CHINA:

tNTRY, HISTORY, AND PEOPLE.CHINA

THE

COUNTRY, HISTORY, AND PEOPLE

LONDON:

THE RELIGIOUS TRA.CT SOCIETY,

Defobitobies: 56, Patebitostbr Bow; 65, Si. Paul’s Chubchyabd
aits 164, Piccadilly.CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.

HISTORICAL.

Early and legendary history—Native dynasties—Tartar invasion and
conquest—The Tartar dynasty—Recent changes

CHAPTER II.

GEOGRAPHY AND GENERAL ASPECT OF THE COUNTRY.

Outlying provinces—Physical Geography of China Proper—Geology and
Mineralogy—Climate—Fauna and Flora—Irrigation—Provinces;
their area, population, etc.- The Provinces described In order, with
their natural productions, characteristic industry, etc. —Roads,
Canals, Great Wall—Ethnology.

CHAPTER III.

GOVERNMENT, LEGISLATURE, AND INSTITUTIONS.

Fundamental principle—The Court—Person of the Emperor—Councils
and Administrative Boards Imperial Academy—Mandarins—
Revenue and Taxation—Laws —Punishments—Marriage and Di-
vorce—Relief of the Poor—Hospitals—Slavery—Polygamy

CHAPTER IY.

RELIGIONS.

General indifference to religion—Confucius—His personal history—His
writings and those of his discip'es -The Canonical books of the
Confucians—The doctrines and rites taught in them—Mencius —
Lao-tse and the doctrines of Tao—Present condition of this sect—
Buddhism; its origin, history, and character—-Connection with
Roman Catholicism—Mohammedans—Jews—Secret sects and
societiesvi

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER Y.

ARMY, NAVY, AND POLICE.

Inefficiency of Chinese Military and Naval systems—Reasons for this
—Sometimes fight well—Organisation of Chinese Army—Weapons
and Uniform—Navy—The Chinese not a maritime people—Junks
and Sailors—Pirates—Militia—Brigands—Police—Prisons	.	.	100

CHAPTER VI.

LANGUAGE, EDUCATION, AND LITERATURE.

Supposed difficulties of the Language—Its wide diffusion—Its funda-
mental principle—The written and spoken language—Chinese
Grammar—Education—Peep into a School—Class Books—General
Literature—Extracts from the writings of Confucius, and from
Children's Books—Chinese Poetry .......	117

CHAPTER VII.

AGRICULTURE AND HORTICULTURE.

Tenure of the Land—Importance attached to Agriculture—Imperial
Ploughing—Fertility of various Districts—Rice—Mode of Cultiva-
tion-Cotton—Agricultural Implements—Live-stock — Gardens—

Tea—Mode of Culture and Preparation—Importance of the Tea-
crop—Silk..........................................140

CHAPTER VIII.

ARTS, SCIENCES, AND MANUFACTURES.

Early development of Arts and Sciences in China—Their subsequent
decadence—Architecture—Influence of the Tartar tent in the form
of buildings—Sculpture—Porcelain—Painting—A Chinese Hogarth
—Music—Mathematics and the kindred Sciences—Trade—Metal
working—Textile Fabrics—Paper and Ink.................161

CHAPTER IX.

MANNERS AND CUSTOMS.

General aspect of a Chinese town—A Chinese house—Furniture, dress,
etc.—Visits of ceremony—Meals—Gambling—Marriage ceremony
—Funerals—Rural districts..........................182CONTENTS.

vii

CHAPTER X.

PRINCIPAL TOWNS AND TREATY-PORTS.

PAGE

Chinese cities—Peking—Described by Marco Polo—Present condition
—Nanking—Treaty-ports of 1842: Canton, Amoy, Foo-chow,
Ningpo, and Shanghai—Treaty-ports of 1858: Kien-chow, Swatow,
Tai-wan, Chin-kiang, Han-kow, Tang-chow, Tien-tsin, Neu-
chwang...............................................206

CHAPTER XI.

MISCELLANEOUS.

Kite-flying—Fireworks - Lanterns—Monetary system—Weights and
Measures—Banks—Pawnbrokers—The Swan-pan—Couriers and
Letter-carriers—Cormorants trained to fish—Other modes of catch-
ing fish—Theatrical Entertainments—Amulets and Charms .	.	229

CHAPTER XII.

INTERCOURSE WITH FOREIGNERS.

Chinese exclusiveness—Early intercourse with the Romans, Nestorians,
and Arabs—The Portuguese—The Dutch—The Russians, Ameri-
cans, and French—Early English intercourse with China—Embas-
sies of Lords Macartney and Amherst—The East India Company—

The Opium war—Subsequent wars, treaties, and intercourse .	.	244

CHAPTER XIII.

MISSIONS IN CHINA.

The Jews in China—Intercourse with them—Ancient tablet at Kai-fiing
—The Nestorians—Tablet of Olopun at Singan—Early Roman Ca-
tholic Missions—The Jesuits—Jealousies and contentions amongst
the Missionaries—Their exclusion from China—Recent history and
statistics of Papal Missions— Causes of failure—Protestant Missions
—Morrison, his history and labours—His associates — Gutzlaff and
the American Missionaries—The opium war and opening of China
—Extension of Protestant Missions—Their recent history and
statistics—Character of the converts—Conclusion ....	272Note.—The writer i6 indebted for much valuable information
to the Authors of the following works; whose names are in-
serted here with a view of avoiding frequent references and
footnotes; and for the guidance of such students as desire a
more detailed acquaintance with the subject than could be given
in the following pages:—

Alcock, Sir Rutherford....“ Capital of the Tycoon."

Alexander.................“ Costumes of China.”

Barrow, Sir John .........“ Travels in China.”

Blakiston, Captain, R.A.Five Months on the Yang-tze.”

Chinese Repository........

Collins, Mrs..............“ China and its People.”

Cooke, Wingrove ..........“ China in 1857-8.”

Davis, Sir J. F...........“ The Chinese.” “ Chinese Miscellanies.”

Du Halde, Jean Baptiste...” Description Geographique et Historique de la
Chine.”

Doolittle, Rev. J.........“ Social Life of the Chinese.”

Fisher, Lieut.-Col., R.E. ...” Three Years’ Service in China."

Fortune, R................“ Three Years' Wanderings in China.” “ Resi-

dence among Chinese.”

Gutzlaff, Rev. Carl.......“ Three Voyages aloug the Coast of China in

1831-2-3."	“ China Opened: Display of

Topography, History, etc., of the Chinese
Empire.”

Hue, the Abb6.............“ Journey through the Chinese Empire."

Itiers, Andrd Victor .....“ Journal d’un Voyage en Chine en 1843-4-5-G,

et 1853."

Reason, J.................“ The Cross and the Dragon, or Christianity in

China.”

Kidd, Rev. S..............“China; its Symbols, Antiquities, Customs,etc.”

Lay, G. T.................“ The Chinese as they are."

Lockhart, Dr..............“ Medical Missionary in China."

Malpidre, Bazin de.........“ La Chine.”

Martin, Robert M..........“ China, Political, Commercial, and Social.”

Meadows, Thomas T.........“ Chinese and their Rebellions.”

Michie, Alexander.........“ The Siberian Overland Route from Pekin to

Petersburg.”

Milne, Dr.................“ Protestant Missions to China."

Oliphant, Laurence .......“	Narrative of Lord Elgin’s Mission.”

Polo, Marco..............” Travels."

Rennie, Dr.................“ British Arms in China and Japan.”

Scarth, J.................” Twelve Years in China."

Smith, Albert ............“ To China and back."

Staunton, Sir George......” Narrative of Lord Macartney’s Embassy.”

Wolseley, Col.............“ Narrative of the War with China in 1860.”

Yvan and Callery..........“ History of the Insurrection in China.”INTRODUCTION.

We live in times when the quaint Chinese landscape
of the willow-pattern plate has been shorn of half its
mystery. Engravings, photographs, and descriptions
of the pagodas and boat-dwellings, of the steep bridges
and travellers in inconvenient costumes, which are
delineated on its familiar surface, have revealed to
many of us the accurate appearance of these strange
objects. Englishmen are beginning to roam at will
through “ The Middle Empire,” as the Chinese call
their country ; and even in England we meet with in-
dubitable specimens of her black-haired and tawny
sons. Vague curiosity has given place to searching
inquiry, and information on all subjects connected
with China rapidly accumulates. Thousands of our
fellow-countrymen are dwelling in China, and tens of
thousands of Chinese are at work in our colonies.
The relations between ourselves and that interesting
people have undergone rapid and most important
changes, and have assumed, within th& last few years,
an entirely new phase.

Hence there probably never was, in the history of
the world, a more fitting time than the present for
gathering up the materials which have been collected
during the past centuries for framing an account of
this mighty empire. For, in these latter days, we

B2

INTRODUCTION.

have seen the shy and contemptuous healing of her
inhabitants subdued by the strong hands of European
soldiers, the selfish policy of her commerce modified
by the subtle and powerful influences of European
merchants and diplomatists, the mysteries of the
inland provinces laid open to the inspection of
adventurous travellers from the far west, and the cold
and unsatisfying idolatries of one-third of our fellow-
creatures beginning to thaw under the genial rays of
Gospel truth that illumine our own land.

When we compare the first insignificant settlement
of the Portuguese at Macao, with the long list of
seaports and inland towns that are now open to the
merchant and to the missionary, and which range
along the coast line from Canton in the south to Niu-
chwang in the extreme north (over eighteen degrees
of latitude) ; and when we consider the freedom of
modern commerce and the scornful restrictions of
former times, we cannot but feel that a new era has
dawned upon the Chinese empire; and that it now
devolves upon us, as a Christian nation, to look to the
privileges and responsibilities which our soldiers, our
traders, and our diplomatists have won for us. For
there can be no doubt that, unless our efforts to
penetrate into the secrets of China be guided and
inspired by some nobler motive than the lust of power
and the greed of gain, they will be unworthy of our
British name as a Christian nation. Hitherto, things
have been so ordered for us that the soldier and the
merchant have preceded the missionary. But our
ambition has not been and ought not to be confined
to military exploits or commercial advantages. The
valour of our soldiers and the energy of our traders
must open a path for the evangelist. We haveINTBODU CTION.

3

received the Gospel freely, freely must we give it.
It is intended in the following pages to give an account
of the progress of all three in China, and to describe the
true nature of the material upon which they have to
work. It would not be desirable in this book to enter
largely into details or statistics; the main object will
be to exhibit, in systematic order, a general view of
the Chinese empire, in all its various aspects : we
shall draw largely upon the experiences of the Past,
shall carefully note the more important and significant
facts of the Present, and, with anxious but trustful
care, endeavour to discern, so far as we may, what the
Future has in store.

But, in order to facilitate the researches of those
who may derive from these pages an interest in the
subject deeper than can he satisfied within our narrow
limits, no less than from a desire to acknowledge the
obligations of the writer, a list will be given of some
of the principal works which may be consulted for
more detailed information. It may, however, be stated
that care will be taken that in this volume no points
of general interest will be neglected, and that the
whole subject will be so arranged that reference may
be easily made to every important topic. So vast
indeed is the field before us that, notwithstanding the
exclusive policy which the Chinese have almost in-
variably adopted towards Europeans, the whole of the
books which have been written on “ The Flowery
Land ” would in themselves form an extensive library :
and to obtain an accurate acquaintance with them all
would absorb a large proportion of the leisure of a
life-time.

There is another point of view from which we may
regard the present as a most fitting time to enter4

INTBODTrCTION-.

afresli upon this subject of China. As most English-
men are doubtless aware, China has, for some time
past, been convulsed by rebellions. The throne of the
Manchow dynasty—founded in the time of our
Charles I.—is shaken to its.very foundations by the
revolt of the Tae-pings and other insurgents. British
and French forces have gone to the rescue of the
Imperial government, and have proved of the utmost
service to the cause of the emperor. Though this is
not the first time that foreign aid has been thus invoked
by the Chinese government, yet on no former occasion
has the assistance of the “ outer barbarians ” been em-
ployed to so great an extent, or with such beneficial
results. What a prospect of future usefulness, in
other courses than in the arts of war, does this dis-
close ! Can even a Chinese government fail to be
grateful to nations that shall have rescued it, as we
have already partly done, from anarchy and destruc-
tion ? Will not the “ foreign devils ” (as we are
called) appear in a new light to the rulers of the
Chinese ere long ? and may not the golden words of
Divine Truth fall on more willing ears, and on softened
hearts, when the present difficulties shall have been
overcome ?

But let us not deceive ourselves into the belief that
all these changes will come to pass in our own days.
We shall see, as we pursue our course through these
pages, that nearly all of the customs of the Chinese
still in force have been virtually unaltered for at least
two thousand years; they have become engrained in
the heart of the nation ; and the might of man alone
can never effect the enormous changes which will take
place at some time in the condition of this vast portion
of the globe. Slowly perhaps, yet surely, they willINTRODUCTION.

5

undoubtedly be wrought at last; but by the might of
Him alone who has promised that “ All the ends of the
world shall remember and turn unto the Lord: and
all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before
Thee.”*

Nor perchance shall we fail to learn something for
ourselves in the prosecution of our task. We shall,
beyond a doubt, find, even in that dark land, some
traits of character, some social influences, and some
political virtues which even Europeans and Christians
may not be ashamed to imitate. If such shall prove
to be tbe case, the labour expended on these pages
will indeed become “ twice blessed.” From the me-
chanical skill of the Chinese, and from their inventions,
as well as from the natural products of their country,
Englishmen in particular have been, for many long
years, greatly benefited. We may also learn some-
thing from the virtues which many of these heathens
certainly possess. Shall we not seek to repay them
with something better than the products of our manu-
factories, and additions to their worldly wealth ?

With such views as these attention is invited to the
following pages: they will not merely deal in dry
statements of facts ; but an endeavour will be made to
place the facts in a proper and interesting light, both
as bearing upon ourselves and upon the future of the
Chinese empire ; and it is hoped that no one will
close this volume without having learnt something of
the past and present of China, nor without hopeful,
if not sanguine, views of her future.

* Ps. xxii. 27.CHAPTER I.

HISTORICAL.

Early and legendary history—Native dynasties—Tartar invasion and coni
quest—The Tartar dynasty—Recent changes.

The early history of China, like that of most other
nations, is lost in the night of antiquity ; but there is
no country which lays claim to a more remote origin,
or can produce, at least, the semblance of older annals.
The Chinese are a people who are distinguished by the
vague value which they attach to numbers, even when
they speak of subjects within the knowledge of those
who listen to them ; it is therefore not much to be
wondered at, if, when they come to treat of the origin
of their own history, they share the vanity common to
mankind, and let their imagination run riot in the
fabulous antiquity to which they lay claim.

The chief good which seems likely to arise from a
consideration of their traditionary lore appears to be
this:—uncouth and distorted as the fable is, yet, like
the mythology of ancient Greece, the early history of
China bears an indirect and unconscious testimony to
the truthfulness of the Bible story. It was of little
avail that, 213 years before Christ, the Emperor
Si-whang-ti caused the historical books throughout
the kingdom to be burnt, and vast numbers of his
learned men to be destroyed—the scattered fragmentsEABLY CHINESE niSTOBY.

7

of the past had been preserved by the care and
learning of Confucius, in the Chou-king, and we have
dim glimpses of a flood revealed to us as occurring at a
period in Chinese history which nearly tallies with
the generally received date of the Noachian deluge.
Again, the miracle of the staying of the sun in his
course is not without an unwitting confirmation in
Chinese history ; for it has been stated that, in the
days! of Joshua, such a phenomenon was witnessed in
China, in the time of Yau.

But it is foreign to the object of this work to enter
into such discussions as these at any great length.
We therefore pass rapidly by the misty periods to
which reference has been made, and only linger to
mention the “Three Emperors,” Fohi, Shin-noong and
Hoang-ti, and the “ Five Sovereigns ” to whom the
Chinese ascribe the honours of the invention of agri-
culture, numbers, music, and all the arts, sciences and
customs of civilized life. Nor will it profit much to
dwell upon the inglorious dynasty of Hea or Hya,
or the scarcely more interesting dynasty of Shang.
During the latter dynasty, somewhere between 1352
and 1122 B.C., it is supposed that Japan and the
neighbouring isles were peopled from China, owing to
the tyrannical oppression of the government of Kang-
tsoo and his successors, which drove their subjects
from the soil.

About 1100 b.c. the Chow dynasty succeeded to the
throne (1122-249 b.c.) During their tenure of office
there arose, from amongst the people, a man whose
name will be remembered as long as the name of China
itself. This was Kung-foo-tsze, known to Europeans
by his latinised name of Confucius (born 552 B.c.) To
him we owe all the knowledge we possess of the early8

HISTOBICAL.

periods of Chinese history. Nor was it history alone
that he bequeathed to his countrymen : the prevailing
religion, if religion it may be called, was established
by Confucius. He gathered together all the indistinct
reports and traditions of earlier times, and though, in
giving them “ a local habitation and a name,” lie
doubtless robbed other lands of some of their heroes,
yet, believing as he did then, what most of the
Chinese do now, namely, that China is the “ Middle
Kingdom ”—the centre of the earth—and beyond it
all is dark, barbarous or unknown, no hard judgment
will be passed on the appropriation which he made.
Contemporary as he was with Herodotus, posterity
will ever look with regard and admiration on these two
fathers of history, and will even perhaps accord to
Confucius the brighter laurels of the two, inasmuch as
he added to his history a system of morals which has
prevailed in his country to the present day.

Let us pause here for the purpose of taking a hasty
glance at the state of our world at this epoch. At
the time of the commencement of the Chow dynasty
Egypt and Assyria were flourishing. Troy and Athens,
Thebes and Sparta, and Tyre and Carthage, had been
founded. The long Trojan war had at length just
come to an- end. Rome was not built. Solomon had
not yet dedicated the Temple; and Britain, in its
remote corner of the western world, was as yet
unknown. How time has changed the relative posi-
tions of the nations ! Where are now the glories of
the monarchs of Egypt and Assyria ? Traces of their
former grandeur are, with laborious research, revealed
by European investigators in our own time. Greece
and Rome are in the dust; fragments which attest
their power and refinement adorn our museums, andGLANCE AT CONTEMPOBABY HISTOBY.

9

present to our admiration triumphs of skill to which we
are yet unable to attain. The very site of Troy is
uncertain; and Britain has emerged from the gloom
which involved her very existence then, has become 'a
power-with a more wide-spread influence than was ever
possessed by any nation of antiquity, and has sent forth
her sons to replenish and subdue in almost every part
of the habitable globe.

Amidst all the changes and chances which have
befallen the rest of the world, one nation, China, alone
has preserved the set calm and statuesque composure,
the self reliance and the indifference to foreign
influences of which she has, until recently, exhibited
such remarkable evidences.

Yet the history of China has not been uneventful;
we shall see, as we glance at its pages, that rebellion
and murder, lust, avarice, sloth, and almost every other
vice have alternately filled and emptied the throne. Nor
has she been free from external enemies., The Tartar
tribes on her northern boundary, after many an
unsuccessful attempt, at last seized the reins of empire;
but the spell of Chinese influences was too strong and
subtle for even these hardy warriors, and it may well be
said that if the Tartars conquered China, the Chinese
have conquered the Tartars, and made them conform
to her religions and modes of life, even whilst they sat
upon the throne.

Let us take the commencement of the Chow dynasty
as a point in Chinese history at which it begins to be
reliable, and let us follow its current down to our own
times.

The Chow dynasty lasted from about 1122’ to 249
B.c. The Tartars were already in arms, and laid
waste several of the provinces with impunity; for the10

HISTORICAL.

latter emperors of this race were feeble and incompetent
governors. So aggressive had their subjects become
that the emperor ruled only in name; the feudal
princes usurped the sovereign power, and defied their
liege lord. In the reign of Ting-wang (770 B.c.)
several of his tributaries entirely renounced their
allegiance; and, down to the days of Confucius,
anarchy and confusion reigned throughout the land.
One state at last overpowered the others, and thus
arose the Tsin dynasty. (249-205 b.c.)

The tenure of office by these princes, if short, was
vigorous. Amongst them was Si-whang-ti, to whom
reference has already been made as having commanded
the destruction of the historical books of the country,
that he might appear to future times as the first of the
emperors of China. He repulsed the Tartars, and
built that wonder of the world, the great wall of China,
to check their predatory attacks. But his dynasty
ended with his son and successor, who was deposed six
years after the death of his father.

Then came the great and renowned dynasty of Han,
which lasted from 201 B.c. to 264 a.d., during which
period China produced some of her greatest warriors,
statesmen, and philosophers. But the Tartars still
continued the inveterate foes of their neighbours ; and,
aiding bry their constant and fierce attacks the mal-
contents of the Chinese empire, at last the great race
of Han, too, became a thing of the past. During the
reign of one of its emperors (said to be Kwang-woo),
there was heard a voice crying in the wilderness of
Judaea, “ Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his
paths straight;”* and, though that voice has now
been ringing in the world’s ears for more than

* Matt. iii. 3.INTBODUCTIOH OP BUDDHISM.

11

1800 years, as yet, only faint and feeble echoes of
it have ever penetrated the great moral wilderness
which exists in the unhappy land whose turbulent
history we are considering, Yet, even in those days,
the sound did, after a while, reach the ears of one
who sat upon the throne of China; Ming-te, the
seventeenth emperor of the dynasty of Han (a.d. 94),
heard rumours of the birth of the Prince of Peace, and
dispatched ambassadors to learn tidings of Him. But
the time had not yet arrived when the inscrutable
counsels of the Most High had determined that the
Gospel story should be revealed to the eastern world.
The ambassadors of Ming-te were corrupted by some
Buddhist priests, who returned with them from
Hindostan to China, and gave them the absurd
religion of Po. The Chinese sought for bread, and
the priests of Buddhu gave them a stone!

Two more dynasties passed by ; a second called Tsin
(264-420 a.d.), and the dynasty of Sung (420-579
A.D.). They were times of cruelty, war, and oppres-
sion, and many of the emperors were assassinated.
The only noteworthy event which took place at this
period of Chinese history appears to have been the
division of the country into two kingdoms, on the
accession of Gang-te, the first of the race of Sung.
Ho-nan was the capital of the northern provinces
(which were under Tartar rule), and Nanking that of
the southern.

The dynasties of Leang and Chin succeeded. During
the former, usurper after usurper occupied the throne ;
and the inglorious tenure of the latter was terminated
in a.d. 589 by Yang-keen, the founder of the dynasty
of Suy (590-618 a.d.), who reunited the two divi-
sions of the country, and made Ho-nan the capital of12

HISTOBICAL.

the empire. By cunning diplomacy, he defeated the
ever-turbulent Tartar princes more completely than
any of his predecessors had been able to do by force of
arms ; and his shrewd example was ably followed by
Tang-kaou-tsoo, the first of the following dynasty of
Tang (619-907 a.d.), who ascended the throne in
a.d. 619. New enemies were found by him in the
Turks, who invaded the western provinces, but who
were repulsed by his skilful management. The son of
Tang-kaou-tsoo followed in his father’s steps, and not
only held foreign invaders in check but also contrived
to extend the boundaries of his already vast empire by
subjecting the Corea to his sway. Literature flourished
in his time, and the country was comparatively at rest.
There are some slight evidences too of Christianity
having, during this dynasty of Tang (circ. 640), found
a footing in China; but, from causes which it is now
difficult, if not impossible to discover, it seems to have
gained no hold upon the hearts of the people.

The dynasties of How-leang, How-tang, How-tsin,
How-han, and How-chow, which bring us down to
a.d. 960, passed without any remarkable influence on
Chinese history. It was still the same sad story of
lustful, cruel and avaricious rulers dethroned or
murdered by open or secret foes. In one instance the
emperor gathered together his family and treasures in
the imperial palace, which he set in flames, preferring
thus to perish rather than fall into the hands of
his brother-in-law, who had cast a greedy eye upon the
throne.

Such was the origin of the dynasty of Sung, which
lasted for 320 years (960-1279 a.d.). The time of its
first two emperors was mostly spent in unavailing
endeavour to reduce their Tartar vassals to order.CHINA AT NORMAN CONQUEST OF ENGLAND. 13

China had now become a nation which numbered
10,000,000 tax-payers, and, by the payment of an
annual black mail of about £34,000 of our money, and
200,000 pieces of silk, the emperor Chin-tsung bought
a peace with his northern enemies. But the gentle
and pacific disposition of Jin-tsung, his successor,
revived the courage of the Kitan Tartars, and they
made an exorbitant demand for the restitution of
certain cities in the province of Pechili, for which
Jin-tsung compounded by doubling the annual pay-
ment made by his father.

Such was the state of Chinese affairs about the
time of the Norman conquest of England. England,
like China, had undergone the ravages of foreign
invaders, but with what different results ! Roman and
Saxon, Dane and Norman, came to our shores on like
errands to those which led the' Tartar hosts across the
Chinese frontiers ; but, in the one case, the invaders
came to transfuse new life and energy into the original
possessors of the soil, and, especially in the case of the
Romans, left wholesome results behind them; in the
other, so vast was the area of the land, and so utterly
repugnant were the foreign foes, that centuries had
passed by without any amalgamation of the races, or
any improvement of the country. China, like an
unwieldy whale, still wallowed at^the mercy of her
ever vigilant enemies. It was all in vain that one
monarch of this dynasty, Hwuy-tsung, smarting under
the terrible inflictions of the Kitan Tartars, called in
to his aid the Nuy-che or Eastern Tartars. The
remedy proved worse than the disease. The Kitan
were certainly defeated at every point, but the
new allies of China, failing to extort all that they
wished from Hwuy-tsung, broke their treaties with14

HISTOBICAI.

him, and sent him a prisoner to the desert of Shamo,
where the unhappy prince ended his days in 1126.

Elated by their successes, the victorious strangers,
who gave their newly acquired dominion the name
of Kin, extended their conquests, plundered Peking,
and took possession of the provinces north of the
Hoang-ho. They seized the emperor, and, but for a
stratagem on the part of the empress, who represented
herself as having been divorced, would have utterly
exterminated his race. The empress, being thus
allowed to withdraw to Nanking, obtained a fresh
crown for Kaou-tsung, the ninth son of Hwuy-tsung,
who became ruler of the southern provinces, and China
was once more a divided empire.

So matters remained for upwards of a century, in
spite of ineffectual attempts made from time to time
by either party to obtain the supremacy.

But in 1210, the renowned Genghis Khan appears
upon the stage. Leading the Mongol Tartars, and
assisted by the Kitan tribes, he made war against the
Kin emperor, and, forcing the great wall, defeated his
armies, laid waste the four north-eastern provinces,
and took Peking. His successors followed up the
advantages which Genghis had obtained; and, ulti-
mately, a Mongol leader, Kublai Khan, assumed the
reigns of government in 1279. There is perhaps no
part of all this blood-stained history more terrible to
read than the struggles of the Mongol Tartars for
supremacy in China. So barbarous were the victors
that in one city alone 40,000 people are said to have
put an end to their own lives rather than submit to
such cruel conquerors. It must not, however, be
supposed that the tide of conquest always set in one
direction; on one occasion the Tartar troops, havingTHE MONGOL INVASION.

15

besieged one of tbe Chinese cities, surrounded it with
a rampart of earth and a double ditch; in fact they
sought to “invest” the place, as the allied armies
of France and England endeavoured to surround
Sebastopol some six centuries later in the world’s
history; but the Chinese general, having caused
immense quantities of herbs to be steeped in oil, filled
the ditches with them, set them on fire, and, whilst
discharging huge volleys of stones from the high-
storied pagodas upon his unsuspecting foes, he, by a
vigorous sally at the same time, put his enemies to
flight northward.

The student of Chinese history will find much
matter of interest in the annals of these troublous
times. He will find for instance a remarkable example
of the value of the art of the military engineer in
warfare, as evinced in the memorable employment of
two celebrated “ engineers of the west,” who were able
to cast stones of 150-lb. weight with such force as to
batter down the strongest city walls. Such formidable
artillery was of course of universal value to the
Mongol generals who employed it. How like all this
is to the strenuous exertions made in our own times to
secure the largest guns, the most ponderous and
effective projectiles, and the most impenetrable armour
for our ships and fortresses. It is not difficult, even
after this long lapse of time, to imagine the startling
effect produced by these Whitworths and Armstrongs
of the thirteenth century amongst the military circles
of China and her invaders. And the history of these
times is not without its softer traits. Few things are
more touching than the accounts of the devoted faith-
fulness of the last adherents of the last representatives
of the dynasty of Sung. Mere child as Te-ping was, the16

HISTORICAL.

empress, the mandarins, the officers of state, the ladies
of the court, and multitudes of others, seeing the
desperate straits to which their monarch’s army
and navy were reduced, flung themselves into the sea;
following the example of one of the principal ministers
of the court, who placed the young emperor on his
shoulders, and both were drowned together. It is
stated that more than 100,000 persons perished on that
dark day, rather than witness the inevitable disgrace
and destruction of their sovereign.

For nearly a century this race of Mongol Tartars,
under the name of the Yuen dynasty (1270-1367 a.d.),
held a vigorous sway over China. A great invasion
of Japan was projected by them, though it was not
carried out. Foreign trade was alternately favoured
and disallowed; the river Hoang-ho was carefully
traced to its source and mapped ; literature was encou-
raged ; the great canal was formed ; and the capital
of Kublai Khan was established at Peking.

But the last of the race of Y uen proved a feeble and
incompetent governor; and, in 1368, once more the
throne of China was occupied by a Chinese emperor.
This was the robber chief, Chuen-yuen-chang, the
founder of the Ming dynasty (1368-1644 a.d.), who
chose Nanking for the seat of his empire. From this
date Chinese history records the names of the reigns
instead of the ancestral names of the emperors.

For nearly 300 years the descendants of Chuen-
yuen-chang governed China; when, once again, the
nation became subject to Tartar rule, mainly through
the treachery of one of the Chinese generals. During
the dynasty of Ming (the last Chinese dynasty that
has governed in China), Tongquin and Anam were
subjected to Chinese sway ; fresh wars with the TartarsTHE TABTAB DYNASTIES.

17

were carried on, and, during the reign of Kea-tsing,
one of the last rulers of this race, the Portuguese first
found their way into China. The robber chiefs, Le
and Shang, at last dispossessed the rightful owners of
the throne, and, after the more successful of the two,
Le, had usurped the throne for a short time, the
Mantchoo Tartars under Tsung-te, whose assistance
had been invoked by a few remaining faithful Chinese,
got the upper hand, and the still existing dynasty of
Tae-tsing came into power; Shun-chi, a son of Tsung-te,
the leader of the Mantchoo auxiliaries, being proclaimed
the first emperor of the race, in 1645. To the direct
descendants of the victorious army, “the generals of
the Eight Banners,” is still confided the military
services of the capital.

It was not, however, until 1682, that the whole of
the provinces were completely subdued, for two princes
of Chinese extraction had been proclaimed emperor;
but both of them were at last overcome and put to
death. It will at once occur to the reader that about
this time a successful attempt was made to subvert the
ruling dynasty of our own country; and it is a somewhat
singular coincidence that the rulers of England and
China were deposed and slain at about the same time.

A bright gleam of hope now appeared, too soon to
be obscured, for the evangelization of China. Kang-hi,
the successor of Shun-chi, and the greatest monarch of
China, to whom doubtless the firm establishment of a
Mantchoo-Tartar dynasty is attributable, took to his
councils a German Jesuit priest; the emperor was
favourably disposed towards the Christian religion, and
published a decree in 1692, securing certain advantages
to its professors. But after the death of Kang-hi, from
causes the precise nature of which will probably never be18

HISTOEICAL.

ascertained, and into which it would perhaps be cha-
ritable not to inquire too deeply, our Roman Catholic
missionary predecessors entirely lost their footing in
China. They were expelled from the capital, first to
Canton, and then to Macao. But, whatever may have
been the causes of the blow which was thus dealt to
Christianity in the disgrace of the Jesuits, there can be
little doubt that these priests imparted a considerable
amount of valuable instruction to the Chinese govern-
ment in matters of science and literature. In the
reign of Kang-hi, with whom the Jesuits possessed'
more influence than they did with his successor Yun-
ching. the whole country was admirably mapped under
their superintendence, and to their labours we owe
nearly all the topographical knowledge that we possess
of the interior of China. It was during the minority of
this monarch that the four regents, into whose hands
the government of the affairs of state had been con-
fided, passed an express law prohibiting all eunuchs
from being thenceforth elevated to any office or dignity
in the country. The edict was engraved on plates of
iron a thousand pounds in weight, and has ever since
been generally observed by all the Mantchoo princes;
and to its observance the peace and tranquillity which
China enjoyed for so long a time may doubtless be, in
a great measure, attributed. Kang-hi, a vigorous and
tolerant prince, died, after a long reign of sixty years, in
1723, and was succeeded by his son Yun-ching, who
took those active measures against the Jesuit priests
to which reference has been made.

There is nothing further of importance to record of
the reign of Yun-ching. He died in 1736, and
was succeeded by Kien-lung, a warm patron of
literature and the arts, and a sagacious ruler. He wasINTEECOUBSE WITH ENGLAND.

19

more favourably disposed towards foreigners than his
immediate predecessor was, as will be seen on reference
to the chapter on foreign intercourse with China; and,
after a long and prosperous reign, he resigned his throne
to his son Kea-king, in 1795. It was during the reign
of Kien-lung that the first British embassy, namely,
that of Lord Macartney in 1793, was received in China.

We have now reached a time within the memory of
some few living Englishmen, and shall enter somewhat
more fully into the transactions of the Chinese em-
perors. Hitherto, rapid as our glance has necessarily
been along the current of their history, we have seen
enough to perceive that, notwithstanding the violent
subversion of dynasty after dynasty (generally in conse-
quence of the avarice or vicious indolence of the em-
peror for the time being), yet the form of the monarchy
has remained unaltered. We read of no Protectorate
or Republic, nor has China ever apparently been left
without at least one ruler. To quote the words of Sir
J. F. Davis, “ The only object (of so many revolutions)
has been, in most cases, the destruction of a tyrant;
or, when the country was divided into several states,
the acquisition of universal power by the head of one
of them.”

Kea-king, who succeeded to the throne, as we have
seen, in 1795, before his father’s death, was ill calculated
to maintain the imperial dignity after so prudent a
monarch as his parent. He was an idle and profligate
prince, and his life was in constant danger from
assassins. He nominated for his successor his second
son Taou-kwang, who, in 1813, distinguished himself
by the bravery which he exhibited on the occasion of the
attempted murder of his father by some persons who
had succeeded in effecting an entry into the imperial20

HISTOBICAL.

palace. Indeed there are reasons to suspect that
Kea-king’s death, which happened in 1820, was
hastened by some discontented persons of high rank
who had been disgraced in consequence of the myste-
rious loss of a certain official seal.

The reign of Taou-kwang was marked by a serious
war with the Cashgar Tartars, and by a more nume-
rous series of revolts and insurrections than had been
known since the time of the first emperor of the
Mantchoo dynasty. These insurrections, which have
increased rather than diminished up to the present time,
so that a very large proportion of the empire is on the
verge or in a state of chronic rebellion, have induced
many to surmise that the Tae-tsing dynasty is at
length drawing to a close. There are symptoms of
decay evident in all parts of the land. Morality, arts,
and industry, seem to be everywhere on the decline, and
poverty is everywhere on the increase ; justice is per-
verted, and is often openly sold to the highest bidders;
the mandarins, who should have been the faithful guar-
dians of the flock, seem changed into hungry wolves,
and oppress and pillage the helpless people by every
means in their power ; and no attempt is being made,
or has been made, for the last 200 years, to emulate the
magnificent public works of former days. China has
not kept pace with the times—she has rested in indo-
lence, content with the labours of her ancestors ; and
foreign nations, attracted by the fertility of her soil and
the rich productions of her skilled labourers, are
proving themselves even more urgent than the Tartar
armies of former days, and are knocking loudly at her
doors and demanding free access to all her ports and
provinces.

Taou-kwang, like his father, showed much aversionTHE TAE-PINGS.

21

to the Papal missionaries, and numerous persecutions
took place in his reign. A most unequivocal instance of
his suspicion of foreign missionaries was exhibited in
the expulsion from Peking of those scientific men who,
for the sake of their astronomical knowledge, had been
attached in succession for nearly two centuries to the
Imperial College of Astronomy, and whose office it was
to construct the imperial calendar. Nor’was his dislike
confined to the missionaries alone, he did his utmost to
destroy all traces of European civilization, which he
strictly forbade his subjects to cultivate any more.

The closing part of the reign of Taou-kwang was
marked by the birth of a rebellion, the results of
which it is still difficult to foresee. Indeed there were
at least four distinct rebellions in force at the same time ;
the Tae-pings of the lower Yang-tsi-kiang, those in the
north-eastern province of Shan-tung, the rebels of
Sechuen, and the Chinese Mussulmans of Yun-nan,
who have numerous adherents in Ching-too. But by
far the most numerous and terrible were the Tae-pings.
This rebellion originated in the southern province of
Quang-si, its originators belonged to a religious sect
called “ God-worshippers,” who, in the autumn of 1850,
came into collision with the authorities, and started as
regenerators of the empire. “Tae-ping,” or ‘‘ Universal
Peace,” was their nom de guerre, and a most blasphe-
mous distortion of Christianity their creed. The first
city which fell into their hands was Yan-ngan, which re-
mained in their possession from August, 1851, to April,
1852. They then left it and marched through the
country, carrying all before them and destroying many
fine cities of Hoo-nan. Thence they descended the
Yang-tsi-kiang, visiting Han-kow and other cities on
its banks, till they reached Nanking, of which they22

HISTORICAL.

took possession on the 19th March, 1853, and where,
until the summer of 1864, when the city was wrested
from them, they had their head-quarters. The exploits
of our countrymen and of our French neighbours in
connection with the repression of the Tae-ping rebellion
are too well known to require any detailed account
here, and it may be said that, notwithstanding the un-
usual bravery with which, for Chinese soldiery, the
Tae-pings at one period opposed European forces, their
power is now, doubtless, almost crushed.

The principal mover in the Tae-ping rebellion, who
had eight other wangs, or kings, under his orders, was
Hung-tsin-tsuen (the “ Tien-wang,” or “ Heavenly
king ”), a native who was educated it is said at a
missionary school in the south of China. It would
defile these pages to record the fearful profanity with
which this man assumed his titles and declared his
powers and mission; and earnestly it is to be hoped
that his deeds of violence may not have brought odium
upon that religion with which he has dared to associate
his name. To use the words of a recent writer, who
has had better opportunities, perhaps, than any other
European of arriving at a correct opinion on the
subject, “ The Tien-vvang’s Christianity is nothing but
the blasphemy of a lunatic, and the profession of
religion by his followers is a mockery and a farce.”

One year after the rise of the Tae-ping rebellion
Taou-kwang died; and, availing himself of the liberty
which'the Chinese emperors possess of nominating any
one of their sons for a successor, he chose his fourth
son Hien-fung, the “All-abundant” prince. It would
be difficult to state to what, except to the abundance
of troubles which marked his reign, the title of Hien-
fung could be considered appropriate. As if theItECENT TBAJVSACTIONS.

23

internal troubles of bis country were not a sufficient
load of misery for this unhappy monarch, foreign
troubles also increased. The outrage on the Arrow
lorcha, which gave rise to a war with England, by
reopening the question of right of entry into Canton,
resulted, as we know, in the capture of Peking by the
allied French and English armies, in 1860, and the
destruction of the imperial summer palace. Hien-fung
was compelled to fly into Manchuria, where he died in
the following year, of sheer exhaustion, at Yehol, the
hunting palace, in the thirtieth year of his age,
August 22,1861, after a reign of eleven years.

The present emperor of China, Chi-siang, which may
be translated “ Good-fortune,” is a child about twelve
or thirteen years of age. The empress and his own
mother are called regents; but the power has been
chiefly in the hands of prince Kung, his uncle, who has
displayed considerable ability in the conduct of affairs,
and who, like the empress, is, for a Chinese potentate,
not altogether unfavourable to foreigners.CHAPTER II.

GEOGRAPHY AND GENERAL ASPECT OE THE
COUNTRY.

Outlying provinces—Physical Geography of China Proper—Geology and
Mineralogy—Climate—Fauna and Flora—Irrigation—Provinces; their
area, population, etc.—The Provinces described in order, with their
natural productions, characteristic industry, etc.—Roads, Canals, Great
Wall—Ethnology.

The limits assigned to this book would be exceeded if
an attempt were made to include a description, under
the above beads, of all those outlying provinces which,
though nominally more or less dependent upon China,
and forming part of the vast area of “ The Chinese
Empire,” are, nevertheless, not generally thought of as
China, i.e. China Proper. Indeed, if no other excuse
were wanting for only slightly adverting to them here,
it would be sufficient to explain that, little as is known
of many parts of the interior of China itself, we know
even less of the vast territories which lie to the north
and west of the great wall.

Tf we include the Corea, Manchuria and Mongolia,
to the north; Ili (including Sungaria and E. Turkestan),
Koko-nor and Thibet, to the west; Laos, Anam or
Cochin-China, and Tong-king, on the south; and all
the numerous outlying islands off the eastern coast in
the Chinese empire, the mind has some difficulty in
realising the immense area over which the ChineseTHE COBEA.

25

emperor may be considered to hold sway. It extends
over nearly one-tenth of the habitable globe, is one-
third of all Asia, and has a population of about
400,000,000 souls. A brief glance, however, at the
countries and tribes which border that region to which
attention will be more especially directed, is necessary
to complete a view of the Chinese empire, and will act
as a sort of framework to the picture of China itself.

The Corea then is an extensive country, whose limits
are not accurately known, lying to the north-east of
China, and forming, by its great peninsular or southern
portion, the eastern boundary of the Whang-hai, or
Yellow Sea. It includes numerous groups of islands
in the'Yellow Sea, and its continental portion has an
area of about 80,000 square miles. Little is known of
the language of the country, but it has been ascertained
that, though pure and original in principle, it has now
become corrupted by the introduction of a multitude of
Chinese words. The Corea was at an early period
subjugated by the Tartars; but between 1692 and
1698 the Japanese acquired it for a time, after which
it again fell under the sway of China, and still pays a
small annual tribute of 800 oz. of silver to the em-
peror. It is entirely ruled by its own sovereigns, and
though the investiture of a new king is obtained from
the emperor of China, its prince’s freedom of action
seems quite uncontrolled. Christianity, which is said
to have been at one time introduced here, is now re-
ported to be quite extinct. Recent English travellers
have strongly advocated the advantages of the Corea
from a mercantile point of view, and have urged the
propriety of establishing an emporium on the coast.

Manchuria, or Mantchoo Tartary, lies to the north
of the Corea, and abuts on the inhospitable confines of26

GEOGRAPHY AND GENERAL ASPECT.

south-eastern Siberia. This vast tract of country, com-
prising an area of 700,000 square miles, was formerly
the territory of the Kin, whence the present rulers of
China proceeded in the seventeenth century ; the origi-
nal birth-place of the reigning family being in Moukden,
one of the three provinces into which Manchuria is
divided, and which includes what used to be named
Leao-tong.

Mongolia or Western Tartary, which occupies the
space between China Proper and Asiatic Russia, is twice
as large as Manchuria, but 300,000 square miles of
its area are occupied by the great sandy desert of Gobi
or Shamo, peopled by the Chinese imagination with all
sorts of malicious hobgoblins and evil spirits. Here
reside those half-savage nomadic hordes of Tartars who
extend, as a distinct race, to the shores of the Caspian.
Mongols and Calmucks, Tshakhar and Kalkas, all are
proud to claim a common descent from the great
Tartar chief Genghis Khan, of whose conquest of
China an account will be found in the preceding
chapter, and who had at one time almost succeeded in
overrunning all Western Europe. Timour or Tamerlane,
the Tartar, a name well known to all readers of history,
was another of the more celebrated warrior princes of
Mongolia. This is the Siberia of China ; for hither are
sent occasionally her criminals, who are generally con-
demned to military service, and in some cases become
Tartar slaves.

The inaccessible mountainous retreats of the rude
inhabitants of Thibet, “the snowy region of the
north,” pay only an imperfect allegiance to the em-
peror of China ; for though in each of the capitals of
the two provinces into which Thibet is divided a
Chinese governor is stationed, yet such a rootedOUTLYING PROVINCES.

27

jealousy is entertained by the Thibetans towards the
Chinese that the latter are prohibited from remaining
in the country except in a military or official capa-
city. Tribute is nevertheless paid to China, partly
in bullion, but it is said that the “ presents” in return,
from the emperor to the lamas, surpass in value its
amount. Notwithstanding the vital importance of
Thibet to China, the bonds by which Thibet is held
to the “ Middle Kingdom” are of a very delicate cha-
racter, and may at any time, as it would appear, be
easily broken.

Want of space forbids our dwelling upon the Ordos
(or Orthous) and the Eleuth tribes, the inhabitants of
Koko-nor, Amdoa, Minjak and Kham, Cochin-China,
Tong-king, and the islands of the Loo-choo group,
Formosa and Hainan; so, with this hasty sketch of
two of the principal outlying dependencies of the
empire, we return to a consideration of China Proper ;
which, it should be borne in mind, is only one-third of
the extent of the regions which we have so hastily dis-
missed.

Roughly speaking, China Proper may be considered
as a great slope, commencing at the snow-capped
mountains of Yun-ling in the west, where the mighty
Hoang-ho and Yang-tsi rivers take their rise, lowering
gradually towards the east, and ultimately sinking by
a succession of terraces into the level and fertile allu-
vial districts of the Great Plain. The coast-line, bor-
dered by numerous islet groups, and abounding in safe
and commodious harbours, forms an irregular curve of
about 2,500 miles in length ; and its geography has
been, chiefly through the labours of the late East
India Company, for the most part, accurately deter-
mined. For our knowledge of the interior we are28

GEOGBAEHT AND GENERAL ASPECT.

mainly indebted to the map prepared by the Jesuits in
the early part of the last century, assisted by the notes
gathered by subsequent travellers who have penetrated
various parts of the country. Amongst the richest
modern contributions to our knowledge of the interior
of China, are those afforded by the daring exploits of
Captain Blakiston, who has recently navigated the
course of the Yang-tsi-kiang as far as I-chan, in the
very heart of China. It is to be hoped that he has
become the pioneer of a new and vast intercourse, reli-
gious, social, and commercial, with the inhabitants of
the interior. Along his route he noticed indications
of coal, limestone, and gold, and saw many fertile
tracts of country, where poplars, hawthorn, and honey-
suckle, were growing in profusion. He pronounces Se-
chuen to be the finest province in the empire, and
throws out many valuable suggestions as to the uses
which Europeans may make of the great highway
along which he sailed with so much boldness.

Notwithstanding our necessarily imperfect acquaint-
ance with the geology of China, there is little doubt
that most of the leading geological formations are
to be found there. In the west and south-west, the
population are occupied in mining for gold, silver, iron,
copper and coal. The prevailing rocks are of granite,
gneiss and the primitive schists ; whilst the secondary
formations, including the carboniferous and cretaceous
systems, are chiefly found in the provinces of Ho-nan
and Kiang-su, the surfaces of which are varied with
numerous hayrick-shaped hills; but especially are
these strata noticeable in the neighbourhood of Peking,
where beds of coal are found, which supply the capital
and the neighbouring districts with fuel during the
winter, which sometimes is of great severity in this partSOIL A1TD CLIMATE.

29

of the empire. Coal, however, is found in many other
parts than these; it is mostly bituminous, is rapidly
consumed, and is apt to choke the complicated tubular
boilers of our steam-ships. The tertiary formations,
as might be expected from the general slope of the
country, are found chiefly in the north-eastern pro-
vinces ; and the distribution of the geological systems
thus bears a general resemblance to that of Eng-
land. Along our western shores, the hoary mountains
of Wales, and the rugged shores of the Land’s End,
are composed of granite and Silurian rocks ; coal, car-
boniferous rocks, and oolite, are chiefly found in the
central districts; and cretaceous and tertiary systems
make up the great majority of the eastern part of our
own island.

The climate of China, though having a greater range
of temperature than is usual within the same parallels
of latitude, has been often eulogised as one of the finest
in the world. Almost every variety of climate is to be
found within the limits of the empire; reindeer roam
the desert tracts of northern Manchuria, and in the
southern districts the forests are inhabited by tigers and
elephants. Most part of China Proper, however, lies
within the temperate zone—the tropic of Cancer includ-
ing only the southern portions of the provinces of Quang-
tung, Quang-si, and Yun-nan. Yet, even at Hong-kong,
two degrees south of the tropical line, the thermometer,
during the winter months, frequently sinks nearly to
freezing point. In the northern provinces the climate
is generally too severe for wheat, and the land is there-
fore most usually sown with millet and barley; but,
in the middle provinces, a more genial climate and a
more fertile soil unite in producing the richest treasures
of the vegetable kingdom. Here the tea-plant, the30

GEOGEAEHY AND GENEEAL ASPECT.

mulberry, the orange, the sugar-cane, rice, wheat, aud
the cotton-tree flourish abundantly ; silk is produced in
great quantities in the eastern provinces of this division
of the country, and the southern and western parts are
clothed with dense woods and tropical vegetation.
Similar productions to those which enrich the central
provinces are also found in the southern part of the
empire ; but here they are not of so good a quality, in
consequence of the higher temperature. The salubrious
climate of the chief part of China is no doubt in a
great measure attributable, partly to the happy arrange-
ment of the great mountain basins of the centre of the
land, which lie open only to the most healthy winds;
and partly to the wise economy adopted for the im-
provement of the country by the cultivation of the
hanks of lakes and marshy lands, which procures a free
passage for the rivers, whilst it fertilises the soil by a
most admirable system of irrigation.

Colonel Fisher, e.e., in his “ Three Years’ Service
in China,” has given some valuable information as to
the climate of the Gulf of Pe-chi-li. Here, notwith-
standing the ice and snow which prevail from October
tp March, he met with abundance of vegetables and
fruit during the summer of 1860. Apples, pears,
peaches, pomegranates, and grapes were plentiful in
the towns which he visited. He noticed one pecu-
liarity which indicated the curious character of the
Chinese climate. Those whose occupations were chiefly
carried on out of doors were almost black, whilst those
who pursued their avocations in doors were quite pale.

The severity of the climate in the Gulf of Pe-chi-li
will doubtless have an important influence on European
intercourse with China, for it will tend to maintain
the course of our communication mainly in the sameINTEBNAL NAVIGATION.

31

direction as that in which it has hitherto been flowing,
namely, towards the southern and south-eastern pro-
vinces.

A description of the climate of China would not be
complete without a reference to the typhoons, those
great scourges of the country and the adjacent seas.
Notwithstanding the timely notice they give of their
approach, these great hurricanes never fail to cause
great devastation both inland and on the coast.

Of scarcely less importance to the welfare of a
country than its climate and its soil are the waters
which flow through it, and afford not only a necessary
adjunct to its agriculture but also a system of internal
navigation. In this respect China is particularly for-
tunate ; no country in the world is better watered.
The Yang-tsi-kiang, a river with variable soundings,
and of somewhat difficult navigation, but pregnant
with present and future benefits to China, which
traverses the centre of the country from west to east
for nearly 3,000 miles, is navigable as far as Han-kow
for vessels of 1,000 tons. The shallow and turbid
yellow stream of the Hoang-ho, next in size, but far
inferior in importance to the Yang-tsi, has a course
of 2,000 miles, during the larger and lower part of
which it gradually approaches the Yang-tsi-kiang,
and, being connected with it by the Imperial Canal
(which, including the rivers incorporated with it, has a
length of 700 miles), constitutes a part of the most
magnificent system of water communication in exist-
ence a system which brings all the provinces in
connection with each other, and gives an inland navi-
gation that meets with only one interruption between
Canton and Peking. So complete and effectual is this
system that roads are considered a matter of minor32

GEOGBAPHY AND GENEBAI ASPECT.

importance. The communication by land is always
inconvenient, and often dangerous: in the neigh-
bourhood of great towns the roads are sufficiently
wide, hut, as you leave them, the necessity for im-
provement is very evident. The roads grow narrower,
and at last vanish altogether, and travellers have to
make their way, as they can, through fields, quagmires,
and rocky barren tracts. It was not so however in
former times. The roads, especially in the southern
provinces, were then numerous and well-paved ; but the
roads of China have shared the general decay which
has taken place throughout the empire during the
reigns of the Mantchoo-Tartar dynasty. Besides
the rivers which have been mentioned and their nume-
rous tributaries the most deserving of notice are the
Hong-kiang or Si-kiang—a river of considerable size
and commercial importance, which has its embouchure
at Canton; and the Eu-ho or Wei-ho, which, instead
of flowing eastward like most of the great rivers of
China, takes a northerly direction, and pours its waters
into the Gulf of Pe-chi-li.

So splendid a system of inland navigation has not
been without its effects on the policy of China towards
foreigners. Her position in this respect is the exact
opposite of our own. Instead of being cooped up
within a narrow limit, as Englishmen are in their
island-home, the Chinese, exulting in the vast area
and varied climate of their kingdom, and in the easy
communication between its various provinces, can well
afford to dispense with external assistance. The
energy which we have devoted to maritime enterprise
and to the founding of British colonies in every part
of the globe, has been, in China, concentrated upon
her own soil; and hence the great system of internalPBOVINCES.

33

communication for which these mighty streams afford
such ample means. No pains have been spared to
render this system as perfect as possible. Except in
the southern provinces, roads are scarcely used, or
indeed known ; railways of course do not yet exist;
and consequently the main course of all traffic is along
the rivers and canals. This mode of travelling is
extremely luxurious and agreeable, provided a com-
modious junk can be procured. A recent traveller has
remarked that, in Europe, at the present day, pas-
sengers are forwarded by railroads and steamboats,
just like bales of merchandise: “henceforward,” he
says, “those who wish to make travelling a pleasure
and a luxury will be obliged to come to China, and
get a mandarin junk in which they may glide gently
from province to province over the rivers and canals
by which the empire is traversed.”

Having thus obtained a general view of the empire,
and formed some idea of its vast area, its outlying
provinces, its physical geography, climate and principal
rivers, we will make a tour of its various provinces,
noting the principal natural and artificial productions
of each. We shall then proceed to a description of
the Great Wall and Imperial Canal, to which stupen-
dous works of human skill and perseverance no one
particular province can lay claim.

For administrative purposes, China is divided into
the following eighteen provinces :—

Province.	Area in sq. miles.	Population.	Capital.
Chi-li	  " The Supreme Province."  Shan-tung 	  “ East of the mountains."	58,949  65,104	27,990,871  28,958,764	Peking  Tsi-nan

D34

GEOGRAPHY AND GENERAL ASPECT.

Province.	Area in sq. miles.	Population.	Capital.
Skan-se	  “ West of the mountains.’’	55,268	14,004,210	Tai-yuen
Ho-nan	  “ South of the river.”	65,104	23,037,171	Kai-fong
Kiang-su	  “ The country of the happy river."	44,500	37,843,501	Wanking
Ngan-whi 	  “ The province of peace and plenty.”	48,461	34,168,059	Wgan-king
Kiang-si 	  ‘‘West of the river."	72,176	23,046,999	Nan-chang
Che-kiang 	  “The country of the winding	39,150	26.256,784	Hang-chow
Fo-kien			  “ The consummation of happiness.”	53,480	14,777,410	Foo-chow
Hoo-pe	  " North of the lakes.”	70,450	27,370,098	Wo-chang
Hoo-uan 	  “ South of the lakes."	74,320	18,652,507	Chang-sha
Shen-se	  “ West of the Yellow River.”	67,400	10,207,256	Si-ngan
Kan-su	  “ The province of profound peace.”  Se-chuen 	  “ The four streams.”	86,608	15,193,125	Lan-chow
	166,800	21,435,678	Ching-too
Quang-tung	  “ The East Plain.”	79,456	19,174,030	Canton
Quang-si 	  ‘‘ The West Plain.”	78,250	7,313,895	Quei-ling
Qiiei-chow 	  “ The honourable division.”	64,554	5,288,219	Quei-yang
Yun-nan 	  “ South of the clouds.”	107,969	5,561,320	Yun-nan
Total		1,297,699	362,447,183	

Note.—The population is according to the census of 1812.

Chi-li, or Pe-chi-li, the northernmost and most im-
portant of the provinces, contains the capital of the
Mantchoo-Tartar kings ; that capital to which foreign
embassies have so often endeavoured, with various
success, to find admittance. Here, too, is Tien-tsin,DESCBIPTION OF THE PEOVINCES.

35

now one of the free ports, and the entrepot of the trade
of the Pei-ho, a great part of which consists of salt,
obtained chiefly from the marshes of the adjacent coast.
This province is generally very flat, and not fertile:
though different kinds of grain are cultivated, an in-
sufficient quantity is grown for the use of its inhabitants.
It is a populous province, and is well watered by the
Pei-ho and its branches, and has besides several lakes.
Marble, granite, and brick and potter’s clay, are found
here; but, more useful perhaps than all these, is the
coal which is found in considerable quantities around
the capital, and which is in great requisition during
the severe winters.

Shan-tung has a larger proportion of coast-line than
any other province ; the bold promontory which forms
its eastern portion encloses to the south the Gulf of
Pe-chi-li; here the mountains are so high that the
summits of some of them are uncultivated—an un-
usual thing in China. There are fine harbours on
various parts of the coast, but the Chinese have not
taken advantage of them, for there is no maritime town
of any importance along the shores. True to the
self-contained policy of the nation, the inland trade,
for which the Imperial Canal that flows through the
western part of the province affords unusual advantages,
has been cultivated, rather than any trade from without.
The poor and numerous population are chiefly occupied
in the cultivation of the soil, and supply the neighbour-
ing provinces with great quantities of vegetables, with
tobacco, and with drugs. Shan-tung is also famous for
its mules and cattle; and there are a few manufactures
of carpets, felt-caps, and coarse hempen cloths. But
the most noteworthy fact in connection with this
province is that here, in the village of Tien, were born36

GEOGRAPHY AND GENERAL ASPECT.

two of China’s greatest sons, Confucius and his disciple
Mencius.

To the west of the province of Pe-chi-li lies the
rugged and ancient province of Shan-se. Here a large
proportion of the events mentioned in the old chronicles
of the empire took place; and in the northern parts
are the favourite hunting-grounds of the earlier em-
perors of the reigning dynasty. There are several
populous towns in the province, and the lowland parts
are well cultivated ; but the chief wealth of Shan-se
appears to lie in its mineral treasures, of which the
principal are anthracitic coal, good for working the
metals, iron of excellent quality, cinnabar, copper,
marble, lapis-lazuli, jasper, and salt.

Separated from Shan-se by “ China’s Sorrow ”—the
river Hoang-ho—and lying south of that province,
are the fertile and well-cultivated tracts of Ho-nan.
This province makes up for the deficiencies of its
north-east neighbour, Shan-tung, by growing a larger
supply of food than is required within its own limits.
It is watered by the Hoang-ho and its tributaries, and
timber forests grow in its western parts. There are
also mines of tutenag, cinnabar, mica, etc.

We now come to perhaps the most fertile and
flourishing of all the provinces of China, viz. the
maritime province of Kiang-su, with its old and (till
lately) magnificent capital of Nanking, which played
so important a part in the troublous times of old, and
which, until very recently, held fresh masters within
its walls, in the Tae-ping rebels. Until these scourges
had committed their wilful devastations, there was no
fairer province in the land than Kiang-su; her cities
were gay and flourishing, her people as intelligent and
happy as heathens can be. Now all is changed; theDESCRIPTION OP THE PROVINCES.

37

“ locusts ” have eaten up all the brightness and verdure
of the province; the fishermen, who haunt its pictu-
resque and romantic shores, still ply their humble
trade; hut the great factories of tea and silk, for
which Kiang-su had always been so famous, are almost
paralysed, and send a much diminished trade along the
three great water-ways of China, all of which pass
through the province. This province and that of Che-
kiang include the principal cotton-growing districts ;
and, though together equal in area to only one-
fourteenth of the provincial empire, yield one-fifth of
the national revenue, and are reported to support one-
sixth of the entire population.

Ngan-whi and Kiang-su are sister provinces ; they
once formed, together, the province of Kiang-nan.
The finest green teas are grown in the south-eastern
portion of this province, and its level surface is watered
by the Yang-tsi-kiang, the Hoang-ho, and their nume-
rous tributaries ; it also contains a number of lakes.

The next province which claims our attention is
Kiang-si, through the centre of which flows the Kan-
kiang (a tributary of the Yang-tsi) of which river the
whole province may be said to form the basin. This
great basin slopes gently from south to north, till it
terminates in the swampy districts around the old poetic
Po-Yang lake, the second in size in China. The best
porcelain is made in this province, also great quantities
of nankeen cloth. The soil is well-drained, and gene-
rally productive; large quantities of rice, wheat, silk,
cotton, indigo, tea and sugar, are grown and exported ;
and, in the south and south-east, camphor, varnish,
oak, fir, banian and other trees, clothe the sides of
the mountains.

To the north-east of Kiang-si lies the province of38

GEOGBABHY A2TD GENEBAX ASPECT.

Che-kiang, bordering on the sea. For an account of
its fertility see the previous remarks on Ngan-whi and
Kiang-su; it competes with the district of Kiang-nan
in the production of tea ; and here vast quantities of
cotton and mulberry trees are also grown, the latter
in connection with the silk trade. The famous port
of Ning-po, a great seat of European trade, is in this
province. Near Hang-chow, the capital of the
province, is the famous lake Sy-hoo, whose limpid
waters, overspread by the beautiful flowers of the
nelumbium, are covered with boats, the perpetual
scenes of gaiety and vicious dissipation.

Adjoining Che-kiang, on the south, lies another of the
maritime provinces of China, the country of black teas,
Fo-kien, two of whose ports, Amoy and Foo-chow
were opened to British enterprise under the treaty of
1844. On the western side of the neighbouring island
of Formosa, which is comprised in this province, is the
free port of Tai-wan, one of the results of the late war.
Fo-kien is the most maritime province of China, and it
preserved its independence against the attacks of the
Mantchoo Tartars longer than any portion of the
empire, being supported by the squadron of a famous
pirate whose son afterwards expelled the Dutch from
Formosa. The people of Fo-kien retain an hereditary
aptitude for the sea, and chiefly supply the emperor’s
war junks with both sailors and commanders; a large
proportion too of the trading junks that proceed to sea
belong to Fo-kien. Two circumstances probably tend
to maintain the maritime propensities of the inhabi-
tants ; first, this province is so far removed from the
Grand Canal as to afford fewer inducements to inland
navigation and trade (always preferred, if practicable,
by a Chinese); and secondly, the proximity of theDESCRIPTION OP THE PROVINCES.

39

opposite coast of Formosa keeps up a constant inter-
course by sea. Besides the black tea which is grown so
plentifully on the Bohea or Yu-ee hills in this province,
th6 orange, lemon, and the mulberry are abundant;
camphor, sugar, indigo, tobacco, iron, and alum, are
also produced; and, along with porcelain and cloths of
various kinds, form the chief articles of export; the
neighbouring provinces supply Fo-kien with grain,
drugs, fruits, and salted meats. It is noteworthy that
the proceedings of certain Spanish Dominicans in this
province are supposed to have been amongst the causes
which led to the peremptory edict of the Emperor
Yun-chin, in 1724, for the expulsion of the Roman
Catholics from China.

Like Kiang-su and Ngan-whi, Hoo-pe and Hoo-nan
are sister provinces ; they once formed the district of
How-quang. Hoo-pe is said by some writers to be one
of the most fertile parts of the empire; but there are
conflicting opinions on this subject. It has manu-
factories of cloth, paper, and wax; and produces also
large quantities of silk, cotton, tea, grain, and timber.
It is intersected by the Yang-tsi-kiang, into whose
mighty current another river which waters this pro-
vince, the Han-kiang, pours its tributary stream at
Han-kow—a city destined in all probability, now that
it has become one of the free ports, to be one of the
great centres of European enterprise in China. The
surface of this province is covered in many places with
ponds and marshes, and the villages, according tb the
Abbe Hue, present a poor and wretched appearance.

Hoo-nan is a more hilly province than Hoo-pe, which
lies north of it. It contains the largest lake in China,
the Toong-ting, which is sixty miles long and thirty
broad. Round the borders of this vast sheet of water40

GEOGBAPHT AJSD GENEBAE ASPECT.

great quantities of rice are grown, and there are mines
in the province of malachite, iron, lead, and coal.

We must now, in prosecution of our rapid bird’s-eye
view of China, pass northwards to the hilly and well-
watered province of Shen-se, separated on its eastern
side from Shan-se by the Hoang-ho, and bounded on
the north by the Great Wall. Nestling amongst the
Pe-ling hills, in its southern parts, lies the town of
Si-ngan, for many centuries the ancient metropolis of
the empire. Iron and coal, copper, gold, jasper and
porphyry, are found here ; grain is cultivated to some
extent, and large herds of horses and cattle are reared
by the inhabitants.

West of Shen-se lies the still more mountainous
province of Kan-su, which approaches in character, as
it also does in position, the country of the Mongolian
Tartars. The fur-clad inhabitants depend mostly on
their flocks and herds for subsistence; some grain,
however, is grown : and in the mountains, some of
which rise 10,000 feet above sea-level, copper, jade,
gold and silver, are met with. Numerous rivers flow
through the generally sterile country, and here the
Hoang-ho, hereafter to become a mighty monster, may
be seen in his infancy. Away in the north-western
fastnesses the Great Wall at last comes to an end,
after a course of 1,500 miles.

We now come to Se-chuen, the largest by far of all
the provinces of China, and we may add, perhaps, the
worst governed, if such an opinion may be formed from
the numerous insurrections which occur here. Its
surface is very varied, and from the abundance of
rivers by which it is watered the soil is extremely
fertile. There are said to be considerable numbers of
Roman Catholics in this province, and hence, possibly,DESCRIPTION OF THE PBOVINCES.

41

the favourable regard with which the Abbe Hue thus
writes of it:—“ Vast plains, covered by rich harvests
of wheat and other kinds of corn, alternate with
mountains crowned with forests, magnificently fertile
valleys, lakes abounding in fish, and navigable rivers.

. Its fertility is such that it is said the
produce of a single harvest could not be consumed in
it in ten years,” etc. According to the Abbe, the
towns are clean and neat, the people of a superior
stamp and in comfortable circumstances ; altogether
Se-chuen is described in such a way as to present no
uninviting picture to such young ftomish priests as
may desire to try their skill in proselytising amongst
the Chinese. The Yaug-tsi-kiang flows with a tortuous
course through the province from south-west to north-
east, now amidst lofty defiles, and now along culti-
vated level tracts covered with the conspicuous pink,
lilac and white flowers of the poppy, with grain, and
indigo, and a fine kind of hemp. A considerable
quantity of the opium consumed in China is grown
in this province; and Captain Blakiston is of opinion
that, in course of time, the produce of its opium fields
will materially affect the prices of the drug supplied
from India, if not entirely stop its supply. The coal
that supplies the southern districts of the empire is
mainly found in this province.

The four provinces which remain to be described,
form the southern part of China, and we shall only
linger over one of these, which will be Quang-tung,
the next in order on our list; for here is situated
Canton, a place more intimately connected with
English enterprise than any other part of China.
Quang-tung is also one of the maritime provinces:
it is for the most part fertile; rice, silk, sugar, tobacco,42

GEOGEAPHY AND GENEBAL ASPECT.

fruits and vegetables, bping plentifully cultivated. The
northern portion is mountainous, and consists chiefly
of limestone, whence the grey marble, of which such
plentiful supplies are brought down the river to Canton.
Lead, iron and coal, are also found in considerable
quantities. The manufactures are extensive, consisting
chiefly of grass, cotton, and silk fabrics, and lacquered
wares. To the north of Canton are black tea districts,
and along the southern portion of the province are
rice grounds. The great Si-kiang or Long river, after
flowing in an easterly direction through the western half
of the province, is joined above Canton by another
stream, the Pe-kiang, where both fall into the sea. The
coast-line is deeply indented with bays, affording great
facilities for commerce, and along the coast are scat-
tered numbers of islands, of which Hong-kong is the
most important, though so far as British interests are
concerned it is secondary to the larger island of Hainan.

The great island of Hainan, 180 miles long and half
as broad, is separated from the mainland by a strait
fifteen miles wide; for the most part it is barren, but
the coasts are well cultivated by Chinese from the
mainland, and the fisheries are also considerable. In
the interior are a race of people said to be aborigines,
who claim an entire independence of the Chinese
government. Cocoa-nuts and other tropical fruits
grow on the island, and under the shadow of some of
the high mountain peaks of the interior (some of which
rise above the limits of perpetual snow) roam at their
will the tiger and the rhinoceros.

The three remaining south-westerly provinces are
perhaps the least important of all, the average popu-
lation per square mile of Quang-si, Quei-chow and
Yun-nan, being not more than one-fourth of the averageTHE GEEAT 'WALL.

43

of the rest of the empire. They are for the most
part mountainous and indifferently cultivated ; but in
Quang-si and Yun-nan, especially in the latter province,
there are several rich mines of gold, silver, quicksilver,
etc. Yun-nan, the most westerly of the three, is the
south-west province of China. It is bounded on the
south and west by the Burmese empire : its rugged
surface is covered with extensive forests and jungles,
tenanted by the elephant, tiger, rhinoceros, tapir, and
other wild animals.

Such then is the physical condition of the Chinese
empire ; a land blessed by the Almighty Creator of all
things with the richest treasures of Nature; a land
wherein “ the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree
yielding fruit after his kind” grow in luxuriant pro-
fusion ; whose waters “ bring forth abundantly the
moving creature that hath life; ” whose groves are
tenanted by fowl that “ fly above the earth in the open
firmament of heaven,” and whose soil is trodden by
almost every “ living creature after his kind, cattle
and creeping thing.” The numerous population have
fulfilled the Divine decree, have “ replenished the
earth, and subdued it,” and yet, though they have
moved ever since the beginning of the world amidst
all His bounties, hitherto, with very, very few excep-
tions, the Great Bestower of all good is unknown to
them, and they scarcely care to hear of His great
Name.

Nor has Nature alone been profuse in her endow-
ments of China; Art too has been busy. Ever since
our childish days the Great Wall of China has been
impressed upon our memory as one of “ the Seven
Wonders of the World,” and it has rightly been so
classed, for it is one of the most stupendous efforts of44

GEOGBAPHY AND GENEBAL ASPECT.

human skill and perseverance that the world has ever
seen. Fifteen hundred miles in length, and traversing
mountain and valley along its course, it formed in the
days of old a successful barrier against the incursions
of the Tartars, stretching as it does the whole length
of the northern frontier of China, from the Gulf of
Pe-chi-li, on the east, to the impenetrable deserts of
Kiang-su, on the west. Two thousand years have
passed since its construction, under the auspices of
Si-whang-ti, and it is still sound and serviceable. The
short time occupied in its erection, which is said to have
been only five years, is attributable to the vast numbers
who were employed upon it—the labourers were one-
third of the able-bodied men of the country, and it is
said to have cost the country 200,000 lives, which
were sacrificed during its construction from sheer
physical exhaustion. Some idea may be formed of the
immense mass of its materials, when it is stated that
they would be sufficient to build a wall twelve feet
high and four feet thick round the earth at the
Equator. Colonel Fisher, who looked at it from a
military point of view, describes it as being, at the
parts where he saw it (viz. its eastern extremity), from
twenty-five to forty feet high, and fifteen to thirty feet
wi.de at the top. The rear face of the wall was vertical,
and access to the top from the inner side was gained
by “ ramps ” or slopes. The ramparts, faced with
brick, were filled in with earth, and the wall is generally
of the same construction as those of the other fortified
cities of China. At a distance it resembles a prominent
vein of quartz standing out upon the mountains; but
on a nearer approach, the blue bricks, of which it is
mostly built, are distinguishable, and at intervals of
about one hundred yards there are noticed bastion-THE IMPERIAL CANAL.

45

towers of a height of about forty feet. The western
portion, however, is not of so formidable a character;
here it is said to be chiefly “ a mound of earth or
gravel, about fifteen feet in height, with only occasional
towers of brick.” Carried over the ridges of the
highest hills, at some points five thousand feet above
the level of the sea, descending into the deepest val-
leys, and crossing numerous great rivers in its long
course, the Great Wall of China surpasses by far all
other works of the kind, and the natives, with charac-
teristic exaggeration, call it “ the wall of ten thousand
miles.”

Another great work of human skill and industry
remains to be mentioned; which, if inferior to the
Great Wall in magnitude, is far superior to it in com-
mercial and social importance. This is the Yun-ho or
Imperial Canal, constructed in the latter part of the
thirteenth century, and perhaps the most important
work of the kind in the world. Taking into account
the rivers, of which the engineers of Kublai Khan and
his successors skilfully availed themselves, this great
work affords a means of inland navigation which meets
but one interruption between Peking and Canton; but
the canal, properly so called, commences at Lint-sing-
chow, in the province of Shan-tung, and terminates, after
a course of about 300 miles, at Hwai-ngan, near the
mouth of the Hoang-ho. The sluices are of peculiar
construction ; vessels, of whatever size, are, to quote the
words of a Mongol historian, written in 1307, “ raised
up by means of machines on one side of the sluices,
and then let down again on the other side into the
water, ”—an exact description of the practice at the
present day. The Imperial Canal, however, is only one
of several similar works. In the early part of the46

GEOGRAPHY AND GENERAL ASPECT.

seventh century the Chinese made great efforts in this
direction, under the Emperor Yang-ti; canal navigation
seems then to have for the first time assumed the
character of a system. During the reign of this
emperor, 4,800 miles of canals were made, re-made, or
repaired; for their construction, which is in some
parts of the most substantial character, every family
was obliged to furnish one man between the ages of
fifteen and fifty, to whom the government gave nothing
but his food. It will easily be understood how, with
such a system of inland navigation as the above, the
Chinese are not only careless of foreign trade, but are
enabled to develope, with wonderful success, the varied
resources of their own country. But no more of these
grand works of former times are now in progress ;
in some parts, even the Imperial Canal is dried up.
An Englishman at once begins to think of the probable
effects of a railway in its stead ; but such a suggestion
would probably be received in China with aversion, so
we must contentedly wait the time when the inevitable
locomotive shall traverse the country from Yun-nan to
Pe-chi-li, and hope that, with the improvements of com-
merce and science, the spread of religion will go hand-
in-hand, as undoubtedly they ought to do, and will.

And how was this fair land peopled ? Tradition
says that Noah, on account of dissensions between his
offspring, moved eastward from his early home, and
fixed his abode at last in north-eastern Asia. It is
generally admitted that at the dispersion of the nations
after the confusion of tongues, the descendants of Shem
occupied southern Asia, whilst Japhet’s sons overspread
Europe and northern Asia; but hard indeed would it
be to say which of these the Chinese may claim as
their primaeval ancestor. The marked contrast andETHNOLOGICAL TYPES.

47

repugnance which has always existed between the
Tartars and the Chinese might almost seem to point
to a difference of origin ; as if the sons of Japhet,
spreading southward, had met the sons of Shem on the
northern confines of China, and dashed like waves
against a rock-bound shore, never weary of surging
against it, but always failing to overcome the impass-
able barrier. Sir William Jones gave it as his opinion
that China was originally peopled in part from India.
The Chinese type is that which ethnologists call “ the
Mongolian but there is a marked distinction between
the harsh features of the Tartar and the softer lineaments
of the inhabitant of China proper. Low in stature, with
tawny-yellow complexions, and small extremities, the
Chinese are nevertheless of a higher type, and possess an
amount of physical strength greater than most Asiatics;
yet the facial angle falls short of that exhibited by the
Caucasian type of cranium, and as a race they are cer-
tainly inferior to most Europeans. Their physiognomy
is remarkably uniform : who does not at once recognise
the portrait of a Chinese by his wide forehead, black
hair and eyes, and eyebrows obliquely turned upwards
at the outer extremities? Their character and manners
will form the subject of another chapter; but it seemed
necessary before closing this division of the subject to
give some such sketch of the type as the foregoing, in
order to complete the general view of the country
which this chapter has endeavoured to depict.

We should not, however, omit to notice here the
Miou-se, a distinct race—perhaps pure aborigines—
who dwell in perfect independence of the ^Chinese
authorities in a territory of their own, between the
provinces of Quei-chow and Quang-si. Various in-
effectual attempts have been made to subjugate them;48

GEOGBAPHY AND GENEBAL ASPECT.

but their wild and warlike character has hitherto
enabled them to' repel the imperial troops ; and, in
their impenetrable fastnesses, they still hold themselves
aloof from all their neighbours, and have preserved
intact, from time immemorial, their own peculiar habits
and customs.CHAPTER III.

GOVEENMENT, LEGISLATUEE, AND INSTITUTIONS.

Fundamental principle—The Court—Person of the Emperor—Councils
and Administrative Boards—Imperial Academy—Mandarins—Eevenne
and Taxation—Laws—Punishments—Marriage and Divorce—Belief of
the Poor—Hospitals—Slavery—Polygamy.

Though the government of China, the form of which
has remained unaltered for centuries, is what is called
despotic, yet it is so completely bound up in imme-
morial precedents, and so subdivided into departments,
that the “ autocratic ” power of the emperor is, after
all, of a limited character ; and it is significant that it is
rather the office than the man that is venerated.
Confucius taught his countrymen that the emperor is,
in virtue of his office, heaven’s adopted son; and to
this day an almost divine homage is paid to the occu-
pant of the throne. In the Chinese language he is
called, amongst other names, Hoang-te, “ August Sove-
reign	or Hoang-chou, “ August Elevation,” and the

“ Ten Thousand Years ; ” but his name, par excellence,
is Tien-dze, “ The Son of Heaven.” Besides, however,
being “ Son of Heaven,” he is Father and Mother of
the Empire ; and, mingled accordingly with his quasi-
despotic capacity, is as largely developed the parental
side of his high office. One sees at a glance what an
enormous amount of importance this theory bestows
upon an individual. The whole population are his

E50

GOVERNMENT AND LEGISLATURE.

children; prostrations and incense-burning to his honour
take place on his birthday throughout the empire; to
him alone belongs the power of life and death ; and at
his disposal are the whole of the revenues of the
empire. He is not only the head of his own country,
but all foreign potentates are considered to be his
inferiors, and any country which sends an embassy to
China is at once set down as one of his tributaries.
In theory the lands are all his ; and, riot in theory only,
but in practice too, the right of nominating a suc-
cessor to the throne belongs alone to him. His
numerous descendants form the only exceptions (save
the lineage of Confucius) to the otherwise universal
rule, that the aristocracy shall be literary and official,
and not hereditary. His highest mandarins prostrate
themselves in the dust before him, and even the symbol
of his awful presence, a yellow screen, for instance, or
the sedan-chair in which his orders, signed by the
Vermillion pencil which he alone may use, are conveyed
to some distant part of the empire, is similarly reve-
renced. One colour, yellow, is reserved for the use of
him and his family, and his residence at Peking is
styled “ The tranquil palace of heaven.”

Let us glance at the court over which this supreme
magistrate and sovereign pontiff of China holds sway.
The occasions on which Europeans have been permitted
to see the Chinese emperor “at home,” have, of course,
been few and far between, and indeed the emperor
rarely shows his august person even to his own
subjects; but from such visits as have been permitted
at Peking we may gather the following information.
The emperor generally resides with his empress,
concubines, and eunuchs, in the midst of a large
demesne, two square miles in extent, situated in theTHE COUBT.

51

Tartar division of the city of Peking. The palaces,
lakes and gardens, of this jealously-guarded enclosure,
are described as being superior to anything of the kind
in the empire, and as worthy of the master of so many
millions of subjects. The character of a court, as we
well know, depends upon the character of the sovereign;
and it is much to be feared that there is a strong simi-
larity between all the courts of the successive emperors
of China: luxury and effeminate sloth appear to
be generally their main characteristics. The hardy
exercises in which some of the earlier rulers of the
present dynasty took pleasure no longer find favour ;
and perhaps it is as well that the veil has been drawn
so closely round the doings of the imperial court of
China. The Peking Gazette contains no “ domestic
intelligence and the ladies of the court, who occupy
a separate part of the establishment, cease to have any
communication with the outer world when they have
once passed within the precincts of the palace. It is
known that there are schools inside the walls, where
the young princes of China receive instruction, and
that much of the management of the domestic affairs
of the court devolves still upon eunuchs, notwith-
standing the mischievous effect which the machinations
of these persons have had from time to time upon the
external and internal policy of the empire. We know
also that some of the emperors have really taken an
active interest in the conduct of government; hut
more than this we do not know with any degree of
certainty.

Perhaps one of the best, certainly one of the most
favourable, glimpses which we have recently had of the
interior arrangements of the Chinese Court, is that for
which we are indebted to Sir George Staunton, in his52

GOVERNMENT AND LEGISLATURE.

account of Lord Macartney’s embassy, in the latter
part of the last century, when the venerable Kien-lung,
then eighty years of age, was on the throne. “ Soon
after daylight,” says Sir George Staunton, “ the sound
of several instruments, and the confused voices'of men
at a distance, announced the emperor’s approach. He
soon appeared from behind a high and perpendicular
mountain, preceded by a number of persons busied in
proclaiming aloud his virtues and power. He was
seated in an open chair, borne by sixteen men, accom-
panied and followed by guards, officers of the house-
hold, high flag and umbrella bearers. He was clothed
in plain dark silk, with a velvet bonnet (similar to that
worn by the Scotch Highlanders) on the front of which
was a large pearl, the only ornament about him. Oil
his entrance into the tent he immediately mounted the
throne. Ho-choong-taung and two principal persons
of his household were close to him, and always spoke
to him on their knees.” This interview took place
(Tartar fashion) in a tent prepared for the reception of
the embassy within the imperial gardens,, and never
since have Englishmen had an interview with an
emperor of China under such favourable auspices.

But, if we are not permitted to obtain an insight
into the internal affairs of the court, the Peking Gazette
supplies us at least with an account of its outward acts.
This paper, published daily in the form of a pamphlet
of sixty or seventy pages, under the authority of the
government, and of which extracts are circulated
throughout the provinces, enumerates, amongst other
matters, the various appointments made throughout
the empire, the favours granted by the emperor, all
his public acts, his remission of taxes to districts suffer-
ing from famine or any other general calamity, hisTHE TWO COtJUCILS.

53

recompenses for extraordinary services, the embassies
sent by foreign or tributary powers, and the tribute paid
by them. The punishments which may have been in-
flicted upon any peccant mandarins, and also upon any
other criminals of note, find a place in this “ broad
sheet;” and, when China is at war, an account of the
progress of affairs (frequently distinguished by a re-
markable suppressio veri as to any reverses which
the imperial armies may have met with), and the sup-
pression of internal rebellions, are here duly chronicled.

In order to carry on the affairs of state in so vast a
country it will easily be believed that a judicious sub-
division of duties is indispensable. For this purpose
the Chinese have six principal Boards, whose functions
bear a striking similarity to the great divisions of the
government of our own country, and whose constitution
and despatch in conduct of affairs evince a striking
superiority over most Asiatic governments. These
boards are superintended by two councils, attached to
the person of the emperor, the Nei-ko and the Kiun-
ke-tchin, whose members are generally selected from
the imperial college. The former has been described
as “the Secretaryship of the Empire its duties are
the preparation of plans, and the despatch of the
current business of the country. The emperor him-
self generally presides at the early morning sittings of
the latter board, which is of more recent origin than
the former, and whose office it is to deliberate with the
emperor on political affairs generally. These two
councils may be said to represent the Cabinet and
Privy Council of England.

Under their superintendence are the six boards to
which reference has already been made; each of which
has two presidents, one a Chinese and the other a5i

GOVEENMENT AND LEGISLATUEE.

Tartar; and four vice-presidents, two of whom are
Chinese and two Tartars.

1.	There is the Li-pou, or Court of Civil Employ-
ments, which regulates the government appointments
throughout the country, and the salaries, promotions,
and changes of residence of the officials. The functions
of this board remind us of the “ patronage ” duties
of the Lords of the Treasury, combining therewith
an infusion of the elements of our civil service com-
mission.

2.	The Hou-pou, whose chief office it is to impose
taxes and tributes, and to regulate the supplies of corn
and rice with which the people are assisted in times of
famine. This board also has the superintendence of the
tribunal of civil appeal, which decides disputes concern-
ing property and inheritance. It will be observed that
the principal duties of this department resemble those of
our Treasury Office, and that it also exercises those
functions which devolve in England upon the Court of
Appeal of the House of Lords.

3.	The Ly-pou, or Board of Ceremonies and Public
Solemnities (an all-important subject in China) super-
intends the literary examinations, schools and public
academies, and has the general direction of the cere-
monial music of the empire. The Committee of
Council on Education is perhaps the nearest English
analogue of this curious board, so far as some of the
foregoing points are concerned. But, as a remarkable
instance of the slight esteem in which foreign diplo-
macy is held by the Chinese, the duties of conducting
this important part of a nation’s affairs is added inci-
dentally to the business of the Ly-pou; and this is
really the only representative of our Foreign Office
which is to be found at the court of Peking, excepting,THE SIX BOABDS.

55

of course, those functionaries who assist in several
other capacities in the supreme councils.

4.	The JPing-pou, or War Office, whose duties are
the examinations and promotion of military officers,
the provision of maps and charts of the country, and
the direction of the commissariat and transport
services.

5.	The Hing-pou, or Court of Criminal Jurisdiction,
■with its eighteen subdivisions, corresponding to the
eighteen provinces of the empire, and which exercises
a superintendence of social matters that renders its
duties generally like those of our Home Office.

6.	And last, there is the Koung-pou, whose duties
resemble those which in England devolve mainly on the
Commissioners of Public Works. It has the direction
of all the works executed at the expense of the state,
such as the construction of public buildings and other
great national works ; and it is also the head of the
army and civil clothing and manufacturing depart-
ments ; the digging of canals, the formation of dykes,
and the erection of funereal monuments for the imperial
family and other illustrious persons, are also under it3
superintendence.

In addition to the above, which constitute the
famous Leou-pou, or Six Boards of China, there is also
an office called the Ly-fan-yuen (which may be called
the Chinese Colonial Office), whose duties are to regu-
late, as well as it can, the entangled affairs of the
Mongol princes, the lamas of Thibet, the Mahometan
princes and chiefs of the districts near Persia, and the
other more or less dependent tributaries of the empire.

When we add to the foregoing list the Ton-tcha-
yuen, or Office of Universal Censorship, whose office it
is to criticise the manners and morals pf the people,56

GOVEBNMENT AND LEGISLATTTBE.

and even of the emperor himself; and, finally, the
Toun-tchin-sse, which submits to the supreme councils
the reports from the various provinces, and constitutes
a sort of court of criminal appeal, a pretty good
general idea may be formed of the heads of the Chinese
government. Of course, each of these branches has its
subdivisions, and there are besides numerous other
minor offices, which want of space forbids our dwelling
upon.

Our sketch, however, would be incomplete without
some notice of the imperial academy of Han-Lin-yuen,
or “ College of the Forest of Pencils.” This great estab-
lishment, composed of, literary graduates, furnishes the
orators for public festivals, and the literary examiners
for the provinces. To its care are confided the editing
of official documents and the revision of the Tartar
and Chinese works published at the expense of the
government. Subsidiary to the San-IAn, and depen-
dent upon it, are the college of historiographers, and
the whole body of the analysts of the empire. The
former of these two are occupied with drawing up the
histories of remarkable reigns or dynasties; and the
latter chronicle, day by day, the annals of the reigning
prince. Four of the analysts are in constant attend-
ance on the emperor, and note all his actions and
words.

Let us now glance at the method of conducting the
affairs of the government in the provinces. Each
province is either under a Foo-zuen, or governor,
or is united to another province under a Tsoong-tou,
or general governor of both, who has a Foo-zuen under
him for each single province. In each of these govern-
ments there is a chief criminal judge and a treasurer,
the latter having usually cognizance of civil suits, butPROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT.

57

his especial business being the charge of the territorial
revenue; and each separate city and district is in
charge of its respective magistrate, who takes his rank
from the city which he governs, whether it be Foo,
Chow, or Hien, the three ranks into which the Chinese
towns are arranged. The total number of civil magis-
trates throughout the empire is estimated at 14,000.

In former times this great machine of government
appears to have worked better than it has done of late
years, even after making allowance for the tendency of
the author whose opinions we quote to be a laudator
temporis acti. In his opinion, the mandarins of old
were good magistrates, occupying themselves paternally
with the interests of those confided to their care ; they
went out often to visit the people under their govern-
ment, and to inquire into their circumstances, to en-
courage the laborious, and to reprimand the idle.
Twice a month they instructed the people, and (a rare
merit in these days) they administered justice with
strict impartiality. But now-a-days justice is openly
sold, in many cases, to the highest bidder; the magis-
trates themselves defy the laws; the poor are oppressed;
and strangers are preyed upon with the utmost daring
and impunity. These changes are said to be mainly
attributable to an important modification of the ancient
system of government which was introduced by the pre-
sent dynasty. Fearful lest the small proportion which
the Tartars bore to the rest of the empire might result in
concerted rebellion of the numerous subjects over whom
they held sway, the Mantchoo emperors decreed that, in
order to prevent the concoction of plots, for which a
continuous residence in one place would have afforded
too great a facility, no mandarin should hold office in
the same city for more than three years; and that no'58

GOVEBNMENT AND LEGISLATUBE.

one should be appointed governor in his own province,
lest a too familiar acquaintance with its inhabitants
should conduce to a similar result.

The consequence is that the magistrates and public
functionaries, having only a few years to pass at the
same post, live in it hire strangers, without troubling
themselves about the people under their care. No tie
attaches them to the population, and their only care is
to accumulate money as fast as possible, as they pass
from province to province. Mandarins have thus be-
come, as a class, utterly selfish and indifferent to the
public good, and the fundamental paternal character of
the Chinese government has been destroyed. The
magistrate is no longer a father living in the midst of
his children, hut a marauder of whom the people know
not whence he comes or whither he goes. So corrupted
indeed has the management of affairs become, that one
of the fruits of the late treaty of Tientsin was an
arrangement with the Chinese commissioners that
Englishmen were in future to supersede the native offi-
cials in the collection of the foreign customs. Mr. Lay,
as is well known, has until recently held a high position
in China, connected with these matters.

It will he interesting to inquire here what con-
stitutes a mandarin. The name has almost become a
household word with us, and is associated more or less
with all our thoughts about China; yet it is not a
Chinese word,—a Chinaman would not understand it,
but is probably derived from the Portuguese mander,
to command. And certainly the position of a civil or
literary mandarin of one of the higher classes is one
of considerable power. It is an honour open to any
man in the empire who is sufficiently industrious and
persevering to qualify himself for passing those exami-MANDARINS.

59

nations in the Confucian literature which are held
periodically, in order to ascertain who are fit subjects for
these appointments. Only menial servants, police spies,
comedians, and members of a few other proscribed
professions, are excluded from the competition for the
office. There is, however, little doubt that this plausible
theory for securing the most erudite officials is occasion-
ally departed from, and that judiciously administered
bribes will obtain access to the coveted rank which the
literary merits of the aspirant would fail to secure.

Mandarins are of two classes, civil and military; of
the former there are said to be 14,000, and of the latter
18,000 in the empire. The examinations of the mili-
tary mandarins are chiefly in martial exercises, and
were instituted by the Mantchoo-Tartar emperors
with a view to promoting the efficiency of their stand-
ing army. Both classes are divided into nine orders,
distinguished from one another chiefly by certain
buttons, or rather balls, of the size of a pigeon’s egg,
which are worn above the official cap. This distinctive
ball is of plain red coral for the first order, of carved
coral for the second, of a transparent deep blue stone
for the third, of pale blue for the fourth, crystal for the
fifth, of some opaque white stone for the sixth, and for
the seventh, eighth, and ninth the balls are of gilt and
wrought copper. The most worthy members of these
orders, both civil and military, who have distinguished
themselves either in administration or in war, receive
the titles of Tcoung, heon, phy, tze, and nan, which may
be considered as corresponding, in some degree, with
those of duke, marquis, earl, baron, and knight. As has
been already pointed out, these titles and grades are
not hereditary, but they may be carried back to the
owner’s ancestors—an interesting illustration of the60

GOVERNMENT AND LEGISLATURE.

degree to which the government inculcates the re-
sponsibility of the parental authority, and endeavours
to foster the tendency of parents to secure for their
children the best education in their power.

When the coveted rank has been attained, the life
of a Chinese mandarin, unless some special circum-
stances should arise to develope his energies, appears
frequently to be of a very lazy character. At sunrise
he installs himself in his judge’s seat, and passes the
first hours of the morning in administering justice, as
it is termed, or, more properly speaking, in arranging
and legalising the extortions of his subordinates.
After this improving occupation comes the great
business of the day, breakfast, dinner, and supper.
In the intervals, the interdicted practice of opium-
smoking, or the less obnoxious enjoyments of drinking
tea, munching dried fruits or sugar-cane, dozing upon
a divan and fanning himself with large palm-leaves,
form the main occupation of many a modern mandarin.
Occasionally a game of cards or of chess helps to kill
the languid hours ; or some other mandarin saunters in,
and, sitting down together, they mourn over the toils
and inconveniences of public life. Of course it will be
understood that this is not a picture of all Chinese
official personages ; there are amidst the general vice
and incompetency some mandarins who, on the con-
trary, are active, intelligent, and studious, and who are
constantly stimulated to lawful exertion by the hope
of advancement in their career.

There is yet another class of officials which comes
between the governors and the governed. Each village
has for its head a sort of mayor, called Sian-yo, who
is chosen by universal suffrage. He is generally a
man of advanced age, who both by his character andBESPONSIBILITY OF OFFICIALS.

61

fortune occupies a high position in the village, and is
generally well worthy of the honour bestowed upon
him by his fellow-citizens. He is charged with various
police duties, and serves as a sort of mediator between
the mandarins and the people.

Before passing on to an account of the mode in
which the vast governmental machine exercises its chief
functions of collecting the revenue and administering
the laws, it will be well to note a remarkable feature
in the policy of China, viz., the system of espionage
and of responsibility which pervades the constitution
of the hoards of government, and is especially notice-
able in the communications of the Chinese with foreign
powers. It was observed by the members of Lord
Amherst’s embassy, in 1842, and also by subsequent
travellers, that the mandarins always went in pairs,
as spies upon each other; such being the invariable
practice of this jealous government, in order to prevent
“ a traitorous intercourse with foreigners.” Nor is
the public functionary’s responsibility to his superiors
a less delicate matter. It signifies little how honour-
able soever may have been his antecedents, or how
long his service, should he be convicted justly or
unjustly of any fraud or misdemeanour, his doom
is swift and irrevocable; even an erroneous sentence,
such as one too mild or too severe, pronounced by any
of the tribunals, is regarded as a crime. The lower the
officer the higher the responsibility, and the more
severe the punishment; for it is said that the crime
would not have been committed if he had refused his
assistance at the outset. The responsibility of inferior
officers is carried so far that there are said to be cases
in which they would be put to death for sealing a
letter badly, and it has been stated that if the imperial62

GOVEBNMENT AND LEGISLATUBE.

seal is awkwardly placed, or turned upside down, all
the officers responsible for affixing it receive eighty
strokes with a bamboo for this negligence.

The revenue of China is, in time of peace, of pro-
portionate extent to the vast area and general fertility
of the country. Sir George Staunton states that, in
his time, it might be considered as amounting to
between £60,000,000 and £70,000,000. It must not,
however, be understood that this enormous sum is paid
in coin. The taxes of China, for the collection of
which a most elaborate (and peculative) system ex-
tends to every remote corner of the empire, are mostly
paid in Tcind ; the most important items, by far, being
the tributes of grain and of salt. For the latter article
this government, like many others, possesses a mono-
poly ; and, in consequence of the enormous quantity
of salted provisions consumed in China, the amount
said to be raised by the government on this one article
is so considerable, that a special mandarin in each
province, who is called Yen-yun-sse, is intrusted with
the management of this part of the revenue.

A land-tax, which has within the last hundred
years taken the place of a poll-tax, as better pro-
portionate to the means of individuals, is also an im-
portant branch of tbe imperial revenue. As has already
been stated, all land belongs in theory to the emperor;
but the practice is generally as follows: the reputed
owner of the soil divides the crop with the cultivator;
the cultivator pays no tax, but the “ owner ” pays, out
of his share, “the emperor’s tax,” which is considered
to be always the same, whether the season be plentiful
or scanty ; though, in the latter case, a remission of
part, or even of the whole, is not unfrequently made.
Five per cent, is said to be the emperor’s share of anTAXES.

63

average crop ; but the valuation, which is always made
at the discretion of a crown officer, is generally fixed at
a rate so much higher than the current prices that the
tax frequently assumes the portentous dimensions of
ten per cent. Most imports and all luxuries are also
taxed; and there is a transit duty on goods passing
from one inland province to another. The vexatious
uncertainty with which the Chinese officials levied these
transit duties on British produce at last became so
great, that it was found necessary to make a definite
arrangement of the rates the subject of one of the
articles of the treaty of Tien-tsin. And, lastly, there
is reason to suspect that the imperial treasury is some-
times swelled by the payment of fines by disgraced
officials, or dishonest traders, who have been for their
crimes sentenced to be banished into Mongolia, “ the
cold country,” and subjected to Tartar slavery.

From the produce of the taxes all the civil and
military expenses and the incidental and extraordinary
charges are first paid on the spot, out of the treasuries
of the respective provinces where such expenses are in-
curred ; and the remainder is remitted to the imperial
treasury at Peking. In the case of insurrection, or
other occurrences requiring extraordinary expenditure,
the requisite funds are generally raised by additional
taxes on the provinces adjacent to the scene of action,
or connected with the occasion of the expense. This
mode of proceeding has not, however, been found
practicable during the late troubles ; the public grana-
ries, of which some exist in every part of the country,
have been in numerous instances heavily drained by the
unemployed and ruined peasantry; and the expenses
caused by the recent rebellions have even been so great
as to form one of the main causes of the inability of the64	GOVERNMENT AND LEGISLATURE.

government to repair the Grand Canal, along which
the rice-bearing tribute-junks, with their imperial
yellow flags, no longer sail with the pomp and circum-
stance of former times.

The laws of this interesting country, like everything
else belonging to China, are of a unique character. In
the first place it should be borne in mind that, in
China, the law really takes the place of the religious and
moral regulations of Christian countries. The Chinese
would be undeterred from the commission of any
crimes by a consideration of the punishment entailed
in the world to come. True, the moralities of Con-
fucius exercise an indirect and imperfect influence in
this direction; but his precepts are addressed to the
duties of individuals towards the state, as of children
to a parent, rather than founded upon any recognition
of the Divine principle, that we should do unto others
as we would they should do unto us. It is therefore no
matter of surprise that the penal code is of an un-
usually severe character. Jurisprudence as a science is
not studied; but, at least, the laws are well known,
and the punishments which attend their infraction;
for the eighth of the sixteen discourses, which are
periodically read aloud to the people, inculcates the
necessity of a general acquaintance with the penal laws,
which are printed purposely in a cheap form; and the
civil functionaries entrusted with their administration
are, from time to time, examined as to their acquaint-
ance with the code. The attention of the people to
the laws is further secured by the rule that parents are
held responsible for the crimes of their children; and
the majesty of the law itself is asserted by the maxim
which they frequently quote, “ To violate the law is
the same crime in the emperor as in a subject.”CBIMINAL CODE.

65

The laws are embodied in a code, drawn up with
great detail, clearness and consistency, called Ta-tsing
Lu-li, “the laws of the grand Tsing dynasty,” and
which has been translated into English by Sir George
Staunton. It is divided into seven portions, on the
following subjects :—1, general law ; 2, civil law ;
3, fiscal laws ; 4, ritual laws ; 5, military laws; 6, cri-
minal laws; 7, laws concerning public works. The
punishments awarded by this code are not graduated
according to the moral gravity of the crime, but
merely with reference to the amount of damage that
may be occasioned by it. This is just what might
be expected from the absence of any fundamental
religious principles to serve as a basis for legislation.
But, notwithstanding this grand defect, the penal code
of China is still a remarkable monument of the human
mind; and there may even be found in it some of the
great principles of modem legislation—such as the
right of pardon granted to the sovereign, a regard to
extenuating circumstances, and, though there is no
“ Habeas Corpus ” Act, the right of appeal, and a
respect for individual liberty, guaranteed by the re-
sponsibility of the magistrates under severe penalties.

The administration of the laws is under the super-
vision of the Hing-pou, one of the six boards at Pe-
king. Attached to this board is a corps of prison
inspectors, whose duties (from the cruel Chinese point
of view) would appear to be most energetically dis-
charged ; for the order and administration of the jails
are said to be remarkably good, though frightfully
severe: no Chinese ever wishes to make a second
acquaintance with the interior of a prison. The debtor
and the felon are confined in separate places, without
being permitted to approach each other, and the two66

GOVERNMENT AND LEGISLATURE.

sexes are also kept carefully apart. Confinement for
debt is temporary; but if, after the delivery of all the
debtor’s property to his creditors the demands against
him are still unsatisfied, he is liable to wear a neck-
yoke- in public for a certain period, in order to induce
his family, if possible, to discharge the debt.

One great feature of the code is the remorseless
cruelty which marks all its provisions against the
crime of treason. For traitors none of the ordinary
indulgences allowed to accused persons are permitted ;
the slenderness of the protection granted to such is
only to be paralleled by the barbarity of the punish-
ment ; and, as in most other despotic countries, the
innocent family of the offender is consigned to destruc-
tion. In 1803 an attempt was made on the life of the
Emperor Kea-King, by a single assassin; he was con-
demned to a lingering death, and his sons “ being of a
tender age,” were strangled.

The three capital punishments are :—first, strangula-
tion; secondly, for greater crimes, decapitation; thirdly,
for the greatest crimes, as treason, parricide, etc., that
mode of execution called Ling-chy, “ a disgraceful and
lingering death.” Torture is also employed in forcing
evidence, and it is wonderful to notice the grim humour
which the Chinese, like our own ancestors, have em-
ployed in naming some of their implements of torture ;
such are “ the frame of the flowery eyebrow,” “ the
monkey sucking a peach,” “the affectionate snake,” etc.
Robbery, with the concerted use of offensive weapons,
is punished with death, however small may be the
amount stolen; and, should the burglar be slain in
the a<Jt by the owner of the house or property, it is, as
with us, considered as “justifiable homicide.” Simple
stealing is punished only with the bamboo, and withCRIMINAL PUNISHMENT.

67

exile on a scale proportioned to the amount of the
property stolen, and in many instances, it is feared, to
the ability of the criminal to buy off his judges. With
characteristic love of order, and horror of tumults, the
national code treats rioting with extreme severity.
Killing in an affray is accordingly punished with
strangling; whilst killing by pure accident is redeem-
able by a fine of about £4, payable to the relations of
the deceased.

The most ordinary punishments, however, are the
“ cangue,” or portable wooden pillory, worn about
the neck, and bearing the name of the culprit and the
description of his offence; and the bastinado with the
bamboo, with both of which modes of punishment we
have been made pretty well acquainted from our youth,
by their forming, from some cause not very easy to
explain, a favourite illustration in all hooks which treat
upon China.

But upon this subject of the penal code alone a book
might be written. It enters into the most minute
details, not only of civil and criminal matters, but also
into the five other subjects which have been specified;
though it should be observed that the practice of the
people is by no means always in accordance with
countless prescriptions and regulations of the code.
Authority having lost much of the strength and energy
which it once had, the people live pretty much as they
please, without troubling themselves overmuch with
the details of the penal regulations to which they are
amenable.

Divorce is permitted under certain circumstances;
amongst which are what we should be disposed to con-
sider somewhat trivial causes, namely: a wife’s dis-
obedience, childlessness, talkativeness, or ill-temper.68

GOVERNMENT AND LEGISLATURE.

On the other hand the married women of China are
generally dealt with very leniently by the law ; for, in
theory, the responsibility for their crimes rests with
their husbands.

Though there are no regular lawyers in China yet
the Chinese are an eminently litigious people. This is,
possibly, on account of the extremely minute and
intermeddling character of some of the regulations of
the code, whose ramifications are so numerous that the
Chinese have a proverb, “It is difficult to escape the
net of the law.”

Apropos of this feature of the Chinese character, an
amusing edict was issued by the Emperor Tchang-hi.
The people complained to the emperor of the flagrant
maladministration of justice which took place in the
provinces, and Tchang-hi replied as follows :

“ The emperor, considering the immense population
of the empire, the great division of territorial property,
and the notoriously law-loving character of the Chinese,
is of opinion that law-suits would tend to increase to
a frightful amount if people were not afraid of the
tribunals, and if they felt confident of always finding in
them ready and perfect justice. As man is apt to delude
himself concerning his own interests, contests would
then be interminable, and one half of the empire
would not suffice to settle the law-suits of the other
half. I desire, therefore, that those who have recourse
to the tribunals should be treated without any pity,
and in such a manner that they shall be disgusted with
law, and tremble to appear before a magistrate. In
this manner the evil will be cut up by the roots ; the
good citizens, who may have difficulties among them-
selves, will settle them like brothers, by referring to
the arbitration of some old man, or the mayor of theirSOCIAL INSTITUTIONS.

69

district. As for those who are troublesome, obstinate,
and quarrelsome, let them be ruined in the law-courts;
that is the justice that is due to them.”

In giving evidence oaths are not required, it would
be difficult to conceive how an oath, invested with the
terrible solemnity with which we regard it, could be
framed for the Chinese mind; but falsehood is most
severely punished, and in cases of reluctance to give
evidence the torture is applied by a simple but inge-
nious mechanical contrivance, applied to the fingers of
one sex, or to the ancles of the other. There are other
inodes of torture, applied sometimes, so horribly brutal
that one shudders to read of them.

The social institutions of China have always been
a theme of astonishment; for twenty-five centuries
they have remained virtually unchanged, and they are
still as uniform, throughout the entire length and
breadth of the land, as they are ancient. Nor are they
less admirable, in many respects, than they are ancient
and invariable; for there can be but little doubt that
the Chinese are, on the whole, a most contented and
good-humoured people ; certainly they are superior in
this respect, as well as in their symmetrical form of
government, to all other Asiatics. At the basis of
all their institutions lies the ever-recurring system of
parental authority, which, as we have seen, so com-
pletely transfuses the spirit of the government, that
no special reference to it need be made here. We
have already seen how it operates in the theory of the
emperor’s relations to his subjects, and in the laws;
and it will be pointed out hereafter how wide-spread is'
its influence in the domestic habits of the Chinese.
Nor need we dwell now upon another important insti-
tution of China, namely, the government examinations.70

GOVEBNMENT AND LEGISLATUBE.

Our attention will be next directed to a brief exa-
mination into the provision made for the wants of the
poor and infirm ; the nature and condition of the slave
in China; and to a consideration of the polygamy
which is said to exist to such an extent as to claim
to he treated as an institution of the empire.

First, as to the Chinese poor. It should be under-
stood that public opinion requires, even more sternly
than it does with us, that well-to-do relatives should
assist their poor relations ; nor will the government
take cognizance of any case wherein the relatives have
not duly exerted themselves. There is no regular
“ Poor Law ” in China, hut the necessities of the
people are, during hard times, relieved from the public
granaries, in the management of which there is reason
to believe that much peculation takes place. Colonel
Fisher, however, states, in his “ Three Years’ Service
in China,” that something very much like our English
Poor Law exists at Canton ; and it is certain that it
is not allowable to turn away a beggar from your door
until you have given him at least one “ cash.” But
the principal mode of meeting the wants of the poor
is the system of clubbing together in families, or
rather in clans, which not only promotes one of the
great aims of many political economists, namely, a
fair distribution of wealth, but also tends to bind the
Chinese to their families and homes.

It is much to be feared that the charitable institu-
tions of China, such as hospitals and the like, are few
in number and small in extent; although they are
probably more numerous and important than has
sometimes been supposed: certainly, in this respect,
China contrasts favourably with pagan Greece and
Borne. As an example, the following account is con-HOSPITALS.

71

densed from a printed description of Canton, published
about twenty years ago. There were—“ 1. The Found-
ling Hospital, which stands without the walls of the
city; it has accommodation for two hundred or three
hundred children, and is maintained at an annual ex-
pense of about £840.	2. The Yangtse-zuen, a retreat

for the aged and infirm, who have no friends to support
them; it stands near the Foundling Hospital, and,
like it, receives imperial patronage to the extent of
about £1,700 a year. 3. There is the Ma-foong-
yuen, a hospital for lepers, on the same (the eastern)
side of the city. The number of patients in it exceeded
three hundred, and they are said to have been all
maintained at a cost of about £100 per annum !” The
condition of the Chinese leper is not less terrible than
it was of old, when it so touched the divine sympathies
of that Son of Man, whose healing power over the
souls and bodies of mankind is a truth almost unknown
in China. It is a gratifying thing to know that
Christian enterprise has not been forgetful of the bodily
wants of the heathen inhabitants of this great empire,
and that much good has already been done herein;
especially by the efforts made at the free ports by the
Medical Missionary Society.

Slavery in China, as elsewhere, is marked by the
absence of those rights and immunities which pertain
to free citizens. The law regards slaves with less care,
and affords less protection to them than to their
masters. Every offence is aggravated or diminished
according as it is committed by a slave towards a
freeman, or vice versa; for if a slave kill his master
he is punished with lingering death, as petty treason
is, whilst the converse of the case is not even a capital
offence. But, besides domestic slavery, it seems that72

GOVERNMENT AND LEGISLATURE.

for some infractions of the laws a whole family is
sometimes condemned to public servitude. Personal
service too is frequently levied by the government as
a species of taxation upon the lowest class, who have
nothing else to contribute. In practice this turns out
to be, as might have been expected, a great evil, and
is the cause of much oppression and ill-usage on the
part of the mandarins.

There is a somewhat mistaken notion prevalent
amongst Europeans as to the existence of polygamy in
China; yet, erroneous as are the general impressions
on the subject, the conditions of married life differ so
materially from our own as to warrant our classing
them amongst the institutions of the empire. Strictly
speaking, polygamy does not exist there ; and concubi-
nage is tolerated rather than sanctioned by the law,
under peculiar circumstances. Formerly it was only
permitted to mandarins, and men of forty years of age
who had no children ; but there is never more than
one legitimate spouse, who is the mistress of the house,
assumes her husband’s name, and shares his rank.
The concubines or handmaids (“ little wives ” as they
are termed) are mere servants, and their children call
the true wife their mother.

But this chapter must be brought to a close;
though much more might be said on this part of the
subject. For more detailed information on the institu-
tions of China, a subject replete with interest, the reader
is referred to the list of authors given at the end of
this volume, a perusal of whose works will amply repay
any student interested in the affairs of China.CHAPTER IV.

RELIGIONS.

General indifference to religion—Confucius—His personal history—HiB
writings and those of his disciples—The Canonical books of the Con-
fucians—The doctrines and rites taught in them—Mencius—Lao-tse and
the doctrines of Tao—Present condition of this sect—Buddhism—Its
origin, history, and character—Connection with Roman Catholicism—
Mohammedans—Jews—Secret Sects and Societies.

There is no part of this book in which so painful and
yet so interesting a subject is treated of, as that which
has now to be considered, the so-called religions of
China. It must be at once distinctly understood that
the word “ religions ” is only used as the most con-
venient for the purpose:—there is nothing in China
which answers to our notion of the word; and yet,
deeply hidden in the darkest caves of the superstitions
and practices of the country, there are occasionally to
he met with some jewelled thoughts or precepts whose
lustre betrays their Divine origin. When we look
upon the three principal religions of China, we
cannot fail to pereeive that, under the thick outer
covering of sin and folly which enshrouds them, there
are still some few and faint glimmers of a pure faith,
which even the darkness of many a long century has
failed to utterly extinguish. These infinitesimal sparks
of light are not equally noticeable in all the supersti-
tions of the Chinese ; in passing them under review,
care will be taken in each case to indicate, as far as74

BELIGIONS.

possible, the traces of some former connection with
heavenly things, which it is believed even these quasi-
religions of China contain. We shall reserve for our
final chapter an account of the manner in which
attempts to introduce the Christian religion have been
received, and the prospects of its future establishment.

If it be true, as is supposed, that, at some remote
period of the world’s history, unrecorded in its annals,
the primeval Chinese or their instructors held com-
munion with their Creator, and yet have dwindled to
their present religious condition, it will afford some
matter for reflection to ourselves whether, in contem-
plating their abject degradation, we may not be gazing
upon a picture that may perhaps be exhibited by other
nations than China, if the long lapse of years shall
find them also careless of their privileges, and unmind-
ful of the high duties which devolve upon every land
where the true light shineth.

The Chinese are said to be tolerant of religious
differences ; but why is this ? For no other reason, it
is to be feared, than that to them all religions are
alike—none is believed in. Habit takes the place of
belief, and fatalism is the substitute for hope and faith ;
they are tolerant of religious differences because they
have no religion to which they can be other than in-
different. Indeed so tolerant are the Chinese that a
man may belong to Confucianism, to Taouism, and to
Buddhism, all at the same time ; and, should he fail
to obtain the help which he requires from one, he will
turn to another. Religion is in fact merely a matter
of taste or fashion; really religious sentiment has
entirely vanished from the national mind ; and, in its
place, there are to be seen numbers of superstitious
practices, which even the magistrates who performNATIONAL BELIEF.

• 73

them ridicule. Such is the terrible spectacle pre-
sented by China at the present day. The emperor,
who is, ex-officio, the high priest of the land, has chosen
the dragon for his imperial emblem ; and, under that
hideous but significant device, devil-worship obtains
in every part of the country the largest share of
devotees. Those Chinese who believe in anything
supernatural say that the good gods will, from their
beneficent nature, take care of the people, without
any intercessory prayers ; and that it is therefore
only necessary to propitiate the evil genii, to whom
accordingly a certain amount of respect is paid.
Perhaps one of the most curious distortions of the
truth, which the evil influence of the “ dragon ” has
brought forth is the belief that one of the fairest
material pledges of God’s good-will to fallen man—
the rainbow—is the work of an evil spirit!

Amongst the literati of China, where alone we must
look for even the remotest trace of a religious sen-
timent, religion appears to be a sort of naturalism, in
many respects not unlike the Pantheism of ancient
Greece. The heavens exist, the earth exists and ever
did exist, uncreated, self-existent, hut presided over
by various tutelary deities. The idea of a Supreme
Creator is altogether absent from their creed. God
and His attributes, and man’s dependence upon His
providence are unknown to them. There is in the
Chinese language no word which expresses the idea
of a self-conscious God, a Creator of the world. Nor
can they realise the idea of a creation out of nothing ;
they see in the world mutation, hut origin is to them
a thing unknown. It has been said that the first
verse of the book of Genesis cannot be translated into
Chinese.BELIGIONS.

76 v

Under these circumstances, then, it "will he no
matter of surprise if travellers report that they find
the temples and pagodas of China decayed and
despised; the priesthood poor, slothful and igno-
rant ; and the people infidel and profane. In order,
however, to obtain a nearer view of these matters, the
same division of the subject will be made which the
Chinese themselves adopt, namely: 1. Confucianism,
the religion of the state, with its practical worldly
wisdom and cold moralities. 2. The speculative and
Epicurean “ Doctrine of Reason,” Taouism. 3. Budd-
hism, perhaps rather superior in its religious spirit
to either of the former, but, after all, merely a some-
what enlightened form of idolatry, overlaid with ex-
travagant and incomprehensible dogmas and fables.

There must he something well worthy of our con-
sideration, at least, in a religion which, owing its
name and to some extent its origin to a simple
citizen, has exercised so powerful an influence as Con-
fucianism has done for twenty-four centuries over the
vast population of China. This is, of course, in a great
measure owing to the purely practical character of
its tenets, and to the harmony which is observable
between its precepts and the patriarchal character of
the government and institutions of the country. It
is in fact a system of ceremonies on a moral basis, and
is therefore eminently adapted for so ceremonial-loving
a people as the Chinese. The Lee-poo still jealously
watch the performance of all the rites, and enforce
a strict observance of the old-established and minute
rules for the construction of the temples ; the six kinds
of sceptres; the five kinds of mats; and the five kinds
of stools to lean upon: whilst the innumerable pre-
scribed sacrifices which are offered to the several gods ofCONFUCIUS.

77

the heavens and the earth, to ancestry, to the hills
and the rivers, the sea and the central mount, to the
god of the south pole and to the god of thunder, are
the same now as they have been for more than 2,000
years. It will therefore be interesting to ascertain
who and what this remarkable man was, before we
look at the writings which he left for the guidance of
his still unenlightened countrymen.

Confucius (as his name has been Latinized by the
Jesuits, it being according to the Chinese pronunciation
of the word Kong-foo-tse), was born about 550 b.c.,
in the state Loo, within the district now called Keo-
fow Hien, just to the eastward of the Imperial Canal,
in the province of Shan-tung. He is said to have been
a descendant of the imperial family of Hoang-ty, of
the dynasty of Chang (2,000 B.c.) ; and tradition
adds that his father was the chief minister of his
native kingdom. He gave striking proofs, at an early
age, of very uncommon talents, which were cultivated
and improved under the tuition of the ablest masters ;
and he made himself acquainted, whilst still young,
with all the literature of that period, especially with
the canonical and classical books ascribed to the ancient
legislators Yaou, Chun, and others. He possessed a
most amiable temper, and his moral deportment was
unexceptionable, save perhaps in his divorcing his
legal wife, and so holding out an example which is
said to have been only too closely followed by his son
and his grandson. He acquired a distinguished repu-
tation for humility, sincerity, a disinterested heart,
and a sovereign contempt for wealth. Confucius did
not hide his talent under, a bushel:—with unwearied
diligence and self-denial he travelled throughout the
commonwealth of states, of which his native kingdom78

BELIGIONS.

of Loo was one, preaching and proselytizing. Such
were his influence and example that he is said to have
reckoned as many as 3,000 disciples, of whom seventy-
two were particularly distinguished by their devotion
to their master, and by their practice of his precepts.
The governors of the neighbouring provinces eagerly
sought his counsel and instruction, and offered him the
highest appointments at their command. But, at
thirty years of age, Confucius ended his travels, and
retired, followed by great crowds of disciples, to his
native kingdom, there to study and meditate*, and at
last to compose or rather to compile the great works
which bear his name; and which might almost be
called the Chinese Bible.

The close of his life was far from tranquil. A quarrel,
in which the sovereign of Loo was defeated, obliged
Confucius to fly northward to the kingdom Tsi, in the
Gulf of Pe-chi-li. Between his fiftieth and seventieth
years he was for fourteen years absent from his home.’
But he finally returned to his native kingdom; and,
in his seventy-third year, (477B.C.), “on the eighteenth
day of the second moon,” after seven days sickness,
Confucius, “ the tall man,” as he was called, died,
lamenting the profligacy of mankind, and grieving
that his favourite disciple Yen-hoey (who had died
shortly before him) was no longer alive to continue
the teaching of his illustrious master. The whole
kingdom mourned his loss, and erected many edifices
to perpetuate his memory, on which were inscribed
such dedications as the following:—“ To the Great
Master,” “ To the Chief Doctor,” “ To the Saint,”
“ To the Wise King of Literature,” “ To the In-
structor of Emperors and Kings.” In every city,
down to those of the third order, there is a temple toTHE SYSTEM OP .CONFUCIUS.

79

Confucius, und his descendants still share the honours
of their great ancestor; they are accounted amongst
the few hereditary nobility of China, and, like the
princes of the blood, are exempt from the payment of
taxes to the emperor.

Such was Confucius, the great moral teacher of the
Chinese. He was not. the teacher of a new religion ;
but, inasmuch as he collected the scattered fragments
of ethics and the religious notions that already pre-
vailed, and out of parts made a whole, he may be
Called the founder of the Chinese religion ; which,
whatever may be its merits, is, for obvious reasons,
decidedly not a theological one.

On the subject of the Deity, Confucius was extremely
reserved in giving his opinions. “ How should I know
(rod ? ” he would observe, “ when as yet I know not
man.” And he was as reserved on the subject of a
future life. “We know not life,” he said, “how can
we know death?” His system was essentially com
servative; he aimed at the correction of new vices
which had crept into the body politic by endeavouring
to restore the old customs of the country ; and hence
the high favour in which his system has ever been
held by the rulers and magnates of the empire. It
inculcated the most’ perfect subordination, the most
servile obedience, and the most scrupulous adherence
to ancient usage; every social, civil, and political duty
is set forth in it with the greatest precision; but,
inasmuch as all the parts of the great machine of
empire are not absolutely deprived of volition, a rebel-
lious cog-wheel or insignificant pinion will sometimes
disarrange and impede the entire machinery.

The supremacy of parental authority is the basis of
the Chinese political system; and hence, according to80

BELIGIONS.

Confucius, the submission of the son to the father
ought not to be more complete than that of the
servant to the master, of the master to the magistrate,
of the magistrate to the emperor, and of all to
the law. The reciprocal obligations were necessarily
implied.

The tendency of such precepts has been just what
might have been expected; They are not calculated
to advance civilisation, or to develope the national
mind: accordingly China has been, from time imme-
morial, at a stand-still; and hence, too, in a great
measure, Chinese exclusiveness, timidity, cunning, and
self-conceit.

But it should be mentioned, to the everlasting
honour of Confucius, that he taught a maxim similar
to that which reached a sublimer height, it is true, in
after times, and on Divine lips; but which, coming
as it did from a heathen moralist, is deserving the
highest admiration. Confucius taught his followers
not to do unto others that which they would not that
others should do unto them. But this was not an
unqualified command; the son was enjoined “ not to
live under the same heaven ” with the slayer of his
father ; or, in other words, to exercise the lex talionis,
and put him to death. It was reserved for a more
than human Law-giver to inculcate the golden maxim
in all its fulness; to give us the positive command to
do unto others as we would that others should do
unto us, and to couple with it the yet diviner precept
“ Love your enemies.”

The doctrine of Confucius and his disciples are
contained in Sze-Chou, "The Four Books,” and Sing,

“ The Five Canonical Works,” of which the following
is a brief summary. The original text of the works“ THE FOUR BOOKS.”	81

themselves is comprised within a very moderate com-
pass ; but the numerous commentaries which have
been made from time to time, contribute to swell the
whole to a formidable bulk, and copies of them are
very widely disseminated throughout the country.
But otily a small proportion of the inhabitants, and
these solely of the literary class, have any close
acquaintance with the writings of the great phi-
losopher.

The first of “ The Four Books ” is the Ta-Mo,
“ The G-rand Study or School of Adults,” of which
a translation may be found in the “ Clavis Sinica,” by
Dr. Marshman, and there is also a Latin version of it,
published at Paris, by M. Pauthier. It is a treatise,
in ten chapters, on politics and morals; applied in
the first instance to the government of oneself, thence
to the economy and government of a family, thence
to the rule of a province, and so on to the admin-
istration of the affairs of the whole empire. The grand
principle which it inculcates is self-improvement. The
beauty of virtue is extolled in one of the sections of
the work, but chiefly as a means of self-enjoyment,
and the book concludes with a lofty exhortation to the
practice of justice and honesty in those who administer
the affairs of the state.

The second, Tchoung-zoung, “ The Safe Middle
Course,” is devoted to a description of the path which
should be followed by the wise man through life. He
is not to be unduly elevated by prosperity, nor is he to
allow adversity to depress him. It is considered, by
the Chinese, that the original nature of man was pure,
and inclined to virtue, but that it has been soiled by
contact with what they call “the dust of the world.”
May there not be herein some lingering traces of a

a82

RELIGIONS.

former knowledge of Eden, and of the results of the
taste of that forbidden fruit which—

“Brought death into the world, and all our woe ”?

Some of the thirty-three sections into which this book
is divided are very obscure, but its general tendency
is the same as in the other treatises, namely, an
attempt to apply the writer’s ethical principles to
politics. It contains a lofty description of “ What
makes a king.”

“ It is only the man supremely holy, who, by the
faculty of knowing thoroughly, and comprehending
perfectly, the primitive laws of living beings, is worthy
of possessing supreme authority, and commanding
men; who, by possessing a soul, grand, firm, constant,
and imperturbable, is capable of making justice and
equity reign; who, by his faculty of being always
honest, simple, upright, grave, and just, is capable of
attracting respect and veneration ; who, by his faculty
of being clothed with the ornaments of the mind, and
the talents procured by assiduous study, and by the
enlightenment that is given by an exact investigation
of the most hidden things and the most subtle prin-
ciples, is capable of discerning with accuracy the true
from the false, and good from evil.”

Lun-yu, or “ Philosophical Conversations,” the third
book of this remarkable series, is a somewhat confused
account of conversations held between Confucius and
his disciples. It also gives some minute and amusing
details of the manners of the great teacher ; how, in
introducing his guests, he kept his arms extended like
the wings of a bird; how he would never eat meat
that was not cut in a straight line; that if the mat
on which he was to sit down was not regularly placedTUB BOOK OP MENCIUS.

83

he would not take it; that he would point to nothing
with his fingers, and so on. The private life of Con-
fucius, notwithstanding these eccentricities, seems to
have been very grave, simple, and dignified, and what-
ever was said or done by him, even to his personal
demeanour, is made a rule of action to the present
day.

The fourth book is that of Meng-tze, or Mencius as
he has been called by Europeans, who lived about a
century after his great predecessor. The contents
of this book exceed in the aggregate those of the
other three, and its main object is to inculcate the great
principle of Confucius — philanthropic government.
It has been thus described by a Chinese author:—
“ The subjects treated in this work are of various
natures. In one part are examined the virtues of
individual life, and of domestic relations; in another,
the order of affairs. Here are investigated the duties
of superiors, from the sovereign to the lowest magis-
trate, for the attainment of good government. There
the toils of students, labourers, artisans, traders, are
exhibited ; and, in the course of the work, the laws of
the physical world, of the heavens and the earth, the
mountains and rivers, of birds, quadrupeds, fishes, in-
sects, plants, trees, are occasionally described. A great
number of affairs that Mencius managed, in the course
of his life, in his intercourse with men, his occasional
discourse with people of rank, his instructions to his
pupils, his explanations of books, ancient and modem,
—all these things are incorporated in this publication.
It is a collection of historical facts, and of the words
of ancient ages, uttered for the instruction of man-
kind.” The style of Mencius, though perhaps less
elevated than that of Confucius, is more elegant; and,84

BEUGIONS.

whilst he has the same love of virtue, he seems to have
a contempt rather tnan a hatred for vice. Mencius
died when he was eighty-four years of age; his
memory is revered by the Chinese next to that of
Confucius, and his descendants are treated with honour
inferior only to those of Confucius himself.

“ The Five Canonical Works,” King, are the most
ancient monuments of Chinese literature, and contain
the fundamental principles of the earliest creeds and
customs. Confucius was either the author or compiler
of them all.

The first, the most renowned, and the least intelli-
gible of these sacred books is “ The Book of Changes,”
Ye-king, which appears to contain an ancient and
mysterious theory of creation; which, were it not
melancholy to observe in it the vague struggles of
man’s unassisted reason, would often provoke a smile.
It is founded on the combinations of sixty-four lines
(some entire, others broken), and called Koua; the
discovery of which is attributed to Fo-hi, the reputed
founder of Chinese civilisation. Fo-hi is said to have
found these mysterious lines, which he says are capable
of explaining all things, on the shell of a tortoise.
But even Confucius, who edited the Ye-king, was
unable to throw much light on the matter, nor have
succeeding writers been more successful. It is said
that the imperial library at Peking contains no less
than 1,450 treatises on this curious production.

The Shoo-king, or “ Book of History,” is the second
in order. It is very imperfect, but its fragments are
full of interest. In it are collected the historical
recollections of the first dynasties of China, as far
as the eighth century before our era. It contains
the speeches addressed by several emperors of theseTHE EIYE CANONICAL VTOBKS.

85

dynasties to their great officers, and enshrines a great
number of precious documents concerning the Chinese
nation in the earliest ages. In this book also reference
is made to that great deluge which has been considered
by some to be that described in the seventh chapter of
Genesis ; but this is open to question, as it possibly
refers rather to some one of the early and extensive
inundations of the Hoang-ho, to which the level
country through whose light sandy soil that river,
“ China’s Sorrow,” flows, is still subject.

The third is the She-king, or “ Book of Verses,” a
collection of ancient, national, and oificial songs, from
the eighteenth to the third century before our era.
It is divided into four parts:—first, the Koo-foong, or
songs of “ the manners of different states secondly
and thirdly, songs to be sung on various state occa-
sions ; and, lastly, Soong, a collection of eulogies on
various emperors of the Chow dynasty. It contains
very interesting and probably authentic information, on
the ancient manners of China, and is often quoted by
both Confucius and Mencius, and recommended by
them to the study of their disciples.

The fourth is the Li-king, or “ Book of Rites,” a
collection of fragments the most ancient of which do
not appear to date from an earlier epoch than that of
Confucius himself, but which may nevertheless be con-
sidered as the foundation of the present state of
Chinese manners, and one of the causes of their uni-
form unchangeableness. The ceremonial usages of this
strange country are estimated at 3,000 in number, as
prescribed in this ritual; and one of the six tribunals,
the Ly-pou, is especially charged with the guardianship
and interpretation of these matters, which really form a
considerable portion of the “ religion ” of the Chinese.86

EELIGIONS.

Fifthly and lastly there is the Tchau-tsiou, or “ Book
of Spring and Autumn,” so called from its having been
commenced in the former and ended in the latter
season, by its author Confucius. It contains the early
annals of the little kingdom of Loo. Confucius wrote
this portion of the history of his native country to
recall the princes of his time to a respect for ancient
customs, by pointing out the misfortunes that had
happened since these customs had fallen into disuse.

Such are the Sze-chou and the King; the Chinese
Bible!

Confucianism has no priests, properly so called;
every magistrate practises it within the sphere of
his own jurisdiction, and the emperor himself is the
patriarch or head of it. Generally, all literary persons
and those who propose to become such, in attaching
themselves to it do not necessarily renounce practices
borrowed from other religions. But, in fact, faith does
not seem to have anything to do with the matter; and
habit alone induces them to conform to ceremonies
which they themselves turn into ridicule—such as
divinations, horoscopes, and calculating lucky and un-
lucky days, all of which superstitions are in great
vogue throughout the empire. The pagodas or idol
temples of the various sects are scattered all over
China with incredible profusion:—there is no village
that does not possess some of them—they are seen on
all the roads and even in the fields. The city of
Peking, it is said, possesses 10,000 of them. But it
should be added that, though the splendour of some of
these structures is very striking, yet the greater part of
them do not differ much from other buildings; very
often they are merely small chapels, in which there are
niches containing idols, and vases filled with burningA CHINESE PEAYEE.

87

perfumes, or the ashes of gilt paper on which prayers
have been printed, and which have been burnt by the
devotees. The utmost indifference is exhibited in the
behaviour of the people in these temples; they enter
them to sit down, or to go to sleep; or they walk about
inside them with their hats on, whistling, smoking, and
the like. Merchants selling gilt paper prayers and
pastiles sit round the sides, occasionally beating a gong
to attract the attention of the worshippers to their
wares, and the people keep burning paper imitations of
clothes, shoes, money, junks, etc., to help their -dead
friends on their long journey. For, although the Chinese
have no real knowledge of a future state, the worship of
the dead is a prominent feature of their religion.* Em-
peror and peasant alike bring offerings and bow down,
sometimes in person, and sometimes by proxy, before
the shades of their ancestors; and, whatever other duty
may be forgotten, this at least is always remembered.

The following is a specimen of the prayers which are
used on such occasions :—“ I, Lea Kwang, second son
of the third generation, presume to come before the
grave of my ancestors. Revolving years have brought
again the season of Spring—I sweep your tomb with
reverence, and, prostrate, beg you to be spiritually
present, and grant your posterity that they be illus-
trious. At this season I desire to recompense the root
of my existence, and reverently therefore present before
your holy spirit the five-fold offering of pork, fowl,
duck, goose, and fish; with five fruits and samshoo,
(spirituous liquor); entreating that you will condescend
to view them. This announcement is presented on
high.” As might be expected, the offerings, if not
bestowed on the priests, are generally taken home

* For Chinese notions as to spirits, see Kidd, pp. 171,172.88

RELIGIONS.

again, and consumed in the bosom of the dutiful
worshipper’s family.

Both space and patience fail to enumerate the weari-
some list of the false gods, the sacrifices, and the feasts
of the state religion. The Earth and the material
Heaven rank high in order, and are classed in the first
rank of the Ta-sze, or “ Great Sacrifices.” Amongst
the Choong-sze, or “ Medium Sacrifices,” are the gods
of Land and Grain ; the Great Light and the Evening
Light (Sun and Moon) ; the Inventors of Agriculture,
Manufactures, and the Useful Arts; and the god of
Letters. The “ Lesser Sacrifices,” Seaou-sze, include
a still larger class; amongst which is the ancient
patron of the healing art, together with innumerable
spirits of deceased statesman, eminent scholars, mar-
tyrs to virtue, and so on. The principal phenomena of
nature are also worshipped in this class ; as the clouds,
the rain, wind, and thunder, each of which has its
presiding god. The god of war, and Loong Wang, the
dragon-king, who represents rivers and streams, also
attract their devotees; and, associated with them, is
the “Queen of Heaven,” Tien-how (worshipped also by
the Buddhists), some of whose attributes bear a very
suspieious resemblance to those of another “ Queen of
Heaven,” who has been deified by Christian worship-
pers. Then there are besides a host of household
deities who are propitiated at the opening of the new
year by domestic sacrifices, when the idols are sup-
posed to return for a brief space to heaven in order to
render their yearly account of the families over which
they had presided.

The victims sacrificed consist principally of oxen,
sheep, and pigs, but occasionally fowls are also offered;
the other offerings are principally silks. It needSACKIFICES AND FESTIVALS.

89

scarcely be said that the larger share of these tributes
are appropriated by the priests, hut the worshippers
themselves also come in for their share. Can it he
wondered at that the Chinese have a decided contempt
for their deities, or that a quondam devotee was found
by some of the officers of the allied armies, after the
taking of Canton, scraping the gilt off the back of a
large clay joss which had been tumbled out of a temple
appropriated as a barrack by the allies ?

The times of sacrifice are specified thus: those
to heaven are offered at the winter solstice ; those to
earth at the summer solstice; and the others all at
regularly appointed periods. It would be a tedious
and unprofitable task to dwell upon these, or upon the
numerous festivals of China. One of the most im-
portant, that of ploughing the sacred field by the
emperor, will find a more appropriate place than this
in the chapter on agriculture. It will be sufficient
to state here, that the great times of rejoicing are the
Shae-tang, or festival of lanterns; the Too-te-tan, or
birthdays of the familiar gods of the city ; the Tsing-
ming-tsee, or feast of tombs,—now falling into disuse;
the festivals of the various gods to which allusion has
been already made; and the birthdays of the emperor
and empress, as well as the anniversaries of their
deaths, which are celebrated exclusively by the man-
darins. There is one festival, however, which is not
celebrated in China, and its introduction, besides
conferring an invaluable boon on her laborious inhabi-
tants, would at once supersede a host of superstitious,
idolatrous, and frivolous rites—the festival of Sunday.
There is no sabbath in China! *

* The Jewish sabbath was, it is believed, at one period celebrated in the
Tae-ping camp.90

EliLIGIONS.

Contemporary with Confucius was the philosopher
Lao-tse. He founded Taouism, the doctrine of Tao, or
Reason, which is to be learned by those who can pene-
trate its obscurities in the Taou-te-king, or “ Book of
Reason and Virtue.” The doctrine of Confucius was
practical; that of Lao-tse, his rival, was speculative.
If that of the one was atheistic, that of the other was
pantheistic. If the former gave no God, the latter
gave gods many, and lords many, and demons and
genii without number. But though Lao-tse gives
gods, indeed, like Confucius he had no idea of God-
head ; no notion of a supreme, creative, governing,
and eternal Power.

According to his disciples, who call themselves
“ Doctors of Reason,” Lao-tse, “ The Old Child,” was
borne in the womb of his mother for nine times nine
years, and entered the world grey-headed. Little is
known with certainty of his life, but marvellous things
are told traditionally of him. He is said to have
travelled into the west, whence, among other doctrines,
he brought that of the metempsychosis. His fame as
a philosopher has been injured by his disciples; for, so
far from being the patriarch of a sect of jugglers,
magicians, and astrologers, seeking the elixir of life,
the philosopher’s stone, and the means of reaching
heaven through the air, he was a true philosopher, a
judicious moralist, and a subtle metaphysician. How-
ever miserable, poor, and despised the “ Doctors of
Reason ” have now become, it is certain that Confucius
himself was much struck with Lao-tse, and there are
interesting accounts extant of the meetings and dis-
cussions of the two great rivals. Lao-tse did not seek
to propagate his doctrine : “ One takes care,” he says,
“ to hide the secret he discovers. The most solidTAOUISM.

91

virtue of the sage consists in knowing how to pass
for a simpleton.” He adds that a man of the world
should follow the times, and accommodate himself to
circumstances; a precept that would certainly carry
the mind beyond the narrow circle of knowledge to
which Confucius would limit it. His metaphysics
assimilate to those of the Pythagoreans and Stoics.
But whatever else the “ religion ” of Lao-tse may have
been, it was, undoubtedly, most obscure ; and hence
the latitude it afforded to its votaries for introducing
the most monstrous absurdities. Taouism has had at
times many adherents, and has even found consider-
able favour with some of the emperors, yet even they
could never induce a general belief in its doctrines.
The follies of the sect have been from its very intro-
duction ably ridiculed by the Confucians, and it is now
rapidly sinking into neglect. Taouism flourished most
successfully during the dynasty of Soong, subsequent to
the tenth century, a period when all speculative opinions
and every species of spurious learning were in vogue.

Among the innumerable deities worshipped by this
sect is very noticeable the San-tsing, or “ Three
Pure Ones,” a three-fold ruler of the assembled gods
in heaven, of sun, moon, and stars, and who delivers
his name and benevolent commands to be promulgated
amongst mankind, that all who see and recite that
name may be delivered from all evil, and attain infinite
happiness. It is impossible to doubt that we see here
traces of a Divine revelation, corrupted though it has
now become. China has her Trinity in Taouism, as
well as in Buddhism; as other Pagan nations have
had theirs in the Orphic mythology, where there were
“ counsel, and light, and life ; ” in the Platonic theology,
which had its “ good, and mind, and the soul of the92

BELIGIONS.

world; ” as in the Egyptian mysteries there were “ On,
and Isis, and Neith ; ” and in that of Fo, “ Brahma,
Vishnu, and Seeva.”

The degenerate priests of the Taou sect are outwardly
distinguished amongst the Chinese by the mode in
which they dress their hair, which is fastened at the
top of the head by means of a pin or skewer, somewhat
alter the fashion of the people of Loo-chow, and they
wear a blue or slate-coloured robe. There are two
orders of priests, one vowed to perpetual celibacy, and
who live in the temples ; and a second, or inferior order
of assistants, who reside in their own houses, and dress
in the ordinary style of the country. Taouism is now
by many degrees the least popular sect in China; its
superstitions engage only a few of the most ignorant
of the people, and Taou-tse are in most parts of the
empire but rarely seen. The head of theTaous resides
in Kiang-si, and his son succeeds him.

We have now to consider the third of the three
religions of China, Buddhism; the chief head-quarters
of which is amongst the Lamas of Thibet. Of the two
creeds already described, Confucianism, though tending
admirably to formalise and consolidate society, supplied
nothing to the imagination ; and that of Lao-tse, though
it filled the imagination to overflowing, was too mystical,
too fantastic, to be popular. A religion was wanted
which should be both intelligent and popular, and this
was attempted to be supplied by Buddhism, or the
religion of Fo.

According to the Chinese chronicles, Buddhism was
introduced into the empire about a.d. 65. The founder
of this religion, as to whom many disputes have arisen,
appears to have been Sakya-mouni, who is said to have
been born b.c. 1029, and died b.c. 950. Its intro-BUDDHISM.

93

duction into China from India originated, as we have
seen, in the search after the Holy One, as pointed
out by Confucius, and concerning whom the Emperor
Ming-te dreamed a dream (see page 11).

It is not easy to define the exact nature or trace the
history of the Buddhist religion as thus introduced
into China. It has been surmised that the Buddhist
priests were expelled from their native homes for at-
tempting certain unpalatable reforms in the religion of
the Brahmins, which they had themselves previously
professed. But in this matter great difficulties oppose
themselves to the researches of the best scholars of
Europe and Asia in their endeavours to penetrate the
tangled jungle of Buddhism. By no religious creed
has such extravagant and incomprehensible language
been employed in the enunciation of its dogmas. The
greatest part of it consists of absolutely absurd reveries
and dogmas, unintelligible even to the most learned
of its votaries. The eminent Protestant missionary,
Charles Gutzlaff, says that Buddhism, as he found it
in Siam, is “ Atheism, placing the highest degree of
happiness in annihilation; the greatest enjoyment in
indolence; and the highest hope in endless trans-
migration.” Whatever may be the real essence of it
in modern times, it is, as Dr. Morrison has said,
“ decried by the learned, laughed at by the profligate,
and yet followed,” for want of a better creed, by vast
crowds of the people.

Transmigration appears to be a leading dogma among
the Buddhists, as well as among the Brahmins. Every
man has his good and evil genius, who watch over him
incessantly, and note down all his actions. At death
his soul is cited before the tribunal of the sovereign
of hell, and sentence is pronounced, determining what94

RELIGIONS.

kind of body he shall inhabit. According to their
works, or rather to the balance of tbeir accounts, for
they have a carefully graduated scule of pros and cons,
men are admitted into a superior or inferior class of
creatures; into an order of celestial beings, or into
one condemned to the most frightful torments of
the material and sensual Buddhist hell. Between the
extremes of the higher and lower order of beings, the
inferior genii, men, the lower animals and monsters are
placed, the whole ascending towards the infinite—
absorption into whose essence is the ultimatum of
the worshipper of the religion of Fo.

Buddhism is highly eclectic in its character, and
admission into its Pantheon is by no means difficult.
Its professors have even dared to mingle with their
deities the sacred name of our Saviour ; a garbled
account of whose history may be found in Dr. Milne’s
translation of “ A complete History of the Gods and
Genii,” compiled during the reign of Kang-hi. Again,
a statue of Napoleon Bonaparte has been seen in a
Buddhist temple, with incense burning before it.

Yet, even in such a religion as this, traces are
to be found of that purer faith and of those Divine
laws under which it is the high privilege of every
Christian nation to live. Like the Taouists, the Budd-
hists have their Trinity,—their San, Paou, and Fuh,
—Past, Present, and Future ; and their founder must
surely have been acquainted with the decalogue ;—
as is evinced by the five precepts issued by Buddhu
himself. But the votaries of Buddhu in modern times
are to be painted in no flattering colours. They make
free to break all the precepts ; the yellow-robed priests
are a despised class, chiefly sprung from the lowest of the
people (but who nevertheless appear to monopolise theTHE BUDDHIST PRIESTHOOD.

95

religion of their sect), their morals are bad, and their
demeanour mean and cringing. They are, with few
exceptions, stupid; not even understanding the sacred
dialect which they use in their offices, and which is
totally incomprehensible to the people. They have no
schools or seminaries; and their chea-tang, or halls of
contemplation, have been found the haunts of every
vice. The nuns, or bonzesses, as they have been
called, are less numerous and perhaps more industrious
than the monks, who are a lazy, worthless class of
beings; and the temples, generally, which were once
richly endowed, are now in a state of dilapidation,
overcrowded with priests, and serve as taverns, gam-
bling houses, shops, or brothels. The toleration, which
in some eyes lends Buddhism a pleasing aspect, begets
religious indifference, and indifference finally begets
infidelity—even to Buddhism. Many of its followers
deride its absurdities, and turn its legends equally into
ridicule with those of St. Ursula, and many another
Saint whose name has been travestied into Chinese
syllables by zealous popish missionaries. Yet, notwith-
standing all this, it is said there are between one and
two millions of Buddhist priests throughout the empire.

The strong similarity which exists between many of
the practices of the Buddhists and of the Roman
Catholics, such as the priestly tonsure, worship of
idols, celibacy, burning of incense, the use of holy
water, masses, bells, books, candles, convents, prayers
to the virgin (Kwan-yin), etc., has induced many
to suppose that these practices were engrafted upon
Buddhism by the Romish missionaries. * These

* The Rev. W. C. Milne notices as a significant fact that in the Romish
version of the decalogue, “ as found in their commonest manuals and
school-books, at Zee-ka-wei, the second commandment is altogether omit-
ted, and the tenth subdivided into two parts."96

RELIGIONS.

zealous but unscrupulous men have certainly gone to
great lengths in their endeavours to conciliate the good
opinions of the Chinese; but, looking to the peculiar
knack which Buddhism appears to have of borrowing
from almost every other system of religion, it is per-
haps equally probable that the practices cited above
were appropriated by the Fo bonzes from the Christian
bonzes, just as a rival tradesman will sometimes bor-
row the insignia of his neighbours in order to attract
customers.

It would be an interesting, if not a very profitable
task, to enlarge, if space permitted it, on the details of
the three religions of China; but, seeing that even the
Chinese themselves do not believe in their own creeds,
it seems rather a waste of time and labour to endeavour
to penetrate their enigmatical mysteries, or to give
elaborate accounts of forms of worship which are
despised and discredited, though still persevered in by
their millions of miserable devotees. A contemplation
of the fearful fact shows us that men’s nature is not
satisfied without some sort of religion; and it should
teach us that we can never be too thankful that we
have a religion which, coming down to us as it does
from above, contains truths at once so sublime as to
engage the reverent admiration of the profoundest
philosopher, and so simple and heart-convincing as
to win the confidence and affection of the tenderest
child.

But besides Confucianism, Taouism, and Buddhism,
which may fairly be called the Chinese religions, there
are other creeds in existence in various parts of the
empire, to an account of which a short space must be
devoted.

In almost every large city of the empire are to beMOHAMMED AITS .AND JEWS.

97

found a degenerate class of the followers of Mohammed.
More than a thousand years have elapsed since this
sect made its appearance in China; it is now almost
extinct except in the north-western provinces. At one
time, under the patronage of Kublai Khan, even some
of the mandarins professed Mohammedanism; but
since that time no other emperor has favoured it ;*
and the Mohammedans have become so insignificant,
both in numbers and influence, that, though their
existence is tolerated, they appear to be generally
despised by their countrymen, although they conform
to most of the ceremonies and usages of the country.

There are a few Jews in China, whose ancestors are
supposed to have migrated from India about fifteen or
sixteen centuries ago, and who still, with characteristic
pertinacity, adhere to most of the traditions of their
fathers, and a very small proportion of whom still pore
over their own half Bible; but they also, like the
Mohammedans whose stronghold appears to be at
Hang-chow, are too few and unimportant to attract
any attention on the part of the government.f How
long before these slumbering millions shall awake to
the glad tidings which we hear so often proclaimed in
this island-home of ours ; and which, by God’s help,
we hope to carry to the uttermost parts of the earth,
till at the last all Jews, Pagans, and Infidels shall be
brought home to the flock of the true Israelites, and
be all made one fold, under one Shepherd!

The impotence of the government, the indifference

• Col. Wolsely says that he met with one Mussulman mandarin at
King-tang.

t For much interesting information concerning the Chinese Jews, see a
“Narrative of a Mission of Inquiry to the Jewish Synagogue at Kai-
fung,” published by the London Missionary Society, at Shanghai, in 1851,
and Finn’s, “ The Jews in China.”

H98

BELIGIONS.

of the people to their religions, and the vast number
of secret societies in China, combined with the loud
knocking of foreign nations at her portals, show that
the time is at hand for some more vigorous and
energetic efforts to be made on behalf of the propaga-
tion of Christianity in this part of the world. If China
were Christianised, only an inconsiderable portion of the
world would remain to be taught the Gospel story.
God grant that, with the successes of our arms, our
statesmanship, and our commerce, the end, of which
these are after all but the means, may be triumphant
too!

In another chapter it is proposed to give an account
of the progress which Christianity has hitherto made
in China, and of such grounds as exist of hope for the
future. The close of the present chapter will be
devoted to some remarks on those half-religious, half-
political secret societies to which reference has just
been made, and of which the Tae-pings have recently
exhibited so prominent an example.

These secret societies have long been plentiful, and
can be traced back as far as the third century of the
Christian era. They are entirely suited to the Chinese
genius, which appears to delight in mysteries and
enigmas, and which seeks the simplest ends by a ruse, or
by some needless piece of strategy. Those of a political
character are most numerous ; especially under the
present dynasty, which has ever been detested by the
Chinese. There is now little doubt that the Tae-pings
belong to this class, and have simulated a regard for the
Christian religion with a view to securing the assist-
ance of foreign arms. They really are to be classed
with the Red Beards, the White Jackets, the Short
Swords, the White Water-lily, the Society of GloryBECHET SOCIETIES.

99

and Splendour, the Sea and Land Society, the Triad
Society, and the Wonderful Association, etc.; all of
which have proved more or less troublesome to suc-
cessive governments, and to the country generally.

In many cases these societies, which have their secret
signs and passwords, and clearly defined articles of
union, and whose members bind themselves by a sort of
oath, profess, apparently, the most equitable intentions ;
—the poor are to have a larger share in the riches
of the wealthy, the labourer is to take his ease, the
miserable and persecuted are to be made free and
happy; and, in short, the whole world is to be set to
rights. We have a specimen of the manner in which
this creed works in the dealings of the Tae-pings, and
in the ruin and misery which they everywhere sow
broadcast. It is sufficient to express here the pain and
regret which have been caused in the minds of Chris-
tian men by the blasphemous admixture of holy names
and holy words with the bloodthirsty proclamations
of this so-called religious sect.CHAPTER Y.

ARMY, NAYY, AND POLICE.

Inefficiency of Chinese Military and Naval systems—Reasons for this—
Sometimes fight well—Organisation of Chinese Army—Weapons and
Uniform—Navy—The Chinese not a maritime people—Junks and Sailom
.—Pirates—Militia—Brigands—Police—Prisons.

Whilst men are what they are, the principal subject
matter of this chapter can, unhappily, never be safely
neglected. The present condition of the Chinese army
affords a marked contrast to its effective organisation
and vigorous administration in the earlier years of the
present dynasty. At present there do not perhaps
exist in the world more wretched troops, worse equip-
ped, more undisciplined, more insensible to honour, or,
in a word, more completely absurd.

This inefficiency of the Chinese army depends on
many causes, of which the principal are the following :
viz., first, the long peace which the empire enjoyed—a
peace that may be said to have lasted for some cen-
turies ; since, the petty wars in which until lately China
has been engaged have been insufficient to revive a
warlike spirit:—second, the policy of the Mantchoo
dynasty, which blindly seeks to perpetuate in the
Chinese a feebleness that shall prevent them from
shaking off the Tartar yoke:—third, the conceit and
tenacity with which, until recently, the government
has refused to admit any reform in the tactics andDECLINE OF MILITARY POWER.

101

weapons of ancient times:—and, finally, the discredit
that has for some time past been thrown on the mili-
tary profession ; and, as a natural result, the purely
physical character of the military examinations. This
latter cause, the most effectual of all perhaps, pervades
the whole political system, and is the result of the
excessive importance attached to literary pursuits.
The early Mantchoo emperors avoided these errors, and
determined to maintain their power by organising an
efficient army, and distributing it throughout the
empire. In those days garrisons were stationed in
the walled cities, guns were cast and placed in battery,
and the troops were well supplied with arms. Obe-
dience to law was strictly enforced, and political agita-
tors met with instant punishment. But the later
emperors have gradually forgotten the secret of their
strength, and have allowed themselves to be influenced
by the maxims of Chinese philosophy; and general
insubordination has been the consequence. “ The
walls and gates of the fortified towns are now mostly
in ruins ; dismounted guns lie rusty and useless in the
long grass of the slopes, and the arms and ammunition
supposed to be in store are either missing or disgrace-
fully unserviceable, and the native army has degene-
rated into a most inefficient militia.” Even the Tartar
garrisons, through want of proper drill, have lost much
of their military vigour; and at present the only really
valuable troops that the emperor has at his command
arc a few Tartars and picked Chinese, stationed at
or near Peking. The officers and men of the native
Chinese army are recruited from an inferior class, and
are regarded with contempt by their non-combative
fellow-countrymen. The Tartar troops are certainly
of somewhat better quality, but their numbers are 60102

ABMY, NAVT, AND POLICE.

small as to render them inadequate for the purpose of
maintaining order in the tumultuous provinces, and this
fact has led their generals to adopt a very undesirable
policy. It is their custom, whenever their troops are
required to take the field, to enrol large numbers of
volunteers, to whom is given a considerable bounty,
together with extra pay and rations. On the conclu-
sion of the operations, these men, who are then dis-
charged, spread themselves over the country, swell the
local hands of insurgents, and actually aid in fomenting
the disturbances they were intended to quell.

In such a state of things there is little cause for
wonder at the easy manner in which the skilful and
hardy soldiery of Europe have crushed the paper troops
of the “ Celestials.” The repulses to which, under
peculiar circumstances, the fortune of War has on one
or two occasions subjected the former, have only led
ultimately to a more complete discomfiture of the
Chinese.

Yet it must not he supposed that the Chinese troops
are altogether deficient in military capacity. They
have evinced, not only in the last affair at Canton, and
in the repulse of our forces at the mouth of the
Pei-ho, in 1859, but also on some other occasions,
considerable bravery and skill; in fact the pomp and
circumstance of war has always had its attractions for
them, and there is no reason to doubt that, if properly
disciplined and supplied with the munitions of modern
warfare, they would make excellent troops. The be-
haviour of some of the coolies, known among military
men as the “ Bamboo Rifles,” recently employed by
the allied armies, both from their coolness under fire and
from the remarkable powers of endurance which they
then manifested, goes far to show that in these respects,CHINESE MILITAEY LOGIC.

103

as well as in many others, the Chinese would make
superior soldiers to most Asiatics. Their tactics also
are not to be altogether despised. The generalship of
Sang-ko-lin-sin, the commander-in-chief of the . Chinese
army that resisted the approach of the allies upon
Peking in the autumn of I860, was not to be ignored,
although it is true the fundamental idea of his arrange-
ments was merely that common to many half-civilised
nations—namely, if possible, to surround his foes. In
the skirmishes between the Imperialists and Rebels
before Shanghai, both sides evinced considerable skill
in their construction of mines and countermines, and
bamboo-spiked pitfalls. The Chinese know too how
to conceal their musketry and arrow loopholes by
hanging before them pieces of white paper, which con-
ceal the exact positions of the openings from an enemy ;
and they have displayed on some occasions a less com-
mendable ingenuity in the artifices which they have
employed against their foes.

But the Chinese fight best at a distance; or, as our
soldiers express it, “ at long bowls.” They have a
strong objection, generally, to a hand-to-hand conflict;
and this is a point in which their queer logic explains
their slight bravery. For they complain thus, that the
English do not fight fairly with them : They say that
instead of going up to their forts like brave men, we
send a few small ships in for all the guns of the forts
to fire at, and, when the fort guns are all well at 'work,
some marines and blue jackets leap over the wall in
the rear, and drive the gunners out. So that when
they run away from a storming-party they argue thus :
“No can—two piecy man : no can stand all same place,
S’pose yon must come in, I go out.”

As has been stated, there is still a marked difference104

ARMY, NAVT, AND POLICE.

between the Tartars and the native troops. The former
are well armed, well paid, and well cared for; their huts
in the Taku forts were said by an experienced British
engineer officer, Colonel Fisher, to be about the best he
had ever seen. The native troops, on the other hand,
can only be considered as an inefficient militia. Here is
a description of the appearance presented by the Amoy
troops in 1858 :—“This force is not strictly maintained,
and their order of march is not one of severe precision.
Some of them wore the huge bamboo hats used by the
Chinese peasants as shields from sun and rain ; others
abandoned their shorn heads with pendant tails to the
fierceness of the mid-day heat. They all wore a sleeve-
less cotton jacket, with some Chinese characters printed
on it (perhaps the word ‘ valour,’ which, alas! is
inscribed generally on their backs as well as on their
breasts), but in other respects they presented every
variety of the coolie garb. Naked feet and legs,
leathern sandals, thick-soled Chinese shoes, loose
trousers, and cotton breeches and stockings were all
equally tolerated. The mass straggled along without
much order. Two or three ‘ braves ’ with trident
spears walked first, then followed the arquebus men,
carrying their guns in the same way as the spies are
represented bringing back their trophies from the land
of Canaan,—two men to each arquebus. Then came
some warriors with large wicker shields and short
swords, and lastly, upon a pony, came the venerable
commander of the troop, with two men holding a large
parachute-formed umbrella over his head.”

If numbers were any evidence of strength, China, in
a military point of view, would be most formidable,
for the standing army is reckoned at 700,000 men,
of whom about one-seventh are Tartars, and the restCONSTITUTION OP THE ABMY.

105

native Chinese, officered by about 18,000 military-
mandarins of various grades. The principal officers of
trust are Tartars, of whom a proportion constitute the
cavalry. These Tartar horsemen, who are mounted on
rough, serviceable ponies, receive each seven ounces of
silver and twenty measures of rice per month; the
native horseman receives about 3^ ounces of silver and
fifteen measures of rice per month. The Tartar foot
soldier receives two ounces of silver and ten measures
of rice, and the Chinese foot soldier 1t0q ounce of silver
and ten measures of rice for his monthly allowance.
The average daily pay, in money and rice, of a Chinese
soldier may roughly be stated as about sixpence a day ;
but the pay probably dwindles very much in passing,
as it does, through so many hands before it reaches the
recipient. The arms, accoutrements, and upper gar-
ment are furnished by the emperor ; and, in addition to
the regular pay and allowance, the troops receive
donations when they marry, and at the birth of male
children, or when their parents die, on which latter
occasion they receive a “gift of consolation.” Their
families also receive a similar gift when the soldier
himself dies.

In the selection of troops care is generally taken to
choose none but the healthy and robust, and preference
is given to tbe best looking. The pay and allowances
of the troops exceed the usual earnings of men of their
class, and hence to enlist into the so-called “ Army of
Heaven ” ensures to the recruit more of the comforts of
life than he would otherwise enjoy. Then the system
of promotion by purchase is in full force in China.
From fifteen to thirty dollars obtains the full private
his commission ; and so, on the whole, the military pro-
fession is not without its attractions. The duties are106

ABMY, NAVY, AND POLICE.

for the most part not very heavy; the Chinese soldier
now and then attends parade when called upon, and at
all other times pursues his ordinary avocations. Some-
times a review is held, when there is a great heating of
drums and waving of flags, and on one occasion their
manoeuvres were really so much in earnest that, when
the spectator who is our authority left the scene, a
large portion of the army were up to their necks in
muddy water—whether led thither in order to exercise
the troops in repelling the landing of some imaginary
western barbarians, or from some mistake on the part
of their commanding officers, it is difficult to say.

The Chinese have a great variety of anus and
armour. When the allies took Canton in 1857, the
three imperial armouries there, which were found in a
high state of efficiency, contained double-handed swords
in immense numbers and terrible to look upon, fear-
inspiring shields with hideous faces painted on them
to terrify barbarian foes, and arrows in thousands, all
very carefully finished and preserved in cases; but it
was noticed that bows were scarce. There were, besides
great quantities of floss silk, quilted war jackets in the
presses, and many complete suits of Chinese armour.
The swords, pikes, and gingalls (loEg duck guns,
throwing a one-ounce or two-ounce ball, and constitu-
ting the most effective weapon of the Chinese soldier),
were innumerable, and there were a few fine brass guns.
There was also a collection of all the shot that could
be recovered after the previous year’s bombardment,
and some unexploded shells which had been fired into
the city a few days before. There was also a great
depot of infernal machines made of tin, somewhat in
the form of dark lanterns. Of course, those most pro-
minent weapons of Chinese valour—flags and bannersGUNPOWDER AND WEAPONS.

107

—decorated the walls in countless numbers. In en-
gagements among themselves Chinese troops present
an attractive spectacle, from the vast quantities of gay
flags which the opposing hosts keep constantly fluttering
before each other’s eyes. In night engagements the
flags are exchanged for painted lanterns, one of which
is carried by each soldier, and thus indicating, as it
does, the position of every individual enemy, affords
another of those curious anomalies which go to make
up the Chinese character.

Chinese gunpowder, which has been made long
enough in the land one would think to have reached the
utmost perfection, is very deficient in propulsive power;
oftentimes the shot have been noticed to almost tumble
out of the muzzles of the guns. The materials of which
it is composed are good, and they are combined in about
the same proportions as ours, but the powder is not so
carefully manufactured. In fact gunpowder is more
highly esteemed and more largely used for the purpose
of fireworks than as a munition of war. The Chinese
still have a strong bias in favour of the bow and arrow,
which some of them use with great dexterity. They
have amongst their weapons of war one which demands
notice, the bamboo rocket-spear, a terrific weapon to
look at—its name describes it, and it makes a horrible
noise as it whirrs past, or as it “ jids” into the ground.
But, fortunately, the Chinese are very unskilful in the
use of this ingenious weapon. Fire-balls and stink-pots
(so called from the offensive smell caused by the ignition
of the coarse powder they contain) are also favourite
implements of war with them.

In the higher branches of the military art, such as
engineering and artillery, the Chinese are very much
behind us. They cast some magnificent pieces of cannon108

ARMY, NAVY, AND POLICE.

(none heavier than forty-two pounders), hut, oddly
enough, their shot are rarely quite spherical, and the
result is excessive windage, and, at long ranges, incor-
rect aim. Nor are their guns worked as ours ; they
are without carriages, and are simply brought to bear
upon some given point, when they are discharged, pass
that point, and the guns are harmless. Most of their
fortified places are seen into from adjacent high ground,
and even their strongest walls are altogether inadequate
to resist European artillery. But they are quite aware
of the value of fortifications, and of bomb-proof tra-
verses in them, and they construct temporary batteries
with remarkable despatch, and with some judgment as
to their position ; yet from these forts, when attacked,
as well as on most other occasions—let it be told to
their lasting dishonour—the Chinese officers are gene-
rally the first to run away.

The uniform of the troops is almost invariably red
and blue, bordered with white ; it consists of a long
petticoat, over which is the ma-qua, or large-sleeved
jacket; the feet are protected by thick-soled high boots;
the cap is made of rattan, or strips of bamboo, and is of a
conical shape. There are slight variations in this dress;
sometimes for instance the doublet is of leather, some-
times it is quilted, and sometimes it consists of an
ample cape of brown with a broad pink border, over
long blue coats and trousers; but the foregoing is the
prevailing costume.

All Chinese officers, as well as privates, are liable to
corporal punishment—a fact which may partly tend to
account for the very low morale which they possess.
And the most heinous offence of which a military man
can be guilty, is want of success; this is a crime for
which even their most illustrious commanders are
rarely, if ever, forgiven.THE CHINESE JUNKS.

109

When we direct our attention to the Chinese navy
we are tempted, at first, to expect great things from a
nation which has for centuries known the use of the
mariner’s compass. But we shall be disappointed
if we raise our expectations too high. In this, as in
most other matters, China has made no advances for
centuries. Geographical isolation, and the immense
and varied inland tracts over which the Chinese em-
peror rules, will no doubt account in a great measure
for the absence of improvement in this material element
of a country’s progress. But, besides these causes, it
is the fact that naval enterprise is a thing unsuited to
the Chinese- character.

Their unwieldy junks still, as of old, creep timidly
along the shores from headland to headland, on which
no friendly lighthouses or landmarks appear, rarely
losing sight of the shore, and almost invariably bring-
ing to for the night under the shelter of some high
promontory. The compass is seldom resorted to, save
when one of the numerous fogs which beset the north-
eastern coast assails the faint-hearted sailors, and sends
them to their hideous little josses, which they seek to
propitiate by burning gilt paper prayers, or ijicense-
sticks—or when some adventurous commander, sets sail
for the neighbouring islands of Japan, or Loo-chow,
or makes a still more venturesome voyage to Anam, or
the Malay peninsula, braving the innumerable pirates
that infest those southern seas, and defy the imperial
maritime police.

The Chinese make little distinction between the
regulations for the naval and military forces; the
several ranks have the same names in both, and both
arms of the service are under the command of the
viceroy of the province to which they belong.110

AEMY, NAVT, AND POLICE.

The naval force of China is said to be composed of
about 30,000 sailors, distributed over a considerable
number of war junks—the exact number of which it is
almost impossible to ascertain, but a great number of
men go to each junk. Probably the Chinese govern-
ment itself would be unable to furnish a correct esti-
mate ; for it is whispered that it is sometimes difficult
to say whether certain of the armed junks that occa-
sionally make their appearance at some of the free
ports are pirates proper, or imperial junks doing a little
piracy business on their own account, instead of
directing their efforts towards exterminating those
scourges of the Chinese coasts. So numerous and so
daring are these pirate junks that trading vessels can
scarcely venture on their voyages alone, along any
part of the coast south of the Chusan Islands ; they
join in a fleet, some vessels of which are generally
pretty well armed, and by these means they are enabled
to make their voyages in tolerable safety. It has been
said that piracy is about the only Chinese institution
which has not degenerated. The pirate junks are
generally craft of about 350 tons, and they seldom
or never cruise alone.

A fleet of Chinese junks is, however, a straggling,
unseemly mass at the best; they stagger along, in
anything but line-of-battle order, with their huge
masts and sails of split bamboo, at a very slow pace.
There is a story that the original idea of the pattern
of a junk emanated from one of the emperors, who, on
being pressed to give a model which should last for
all time, took off his shoe, and recommended that
article for adoption. Certainly there is no slight re-
semblance between the two objects, notwithstanding
the trifling varieties of shape which are noticeableTHE CHINESE COMPASS.

Ill

between junks and lorchas of different parts of the
coast, and especially amongst those which ply on the
inland rivers; they are very flat-bottomed craft, and
their bluff, square bows are generally adorned with
two huge eyes, wherewith to watch and terrify their
foes ; they are, moreover, generally painted so as to
imitate the appearance of some bird, reptile, or fish,
whose name they frequently bear. For instance, the
name given to one of these junks was the “ Hawk’s
Beak,” and another, which had three rows of oars,
resembling somewhat the numerous feet of the cen-
tipede, bore the name of that ugly insect.

It has already been stated that the number of men
employed to navigate a junk is very large, and it must
be added that their debased condition is a sad and
sorrowful matter. The eminent Protestant missionary,
Charles Gutzlaff, has drawn a woful picture of their
vices and superstition. As a general rule, they have
no fixed rate" of pay, or relative rank ; all on board is
confusion and filth, and their remuneration consists
in a share of the freight when they finally reach the
port for which they were bound.

Before concluding these remarks on the Chinese
navy, a few words must be added on the subject of the
Chinese compass. Unlike ourselves in almost every
particular, the Chinese mark the southern pole of their
magnet; indeed their name for the instrument is
ting-nan-ching, or needle pointing to the south. The
emperor Caiang-shee, who was in the habit of com-
mitting to paper his observations on a variety of
subjects, and who encouraged learned missionaries at
his court, writes thus on the subject:—“ I have heard
Europeans say that tlie needle obeys the north. In
our oldest records it is said that it turns to the south ;112

AEMY, NAVY, AND POLICE.

but, as neither authority has explained the cause, I
see little to be gained by adopting one opinion in
preference to the other. The ancients, however, are
the first in date, and the farther I proceed the more
I am convinced of their knowledge of the operations
and mechanism of nature. Moreover, as all action
grows languid and is nearly suspended towards the
north, it is less likely that the virtue which gives
motion to the magnetic needle should proceed from
that quarter.” The Chinese compass contains also
a great variety of useful information on astronomical,
philosophical, and “religious” subjects; but, without
pausing to describe these, or to examine into the
question whether it is the more advantageous to
consider the one pole of the magnet as pointing
towards the south, or the other as pointing towards
the north, let us in a more practical way con over the
significant fact, pregnant we trust with future welfare
for China, that the government has condescended
not only to seek the aid of the British navy, but has
even purchased, for its own exclusive use, European
steamers. The time will probably come when the
Chinese junk, except for the purposes of the coasting
and river trade (for which it is, in many respects, well
fitted), will become a thing of the past, and a large
specimen of the craft will be almost as great a cu-
riosity, even to the people of China, as was that
celebrated junk which attracted such crowds to the
banks of the Thames in 1848.

It is not very easy to draw the line between the
Chinese regulars and the militia, nor between the
militia and the police. In a country where numbers
of secret societies exist, and where a deficient supply
of food almost always occasions a revolt, the duties ofTHE HIOW-TSE AND KODAN-KOUEN.

113

all the foregoing members of the community frequently
merge, nominally, into one common object, viz., the pro-
tection of property and the suppression of turbulent
risings of the populace. Along the principal roads, at
intervals of a few miles, there are little bands of
soldiers stationed to protect the internal commerce of
the provinces as well as casual travellers from robbers ;
and, in fact, it may be said that the usual functions of
the Chinese army, scattered as it is throughout the
whole empire, are chiefly those of a police force. Strong
as this force is for some purposes, it is comparatively
weak for others, and, when ill-disposed persons are
too strong or too determined for the authorities, the
soldiery easily make up their minds to follow the wiser
part of valour—discretion, and give the evil-doers a
wide berth. For instance, in the very heart of China
there has existed for some centuries a tribe of bold
robbers, so numerous and independent as almost to
constitute a distinct nation, called the Miow-tse.
These people, inhabiting the mountainous fastnesses
between the provinces of Quei-chow and Quang-si,
levy black mail upon their neighbours, and successfully
defy all the forces which from time to time are sent
against them.

Besides the Miow-tse there are a class of men in
China known as the Kouan-kouen, a race of bandits
who make it a sport and a matter of pride to defy the
laws and the magistrates, and to commit all manner
of crimes. To give and receive wounds with perfect
indifference, to kill others with composure, and to have
no fear of death for yourself, such is the sublime ideal
of the Kouan-kouen. These men are very numerous
in China, forming societies among themselves, and
standing by each other with immoveable fidelity. A114

AllMY, NAVY, AND POLICE.

few of the more ferocious live alone, and sometimes
voluntarily denounce themselves to the magistrates,
with no other object apparently than to contradict their
own statements afterwards, and to defy tortures so cruel
that it is impossible to read of them without shuddering.

Chinese justice is administered in a very summary
manner. The ordinary tribunals have but a single
judge. The prisoner is on his knees during the whole
trial; no advocate pleads his cause, and it is only as
an act of condescension on the part of the magistrate,
who is both judge and jury, in one, that even his re-
lations and friends are allowed to speak a word for
him. “ It is hard, indeed,” says the Chinese proverb,
“ to escape from the net of the lawand another pro-
verb expresses the same idea even in a still more forcible
way: when a man is taken before a criminal tribunal
they say, “ The meat is on the chopping-block ! ”

Crimes of violence however are rare ; even the most
quarrelsome Chinese seldom come to blows, and the
very close approach to it which they make in the heat
of their disputes, without coming to actual fisticuffs,
has something in it very ludicrous to English eyes.

But thieves and disturbers of the public peace are
numerous, and are severely punished on conviction.
The most ordinary punishments are fines, the bastinado,
face-slapping with thick leathern soles, the cangue or
portable pillory, the prison, iron cages, wherein the
prisoner must remain in a crouching attitude,* per-
petual or temporary exile into Tartary, and death by
strangulation or decapitation.

The system of police for towns is remarkably simple
and effective. The gates of all towns and cities are

* A punishment which was inflicted on our unhappy countrymen,
De Norman, Bowlby, Brabazon, and others, till death released them from
their tortures.TOWN POLICE.

115

shut soon after it is dark, when the first watch is
sounded, either by a huge hell or a drum in some com-
manding situation. At the ends of the principal
streets the barriers are closed at the same time, and
are only opened afterwards to such as can give a very
good account of themselves for being out at night.
Every one is obliged to carry a lantern, and is punished
if found without one. When the particular watch of
the night has been indicated by a certain number of
strokes on the drum or bell, it is answered by the rest
of the stations, and a police soldier walks from one
corps-de-garde to another, repeating the number of the
watch by striking two hollow bamboos together.
Besides this general system, the inhabitants of a
division of a city frequently combine for purposes of
watch and ward, and the result is generally a careful
guard over the sleeping community, and the imme-
diate localisation of any disturbance which may arise.

Whenever a fire takes place, unfortunately a fre-
quent occurrence, all is disorder and confusion. It is
the signal for thieves, who come running in from
all quarters, under pretence of extinguishing the fire,
but really for purposes of pillage. A few hours are
generally sufficient for the destruction or plunder of
two or three hundred houses, notwithstanding that
in many of the towns fire engines, of an inferior
description, are kept. Those who are fortunate enough
to preserve their lives and properties from the destruc-
tive element usually repair on the following day to the
public temples, wherfe they vow various acts of public
thanksgiving, such as theatrical shows for many nights,
recitations of Buddhist hymns, etc.

Perhaps one of the worst aspects of this branch of
oui’ subject is one which, painful as it is, must not be118	AEMT, NAT5T, AND POLICE.

allowed to pass unnoticed. The prisons of China are
probably the scenes of the most frightful misery in the
world. The squalid and half-starved inmates, swarming
with vermin, and covered with loathsome skin diseases,
are crowded together into a group of small yards, en-
closed by a general outer wall. Around each yard are
dens, like those in which we confine wild beasts. The
bars, of thick bamboo, are so close together that the
interior is too dark to be readily seen into from with-
out. The ordinary prisoners are allowed to remain in
the yard during the day; their ankles are lettered
together by heavy iron rings and a short chain, and
they generally wear similar fetters on their wrists.
Sometimes, in the depth of winter, prisoners may be
seen chained together in strings, one amongst them
occasionally hanging dead to his comrades: hundreds
of them die annually from ill-usage. The low-roofed
dens are so easily climbed that when the prisoners are
in the yard the gaolers must trust to fetters for the
inmates’ security. But the pen refuses to trace the
details of the varied horrors of those miserable wretches
who are confined to their cages; the only crumb of
consolation to be found in reflecting on their fate is
that they soon become mad, and, it is to be hoped, at
least partially insensible to their debasement and
agonies. And, as if in mockery of them misery, such
sentiments as these are carved in faded golden charac-
ters over their dens, and in the joss-houses which
usually form adjuncts to these scenes of terror : “ The
misery of to-day may be the happiness of to-morrow; ”
“ Confess your crimes, and thank the magistrate who
purges you of them; ” or, “ May we share in the
mercy of the emperor.” Alas! for how large a majority
is there neither mercy before nor after their trials!CHAPTEE VI.

LANGUAGE, EDUCATION, AND LITERATURE.

Supposed difficulties of the Language—Its wide diffusion—Its fundamental
principle—The written and spoken language—Chinese Grammar—Educa-
tion—Peep into a School—Class Books—General Literature—Extracts
from the writings of Confucius, and from Children’s Books—Chinese
Poetry.

Perhaps there is no foreign language, ancient or
modern, with the characters of which Englishmen are
so familiar by sight, but as to whose meaning we are,
on the whole, so entirely ignorant as that of the Chinese.
Tea, in chests and catties and packages, fans, chop-
stick cases, and delicate-leaved Chinese books, all redo-
lent of tea, have made us more or less vaguely familiar
with the appearance of the written language of China.
Yet, so vague is this knowledge, it will scarcel}~ be
denied that almost any Englishman might easily be
deceived by a cunning caligraphist into the belief that
he was looking upon Chinese characters, whilst in
truth they were mere arbitrary symbols. The fact is,
Chinese is a language for which there have hitherto
been only occasional calls in the educational market;
and it has been regarded as a language the acquire-
ment of which is immensely difficult; for we have
been told that the Chinese have no alphabet, that
every word has a distinct character, and that there
are tens of thousands of different words to be acquired.

This is. no doubt, to a certain extent, true ; but the
difficult}", like most other difficulties, dwindles its por-
tentous dimensions as we steadily and determinedly118

LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE.

confront it. To the learning and piety and unwearied
industry of Dr. Morrison we are indebted for a Chinese
and English Dictionary, which he completed in the
year 1823; a work which has proved of inestimable
benefit both to China and to England. Many other
missionaries have aided in the work of facilitating the
acquisition of a language, the difficulties of which
were formerly regarded as almost insuperable.

Let us first consider the wide diffusion of this won-
derful language. It is spoken, with variations of dialect
and intonation, by one-third of the human race. No
other language can boast of nearly so extensive^a use.
Or what living language can claim so immemorial
an antiquity ? Whilst Hebrew, Latin, and Greek have
become “ dead languages ” (though their influence
makes them still felt as if they were living), the
Chinese language maintains, almost unchanged, the
same characters and the same sounds which it had
before Greece and Rome commenced their history.
Chinese tradition refers the origin of the written lan-
guage to no less remote an origin than Fohi, the
founder of their nationality; such a language as this
will surely repay a closer consideration.

It may conveniently be considered in its two distinct
aspects, the written and the spoken.

The written language, of which the Chinese reckon
six varieties, is the same throughout the empire.
Throughout the eighteen provinces, and Manchuria,
Corea, and Japan,* Cochin China, Tong-king, and the

• Sir Rutherford Alcock, in his “ Capital of the Tycoon,” states that,
though the Chinese language, which was introduced into Japan at some
unknown remote period, is still used there, yet the Japanese have also
invented a phonetic alphabet of their own; and that they have three
different modes of writing Chinese, all of which they frequently mix up in
the same pages, so that the two nations cannot read one another's books
without some difficulty.HIEROGLYPHIC All ORIGIN.

119

islands in the Straits of Sunda, the written language
of China is understood. Like certain other languages
it doubtless took its rise from rude hieroglyphical
representations of the ideas and things sought to be
conveyed. They reckon 214 primitive characters ;
though the various modifications of these swell the
number to some 30,000 or 40,000; but, disregarding
mere synonyms, only one-third of these are in general
use; and indeed a knowledge of one-lialf of the latter
number, say 5,000 or 6,000, is probably sufficient for
all practical purposes.

The mode in which these modifications of the primi-
tive roots is made is very curious and instructive, and
tends to make a Chinese dictionary, amongst other
things, go far towards being a sort of system of natural
history. For instance, the dog, that old friend and
companion of man in all countries and in all times, had
allotted to him an honourable place amongst the few
primitive characters; to him, therefore, were referred
the wolf, the fox, and other carnivora, which accord-
ingly became, in Chinese nomenclature, the dog-wolf,
the dog-fox, and so on. The various species of goats and
antelopes were referred to the sheep, and became sheep-
goats, etc.; ruminants were referred to the ox as their
type ; rodentia to the rat, and pachydermata to the
pig. The name of every creature is thus generally of
two parts, one relating to the genus, the other deter-
mining the species by a sign indicative either of pecu-
liarities of conformation, the habits of the animal, or the
use that may be made of it. By this ingenious method
are formed real natural families, which, with the ex-
ception of a few anomalies (and after all China is the
country of anomalies), might almost be acknowledged
by modern naturalists. The process by which the120

LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE.

signs signifying a school were settled is another curious
instance of the mode in which these double words are
formed ; literally, the symbol means sheep-house ; the
first half of the word conveying to a Chinese intelli-
gence the notion of guiding and feeding the minds of
the flock of pupils that are assembled at schools for
instruction. It should perhaps be observed here that
in writing these compound words little regard is paid to
order ; but that this is sacrificed to the symmetry and
beauty of the appearance of the compound character.

There was of course some difficulty about expressing
abstract ideas by symbols; but the difficulty gave
rise to invention, and invested the Chinese language
with a certain poetic beauty. Anger, for instance, was
signified by a heart surmounted by the sign of a slave;
a hand holding the symbol of the middle, designated
the historian, whose first duty it is to incline to neither
side ; to express the idea of a friend, they placed the
symbols of two similar pearls side by side, because it
is so difficult to find two pearls exactly matching
one another. It will of course be understood that the
character which comprised these combinations was
only a rude representation of the object signified ; but
in some cases the origin of the character can easily
be discerned, in others it would appear to have been
entirely arbitrary. It has been suggested, with much
plausibility, by M. Hue (from whose interesting work
many of these illustrations have been borrowed), that
a research into the origin of some of these obscure
symbols would tend to throw a light upon the early
manners and customs of the nation.

The written Chinese language, though it at first
appears somewhat hard and stiff to English eyes
unaccustomed to it, is not without much beauty of itsCALIGUA.PHT.

121

own peculiar sort, and the prejudice with which it may
be at first regarded, on account of its apparent cum-
brousness and complication, speedily gives way to
admiration as the facile sweep of the rabbit-hair brush,
charged with lustrous Indian-ink, is watched, when
guided by an accomplished Chinese scribe. The cha-
racters are written one above the other, in vertical
lines, beginning on the right of the page,—in fact, just
exactly the reverse of the European mode. Caligraphy
is highly regarded in China; a motto or an autograph
on brilliantly coloured paper is esteemed a fitting
present from one friend to another; and moral sen-
tences, inscribed in the highest style of art, form
conspicuous ornaments of every Chinese home. The
characters have of course become more graceful and
flowing since the introduction of paper, made of the
mulberry bark, superseded, those hard scratchings on
bamboo tablets which the Chinese had probably ceased
to make before the Roman stylus and waxen tablets
had fallen into disuse.

The spoken language of China is as various as the
written language is homogeneous. A witty writer who
describes China as “ a country where the roses have no
fragrance, women no petticoats, the labourer no sab-
bath, the magistrate no sense of honour; where the
roads bear no vehicles, and ships have no keels; where
old men fly kites; where the needle points to the
south ; where the seat of intellect is in the stomach;
where to take off your hat is an insolent gesture, and to
wear white garments is to put yourself in mourning; ”
tells us that, in his opinion, the Chinese language is the
most cumbrous, intricate, and unwieldy vehicle of
thought that ever obtained amongst any people ; and
that there are at least eighteen distinct languages in122

LANGUAGE AND LITEEATUEE.

China ! To a certain extent this is correct, but it is
also true that educated people speak the Court or
Mandarin dialect, as it is called, * throughout the
empire; and that, even failing this, all who can read
and write (and all except the very lowest of the low,
and the inhabitants of remote rural districts, can do so
in China) are able to interchange ideas, from what-
soever parts of the empire they may come, by means
of the written language.

The spoken language may be considered as con-
sisting of only about 450 monosyllabic intonations,
multiplied by subtle shades of accent to. nearly four
times that number. There are also various recognised
tones of talking, or shings, which at once increase the
difficulties and add to the varieties of Chinese col-
loquial intercourse. There is the Shangshing, loud
and ejaculatory; the Lea-shing, which is just the
reverse of the former; there are also the soothing
inflections of the Keu-shing, and the abrupt and im-
patient accentuation of the Jukshing. These shades
of accent and intonation are so fine, that a man who
would learn to converse in Chinese must go to China.
He may get a fair acquaintance with the written
language at home, under the guidance of the Professor
of Chinese at the London University, or elsewhere.f
Mr. Gcarth, in his “ Twelve Years in China,” says that,
in six months, a person may, with ordinary diligence,
acquire a fair knowledge of the language.

The study of Chinese is materially facilitated by the
fact that the language has, strictly speaking, no inflec-
tions. The relations of words to each other in a

* The Chinese call it the Zouan-hua, or common universal language.

t The collection of Chinese books made by Dr. Morrison for the purpose
of his lexicographical labours was deposited at the London University.MODES OF INFLECTION.

123

sentence are indicated by their position. The verb,
for instance, must always precede its object, and follow
its agent. The plural number is denoted by the affix
of mun to nouns—jin-mun, men ; fha-mun, they; or
by repeating the noun, as jin-jin, men. Either of
these additions is rendered unnecessary when a specific
number is prefixed ; as san-jin, three men. The geni-
tive or possessive case is generally denoted by the affix
che, succeeding the nouD, like ours, T'hien-che-gen,
“ Heaven’s favour.” The comparison of adjectives too
is marked by affixes, as haou, good; Jceng-haow, more
good; ting-haou, most good. The structure of Chinese
phrases is often discoverable in the broken English
of Canton, which is in fact a Chinese idiom in English
words. The tenses of verbs are denoted by auxiliaries
or expletives—as t'ha-lae, he comes ; tfha-yaou-lae, he
shall come. The cases of nouns and pronouns are
determined by prepositions (as yu-ne, to thee), which
sometimes become postpositions—as ty-hea, the earth
below, or under the earth. They have a species of
numeral adjuncts which they join on to nouns, for
the sake of perspicuity in speech—as ye-pun-shoo, a
volume book ; san-kuan-peik, three reed pencils, etc.
The collocation of words must, upon the whole, be
considered as of more importance in this than in
those other languages where the relations of different
words to each other are marked by the infallible dis-
tinctions of number, gender, case, and person, as shown
by inflection. The Chinese themselves divide their
words into three great classes : first, “ live words,” or
verbs—denoting action or passion ; secondly, “ dead
words,” or nouns, substantive and adjective—the names
and qualities of things; thirdly, “ auxiliaries of speech,”
or particles that assist expression.124

LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE.

A language based on such foundations as these will
naturally abound in periphrases, sometimes poetic and
sometimes grotesque. As instances of the former sort
we may notice the name which the Chinese gave to
the kaleidoscope, an instrument which pleased them
even more than the telescope did, and which was
manufactured in vast numbers for the benefit of the
inhabitants of the interior of the country. They called
it “ the tube of ten thousand flowers.” Or, when they
wish to describe what we should consider the graceless
waddle of a Chinese woman, as she hobbles along on
her cramped toes, her admiring spouse or lover uses
the phrase which denotes the waving of willow boughs
agitated by the breeze. Her eyes to him are “ silver
seas, bright with autumnal ripples,” and her mouth is
“ the bloom of the peach.” As an instance of the
grotesque may be cited the word “ shuey-keo,” which
is used to express the fare in the numerous passage
boats which are constantly sailing along the rivers and
canals. The word signifies “ water legs,” as the fare
serves in lieu of the lower limbs to transport the body
from place to place.

Nor is the adaptability of the language to foreign
names a less remarkable feature of it. “ To designate
the names of the several European nations,” said an
intelligent Chinese, “ we transcribe their names as
faithfully as our characters will enable us. Thus, we
call the French Fou-lang-sai, that is to say, homme-
frangais. Sometimes we seize on a striking trait of
the people whom we wish to point out. Thus, we call
the In-ki-li (English) Houng-mao-jin, or ‘ Men of red
hair,’ because it is said they have hair of that colour;
and we give to the Ya-me-li-hien (Americans), the
name of ‘Men of the gaudy banner,’ because theyA. CHINESE LETTElt.

125

carry at the masts of their vessels a flag striped with
various colours.”

It has been noticed above that the difficulty of
acquiring a tolerable acquaintance with Chinese is
much overrated. Certain it is, on the other hand,
that the rapidity with which the natives pick up a
sufficient knowledge of “ pigeon English,” as it is
called, to make themselves understood, is truly won-
derful. At Canton vast numbers of the inhabitants
have acquired quite enough English to make them-
selves intelligible to any one of our countrymen who
may step ashore; and their epistolary correspondence
even surpasses their oral. Here is an example, in a
letter sent to Lieutenant-Colonel Fisher, by a Chinese
contractor for barrack buildings, shortly after the
taking of Canton by the allies :

“ Major Fisher, 24th January, 1860.

“ I have seen the house in Commissioners Yamom,
which you order to me that the price was charge one
thousand and seven hundred dollars, those materials
which I pay except that bricks, which pay by yourself,
for there are too much a dear, I counted the wall of
that house is one thousand and nine hundred feet long,
and windows more than six hundred when the house
was quite finished, and put paper afterwards, this is
counted besides : and I think commencing them by six
or seven days more, for they mason and carpenters are
not leausir, these a few days happy new year.*

“ Sing-Chong.”

The state of education in China would, but for the
absence of all true religion in it, be a most pleasant

* This was understood to signify that these gentlemen were too much
occupied in celebrating the feast of the new year to attend to' their
business. The new year is almost the only occasion of a holiday in China.126

LANGUAGE AND LITEBATUEE.

feature in the consideration of the country and its
inhabitants. Founded, as a system, at so remote a
period that a work written before the Christian era
speaks of “the ancient system of instruction,” which
required that every town and village should have a
common school, it is now, as then, diffused throughout
the - whole empire. The remotest villages still have
their schoolmasters, and are visited from time to time
by public readers, who expound in such places as these
as well as in the public tea-rooms of the larger towns,
to ever-willing listeners, passages of the ancient histories
of the land, accompanied by their own comments. Most
wealthy families have their private tutors, and the sons
of great dignitaries are educated at the National College
at Peking, one of the three great scientific establish-
ments attached to the court.

In fact education is used by the government as a
political engine. The language is full of domestic and
state maxims relating to it, and, under the watchful
eyes of the ever present functionaries of the state, the in-
culcation, from earliest childhood, of the orderly maxims
of Confucius tends wonderfully to create in the mind an
attachment to ancient customs and a profound respect
for authority—those two twin pillars of Chinese society.

The literary department of every province is con-
ducted by a director of instruction, who delegates his
authority to the principal professors residing in the
chief towns of his province. They have under them
secondary masters, who are distributed throughout the
various districts, and annually the director of instruction
makes a tour to examine students and confer the first
literary degree. Every three years examiners are sent
from the academy of the Han-lin, at Peking, to preside
over the extraordinary examinations, and to confer theCITIL SEEVICE EXAMINATIONS.

127

second literary degree; and after that the literary gra-
duates have to go to Peking to pass their examination
for the third degree, or Sew-tsae, “ adorned talent,” equi-
valent perhaps to our b.a. There is another examina-
tion even after this, when the degree of Kew-jin, or
“elevated man,” is conferred ; a fourth, called Tsin-sze ;
and, finally, the highest literary degree of all, the ex-
aminations for which are of a most severe character and
take place in the emperor’s palace. Education, in short,
is all in all in China. It is the only path to social posi-
tion and official eminence; and learning, consequently,is,
and ever has been, held in the highest esteem throughout
the country, not only for its results, but really for itself.
Yet, notwithstanding the high estimation in which the
Chinese profess to regard education, the Peking Gazette
sometimes contains notices of degrees having been ob-
tained by proxy ! and it is also a well-known fact that
the literary examiners are not always above receiving
bribes.

It will be interesting to peep into a Chinese school,
and ascertain in what this much-esteemed education
consists. That busy monotonous hum, which in all
countries proceeds from youthful scholars conning their
lessons, leads us to a room, in the midst of which sits
the pedagogue, with huge goggle spectacles. Around
him are specimens of young China, of various ages,
some with weak attempts at little black tails at
the back of their small heads, and older pupils, whose
increased years have endowed them with such a length
of those queer ornaments as may almost vie with
the full-grown appendage of their master, and which
rumour says he sometimes uses on his scholars for pur-
poses of correction. Some little men are learning to
write. The brush is held upright between the thumb128

LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE.

and first and middle fingers, and they trace the cha-
racters on thin paper over the original, which is placed
under it for the purpose. Each one has a pile of neat
paper-covered books, a square stone for rubbing the
Indian ink, a small pot of water, and a little stand for
brushes. The master makes his corrections of the
dirty little daubs in red. Others are deep in the
mysteries of the Three Character Classic, or Santse-
Tcing, a summary of infant erudition conveyed in chiming
lines of three words or feet, composed by a disciple of
Confucius. A learned Christian lias composed for the
schools of some of the missionaries a little theological
encyclopaedia formed on its model. Other pupils, more
advanced, are studying the Sze-chou, or Four Classics,
also of Confucian origin, a detailed account of which
will be found in the chapter on the religions of China.

These books constitute the curriculum of ordinary
Chinese study. It will be seen how imperfect it is. To
say nothing of the substitution of a system of morals
and manners and ceremonials for a real religious basis,
it is lamentably deficient in instruction on points of
science, art, natural history, etc. Education in China
is a means of promoting the ends of a peace-loving
government, but it is scarcely anything more. That
the time may come when, amongst a people so favour-
ably disposed for instruction as the Chinese are, Re-
ligion and her handmaidens, Truth and Knowledge,
shall flourish in their land, is indeed a consummation
devoutly to he wished, and trustfully to be hoped for.

Probably the best method of obtaining an insight
into the literature of China will be to fancy ourselves
amongst the countless volumes which form the Imperial
Library at Peking: there is a printed and published
catalogue of this library, accessible to all purchasers.THE IMPEEIAL LIBEAEY.

129

When shall we be able to say the same of our own
magnificent collection in the British Museum ? Of
these books it may be observed that their beginning is
what we should consider the end: the running title
is on the edge of each leaf; the paging is near the
bottom, not at the top corner; notes are written at
the top, not at the foot of each page; and in reading
you proceed from right to left, perusing each column
from top to bottom.

Adopting the Chinese arrangement in our descrip-
tion, the grand departments of literature are four;
namely, classical writings (comprising chiefly morals
and education), history (including geography), pro-
fessional writings, and belles-lettres.

In the first department, classical writings, the works
are ranged under nine sections. One section is devoted
to each of the Five Classics (of which a description has
already been given), and to works commenting upon
and illustrating them. A sixth section illustrates an
ancient treatise on filial piety. A seventh comprises
all works illustrating the Five Classics as a whole.
The remaining sections comprise works bearing on the
“ Four Books,” in which are contained the instructions
of Confucius and Mencius; works on the subject of
music and its harmonising influences ; and works on
early education. Several of the classical works which
form the foundation of this first department of Chinese
literature have already, by means of translations, been
placed within the reach of the European public. From
these we are able to perceive to how low an elevation
in philosophy the unchristianised intellects of the most
eminent sages of China have attained !

Under the second department—that of historical
works—we have the national histories, or those com-

K130

LANGUAGE AND LITEEATUEE.

piled from the public records of the ruling and paramount
state ; annals and histories drawn from these by private
individuals; accounts of distinct events and proceed-
ings disconnected from the general course of history;
histories of subject states, as distinct from the records
of the ruling dynasty ; mixed histories ; collections of
official documents ; memoirs of individuals ; histories
extracted from the national records, but moulded in a
different form ; histories of states not dependencies of
the ruling Chinese dynasty (not extending beyond
Cochin-China and Corea) ; treatises in reference to
times and seasons; geographical and topographical
works ; * memoirs of various portions of the adminis-
tration, with lists of successive office-bearers ; treatises
on the constitution and machinery of government; books
of reference, comprising works explanatory of particular
customs and observances, antiquities, inscriptions, etc.;
and lastly, critical investigations of history. Such are
the fifteen sections of this department. The works
which refer to foreign countries chiefly relate to those
countries more or less intimately connected with China;
and, with probably one or two exceptions only, are
limited to Asia. The exceptions are books of maps
and explanatory accounts of the whole world by Euro-
peans ; works which have been characterised by a
Chinese critic as “not free from embellishment, and
yet not wholly false.”

The professional writings, which form the third de-
partment of Chinese literature, are divided into four-
teen sections. The first comprises the writings of the
literati, or philosophers of the Confucian sect, with all
their minor varieties of doctrine. The subjects, as in

• The Eev. W, C. Milne, who gave particular attention to the topography
of various parts of the empire, states that this branch of Chinese literature
is particularly voluminous and accurate.THE IMPEBIAL LIBBABT.

131

the department of classical literature, are philosophy
in general (but chiefly moral philosophy as applied
to political and social relations) and education. The
philosophical principles, or the theogony and cos-
mogony of the Buddhists, and of the followers of
Laou-keun, or Taouists, are placed in the last two
sections of this department of literature; and several
other works on general philosophy are ranged under
the tenth section, among miscellaneous professional
writings. The intermediate sections between the Con-
fucianist writings and' these last are occupied by works
on military, legal, agricultural, medical, astronomical
and mathematical, and astrological subjects; on the
fine arts, and on collections or classifications. In the
section of agricultural works are included treatises on
the culture of the mulberry, the rearing of the silk-
worm, and the manufacture of silk and other fabrics.
The section of collections is subdivided into two parts
—collections of manufactured things, and of natural
productions ; the former comprising chiefly coins, inks,
and a few other objects of antiquarian research; the
latter comprehending several divisions of natural his-
tory, minerals, metals, ornaments of stone, an£ draw-
ings of flowers, blended with some information respect-
ing the preparation of teas, wines, etc. On natural
history, however, the best work is found in the section
on medical writings, this being compiled rather as a
“ materia medica ” than as a work on natural history.

The tenth section of this third department, as
already mentioned, comprises miscellaneous profes-
sional (chiefly philosophical) writings. The eleventh
comprehends various encyclopaedical works. The
twelfth includes the drama, novel and romance. And
the thirteenth and fourteenth are devoted to Buddhist132

LANGUAGE AND LITEEATUEE.

writings, and the compositions of the disciples of the
sect of Taou.

The fourth and last department of Chinese works is
chiefly confined to elegant literature. It is divided into
five sections :—1. The poetry of Tsoo, the classic poetry
of the Chinese ; 2. Individual collections of essays,
epistles, inscriptions, poetry, etc.; among which are
included many valuable essays and narratives relating
to a great variety of subjects ; 3. General collections
of the literary writings of various individuals; 4. Wri-
tings on the art of poetical composition; and 5. Poetical
writings, odes, songs, etc.

From this cursory view of the various branches of
Chinese literature we are enabled to perceive pretty
clearly what is the range of existing knowledge in this
country. A philosophy which, omitting all speculations
concerning the origin and future state of man, confines
itself almost wholly to the relations between man and
man in this life occupies one fourth portion. A history
and geography, almost exclusively national, occupy
another fourth portion ; while the existence of other
nations, and the practical lessons to be learned from
the rest of mankind, are almost wholly overlooked.
With the exception of agriculture and weaving, the
useful arts of life find hardly any place in Chinese litera-
ture. Mechanical and chemical sciences are scarcely
thought of. Medicine, as we shall see in a future
chapter, consists of mere quackery, both in precept
and in practice. Their acquaintance with the astro-
nomical and mathematical sciences is chiefly derived
from European sources, and the knowledge of them is
confined to very few persons; while the vagaries of
astrology and divination find a place, not only in their
literature, but also in the arrangements of government.DEFECTS OF CHINESE LITEBATUBE.

133

Natural history is regarded only as an adjunct to
medical science, if the practice of medicine amongst
the Chinese can be dignified with the name of science.
Seeing then these grand defects in Chinese literature,
it surely becomes our imperative duty to promulgate,
by every means in our power, the loftier blessings of
truth and knowledge which we enjoy ; and, first and
foremost of all, the knowledge of that Truth in which
China is most deficient, and we, the people of England,
are most rich of all nations—the knowledge of our
Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

It has been thought better thus to give a general
view of Chinese literature than to make long extracts
from the principal works ; but this part of our subject
would probably be considered incomplete without a few
specimens of two or three varieties of Chinese works.
Let us then first glance at a page of the teachings of
Confucius—the writer more intimately associated with
our ideas of China than any other—although the philo-
sophical speculations of some of his followers are perhaps
such as would be preferred by foreigners to those of that
great master himself.

Perhaps one of the most interesting and instructive
examples which could he selected is the concise text of
the Tai-hio, or first of the “ Four Classical Books,” to
which reference has already been made. The text has
been very much expanded by one of the disciples of
Confucius, and the grand principle inculcated by the
book is self-improvement. Confucius first insists upon
the necessity for the cultivation of the reason; then upon
the necessity for distinctness of aim in all our moral
and mental endeavours ; he then goes on to show how
the cultivation of the reason is fostered by acquiring
a knowledge of cause and effect; and, in the next134

LANGUAGE AND LTTEEATUEE.

division of his subject, illustrates the practical benefits
to be derived from the course he recommends, by the
examples of the ancient princes. In the next or fifth
division of the text the Chinese philosopher shows the
direct connection which exists between the cultivation
of the reason, moral rectitude, and practical good.
And he devotes the last two divisions to enforcing the
fulfilment of this line of conduct upon all men, and
draws attention to the consequences of the opposite
course of action. These are the words of Confucius :—

i.

“ The law of the grand study, or practical philosophy,
consists in developing the luminous principle of reason,
which we have received from heaven, for the regene-
ration of man, and in placing his final destiny in
perfection, or the sovereign good.”

II.

“ We must first know the goal towards which we
are tending, or our definite destination. This being
known, we may afterwards maintain the calmness and
tranquillity of our minds. The mind being calm and
tranquil, we may afterwards enjoy that unalterable
repose which nothing can trouble. Having then at-
tained to the enjoyment of the unalterable repose which
nothing can trouble, we may afterwards meditate and
form our judgment on the essence of things; and
having formed our judgment of the essence of things,
we may then attain to the desired perfection.”
hi.

“ The beings of nature have causes and effects;
human actions, principles and consequences. To know
causes and effects, principles and consequences, is to
approach very nearly to the rational method by which
perfection is attained.”A PAGE OP CONFUCIUS.

135

IT.

“ The ancient princes who desired to develope in
their states the luminous principle of reason that we
have received from heaven, endeavoured first to govern
well their kingdoms; those who desired to govern well
their kingdoms, endeavoured first to keep good order
in their families ; those who desired to keep good order
in their families, endeavoured first to correct them-
selves ; those who desired to correct themselves, endea-
voured first to give uprightness to their souls ; those
who desired to give uprightness to their souls, endea-
voured first to render their intentions pure and sincere ;
those who desired to render their intentions pure and
sincere, endeavoured to perfect, as much as possible,
their moral knowledge, and examine thoroughly their
principles of action.”

v.

“ The principles of action being thoroughly examined,
the moral knowledge attains the highest degree of per-
fection ; the moral knowledge having attained the
highest degree of perfection, the intentions are ren-
dered pure and sincere; the intentions being rendered
pure and sincere, the soul is penetrated with probity and
uprightness, and the mind is afterwards corrected and
improved; the mind being corrected and improved,
the family is afterwards better managed; the family
being better managed, the kingdom is afterwards well
governed; and the kingdom being well governed, the
world enjoys harmony and peace.”

VI.

“ All men, the most elevated in rank, as well as the
most humble and obscure, are equally bound to perform
their duty- The correction and amelioration of one’s
self, or self-improvement, is the basis of all progress
and of all moral development.”136

LANGUAGE AND LITEEATUEE.

VII.

“ It is not the nature of things but that whatever
has its basis in disorder and confusion, should also have
what necessarily results from that. To treat lightly
what is the principal or most important thing, and
seriously what is only secondary, that is a method of
action we ought never to follow.”

It would not be unfair to say that mere morality,
unenlightened by Gospel truth, has rarely reached a
loftier height than this. Yet how low is even this
compared with that sublime creed which teaches us
that man is only “a little lower than the angels;”
that self-improvement in this world is to be valued
chiefly as a preparation for the world to come ; that to
whatsoever pitch of excellence a man’s reasoning power
may reach, yet his inherent shortcomings are such that
nothing short of the descent of a Divine messenger
from Heaven could infuse that precious principle of
light and life without which it were indeed hopeless,
nay, impossible, to approach the Father of all Good, or
to fit ourselves for the eternal joys which He has pre-
pared for those to whom He will give them. No, lofty
as the teachings of Confucius undoubtedly are for a
heathen, they are of the earth, earthy; and, perhaps,
no passages of his writings exhibit at once in a more
striking degree than the foregoing his lofty morality
and his pagan shortsightedness.

It has already been noticed that one of the principles
on which Confucius chiefly insisted was that of filial
obedience in all grades of society—from the people to
the emperor, and from children to their parents. It
will be interesting to notice the way in which these
precepts are inculcated amongst Chinese youth. ForCHINESE MOBAL STOBIES.

137

this purpose the two following extracts have beeD made
from the TTrhsheiJi-sze Heaou, or “ Twenty-four ex-
amples of filial piety.” The first story, No. 6,
“With sports and embroidered garments he amused
his parents,” borders so closely upon the grotesque
that it must need all the gravity of a juvenile Chinese
to read it profitably out of the Moral Class-book:

“ In the country of Tsoo lived Lae, who, when so
old that he had lost nearly all his teeth, made every
effort to rejoice and comfort his parents, constantly
endeavouring to gladden their hearts. At times he
imitated the playfulness of a little child, and arraying
himself in gaudy and variegated clothes, amused them
by his strutting and gambols. He would likewise
purposely fall on the ground, kicking and wailing to
the utmost of his power. His mother was delighted,
and manifested her joy in her countenance. Thus did
Lae forget his age in order to rejoice the hearts of his
parents; and affection, harmony, and joy, prevailed
among the family. If this ardent love for his parents
had been insincere and constrained, how could it be
referred to as worthy of imitation ?”

Here is another extract, story No. 13, “ For his
mother’s sake he buried his child.” The title however
seems to be rather a misnomer, for it appears that the
burial of the child was averted at the last moment by
the unlooked-for discovery of a pot of money :

“ In the days of the Han dynasty lived Ko-keu, who
was very poor. He had one child three years old ; and
such was his poverty that his mother usually divided
her portion of food with this little one. Ko says to
his wife, * We are so poor that our mother cannot be
supported, for the child divides with her the portion of
food that belongs to her. Why not bury this child ?133

LANGUAGE AND LITEBATUBE.

Another child may he born to us, but a mother once
gone will never return.’ His wife did not venture to
object to the proposal; and Ko immediately digs a
hole of about three cubits deep, when suddenly he
lights upon a pot of gold, and on the metal reads the
following inscription: ‘ Heaven bestows this treasure
upon Ko-keu, the dutiful son ; the magistrate may not
seize it, nor shall the neighbours take it from him.’ ”
From the foregoing extracts some notion may be
formed of the character of the moral literature of
China; their historical writings are merely barren
chronicles of facts and dates ; and their philosophy is
of the most incomplete and consequently most fanciful
character. Indeed trains of reasoning and lessons of
political philosophy can scarcely be looked for in a
country the theory of whose government has always
been despotic, however that theory may have been
tempered by circumstances. Their works on geography
and the arts and sciences have already been described
as excessively meagre, and it will probably be sufficient
for our purpose if, without venturing to give a sample
of that important because popular branch of Chinese
literature—the drama, we now conclude this chapter
by a specimen of Chinese poetry. Here is a transla-
tion, by Mr. Wade, of Hwashana’s complaint when,
on his second mission to Moukden, the capital of
Manchuria, he finds himself once more at the lonely
inn at Chalau.

i.

“ On towards the sister capital once more,

By duty called, I track my distant way;

The watch-dog notes my wheel, as droops the night
O’er the thatched cot, and slowly tramp my steeds
Up the wild pass, in autumn’s mourning sad,—

Joyless the moon. And now, in chamber lone,CHINESE POETBY.

139

Beneath his single lamp, the traveller dreams
Of house and home, an hundred leagues behind !

Where are his rhymes these panels bore of old ?

Vain search ! o’er Lu-ho let him listless pore.

IX.

" Where herds and swine once lay, a hostel now,

Clialau is won at last. My ear is staid,

As sunset, slanting, strikes its roof; and chill
The widespread bars admit the evening’s breath.

Forlorn the scene—a very ‘Walk in Dew.’

Envoy of majesty ! so known to whom ?

Peace, where the state hath need—no word of care ;
Turn to thy muse—let verse these walls adorn.” *

It should be observed that Chinese poetry has no
metrical effect: the verses consist of a given number
of words, but there is no rhyme, nor regular inter-
change of long and short sounds.

Numerous other examples might be cited; but
enough has probably been said to prove that, both as
to extent and variety, the Chinese have no mean
literature of their own; and that a country in which
all, especially the lower classes, seize upon literature
with avidity, where even waste paper is so highly
esteemed that it may not be trodden upon the ground,
has already been in some measure prepared for the
reception of the Book of books. For the foregoing
reasons therefore, and also because of the identity of the
written language throughout all the provinces of the
empire, it appears very obvious that a judicious selection
of the literature of the West, carefully prepared, so as to
avoid those solecisms of style which are so repugnant
to the educated Chinese, must form one of the main ele-
ments in the future evangelization of the sons of Han.

• “Narrative of Lord Elgin’s Mission to China and Japan.” By Law-
rence Oliphant.CHAPTER VII.

AGRICULTURE AND HORTICULTURE.

Tenure of the Land — Importance attached to Agriculture—Imperial
Ploughing—Fertility of various Districts—Eice—Mode of Cultivation—
Cotton—Agricultural Implements—Live-stock—Gardens—Tea—Mode of
Culture and Preparation—Importance of the Tea-crop—Silk.

Amongst the honourable callings in China, viz., those
of literati, agriculturists, artisans, and merchants—
agriculture, earliest of the arts, and the only one
which preceded the fall of our race, holds a prominent
position. First in order of the nine ranks of the
working.classes come “the cultivators of those grains
that support human life.”

Not only on account of its venerable antiquity, but
also because of its vital importance to the welfare of the
country (for famine in any distant province is almost
invariably followed by revolt), the state fully recognises
the importance of agriculture, and encourages its pur-
suit by precept, patronage, and example. Any man
may acquire a small tract of unoccupied land for
farming ; and, for the first three or four years, whilst
preparing it for the production of crops, may hold it
rent, or rather tax-free. For, as has been already
remarked, in theory the emperor is proprietor of the
soil; and though when a man dies his land is divided
amongst his children, the eldest generally obtaining
the largest share, still the emperor is looked upon asTHE EMPEEOE’S PLOUGHING.

141

the landlord; and the accustomed percentage, amount-
ing in average years to about one-tentli of the value of
the produce, is paid to him, under heavy penalties.

Agriculture is held in such high esteem that every
year the emperor himself, in pursuance of a custom
which is said to date as far hack as the twelfth
century b.c., inaugurates the commencement of the
season for ploughing by himself going through the
ceremony of holding the plough. It was the emperor
Shin-noong, “ the divine husbandman,” as he is called,
who, if he did not invent the art, at least instructed
his people in agriculture ; and Hoang-ty, another of the
early emperors, first divided the lands into nine equal
portions, of which one was to be cultivated for the bene-
fit of the state. One of the emperors of the present
dynasty is the reputed author of a work on agriculture,
profusely embellished with amusing and instructive
illustrations; and another has sung the praises of tea,
and described the best mode of preparing and drinking
it, in terms which we shall quote in the pages allotted
to this branch of our subject.

When the ceremony of holding the plough takes
place, which it does in the spring of the year, towards
the end of the month of March, the emperor, accom-
panied by some princes of the blood and a selection
of the principal ministers, proceeds to a field on
one side of the central street in Peking, leading
to the Tartar city (and which is set apart lor the
purpose), in the enclosure surrounding the Temple
of the Earth, where everything has been duly prepared
by regular husbandmen beforehand. After certain
sacrifices, consisting chiefly of grain which has been
preserved from the produce of the same field, the
emperor ploughs a few furrows ; an example which is142

AGRICULTURE AND HORTICULTURE.

followed by the princes and ministers in order; red tab-
lets mark the spaces allotted to each of the illustrious
ploughmen. The “five sorts of grain” are then sown;
and, when the emperor has viewed the completion of
the work by the husbandmen who are in attendance,
the field is committed to the charge of an officer whose
business it is to collect and store the produce for the
purposes of future sacrifices to their deaf and dumb
and blind “ Gods of the Harvest.” A similar cere-
mony takes place in every province, the respective
governors taking the emperor’s place.

The same dull routine, the same ceremonious obser-
vances, and the same patient thrifty industry which
have ever characterised Chinese agriculture, are still
its main features. No improvements take place ; the
plough and the harrow are still the same as they have
been for many centuries. Man’s command to replenish
the earth and to subdue it finds only a limited response
from the degraded husbandman of China. Whether
from choice or from a fear of interfering with human
employment, all agricultural improvements which would
supersede rather than assist manual labour are steadily
discouraged. The paddy-fields, and tea and mulberry
plantations, still absorb more than a due amount of
human labour, and the husbandman remains like the
clods amongst which he painfully toils.

The most fertile part of the country may roughly be
described as the Great Plain, which comprises an area
of 210,000 square miles. This immense tract occupies
the greater part of north-eastern China, beginning, as
it does, near the Great Wall, and extending southward
to the banks of the Yang-tsi-kiang. That portion
lying in the provinces of Pe-chi-li, which supplies the
more immediate wants of Peking, is dry and sandy,THE GREAT PLAIN.

143

but produces in considerable abundance wheat, millet,
and vegetables. The Plain, as it widens towards the
south, becomes well watered by the numerous rivers
and lakes in Kiang-su and Ngan-whi, and furnishes
extraordinary quantities of grain, tobacco, cotton, and
tea. Its most productive portion lies in the maritime
province of Kiang-su, where it has the advantage of
being drained by the Grand Canal. This is, as might
be expected, the most populous portion of China, for
here, incredible as it may appear, each square mile
of territory supports, on an average, 800 human beings.
To the Great Plain, China is indebted for nearly one-
half her population, and more than half of her wealth.

Banking second as to fertility are the slopes of the
hilly or southern part of China, which also produce
the tea-plant, and whose valleys and tracts of rich soil
near the mouths of the rivers yield large crops of rice;
whilst the borders of the canals and inland streams are
plentifully lined with mulberry trees in the silk dis-
tricts, and with fruit trees in the provinces nearer the
tropic.

Third in agricultural importance is the western or
mountainous part of China. Here the poor inhabi-
tants live on a supply, often scanty enough, of im-
ported rice, and in times of famine have been known
to subsist for months upon little else than such
nourishment as could be derived from the miserable
combination of a few grains of rice with roots and
common earth. More hardly still would they fare
but for the mineral resources of their stubborn and
infertile soil.

For two thousand years the territorial laws have
undergone little change. The emperor is still the
legal owner of the soil. Numbers of distinct clans,144

AGRICULTURE AND HORTICULTURE.

each possessing tracts of land more or less extensive,
are still virtually the freeholders, and they let out the
land again to the occupiers. The system of small
tenures which prevails in China is not without its
advantages in that densely populated country : it makes
each proprietor exert his utmost industry and ability
in developing, so far as mere manual labour goes, the
full capacity of his ground; and generally most satis-
factory results, both for the state and the farmer himself,
are thus obtained.

Rice, of a much larger grain than that common to
India, is the most important staple of Chinese agri-
culture ; for on a regular and sufficient supply of this
article of food entirely depends the well-being of the
whole population. Two crops a year are grown in
some parts, and in others as many as five crops in
two years have been known to be gathered. The third
annual crop generally, however, consists of pulse or
other vegetables. To the subject of the cultivation
of rice we must consequently devote some space. Rice
requires an abundant supply of water, and the fanners
therefore employ every available means to secure for
their fields a free and ample irrigation. The principal
rice-producing districts are in the south-eastern pro-
vinces, especially in Quang-tung, where the moist
clay soil of the valleys, helped by the quickening
rays of an almost tropical sun, yields most luxuriant
harvests. The fields are prepared for the first crop in
the early spring, they are then well flooded and after-
wards carefully ploughed. Narrow paths on banks
divide the slushy plots—an arrangement which should
ensure sobriety on dark nights. The seeds, after being
soaked in liquid manure, are thickly sown in small
adjacent patches of ground, which also have beenBICE CULTUBE.

145

previously enriched in like manner. When the young
shoots reach a height of five or six inches, they are
transplanted in rows, nine or ten inches apart, into
the fields already prepared for their reception. The
labourers employed upon this duty, whether men or
women, are generally very dexterous, and work with
remarkable rapidity; six persons being able, on an
average, to plant two acres in a day. Owing to the
heavy rains of April, and the hot June suia, the rice
ripens quickly, and is ready for cutting towards the
end of the latter month. In May the farmers pre-
pare for the second crop by planting, as before, thick
rows of seeds in well-manured patches; and as soon as
the first harvest is gathered in, the fields are again
flooded and ploughed, another batch of shoots is trans-
planted, and the second crop is ripe early in November.

In the central and north-eastern provinces the sud-
den changes of temperature and the shortness of sum-
mer are unfavourable to the growth of rice, and the
harvest is frequently insufficient to meet the require-
ments of the people. North of the Yang-tsi-kiang
generally only one crop is grown in the year, and this
is usually sown in May or June and reaped in October.
The toil undergone in producing rice is excessively
severe. During the planting and ploughing season
the labourer has to wade all day under a burning sun,
through a deep-yielding clay soil covered with several
inches of stagnant water. The wages, however, in
some measure repay him for his toil; he receives daily
a sum of money equal to from about fourpence-halfpenny
to sixpence, together with a fixed ration of rice of an
equal value; a scale of wages which must be considered
high in a country where labour is so cheap, and where
the best rice-growing land is let for so moderate an146

AGRICULTURE AND HORTICULTURE.

annual rent as twenty-one or twenty-five shillings per
acre. The average produce is estimated at nearly
3,300 lbs. an acre, and the price of the grain, although
dependent upon the northern demand, is, as a rule,
ab<jut eighteen shillings a cwt. Some approximate
notion of the enormous amount of rice consumed in
China will be obtained upon recollecting that it forms
the principal article of food in every household through-
out that densely-populated empire; and that its trans
port to the north and west is by far the most important
element of the native junk trade. The due execution
of the law which requires that a portion of rice, equal
to about one-tenth of the produce, should be set aside
as a tax in kind to the provincial and imperial grana-
ries, alone demands considerable water-carriage, as is
fully shown by the crowds of well-laden junks that
annually proceed northward with the imperial grain.

But, in addition to this necessary transport, the
desire of gain, especially in times of distress, impels
the southern farmers to embark large cargoes on
speculation, and forward them to those districts where
want forces the inhabitants to pay exorbitant prices.
The government gives its gravest consideration to
all subjects relating to the cultivation and shipment
of rice; every possible care is taken to ensure that
the water-communication is kept open, and that nothing
may interfere with the due shipping or storing of the
grain. That portion stored by the government in the
granaries of the provincial capitals is intended to meet
any exceptional local wants, and to supply, in some de-
gree, the poor and blind ; it is also applied, if required,
to augment the deficient resources of such adjacent
provinces as may be suffering from famine. The rice
harvest is, in fact, the most momentous question withCOTTON.

147

which the emperor and his officials have to deal, for
upon its abundance or failure depend not only the
welfare of the people, but also, in a great measure, the
existence of the government. In China everything
yields to the imperious necessity for providing food'for
an overwhelming population, and therefore more atten-
tion is paid to the culture of the various grains, such
as rice or wheat (the latter of which is chiefly pro-
duced in the north-eastern part of the plain), than to
any other branch of agriculture.

Notwithstanding the unsavoury character of the
subject, any account of Chinese agriculture would he
imperfect without noticing the importance which is
attached to the use of human manure. It is carefully
collected and freely applied to the crops, not scattered
broadcast over the whole soil, but equally distributed
to each individual plant. The clearings of rivers and
canals, the croppings of beards and the results of the
barbers’ operations upon several millions of Chinese
polls, even the cuttings of nails, all go to enrich the
soil, and the result is evident in the odours, more strong
than pleasant, that fill the air in the neighbourhood of
the Chinese fields.

Not only rice, but nearly all the cereals are grown
in China. In fact, in the north and west rice is by
no means so commonly used as is generally supposed.
Wheat, buckwheat, barley, Indian corn, and millet
form the daily food of the people in some districts,
where it is eaten in the shape of unfermented, half-
cooked dough, sometimes in the shape of a bun, some-
times like maccaroni.

Cotton, of two sorts, the white and the yellow, is
much grown in the central provinces; the districts
round Shanghai especially are famous both for the148

AGBICULTTJBE AND HOETICULTUEE.

quality and quantity of the cotton they produce.
From the yellow kind is manufactured the well-known
Nankin, or nankeen cloth, which, when dyed blue, forms
the almost invariable dress of the working classes.
The seeds are planted early in April, the plants flower
in August, and the pods are gathered later in the
autumn. According to the accounts of the native
historians, cotton was not grown in China till the close
of the Sung dynasty, a.d. 1281; but it is now freely
cultivated, and’ in most of the cotton-growing districts
the farmer manufactures, from the produce of his fields,
his own garments.

From what has already been said it may be supposed
that animal labour finds scarcely more favour in China
than machinery. The population of China is too dense
to afford sustenance to more mouths than are absolutely
essential to the cultivation of the ground; there are,
therefore, none of the rich pastures which gladden the
English landscape. Horses are rarely met with, and
are for the most part merely rough, scraggy ponies,
some of their functions in this country being performed
in China by the sails of wind-carriages ; and in place of
oxen and cows is seen, especially in the rice districts,
the invaluable water buffalo, without whose assistance
even the laborious and much-enduring Chinese would
frequently be at a loss to plough the deep, muddy rice
lands. There is nothing remarkable in the spades, hoes,
and rakes which are employed, except that they differ
from ours in being made chiefly of wood, the points
only being tipped with iron, just as similar tools were
formerly made in this country. Their flails, however,
are superior in some districts to those which, before
the introduction of threshing machines, were generally
used in England; for the part which strikes the grainA CHINESE FARM.

149

is made up of two or three pieces joined together, and
thus the blow is more extensively and generally distri-
buted than it was with us. “ Stall-feeding, of course,
would not pay as it does with us,” Mr. Wingrove Cook
remarks, and “ grass is only seen growing rank upon
the graves. One or two buffaloes to turn the irrigating
wheel and plough the paddy fields, two or three goats,
a breeding sow, numbers of Cochin-China fowls, and a
flock of ducks and geese, such is the live-stock of a
Chinese farm which maintains a hundred labourers.”

Yet the Chinese farm-house is often a prosperous,
comfortable-looking place enough; the piggeries in
particular are cleanly and well cared for, and their
tenants are fed almost solely on corn. With the
exception of ducks, fowls, and fish, pork is almost the
only animal food used in China, and the pig is there-
fore a highly-esteemed animal. Our own breed of
pigs has of late years been much improved by the
introduction of their Chinese brethren into England.
Here and there in the weedless fields we shall see
growing the tobacco plant, hemp for grass cloth, and
great varieties of vegetables and fruit. The latter,
though large, is of an indifferent flavour, but the
cucumbers, large tracts of which are cultivated, are
superior to ours. Cabbages, too, are in high favour.
Let us watch the “ patient husbandman ” planting
them, and we shall admire the thrifty cunning with
which he deposits, close to each plant, little pieces of
cabbage leaf. He knows that these will attract the
beetles and other foes to the young plant, and every
now and then he carefully removes the marauders.
We tremble to think what becomes of them: there are
few things that a Chinaman will not eat!

We have not space to tell of the many brilliant150

AGRICULTURE AND HORTICULTURE.

flowers—of the nelumbium, the water-melon, the vege-
table wax, and many other objects of Chinese agricul-
ture ; and we must defer any notice of opium-growing
in China until a later chapter ; but a few words must
be added about the numerous varieties of the bamboo,
which is as essential to a Chinese as the camel to the
Arabian, or the reindeer to a Laplander. Indepen-
dently of the use of its young, asparagus-like twigs for
food, it provides him with the thatch that covers his
house, the mat on which he sleeps, the cup from which
he drinks, and the chop-sticks with which he eats. He
irrigates his fields by means of bamboo pipes and
cleverly constructed bamboo water-wheels, his harvest
is gathered in with a bamboo rake, his grain is sifted
through a bamboo sieve, and carried away in a bamboo
basket, and a valuable medicine is found in its hollow
stalks. The mast and often the sails of his junk are
made of bamboo, and so is the pole of his cart. He is
flogged with a bamboo cane, tortured with bamboo
stakes, and, finally, strangled with a bamboo rope.
Yet, let us not finish here—herald of, we pray, happier
days for China and her sons, let us record that the
bamboo has been lately applied to higher uses than
any of these ; for even the organ pipes in the cathedral
at Shanghai have been made of bamboo !

It would be pleasant to linger awhile, if we had time,
amongst the quaint, fanciful gardens of the Flowery
Land, with their rows of large handsome jars of plants
or shrubs placed on each side of the paths, their rock-
work curiously arranged and planted, and their pools
full of water-lilies and gold and silver fish, spanned by
mimic bridges.* A description of the emperor’s great

* The willow-pattern plate gives us a fair, though, of course, a rude
general idea of a Chinese garden.TEA.

151

pleasaunce on the north-west side of Peking, Yuen-
ming-yuen, “ the garden of perpetual brightness,” as
it existed before its destruction by the French and
English troops in 1860, might, of itself, well engage
our attention for a time. The truth is that, on the
whole, the Chinese taste in gardening appears to us as
somewhat vicious, much like the abominable system
of cramping their women’s feet. This tendency is
evinced in a remarkable way in their dwarf horti-
culture; a practice, by which lofty plants and shrubs,
and even forest trees, are tortured and starved into
such minute dimensions as to be contained in a small
flower-plot. We will not, in charity to vegetable life,
give the modus operandi of this cruel process ; besides
we have to consider, in connection with this part of our
subject, the more important matters of tea and silk.

It is scarcely too much to say that tea is one of
the chief bonds which has united England with China
during the last 200 years; before which time it was
unknown in this country.* We wish we could think
that our knowledge of this precious little plant had
hitherto been of as much profit to China as to our-
selves. It has been said that gas is one of the most
powerful of the moral agents of late years ; but surely
tea is scarcely less so. Though apt to be considered
merely in the light of a luxury, fancy us deprived of
our tea! the increased consumption of intoxicating
liquors which would probably result would sow misery
and vice broadcast through our land.

Leigh Hunt has a very pleasant passage in one
of his essays, concerning tea-drinking, which we
will venture to transcribe. He says, “ To the right

* Fepys tells us, in his diary, 1661, that he "sent for a cup of tea, a
Chinese drink of which he had never drunk before.”152

AGRICULTURE AND HORTICULTURE.

tea-drinker, the cup we see contains, not only recol-
lections of eminent brethren of the Bohea, but the
whole Chinese nation, with all its history, Lord Mac-
artney included; nay, for that matter, Ariosto and his
beautiful story of Angelica Medoro (for Angelica was
a Chinese) ; and then collaterally come in, the Chinese
neighbours and conquerors from Tartary with Chaucer’s

‘-----story of Cambuscan bold/

and the travels of Marco Polo and others, and the
Jesuit missionaries, and the Japanese with our friend
Golownin, and the Loo-choo people, and Confucius,
whom Voltaire (to show his learning) delights to call
by his proper native appellation of Kong-foo-tsee (re-
minding us of Congo tea) ; and then we have the
Chinese Tales, and Goldsmith’s ‘Citizen of the World
and Goldsmith brings you back to Johnson again, and
the tea-drinking of old times; and then we have the
Rape of the Lock before us, with Belinda at breakfast,
and Lady Wortley Montague’s tea-table eclogue, and
the domestic pictures in the Tatler and Spectator, with
the passions existing in those times for China ware;
and Horace Walpole, who was an old woman in that
respect; and in short, a thousand other memories,
grave and gay, poetical and prosaical, all ready to wait
upon anybody who chooses to read books, like spirits
at the command of the book readers of old.”

Tea is, as things go in China, comparatively a modern
invention; it appears that the tea-plant was not known
there till the fourth century, and that it did not come
into general use till the early part of the ninth. It is
now almost the only beverage., with the exception of
samshoo (a spirit distilled from rice), drunk throughout
the empire. The tea-plant is cultivated more or lessTEA CULTUBE.

153

in all the central and eastern provinces; hut the
principal tea-growing districts are in the maritime
provinces of Fo-kien, Che-kiang, and Kiang-su, and
on the western hills of Quang-tung.

The seeds are put into the ground in the early spring,
and are generally in the first place thickly distributed
in small beds, where they remain for nine or twelve
months, until the plants have reached a height of about
twelve inches. They are then transplanted in rows,
three or four feet apart. Though the plants do not
arrive at maturity till they are six or seven years old,
yet they produce young leaves fit for gathering when
they have reached their second or third year; and,
if carefully treated, they continue to yield produce
until they are ten or fifteen years old ; it then becomes
necessary to replace them T^ith a fresh plantation.

There are generally four distinct gatherings or crops
taken in each year ; the first takes place in April, when
the leaves are scarce and young, and are supposed to
produce the finest flavoured tea; the second, and, with
respect to quantity, the principal gathering takes
place in May; another smaller crop is picked in July ;
and lastly, in August, the shrub undergoes the latest
gleaning. As the leaves are then large and coarse
this crop is considered very inferior, and is applied to
meet the demand of the poorer labouring classes.

The most necessary requisites for the proper culti-
vation of the tea shrub are good drainage, moderate
moisture, and a rich sandy earth, containing a fair
proportion of vegetable mould. These requirements
are best obtained on the slopes of the hills; and
although it is not uncommon for tea to be grown upon
high level lands, yet'the tea farmer always prefers a
gentle slope, and thus the hilly country in the south-154

AGRICULTURE AND HORTICULTURE.

eastern provinces is found to be best adapted for its
production.

Upon an average, it is estimated that 1,000 square
yards of ground are employed to raise from 300 to 400
plants, and that each of these plants will annually pro-
duce six ounces of tea leaves. Thus, an acre of tea plan-
tation produces every year nearly six cwt. of tea; and
assuming that we annually consume about 90,000,000
lbs.# of tea in England, or about 3 lbs. per head, it follows
that between 200 and 300 square miles of Chinese
territory are devoted to the growth of tea for our own
countiy alone. Yet it has been stated that, so great is
the consumption of tea by the Chinese themselves, were
all foreign demand to cease, the change would scarcely
be felt in China. In some fortunately situated plan-
tations, where the shrub grows to an unusual size, the
annual yield exceeds double or treble the amount that
has been named above; but, taking good crops with
indifferent, six cwt. per acre may be considered a fair
average.

During the tea season the labour of picking the
leaves is principally performed by the women and
children attached to the farms; whenever hired
labourers are employed each is supposed to pick about
thirteen pounds daily, for which work they receive a
small supply of rice, together with a string of copper
cash equal in value to about threepence sterling.

Upon considering the time and ingenuity employed
in the various processes, which we shall presently de-
scribe, before the leaf is fit for use for tea, it is not a
little remarkable, and proves the general cheapness of

• In 1841 we consumed in the United Kingdom 36,675,667 lbs. or 1 lb.
6 07.. per head; in 1851, 53,949,059 lbs., or 1 lb. 15 oz. per head; in 1861,
77,927,750 lbs., or 2 lbs. 11 oz. per head.—Timet, August 5, 1864.TEA MANTJFACTUBE.

155

labour and economy of transit in China, that the
dealers in the southern provinces are able to supply
very fair Congou tea to their poorer customers at three-
pence-halfpenny per lb.

The process of preparing the tea leaf is pretty fami-
liar to most of us from the quaint Chinese pictures, with
their imperfect perspective, with which most of us are
acquainted. Sometimes the leaves are simply dried in
the sun, and then partially rolled by hand, after which
they are passed on by the grower to merchants, who
complete the manufacture, and who, with more or less
honourable manipulation, prepare it for the market.
Generally, however, it is dried over little furnaces, of
which there are from three to thirty in a shed. Over
these little furnaces are carefully fitted flat iron pans,
in which the leaves are placed and shaken about until
they are almost dry. They are then rolled, sometimes
leaf by leaf, on mats prepared for then* reception, and
fanned, in order that by cooling the more rapidly they
may retain their curl and crispness. This process is
repeated as often as is necessary to thoroughly dry the
leaves. Black and green tea may both be procured
from the same plant, the cause of difference being the
different modes of dressing the leaves. Green teas are
less subjected to the action of the fire, and are conse-
quently more liable than the black teas to injury from
damp or from time, so that about five pounds of black
tea are exported for one pound of green. The best
green tea is grown in the district of Hoey-chow-foo,
whilst the most celebrated region for black teas is the
province of Fo-kien.

The names given to the different teas that are
exported are usually derived from their appearance
or place of culture. Thus, Souchong, Mr. Fortune156

AGRICULTURE AND HORTICULTURE.

tells us, means “little plant;” Hyson is derived
from Yu-tsien, “ before the rains,” or perhaps rather
from Hi-chun, “ flourishing spring,” from the fact of
the leaves being gathered early in the year; Pekoe is
from pecco, “white hairs,” because the very young leaves
from which this tea is made have a white down upon
them; Bohea is derived from the Bu-i hills, where this
tea is produced ; and Congou is said to be a corruption
from Kung-foo, “ work or labour,” because its leaves
in their preparation are subjected to frequent rubbings.

We shall have more to say on the commercial aspect
of the subject of tea in another chapter, but we cannot
close this part of our remarks without recording here
the words of the emperor poet, Kien-loong, who has
not disdained to sing its praises, and who, like a prac-
tical Chinaman, also teaches us the proper way to
make it. Thus sings the “ brother of the sun

“ Graceful are the leaves of meihoa, sweetly scented
and clear are the leaves of fo-cheou. But place upon
a gentle fire the tripod whose colour and form tell of a
far antiquity, and fill it with water of molten snow.
Let it seethe till it would be hot enough to whiten
fish or to redden a crab. Then pour it into a cup
made from the earth of yue, upon the tender leaves of
a selected tea-tree. Let it rest till the mists which
freely rise have formed themselves into thicker clouds,
and until these have gradually ceased to weigh upon
the surface, and at last float away in vapour. Then
sip deliberately the delicious liquor. It will drive
away all the five causes of disquietude which come to
trouble us. You may taste, and you may feel; but
never can you express in words or song that sweet
tranquillity we draw from the essence thus prepared.”
The emperor’s eulogium on the fragrant drink hasSILK.

157

not been disregarded by his people; for tea is drunk
at all meals in China, at frequent intervals during the
day, at family or village meetings, and at local or state
ceremonies, and holds a corresponding position with
that of rice. The latter is the great staple of food,
and the former the constant beverage of all classes
throughout the country. A stranger, whether wan-
dering in crowded cities or in the agricultural districts,
will find in every house, and at all hours between sun-
rise and sunset, a fragrant cup of tea ready for his
acceptance; and near the roads or canal banks he
may frequently observe wayside tea-houses, evidencing
the forethought and charity of their builders, wherein
he or the weary coolie may quench his thirst, free of
charge.

Of scarcely less importance than tea to the Chinese
agriculturist is silk, which this country produces in
great abundance—in so great quantities indeed, thanks
to the fertility of the Great Plain, the energy of the
farmers, and the cheapness and abundance of labour—
that, in spite of its inferior quality to the samples from
Italy and southern France, it is almost impossible for
any other country to compete with China, with the
slightest hope of success. It is a prevalent article of
apparel amongst the better classes in the empire, and
vast quantities are annually exported to Europe.

As agriculture generally is under the immediate
patronage of the emperor, so is silk under the peculiar
protection of the empress. It is observed in the six-
teen discourses that “ from ancient times the Son of
Heaven himself directed the plough: the empress
planted the mulberry tree. Thus have these exalted
personages, not above the practice of labour and exer-
tion, set an example to all under heaven, with a view158

AGBICULTUBE AND HOETICTTLTUBE.

to leading millions of their subjects to attend to their
essential interests.” The empress is intrusted with
the homage paid to the god of the silkworm ; and,
under her own inspection, numbers of these insects are
reared, whose produce, woven by the ladies of the
harem, is annually offered in the ninth moon at the
shrine of the idol.

For the growth of the mulberry trees, on which the
worms are almost invariably fed (though a variety of
the ash is also occasionally used), the cultivators usually
select the land adjacent to canals or streamlets, as they
find that such situations are the most advantageous for
ensuring a good crop of leaves. The trees, which reach
perfection in three years and are not allowed to exceed
three or four feet in height, are planted quincunx
fashion, and vary in size and appearance according to
the districts in which they are grown ; those in the
southern provinces are small and low, partaking of the
character of a shrub ; but in the more favoured central
provinces they are allowed to reach a height of from
six to nine feet, a height just within reach of the hands
of those who gather the boughs and leaves. The best
silk districts lie in that part of the Great Plain con-
taining portions of the four provinces of Hoo-pe, Che-
kiang, Kiang-su, and Ngan-whi; provinces which are
amply supplied with water both from lakes and rivers,
and which possess the central silk markets of Loo-chow
and Hoo-chow, together with the export cities Shang-
hai* and Ning-po

The farmers retain the production of silk entirely in
their own hands; each grows his own trees, keeps his
own silkworms, and, aided by his household, prepares

* At Shanghai alone 8,000,000 lbs. of silk are annually exported to
England and France, the majority of which goes to England.BEABING THE SILK-WOBM.

159

for sale his own packets of raw silk; large farms or
attendant manufactories are almost, if not entirely, un-
known.

During the season the market towns are thronged
with the farmers and their wives, who come in to dis-
pose of their silk to the wholesale merchants ; after the
usual wrangling and pretended objections, which form
such an indispensable part in all the trading transac-
tions of these loquacious people, the silk is submitted
to the examination of the inspectors, by whose opinion
the merchants are guided in their purchases, and who
pronounce their final decision upon its value. The raw
silk, when bought, is carried into storehouses, and there
sorted and made up into large parcels, which are
eventually sent into the principal commercial cities,
and sold to the native or foreign merchant at prices
varying from twelve to twenty-five dollars per hundred
taels weight, or from 160 to 370 dollars per cwt.

A quiet and secluded spot is always selected for the
rearing of the silkworm. A thunderstorm, or even, it
is said, the barking of a dog, sometimes destroys a
whole brood. The chambers in which they are kept
are so arranged as to admit of the introduction of
artificial heat, so that the hatching of the eggs may
be retarded or advanced as required. Great care is
bestowed on the proportion of food allotted to the tiny
occupants of the small basket-work hurdles; the leaves
are carefully weighed out for them, and are at first cut
into small pieces for their convenience. They have
plenty of room allotted to them, and are constantly
shifted, for the sake of cleanliness. In a week from
the commencement of spinning the cocoons are ready,
when they are placed in jars, from which the air is
excluded, under layers of salt and leaves, and the160

AGBICULTUBE AND HOETICULTUBE.

chrysalises are thus destroyed without injuring the
silk. The cocoons are afterwards placed in warm
water to dissolve the glutinous substance that binds
the silk together, and it is then wound off upon reels.

A coarse kind of silk is also made from wild silk
worms, which feed on a sort of oak, but as only
inconsiderable quantities of this article are manufac-
tured no detailed account appears necessary.

Philologists have argued, with much plausibility,
that the Seres of the Greeks and Romans were the
Chinese, who found an early market for their silk in
Persia and the outlying provinces of the Roman empire.
It is, no doubt, true, that as Rome obtained the silk
manufacture from Greece, and Greece from Persia, so the
last was indebted for it, according to the best Oriental
authors, to China, in which country the tradition of
the invention is carried back into the mythological
periods and dates even with the origin of agriculture.

Such then is a brief sketch of the agriculture of
China; which, imperfect though it be, cannot fail to
appear to us as one of the most striking phases of this
wonderful land. Yet, important to us as China may
appear, as the country from which we derive almost all
our tea, and a larger proportion of our silk, it must
not be forgotten that these exports have after all but a
slight influence upon the general condition of the
empire, and affect but a small proportion of her inha-
bitants ; for by far the greater part of the cultivated
land is employed in the necessary production of food;
such food as will meet the imperious demands of an
excessive population.CHAPTER VIII.

AETS, SCIENCES, AND MANUFACTURES.

Early developement of Arts and Sciences in China—Their subsequent
decadence—Architecture—Influence of the Tartar tent in the form of
buildings—Sculpture—Porcelain—Painting—A Chinese Hogarth—Music
—Mathematics and the kindred Sciences—Trade—Metalworking—Textile
fabrics—Paper and Ink.

Haying seen in the previous chapters how much the
Almighty Creator has done for China, with what varied
resources and with what innumerable natural advan-
tages He has blessed the land, what mighty rivers and
what richly stored mountains, what forests of service-
able trees there are and what a teeming population to
turn them all to account; let us now enquire to what
extent the Chinese have availed themselves of the gifts
with which they have been so plentifully endowed, and
how far man has co-operated with his unknown Maker;
how far he has cultivated those useful and beautiful
arts which, rightly understood and wisely practised,
exercise so powerful an influence on the well-being of a
nation.

The quiet isolation of the empire in remote times,
added to the natural advantages which we know her to
possess, tended to promote an early acquaintance with
the industrial arts and manufactures. Whilst Europe
was being overrun by numerous competing tribes, all
alike greedy of power and wealth,—nations and indi-
viduals being too busy in attending to the first instinct

M162 ARTS, SCIENCES, AND MANDEACTUEES.

of life, self-preservation, to cultivate the gentler arts
or to discover useful inventions of peace,—China was
steeped, for the most part, in a profound calm, which,
if it did not call out the more active energies of her
sons, at least afforded them time and opportunity for
the more thoughtful pursuits. Accordingly we find
an Arab writer, in the ninth century, expressing him-
self thus :—“ The Chinese are, of all the creatures of
God, those who have most skill in the hand in all that
concerns the arts of design and fabrication, and, for
every kind of work, they are not in this respect sur-
passed by any nation.” No doubt this remarkable
proficiency was in a great measure attributable also to
the liberal rewards offered by the earlier emperors to
proficients in any art or manufacture; for we see
that, lacking such patronage in modern times, not all
the natural advantages of the country, nor her in-
creased and still laborious population, can prevent a
decline in these respects, or even retain the traditions
of the greater artists and manufacturers of former days.
Even Rome and Greece in their glory were unable to
compete with the China of those times in producing
some of the luxuries and elegancies of life; and there
are few Englishmen of the nineteenth century who
have not at some time paused to wonder at and to
admire some dainty article of Chinese manipulation.
A Chinese dictionary, finished in a.d. 121, records the
knowledge of the loadstone ; printing was practised in
the tenth century ; and gunpowder was made in China
at a period so remote that the date of its invention is
actually unknown.

Yet neither natural advantages nor patient work-
men, nor early proficiency, have prevented China from
falling so far into the background, that nothing shortARCHITECTTTRE.

163

of direct contact with the energy and improvements of
the West can enable her to maintain her place amongst
the nations. The causes of this declension and decay
are manifold: space will not allow us to enter upon
their consideration here.

Let us first see what China has done in architecture,
an art of. early origin, and one which in our days
is receiving a revived attention throughout Europe.
Their style is certainly their own; there is nothing
like it anywhere else in the world, and, such as the
style is, it may, in the case of some public buildings,
even be called magnificent. But the most remarkable
examples are the bridges, towers, and pagodas. Some
of the bridges are of great size and span, and of
imposing appearance. A recent writer describes a
magnificent stone bridge which he noticed in the
neighbourhood of Woo-Kong, constructed across a lake
and morass, and which consisted of forty-two arches,
some of them wide and high, but all of them large
enough to permit the passage of an ordinary boat.
The arch in such bridges is generally an arc greater
than a semicircle, though it is also, occasionally,
the transverse section of an ellipse, and is well
and substantially built, frequently of granite. Lord
Macartney’s embassy noticed a bridge of ninety-one
arches near the Tae-hoo lake, between Soo-chow and
Hang-chow, but the arches were of no very consider-
able height. It is evident from the known antiquity
of many existing specimens of Chinese architecture
that they must have understood the construction and
properties of the arch long before the Greeks and
Bomans did. But sonje of the bridges, especially the
foot-bridges over cauals, are of very inconvenient con-
struction, and are in many instances falling into decay.164 ABTS, SCIENCES, AND MANUFACTUBES.

Towers, of various heights, are almost always to be
seen standing like colossal sentinels at short distances
from the towns.' Common, not only in China, but in
all the countries where Buddhism has penetrated,
these towers are said to originate in the Indian
tradition, that when Buddha died his body was burnt,
and his bones divided into eight parts, which were
enclosed in so many urns, to be deposited in towers of
eight floors. The number of these floors is, however,
variable, and so are their forms—some are round, some
square, some hexagonal or octagonal, and they are
built of wood, of brick, and sometimes partly of
earthenware, like that most celebrated tower at
Nanking, 200 feet in height, the ornaments, or rather
facing of which being of porcelain, have procured for
it the name of the Porcelain Tower, so familiar to us
all from our childhood. It is now in ruins, the recent
occupation of Nanking by the insurgent Tae-pings
having given the rebels an opportunity of completing
its destruction.

Of the celebrated pagoda?, or idol temples of China,
which are lofty structures, probably of Indian origin,
called T’ah by the natives, it should be premised that
instead of indicating by their profusion any sort of
deep religious feeling pervading the country, they are
rather to be regarded as being the result of old cus-
toms, and as storehouses for trumpery Buddhist relics, in
fact as so many abortive attempts of man to worship his
Creator without the aid of revelation. These buildings
are mostly tenanted by Buddhist priests, and little or
no reverence is attached to them. Some, such for
instance as the temples of the Heaven and Earth at
Peking, exhibit much richness, grandeur and beauty
of a quaint sort, worthy of admiration; yet others areTHE TAItTAIt TENT,

165

only mean and small chapels, in which there are niches
with idols in them, and vases with burning perfumes,
and these buildings are not unfrequently used for the
vilest purposes. Comparatively few of them are of any
great antiquity, as they have seldom been built strong
enough to resist the ravages of time or wilful injury ;
some, however, exist which are from 1,000 to 1,300
years old. When they decay they are usually left to
go to ruin as they may, and new ones are, or are not,
built in their stead. “ The Song dynasty,” says a
Chinese proverb, “ made the roads and the bridges, the
Tang the towers, the Ming the pagodas.”

We are all familiar with the curiously carved roof
which is almost invariably the characteristic of a
Chinese building. This is said to have been originally
derived from the use of the tent in the primitive
pastoral state of the people. Tenacious of precedent
in architecture, as in every other matter, all their
public and private buildings, even the innumerable
triumphal gateways, follow the same undeviating style.
The idea of the tent is still to he traced in the unsub-
stantial character of nearly all their structures, and
the graceful catenary curve of its quasi rope-supported
roof, on the edges and angles of which bells are fre-
quently hung, is perhaps the most pleasing feature
of Chinese architecture. The summits and eaves of
these roofs are frequently garnished with elaborate
carvings of wood, clay, or porcelain, gaudily coloured,
in which the dragon, in some form or other, generally
plays a conspicuous part; an open-mouthed figure of
a dragon placed opposite to a gable-ended roof being
supposed to swallow up all the Ngo-ky, “the bad air
or influence.”

As a rule, then, it will be gathered that Chinese166 AETS, SCIENCES, AND MANUFACTUEES,

architecture is devoid of grandeur and invention, and
that its usually flimsy structures are overloaded with
grotesque, though often brilliant, ornamentation.

As with architecture, so with sculpture and painting.
In these arts the Chinese exhibit a considerable amount
of dexterity, but only of that inferior quality which is
trammelled by conventional rules, and cramped by a
narrow creed. The sculptures of the pagodas have
frequently considerable merit in their details, but are
very deficient in both elegance and correctness of form.
Their clay modelling is rather better, and some of
their draped figures are accurate, and even imposing.
The defect in form is not quite so noticeable in those
smaller carvings of ivory, or in the porcelain vases,
of which so many specimens have been brought to
England. Chessmen, standing on the famous pedestal
of fretted ball within ball, long supposed to be a clever
deception, but now known to be actually carved with
crooked instruments, exhibit an example of their sur-
prising skill in the former class of work ; * and many a
shop window in England displays more or less favour-
able specimens of the latter developement of the plastic
art. Porcelain manufacture probably exhibits the most
favourable aspect of Chinese art, and to this branch of
the subject we shall therefore devote a little more space.

The manufacture of china t is of very early origin.
It was in a flourishing condition at the commencement
of the Christian era, and Chinese antiquaries possess
specimens of the manufacture of that period. But,

* In the Chinese collection at Hyde Park Corner, in 1843, there was a
specimen of this sort of carving, which consisted of seventeen concentric
spheres within each other.

t The word porcelain is derived from a univalve shell of that name, the
polished surface of which resembles porcelain. The shell itself derives its
appellation from the resemblance of its curved upper surface to the raised
hack of a little hog—porcella.PORCELAIN.

167

like everything else in China, this too is in a state of
decay—the secrets of the manufacture of the so-called
crackle china, the double cups, and the ornaments with
magic figures, visible only when the vessels are full, are
now lost for ever, and no new wonders take their place.
At present the most important porcelain factories are at
King-te-ching, in the province of Kiang-si, near the
great Po-Yang lake. This town contains more than a
million inhabitants, almost all employed in the manu-
facture of china. All day long, clouds of smoke and
columns of fire ascend from this busy scene, and at
night the place appears to he in a state of conflagration,
reminding one of the terrible sight of the iron blast-
furnaces in the valley near Dudley, in Worcestershire,
where the whole surface of the country vomits forth
volumes of smoke and flame. At King-te-ching more
than 500 separate factories, and thousands of furnaces
are constantly at work. In this, as in most other
Chinese manufactures, the principle of subdivision of
labour is carried out to a remarkable extent. Each
workman has his particular department; one paints a
certain flower, another a bird: one lays on the red
colour, another the blue. A china vase, when finished
and ready for sale, has passed through the hands of
upwards of fifty workmen.

There is a story that a certain emperor of China having
expressed his dissatisfaction with the manufacture of a
piece of chinaware made by his order and after his own
design, one of the principal workmen in the factory,
after repeated failures, at last, in despair, flung himself
into the furnace. This was supposed to have had the
desired effect upon the fire, for the next trial proved
successful; whereupon the workman was made the
patron deity or god of the porcelain.168 ABTS, SCIENCES, AND MANUFACTURES.

Painting is held in high esteem in China; the street
portrait-painter never fails to draw around him a
numerous and not uncritical host of watchers. He
will paint your portrait either truthfully or flatter-
ingly, as you may desire ; but your beauty mainly
depends upon the amount you pay him. Painting has
indeed always been a popular art in China. A recent
writer has observed that the more ancient specimens of
the pictorial art in China have been preserved with
great care, and their authenticity is, in a great measure,
preserved by the impress of the seals of successive
owners. There seems to be little doubt that many of
them date from even so remote a period as the twelfth
century, and the prices which they realise are often
very considerable. But they have other merit than
that of antiquity: the drawing and arrangement of
groups (due allowance being made for national pecu-
liarities) are generally superior to anything of European
art of the same period, or even to their own of the
present day. These ancient pictures are servilely
copied in all their details by the modern Chinese
artists, for whom they afford a treasury of design,
whence fragments are selected, as occasion may suit,
and which are adapted to the requirements of orna-
mental manufactures. There are reasons to doubt
the reputed antiquity of certain of the pictures cap-
tured at the Yuen-ming-yuen, for which an existence
of 1,000 years have been claimed ; but it should not be
forgotten, on the other hand, that mention is made
of an imperial gallery of portraits even in the time of
Confucius.

The merits of Chinese painting may be said to con-
sist of the following points : their colours are good and
brilliant, and are laid on with remarkable smoothnessPAINTING.

1G9

and dexterity ; their outlines, especially of birds, insects,
flowers, and animals, are often spirited and accurate;
and, from a topographical point of view, their land-
scapes, though monotonous, possess a certain sort
of merit. Their free sketches of these subjects, which
are drawn with wonderful rapidity, are extremely
clever, and their representations of the bamboo and
the almond tree are especially good. In a somewhat
higher rank of art, their water-colour miniatures are
often very creditable, and their historical and moral
subjects are not without humour and invention.* But
they rarely venture on any subject involving a repre-
sentation of passion ; they prefer those subjects which
are confined to the delineations of the common inci-
dents of everyday life. On the other hand, their defects
are numerous and important. In the first place,
owing to their artists not having any knowledge of
anatomy, their drawings of the human figure are weak
and inaccurate : they have a very imperfect knowledge
of the laws of perspective, and almost entirely ignore
the facts of light and shade: their pictures exhibit a
lamentable want of texture ; and they are deficient in
all those niceties of art which are essential to a really
great and successful work.

Not to quote the well-known examples of the hor-
rible paintings, to be found in many of their temples,
representing the Buddhist hell, let us examine the
ability of the Chinese to employ painting as a moral
agent. Our Hogarth has made many a vice and many
a folly hideous to us; George Cruikshank has shown
the misery induced by an intemperate use of the

• Wc do not take into account those libels on Chinese art, the rice-paper
paintings, of which so largo a number of specimens have been brought to
England, frequently purchased m the streets for a single cash.170 ABTS, SCIENCES, AND MANUFACTURES.

“ Bottle; ” let us see what a Chinese artist can do
with the subject of opium smoking. We quote the
following description of a set of “ Admonitory pictures ”
from the pages of the “ Chinese Repository : ”

The son of a gentleman of fortune, his father dying
whilst he was yet but a youth, comes into possession
of the whole family estate. The young man, having
no inclination either for business or books, gives him-
self up to profligacy and opium smoking. In a little
time his whole patrimony is squandered, he becomes
entirely dependent upon the labour of his wife and
child for his daily food, and their poverty and misery
are extreme.

Picture 1. This picture represents the young man
at home, richly attired, in perfect health and vigour of
youth. An elegant foreign clock stands on a marble
table behind him. On his right is a chest of treasure,
gold and silver, on the left, close by his side, is his
personal servant, and at a little distance a man whom
he keeps constantly in his employ preparing the drug
for use from the crude article purchased and brought
to the house.

Picture 2. In this he is reclining on a superb sofa,
with a pipe in his mouth, surrounded by courtesans,
two of whom are in the character of musicians. His
money now goes without any regard to its amount.

Picture 3. After no very long period of indulgence,
his appetite for the drug is insatiable, and his coun-
tenance becomes sallow and haggard. Emaciated,
shoulders high, teeth naked, face black, dozing from
morning to night, he becomes utterly inactive. ' In
this state he sits moping on a very ordinary couch,
with his pipe and other apparatus for smoking lying
by his side. At this moment his wives, or a wife andA CHINESE HOGARTH.

171

a concubine, come in ; the first, finding the chest
emptied of its treasure, stands frowning with astonish-
ment, whilst the second gazes with wonder at what she
sees spread upon the couch.

Picture 4. His lands and houses are now all gone,
his couch exchanged for some rough hoards and a
ragged mattress, his shoes are off his feet, and his
face half awry as he sits bending forward, breathing
with great difficulty. His wife and child stand before
him, poverty-stricken and suffering with hunger; the
one, in anger, having dashed on the floor all his smoking
apparatus, while the little son, unconscious of any
harm, is clapping his hands and laughing at the sport.
But he heeds not either the one or the other.

Picture 5. His poverty and distress are now ex-
treme, though his appetite grows stronger than ever;
he is as a dead man. In this plight he scrapes together
a few copper cash, and hurries away to one of the
smoking houses to buy a little of the scrapings from
the pipe of another smoker to allay his insatiable
cravings.

Picture 6. Here his character is fixed—a sot—seated
on a bamboo chair, he is certainly swallowing the refuse
of the drug in its most repulsive form, so foul that tea
is required to wash it down his throat. His wife and
child are seated near him, with skeins of silk stretched
on bamboo reels, from which they are winding it off
into balls, thus earning a mere pittance for his and
their support, and dragging out from day to day a
miserable existence.

The circulation of such compositions as the fore-
going, which is readily effected by means of wood
engraving (the only branch of the art which the
Chinese practise), although perhaps unable to do much172 ARTS, SCIENCES, AND MANUFACTURES.

towards reclaiming the confirmed opium drunkard,
can scarcely have been without its influence in deterring
some from commencing the odious practice.

Another of the arts remains to be noticed—music,
which, possessed in some form or other by even the
most barbarous nations, affords another test of the
civilisation and refinement of a country. In no branch
of the arts and sciences is the torpor of the country
more noticeable than in this. Invented, as it is said
to have been, by the renowned Fo-hy, encouraged and
practised by Confucius, enjoyed by the people, asso-
ciated with all their ceremonies, and patronised by the
government (the board of music being a branch of the
board of rites), it yet remains unimproved and unim-
proving, a wretched apology for the noble art. It is
without harmonies—there are not even semi-tones in
their gamut—it is intolerably monotonous, and excel-
lence is measured by the amount of noise produced.
They have a system of musical notation, hut this, like
that of the Greeks, does not include any method of
indicating the time. The Abbe Hue quotes from the
Li-kij the following words “ Music is the expression
of the union of earth and heaven.. With music and
ceremonies nothing in the empire is difficult. Music
acts upon the interior of man, and brings it into con-
nection with the spirit. Its principal end is to regu-
late the passions; it teaches fathers and children,
princes and subjects, husbands and wives, their reci-
procal duties. The sage finds in music the rules of
his conduct.” Strange, that with such lofty, nay
poetical views of the power of music as these, the art
itself should remain in so degraded a condition. But
this so-called music, like their so-called religion, is only
an empty and heartless profession.MUSIC, ASTEONOMY.

173

Vocal music is not cultivated to the same extent as
instrumental. The men sing monotonous chants in
falsetto voices ; but the fanciful Chinese character runs
riot in the varieties and whimsical forms of their instru-
ments. They have flutes, guitars covered with snake
skin, like the banjo, dulcimers, and bagpipe-like instru-
ments, which are in great request at funerals. They
have a clarionet with a metal mouth (an instrument
at once very deafening and very popular), musical cups,
violins, harps, trumpets, drums, cymbals, and hollow
blocks for marking the time upon ; and last, but cer-
tainly not least, they have that wonderful instrument
the gong, the performer upon which, even in their noisy
bauds, always comes in for by far the largest share of
popular applause. They have another musical instru-
ment, which for its quaint and grotesque ingenuity
must not pass unnoticed. It consists of an arrangement
of reeds attached to the tail of each member of a flock
of pigeons, and the wind, passing through these pipes as
the pigeons fly along, produces such a variety of not
unpleasing sounds that the effect is at once startling
and agreeable.

Did space permit, it would be interesting to examine
in detail the present condition of Chinese science. We
have already glanced at its imperfection and decay,
notwithstanding that there are three great scientific
establishments attached to the court—the National
College, where the sons of the great dignitaries are
educated ; the Imperial College of Astronomy, charged
with the astronomical and astrological observations,
and the preparation of the annual almanac ; and the
College of Medicine. . The fact is, that the Chinese
care only for such sciences as physiology, chemistry,
astronomy, and mathematics, so far as they bear imme-174 ARTS, SCIENCES, AJSTD MANUFACTURES.

diately upon the great question of money. Yet there
appears to be no reason, except narrow-mindedness and
conceit, to prevent the Chinese from following the
study of science with success. They are shrewd and
patient, and still possess the germs of that intelligence
which in early times enabled them to conceive and to
accomplish such great works as the Wall and the Im-
perial Canal. They can build lofty towers, can work
the metals, and can produce colours of marvellous
purity; and though it has been said that they have
obtained these results without any accurate knowledge
of the sciences involved, it cannot be denied that such
a people as these display powers which need only
cultivation to produce still greater results.

The absolute necessity for European intervention, to
this end, has received a remarkable illustration in the
matter of astronomy. The Chinese had, it is true,
some acquaintance with the subject from the earliest
times,* but when the Jesuits reached China, during
the reign of the Emperor Kang-hi, nearly all traces of
it had disappeared. Under these able masters the
Chinese soon acquired such a proficiency that the notion
was prevalent in many parts of Europe that all China
was a natiou of scientific star-gazers. Such, however,
was far from being the case. Left to their own re-
sources, the little knowledge that they possessed
dwindled away after the expulsion of the Jesuits from
Peking; at the present time it is even whispered
that the professors of the “ Celestial literature,” as
astronomy is termed, are obliged to send their alma-
nacs to Canton, to be corrected by Europeans. Few,

* Humboldt, in his “Cosmos,” vol. 1, p. 84, states that the calculations
of the paths of comets, made by the Chinese, and some of which go back to
more than 500 years before the Christian sera, are still found to be of value
in astronomical observations.MEDICINE.

175

except the most educated amongst the Chinese, believe,
even to this day, when an eclipse of the sun or moon
takes place hut that it is one of their innumerable
imaginary dragons devouring the fated luminary.
Indeed, when an eclipse is expected, official proclama-
tions are issued, informing the public that on such
and such a day there will be a “ sun eating,” when all
good citizens are urged to assemble and protect the
orb with prayers, music, and fireworks.

It will not surprise us to find, after the foregoing
remarks, that the science of medicine is in a most un-
satisfactory state, and that the Chinese have gladly
availed themselves of the skilful treatment afforded
them in the hospitals which have been established in
some of their towns by the Christian philanthropy of
our own and other countries. We have now, however,
to deal rather with the knowledge of this most im-
portant subject possessed by the Chinese themselves,
than with the blessed results which have attended on
European skill. To the labours of the Medical Mis-
sionary Society, and of Livingstone, Colledge, Parker,
and Lockhart, amongst others, and to the introduction
of vaccination by Pearson, in 1805, may be attributed
a large share of the hopes which we yet have of the
ultimate evangelisation of China; for the intimate
relations of the doctor with his patient bring Euro-
peans and Chinese into that immediate contact which
is so essential to a right appreciation of each other.
Many tales might be told of the exquisite patience of
some of the Chinese sufferers, and of their indelible
gratitude to their benefactors.

The Chinese doctors, in most cases, unite in one
person the functions of the physician, the surgeon,
and the apothecaiy. They know next to nothing of176 AETS, SCIENCES, AND MANUFACTUEES.

physiology, because dissection of the dead body is not
permitted, and can only be practised by stealth; con-
sequently the drawings of the viscera which may some-
times be seen in the shop windows are very imperfect.
With an inaccurate knowledge of the structure of the
body, and without the necessity for any scientific train-
ing, their medical men are mere quacks, though their
empirical treatment may sometimes prove unexpectedly
successful.

The Abbe Hue, who had the misfortune to be seriously
ill when in China, gives us a graphic account of the
Chinese doctors. He tells us that, for fear of being
fleeced by his physician, the patient usually enters into
an earnest discussion as to the value of the medicines
ordered. The other members of the family too take
part in this odd sort of bargaining; they ask the doctor
to prescribe common, cheap drugs, and, examining the
prescription, they strike out such items as are too expen-
sive. Possibly the effect of the medicine may thereby
be rendered slow or doubtful, but they will run the risk
of that; for they know by experience that any one pre-
scription is generally pretty much the same as another.
After haggling for a long time, the doctor usually ends
by abating something of the price of his merchandise,
for the very sufficient reason that if he did not the patient
would go to another shop. Most Chinese medicines are
of an oily nature and dark yellowish colour, very uninvi-
ting in appearance, but not nearly so nauseous, according
to the light-hearted Abbe’s account, as many of the
medicines of our Europeon pharmacists. There is one
medicine so wonderful in its properties that it deserves
special notice, namely the ling-pao-zou-z-tan, or super-
natural treasure for all desires. This celebrated medi-
cine, which is considered to be a universal panacea,MATERIA MEDICA.

177

>>

consists of little red pills, the composition of which is
a secret known only to a certain family in Peking, in
which it has been faithfully transmitted from generation
to generation. It is described as being one of the most
active sudorifics known; a single pill is reduced to
powder, and taken like snuff; this occasions a long
succession of sneezes, until the whole body breaks out
in a violent perspiration, and the cure commences.
Ginseng (all of which grown in the country is imperial
property, and is sold for its weight in gold), rhubarb and
gentian are also favourite medicines with the Chinese,
and they are not unacquainted with the use of arsenic
in fever and ague cases; indeed, in the latter class of
maladies, they exhibit a more enlightened mode of
practice than could have been expected, for, in their
treatment, they have always opposed the notion of
blood-letting as a remedy. In the oure of skin diseases
too they are very successful; partly, no doubt, from
their very great prevalence. But the great forte of the
Chinese physician is, after all, acupuncture, and other
methods of counter-irritation, in which they evince a
curious skill, founded on far sounder principles than
those which induce them to boil down into soup a
monkey for the cure of a rickety child! There is
little to be learnt from a further examination of this
branch of the subject, and, not without a passing word
of astonishment at the numerous instances of longevity
to be met with, and at the comparatively fair sanitary
condition of the people, notwithstanding the state of
their towns and the backwardness of medical science,
we pass on to a rapid survey of a far more important
phase of the industrial aspect of the people, viz., the
manufactures and internal trade of the “ Celestial ”
empire.178 ARTS, SCIENCES, AND MANUFACTURES.

It should be premised that, with their shrewd practical
intellects and thrifty industry, the Chinese are, in their
own way, essentially a trading people. They are of
course, with rare exceptions, unendowed with the lofty
and far-seeing views which characterise the European
merchant-prince ; but, amongst themselves, they are
adepts in all the arts of buying and selling. They
begin their essays in merchandise at a very early age—
the first longing of the young children is for a sapeck,
and the first use that they make of their intelligence
and speech is to learn to articulate the names of coins ;
when their little fingers are strong enough to hold the
pencil they amuse themselves with making figures, and
as soon as the tiny creatures can speak and walk they
are capable of buying and selling. The consequence is
that the inland rivers and canals swarm with junks en-
gaged in the carrying trade, which consists principally
in effecting the interchange of grain, salt, and metals,
and the other natural and artificial productions of the
various provinces. The government itself carries on
trade, receiving, as it does, tribute in the shape of
grain, storing it up, and selling it to the people in
times of scarcity. Even in pawnbroking establish-
ments, which are very numerous in China, the govern-
ment has a share. Pecuniary societies, the members of
which share in turns, arranged by lottery, in the
advantage of obtaining at once a considerable sum, in
return for small sums paid at fixed intervals, are nume-
rous throughout the land. China in fact teems with
banking establishments, partnerships, and almost every
known indication of commercial activity. Perhaps
this state of things, in its most striking form, is no-
Avhere exhibited to greater advantage than in the com-
mercial mart of Hankow, now opened to foreign trade.MACHINERY—IRON.

179

Compared with agriculture, the government looks
upon manufactures as a matter of inferior importance ;
they say that agriculture is the root, and trades and
manufactures the branches ; yet, as we have seen iD
the last chapter, the manufacture of tea, silk, and por-
celain is carried on very extensively, and, these being
articles in which we ourselves are so deeply interested,
a detailed account has been given of the processes
which they undergo before reaching us.

Perhaps the most striking feature of the manufac-
tures of China is the simplicity of the machinery which
they employ. The introduction of any more elaborate
system of machinery than that now in use would be
regarded with disfavour, no less from the aversion
which the Chinese have to change than from the
jealousy with which they look upon all attempts to sup-
plant human labour:—the inhabitants are excessively
numerous, their wants are few and small, they are
cheerful and industrious, and they ask of steam
machinery, “ cui bono ? ”

As workers in metal, especially in iron, they cannot
be said to rank very high ; the quality of the metal is
inferior, from the roughness of its manufacture ; an*1 the
quantity of it used is insignificant in a country where the
bamboo affords a tolerable substitute for many of those
purposes for which we employ iron. Should the rail-
way scheme recently mooted ever be carried out, it may
open the eyes of the Chinese wider than they have
been opened yet to those invaluable qualities of iron
and steel, with which they have hitherto only an im-
perfect acquaintance. It should, however, be noticed
that they have made some very fine metal castings of
bells, and of huge pieces of ordnance ; and their itinerant
blacksmiths and whitesmiths are very skilful. The180 ARTS, SCIENCES, AND MANTTFACTUBES.

bellows which they use is a good example of their
ingenuity; by a peculiar arrangement of a pair of
pistons working in a double cylinder they have managed
to make the blast continuous. Nor are their carpenters
less ingenious, they make furniture as expeditiously
and neatly as our own do; and their watchmakers are
rapidly approaching as high a standard of excellence as
many of those in England,—but then they are obliged
to import our watch-springs.

With the exquisite beauty of their feather paintings,
their damasks, flowered satins, crape shawls, and the
far-famed washing silk or “ponge,” most of us are
familiar, and in the manufacture of these articles they
have little to learn from us; but their woollens are of
inferior quality, and goods of the latter description
will, no doubt, find, a capital market at some future
time in the northern provinces, where this branch of
industry at present finds its chief vent in the manu-
facture of excellent carpets, made from the tail-hairs of
yaks, or Thibet cows.

Cotton is another important branch of their manu-
factures ; it forms the prevailing article of wearing
apparel, and the simplicity of various parts of the pro-
cess of its preparation have been the admiration of
most travellers. A kindred article is grass-cloth, pre-
pared from the nettle-hemp plant, a very durable fabric,
plentifully used throughout the country.

Then there are manufactories of the vegetable wax,
procured from a plant called the croton seliferum, and
from which their rather indifferent candles are mostly
prepared ; manufactories of sugar ; of glass, in the pre-
paration of which they use flints imported from Europe;
and of many other articles which we have not space to
enumerate. But a word or two must be added on thosePAPER—INK.

181

two subjects which fill so important a place in the
economy of all civilised nations, and especially in
China, where they have been known for many ages—
paper and ink. The former article, when of the best
quality, is made chiefly from young bamboos. These
are chopped into convenient lengths, and are then mace-
rated in mud for about a fortnight; when taken out they
are pounded by pestle and mortar into a pulp, water is
added until it has attained the required consistency,
and the sheets are then dipped out in wooden frames,
measuring generally three feet by two feet and a half.
When required to be sized a solution of fish glue and
alum is used; and the fine paper used for letters is
polished, after sizing, by rubbing it with smooth stones.
A coarser kind of paper is manufactured from straw,
as with us. Their ink, which is known to us by the
familiar name of Indian ink, is prepared in the following
manner:—A number of lighted wicks are placed in a
trough of oil, in the selection of which care has
to be taken, as the various sorts of oil yield inks of
different qualifies. The smoke from these wicks is
collected on the under surface of a dome of iron plate
placed over the oil; it is then brushed off, and mixed
with gum or gluten, to which a little musk is added to
produce an agreeable odour. It is afterwards pressed
into cakes, stamped and dried, and is fit for use.

In this imperfect list of some of the principal objects
of the manufacturing abilities of the Chinese, we may
trace evidences of skill of no mean order—skill which,
in some particulars, we, with all our boasted appliances,
cannot surpass, and which should secure for the Chinese
a more favourable judgment and higher hopes than he
usually obtains.CHAPTEK IX.

MANNERS AND CUSTOMS.

General aspect of a Chinese town—A Chinese house—Furniture, dress, etc.

—Visits of ceremony—Meals—Gambling—Marriage ceremony—Funerals

—Rural districts.

The writer now asks those who have travelled with
him so far through these pages to prepare to accompany
him in an imaginary trip to the strange land he has
been describing. Steaming at once into one of the treaty
ports recently opened to European commerce, and wend-
ing our way cautiously through the forest of masts of
every conceivable rig, from the bamboo poles and mat
sails of the Celestials to the trim opium clipper, and the
sharp-bowed screw-steamer, the anchor is dropped in the
stream with a dull, rattling sound, and, stepping ashore,
we feel that we are at last in China. A crowd of mus-
cular coolies line the quay, ready to deal with any
burden, however heavy, and groups of yellow China-
men stand around staring with cunning eyes and im-
passive countenances at the “ red-haired foreigners ; ”
but we elbow our way through them, and more than
one of our senses inform us that we are in the narrow
streets of a Chinese town. The houses are much lower
than ours, frequently indeed they consist of but one
story: a Chinese poet who visited England was so
struck with the height of our dwellings that he said—

“The houses are so lofty that you may pluck the stars."STREETS AND SIGN-BOARDS.

183

Looking through the shops which fringe the streets we
catch glimpses of the domestic economy of the shop-
keepers. Long vertical sign-boards, gaudily painted,
hang down the front of the houses, and stand out into
the street. If we read them we find that, in addition
to the ordinary announcements of a sign-board, we shall
meet with numerous instances of that self-praise which
the proverb says is no recommendation, such as the
following: “ Not two prices,” “ Goods genuine, prices
true,” “An honest dealer,” and so on. The more
modest trader is content with thus describing his busi-
ness : “ A small stream always flowing.” Warnings
are also held out to gossiping and impecunious cus-
tomers, such as these: “ Gossiping and long sitting
injure business.” “ Former customers have inspired
caution—no credit given.” On the whole the scene is
gay and animated; the long-tailed, blue-robed passers-by
jostle each other good humouredly as that comfortable
vehicle, a sedan, comes down the narrow street. The
air is full of the sounds of busy traders negociating a
“ chop ” with Chinese volubility, and the grunts of
coolies as they stagger along under their heavy bur-
dens. When nothing more offensive salutes the nose,
we are aware of a tea-like odour, with which all China
seems impregnated, and even all those articles of Chinese
manufacture which have reached us in our western
home.

At length we reach the queer but comfortable
lodgings that have been provided for us, leaving
behind us among the crowd, perhaps, some who have
never seen an European before. We are one of the
most amusing of sights for them; they squat in rows
along the sides of the quays, smoking their pipes and
fanning themselves, contemplating us the while with184

MANNERS AND CUSTOMS.

a satirical and contemptuous eye. Europeans who go
to China are apt to consider the inhabitants of the
Celestial empire very odd and supremely ridiculous;
but, undoubtedly, the provincial Chinese at the treaty-
ports pay back this sentiment with interest. It is
very amusing, remarks a recent traveller, to hear their
sarcastic remarks on the appearance of the “ Devils of
the West,” their utter astonishment at sight of our
tight-fitting garments, wonderful trousers, and prodi-
gious round hats, like chimney-pots, the shirt collars,
adapted to cut off the ears, and making a frame around
such grotesque faces, with long noses and blue eyes.
The shape of a dress-coat puzzles them above every-
thing ; they try in vain to account for it, calling it
“ half-garment,” because it is impossible to make it
meet over the breast, and because there is nothing in
front to correspond to the tails behind. They admire
the judgment and exquisite taste of putting buttons as
big as sapecks behind the back, where they never have
anything to button. How much handsomer they think
themselves with their narrow oblique black eyes, high
cheek bones, and little round noses, their shaven crowns
and magnificent pigtails hanging almost to their heels.
Add to all these natural graces a conical hat, covered
with red fringe, an ample tunic with large sleeves, and
black satin boots with a white sole of immense thick-
ness, and they conclude that it must be evident to all
that a European cannot compare in appearance with a
Chinese.

Entering from the street by a doorway in the wall,
which screens the interior from the common view, we
are at once struck by a certain similarity between our
new abode and the Pompeian dwelling with which the
model in the Crystal Palace has made most of usA CHINESE HOME AND HOST.

185

familiar. The ground floor is divided into several
apartments, lit only by windows looking into the
internal courtyard; the windows are glazed with the
oiled silk of the Corea. The principal room next to
the entrance serves to receive visitors, as well as for
eating, and within are the more private apartments,
the doorways of which are screened by pendent cur-
tains of silk or cotton. Some of the inner windows
are of silk gauze, stretched on frames of wood, and
worked with the needle in flowers, fruit, birds, insects,
and other devices. A pretty little garden is attached
to the building, the smallness of which is concealed by
winding and complicated passages or galleries, decorated
with carving and trellis-work, in very good taste ; the
walks are paved with figured tiles; little ponds are
scattered about, containing golden carp and other fish,
and masses of artificial rock-work rise out of the water
and are strewn about the grounds.

' We are fortunate in having a Chinese host who is
one of the most favourable specimens of his country-
men, and has a fair smattering of English. Before we
enter the house notice the peculiar way the roof is
tiled; the everlasting bamboo has served even as a
model for their tiles; indeed the bamboo is used to
this day by the Malays for roofing purposes. The
transverse section of these earthenware tiles being a
semicircle, contiguous rows of them are laid down on
the roof with their concave sides uppermost, to serve
as gutters. At the lines of contact other tiles are
laid over them with their convex sides uppermost, and
the whole are secured in their places with mortar. As
we enter the house we are struck with the paucity of
furniture as compared with that of an ordinary English
home; but we see chairs (the Chinese are, perhaps,186

MANNERS AND CUSTOMS.

the only Asiatics who use chairs), and the specimens
before us resemble the solid and cumbrous pieces of
furniture which were in fashion with us more than a
century ago. Cushions, with hangings for the back,
some of silk or of English woollen, and mostly of
a scarlet colour, embroidered in silk patterns by the
delicate fingers of Chinese ladies, are about the room.
Among the principal ornaments are various lanterns
of varnished silk, horn, and other materials, which are
suspended from the roof, and are, adorned with crimson
tassels, hut which, for purposes of illumination, are
greatly inferior to our lamps, and produce more smoke
than light. Large labels of white satin or fine coloured
paper, inscribed with beautifully written moral sen-
tences, poetical couplets, or quotations from the sacred
books (generally the autographs of friends), also hang
round the room, and form an interesting feature in
the decorations of the apartment. The bedrooms are
simply furnished, hut extremely clean. The bed is a
four-poster, and in summer is covered with a fine
mosquito net, the occupant lying on a mat spread upon
the hard bottom of the bedstead. Such is our new
home ; let us now glance at its inmates.

Our host, as we have said, is a favourable specimen
of his nation, and has his due share of that corpulence
which is considered in China to be one of the main
features of manly beauty. His tawny-yellow counte-
nance is mild, good-humoured, hut with little animation
in it; it is broad, rather flat, with small shrewd
eyes, a bridgeless nose, and is adorned with long,
pendent, black moustaches, but with very little beard.
His coarse black hair (everybody has black hair in
China) is shaved off' the front part of his head, and on
the back part it is drawn tightly together and formedA CHINESE HOSTESS.

187

into a queue, to which is added some plaited silk and
(we suspect) some false hair; for it is of a most por-
tentous length, reaching down almost to his ankles.
His tail is always a matter of some pride to a China-
man, and it would be a grievous offence to deprive him
of it; indeed sometimes thieves are punished by re-
moving this valued appendage. Our host wears, on
this occasion, a cap of blue silk, with a broad brim of
black velvet turned up all round, and with a scarlet silk
tassel falling over the crown. His hands are small and
well formed, and the left is garnished with nails of such
a terrible length that, were the right hand similarly
ornamented, very little work with it would be possible.
His upper garment of dark blue silk reaches nearly to
his feet, it buttons round his neck, and down under his
right arm. He has loosely-fitting trousers hanging
over silken shoes, which have very thick soles, made of
layers of paper or rag pasted or stitched together,
turned up at the toes like a boat, and with a layer of
leather at the bottom. In his hand he carries a fan,
that constant companion of every Chinese.* His girdle
is ornamented with embroidered pouches, which carry
his watch, his spectacles, etc. Altogether he makes
rather an imposing appearance.

His wife, with whom we shall hope to be on more
friendly terms than are frequently accorded by the
Chinese ladies to strangers, is as favourable a specimen
of her sex as her husband is of his. And here let us
record the almost invariable opinion of all travellers in
China; namely, that the women of the “ Flowery
Land” will probably exercise a most important influence

* It is said that daring the attack on the Boguc Forts, in 1841, the native
military were observed on the battlements, coolly fanning themselves
amidst showers of shot and shell!188

MANNERS AND CUSTOMS.

in the evangelization of the country. They probably
have in China—as indeed they have in some other coun-
tries that might be named—more influence, and are
better educated than their husbands are often willing
to admit. The great respect which is for the most part
shown to them, as is especially noticeable in those
mirrors of Chinese life and manners—their stage repre-
sentations ; their freedom from the anxieties of trade,
which are ever uppermost in a Chinaman’s mind, give
them time for reading, and for pondering in their hearts
the hooks and tracts which our missionaries are scatter-
ing through the land. As a recent writer says, many of
the Chinese women are “ loving and lovable.”

Our hostess possesses that slimness of figure which
is considered as essential to female beauty as embon-
point is to the man. She has a delicate little oval
face, with long, almond-shaped, bright, soft eyes, and
her dress is strikingly like her husband’s, except that it
is pink instead of blue; for nearly all the Chinese
ladies affect either that tint or green, as the prevailing
colour of their costume. Being a matron, her glossy
black hair is brushed off the forehead, and fastened up
into a large knot at the back of the head with a flat
silver pin, placed lengthwise, and with a shorter pin
across the knot; before she was married it was allowed
to droop down over her brows. There is a great variety
in the way of forming this knot in different parts of
China. In Shanghai it is oval, with a scarlet cord
bound round the hair in the centre of it for three or
four inches ; the women of Ning-po fasten two large
appendages like wings under their back hair ; at Hang-
chow the hair is extended behind, like the back part of
certain helmets ; and in Foo-chow the countrywomen
adorn their heads with gay flowers, either natural orTHE “GOLDEN LILIES.”	1-89

artificial. Flowers indeed are almost invariably used
to decorate the head. The fashion of her dress is
modest and becoming; it consists of a loose upper
garment, fitting closely round the neck, and reaching
to the knees, loose trousers with a border round the
ankles, and, over these, a skirt, open in the front,
and prettily arranged in large plaits over the hips;
the sleeves are long and wide, with splendidly em-
broidered satin linings which turn back to form a
border. As she is a Chinese, she has, unfortunately
for her walking powers, the cramped feet, or “ Golden
Lilies,” as they are called, which necessitate the employ-
ment of a walking-stick, or the help of a little hand-
maiden on the rare occasions when she walks abroad.

The Tartar women are more sensible, and, like even
those Chinese females who have to use their feet in
order to obtain a livelihood, allow them to retain their
natural shape and size. The origin of this singu-
lar practice of cramping the feet, which, as is well
known, is commenced in early childhood, and which has
been so often described that it is familiar to almost
every English reader, is said to date from the time of
the Woo-tae, or Five Dynasties, when Le-how-choo
ordered his concubine Yaou to bind her foot with silk
in order to make it appear small, and in shape like the
moon. There are two or three other traditionary ac-
counts of the origin of the practice,but the fact that none
of the Chinese classics refer to the custom is presumptive
evidence that it did not exist so early as the days of
Confucius. Almost every family in China, however poor,
has one small-footed daughter, for only such can hope
to become “First Wives.” Of course there are varieties
in the style of. dress adopted by different classes, and
in different parts of the empire, but the differences190

MANNEBS AND CUSTOMS.

are really very trifling, and the type which we have
been describing is almost universal. Fashions, too, do
not change much in China, and clothes are handed
down as heirlooms from father to son, and mother to
daughter. It is therefore by no means considered rude
to make remarks on the dress of others; nor would it be
a bad compliment to say of a handsome dress “ I sup-
pose that belonged to your grandfather as it would
imply that you considered the wearer’s ancestors (great
is the pride of ancestry in China) had been wealthy
and dignified enough to purchase it.

It seems fitting here, on the threshold as it were of
our friend’s door, to advert to the ceremonious etiquette
which prevails in China, and forms so large a feature in
their education and social relations. It is really based,
as all true etiquette should he, on a regard for the feel-
ings of others ; and, though it would appear tedious to
Europeans, has some points about it which are well
worthy our consideration.

When any one pays a visit he usually sends a servant,
some hours before, with a note to the person he wishes
to see, to enquire whether he is at home, and to beg
him not to go out if he has leisure to receive the pro-
posed visit. The note is on a sheet of red paper ; and,
like the characters in which it is written, is larger or
smaller according to the rank and dignity of the person,
and the degree of respect to be testified. The paper is
folded once or twice, and you only write on the second
page, in such words as these, “ Your disciple, or your
younger brother, so-and-so, has come to bow his head
to the ground before you, and to offer his respects.”

This note having been presented to the porter, if the
master accepts the visit he replies verbally, “ It will
give me pleasure, and I beg he will come.” The formsETIQUETTE OF A YISIT.

101

of refusal to accept the proffered visit are equally polite;
but these visits are rarely declined in China. The
master of the house then puts on his finest robes to
receive his guest, whom he meets at the door of his
house, or as he alights from his palanquin; for great
people have their palanquins carried in, or even ride in
on horseback to the foot of the staircase which leads
to the hall of reception. The most honourable place,
which in the southern provinces is on the south side of
the chamber, but in the northern provinces is on the
north, is always allotted to the guest; not however
without his making many protestations of his un-
worthiness to receive such an honour. Then they both
bow; and, if the host has any relations who live with
him, they all go through the same ceremony. These
performances last a long time, and, as long as they do,
nothing else is said but “ Pou-kan, pou-kan,” “ I should
not dare.”

Scarcely are you seated before servants bring in the
tea, in little porcelain cups covered with saucers, and
ranged on a teaboard of varnished wood. Among the
richer classes tea-pots are not used, hut the quantity of
tea required is put into each cup, and the boiling water
is poured upon it. The infusion is highly scented, hut
is taken without sugar. The company drink together,
though inviting each other by gestures to drink first;
the tea is taken very slowly, and in many sips, and all
are careful to drink at the same time. Then, supposing
the weather to be warm, the company set their fans in
motion, and conversation begins. A great deal of time
is always consumed in discussing indifferent subjects;
and the real cause of the visit, if it be a matter of
business, is rarely broached until the last moment.
Similar ceremonies are used at the departure of the192

MANNEBS AND CUSTOMS.

guests—the visitor protesting that his host does him
too much honour in accompanying him so far, and the
latter asseverating that his wishes go even farther with
his guest than his acts can possibly do. Such is the
almost invariable order observed in visits between
people of equal condition, the details varying, of course,
according to circumstances ; but all are settled by fixed
regulations, and, being determined beforehand, there is
no hitch or uncertainty about their due performance.

But whilst we have been lingering at the door we
have been keeping dinner waiting, and as this is our
first repast in China we must devote some space to a
description of the sumptuous meal of queer comestibles
—to be met with nowhere but in China—which has
been prepared in our honour. For it must be borne
in mind that your genuine wealthy Chinese attaches
much importance to the pleasures of the table.

The Chinese take only two substantial meals a day,
one in the morning and one at sunset, besides which
they also generally have a slight repast at noon. Pork,
generally white, delicate, and well fed, is the favourite
meat with those who can afford it, and on the tables
of such persons fowls and ducks * are not unknown or
unwelcome visitors. Frogs (called “ field fowls ” in the
neighbourhood of Canton), also make their appearance
sometimes, and even dogs ; but the latter are eaten
when young, and are fed on rice only, so that they are
not so disagreeable after all, even to European palates,
provided one does not know the precise nature of his
food. Only the very poor eat cats, rats, and such offal.
Bice is almost invariably eaten, and, as has been

* The artificial hatching of eggs is carried on very extensively and suer
cessfully in China; there are numerons public establishments where eggs
are hatched at fixed charges by artificial heat.A CHINESE DINNER.

193

already stated, forms the staple food of the great
majority of the people, who flavour it perhaps with an
infinitesimal quantity of meat, not unfrequently with
half a dried duck’s head. They have, however, plenty
of other vegetables, amongst the most common of which
is the petsae, or white cabbage. But to-day we have a
more pretentious dinner, which we proceed to describe.

The first course consists of rich soups, amongst which
we recognise the rare delicacy of bird-nest soup, which
owes its renown to a glutinous secretion with which
a certain kind of sea-swallow forms the fabric of its
nest by the mastication of sea weeds. This article,
which forms an important branch of trade with Java
and other islands of the Indian Archipelago, fetches
almost fabulous prices, and is only used by the very
rich, or on highly important occasions. The soup is
accompanied with pigeons’ eggs, boiled hard, and is
flavoured with soy. Then come several little dishes
containing salted meats, Stews of goose, and similar
dainties, by way of relishes ; then more birds’ nests,
shark-fins, and tendons of deer, the latter esteemed a
very nourishing viand; these delicacies are replaced
by quails, pigeons made up like faggots, fish-sounds,
small puddings of pork fat, a soup of rose leaves
flavoured with garlic, and many unknown things
about which, at this stage of the proceedings, it would,
perhaps, be as well not to be too inquisitive. Besides
the above, mutton, fish, and poultry are frequently
served, and follow each other indiscriminately. The
signal that the repast is at last ended is the appear-
ance of a large bowl of rice for each person, and the
whole is crowned by a course of fruits and sweetmeats,
including a salad of tender bamboo shoots, by way of
dessert. During dinner small metal cups of weak warm

0m

MANATEES AND CUSTOMS.

wine are plentifullj' supplied; and, when we add that
there is no table-cloth, plates, or knives and forks like
our own, but in lieu thereof small spoons of porcelain,
shaped like a child’s pap-boat, four-pronged forks of
silver, small and straight, and the celebrated chop-
sticks, which are called kwai-tsze, or quick lads, from
the celerity with which they are used, some idea may
be formed of an entertainment utterly unlike anything
we sit down to in Europe. It bears a stronger resem-
blance to the ingenious cookery of our French neigh-
bours than to the roast beef and plum pudding to
which, as the old song tells us, so much of John Bull’s
valour and other excellences are in a measure due.
Here, after dinner, let us state, to the honour of the
Chinese, that drunkenness is a vice rarely met with
amongst them, especially amongst the poorer classes.
This may perhaps be in some degree owing to their
small earnings and thrifty habits, but it is also,
no doubt, attributable chiefly to their contented and
cheerful dispositions, their skill in turning their hands
to almost anything, and to their indefatigable industry
and love of order.

For, whatever may be the dark side of the Chinese
character, at least they have the foregoing merits ; ar.d
they need such qualities and elastic spirits to sustain
them under the grinding oppression of their imme-
diate rulers, and especially in the absence of a convic-
tion that there is hereafter “ a reward for the righteous,
and that verily there is a God that judgeth the earth.”
They have no such hope or conviction, and if their lot
is not to be evaded or altered they content themselves
with the reflection that such is their fate, and that it
is useless to struggle against it. Them prominent
vices are lying, insincerity (the great Asiatic failing),FATALISM—GAMBLING.

195

and sensualism ; they are, most of them, either wearied
by a constant anxiety arising from superstitious
vanities, or are plunged into a state of apathy, which
is the result of fatalism rather than of resignation.
This explains many of the apparent anomalies in their
character. They are notorious cowards, for they run
away at the approach of danger; yet they endure the
severest torments—even death itself—without a mur-
mur, because they believe that all is settled by fate,
and that no appeal to either a human or a Divine
power can reverse the decree. Nor whilst cataloguing
“ our brothers’ ” faults must we omit to mention the
detestable vice of opium smoking, of which we have
already given an account in chapter viii., drawn by
the hands of one of themselves, and of which we shall
have to say more in our remarks on the results of
foreign intercourse with China; nor must we forget to
notice the still more universal habit of gambling.
Their cupidity, and their decided taste for speculation,
easily tempt them to gambling when they are not
engaged in honest traffic. This fatal passion, when
yielded to, obliterates all their good qualities, and they
seldom, if ever, recover from its allurements. Under
such circumstances they cast aside every obligation of
station, duty, and family, to live only for cards and
dice; and the passion is almost universal. There is
scarcely a village which has not its gaming house and
its professed gamesters. Having lost money, lands,
and even their wives, they play for their clothes, and
on some occasions even for their fingers, the winner
having the unenviable privilege of chopping off his
antagonist’s members. The laws are powerless to pre-
vent these enormities; in vain do the magistrates
make eloquent proclamations against gamblers, and196

MANNEHS AND CUSTOMS.

quote passages from the most celebrated moralists,
nobody plays a game the less in any province of the
empire, in fact mandarins, magistrates, men, women
and children are nearly all more or less tainted with
this fearful vice.

Have we drawn too sad a picture of the Chinese
character ? Let us revert to our first remarks on this
branch of our subject, and add that the insincerity
and sharp practice which are noticeable amongst the
petty traders are not to he found in the great native
commercial houses, which are, on the contrary, most
remarkable for the uprightness and integrity of their
dealings, and for their scrupulous fidelity to their
engagements. European merchants who have had
commercial transactions in China are unanimous in
extolling the irreproachable probity of conduct of most
of the native firms.

It has already been stated that the individuality of
the Tartar character, even after two centuries of con-
quest, and notwithstanding the existence of a distinct
quarter in most of the great cities allotted for the resi-
dence of the conquerors of China, has been almost
obliterated by their more numerous neighbours, the
Chinese, to whom they have gradually become assimi-
lated. It is true that Tartar dignitaries are placed in
various parts of the empire as overseers of the native
magistrates, and that they report direct to the emperor;
true also it is that the flower of the Chinese army cod
sists of Tartar troops, commanded by Mantchoo officers;
but the rough conquerors have, for the most part.,
merged, as to their social characteristics, into the van-
quished race; and Tartars and Chinese are now for all
practical purposes, one and the same nation.

A Chinese wedding is a gay and animated scene.A WEDDING.

197

The future husband and wife are supposed to he entirely
unknown to each other until the day of the nuptials.
An immense amount of preparatory ceremonies have to
be observed, in all of which is observable a marked
humility of tone on the part of the bride’s parents
towards the father of her future lord and master. These
preparations, called ping, are generally conducted by
agents or go-betweens ; horoscopes are obtained, pre-
sents are interchanged, and a great deal of preliminary
arrangements are made. It is remarkable that the
betrothal of a Chinese damsel, which frequently takes
place at a very early age, is regarded very much in the
same light as the actual marriage. Should her husband
elect die before the celebration of the nuptials, she
nevertheless is to consider herself a widow, bound not
to marry again, but to serve with zeal and affection the
parents of the deceased. Instances are not uncommon
of the bereaved female committing suicide when she is
thus widowed without having been a bride ; whilst
triumphal arches are often erected in honour of those
who persevere in their loyalty. Here is a graphic
account of the proceedings at a wedding as given by
an eye-witness on one of these interesting occasions :

“ On the day appointed for the celebration the bride-
groom puts on a magnificent dress, and when the family
has- assembled in the domestic sanctuary, he kneels
clown and prostrates himself on the ground. Perfumes
are then burnt before the tablets of ancestors, and the
important event is announced to them. The master of
the ceremonies then invites the father to take a place
on the seat prepared for him. As soon as he is seated,
the bridegroom receives on his knees a cup of wine, of
which he first pours a few drops on the earth by way of
libation ; and, before drinking, makes four genuflexions198

MANNERS AND CUSTOMS.

before his father ; afterwards he advances towards the
seat, and receives his commands in a kneeling posture.
The father says, ‘ Go, my son, go and seek your wife;
and behave in all things with prudence and wisdom.’
The son, prostrating himself four times before his father,
replies that he will obey ; after which he enters a palan-
quin that is already waiting at the door. His friends and
a numerous array of attendants march before him, bear-
ing lanterns of the most brilliant colours—a custom that
arose at a time when it was usual to celebrate marriages
in the night. When he has reached the house of his
bride, he waits at the gate of the second court, until
his father-in-law comes to introduce him.

“In the house of the bride similar ceremonies are ob-
served. After the libation and the drinking of the cup
of wine, the bride kneels down before her father, who
exhorts her to obey faithfully the commands of her
father-in-law and mother-in-law; and then the mother
places a garland on her head, whence hangs a large
veil that covers her face. ‘ Take courage, daughter,’
she says, ‘ and be always submissive to the will of your
husband.’

“They then proceed solemnly to meet the bridegroom,
who is waiting at the entrance of the second court.
The procession advances, and when it has reached the
middle of the court the bridegroom kneels down and
offers a wild duck to his father-in-law, which the master
of the ceremonies carries to the bride. At length the
bridal pair meet for the first time and salute each other
very gravely, making a profound inclination. They
then kneel down together to adore the ‘ heavens and
the earth.’ It would seem that this act is the essential
point of the ceremony, and in some measure the symbol
of the conjugal tie. When they wish to express thatA WEDDING.

199

any one is married, they commonly say, ‘He has adored
the heavens and the earth.’

“After they have remained a short time on their
knees, the bride is conducted to a palanquin covered
with rose-coloured silk ; the bridegroom also enters his
palanquin, and the procession moves away considerably
augmented in number, for besides the lantern-bearers
aforesaid there come now people carrying beds, chairs,
tables, and all kinds of household utensils. When it
has once more reached the house-of the bridegroom,
he alights and invites his bride to enter, but marches
before her to the interior court where the nuptial feast
is prepared. Then the bride raises her veil and salutes
her husband, and he salutes her in his turn, and they
both wash their hands, the husband on the north the
wife on the south side of the portico. Before sitting
down to table the wife makes four genuflexions before
her husband, who responds with two to her, and they
sit down opposite one another. Before eating and
drinking, they make a libation with wine, and put
aside some viands to be offered to the ancestors.

“ They then taste some of the dishes, in profound
silence ; the husband rises, invites his wife to drink,
and sits down again, and the wife performs the same
ceremony with respect to her husband; and at the
same time two full cups of wine are brought, of which
they drink a part, and then put what remains into one
cup to drink between them. The father of the bride-
groom in the meantime is giving his friends a grand
banquet in a neighbouring apartment, and the mother
of the bride another to the women invited. Tor them
the entire day is one long festival, in which the time
passes with a little more spirit and gaiety than it does
with the newly-married pair.200

MANNEBS AND CUSTOMS.

“ On the following day, the wife, clothed in her
bridal attire, and accompanied hy her husband and a
mistress of the ceremonies, carrying two pieces of silk
stuff, goes into the second court of the house, in which
her father and mother-in-law are seated at separate
tables, awaiting her visit.

“ The newly-married pair salute them, and make four
prostrations before them ; after which, the husband
retires into a neighbouring apartment, and the wife
makes her offerings. The rest of the day and several
following ones are employed in paying visits. The wife
has to pay her respects to all the relations of her
husband, and to perform genuflexions before them;
and the husband to present himself in the same manner
to the relations of his wife.”

This detailed account of the marriage ceremony
illustrates in a remarkable manner that fundamental
characteristic of Chinese society—the supremacy of
parental authority. This remarkable influence, it
should be observed, is based less upon those instincts
of affection from which, amongst ourselves, the senti-
ments of parental love and filial obedience spring, than
upon the time-honoured maxims of the state ; which
inculcates the duties of obedience from children to
parents with a view to securing the unfailing obe-
dience of its grown-up children and subjects to the
emperor, whom they are taught to regard as the com-
mon father of them all. Many curious examples might
he quoted of the reverence which even adults are re-
quired to display to their parents—a sample has already
been given in the story of Lae.

The manner in which the Chinese treat their dead is
but another phase of their overweening and ceremonial
reverence for ancestry and the past.TIIE DEAD.

201

In their respect for the dead there is evident, alas!
a great deal of heartlessness. The Chinese attach a
great deal of importance to the selection of a lucky
burial-place, to ascertain which they call in the aid of
their fortune-tellers ; the luck, however, is expected to
befall the reverent posterity of the deceased, and no
share of it is supposed to go to the departed. True,
they offer tea and fruit to the manes of the deceased,
and burn at the funeral-altar money and garments for
his use in the land of spirits ; but it must be told that
the latter articles are made of paper only, and their
usefulness to the deceased is on a par with the value
set upon their ashes by the white-robed mourners. It
is also for the sake of the living, and not of the dead,
that the burial-place is changed, when some far-seeing
astrologer discovers a more fortunate site than that
in which the bones of his client’s ancestor have been
placed.

In chapter v. we have already given an account of
the nature of Chinese worship at the graves of ances-
tors. Let us add here a few words on the nature of their
funerals and burying-places. In the first place then
the Chinese have long ago been alive to the disadvan-
tage of intramural interments-—a hill-side, or some
tract of land unfitted for other purposes, is always
selected for a cemetery ; and here, as with us, long
rows of cypresses frequently mark the resting-places of
the dead. The tombs are very varied in their forms
and dimensions, and temporary huts are placed near
them for the use of mourning devotees. Most of the
graves are like small brick houses, six or eight feet high,
some of them however are vaults of a horse-shoe shape,
painted either white or a light blue, and on their doors
are inscribed the names and titles of the deceased.202

MANNERS AND CUSTOMS.

Tablets of a corresponding character are also, in many
cases, hung up in the family residence, the door-posts
of which, during the period of mourning (which in the
case of a parent’s death lasts for nearly three years),
are distinguished by white labels. In some parts of
the country the coffins are simply placed on the ground,
covered with earth, and thatched in. Among the
Miow Se, the bones of their deceased progenitors are
periodically examined and scrupulously cleaned, as it is
believed that bad luck will follow those who do not
attend to this particular.

One curious custom connected with their funeral rites
is the presentation of complimentary coffins, or rather
of the materials for constructing them. A good, thick,*
handsome coffin is by no means an unwelcome present
to your friend, and it is not unusual to notice these
grim memorials of death in some conspicuous parts of
the houses.

Before the interment of the body takes place, the
house is brilliantly illuminated, and relatives and friends
are entertained. There appears little or no indication
of grief on the part of those who should be the
mourners. On the morning of the funeral the massive
black coffin, eight feet long, and shaped somewhat like a
shoe, is borne away by about twenty men, dressed in
scarlet surcoats or tabards; in the case to which we
are referring, yellow horses were embroidered on the
back of each. Musicians playing flutes and clarionets
headed the procession, and were followed by the
mourners, dressed in white, and wearing black satin
boots. Then came the bonzes with white caps and
light grey vestments. In the rear of all were borne

* A presentation coffin should never be less than four inches or six
inches thick.THE BUBAL POPULATION.

203

two well-executed effigies of an old lady, and of a
younger one bearing a book. Whilst passing through
the main street, the hired mourners, who wore white
shoes, gave way to the most overwhelming bursts of
grief, tears streamed from their eyes, and they sobbed
convulsively, carefully stooping forward the while, so
that their tears might not fall on their garments and
soil them, winking nevertheless occasionally at one
another, and banding their little jokes. Altogether
there are lew things more anomalous in this land of
anomalies than a funeral. It affords a striking illus-
tration of the hollowness of the sham religions of the
land, and its need of the benign illumination of Chris-
tianity, both Avith regard to this world and the next.

Let us now give a little further attention to the
mode of life amongst the Chinese who live remote from
cities and treaty-ports. We have already, in this
chapter, adverted to the cheerfulness, and the indus-
trious and thrifty habits of the lower classes as form-
ing some of their safeguards against drunkenness ; but
we have perhaps not yet done sufficient justice to their
good qualities. A Chinese village, under favourable
circumstances, has quite the air of patriarchal times.
There, poverty, though dreaded as an evil to old age,
and guarded against by a system of clubbing together
in clans and families, is esteemed to be no reproach ;
personal merit and venerable age are more highly es-
teemed than mere wealth. Three or four generations
are frequently found residing, in perfect harmony,
under the same roof; and the daily routine of hard
toil, shared alike by parents and even the youngest
children, secures innocent days and tranquil nights.
Such a people, when a chance traveller passes through
their district, appear to him happ}r, contented, healthy,204

MANNEBS AND CUSTOMS

and hospitable. Oliphant gives instances when the
embassy to which he was attached were positively
unable to prevail on the poor inhabitants, who pro-
vided them with hot tea and other refreshment, to
accept anything more than a few matches in return
lor their generosity. It is not to he wondered at that
even the greatest dignitaries of the state desire to re-
turn to their native places, after long years of toil,
when they are invested with attractions such as these.

It will not, of course, be supposed that such is the
invariable condition of things in those districts where
foreign influences—which often bring, alas! so much
of what is evil in their train—have not yet penetrated :
the Chinese have their own vices to scourge them-
selves with, and one of the most destructive to the
peace of a whole neighbourhood is a clan-fight. This
disturbance usually takes its rise from some woman or
child being kidnapped by a neighbouring clan or
famil\r; and dire and lasting are the results. It is
said that the government has rather winked at these
breaches of the peace, acting upon the short-sighted
policy that, where there exists a want of harmony
amongst its subjects, the chances of any combination
against the ruling powers are thus lessened.

Whilst looking on this dark side of our subject, we
must not forget the painful statements with which we
are so familiar as to the prevalence of infanticide in
China. It is no doubt true, as has been urged by
recent writers, that the extent of this crime has in
former times been grossly exaggerated. The floating
gourds, for instance, which have been noticed in the
l ivers, with infants attached to them, have really been
rude devices for the safety of the tiny inhabitants of
the boat-dwellings which line the numerous rivers andINFANTICIDE.

205

creeks, rather than means of exposing their frail tenants
to the mercy of the winds and waves. Yet no impartial
person can doubt that infanticide, especially of female
children, does exist to some extent, and that its exist-
ence calls loudly for Christian interference, and points
to the necessity for alleviating, by every possible means,
the burdens of this over-populated country.

There is something almost touching in the way in
which many wealthy Chinese have endeavoured to
soften the hardships of their poorer brethren ; they
have established and endowed, in some places, houses
where simple refreshment is provided gratis to all
comers. Many European travellers have availed them-
selves of these arrangements, and have been struck
with the kindness and foresight which their existence
indicated. It is one of the things in which we have
yet to take a leaf out of John Chinaman’s book, whilst
we endeavour to impart to him a share in the greater
blessings which have fallen to our lot.

We have yet to tell of many things connected with
the manners and customs of our Chinese acquaintance.
We have, for instance, to peep into their boat-dwell-
ings, to describe their amusements, and principal festi-
vals, and so on—but this chapter has already exceeded
its limits ; and we shall devote some little space to
these matters when treating of the numerous mis-
cellaneous subjects for which a separate chapter has
been reserved.CHAPTER X.

PRINCIPAL TOWNS AND TREATY-PORTS.

Chinese cities—Peking—Described by Marco Polo—Present condition—
Nanking—Treaty-ports of 1842, Canton, Amoy, Foo-chow, Ningpo, and
Shanghai—Treaty-ports of 1858, Kien-chow, Swatow, Tai-wan, Ching-
kiang, Han-kow, Tang-chow, Tien-tsin, Neu-chwang.

The reader has probably been able to form some idea
of the general character of such Chinese towns as are
frequented by Europeans, from the cursory description
at the beginning of the preceding chapter ; but it ap-
pears desirable to give, first, a somewhat fuller descrip-
tion of an average Chinese town ; secondly, to give a
particular account of the ancient and modern capitals ;
and, thirdly, to describe briefly each of the treaty-
ports, so that our readers may appreciate duly the
nature of those fields of labour from which it has be-
come the duty and the privilege of this country, among
others, to uproot the tares, and where we may sow the
good Gfospel seed with best effect.

The relation of town to country is in China
pretty much the same as it is at home ; the agri-
culturalists of the rural districts are comparatively
unimpressionable, whilst the townsmen are for the
most part keen and active; absorbed, it is true, in
the turmoil of business, yet acting powerfully, by the
force of their position and example, on the districts of
which their abodes form the centres.TOO, CHOW, AHD HIEtf.

207

First, their, let us consider the nature of an ordinary
Chinese town, of which there are three distinct classes,
known by the affixes of foo, chow or chau, and Men :
these titles indicate the rank of the departmental
officer who administers the affairs of the district in
which the town is situated. One of the most striking
characteristics of nearly all Chinese towns, as we ap-
proach them, is the wall of blue bricks with which they
are enclosed. This wall is generally in a miserable con-
dition ; the bricks are falling out, the ill-constructed
embrasures are crumbling away, and the whole struc-
ture has a most forlorn aspect. But still there is the
wall, forming most frequently a rectangular enclosure,
whose faces lie north, south, east, and west. This is
not the invariable practice—circumstances are some-
times strong enough to cause even a Chiuese to sacri-
fice his love of symmetry—but what has been described
above is the prevailing form. Indeed the general
character of the cities and towns throughout the em-
pire, and of the houses which they contain, is strikingly
uniform. The houses are low, for it is unlawful to build
them as high as the temples; and the streets, especially
in all the southern towns, are narrow, usually paved
with flag-stones, and calculated only for the passage of
foot passengers, three or four abreast, or of those who
are carried in sedan-chairs. The way is sometimes
crossed by those triple gateways of an ornamental
structure which have been incorrectly styled triumphal
arches, but which are square, and have usually been
erected to the memory of individuals celebrated for
their talents or virtues. With the exception of the1
pagodas, the joss-houses, and the yamuns, edifices so
high as an ordinary English house are seldom seen.
The mass of habitations are about fifteen feet in height,208 PRINCIPAL TOWNS AND TREATY-PORTS.

they contain three rooms, and have one entrance,
closed by a bamboo screen. Some of the shops have a
low upper story, and then the house, roof, and terrace,
altogether may rise about twenty-five feet above the
level of the street. Better houses there certainly are,
but even these are not lofty, for the reason already
mentioned, and they are generally detached, standing
each upon its own little plot of ground. Many of the
buildings are of wood, and woful are the results of a
fire ; for, except in a few cases, the inhabitants are un-
provided with fire-engines, and look upon a fire as an
inevitable fate dooming them to destruction. The
strictness of police regulations has already been ad-
verted to in chapter vi.; but it remains to be noticed,
under this head, that every householder is supposed to
keep the street clean in front of his house—a rule too
much neglected; for, what with the bad paving, the
absence of back entrances to the houses, and sundry
other reasons, the streets of most of the Chinese towns
emit most offensive odours. When we add that each
town is supposed to be under the protection of some
star or constellation, and that many of the better class
of inhabitants often take up their abodes in the suburbs,
without the walls, a good general idea may be formed
of the appearance of the ordinary Chinese town.

Let us now turn our attention, for a brief space, to
the capital, Peking, or, as the Tartars call it, Cambalu
—the residence of the emperor and the court—the
stronghold of the go'verning class, and a place which,
from its remoteness, its importance, and from the won-
derful accounts given of it by the earlier historians and
travellers, occupies no inconsiderable position in the
tale of the world.

Peking stands on a vast plain, in the interior of thePEKING.

209

northernmost province of China Proper, Chi-li or Pe-
chi-li It is situated in lat. 39° 55‘ north, and in
longitude of 116° 451 east from Greenwich. On the
east and west the low and sandy plain on which it is
situated extends farther than the eye can reach; on
the north-west and north, in which direction, eight
miles off, lies the celebrated garden or park Yuen-
ming-yuen, hills begin to rise above the plain only a few
miles from the walls of the city, and beyond them the
prospect is bounded by the mountains which divide
China Proper from the outlying northern provinces of
the empire. Viewed from the summit of these moun
tains the city appears as if situated in the midst of a
thick forest, an effect which, is produced by the clus-
ters of trees that cover the villages, temples, and nu-
merous cemeteries that encompass it. Several small
rivers water part of the plain ; one of these, the Tung-
hwuy, supplies the numerous canals and tanks of the
city, it then flows eastward, and, uniting with other
streams, forms part of the extensive water-communica-
tion by which provisions are conveyed to the capital.
For the city is not, so to speak, self-supporting: it
derives its supplies chiefly from the central and eastern
provinces of the empire ; the country around it, though
not altogether barren, being less fertile than many
other parts of China. Besides the vast stores of grain
brought to Peking, in former times by means of the
Grand Canal, mutton and beef are brought thither
from Mongolia: and coals (which, however, are little
used except for culinary purposes) from the mountains
on the north-west.

But containing, as Peking does, the vast esta-
blishments of the emperor and of the numerous officers
of state; numberless large temples to the heavens and

p210 PBINCIPAL TOWNS AND TBEATY-POETS.

earth, to ancestors, sages and heroes, to sun and moon,
stars, mountains, and rivers, together with their hordes
of miserable priests, it is not surprising that we should
find Marco Polo, in the thirteenth century, thus de-
scribing its wonders :

“To this city,” says the enterprising Venetian,
“ everything that is most rare and valuable in all
parts of the world finds its way; and more especially
does this apply to India, which furnishes precious
stones, pearls, and various drugs and spices. Prom
the province of Cathay itself, as well as from other
provinces of the empire, whatever there is of value
is carried thither to supply the demands of those
multitudes who are induced to establish their resi-
dence in the vicinity of the court.” And Barrow
thus describes the appearance of the principal streets
in more recent times :—“ The multitude of moveable
workshops of tinkers and barbers, cobblers and black-
smiths ; the tents and booths where tea and fruit and
rice and other vegetables were exposed for sale ; with
the wares and merchandise arranged before the doors
of the shops, contracted the spacious street to a nar-
row road in the middle. The processions of men of
office, attended by their numerous retinues bearing
umbrellas and flags, painted lanterns, and a variety of
large insignia of their rank and station ; trains accom-
panying with lamentable cries corpses to their graves;
and others conducting brides to their husbands, with
squalling music ; the troops of dromedaries laden with
coal from Tartary ; the wheel-barrows and hand-carts
loaded with vegetables, occupied nearly the whole of
this narrow middle space. All was in motion; the
sides of the street were filled with people buying and
selling and bartering their different commodities. TheTHE MODERN CITY.

211

buzz and confused noises of this mixed multitude, pro-
ceeding from the loud bawling of those who were cry-
ing their wares, the wrangling of others, and the mirth
and laughter which prevailed in every group, could
scarcely be exceeded. Pedlars with their packs, and
jugglers and conjurors and fortune-tellers, mountebanks
and quack doctors, comedians and musicians, left no
space unoccupied.”

Such is the appearance frequently presented by the
streets of this remarkable city of Peking, or Pih-king,
“ the northern capital; ” which, bustling and active
though their occupants undoubtedly are, present on
the whole, notwithstanding its numerous shops with
elaborately carved and gilded fronts, an appearance far
inferior to what might be expected from the striking
aspect of its exterior. The lofty walls and towers of
the city, seen from a distance, present a most imposing
appearance, and some of the temples and other public
buildings are very handsome ; but the houses generally
are low and irregular, and the streets are ill-paved and
ill-drained, and in wet weather very dirty.

The modem city of Peking consists, like many other
Chinese towns, of two portions ; the northern or Tar-
tar city (called Nui-ching), and the southern (called
Wai-ching). The former is built in the shape of a
parallelogram facing the four cardinal points, and con-
sists of three enclosures, one within the other, each
surrounded by its own walls. The innermost of these
enclosures is called Kin-chin (the prohibited or for-
bidden city) and contains the imperial palace : it is
about two miles in circumference. The emperor had
not resided here for many years, having preferred the
Yuen-ming-yuen, but since its destruction repairs have
been executed at the city palace. In this, the Tartar212 PRINCIPAL TOWNS AND TREATY-POETS.

division, are situated the English, French, Russian,
American, and Prussian legations. The second enclo-
sure was originally intended for the officers of the
court, but is now mostly occupied by Chinese traders
and merchants. The third enclosure contains the
open city, which presents all the evidence of an indus-
trious people intent on the pursuit of gain.

It would far exceed the limits allotted to this book
were we to dwell on the numerous public buildings,
heathen temples, and imperial parks and pleasure-
grounds that make up the interior of this vast city,
which includes within its walls an area of about thirty
miles, exclusive of the suburbs; but a few words must
be added about the southern half of Peking, “Wai-
ching,” or the outer city. This is the grand emporium
of all the merchandise that is brought for sale into the
city and its environs; and, as the northern division is
subject in some degree to the rigour of military dis-
cipline, it is here that those who seek for relaxation
from the toils of public or private employments, as
well as those who are in pursuit of dissipation, come to
enjoy themselves without restraint. It contains few
objects worthy of particular notice, and in its south-
eastern half are several large lakes, round which the
land is chiefly covered with grain and garden vege-
tables.

Peking is regarded by the Chinese themselves as one
of their most ancient cities, but it was not until the
conquest of China by the Mongols, under Kublai
Khan, that it became the metropolis of the empire.
Its present population, which has been sometimes
stated at fifteen millions, and by Malte Brun on the
other hand at 600,000, is probably somewhat over two.
millions. Under the treaty of Tien-tsin, in 1858, oneTHE MODERN CITY.

213

of the articles stipulates that a British minister may
reside permanently at the Gapital.

A lady,* the wife of a missionary now at Peking,
thus writes in a recent letter concerning it. She likes
it as a place of residence pretty well, notwithstanding
the difficulty of access to it, and the clouds of dust
which plague its inhabitants for nine months out of the
twelve. According to her account, there are numbers
of fine trees throughout the city, thickly interspersed
among the houses, and producing a very pretty effect
as seen from the city wall which overtops every house
within it “ There is not,” writes our correspondent,
“a single two-storied house in Peking; the yellow roofs
of the palace, and the blue or green roofs of some of the
temples, are the only objects which break the general
uniformity. In walking about the city, objects betoken-
ing decay meet the eye on every side, massive archways
of wood, finely carved, more or less out of the perpen-
dicular, and threatening you with destruction as you
pass under them, notwithstanding the huge props by
which they are supported. There are magnificent
temples, the courtyards paved with marble, but over-
grown with weeds ; and fine gateways, the entrances to
large palaces, with their once gorgeous painting un-
renewed for years, and covered with dust. The streets,
in many places, are filled with water, or intersected
with what are intended for drains, deep enough to
engulf a horse and its rider. A house in process of
building is a thing unknown in Peking; repairs also
are very uncommon, and decay is the rule. Peking
might be blotted out of the map of China without
affecting any one outside its walls. .	.	. We feel

almost out of the world in Peking.”

* Mrs. Collins, the authoress of “ China and its People.”—Nisbet.214 PRINCIPAL TOWNS AND TEEATT-PORTS.

Yet, Peking is still capital of the empire, and is
connected by a line of couriers with the terminus of the
Siberian telegraph, thus linking it more closely than it
ever has been before with the western world. It is grati-
fying to be able to add that, in addition to the mission-
aries who are now engaged on their Divine work at
Peking, Dr. Lockhart has succeeded in establishing,
under the auspices of the London Missionary Society,
a medical mission on the same plan as that which he
for many years conducted so successfully at Shanghai.

Nanking was the ancient capital of the empire; it
is of considerable extent, being eighteen miles in
circumference, and is surrounded by a wall generally
above forty feet high. Like Peking and most other
Chinese towns, it had its Tartar and Chinese quarters.
Here was the celebrated nine-storied Porcelain Tower,
261 feet in height, built in 1411, and, until its recent
destruction by gunpowder by the leader of the Tae-
pings, pre-eminent above all buildings in China for its
completeness and elegance. Now, all Nanking is a scene
of utter ruin and destruction. This stronghold, which
had withstood a siege of longer duration than that of
Troy, and appeared impregnable to Chinese troops,
from its vast strength and enormous size, fell in July,
1864, before an assault delivered by the imperial forces ;
a result for which the services of British officers and
troops had paved the way. Within the walls was dis-
covered the corpse of the so-called emperor of the
rebels, Hung-sin-tsuan; who, Chinese like, had perished
by his own hand in the midst of a bevy of concubines
who had similarly sought their death. Yet, when we
look upon the evidences of the former magnificence and
extent of this city, whose ancient walls have been
traced for an extent of thirty-five miles; when weTHE TREATY-PORTS.

215

consider its proximity to that great artery of China,
the Yang-tsi-kiang, soon we trust to be a channel for
Christianity as well as commerce to the interior of
China, we cannot but believe that brighter days are
yet in store for the faded and dejected “ Southern
Capital.”

We now turn to those towns and ports access to
which has been provided by British arms and diplo-
macy for our merchants and our missionaries. Though
the establishment of British power and the security of
our commerce was the great end contemplated by our
ambassadors and statesmen in opening up these ports,
yet we must remember that these things are to be re-
garded but as means to an end. It were hard indeed
not to believe that the Creator has so fixed His decrees
that intercommunication shall take place between man
and man, for the purpose of permitting those to whom
He has chosen in His inscrutable counsels to reveal the
mysteries of His truth to promulgate the same amongst
less favoured nations; that we, admitted under the
Christian dispensation to privileges even greater than
those enjoyed of old by God’s own peculiar people, may
learn a lesson from His beneficence, and extend to
others those inestimable blessings which have been so
plentifully showered upon ourselves.

First then we will describe the towns which were
opened to British commerce under the treaty. of
29th August, 1842, following their order from south
to north—Canton, Amoy, Foo-chow, Ningpo, and
Shanghai.

Canton, from its being the first Chinese port arrived
at after leaving England, as well as from other causes,
has become probably more familiar to us than any of the
others. It is a large and bustling city, probably fourth216 PRINCIPAL TOWNS AND TREATY-PORTS.

in the empire as to its population, second as to wealth,
and pre-eminent above them all for its licentiousness.
It is situated on the Canton or Chu-kiang river, at
whose mouth lies the famous island of Hong-kong,
ceded to Great Britain at the same time that the five
above-mentioned ports were opened to the commerce of
the western world, and is so important a place that an
appointment to the governorship of Canton is con-
sidered by the Chinese a high mark of the imperial
favour. The streets are for the most part narrow
and dirty, and the houses low and mean; but in the
busy parts there are some capital shops, and the whole
scene is gay and lively. The city proper, or that part of
Canton which is surrounded by a wall, is built nearly in
the form of a square, and is divided by a wall, running
from east to west, into two unequal parts ; the north-
ern part, which is much the larger, being called the
Old City and the southern half the New. The walls
of Canton are about six miles in circumference; but
if we include the suburbs, the circuit of the city
may be taken as about ten miles. There are upwards
of six hundred streets, the names of many of which
sound strangely enough in English ears, such as Golden
Flower Street, Martial Dragon Street, New Green Pea
Street, etc. There are two rather handsome pagodas,
each about 180 feet high; but the other public build-
ings, though numerous, do not present any marked
features of interest, The foreign factories, or “hongs,”
as they are called by the Chinese, are in the western
suburbs ; they have a considerable river frontage, and
possess some architectural pretensions.

The trades and manufactures of the port are all more
or less connected with foreign commerce, tea being the
chief export. But bv far the most remarkable feature ofCANTON.

217

Canton is the appearance of the river, crowded as it is
with the boat-dwellings of the poorer classes. At one
time it is said these amounted to 84,000, of which about
one-half are the permanent residences of their occupants,
who go by the name of “ tankia,” or boat-people.

Canton is one of the oldest cities in the south of
China, and some idea may be formed of its enormous
population from the fact that it contains 50,000
weavers and embroiderers, 7,000 barbers, and 4,200
shoemakers. The climate is, on the whole, salubrious ;
and it has always been, for many reasons, the great
seat of trade with our own country, consequently it
has suffered more than almost any other place in China
from the punishments which have fallen on the treach-
ery and bad faith of the government and its officers
towards British subjects. The utter defeat of the
Chinese forces, the capture of that notorious miscreant
Yeh, and the indemnity of £650,000 which was paid
by the Cantonese for the British losses at Canton
during the late war, are matters too fresh in our
memories to require being enlarged upon here. There
are a good many native Christians both at Canton and at
Hong-kong, for here our missionaries have been longer
at work than in almost any other part of China.

Our limits forbid our saying more of the island of
Hong-kong (Red Harbour), than that it is a rising
colony, where numerous governmental and mercantile
establishments are already flourishing; and that it
bids fair, notwithstanding its somewhat unhealthy cli-
mate, to be a prosperous place. A recent acquisition
of territory on the promontory of the main land oppo-
site to Hong-kong, called Kow-loon, will probably do
much to promote the health of the colony, as this site
lies open to the cool sea-breezes which the sudden and218 PRINCIPAL TOWNS AND TREATY-PORTS.

high peaks immediately behind the town of Hong-kong
itself intercept. Accordingly on Kow-loon large bar-
racks for our soldiers, and numerous buildings for the
navy, are in course of erection ; and we may possibly
see in Kow-loon,' at some future time, a formidable
rival to its parent colony, Hong-kong.

Coasting northwards for 300 miles, and passing,
when about half-way, the new treaty-port of Swatow,
we reach the large and populous, but dirty and miser-
able-looking city of Amoy; which, 100 years ago, was
the principal seat of our trade with China : indeed we
had a factory here so early as 1676. The town is
situated on a harbour of the same name, and contains
from 250,000 to 300,000 inhabitants. It is said to be
nearly nine miles in circumference, and is surrounded
by a wall, which however offered but a slight resistance
to the successful attack of the British forces on the
26th August, 1841. At the head of a river which
pours its waters into the commodious harbour of
Amoy is the great city of Chang-chow-foo (contain-
ing upwards of 800,000 inhabitants), of which Amoy
is but the port. The harbour is noted for its bold,
rocky scenery, and for the numerous junks engaged in
the trade with the Straits, for which Amoy is famous,
and which is chiefly an import trade carried on by
wealthy and enterprising native merchants. The town
is at once dominated and protected by a vast citadel,
under whose shelter there were, according to recent
accounts, about 600 native Christians. It is perhaps
the healthiest of the ports ; and, but for the compara-
tively slight encouragement hitherto given to our ex-
port trade, would probably rise more rapidly than it
promises to do at present.

We next reach the “happy city,” Foo-chow, theFOO-CHOW, NIHGPO.

219

capital of the province of Fo-kien, on the river Min,
and ranking next in importance as a seat of trade to
Shanghai. Foo-chow is a place which has much in-
creased in importance of late years, notwithstanding
the difficulties for carrying on trade with which it is
beset. On the one hand, large vessels cannot approach
nearer than within seven or eight miles of its quays ;
and, on the other hand, the black tea, which is the chief
feature in its commerce, is brought by hand from con-
siderable distances, and with great difficulty, over the
mountainous districts at the rear of the city. Fuh-
ning, a sea-port about one hundred miles to the north,
has been suggested as a much more eligible site for
foreign trade. Foo-chow contains about 600,000 in-
habitants ; it is one of the prettiest and best built of
the Chinese cities, but, like them all, is dirty and
abounds with disagreeable sights and smells. It is
situated on a plain surrounded by five hills, and con-
sists of two parts, the northern and the southern
suburbs; the former on the left bank of the Min, and
the latter, which contains the residences of the foreign
merchants, connected with it by a bridge of one hun-
dred arches, which is lined with shops. The foreign
residences are prettily situated on a low hill adorned
with fir-groves, and in the neighbourhood are some
celebrated hot springs.

Foo-chow lies about half-way between Hong-kong
and the next of our treaty-ports, Ningpo, another of
those walled cities which fell without resistance to the
force of British arms in 1841.* This city is situated
on a magnificent plain, about twelve miles from the
coast line. It was in former times another of the

* The bell taken from a Buddhist temple at Ningpo on this occasion
now figures in the British Museum.220 PRINCIPAL TOWNS AND TBEATY-POETS.

seats of European trade, the English having commenced
commercial relations here in 1700, and the Portuguese
so early as 1552. But, notwithstanding all its natural
advantages, amongst others its fine position at the
junction of two large streams, which unite in forming
the magnificent river the Ta-pea or Cheh, Ningpo
does not flourish as might have been expected. It is
celebrated for its able scholars, to whose memories
numerous triumphal arches of granite, cut with the
utmost delicacy and beauty into network, span the
principal streets, and have earned for it the reputation
amongst the Chinese themselves of being the most
beautiful of then* cities. But to European eyes the
houses are mean, and the streets narrow and filthy.
Of the 300,000 persons by whom it is inhabited there
are very few foreign merchants. There are many silk
manufactures, and a tolerably large timber trade. It
has some good shops, especially, as might he expected
in so literary a town, excellent book-stalls ; hut trade
is on the whole dull here. There was a general, and
not altogether an unprovoked, slaughter of the Euro-
peans at Ningpo some years since, but this has been
repaid in the right way by the establishment of Chris-
tian places of worship, schools,* and a- missionary
hospital; the benefits extended by the latter of which
may be estimated from the fact that, during the first
six months of its existence, 650 surgical cases were
treated by its officers. There is also a Mohammedan
mosque here, of which Milne gives an interesting ac-
count in his “ Life in China.”

Another 100 miles along the coast, and we reaoh

* The boarding-sclvool for native girls, founded by Miss Aldersey, and
devotedly watched over by that lady, is a noble specimen of Christian
philanthropy.SHANGHAI.

221

the last in our list, and the most northerly of the ports
opened by the treaty of 1842—but one of the first, if
not the very first in importance—Shanghai, which has
been named the “ model settlement.” This place has
been described as the present mainstay and future hope
of our trade with China. In 1856, notwithstanding
its imports from all parts of the world amounted to
more than £3,000,000 (besides £4,500,000 worth of
opium which passed through this portal to the interior
of China), a further importation of £4,250,000 in
bullion was requisite to settle the balance of trade with
Europe and to pay for the enormous quantities of tea
and silk which found its way down to Shanghai. It is
a walled city, 3f miles in circumference, oval in form,
and is situated on a fertile plain at the junction of the
Wu-sung and Hwang-poo rivers, fourteen miles from
the coast, and not very far from the embouchure of the
mighty Yang-tsi-kiang itself. The streets within the
walls are small and dirty, and have no special objects
of attraction ; but without the enclosure the scene is
bustling aud active in the extreme. The European
settlements, which fringe the river banks, are leased
from the Chinese government, and are self-contained,
though separated from each other by small creeks ; all
have a fine river frontage and are adorned with many
handsome buildings. It is perhaps the pleasantest of all
our Chinese settlements ; there is an admirable prome-
nade along the quays ; there are English, French, and
American churches and chapels, and there are hospitals
and girls’ schools. There are numerous cotton fields
in the vicinity, and all kinds of fruit and vegetables
flourish in profusion. Almost the only drawbacks to
Shanghai are the sudden variations of temperature
which take place there, and the malarious gases exhaled222 PRINCIPAL TOWNS AND TREATY-PORTS.

from the marshy lands which surround the settlement.
Shanghai was captured by us on the 19th June, 1842 ;
and, notwithstanding its previous very considerable
internal trade in silk, cotton, embroidery, furs, etc.,
from that date Shanghai may be said to have begun to
assume its present and rising importance. Its native
population in the city, suburbs, and junks, is said to be
about 500,000; besides which almost every race under
the sun has a representative here; and, according to a
recent return there are 1,164 residents in the British
settlements, 460 French, and 871 Americans. Occu-
pants of villa-residences in the environs, tide-waiters
living afloat, etc., contribute to swell these figures, and
the British army and navy raise the total to 5,129
foreigners who reside on the banks of the Hwang-poo.

Such then are the towns which were opened to
British commerce under the treaty of Nanking, dated
29th August, 1842. Let us now proceed to those other
places with which the treaty of Tien-tsin, dated 26th
June, 1858, has enabled us to communicate freely.
The same order will be followed as in the former list;
namely, we begin with the port that is nearest home,
and proceed along the coast northwards.

First, then, as we pass through the straits of Hainan,
between the island of that name and the mainland, we
leave on our- right hand the maritime town of Kien-
chow-foo, situated at the north end of the island. It has
a good harbour, much frequented by Chinese junks
from Macao, Siam, and Singapore. It is tolerably well
built, is surrounded by a strong wall, and has a popula-
tion of about 100,000, hut possesses no special features
of interest, save that it is the most southerly of the
free ports, and the first of them that we reach after
leaving home.SWATOW, TAI-WAN.

223

About mid-way between Hong-Kong and Amoy lies
Swatow, or Shantau, as it is sometimes called; a mari-
time town of no great importance, which a few years
since was only a small fishing village. As soon how-
ever as the receiving-ships for the opium trade were
removed from NamOa to the island of Masoo, at the
entrance of the river Han, the village of Swatow,
which is about five miles up that river, began to assume
the proportions of a town. The right bank of the river
is rugged and mountainous for some distance from
Swatow, but the northern or left bank is a fine delta-
like plain, richly cultivated with rice, sugar-cane, and
wheat.

On about the same parallel of latitude as Swatow,
but situated on the great island of Formosa or Tai-wan
(which is separated from the mainland by a channel
100 miles in width), is the town of Tai-wan-foo, near
the mouth of Salt River. This island can scarcely be
called Chinese, for a large proportion of its surface is
tenanted by aborigines who pay no allegiance to the
emperor, and who revel like the wild beasts which
plentifully surround them, in a climate where the
tropical fruits luxuriate in rich profusion. Most of the
harbours are by no means good, owing to the shallow-
ness of their entrances; and Tai-wan-foo itself,
though perhaps the best of them all, is chiefly memo-
rable from the miserable tragedy which was enacted
on a plain near the city some years since, when
parts of the crews of two British ships (the Ner-
budda and the Ann from India) who were wrecked
on the coast, having been taken captive, were ruthlessly
beheaded. The victims, 197 in number, were chiefly
Hindoos.

And now, passing the towns of Amoy, Foo-chow,224 PBINCIPAL TOWNS AND TBEATY-POETS.

Ningpo, and Shanghai, we arrive at the mouth of the
Yang-tsi, that great artery of China, upon our due
appreciation of whose value depends so much for China
and for Christendom. As we pass the intricate and ever-
shifting channels at its mouth, and sail up the mighty
river, on our right, near the place where the Grand
Canal joins the Yang-tsi, is situated the once large and
populous city of Ching-kiang-foo, most admirably placed
for the purposes of trade, and forming as it were the
very key of the empire. But its once native and com-
mercial population of nearly half-a-million was, when
Mr. Oliphant visited it, reduced to about 500 souls.
The rebels had been at their old work of devastation;
the streets were deserted, the houses roofless, and the
strong walls, which in 1842 offered a determined but
vain resistance to the British troops, were dilapidated
and overgrown with rank weeds. Yet, from its advan-
tageous position, both with reference to communications
with the northern provinces, and also from its being
the first port of importance on the Yang-tsi, there can
be little doubt that Ching-kiang will equal, if not sur-
pass, its former importance.

A voyage of some 300 miles up the river brings us
to Kew-kiang, situated at the angle formed by the
junction of the great Po-Yang lake with the Yang-tsi.
Of this once thriving and populous city a single dilapi-
dated street is almost all that remains ; the remainder
of its large area, comprised within walls five or six miles
in circumference} contains little else than ruins, weeds,
and vegetable gardens. The scenery around is un-
usually magnificent, and in the suburbs there are
more signs of life and activity than exist within the
walls; but at present Kew-kiang is a very dreary
place.1IAN-ROW.

225

Another 150 miles up the stream and we reach
Han-kow, the very heart and centre of China, and a
place of as much commercial importance to the Chinese
themselves as to us. Some idea may he formed of its
enormous capacity for trade when we quote, from a
speech by Mr. Layard, the statement that since that
place was wrested from the Tae-pings the total trade
in 1862 amounted to £6,000,000, as compared with
the previous year’s returns of £3,000,000.

Han-kow, as known to Europeans, consists of three
large towns, which are only prevented by the Yang-tsi
and its tributary the Han, from being one. These three
towns are Wu-chang, Han-yang, and Han-kow. Han-
kow occupies one of the angles formed by the Han and
Yang-tsi rivers, which here meet at right angles. On
the opposite or right bank of the Han is a precipitous
range of hills, crowned with the fortified walls of the
aristocratic Han-yang, a place which has suffered most
severely from rebel occupation; and on the opposite or
right side of the Yang-tsi is the important provincial
city of Wu-chang, its hills terraced with houses and
crowned with pagodas. Han-kow is- in shape an acute-
angled triangle, the base of which, a mile long, rests
on the Yang-tsi; and it extends about two and a half
miles along the banks of the Han. It is a purely
commercial city, and has no wall of defence surround-
ing it. Far superior, both in construction and as to
the adiount of its trade to most of the Chinese cities,
it is in fact a sort of central market, where the natives
of the northern and southern provinces interchange
the necessaries of life. The population is ever fluctua-
ting. At certain seasons of the year, traders from Ili,
Kobdo, and other parts of Thibet, visit Han-kow. Thei r
strongly marked Tartar features and turbaned heads,

Q226 PRINCIPAL TOWNS AND TREATY-PORTS.

conspicuous amongst the motley crowd that throngs
the busy streets, lined with shops and warehouses,
where European goods find a ready sale, add variety
and picturesqueness to the groups, and proclaim Han-
kow to be what it is—one of the greatest marts of China.
Hither then, as to a focus, let us hope to see the
benign influences of Christianity brought to bear with
all their force, that the wandering merchant may carry
back with him to his remote home, not merely the
good things of this world, but the far better tidings
which it is in our power to afford him—the golden
glories of the Gospel.

The remaining three towns which we have to de-
scribe are all situated on or near the shores of the
great gulf of Pe-chi-li; the nearest of them, Tang-chow,
being 500 miles due north of Chin-kiang, the most
northerly that has hitherto been mentioned. Tang-
chow is an extensive town, built along the sea-shore for
upwards of three miles. Its high embattled walls
terminate at the extreme right in a hill, crowned by a
citadel and joss-house. The coast does not afford any
shelter at this point ; and, as Mr. Oliphant remarks,
the most available harbour for Tang-chow, and the
place where in all probability future foreign settle-
ments will be established, is Chang-shan, an island of
the Miato group, separated from the main land by a
strait four miles wide.

A long straight run of 200 miles across the gulf of
Pe-chi-li, and forty or fifty more up the tortuous Pei-ho
river, brings us to Tien-tsin, which has been rendered
famous of late chiefly from its being the place where
the last and the most hopeful of our treaties with
China was negotiated by Lord Elgin. 'Gutzlaff says
that, in the palmy days of the Grand Canal, the bustleTIEN-TSIIT.

227

and activity of this place, and the throngs of junks
from all parts of the empire, reminded him of Liver-
pool. But it is an ill-paved, dirty place, and the
sluggish waters of the Pei-ho which wind between
muddy banks ten or twelve feet high, fringed with
mud houses, enter the gulf of Pe-chi-li by a channel
even more difficult than that at the mouth of the
Yang-tsi. It is built in the form of a square, each
side of which is, roughly, about a mile long; and, as
usual, four massive gateways give entrance to the four
roads which approach from the cardinal points of the
compass. The streets are wider than in most of the
southern towns, and some of them actually have a foot
pavement. But it is almost impossible to describe
the utter squalor and wretchedness of a large propor-
tion of its inhabitants, said to amount altogether to
nearly half a million. In the words of a recent visitor,
“ I have never witnessed, in any part of the world, a
more squalid, diseased population than that which
seemed to infest rather than inhabit Tien-tsin—filth,
nakedness, and itch were their prevailing character-
istics. The banks of the river swarmed with men who
lived entirely on the garbage and offal that were flung
from the ships and were swept up by the tide.” The
suburbs are, however, tastefully and beautifully laid
out, and in approaching these the first objects which
meet the eye are the enormous stacks of salt which
line the banks of the river for some hundreds of yards
below the town; for Tien-tsin is the grand depot of
the salt trade, of which, as may be remembered, we
stated that the government exercised a monopoly.
These stacks of salt vary from 200 to 600 feet in
length, and are about 100 feet long and 25 feet high.
Such was Tien-tsin, “ the Heavenly spot! ” Truly228 PRINCIPAL TOWNS AND TREATY-POETS.

the Chinese have odd notions of perfection. Of late,
however, it is much improved; the European “settle-
ment,” that necessary adjunct of-every treaty-port in
China, has been admirably laid out, a spacious quay
and promenade have been formed, and some fine houses
liave been built, and the population is said to he on
the whole well affected towards their invaders, whether
regarded as merchants who circulate amongst them
money and goods, or as philanthropists who have al-
leviated their sufferings by medicine and surgery.

The port of Neu-chwang, situated in 41° north
latitude, on the banks of the Leao-ho, which pours its
waters into the cold and foggy gulf of Leao-tong, an
arm of the gulf of Pe-chi-li, owes what little importance
it may possess solely to its position. It is the port of
the agricultural province of Shing-king, and hence are
exported vast quantities of wheat, barley, and pulse, to
the Manchurian coast. It is in fact the back country
that makes Neu-chwang what it is; its possession by a
hostile power would exercise a considerable influence
over the country and its vicinity, and would probably
affect materially even Peking itself.CHAPTER XI.

MISCELLANEOUS.

Kite-flying — Fireworks — Lanterns — Monetary system — Weights and
Measures—Banks—Pawnbrokers—The Swan-pan—Couriers and Letter-
carriers—.Cormorants trained to fish—Other' modes of catching Fish—
Theatrical Entertainments—Amulets and Charms.	-

It has often been said that the ballads of the country
exercise almost as much influence upon its inhabitants
as do its laws. In a similar way the minor matters
which we are about to consider will probably afford as
much insight into the real nature of China and the
character of the Chinese as we have obtained from a
consideration of their history, climate, religions, lan-
guage, agriculture, and institutions. That such matters
as these are of much interest is sufficiently proved by
the fact, that whilst there are few who have not heard
of the curious passion of the Chinese for kite-flying
and fireworks, the vast majority of our countrymen
have cared little to acquaint themselves with the history
or geography of this interesting and unique empire.
And it may safely be affirmed that the curiosities of
China are by no means the least curious part of our
subject.

Let us take for instance the two pursuits—for they
may really be termed such—that have been mentioned,230

MISCELLANEOUS.

namely, kite-flying and firework manufacture. In what
other country can we see grave adults solemnly
watching the gyrations of paper toys in the air,
or devoting large sums of money and considerable
ingenuity to those pyrotechnic displays which accom-
pany all the principal festivities of the Chinese ?
True, neither their kites nor their fireworks are of
so simple a character as those which satisfy Eng-
lish children ; but the amusements themselves differ so
entirely from those which find favour with grown-up
Englishmen, that it is worth our while to speculate
upon the causes which induce the elderly children
of the race of Han to be pleased with such simple
affairs.

Mr. Scarth, in his “Twelve Years in China,” remarks
how strange it is to see sober, sedate merchants tug-
ging away at a long string, guiding a kite very effec-
tually through the air. “ Some,” he says, “ are made in
the shape of birds, and the hovering of the kestrel or
the quick dive of the sparrow-hawk are beautifully
imitated by expert guidance of the string. The first
I saw in Shanghai appeared so real that I got down a
rifle to try a shot. The Chinese>beat us hollow in
these things, also in the ‘ messengers ’ they send up,
prettily painted, in the shape of gigantic butterflies
with outstretched wings, at the back of each of which
is a simple contrivance to make them collapse when
they reach the kite, and, so soon as they collapse, down
come the butterflies sliding along the string, and ready
to be adjusted for another flight.” Not only birds are
thus imitated, but sometimes snakes and dragons, most
cleverly painted, and so contrived as to imitate not
only the forms but also the motions of the animals
they represent.FIEEWOBKS.

231

Their fireworks are equally ingenious : on one occa-
sion was constructed a representation of an immense
vine arbour, which burned without consuming ; the
trunk, branches, leaves, and fruit appeared all in their
natural colours, with, occasionally, butterflies apparently
flitting among the branches. To this succeeded an
immense number of rockets, which formed themselves
into innumerable stars, serpents, comets, and flying
dragons. This magnificent display was followed by a
grand discharge of a shower of fire, with which were
intermixed variegated lanterns, some with sentences
written on them, together with figures of fruit, flowers,
fans, etc. Then ascended a display of columns, formed
by rings of light, which lasted a few minutes, and was
unequalled in brilliancy by any former device. At
last the grand finale took place; the Chinese dragon,
of an immense size, appeared in all his hideous majesty,
surrounded by ten thousand winged reptiles, standards
and banners, when in an instant appeared upon the
back of the monster the figure of the emperor, formed
by blue lights; these successively changed to .yellow,
and lastly to the most intense white. A deafening
report now rent the air, while a green veil arose over
the emperor, from the midst of which a volcano of
rockets ascended. They also have an ingenious con-
trivance by means of which paper boats are made to
float and move along the water, by means of a stream
of fire issuing from the stern. It is fortunate- for our
army and our navy that- the talent of the Chinese for
using gunpowder has been diverted into these harmless
channels, instead of having been employed in the
manufacture of a better article than they possess for
artillery purposes.

Akin to fireworks is another of those manufactures232

MISCELLANEOUS.

in which the Chinese excel, namely lanterns ; of which,
a grand display takes place at the Feast of Lanterns,
which falls upon the first full moon of the new year,—
a time when the whole nation puts off for a while its
customary labours, and keeps holiday for a fhw days.
These lanterns are made of silk, horn, or paper, and
occasionally of glass; they are gaily decorated, and
some of them are supplied with moving figures, which
are set in motion by a wheel turned by the draught of
air created by the heat of the lamp. They do not give
a very brilliant light, it is true, but they are lavishly
ornamented, and form some of the principal decorations
of a Chinese interior. No one is allowed to go abroad
after nightfall in China unless he carries his lantern,
and can give a satisfactory reason for being so late
astir. It has been computed that, at the Feast of
Lanterns, there are not less than 200 millions of
them blazing at the same time in the different parts
of this wonderful empire. The lanterns are made
of almost every conceivable form; one, which was in-
tended to be used on state occasions only, and which
was exhibited at the celebrated Chinese exhibition at
Hyde Park Corner in 1843, was ten feet high, four
feet in diameter, and was adorned with 238 crimson
silk tassels.

The lamp oil in common use is extracted from the
ground nut (Arachis Hypo yen) which grows luxu-
riantly in China. The same kind is used fi»r culinary
purposes, and supplies almost entirely the place of
butter. Candles are sometimes made of “ peh-lah,” or
insect wax, a substance which much resembles sperma-
ceti ; but they are generally manufactured from the
seeds of the croton sebiferum, a substance which melts
rather rapidly. Their candles are provided with anMONETARY SYSTEM.

233

outer coating of wax, and, as the tallow burns the more
rapidly of the two substances, the wax remains about one-
fourth of an inch above, and so prevents guttering. This
forms a sort of save-all, which might be introduced
with benefit for our own poorer classes. The candles
are also stuck upon the point of a piece of wood, an
arrangement which at once combines economy and
cleanliness. Candles, however, are rarely used by the
poorer classes; they generally use a saucer of oil with
a strip of pith floating in it.

The monetary system in China, and their weights
and measures, are so different from our own that an
account of them will probably be found more interest-
ing than such subjects usually are. The circulating
medium between the Chinese and foreigners formerly
consisted of broken Spanish dollars, the value of which
was usually computed by weight. Every individual
coin has the mark of the person through whose hands
it passes stamped upon it; and, as the number of these
marks soon becomes very numerous, the coin is quickly
broken in pieces, and the fragments at last become
very small. The only legal coin of the Chinese is called
cash (or tseen) which is made of a mixture of copper, zinc,
and lead ; they are thin and circular, with square holes
in the centre, for the convenience of tying them
together; and, notwithstanding their small value, are
much adulterated with spelter. On one side is the
title of the reigning emperor, whilst the reverse bears
a Tartar inscription. The following table shows
approximately the relative value of the constituents
of the Chinese money-table; the terms employed
are given both in Chinese and by their foreign
names:—1234

MISCELLANEOUS.

• Tael.  (leiing.)	Mace.  (le.)	Candareens.  (fun.)	Cash.  (tseen.)	Approximate sterling value.
1	10	300	1000	6s. 8d.
	1	10	100	8d.
		1	10	•8d.
			1	about 1-tenth of a penny

There is no gold or silver coinage, and the above
term3 only express the values of certain weights of
silver—the “ cash ” is the only coin,—it having been
found impracticable to introduce a silver coinage, from
the fraudulent tendency of the Chinese to adulterate so
valuable a metal. Gold and silver bullion is, however,
used for purposes of exchange; the banker puts his
stamp or chop upon it, and the touch or quality is
thereby guaranteed. Of this nature was the sycee
silver in which the Canton indemnity was paid. Brick-
tea is also a medium of exchange in the northern
provinces, and so are cowries (which the Chinese gro-
tesquely call “fat of the sea ”) in those provinces which
border upon India. Peking again seems to have a
currency of its own ; Mexican dollars are in circulation
there, but the ordinary cash are of no use; instead of
them a larger cash, worth about d. each, is employed.

The only weights in use among the Chinese, other
than the money weights already described, are exhibited
in the following table :—

• The tael, however, varies in different parts—it is heavier in Se-chuen
than at Shanghai, or at Han-kow, according to Captain BlakiBton’s accounts;
but the standard weight is about one ounce and a third.WEIGHTS AND MEASUBES.

235

Pecul.	Catty.	Tael.	'	lbs.
(tan.)	(kin.)	(leang.)	avoirdupois.
1	100	1,600	133*
	.1	16	1*

1 ton is therefore equal to 16 peculs and 80 catties,
and 1 cwt. is the same as 84 catties.

The measures of China may be conveniently classed
into land, long, and dry measures.

The first has been a very variable affair, but it is
now fixed by authority; 1,200 covids are to make a
mow, and a moio contains about. 6,600 square feet.

The covid (chib) is the principal measure of length,
and it is divided into ten punts (tsun). It varies con-
siderably, according to the trade or science in which it
is used, but its usual length is rather more than an
English foot; that by which distances are rated is
12T inches nearly. The le or mile is even more
variable ; it is generally taken as one-third of an
English mile, hut it really seems to depend upon the
nature of the country traversed, and consequently upon
the time employed in the journey. Some of the ac-
counts given by English travellers of the awkward
predicaments into which they have fallen, for want of
a knowledge of the elastic properties of the Chinese le,
are very amusing.

As to dry measure, it may be said that rice or paddy
is the only article measured in vessels the dimensions
of which have been fixed by law or usage ; hut as even
rice and paddy are usually weighed when sold in large
quantities, the vessels for measuring these commodities
are little used. In fact, the Chinese weigh all articles236

MISCELLANEOUS.

that are bought and sold that are weighable, as money,
wood, vegetables, liquids, etc. Col. Fisher states that
he once actually saw, in the streets of Canton, two
men haggling over the price of a three-legged stool,
which the vendor had placed in a pair of scales, and
of which he was loudly proclaiming4its merits.

Both pawnbroking and banking establishments are
common in the large cities; the usual pawnbroking
establishments are similar to those of Europe, but are
governed by very strict laws to prevent the extortion of
exorbitant interest. The banks, too, resemble in some
measure the private banks in England, each bank being
owned by an individual or firm ; there are no char-
tered banking companies in China. Both pawnbrokers
and bankers must be licensed, and they are not permit-
ted to receive a higher interest than two per cent, on
clothing, and three per cent, a month on other goods;
an average that is of thirty per cent, a year ! Three
years are allowed for the redemption of goods, at the
expiration of which period unredeemed pledges are sold.
Collectors of the revenue deposit their receipts in the
“ money shops,” the owners of which pay them to
government, after deducting a liberal allowance for
waste (as authorized by law) in reducing the silver to
the standard quality of the government sycee. Private
individuals deposit sums in these banks, and draw on
them just as with us, interest being sometimes agreed
upon on either side ; but the Chinese bankers issue no
notes or money on their own responsibility. Paper
money was formerly issued by the government, but is
not now known. Marco Polo describes how “ in the
city of Cambalu (Peking) is the mint of the Grand
Khan, who may be said to possess the secret of the al-
chemist, for he has the art of producing money by thePOSTAL APEAKGEMEKTS.

237

following process,” and the “ prince of travellers,” goes
on to describe the manufacture of paper from the inner
bark of the mulberry-tree, etc. etc.

To perform their calculations the Chinese have a
kind of arithmetical board, or abacus, called sivan-pan,
or counting-board, on which, by constant practice, they
will perform calculations in numbers with surprising
facility. It consists of an oblong frame of wood, having
a bar running lengthwise about two-thirds of the width
of the frame from one side. Through this bar, at right
angles, are inserted a number of parallel wires, having
moveable balls on each of them, five on one side, and two
on the other of the longitudinal bar. The principle on
which computations are made is this : that any ball in
the larger compartment being placed against the bar,
and called unity1, decreases or increases by tenths, hun-
dredths, etc; and the corresponding balls in the smaller
division by fifths, fiftieths, etc. If one in the smaller
compartment is placed against the middle bar, the
opposite unit or integer (which may be any one of the
digits) is multiplied by five. This arrangement suc-
cessfully gets over the difficulties of calculation arising
from the fact that the Chinese numbers are written in
words at length, unlike the Arabic system of numera-
tion, where the powers of the numbers increase or
diminish decimally, according to their position.

The wonderful mechanism of a post-office, such as
our own, is quite unknown in China; the government
has indeed a sort of postal service, conducted by relays
of horses, by means of which despatches of great im-
portance have been sent from Peking to Canton (a
distance of 1,200 English miles) in twelve or thirteen
days, a rate of about 100 miles a day. There are also
numbers of well-known and trustworthy persons in238

MISCELLANEOUS.

many parts of the empire who are employed as letter-
carriers, and who call at appointed places where letters
are left for them ; thus supplying, in some measure,
the absence of a regular post; so that, after all, our
Chinese friends are not so badly off in this matter,
except in the slowness of their proceedings. It is
believed, too, that they have a rude system of tele-
graphing, by means of bamboo semaphores on the
principal heights, and in some cases carrier-pigeons are
employed.

The Chinese inns, though very numerous, are badly
provided with accommodation; this is in a great
measure owing to the numerous facilities which are
offered to travellers in the street-cookery and boat-
cookery which obtains throughout the whole empire.
It is also partly attributable to the simple wants of
the travelling Chinaman; his baggage rarely consists
of more than a hard pillow, rolled up in a thin mat-
tress or mat, which he generally carries on his back.
The enormous quantity of baggage carried by Euro-
peans surprises the natives exceedingly. Official per-
sons are accommodated with lodgings in buildings
called Koong-Tcuan, or government hotels ; and wher-
ever one of these does not exist, the Buddhist priests
are called upon to provide for them in their temples.
Many of our English embassies have been lodged in
these places.

Who has not heard of the wonderful way in which
the Chinese train cormorants to fish for them ? Mr.
Scarth gives a graphic account of this practice :—“ A
strange sight,” he says, “ is the cormorant fishermen
at Foo-chow, standing erect, each on a little raft of
bamboos not over two feet wide, directing their birds
and propelling their raft with a long bamboo, in a fierceCORMORANT AND MOONLIGHT FISHING. 239

tideway, with eddies surrounding them that threaten
almost certain death in ease of accident. They appear
wholly intent on the work of their sagacious birds,
which dive in almost all directions after their prey.
The best place, however, to see cormorant fishing is in
the clear streams of Che-kiang ; it is pretty to see
the birds chasing the fish under the water; they go a
wonderful pace, and, when swimming near the rough
and stony bottom, it is marvellous to see the rapidity
with which they crane their heads from side to side in
the crevices of the rocks, as they rush through the
water. They seem quite proud to get hold of a good

fish, and bear it triumphantly to their master........

The birds know their masters readily, and rarely take
a fish to a wrong boat. When near the boat’s side,
the man shoves a bamboo under them, on which the
birds perch and are then lifted into the boat.” Mr.
Scarth thinks that the ring placed on nearly every
bird’s neck is not to prevent their swallowing the fish,
but simply to distinguish the birds belonging to each
fisherman.

There is also the truly ingenious method of moon-
light fishing, which is so characteristic of the practical
and cunning Chinese intellect. A bright night is se-
lected, and a long frame of white painted canvas is thrust
over the side of the boat, one edge of the frame resting
on the gunwale and the other floating on the water.
The fish, with which the Chinese lakes and rivers teem,
frequently jump out of the water during their midnight
gambols, and, misled by the glitter of the sloping
canvas platform, do not hesitate to fall upon it, in mis-
take for the native element from which they have just
before too carelessly emerged; the fisherman tips up the
canvas, and the scaly trifler falls into the boat and is240

MISCELLANEOUS.

secured. Of course it is only the work of an instant to
set the trap again.

Then there is a very clever adaptation of the dip-net
to be seen in use along most of the river banks, the
ordinary net, and the hook and line ; which need not be
described here.

There is one of the amusements of the Chinese not
yet referred to, which would form a chapter of itself if
we could allot to it that space which its probable influence
upon the morals of the country and the interest which
all classes feel in it demand. But we must be content
with only a short glance at the Chinese theatres ; pre-
mising that the actors are a class of persons looked
down upon by the other members of the community,
notwithstanding the large amount of patronage which
is bestowed upon the exhibitions. ^It is not our inten-
tion to refer to the night performances, further than to
say that they are abominable, in every sense of the
word: and that it is really impossible to describe them.
As regards the day performances, which sometimes last
all the day long, it may be stated that acting of a high
class is quite unknown in China; that there is good
pantomime, and clever mimicry, and that the morality
of these day performances are much better than of the
evening entertainments. The plays are mostly rather
acted stories than dramatic plots ; the actors are almost
invariably men, some of whom simulate with much
dexterity the female characters, though, occasionally,
in some scenes of dissipation, women have been known
to act. The dresses are generally gorgeous, preserving
in many instances the traditional costumes of early
times, which are now only to be seen upon the stage.
The scenery is scanty and indifferent, tablets being
hung up describing the various scenes represented.THEATBE9—EE AST OF LAN'TEBNB.

241

The audience are generally very attentive, and express
their applause, not by clapping of hands as with us,
hut by grunts .or sighs of admiration. Much more
might be written on this subject, for it is one that has
attracted considerable attention both from Chinese
and European writers. It appears from the former
that though the avowed object of the stage is morality,
yet, it is in so degraded a condition in China, that their
more moral writers frequently warn their readers
against theatrical performances, and even prohibit
females from witnessing them. Indeed nearly all the
amusements of the Chinese are of a very unsatisfactory
or childish description: as Mr. Wingrove Cooke re-
marks “ they act like stupid old children, without their
innocence, grace, or natural freedom.” “Your China-
man,” he adds “ is a monotonous animal, even in his
saturnalia. At the Feast of Lanterns,* on New Year’s
Day (February 14th), the women crowd the temples,
or light up small red candles in their domestic joss-
houses, the men pull each other’s tails, play half-
drunken practical jokes in the temples, of strew the
streets in front of their doors with crackers, and set
them on fire, keeping up a constant detonation all over
the city.”

We will not linger over any account of the curious
juggling tricks which may be witnessed any day in their
streets, or give any detailed description of the boat-races
in honour of the dragon, which take place annually on
the fifth day of the fifth moon (which usually occurs
in June). This feast is held with a view to propitiating
that type of China’s degradation, and securing his

* This and the ceremonies of “ meeting the Spring ” are the most im-
portant of the Chinese festivals ; business is suspended for a time, friendly
visits are interchanged, and the whole nation keeps holiday for a few days.

B242

MISCELLANEOUS.

influence in averting a fertile source of misery through-
out the country, namely, the flooding of the fields
by the rivers bursting their often loosely-constructed
banks.

The amusements of the people of an unchristianised
country partake of the same defects as do their litera-
ture, their manners, and their institutions. Clever
they may be, for the human intellect is almost illimit-
able in its powers, but heartless they must be ; for
those-who practise them know nothing of that funda-
mental principle which must govern all our actions in
order that they may reach their highest fruition:
namely, that whatsoever we do must be done to the
glory of God.

But superstition takes the place, as we have seen, of
religion in China ; hence the excessive fondness of the
Chinese for charms and amulets. The street-stalls con-
stantly contain these miserable things in the shape of
tiger’s jaw-bones, monkeys’ skulls, discarded snake-
skins, dried lizards, etc. A son of the late Dr. Morrison
sent home a large number of specimens of these Chinese
charms to the Royal Asiatic Society, in whose museum
they are still to be seen. Perhaps one of the most
common forms of talismans is the hundred families'
loch, to procure which a father goes round among his
friends, and, having obtained from a hundred different
parties a few of the copper coins of the country, he
himself adds the necessary balance to purchase an orna-
ment or appendage fashioned like a lock, which he
hangs round his child’s neck, for the purpose of locking
him to life, and making the hundred persons concerned
in his attaining old age. Then, on the day of the
Feast of the Dragon, a sprig of peach-blossom, or of
certain other plants, is placed by the Chinese at theCHASMS AND rOETTJHE-TELLIHG.

243

doors of their houses, to prevent all manner of evil
from entering. There are written charms without
number, and nearly every person wears something of
this sort about his person ; the greatest favour that an
emperor can bestow on one of his ministers is said to
be the word show (longlife) written, in a peculiar way,
by the prince himself. Every sort of divination is
practised, and almost everybody in China goes occasion-
ally to consult the fortune-tellers. Strange yearnings
these for that envied state of security which “ whoso
putteth his trust in the Lord ” alone can have ; and
anxious ungratified longings these after a knowledge of
the future, as to which the Christian, and he alone, is
never anxious; for “ He shall not be afraid of evil
tidings: his heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord.”
(Psalm cxii. v. 7.)CHAPTER XII.

INTERCOURSE WITH FOREIGNERS.

Chinese exclusiveness—Early intercourse with the Romans, Nestorians,
and Arabs—The Portuguese—The Dutch—The Russians, Americans, and
French—Early English intercourse with China—Embassies of Lords
Macartney and Amherst—The East India Company—The Opium war—
Subequent wars, treaties, and intercourse.

We have hitherto endeavoured to lay before our read-
ers as full and as accurate an account of the Chinese
at home as our limits would allow, and have onty in-
cidentally referred to the intercourse which China has
held with the outer world. It is now proposed to treat
of this part of the subject; few remarks are necessary
to enforce its importance, or add to its interest.

It will be desirable, for many reasons, to defer treat-
ing of the comparatively feeble efforts which have
hitherto been made to confer the blessings of Chris-
tianity upon China, until another chapter. It would
be unseemly to mix up the tale of battles lost and won,
of vengeance with fire and sword for cold-blooded
murders, and broken treaties, of the subterfuges of
illegal trade, or of grasping diplomacy and cunning
evasions, with the history of the reception accorded by
China to those who have gone to tell her of the
“Prince of Peace.” Unfortunately the picture has
these dark shades, and we prefer to confine our readers’
attention to them for the present; regarding them asREASONS FOR INTERNATIONAL INTERCOURSE. 245

the rough, rude scaffolding merely, in connection with
which the church in China has to be built. We do
not wish to be understood as undervaluing the acces-
sories to our intercourse with China which commerce
has afforded; they may prove the means of working
out a beneficial end; even in the means themselves
much of what is good may be introduced. Our great
Teacher Himself felt all the human sympathies of His
divine nature touched at the sight of the misery and
diseases of our race, and ever sought to ameliorate the
sorrows and sufferings of this fleeting life; and there
is wide field for us to follow His example with our
fellow-men in China. Besides the religion, of which
each of us may regard himself as a steward, and for
our possession of which we shall assuredly he held
responsible, we have material blessings too, which, from
their very abundance, we are apt to undervalue, and a
share of which would be a boon to the sin, misery, and
poverty which exist in this vast empire.

The interchange of these material blessings between
different countries generally depends upon the existence
of a common origin of their inhabitants ; their con-
tiguity ; their moral and political sympathies; and,
above all, upon their common necessities. It is curious
to notice how little these points come into play as
between China and those distant nations of the west
whom she is pleased to call “ the outer barbarians.”
For our respective progenitors finally separated shortly
after the flood; we are thousands of miles apart;
in morals and in politics we have scarcely anything
in common ; and, whatever the luxurious progress of
latter days has induced us to require from China,
we have scarcely been able to persuade her that
she requires much, if anything, from us. Under246

INTEBCOVBSE WITH FOBEIGNEBS.

circumstances such as these it is not to be wondered at
if little progress has been made in establishing friendly
relations with the “ Middle Kingdom.” The bond
which must eventually unite us more closely than auy
ties of policy and commerce is a common Christianity;
and, following in its train, will be found those humane
arts and those domestic joys, elevated by an enlightened
civilization, which we, possessing, are perhaps too often
tempted to misuse, or to ignore, but with which China
is almost unacquainted. And when, at last, by the
aid of this mighty lever, one-third of the human race
shall be raised to a loftier place in the list of the
nations, besides the consciousness which the inhabitants
of the western world will possess of having been the
instruments wherewith the true light was enabled to
shine in China, the vast and hitherto unexplored re-
sources of the empire will be opened to the rest of
mankind, and the time will draw nearer when all the
nations shall at last become one fold, under one Shep-
herd.

Let us not, however, suppose that this happy con-
summation is likely to arrive at once. After the lapse
of more than twenty centuries matters do not appear
to have much advanced, until within the memory of
living men. Separated from Europe by a long land
transit which, even with modern appliances, is a tedious
and dangerous journey, or by a sea voyage'which, until
recently, was a more perilous undertaking still,—secure
in its isolation, and accustomed with scornful self-
conceit to regard the half-savage tribes upon her
borders as types of all foreigners, the Chinese govern-
ment has always cared little for other countries, save
for a trade, chiefly in articles of food, with the adjacent
and sister country of Japan. Within the stupendousCHINESE MISBEPEESENTATIONS.

247

area of her own dominions there was to be found
sufficient of everything that the simple habits of her
teeming population, or the luxurious effeminacy of her
highest nobles, could require. Why should she care
to hold intercourse with those who dwelt “ beyond the
canopy of heaven ? ”

Such notions as these were the first stumbling-blocks
in the way of our intercourse with China; and though
they are gradually being removed, there remain others
of too great magnitude for us to disregard. First and
foremost of these is the disinclination of the govern-
ment itself; jealous, in the extreme, of the introduction
of any element within the borders of the land that is
not entirely under its control. The emperor has taught
his people to believe that, from the first, our intercourse
with China has only been allowed by his gracious and
pitying condescension to our supplications that China
might be permitted from her abounding superfluities
to provide for the urgent necessities of the “ outer
races,” which could not otherwise be supplied. “ How,”
said his councillors, “ without the rhubarb of the Celes-
tial dominions can the diseases of the red-haired races
be cured ? how can their existence be supported with-
out our fragrant tea ? how can their persons be adorned
unless your sacred majesty will allow their traders to
purchase and to convey to them our beautiful silk F
Think how far they come, how patiently they wait,
how humbly they supplicate for a single ray from the
lustrous presence. Let not their hearts be made dis-
consolate by being sent empty away.” Such is the
manner in which the Chinese government endeavour
to disguise from themselves the inevitable result of our
loud and continued knocking at her doors, and disdain-
fully thus does she throw them open. Even now, the248

INTEBCOUESE WITH FOEEIGITEBS.

existence of the late treaty is unknown in many parts
of the interior; and yet, in places such as these, the
adventurous Europeans who have travelled thither
have met with a kind reception from the inhabitants,
a fact pregnant with the all-important truth, which
our experience in other parts of the empire confirms,
that it is to the government, rather than to the people,
that our presence is distasteful.

Indeed everything which tends to promote an ac-
quaintance between our own race and the sons of
Han facilitates the international amity. For want of
an accurate knowledge of the habits of the people our
merchants have made numerous imprudent speculations,
trade has languished, and consequently there has been
from time to time a lack of interest in Chinese affairs.
Interpreters are few, and many of those few foreigners
who understand Chinese are men of such inferior mental
culture that an educated native bcomes disgusted with
their solecisms of speech and manners. Things are,
however, very much improved in both the foregoing
respects; as our merchants are becoming acquainted
with the habits of the people, and as the numbers of
those who study the language increase, these evils
diminish. The heart of China has been opened to us
by the permission we have obtained, lender the last
treaty, to navigate the Yang-tsi-kiang, and to travel at
will throughout the country ; so that, in process of
time, we may fairly look forward to our missionaries
and our merchants being put in possession of full
details of the life and manners of the interior, and to
there being numbers of persons of education and ability
capable of conducting negotiations in the language of
its natives. No longer since than the close of the last
century Sir George Staunton said that there was noCHINESE DUPLICITY.

249

one in England who could speak or translate Chinese.
Things have wonderfully changed since then.

Nor have we hitherto, in our dealings with China,
been sufficiently alive to that peculiarity which the
Chinese share with almost all Asiatics, namely, a dis-
regard for truth and for engagements. We have not, so
to speak, distrusted them sufficiently; we have not in-
sisted strongly enough on the literal fulfilment of all
treaty obligations ; we have winked at trifling infrac-
tions of them, until the “black-haired race,” who
cannot at all understand our possessing powers without
practising them, have ventured upon still more serious
infringements of our compacts, and war with all its
horrors has been the result. We have connived at
their offence, have even endured insults to our country
and to our religion, and are only just beginning, within
the last few years, to accept the experience of those
who have most deeply studied the question, namely,
that a perfectly straightforward line of policy, a rigid
adherence to all treaty regulations, a scrupulous main-
tenance of every rightful advantage which we have
won, and a no less scrupulous observance of all the
obligations we have incurred,.can alone place our mis-
sionaries and our traders in the position which then’
labours demand.

The Chinese officials, especially those connected
with the collection of the customs, have also been a
serious obstacle to our successful relations with China.
Most nefariously have they robbed us and their own
government, until at last the Boards at Peking
dared to punish these peculative officers, and to in-
trust the control of these questions to an Englishman,
Mr. Lay.

And, finally, there is a cause, which we reluctantly250

INTERCOURSE WITH FOREIGNERS.

mention, why Englishmen and other Europeans have
not succeeded better with the Chinese—the profligate
character of many of those who frequent the treaty-
ports. Some are inclined to think that this evil has
been exaggerated; but at any rate it has existed to a
sufficient extent to call for remark. Let us hope that
this evil is on the decrease, for the sake of all con-
cerned. Our relations never promised so fairly as they
do now; the government is said to be, on the whole,
favourably disposed towards foreigners ; and, by the aid
of our arms, considerable progress has been made in
crushing the rebellion. We will therefore trust that
the progress of events may not be marred or retarded
by the misconduct and bad example of a few un-
principled adventurers, whose misdeeds will be more
readily quoted against us than any good we may do
will be allowed in our favour.* England has, it has
truly been said, “ the lion’s share in the prosperity of
China,” her commerce and all her interests far exceed
those of any other country; let Englishmen at least
show that, whilst they value their privileges they are
not unmindful of their duties.

Let us now examine in detail the efforts which have
been made from the earliest times to establish friendly
relations with this proud and shy country. We cannot
do better, in describing the communications of the
ancients with China, than cull from the pages of Sir
J. F. Davis, an author who entered most fully into this
part of his great work on the Chinese. After question-
ing the accuracy of the opinion that the Seres mentioned
by Horace and other Latin writers were the Chinese,

* The Royal Proclamation of June, 1865, for the establishment of an
improved system of administration of justice at Shanghai, will no donbt
have a beneficial effect in preventing a repetition of some of the excesses
which are said to have taken place.EABLY ENTEECOTJBSE.

251

and admitting that some of the ancients were not
altogether ignorant of the existence of such a people,
he goes on to say that, in a.d. 161, the Roman Em-
peror Marcus Antoninus despatched an embassy to the
country which was furnishing Rome, even in those
early days, with valuable and beautiful silk-stuffs. *
Like most attempts of this kind in succeeding ages,
the embassy proved to be an entire failure, and the
ambassadors returned from China without having paved
the way to a more frequent or intimate intercourse.
Indeed after the time of Justinian all traces of Euro-
pean, intercourse with China are lost for ages. Marco
Polo states very clearly that he had ocular proof of the
advent of some Nestorian Christians into China in
a.d. 635, who had been driven eastward by persecutions
in the Roman provinces; and the same traveller reports
that their followers, in 1274, built two churches in a
city near Nanking. But, observes Davis, “ it is to the
Arabs that we owe the first distinct account of China,
and of its peculiar institutions and customs. Their
far extended conquests brought them to the confines of
that remote empire ; and the enlightenment of science
and literature which they possessed in no small degree
during the eighth and ninth centuries led many indi-
viduals among them to explore unknown countries, and
to record what they had seen. We possess an interest-
ing specimen in Renaudot’s translation from' the
itineraries of two Arabian travellers in the years 850
and 877. These bear internal evidences of truth and
accuracy no less indisputable than those which distin-
guish the relations of the Venetian traveller, Marco

* Daring the most flourishing period of the Roman empire in the East,
it was found advisable to neglect the land transit to China, and to make an
island in the Indian Ocean, mid-way between the two empires, the common
emporium for their commerce.252

INTEBCOUBSE WITH FOBEIGNEBS.

Polo; and, as they have reference to a much earlier
period than even his, must be considered to possess a
very high degree of interest. We can perceive a re-
markable identity between the Chinese, as they are
therein described, and the same people as we know
them at the present day, although a period of 1000
years nearly has elapsed.” In 1246, the Pope sent one
Giovanni Carpini, a monk, to the Mongol Tartar Court;
and, later in the same century, Nicholas and Matthew
Paolo or Polo, accompanied on their second visit,
in 1274, by Marco Polo, visited China, and gave a
glowing account of the vast wealth and resources of
the empire.

But it was not until 1516, when the Portuguese
first arrived in'China, that any regular intercourse
between the eastern and western world was established.
The Portuguese first made their appearance at Canton,
but afterwards removed their settlement to Ningpo.
In 1545 the provincial government expelled them from
this place, provoked by their misconduct. In fact the
Portuguese seem never to have stood well with the
Chinese authorities; for the early comers were rude
adventurers, or avaricious dealers, who left but a poor
impression of Europeans on the Chinese mind. To the
Portuguese however is due the credit of having been
the first European nation that sent an embassy to
Peking. This they did in 1520 ; and although, like all
succeeding embassies by the same nation, this proved
fruitlesss, the Portuguese succeeded at last in obtaining
(as a reward for their assisting the Chinese in extermi-
nating some of the pirates who infested the coasts) the
exclusive right to trade with China for many years,
and the possession of the island of Macao, where they
established themselves about the middle of the sixteenthPORTUGUESE AND DUTCH INTERCOURSE. 253

century. The Spaniards, indiscriminately with the
Portuguese, have the right of trading to Macao; but
the restrictions which are imposed, and the jealous
surveillance which is exercised by the native authorities,
have entirely cramped the trade of these two nations,
and their present relations with China are amongst the
least important of those of all Europeans.

In 1624 the Dutch were enabled to form a settlement
on the western coast of the island of Formosa, from
which however they were expelled some twenty years
afterwards by an influx of Chinese from the mainland,
who -fled to the island on the succession of the Man-
chow dynasty; and in 1662 the Dutch returned to
Java. Like the Portuguese, the Dutch also were
solicited to aid the Chinese in one of their petty
internal wars ; and, the imperial arms proving success-
ful, the favour was extended to their allies of being
permitted to trade at Canton. Here the Hollanders
soon ruined their position with the Celestials ; they
clandestinely built a fort, were detected, and again
their relations with China were broken off. In 1762,
however, they were reinstated at Canton, and still
carry on a small trade there. At one time the Dutch
were even invited to Peking; but subsequent embassies,
especially that of 1795, were treated with the utmost
contumely, and it is only within the last two or three
years that they have succeeded in forming a treaty
with China.

Such are among the less important results of
European intercourse with the Middle Kingdom.
We have now to consider the attempts which have
been made by the powers of Russia, France, Eng-
land, and America.

A near neighbour to China, Russia was subjugated,254

INTERCOURSE WITH FOREIGNERS.

like her, by the Tartar hordes under Genghis Khan in
the thirteenth century. The histories of the two na-
tions have ever since been somewhat interwoven, and
during the last 200 years the Russian frontier has
been gradually encroaching southwards and seawards.*
In the earlier stages of Russian intercourse China pre-
served the same stolid demeanour which she has ever
held towards foreigners; and in this case indeed not
without some grounds for her superb contempt, for in
1689 the Chinese, under Kang-hi, after a five years’
war, were enabled to impose terms upon Russia in the
treaty of Nerchinsk. In after times Peter, Catherine,
and Nicholas successively sought to obtain the friendly
regard of the Chinese government; but all in vain till
the success of the allied armies of France and England,
in 1860, gave Russia the opportunity for which she had
been waiting for centuries, and she concluded a treaty
scarcely less favourable than that which we ourselves
contrived to effect, and further obtained a cession of
that immense portion of the Manchurian frontier which
lies between the mouth of the river Amur and the
Corea, thus securing harbours which are open for a
much longer portion of the year than were her own in
that inhospitable region. This has been a great gain
undoubtedly to Russia, though it can hardly be con-
sidered as a loss to China. The intercourse between
the two nations is almost entirely confined to land
journeys, and their trading relations are inconsiderable.
A line of telegraph is however now in course of con-
struction between their respective capitals; and the land

* Mr. Wilkinson, an account of whose travels in Central Asia has recently
been published, tells us that a map of All the Russias, published at St.
Petersburg, actually includes that vast portion of Central Asia, heretofore
the outlying provinces of the Chinese empire, which lies beyond the Great
Wall.BTTSSIA—AMEEICA—EBANCE.

255

journeys to China, which are becoming more frequent,
will perhaps tend to open up a line of communication
that may lead to greater things than have yet been
accomplished.

The relations between China and America have, until
quite recently, been almost entirely confined to com-
mercial intercourse ; and, although the American trade
is only inferior to that of Great. Britain, there are few
features of interest to record in its history or develop-
ment. Established only for about sixty or seventy
years, American commerce has nevertheless made rapid
strides pfor the Americans are a tea-drinking people,
and they are China’s best customers for green teas.
Their consul, like the Russian, availed himself of the
success of the allies in 1860 to enter into a treaty with
China. It was signed four days after our own, by Mr.
Reed, on behalf of the United States, and secured to
his countrymen the same privileges that were granted
to ourselves. There were three American firms already
established at Han-kow when Mr. Oliphant visited the
place; and there is also a thriving American settlement
at Shanghai, where the inhabitants have erected a
large and commodious church.

The commerce of thp French in China, as compared
with that of our own country, is, as Mr. Scarth
observes, “ as a molehill to a mountain. Our inte-
rests are chiefly commercial; and, to the disgrace of
the British government, we may say that the inte-
rests of religion have been almost entirely disregarded.
Until the treaty of Tien-tsin no provision was ever
made with the Chinese government for the protection
of the Protestant native converts, or the advancement
of Christianity in any way. The chief interest France
has in China is the support of her Catholic missions ■256

INTERCOURSE WITJI FOREIGNERS.

and the avowed reason for taking part with us in the
late war was her desire to obtain redress for the death
of one of her missionaries.” Here is matter for serious
reflection on the part of all Protestants, who may well
look with anxiety on the never-failing endeavours of
the Romish church to proselytise; endeavours which
have already been remarkably successful under French
auspices in China. Whilst we have been thinking
almost exclusively on the interests of our trade, the
wily Church of Rome has seen that, fortified by our
political alliance with France, she may push her ad-
vances with an energy that cannot be used by those
whose hands and heads are full of commerce.

In the middle of the last century the trade between
France and China was ridiculously small; and even in
1832 her annual consumption of tea was only 250,000
pounds. The French trade has however much in-
creased since then, and some of her nation are now to
be found at nearly all the treaty-ports.

We now turn to a consideration of the intercourse
of our own country with China. This indeed might
well form the subject of a book itself, so numerous, so
varied, and so interesting are the incidents which con-
stitute its history.

It was in 1596, under the reign of Elizabeth, that
the first British expedition set sail for China. It was
an ill-starred undertaking; for the three ships were
lost, and the letter from the English queen to the
Chinese emperor was consequently never delivered.
A fleet of five ships however arrived safely in 1637;
but, owing to the jealous misrepresentation of the
Portuguese, met with a very indifferent reception from
the Canton authorities; at first they were fired at from
the Bocca Tigris forts; and it was not until afterLOBD MACABTNEY’s EMBASSY.

257

a short but sharp action that the Chinese were brought
to their senses. The rights of the English to enter
into trade were ultimately conceded; but it was not
until nearly forty years afterwards that any attempt
was made to renew our intercourse with the race of
Han, and that attempt was a failure, owing, as it is
supposed, mainly to the jealousy of the Portuguese,
who persuaded their Chinese friends to demand so
exorbitant a port-charge on the British ships that
trading became out of the question. Another attempt
was made in 1670, when the East India Company
established a trade at Formosa, which came to an end
after a feeble existence of some eleven years.

At last, in 1685, a more successful result was obtained
at Canton ; and here, notwithstanding numerous inter-
ruptions, we have maintained our hold for nearly two
centuries. The early history of our dealings presents
a succession of pictures of extortionate charges on the
part of the local authorities, combined with the utmost
insolence of behaviour and the most outrageous treat-
ment of every Englishman against whom any charge
of misconduct could be brought.' Constant affrays
were the result, and ineffectual attempts were made to
remove the seat of British trade to some more congenial
spot. In the year 1734 only one English ship arrived
at Canton, so depressing were the influences exerted in
China to discourage our commerce. Yet slowly and
steadily the Chinese trade began to make way at last;
and in September, 1792, Lord Macartney was despatched
from England as ambassador to the emperor, to endea-
vour to procure some additional advantages and securi-
ties for a trade which now far exceeded that of any
other European nation ; and, if possible, to obtain the
imperial consent to trade at other places than at

s258

INTEBCOUBSE WITH FOBEIGNEBS.

Canton. Though the desired permission was not
obtained, the trade at Canton continued to develope
rapidly, under the auspices of the East India Company;
and the result of Lord Macartney’s mission was to
direct an increased amount of attention to our Chinese
affairs. The demeanour of the Chinese officials im-
proved ; and, notwithstanding the check received by
our trade on one or two occasions, especially during
the injudicious and unsuccessful attempt of Admiral
Drury to occupy some Chinese territory at Macao
(avowedly for the purpose of protecting the Portuguese
interests there against an attack by the French) trade
on the whole flourished and increased.

In 1814 events occurred which threatened for a time
to put a stop to our commerce at Canton altogether.
Some causes of dispute having arisen, the Canton com-
mittee of merchants found it necessary to try the experi-
ment of frightening the Chinese into better behaviour
by threatening to withdraw their trade from Canton.
The threat produced the desired effect, and fresh com-
mercial facilities resulted; but it was soon discovered
that the native officials contrived so far to conceal and
misrepresent the nature of our dealings to the govern-
ment at Peking, that in 1816 the mission of Lord
Amherst was decided upon, with a view to place “ the
commerce of Great Britain upon a solid and equitable
footing, under the cognizance of the emperor himself,
and with the advantage of a ready appeal to him in
case of need.” Hopes of obtaining permission to trade
at some of the ports on the north-east coast were also
entertained. Sir George Staunton, whose name is so
intimately associated with much that we know of
China, was attached to this embassy, as well as to the
former British mission under Lord Macartney.LORD AMHERST’S EMBASSY.

259

On arriving at Tien-tsin, on his way to Peking,
Lord Amherst was met by shndry Chinese officials,
who insisted on his performing the ko-tow (a ceremony
of prostrating the body and knocking the head nine
times on the ground) before a yellow screen, the repre-
sentative of the emperor, prior to his lordship’s being
conducted to the presence of the great man himself.
This our ambassador wisely refused to do, knowing the
prejudicial effect which such an apparent humiliation
would have on those great English interests which he
represented, and bearing in mind the further degrada-
tion which a compliance with this ceremony had entailed
upon the Dutch. He therefore retired without having
even got so far as Peking; but as Sir John Davis
observes, “ this unsuccessful mission was followed by
a longer interval of tranquillity and of freedom from
Chinese annoyance than had ever been experienced
before. From the year 1816 to 1829 not a single stop-
page of the British trade took place, except in the affair
of the Topaze frigate, in 1822 and evidences were
not wanting of the desire of the native government to
avoid any further differences with the English.

Some difficulties, arising out of the insolvency of
certain native merchants, having been got over, and
an attempt made by the Chinese in 1830 to revert to
their old obnoxious trade regulations having been suc-
cessfully parried, the course of events now brings us
down to the year 1832, when an endeavour was made
to ascertain the true feeling of the inhabitants of
certain ports to the eastward of Canton regarding
commercial intercourse with us. This attempt was
made in direct contravention of our understanding
with the Chinese government; and turned out a failure.
Every art was used to cajole the natives at many of260

INTEBCOUBSE WITH FOBEIGNEBS.

those ports which are now opened to us by treaty into
dealing with the ship which went on this unlawful
expedition, but in vain. The officials at each place
prohibited the attempted intercourse; and, even in
a pecuniary point of view, the loss which resulted
from the voyage was considerable, amounting to nearly
£6,000.

On the 22nd April, 1834, the monopoly of trade by
the East India Company with China ceased, after a
duration of 200 years, and free trade between Canton
and the British Islands commenced. Lord Napier
was sent out from England to inaugurate the new
state of things ; but, not being accredited with the due
formalities required by the Chinese, his mission was
repudiated, and the harassing nature of his duties so
preyed upon his health and spirits that he shortly
afterwards died at Macao. Two years of quiet trade
ensued, and then arose the circumstances out of which
grew our first great war with China.

The Chinese government, notwithstanding the pro-
hibitory edict of 9th February, 1832, had, to say the
least of it, connived at the illegal opium trade carried
on under the eyes of their officials, who not only con-
sumed the drag but derived no small share of their
incomes from the extortions which they were enabled
to practise thereby. But the large drain of silver
caused by this trade, and the enormous extent of
smuggling which it caused, induced the emperor’s ad-
visers at last to take steps in earnest for its suppres-
sion. The year 1838 opened gloomily, not only on
account of the strong measures expected to be taken
against the European opium merchants, but also be-
cause of the large debt which had accumulated to the
extent of 3,000,000 dollars owing from certain ChineseTHE OPIUM TVAE.

261

traders to the English. The Chinese government de-
spatched Commissioner Lin from Peking with fall
powers for putting a stop to the hateful traffic; one
or two native opium smugglers were executed within
sight of the foreign factories,* and all the Europeans
at Canton were blockaded in their residences. More
than 20,000 chests of opium were delivered up at last.

The vigorous measures adopted at Canton drove the
illicit commerce to the sea-board ; and two or three
conflicts took place on the Canton river, the most
memorable of which was the celebrated engagement
between -two British frigates, the Volage and the
Hyacinth, and twenty-nine armed junks under
Admiral Kwan, when the Chinese were beaten off
with great loss, one junk having been blown up and
several sunk.

As might be expected under such circumstances, the
English trade languished; and, on the 5th January,
1840, an imperial edict was issued ordering that all
trade with England was thenceforth to cease for ever.
An attempt was made to burn the British fleet while
at anchor, by fire-rafts; and at last war, with all its
horrors, broke out. Canton was blockaded by a power-
ful British fleet and army; and, after some attempts
at a settlement of difficulties, which the emperor at
first thought fit to repudiate, it was ultimately agreed
by him that 6,000,000 dollars should be paid to the
British as an indemnity for their losses during the
war, that the island of Hong-kong should be ceded to
us, and that trade should be reopened. In order to

* It has been stated by Dr. Lockhart that one of these victims was
entirely innocent of opium smuggling, and that his friends' were paid a
certain sum of money in consideration of his execution, the man himself
being a consenting party I262

INTEBCOUESE WITH EOBEIGNEES.

enforce the tardy fulfilment of this compact, Sir Henry
^ottinger was sent out in 1841, and a brilliant series
of victories, in which Amoy was taken, the Bogue forts
destroyed, and Ningpo, Shanghai, and other ports cap-
tured, terminated in the treaty of Nanking, signed
before that city, on board the Cornwallis, on 29th
August, 1842, by Sir Henry Pottinger on the part of
Great Britain, and by Ke-ying, Elepoo, and Neu-kien
on the part of the emperor of China. The most im-
portant provisions of this treaty were as follows:—
1st. Lasting peace and friendship between the two
empires ; 2nd. China to pay England 21,000,000
dollars indemnity in the course of 1842 and the three
succeeding years ; 3rd. The ports of Canton, Amoy,
Foo-chow, Ningpo, and Shanghai to be thrown open
to British trade, under suitable regulations, and con-
sular officers to be appointed; 4th. The island of
Hong-kong to be ceded in perpetuity to Her Britannic
Majesty and her heirs and successors ;
and 7th. Correspondence to be conducted on terms of
perfect equality between the two nations and their
respective officers.

Such were the fruits of “ the opium war ”—a war
which would perhaps have never happened but for the
drain of Chinese bullion that it occasioned, owing to
the hitherto comparatively small amount of our im-
ports from China. For, it is worthy of note that, as
Mr. Wingrove Cooke remarks, “ not one word appears
in any public document against ‘ the foreign medicine
trade ’ since the course of exchange has turned in
favour of the Chinese and he estimates that there
are now grown annually, in the southern and central
provinces, 60,000 chests of the pernicious drug, not-
withstanding the laments which the official reportsTHE OPIUM TEADE.

263

contain concerning it. None of the new privileges
acquired under the late treaty were extended to opium.
It remained on the footing on which general imports
stood under the provisions of the treaty of Nanking :
foreigners could enter it at the open ports upon pay-
ment of a duty of thirty taels a chest, but it was then
to pass into Chinese hands, and to become subject to
such charges as the Chinese government might see fit
to impose upon it. In fact the opium trade, great though
its immediate pecuniary advantages undoubtedly are,
is a blot on our intercourse with China. If there were
any sufficient and honest grounds for its being carried
on, as some writers have alleged, it ought to have been
legalized long ago ; but if this could not have been
accomplished it should have been prohibited, notwith-
standing the enormous loss which its cessation would
occasion. Its existence under the auspices of a Chris-
tian country needs a more satisfactory apology than
has yet been penned by the most subtle advocates for
the illegal trade.

It will perhaps be convenient to state here that our
exports to China steadily increased from 1842 (the
year of the treaty of Nanking) to 1845, in which year,
owing partly perhaps to the novelty of the trade, they
amounted to £2,394,827, thus doubling their value in
1835, the year after the East India Company’s mo-
nopoly ceased. For ten years afterwards they fell:
in 1852, a year remarkable for wide-spread peace
and commercial competition, they had dwindled to
£1,918,244. In 1854 especially our exports were very
low, for then the Tae-ping rebellion broke out; but
there was a great increase in 1859, 1860, and 1861,
after the wars of 1856 and 1860; and then again came
a reaction; yet even in 1862 and 1863 our exports were264

INTEBCOUBSE WITH FOBEIGNEBS.

greater than they were in 1845. Some idea of the
extent of our exports may be gathered from a speech
made by Mr. Layard in December, 1863, wherein he
stated that our exports had risen from £1,027,000 to
£5,451,000 in six years. As regards our import trade,
Sir Frederick Bruce reported in June, 1864, that it
had increased from £13,000,000 in 1860 (the last year
before the opening of the Yang-tsi and the northern
ports) to £27,000,000 in 1863 ; and, during the same
period, the entries of foreign shipping increased from
293,568 tons to 996,890. It will be interesting to
examine a little more closely the circumstances which
wrought these vast changes.

It should be premised that, unfortunately, the treaty
of 1842 was, in respect of some of its most important
provisions, long allowed to remain a dead letter,—a
suicidal course to pursue in dealing with Asiatics.
“ Prompt and decisive as were Sir H. Pottinger’s
actions,” Dr. Lockhart observes, “ still the exact
stipulations of the treaty were not at once arranged,
hut left for after agreement. Consequently, though
access to the interior of the city of Canton was stipu-
lated for, when the time came for the carrying out of
this concession endless excuses were made, and delay
was requested by the Chinese commissioners.” This
delay was unhappily conceded; but in 1847 the same
obstacles were found to exist. Sir J. F. Davis pro-
ceeded to Canton, with a strong force, intent upon
enforcing the obligations of the treaty; nor was he
more successful. Another delay of two years was
granted, and in 1849 Sir G. Bonham made a similar
demand, which was attended with like results. The
arguments used by the Chinese officials to obtain the
wished-for postponement were that the people wereTHE AFFAIR OF THE “ ARROW.

265

not yet prepared for so great a change ; but there
appears to be little or no reason to doubt that the
facts were directly the reverse, and that in truth the
native authorities actually stirred up the people to
make murderous assaults upon the hated “ fan-kwei.”

Eight years more rolled on in this unsatisfactory
way, during which another unsuccessful attempt was
made to remonstrate personally with the emperor, by
Sir John Bowring, in 1854. In 1857 the celebrated
affair of the lorcha Arrow took place, and gave rise to a
war whose object was to enforce the right of entry into
Canton, and the performance of the other stipulations
of the treaty of 1842, and which resulted in the treaty
of Tien-tsin, in 1858. The Chinese officers at Canton,
it will be remembered, seized part of the vessel’s crew,
and took away her flag, when there could have really
been no doubt, both from the build of the lorcha and
from the fact of her papers being in the hands of the
British consul, that she was not amenable to this rude
method of Chinese jurisdiction. A demand made by
Mr. Parkes, the acting British consul, for an apology
for this insult, was met by a derisive refusal; and it
became necessary at last to threaten that force would
be resorted to in order to compel the needful reparation.
But the Chinese laughed at the threat, as they ridiculed
the request, and so arose our last and most eventful
war with China.

The conflict was carried on by the Chinese, as might
have been expected from a nation who had at length
learnt how futile were their endeavours to sustain a
combat with British forces in a fair and open field.
Enormous rewards were offered to those who should
succeed in assassinating any of the “barbarians and
the Chinese even condescended to organize a gigantic266

INTEBCOUBSE WITH FOBEIGNEBS.

scheme for poisoning the bread of the foreign residents
at Canton. This nefarious project succeeded only too
well; between 300 and 400 persons of all nations were
thus murdered; and, but for the excessive quantity of
arsenic which was employed having excited a suspicion
in the minds of some of the intended victims, a much
larger number would doubtless have been destroyed.
Admiral Sir Michael Seymour now moved up to Canton;
and, after having in vain endeavoured to obtain an
interview with the notorious Yeh, a man probably more
averse to Europeans than almost any other man in the
empire, he declared his intention to storm the city.
A temporary triumph was obtained by the Chinese,
who succeeded in setting fire to the foreign factories;
but the ultimate easy capture of the place on the 29th
December, 1857, the seizure of Yeh himself, his removal
to Calcutta, and death there shortly afterwards, are
familiar to us all.

Much insight was obtained into the views of the
Chinese government with regard to foreigners by the
perusal of Yeh’s papers. Mr. Wade, the interpreter
attached to the British forces, has thus summed up
their contents.

“ The foreigner is represented as inferior in civiliza-
tion, unreasonable, crafty, violent, and in consequence,
dangerous. The instructions of the court are accord-
ingly to lecture him fraternally or magisterially, and
by this means it is hoped to keep in hand his perpetual
tendency to encroach and intrude. A stern tone is to
be adopted on occasion, but always with due regard to
the avoidance of an open rupture.”

The late Lord Elgin now appears upon the scene,
charged with the powers of a minister plenipotentiary,
and with instructions to make such demands upon theTHE THE ATT OF TIEN-TSIN.

267

Chinese government as he might find the existing state
of things required. Accordingly, accompanied by the
French plenipotentiary, Baron Gros, he repaired with
the allied fleet tb the mouth of the Pei-ho river in
1858, to require “ apology for what had passed, to
demand that the former treaty should be revised, and
that, for the prevention of evasions by the provincial
officers, in future the English minister should be allowed
to reside in Peking, and direct communication with the
high officers of the Chinese government be obtained.”
On the 24th April, 1858, the allies arrived at the
mouth of the river; and, having announced the object
of their visit, the usual evasions were brought into
play, but it was soon discovered that the commis-
sioners despatched by the Chinese government had
not sufficient powers to treat. It was therefore deter-
mined to proceed up the river; the Taku forts at
the mouth of the Pei-ho were accordingly captured
on the 18th May, and the expedition moved on to
Tien-tsin. Commissioners duly empowered were now
sent down to treat with the ambassadors of England
and France ; and, on 26th June, 1858, the famous
treaty of Tien-tsin was signed. It consisted of fifty-
six articles ; but the following are its most important
provisions, viz.:

A British minister to reside permanently at Peking,
or to visit it, at option.

British subjects to travel to all parts of the empire.

The following nine additional ports to be opened
to trade, viz.: Neu-chwang, Tien-tsin, Tang-chow;
three ports on the Yang-tsi-kiang (viz., Ching-kiang,
Kiu-kiang, and Hankow), Tai-wan, in the island of
Formosa, Swatow, and Kien-chow, a port at the
northern extremity of the island of Hainan. Trade268

INTERCOURSE WITH FOREIGNERS.

not to be allowed at any other ports on pain of con-
fiscation of the vessels.

A settlement of the long-vexed question of transit
dues, the amounts of which was hitherto not fixed.

An indemnity of 2,000,000 taels (about £650,000)
for losses at Canton.

A further indemnity for the cost of the war.

At the free ports British subjects to be permitted to
trade, to build or buy houses, to lease land, and to
build churches, etc.

The Christian religion to be freely exercised.

Advantages secured by all former treaties to be con-
firmed, and whatever future advantages may be given
to other foreign nations the same to be also secured to
the British.

It will be at once seen what a great advance this
was upon all our former treaties with China; and it
seemed scarcely possible that any further misunder-
standings could arise; at any rate for a considerable
time. But, unfortunately, owing either to a vagueness
in the arrangements as to the residence of a British
minister at Peking, or perhaps to a lack of sufficient
decision on the part of Lord Elgin to insure this being
immediately carried out, yet one more war was found
necessary in order to compel the Chinese to perform
their treaty obligations. When Mr. (now Sir Frederick)
Bruce, Lord Elgin’s brother, repaired to the mouth of
the Pei-ho in 1859, in order to exchange the ratifica-
tions of the treaty and to claim his admission to the
capital, he was surprised to find the Taku forts re-
built and fully garrisoned, and the bed of the river
obstructed by piles and rafts. Our fleet, under Ad-
miral Hope, was repulsed in their endeavour to force
the passage ; the ships were fired upon from the forts,THE CAPTURE OE PEKIHO.

269

and were compelled, notwithstanding their having dis-
played the utmost gallantry in their attempt, to retire
with severe losses.

Lord Elgin was again sent to China in 1860; and
this time, again accompanied by Baron Gros, the
passage of the Pei-ho was forced, the Peh-tang and
Taku forts were once more captured, and the victors
marched on Peking. Some of our countrymen who
fell into the hands of the Chinese at this crisis were
cruelly butchered: taken prisoners, whilst bearing a
flag of truce, by Sang-ko-lin-sin, the Chinese general,
they endured unheard-of hardships for three weeks, at
the end of which all the English captives, save Mr.
Parkes and Mr. Lock, succumbed to the accumulated
horrors of their confinement. Sadder still perhaps to
tell of the furious revenge which was taken for this
atrocious outrage, and the pillage and destruction of
the imperial palace of Yuen-ming-yuen on the 16th
October, 1860, where the unhappy men had been in-
carcerated. But the gates of Peking were thrown
open to the allies ; and, on the 24th of October, a
convention was signed by Lord Elgin and Prince
Kung, the Chinese plenipotentiary and regent of the
empire, and the ratifications of the treaty of Tien-tsin
were interchanged. It has been urged that Lord Elgin
should not have neglected the favourable opportunity
which was now afforded to him of insisting upon a
personal audience of the emperor, and thus asserting,
in a way conclusive to tbe Chinese mind, the equality
of our Sovereign Lady Queen Victoria and his Imperial
Majesty Hien-fung, Emperor of China; but difficulties
of many sorts existed, and Lord Elgin, satisfied with
the successes which he had achieved, shortly afterwards
returned to England.270

TNTEBCOUBSE WITH FOBEIG^EES.

Our next appearance on the theatre of Chinese events
is in an entirely new character. We acted as the allies
of the Chinese government, instead of, as of old, as its
foes. Reference has already been made to the devasta-
tion and misery caused by the Tae-ping rebellion, and
we need not here revert to its history, except to men-
tion that to the skill of a British officer is mainly due
the triumphs of the imperial arms. The rebels occu-
pied the captured city of Nanking as a stronghold,
and sallied thence, sacking towns, and slaughtering the
people who were already suffering the miseries of
famine. The Chinese officials and army were useless,
and the imperialists were at their wit’s ends. Foreign
adventurers (chiefly Americans, amongst whom the
most celebrated were Ward and Burgevine) lent their
aid with little effect. But, in 1863, Major Gordon, of
the Royal Engineers, took the field with 5,000 dis-
ciplined Chinese soldiers, officered by Europeans, turned
the tide of affairs, and “ broke the neck of the rebel-
lion.” Amongst the cities which he captured was
Siau-chau, and the fearful cruelties which were perpe-
trated at its capture by the Chinese leaders so disgusted
the English soldier that he retired from his command
—yet not until he had exhibited, in a remarkable way,
qualities which can scarcely fail to enhance the Chinese
view of the British character and the prowess of our
arms. Even when the rebellion was ostensibly crushed
it continued to smoulder beneath the surface; and
the outbreaks which still occur throughout the empire
show that a wide-spread sympathy with its objects
prevails widely amongst the people.

England has already done something for China, and
only wants a reasonable opportunity to do much more.
She is ready and willing, so soon as she can more fullyCHINESE EMIGRATION.

271

overcome the prejudices of Chinese rulers, not only to
spread the beneficent influences of the pure and lofty
Gospel truths, of which she is perhaps the most favoured
depository on earth, but also to ameliorate the suffer-
ing's and satisfy the temporal wants of the race of Han,
by instructing them in many of those peaceful arts and
sciences and manufactures with which, notwithstanding
their boasted civilisation, the Chinese are as yet un-
acquainted ; and which are to he regarded as agents of
moral as well as of physical good.

Nor can the emigration which has been going on in
a remarkable degree of late years fail to have also its
beneficial results at last. The travelled Chinese, acute,
patient, and practical, cannot miss seeing many things
amongst foreigners which must tend to break down
the exclusive and conceited notions in which he and
his fathers have for centuries been trained ; whilst, on
the other hand, their industry and perseverance will
undoubtedly commend them to the employers of labour
in those sultry climes where the white man can barely
exist. All things seem to be slowly but surely tending
to the day when the universal brotherhood of our race
shall be acknowledged and acted upon, and the bless-
ings of Christianity and civilisation be extended to our
brethren in China and throughout the whole wide
world.CHAPTER XIII.

MISSIONS IN CHINA.

The Jews in China—Intercourse with them—Ancient tablet at Kai-fang—
The Nestorians—Tablet of Olopun at Singan—Early Roman Catholic
Missions—The Jesuits—Jealousies and contentions amongst the Mis-
sionaries—Their exclusion from China—Recent history and statistics of
Papal Missions—Causes of failure—Protestant Missions—Morrison, his
history and labours—His associates—Gutzlaff and the American Mis-
sionaries—The opium war and opening of China—Extension of Protestant
Missions—Their recent history and statistics—Character of the converts—
Conclusion.

Before proceeding to narrate the history and progress
of Christian missions in China, it may be interesting to
the reader to give a brief account of the Jewish colony
established there from very early times. The date of their
settlement in the Land of Sinim and the causes which
led to it are unknown. It is an ascertained fact that there
were Jews in China so early as B.c. 258, and it is proba-
ble that some companies of the Israelites wandered into
that region soon after their dispersion by the Assyrians,
B.c. 742, as recorded in 2 Kings xvii. 6. They exist
as a peculiar race, separated from the Chinese amongst
whom they live. They are dispersed over all the pro-
vinces of China, and are everywhere held in contempt;
there, as elsewhere, verifying the divine prediction con-
cerning them, as “ a nation scattered and peeled, and a
nation meted out and trodden under foot.” The Chinese
call them Tian-kin-kian, “ the sect which plucks out
the sinew,” from the fact that, like their fathers, they
eat not of the sinew which shrank,* a most interesting

* Exodus xxxii. 32.JEWS IN CHINA.

273

and curious illustration of the permanence of usage
amongst the children of Israel.

Their synagogues are met with in different parts of
the empire, but the most interesting discoveries have
been made at Kai-fung, a city in the province of
Ho-nan, in a north-westerly direction from Shanghai,
which was reached by a journey of twenty-five days
from the latter place. This visit, made by two Chinese,
was projected by the Bishop of Victoria, aud resulted
in learning the location of a Jewish synagogue, with
a few Jewish families in great poverty, surrounded by a
population of pagans and Mohammedans, and near to
a heathen temple dedicated to the god of fire.

Here they had lived till they had lost their own
history, and remained as the solitary witnesses of
departed glory. They had been without a rabbi for
fifty years, and not one of their number could read the
Hebrew books, which they had carefully folded in their
numerous wrappings, and laid away in the synagogue,
while they remained the unconscious depositaries of the
word of God. The rite of circumcision is still con-
tinued among them, but the expectation of a Messiah
h'as been lost. Out of seventy families, or clans, on
record, only seven now remain, numbering about two
hundred persons. The deputation copied some interest-
ing inscriptions from their synagogue, some in Chinese,
and others in Hebrew, and brought back to Shanghai
eight MSS. of apparent antiquity, containing portions
of the Old Testament Scriptures written in antique
Hebrew form, which are remarkable for their agree-
ment with the received text of the Hebrew Bible.

This Chinese deputation made a second visit to
Kai-fung, when they procured six copies of the five
books of Moses, each written on white sheepskin, cut274

MISSIONS IN CHINA.

and ‘ sewed together, about twenty yards long, and
rolled on sticks. They are beautifully written, without
vowel points or marks for division. The deputation
brought back with them also two of the young Jews,
one about thirty and the other forty-five years of age,
who came to Shanghai to learn to read Hebrew, for
which they expressed a strong desire. Their features
show marks of Hebrew descent, but they dress in
Chinese costume, and speak only the Chinese language.
They keep the Jewish Sabbath and worship on the
seventh day of the week.

The following extract is taken from a tablet said to
have been erected in their synagogue in the seventh
year of the Ming dynasty, a.d. 1511.

“ Moses established the law, and handed down the
sacred writings. After his time, during the Han
dynasty * this religion entered China. All those
who profess this religion aim at the practice of good-
ness, and avoid the commission of vice; morning and
evening performing their devotions, and with a sincere
mind cultivate personal virtues. They practice absti-
nence and fasting on the prescribed days, and bring
eating and drinking under proper regulations. They
make the sacred writings their study and their rule,
obeying and believing them in every particular. Thus
may they expect that the blessing of Heaven will be
abundantly given and the favour of Providence be
unfailingly conferred.

“We have engraved this on a tablet, placed in the
synagogue, to be handed down to distant ages, that
future generations may carefully consider it. This
tablet was erected in the seventh year of Ching-tih, of
the Ming dynasty.”

* From b.c. 200 to a.d. 226.THE NESTOBIANS.

275

Christian missions in China may he said to have
had three successive epochs—the early Nestorian, the
Roman Catholic, and the Protestant.

The evangelisation of China seems to have been
attempted by the Church at a very early period.
Arnobius, who wrote in the third century, speaks, in his
Books against the Gentiles, of “ the deeds which have
been wrought in the name of Christ amongst the
Persians, the Medes, and the Seres ” or the inhabitants
of the north-west frontiers of China. The Syrian
church affirm that St. Thomas preached the gospel in
China, and the primate of the Malabar Christians
styled himself the “Metropolitan of India and China.”
Others suppose that some who listened to the Saviour’s
instructions, and were eye-witnesses of his resurrection,
preached His doctrines in the far East, while Peter and
Paul were employed in its publication in places west
of the land of Judea. The monks who carried the
silkworm from China, a.d. 552, were Persians, and
probably were missionaries of the Nestorian church.

The Syrian monument found at Singan, in the pro-
vince of Shen-si, contains proofs of the early introduction
of the Nestorians into China. This monument is a
marble tablet ten feet long and six feet broad, having
on the upper part a large cross engraved, and beneath,
a long discourse in Chinese, with numerous names in
Syriac on the sides, and a Syriac inscription at the foot.
After some remarks on the principles of religion, the
fall of man, the birth of the Messiah in Judea, to-
gether with some of the laws and ceremonies of Chris-
tianity, the author gives a sketch of its introduction
and progress in China.

“ During the reign of the second emperor* of the

* a.d. 635.276

MISSIONS IN CHINA.

Tang dynasty, Olopun, after a long journey, arrived
at the capital, and was received with honour by the
emperor. With self-denying zeal he came on his
difficult and dangerous journey. In the ninth year
of the emperor he reached the city, and was conducted
to the palace. The emperor found that Olopun was
thoroughly acquainted with truth and uprightness, and
gave him a special command to make it widely known.
Under the reign of Tai-tsung and his successors, Olopun
and his fellow-labourers were prospered in their work.
Under Kau-tsung,# the illustrious religion spread itself
in every direction, and temples rose in a hundred
cities.”

Some doubt has been expressed as to the au-
thenticity of this tablet, but without sufficient rea-
son. If a forgery it must have been made by the
Jesuits or other Roman Catholic missionaries who
endeavoured to practise upon the veneration of the
Chinese for antiquity, and thus gain credit for Chris-
tianity by false pretences. “ That this was not the
case,” says Dr. Medhurst, “we may infer from the
fact that the Chinese were the first to discover the
stone, and that neither they nor the Jesuits under-
stood the Syrian part of the inscription till it was
translated in Malabar. Beside, were it a pious fraud
the Jesuits would have been more likely to ascribe the
introduction of Christianity to the efforts of the Latin
rather than the Syrian church. And had they made
any pretensions of the kind, the other orders of the
Romish clergy would have exposed their hypocrisy.
We conclude, therefore, that the inscription is a
genuine record of the labours of the Syrian Chris-
tians during the seventh and eighth centuries in

* a.d. 678.THE JTESTOEIAHS.

277

China. A fac-simile of it is in the Vatican at Rome, and
a full translation in “ Kircherer’s China Illustrata."*

About this time the Scriptures were translated into
Chinese, and placed in the imperial library. A few
years afterwards an edict was issued in favour of
Christianity, concluding with these words : “ As it is
right, let it be promulgated throughout the empire.
Let the appropriate Board build a Ta-tsin church f in
the street of the capital called the Righteous and
Holy, and appoint thereunto twent}r-one priests.”

In the year 845 the court became unfavourable, and
an edict was issued commanding the foreign priests, to
the number of 3,000 persons, to retire into private life.
From this time the accounts of the Nestorians become
confused and scanty. A series of revolutions now
distracted the empire till the establishment of the
Sung dypasty, when the famous Kublai Khan, grand-
son of the great Genghis, established the Mongol rule
over China. Reports reached Europe that Kublai had
received Christian baptism. That was not correct, but
every system of religion in his vast dominions enjoyed
the protection of the state. He was undoubtedly
favourable to Christianity, and for a time Nestorianism
revived. Marco Polo tells us that in Chin-kiang there
were three churches of Nestorian Christians which had
been built in 1278. Up to the middle of the fourteenth
century we meet with occasional allusions to Christian-
ity, but in 1368 a Chinese dynasty, known as the
Ming or brilliant dynasty, regained the throne ; and
by long-continued and most severe measures all hut
extinguished that thin and feeble light which had for
three long centuries shone upon that dark land.

• “China, its State and Prospects.” By W. H. Medhurst. Page 223.
t In the native books Arabia and Judea are called Ta-tsin.278

MISSIONS IN CHINA.

On the decline of Nestorianism the Roman Catholics
made their first attempts to plant churches in China.
In the reign of Kublai, a Minorite friar, Johannes de
Monti Corvino, after travelling through Persia and
India, reached the capital of China. He was received
with favour, built a church, and in 1305 was able to
write that he had baptised 6,000 persons. “ I am now
become old,” he says, “ and grey-headed, though more
by toils and tribulations than by my years, which are
fifty-eight. I have learned sufficiently the Tartar lan-
guage, and have translated into it the Hew Testament
and the Psalter, which I have had written in the most
beautiful character. I write and read, and I preach in
public and openly the testimony of the law of Christ.”

In 1307, Pope Clement the Fifth sent out seven
Franciscans with power to constitute Johannes de
Monti Corvino archbishop of Peking. Only^ three of
their number reached their destination. Other rein-
forcements were sent' out, but the rise of the Ming
dynasty proved as disastrous to the Roman Catholics
as it did to the Nestorians. Their infant missions
were extinguished.

Rome however did not forget China. The cele-
brated Jesuit St. Francis Xavier reached a small
island near Hong-kong, and died in 1552, looking
towards that iron-bound coast, exclaiming, “ 0 rock,
rock ! when wilt thou open ? ”

Another eminent Jesuit, Matteo Ricci, arrived at
the Portuguese settlement of Macao in 1581. He was
a great scholar, master of all the science of the age,
versatile and accommodating, and not over scrupulous.
After twenty years of persevering effort he gained a
position at Peking. Converts were made in the im-
perial household, and among the dignitaries and literatiTHE JESUITS.

279

of the empire. He had a monthly allowance from the
imperial treasury. Ricci died in 1610.

Ricci was followed by Adam Schaal, a man scarcely his
inferior. Schaal acquired immense influence at court
by his mathematical skill, and by casting cannon which
were used against the Tartars. When the Ming dynasty
was overthrown he became a great favourite with the
first Tartar sovereign Sun Che. A splendid church
was built, many missionaries arrived from Europe,
and for some years the number of nominal adherents
to the Christian faith increased in Peking and the
northern provinces of the empire. Shun Che died in
1662, and for a time under a regency the missionaries
were sorely persecuted.

In 1669 Kang-hi seized the reins of government, and
treated the missionaries with great generosity. He saw
their superiority in science, and Father Verbiest became
his friend and counsellor. Yerbiest was austere, devout,
and generous; and, like Schaal, rendered invaluable
services to the government by casting 500 cannon.
Such an impression was produced by the character and
labours of these men that in 1692 an edict was pub-
lished granting toleration to Christianity, and placing
it upon an equality with Buddhism. Many Roman
Catholic priests now came from Europe. Louis the
Fourteenth manifested special interest in the mission.
In 1703 it was asserted that in the province of Keang-
nan there were 100 churches and 100,000 converts.

Amidst all this seeming prosperity the elements of
discord were working out their own results. The
Dominicans and Franciscans, who had followed in the
wake of the Jesuits, quarrelled with the older mission-
aries. All Christendom rang with the contentions and
recriminations of the religious orders in China. Succes-280

MISSIONS IN CHINA.

sive Popes interfered and endeavoured to allay the strife
by imposing silence upon the disputants, but in vain.
Thus a rival missionary wrote of Ricci in the following
terms:

“ This Jesuit was active, skilful, full of schemes, and
endowed with all the talents necessary to render him
agreeable to the great, or to gain the favour of princes ;
but at the same time so little versed in matters of faith
that it was sufficient only to read his work on the True
Religion to be satisfied that he was ignorant of the
first principles of theology. Being more a politician
than a theologian, he found in that the secret of his
remaining peacefully in China. The king found in him
a man full of complaisance ; the pagans, a minister who
accommodated himself to their superstitions ; and the
devil a faithful servant, who, far from destroying, esta-
blished his reign among the heathen, and even extended
it to the Christians. He preached in China the religion
of Christ according to his own fancy; that is to say,
he disfigured it by a faithful mixture of pagan super-
stitions, adopting the sacrifices offered to Confucius
and ancestors, and teaching the Christians to assist
and co-operate in the worship of idols, provided they
only addressed their devotions to a cross covered with
flowers, or secretly attached it to one of the candles
which were lighted in the temples of their false gods.”

The policy of Ricci and his Jesuit associates gave
some cause for the above charges, but no authority for
the spirit which dictated them. They treated the
honours paid to Confucius, and to deceased ancestors, as
civil ceremonies; and finding it to serve their purpose,
they adopted the term Thien (heaven) to express the
name of God, to which the Chinese made no objections,
since it conveyed to them an idea of the visible heavens,EXPULSION OF THE JESUITS.

281

or some thought connected with their own superstitious
worship. Their accommodations to heathen prejudices,
together with their imposing ceremonies, rendered still
more gorgeous by extra trappings, and a conformity to
usages among the Chinese, rendered them popular, and
apparently prosperous. But the jealousies awakened
in the minds of the Franciscans and Dominicans led to
contentions which resulted in their overthrow. Ro-
manism in China is little more than a half-baptised
paganism, which exchanges the worship of Mary for
Matso-po, or the mother of God for the goddess of
mercy, and allows the converts to retain all their
superstitious practices, with their pagan significancy,
provided they are associated with the form of a cross.
Thus, on a New Year or festival occasion, when it is
customary to write heathen mottoes and paste them
over their doorways, the traveller may recognise a
Roman Catholic house by seeing their mottoes written
in the same Chinese characters, and with the same
pagan significancy, but arranged in the form of this
symbol of Christianity.

Kang-hi, the greatest emperor of China, and a great
friend of the Jesuits, died December 20th, 1723, and
the next year, under the reign of Yung-ching, remon-
strances being made against the privileges granted to
the foreign teachers, they were banished to Macao,
except those required at Peking for the service of the
emperor, and all were strictly prohibited from propa-
gating their religion. Thus more than three hundred
churches were destroyed, and more than three hundred
thousand converts were left without pastors. Kien-lung
came to the imperial throne in 1736, but his long and
prosperous reign brought no relief to the banished
Romish teachers. From that time to the recent opening282

MISSIONS IN CHINA.

for the introduction of Christianity, the Catholics
have existed there, and some of these foreign teachers
have, by stealth, travelled and lived with their converts
in the country; speaking the language and wearing
the costume of the Chinese. “ We have,” says Dr.
Dean, “ met their disciples in various parts of the
country, but have not been fortunate to meet such as
gave evidence of having been made more truthful, or
honest, or pure, by becoming Roman Catholics, or, as
they are called, disciples of Tien Chu (Heaven’s Lord).
Their teachers could translate for them the writings
of Thomas Aquinas, but found weighty reasons for
not translating the Bible. In their catechism they
translate the Decalogue, by leaving out the second
command, changing the fourth to read, ‘ Keep holy
the festivals,’ and splitting the tenth to make out
the number.”

Since that time Roman Catholics have continued
to penetrate into the interior disguised as Chinamen.
Many have suffered great hardships, and not a few
have been put to death. Dr. Medhurst, writing in
1838, says: “ Scarcely a month passes without some
new arrivals at or departure from Macao, and the
vacant ports in the interior are thus kept constantly
supplied with pastors. They all wear the European
habit in Macao, but adopt the native dress on entering
the field. When Europeans are to be introduced into
the provinces, information is sent to places previously
appointed, where adherents are prepared to receive or
conceal them. On arriving at the place of destination
the missionaries generally retire to some secret dwelling
known only to the Christians,and seldom appear abroad;
while all who desire instruction or the administration
of the sacraments go to them. Some remain fifteen orMISSIONABY STATISTICS.

283

twenty years in these secluded retreats, and thus keep
up the number of their followers, without attracting the
notice of the government. The allowance to a Euro-
pean missionary, in the interior, is about one hundred
and forty dollars a year; considerable sums are however
required for travelling expenses, for ensuring secrecy, for
supporting the poor, and for carrying on other business
of the mission; and a commercial gentleman informed
the author that the different missions in Macao negotiate
bills on Europe to the amount of £40,000 annually.”

It is not probable that the number of converts has
greatly increased of late years. In some parts of the
empire Catholics are to be found in considerable num-
bers, but there is little to distinguish them from the
Buddhists, amongst whom they live. Indeed amongst
the Chinese themselves they are often regarded as
Buddhists of a western type. It is a significant fact
in illustration of this that the Tae-pings destroyed their
temples and killed their priests, just as they did those of
their idolatrous fellow-countrymen. No exact or trust-
worthy statistics are in existence as to the actual num-
bers of Catholics throughout the empire. A statement
presented to the Bishop of Macao, in 1810, reported
six bishops, two coadjutors, twenty-three European mis-
sionaries, eighty native agents, with 215,000 Christians.
Oliphant estimates the present number of Catholics in
the empire at about half-a-million; and Blakiston says
that 100,000 are said to live in the province of Se-
chuen alone. Mr. Marshall in his Christian Missions
thus sums up the various statements upon the subject.
But the statistics cannot be regarded with confidence.

“ In 1805, after more than forty years of abandon-
ment, Sir George Staunton estimated the Christians of
China proper at two hundred thousand. In 1840 Com-284

t MISSIONS IN CniNA.

modore Read reported that ‘ there are not less than five
hundred and eighty-three thousand Catholic converts
at this time.’ In 1859 there were five hundred and
thirty thousand in Cochin-China alone, besides forty
thousand in the city of Peking, eighty thousand in the
diocese of Nanking, one hundred thousand in the pro-
vince of Se-chuen, sixty thousand in the district of
Shanghai, forty thousand in the diocese of Fo-kien,
sixteen thousand in Corea, ten thousand in Mongolia,
nine thousand in Thibet, about the same number in
Mantcbooria, and many in Tart ary, amounting pro-
bably, in the aggregate, to more than a million; and
the increase of pastors, in spite of incessant martyr-
doms, has kept pace with that of the disciples. In
1859 there were fifty-one bishops and six hundred and
twenty-four European and native priests, the latter
numbering four hundred and twenty-eight. There
were also eighteen ecclesiastical colleges.”

Before entering upon the history of the planting
and propagation of the Protestant faith in China, it
may be well to enquire whether any reason can be
assigned for the general decay, and in some cases
subsequent death, of those Nestorian and Roman
Catholic churches when their pastors were banished
from the country, and the converts exposed to persecu-
tion. A contrary result has been witnessed in our
time in the Protestant missions of Tahiti and Mada-
gascar. The explanation may probably be found in
the fact that the congregations had not been in-
trusted with the Word of God. We read of transla-
tions of the Scriptures ; but those, so far as we can
learn, were never intended for the multitude, but as
gifts to the noble and wealthy, and then placed, “ by
permission,” on the shelves of some imperial library.MABSHMA^ AITD MOBBISOKV

285

In the words of Dr. Dean, “they attached an import-
ance to baptism and the sacraments which should have
been given to the Bible idea of regeneration and purity
of life. Had they thought more of heart reformation
and a holy life, and attached less importance to the
outward forms and the sacraments of the church, they
had not, after a hundred years of self-denial and suffer-
ing service, left China an unbroken field of paganism.
They built churches, baptised children, and made
multitudes of nominal disciples, but with the Bible
untranslated and the moral character of the heathen
unchanged, it was left for Protestant Christians to
give to the millions of China the translated Word of
God, and from it to plant the seeds of personal purity,
domestic happiness and Christian institutions.” The
churches, thus deprived of the ministrations of their
foreign priests, soon became corrupt, and scarcely
distinguishable from the heathen population around
them.

In this great work of translating the Scriptures
into Chinese, Dr, Marshman, one of the illustrious
trio at Serampore, was the pioneer. His Clavis
Sinica proves him to have acquired a philosophical
knowledge of the language ; hut his translation of the
Bible, made in India without the advantage of col-
loquial intercourse with the people, is wanting in
idiomatic force, and it forms one of the many illustra-
tions of the necessity of living amongst the people to
give a version which shall he at once faithful, intelligi-
ble, and natural.

In 1807 Mr. Morrison left the shores of this country
as the first Protestant missionary to China. It was
well known that the East India Company, had they
been asked, would have refused a passage in one of286

MISSIONS IN CHINA.

their ships, and consequently Mr. Morrison was sent to
his destination hy way of America. He reached Macao
in the autumn of 1808, and shortly afterwards proceeded
to Canton, as an American. At that time it was a
capital crime in the law of China to teach the Chinese
language to a foreigner, and Mr. Morrison pursued his
studies in the language under the greatest conceivable
difficulties. He adopted the Chinese costume, assumed
the pigtail and long finger-nails, learned the use of
the chopstick; ate, studied, and slept in one room in
company with his Chinese teacher. He occupied an
apartment in the warehouse of a merchant, meanly fur-
nished, his only light by night being a cheap earthen-
ware lamp. In all things he practised the severest
economy, and he studied night and day, scarcely allow-
ing himself any interval for sleep or recreation.

In adopting the native dress, manners, and customs,
Morrison pursued the same course with Ricci, the
pioneer of Jesuit missions in China. Ricci assumed
the garb of a bonze: supposing, by a very natural
error, that the men who exercised priestly functions
and professed a life of asceticism would command re-
spect, and thus he would promote the success of his
schemes and help the spread of the doctrines he came
to teach. He soon found, however, that no class of men
were regarded with less respect, and that no garb could
he more ill adapted for his purpose than that of the
Buddhist priests. He therefore laid it aside and
assumed the costume of the scholar, or member of the
literary class. The members of his order have retained
the same costume during the whole of their residence
in China.

Morrison assumed, not the priestly, hut the ordinary
dress of the Chinamen. But he speedily came to theDB. MORRISON.

287

conclusion that he had committed an error of judg-
ment. His disguise attracted the attention of the
Chinese authorities, and excited their suspicion. By
separating himself in dress and in habits of life from
other Europeans he made it apparent that he had
objects in view unlike theirs, and hence the very mode
he adopted for conciliating the favour of the Chinese
only tended to rouse their jealousy and hostility. He
therefore resumed his European dress and took up his
abode amongst his own countrymen.

He had paid some attention to the study of Chinese
before leaving England and whilst on the voyage, but
he could do little till his arrival at Macao. He now,
however, made such progress that in about eighteen
months after his arrival he was offered the position of
translator to the English factory. From that time
Mr. Morrison declined to receive any salary from the
London Missionary Society; but while he discharged
his duties to the East India Company he never resigned
his position as a missionary, or relaxed in his efforts to
evangelise those around him.

The first literary work of this eminent Chinese
scholar was a translation of the Acts of the Apostles.
Then followed a tract on the redemption of the world,
and the Assembly’s Shorter Catechism. In 1811 he
completed his Chinese grammar. About this time
Mr. Morrison commenced his great work, the Chinese
dictionary. For several years he pursued his task with
unwearied diligence. The Hon. East India Company
so highly appreciated his labours that they sent out a
printer from England with printing-press and every-
thing necessary to the completion of the work.

During these years of official labour as interpreter
and translator to the Company, and though often worn288

MISSIONS IN CHINA.

down with literary toil, Mr. Morrison was most as-
siduous in the performance of his duties as a Christian
missionary. He was not allowed to preach in public,
but he lost no opportunity of instructing all who came
under his influence in the weighty matters of sin and
salvation. His journal and his letters relate how, on
the return of the Sabbath, he would gather together
his servants and as many as he could induce to attend,
for the purpose of conducting a religious service; in
which he taught them to bow in prajrnr before the
Most High, and expounded to them some important
doctrine from the written Word.

It is difficult to conceive the position of this solitary
servant of God, endeavouring in that most difficult
language to explain to his careless hearers that man is
a sinful and condemned creature ; that left to himself
he must inevitably perish; hut that the great God in
His mysterious mercy has had compassion upon him,
and sent His Son Jesus Christ our Saviour to suffer
and die; that the humiliation, suffering, and death
of this Son of God constitute a great sacrifice for the
sins of the world; and that now the Lord God com-
mands all men, everywhere, to repent, to trust in that
great Deliverer, and to hope in His mercy. We are
told that such statements, uttered with all imaginable
earnestness, only awakened the laughter of his hearers.
But these efforts were not without result; and in his
journal, July 16, 1814, we read : “At a spring of water
issuing from the foot of a lofty hill by the sea-side,
away from human observation, I baptised in the name
of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Tsae-a-ko. 0 that
the Lord may cleanse him from all sin in the blood of
Jesus, and purify his heart by the influences of the
Holy Spirit. May he be the first fruits of a greatTHE COLLEGE AT MALACCA.

289

harvest; one of millions who shall believe and be saved
from the wrath to come.”

The record of succeeding years is a record of literary
toil. The dictionary was finished. Its publication
awakened great interest among the learned classes in
every country in Europe. The cost of publication,
amounting to £15,000, was borne by the Hon. East
India Company. Book by book the Old Testament
was translated by Dr. Morrison or Mr. Milne, and a
manual of morning and evening devotion, translated
from the Book of Common Prayer, was published.

While Dr. Morrison was pursuing his solitary labours,
Mr. Milne, another missionary of the London Mission-
ary Society, arrived at Macao in 1814. The Portuguese
authorities would not allow him to remain. To found
a mission on the shores of China was beset with so
many difficulties, that it was determined to establish
a Christian settlement at Malacca, and Mr. Milne
proceeded to the Straits, where he was welcomed
by Sir Stamford Raffles, in prosecution of this enter-
prise. An Anglo-Chinese college was founded at
Malacca under Dr. Milne’s able presidency, and gra-
dually attracted public attention. Dr. Medhurst, who
subsequently laboured with so much distinction in the
north of China; Mr. Collie, an accomplished Oriental
scholar, translator of the four books of Confucius, who
died at ail eaidy age; Mr. Kidd, afterwards professor
of the Chinese language and literature in the University
of London ; and Dr. Legge, of Hong-kong, were all
connected with this institution. The East India Com-
pany contributed one thousand two hundred dollars
annually towards its support. A liberal education in
Chinese and English was given to the students. Some
of these students, like Leang-afa, in after-life became

U290

MISSIONS IN CHINA.

distinguished teachers of the Christian faith; and
others rose to wealth and honour in the native mer-
cantile community. Dr. Milne died in 1822, or rather,
to use the words of Dr. Cotton Mather, “ He ceased to
dwell among the dead, and went to the assembly of the
living.”

About this time, on account of failing health, Dr.
Morrison visited Europe. On his return to Canton, the
native teacher Leang-afa, whom he had left in charge
of his little congregation, and who had conducted reli-
gious services during his absence, placed in his hands
a hook which he had prepared, entitled “ The True
Principles of the World’s Salvation.” It was printed
and extensively circulated. A few years afterwards,
the literary examination being held in Canton, Leang-
afa with three followers stood at the gate of the Hall
of Examination, and distributed in two days ten
thousand copies of this book. One of these volumes
fell into the hands of a student named Hung-seu-tseuen,
who was afterwards the Tae-ping-wang, the leader of
the great rebellion.

This..extraordinary movement, the result of which
cannot -yet be estimated, and which has left so remark-
able a chapter in Chinese history, evidently had its
germ in the writings of that Chinese convert. And
though the rebellion, as a political convulsion, is well
nigh extinguished, it will probably appear in the future
that idolatry has sustained a shock from which it will
with difficulty recover. The great truth that God has
spoken to men in a written word is now known through-
out vast provinces, and the facts of the gospel history
have been widely disseminated, possibly to prepare the
way in some measure for the future triumph of the
truth.THE OPIUM WAB.

291

The cost of printing in Chinese characters from
wooden blocks was so great that any wide diffusion
of Christian truth by this means was impracticable.
At an early period Dr. Morrison called the attention of
Dr. Milne to this fact, and suggested the preparation
of a fount of metallic type. The work was commenced
at Penang, under Mr. Dyer, who devoted his whole life
to this department of labour. It has subsequently
been carried on under Mr. A. Stronach, at Singapore,
and recently at Hong-kong. The expenditure has
been great, but the result justifies that expenditure, for
a New Testament, which it cost Dr. Morrison a dollar
to print, can now be produced for about fourpence.
Theological and scientific works are produced at a cost
so trifling that they command an extensive sale in the
great cities of the interior.

We have now reached a period when the devoted
agents of the London Missionary Society were joined
by men of equal piety and scholarship, sent out by the
American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions,
and by Dr. Gutzlaff, sent out by the Netherlands
Missionary Society. Dr. Morrison had written to his
friends in America imploring help, and, in 1830, Dr.
Bridgman and Mr. Abeel arrived in Canton, and were
shortly afterwards followed b^ others.

By the treaty of Nanking, at the close of what is
popularly called the Opium war, the island of Hong-
kong was ceded to Great Britain, and five ports on the
coast of China—Canton, Amoy, Foo-chow, Ningpo,
and Shanghai, were opened to commerce and intercourse
with the world. It was stipulated that not merchants
only, but people generally, should be ;at liberty to settle
at the treaty-ports; that they should be allowed to
establish temples for worship, schools for education,292

MISSIONS IN CHINA.

hospitals for the sick, and cemeteries for the dead.
It was further decreed that those Chinese “ who
practised the religion of the Lord of Heaven, which all
the western nations receive and adore, and who do not
cause disturbances and act wickedly,” should remain
unmolested.

Under these altered circumstances the missionaries
labouring in Malacca, Penang, and Batavia, met to
consult upon their course. After long and careful
consideration it was decided to abandon those out-
lying stations, and concentrate their efforts upon the
continent. Many reasons prompted this decision.
Small success had attended the efforts of the labourers
in those localities, and the stations had failed in
the main purpose they were intended to serve, of
forming outposts for influencing China itself. The
missionaries therefore removed to the different treaty-
ports and commenced their labours there. The Anglo-
Chinese college was transferred from Malacca to Hong-
kong, and was made a theological seminary, with the
special object of training a native ministry for China.

From this date the Protestant mission in China
assumes a new aspect. Every important section of
the Protestant community in England and America is
now represented. The American Episcopal Missionary
Society sent out Dr. Boone as bishop, accompanied
by two clergymen, and two ladies to conduct female
schools. Shortly after Dr. Smith, one of the first
missionaries sent out by the Church Missionary
Society, was consecrated Bishop of Victoria. The dic-
tionaries, grammars, and translations, which had cost
long years of patient toil, now proved invaluable and
available for all. Evangelistic labours are no longer
conducted secretly, but openly. The missionaries standMEDICAL MISSIONS.

293

in the temples, and under the shadow of the idol gods,
preaching the gospel; and at sun-down, when crowds
are pouring through the city gates, the native teacher
may be seen giving away his tracts to a multitude of
eager applicants. Christianity under the segis of
British power is now manifestly aggressive.

Many concurrent circumstances combined to pro-
duce this great change. The pride of the Chinese had
been humbled by the signal defeats they had sustained
during the war. They were filled with astonishment
when they saw European towns rising with such
wonderful rapidity upon their own soil and borders,
and displaying such indications of almost boundless
wealth. Hitherto the servants of the Company re-
siding in China had formed only a small foreign com-
munity; but now the foreign residents were multiplied,
and every month the number increased. These, things
no doubt had their influence upon the minds of the
Chinese, and prepared them to think more highly
of the missionary, than they would have done under
other circumstances ; but the establishment of medical
missions in these great cities produced a most power-
ful impression in favour of the Christian teacher.

In 1820 Dr. Morrison founded a dispensary in
Macao, but it was afterwards closed from want of
funds. Subsequently Mr. Colledge, surgeon to the
H.E.I.C., opened a dispensary on a larger scale. In
1835 Dr. Peter Parker arrived as a medical missionary,
sent out by the churches of America. In 1839
Dr. Hobson and Dr. Lockhart landed in China, and
from that date there has been a succession of these
devoted men. Large hospitals have been conducted
with considex*able efficiency and with marked success
in almost every missionary settlement. The crowds of294

MISSIONS IN CHINA.

suffering patients collected in these institutions, many
of them coming from distant provinces, afford valuable
opportunities for explaining the outlines of the gospel
and setting forth the claims of a Divine revelation.
Christian books are given to the patients on their
departure ; and, in innumerable cases, not only has life
been prolonged, and suffering alleviated or removed,
but a most favourable impression has been left as to
the character and aims of the Christian .missionary,
while in some instances the patient has gone back to
his home a Christian man, and afterwards proved a
blessing to his locality.

In this narrative it,has been shown that the early
Jesuit missionaries acquired great influence by their
literary and scientific labours. During the last twenty
years the learned men connected with Protestant mis-
sions in China have made many valuable contributions
to Chinese literature. Books on the following and
similar subjects have issued from the mission press in
these departments : a treatise on anatomy and phy-
siology ; another treatise on the properties of light,
air, heat, and electricity; a work on the principles
and practice of surgery; another on medicine, with a
medical vocabulary in English and Chinese ; a volume
on midwifery and the diseases of children. Shortly
after these works were published, two volumes on
geography appeared : the first on political and descrip-
tive geography; the second on physical and mathemati-
cal geography. Then a history of England in two
volumes ; a compendium of arithmetic ; a translation
of Euclid, from the seventh to the fifteenth book ;
Loomis’ algebraic or analytical geometry, and differen-
tial and integral calculus; elements of botany; Dr.
Dick’s solar system; and Sir William Herschel’s out-TBAHSL-A-TION OB THE BIBLE.

295

lines of astronomy. Some of these books hare been
republished by native publishers both in China and
Japan, and may be found on the book-stalls in the
streets of the great cities of the interior, side by side
with their choicest classical literature.

With a more accurate knowledge of the Chinese
language, it was discovered that the translation of the
sacred Scriptures, like all first translations, was im-
perfect. Dr. Morrison himself had detected many
errors, and at the time of his decease was engaged in
the work of revision. In 1844 four of the senior
missionaries undertook this important task. Fourteen
years were spent in its accomplishment: the work was
done with great care. Some have thought the trans-
lation too classical in its style; but the translators
endeavoured to give the word of God in language
which, while it could be understood generally by the
humbler classes, should command the attention of the
educated, and rank in purity of style and elegance of
expression with the best writings in their modem
literature.

While the scholar was thus silently and unostenta-
tiously prosecuting his task, there were others con-
stantly engaged in the public proclamation of the
truth. Christian churches were founded in the cities
open to foreign intercourse, and the educated native
evangelists trained in these churches made frequent
journeys into the interior, where they sold these scien-
tific works, distributed portions of the Bible and
religious tracts, and everywhere explained the doctrines
of Christianity. Some of these native teachers have
become able and eloquent expounders of the gospel.

In these great commercial cities modest Christian
churches are now built, and on the return of the day296

MISSIONS IN CHINA.

of rest small bodies of believers may be seen assembling,
singing their hymns of praise in music borrowed from
the older churches of other lands, bowing in prayer,
and listening devoutly, sometimes to the foreigner,
sometimes to one of their own countrymen expounding
God’s wonderful testimonies. The busy throng out-
side, eager in the pursuit of gain, heed them little.
As yet these Christian communities are but points of
light in this continent of blackness, but they bear the
closest resemblance to those little gatherings of apos-
tolic men in the great cities of Asia Minor ; and as the
preaching of the Cross overthrew the superstitions of
that old Koman world, so it will in time overturn the
idolatries of this great Tartar empire.

For a period the work was again interrupted. War
broke out. The dark cloud however soon passed over;
and in the treaty of Peking, which was signed at the
termination of the war, fourteen towns were declared
open to foreign commerce. By one of the clauses in
this treaty, the Christian missionary may build his
church and pursue his work in these towns; and,
having obtained a passport from the consul represent-
ing the nation to which he belongs, he may travel in
the interior. By another clause, freedom from persecu-
tion is secured to the native Christians.

Mission stations have now been planted in ten of
these centres of commerce, as well as in Hong-kong
and Peking; and Christian communities have been
founded. In some places, as in Peking and Han-
kow, the settlement is recent, and the number of
converts small; but in some of the older settlements,
as Amoy and Shanghai, the Christian churches are
becoming large and influential. It is estimated that
there are about three thousand communicants in theCHABACTEB OF THE CONVEBTS.

297

Protestant churches of China, and about ten thousand
every Sabbath listening to the instruction of the
Sanctuary. Besides these there are small bodies of
believers existing in villages far remote from the mis-
sion settlements; men who have heard the word of
life in the hospital, or obtained a knowledge of the
way of salvation from the Holy Scriptures, or from
some short summary of Christian truth. In many
cases these men have been centres of light and holy
influence, and have brought many into the church of
God, but no approximate statement can be given as to
their numbers.

The measure of success may be small compared with
the sanguine expectations some have entertained, but
it will bear comparison with the results of Christian
teaching in any age, from the planting of the church
in the time of the Apostles down to our own day. It
may be said that these ten thousand or more are but
few, compared with the four hundred millions of heathen
around them ; but the number is not small when we
consider the difficulty of the work, the limited period
in which it has been prosecuted, the slender resources
of the missionaries, and the small number really en-
gaged at any given time.

A more important question is the character of those
who have made a profession of their faith. These little
Christian churches strongly resemble the first Christian
communities gathered out of the heathen world in every
country a,nd in every age. They exhibit great excel-
lences and great defects. In some respects they com-
pare favourably with the churches in the older lands of
Christendom; in other respects unfavourably. These
poor followers of Christ often make great sacrifices.
They take joyfully the spoiling of their goods, occa-298

MISSIONS IN CHINA.

sionally they endure the loss of all things. In some
instances they have died as martyrs, and would not
deny Christ even to save life. But sometimes they
appear deficient in that transparent honesty, that high
sense of honour, that uncompromising truthfulness,
that unsullied purity, which we demand as essential
elements in a Christian character. But whilst the
Christian missionary has often to make many allow-
ances for them, and to treat them very tenderly as the
babes of the Christian church, the comparative purity
of their life presents a marked contrast to the open
and scandalous vices of the heathen around them.
There are many however who need no such apologies,
men whose character would adorn any church in any
land ; who display all the gentle amenities of a Christ-
like life, and who dedicate their powers with great
energy to the service of the church.

The history of Chea, the martyr of Pok-lo, presents
an interesting illustration. In 1856 Dr. Legge re-
ported that a man advanced in life had eome from
Pok-lo, a town containing about 15,000 inhabitants,
and distant about a hundred miles from Hong-kong,
requesting Christian baptism. He was admitted to the
privileges of the church, and shortly afterwards re-
turned to Ills native town. In the year following he
again visited the colony, accompanied by a native con-
vert. In 1858 he made another visit, attended by two
other converts. And in the year 1859 he appeared
with two more. In the early part of 1860 Chea again
presented himself with nine additional candidates for
Christian baptism, making a total of fourteen souls
brought to a knowledge of the Saviour by this
venerable man. During the next year the foreign mis-
sionaries visited Pok-lo twice, and on each occasionTHE MABTYB OF POK-LO.

299

baptised many converts. In October, 1861, there were
eighty-five in Pok-lo who had made a profession of their
faith, and about one hundred in the small villages
around the town. The Christians had built a house
for their teacher, and were preparing to build a church,
when a violent storm of persecution broke out. Dr.
Legge writes, “ On the evening of the 13th of October
Chea was forcibly carried off by a. body of ruffians, led
by Soo-hoy-u and a confederate like himself. They
took him to a village not far off and hung him up all
night by the arms and feet to a beam. During the two
following days he suffered much torture and insult, and
on the 16th he was taken to the river side, and on re-
fusing to renounce Christianity was put to death, and
his body thrown into the stream. The triumphant foe
declared his intention to burn the village of Chuk-un,
and the brethren there with their families fled to vil-
lages more remote, where they could take refuge with
Christian friends.” This persecution raged for some
months, but at length redress was obtained from the
imperial government, and the Christians returned to
their homes. They are now enjoying Christian ordi-
nances, and are again increasing in numbers.

It is difficult to estimate, adequately and accurately,
the results of modern Protestant missions to China.
Much preliminary work has been done which will bear
fruit in after years, but “ the time is not yet.” Prej udices
against Christianity have been abated. The dense
ignorance of the people has been invaded and their
apathy disturbed. Children have been gathered into
schools and taught the truth as it is in Jesus ; but
though they cannot yet be classed amongst the con-
verts, they have come under influences which may
hereafter lead them to faith in Christ. So early as the300

MISSIONS IN CHINA.

year 1832 the following summary of work and results
was prepared:—

“ Twenty-five years have elapsed since the first Pro-
testant missionary arrived in China (1807) alone and
in the midst of perfect strangers; with but few friends
and with many foes. The Chinese language was
thought to be almost insurmountable from its peculiar
difficulties, but these difficulties have been overcome.
Dictionaries, grammars, vocabularies, and translations
have been penned and printed. Chinese scholars, both
in England and in China, have increased. The Holy
Scriptures, together with the Book of Common Prayer
and numerous tracts, have been translated, printed,
and published in the Chinese language; and now mis-
sionaries from various nations have come together to
join in the work. There are also native Chinese who
preach the gospel and teach from house to house. Ten
Chinese have been baptised, and only ten ; but they
are a firm and devoted band. The establishment of
English printing presses in China arose out of the
Protestant mission. The London Missionary Society’s
presses have sent forth millions of pages containing
the truths of the everlasting gospel. And the Chinese
institution at Malacca has given a Christian education
to numbers of Chinese youths. About ten years after
the Protestant mission had been established in China
(viz., 1817), a chaplain for the British factory at
Canton was sent out by the Church of England. In
1827 a seaman’s chaplain was sent out by the Ameri-
can Seaman’s Friend Society. Dr. Morrison hoisted
the first British flag for public worship in the Chinese
waters in 1822 ; Mr. Abeel, an American missionary
of the Dutch Reformed Church, officiated in 1830.
The Indo-Chinese Gleaner at Malacca, the CantonBESULTS.

301

newspaper, and tlie Chinese Repository, have all risen
up since the mission commenced. Missionary voyages
have been performed (three by Mr. Gutzlaff, of the
Netherlands Missionary Society), and Chinese sought
out at the numerous places under European control, as
well as to Siam, the Loo-choo island, Corea, and along
the coasts of China itself as far as the walls of Peking.
Some tracts have reached and been read by the em-
peror himself. Still it is but the day of small things.
‘The harvest indeed is great, but the labourers are
few.’ ”

This report of twenty-five years’ labour in a new
and untried field, with the immense and peculiar
difficulties which China presents, bears striking testi-
mony to the energy and devotion of the labourers in
it. More than another quarter of a century has
elapsed since this summary was prepared, and the
results are yet more striking. There are more than
a hundred missionaries engaged in the work, presiding
over fifty-seven churches, containing nearly, or quite,
three thousand converts. Probably not fewer than
one hundred native evangelists, teachers and col-
porteurs, are aiding in the good work. There are
about twenty boarding-schools, and forty-five day-
schools, containing together more than a thousand
scholars. The chief missionary stations are at Canton,
Amoy, Ningpo, Shanghai, Foo-chow, Peking, Tien-
tsin, Tung-chow, Chefoo, Han-kow, Swatow, and Hong-
kong. Almost every denomination of Christians is
labouring in this vast field. Amongst them are eight
English societies, and nine American. But it may
still be said, in comparison with the immense popula-
tion to be acted upon, “ the harvest truly is plenteous
but the labourers are few.”302

MISSIONS IN CHINA.

In thus summing up the results of modern missions
in China, we should fall into serious error were we to
take note only of the number of professed converts.
Even the tangible and manifest results are sufficient
to call forth our, adoring gratitude ; but there are
other and probably higher results, which are as yet
unseen, and cannot now be estimated. Five hundred
years have passed since the Rector of Lutterworth
translated the Bible into the English language, and
during the whole of that period the quiet labours of
John Wycliffe have been moulding our national cha-
racter, influencing our literature, and lifting us step by
step to the proud position we now hold among the
nations of the earth. And if we cannot set too high
a value upon the work of that good and great man,
or upon the labours of those who revised his first
translation, it is impossible for us rightly to estimate
the value of that literary toil which has given the
word of God and the germs of a Christian and scien-
tific literature to the millions of the far east. That
word is already proved to be a word of power and of
life in that hitherto stagnant mass of humanity. The
preaching of the Cross is doing in China what it
has done in other lands, and though the preparation
may be long, and the work arduous, the result will
he there, what it ever has been elsewhere : the phan-
toms of error will fade away before the advancing light
of God’s truth; and in after ages the names of these
lowly and devoted men will be known as saints and
martyrs; men who carried the torch of truth to a dark
land, and who, amid much depression, discouragement,
and obloquy, founded a church which will ultimately
triumph over every opponent and fill the land with its
glory.INDEX.

Administrative boards, 53.

Agriculture, importance at-
tached to, 140, 141; tenure
of the land, 140, 144; im-
perial ploughing and manu-
ring, 147; implements, 148.

Amherst’s, Lord, embassy, 258.

Amoy, description of, 218.

Amulets and charms, 242.

Amusements, 229.

Architecture, 163.

Arms and armour, 106.

Army, present condition of the,
100; causes of its ineffi-
ciency, 100; recruits, 101;
volunteers, 102; “ Bamboo
Rifles,” 102; military tactics,
103; standing army, 104;
uniform of, 108; corporal
punishment, 108; used as
police, 113.

Artillery and engineering, 107.

Arts, sciences, and manufac-
tures, 161.

Astronomy, 174.

Bamboo, uses of the, 150.

Bankers, 236.

Boat-dwellings, 217.

Brigandage, 113.

Buddhism, 76; origin, 92;
introduced from India,' 93;
character, 93 ; priesthood,
94.

Caligraphy, 120.

Candles, 232.

Canton, its position and extent,
216; foreign factories, 216;
inhabitants, 217; climate,
217.

Chea, martyr of Pok-lo, 298.

Che-kiang, province of, 38.

Chi-li, province of, 34; its coal-
fields, 35.

Ching-kiang, 224.

Chi-siang, the present emperor,
23.

Civil service examinations, 126.

Climate, 39.

Coinage, 234.

Commercial activity, 178.

Compass, Chinese, 111.

Confucius, 7; his system of
morals, 72 ; the religion of
the state, 76 ; his birth, de-
scent, and early life, 77; his
travels, labours, and death,
78; character of his teach-
ing, 79; extract from, 134.

Corea, the, 25.

Cormorant fishing, 239.

Cotton, 147.

Court, the imperial, 50.

Criminal code, 65,114. '

Dinner, a Chinese, 192.

Divorce, 67.304

INDEX.

Domestic life, 184; house fur-
niture, 185; dress, 178;
etiquette of a visit, 190.

Early dynasties, 7.

Early history, 6; its testimony
to the truth of the Bible, 6.

Education, state of, 125.

Elgin, Lord, mission of, 268.

Emperor, the, 49; his court,
50.

Ethnology, 46.

Eu-ho, or Wei-ho, 32.

Fatalism, 194.

Farm, a Chinese, 149.

Fireworks, 231.

Fishing, 239.

“ Five Sovereigns,” the, 7.

Fo-kien, province of, 38; its
maritime trade, 38.

Foo-chow, 218; its importance,
219 ; hot springs, 219.

Formosa, 223.

Funerals, 200.

Gambling, 195.

Genghis Khan, 14; takes Pe-
king, 14.

Geography and general aspect
of the country, 24.

Gobi, desert of, 26.

Government, legislature, and
institutions, 49.

Great Plain, the, 142.

Great Wall, 40.

Gunpowder, 107.

Hai-nan, 42. .

Han-kiang, 39.

Han-kow, trade of 225; its
position and importance, 225.

Hoang-ho, 31.

Hogarth, a Chinese, 169.

Hong-kiang, or Si-kiang, 32.

Hong-kong, 217.

Ho-nan, province of, 36; its
forests and mines, 36..

Hoo-nan, province of, 39.

Hoo-pe, province of, 39.

Horticulture, 150.

Hospitals and charitable insti-
tutions, 71, 205.

Imperial canal, 31, 46.

Infanticide, 204.

Inns and hotels, 238.

Intercourse with foreigners,
244; with Rome, 251; Ara-
bia, 251; Portugal, 252;
Holland, 253 ; Russia, 254;
America, 255; France, 255 ;
early English,'256; growth
of trade, 258.

Idol temples, 86.

Jews, 97; early colony of, 272;
synagogue at Kai-fung, 273;
rite of circumcision, 273; the
five books of Moses, 273.

Jugglers, 241. .

Junks, 109; model of, 110.

Jurisprudence, 64.

Kai-fung, Jewish synagogue
at, 273; tablet in, 274.

Kang-hi, 17.

Kau-kiang, 37.

Kan-su, province of, 40.

Kew-kiang, 224.

Kiang-si, province of, 37; its
productions, 37.INDEX.

305

Kiang-su, province of, 36 ; its
fertility, 36.

Kien-lung, 18; receives first
Britisli embassy, 19.

Kite-flying, 230.

Kow-loon, 217.

Kublai Khan, 14.

Kung, Prince, 23.

Language, supposed difficulties
of the, 117; its antiquity,
118; the written, 118; hiero-
glyphical origin, 119 ; the
spoken, 121; inflection, 122.

Lanterns, 232.

Lao-tse, founder of Tacuism,
90; his disciples, 90.

Lawyers, absence of, 68.

Leang-afa, 290.

Letter, a Chinese, 125.

Library, imperial, 128

Literature, 129; moral stories,
137.

Loadstone, the, 162.

Macartney’s, Lord, embassy,
257.

Mantchoo Tartary, 25.

Mandarins, 58.

Manners and customs, 182.

Mauufactures, machinery, bells,
ordnance, 179; carpentry,
watchmaking, damasks, sa-
tins, crape shawls, “ponge,”
woollens, carpets, cottons,
grass-cloth, vegetable wax,
sugar, glass, 180; paper,
ink, 181.

Marshman, Dr., 285.

Medicine, science of, 175 ;
“ materia medica,” 176.

Mencius, 36; his writings, 83.

Miou-se, the, 47.

Mission work, 272.

Mohammedanism, 97; mosque
at Ning-po, 220.

Monetary system, 233.

Mongolia, 26.

Morrison, Robert, 285; ap-
pointed translator to East
India Company, 287; his
translations, 287; mission-
ary labours, 288.

Mulberry trees, 158.

Music and musical instruments,
172.

Nanking, porcelain tower at,
214; treaty of, 262.

Navy, 109; naval force, 110.

Nestorians, 275.

Neu-chwang, 228.

Ngan-whi, province of, 37.

Ning-po, situation of, 219;
commercial intercourse with,
220; a seat of learning, 220;
Christian institutions, 220;
mosque at, 220.

Opium war, the, 260.

Ordos tribe, the, 27.

Painting, 168.

Pawnbrokers, 236.

Peking, captured by Genghis
Khan, 14; Jesuits expelled
from, 18; captured by Eng-
lish and French, 23; situa-
tion of, 208 ; modern city,
211; inhabitants, 212; medi-
cal mission at, 214.

Peking Gazette, 51.

X306

INDEX.

Piracy, 110.

Poetry, Chinese, 138.

Police, 113.

Polygamy, 72.

Poor, the, how provided for, 70.
Porcelain manufacture, 166.
Postal arrangements, 237.
Po-Yang lake, 37.

Prayer, a Chinese, 87.
Printing, 162.

Prisons and prisoners, 116.
Protestant missions, 284.
Provincial government, 56.

Quang-si, province of, 42.
Quang-tung, province of, 41.
Quei-chow, province of, 42.-

Religions, 73.

Revenue and taxes, 62.

Rice culture, 144.

Sacrifices and festivals, 88.
Sailors, 109; condition of, 111.
Se-chuen, province of, 40; its
opium fields, 41.

Secret societies, 98.

School, a Chinese, 127.
Scientific institutions, 173.
Sculpture, 166.

Shanghai, 221; its position and
extent, 221; imports, 221;
European settlements at,
221; variable temperature,
221; population of, 222.
Shan-se, province of, 36; its
mineral treasures, 36.
Shan-tung, province of, 35; its
manufactures, 35.

Shen-se, province of, 40.

Silk production, 157; principal
districts, 158; markets, 159;
rearing the silkworm, 159.

Slavery, 71.

Streets and sign-boards, 183.

Swan-pan, the, 237.

Swatow, 223.

Tae-ping rebellion, 21,272,290.

Tai-wan, 223.

Tang-chow, 226.

Taouism, the “ Doctrine of
Reason,” 7§; its founder,
90; its priesthood, 90.

Tartar cavalry and foot soldiers,
105; payandpromotion, 105.

Tchaug-hi, edict of the em-
peror, 68.

Tea cultivation, 152; emperor
Kicn-loong on making tea,
156; national beverage, 157.

Telegraphing, 238.

Theatrical performances, 240.

Thibet, 26.

“ Three Emperors,” the, 7.

Tien-tsin, description of, 226;
its salt trade, 227; treaty
of, 267.

Timour, or Tamerlane, 26.

Tong-ting lake, 39.

Torture, implements of, 66.

Town, description of Chinese,
206 ; treaty- ports, 206.

Transmigration, 93.

Village, a Chinese, 203.

Wedding, a Chinese, 196.

Weights and measures, 235.

Yang-tsi-kiang, 31.

Yun-nan, province of, 42.PUBLICATIONS

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