatever else a difference of opinion may exist re- 
 specting the Chinese, all must agree that they are an 
 original people. Their marked peculiarities in manners 
 
96 
 
 and customs, the frame-work and administration of their 
 government, the idiosyncrasy of their education and edu- 
 cational institutions, and their modes and implements of 
 agricultural and mechanical labour, — all proclaim their 
 originality beyond doubt or cavil. Whoever atten- 
 tively examines the immense Collection of Chinese Curi- 
 osities, of which we have given but a comparatively 
 meagre sketch, will need no further proof of the inge- 
 nuity of the Chinese in arts and manufactures. In several 
 branches of labour, both agricultural and mechanical, 
 which evidently originated with themselves, they have 
 never been surpassed ; and in some, they are unequalled 
 by any other people. Without any claims to be consi- 
 dered a scientific nation, the various contrivances by 
 which they economize labour, and force nature to be- 
 come their handmaid, are many of them equally simple, 
 ingenious, and efficient. 
 
 The three inventions and discoveries which, in their 
 results, have contributed more powerfully than all other 
 causes combined to give to modern society its peculiar 
 form and fashioning, and which are destined, instrument- 
 ally, to carry forward, to its utmost limit of perfection, 
 the civilization of the human race, first started into being 
 in the Celestial Empire ; and, whatever mortification 
 the statement may inflict upon our vanity, there is much 
 reason to suppose that those who, throughout Christen- 
 dom, are generally considered as the inventors of the art 
 of printing, the composition of gunpowder, and the mag- 
 netic needle and mariner's compass, received their first 
 promptings, and had their genius quickened into activity, 
 by information flowing, through different channels, from 
 the springs of Eastern Asia. 
 
97 
 
 XXXIV. Our Trade with China. 
 
 The ancients may be said to have had no knowledge of 
 China ; for, though a few scattered gleams appear to have 
 reached them from that remote region, and one or two 
 feeble efforts were made to obtain information concerning 
 its inhabitants, they were not sufficient to produce any 
 practical results. Yet, when Rome was still an infant, 
 and the Grecian philosophy among the things to be, 
 China had produced a sage, second only, in the long ca- 
 talogue of heathen philosophers, to the illustrious and 
 pure minded Socrates. 
 
 Some Nestorians appear to have introduced Christian- 
 ity into China, in the year 635, but the world is indebted 
 to them for no account of the country, either in its phy- 
 sical or moral aspects. Two Arabians, in the ninth cen- 
 tury, visited and described it with considerable fulness. 
 Much contained in their itineraries is applicable to the 
 Chinese of the present day. Commercial relations of 
 some importance existed then, and subsequently, between 
 China and Arabia. The Chinese appear to have sought, 
 in those early ages, commercial liaisons with several of 
 the neighbouring nations. Carpini, the first Catholic 
 missionary to China, was sent thither in 1246. He was 
 kindly received, and sent back with a friendly letter. 
 Another missionary was sent in 1253, who met with a 
 like reception. About the same time, the two Polos, 
 Nicholas and Matthew, reached the court of the Mongol 
 conqueror, Coblai Khan, by whom they were most gra- 
 ciously received, and, at their departure, invited to re- 
 turn. They accordingly, in 1274, went back, taking 
 young Marco with them. This young man became a 
 great favourite with the Khan, and resided at his court 
 
 13 
 
98 
 
 seventeen years. He was the first European who gave 
 the world an account of China. His book was long con- 
 sidered little more than a pleasant romance^ but has since 
 been proven to be remarkably faithful and accurate. Its 
 glowing pictures kindled the imagination of the young 
 Columbus, and fed for years his soaring hopes. The pen 
 of the noble Venetian did much to nurse that lofty en- 
 thusiasm and indomitable perseverance, which at length 
 revealed to Europe, not indeed a new passage to the rich 
 empire of Cathay, but a new world, the destined refuge 
 of the oppressed of every clime, designed by Providence 
 to become the theatre of new and sublime experiments in 
 government, where human nature, relieved from the 
 pressure imposed upon it by the abuses of ancient dynas- 
 ties, might start afresh, with unimpeded and elastic step, 
 on the race of improvement. May the same Almighty 
 arm that shielded from a thousand dangers the leading 
 actor in the opening scene of this great drama, continue, 
 through coming ages, to spread the aegis of its protection 
 over these broad domains, and thus cause the fulfilment 
 of the prophecy of the rapt bard, who sang, 
 
 " Time's noblest empire is the last." 
 
 The next Catholic missionary to China was Corviuo. 
 He went to Peking, was kindly received by the Emperor, 
 built a church by imperial permission, and baptized se- 
 veral thousand converts. The missions continued to 
 flourish, and the missionaries were unmolested in their 
 labours, till they began to meddle with the government, 
 and thus became politically obnoxious. 
 
 The Portuguese were the first Europeans who traded 
 to China. They made their appearance there early in 
 the sixteenth century. They were followed by the 
 
99 
 
 Spaniards, Dutch, French, &c. The Russians have an 
 over- land commerce with China, but are not allowed to 
 use ships. Their dealings are restricted to the frontier 
 station at Kiackta, in Tartary. The earliest attempt 
 made by the English to establish a trade with China, was 
 under Elizabeth, in 1396. The three ships, fitted out 
 for this purpose, were all wrecked on their outward voy- 
 age. About forty years later, a somewhat more success- 
 ful effort was made by a fleet under the command of 
 Capt. Weddel ; but the main object was defeated through 
 the jealousy and misrepresentations of the '' Portugals." 
 Numerous attempts followed, with various success; but 
 it was not until the beginning of the last century that 
 permission was obtained for establishing a factory, and 
 the trade fixed upon a permanent basis. 
 
 The first American vessel that went on a trading voy- 
 age to China, sailed from New York, in 1784; but so 
 rapidly did the trade, thus opened, increase, that in 
 1789, there were fifteen American vessels at Canton ; a 
 larger number than from any other country, except Great 
 Britain. During twenty-eight years, betw^een 1805 and 
 1833 inclusive, the whole number of arrivals of Ameri- 
 can vessels at the port of Canton, was 896, giving an an- 
 nual average of 32. The total estimated measurement 
 tonnage of these vessels was 500,000, averaging, there- 
 fore, 17,857 per annum. The entire value of the China 
 trade, during the abovementioned period, may be stated, 
 in round numbers, at 8150,000,000, or over five millions 
 and a quarter yearly. Rather more than a hundred mil- 
 lions of this sum have been paid in dollars and bills of 
 exchange. The bulk of the trade is in teas. Of these, 
 twelve kinds are known to the foreign commerce, six of 
 black, and as many of green. A great variety of other 
 articles enter into the trade, but they form a compara- 
 
100 
 
 lively iiiiimportant part of it. Opium is the chief import 
 into China. 
 
 Mr. Bridgman in his " Description of Canton,'' esti- 
 mates the whole number of vessels employed, in the China 
 trade, belong to all the different nations, at 140. '^ But 
 the trade/' he adds, " has always been carried on under 
 circumstances peculiar to itself. It is secured by no 
 commercial treaties; it is regulated by no stipulated 
 rules. Mandates and edicts not a few there are on re- 
 cord ; but they all emanate from one party : still the 
 trade lives, and, by that imperial favour which extends 
 to the ' four seas,' flourishes and enjoys no small degree 
 of protection." 
 
 The foreign commerce with China, the land trade car- 
 ried on by the Russians alone excepted, is restricted to 
 the port of Canton, and is conducted, so far as the Chinese 
 themselves are concerned, by a body of licensed traders, 
 called "Hong merchants." This body is called the 
 Co-hong, and its members pay roundly for the privilege 
 of entering it. It is not a joint stock company ; each 
 Hong enjoys his individual gains, yet the whole Co-hong 
 is made responsible for the debts of every member, so far 
 as they consist of government dues and obligations to 
 foreigners. These merchants generally amass large for- 
 tunes, and live like princes. Houqua, the present head 
 of the Co-hong, is supposed to be the richest commoner 
 in the world. The wealth of Girard was small in com- 
 parison with that which he possesses. His annual ex- 
 penses exceed half a million of dollars. There are very 
 few of the English nobility, rich as they are, who have a 
 rent-roll equal to this. 
 
 The factories, as the warehouses and residences of the 
 foreign merchants are called, are built on a plot of ground, 
 in part reclaimed from the river, having not more than 
 
101 
 
 660 feet of frontage, with about 1000 feet of depth. 
 Within these narrow limits is conducted the whole fo- 
 reign trade of the Celestial Empire, amounting to from 
 S30, 000,00 to ;S40,000,000 annually. The factories 
 are all of granite or brick, and present a handsome and 
 substantial front. The ground on which they stand, as 
 also most of the buildings themselves, are owned by the 
 Hong-merchants. 
 
 We have now filled the space which, at the outset, we 
 proposed in our own mind as the limit of our labour. We 
 have left unsaid much that we would gladly have intro- 
 duced, in further illustration of the peculiar character- 
 istics of this unique and interesting race. The Chinese 
 have been, repeatedly, denounced in terms savouring 
 little of Christian forbearance and charity. In their bu- 
 siness transactions, they have been presented to our ima- 
 gination as a nation of cheats ; in their bearing towards 
 foreigners, as scornful and repulsive to the last degree of 
 supercilious self-complacency; and in their own social 
 relations, as bereft of every noble sentiment and generous 
 sympathy. The policy, especially, of excluding foreign 
 traders from all but a single port of the Empire, has been 
 made the subject of the most acrimonious denunciations. 
 Far be it from us to enter the lists in defence of this 
 policy ; nor will we take up the proffered gauntlet on the 
 general question of Chinese respectability and worth. But 
 truth and justice are suitors at the bar, and demand a few 
 words in explanation of one or two points, which seem not 
 to be generally understood. We have already seen that 
 this people, at an early day, sought commercial con- 
 nexions with various of the neighbouring nations ; that 
 the Arabians traded freely with them, wherever they 
 pleased ; that the earliest European visiters were received 
 with marked kindness, and treated with extraordinary 
 
102 
 
 hospitality ; and that the Catholio missionaries had free 
 admission to all parts, and made and haptized converts 
 without let or hindrance. These zealous and ahle secta- 
 ries were frequently promoted to the highest dignities of 
 the Empire. They founded churches at their will ; and 
 hundreds of thousands of Chinese were, nominally at least, 
 through their exertions, converted to the Christian faith. 
 They continued in favour till they indiscreetly began to 
 tamper with government affairs, and attempted to under- 
 mine the ancient institutions of the realm. No restric- 
 tions of place were imposed upon those western merchants 
 who first frequented the shores of China. Every port 
 was open to their enterprise, and they were not required 
 to confine their dealings to any defined spot or particular 
 class of merchants. But the burning jealousies and fierce 
 wranglings perpetually kept up between the subjects of 
 the different European governments that sought to share 
 in the rich gains of the China trade, roused the suspi- 
 cions of the Chinese, and inspired no very favourable 
 opinion of their character. The abominable arts to which 
 the foreigners, under the stings of a base cupidity, resort- 
 ed to injure each other, would seem almost to justify the 
 epithet Fanquis^ or " foreign demons,'^ applied to them 
 by the natives. These circumstances, together with va- 
 rious positive abuses of the liberties of trade at first freely 
 granted, caused the government to commence at length 
 the work of abridging the privileges of the foreigners, 
 and the result appears in the rigid system of restrictions 
 now in force. 
 
 If European and American traders may fairly blame 
 the illiberality of the Chinese, these have certainly just 
 ground of complaint against the former, in the illegal 
 practices to which their cupidity prompts them. Fifteen 
 to twenty millions worth of opium is, in difiance of the 
 
103 
 
 laws and known wishes of the government^ every year 
 emptied upon the shores of China by Christian merchants! 
 Alas for missionary effort, so long as the grasping avarice 
 of the countries whence the missionaries go, sets at nought 
 every Christian obligation before the very eyes of the 
 people, whom it is sought to convert ! MostMevoutly do 
 we long for the auspicious day, when the pure religion, 
 that distilled from the heart and was embodied in the life 
 of Jesus, shall shed its sacred influences on every human 
 being ; but, in our inmost soul, we believe it will not 
 come, till the principles of that religion shall take a 
 firmer hold upon the affections of those who profess to 
 receive it, and rear a mightier embankment around their 
 sordid and stormy passions. When the missionary shall 
 find an auxiliary in the stainless life of every compatriot 
 who visits the scene of his labours for purposes of plea- 
 sure or of gain, — when he can point not only to the pure 
 maxims and sublime doctrines proclaimed by the Founder 
 of his faith, but to the clustering graces that adorn its 
 professors, — then indeed will the day dawn, and the day- 
 star of the millenium arise upon the world! 
 
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