WELLS WILLIAMS《The Middle Kingdom》6-9

CHAPTER VI.  NATURAL HISTORY OF CHINA

The succinct account of the natural history of China given by Sir John Davis in lS^i^, contained nearly all the popular notices of much value then known, and need not be repeated, while summarizing the items derived from other and later sources. Malte-Brun observed long ago, ” That of even the more general, and, according to the usual estimate, the more important features of that vast sovereignty, we owe whatever knowledge we have obtained to some ambassadors who have seen the courts and the great roads—to certain merchants who have inhabited a suburb of a frontier town—and to several missionaries who, generally more credulous than discriminating, have contrived to penetrate in various directions into the interior.”

The volumes upon China in the Edinburgh Cabinet Library contain the best digest of what was known forty years since on this subject. The botanical collections of Robert Fortune in 18-14-1849, and those of Col. Champion at Hongkong, have been studied by Bentham, while the later researches of Hance, Bunge and Maximowitch have brought many new forms tc notice. In geology, Pumpelly, Ivingsinill, Bickmore, and Bai-on Richthofen have greatly enlarged and certiiied our knowledge by their travels and memoirs ; while Pere David, Col. Prejevalsky, Swinhoe, Stimpson, and Sir John Richardson have added hundreds of new species to the scientific fauna of the Empire.

GEOLOGICAL FORMATIONS. 297

Personal investigation is particularly necessary in all that relates to the geology and fossils of a country, and the knowledge possessed on these heads is, it must be conceded, still meagre, though now sufficient to convey a general idea of the formations, deposits, and contents of the mountains and mines, as well as the agencies at work in modifying the surface of this land. The descriptions and observed facts recorded in native books may furnish valuable hints when they can be compared with the places and productions, for at present the difficulty of explaining terms used, and understanding the processes described, render these treatises hard to translate. The empirical character of Chinese science compels a careful sifting of all its facts and speculations by comparisons with nature, while the amount of real information contained in medical, topographical, and itinerant works render them always worth examining. Large regions still await careful examination in every part of the Empire ; and it will be m’ell for the Chinese Government if no tempting metallic deposits are found to test its strength to protect and work them for its own benefit. But in mere science it cannot be doubted that so peculiar a part of the world as the plateau of Central Asia will, when thoroughly examined, solve many problems relating to geology, and disclose many important facts to illustrate the obscure phenomena of other parts of the world.

A few notices of geolooical formations furnished in the waitings of travelers, have already been given in the geographical account of the provinces. The summaiy published by Davis is a well digested survey of the observations collected by the gentlemen attached to the embassies.’

The loess-beds, covering a great portion of Northern China, are among the most peculiar natural phenomena and interesting fields for o;eoloo;ical investigation on the world’s surface. Since attention was first directed to this deposit by Pumpelly, in 18G4, its formation and extent have been more carefully examined by other geologists, whose hypotheses are now pretty generally discarded for that of Baron von Eichthofen. The loess territory begins, at its eastern limit, with the foot hills of the great alluvial plane. From this rises a terrace of from 90 to 250 feet in height, consisting entirely of hjess, and westward of it, in 1 The Chinese, Vol. II., pp. 333-343.

a nearly north and south line, stretches the TaihangShan or dividing range between the alluvial land and the hill (tountrj of Shansi. An almost uninterrupted loess-covered country extends west of this line to the Koko-nor and head-waters of the Yellow River. On the north the formation can he ti’aced from the vicinity of Ivalgan, along the water-shed of the Mongolian steppes, and into the desert beyond the Ala shan. Toward the south its limits are less sharply defined ; though covering all the country of the Wei basin (in Shensi), none is found in Sz’chuen, due south of this valley, but it appears in parts of Ilonan and Eastern Shantung. Excepting occasional spurs and isolated spots—as at Xanking and the Lakes Poyang and Tungting—

loess may be considered as ending everywhere on the north side of the Yangzi valley, and, roughly speaking, to cover the parallelogram between longs. 99° and 115°, and lats.

33° and 41°. The district within China Proper represents a territory half as large again as that of the German Empire, while outside of the Provinces there is reason to believe that loess spreads far toward the east and north. In the WuTaiShan (Shanxi), Richthofen observed this deposit to a height of 7200 feet above the sea, and supposes that it may occur at higher levels.

LOESS-BEDS OF ISTORTIIERX CHINA. 299

The term loess, now generally accepted, has been used to designate a tertiary deposit appearing in the Illiine valley and several isolated sections of Eurt)pe ; its formation has heretofore been ascribed to glaciers, but its enormous extent and thickness in China demand suine other origin. The substance is a brownish colored earth, extremely porous, and when dry easily powdered between the fingers, when it becomes an impalpable (lust that may be rubbed into the pores of the skin. Its particles are somewhat angular in shape, the lumps varying from the size of a peamit to a foot in length, whose appearance warrants the peculiarly appropriate Chinese name meaning ‘ ginger stones.’_{(‘ Journal of the Oeolog. Soc, Loudon, for 1871, p. 379.)} After washing, the stuff is readily disintegrated, and spread far and wide by rivers during their freshets ; Ivingsmill’ states that a nimiber of specimens which crumbled in the moist air of a Shanghai summer, rearranged themselves afterward in the bottom of a drawer in which they had been phiced. Every atom of loess is perforated by small tubes, usually very minute, circulating after the manner of root-fibres, and lined with a thin coating of carbonate of lime. The direction of these little canals being always from above downward, cleavage in the loess mass, in-espective of its size, is invariably vertical, while from the same cause surface water never collects in the form of rain puddles or lakes, but sinks at once to the local water level.

One of the most striking, as well as important phenomena of this formation is the perpendicular splitting of its mass into sudden and multitudinous clefts that cut up the country in every direction, and render observation, as well as travel, often exceedingly difficult. The clifPs, caused by erosion, vary from cracks measured by inches to canons half a mile wide and hundreds of feet deep ; they branch out in every direction, ramifying through the country after the manner of tree-roots in the

soil—from each root a rootlet, and from these other small

fibres—until the system of passages develops into a labyrinth of

far-reaching and intermingling lanes. Were the loess throughout

of the uniform structure seen in single clefts, such a region

would itideed be absolutely imj^assable, the vertical banks

becoming precipices of often more tlian a thousand feet. The

fact, however, that loess exhibits all over a terrace formation,

renders its surface not only habitable, but highly convenient

for agricultural purposes; it has given rise, moreover, to the

theory advanced by Kingsmill and some otliers, of its stratification,

and from this a proof of its origin as a marine deposit.

Richthofen argues that these apparent layers of loess are due

to external conditions, as of rocks and debris sliding from surrounding hillsides upon the loess as it sifted into the basin or

valley, thus interrupting the homogeneity of the gradually rising

deposit. In the sides of gorges near the mountains are seen

layers of coarse debris which, in going toward the valley, become

finer, while the layei’s themselves are thinner and separated

by an increasing vertical distance ; along these rubble

beds are numerous calcareous concretions which stand upright.

These are then the terrace-forming layers which, by their

resistance to tlie action of water, cause the broken chasms and

step-like contour of the loess regions. Each bank does indeed

cleave vertically, sometimes—since the erosion works from below—

leaving an overhanging bank ; but meeting with this

horizontal layer of marl stones, the abrasion is interrupted, and

a ledge is made. Falling clods upon such spaces are gradually

spread over their surfaces by natural action, converting them

into rich fields. AVhen seen from a height in good seasons,

tliese systems of terraces present an endless succession of green

fields and growing crops ; viewed from the deep cut of a road

below, the traveller sees nothing but yellow walls of loam and

dusty tiers of loess ridges. As may be readily imagined, a

country of this nature exhibits many landscapes of unrivalled

picturesqueness, especially when lofty crags, which some variation

in the water- course has left as giant guardsmen in fertile

river valleys, stand out in bold relief against the green background

of neighboring hills and a fruitful alluvial bottom, or

when an opening of some ascending pass allows the eye to range

over leagues of sharp-cut ridges and teaming crops, the work of

the careful cultivator.

UTILITY AND FRUITFULNESS OF THE LOESS. 301

The extreme ease with which loess is cut away tends at times to seriously embarrass traffic. Dnst made by the cart-wheels on a highway is taken up by strong winds during the dry season and blown over the surrounding lands, much after the maimer in which it was originally deposited here. This action continued over centuries, and assisted by occasional deluges of rain, Which find a ready channel in the road-l)od, has hollowed the country routes into depressions of often 50 or 100 feet, where the passenger may ride for miles without obtaining a glimpse of the surrounding scenery. Lieutenant Kreitner, of the Szechenyi exploring expedition, illustrates,’_{(‘ Imfirnen Oxtin, j>. 4()2.)} in a personal experience in Shansf, the difficulty and danger of leaving these deep cuts; after scrambling for miles along the broken loess above the road, he only regained it when a further passage was cut off by a precipice on the one side, while a jump of some 30 feet into the beaten track below awaited him on the other. Difficult as may be such a territory for roads and the purposes of trade, the advantages to a fanner are manifold. Wherever this deposit extends, there the liusbandman has an assured harvest, two and even three times in a year. It is easily worked, exceedingly

fertile, and submits to constant tillage, with no other manure

than a sprinkling of its own loam dug from the nearest bank.

Facade of Dwelling in Loess Cliffs, Ling-shf hien. (Fronn Richthofen.)

But loess performs still another service to its inhabitants. Caves

made at the base of its straight clefts afford homes to millions

of people in the northern provinces. Choosing an escai”pment

where the consistency of the earth is greatest, the natives cut

for themselves rooms and houses, whose partition walls, cement,

bed and furniture are made from the same loess. Whole villages

cluster together in a series of adjoining or superimposed chambers, some of which pierce the soil to a depth of often more than 200 feet. Tii more costly dwellings the terrace or succession of terraces tlms perforated are faced with brick, as well as the arching of rooms within. The advantages of such habitations consist as well in imperviousness to changes of temperature without, as in their durability when constructed in properly selected places, many loess dwellings outlasting six or seven generations. The capabilities of defence in a country such as this, where an invading army must inevitably become lost in the tangle of interlacing ways, and where the defenders may always remain concealed, is very suggestive.

There remains, lastly, a peculiar property of loess which is perhaps more important than all other features M’hen measured by its man-serving efficiency. This is the manner in which it brings forth crops without the aid of manure. From a period more than 2,000 years before Christ, to the present day, the province of Shansi has borne the name of Grainery of the Empire, while its fertile soil, HuangDi, or ‘yellow earth’, is the origin of the imperial color. Spite of this productiveness, which, in the fourteenth century, caused the Friar Odoric to class it as the second country in the world, its present capacity for raising crops seems to be as great as ever. In the nature of this substance lies the reason for this apparently inexhaustible

fecundity. Its renuirkably porous sti-uctui-e must indeed cause

it to absorb the gases necessary to plant life to a much greater

degree than other soils, but the stable productit>n of those mineral

substances needful to the yearly succession of crops is in

the ground itself. The salts contained more or loss in solution

at the water level of the region are freed by the capillary action

of the loess when rain-water sinks thi’ough tlie spongy mass

from above. Surface moisture following the downward direction

of the tiny loess tubes establishes a connection M’ith the

waters compressed below, when, owing to the law of diffusion,

the ingredients, being released, mix with the moisture of the

little canals, and are taken from the lowest to the topmost

levels, permeating the ground and fni-nishing nourishment to

the plant roots at the surface. It is on account of this curious

action of loess that a co])ious i-ain fall is nioi-e necessary in North

richtiiofen’s theory of its origin. 303

China than elseM’lieie, for with a dearth of rain the capillary communication from above, below, and vice versa, is interrupted, and vegetation loses both its niainire and moisture. Drought and famine are consequently synonymous terms here. As to the formation and origin of loess, Richthofen’s theory is substantially as follows :
‘The uniform composition of this material over extended areas, coupled with the absence of stratification and of marine or fresh-water organic remains, renders impossible the hypothesis that it is a water deposit. On the other hand, it contains vast quantities of land-shells and the vestiges of animals (mammalia) at every level, both in remarkably perfect condition. Concluding, also, that from the

conformation of the neighboring mountain chains and their

peculiar weathering, the glacial theory is inadmissible, he advances

the supposition that loess is a sub-aerial deposit, and that

its fields are the drained analogues of the steppe-basins of Central

‘ China : Ergebnisse eigener Reiaen. Baud I. , S. 74. Berlin, 1877.

Asia. They date from a geological era of great dryness, before the existence of the Yellow and other rivers of the northern provinces. As the rocks and hills of the highlands disintegrated, the sand was removed, not by water-courses seaward, but by the high winds ranging over a treeless desert landward, until the dust settled in the grass- covered districts of what is at present China Proper. New vegetation was at once nourished, while its roots were raised by the constantly arriving deposit; the decay of old roots produced the lime-lined canals which impart to this material its peculiar characteristics. Any one who has observed the terrible dust-storms of North China, when the air is filled with an impalpable yellow powder, which leaves its coating upon everything, and often extends, in a foglike cloud, hundreds of miles to sea, will understand the power of this action during many thousand years. This deposition received the shells and bones of innumerable animals, while the dissolved solutions contained in its bulk stayed therein, or saturated the water of small lakes. By the sinking of mountain chains in the south, rain-clouds emptied themselves over this region with much greater frequency, and gradually the system became drained, the erosion working backward from the coast, slowly cutting into one basin after another. AVith the sinking of its salts to lower levels, unexampled richness was added to the wonderful topography of this peculiar formation.’

Pumpelly, while accepting this ingenious theory in place of his own (that of a fresh- water lake deposit), adds that the supply of loess might have been materially increased by the vast mersde-(jlam of High Asia and the Tien Shan, whose streams have for ages transported the products of glacial attrition into Central Asia and Northwest China. Again, he insists that llichthofen has not given importance enough to the parting planes, wrongly considered by his predecessors as planes of stratification.

” These,” he says, ” account for the marginal layers of debris brought down from the mountains. And the continuous and more abundant growth of grasses at one ])lanG would produce a modification of the soil structurally and chemically, which superincumbent accumulations could never efface. It should seem probable that we have herein, also, the explanation of the calcareous concretions which abound along these planes ; for the greater amount of carbonic acid generated by the slow decay of this vegetation would, by forming a bicarbonate, give to the lime the mobility necessary to produce the concretions.”

‘Compare Kingsmill, in the Quar. Journal of the Oeol. Soe. of London, 1868, pp. 119 ff., and in the North China Herald, Vol. IX., 85, 80.

METHODS OF WORKING COAL. 305

The metallic and mineral productions used in the arts comprise nearly everything found in other countries, and the common ones are furnished in such abundance, and at such rates, as conclusively prove them to be plenty and easily worked. The careful digest of observations published by Pumpelly through the Smithsonian Institution, carries out this remark, and indicates the vast field still to be explored. Coal exists in every province in China, and Pumpelly enumerates seventy-four h)calities which have been ascertained. Marco Polo’s well-known notice of its use shows that the people had long employed it: ” It is a fact that all over the country of Cathay there is a kind of black stone existing in beds in the mountains, which they dig out and burn like firewood. It is true that they have plenty of wood also, but they do not burn it, because those stones burn better and cost less.’ This mineral seems to have been unknown in Europe till after the return of the Venetian to his native land, while it was employed before the Christian era in China, and probably in very ancient times, if the accessible deposits in Shensi then cropped out in its eroded gorges, as represented by Richthofen. The few fossil plants hitherto examined indicate that the mass of these deposits are of the Mesozoic age. The mode of working the coal mines is described by Pumpelly,” and was probably no worse two thousand five hundred years ago.

Want of machinery for draining them prevents the miners from going much below the water-level, and a rain-storm will sometimes flood and ruin a shaft. An inclined plane seldom takes the workmen more than a hundred feet below the level of the mouth, and then a horizontal gallery conducts him to the end of the mine. Some water is bailed out by buckets handed from one level up to another at the top, and the coal

is carried out in baskets on the miners’ backs, or dragged in

sleds over smooth, round sticks along passages too low for the

coolies to do better than crawl as they work. Mr. Pumpelly

found the gallery of one mine near Peking so low that he

had to crawl the whole distance (six thousand feet) to see its

construction, and when he emerged into daylight, with his

knees nearly skinned, ascertained that the workmen padded

theirs. The timbering is very expensive, yet, with all drawbacks,

the coal sells, at the pit’s mouth, for $2.00 down to 50 cents a ton. The mines, lying on the slopes of the plateau reaching from near Corea to the Yellow River, supply the plain with cheap and excellent fuel.

» Yule’s Marco Polo, Vol. I., p. 395.^ Across Aineric i and Asia, pp. 291 ff.Vol. I.—20

Blakiston gives an account of the manner in which coal is worked on the Uj^per Yangzi near the town of Siichau: “Having to be got out at a great height up in the cliff, very thick hawsers, made of plaited bamboo, are tightly stretched from the mouth, or near the mouth, of the working gallery, to a space near the water where the coal can be deposited. These ropes are in pairs, and large pannier-shaped baskets are made to traverse on them, a rope passing from one over a large wheel

at the upper landing, and down again to the other, so that the

full basket going down pulls the empty one up, the velocity

being regulated by a kind of brake on the wheel at the top.

At some places the height at which the coal is worked is so

great that two or more of these contrivances are used, one takine:

to a landins; half wav down, and another from thence to the

river. The hawsers are kept taut by a windlass for that purpose

at the bottom.” * This useful mineral appears to be abundant

throughout Sz’chuen Province, and is used here much less

sparingly than in the east. With such inexpensive methods of

getting coal to the water-courses, foreign machinery can hardly

be expected to reduce its price very materially.

The economical use of coal in the household and the arts has

been carried to great perfection. Anthracite is powdered and

mixed with wet clay, earth, sawdust or dung, according to the

exigencies of the case, in the proportion of about seven to one ;

the balls thus made are dried in the sun. The brick-beds

(Jcang) are effective means of warming the house, and the hand

furnaces enable the poor to cook with these balls—aided by a

little charcoal or kindlings—at a trifling expense. This form

of consumption is common north of the Yellow River, and brings

coal within reach of multitudes who otherwise would suffer and

starve. Bituminous, brown, and other varieties of coal occur

in the same abundance and extent as in other great areas, giving

promise of adequate supplies for future ages. The coal

worked on the Peh kiang, in Ivwangtung, contains sulphur,

ftud is employed in the manufacture of copperas.*

Crystallized gypsum is brought fi-om the northwest of the

province to Canton, and is ground to powder in mills ;

plaster

‘ Five Months on the Ynng-Uze, p. 265. Annates de la Foi, Tome IX., p.

457.

2 N. C. Br. R. A. Soc. Journal, New Series, No. III., pp. 94-106, and No.

IV., pp. 243 ff. Notes by Mr. Hollingworth of a Visit to the Coal Mines in the

Neighborhood of Loh-Ping. Blue Book, China, No. 2, 1870, p. 11. Notes

and Queries on China and Japan, Vol. IT., pp. 74-76. North China Herald,

passim. Richthofen’s Letters, and in Ocean Highways, Nov., 1S78. Chinese Repository, Vol. XIX., pp. 385 fE. l4j’Cr /’ 111/

BUILDING STONES AND MINP:RALS. 307

of Paris and other forms of this sulphate are common all over China. It is not used as a manure, but the flour is mixed with wood-oil to form a cement for paying the seam’s of boats after they have been caulked. The powder is employed as a dentifrice, a cosmetic, and a medicine, and sometimes, also, is boiled to make a gruel in fevers, under the idea that it is cooling. The bakers who supplied the English troops at Amoy, in 1843, occasionally put it into the bread to make it heavier, but not, as was erroneously charged upon them, with any design of poisoning their customers, fur they do not think it noxious ; its employment in coloring green tea, and adulterating powdered sugar, is also explainable by other motives than a wish to injure the consumers.

Limestone is abundant at Canton, both common clouded marble and blue limestone ; the last is extensively used in the artificial rockwork of gardens. Even if the Cantonese knew of the existence of lime in limestone, which they generally do not, the expense of fuel for calcining it would prevent their burning it while oyster-shells are so abundant in that region. In other provinces stone-lime is burned, by the aid of coal, in small kilns.

The fine marble quarried near Peking is regarded as fit alone

for imperial uses, and is seen only in such places as the Altar

of Heaven and palace grounds. The marble used for floors is a

fissile crystallized limestone, unsusceptible of polish ; no statues

or ornaments are sculptured from this mineral, but slabs are

sometimes wrought out, and the surfaces curiously stained and

corroded with acids, forming rude representations of animals or

other figures, so as to convey the appearance of natural markings.

Some of these simulated petrifactions are exceedingly

well done. Slabs of aro-illaceous slate are also chosen with

reference to their layers, and treated in the same manner. An

excellent granite is used about Canton and Amoy for building,

and no people exceed the Chinese in cutting it. Large slabs are

split out by wooden wedges, cut for basements and foundations,

and laid in a beautiful manner ; pillars are also hewn from single stones of different shapes, though of no extraordinary dimensions, and their shafts embellished with inscriptions.

Ornamental walls are frequently formed of large slabs set in posts, like panels, the outer faces of which are beautifully carved with figures representing a landscape or procession. lied and gray sandstone, gneiss, mica slate, and other species of rock, are also worked for pavements and walls.

Nitre is cheap and common enough in the northern provinces

to obviate any fear of its being smuggled into the country from

abroad ; it is obtained in Chihli by lixiviating the soil, and

furnishes material for the manufacture of gunpowder. A lye

is obtained from ashes, which partially serves the purposes of

soap ; but the people are still ignorant of the processes necessaiy

for manufacturing it. Fourteen localities of alum are

given in Pumpelly’s list, but the gi-eatest supply for the eastern

provinces comes from deposits of shale, in Ping-yang hien, in

Chehkiang, Avhich produces about six thousand tons annually.

It is used mostly by the dyers, also to |)urify tnrbid water, and

whiten paper. Other earthy salts are known and used, as borax,

sal-ammoniac (which is collected in Mongolia and 111 from

lakes and the vicinity of extinct volcanoes), and blue and white

vitriol, obtained by roasting pyrites. Common salt is procured

along the eastern and southern coasts by evaporating seawater,

rock-salt not having been noticed ; in the western provinces

and Shansf, it is obtained from artesian wells and lakes

as cheaply as from the ocean ; in Tsing-3’en hien, in Central

Sz’chuen, two hundred and thirty-seven wells are worked. At

Chusan the sea-water is so turbid that the inhabitants filter it

through clay, afterward evaporating the Avater.

The minerals heretofore found in China have, for the most part, been such as have attracted the attention of the natives, and collected by them for curiosity or sale. The skillful manner in which their lapidaries cut crystal, agate, and other qnartzose minerals, is well known.’ The corundum used for polishing and finishing these carvings occurs in China, but a good deal of emery in powder is obtained from Borneo. A composition of gramdar corundum and gum-lac is usually employed by workmiMi in order to produce the highest luster of

‘ Compare Remusat, Uistmre de Khotan, pp. 163 ff., where there is an qxtended list of Chinese precious stones drawn from native sources.

JADE STONE, Oil YUH. 300

which the stones arc capable. The three varieties of the silicate of alumina, called jade, nephrite, and jadeite by mineralogists, are all named yuh by the Chinese, a word which is applied to a vast variety of stones—white marble, ruby, and cornelian all coming under it—and therefore not easy to define.

Jade has long been known in Europe as a variety of jasper, its separation from that stone into a species by itself being of comparatively recent origin. Since the third edition of Boetius, in 1647, the two minerals have been regarded as entirely distinct. Its value in the eyes of the Chinese depends chiefly upon its sonorousness and color. The costliest specimens

are brought from Yunnan and Klioten ; a greenish-white

color is the most highly prized, a plain color of any shade

being of less value. A cargo of this mineral was once imported

into Canton from New Holland, but the Chinese would

not purchase it, owing to a fancy taken against its origin and

color. The patient toil of the workers in this hard mineral is

only equalled by the prodigious admiration with which it is

regarded ; both fairly exhibit the singular taste and skill of the

Chinese. Its color is usually a greenish-white, or grayish-green

and dark grass-green ; internally it is scarcely glimmering. Its

fracture is splintery; splinters white; mass semi-transparent

and cloudy ; it scratches glass strongly, and can itself generally

be scratched by flint or quartz, but while not excessively hard

it is remarkable for toughness. The stone when freshly broken

is less hard than after a short exposure. Specific gravity from

2.9 to 3.1.’ Fischer (pp. 31-1-318) gives some one hundred and

fifty names as occurring in various authors—ancient and modern

—for jade or nephrite.” An interesting testimony to the esteem

‘ Murray’s China^ Edinburgh, 1843, Vol. III., p. 276 ; compare also an

article on this stone by M. Blondel, of Paris, published in the Smithsoninn

Report for 1876. Memoires concernant Us Chinois, Tome XIII., p. 889. Remusat

in the Journal des Savcuis, Dec, 1818, pp. 748 fF. J^i’otes and Queries

oil a and J., Vol. II., pp. 173, 174, and 187 ; Vol. III., p. 63 ; Vol. IV., pp.

13 and 33. MacmilUui’H Magazine, October, 1871. Yule, Cathay and the

Way Thither, Vol. II., p. 564.

‘^ Nephrit undjadeit, nach ihren miiieralogischen Eigenschaften soioie nach ihrer

urgeschichtiichea und ethnographischen Bedeutiing. Heinrioh Fischer, Stuttgart,

1880. An exhaustive treatise on every phrase and variety of the mineral in wliicli tills stone was held in China during tlie middle agea

conies from Benedict Goes (1002), who says : “There is no article

of traffic more valuable than lumps of a certain transparent

kind of marble, which we, from poverty of language, usually

call jasper. . . , Out of this marble they fashion a variety of

articles, such as vases, brooches for mantles and girdles, which,

when artistically sculptured in flowers and foliage, certainly

have an effect of no small magniflcence. These marbles (with

which the Empire is now overflowing) are called by the Chinese

lusce. There are two kinds of it ; the first and more valuable

is got out of the river at Cotan, almost in the same way

in which divers fish for gems, and this is usually extracted in

pieces about as big as large flints. The other and inferior

kind is excavated from the mountains.” The ruby, diamond,

amethyst, sapphire, topaz, pink tourmaline, lapis-lazuli,’ turquoises,

beryl, garnet, opal, agate, and other stones, are known

and most of them used in jewelry. A ruby Ijrought from

Peking is noticed by Bell as having been valued in Europe at

$50,000. The seals of the Boards are in man}’ instances cut on

valuable stones, and private persons take great pride in quartz

or jade seals, with their names carved on them ; lignite and

jet are likewise employed for cheaper ornaments, of which all

classes are fond.

All the common metals, except platina, are found in China, and the supply would be sufficient for all the purposes of the inhabitants, if they could avail themselves of the improvements adopted in other countries in blasting, mining, etc. The importations of iron, lead, tin, and quicksilver, are gradually increasing, but they form only a small proportion of the amount used throughout the Empire, especially of the two first named ; iron finds its way in because of its convenient forms more than its cheapness. The careful examination of Chinese topographical works by Pumpelly,” records the leading localities of iron in every province, and where copper, tin, lead, silver, and quick, silver have been observed ; he also mentions fifty-two places pro-

‘ Obtained from Badakslian. Wood, Journey to tlie Oxus, p. 263.

‘ Geological licucarches in China, Chap. X.

METALS AND THEIR PRODUCTION. 31J

diicing gold in various forms, most of them in Sz’cliuen. The rumor of gold-washings occurring not far from Chifn, in Shantung, caused much excitement in 1808, but thej were soon found to he not worth the labor. Gold has never been used as coin in China, but is wrought into jewelry ; most of it is consumed in gilding and exported to India as bullion, in the shape of small bars or coarse leaves.

Silver is mentioned in sixty-three localities by the same author; large amounts are brought from Yunnan, and the mines in that region must be both extensive and easily worked to afford such large quantities as have been exported. The working of both gold and silver mines has been said to be prohibited, but this interdiction is rather a government monopoly of the mines than an injunction upon working those which are known. The importation of gold into China during the two centuries the trade has been opened, does not probably equal the exportation which has taken place since the commencement of the opium trade.

It is altogether improbable that the Chinese are acquainted

with the properties of quicksilver in separating these two

metals from their ores, though its consumption in making vermilion

and looking-glasses calls for over two thousand flasks

yearly at Canton. Cinnabar occurs in Kweichau and Shensi

and furnishes most of the ” water silver,” as the Chinese call

it, by a rude process of burning brushwood in the wells, and

collecting the metal after condensation.

Copper is used for manufacturing coin, bells, bronze articles,

domestic and cooking utensils, cannon, gongs, and brass-foil.

It is found pure in some instances, and the sulphuret, the blue

and green carbonates, pyrities, and other ores are w’orked ; malachite

is ground for a paint. It occurs in every province, and

is specially rich in Shansi and Kweichau. The ores of zinc

and copper in Yunnan and Sz’chuen fnrnish spelter, and the

peculiar alloy known as white copper or argentan, containing in

addition tin, iron, nickel, and lead. So much use indicates

large deposits of the ores. Tin is rather abundant, but lead is

more common ; thirty-nine localities of the first are mentioned,

some of which are probably zinc ores, as the Chinese confound

tin and zinc under one generic name. Lead occurs with silver in many places ; twenty-four mines are mentioned in Pumpelly’s list, and those in Fuhkien are rich ; but the extensive importations prove that its reduction is too expensive to compete with the foreign.

Realgar is quite common, this and orpiment being used as paints; statuettes and other articles are carved from the former, while arsenic is used in agriculture to quicken grain and preserve it from insects. Amber and fossilized copal are collected in several localities ; the first is much employed in the making of court necklaces and hair ornaments. Thefel-tsui or jadeite is the most prized of the semi-precious stones; it is cut into ear-rings, finger-rings, necklaces, etc. Pumpelly mentions pieces of this mineral set in relics obtained from tombs in Mexico, though no locality where it abounds has yet been found in America. Lapis-lazuli is employed in painting upon copper

and porcelain ware ; this mineral is obtained in Chehkiang and

Kansuli ; jadeite, topaz, and other fine stones are most plenty

in Yunnan. A few minerals and fossils have been noticed in

the vicinity and shops at Canton, but China thus far has furnished

very few petrifactions in any strata. Coarse epidote

occurs at Macao, and tungstate of iron has been noticed in the

quartz rocks at Hongkong. Petrified crabs {inacrojpJithalinus)

have been brought to Canton from Hainan, which are prized

by the natives for their supposed medicinal qualities. Scientists have hitherto described a score or more species of Devonian shells, and recognized fragments of the hyena, tapir, rhinoceros, and stegedon, among some other doubtful vertebrate in the ” dragon’s bones ” sold in medicine shops ; but further examinations will doubtless increase the list. Orthoceratites and bivalve shells of various kinds are noticed in Chinese books as being found in rocks, and fossil bones of huge size in caves and river banks.

There are many hot springs and other indications of volcanic

action along the southern acclivities of the table land in the

])rovinces of Shensi and Sz’chuen ; and at Jeh-ho, in Chihli,

there are thermal springs to which invalids resort. The Ilo

tsing, or Fire wells, in Sz’chuen are apertures resembling artesian

springs, sunk in the rock to a depth of one thousand

QUADRUMANOUS ANIMALS OF CHINA. 313

five hundred or one thousand eight hundred feet, whilst theii

breadth does not exceed five or six inches. This is a work

of great difiicultj, and requires in some cases the labor of

two or three jears. The water procured from them contains

a fifth part of salt, which is very acrid, and mixed with nmch

nitre. When a lighted torch is applied to the mouth of

some of those which have no Avator, fire is produced with

great violence and a noise like thunder, bursting out into a

flame twenty or thirty feet high, and which cannot be extinguished

M’ithout great danger and expense. The gas has a

bituminous smell, and burns with a bluish flame and a quantity

of thick, black smoke. It is conducted under boilers in bamboos,

and employed in evaporating the salt-water from the

other springs.’ Besides the gaseous and aqueous springs in

these provinces, there are others possessing different qualities,

some sulphurous and others chalybeate, found in Shansi and

along the banks of the Yellow River. Sulphur occurs, as has

been noted, in great abundance in Formosa, and is purified for

powder manufacturers.

The animal and vegetable productions of the extensive regions

under the sway of the Emperor of China include a great

variety of types of different families. On the south the

islands of Hainan and Formosa, and parts of the adjacent

coasts, slightly partake of a tropical character, exhibiting in the

cocoanuts, plantains, and peppers, the parrots, lenmrs, and

monkeys, decided indications of an equatorial climate. From

the eastern coast across through the country to the northwest

provinces occur mountain ranges of gradually increasing elevation,

interspersed with intervales and alluvial plateaus and bottoms,

lakes and rivers, plains and hills, each presenting its

peculiar productions, both wild and cultivated, in great variety

and abundance. The southern ascent of the high land of Mongolia,

the uncultivated wilds of Manchuria, the barren wastes

of the desert of Gobi, with its salt lakes, glaciers, extinct volcanoes,

and isolated mountain ranges ; and lastly the stupendous

‘ Humboldt, Fragmens Asiatiques, Tome I., p. 196. Annates de la Foi,

Janvr., 182’J, pp. 41G ff.

chains and v^alleys of Tibet, Koko-nor, and Kwanlun all differ

from eacli other in the character of their prodnctions. In one

or the other division, every variety of soil, position, and temperature

occur which are known on tlie globe ; and what has

been ascertained within the past fifteen years by enterprising

naturalists is an earnest of future greater discoveries.

Of the quadrumanous order of animals, there are several

species. The Chinese are skilful in teaching the smaller kinds

of monkeys various tricks, but M. Breton’s picture of their

adroitness and usefulness in picking tea in Shantung from

plants growing on otherwise inaccessible acclivities, is a fair instance

of one of the odd stories furnished by travellers about

China, inasmuch as no tea grows in Shantung, and monkeys

are taught more profitable tricks.’ One of the most remarkable

animals of this tribe is the douc^ or Cochinchinese monkey

{Seinnojnthecus 7iemmus). It is a large species of great rarity,

and remarkable for the variety of colors with which it is

adorned. Its Ijody is about two feet long, and when standing

in an upright position its height is considerably greater. The

face is of an orange color, and flattened in its foi-m. A dark

band runs across the front of the forehead, and the sides of the

countenance are bounded by long spreading yellowish tufts of

liair. The body and upper parts of the forearms are brownish

gray, the lower portions of the arms, from the elbows to the

wrists, being white ; its hands and thighs are black, and the

legs of a bright red color, while the tail and a large triangular

spot above it are pure white. Such a creature matches well,

for its grotesque and variegated appearance, with the mandarin

duck and gold fish, also peculiar to China.

‘ Breton, China, its Costumes, Arts, etc., Vol. II.

THE FI-FI AND IIAI-TUH. 315

Chinese books speak of several species of this family, and small kinds occur in all the provinces. M. David has recently added two novelties to the list from his acquisitions in Eastern Koko-nor, well fitted for that cold region by their abundant hair. The Rhinoplthccus I’oxellancB inhabits the alpine forests, nearly two miles high, where it subsists on the buds of plants and bamboo shoots laid up for winter supply; its face is greenish, the nose remarkably /’cfrousse, and its strong, brawny limbs well fitted for the arboreal life it leads ; the hair is thick and like a mane on the back, shaded with yellow and white tints.

In this respect it is like the Gelada monkey of Abyssinia, and a few others protected in this part of the body from cold. This is no doubt the kind called f’t-fi in native books, and once found in flocks along many portions of western China, as these authors declare. Their notices are rather tantalizing, but, now that we have found the animal, are worth quoting: “The f’l-fi resembles a man ; it is clothed with its hair, runs quick and eats men ; it has a human face, long lips, black, hairy body, and turns its heels. It laughs on seeing a man and covers its eyes with its lips ; it can talk and its voice resembles a bird. It occurs in Sz’chuen, where it is called jhi hiung, or ‘human bear ; ‘ its palms are good eating, and its skin is used; its habit is to turn over stones, seeking for crabs as its food. Its form is like that of the men who live in the Kwaiilun Mountains.”

Another large simia {2Iacactis thlhetanus) comes from the

same region; it lives in bands like the preceding, but lower

down the mountains. A third species of gi-eat size was reported

to occur in the southwestern part of Sz’chuen, and described

as greenish like the Macacus tcheliensis from the hills

northwest of Peking—the most northern species of monkey

known. The former of these two may possibly be the sinysing

of the Chinese books, though its characteristics involve

some confusion of the Macacus and baboon on the part of those

writers. Two other species of ]\Iacacus, and as many of the

gibbons, have been noticed in Hainan, Formosa, and elsewhere

in the south.

The singular proboscis monkey {J^^asalis laivalus\ called hhi-doc in Cochinchina and hai-tuh by the Chinese, exhibits a strange profile, part man and part beast, reminding one of the combinations in Da Yinci’s caricatui-es. It is a large animal, covered with soft yellowish hair tinted with red ; the long nose projects in the form of a sloping spatula. The Chinese account says : ” Its nose is turned upward, and the tail very long and forked at the end, and that whenever it rains, the animal thrusts the forks into its nose. It goes in herds, and lives in friendship ; when one dies, the rest accompany it to buriaL Its activity is so great that it runs its head against the trees; its fur is soft and gray, and the face black.’”‘

‘The Chinese llerhal., from which the preceding extract is taken, describes the bat under various names, such as ‘ heavenly rat,’ ‘faiiy rat,’ ‘flying rat,’ ‘night swallow,’ and ‘belly wings;’Ff-fr and Hai-tuh. (From a Chinese cut.)

it also details the various uses made of the animal in medicine,

and the extraordinary longevity attained by some of the wdiite

species. The bat is in form like a mouse ; its body is of an

ashy black color ; and it has thin fleshy wings, which join the

four legs and tail into one. It appears in the summer, but becomes

torpid in the winter ; on which account, as it eats nothing

during that season, and because it has a habit of swallowing its

breath, it attains a great age. It has the character of a night

‘ Bridgmiui’s Chinese Chrestomathy, p. 4G9.

WILD ANIMALS. 317

rover, not on account of any inability to fly in the day, hnt it dares not o;o abroad at that time because it fears a kind of hawk. It subsists on mosquitoes and gnats. It flies with its head downward, because the brain is heavy,’ This quotation is among the best Chinese descriptions of animals, and shows how little there is to depend upon in them, though not without interest in their notices of habits. Bats are common everywhere, and seem to be regarded with less aversion than in certain other countries. Twenty species belonging to nine genera are given in one list, most of them found in southern China ; the wings of some of these measure two feet across ; a large sort in Sz’chuen is eaten.

The brown bear is known, and its paws are regarded as a

delicacy ; trained animals are frequently brought into cities by

showmen, wdio have taught them tricks. The discovery by

David of a large species {Ailunypus riielanoleurus) allied to the

Himalayan panda {Ailurasfulgens), also found on the Sz’chuen

Mountains, adds another instance of the strange markings common

in Tibetan fauna. This beast feeds on flesh and vegetables

; its body is white, but the ears, eyes, legs, and tip of the

tail are quite black ; the fur is thick and coarse. It is called

peh hlaixj, or white bear, by the hunters, but is no doubt the

animal called j;i in the classics, connnon in early times over

western China, and now rare even in Koko-nor. The Tibetan

black bear occurs in Formosa, Shantung, and Hainan, showing

a wide range. The badger is quite as widespread, and the two

species have the same general appearance as their European

congeners.

Carnivorous animals still exist, even in thickly settled districts.

The lion may once have roamed over the southwestern

Manji kingdom, but the name and drawings both indicate a

foreign origin. It has much connection with Buddhism, and

grotesque sculptures of ranq3ant lions stand in pairs in front of

temples, palaces, and graves, as a mark of honor and symbol

of protection. The last instance of a live lion brought as tribute

was to Hientsung in a.d. 1470, from India or Ceylon.

‘ Chinese Repository^ Vol. VII., p. 90.

Many other species of yeZ/5 are known, some of tliein peculiar

to particular regions. The royal tiger has been killed near

Amoy, and in Manchuria the panther, leopard, and tiger-cat

all occur in the northern and southern provinces, making

altogether a list of twelve species ranging from Formosa to

Sagalien. Mr. Swinhoe’s ‘ account of his rencounter with a

tiger near Amoy in 1S58 explains how^ such large animals still

remain in thickly settled regions where food is abundant and

the people are timid and unarmed. In thinly peopled parts

they become a terror to the peasants. M. David enumerates

six kinds, including a lynx, in Monpin alone, one of which

{Felis sc/’fj)ta) is among the most prettily marked of the whole

family. Ilunting-leopards and tigers were used in the days of

Marco Polo by Kublai, but the manly pastime of the chase, on

the magnificent scale then pi-actised, has fallen into disuse with

the present princes. A small and fierce species of wild- cat

{Felis chinensls), two feet long, of a brownish-gray coloi’, and

liandsomely marked with chestnut spots and black streaks, is

still common in the southwestern portions of Fuhkien. (Uvet

cats of two or thi-ee kinds, tree-civets (Ildwtes), and a fine

species of marten {Martes), with yellow neck and purplishbrown

bod}’, from Formosa, are among the smaller cai-nivora in

the southern provinces.

The domestic animals offer few peculiarities. The cat, lia U,

or ‘household fox,’ is a favorite inmate of families, and the

ladies of Peking are fond of a variety of the Angora cat,

having long silky hair and hanging ears. The common species

is variously marked, and in the south often destitute of a tail; when reared for food it is fed on i-ice and vegetables, but is not much eaten. Popular superstition has clustered many omens of good and bad luck about cats ; it is considered, for example, the prognostic of certain misfortune when a cat is stolen from a house—much as, in some countries of the western world, it is unlucky when a black cat crosses one’s pathway.

The dog differs but little from that reared among the Esquimaux,

and is perhaps the original of the species. There is

• Zodl. &c. Proc, 1870, p. G3G.

CATS AND DOGS. 319

little variation in tlieir size, wliicli is about a foot liigli and

two feet in length ; the color is a pale yellow or black, and

always uniform, with coarse bristling hair, and tails curling up

high over the back, and rising so abruptly from the insei-tion

that it has been humoi-ously remarked they almost assist in

lifting the legs from the ground. The hind legs are unusually

straight, which gives them an awkward look, and perhaps pre*

vents them running very rapidly. The black eyes are small

and piercing, and the insides of the lips and months, and the

tongue, are of the same color, or a blue black. The bitch has a

dew-claw on each hind leg, but the dog has none. The ears are

sharp and upright, the head peaked, and the bark a short, thick

snap, very unlike the deep, sonorous baying of our mastiffs. In

Xganhwui a peculiar variety has pendant ears of great length,

and thin, wii-ey tails. One item in the Chinese description of

the dog is that it ‘ can go on three legs ‘—a gait that is often

exhibited b}’ them. They are used to watch houses and flocks; the Mongolian breed is fierce and powerful. The dogs of Peking are very clannish, and each set jealously guards its own street or yard ; they ai-e fed by the butchers in the streets, and serve as scavengers there and in all large towns. They are often mangey, presenting hideous spectacles, and instances of j>//(‘«2)oloni<‘a are not uncommon, l)nt, as among the celebrated street dogs of Ooiistantinople, hydrophobia is almost unheard of among them. Dog markets are seen in every city where this meat is sold ; the animals are reared expressly for the table, but their flesh is expensive.

One writer remarks on their habits, when describing the

worship offered at the tombs : ” Hardly had the hillock been

abandoned by the M’orshippers, when packs of hungry dogs

came running up to devour the part of the offerings left for the

dead, or to lick up the grease on the ground. Those who came

first held up their heads, bristled their hair, and showed a

proud and satisfied demeanor, curling and wagging their tails

with selfish delight ; while the late-comers, tails between their

legs, held their heads and ears down. There was one of them,

however, which, grudging the fare, held his nose to the wind as

if sniffing for better luck ; but one lean, old, and ugly beast. with a flayed back and liaii-less tail, was seen gradually separating himself from the band, though without seeming to hurry himself, making a thousand doublings and windings, all the while looking back to see if he was noticed. But the old sharper knew what he was about, and as soon as he thought himself at a safe distance, away he went like an arrow, the whole pack after him, to some other feast and some other tomb.”

‘Wolves, raccoon-dogs, and foxes are everywhere common, in some places proving to be real pests in the sheepfold and farmyard. In the vicinity of Peking, it is customary to draw large white rings on the plastered walls, in order to terrify the wolves, as these beasts, it is thought, will flee on observing such traps.

The Chinese regard the fox as the animal into which human spirits enter in preference to any other, and are therefore afraid to destroy or displease it. The elevated steppes are the abodes of three or four kinds, which find food without difficulty. The Tibetan wolf (Cams chanco) has a warm, yellowish-white covering, and ranges the wilds of Tsaidam and Koko-nor in packs. The fox {Ganis cossac) spreads over a wide range, and is famed for its sagacity in avoiding enemies.

The breed of cattle and horses is dwarfish, and nothing is done to improve them. The oxen are sometimes not larger than an ass ; some of them have a small hump, showing their affinity to the zebu ; the dewlap is large, and the contour neat and symmetrical. The forehead is round, the horns small and irregularly curved, and the general color dun red. The buffalo(shui niu), or ‘water ox’, is the largest beast used in agriculture. It is very docile and unwieldy, larger than an English ox, and its hairless hide is a light black color; it seeks coolness and refuge from the gnat in muddy pools dug for its convenience, where it wallows with its nose just above the surface. Each horn is nearly semi-circular, and bends downward, while the head is turned back so as almost to bring the nose horizontal.

‘ Borget, La Chine Ouverte, p. 147.

CATTLE, SHEEP, AND DEER. 321

The herd-boys usually ride it, and the metaphor of a lad astride a buffalo’s back, blowing the flute, frequently enters into Chinese descriptions of rural life. The yak of Tibet is employed us a beast of burden, and to furnish food and raiment. It is covered with a mantle of hair reaching nearly to the ground, and the soft pelage is used for making standards among the Persians, and its tail as fly-Haps or chowries in India ; the hair is woven into carpets. The wild yak {PoepluKjas (jrunnienH) has already been described. Great herds of these huge bovines roam over the wastes of Koko-nor, where their dried droppings furnish the only fuel for the nomads crossing those barren wilds.

The domestic sheep is the broad-tailed species, and furnishes excellent mutton. The tail is sometimes ten inches long and three or four thick ; and the size of this fatty member is not affected by the temperature. The sheep are reared in the north by Mohammedans, who prepare the fleeces for garments by careful tanning ; the animal is white, with a black head. Goats are raised in all parts, but not in large numbers. The argali and wild sheep of the Ala shau Mountains {Ovis Burrhel) furnish exciting sport in chasing them over their native cliffs, which they clamber with wonderful agility. Another denizen of those dreary wilds is the Antilope jpicticauda, a small and tiny species, weighing about forty pounds, of a dusky gray color, with a narrow yellow stripe on the flanks. Its range is about the head-waters of the YangZiJiang River ; its swiftness is amazing; it seems absolutely to fly. It scrapes for itself trenches in which to lie secure from the cold.

Many genera of ruminants are represented in China and

the outlying regions ; twenty-seven rare species are enumerated

in Swinhoe’s and David’s lists, of which eleven are antelopes

and deer. The range of some of them is limited to a

narrow region, and most of them are peculiar to the country.

The wealthy often keep deer in their grounds, especially the

spotted deer {Cermis j)seicdaxis), from Formosa, whose coat is

found to vary greatly according to sex and age ; its name, Mntsien

lu/i, or ‘money deer,’ indicates its markings. Mouse-deer

are also reared as pets in the southern provinces.

One common species is the dscren or hwang yan<j {AntiUpe(jiitturosa), which roams over the Mongolian wilds in large herds, and furnishes excellent venison. It is heavy in comparison to the gazelle ; liorns thick, about nine inches long, anmilated to the tips, lyrated, and their points turned inward. The goitre, which gives it its name, is a movable protuberance occasioned by the dilatation of the larnyx ; in the old males it is much enlarged. The animal takes surprising bounds when running.

Great numbers are killed in the autunm, and their flesh,

skins, and liorns ai’e all of service for food, leather, and medicine.

Several kinds of hornless (or nearly hornless) deer, allied to

the musk-deer, exist. One is the river-deer {Ihjdrojyotes)^ common

near the Yangtsz’ Eiver, which resembles the pudu of

Chili ; it is very prolific on the bottoms and in the islands. Another

sort in the northwest {Elaj>hod>iK) is intermediary between

the muntjacs and deer, having long, trenchant, canine

upper teeth, and a deep chocolate-colored fur. Three varieties

of the musk-deer {MoscJiun) have been observed, differing a

little in their colors, all called shie or hkouj cliaiuj by the Chinese,

and all eagerly hunted for their musk. This perfume

was once deemed to be nseful in medicine, and is cited in a

Greek presci-iption of the sixth century ; the abundance of the

animal in the Himalayan regions may be inferred from Tavernier’s

statement that he bought 7GT3 bags or pods at Patna in

one of his journeys over two hundred years ago. This animal

roams over a vast extent of alpine territory, from Tibet and

Shensi to Lake Baikal, and inhabits the loftiest cliffs and defiles,

and makes its way over nigged mountains with great rapidity.

It is not unlike the roe in general appearance, though the projecting

teeth makes the npper lip to look broad. Its color is

grayish-brown and its limbs slight; the hair is coarse and brittle,

almost like spines. The musk is contained in a pouch beneath

the tail on the male, and is most abundant during the

i-utting season. He is taken in nets or shot, and the hunters

are said to allure him to destruction by secreting themselves

and playing the flute, though some would say the animal

showed very little taste in listening to such sounds as Chinese

flutes usually produce. The musk is often adulterated with

clay or mixed with other sul)stanees to moderate its powerful

odor. A singular and interesting member of this familv is

reared in the great park south of Peking—a kind of elk with

HORSES, ARSES, AND ELEPHANTS. 8,’?:}

short horns. This large animal {Elwphwus Damdianus)^ of a

gentle disposition, equals in size tlie largest deer; its native

name, sz’-2>uh slang, indicates that it is neither a horse, a deer,

a camel, nor an ox, but partakes in some respects of the characteristics

of each of them. Its gentle croaking voice seems to be

nnworthj of so huge a body ; the color is a uniform fawn or

light gray.

The horse is not much larger than the Shetland pony ; it is

bony and strong, but kept with little cai-e, and presents the

worst possible appearance in its usual condition of untrinmied

coat and mane, bedraggled fetlocks, and twisted tail. The Chinese

language possesses a great variety of terms to designate

the horse ; the difference of age, sex, color, and disposition, all

being denoted by particular characters. Piebald and mottled,

white and bay horses are common ; but the improvement of

this noble animal is neglected, and he looks sorry enough compared.

with the coursers of India. lie is principally used for

carrying the post, or for military services ; asses and mules

being more employed for draught. lie is hardy, feeds on

coarse food, and admirably serves his owners. The mule is

well-shaped, and those raised for the gentry are among the very

best in the M’orld for endurance and strength; dignitaries are

usually drawn by sumpter mules. Donkeys are also carefully

raised. Chinese books speak of a mule of a cow and horse, as

M’ell as from the ass and horse, though, of course, no such hybrid

as the former ever existed.

The wild ass, or onager (under the several names by which

it is known in different lands, Ji-yaiuj^ djan/j, I’ulan, djiggeta),

ghor-hhar, and ye-la), still roams free and untameable. It is

abundant in Koko-nor, gathering in troops of ten to fifty, each

under the lead of a stallion to defend the mares. The flesh is

highly prized, and the difficult}^ of procuring it adds to the

delicacy of the dish ; the color is light chestnut, with white

belly.

Elephants are kept at Peking for show, and are used to

draw the state chariot when the Emperor goes to worship at

the Altars of Heaven and Earth, but the sixty animals seen in

the days of Kienlung, by Bell, have since dwindled to one or two. Van Braam met six going into Peking, sent thither from Yunnan. The deep forests of that province also harbor the rhinoceros and tapir. The horn of the former is sought after as medicine, and theTjest pieces are carved most beautifully into

ornaments or into drinking cups, which are supposed to sweat

whenever any poisonous liquid is put into them. The tapir is

the white and brown animal found in the IMalacca peninsula,

and strange stories are recorded of its eating stones and copper.

The wild boar grows to weigh over four hundred pounds and

nearly six feet long. In cold weather its frozen carcass is

brought to I’eking, and sold at a high price. A new species of

The Chinese Pig.

hoff has been found in Formosa, about three feet long, twentyone

inches high, and showing a dorsal row of large bristles ; a

tliird variety occurs among the novelties discovered in Sz’chuen

ij^m moujnnensiH)^ having short ears. Wild boars are met M’ith

even in the hills of C’hehkiang, and seriously’ annoy the husbandmen

in the lowlands by their depredations. Deep pits are

dug near the l)ase of the hills, and covered M’ith a bait of fresh

grass, and many are annually captured or droM’iied in them.

They are fond of the bamboo shoots, and persons are stationed

near the groves to fi-igliten them away by striking pieces of

wood together.

The Chinese hollow-backed pig is known for its short legs,

tup: wild boar and domestic hog. 325

round body, crooked back, and almndance of fat; the flesh is

the connnoii meat of tlie people soutli of tlie Yaii<>’ts// liiver.

The black C-hinese breed, as it is called in England, is considered

the best pork raised in that country. The boo-” in the

northern provinces is a gaunt animal, unifoiiuly black, and not

so well cared for as its southern rival. Pieljald pigs are common

in Formosa, resulting from crossing; sometimes animals

of this kind are quite woolly. The Chinese in the south, well

aware of the perverse disposition of the hog, find it much more

expeditious to can-y instead of drive him through their narrow

Mode of Carrying Pigs.

Streets. For this purpose cylindrical baskets, open at both ends,

are made ; and in order to capture the obstinate brute, it is

secured just outside the half-opened gate of the pen. The men

seize him by the tail and pull it lustily ; his rage is roused by

the pain, and he struggles ; they let go their hold, whereupon

he darts out of the gate to escape, and finds himself snugly

caught. He is lifted up and unresistingly carried off.

The camel is employed in the trade carried on across the

desert, and throughout Mongolia, Manchuria, and northern

China near the plateau; without his aid those regions would be ii))pa?sil)le ; the passes across the ranges near Tvoho-nor, sixteen thonsand feet high, ai-e traversed by his help, though amid suffej’ing and danger. In the summer season it sheds all its hair, which is gathered for weaving into ropes and rugs ; at this period, large herds pasture on the plateau to recuperate. The humps at this season hang down the back like empty bags, and the poor animal presents a distressed appearance during the hot weather. In its prime condition it carries about six hundred

pounds weight, but is not used to ride upon as is the Arabian

species. The two kinds serve man in one continuous l-ajilah

from the Sea of Tartary across two continents to Tinibuctoo.

The Chinese have employed the camel in wai’, and trained it to

carry small gingalls so that the riders could fire them while

resting on its head, but this antique kind of cavalry has disappeared

with the introduction of better weapons.

Among the various tribes of smaller animals, the Chinese

Em])ire furnishes many interesting peculiarities, and few families

are unrepresented. Xo marsupials have yet been met, and

the order of edeutata is still restricted to one instance. Several

families in other orders are rare or wanting, as baboons,

spider-monkeys, skunks, and ichneumons. In the weasel tribe,

some new species have been added to the already long list of

valuable fur-bearing animals found in the mountains—the sable

ermine, marten, pole-cat, stoat, etc., whose skins still repay the

hunters. The weasel is common, but not troublesome. The

otter is trained in Sz’chuen to catch fish in the mountain

streams \vith the docility of a spaniel ; another species {Lutia

siolnhosl) occurs along the islands on the southern coast, while

in Hainan Island appears a kind of clawless otter of a rich

brown color above and white beneath ; each of these is about

twenty inches long. The furs of all these, and also the seaotter,

are prepared for garments, especially collars and neckwraps.

A kind of mole exists in Sz’chuen, having a muzzle of extreme

length, while the scent of another variety near Peking is so

nuisky as to suggest its name {Scapfot’hirKi^ moschatus). Muskrats

and shrew-mice are found both north and south ; and one

western species has only a rudimentary tail ; w^hile another, the

SMALLER ANIMALS AISTD RODET^TS, 327

Scaptony.i’, forms an intermediate species l>ctween a mole and a

shrew, having a bhmt muzzle, strong fore feet and a long tail;

and lastly, a sort fitted for aquatic lial)its, with l)road hind feet

and flattened tail. Tiny hedgehogs are common even in the

streets and by-lanes of Peking, where they find food and

refuge in the allnvial earth. Two or three kinds of marmots

and mole-rats are fonnd in the north and west {Sqyhucus Arctami/

s), all specifically unlike their congeners elsewhere. The

Chinese have a curious fancy in respect to one beast, one bird,

and one fish, each of which, they say, requires that two come

together to make one complete animal, viz., the jerboa, the

spoonbill and sole-fish ; the first {D’qius annnlatus) occurs in

the sands of northern China, the second in Formosa, and the

third along the coasts.

Many kinds of rodents have been described. The alpine

hare {Lagomijs ogotona) resembles a marmot in its habits and is

met with throughout the grassy parts of the steppes ; its burrows

riddle the earth wherever the little thing gathers, and endangers

the hunters riding over it. It is about the size of a rat,

and by its w^onderful fecundity furnishes food to a great number

of its enemies—man, beasts, and birds ; it is not dormant, but

gathers dry grass for food and warmth during cold weather

;

this winter store is, however, often consumed by cattle before

it is stored away. Hares and rabbits are well known. Two

species of the former are plenty on the Mongolian grass-lands,

one of which has very long feet ; in winter their frozen bodies

are brought to market. One species is restricted to Hainan

Island, Ten or twelve kinds of squirrels have been described,

red, gray, striped, and buff ; one with fringed ears. Their skins

are prepared for the furriers, and women wear winter robes

lined with them. Two genera of flying-squirrel {Pteromys and

Sciurapterus) have been noticed, the latter in Formosa and the

former mostly in the western provinces, Chinese writers have

been puzzled to class the flying-squirrel ; they place it among

birds, and assure their readers that it is the only kind which

suckles its young when it flies, and that ” the skin held in the

hand during parturition renders delivery easier, because the

animal has a remarkably lively disposition,” The long, dense

328 THE MIDDLK KINGDOM.

fur of the P. alhonifow’i makes beautiful dressep, the white

tips of the hair contrasting prettily with the red ground.

Of the proper rats and mice, more than twenty-five species

have been already described. Some of them are partially

arboreal, others have remarkably long tails, and all but three

are peculiar to the country. A Formosan species, called by

Swinhoe the spinous county rat, had been dedicated to Koxinga,

the conqueror of that island ; while another common

in Sz’chuen bears the name of Mufi Confucianus. The extent

to which tlie Chinese eat rats has been greatly exaggerated

by travellers, for the flesh is too expensive for general

use.

One species of porcupine {TTijsfrir suhcrlxtata) inhabits the

southern provinces, wearing on its head a purplish-black crest

of stout spines one to five inches long ; the bristles are short,

but increase in size and length to eight oi- nine inches toward

the rump ; the entire length is thiity-three inches. The popular

notion that the porcupine darts its quills at its enemies as

an efPectual weapon is common among the Chinese.

Xo animal has puzzled the Chinese more than the scaly anteater

or pangolin {JIa?iis dahnanni), which is logically considered

as a certain and useful remedy bv them, simply because of

its oddity. It is regarded as a fish out of water, and therefore

named Ihuj-l’i., or ‘ hill carp,’ also dragon carp, but the most

common designation is ehuen. s/ian liah, or the ‘ scaly hill borer.’

One author says: ” Its shape resembles a crocodile ; it can go in

dry paths as well as in the water ; it has four legs. In the

daytime it ascends the banks of streams, and lying down opens

its scales wide, putting on the appearance of death, which induces

the ants to enter between them. As soon as they are in,

the animal closes its scales and returns to the water to open

them ; the ants float out dead, and he devours them at leisure.”

A more accurate observer says: “It contimially protrudes its

tongue to entice the ants on which it feeds ; ” and true to

Chinese physiological deductions, similia similihis curantur,

he recommends the scales as a cure for all antish swellings.

lie also I’emarks that the scales are not bony, and consist of

the agglutinated hairs of the body. The adult specimens

PORPOISES AND WHALES. 329

measure tliirty-threo inches. It walks on the sides of the

hind feet and tips of the claws of the fore feet, and can stand

upright for a minute or two. The large scales are held tt

the skin by a liesliy iiipple-like pimple, which adheres to the

base.

Among the cetaceous inhabitants of the Chinese waters, one

of the most noticeable is the great white poi-poise {Delj>/ihi>;s

chinensis), whose uncouth tumbles attract the traveller’s notice

as he sails into the estuary of the Pearl River on his way to

Hongkong, and again as he steams up the Yangtsz’ to Hankow.

The Chinese fishermen are shy of even holding it in their nets,

setting it free at once, and never pui-suing it ; they call it^>M-^i

and deem its presence favorable to their success. A species of

fin-whale {Balmnoptera) has been described by Swinhoe, which

ranges the southern coast from the shores of Formosa to Hainan.

Its pi-esence between Hongkong and Amoy induced some

foreigners to attempt a fishery in those waters, but the yield of

oil and bone was too small for their outlay. The native fishermen

join their efforts in the wintei*, when it resorts to the seas

near Hainan, going out in fleets of small boats from three to

twenty-five tons burden each, fifty l)oats going together. The

line is about three hundred and fifty feet long, made of native

hemp, and fastened to the mast, the end leading over the bow.

The harpoon has one barb, and is attached to a wooden handle

;

through an eye near the socket, the line is so fastened along the

handle, that when the whale begins to strain upon it, the handle

draws out upon the line, leaving only the barlj buried iji the

skin. The boat is sailed directly upon the fish, and the harpooner

strikes from the bow just behind the blow-hole. As

soon as the fish is struck the sail is lowered, the rudder unshipped,

and the boat allowed to drag stern foremost until the

prey is exhausted. Other boats come up to assist, and half a

dozen harpoons soon dispatch it. The species most common

there yield about fifty bai-rels each ; the oil, fiesh, and bone are

all used f(jr food or in manufactures. Tiie fish resort to the

shallow waters in those seas for food, and to roll and rub on the

banks and reefs, thus ridding themselves of the barnacles and

insects which torment them ; they are often seen leaping en330

THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

tire)y out of water, and falling back perpend icnlarly against the

hard bottom.’

The Yellow Sea affords a species of cow-lish, or round headed

cachalot {Globicejjhalus Itissii), wdiich the Japanese capture.*

Seals have been observed on the coast of Liautung, but nothing

is known of their species or habits ; the skins are common and

cheap in the Peking market. Xative books speak of a marine

animal in Koko-nor, from wliich a rare medicine is obtained,

that probably belongs to this famOy.

This imperfect account of the mammalia known to exist

in China has been drawn from the lists and descriptions inserted

in the zoological periodicals of Europe, and may serve to

indicate the extent and richness of the field yet to be investigated.

The lists of Swinhoe and David alone contain nearly

two hundred species, and within the past ten years scores more

have been added, but have not exhausted the new and unexplored

zoological regions. The emperors of the Mongol dynasty

were very fond of the chase, and famous for their love of the

noble amusement of falconry ; Marco Polo says that Kublai employed

no less than seventy thousand attendants in his hawking

excursions. Falcons, kites, and other birds were taught to

pursue their quarry, and the Venetian speaks of eagles trained

to stoop at wolves, and of such size and strength that none

could escape their talons.’ Hanking has collected * a number

of notices of the mode and sumptuousness of the field sports of

the Mongols in China and India, but they convey little more

information to the naturalist, than that the game Avas abundant

and comprised a vast variety. ]\rany s])ecies of accipitrine

birds are described in Chinese books, but they are spoken of so

vaguely that nothing definite can be learned from the notices.

Few of them are now trained for sport by the Chinese, except

a kind of sparrow-hawk to amuse dilettanti hunters in

showing their skill in catching small birds. The fondness for

sport in the wilds of Manchuria which the old emperoi-s

‘ CMnese Repository, Vol. XII., p. 608.

Mbid., Vol. VI., p. 411.

•Yule’s Marco Polo, Vol. I., p. ‘m^.

* Wars and Sports of the Mongols and Romans.

BIRDS OF PREY. 331

encouraged two centuries ago has all died out among their

descendants.

Within the last fifteen years a greater advance has been

made in the knowledge of the birds of China than in any other

branch of its natural history, perhaps owing somewhat to their

presenting themselves for capture to the careful observer. The

list of described species already munljers over seven hundred, of

which the careful paper of the lamented Swinhoe, in the ProceedingH

of the Zoological SocJeti/ for May, 1871, gives the

names of six hundred and seventy-five species, and M. David’s

list, in i\\(i Nouvelles Archives for 1871, gives four hundred and

seventy as the number observed north of the Itiver Yangtsz’.

The present sketcli must confine itself to selecting a few of the

characteristic birds of the country, for this part of its fauna is

as interesting and peculiar as the mammalia.

Among birds of prey are vultures, eagles, and ernes, all of

them M’idespread and well known. One of the fishing-eagles

(Ilalicctus macei) lives along the banks of the bend of the Yellow

River in the Ortous country. The golden eagle is still

trained for the chase by Mongols ; Atkinson accompanied a

party on a hunt. ” We had not gone far,” he says, ” when

several large deer rushed past, bounding over the plain about

three hundred yards from ns. In an instant the barkut wai

unhooded and his shackles removed, when he sprung from hi^

perch and soared on high. lie rose to a considerable height,

and seemed to poise fof^ minute, gave two or three flaps with his

wings, and swooped off in a straight line for the pi’ey. I could

not see his wings move, but he went at a fearful rate, and all of

us after the deer ; when we were about two hundred yards off,

the bii-d struck the deer, and it gave one bound and fell. The

barkut had struck one talon in his neck, the other into his back,

and was tearing out his liver. The Kirghis sprung from his

horse, slipped the hood over the eagle’s head and the shackles

on his legs, and easily took him off, remounting and getting

ready for another flight.” ‘ Other smaller species are trained

to capture or worry hares, foxes, and lesser game.

‘ Oriental and Western Siberia, p. 41 G.

332 TIIK MIDDLK KINGDOM.

The falcons which inhabit the gate-towers and trees in Pe

kinw form a peculiar feature of the place, from their impudence

in foraging in tlie streets and markets, snatching things out of

the liands of people, and startling one by their responsive

screams. Much quarrelling goes on between them and the

crows and magpies for the possession of old nests as the spring

comes on. Their services as scavengers insures them a quiet

residence in their eyries on the gate-towers. Six sorts of harriers

(Circles), with various species of falcons, bustards, gledes,

and spaiTOw^-hawks, are enumerated. The family of owls is

well represented, and live ones are often exposed for sale in

the markets ; its native name of ‘ cat-headed hawk ‘ {inao-rhtao

ying) suggests the likeness of the two. Out of the fifty-six

species of accipitrine birds, the hawks are much the most

numerous.

The great order of Passerinae has its full share of beautiful

and peculiar representatives, and over four hundred species

have been catalogued. The night-hawks have only three

members, but the swallows count up to fifteen species. Around

Peking they gather in vast numbers, year after year, in the

gate-towers, and that whole region was early known by the

name of Yen Kwoli, or ‘ Land of Swallows.’ The innnunity

granted by the natives to this twittering, bustling inmate of

their houses has made it a synonym for domestic life ; the

phrase yin yen. {lit. to ‘ drink swallows ‘) means to give a feast.

The famil}’ of king-fishers contains several most exquisitely

colored birds, and multitudes of the handsome ones, like the

turquoise king-fisher {Halcyon fi/nyrnensis), are killed by the

(Chinese for the sake of the plumage. Beautiful feather-work

ornaments are made from this at Canton. The hoopoe, beeeater,

and cuckoo are not uncommon ; the first goes by the

name of the s/ia/i. ho-.shan’j, or ‘ country priest,* f i-om its color.

Six species of the last have been recognized, and its peculiar

habits of driving other birds from their nests has made it well

kuuwn to the people, who call it ha-l’a for the same reason as

do the English. On the upper Yangtsz’ the short-tailed species

makes its noisy agitated Hight in order to draw off attention from

its nest. The C’hinesc say it wcepi blood as it bewails its mate

SWALLOWS, THRUSHES, LARKS, El’C. 333

all night long. The Cacutas strlatus varies so greatly in different

provinces that it has much perplexed naturalists ; all of

them are only summer visitants.

The habit of the shi-ike of impaling its prey on thorns and

elsewhere before devouring it has been noticed by native

writers ; no less than eleven species have been observed to cross

the country in their migrations from Siberia to the Archipelago.

Of the nuthatches, tree and wall creepers, wrens, and chats,

there is a large variety, fJid one species of willow-wren {Sylvia

horealls) has been detected over the entire eastei’u hemisphere ;

six sorts of redstarts {Rat’tGilla) are spread over the provinces.

Among the common song birds reared for the liousehold, the

thrush and lark take precedence ; their fondness for birds and

flowers is one of the pleasant features of Chinese national character.

A kind of grayish-yellow thrush {Garrula,c j)<”i’-y)i<-il’^-

tus)j called hwa-mi, or ‘painted ej’ebrows,’ is common about

Canton, where a well-trained bird is worth several dollars.

This genus furnishes six species, but they are not all equally

nnisical ; another kind {Suthorla wehhiana) is kept for its fighting

qualities, as it will die before it yields. These and other

allied birds furnish the people with much amusement, by teaching

them to catch seeds thrown into the air, jump from perches

held in the hand, and })erform tricks of various kinds. A party

of gentlemen will often be seen on the outskii-ts of a town in

mild weather, each one holding his pet bird, and all busily engaged

in catching grasshoppei’s to feed them. The spectacle

thrush {Leuc()d’wj.>trn,tii) has its eyes surrounded by a black

circle bearing a fancied resemblance to a pair of spectacles ; it

is not a very sweet songster, but a graceful, lively fellow. The

species of wagtail and lark known amount to about a score altogether,

but not all of them are equally good singers. The

southern (^hinese prefer the lark which comes from Chihli, and

large numbei-s ai-e annually carried south. The shrill notes of

the field lark {Alauda adkiox and arvensis) are heard in the

shops and streets in enmlous concert with other kinds—these

larks becoming at times well-nigh frantic with excitement in

their struggles for victory. The Chinese name of peh-ling, or

‘hundred spirits,’ given to the Mongolian lark, indicates the

334 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

reputation it has earned as an active songster ; and twenty-five

dollars is not an unconnnon pi-ice for a good one.’

The tits [Parus) and recdlings {Emhe/’ha), together with kindred

genera, are among the most common .small birds, fifteen or

twenty species of each having been noticed. In the proper season

the latter are killed for market in such numbei-s as to excite

surprise that they do not become extinct. In taking many of

the warblers, orioles, and jays, for rearing or sale as fancy birds,

the Chinese are veiy^ expert in the use of birdlime. In all parts

of the land, the pie family are deemed so useful as scavengers

that they are never molested, and in consequence become very

connnon. The magpie is a favorite bird, as its name, /il tsloh,

or ‘ joyous bird,’ indicates, and occurs all over the land. Ravens,

choughs, crows, and blackbirds keep doM-n the insects and vermin

and consume offal. The palace grounds and inclosures of

the nobility in Peking are common I’esorts for these crows,

where they are safe from harm in the great trees. Every

morning myriads of them leave town with the dawn, returning

at evenino; with increased ca\\ino; and clamor, at times actuallv

darkening the sky with their flocks. A pretty sight is occasionally

seen M’hen two or three thousand young ci’ows assemble

just at sunset in mid-air to chase and play with each other.

The crow is i-egarded as somewhat of a sacred bird, either from

a service said to have been rendered by one of his race to an

ancestor of the present dynasty, or because he is an emblem of

filial duty, from a notion that the young assist their parents

when disabled. The owl, on the other hand, has an odious

name because it is stiy-matized as the bii’d which eats its dam.

One member of the pie family deserving mention is the longtailed

l)lue jay of Formosa (^.TO^’^Vm), remarkable for its brilliant

plumage. Another, akin to the sun birds {^Ethoj^njija

(lahryi)^ comes from Sz’chuen, a recent discovery. The body is

red, the head, throat, and each side of the neck a brilliant

violet, belly yellow, wings black with the primaries tinted green

along the edge, and the feathers long, tapering, of a black or

steel blue.

‘ Journal of the North China Branch of the Eoyal Asiatic Society, May, 1S59.

p. 289.

MAGPIES AND PIGEONS. 335

Tlie Mahiah, or Indian niino [Acndotheus)^ known by its

yellow carbuncles, which extend like ears from behind the eye,

is reared, as are also three species of Mu7iia, at Canton. Sparrows

abound in every province around houses, driving away

otiier birds, and entertaining the observer by their quarrels and

activity, llobins, ouzels, and tailor-birds are not abundant.

Xone of the humming-birds or birds of paradise occur, and

only one species has hitherto been seen of the parrot group.

Woodpeckers {Picus) are of a dozen species, and the wryneck

occasionally attracts the eye of a sportsman. Tlie canary is

reared in great numbers, being known under the names of

‘white swallow’ and ‘time spari-ow ;

‘ the chattering Java

sparrow and tiny avedavat are also taught little tricks by their

fanciers, in compensation for their lack of song. The two or

three proper parrots are natives of Formosa.

The family of pigeons {Coluvibidie) is abundantly represented

in fourteen species, and doves form a common household

bird ; their eggs are regarded as proper food to prevent smallpox,

and sold in the markets, being also cooked in birdnest and

other kinds of soups. The Chinese regard the dove as eminently

stupid and lascivious, but gi^ant it the qualities of faithfulness,

impartiality, and filial duty. The cock is said to send

away its mate on the approach of rain, and let her return to the

nest with fine weather. They have an idea that it undergoes

periodic metamoi-phoses, but disagree as to the form it takes,

though the sparrow-hawk has the preference.’ The bird is

most famed, howevei-, for its filial duty, arising very probably

from impei’fect observations of the custom of feeding its young

with the macerated contents of its crop ; the wood pigeon is

said to feed her seven young ones in one order in the morning,

and reversing it in the evening. Its note tells the husbandman

when to begin his labors, and the decorum observed in the nests

and cotes of all the species teach men how to govern a family

and a state. The visitor to Peking is soon attracted by the

aeolian notes proceeding from doves which circle around their

homes for a short time (forty or fifty or less in a flock), and

‘ Journal N. O. Br. R A. Soc, Vol. IV., 1867, Art. XI., by T. Walters.

336 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

then settle. These birds are cdWed j)aN -tie n l-ido-j’in^ or ‘ mid

cky houris,’ and their weird music is caused by ingenious wooden

whistles tied on the rumps of two or three of the Hock, which

lead the others and delight themselves. Carrier pigeons are

used to some extent, and training them is a special mystery.

One of the prettiest sort is the rose pigeon, and half a dozen

kinds of turtles enliven the village groves with their gentle

notes and peculiar plumage.

No tribe of birds in China, however, equals the Gallinaceous

for its beauty, size, and novelty, furnishing some t)f the most

elegant and graceful birds in the world, and yet none of them

have become domesticated for food. As a connecting link between

this tribe and the last is the sand-grouse of the desert

{Syrrhaptis paradoxus), whose singular combination attracted

Marco Polo’s eye. “This bird, the harg^erlae, on which the

falcons feed,” says lie, ” is as big as a partridge, has feet like

a parrot’s, tail like a swallow’s, and is strong in tUght.” ‘ Abbo

Hue speaks of the immense flocks which scour the plateau.

The gold and silver pheasants are reared without ti-ouble in

all the provinces, and have so long been identified witli tlic

ornithology of China as to bo regarded as typical of its grotesque

and brilliant fauna. Among other pheasants may be

mentioned the Impeyan, Heeves, Argus, JVIedallion, Andierst,

riluys, and Pallas, each one vicing with the other for some

peculiarly graceful featui’e of color and sha])e, so that it is liaid

to decide which is the lincst. The Amherst pheasant has tlic

bearin<r, the ele«i;ance, and the details of form like the goM

pheasant, but the neck, shoulders, back and M’ing covers are of

a sparkling metallic green, and each feather ends in a belt of velvet

black. A little red crest allies it to the gold ])heasant, and a

pretty silvery ruff M’ith a black band, a white breast and belly, and

a tail barred with bi-own, green, Avhite, and red bands, complete

the picturesque dress. Jlidden away in these Tibetan wilds are

other pheasants that dispute the })alm for beauty, among which

four species of the eared pheasant {( ‘fossoptUon) attract notice.

One is of a pure white, with a black tail curled up and spread

‘ Yule’s Marco Polo, Vol. T., p. 2:57.

vai:ii:tiks of piika.sants. 337

out like a plume, uud is mcII called the suow pheasant. Another

is the better knctwn Pallas pheasant, nearly as large as a

turkey, distinguished hy eai’-like appendages or Avattles hehind

the head, and a red neck above a white body, whence its native

name of /lo-li, or ‘ fire hen.’ Another genus {^Lojp1ioj)horus) contains

some elegant kinds, of Avhich the I’lluys pheasant is new,

and noted for a coppery-green tail bespangled with white. The

longer known Reeves pheasant is sought for by the natives for

the sake of its white and yellow-l)arred tail feathers, which are

used l)y play actoi’S to complete a wan-ior’s dress ; Col. Yule

proves a reference to it in Marco Polo from this part of its

plumage, Mhicli the Venetian states to be ten palms in length

—

not far beyond the truth, as they have been seen seven feet

long.’ It is a long time for a bird of so iiiuch beauty to have

been unknown, from 1350 to ISOS, Avhen Mr. Thomas Beale

procured a specimen in Canton, and sent others to England in

1832 ; Mr. Reeves took it thither, and science has recorded it

in her annals. As Xew Guinea is the home of the birds of

paradise, so do the Himalayas contain most of these superb

pheasants and francolins, each tribe serving as a foil and comparison

with the Creator’s handiwork in the other.

The island of Formosa has furnished a second species, Swinhoe’s

pheasant, of the same genus as the silver pheasant {Eujploeamus),

and another smaller kind {Phasianusfcmnosanus) ; the

list is also increased by fresh acquisitions from Yimnan and

Cochinchina through Dr. Anderson. This is not, liowever, the

place where Me may indulge in details respecting all of these

gorgeous birds ; we conclude, then, with the Medallion, or

horned pheasant. It has a ” l)eautiful membrane of resplendent

colors on the neck, which is displayed or conti’acted according

as the cock is more or less roused. The hues are chiefly

purple, with bright red and green spots, which vary in intensity

according to the degree of excitement.’”

The peacock, though not a native, is reared in all parts ; it

bears the name of I’ung Utah, sometimes rendei-ed ‘ Confucius’

‘ Yiile’s Marco Polo, Vol. I., p. 246—where there is an admirable wood-cut of one from Wood.

Lird,” though it is more probable that the name means the great

or magniticeiit bird. The use of the tail feathers to designate

official rank, which probably causes a large consumption of

them, does not date previous to the present dynasty. Poultry

is reared in immense quantities, but the assortment in China

does not equal in beauty, excellence, and variety the products

of Japanese culture. The silken cock, the vane of whose plume

is so minutely divided as to resemble curly hair, is probably the

same sort with that described by some w^riters as having wool

like sheep. The Mongols succeed very well in rearing the tall,

Shanghai breed, and their unifoi-m cold winter enables them to

preserve frozen flesh without much difficulty. The smaller

gallinaceous birds already described, grouse, quails, francolins,

partridges, sand-snipe, etc., amount to a score or more species,

ranging all over the Empire. The red partridge is sometimes

tamed to keep as a house bird with the fowls. The Chinese

quail {Cotarnic) has a brown back, sprinkled with black spots

and white lines, blackish throat and chestnut breast. It is reared

for lighting in south China, and, like its bigger Gallic rival, is

soon eaten if it allows itself to be beaten.

The widespread family of waders sends a few of its representatives

from Europe to China, but most of the members are

Oriental. The marshes and salt lakes of Mongolia attract

enormous numbers of migratory birds in summer to rear their

young in safety, in the midst of abundant food. Col. Prejevaleky

watched the arrival of vast flocks early in February, and

thus describes their appearance : ” For days together they

sped onward, always fi-oni the W.S.AV., going further east in

search of open water, and at last settling down among the open

pools ; their favorite haunts were the flat nnid banks overgrown

with low saline bushes. Here every day vast flocks would congregate

toward evening, crowding among the ice ; the noise they

made on rising was like a hurricane, and at a distance they resembled a thick cloud. Flocks of one, two, three, and even five thousand, followed one another in quick succession, hardly a minute apart. Tens and hundreds of thousands, even millions

of birds appeared at Lob-nor during the fortnight ending the

2l6t of February, when the flight was at its height. What

FAMILY OF WADERS I]?f CHINA. 339

prodigious quantities of food must be necessary for such numbers

! ” ‘ Wading and web-footed birds all harmlessly mix in

these countless hosts, but hawks, eagles, and animals gather too,

to prey on them.

Among the noticeable wadei-s of China, the white Manchurian

or Montigny crane is one of the finest and largest ; it is

the official insigna of the highest rank of civilians. Five

species of crane {Grus) arc recognized, and seven of plovers,

together with as many more allied genera, including an avocet,

bustard, and ov8ter-catclier. Curlews abound along the flat

shores of the Gulf of Pechele, and are so tame that they race

up and down with the naked children at low tide, hunting for

shell-fish ; as the boy runs his arm into the ooze the curlew

pokes his long bill up to the eyes in the same hole, each of

them grasping a crab. Godwits and sandpipers enliven the

coasts with their cries, and seven species of gambets {Totanus)

give them them the largest variety of their family group, next

to the snipes {Tr’tnga)^ of wdiich nine are recorded. Herons,

egrets, ibis, and night-herons occur, and none of them are discarded

for food. At Canton, a pure Nvliite egret is often exposed

for sale in the market, standing on a shelf the livelong

day, with its eyelids sewed together—a pitiable sight. Its

slender, elegant shape is imitated by artists in making bronze

candlesticks. The singular spoonbill {Platalea) is found in

Formosa, and the jacana in southwestern China. The latter

is described by Gould as ” distinguished not less by the grace

of its form than its adaptation to the localities which nature

has allotted it. Formed for traversing the morass and lotuscovered

surface of the water, it supports itself upon the floating

weeds and leaves by the extraordinary span of the toes,

aided by the unusual lightness of the body.” ‘ Gallinules,

crakes, and rails add to this list, but the flamingo has not been

recorded.

In the last order, sixty-five species of web-footed birds are

enumerated by naturalists as occui-ring in China. The fenny

‘ From Kulja to Lob-nor, p. 116.

‘John Gould, Century of Birda, London, 1831-32.

margins of lakes and rivera, and tlie seacoast niaislies, afford

food and shelter to Hocks of water-fowl. Ten sepaiate species

of duck are known, of which four or live ai”e peculiar. The

whole coast fi’oin Hainan to jVIanchuiia swarms with gulls,

terns, and grebes, while geese, swans, and mallards resort to the

inland waters and pools to rear their young. Ducks are sometimes

caught by persons who first cover their heads with a

gourd pierced with holes, and then wade into the water where

the birds are feeding ; these, previously accustomed to emptycalabashes

floating about on the water, allow the fowler to approach,

and ai”e pulled under without difficulty. The wild

goose is a favorite bird with native poets. The reputation for

conjugal fidelity has made its name and that of the mandarin

duck emblems of that virtue, and a pair of one or the other

usually forms part of wedding processions. The epithet mandarin

is applied to this beautiful fowl, and also to a species of

orange, simply because of their excellence over other varieties

of the same genus, and not, as some writers have inferred, l)ecause

they are appropriated to officers of government.

The yuen-ydng, as the Chinese call this duck, is a native of

the central provinces. It is one of the most variegated birds

known, vieing with the humming-birds and parrots in the

diversified tints of its plumage, if it does not equal them for

brilliancy. The drake is the object of admiration, his partner

being remarkably plain, but during the sunnner season he also

loses much of his gay vesture. INFr. P>ennet tells a pleasant

story in proof of the conjugal fidelity of these birds, the incidents

of which occurred in Mr. Beale’s aviary at Macao. A

drake was stolen one night, and the duck displayed the strongest

marks of despair at her loss, retiring into a corner and refusing

all nourishment, as if determined to starve lierself to death

from grief. Another drake undertook to comfort the disconsolate

widow, but she declined his attentions, and was fast becoming

a martyr to her attachment, when her mate was recovered

and restored to her. Their nnmioii was celebrated by

the noisiest demonstrations of joy, and the duck soon infoi-med

her lord of the gallant ])i-o]iosals made to her during his absence

; in high dudgeon, he instantly attacked the luckless bird

BEale’s aviary. 341

which would have snp})hintc(l him, and so maltreated liim as to

cause his death.

The aviary here mentioned was for many j’ears, up to 1838,

one of the principal attractions of Macao. Its owner, Mr

Thomas Beale, had erected a wire cage on one side of his house,

having two apartments, each of them about fifty feet high, and

containing several large trees ; small cages and roosts were

placed on the side of the liouso under shelter, and in one corner

a pool afforded bathing conveniences to the water-fowl. The

genial climate obviated the necessity of any covering, and only

those species which would agree to live quietly together were

allowed the free range of the two apartments. The great attraction

of the collection was a living bird of paradise, which, at

the period of the owner’s death, in 1840, had been in his possession

eighteen years, and enjoyed good health at that time.

The collection during one season contained nearly thirty specimens

of pheasants, and besides these splendid birds, there were

upward of one hundred and fifty others, of different sorts, some

in cages, some on perches, and others going loose in the aviary.

In one corner a large cat had a hole, where she reared her

young ; her business was to guard the whole from the depredations

of rats. A magnificent peacock from Damaun, a large

assortment of macaw^s and cockatoos, a pair of magpies, another

of the superb crowned pigeons {Goura coronata), one of Mdioni

moaned itself to death on the decease of its mate, and several

Nicobar ground pigeons, were also among the attractions of this

curious and valuable collection.

Four or five kinds of grebe and loon frequent the coast, of

which the Podlcejys cristatus, called shui nu, or ^ water

slave,’ is connnon around Macao. The same region affords

sustenance to the pelican, which is seen standing motionless for

hours on the rocks, or sailing on easy wing over the shallows

in search of food. Its plumage is nearly a pure wliite, except

the black tips of the wings ; its height is about four feet, and

the expanse of the wings more than eight feet. The bill is

flexible like whalel)one, and the pouch susceptible of great

dilatation. Gulls abound on the northeast coasts, and no one

who has seen it can forget the beautiful sight on the marshes at the entrance of the Pei ho, where myriads of white gulls assemble to feed, to ‘preen, and to quarrel or scream—the bright sun rendering their plumage like snow. The albatross, black tern, petrel, and noddy increase the list of denizens in Chinese waters, but offer nothing of particular interest.’

There are foui* fabulous animals which are so often referred

.y to by the Chinese as

to demand a notice.

The ki-lin is one of

these, and is placed

‘^’i at the head of all

hairy animals; as

the funfj-Jiwang is

pre-eminent among

feathered races ; the

dragon and tortoise

among the scaly and

shelly tribes ; and

man among naked

animals! The naked,

hairy, feathered,

shelly, a n d scaly

tribes constitute the

quinary system of

ancient Chinese naturalists.

The Tci-lin

is pictured as resembling

a stag in its

\)^’>k\\ and a horse in its hoofs, but possessing the tail of an ox

and a parti-colored or scaly skin. A single horn having a

Heshy tip proceeds out of the forehead. Besides these external

marks to identify it, the ¥i-lin exhibits great benevolence of

The Kf-lin, or Unicorn,

‘ On the birds of China, see in general T^es Oiteaux de la Chine, par M.

I’Abbo Armand David, avec un Atlas de 124 Planches dessin.’es et lith. par M.

Arnonl. Taris, 1877. R. Rwinhoe, in the Procredmfjs of th<‘. ScknUfic Meetinf/

s of the Zoological Sac. of London, and in 77ie Ihis, a Max/azine of General

Ornitholodn, passim. Journ. N. C. Br. R. A. Soc, Nos. II., p. 225, and

III., p. 287.

THE KI-LIN AND FUNU-IIWANO. 343

disposition toward other living animals, and appears only when

w’ise and just kings, like Yau and Shun, or sages like Confucius,

are born, to govern and teach mankind. The Chinese description

presents many resemblances to the popular notices of the

unicorn, and the independent origin of their account adds something

to the probability that a single-horned equine or cervine

animal has once existed.’

Cuvier expresses the opinion that Pliny’s description of the

The Fung-hwang, or Phcenix.

Arabian phcenix was derived from the golden pheasant, though

othei-s think the Egyptian plover is the original type. From his

likening it to an eagle for size, having a yellow neck with purple,

a blue tail varied with red feathers, and a richly feathered tufted

head, it is more probable that the Impeyan pheasant was Pliny’s

‘ Chine.se Rejiository, Vol. VII., p. 213. Compare Yule’s note, Marco Polo,

Vol. I., p. 233. Hue, Travels in Tartary, etc.. Vol. II., p. 246. Bell,

Journey from St. Petersburgh in Russia to Ispahan in Persia., Vol. I., p. 216.

Also Heeren, Asiatic Nations, Vol. I., p. 98, where there is a resume of

Ctesias’ acco\int of the unicorn.

tvpe. The Chinesefung-kivang, or phoenix, is probably based

on the Argns pheasant. It is described as adorned with every

color, and combines in its form and motions whatever is elegant

and graceful, while it possesses such a benevolent disposition

that it will not peck or injure living insects, nor tread on

o-rowino- herbs. Like the ki-lin, it has not been seen since the

halcyon days of Confucius, and, from the accomit given of it,

seems to have been entii-ely fabulous. The etymology of the

characters implies that it is the emperor of all birds. One Chinese author describes it ” as resembling a wild swan before and a unicorn behind ; it has the throat of a swallow, the bill of a cock, the neck of a snake, the tail of a fish, the forehead of a crane, the crown of a mandarin drake, the stripes of a dragon, and the vanlted back of a tortoise. The feathers have five colors, which are named after the five cardinal virtues, and it i;^ five cubits in height ; the tail is graduated like Pandean pipes, and its song resembles the music of that instrument, having five modulations.” A beautiful ornament for a lady’s headdress is sometimes made in the shape of i\\e fung-Jnrang, and somewhat resembles a similar ornament, imitating the vulture, worn by the ladies of ancient Egypt.

The lung, or dragon, is a familiar object on articles from

China. It furnishes a comparison among them for e\ierything

terrible, imposing, and powerful ; and being taken as the imperial

coat of arms, consequently imparts these ideas to his

person and state. The type of the dragon is probably the boaconstrictor

or sea-serpent, or otiier similar monster, though the

researches of geology have brought to light such a near counterpart

of the lung in the iguanadon as to tempt one to

believe that this has been the prototype. There are three

dragons, the lung in the sky, the U in the sea, and the hlao in

the marshes. The first is the only authentic species, according

to the Chinese ; it has the head of a camel, the horns of a deer,

eyes of a rabbit, ears of a cow, neck of a snake, belly of a frog,

scales of a carp, claws of a hawk, and palm of a tigei-. On

each side of the mouth are whiskers, and its beard contains a

bi’ight pearl ; the breath is sometimes changed into water and

sometunes into fire, and its voice is like the jingling of copper

THE LUNG, OR DRAGON. 345

pans. The dragon of the sea occasionally ascends to heaven in

Avater-sponts, and is the rnler of all oceanic phenomena.’ The

dragon is worshipped and feared by Chinese fishermen, and

their liing-wang, or ‘ drag(jn king,’ answei-s to Keptnne in western

mythology ; perhaps the ideas of all classes toward it is a

modified relic of the widespread serpent worship of ancient

times. The Chinese suppose that elfs, demons, and other

supernatural beings often transform themselves into snakes ;

and M. Julien has translated a fairy story of this sort, called

Blanche et Bleue. The J,-wet, or tortoise, has so few fabulous

qualities attributed to it that it hardly comes into the list ; it

was, according to the story, an attendant on Pwanku when he

chiselled out the world. A semi-classical work^ the SJian-hal

Kmg, or ‘ Memoirs upon the Mountains and Seas,’ contains

pictures and descriptions of these and kindred monsters, from

which the people now derive strange notions respecting them,

the l)Ook having served to embody and fix for the whole nation

what the writer anciently found floating about in the popular

legends of particular localities.

A species of alligator {A. sinensis) has been described by

Dr. A. Fauvel in the iT. O. Br. B.A. So,-. Journal, Xo. XIII.,

1879, in which he gives man}’ historical and other notices of its

existence. Crocodiles are recorded as having been seen in the

rivers of Ivwangtnng and Ivwangsi, but none of this family

attain a large size.

Marco Polo’s account of the huge serpent of Yunnan,” having

two forelegs near the head, and one claw like that of a lion or

hawk on each, and a mouth big enough to swallow a man whole,

referring no doubt to the crocodile, is a good instance of the

way in which truth and fable were mingled in the accounts of

those times. The flesh is still eaten by the Anamese, as he

says it was in his day. A gigantic salamander, analogous to

the one found in Japan (the Sieholdia), has suggested it as the

‘ CJdnese Refiository, Vol. VII., p. 250. For a careful analysis of this relic

of ancient lore, see the Nowoeau Journal Asiatiq^ie, Tome XII., pp. 232-243,

1833 ; also Tome VIII., 3d Series, pp. 337-382, 1839, for M. Bazin’s estimata of its value.

•^ Yule’s Marco Polo, Vol. II., p. 46.

type of the dragon which ligures on the Chinese national flag.

Small lizards abound in the southern parts, and the variety

and numbers of serpents, both land and water, found in the

maritime provinces, are hardly exceeded in any country in the

world ; they are seldom poisonous. A species of naja is the

only venomous sruike yet observed at Chusan, and the hooded

cobra is one of the few yet found around Canton. Another

species frequents the banks, and is driven out of the di’ains and

creeks l)v high water into the houses. A case is mentioned by

Bennet of a Chinese who was bitten, and to whose wound the

mashed head of the reptile had been applied as a poultice, a

mode of treatment which probably accelerated his death by

mixing more of the poison diluted in the animars blood with

the man’s own blood. It is, however, rare to hear of casualties

from this source. This snake is called ‘black and M’hite,’

from beino; marked in alternate bands of those two colors. A

species of acrochordon, remarkable for its abrupt, short tail,

has been noticed near Macao.

It is considered felicitous by the Buddhist priests to harbor

snakes around their temples ; and though the natives do not

play with poisonous serpents like the Hindoos, they often

handle or teach them simple tricks. The common frog is taken

in great numbers for food. Tortoises and tui-tles from fresh

and salt water are plenty along the coast, while both the emys

and trionyx are kept in tubs in the streets, where they grow

to a large size. An enormous carnivorous tortoise inhabits the

M’aters of Chehkiansr near the ocean. The natives have strange

ideas concerning the hairy turtle of Sz’chuen, and regard it as

excellent medicine ; it is now known that the supposed hair

consists of confervre, whose spores, lodged on the shell, have

grown far beyond the animal’s body.

The ichthyology of China is one of the richest in the world,

though it may be so more from the greater proportion of food

fui-nished by the waters than from any real supei’abundance of

the finny tribes. The offal thi-own from boats near cities attracts

some kinds to those jdaces, and gives food and employment

to multitudes. Several large collections of fishes have

CHTHYOLOGY OF CHINA. 347

been made in Canton, and IMr. Reeves deposited one of the richest in the British Museum, together with a series of drawings made Ijy native artists from living specimens ; they have been described by Sir John liicliardson in the Report of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, for 1845. In this paper he enumerates one hundred and ninety genera and six hundred and seventy-one species, nearly all of which are marine

or come out to sea at certain times. Since it was prepared

great accessions to this branch have been made from the inland

waters, so that probably a thousand sorts in all have been observed.

The salmon and cod families are comparatively scarce,

but the mackerel, goby, and herring families are very abundant.

The variety of fish is so great in Macao, that if one is

willino; to eat all that are brought to market, as the Chinese do

(including the sharks, torpedoes, gudgeons, etc.), one can have

a different species every day in the year. It may with truth

be said that the Chinese eat nearly every living thing found in

the water, some of the hideous fishing frogs or gurnards alone

excepted.

The cartilaginous fishes, sharks, rays, and saw-fish, are abundant

on the sea-coast. The sturgeon is not common at the south,

but in the winter it is brouo;ht fi-om the Sonsfari and other

rivers to Peking for the imperial table, being highly prized by

Chinese epicures. There is found in the Yangtsz”‘ a singular

species of sturgeon, the i/iuyil, which lies under the banks in still

water and sucks its prey into a sac-like mouth projecting like

a cusp under the long snout ; it has no scales, and is four feet

long. Common sturgeon, weighing a thousand pounds, are

caught in this river. The hammer-headed and zebra shark

{Cestracion zehra) are seen in the markets at Macao; also huge

skates, some of them measuring five feet across ; the young of

all these species are regarded as particularly good eating. A

kind of torpedo {J^arcine lingula) is not uncommon on the

southern coast, but the natives do not seem to l)e aware of any

electrical properties. It is said that the fishermen sometimes

destroy the shark by boiling a melon and throwing it out as a

bait ; when swallowed, the heat kills the fish. The true cod

has not been observed on the Chinese coast, but several species

of serrani (as Plectrojiotna susuki, Serranus shihjjan, Megachh\etc.), generally called s/n’/i-jxtn by the natives, and garoupa bj foreigners, are common oft” C^anton, and considered to be most

delicate fare. Anothei” fine fish is the Poh/nennis fetradactylus^

or bjnni-carp, often called salmon by foreigners ; isinglass is

prepared from its skin. The pomfret, or tsang yii {Stromateus

argenteus), is a good pan-fish, bnt hardly so delicate as the sole,

many fine species of which aboimd along the whole coast. Besides

these, two or three species of mackerel, the Soiodna lucicla^

an ophicephalns, the mullet, and the ‘ white rice fish ‘ occur.

The shad is abundant oft’ the Yangtsz’, and is superior to the

American species; Chinese epicures will sometimes pay fifty

dollars for the first one of the season.

The cai’p family {C’i/2>i’hiidie) is very abundant in the rivers

and lalces of China, and some species are reared in fish-pools and

tubs to a monstrous size ; fifty-two species are mentioned in

Ricliardson’s list. The gold-fish is the most celebrated, and

has been introduced into Europe, M’here it M-as first seen towai’d

tlie end of the seventeenth century. The Chinese say that its

Jiative place is Lake Tsau, in the province of l^ganhwui. The

effects of domestication in changing the natm-al form of this

fish are great ; specimens are often seen without any doi-sal fin,

and the tail and other fins tufted and lol)ed to such a degree as

to resemble artificial appendages or wings rather than natui-al

organs. The eyes are developed till the globe projects beyond

the socket like goggles, presenting an extraordinary appearance.

Some of them are so fantastic, indeed, that tlioy would be regarded

as Insns nature M^ere they not so connnon. The usual

color is a I’uddy golden hue, but both sexes exhibit a silvery or

blackish tint at certain stages of their growth ; and one variety,

called the silver-fish, retains this shade all its life. The Chinese

keep it in their garden ponds, or in earthern jai-s, in which

are placed rocks covered with moss, and overgi-own w\x\\ tufts

of ferns, to afford them a retreat fi-om the light. Vriien the

females spawn, the eggs must be removed to a shallow vessel,

lest the males devour them, where the heat of the sun hatches

them ; the young are nearly black, but gradually become whitish

or i-eddish, and at last assume a golden or silvery hue.

Specimens upward of two feet long have been uoticed, and

METHODS OF REARIN^G FISH. 349

those wlio rear tlieni emulate each other in producing new

varieties.

The rearing of lisli is an important pursuit, the spawn being

collected with the greatest care and placed in favorable positions

for hatching. The Bulletin Universel for 1829 asserts

that in some part of China the spawn so taken is carefullv

placed in an empty egg-shell and the hole closed ; the cirg is

then replaced in the nest, and, after the hen has sat a few davs

upon it, reopened, and the spawn placed in vessels of water

warmed bj the sun, wdiei-e it soon hatclies.

The innnense fleets of fishing boats on the Yangtsz’ and its

tributaries indicate the finny supplies its waters afford. A species

of pipe-fish [Fistula/’ia iminaculata\ of a red color, and

the gar-pike, with green bones, are found about Canton ; as are

also numerous beautiful parrot-fish and sun-fish {Chwtodon).

An ingenious mode of taking its prey is practised by a sort of

chsetodon, or chelmon ; it darts a drop of water at the flies or

other insects lighting on the bank near the edge, in such a

manner as to knock them off, when they are devoured. All

the species of ophieephalus, or mruj yi’i., so I’emarkable for their

tenacity of life, are reared in tanks and pools, and are hawked

alive through the streets.

Eels, mullets, alewives or file-fish, breams, gudgeons, and

many other kinds, are seen in the nuirkets. Few things eateix

by the Chinese look more repulsive than the gobies as they lie

wriggliTig in the slime which keeps them alive; one species

{Try])auchen vcujina)^ called chu 2>’Ji yu, or ‘vermilion pencilfish,’

is a cylindrical fish, six or eight inches long, of a dark red

color ; its eyes protrude so that it can see behind, like a girafle.

Some kinds of gobies construct little liillocks in the ooze, with

a depression on the top, in which their spawn is hatched by tlu;

sun ; at low tide they skip about on the banks like young frogs,

and are easily captured with the hand. A delicious species oi

Saurus {Leiicosoma Chinensis), called pihfan yil, or ‘ white rice

fish,’ and yin yil, or silver-fish, ranges from Hakodate to Canton.

It is six or eight inches long, the body scaleless and transparent,

so that the muscles, intestines, and spinal column can

be seen without dissection ; the bones of the head are thin, flexible, and diaphanoiis. Many species of file-fish, sole-fish, an^ cliovy, and eels, are captured on the coast. Vast quantities of

dried fish, like the stock fish in Sweden, are sent inland to sell

in resrions where fish are rare. The most common sorts are the

perch, sun fish, gurnard, and hair-tail {Trlchlnrus).

Shell-fish and mollusks, both fresh and salt, are abundant in

the market. Oysters of a good quality are common along the

coast, and a species of mactra, or sand-clam, is fished up near

Macao. The Pearl River affords two or three kinds of freshwater

shell-fish {Mytilus), and snails ( Voluta) are plenty in all

pools. The crangons, prawns, shrimps, crabs, and other kinds

of Crustacea met with, are not less abundant than palatable;

one species of craw-fish, as large as (but not taking the place of)

the lobster, called Ian// hat, or ‘ dragon crab,’ together with

cuttle-fish of three or four kinds, and the king-crab {Poly])]ietnus),

are all eaten. The inland w^aters produce many species

of shells, and the new genus theliderma, allied to the unio,

was formed by Mr. Benson, of Calcutta, from specimens obtained

of a shopkeeper at Canton. The land shells are abundant,

especiall}’ various kinds of snails {IIcll,i; Liftiiiwa, etc.) ;

twenty two species of helix alone were contained in a small

collection sent from Peking, in which region all this kind of

food is well known. A catalogue of nearly sixty shells obtained

in Canton is given in Murray’s China,’ but it. is doubtful

whether even half of them are found in the country, as the

shops there are supplied in a great degree from the Archipelago.

Dr. Cantor”” mentions eighty-eight genera of shells occurring

between Canton and Chusan. Pearls are found in China, and

Marco Polo speaks of a salt lake, supposed now to be in Yunnan,

which produced them in such quantity that the fishery in

his day was farmed out and restricted lest they should become

too cheap and common. In Chehkiang the natives take a largo

kind of clam {Alasmodonta) and gently attach leaden images

‘ Vol. TIL, p. 445.

” Conspectus of collections made by Dr. Cantor, CMnefte Ttepository, Vol. X.,

p. 434. General features of Cliusan, with remarks on the Fh)ra and Fauna of that Island, by T. E. Cantor, Aimal. Nai. Hist., Vol. IX. (1H42), pp. 205, 3()1

and 481. Juuriial Ah. Soc. of Bengal, Vol. XXIV., 1855.

SHELL-FISII AND INSECTS OF CHINA. 351

of Buddha under tlie flsli, after wliieli it is thrown back into

the water. Xacre is deposited over the lead, and after a few

months the shells are retaken, cleaned, and then sent abroad to

sell as proofs of the power and presence of Buddha. The

Quarterly lieview speaks of a mode })ractised by the Chinese

of making pearls by dropping a string of small mother-of-pearl

beads into the shell, which in a year ai’e covered wdth the

pearly crust. Leeches are much used by native physicians;

the hammer-headed leech has been noticed at Chusan.

The insects of China are almost unknown to the naturalist.

In Dr. Cantor’s collection, from Chusan, there are fifty-nine

genera mentioned, among which tropical forms prevail ; there

are also six genera of arachnida^, and the list of spiders could

easily be nudtipliod to hundreds ; among them are many showing

most splendid coloring. One large and strong species is

affirmed to capture small birds on the trees. Locusts sometimes

commit extensive ravages, and no part of the land is free

from their presence, though their depredations do not usually

reach over a great extent of country, or often for two successive

years. They are, however, sufficiently troiildesome to attract

the notice of the government, as the edict against them, inserted

in another chapter, proves. Centipedes, scorpions, and some other species in the same order are known, the former being most abundant in the central and western regions, where scorpions are rare.

The most valuable insect is the silkworm, which i.; reared in

nearly every province, and the silk from otlier wild M’orms

found on the oak and ailantus in Shantung, Sz’chuen, and elsewhere

also gathered ; the proper silkworm itself has been met

with to some extent in northern Shansi and Mongolia. Many

other insects of the same order {Lepidoj)ter(e) exist, but those

sent abroad have been mostly from the province of Kwangtung.

Eastward of the city of Canton, on a range of hills

called Lofau shan, large butterflies and night moths of immense

size and brilliant coloring are captured. One of these

mQGcis, {Bornhyx atlas) \\\e2i&\\ve& about nine inches across ; the

ground color is a rich and varied orange brown, and in the centre

of each wing there is a triangular transparent spot, resembling a piece of mica. Sphinxes of great beauty and size are common, and in their splendid coloring, rapid noiseless flight from flower to flower, at the close of the day, remind one of the lunnming-bird. Sonje families are more abundant than others ; the coleopterous exceed the lepidopterous, and the range of particular tribes in each of these is often very limited. The humid regions of Sz’chuen furnished a great harvest of beautiful butterflies to M, David, while the lamellicorn beetles and cerambycidae are the most common in the north and central parts.

Many tribes of coleopterous insects are abundant, but the

number of species yet identified is trifling. Several water

beetles, and others included under the same general designation,

have been found in collections sold at Canton, but owing to the

careless manner in wliich those boxes are filled, very few specimens

are perfect, the antenna3 or tarsi being broken. The molecricket

occurs everywhere. The common cricket is caught and

sold in the markets for gambling ; persons of all ranks amuse

themselves by irritating two of these insects in a bowl, and betting

upon the prowess of their favorites. The cicada, or broad

locust, is abundant, and its stridulous sound is heard from trees

and groves with deafening loudness. Boys tie a straw around

the abdomen of the male, so as to irritate the sounding apparatus,

and carry it through the streets in this predicament, to

the great annoyance of every one. This insect was well known

to the Greeks ; the ancient distich

—

” Happy the cicadas’ lives,

For they all have voiceless wives,”

hints at their knowledge of this sexual difference, as well as intimates

their opinion of domestic quiet. Again it forms the

subject of Meleager’s invocation :

•’ shrill-voiced insect ! that with dew-drops meet,

Inehriate, dost in desert woodlands sing ;

Perch’d on the spray top with indented feet,

Thy dusky body’s echoings harp-like ring.”

COLEOPTEM^ AND THE WAX \VOK>t. 358

The lantern-fly {Fulgm’o) is less common than the cicada. It is easily recognized by its long cylindrical snout, arched in an upward direction, its greenish reticulated elytra, and orange-yellow wings with black extremities ; but its appearance in the evening is far from being as luminous as are the fire-Hy and glow-worm of South America. The Peh lah ahu, or ‘ white wax tree’ {Fraxinus chinensis), affords nourishment to an insect of this order

called Coccus pela. The larvae alone furnish the wax, the secretion

being the result of disease. Sir Geo. L. Staunton first

described the tly from specimens seen in Annam in 1795, where

the natives collected a white powder from the bark of the

tree on which it occurs. Daniel Ilanbury figured the insect

and tree with the deposit of crude wax on the limbs, all obtained

in Chekhiang province.’ Baron Richthofen speaks of

this industry in Sz’chuen as one furnishing employment to

great multitudes. The department of Kia-ting furnishes the

best wax, as its climate is warmer than Chingtu. The eggs of

the insect are gathered in Kien-chang and King-yuen, where

the tree flourishes on which it deposits them, and its culture is

carefully attended to. The insect lives and breeds on this evergreen,

and in April the eggs are collected and carried up to

Kia-ting by porters. This journey is mostly performed by

night so as to avoid the risk of hatching their loads ; 300 eggs

weigh one tael. They are instantly placed on the same kind of

tree, six or seven balls of eggs done up in palm-leaf bags and

hung on the twigs. In a few days the larvae begin to spread

over the branches, but do not touch the leaves ; the bark soon

becomes incrusted with a white powder, and is not disturbed

till August. The loaded branches are then cut off and boiled,

when the wax collects on the surface of the water, is skimmed

off, and melted again to be poured into pans for sale. A tael’s

weight of eggs will produce two or three catties of the translucent,

highly crystalline wax ; it sells thei-e for five mace a tael and

upward. The annual income is reckoned at Tls. 2,000,000.’

The purposes to which this singular product are applied include

all those of beeswax. Pills are ingeniously enclosed in small

‘ Hanbury’s notes on Chinese Materia Medica, 1862 ; Pharmaceutical

Journal, Feb., 1802.

^ Baron Ricbthofen’s Letters, No. VII. , to Shanghai Chamber of Commerce, May, 187e, p. r)2.

globes of it, and onndles of every size made. “Wax is also gatli

ered from wild and domestic bees, but honey is not miicli used ;

a casing of wax, colored with vermilion, is nsed to inclose the

tallow of great painted candles set before the idols and tablets.

The Chinese Ilerhal contains a singular notion, prevalent

also in India, concerning the generation of the sphex, or solitary

wasp. When the female lays her eggs in the clayey nidus

she makes in houses, she encloses the dead body of a caterpillar

in it for the subsistence of the worms when they hatch. Those

who observed her entombing the caterpillar did not look for

the eggs, and immediately concluded that the sphex took the

wo)-m for her progeny, and say that as she plastered up the

liole of the nest, she hinnmed a constant song over it, saying,

^^ Class ‘ii’ith nnc ! (Jhixs tiufji, me ! ‘”—and the transformation

gradually took place, and was perfected in its silent grave by

the next spring, when a winged wasp emerged to continue its

posterity in the same mystei’ious way.’

White ants are troublesome in the warmer parts, and annoy

the people there by eating up tlie coffins in the graves. They

form passages under ground, and penetrate upward into the

woodwork of houses, and the w’hole building may become infested

M’ith them almost before their existence is suspected.

They will even eat their way into fruit trees, cabbages, and

other plants, destroying them while in full vigor. Many of the

internal arrangements of the nests of bees and ants, and their

peculiar instincts, have been described by Chinese writers with

considerable accuracy. The composition of the characters for

the bee, ant, and mosquito, respectively, denote the atcl insect,

the 7’l(jhteous insect, and the lettered insect ; referring thereby

to the sting of the first, the orderly working and subordination

of the second, and the letter-like markings on the wings of

the latter. Mosquitoes are plenty, and gauze curtains are considered

to be a more necessary part of bed furniture than a

mattress.

The botany of China is rather better known than its zoology,

‘ Darwin, NaturalisVs Voyage, p. 35, notices a similar habit of the spliex in

tlie vicinity of Rio Janeiro. The insect partially kills the spider or caterpillar

by stinging, when they are stored in a rotting state with her eggs.

RESEARCHES IN THE BOTANY OF CHINA. 355

though vast and unexplored fields, like that reaching from Canton

to Silhet and Assam, still invite the diligent collector to

gather, examine, and make known their treasures. One of the

earliest authors in this branch was Pere Loureiro, a Portuguese

for thirty-six years missionary in Cochinchina, and professor of

mathematics and physic in the royal palace. He gathered a

large herbarium there and in southern Kwangtung, and published

his Flora Coehinehinensis in 1790, in which he described

one hundred and eighty-four genera and more than three hundred

new species. The only other work specially devoted to

Chinese botany is Bentham’s Flora JTongJcongensis, published

in 18G1. The materials for it were collected by Drs. Hinds,

Ilance and Ilarland, Col. Champion, and others, during the

previous twenty years, and amounted in all to upward of five

thousand specimens, gathered exclusively on the island. Since

its publication, Dr. Hance has added to our accurate knowledge

of the Chinese flora many new specimens growing in other

parts of the Empire, whose descriptions are scattered through

various publications. Pere David, during his extensive travels

in northern China, gathered thousands of specimens which have

yet to be carefully described. The Pussian naturalists Maximowitch,

Bunge, Tatarinov, Bretschneider, Prejevalsky, and

others liave largely increased our knowledge of the plants of

Mongolia, the Amur basin, and the region about Pekhig. The

first named has issued a separate work on the Amur flora, but

most of the papers of these scientists are to be found in periodicals.

In very early days, China was celebrated for the camphor,

varnish, tallow, oil, tea, cassia, dyes, etc., obtained from

its plants ; and the later monographs of professed botanists,

issued since Linneus looked over the two hundred and sixtyfour

species brought by his pupil Osbeck in 1750, down to the

present day, have altogether given immense assistance to a

thorough understanding of their nature and value.

Mr. Bentham’s observations on the range of the plants collected

in the island of Hongkong represent its flora, in general

character, as most like that of tropical Asia, of which it offers,

in numerous instances, the northern limit. The damp, M’ooded

ravines on the north and west furnish plants closely allied to those of Assam and Sikkiiii ; while other species, in considerable numbers, have a much more tropical character, extending with little variation over the x\rchipelago, Malaysia, Ceylon, and even to tropical Africa, but not into India. Within two degrees north of the island these tropical features (so far as is

known) almost entireW cease, and out of the one thousand and

fifty-six species described in the Flora Ifongl’ongensis, only

about eighty have been found in Japan ; thus indicating that

very few of the plants known to range across from the Himalaya

to Japan grow south of Amoy. On the twenty-nine

square miles foi-ming the area of Hongkong there exists, Mr.

]3entham says, a greater number of monotypic genera than in

any other flora from an equal area in the world ; he gives a

comparative table of the floras of Hongkong, Aden and Ischia

islands, about equal in extent, showing one thousand and three

species growing on the first, ninety-five on the second, and

seven hundred and ninety-two on the third. Tlie proportion

of woody to herbaceous species in Hongkong is nearly one-half,

while in Ischia it is one to eleven ; yet Hongkong has actually

fewer trees than Ischia. Out of tlie one thousand and three

species of wild plants there, three hundred and ninety-eight

also occur in the tropical Asiatic flora, while one hundred and

eighty-seven others have been found as well on the mainland; one hundred and fifty-nine are peculiar to the island.

Many species of coniferae are floated down to Canton, taken

from the Mei ling, or brought from Kwangsi ; the timber is

used for fuel, but more for rafters and pillars in buildings.

The wood of the pride of India is employed for cabinet work ;

there are also many kinds of fancy wood, some of which are

imported, and more are indigenous. The nan muh, or southern

wood, a magnificent species of laurus common in Sz’chuen,

which resists time and insects, is peculiarly valuable, and reserved

for imperial use. The cc«salpinia, rose wood, aigle

wood, and the camphor, elm, willow, and aspen, are also

serviceable in carpentry.

The people collect seaweed to a great extent, using it in the

arts and also for food ; among these the Gi<jartina tenax affords

an excellent material for glues and varnishes. It is boiled, and

CONIFERyE AND GRASSES. 357

the transparent glne obtained is brushed upon very coarse silk or

mulberry paper, filling up their substance, and making a transparent

covering for lanterns ; it is also used as a size for stiffening

silks and gauze. This and other kinds of fuel are boiled to a

jelly and used for food ; it is known in commerce under the name

of agar-agar. The thick fronds of the laminaria are gathered on

the northern coasts and imported from Japan. Among other

cryptogams, the Tartarian lamb {Aspldiian haromefz), so

graphically described by Darwin in his Botania Garden, has

long been celebrated ; it is partly an artificial production of the

ingenuity of Chinese gardeners taking advantage of the natural

habits of the plant to form it into a shape resembling a sheep or

other object.

Among i-emarkable grasses the zak or saxaul {Ilaloxylon) and

the sulhJr {Agr’tojdnjllu.m), which grow in the sandy parts of

the desert of Gobi, should he mentioned. The first is found

across the whole length of this arid region, growing on the bare

sand, furnishing to the traveller a dry and ready fuel in its brittle

twigs, while his camels greedily browse on its leafless but

juicy and prickly branches. The Mongols pitch their tents bebeath

its shelter, seeking for some covert from the wintry

winds, and encouraged to dig at its roots for water which has

been detained by their succulent nature, a wonderful provision

furnished by God in the bleakest desert. The sulh’ir is even

more important, and is the ” gift of the desert.” It grows on

bare sand, is about two feet high, a prickly saline plant, producing

many seeds in September, of a nutritious, agreeable

nature, food for man and beast.

The list of gramineous plants cultivated for food is large; the common sorts include rice, wheat, barley, oats, maize, sugarcane,

panic, sorghum, spiked and panicled millet, of each kind

several varieties. The grass {Phragmites) raised along the

river banks is carefully cut and dried, to be woven into floormatting

; a coarser sort, called ataj), is made of bamboo splints

for roofs of huts, awnings, and sheds. In the milder climes of

the southern coasts, cheap houses are constructed of these

materials. The coarse grass and shrubbery on the hills is cut

in the autumn for fuel by the poor ; and when the hills are well slieared of their grassy covering, the stubble is set on lire, in order to supply ashes for manuring the next crop—an operation which tends to keep the hills ])are of all shrubbery and trees.

Few persons mIio have not seen the bainlxio growing in its

native climes get a full idea from pictures of its grace and

beauty. A clump of this magnificent grass will gradually develop

by new shoots into a grove, if care be taken to cut down

the older stems as they reach full maturity, and not let them

flower and go to seed ; for as soon as they have perfected the

seed, they die down to the root, like other grasses. The stalks

usually attain the height of fifty feet, and in the Indian islands

often reach seventy feet and upward, with a diameter of ten or

twelve inches at the bottom. A road lined with them, with

their feathery sprays meeting overhead, presents one of the most

beautiful avenues possible to a warm climate.

In China the industry and skill of the people have multiplied

and pei-petuated a number of varieties (one author contents

himself with describing sixty of them), among M’liich are the

yellow, the black, the green, the slender sort for pipes, and a

slenderer one for writing-pencils, the big-leaved, etc. Its uses

are so various that it is not easy to enumerate them all. The

shoots come out of the ground nearly full-sized, four to six

inches in diameter, and are cut like asparagus to eat as a pickle

or a comfit, or by boiling or stewing. Sedentary Buddhist

priests raise this lenten fare for themselves or to sell, and extract

the tabasheer from the joints of the old culms, to sell as a

precious medicine for almost anything which ails you. The

roots are carved into fantastic and ingenious images and stands,

or divided into egg-shaped divining-blocks to ascertain the will

of the gods, or trinnned into lantern handles, canes, and umbrella-

sticks.

The tapering culms are used for all pui’poses that poles can

be applied to in carrying, propelling, suj)])orting, and measuring,

for which thcii- light, elastic, tubular sti-uctni-e, guarded by

a coating of silicious skin, and strengthened by a thick septum

at each joint, most admii-ably fits them. The pillars and props

of houses, the framework of awnings, the ribs of mat-sails, and

THE BAMBOO—ITS BEAUTY AND USEFULNESS. 359

tlie shafts of rakes are each fnrnislied bj these cuhns. So,

also, are fences and all kinds of frames, coops, and cages, the

wattles of abatis, and the ribs of uuibi-eHas and fans. The

leaves are sewed into rain-cloaks for farmers and sailors, and

thatches for covering their huts and boats, pinned into linings

for tea-boxes, plaited into immense um])rellas to screen the

huckster and his stall from the sun and rain, or into coverings

for theatres and sheds. Even the whole lot where a two-storj

house is building is usually covered in by a framework of bamboo-

poles and (?/%;—as this leaf covering is called, from its

Malay name—all tied together by rattan, and protecting the

workmen and theii” work from sun and rain.

The wood, cut into splints of proper sizes and forms, is woven

into baskets of every shape and fancy, sewed into window-curtains

and door-screens, plaited into awnings and coverings for

tea-chests or sugar-cones, and twisted into cables. The shavings

and curled threads aid softer things in. stuffing pillows ; while

other parts supply the bed for sleeping, the chopsticks for eating,

the pipe for smoking, and the broom for sweeping. The

mattress to lie upon, the chair to sit upon, the table to eat on,

the food to eat, and the fuel, to cook it with, are also derivable

from bamboo. The master makes his ferule from it, the carpenter

his foot-measure, the farmer his water-pipes, irrigating

wheels, and straw-rakes, the grocer his gill and phit cups, and

the mandarin his dreaded instrument of punishment. This last

use is so common that the name of the plant itself has come in

our language to denote this application, and the poor wretch

who is hamhooed for his crimes is thus taught that laws cannot

be violated with impunity.

The paper to write on, the book to study fi’om, the pencil to

write with, the cup to hold the pencils, and the covering of the

lattice-window instead of glass are all indebted to this grass in

their manufacture. The shaft of the soldier’s spear, and oftentimes

the spear altogether, the plectrum for playing the lute,

the reed in the native organ, the skewer to fasten the hair, the

undershirt to protect the body, the hat to screen the head, the

bucket to draw the water, and the easy-chair to lounge on,

besides cages for birds, fish, bees, grasshoppers, shrimps, and

360 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

cockroaches, crab-nets, fishing-poles, sumpitans oi* sliooting

tubes, fintes, fifes, fire-holders, etc., etc., are among the thingti

furnished from this plant, whose beauty when growing is commensurate

to its usefulness when cut down. A score or two of

bamboo- poles for joists and rafters, fifty fathoms of rattan ropes,

with plenty of palm-leaves and bamboo-matting for roof and

sides, supply material for a common dwelling in the south of

China. Its cost is about five dollars. Those houses built over

creeks, or along the low banks of rivers and sea-beaches, are

elevated a few feet, and their floors are neatly made of split

bamboos, which allow the water to be seen through. The

decks, masts, yards, and framework of the mat-sails of the small

boats of the islanders in the Archipelago are all more or les.’i

made of this useful plant. Throughout the south of Asia it

enters into the daily life of the people in their domestic economy

more than anything else, or than any other one thing does in

any part of the world. The Japanese supply us with fans

neatly formed, ribs and liandle, from a single branch of bamboo,

and covered with paper made from mulberry bark, while their

skill is shown also in the exquisite covering of fine bamboo

threads woven around cups and saijcers.’

In ancient times the date palm was cultivated in China, but

is now unknown. The cocoanut flourishes in Hainan and the

adjacent coasts, where its fruit, leaves, and timber are much

used. A great variety of utensils are carved from the nut-case,

and ropes spun from the coir, while the cultivators drink the

toddy made from the juice. The fan palm {Ch(Hiucroj)s) is the

comlnon palm of the country, two species being cultivated for

the wiry fibres in the leaf-sheaths, and fur their broad leaves.

This fibre is far more useful than that from cocoanut husks, as

it is longer and smoother, and is woven into ropes, mats, cloaks,

and brushes. The tree is spread over the greater part of the

provinces, one of their most ornamental and useful trees. Another

sort {Canjotd) also furnishes a fibre employed in the same

way, but its timber is more valuable ; sedan thills are made of

its wood. Still another is the tali}>ot \rA\\\\ (ItoraxKits), from.

‘ Compare Yule’s Marm Polo, Vol. I., p. 271 •, A. 11. Wallace. 2’he Malay

Archipelago, pp. 87-91, American Ed.

PALMS, YAMS, PLANTAINS, ETC. 861

whose leaves a material fur writing books upon was once produced,

as is the case now in Siam.’

Several species of Aroideae are cultivated, among which the

Caladluiii cuculaturn, Arum esculentuvi, and Indicurii are

common. The tuberous farinaceous roots of the Sagittaria

srueihslfi are esteemed ; the roots of these plants, and of the

water-chestnut, are manufactured into a powdoi- resemblingarrow-

root. The sweet Hag {Calanitm) is used in medicine for

its spic\’ warmth. The stems of a species of Juncus are collected

and the pith carefully taken out and dried for the wicks

of water lamps, and the inner layers of the pith hats so generally

worn in southern China.

The extensive group of lillies contains many splendid ornaments

of the conservatory and garden, natives of China ; some

are articles of food. The Agcqxinthus, or blue African lily, four

species of IlemerocaUis, or day lily, and the fragrant tuberose,

are all common about Canton ; the latter is widely cultivated

for its blossoms to scent fancy teas. Eight or ten species of

Lilium (among which the speckled tiger lily and the unsullied

white are conspicuous) also add their gay beauties to the gardens

; while the modest Commelina, with its delicate blue blossoms,

ornaments the hedges and walks. Many alliaceous plants,

the onion, cives, garlic, etc., belong to this group ; and the Chinese

relish them for the table as nmcli as they admire the

flowers of their beauteous and fi-agrant congeners for bouquets.

The singular red-leaved iron-wood {Draccena) forms a common

ornament of gardens.

The yam, or t((-s/tu (i.e., ‘great tuber’), is not much raised,

though its wholesome qualities as an article of food are well

understood. The same group {3Iusalei^) to which tlie yam

belongs furnishes the custard-apple, one of the few fruits which

have been introduced from abroad. The Amaryllidse are represented

by many pretty species of Crinum, Xerine, and Amaryllis.

Their unprotitable beauty is compensated by the plain but

useful plantain, said to stand before the potato and sago pahn

as producing the greatest amount of wholesome food, in propor-

‘See also in Nates and Queries on 0. and J., Vol. IIL, pp. 115, 139, 13^

147, 150, 170.

362 tup: middle kixgdom.

tion to its size, of any cultivated plant.’ There are many varieties

of this fruit, some of them so acid as to require cooking

hefore eating.

That pleasant stomachic, ginger, is cultivated through all the

country, and exposed for sale as a ereen vegetable, to spice

dishes, and largely made into a preserve. The Alpinia and

Canna, or Indian shot, are common garden flowers. The large

group of OrchideiB has nineteen genera known to be natives of

China, among which the air plants ( Vanda and jErides) are great

favorites. They are suspended in baskets under the trees, and

continue to unfold their blossoms in gradual succession for manv

weeks, all the care necessary being to sprinkle them daily. The

true species of brides are among the most beautiful productions

of the vegetable world, their flowers being arrayed in long racemes

of delicate colors and delicious fragrance. The beautiful Bletia,

Arundina, Spathoglottis, and Cymbidium are common in damp

and elevated places about the islands near Macao and Hongkong.

Many species of the pine, cypress, and yew, forming the

three subdivisions of cone-bearing plant?, furnish a 1 a I’ge proportion

of the timber and fuel. The larch is not rare, and the

Pinus tndssoniana and Cunninghamia furnish most of the

common pine timber. The finest member of this order in

China is the white pine {Pinus htDujtami), peculiar to Chihli

;

its trunk is a clear white, and as it annually sheds the bark it

always looks as if whitewashed. Some specimens near Peking

are said to be a thousand years old. Two members of the

genus Sequoia, of a moderate size, occur near Tibet. The juniper

and thuja are often selected by gardeners to try their skill

in forcing them to grow into rude representations of birds and

animals, the price of these curiosities being proportioned to

their grotesqueness and difiiculty. The nuts of the maiden-hair

tree {Saliffhu/’ia adiatdifolia) are eaten, and the leaves are

sometimes put into books as a preservative against insects.

The willow is a favorite plant and grows to a great size,

Staunton mentioning some which were fifteen feet in girth ;

‘ From calculations of Humboldt It was estimated that the productiveness

of this plant as compared with wheat is as 133 to 1, and as against potatoes, 44

to 1.

FOKEST TREES, HEMP, ETC. 363

they shade the roads near the capital, and one of them is the

true Babylonian ^\ illow ; the trees are grown for timber and for

burning into charcoal. Their leaves, shape, and habits afford

many metaphors to poets and Avriters, much more use being

made of the tree in tliis way. it miglit almost be said, than any

other. The oak is less patronized by fine writers, but the value

of its wood and bark is well understood ; the country affords

several species, one of which, the chestnut oak, is cultivated for

tlie cupules, to be used in dyeing. The galls are used for dyeing

and in medicine, and the acorns of some kinds are ground in

mills, and the iiour soaked in water and made into a farinaceous

paste. Some of the missionaries speak of oaks a hundred feet

high, but such giants in this family are rare. ” One of the

lai’gest and most interesting of these trees, which,’”‘ writes Abel,

” I have called Quercus derhsifolia, resembled a laurel in its

sliming green foliage. It bore branches and leaves in a thick

head, crowning a naked and straight stem ; its fi-uit grew along upright

spikes terminating the branches. Another species, growing

to the height of fifty feet, bore them in long, pendulous spikes.”

The chestnut, walnut, and hazelnut together furnish a large

supply of food. The queer-shaped ovens fashioned in imitation

of a raging lion, in which chestnuts are roasted in tlie streets of

Peking, attract the eye of the visitoi”. The Jack-fruit {Artocarj>

us) is not uidvnown in Canton, but it is not much used. Thei’e

are many species of the banian, but none of them produce fruit

worth plucking ; the Portuguese have introduced the connnon

fig, but it does not flourish. The bastard banian is a magnificent

shade tree, its branches sometimes overspreading an area a

hundred or more feet across. The walls of cities and dwellings

are soon covered with the Ficus rej>en.s, and if left unmolested

its roots gradually demolish them. The paper mulberry

{Broussonetia) is largely cultivated in the northern provinces,

and serves the poor with their chief material for windows.

The leaf of the common nmlberry is the pi-incipal object of its

culture, but the fruit is eaten and the wood burned for lampblack

to make India-ink.

Hemp {Cannahis) is cultivated for its fibres, and the seeds

furnish an oil used for household purposes and medicinal prep364

THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

arations ; the intoxicating substance called hang, made in India,

is unknown in China. The family Proteaceae’ contains the

Eleococca cvrdata, or wu-ttnuj, a favorite tree of the Chinese for

its beauty, the hard wood it furnishes, and the oil extracted

from its seeds. The Stillingia belongs to the same family ; this

symmetrical tree is a native of all the eastern provinces, where

it is raised for its tallow ; it resembles the aspen in the form

and color of the leaf and in its general contour. The castor-oil

is cultivated as a hedge plant, and the seeds are used both in

the kitchen and apothecai’ies’ ^\\o\>.

The order Ilippuriuie furnishes the water caltrops {Trwpa),

the seeds of which are vended in the streets as a fruit after

boiling; one native name is ‘buffalo-head fruit,’ Mhicli the unopened

nuts strikingly resemble. Black pepper is imported,

not so much as a spice as for its infusion, to be administered in

fevers. The betel pepper is cultivated for its leaves, which are

chewed with the betel-nut. The pitcher plant (N’ejpenthes),

called pig-basket plant, is not unfrequent near Canton ; the

leaves, or ascidia, bear no small resemblance to the open baskets

employed for carrying hogs.

Many species of the tribe JRumicince are cultivated as esculent

vegetables, among which maybe enumerated spinach, green

basil, beet, amaranthus, cockscomb, broom-weed {Kochia), buckwheat,

etc. Two species of Polygonum are laised for the blue

dye furnished by the leaves, which is extracted, like indigo, by

maceration. Buckwheat is prepared for food by boiling it like

millet; one native name means ‘triangular wheat.’ The tlour

is also employed in pastry. The cockscomb is much adniire<l

by the Chinese, whose gardens furnish several splendid varieties.

The rhubarb is a member of this useful tribe, and large quantities

are l)rought from Kansuh and Koko-nor, where its habits

have lately been observed by Prejevalsky. The root is dug by

Chinese and Tanguts during September and October, dried in

the shade, and ti-ansported by the Yellow River to the coast

towns, where Europeans pay from six to ten times its rate

among the mountain markets.’ The Chinese consider the rest

‘ Compare Yule’s Marco Polo, Vol. T., p. 197.

RHUBARB, LEGUMINOS^, ETC. 365

of tiie world dependent on them for tea and rhubarb, whose

inhabitants are therefore forced to resort thither to procure

means to relieve themselves of an otherwise irremediable costiveness.

This argument was made use of by Commissioner

Lin in 1840, when recommending certain restrictive regulations

to be imposed upon foreign trade, because he supposed merchants

from abroad would be compelled to purchase them at

any price.

The order lliclna^ or holly, furnishes several genera of

lihamneai, whose fruits are often seen on tables. The Zizyphus

furnishes the so called Chinese dates’ in immense quantities

throughout the northern provinces. The fleshy peduncles

of the llovenia are eaten ; they are connnon in the southeastern

provinces. The leaves of the Rltaninus tlieezans are among

the many plants collected by the poor as a make-shift for the

true tea. The fruit called the Chinese olive, obtained from the

Pimela, is totally diiferent from and is a poor substitute for the

rich olive of the Mediterranean countries.”

The Leguminos^e hold an important place in Chinese botany,

affording many esculent vegetables and valuable products.

Peas and beans are probably eaten more in China than any

other country, and soy is prepared chiefly from the ISoja or

Dolichos. One of the modes of making this condiment is to

skin the beans and gi’ind them to flour, which is mixed with

water and powdered gypsum, or turmeric. It is eaten as a

jelly or curd, or in cakes, and a meal is seldom spread without

it in some form. One genus of this tribe affords indigo, and

from the buds and leaves of a species of Coluteaakind of green

dye is said to be obtained. Liquorice is esteemed in medicine ;

and the red seeds of the Ahna j^recrt/o^’/^^.s” are gathered for

ornaments. The Poinciana and Bauhinia are cultivated for

their flowers, and the Erythrina and Cassia are among the

most magnificent flowering trees in the south.

‘ Tlie application of this name to the jujube plum by foreigners, because

the kind cured in honey resembled Arabian dates in color, size, and taste

when brought on the table, is a good instance of the nuinner in which errors

arise and are perpetuated from mere carelessness.

‘^ Compare Dr. H. F. Hance, in Journal of Bot<iny, Vol. IX., p. 38.

366 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

The fruits are, on the whole, inferior in flavor and size to

those of the same names at the west. Several varieties of

pears, plums, peaches, and apricots are known ; it is probable

that China is the native country of each of these fruits, and

some of the varieties equal those found anywhere. Erman

‘

mentions an apple or haw which grows in ” long bunches and

is round, about the size of a cherry, of a red color, and very

sweet taste,” found in abundance near Kiahhta. There are

numerous species of Amygdalus cultivated for their flowers

;

and at new year the budding stems of the flowering almond,

narcissus, plum, peach, and bell-flower (Enlianthus retlculatuH)

are forced into blossom for exhibition, as indicating good luck

the coming year. The apples and cpiinces are generally destitute

of that flavor looked for in them elsewhere, but the lu-l’uh,

or loquat^ is a pleasant acid spring fruit. The pomegranate is

chiefly cultivated for its beauty as a flowering plant ; but the

guava and Eugenia, or rose-apple, are sold in the market or

made into jellies. The rose is a favorite among the Chinese and

extensively cultivated ; twenty species are mentioned, together

with many varieties, as natives of the country ; the Banks rose

is developed and trained with great skill. The Spira?a or privet,

myrtle, Quisqualis, Lawsonia or henna, white, purple, and red

varieties of crape-myrtle or Lagerstrcemia, Hydrangea, the passion-

flower, and the house-leek are also among the ornamental

plants found in gardens. Few trees in any countiy present a

more elegant appearance, when in full flowei”, than the Lagerstra’inias.

The Pride of India and Chinese tamarix are also

beautiful flowering trees. Specimens of the Cactus and Cereus,

containing fifty or more splendid flowers in full bloom, are not

unusual at Macao in August.

The watermelon, cucumber, squash, tomato, brinjal or eggplant,

and other garden vegetables are abundant ; the tallowgourd

(Bcnincctsacerifcm) is remarkable for having its surface

covered with a waxy exudation which sniells like rosin. The

dried bottle-gourd {Cucnirbita lagenaria) is tied to the backs of

children on the boats to assist them in floating if they should

^Travels in Siberia, Vol. II., p. 151.

FRUIT TREES AND FLOWERING PLANTS. 367

Tinluckily fall overboard. Tlie fniit and leaves of the papaw,

or inuh k^va, ‘ tree melon,’ are eaten after being cooked ; tlie

Chinese are aware of the inteneratino; property of the exhalations

from the leaves of this tree, and make use of them sometimes

to soften the flesh of ancient hens and cocks, by hanging

the newly killed birds in the tree or by feeding them upon the

fruit beforehand. The carambola {Averr/ioa) or tree gooseberry

is nnich eaten by the Chinese, but is not relished by

foreigners ; the tree itself is also an ornament to any pleasure

grounds.

Ginseng is found wild in the forests of Manchuria, where it

is collected by detachments of soldiers detailed for this purpose ;

these regions are regarded as imperial preserves, and the medicine

is held as a governmental monopoly. The importation of

the American root does not interfere to a very serious degree

with the imperial sales, as the Chinese are fully convinced that

their o’svn plant is far superior. Among numerous plants of

the malvaceous and pink tribes (Dianthacece) remarkable for

their beauty or use, the Lychnis cownata, five sorts of pink,

the Althcea Chinensis, eight species of Hibiscus, and other

malvaceous flowers may be mentioned ; the cotton tree {Salmalia)

is common at Canton ; the fleshy petals are sometimes

j^repared as food, and the silky stamens dried to stuff cushions.

The (Tossyjnmn hevljaceniti and Pachyrrhizus affoi-d the matCv

rials for cotton and gra«scloth ; both of them are cultivated in

most parts of China. The latter is a twining, leguminous

plant, cultivated fi-om remote antiquity, and still grown for its

fibres, which are woven into linen. The petals of the Ilihiscvs

rosa-sinensis furnish a black liquid to dye the eyebrows, and at

Batavia they are employed to polish shoes. The fruits of the

Hibiscus ocJira^ or okers, are prepared for the table in a vai’iety

of ways.

The Camellia Ja^wnica is allied to the same great tribe as

the Hibiscus, and its elegant flowers are as much admired by

the people of its native country as by florists abroad ; thirty or

forty varieties are enumerated, many of them unknown out of

China, while Chinese gardeners are likewise ignorant of a large

proportion of those found in our conservatories. This flower is

368 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

cultivated solely for its beauty, but other species of Camellia

are raised for their seeds, the oil expressed from them being

serviceable for many household and mechanical purposes. From

the fibres of a species of Waltheria, a j)lant of the same tribe, a

fine cloth is made ; and the Pentapctes Pluxnicia^ or ‘ noon

fiower,’ is a common ornament of gardens.

The widely diffused tribe Ranunculiacese has many representatives,

some of them profitable for their timber, others sought

after for their fruit or admired for their beauty, and a few

prized for their healing properties. There are eight species of

Magnolia, all of them splendid flowering plants ; the bark of

the Magnol’ui yulan is employed as a febrifuge. The seed vessels

of the IllclunL anisatum, or star-aniseed, are gathered on

account of their spicy warmth and fragrance. The Artabotrys

odoratixslinuH and Unona odorata are cultivated for tlieir perfume.

Another favorite is the iiiowtan^ or tree paiony, reared

for its large and variegated flowers ; its name of hwa uiang, or

‘ king of flowers,’ indicates the estimation in which it is held.

The skill of nativ-e gardeners has made many varieties, and

their patience is rewarded b}’ the high prices which fine specimens

command. Good imitations of full-grown plants in flower

are sometimes made of pith paper. Tlie Clematis, the foxglove,

the Berheris Chinensh^ and the magnificent lotus, all

belong to this tribe ; the latter, one of the most celebrated

plants in Asia, is more esteemed by the CMiinese for its edible

roots than reverenced for its religious associations. The Adtm

aKpci’d is sometimes collected, as is the scouring i-ush, for cleaning

pewter vessels, for which its hispid leaves are well fitted.

The groups which include the poppy, nnistai-d, cabbage, cress,

and many ornamental species, form an important ])ortion of

native agriculture. The poppy has become a connuon crop in

all the province^, driving out the useful cereals by its greater

value and profit. The leaves of many crucifei-ous plants are

eaten, whether cultivated or wild ; and one kind {Lsates^ yields

a fine blue dye in the eastern provinces ; the variety and amount

of such food consumed by the Chinese proi)ably exceeds that

of any other people. Another tribe, Tlutaceie, contains the

oranges and shaddocks, and some very fragrant shrubs, as the

ORTSTAMKNTAL PLANTS, ETC. 369

Mnvraya ci’otk’a and jHiniculata, and tlie Aglaia odoratd ;

while the bhiddei’-tree {Koelt’euteria) is a great attraction when

its whole surface is brilliant with golden tlowers. The whamj^e,

^.^?,, yellow skin {Cvo/iJ((, j}a/uiat(f), is a common and superior

fruit. The seeds of the Gleditschia, besides their value in cleansing,

are worn as beads, ” because,” say the Buddhists, ” all

demons are afraid of the wood ;” one name means ‘ preventive

of evil.’ Two native fruits, the lic/u and liinrjan, are allied to

the Sapindus in their affinities ; while the f’f’/i/j sku, or Liquidambar,

and many sorts of maple, with the P’tttosj[)orum tohira^

an ornamental shrub, may be mentioned among plants used for

food or sought after for timber.

Tiiese brief notices of Chinese plants may be concluded by

mentioning some of the most ornamental not before spoken of

;

but all the beautiful soi-ts are soon introduced into western

conservatories by enterprising florists. In the extensiv^e tribe

of Rubiacinae are several species of honeysuckle, and a fragrant

Yiburnum resembling the snowball. The Serissa is cultivated

around beds like the box ; the Ixora eocGinea, and other species

of that genus, are among common garden shrubs. The seeds of

two or three species of Artemisia are collected, dried, and reduced

to a down, to be bui-ned as an actual cautery. The dried

twigs are frequently woven into a rope to slowly consume ^s

a means of driving away mosquitoes. From the Carthamxis

tlnctoirus a fine red dye is prepared. The succory, lettuce, dandelion,

and other cichoraceous plants, either wild or cultivated,

furnish food ; while innumerable varieties of Chrysanthemums

and Asters are reared for their beauty.

The Labiatae afford many genera, some of them cultivated ;

and the Solanaceae, or nightshades, contain the tomato, potato,

tobacco, stramony, and several spetnes of Capsicum, or red pepper.

It has been disputed whether tobacco is native or foreign,

but the philological argument and historical notices prove that

both this plant and maize were introduced -within half a century

after the discovery of America, or about the year 1530. The

Chinese dry the leaves and cut them into shreds for smoking ;

the snuff is coarser and less pungent than the Scotch ; it is said

that powdered cinnabar is sometimes mixed with it.

Vol. I.— -4

Among the Convolvnlaceai are many beautiful species of Ipomea,

especially the cypress vine, or quaniodU, ti-ained about the

houses even of the poorest. The Ijxnnea marithiia occurs, trail

ing over the sandy beaches along the coast from Hainan to

Chusan and Lewchew. The Convolvulus rej)tans is planted

around the edges of pools on the confines of villages and fields,

for the sake of its succulent leaves. The narcotic family of

Apocynese contains the oleander and Plumeria, prized for their

fragrance ; while the yellow milkweed {Asdejykis curamamca)

and the Vlnea rosea, or red periwinkle, are less conspicuous,

but not unattractive, members of the same group. The jasmine

is a deserved favorite, its clusters of flowers being often wound

by women in their hair, and planted in pots in their houses.

The Ol<iafragrans, or hwei hum, is cultivated for scenting tea.

In the eastern provinces the hills are adorned with yellow and

red azaleas of gorgeous hue, especially around Ningbo and in

Chusan. ” Few,” says Mr. Fortune, ” can form any idea of the

gorgeous beauty of these azalea-clad hills, where, on every side,

the eye rests on masses of flowers of dazzling brightness and

surpassing beauty. IS^or is it the azalea alone which claims our

admiration ; clematises, wild roses, honeysuckles, and a hundred

others, mingle their flowers with them, and make us confess

that China is indeed the ‘ central flowery land.’ “

A few notices of the advance made by the Chinese themselves

in the study of natural history, taken from their great work on

materia medica, the Pun tsao, or ‘ Herbal,’ will form an appropriate

conclusion to this chapter. This work is usually bound

in forty octavo volumes, divided into fifty-two chapters, and

contains many observations of value mixed up with a deal of

incorrect and useless matter ; and as those who read the book

have not sufiicient knowledge to discriminate between what is

true and what is partly or wholly wrong, its reputation tends

.greatly to perpetuate the errors. The compiler of the Pun fsao,

Li Shi-chin, spent thirty years in collecting all the information

on these subjects extant in his time, arranged it in a methodical

manner for popular use, adding his own observations, and pub-

‘ Wanderings in China.

THE PUN TSAO, OR CHINESE HERBAL. 371

lished it about 1590. lie consulted some eight hundred preceding

autliors, from whom he selected one thousand five hundred

and eighteen prescriptions, and added three hundred and

seventy-four new ones, arranging his materials in fifty-two books

in a methodical and (for his day) scientific manner. But how

far behind the writings of Pliny and Dioscorides ! The nucleus

of Li’s production is a small work which tradition ascribes to

Shinnung, the God of Agriculture, and is doubtless anterior to

the Ilan dynasty. His composition was well received, and attracted

the notice of the Emperor, who ordered several succeeding

editions to be published at the expense of the state. It

was, in fact, so great an advance on all previous books, that it

checked future writers in that branch, and Li is likely now to

be the first and last purely native critical writer on natural science

in his mother tongue.

The first two volumes contain a collection of prefaces and

indices, together with many notices of the theory of anatomy

and medicine, and three books of pictorial illustrations of the

rudest sort. Chapters I. and II. consist of introductory observations

upon the practice of medicine, and an index of the

recipes contained in the work, called the Sure Guide to a

Myriad of Recipes ^ the whole filling the first seven volumes.

Chapters III. and IV. contain lists of medicines for the cui-e of

all diseases, occupying three volumes and a half, and comprising

the therapeutical portion of the work, except a treatise on the

pulse in the last volume.

In the subsequent chapters the author carefully goes over

the entire range of nature, first giving the correct name and

its explanation ; then comes descriptive remarks, solutions of

doubts and corrections of errors being interspersed, closing with

notes on the savor, taste, and application of the recipes in

which it is used. Chapters V. and YI. treat of inorganic

substances under water and fire, and mine)-als under Chapters

VII. to XL, as earth, metals, gems, and stones. Water is

divided into aerial and terrestrial, /.c, from the clouds, and

from springs, the ocean, etc. Fire is considered under eleven

species, among which ai-e the flames of coal, bamboo, moxa,

etc. The chapter on earth comprises the secretions from various animals, as well as soot, ink, etc. ; that on metals includes

metallic substances and their common oxides ; and gems

are spoken of in the next division. The eleventh chapter, in

true Chinese stvle, groups together what could not be placed

in the preceding sections, including salts, minerals, etc. In

looking at this arrangement one detects the similarity between

it and the classification of characters in the language itself,

showing the influence this has had upon it ; thus /«>, shui, tu,

Hn, yuh, shih, and la^ or fire, water, earth, metals, gems,

stones, and salts, are the seven radicals under which the names

of inorganic substances are classified in the iuiperial dictionary.

A like similarity runs through other parts of the Ilcrhal.

Chapters XII. to XXXATLL, inclusive, treat of the vegetable

kingdom, under fivej*??^, or ‘divisions,’ viz. : herbs, gi-ains, vegetables,

fruits, and trees; which are again subdivided into lui^ or

‘families,’ though the members of these families have no more

relationship to each other than the heterogeneous family of an

Egyptian slave dealer. The lowest term in the Chinese scientific

scale is chung, which sometimes in<;ludes a gemis, but

quite as often corresponds to a species or even a variety, as

Linneus understood those terms.

The first division of hei’bs contains nine families, viz. : hill

plants, odoriferous, marshy, noxious, scandent or climbing,

aquatic, ston}^, and mossy plants, and a ninth of one hundred

and sixty-two miscellaneous plants not used in medicine, making

six hundred and seventy-eight species in all. In this classification

the habitat is the most influential principle of arrangement

for the families, while the term tsao, or ‘herb,’ denotes

M-hatcver is not eaten or used in the arts, or which does not attain

to the magnitude of a tree.

The second division of grains contains four families, viz. : 1,

that of hemp, sesamuiii, buckwheat, wheat, rice, etc.; 2, the

family of millet, maize, opium, etc. ; 3, leguminous plants,

pulse, peas, vetches, etc. ; and 4, fermentable things, as bean

curd, boiled rice, wine, yeast, congee, bread, etc., which, as they

are used in medicine, and pi’oduced from vegetables, seem most

naturally to come in this place. The first three families em

bi-ace thirty-nine species, and the last tweny-nine articles.

BOTANY OF THE HERBAL. 373

The tliird division of kitclicn herbs contains five families: 1,

offensive pungent plants, as leeks, nnistard, ginger ; 2, soft and

mucilaginous plants, as dandelions, lilies, bamboo sprouts; 3,

vegetables producing fruit on the ground, as tomatoes, eggplants,

melons ; 4, aquatic vegetables ; and 5, mushrooms and

fungi. The number of species is one hundred and thirty-three,

and some part of each of them is eaten.

The fourth division of fruits contains seven families : 1, the

five fruits, the plum, peach, apricot, chestnut, and date (Rhamnus)

; 2, liill fruits, as the orange, pear, citron, persinniion ; 3,

foreign fruits, as the cocoanut, lichi, cararnbola ; 4, aromatic

fruits, as pepper, cubebs, tea ; 5, trailing fruits, as melons,

grape, sugar-cane ; G, aquatic fruits, as water caltrops, water

lily, water chestnuts, etc. ; and 7, fruits not used in medicine,

as whampe. In all, one hundred and forty-seven species.

The fifth division of trees has six families: 1, odoriferous

trees, as pine, cassia, aloes, camphor ; 2, stately trees, as the

willow, tamarix, elm, soapl)erry, palm, j^oplar, julibrissin or silk

tree ; 3, luxuriant growing trees, as mulberry, cotton, Cercis,

Gardenia, Bonibax, Hibiscus ; 4, parasites or things attached to

trees, as the mistletoe, pachyma, and amber ; 5, flexible plants,

as bamboo ; this family has only four species ; 6, includes what

the other five exclude, though it might have been thought that

the second and tliird families were sufficiently comprehensive

to contain almost all miscellaneous plants. The mnnber of

species is one hundred and ninety-eight. All botanical subjects

are classified in this manner under five divisions, thirtyone

families, and one thousand one hundred and ninety-five

species, excluding all fermentable things.

The arrangement of the botanical characters in the language

does not correspond so well to this as does that of inorganic

substances. The largest group in the language system is tsao^

which comprises in general such herbaceous plants as are not

used for food The second, muh, includes all trees or shrubs ;

and the bamboo, on account of its great usefulness, stands by itself,

though the characters mostly denote names of articles made

of bamboo IS’o less than four radicals, viz., rice, wdieat, millet,

and grain, serve as the heads under which the esculent grasses

374 tup: middle kingdom.

are arranged ; tliere are consequently many synonymes and

superfluous distinctions. One family includes beans, and another

legumes ; one comprises cucurbitaceous plants, another

the alliaceous, and a fourth the hempen ; the importance of

these plants as articles of food or manufacture no doubt suggested

their adoption. Thus all vegetable substances are distributed

in the language under eleven different heads.

The zoological grouping in the Pun tsao is as rude and unscientific

as that of plants. There are five jpu^ or divisions,

namely : insect, scaly, shelly, feathered, and hairy animals. The

first division contains four families : 1 and 2, insects born

from eggs, as bees and silkworms, butterflies and spiders; 3,

insects produced by metamorphosis, as glow-worms, molecrickets,

bugs ; and 4, water insects, as toads, centipedes, etc.

The second division has four families: 1, the dragons, including

the manis, ” the only fish that has legs ; ” 2, snakes ; 3,

fishes having scales ; and 4, scaleless fishes, as the eel, cuttlefish,

prawn. The third division is classified under the two

heads of toi”toises or turtles and mollusks, including the starfish,

echinus, hermit-crab, etc. The fourth division contains

birds arranged under four families : 1, water-fowl, as herons,

king-fishers, etc. ; 2, heath-fowl, sparrows, and pheasants ; 3,

forest birds, as magpies, crows; and 4, wild birds, as eagles

and hawks. Beasts form the fifth division, which likewise

contains four families : 1, the nine domesticated animals and

their products ; 2, wild animals, as lions, deers, otters ; 3,

rodentia, as the squirrel, hedgehog, rat ; and 4, monkeys and

fairies. The number of species in these five divisions is three

hundred and ninety-one, but there are only three hundred and

twenty different objects described, as the roe, fat, hair, e.xuvite,

etc., of animals are separately noticed.

The sixteen zoological characters in the language are not

quite so far astray fi-om being types of classes as the eleven

botanical ones. Nine of thorn are mannniferous, viz. : the tiger,

dog, and leopard, which stand for the carnivora ; the rat for

lodentia ; the ox, sheep, and deer for ruminants ; and the

horse and hog for pachydermatous. Birds are chiefly comprised

under one radical niao, but there is a sub-family of

ITS ZOOLOGY AND OI?SKKV ATFOXS OX TTTE IIOKSP:. 37.7

short-tailed gallinaceous fowls, though much confusion exists in

the division. Fishes form one group, and improperly inchide

crabs, lizards, whales, and snakes, though most of the latter are

placed along with insects, or else under the dragons. The tortoise,

toad, and dragon are the types of three small collections,

and insects are comprised in the sixteenth and last. These

groups, although they contain many anomalies, as might be

expected, are still sufficiently natural to teach those who write

the language something of the world around them. Thus,

when one sees that a new character contains the radical dorj in

composition, he will be sure that it is neither fowl, fish, nor bug,

nor any animal of the pachydermatous, cervine, or ruminant

tribes, although he may have never seen the animal nor heard

its name. This peculiarity runs through the whole language, indeed,

but in other groups, as for instance those under the radicals

man, woman, and child, or heart, hand, leg, etc., the characters

include mental and passionate emotions, as well as actions and

names, so that the type is not sufficiently indicative to convey a

definite idea of the words included under it ; the names of

natural objects being most easily arranged in this manner.

Between the account of plants and animals the Jlerhal has

one chapter on garments and domestic utensils, for such things

” are used in medicine and are made out of plants.” The remaining

chapters, XXXIX.-LII., treat of animals, as noticed

above. The properties of the objects spoken of are discussed

in a very methodical manner, so that a student can immediately

turn to a plant or mineral and ascertain its virtue. For instance,

the information relative to the history and uses of the

horse is contained in twenty-four sections. The first explains

the character, ma, which was oi-iginally intended to represent

the outline of the animal. The second describes the varieties

of horses, the best kinds for medical use, and gives brief descriptions

of them, for the guidance of the practitioner. ” The

pure white are the best for medicine. Those found in the south

and east are small and Aveak. The age is known by the teeth.

The eye reflects the full image of a man. If he eats rice his

feet will become heavy ; if rat’s dung, his belly will grow long; if his teeth be rubbed with dead silkworms, or black plums, he will not eat, nor if the skin of a rat or wolf be li\uii^- in his

manger, lie should not he allowed to eat from a hog’s trough,

lest he contract disease; and if a monkey is kept in the stable

he M’ill not fall sick.”

The third section goes on to speak of the flesh, which is an

article of food ; that of a pure white stallion is the most wholesome.

One author recommends ” eating almonds, and taking a

rush broth, if the person feel uncomfoi-table after a meal of

horse-flesh. It should he roasted and eaten with ginger

and pork ; and to eat the flesh of a black horse, and not

drink wine -with it, will surely produce deatli.” The fourth

describes the crown of the horse, the ” fat of which is sweet,

and good to make the hair grow and the face to shine.” The

fifth and succeeding sections to the twenty-fourth treat of the

sanative properties and mode of exhibiting the milk, heart,

lungs, liver, kidneys, placenta, teeth, bones, skin, mane, tail,

brains, blood, perspiration, and excrements.

Some of the directions are dietetic, and others are prescriptive.

” When eating horse-flesh do not eat the liver,” is one of

the former, given because of the absence of a gall-bladder in

the liver, wdiich imports its poisonous qualities. ” The heart of

a white horse, or that of a hog, cow, or hen, when dried and

rasped into spirit and so taken, cures forgetfulness; if the patient

hears one thing he knows ten.” ” Above the knees the

horse has night-eyes (warts), M’hich enable him to go in the

night ; they are useful in the toothache ;” tliese sections partake

both of the descriptive and pi-escriptive. Another medical one

is : ” If a man be restless and hysterical when he wishes to

sleep, and it is requisite to put him to rest, let the ashes of a

skull be mingled with water and given him, and let him have a

skull for a pillow, and it will cure him.” The same preservative

virtues appear to be ascribed to a horse’s hoof hung in a

house as are supposed, by some who should know better, to

belong to a horseshoe Avhen nailed upon the door.’ The whole

of this extensive work is liberally sprinkled with such whimsies,

but the practice of medicine among the Chinese is vastly

‘ Chinese Repository, Vol. VII., p. 393.

NATURAL SCIENCES IN CHINA. 377

better than their tlieories ; for as llenmsat justly oTjserves, ” To

see well and reason falsely are not wholly incompatible, and the

naturalists of China, as well as the chemists and physicians of

our ancient schools, have sometimes tried to reconcile them.”

Another work on botany besides the Jlefbal, issued in 1848,

deserves notice for its research and the excellence of its drawings.

It is the Ch’th Wuh Mlng-shih Ta-kao, or Researches

into the Names and Virtues of Plants, with plates, in sixty volumes.

There are one thousand seven hundred and fifteen

drawings of plants, with descriptions of each, arranged in

eleven books, followed by medical and agricultural observations

on the most important in four books. One of its valuable

points to the foreigner is the terminology furnished by

the two authors for describing the parts and uses of plants.

Renmsat read a paper in 1828, ‘ On the State of the Natural

Sciences among the Orientals,’ in which he indicates the position

attained by Chinese in their researches into the nature

and uses of objects around them. After speaking of the adaptation

the language possesses, from its construction, to impart

some general notions of animated and vegetable nature,

he goes on to remark upon the theorizing propensities of their

writers, instead of contenting themselves with examining and

recording facts. “In place of studying the organization of

bodies, they undertake to determine by reasoning how it should

be, an aim which has not seldom led them far from the end

they proposed. One of the strangest errors among them relates

to the transformation of beings into each other, which has

arisen from popular stories or badly conducted observations on

the metamorphoses of insects. Learned absurdities have been

added to puerile prejudices ; that which the vulgar have believed

the philosophers have attempted to explain, and nothing

can be easier, according to the oriental systems of cosmogony, in

which a simple matter, infinitely diversified, shows itself in all

beings. Changes affect only the apparent propei’ties of bodies, or

rather the bodies themselves have only appearances ; according

to these principles, they are not astonished at seeing the electric

fiuid or even the stars converted into stones, as happens when

aerolites fall. That animated beings become inanimate is proven by fossils and petrifactions. Ice enclosed in the earth for a millenninm becomes rock crystal ; and it is only necessary that lead, \\\e father of all metals (as Satnrn, its alchemistic type, was of gods), pass thi-oiigh four periods of two centuries each to become successively cinnabar, tin, and silver. In spring the rat changes into a quail, and quails into rats again during the eighth month.

” The style in which these marvels is related is now and then a little equivocal ; but if they believe part of them proved, they can see nothing really impossible in the others. One naturalist, less credulous than his fellows, rather smiles at another author who reported the metamorphosis of an oriole into a mole, and of rice into a carp ;

‘ it is a ridiculous story,’ says he ;

‘ there is proof only of the change of rats into quails, which is reported in the almanac, and which I have often seen myself, for there is an imvaried progression, as well of transformations as of generations.’

Animals, according to the Chinese, are viviparous as quadrupeds, or oviparous as birds ; they grow by transformations, as insects, or by the effect of humidity, as snails, slugs, and centipedes The success of such systems is almost always sure, not in China alone either, because it is easier to put words in place of things, to stop at nothing, and to have formulas ready for solving all questions. It is thus that they have formed a scientific jargon, which one might almost think had been borrowed from our dark ages, and which has powerfully contributed to retain knowledge in China in the swaddling clothes we now find it. Experience teaches that when the human mind is once drawn into a false way, the lapse of ages and the help of a man of genius are necessary to draw it out.

Ages have not been wanting in China, but the man whose superior enlightenment might dissipate these deceitful glimmerings, would find it very difficult to exercise this happy influence as long as their political institutions attract all their inquiring minds or vigorous intellects far away from scientific researches into the literary examinations, or put before them the honors and employments which the functions and details of magisterial appointments bring with them.” ‘* Melanges Orientules, Posthumes, p. 315.

CONSKKVATISM OF NATIVE liESEARCH. 379

This last observcation indicates the reason, to a great degree, for the fixedness of the Chinese in all departments of learned inquiry ; hard labor employs the energy and time of the ignorant mass, and emulation in the strife to reach official dignities consumes and perverts the talents of the learned. Then their language itself disheartens the most enthusiastic students in this branch of study, on account of its vagueness and want of established terms. When the vivifying and strengthening truths of revelation shall be taught to the Chinese, and its principles acted upon among them, we may expect more vigor in their minds and more profit in their investigations into the wonders of nature.

CHAPTER VII. LAWS OP CHINA, AND PLAN OP ITS GOVERNMENT

The consideration of the theory and practice of the Chinese government reconmiends itself to the attention of the intelligent student of man by several peculiar reasons, among which are its acknowledged antiquity, the multitudes of people it rules, and the comparative quiet enjoyed by its subjects. The government of a heathen nation is so greatly modified by the personal character of the executive, and the people are so liable to confound institutions with men, either from imperfect acquaintance with the nature of those institutions, or from being, through necessity or habit, easily guided and swayed by designing and powerful men, that the long continuance of the Chinese polity is a proof both of its adaptation to the habits and condition of the people, and of its general good management. The antiquity and excellence of such a government, and its orderly administration, might, however, be far greater than it is in China, without being invested with the interest which at present attaches to it in that Empire in consequence of the immense population, whose lives and property, food and well-being, depend to so great a degree upon it. What was at first rather a feeling of curiosity, gradually becomes one of awe, when the evil results of misgovernment, or the beneficent effects of equitable rule, are seen to be so momentous.

THEORY OF THE CHINESE GOVERNMENT. 381

The theory of the Chinese government is undoubtedly the patriarchal; the Emperor is the sire, his officers are the responsible elders of its provinces, departments, and districts, as every father of a household is of its inmates. This may, perhaps, be the theory of other governments, but nowhere has it been systematized so thoroughly, and acted upon so consistently and for so long a period, as in China, ^wo causes, mutually acting upon each other, have, more than anything else, combined to give efficiency to this theory. The ancient rule of Van and Shun ‘ was strictly, so far as the details are known, a patriarchal chieftainship, conferred upon them on account of their excellent character ; and their successors under Yu of the Xia dynasty were considered as deriving their power from heaven, to whom they M’ere amenable for its good use. When Chingtang, founder of the Shang dynasty, b.c. ITOG, and Wu Wang, of the Zhou, B.C. 1122, took up arms against the Emperors, the excuse given was that they had not fulfilled the decrees of heaven, and had thereby forfeited their claim to the throne.

Confucius, in teaching his principles of political ethics, referred to the conduct of those ancient kings both for proof of the correctness of his instructions and for arguments to enforce them.

The large number of those who followed him during his lifetime furnishes some evidence that his countrymen assented to

the propriety of his teachings. This may account for their reception,

illustrated as they were by the high character the sage

boi-e ; but it was not till the lapse of tM’o or three centuries

that the rulers of China perceived the great security the adoption

and diffusion of these doctrines would give their sway.

They therefore turned their attention toward the embodiment of

these precepts into laws, and towai’d basing the institutions of

government upon them ; through all the convulsions and wars

which have disturl)ed the country and changed the reigning

families, these writings have done more than any one thing

else to uphold the institutions of the Chinese and give them

their character and permanence. Education being founded on

them, those who as students had been taught to receive and

reverence tliem as the oracles of political wisdom, would, when

they entered upon the duties of office, endeavor to carry out, in

some degree at least, their principles. Thus the precept and

the practice have mutually modified, supported, and enforced

each other./

• 2357 and 2255 before Christ.

But this civilization i;^ Asiatic and not European, pagan and not Christian. ^The institutions of China are despotic and defective, and founded on wrong principles. They may have the element of stability, but not of improvement.^ The patriarchal theory does not make uien honorable, truthful, or kind; it does not place woman in her right position, nor teach all classes their obligations to their Maker; the wonder is, to those who know the strength of evil passions in the human breast, that this huge mass of mankind is no worse. We must, indeed, look into its structure in order to discover the causes of this stability, inasmuch as here we have neither a standing army to enforce nor the machinery of a state religion to compel obedience toward a sovereign. A short inspection will show that(the great leading principles by which the present administration preserves its power over the people, consist in a system of strict surveillance and viatual 7’esj)onsihiHtij among all classes.

These are aided in their efficiency by the geographical isolation of the country, a remarkable spirit of loyal pride in their own history, and a general system of political education and official examinations!)

These two principles are enforced by such a minute gradation of rank and subordination of othces as to give the government more of a military character than at first appears, and the whole system is such as to make it one of the most unmixed oligarchies now existing. (It is like a network extending over the whole face of society, each individual being isolated in his own mesh but responsibly connected with all around him’) The man who knows that it is almost impossible, except by entire seclusion, to escape from the company of secret or acknowledged emissaries of government, will be cautions of offending the laws of the country, knowing, as he must, that though he should himself escape, yet his family, his kindred, or his neighbors will suffer for his offence; that if unable to recompense the sufferers, it will probably be dangerous for him to return home ; or if he does, it will be most likely to find his property in the possession of neighbors or officials, who feel conscious of security in plundering one whose offences have forever placed him under a ban.

RESPONSIBILITY, FEAR, AXD ISOLATION. 383

^The effect of these two causes upon the mass of the people is to imbue them with a i^ceat fear of the government, both of its officers and its operations; each man considers that safety is best to be found in keeping aloof from both. This mutual surveillance and responsibility, though only partially extended throughout the multitude, necessarily undermines confidence and infuses universal distrust ; while this object of complete isolation, though at the expense of justice, truth, honesty, and natural affection, is what the government strives to accomplish and actually does to a wonderful degree.) The idea of government in the minds of the uneducated people is that of some everpresent terror, like a sword of Damocles; and so far has this undetined fear of some untoward result when connected with it counteracted the real vigor of the Chinese, that to it may be referred much of their indifference to improvement, contentment with what is already known and possessed, and submission to petty injustice and spoliation.^

Men are deterred, too, as much by distrust of each other as by fear of the police, from combining in an intelligent manner to resist governmental exactions because opposed to principles of equity, or joining with their rulers to uphold good order; no such men, and no such instances, as John Hampden going to prison for refusing to subscribe to a forced loan, or Thomas Williams and his companions throwing the tea overboard in Boston harbor, ever occurred in China or any other Asiatic country. They dread illegal societies quite as much from the cruelties this same distrust induces the leaders to exercise over recreant or suspected members, as from apprehension of arrest and punishment by the regular authorities. (Thus, with a state of society at times on the verge of insurrection, this mass of people is kept in check by the threefold cord of responsibility, fear, and isolation, each of them strengthening the other, and all depending upon the character of the people for much of their efficiency. Since all the officers of government received their intellectual training when connnoners under these influences, it is easy to understand why the supreme powers are so averse to improvement and to foreign intercourse—from both of which causes, in truth, the monarch has the greatest reason to dread lest the cliarin of his power be weakened and his sceptre pass away. I (There is, however, a further explanation for the general peace which prevails to be found back of this. It is owing partly to the diffusion of a political education among the people ^teaching them the principles on which all government is founded, and the reasons for those principles flowing from the patriarchal theory—and partly to their plodding, industrious character. A brief exposition of the construction and divisions of the central and provincial governments and their mutual relations, and the various duties devolving upon the departments and officers, will exhibit more of the operation of these principles.

Although the Emperor is regarded as the head of this great

organization, as the fly-wheel w^hich sets other wheels of the

machine in motion, he is still considered as bound to rule according

to the code of the land ; and when there is a w^ellknown

law, though the source of law, he is expected to follow

it in his decrees. The statutes of China form an edifice, the

foundations of which were laid by Li Ivwei twenty centuries

ago. Successive dynasties have been building thereon ever

since, adding, altering, pulling down, and putting together as

circumstances seemed to require. The people liave a high regard

for the code, ” and all they seem to desire is its just and

impartial execution, independent of caprice and uninfluenced

by corruption. That the laws of China are, on the contrary,

very frequently violated l)y those who are their administrators

and constitutional guardians, there can, unfortunately, be no

question ; but to what extent, comparatively with the laws of

other countries, must at present be very much a matter of conjecture

: at the same time it nuiy be observed, as something in

favor of the Chinese system, that there are substantial grounds

for believing that neither flagrant nor repeated acts of injustice

do, in point of fact, often, in any rank or station, ultimately

escape with impunity.” ‘ Sir George Staunton is well qualified

to speak on this point, and his opinion has been corroborated

‘ Penal Code, Introduction, p. xxviii.

THE PENAL CODE OF CHINA. 385

by most of those who have had siinihir opportunities of judging; while his translation of the Code has given all persons interested in the (piestion the means of ascertaining the principles on which the government ostensibly acts.

This body of laws is called Ta Tsing Liuh Li, i.e., ‘ Statutes and Eescripts of the Great Pure Dynasty,’ and contains all the laws of the Empire. They are arranged under seven leading heads, viz.: General, Civil, Fiscal, Ritual, Military, and Criminal laws, and those relating to Public Works ; and subdivided into four hundred and thirty-six sections, called Hah, or ‘ statutes,’ to which the li, or modern clauses, to limit, explain or alter them, are added ; these are now much more numerous than the original statutes. A new edition is published by authority every five years; in the reprint of 1830 the Emperor ordered that the Supreme Court should make but few alterations, lest wily litigants might take advantage of the discrepancies between the new and old law to suit their own purposes. This edition is in twenty-eight volumes, and is one of the most frequently seen books in the shops of any city. The clauses are attached to each statute, and have the same force. ]^o authorized reports of cases and decisions, either of the provincial or supreme courts, are published for general use, though their record is kept in the court where they are decided ; the publication of such adjudged cases, as a guide to officers, is not unknown. An extensive collection of notes, comments, and cases, illustrating the practice and theory of the laws, was appended to the edition of 1799.

A short extract from the original preface of the Code, published in 101:7, only three years after the Manchu Emperors took the throne, will explain the principles on which it was drawn up. After remarking upon the inconveniences arising from the necessity of aggravating or mitigating the sentences of the magistrates, who, previous to the re-establishment of an authentic code of penal la\vs, were not in possession of any fixed rules upon which they could build a just decision, the Emperor Shunchi goes on to describe the manner of revising the code:

” A numerous body of magistrates was assembled at the

capital, at our command, for the purpose of revising the penal

code formerly in force under the late dynasty of Ming, and of dio-esting the same into a new code, by the exchision of such parts as were exceptionable and the introduction of others which were likely to contribute to the attainment of justice and the t>-eneral perfection of the work. The result of their labors having been submitted to our examination, we maturely weighed and considered the various matters it contained, and then instructed a select number of our great officers of state carefully to revise the whole, for the purpose of making such alterations and emendations as might still be found requisite. “Wherefore, it being now published, let it be your great care, officers and magistrates of the interior and exterior departments of our Empire, diligently to observe the same, and to forbear in future to give any decision, or to pass any sentence, according to your private sentiments, or upon your unsupported authority. Thus shall the magistrates and people look up with awe and submission to the justice of these institutions, as they find themselves respectively concerned in them ; the transgressor will not fail to suffer a strict expiation of his crimes, and will be the instrument of deterring others from similar misconduct ; and finally both officers and people will l)e equally secured for endless generations in the enjoyment of the happy effects of the great and noble virtues of our illustrious progenitors.”

Under the head of Genei-al Laws are forty-seven sections,

comprising principles and definitions applicable to the whole,

and containing some singular notions on equity and criminality.

The description of the five ordinary punishments, definition of

the ten treasonable offences, regulations for the eight privileged

classes, and general directions regarding the conduct of officers

of government, are the matters treated of under this head.

The title of Section XLIY. is ” On the decision of cases not provided for by law ; ” and the rule is that ” such cases may then be determined by an accurate comparison with others which are already provided for, and which approach most nearly to those under investigation, in order to ascertain afterward to what extent an asirravation or mitiij-ation of the i)nnislinment would be equitable. A provisional sentcMice confonnablc thereto shall be laid before the superior magistrates, an<l, after receiving their approbation, be submitted to the Enqieror’s final decision. Anv

GENEIIAL, CIVIL, AXD FISCAL LAWS. 387

*

erroneous judgment which may be pronounced, in consequence

of adopting a more summary mode of proceeding in cases of a

doubtful nature, shall be punished as wilful deviation from justice.”

This, of course, gives great latitude to the magistrate, and

as he is thus allowed to decide and act before the new law can

be confirmed or aimulled, the chief restraints to his injustice in

such cases (which, however, are not nuinerous) lie in the fear

of an appeal and its consequences, or of summary reprisals

from the suffering parties.

The six remaining divisions pertain to the six administrative

boards of the government. The second contains Civil Laws,

under twenty-eight sections, divided into two books, one of

them referring to the system of government, and the otlier to

the conduct of magistrates, etc. The hereditary succession of

rank and titles is regulated, and punishments laid down for

those who illegally assume these honors. HlMost of the nobility

of China are Manchus, and none of the hereditary dignities existing

previous to the conquest were recognized, except those

attached to the family of Confucius*’ Improperly recommending

unfit persons as deserving liigh honors, appointing and

removing officers witliout the Emperor’s sanction, and leaving

stations without due permission, are the principal subjects

regulated in the first book. The second book contains rules

regarding the interference of superior magistrates with the proceedings

of the lower courts, and prohibitions against cabals and

treasonable combinations among oflScers, which are of course

capital crimes ; all persons in the employ of the state are required

to make themselves acquainted with the laws, and even

private individuals ” who are found capable of explaining the

nature and comprehending the objects of the laws, shall receive

pardon in all offences resulting purely from accident, or imputable

to them oidy from the guilt of others, j^rovided it be the

first offence.”

The third division, of Fiscal Laws, under eighty-two sections,

contains rules for enrolling the people, and of succession and

inheritance ; also laws for regulating marriages between various

classes of society, for guarding granaries and treasuries, for

preventing and punishing smuggling, for restraining usury, and for overseeing shops. Section LXXYI. orders that persons and families truly represent their profession in life, and restrains them from indulging in a change of occupation ; ” generation

after generation they must not vary or alter it.” This i-ule is,

however, constantly violated. Section XC. exempts the huildinffs

of literarv and relio;ious institutions from taxation. The

general aim of the laws relating to holding real estate is to

secure the cultivation of all the land taken up, and the regular

payment of the tax. The proprietor, in some cases, can be deprived

of his lands because he does not till them, and though in

fact owner in fee simple, he is restricted in the disposition of

them by will in many w^ays, and forfeits them if the taxes are

not paid.

The fourth division, of Ritual Laws, under twenty-six sections,

contains the regulations fur state sacritices and ceremonies,

those appertaining to the worship of ancestors, and whatever

belongs to heterodox and magical sects or teachers. The heavy

penalties threatened in some of these sections against all illegal

combinations under the guise of a new form of worship presents

an interesting likeness to the restrictions issued by the

English, French, and German princes during and after the

Heformation. The Chinese authorities had the same dread

lest the people should meet and consult how to resist them.

Even processions in honor of the gods may be forbidden for

good reason, and are not allow^ed at all at Peking ; while, still

more, the rites observed by the Emperor cannot be imitated by

any unauthorized person ; women are not allowed to congregate

in the temples, nor magicians to perform any strange incantations.

Few of these laws ai’e really necessary, and those

against illegal sects are in fact levelled against political associations,

which usually take on a religious guise.

The fifth division, of Military Laws, in seventy-one sections,

provides for the protection of the palace and government of

the army, for guarding frontier passes, management of the

imperial cattle, and forwarding despatches by couriers. Some

of these ordinances lay down rules for the protection of the

Emperor’s person, and the disposition of his body-guard and

troops in the palace, the capital, and over the Empire. The

RITUAL, MILITARY, AND CRIMmAL LAWS!. 380

sections r(‘latiii<2; to the goveniinoiit of tlie army include tlic

rules for tli(> police of cities ; and those designed to secure the

protection of the frontier conipi-ise all the enactments against

foreign intei’course, some of which have already been refei-red tn

in passing. The supply of horses and cattle for the army is a

matter of some importance, and is minutely regulated ; one law

orders all persons who possess vicious and dangerous animals to

restrain them, and if through neglect any person is killed or

wounded, the owner of the animal shall be obliged to redeem

himself from the punishment of manslaughter by pa-ying a fine.

This provision to compel the owners of unruly beasts to exercise

proper restraint over them is like that laid down by Moses

in Exodus XXT., 20, 30. There is as yet no general postoffice

establishn’ent, hut governmental couriers often take

private letters ; local mails are safely carried by express companies.

The required rate of travel for the official post is one hundred miles a day, but it does not ordinarily go more than half that distance. Officers of government are allowed ninety days to make the journey from Peking to Canton, a distance of twelve hundred miles, but conriers frequently travel it in twelve days.

The sixth division, on Criminal Laws, is arranged in eleven books, containing in all one hundred and seventy sections, ‘and is the most important of the whole. The clauses under some of the sections are numerous, and show that it is not for want of proper laws or insufficient threatenings that crimes go unpunished.

The books of this division relate to robbery, in which is included high treason and renunciation of allegiance ; to homicide and murder; quarrelling and fighting; abusive language; indictments, disobedience to parents, and false accusations ; bribery and corruption ; forging and frauds ; incest and adultery ; arrests and escapes of criminals, their imprisonment and execution ; and, lastly, miscellaneous offences.

Under Section CCCXXIX. it is ordered that any one who is guilty of addressing abusive language to his or her father or mother, or father’s parents, or a wife who rails at her husband’s

parents or grandparents, shall be strangled ; provided always

that the persons so abused themselves complain to the magistrate, and had personally heard the language addressed to them.

This law is the same in regard to children as that contained

in Leviticus XX. , H, and the power here given the parent does

not seem to be productive of evil. Section CCCLXXXI. has

reference to ” privately hushing np public crimes,” but its

penalties are for the most part a dead letter, and a full account

of the various modes adopted in the courts of withdrawing cases

from the cognizance of superiors, would form a singular chapter

in Chinese jurisprudence. Conseq\icntly those who refuse every

offer to suppress cases are highly lauded by the people. Another

section (CCCLXXXYI.) ordains that whoever is guilty of improper

conduct, contrary to the spirit of the laws, but not a

breach of any specific article, shall be punished at least with forty blows, and with eighty when of a serious nature. Some of the provisions of this part of the code are praiseworthy, but no part of Chinese legislation is so cruel and irregular as criminal jurisprudence. The permission accorded to the judge to torture the criminal opens the door for much inhumanity.

The seventh division contains thirteen sections relating to Public Works and Ways, such as the weaving of interdicted patterns of silk, repairing dikes, and constructing edifices for government. All public residences, granaries, treasuries and manufactories, embankments and dikes of rivers and canals, forts, walls, and mausolea, must be frequently examined, and kept in repair. Poverty or peculation render numy of these laws void, and many subterfuges are often practised by the superintending officer to pocket as much of the funds riS he can.

One officer, M’hen ordered to repair a wall, made the workmen go over it and chip off the faces of the stones etill remaining, then plastering up the holes.

CRITICISM OF THE CODE. 301

Besides these laws and their numerous clauses, every high provincial officer has the right to issue edicts upon such public matters as require regulation, some of thei^,; even affecting life and death, either reviving some old law or ^.v^ving it an application to the case before him, with such iuodifications as seem to be necessary. lie must report these ac-t* to the proper board at Peking. Xo such order, which for Uf*. time has the force of law, is formally repealed, but gradually f;(,lls into ohlWion, until circumstances again require its reiteration. This mode of publishing statutes gives rise to a sort of common and unwritten law in villages, to which a council of elders sometimes compels individuals to submit ; long usage is also another ground for enforcing them.

Still, with all the tortures and punishments allowed by the law, and all the cruelties superadded upon the criminals by irritated officers or rapacious underlings and jailors, a broad survey of Chinese legislation, judged by its results and the general appearance of society, gives the impression of an administration far superior to other Asiatic countries. A favorable comparison has been made in the Jidinlmrgh Review:’ ” By far the most remarkable thing in this code is its great reasonableness, clearness, and consistency, the business-like brevity and directness of the various provisions, and the plainness and moderation in which they are expressed. There is nothing here of the monstrous verhiage of most other Asiatic productions, none of the superstitious deliration, the miserable incoherence, the tremendous non-sequiturs and eternal repetitions of those oi”acnlar performances—nothing even of the turgid adulation, accumulated epithets, and fatiguing self-praise of other Eastern despotisms—but a calm, concise, and distinct series of enactments, savoring throughout of practical judgment and European good sense, and if not always conformable to onr improved notions of expediency, in general approaching to them more nearly than the codes of most other nations. When we pass, indeed, from the ravings of the Zendavesta or the Puranas to the tone of sense and business in this Chinese collection, we seem to be passing from darkness to light, from the drivellings of dotage to the exercise of an improved understanding ; and redundant and absurdly minute as these laws are in many particulars, we scarcely know any European code that is at once so copious and so consistent, or that is so nearly free from intricacy, bigotry, and fiction. / In everything relating to political freedom or individual independence it is indeed wofuUy defective!; but for the repression of disorder and the gentle coer-cion o£ a vast population, it appears to be equally mild and efficacious. The state of society for which it was formed appears incidentally to be a low and wretched o!ie ; but how could its framers have devised a wiser means of maintaining it in peace and tranquillity ?”

This encomium is to a certain extent just, but the practice of legislation in China has probably not been materially improved by the mere possession of a reasonable code of laws, though some melioration in jurisprudence has been effected.’ ^The infliction of barbarous punishments, such as blinding, cutting off noses, ears, or other parts of the body, still not uncommon in Persia and Turkey, is not allowed or practised in China ; and the government, in minor ci’imes, contents itself with but little more than opprobrious exposure in the pilloij, or castigation, which cari-y with them no degradation.

uhe defects in this remarkable body of laws arise from several

sources. The degree of liberty that can safely be awarded

to the subject is not defined in it, and his i-ights are unknown

in law. The government is despotic, but having no etficient

military power in their hands, the lawgivers resort to a minuteness

of legislation upon the pi-actice of social and relative virtues

and duties which interferes with their observance ; though it

must be remembered that no pulpit or Sabbath-school exists

there to expound and enforce them from a higher code, and

the laws must be the chief guide in most cases. The code also

exhibits a minute attention to trifles, and an effort to legislate

for every possible contingency, which nmst perplex the judge

when dealing with the infinite shades of difference occuning in

human actions. There are now many vague and obsolete statutes,

I’eady to serve as a handle to prosecute offenders for the

gratification of private pique ; and although usage and precedent

both combine to prove their disuse, malice and bribery

can easily effect their reviviscence and application to the case.

Sheer cruelty, except in cases of treason against the Emperor,

cannot be chai’ged against this code as a whole, though

many of the laws seem designed to operate chiefly in terrorem^

‘ Chinese Repository, Vol. IV., pp. 24-29.

INFLUEXCE OF THE LAWS UPON SOCIETY. 39o

and the penalty is placed higher than the punishment really

intended to be inflicted, to the end that the Emperor may have

scope for mercy, or, as he says, ” for leniency beyond the bounds

of the law.” The principle on which this is done is evident, and

the commonness of the practice proves that such an exercise of

mercy has its effect. The laws of China are not altogether unmeaning

words, though the degi-ee of ethciency in their execu

tion is subject to endless variations ; some officers are clement,

others severe ; the people in certain provinces are industrious

and peaceable, in others turbulent and averse to quiet occupations,

so that one is likely to form a juster idea of their adnunistration

by looking at the i-esults as seen in the general aspect

of society, and judging of the tree by its fruits, than by drawing

inferences applicable to the whole machine of state from particular

instances of oppression and insubordination, as has been. so often the case with travellers and writers.

The general examination of the Chinese government here proposed may be conveniently considered under the iieads of the Emperor and his court, classes of society, the different branches of the supreme administration, the provincial authorities, and the execution of the laws.

The Emperor is at the head of the whole ; and if the possession

of great power, and being the object of almost unbounded

reverence, can impai-t happiness, he may safely be considered

as the happiest mortal living; though to his power there are

many checks, and the reverence paid him is proportioned somewhat

to the fidelity with which he administers the decrees of

heaven. ” The Emperor is the sole head of the Chinese constitution

and government ; he is regarded as the vice-gerent of

lieaven, especially chosen to govern all nations ; and is supreme

In everything, holding at once the highest legislative and executive

powers, without limit or control.” Both he and the Pope

claim to be the vice-gerent of heaven and interpreter of its decrees

to the whole world, and these two rulers have emulated

each other in their assumption of arrogant titles. The most

common appellation employed to denote the Emperor in state

papers and among the people is hirangt’i, or ‘ august sovereign ;

‘it is defined as ” the appellation of one possessing complete virtues, and able to act on heavenly principles.” ‘ This title is further defined as meaning heaven : ” Heaven speaks not, yet the four seasons follow in regular succession, and all things spring forth. So the three august ones (Fulihi, Shinnung, and Hwangti) descended in state, and without even uttering a word the people bowed to their sway ; their virtue was inscrutal)le and boundless like august heaven, and therefore were they called august ones.”

Among the numerous titles given the monarch may be mentioned

hiimng shang, the ‘ august lofty one ; ‘ tien Mvang, ‘ celestial

august one;’ shing hivang, the ‘wise and august,’-/.^.,

infinite in knowledge and complete in virtue ; tien ti, ‘ celestial

sovereign ;’ and shing t’l, ‘ sacred sovereign,’ because he is able

to act on heavenly principles. He is also called tien tsz\ ‘ son

of heaven,’ becanse heaven is his father and earth is his mother,

and shing tien tsz\ ‘wise son of heaven,’ as being born of heaven

and having infinite knowledge ; terms which are given him as

the ruler of the world l)y the gift of heaven. He is even addressed,

and sometimes refers to himself, under designations which pertain exclusively to heaven. Wan sui ye, ‘ sire of ten thousand years,’ is a term used when speaking of him or approaching him, like the words, O h’ng, live forever! addressed to the ancient kings of Persia. Pi Ida, ‘ beneath the footstool,’ is a sycophantic compellation used by his courtiers, as if they were only worthy of being at the edge of his footstool.

‘ Chinese Repositori/, Vol. IV., p. 12 ; Chinese Chrestomathy, p. 558.

ATTRIBUTES OF THE CHINESE EMPEROR. 395

The Emperor usually designates himself by the terms ehvn^ ‘ourself; ‘ hwa jin, the ‘ solitary man,’ or the one man ; and hwa Jciun, the ‘ solitary prince.’ He has been loaded with many ridiculous titles by foreign writers, as Brother of the Sun and Moon, Grandson of the Stars, King of Kings, etc., but no such epithets are known among his subjects. His palace has various appellations, such as hall of audience, golden palace, the ninth entrance, vermilion avenue, vermilion hall, rosy hall, forbidden pavilion, the crimson and forbidden palace, gemmeous steps, golden steps, meridian portal, gemmeous avenue, celestial steps,

celestial court, great interior, the maple pavilion, royal house,

etc. To see him is to see the dragon’s face ; the throne is called

the ” di-agon’s throne,” and also the ” divine utensil,” i.e., the

tliinir oiven him bv heaven to sit in Avhen executin<!; his divine

mission ; his person is styled the dragon’s body, and a fiveclawed

dragon is emblazoned, like a coat of arms, on his robes,

which no one can use or imitate. Thus the Old Dragon, it

might be almost said, has coiled himself around the Emperor

of China, one of the greatest upholders of his power in this

world, and contrived to get himself worshipped, through him,

by one third of mankind.

The Emperor is the fountain of power, rank, honor, and privilege to all within his dominions, which are termed tieti hia, meaning all under heaven, and were till recently, even by his highest officers, ignorantly supposed to comprise all mankind.

As there can be but one sun in the heavens, so there can be

but one hwangti on earth, the source and dispenser of benefits

to the whole world.” /The same absolute executive power held

by him is placed in the hands of his deputies and governorgenerals,

to be by them exercised within the limits of their

jui-isdiction. He is the head of religion and the only onef

qualified to adore heaven ; he is the source of law and dispen-j

ser of mercy ; no right can be held in opposition to his pleasure,

no claim maintained against him, no privilege protect from his

wrath. All the forces and revenues of the Empire are his, and

lie has a riffht to claim the services of all males between sixteen j and sixty. In short, the whole Empire is his property, and they only cliecks upon his despotism are 2)ubli(‘ opinion, the want of j an efficient standing army, po^’erty and the venality of the agents of his power.

When the Manchus found themselves in possession of Peking,

they regarded this position as fully entitling them to assume all

imperial rights. Their sovereign thus announced his elevation

in November, 16-14 : ” I, the Son of Heaven, of the Ta-tsing

^ The attributes ascribed to a chakrnwartti in the Buddhist mythology have

many points of resemblance to the hintngti, and Hardy’s Manual of Buddhism

(p. 126) furnishes an instructive comparison between the two characters, one fanciful and the other real.

dynasty, liuniljly as a subject dare to announce to Imperial

Heaven and Sovereign Earth. Tliougli tlie world is vast,

Sliangti looks on all without partiality. My Imperial Grandfather

received the gracious decree of Heaven and founded a

kingdom in the East, which became firmly established. My

Imperial Father succeeding to the kingdom, extended it ; and I,

Heaven’s servant, in my poor person became the ii heritor of

the dominion they transmitted. AVlien the ]\Iing dynasty was

coming to its end, traitors and men of violence appeared in

crowds, involving the people in misery. China was without a

ruler. It fell to me reverentially to accept the responsibility

of continuing the meritorious work of my ancestors. I saved

the people, destroyed their ojopressors ; and now, in accordance

with the desires of all, I iix the urns of Empire at Yen-king.

… I, receiving Heaven’s favor, and in accordance with their

wishes, announce to Heaven that I have ascended the throne of

the Empire, that the name I have chosen for it is the Great

Pure, and that the style of my reign is Shun-chl (‘ Obedient

Rule ‘). I beg reverentially Heaven and Earth to protect and

assist the Empire, so that calamity and disturbance may soon

come to an end, and the land enjoy universal peace. For this

I humbly pray, and for the acceptance of this sacrifice.”

The present Emperor is the ninth of the Tsing dynasty M’ho

has reigned in China. Tk/ikj means Pure, and was taken by

the Manchus as a distinctive tei’m for their new dynasty,

alluding to the ])uj’ity of justice they intended to maintain in

their sway. Some of the founders of the ancient dynasties derived

their dynastic name from their patrimonial estates, as

/SifUfj, ITaii, C//af/, etc., but the later ones have adopted names

like T’uen, or ‘ Original,’ Min<j, or ‘ Illustrious,’ etc., which indicate

their vanity.

The present monarch is still a minor, and the affairs of government are nominally under the direction of the Empressdowager, who held the same office during the minority of his predecessor, Tungchf. -The surname of the reigning family is (j’ioi’o, or ‘ Golden,’ derived from their ancestral chief, Aisin Gioro, whom they feign to have been the son of a divine virgin.

PERSONAL NAME AXD TITLES OF THE EMPEROR. 397

They are the lineal descendants of the Kin, a rude race u-liieh drove out the Chinese rulers and occupied the northern provinces about 1130, making Peking their capital for many years. On the approach of the Mongols they were chased away to the east, and retained oidy a nominal independence ; changing their name from Niichih to Manjurs, they gradually increased in numbers, but did not assume any real importance until they became masters of China. The acknowledged founder of the reigning house was the chief IIien-tsu(1583-lC15), whose actual descendants are collectively designated Tsutuj-sJi’/h, or ‘Imperial Clan.’ The second Emperor further limited the Clan by giving to each of his twenty-four sons a personal name of two characters, the first of which, Ynn, was the same for all of

them. For the succeeding generations lie ordered a series of

characters to be nsed l)y all the membei-s of each, so that

through all their ramifications the first name would show tlieir

position. Ivanghi’s own name was Iliuen^ then followed Yun^

Hung, Yung, JIt’en, Y!h, and T^v?/, tlie last and present sovereigns

being both named T^cr/. All who bear this name are

direct descendants of Kanghi. Since the application of these

seven generation names, eight more have been selected for

future nse by imperial scions.

Tn order still further to distinguish those most nearly allied

in blood, as sons, nephews, etc., it is required that the second

names of each family always consist of characters under the

same radical. Thus Kiaking and his brothers wrote their first

names Yang, ‘Am\ under the radical ^?r>i for the second ; Taukwang

and his brothers and cousins Mien, and under the radical

heart. For some unexplained reason the radicals sill: and gaJ(l,

chosen for the second names of the next two generations, were

altered to u-ords and irater. This peculiarity is easily represented

in the Chinese characters ; a comparison can be made

in English with the supposed names of a family of sons, as

Louis Edward, Louis Edwin, Louis Edwy, Louis Edgar, etc.,

the word Louis answering to Mien, and the syllable Ed to the radical heart.

The present Emperor’s personal name is Tsai-tien, and, like those of his predecessors, is deemed to be too sacred to be spoken, or the characters to be written in the common form.

The same reverence is observed for the names after death, sg that twelve characters have been altered since the Manchu monarchs began to reign ; Hinen-wa, which was the personal name of Kanghi, has become permanently altered in its formation.

The present sovereign was born August 15, 1871, and on January

12, 1875, succeeded his cousin Tsaishun, who died without

issue—the first instance in the Gioro family for nearly three

centuries. At this time there was some delay as to which of

his cousins should succeed to the dragon throne, when the united

council of the princes was led by the mother of the deceased

Emperor to adopt her nephew, the son of Prince Chun. The

little fellow was sent for at night to be immediately saluted

as hwangti, and ere long brought in before them, cross and

sleepy as he was, to begin his reign under the style of Kwangsii,

or ‘ Illustrious Succession.’

This title is called a kwoh hao^ or national designation, and

answers more nearly to the name that a new Pope takes with

the tiara than to anything else in western lands. It is the expression

of the idea which the monarch wishes to associate with

his reign, and is the name by which he is known to his subjects

during his life. It has been called a j>^^”^od by some

writers, but while it is not strictly his name, yet period is not

so correct as reign. Usage has made it equivalent in foreign

books to the personal name, and it is plainer to say the Emperor

Taukwang than the period Taukwang or the reign Taukwang,

or still more than to write, as Wade has done, ” the Emperor

Mien-Ning, the style of whose reign Mas Tau Kwang ;”or than Legge has done, to Bay, *’ the Emperor Pattern, of the period Yungciiing.” In such cases it is not worth the trouble to attempt strict accuracy in a matter so entirely unlike western usages.

The use of the kwoh hao began with Wan-ti, of the Han dynasty,’ b.c. 179, and has continued ever since. Some of ‘ The remark of Heeren {Asiatic Nations, Vol. I. , p. 57), that the names by which the early Persian monarchs, Darius, Xerxes, and others, were called, were really titles or surnames, and not their own personal names, suggests the further comparison whether those renowned names were not like the kiroh hao of the Chinese emperors, whose adoption of the custom was after the ex

THE KWOII HAO AND MIAO HAO. 399

the early inouarclis elianged their hwoli hao many times during

their reigns ; Kao-tsung (a.d. 650-684), for example, had thirteen

in a regime of thirty four years, which induced historians

to employ the laiao Jiao, or ancestral name, as more suitable

and less liable to confusion. The reason for thus investinir the

sovereign with a title different from his real name is not fully

apparent, but arose probably out of the vanity of the monai-ch,

who wished thus to glorify himself by a high-sounding title,

and make his own name somewhat ineffable at the same time.

The custom was adopted in Japan about a.d. 645, and is practised

in Corea and Annam.

When a monarch ascends the throne, or as it is expressed in Chinese, ” when he receives from Heaven and revolving nature the government of the world,” he issues an inaugural proclamation. There is not much change in the wording of these papers, and an extract from the one issued in 1821 will exhibit the practice on such occasions: “Our Da Qing dynasty has received the most substantial indication of Heaven’s kind care. Our ancestors, Taitsu and Taitsung. began to lay the vast foundation [of our Empire] : and Shitsu became the sole monarch of China. Our sacred ancestor Kanghi, the Emperor Yungching, the glory of his age, and Kienlung, the eminent in honor, all abounded in virtue, were divine in martial prowess, consolidated the glory of the Empire, and moulded the whole to peaceful harmony.

” His late Majesty, who has now gone the great journey, governed all under Heaven’s canopy twenty-live years, exercising the utmost caution and industry. Xor evening nor morning was he ever idle. He assiduously aimed at the best possible rule, and hence his government was excellent and illustrious; the court and the country felt the deepest reverence and the stillness of profound awe. A benevolent heart and a benevolent tinction of the Persian monarchy. Herodotus (Book VI., 98) seems to have been familiar with these names, not so much as being arbitrary and meaningless terms as epithets whose significations were associated with the kings. The new names given to the last two sons of Josiah, who became kings of Judah by their conquerors (3 Kings, 23; 34, and 24 : 17), indicate even an earlier adoption of this custom.

administration were universally dift’used : in China Proper, as well as beyond it, order and tranquillity pi-evailed, and the tens of thousands of common people were all happy. But in the midst of a hope that this glorious reign would be long protracted, and the help of Heaven would be received many days, unexpectedly, on descending to bless, by his Majesty’s presence, Lwanyang, the dragon charioteer (the holy Emperor) became a guest on high.

” My sacred and indulgent Father had, in the yeai” that ho

bejiran to rule alone, silent! v settled that the divine utensil

should devolve on my contemptible person. I, knowing the

feebleness of my virtue, at first felt much afraid I should not be

competent to the office ; but on reflecting that the sages, my

ancestors, have left to posterity their plans ; that his late

Majesty has laid the duty on me—and Heaven’s throne should

not be long vacant—I have done violence to my feelings and

foi’ced myself to intermit awhile my heartfelt grief, that I may

with reverence obey the unalterable decree ; and on the 2Tth of

the Sth moon (October 3d) 1 purpose devoutly to announce the

ev^ent to Heaven, to earth, to my ancestors, and to the gods of

the land and of the grain, and shall then sit down on the imperial throne. Tx’t the next year be the first of Taukwang.

” I look upward and hope to be able to continue former excellences. I lay my hand on my heart with feelings of respect and cautious awe.—When a new monarch addresses himself to the Empire, he ought to c(»iifer benefits on his klndi-ed, and extensively bestow gracious favors : what is proper to be done on this occasion is stated below.”

(Here follow twenty-two paragraphs, detailing the gifts to be

conferred and promotions made of noblemen and officers ; ordering

the restoration of suspended dignitaries to their full pay

and honoi’s, and sacrifices to Confucius and the Emperors of

former dynasties ; pardons to be extended to ciiminals, and

banished convicts recalled ; governmental debts and arrearages

to be forgiven, and donations to be bestowed upon the aged.)

“Lo! now, on succeeding to the throne, T shall exei-cise myself

to give repose to the millions of my ]>eople. iVssist me to

sustain the burden laid on mv shoulders ! With veneration I

COr.OXATIOX T’ROrr.AMATIOX OF TArKU’AXO. 4(‘]

receive charge of Heaven’s great concerns.—Ye kings and statesmen, great and small, civil and military, let every one be faithful and devoted, and aid in supporting the vast afPairs, that our family dominion may be preserved hundreds and tens of thousands of years in never-ending tranquillity and glory ! Promulgate this to all under Heaven — cause every one to hear it!”

The programme of ceremonies to be observed when the Emperor” ascends the summit,” and seats himself on the dragon’s throne, was published for the Emperor Taukwangby the Board of Kites a few days after. It details a long series of prostrations and bowings, leading out and marshalling the various officers of the court and members of the imperial family. After they are all arranged in proper precedence before the throne,” at the appointed hour the president of the Board of Bites shall go and entreat his Majesty to put on his mourning, and

come forth by the gate of the eastern palace, and enter at the

left door of the middle palace, where his Majesty, before the

altar of his deceased imperial father, will respectfully announce

that he receives the decree—kneel thrice and bow nine times.”

lie then retires, and soon after a large deputation of palace

officers ” go and solicit his Majesty to put on his impei-ial robes

and proceed to the palace of his mother, the Empress-dowager,

to pay his respects. The Empress-dowager will put on her court

robes and ascend her throne, before which his Majesty shall

kneel thrice and bow nine times.” After this filial ceremony

is over the golden chariot is made ready, the officer of the

Astronomical Board—whose business is to ohscrve times—

h

stationed at the palace gate, and when he announces the arrival

of the chosen and felicitous moment, his Majesty comes forth

and mounts the golden chariot, and the procession advances to

the Palace of Protection and Peace. Here the great officers of

the Empire are marshalled according to their rank, and when

the Emperor sits down in the palace they all kneel and bow

nine times.

” This ceremony over, the President of the Board of Rites, stepping forward, shall kneel down and beseech his Majesty, saying, ‘ Ascend the imperial throne.’ The Emperor shall then rise from his seat, and the procession moving on in the same order to the Palace of Peace, his Majesty shall ascend the seat of gems and sit down on the imperial throne, with his face to the south.” All present come forward and again make the nine prostrations, after which the proclamation of coronation, as it would be called in Europe, is formally sealed, and then announced to the Empire with similar ceremonies. There are many other lesser rites observed on these occasions, some of them appropriate to such an occasion, and others, according to our notions, bordering on the ludicrous ; the whole presenting a strange mixture of religion, splendor, and farce, though as a whole calculated to impress all with a sentiment of awe toward one who gives to heaven, and receives from man, such homage and worship.’

Nothing is omitted which can add to the dignity and sacredness

of the Emperor’s person or character. Almost everything

used by him, or in his personal service, is tabued to the connuon

people, and distinguished by some peculiar mark or color, so as

to keep up the impression of awe with which he is regarded,

and which is so powerful an auxiliary to his throne. The outer

gate of the palace must always be passed on foot, and the paved

entrance walk leading up to it can only be used by him. The vacant throne, or even a screen of yellow silk thrown over a chair, is worshipped equally with his actual presence, and an imperial dispatch is received in the provinces with incense and prostrations ; the A-essels on the canal bearing articles for his special use always have the rig:ht of way. His birthday is eel ebrated by his officers, and the account of the opening ceremony, as witnessed by Lord Macartney, shows how skilfully every act tends to maintain his assumed character as the son of heaven.

‘ Chinese Repository^ Vol. X., pp. 87-98. Indo-Chinese Gleaner, February, isai.

HOMAGE KENDERP:D TO THE EMPEROR. 403

” The first day was consecrated to the purpose of rendering a solemn, sacred, and devout homage to the supreme majesty of the Emperor. The ceremony was no longer performed in a tent, nor did it partake of the nature of a banquet. The princes, tributai-ies, ambassadors, and great officers of state were assembled in a vast hall ; and upon particular notice were introduced into au inner building, bearing at least the semblance of a temple.

It was chietiy furnished with great instruments of music,

among which were sets of cylindrical bells suspended in a line

from ornamental frames of wood, and gradually diminishing in

size from one extremity to the other, and also triangular pieces

of metal, arranged in the same order as the bells. To the

sound of these instruments a slow and solemn hymn was sung

by eunuchs, who had such a command over their voices as to

resemble the effect of musical glasses at a distance. The performers

were directed, in tlie gliding from one tone to the other,

by the striking of a shrill and sonorous cymbal ; and the judges

of music among the gentlemen of the embassy were much

pleased with their execution. The whole had, indeed, a grand

effect. During the performance, and at particular signals, nine

times repeated, all present prostrated themselves nine times,

except the ambassador and his suite, who made a profound

obeisance. But he whom it was meant to honor continued, as

if in imitation of the Deity, invisible the whole time. The

awful impression intended to iTe made upon the minds of men

by this apparent worship of a fellow-mortal was not to be

effaced by any immediate scenes of sport or gaiety, which were

postponed to the following day. ” ‘ The mass of the people are

not aduutted to particij^ate in these ceremonies ; they are kept

at a distance, and care, in fact, very little about them. In every

provincial capital there is a hall, called Wan-shao l:u?ig, dedicated

solely to the honor of the Emperor, and where, three days

before and after his birthday, all the civil and military officers

and the most distinguished citizens assemble to do him tlie

same homage as if he were present. The walls and furniture

are yellow.

The right of succession is hereditary in the male line, but it

is always in the power of the sovereign to nominate his successor

from among his own children. The heir-apparent is not

commonly known during the lifetime of the incumbent, though

Staunton’s Embassy, 8vo edition, London, 1797, Vol. III., p. 63.

there is a titular office of guardian of the heir-apparent. During

tlie Tsing dynasty the succession has varied, l)ut tiie hloody

scenes enacted in Turkey, Egypt, and India to remove competitors

are not known at Peking, and the people have no fear that they will be enacted. Of the eight preceding sovereigns, Shunchi was the ninth son, Tvanghi the third, Vnngehing the fourth, Kienlung the fourth, Kiaking the iifteenth, Taukwang

the second, Hienfung the fourth, and Tungchi the only son.

When Kwangsii was chosen this regular line failed, and thus

was terminated an nnbi-oken succession during two Inmdred

and fifty-nine years (1616 to 1875), when ten rulers (including

two in Manchuria) occupied the throne. It can be paralleled

onlv in eTudah, where the line of David down to Jehoiachin

(b.c. 1055 to 599) continued regularly in the same manner—

•

twenty kings in four hundred and fifty six years.

In the reign of Kieidung, one of the censors memorialized

him upon the desirableness of announcing his sncsessor, in order

to quiet men’s minds and repress intrigue, but the suggestion

cost the man his place. The Emperor said that the name of

his successor, in case of his own sudden death, would be found

in a designated place, and that it was highly inexpedient to

mention him, lest intriguing men buzzed about him, forming

factions and trying to elevate themselves. The soundness of

this policy cannot l)e doubted, and it is not nnlikely that Kienlung

knew the evils of an opposite course from an acquaintance

with the history of some of the princes of Central Asia or

India. One good result of not indicating the heir-apparent is

that not oidy are no intrigues formed by the crown-prince, but

when he begins to reign he is seldom compelled, from fear of

his own safety, to kill or imprison his brothers or uncles; for,

as they possess no power or party to render them formidable,

their ambition finds full scope for its exercise in peaceful ways.

In 1861, when the heir was a child of five years, a palace intrigue

was started to remove his custody out of the hands of his mother

into those of a cabal wlio had held sway for some years, but the

promoters were all executed.

THE IMPKIilAL HOUSE AXD NOBILITY. 405

The management of the imperial clan appertains entirely to the Emperor, and has been conducted with considerable sagacI’ty. All its members arc under the control of the Tsuny-jln fu, a sort ot” clansmen’s court, consisting of a presiding controller, two assistant directors, and two deputies of the family.

Their duties are to regulate whatever belongs to the government of the Emperor’s kindred, which is divided into two branches, the direct and collateral, or the Uiukj-hMIi and Gioro.

The TmurKj-sJiiJi, or ‘Imperial House,’ coni})rise only the lineal

descendants of Tienming’s father, named llien-tsu, or ‘ Illustrious

Sire,” who first assumed the title of Emperor a.d. 1610.

The collateral branches, including the children of his uncles and

brothers, are collectively c;illed Gioro. Their united number is

unknown, l)ut a genealogical record is kept in the national archives

at Peking and Mukden. The Tsunfj-ahlh are distinguished

by a yellow girdle, and the Gioro by a red one; when

degraded, the former take a red, the latter a carnation girdle.

There are altogether twelve degrees of rank in the Tsung-shih^

and consequently some of the distant kindred are reduced to

straitened circumstances. They are shut out from useful careers,

and generally exhibit the evils ensuent upon the system of education

and surveillance adopted toward them, in their low,

vicious pursuits, and cringing imbecility of character. Tlie sum

of $133 is allowed when they marry, and $150 to defray funeral

expenses, vvhich induces some of them to maltreat their wives

to death, in order to receive the allowance and dowry as often

as possible.

The titular nobility of the Empire, as a whole, is a body

whose members are without power, land, wealth, office, or influence,

in virtue of their honors ; some of them are more or less

hereditary, but the whole system has been so devised, and the

designations so conferred, as to tickle the vanity of those who

receive them, without granting them any real power. The titles

are not derived from landed estates, but the rank is siinply

designated in addition to the name, and it has been a question

of some difficulty how to translate them. For instance, the

title Kung tsin-vKing literally means the ‘ Reverent Kindred

Prince,’ and should be translated Prince Kung, not Prince of

Kung, which conveys the im})ression to a foreign reader that

Kung is an appanage instead of an epithet The twelve orders of nobility are conferred solely on the members of the imperial house and clan : 1. Tsin icamj, ‘ kindred prince,’ i.e., prince of the blood, conferred usnallj on his

Majesty’s brothers or sons. 2. K’nm. irang, or ‘ prince of a

princedom ;

‘ the eldest sons of the princes of these two degrees

take a definite rank during their father’s lifetime, but the collateral

branches descend in precedence as the generations are

more and more remote from the direct imperial line, until at

last the person is simply a member of the imperial clan. These

two ranks were termed regulus by the Jesuit writers, and each

son of an Emperor enters one or other as he becomes of

age. The highest princes receive a stipend of about ^13,300,

some rations, and a retinue of three hundred and sixty servants,

altogether making an annual tax on the state of $75,000 to

$90,000. The second receive half that sum, and inferior grades

in a decreasing ratio, down to the simple members, who each

get four dollars a month and rations. 3 and -i. BeUe and

Beitse, or princes of and in collateral branches. The Sth to

8th are dukes, called Guard i;m and Sustaining, with two subordinate

grades not entitled to enter the court on state occasions.

The 9th to 12th ranks are nobles, or rather generals, in line of

descent. The number of persons in the lower ranks is very

great. Few of these men hold offices at the capital, and still

more rarely are they placed in responsible situations in the

provinces, but the government of Manchuria is chiefly in their

hands.

Besides these are the five ancient orders of nobility, Ining,

liao,2_^(‘li,Uz’, and nan, usually rendered duke, count, viscount,

baron, and baronet, which are conferred without distinction on

Manchus, Mongols, and Chinese, both civil and military, and as

such are highly prized by their recipients as marks of honor.

The three first take precedence of the highest untitled civilians,

but an appointment to most of the high offices in the country

carries with it an honorary title. The direct descendant of

Confucius is called Yoi-f^/ilng humj, ‘ the Ever-sacred duke,’

and of Koxinga Ilai-ching hmg, or ‘ Sea-quelling duke ;’ these

two arc the only perpetual titles among the Chinese, but among

the Manchus, the chiefs of eight families which aided in settling the crown in the Gioro line were made hereditary princes,

LIFE IN THE PALACE. 407

who are collectively called princes of the iron crown. Besides

the above-mentioned, there are others, which are deemed even

more honorable, either from their rarity or peculiar privileges,

and answer to membership of the various orders of the Garter,

Golden Fleece, Bath, etc , in Europe.

The internal arrangements of the court are modelled somewhat

after those of the Boards, the general supervision being

under the direction of the Nid-wufa, composed of a president

and six assessors, under whom are seven subordinate departments.

It is the duty of these officers to attend upon the Emperor

and Empress at sacrifices, and conduct the ladies of the

harem to and from the palace ; they oversee the households of

the sons of the Emperor, and direct, under his Majestj’, everything

belonging to the palace and whatever appertains to its

supplies and the care of the imperial guard. The seven departments

are arranged so as to bear no little resemblance to a

miniature state : one supplies food and raiment ; a second is

for defence, to regulate the body-guard when the Emperor

travels; the third attends to the etiquette the members of this

great family must observe toward each other, and brings forward

the inmates of the harem when the Emperor, seated in

the inner hall of audience, receives their homage, led by the

Empress herself ; a fourth department selects ladies to fill the

harem, and collects the revenue from crown lands ; a fifth

superintends all repairs necessary in the palace, and sees that

the streets of the city be cleared whenever the Emperor, Erapress,

or any of the women or children in the palace wish to go

out ; a sixth department has in charge the herds and fiocks of

the Emperor ; and tlie last is a court for punishing the crimes

of soldiers, eunuchs, and ethers attached to the palace.

The Emperor ought to have three thousand eunuchs, but the

actual number is rather less than two thousand, who perform

the work of the household. His sons and grandsons are alloM^ed

from thirty down to four, while the iron-crown princes and imperial

sons-in-law have twenty or thirty ; all these nobles are

constrained to employ some eunuchs in their establishments, if

not able to maintain the full quota, for show. Most of this

class are compelled to submit to mutilation by tlieir parents

before the age of eight (and not always from povei-ty), as it

usually insures a livelihood. Some take to this condition from

motives of laziness and the high duties falling to their share if

they behave themselves. From very ancient times certain

criminals have been punished by castration. There is a separate

control for the due efficiency of these servants of the court,

who are divided into forty-eight classes ; durhig the present

dynasty they have never caused trouble. The highest pay any

of them receive is twelve taels a month.

The number of females attached to the harem is not accurately

known ; all of them are under the nominal direction

of the Empress. Every third year his Majesty reviews the

daughters of the IVIanchu officers over twelve years of age, and

chooses such as he pleases for concubines ; there are oidy seven

legal concubines, but an unlimited mnuber of illegal. The latter

are restored to li])erty when they reach the age of twentyfive,

unless they have borne cliildren to his Majest}-. It is generally

considered an advantage to a family to have a daughter

in the harem, especially by the Manchus, who endeavor to rise

by this backstairs influence.’ To the poor Avomen themselves

it is a monotonous, weary life of intriguing unrest. As soon as

one enters the palace she bids final adieu to all her male relatives,

and rarely sees her female friends ; the eunnchs \vlio

take care of her are her chief channels of communication with

the outer world. It may be added, however, that the comforts

and influence of her condition are vastly superior to those of

Hindu females.

In the forty-eighth volume of the Hiral Tioi, from whicii

work most of the details in this chapter are obtained, is an account

of the snpplies furnished his Majesty and the court.

There should daily be placed befoi-o the Emperor thirty pounds

of meat in a basin and seven pounds boiled into soup ; hog’s

fat and butter, of each one and one-third pound ; two sheep,

two fowls, and two ducks, the milk of eighty cows, and seventy-

‘ Chinese licpositorp, Vol. XIV., !>. 521; N. C. Br. It. As. Soc. Jovriuil,

x\o. XI.

positio:n” of the empress and ladies. 409

five parcels of tea. Her Majesty receives twenty-one pounds

of meat in platters and thirteen pounds boiled with vegetables

;

one fowl, one duck, twelve pitchers of watei’, the milk of

twenty-iive cows, and ten parcels of tea. Her maids and the

3oncubines receive their rations according to a regular fare.

The Empress-dowager is the most important subject within

the palace, and his Majesty does homage at frequent intervals,

!)y making the highest ceremony of nine prostrations before

her. When the widow of Iviaking reached the age of sixty in

1S3<), many honors were conferred l)y the Emperor. An extract

from the ordinance issued on this festival will exhibit the

regard paid her by the sovereign

:

” Our extensive dominions have enjoyed the utmost prosperity

under the shelter of a glorious and enduring state of felicity.

Our exalted race has become most illustrious under the protection

of that honored relative to whom the whole court looks up.

To her happiness, already unalloyed, the highest degree of

felicity has been superadded, causing joy and gladness to every

inmate of the Six Palaces. The grand ceremonies of the occasion

shall exceed in splendor the utmost recpiirements of the

ancients in regard to the human relations, calling ft)rth the gratulation

of the whole Em})ire. It is indispensable that the observances

of the occasion sliould be of an exceedingly unusual

nature, in older that our reverence for our august parent and

care of her may both be equally and gloriously displayed. . . .

… In the first month of the present winter occurs the sixtieth

anniversary of her Majesty’s sacred natal day. At the opening

of the happy period, the sun and moon shed their united genial

influences on it. When commencing anew the revolution of

the sexagenary cycle, the honor thereof adds increase to her

felicity. Looking upward and Ijeholding her glory, Ave repeat

our gratulations, and announce the event to Heaven, to Earth, to

our ancestors, and to the patron gods of the Empire. On the

nineteenth day of the tenth moon in the fifteenth year of Taukwang,

we will conduct the princes, the nobles, and all the high

officers, both rivil and military, into the presence of the great

Empress, benign and dignified, universally placid, thoi-oughly

virtuous, tran(piil and self-collected, in favors unbounded ; and

we will then present our congratulations on the glad occasion,

the anniversary of her natal day. The occasion yields a happiness

equal to what is enjoyed by goddesses in heaven ; and

while announcing it to the gods and to our people, we will

tender to her blessings unbounded.”

Besides the usual tokens of favor, such as rations to soldiers, pardons, promotions, advances in official rank, etc., it was ordered in the eleventh article, ” That every perfectly filial son or obedient grandson, every upright husband or chaste wife, upon proofs being brought forward, shall have a monument erected, with an inscription in his or her honor.”” Soldiers who had reached the age of ninety or one hundred received money to erect an honorary portal, and tombs, temples, bridges, and roads were ordered to be repaired ; but how many of these ” exceedingly great and special favors ” were actually carried into effect cannot be stated.’

For the defence and escort of the Emperor and his palaces

there are select bodies of troops, which are stationed within the

Hwang-ching and the capital and at the various cantonments

near the city. The Bannermen form three separate corps, each

containing the hereditaiy troops of Manchu, Mongol, and enrolled

Chinese, organized at the beginning of the dynasty under

eight standards. Their flags are ti’iangular, a plain yellow,

white, red, and blue for troops in the left wing, and the same

bordered with a narrow stripe of another color for troops in the

rio-ht wino;. All the families of these soldiers remain in the

corps into which they were born.

Two special forces are selected, one named the Vanguard

Division, the other the Flank Division, from the Manchu and

Mongol Bannermen ; these guard the Forbidden City, form his

Majesty’s escort when he goes out, and number respectively

about one thousand five hundred and fifteen thousand men.

For the preservation of the peace of the capital a force of upward

of twenty thousand, called the Infantry Division, or Gendarmerie,

is stationed in and around the walls, in addition to

the palace forces. Besides these a cadet corps of five hundred

Chinese Repository, Vol. IV., p. 576.

EMPEllOR’S GUARD AND DIVISIONS OF THE PEOPLE. 411

young men nrnied with l)Ows and spears, two battalions with firearms, and four larger battalions of eight hundred and seventy-five men each, di’iiled in rifle-practice, are relied on to aid the Gendarmerie and Vanguard in case of danger. Whenever the One Man goes out of the palace gate to cross the city, the streets through which he passes aie screened with matting, to keep off the crowds as well as diminish the risks of his person.

The result has been that few of the citizens have ever seen their sovereign’s face during the last two hundred years. The young Emperor Tungchi obtained great favor among them on one occasion of his return from the Temple of Heaven by ordering the screen of mats to be removed so that he and his people could see each other.

Lender the Emperor is the whole body of the people, a great

family bound implicitly to obey his will as being that of heaven,

and possessing no right or property jper se ; in fact, having

nothing but what has been derived from or may at any time be

reclaimed by him. The greatness of this family, and the absence

of an entailed aristocracy to hold its members or their

lands in serfdom, have been partial safeguards against excess

of oppression. Liberty is unknown among the people ; there is

not even a word for it in the language. No acknowledgment

on the part of the sovereign of certain well-understood rights

belonging to the people has ever been required, and is not

likely to be demanded or given by either party until the Gospel

shall teach them their respective rights and duties. Emigration abroad, and even removal from one part of the Empire to another, are prohibited or restrained by old laws, but at present no real obstacle exists to changing one’s place of residence or occupation. Notwithstanding the fact that Chinese society is so homogeneous when considered as distinct from the sovereign, inequalities of many kinds are constantly met with, some growing out of birth or property, others out of occupation or merit, but most of them derived from official rank. There is no caste as in India, though the attempt to introduce the miserable system was vainly made by Wan-ti about a.d. 590. The ancient distinctions of the Chinese into scholars, agriculturists, artisans, and traders is far superior to that of Zoroaster into priests, warriors, agriculturists, and artisans ; a significant index of the different polities of eastern and western x\siatic nations is contained in this early quaternary division, and the superiority of the Chinese in its democratic element is also noticeable. There are local prejudices against associating with some portions of the community, thougly the people thus shut out are not remnants of old castes.

\The tan/da, or boat-people, at Canton form a class in some respects beneath the other portions of the community, and have many customs peculiar to themselves.

At Mngpo there is a degraded set called to viin, amounting to nearly three thousand persons, with whom the people will not associate. The men are not allowed to enter the examinations or follow an honorable calling, but are play-actors, musicians, or sedan-bearers ; the women are match-makers or female barbers and are obliged to wear a peculiar dress, and usually go abroad carrying a bundle wrapped in a checkered handkerchief.

The tanhia at Canton also wear a similar handkerchief on their head, and do not cramp their fee^ The to iidn are supposed to be descendants of the Kin, who held northern China in a.d.1100, or of native traitors who aided the Japanese, in 1555-1563, in their descent upon Chehkiang. The tanh’ui came from some of the Miaotsz’ tribes so early that their origin is unknown.’

The modern classifications of the people, recognized, however, more by law than custom, are various and comprehensive. First, natives and aliens ; the latter include the unsubdued mountaineers and aboriginal tribes living in various parts, races of boat-people on the coasts, and all foreigners residing within the Empire, each of whom are subject to particular laws. Second, conquerors and conquered ; having reference almost entirely to a prohibition of intermarriages between Manchus arid Chinese. Third, freemen and slaves; every native is allowed to pm-chase slaves and retain their children in servitude, and free persons sometimes forfeit their freedom on account of their crimes, or mortgage themselves into bondage. Fourth, the

‘ Missionary Chronicle, Vol. XIV., p. 324; Hardy, Manual of BttddJdsm, pC9 ; Heereii, Asiatic Nations, Vol. I., p. 240.

SLAVES AXD PRIVILEGED CLASSES. 413

iioiioi’able and the mean, m’Iio cannot intermarry without the former forfeiting their privileges; the latter comprise, besides aliens and slaves, criminals, executioners, police-runners, actors, jugglers, beggars, and all other vagrant or vile persons, who are in general required to pursue for three generations some honorable and useful employment before they are eligible to enter the literary examinations. These four divisions extend over the whole body of the people, but really affect only a small minority.

It is worthy of note how few have been the slaves in China, and how easy has been their condition in comparison with what it was in Greece and Rome. / Owing chiefly to the prevalence of education in the liberal principles of the Four Books, China has been saved from this disintegrating element. The proportion of slaves to freemen cannot be stated, but the former have never attracted notice by their numbers nor excited dread by their restiveness^ Girls are more readily sold than boys ; at Peking a healthy girl under twelve years brings from thirty to fifty taels, rising to two hundred and fifty or three hundred for one of seventeen to eighteen years old. In times of famine orphans or needy children are exposed for sale at the price of a few cash.’

There are also eight privileged classes, of which the privileges of imperial blood and connections and that of nobility are the only ones really available ; this privilege affects merely’ the punishment of offenders belonging to either of the eight classes. The privilege of imperial blood is extended to all the blood relations of the Emperor, all those of the Empress-mother and grandmother within four degrees, of the Empress within three, and of the consort of the crown prince within two. Privileged noblemen comprise all officers of the first rank, all of the second holding office, and all of the third whose office confers a command.

These ranks are distinct from titles of nobility, and are much thought of by officers as honorary distinctions. There are nine, each distinguished by a different colored ball placed on the apex of the cap, by a peculiar emblazonry of a bird for civilians and a beast for military officers on the breast, and a different clasp to the girdle.

‘ M. Ed. Biot furnished a good account to the Journal Asiatique (3d series, Vol. III.) of the legal condition of slaves in China ; see also Chinese RepoHVtory^ Vol. XVIII., pp. 347-003, and passim; Archdeacon Gray’s China.

Civilians of the first rank wear a precious ruby or transparent red stone; a Manchurian crane is embroidered on the back and breast of the robe, while the girdle clasp is jade set in rubies; military men have a unicorn, their buttons and clasps being the same as civilians.

Civilians of the second rank wear a red coral button, a robe

embroidered with a golden pheasant, and a girdle clasp of gold

set in rubies ; the lion of India is emblazoned on the military.

Civilians of the third rank carry a sapphire and one-eyed

peacock’s feather, a robe with a peacock worked on the breast,

and a clasp of worked gold ; military officers have a leopard.

Different Styles of Official Caps.

Civilians of the fourth rank are distinguished by a blue opaque stone, a wild goose on the breast, and a clasp of worked gold with a silver button ; military officers carry a tiger in place of the embroidered wild goose.

Civilians of the fifth rank are denoted by a crystal button, a silver pheasant on the breast, and a clasp of plain gold with a silver button ; the bear is the escutcheon of military men.

Civilians of the sixth rank wear an opaque white shell button, a blue plume, an egret worked on the breast, and a mother of pearl clasp; military men wear a tiger-cat.

Civilians of the seventh rank have a plain gold button, a mandarin duck on the breast, and a clasp of silver; a mottled bear designates the military, as it also does in the last rank.

EIGHT HONOUAUY RANKS. 415

The eighth rank wear a worked gokl button, a quail on the breast, and a clasp of clear horn : military men have a seal. The ninth rank are distinguished by a worked silver button, a long-tailed jay on the breast, and a clasp of buffalo’s horn ; military men are marked by a rhinoceros embroidered on the robe. All under the ninth can embroider the oriole on their breasts, and unofficial Ilanlin take the egret.

The mass of people show their democratic tendencies in many ways, some of them conservative and others disorganizing. They form themselves into clans, guilds, societies, professions, and communities, all of which assist them in maintaining their rights, and give a power to public opinion it would not otherwise possess. Legally, every subject is allowed access to the magistrates, secured protection from oppression, and can appeal to the higher courts, but these privileges are of little avail if he is poor or unknown. ( He is too deeply imbued with fear and too ignorant of his rights to think of organized resistance ; his mental independence has been destroyed, his search after truth paralyzed, his enterprise checked, and his whole efforts directed into two channels, viz., labor for bread and study for office.

The people of a village, for instance, will not be quietly robbed of the fruits of their industry ; but every individual in it niay suffer multiplied insults, oppressions, and cruelties, without thinking of combining with his fellows to resist. Property is held by a tolerably secure tenure, but almost every other right and privilege is shamefully trampled oiA

Although there is nominally no deliberative or advisatory body in the Chinese government, and nothing really analogous to a congress, parliament, or tiersetat, still necessity and law compel the Emperor to consult and advise with the heads of tribunals. There are two imperial councils, which are the organs of communication between the head and the body politic ; these are the Cabinet, or Imperial Chancery, and the Council of State ; both of them partake of a deliberative character, but the first has the least power. Subordinate to these two councils are the administrative parts of the supreme government, consisting of the six Boards, the Colonial Office, Censorate, Courts of Representation and Appeal, and the Imperial Academy; making in all thirteen principal departments, each of which will require a short description. It need hardly be added that there is nothing like an elective body in any part of the system ; such a feature would be almost as incongruous to a Chinese as the election of a father by his family.

1. The Nui Kon, or Cabinet, sometimes called the Grand Secretariat,

consists of iowv ta]ik)Ji-sz\ or principal, and two hiehpa/i

ta Jdoh-sz\ or ‘joint assistant chancellors,’ half of them Manchus

and half Chinese. Their duties, according to the Imperial

Statutes, are to ” deliberate on the government of the Empire,

proclaim abroad the imperial pleasure, regulate the canons

of state, together with the whole administration of the great

balance of power, thus aiding the Emperor in directing the

affairs of state.” Subordinate to these six chancellors are six

grades of officers, amounting in all to upward of two hundred

persons, of whom more than half are Manchus. Under the six

chancellors are ten assistants, called hloh-sz\ ‘ learned scholars ;’

some of the sixteen are constantly absent in the provinces or

colonies, when their places are supplied by substitutes. What in other countries is performed by one person as prime minister, is in China performed by the four chancellors, of whom the first in the list is usually considered to be the premier, though perhaps the must influential man and the real leader of government holds another station.

The most prominent daily business of the Cabinet is to receive imperial edicts and rescripts, present memorials, lay before his Majesty the affairs of the Empire, procure his instructions thereon, and forward them to the appropriate office to be copied and promulgated. In order to expedite business in court, it is the custom, after the ministers have read and formed an opinion upon each document, to fasten a slip of paper at the foot—or more than one if elective answers are to be given—and thus present the document to his Majesty, in the presence chamber, who, with a stroke of his pencil on the answer he chooses, decides its fate. The papers, having been examined and arranged, are submitted to the sovereign at daylight on the following morning ; one of the six Manchu ///o/z-.s*.?’ first reads each document and hands it over to one of the four Chinese ]uoh-sz\ who inscribes the answer dictated by the sovereign, or hands it to him to perform that duty with the vermilion pencil.

THE NTTI KOII, OR CABIXET. 417

By this arrangement a large amount of business can be summarily despatched; but it is also evident that much depends upon the manner in which the answer written upon the slip is drawn up, as to the reception or rejection of the paper, though care has been taken in this particular by requiring that codicils be prepared showing the reasons for each answer. The appointment, removal, and degradation of all officers throughout his vast aominions, orders respecting the apportionment or remittal of the revenue and taxes, disposition of the army, regulation of the nomadic tribes—in short, all concerns, from the highest appointments and changes down to petty police cases of crime, are in this way brought to the notice and action of the Emperor.

Besides these daily duties there are additional functions devolving

upon the members of the Cabinet, who are likewise all

attached to other bureaus, such as presiding on all state occasions

and sacrifices, coronations, reception of embassies, etc. ;

these duties are fulfilled by the ten assistant hk>h-sz\ who are

all vice-presidents of the Board of Rites. They are the keepers

of the twenty-five seals of government, each of which is of a

different form and used for different and special purposes,

according to the custom of orientals, who place so much de-

Tj)endence upon the seal for vouching for* the authenticity of a

document.’ Attached to the Cabinet are ten subordinate offices,

one of which is for translating documents into the various

Vmguages found in the Empire. The higher members of the

Cabinet are familiarly called h>h lao, i.e., elders of the councilroom,

from which the word colao, often met with in old books

upon China, is derived.”

‘ Chinese Chrestmnnthy. Chap. XVII., Sec. 4, p. 570.

^ A still more common designation for officers of every rank in the employ of the Chinese government has not so good a parentage ; this is the word iiKtiidarin, derived from the Portuguese maiidar, to command, and indiscriminately applied by foreigners to every grade, from a premier to a tide-waiter; it is not needed in English as a general term for officers, and ought to be disiised, moreover, from its tendency to convey the impression that they are in some way unlike similar officials in other lands. Compare Notes and Queries on Chihd (uid Jdjmn, Vol. III., p. 12.

2. The KiCN-Ki Chu, Council of State or General _Coimci], was organized about 1730, butjias now become the most influential body in the governmentj and^ though quite unlike in its construction, corresponds to the 7mnidry of western nations more than does any other branch of the Chinese system. It can be composed of any grandees, as princes of the blood, chancellors, presidents and vice-presidents of the Six Boards, and chief officers of all the other metropolitan courts. They are ^selected at the Emperor’s pleasure^ and unitedly called J^great ministers directing the machinery of the army “—the army being here taken to signify the nation. Its duties are ” to write imperial edicts and decisions, and determine such things as are of importance to the army and nation, in order to aid the sovereign in regulating the machinery of affairs.” The number of members of the General Council probably varies according to his Majesty’s pleasure, for no list of them is given in the Bed Bool’ • but latterly their munber has been four, two of each nationality, and Prince Kung as the president. This body is one of the mainsprings of the government, and its composition shows the tendency of the national councils and polity.

The members of the General Council assemble daily in the

Forbidden Palace, between five and six in the morning ; when

summoned by his Majesty into the council-chamber they sit

upon mats or low cushions, no person being permitted to sit on

chairs in the real or supposed presence of the Emperor. His

Majesty’s commands being written down by them, are, if public,

transmitted to the Iimer Council to be promulgated ; but

on any matter requiring secrecy or expedition, a despatch is

forthwith made up and sent under cover to the Board of War,

to be forwarded. In all important consultations or trials this

Council, either alone or in connectipji^with the appropriate

court, is called in ; and in time of war it is formed intg^a committee

of ways and means. Lists of ofiicers entitled to promotion

are kept by it, and the names of proper persons to supply

vacancies furnished the Emperor, Many of the residents in

the colonies ai-e members of the Council, and communicate

directly with his Majesty through it, and receive allowances

and gifts with great formality from the throne—a device of

THE KIUN-Ki, OR GENERAL COUNCIL. 419

statecraft designed to maintain an awe of the imperial character and name as much as possible among the mixed races under them.

The General Council fills an important station in the system, and tends greatly to consolidate the various branches of government, facilitating their harmonious action as well as supplying the deficiencies of an imbecile, or restraining the acts of a tyrannical monarch. The statutes speak of various record books, both public and secret, kept by the members for noting down the opinions of his Majesty, and add that there are no fixed times for audiences, one or more sessions being held daily, according to the exigencies of the state. Besides these functions, its members are further charged with certain literary matters, and three subordinate offices are attached to the Council for their preparation. One is for drawing up narratives of important transactions—a few of those relating to the wars and negotiations with foreigners since 1839 would be of much interest now ; a second is for translating documents ; and the third, entitled ” an office for observing that imperial edicts are carried into effect,” must be at times rather an arduous task, though probably its responsibility ends when the despatch goes forward.

An office with this title shows that the Chinese government, with all its business-like arrangements, is still an Asiatic one.* The duties of these supreme councils are general, comprising matters relating to all departments of the government, and serving to connect the head of the state with the subordinate bodies, not only at the capital, but throughout the provinces, so that he can, and probably does to a very great degree, thereby maintain a general acquaintance with what is clone in all parts, and sooner rectify disorders and malpractices. The rivalry between their members, and the dislike entertained by the Chinese and Manchus composing them, cause, no doubt, some trouble to the Emperor ; but this has some effect in thwarting conspiracies and intrigues. It must not be supposed, however, that every high officer in the Chinese government is wholly unprincipled, venal, and intriguing; most of them desire to serve and maintain their country. The personal character and knowledge of the monarch has much to do with the efficiency of his government, and the guidance of its affairs demands constant oversight.

‘ Chinese Repository, Vol. IV., p. 138. Chinese Chrestomathy, p. 573.

If he allows his ministers to conduct their trusts without restraint, they soon engross and misuse this power for selfish ends. In natural sequence every branch feels the fatal laxity, while its functionaries lose no time in imitating their superiors.

This was the case during the reign of Ilienfung, but matters have much improved under the regency since 18C1. In ordinary times, the daily hiterconrse between the Emperor of China and his ministers presents very similar features of confidence, courtesy, and esteem between them as those seen in western lands.

The King Pac, i.e.^

‘ Metmpol’diui Itejjoiier^ usually called the PcJdng Gazette, is compiled from the papers presented before the General Council, and constitutes the principal source of information available to the people for ascertaining what is going on in the Empire. Every morning ample extracts from the papers decided upon or examined by the Emperor, including his own orders and rescrij^ts, are placarded upon boards in a court of the palace, and form the materials for the aimals of government and the history of the Empire. Couriers are despatched to all parts of the land, carrying copies of these papers to the high provincial officers; certain persons are also permitted to print these documents, but always without note or change, and circulate them at their own charges to their customers.

This is the Peking Gazette, and such the mode of its compilation. It is simply a record of official acts, promotions, decrees, and sentences, without any editorial comments or explanations; and as such of great value in understanding the policy of government.

It is very generally read and discussed by educated people in cities, and tends to keep them more acquainted with the character and proceedings of their rulers than ever the Itomans were of their sovereigns and Senate. In the provinces thousands of persons find employment by copying and abridging the Gazette for readers who cannot afford to purchase the complete edition.’

‘ Fraser’s Magazine. February, 1873. China Review, Vol. III., p. 13.

Note on the Condition and Government of the Chinese Empire in 1849. By T F. Wade. Hongkong, 1850. Translations of several years of the Oazette have appeared since 1S72, reprinted from the columns of the North China Herald.

THE PEKING GAZETTE AND SIX BOARDS. 421

The principal executive Ixxlies uiulor these two Councils are the Lali Pa, or ‘ Six Boards/ which were modelled on much the same plan during the ancient dynasties. At the head of each Board are two presidents, called sJi<iti(j->ifi.i(, and foiTr vicepresidentsT called HhUaug^ alternately a Manchu and a Chinese; and over three of them—those of lievenue, War, and Punishment—are placed superintendents, who are frequently members of the Cabinet ; sometimes the president of one Board is superintendent of another. There a.re three subordinate grades of officers in each Board, who may be called directors, undersecretaries, and controllers, with a great number of minor clerks, and their appropriate departments for conducting the details of the general and peculiar business coming under the cognizance of the Board, the whole being arranged and subordinated in the most business-like style. The detail of all the departments in the general and provincial governments is regulated in the same manner. For instance, each Board” has a different style of envelope for its despatches, and the papers in the offices are filed away in them.

3. The LiBu, or Board of Civil Office, ” has the government and direction of all the various officers in the civil service of the Empire, and thereby it assists the Emperor to rule all people ; ” these duties are further defined as hicluding ” whatever appertains to the plans of selecting rank and gradation, to the rules of determining degradation and promotion, to the ordinances of granting investitures and rewards, and the laws for fixing schedules and furloughs, that the civil service may be supplied.” Civilians arc presented to the Emperor, and all civil and literary officers throughout the Empire distributed by this Board. The great power apparently thus entrusted is shared by the two preceding, whose members are made advisory overseers of the highest appointments, while the provincial authorities put men in vacant posts as fast as they are needed. The danger arising from the arrangement is noticed by Biot’ as having early attracted criticism.

‘ Esaai mr P Instruction en Chine, jip. 540-589.

This Board is subdivided into four bureaus. The first at tends to the distinctions, precedence, promotion, exchanging, etc., of officers. The second investigates their merits and worthiness to be recorded and advanced, or contrariwise ; ascertains the character each officer bears and the manner in which he fulfils his duties, and prescribes his fnrlonghs. The third jegnlates retirement from office on account of mourning or filial duties, and supervises the registration of official names; it is through this bureau that Hwang Xgan-tung, the Governor of Ivwangtung, was degraded in 1846 for not resigning his office on the death of his mother. The fourth regulates the distribution of titles, patents, and posthumous honors. The Chinese is the only government that ennobles ancestors for the merits of their descendants; the custom arose out of the worship paid them, in which the rites arc proportionate to the rank of the deceased, not of the survivor ; and if the deceased parent or grandparent were connnoners, they receive proper titles in consequence of the elevation of their son or grandson. This custom is not a trick of state to get money, for commoners cannot buy these posthumous titles ; they can only buy nominal titles for themselves. The usage, however, offers an unexpected illustration of the remark of Job, ” His sons come to honor, and he knoweth it not.”

4. The Hu Bu, or Board of Revenue, ” directs the territorial government of the Empire, and keeps the lists of population in order to aid the Emperor in nourishing all people ; whatever appertains to the regulations for levying and collecting duties and taxes, to the plans for distributing salaries and allowances, to the rates for receipts and disbursements at the gi*anaries and treasuries, and to the rights for transporting by land and water are reported to this Board, that sufficient supplies for the country may be provided.” Besides these duties, it obtains the admeasurement of all lands in the Empire, and proportions taxes and conscriptions, according to the divisions, population, etc., regulates the expenditure, and ascertains the latitude and longitude of places. One minor office prepares lists of all the Manchu girls fit to be introduced into the palace for selection as inmates of the harem, a duty wdiich is enjoined on it because the allowances, outfits, and positions of these womou

BOARDS OF REVENUE AND KITES. 423

come within its control. The injudicious mode of collecting revenue common under the Persian and Syrian kings, by which the sums obtained from single cities and provinces were apportioned among the royal family and favorites, and carried directly to them, has never been practised by the Chinese, there are fourteen subordinate departments to attend to the receipt of the revenue from each of the provinces, each of which corresponds with the treasury department in its respective province. The revenue being paid in sundry ways and articles, as money, grain, manufactures, etc., the receipt and distribution of the various articles require a large force of assistants.

This Board is moreover a court of appeal on disputes respecting propertyj^and superintends the mint in each province; one bureau is called the ” great ministers of the Three Treasuries,” viz., of metals, silks and dye-stuffs, and stationery.

5. The Li Bu, or Board of Rites, ” examines and directs concerning the performance of the five kinds of ritual observances, and makes proclamation thereof to the whole Empire, thus aiding the Emperor in guiding all people. Whatever appertains to the ordinances for regulating precedence and literary distinctions, to the canons for maintaining; religious honor and fidelity, to the orders respecting intercourse and tribute, and to the forms of giving banquets and granting bounties, are reported to this Poard in order to promote national education.”

The five classes of rites are defined to be those of a propitious and those of a felicitous nature, military and hospitable rites, and tliosj of an infelicitous nature. Among the subordinate departments is that of ceremonial forms, which ” has the regulation of the etiquette to be observed at court on all occasions, on congratulatory attendances, in the performance of official duties, etc. ; also the regulation of dresses, caps, etc. ; as to the figure, size, color, and nature of their fabrics and ornaments, of carriages and riding accoutrements, their form, etc., with the number of followers and insignia of rank. It has also the direction of the entire ceremonial of personal intercourse between the various ranks or peers, minutely defining the number of bows and degree of attention which each is to pay to the other when meeting in official capacities, according as they are on terms of equality or otherwise. It has also to direct the forms of their written official intercourse, including those to be observed in addresses to and from foreign states. The regulation of the literary examinations, the imnjber of the graduates the distinction of their classes, the fornisj)f their jelection, and the privileges of successful candidates, with the establishment of governmental schools and academies, are all under this department.”

Another office superintends the rites to be observed in worshipping deities and spirits of departed monarchs, sages, and worthies, and in ” saving the sun and moon ” when eclipsed.

The third, called ” iiost and guest office,” looks after tribute and tribute-bearers, ar^d takes the whole management of foreign embassies, supplying not only provisions, but translators, and ordering the mode of intercourse between China and other states. The fourth oversees the supplial of food for banquets and sacrifices. The details of all the multifarious ritual duties of this Board occupy fourteen volumes of the Statutes. ” Truly nothing is without its ceremonies,” as Confucius taught, and no nation has paid so much attention to them in the ordering of its government as the Chinese. The Book of Rites is the foundation of ceremonies and the infallible standard as to their meaning; the importance attached to them has elevated etiquette and I’itualism into a kind of crystallizing force which has molded Chinese character in many ways.

Connected with the Board of Rites is a Board of Music, containing an indefinite number of officers whose duties ” are to study the principles of harmony and melody, to compose musical pieces’ and form instruments proper to play them, and then suit both to the various occasions on which they are required.” Kor are the gi*aces of posture-making neglected by these ceremony-mongers ; but it may with tinith be said, that if no other nation ever had a Board of Music, and required so much official music as the Chinese, certaiidy none ever had less real melody.

THE BING BU, OR BOARD OF WAR. 425

6. The Bing Bu, or Board of War, “has the duty of aiding the sovereign to protect the people by the direction of all military affairs in the metropolis and the province Sj^ and to regulate the hinge of the state upon the reports received from the various departments regarding deprivation of, or appointment to, office ; succession to, or creation of, hereditary military rank ; postal or courier arrangements ; examination and selection of the deserving, and accuracy of returns.”* The navy is also under the control of this Board. The management of the post is confided to a special department, and the transmission of official despatches is performed with great efficiency and regularity. A minor bureau of the courier office is called ” the office for the announcement of victories,” which, from a recital of its duties, appears to he rather a grande vlfes-se, whose couriers should hasten as if they announced a victory.

To enable this Board of War to discharge its duties, they are apportioned under four s~\ or bureaus, severally attending to promotion for various reasons : to the regulation of the distribution of rewards and punishments, inspection of troops and issue of general orders, answering to an adjutant-general’s department; to the supply and distribution of horses for the cavalry; and, lastly, to the examination of candidates, preparation of estimates and rosters, with all the details connected with equipments and ammunition. The conception of all government with the Manchus being military and not civil, they have developed this board more than was the case during the last dynasty, the possessions in Central Asia having drawn greatly on their resources and prowess.

The Household troops and city Gendarmerie have already been noticed ; their control is vested in the JVui-zric F’u, and the oversight of all the Bannermen in the Empire vests in the metropolitan office of the Tu-tun/j, or Captains-general, of whom there are twenty-four, one to every banner of each race. The Board of War has no control directly over this large portion of the Chinese army, and as the direction of the land and sea forces in each province is entrusted in a great degree to the local authorities, its duties are really more circumscribed than one would at first imagine. The singular subordination of military to civil power, which has ever distinguished the Chinese polity, makes the study of the army, as at present constituted, a very interesting feature of the national history ; fur while it has often proved inefficient to repress insurrection and defend the people against brigandage, it has never been used to destroy their institutions. In times of internal commotion the national soldiers have usually been loyal to their flag, though it must be confessed that discipline within the ranks is not so perfect as to prevent the soldiers from occasionally harassing and robbing those whom they are set to protect.’

7. The Xing Bu, or Board of Punishments, ” has the government

and direction of punishments throughout the Empire, for

the purpose of aiding the sovereign in cori-ecting all people.

Whatever appertains to measures of applying the laws with

leniency or severity, to the task of hearing evidence and giving

decisions, to the rights of granting pardons, reprieves, or otherwise,

and to the rate of fines and interest, are all reported to

this Board, to aid in giving dignity to national manners.” The

Hing Pu partakes of the nature of both a criminal and civil

court ; its officers usually meet with those of the Censorate and

Tali Sz’, the three forming the San Fall 8z\ or ‘ Three Law

Chambers,’ which decide on capital cases brought before them.

In the autumn these three unite with members from six other

courts, forming collectively a Court of Errors, to revise the decisions

of the provincial judges before reporting them to his

Majesty. These precautions are taken to prevent injustice

when life is involved, and the system shows an endeavor to secure

a full and impartial consideration for all capital cases,

which, although it may signally fail of its full effect, does the

rulers high credit, when the small value set upon life generally

by Asiatic governments is considered. These bodies are expected

to conform their decisions to the law, nor are they permitted

to cite the Emperor’s own decisions as precedents, without

the law on these decisions has been expressly entered as a

supplementaiy clause in the code.

It also belongs to sub-officers in the Board of Punishments to

record all his Majesty’s decisions upon appeals from the provinces

at the autumnal assizes, when the entire list is presented

‘ Chineae Refiository, Vol. lY., pp. 188, 276-287; Vol. V., pp. 165-178;Vol. XX., pp. 250, 800, and 863.- Memoires concernant Us Chinois^par k» Mmionuiren a Pekin, Tomes VII. and VIII., passim.

BOARDS OF PUNISHMENTS AND WORKS. 427

for Lis examination and ultimate decision, and see that these

sentences are transmitted to the provincial judges. Another

office snpei’intends the publication of the code, with all the

changes and additions ; a third oversees jails and jailers ; a

fourth i-eceives the fines levied by commutation of punishments,

and a fifth registei’s the receipts and expenditures. If the administi-

ation of the law in China at all corresponded with the

equitj’ of most of its enactments, or the caution taken to prevent

collusion, malversation, and haste on the part of the judges, it would be incomparably the best governed country out of Christendom; but the painful contrast between good laws and wicked rulers is such as to show the utter impossibility of securing the due administration of justice without higher moral principles than heathenism can teach.

The yamiui of the Hlny Pa in the capital is the most active of all the Boards, but little is known of what goes on within its walls. Its prisoners are mostly brought from the provinces, officers of high rank arrested for malfeasance or failure, and criminals convicted or condemned there who have appealed to the highest tribunals. Few of those who enter its gates ever return through them, and their sufferings seldom end as long as they have any property left. The narrative of the horrible treatment endured by Loch and his comrades in ISCO, while confined within this yaiiiun^ gives a vivid picture of their sufferings, but native prisoners are not usually kept bound and pinioned.

In the rear wall of the establishment is an iron door, through which dead bodies are thrust to be carried away to burial.

8. The Gong Bu, or Board of Works, ” has the government and direction of the public works throughout the Empire, together with the current expenses of the same, for the purpose of aiding the Emperor to keep all people in a state of repose. Whatever appertains to plans for buildings of wood or earth, to the forms of useful instruments, to the laws for stopping up or opening channels, and to the ordinances for constructing the mausolea and temples, are reported to this Board in order to perfect national works.” Its duties are of a miscellaneous nature, and are performed in other countries b}^ no one department, though the plan adopted by the Chinese is not without its advantages

One bureau takes cognizance of the condition of all city walls,

palaces, temples, altars, and other public structures ; sits as a

prize-office, and furnishes tents for his Majesty’s journeys ; supplies

timber for ships, and potterj’ and glassware for the court.

A second attends to the manufacture of mihtary stores and

utensils employed in the army ; sorts the pearls from the fisheries

according to their value ; regulates weights and measures,

furnishes ” death-warrants ” to governors and generals ; and,

lastly, takes charge of arsenals, stores, camp-equipage, and other

things appertaining to the army. A third dcpailnient has

charge of all water-ways and dikes; it also repairs and digs

canals, erects bridges, oversees the banks of rivers by means of

deputies stationed at posts along their course, builds vessels of

Avar, collects tolls, mends roads, digs the sewers in Peking and

cleans out its gutters, preserves ice, makes book-cases for public

records, and, lastly, looks after the silks sent as taxes. Tlie

fourth of these offices confines its attention chiefly to the condition

of the imperial mausolea, the erection of the sepulchres

and tablets of meritorious officers buried at public expense, and

the adormnent of temples and palaces, as well as superintending

ah workmen employed by the Board.

The mint is under the direction of two vice-presidents, and

the manufacture of gunpowder is specially intrusted to two

great ministers. One would think, from this recital, that the

functions of the Boai’d of AYorks Mere so diverse that it would

be one of the most efficient parts of government ; but if the

condition of forts, ports, dikes, etc., in other parts of the country

corresponds to those along the coast, there is, as the Emperor

once said of tlie army, ” the appearance of going to war,

but not the reality “—most of the works being on record, and

suffered to remain there, except when danger threatens, or his

Majesty specially orders a public work, and, what is more important,

furnishes the money.

THE LI FAN YUAN, OR COLONIAL OFFICE. 429

9. The Li Fan Yuan, or Court for the Government of Foreigners, commonly called the Colonial Office, ” has the government and direction of the external foreigners, orders their emoluments and honors, appoints their visits to court, and regulates their punishments, in order to display the majesty and goodness of the state.” This is an important branch of the government, and has the superintendence of all the wandering and settled tribes in Mongolia, Cobdo, Ili, and Koko-nor. All these are called wai fan, or ‘ external foreigners,’ in distinction from the tributary tribes in Sz’chuen and Formosa, who are termed ivuifan, or ‘ internal foreigners.’ There are also nui i

and loai i, or ‘ internal and external barbarians,’ the former

comprising the unsubdued mountaineers of Kweichau, and the

latter the inhabitants of all foreign countries who do not choose

to range themselves under the renovating influences of the Celestial

Empire. The Colonial Othce regulates the government of the nomads and restricts their wanderings, lest they trespass on each other’s pasture-grounds. Its officers are all Manchus and Mongols, having over them one president and two vice-presidents, Manchus, and one Mongolian vice-president appointed for life.

Besides the usual secretaries for conducting its general business,

there are six departments, whose combined powers include

every branch necessary for the management of these

clans. The first two have jurisdiction over the numerous tribes

and corps of the Inner Mongols, who are under more complete

subjection than the others, and part have been placed under

the control of officers in Chihli and Shansi. The appointment

of local officers, collecting taxes, allotting land to Chinese settlers,

opening roads, paying salaries, arranging the marriages,

retinues, visits to courts, and presents made by the princes and

the review of the troops, all appertain to these two departments.

The third and fourth have a similar, but less effectual control

over the princes, lamas, and tribes of Outer Mongolia. At

TTrga reside two high ministers, organs of communication with

Russia, and general overseers of the frontier. The oversight of

the lama hierarchy in Mongolia is now completely under the

control of this office ; and in Tibet their power has been considerably

abridged. The fifth department directs the actions,

restrains the powers, levies the taxes, and orders the tributary

visits of the Mohannnedan begs in the Tien shan Xan Lu, who

are quiet pretty nuich as they are paid by presents and flattered

by honors. The sixth department regnlatesthe penal discipline

of the tributary tribes. The salai’ies paid the Mongolian princes

are distributed according to an economical scale. A tsin wmuj

annually receives $2,000 and twenty-hve pieces of silk ; a kiun

wang receives about $1,066 and iifteen pieces of silk ; and so on

through the ranks of Eeile, JBeitse, Duke, etc., the last of whom

gets a stipend of only $133 and four pieces of silk. The internal

organization of these tribes is probably the same now as it

was at first among the Scythians and Huns, and partakes of the

features of the feudal and tribal system, modified by the nomadic

lives they are obliged to lead. The Chinese government

is endeavoring to reduce the influence and retinues of the khans

and begs and elevate the people to positions of independent

owners and cultivators of the soil.

10. The DuCHA Yuan, or Censorate, i.e., ‘ All-examining Court,’ is entrusted with the ” care of manners and customs, the investigation of all public offices within, and without the capital, the discrimination between the good and bad performance of their business, and between the depravity and uprightness of the officers employed in them ; taking the lead of other censors, and uttering each his sentiments and reproofs, in order to cause officers to be diligent in attention to their daily duties, and to render the government of the Empire stable.” The Censorate, when joined with the Board of Punishments and Court of Appeal, forms a high court for the revision of criminal cases and hearing appeals from the pntvinces; and, in connection with the Six Boards and the Court of Representation and Appeal, makes one of the Iviu King, or ‘ Nine Courts,’ which deliberate on important affairs of government.

The officers are two censors and four deputy censors, besides whom the governors, lieutenant-governors, and the governors of rivers and inland navigation are ex-offwlo deputy censors.

A class of censors is placed over each of the Six Boards, whose

duties are to supervise all their acts, to receive all public documents

from the C^abinet, and after classifying them transmit

them to the several courts to which they belong, and to make a

semi-monthly examination of the papers entered on the archives

uf each court. All ciiminal cases in the provinces come under

THE DU-CHA YUAN, OR CENSORATE. 431

the oversight of the censors at tlie capital, and the department

which superintends the affairs of the nieti-opolis revises its

municipal acts, settles the quarrels, and represses the crimes of

its inhabitants. Tliese are the duties of the Censorate, tlian

which no part of the Chinese government has attracted more

attention. The privilege of reproof given by the law to the

office of censor has sometimes been exercised with remarkable

candor and plainness, and many cases are recoi-ded in histoiy

of these officers suffering for tlieir fidelity, but such instances

must be few indeed in proportion to the failures.

The celebrated Sung, who was appointed commissioner to accompany

Loi’d Macartney, once remonstrated with the Emperor

Kiaking upon his attachment to play-actors and strong drink,

which degraded him in the eyes of his people and incapacitated

him from performing his duties. The Emperor, highly ii-ritated,

called him to his presence, and on his confessing to the authorship

of the memorial, asked him vidiat punishment he deserved.

He answered, ” Quartering.” lie was told to select some

other; “Let me be beheaded ;” and on a third command, he

chose to be strangled. He was then ordered to retire, and the

next “day the Emperor appointed him governor in llf, thus

acknowledging his rectitude, though unable to bear his censure.

History records the reply of another censor in the reign of an

Emperor of the Tang dynasty, who, when his Majesty once desired

to inspect the archives of the historiographer’s office, in

order to learn what had been recorded concei’ning himself,

under the excuse that he nuist know his faults before he could

well correct them, was answered : ” It is true your Majesty has

committed a number of errors, and it has been the painful duty

of our employment to take notice of them ; a duty which further

obliges us to inform posterity of the conversation which

your Majesty has this day, very improperly, held with us.”

The censors usually attend on all state occasions by the side

of his Majesty, and are frequently allowed to express tlieir

opinions openly, but in a despotic government this is little else

than a fiction of state, for the fear of offendhig the imperial ear,

and consequent disgrace, will usually prove stronger than the

consciousness of right or the desires of a public fame and martyrdom for the sake of principle. The usual mode of advising is to send in a remonstrance against a proposed act, as when one of the body in 1832 remonstrated against the Emperor paying attention to anonymous accusations ; or to suggest a different procedure, as the memorials of Chu Tsun against legalizing opium. The number of these papers inserted in the Peking Gazette for the information of the Empire, in many of which the acts of officers are severely reprehended, shows that the censors are not altogether idle. In 1833 a censor named Slii requested the Emperor to interdict official persons at court from writing private letters concerning public persons and affairs in the provinces. lie stated that when candidates left the capital for their provincial stations, private letters were sent by them from their friends to the provincial authorities, ” sounding

the voice of influence and interest,” by which means justice

M-as perverted. The Emperor ordered the Cabinet to examine

the censor and get his facts in proof of these statements, but on

inquiry he either would not or could not bring forward any

cases, and he himself consequently received a reprimand.

‘^’ These censors are allowed,” says the Emperor, ” to tell me

the reports they hear, to inform me concerning courtiers” and

governors who pervert the laws, and to speak plainly about any

defect or impropriety which they may oljserve in the monaich

himself; but they are not permitted to employ their pencils in

writing memorials which are filled M’i^^h vague surmises and

mei’e probabilities or suppositions. This would only fill my

mind with doubts and uncertainty, and T wo;dd not know what

men to employ; were this spirit indulged, the detrinie?)t of

government would be most serious. Let 8ii ))0 subjected to a

court of inquiry.”

‘J’lie suspension or disgrace of censors for their freedom of

speech is a common occurrence, and among the forty or fifty

persons who have this privilege a few are to be found who do

not hesitate to lift up their voice against what they deem to be

wrong; and there is reason for supposing that only a small portion

of their remonstrances appeai-s in the Gazette. With regard

to this depai’tment of government, it is to be observed

that although it may tend only in a partial degree to check

COURTS OF TUANSMISSION AND JUPTCATURE. 433

Oppression and reform ahusos, and wliilc a close examination of

its real operations and intlnenee and the character of its members

may excite more contempt than respect, still the existence of

such a body, and the pnblication of its memorials, can hardly

fail to rectif}’ misconduct to some degree, and check maladministration

before it results in widespread evil. The (Jensorate is,

however, only one of a number of checks upon the conduct of

officers, and perhaps by no means the strongest.’

11. The TuNG-cniNG Sz’, which may be called a Court of

Transmission, consists of a small body of six officers, whose

duty is to receive memorials from the provincial authorities and

appeals from their judgment by the people and present them to

the Cabinet. Attached to this Court is an office for attending

at the palace-gate to await the beating of a drum, which, in conformity

with an ancient custom, is placed there that applicants

may by striking it obtain a hearing. It is also the channel

through which the people can directly appeal to his Majesty,

and cases occur of individuals, even women and girls, travelling

to the capital from remote places to present their petitions for

redress before the throne. The feeling of blood revenge prevails

among the Chinese, and impels many of these weak and

unprotected persons to undergo great hardships to obtain legal

redress, when the lives of their parents have been unjustly

taken by powerful and rich enemies.

12. The Ta-li Sz’, or Court of Judicature and Eevision, has

the duty of adjusting all the criminal courts in the Empire, and

forms the nearest approach to a Supreme Court in the government,

though the cases brought before it are mostly criminal.

“When the crimes involve life, this and the preceding unite

with the Censorate to form one coui’t, and if the judges are

]i()t unanimous in their decisions they must report their reasons

to the Emperor, who M’ill pass judgment upon them. In a despotic

government no one can expect that the executive officers

of courts will exercise their functions with that caution and

‘ Compare an article by E. C Taintor, in Notes and Queries on China and Japan. Chinese Repository, Vols. IV., pp. 148, 164, and 177, and XII., pp.62 and 67.

equity required in Christian countries, but considerable care has

been taken to obtain as great a degree of justice as possible.

IJr. The Hanlin Yuen, or Imperial Academy, is entrusted

” with the duty of drawing up governmental documents, histories,

and other works ; its chief officers take tlie lead of the

various classes, and excite their exertions to advance in learning

in order to prepare them for employments and fit them for attending

upon the sovereign.” This body has, it is highly probable,

some similarity to the collection of learned men to whom

the King of Babylon entrusted the education of promising

young men, for although the members of the Ilanlin Yuen do

not, to any great degree, educate persons, they are constantly

referred to as the Chaldeans were by Belshazzai-. Sir John

Davis likens it to the Sorbonne, inasmuch as it expounds the

sacred books of the Chinese. Its chief officers are two presidents

or senior members, called chuiang yuen hioh-sz\ m*1io are

usually appointed for life ; they attend upon the Emperor,

superintend the studies of graduates, and furnish semi-annual

lists of persons to be ” speakers” at the ” classical feasts,” where

the literary essays of his Majesty are translated from and into

Manchu and read before him.

Subordinate to the two senior members are four grades of

officers, five in each grade, together with an imlimited number

of senior graduates, each forming a sort of college, whose duties

are to prepare all works published under governmental sanction

; these persons are subject from time to time to fresh examination,

and are liable to lose their degrees or be altogether

dismissed from office if found faulty or deficient. Subordinate

to the Hanlin Yuen is an office consisting of twenty-two selected

members, who in rotation attend on the Emperor and make a

record of his words and actions. There is also an additional

office for the preparation of national histories.

The situation of a member of the Ilanlin is one of considerable

honor and literary ease, and scholars look forward to a station

in it as one which confers dignity in a government where

all officers are appointed according to their literary merit, l)ut

much more from its being the body from which the Emperor

selects his most responsible offi-ers. A graduate of this rank is

THE IIANLIN AND MINOR COURTS. 435

most likely to be nominated to a vacant office, though the possession

uf the title does not of itself warrant a place.’

Before proceeding to consider the provincial governments,

notices of some of the other de})artments not connected with

the general machinery of the state are here in place. The

municipality of Peking has already been mentioned when describing

the capital ; it is intimately connected with the general

government and forms an integral part of the machine.

Among the courts not connected with tlie nnmicipal rule of the

metropolis, nor forming one of the great departments of state,

is Tal-chang Sz\ or ‘ Sacrificial Court,’ whose officers ” direct

the sacrificial observances and distinguish the various instruments

and the quality of the sacrifices.” Their duties are of importance iti connection with the state religion, and they rank high among the court dignitaries of the Empire, but as members of this, possess no power. The Tal-jyuTi Sz\ or Superintendent of II. I. ]\I.’s Stud, is an office for “rearing horses, taking account of their increase, and regulating their training;” large tracts of land beyond the Great “Wall are appropriated to this purpose, and the clerks of this office, under the direction of the Board of War, oversee the herdsmen and grooms.

The JCwanrjluh Ss\ or ‘Banqueting House,’ has the charge

of ” feasting the meritorious and banqueting the deserving ;

“

it is somewhat subordinate to the Board of Rites, and provides

whatever is necessary for banquets given to literary graduates,

foreign ambassadors, etc. The Jlunz/hc >&’, or ‘ Ceremonial

Court,’ regulates the forms to be observed at these banquets,

which consist in little else than marshalling the guests according

to their proper ranks and directing them when to make the

Ivtow, called also scui Jewel hlu Jcao, ” three kneelings and nine

knockings.” The Guozi’ Jian, or ‘ National College,’ is a different institution from the Hanlin Yuen, and intended for teaching graduates of the lower degrees; the departments of study are the Chinese language, the classics and mathematics, each branch having its appropriate teachers, with some higher officers, both Chinese and Manchu.

‘ Dr. W. A. P. Martin, Th& Chinese.

The Qin Tian Jian, or ‘ Imperial Astronomical College,’ as might be expected, is much more astrological than astronomical; its duties are defined to 1)0 ” to direct the ascertainment of times and the movements of the heaveidy bodies, in order to attain conformity with the celestial periods and to regulate the notati(Mi of time among inen ; all things relating to divination and the selection of days are under its charge.” The preparation of the almanac, in which, among other things, lucky and unlucky days are marked for the performance of all the important acts of life, and astrological and chiromantic absurdities inserted for the amusement of fortune-tellers and others, the instruction of a few pupils, and care of the observatory, occupy most of the time of its officers. It is now of no practical use, and as the Tang-icdn Kuxtii develops into a learned and efficient college, including astronomy and medicine and their kindred branches, these native Boards will gradually pass away.

The other local courts of the capital seem to have been subdivided and multiplied to a great degree for the purpose of affording employment to a larger number of persons, especially Manchus and graduates, so that the Emperor can attach them to himself and be surer of their support in case of any insurrection on the part of the people, and also that he may have them more under his control. The nundjer of clerks and minor offices in all the general departments of state is doubtless more numerous than it would be in a European government. In the nnitual relations of the great departments of the Chinese government the principles of responsibility and surveillance among the officers are plainly exhibited, while regard has been paid to such a division and apportionment of labor as would secure great efficiency and care, if every member of the machine faithfully did his duty. Two presidents are stationed over each Board to assist and watch each other, while the two presidents oversee the four vice-presidents ; the president of one Board is sometimes the vice-president of another ; and by means of the Censorate and the General Council every portion is brought under the cognizance of several independent officers, whose mutual jealousy and regard for individual advancement, or a

RELATION OF THE KMPEUOIl WITH HIS OFFICIALS. 437

partial desire for tlie well-being of tlie state, affords the Emperor

some guarantee of fidelit}-. Tlie seclusion in which he

lives makes it difficult for any conspirator to approach his person,

but his own fears regarding the management of such an

immense Empire compel him to inform himself respecting the’

actions of ministers, generals, and proconsular governors. The

conduct and devotion of hundreds of officers, both civil and

military, during the wars with Great Britain and the suppression

of rebellions within the last thirty years, afford proof

enough that he has attached his subordinates to his service by

some other principle than fear. The total number of civilians

holding office is estimated at about fourteen thousand persons,

but those dependent on the government are many times this

amount.

The rulers of China have contrived the system of provincial governments in an admirable manner, considering the character of the people and the materials they had to work with; no better proof of their sagacity in this respect can be required than the general degree of good order which has been maintained for nearly two centuries, and the great progress the people have made in wealth, numbers, and power. By a well-arranged plan of checks and changes in the provincial authorities, the chances of their abusing position and power and combining to overthrow the supreme government have been reduced almost to an impossibility; the influence of mutual responsibility among them does something to prevent outrageous oppression of the people, by leading one to accuse another of high crimes in order to exonerate himself or obtain his place. The sons and relatives of the Emperor being excluded from civil office inthe provinces, the high-spirited and talented native Chinese do

not feel inclined to cabal against the government because every

avenue to emolument aiid power is filled and closed against them

by creatures and connections of the sovereign ; nor when in office

are they disposed to attempt the overthrow of the reigning

family, lest they lose what has cost them many years of toilsome

study and the wealth and influence of friends to attain.

The examination of these pashaliks is furthermore entitled to notice from the degree of power delegated to their highest officers, and the shrewd manner in which its exercise has been circumscribed and rendered amenable to its imperial source.

The highest officers in the provinces are afsu/iyfuh, lit. ‘general director,’ or governor-general, and the fatal or fuyuen, ‘ soother ‘ or governor. The former is often called a viceroy, but that term seems to be quite inapplicable M-hen used to denote an officer within the limits of the state ; governor-general, or proconsul, is more analogous to his duties. A translation of these and many other Chinese titles does not convey their exact functions, but in some cases an equivalent is more intelligible than a translation.’ The tsungtuh has rule over two provinces, or else fills two high offices in one province, while the fntd’i is placed over one province, either independent of or in subordination to a tsungtuh^ as enumerated in the table on page 61.

An examination of the Tied Booh for 1852 showed that out

of a total of 20,327 names in it, 10,-174 were Chinese, 3,29.5

were Manclius and Mongols, and 558 enrolled Chinese ; in the

copy for 1844, out of 12,758 names, 10,403 were Chinese, 1,708

Manchus, and 527 enrolled Cliinese ; these figui-es include only

civilians and the employees in Peking. The Eighteen Provinces

ha\e altogether less than two thousand persons in office al)ove

the raidc of assistant district magistrate, viz. : 8 governor-generals,

15 governors, 19 treasurers, 18 judges, 17 chancellors, 15

commanders of the forces, including 2 admirals and 1,740 prefects

and magistrates. All those filling tlie high grades in this

series report themselves to the Enq)eror twice every month, by

sending him a salutatory card upon yellow paper, enclosed in a

silken envelope ; stating, for instance, that ‘ Lin Tseh-sii, governor-

general of Liang Ivwang, humbly presents his duty to the

throne, wishing his Majesty repose.’ The Emperor replies M’ith

the vei’niilion ])encil, Cli’ni ngan, ij\, ‘ Ourself is well.’

The duties of the governor-general consist in the collective

control of all affairs, civil and military, in the regioii under hia

jurisdiction ; he occupies, in his sphere, under correction, the

same authority that the Emperor does over the whole Empire.

‘ Mayers’ Manual of Chinese Titles furnishes tlio best compend for learning their duties and names.

IIIGIIP:ii PROVINCIAL ALTIlOliniKS. 439

The futai has a similar control, but in an inferior degree when there is a tstungtuh, in the more special supervision of the administrative part of the civil government, as distinguished from the revenue, gabel, or literary branches.

The departments of the civil government are five, viz. : administrative,

literary, gabel, commissariat, and excise ; the first

being also divided into the teri-itorial and financial and the

judicial branches. At the head of the first branch is the j»j>t^-

ihing sz^ {i.e., ]-egulating-government commissioner), who is

usually called the treasurer ; the ngan-chah sz\ or ‘ criminal

judge,’ presides over the second. These two ofiicers often unite

their deliberations in the direction of any territoi’ial or financial

business, or the trial of important cases. The literary department

is placed under the direction of an ofiicer selected from

among the members of the Hani in Academy, called a hioh-ching,

director of learning, or literary chancellor ; there are seventeen

of them altogether. The gabel and connnissariat are usually

supervised l)y certain intermediate ofiicers called tao, or taotai,

sometimes termed intendants of circuit, who have other functions

in addition. The excise, or conmiercial department, is under /ivV;*^?^^, or superintendents, but the details of these three branches vary considerably in different provinces. The officers of the excise, either in the interior or on the coast, are made amenable

to their supei-iors in the province, but their functions are exercised

in an irregular manner ; for the collection of the revenue is

a difficult affair, and mostly entrusted to the local magistrates.

The military govemment of a province includes both the land

and sea forces. It is under a tHuh, or commander-in-chief, of

which rank there are in all sixteen, twelve of them commanding

one arm alone, and four controlling both land and sea forces.

In five provinces the futai is commander-in-chief, and in

Ivansuh there are two. Above the tttuJ}, in point of rank but

not of power, are placed garrisons of Manchu Bannermen under

a tsicmg-Jciun, or general, whose ofiice is conferred, and his

actions directly controlled, by the captains-general in Peking;

he has jurisdiction, usually, only in the city itself, the principal

object of the appointment, api)areTitly, being to check any treasonable designs of the civil authorities.

The duties and relations of these various grades with one another require some further explanation, however, to be understood.

The three officers, tsunytuh, fatal, and tslaiujMun (if there be one), form a supreme council, and unite in deliberating upon a measure, calling in the subordinate officer to whose department it particularly belongs, and to whom its execution is io be committed, the whole forming a deliberative board, though “the responsibility of the act rests with the two highest officers.

By this means the various members of the provincial government

become better acquainted with each other’s character and

plans, though their intercourse is nuich restricted by precedence

and rivalry. In the provincial courts civilians always take precedence

of military officers ; the governor-general and Banner

commander, governor and major-general, the literary chancellor

and collector of customs, rank with each other ; then follow the

treasurer, the judge, and other civilians. The authority of the

governor-general extends to life and death, to the temporary

appointment to all vacant offices in the province, to ordering

the troops to any part of it, issuing such laws and taking such

measures as are necessary for the security and peace of the

region committed to his care, or any other steps he sees necessary.

The futal also has the power of life and death, and

attends to appeals of criminal cases ; he oversees, moreover, the

conduct of the lower civilians.

IS^ext in rank to i\\e j)u-ching sz^ and ngan-chah sz\ who always reside in the provincial capital, are the intendants of circuit, who are located in the circuits consisting of two or three prefectures united for this purpose. They are deputies of the two highest functionaries, and their delegated power often includes military as well as civil authority, the chief object of their appointment being to relieve and assist those high functionaries in the discharge of their extensive duties. Some of the intendants are appointed to supervise the proceedings of the prefects and district magistrates; others are stationed at important posts to protect them, and those connected with foreign trade at the open ports have no territorial jurisdiction.

SUBORDINATE PROVINCIAL AUTHORITIES. 441

Subordinate to the governors, through the intendants of circuits, are the prefects or head magistrates of departments, called Zhifu/Zhizhou, and ting tungchi, i.e., ‘knowers’ of them, according as they are placed over fu, zhou, or ting departments.

It is the duty of these persons to make themselves acquainted with everything that takes place within their jurisdiction, and they are held responsible for the full execution of whatever orders are transmitted to them, all presenting their reports and receiving their orders through the intendants.

The practical efficiency of the Chinese government in promoting the welfare of the people and preserving the peace depends chiefly upon these officers. The people themselves are prone to quarrel and oppress each other ; beggars, robbers, tramps, and shysters stir up disorders in various ways, and need wise and vigorous hands to repress and punish them ; while all classes avoid and resist the tax-gatherer as much as is safe. The proverb, ” A Zhifu can exterminate a family, a chihien can confiscate a patrimony,” indicates the popular fear of their power.

The subdivisional pai’ts of departments, called ting, chau, and

hien, have each their separate officers, who report to the chifu

and cliicliau above them ; these are called tungcM, clacJiau, and

ch’tJiien, and may all be denominated district magistrates. The

parts of districts called sz’ are placed under the control of siuii-

I’ien, circuit-restrainers, or hundreders, who form the last in the

regular series of descending; rank—the last of the ” connnissioned

officers,” as they might not improperly be called. The

prefects sometimes have deputies directly under them, as the

governor has his intendants, when their jurisdiction is very

large or important, who are called hiunininfu and tungchi, i.e.,

‘ joint-knowers.’ The deputies of district magistrates are termed

chautung and chmiptran for the chlchan, and hienching and

chufu for the cJdhien^ the last also have others called tso-tang

And yu-tang, i.e., left-tenants and right-tenants.

Resides these assistants there are others, both in the departments and districts, having the oversight of the police, collection of the taxes and management of the revenue, care of waterways, and many other subdivisions of legislative duties, which it is unnecessary to particularize. They are appointed whenever and wherever the territory is so large and the duties so onerous that one man cannot attend to all, or it is not safe to entrust him with them. They have nearly as much power as their superiors in the department entrusted to them, but none of them have judicial or legislative functions, and the routine of their othces affords them less scope for oppression. ±\oy is it worth while to notice the great number of clerks, registrars, and secretaries found in connection with the various ranks of dignitaries here mentioned, or the multitude of petty subordinates found in the provinces and placed over particular places or duties as necessity may require. Their number is very large, and the responsibility of their proceedings devolves upon the higher officers who receive their reports and direct their actions.

The common people suffer more from these ” rats under the altar,” as a Chinese proverb calls them, than from their superiors, because, unlike them, they are usually natives of the place and better acquainted with the condition of the inhabitants, and are not so often removed. The fear of getting into their clutches restrains from evil doings perhaps more than all punishments, though the people soon complain of high-handed acts in a way not to be disregarded. (3ne saying, ” Underlings see money as a fly sees blood,” indicates their penchant, as another, ” Cash drops into an underling’s paw as a sheep falls into a tiger’s jaw,” does the popular notion how to please them.

Each intendant, prefect, and district magistrate has special

secretaries in his ofhce for riling papers, writing and transmitting-

despatches, investigating cases, recording evidence, keeping

accounts, and performing other functions. All above the chihien

are allowed to keep private secretaries, called sz’ ye, who

are usually personal friends, and accompany the officers wliereever

they go for the purpose of advising them and preparing

their official documents. The ngan-chah s£ have jailers under

their control, as have also the more important prefects.

The appointment of officers being theoretically founded on

literary merit, those to whom is committed the supervision of

students and conferment of degrees would naturally be of a

high grade. The Jiioh-ehlti’/, or literary chancellor, of the province,

therefore ranks next to the governor, more, however, because

he is specially ai)pointed by his Majesty and oversees thia

LITEKAKY, (lABEL, AND REVENUE DEPARTMENTS. 443

hrancli of the goveniinent, than from the power coinniitted to

liis liaiids. Under him aie head-teachers of different degrees

of autliority, residing in the cliief towns of departments and

districts, tlie ^vhole forming a simihir series of functionaries to

M’hat exists in tlie civil department. These subordinates have

merely a greater or less degree of supervision over the studies of

students, and the colleges established for the promotion of learning

in the chief towns of departments. The business of conferring

the lower degrees appertains exclusively to the chancellor,

who makes an annual circnit through the province for that purpose,

and holds examinations in the chief town of each department,

to which all students residing within its limits can come.

The gabel, or salt department, is under the control of a special

officer, called a ” commissioner for the transport of salt,”

and forming in the five maritime provinces one of thesau s.z\ or

three commissioners, of which the j>u-e/ung sz’ and ngan-chah ss’

are the other two. There are, above these commissioners, eight

directors of the salt monopoly, stationed at the depots in Chihli

and Shantung, M’ho, however, also fill other offices, and have

rather a nominal responsibility over the lower commissioners.

The number and rank of the ofilcers comiected with the salt

monopoly show its importance, and is proof of how large a revenue

is derived fi-om an article which will bear such an expensive establishment. At present its administration costs about as much as its receipts.

The commissariat and revenne department is nnusually large

in China compared with other countries, for the plan of collecting

any part of the revenue in kind necessarily requires nnmerous

vehicles for transporting and buildings for storing it, which

still further multiplies the number of clerks and hands employed.

The transportation of grain along the Yangtsz’ River is under

the control of a tsungtuh, who. also oversees the disposal and

directs the collectors of it in eight of the provinces adjacent to

this river. The office of liang-chu tao, or commissioner to collect

grain, is found in twelve provinces, the pu-ehing.sz’ attending

to this duty in six ; the supervision of the subordinate agents of this department in the several districts is in the hands of the prefects and district magistrates.- That feature of the Chinese system which makes officers mutually responsible, seems to lead the superior powers to confer such various duties upon

one functionary, in order that he may thus have a general

knowledge of what is going on about and under him, and ref)ort

what he deems amiss. It is not, indeed, likely that such was the

original arrangement, for the Chinese government has come to

its present composition by slow degrees ; but such is, so far as

can be seen, the effect of it, and it serves in no little degree to

accomplish the designs of the rulers to bind the main and lesser

wheels of the huge machine to themselves and to one another.

The customs and excise are under the management of different

grades of officers according to the importance of their posts.

The transit duties levied at the excise stations placed in every

town are collected by officers acting under the local authorities,

and have nothing to do with the collection of maritime duties.

This tax, called li-kin, or ‘a cash a catty,’ has lately been

greatly increased, and the natural result has been to destroy the

trade it preyed on, or divert it to other channels. The foreign

merchants and officers have, too, protested against its imposition,

seeing that their trade was checked.

Kecapitulating in tabular form, we may say that outside of

the Cabinet, Council, Boards, and Courts at the capital, the

government (in the Eighteen Provinces) is in the hands of: 8 Governors-General (6 governing two provinces each).

15 Governors. 11) Commissioners of Finance (2 for Kiangsu).

18 Commissioners of Justice.

4 Directors of the Salt Gabel.

9 Collectors (independent of these).

13 Commissioners of Grain, or Commissaries.

G4 Intendants of Circuit.

182 Prefects.

G8 Prefects of Inferior Departments.

18 Independent Subprefects.

180 Dependent Subprefects.

139 Deputy Subprefects.

141 District Magistrates of the Fifth

Class.

1,232 District Magistrates of the Seventh

Class.

The military section of the provincial governments is under

the control of a tituh, or major-general, who resides at a central

post, and, in conjunction with the governor-general and

governor, directs the movements of the forces, while these last

have also an independent control over a certain body of troops

belonging to them officially. The various grades of officers in

the native army, and the portion of troops under each of them,

MILITARY AND NAVAL DEPARTMENTS. 445

stationed in the garrisons and forts in different parts of the

provinces, are all arranged in a methodical manner, which will

bear examination and comparison with the army of any country

in the world. The native force in each province is distinct

from the Manchu troops, and is divided somewhat according to

the Roman plan of legion, cohort, maniple, and century, over

each of which are officers, from colonel down to sergeant.

Nothing is wanting to the Chinese army to make it fully adequate to the defence of the country but discipline and confidence in itself ; for lack of practice and systematic drilling have made it an army of paper warriors against a resolute enemy. Nevertheless, the recent campaigns against the rebels in the extreme western colonies indicate the fact that its regeneration is already of some weight. On the other hand, it has no doubt been for the good of the Chinese people and government—the advance of the first in wealth, numbers, and security, and the consolidation and efficiency of the latter—that they have cultivated letters rather than arms, peace more than war.

All the general officers in the army have fixed places of residence,

at which the larger portion of their respective brigades

remain, while detachments are stationed at various points within

their command. The governor, major-general, and Banner

commandant have commands independent of each other, but

the tituh,OY major-general, exei-cises the principal military sway.

The navai officers have the same names as those in the army,

and the two are interchanged and promoted from one service to

the other. Admirals and vice-admirals usually reside on shore,

and despatch their subordinates in squadrons or single vessels

wherever occasion requires. This system must, ere long, give

place to a better division of the two arms with the building of

steam vessels and management of arsenals, when junks are

superseded.

The system of mutually checking the provincial officers is

also exhibited in their location. For example, in the city of

Canton the governor-general is stationed in the Xew city near

the collector of customs, while the lieutenant-governor and

Manchu general are so located in the Old city that should circumstances require they can act against the two first. The governor has the general command of all the provincial troops,

estimated to be one hundred thousand men, but the particukir

command of only five thousand, and they are stationed fifty

miles off, at Sliauking fu. The ts’uoiy A-ii/.n has five thousand

men under him in the Old city, which, in an extreme case,

would make him master of tlie capital, while his own allegiance

is secured by the antipathy between the Manchus and Chinese

preventing liim from combining with the latter. Again, the

governor-general has the power of condenming certain criminals

to death, but the vxincj-iiiuKj^ or death-warrant, is lodged

with tlie fatal, and the order for execution must be countersigned

by him ; his despatches to court must be also countersigned

b}’ his coadjutor. The general absence of resistance to

the imperial sway on the part of these high officers during the

two centuries of Manchu rule, when compared with the multiplied

intrigues and rebellions of the pashas in the Turkish

Empire, proves how well the system is concocted.

In order to enable the superior officers to exercise greater

vigilance over their inferiors, they have the privilege of sending

special messengers, invested with full power, to every part

of their jurisdiction. The Emperor himself never visits the

provinces judicially, nor has an Emperor been south of the

capital during the present century ; he therefore constantly

sends connnissioners or legates, called llncJuii, to all parts of the

Empire, ostensibly entrusted M’ith the management of a particular

business, but required also to take a general surveillance of

what is going on. The ancient Persians had a similar system

of commissioners, who M-ere called the eyes and ears of the

prince, and made the circuit of the empire to oversee all that

was done. There are numy points of resemblance between the

structure of these two ancient monarchies, the body of councillors

who assisted the prince in his deliberations, the presidents

over the provinces, the satraps, etc. ; but tlie Persians had not

the elements of perpetuity which the system of connnon schools

and official examinations <rive to the Chinese iiovernment.”

‘ RoUin’s Aricient Ilktory, Chap. IV. Manners of the Assyrians. Heeren’aAsiatic Researches, Vol. I., Chap. II.

TRAVELLINCJ DEPUTIES AND COMMISSIONKRS. 447

Governors in like manner send their deputies and agents, called weiyuen, over the province ; and even the prefects and intendants despatch their messengers. All these functionaries, during the time of their mission, take rank with the highest officers according to the quality of their employers; but the imperial connnissioners, who for one object or another are constantly passing and repassing through the Empire in every direction, exercise great influence in the government, and are powerful agents in the hands of the Emperor for keeping his proconsuls at their duty.

CHAPTER VIII. ADMINISTRATION OF THE LAWS

The preceding chapter contains a general view of the plan upon which the central and provincial governments of the Empire are constircted ; and if an examination of the conduct of oiRcers in every department shows their extortion, cruelty, and venalitv, it will not, in the opinion of the liberal-minded reader, detract from the general excellence of the theory of the government, and the sagacity exhibited in the system of checks designed to restrain the various parts from interfering with the well-being of the whole. In addition to the division of power and the restrictions upon Chinese officers already mentioned, there are other means adopted in their location and alternation 10 prevent combination and resistance against the head of the state. One of them is the law forbidding a man to hold any civil office in his native province, which, besides stopping all intrigue where it would best succeed, has the further effect of congregating aspirants for office at Peking, where they come in hope of obtaining some post, or of succeeding in the examination for the highest literary degrees. The central government could not contrive a better plan for bringing all the ambitious and talented men in the country under its observation before appointing them to clerkships in the capital, or scattering them in the provinces.

Moreover, no officer is allowed to marry in the jurisdiction under his control, nor own land in it, nor have a son, brother, or near relative holding office under him ; and he is seldom continued in the same station or province for more than three or four years, QVfanchus and (liinese are mingled together in high stations, and obligations are imposed on certain grandees

CHECKS PLACED UPON OFFICIMIDLDEKS. 449

to inform the Emperor of each other’s acts. Members of the imperial clan are required to attend the meetings of the Boards at the capita], and observe and report what they deem amiss or Qf interest to the Emperor and his council; while in all the upper departments of the general and provincial governments, a system of espionage is can-ied out, detrimental to all principles of honorable fidelity, such as we look for in officiajA, but not without some good effects in a weak despotism like China.

OThere is, besides this constant surveillance, a triennial catalogue made out of the merits and demerits of all officers in the Empire, which is submitted to imperial inspection by the Board of Civil Office. In order to collect the details for this catalogue, it is incumbent upon every provincial officer to report upon the character and cpialiiications of those under him, and the list, when made out, is forwarded by the govei-nor to the capital./

The points of character are arranged under six different heads, viz.: those wh(i are not diligent, the inefficient, the superficial, the untalented, superannuated, and diseased. ( According to the opinion given in this report, officers are elevated or degraded so many steps in the scale of merit, like school-boys in a class, and whenever they issue an edict are required to state how many steps they have been advanced or degraded, and how many times recorded. Officers are required to accuse themselves, when guilty of crime, either in their own conduct or that of their subordinates, and request punishment^ The results of this peculiar and patriarchal mode of teaching officers their duty will be best exhibited by quoting from a rescript of Taukwang’s, issued in February, 1837, after one of the catalogues had been submitted to his Majesty.

“The cabinet minister Cliangling lias strenuously exerted himself during a long lapse of years ; he has reached the eightieth year of his age, yet his energies are still in full force. His colleagues Pwan Shi-ngan and Muchangah, as well as the assistant cabinet minister Wang Ting, have invariably displayed diligence and attention, and have not failed in yielding us assistance. Tang Kin-chau, president of the Board of Office, has knowledge and attainments of a respectable and sterling character, and has shown himself public-spirited and intelligent in the performance of special duties assigned to him. Shi Chi-yen, president of the Board of Punishments, retains his usual strength and energies, and in the performance of his judicial duties has displayed perspicacity and circumspection. The assistant cabinet minister and governor of Chihli province, Kislien, transacts the affairs of his government with faithfulness, and the military force under his control is well disciplined. Husunge, the governor of Sliensi and Kausuh provinces, is cautious and prudent, and perrorms his duties with careful exa,ctness. iKpu, governor of Yunnan and Kweichau, is well versed in the affairs of his frontier government, and has fully succeeded in pre erving it free from disturbance. Linking, who is entrusted with the general charge of the rivers in Kiangnan, has not failed in his care of the embankments, and has preserved the surrounding districts from all disquietude. To show our favor unto all these, let the Board of Office determine on appropriate marks of distinction for them.

“Kweisan, subordinate minister of the Cabinet, is hasty and deficient, both in precision and capacity ; he is incapable of moving and acting for himself; let him take an inferior station, and receive an appointment in the second class of the guards. Yihtsih, vice-president of the Board of Works for Mukden, possesses but ordinary talents, and is incompetent to the duties of his present office; let him also take an inferior station, and be appointed to a place in the first class of guards. Narkinge, the governor-general of Hukwang, though having under him the whole civil and military bodies of two provinces, has yet been unable, these many days, to seize a few beggarly impish vagabonds : a’”ter having in the first instance failed in prevention, he has followed up that failure by idleness and remissness, and has fully proved himself inefficient. Let him take the lower station of governor in Hunan, and within one year let him, by the apprehension of Lan Ching-tsun, show that he is aroused to greater exertion.

s.

“Let all our other servants retain their present appointments. Among them Tau Shu, the governor of Kiangnan and Kiangsi, is bold and determined in the transaction of affairs, but has not yet attained enlarged views in regard to the salt department; Chung Tsiang, the governor of Fuhkien and Chehkiang, finds his energies failing; TSng Ting-ching, the governor of Kwangtung and Kwangsi, possesses barely an adequate degree of talent and knowledge ; and Shin Ki-hien, though faithful and earnest in the performance of his duties, has, in common with these others, been not very long in office.

*’ That all ministers will act with purity and devotedness of purpose, with public spirit and diligence, is our most fervent hope. A special edict.” ‘

‘ Chinese licposilor;/, Vol. VI. , p. 48.

niAKACTER OF CHINESE OFFICIALS. 451

I The effet’t of such confessions and examination of cliafacter iV to restrain the commission of outra<;eons acts of oppression; it is still further enforced by the privilege, common alike to censors and private subjects, of complaining to the Emperor of misdeeds done to them by persons in authority. Fear for their own security has suggested this multiplicity of checks, but the Emperor and his ministry have no doubt thereby impeded the efficiency of their subordinates, and compelled them to attend so much to their own standing that they care far less than they otherwise would foi* the prosperity of the people.*)

The position of an officer in the Chinese government can hardly be ascertained from the enumeration of his duties, nor can we easily appreciate, from a general account of the system, his temptations to oppress inferiors and deceive superiors.

His duties, as indicated in the code, are so minute, and often so contradictory, as to make it impossible to fulfil them strictly; it is found, accordingly, that few or none have ascended the slippery heights of promotion without frequent relapses. ^Degradation, when to a step or two and temporary, carries with it of course no moral taint in a country where the award for bribery is graduated to the amount received, without any reference to moral violation^, where the bamboo is the standard of punishment as well for error in judgment or remissness as for crime —only commuted to a fine in honor of official rank ; whereas a distinction in favor of the imperial race, the bamboo is softened to the whip and banishment mitigated to the pillory.’

‘ Chinese Repository, Vol. IV. , p. 59.

The highest officers have of course the greatest opportunity to oppress, but their extortions are limited by the venality and mendacity of the agents they are compelled to employ. Inferiors also can carry on a system of exactions if they keep on the right side of those above them. (.The whole class forma body of men mutually jealous of each other’s advance, where every incumbent endeavors to supplant his associate ; they all agree in regarding the people as the source of their profits, the sponge which all must squeeze, but differ in the degree to which they should carry on the same plan with each other. Although sprung from the mass of the people, the welfare of the community has little place in their thoughts. Their life is spent in ambitious efforts to rise upon the fall of others, though they do not lose all sense of character or become reckless of the means of advance, for this would destroy their chance of success] The game they play with each other and their imperial master is, however, a harmless one compared with what was done ill old Rome or in Europe four or five centuries ago, or even lately among the pashas and viziers of the sultans and shahs in Western Asia. To the honor of the Chinese, life is seldom sacrificed for political crime or envious emulation; no officer dreads a bowstring or a poisoned cup from his lord paramount, nor is he on the watch against the dagger of an assassin hired by a vindictive competitor. Whatever heights of favor or depths of umbrage he may experience, the servant of the Emperor of Chhia need not, in unproved cases of delinquency, fear for his life; but he not unfrequently takes it himself from conscious guilt and dread of just punishment.

The names and staiuiing of all officers are published quarterly by permission of government in the Red Book (which by an usual coincidence is bound in red), called the ” Complete Record of the Girdle Wearers” {Tshi jSkin Tslae/h Shif), comprised in four volumes, 12nio, to which are added two others of the Army and Bannermen. This publication was first issued at the command of Wanlih, of the Ming dynasty, about 15S0, and mentions the native province of each person, whether Chinese, Manchu, Mongol, or enrolled Chinese, describes the title of the office, its salary, and gives much general information. The publishers of the book expect that officers will inform them of the changes that take place in their standing, and sometimes omit to mention those who do not thus report themselves.

CAREER OF DUKE HO. 463

A memoir of the public life of a high officer in China would present a singular picture of ups and downs, but, on account of their notorious disregard of truth, Chinese documents are unsafe to trust entirely in drawing such a sketch. One of the most conspicuous men in late times was Duke IIo, the premier in the time of Macartney’s embassy, who for many years exercised a greater control over the counsels of a Chinese sovereign than is recorded of any other man during the present dynasty. This man was originally a private person, who attracted the notice of the Emperor by his comeliness, and secured it by his zeal in discharging the offices entrusted to him. With but few interruptions he gradually’ mounted the ladder of promotion, and for some years before Tvienlung’s death, when the hitter’s energies had begun to fail from age, was virtual master of the country. Staunton describes him as possessing eminent abilities ; ” the manners of Ilokwan were not less pleasing than his understanding was penetrating and acute, lie seemed indeed to possess the qualities of a perfect statesman.”‘ The favorite had gradually tilled the highest posts with his friends, and his well-wishers were so numerous in the general and provincial governments that some began to apprehend a rising in his favor when the Emperor died. Kiaking, on coming to the throne, began to take those cautious measures for his removal which showed the great influence he possessed ; one of these proceedings was to appoint him superintendent of the rites of mourning, in order, probably, that his official duties might bring him often to the palace.

After four years the Emperor drew up sixteen articles of impeachment, most of them frivolous and vexatious, though of more consequence in the eyes of a Chinese prince than they would have been at other courts. One article alleged that he had ridden on horseback up to the palace gate; another, that he had appropriated to his own household the females educated for the imperial harem; a third, that he had detained the reports of officers in time of war from coming to the Emperor’s eye, and had appointed his own retainers to office, when they were notoriously incompetent; a fourth, that he had built many apartments of nan-muh, a kind of laurel-wood exclusively appropriated to j-oyalty, and imitated regal style in his grounds and establishment; a fifth, that ” on the day previous to our

Itoyal Father’s announcement of our election as his successor,

Ilokwan waited upon us and presented the insignia of the newly

conferred rank—thereby betraying an important secret of state,

in hopes of obtaining our favor.” lie was also accused of having

pearls and jewels of larger size than those even in the Emperor’s

regalia. But so far as can be inferred from what was

published, this Cardinal AVolsey of China was, comparatively

speaking, not cruel in the exercise of his power, and the real

cause of his fall was evidenth’ his riches. In the schedule of his

confiscated property it was mentioned that besides houses, lands,

and other innnovable property to an amazing extent, not less

‘ Embassy to China, Vol. III., p. 26.

than one hundred and five millions of dollars in bullion and

geuls were found in his treasury, A special tribunal was instituted

for his trial, and he was allowed to become his own executioner,

while his constant associate was beheaded. These were

the only deaths, the remainder of his relatives and dependents

being simply removed and degraded. His power was no doubt

too great for the safety of his master if he had proved faithless

;

but his wealth was too vast for bis own security, even had he

been innocent. The Emperor, in the edict which contains the

sentence, cites as a precedent for his own acts similar condemnation

of premiers by three of bis ancestors in the present dynasty,

but nothing definite is known of their crimes or trials.’

Taukwang was more clement, or more fortunate than his father, and upon coming to the throne continued Tohtsin in power; this statesman bad held the premiership from 1815 to 1832, with but few interruptions, when he was allowed to retire at the age of seventy-five. He had served under three emperors, having risen step by step from the situation of clerk in one of the offices. His successor, Changling, experienced a far more checkered course, but remained in favor at last, and retired from the j)remiership in 1836, aged about seventy-nine. He became very popular with his master from his ability in quelling the insurrection of Jeliangir in Turkestan in 1 827. Even a few such instances of the honor in which an upright, energetic, and wise minister is regarded by prince and people have great influence in encouraging young men to act in the same way.

‘ Phiriese Repository^ Vol. III., p. 241.

LIFE AND CIIARACTEU OF MINISTEIl SUNT,, 453

Few Chinese statesmen have been oftener brought into the notice of western foreigners than Sung, one of the commissioners attached to Lord Macartney’s embassy, and a favorite of all its members. His lordship speaks of him then as a young man of high quality, possessing an elevated mind; and adds that ” during the whole time of our connection with him he has on all occasions conducted himself toward us in the most friendly and gentleman-like manner.” This was in 1703. In 1817 he is mentioned as one of the Cabinet ; but not long after, for some unknown reason, he was degraded by Kiaking to the sixth rank, and appointed adjiitaiit-general aiuoiig tlic Tsakliar Mongols ; from thence he memorialized his master respecting the ill conduct of some lamas, who had been robbing and murdering. Sung and his friends opposed the Emperor’s going to Manchuria, and were involved in some trouble on this account, the reasons of which it is difficult to understand. He was promoted, however, to be captain-general of Manchuria, but again fell under censure, and on his visit to his paternal estate at Mukden the Emperor took him back to the capital and appointed him to some important office. lie soon got into new trouble with the Emperor, who in a proclamation remarks that ” Sung is inadequate to the duties of minister of the imperial presence ; because, although he formerly officiated as such, he is now upward of seventy years of age, and rides badly on horseback ; ” he is therefore sent to Manchuria to fill his old office of captain-general. The next year the ex-minister and his adherents were involved in a long trial about the loss of a seal, and he was deprived of his command and directed to retire to his own Banner ; the real reasons of this disgrace were probably connected with the change of parties ensuent upon the accession of Taukwang.

Soon afterward Sung was restored to favor and made adjutant at Jell ho, after having been president of the Censorate for a month. He was allowed to remain there longer than usual, and employed his spare time in writing a book upon the newly acquired territory in Turkestan. In 1824 he was reinstated as president of the Censorate, with admonitions not to confuse and puzzle himself with a multiplicity of extraneous matters. In 1826 he was sent on a special commission to Shansi, and when he returned was honored with a dinner at court on new year’s day. He then appears as travelling tutor to the crown-prince, but where his royal highness went for his education does not appear; from this post we find him made president of the Board of Rites, and appointed to inspect the victims for a state sacrifice. He is then ordered to Jeh ho, from whence, in a fit of penitence, or perhaps from fear of a dun, he memorialized the Emperor about a debt of $52,000 he had incurred nearly thirty years before, which he proposed to liquidate by foregoing his salary of $1,000 until the arrears were paid up ; the Emperor was in good humor with the old man, and forgave him the whole amount, being as Bured, he says, of Sung’s pure official character. In this memorial, when recounting his services, the aged officer says that he has been twice commander-in-chief and governor of III, governor- general at Xanking, Canton, etc., but had never saved much.

NOTICE OF COMMISSIONER LIN, 457

Shortly after this he is recalled from Jeh ho and made ti-iuh of Peking, then president of the Board of War ; and in a few months he is ordered to proceed across the desert to Cobdo to investigate some affair of importance—a long and toilsome journey of fifteen hundred miles for a man over seventy-five years old. He returned the next year and resumed his post as president of the Board of war, in which capacity he acted as examiner of the students in the Russian College. In 1831 he was made president of the Colonial Office, and later received an appointment as superintendent of the’ Three Treasuries, but was obliged to resign from ill health. A month’s relaxation seems to have wonderfully restored him, for the Emperor, in reply to his petition for employment, expresses surprise that he should so Boon be fit for official duties, and plainly intimates his opinion that the disease was all sham, though he accedes to his request so far as to nominate him commander of one of the eight Banners. In 1832 Sung again became involved in intrigues, and was reduced to the third degree of rank; the resignation of Tohtsin and the struggle for the vacant premiership was probably the real reason of this new reverse, though a frivolous accusation of two years’ standing “was trumped up against him. He was restored again, after a few months’ disgrace, at the petition of a beg of a city in Turkestan, which illustrates, by the way, the influence which those princes exert. Old age now began to come upon the courtier in good earnest, and in 1833 he was ordered to retire with the rank and pay of adjutant, which he lived to enjoy only two years. Much of the success of Suui; was said to be owinu to his havin<r had a daughter in the harem, but his personal character and kindness were evidently the main sources of his enduring influence among all ranks of people and officers; one account says the IManchus almost worshipped him, and beggars clung to his chair in the streets to ask alms. It is wortriy of notice that in all his re-A-erses there is no mention made of any severer punishment than degradation or banishment, and in this particular the political life of Sung is probably a fair criterion of the usual fortune of high Chinese statesmen. The leading events in the life of Changling, the successor of Tohtsin, together with a few notices of the governor of Canton in 1833, Li llung-pin, are given in the Rej)ositorij.^ Commissioners Lin and Kivins; became more famous amontr foreigners than their compeers in the capital, from the parts they acted in the war with England in IS-iO, but only a few notices of their lives are accessible. Lin Tseh-sii was born in 1785, in Fuhchau, and passed through the literary examinations, becoming a graduate of the second rank at the age of nineteen, and of the third when twenty-six. After filling an

office or two in the Imperial Academy, he was sent as assistant

literary examiner to Iviangsi in 1816, and during three subsequent

years acted as examiner and censor in various places. In

1819 he filled the office of intendant of circuit, in Chehkiano^:

and after absence on account of health, he was, in 1823, appointed

to the post of treasurer of Iviangsu, in the absence of the incuml)ent. In 1820 he was made overseer of the Yellow River, but hearing of his mother’s death, resigned his office to mourn for her. After the period of mourning was finished he went to Peking and received the office of judge in Shensi; but before he had been in it a month he was made treasurer of Kiangsu, and before he could enter upon this new office he

heard of his father’s death, and was obliged to resign once

more. In 1832 he was nominated treasurer in Ilupeh, and

five months later transferred to the same office in Honan, and

six months after that sent to Iviangsu again. Three months after this third transfer he was reinstated overseer of the Yellow River, and within a short time elevated to be governor of Iviangsi, which he retained three years, and acted as governor-general of Liang Iviang two years more. In 1838 he was made governor-general of II u Kwang; and shortly after this ordered to come to Peking to be admitted to an imperial audience, and by special favor permitted to ride on horseback within the palace.

‘ Chinese Repository, Vol. IV., pp. 61-66.

He was at this audience appointed imperial commissioner to put down the opium trade and manage the affairs of the maritime frontier of Ivwantung, receiving at the time such plenipotentiary powers to act for the Emperor as had only once before been committed to a subject since 1644-, viz., when Changling was sent to Turkestan to (piell the insurrection. Lin’s ill success in dealing with the opium trade and its upholders in the British government reflect no discredit on his own ability, for the task was beyond the powers of the Empire ; but his fame even now stands high amono; the Cantonese. One incident showing his kindness to the crew of the Sunda, an English vessel lost on Hainan Island, on their arrival in Canton in October, 1839, while he was ligliting their consular officers,

gave a good insight into the candor of the man. In December,

1839, he was appointed governor-general of Liang Kiang ; but

succeeded to that of Liang Ivwang in February, 1840, In

October of the same year the seals of office were taken away,

and he was ordered to return to Peking. He remained, however,

till May of the next year to advise with Ivishen in his

difficult negotiations with the English. Lin left Canton in

May,’ 1841, leading two thousand troops to defend Ningpo, but

this role M^as not his foi’te. In July, 1842, he was banished to

111, but the sentence was suspended for a season hy giving him

a third time the oversight of the Yellow River. However, in

1844 we find him in lli, holding an inferior appointment and

trying to bring waste lands near the Mohammedan cities nnder

cultivation ; his zeal was rewarded the next year by a pardon,

and the year after that by the Jiigh post of governor-general of

Shensi and Kansuh, in wliich region he set himself to work to

reform the civil service and increase the revenue. In 1847 the

cares of office wore “upon him, so that he asked for a furlough

and went back to Fulichau, aged sixty-two. His ambition was

not yet satisfied, for he was made governor-general in Yunnan

in 1848, but his strength was not equal to its duties, and

he again retired in 1849. The young Emperor Hienfung,

CAREER OF COMMISSIONER KIYING. 459

startled at the rapid rise of the Tai-ping rebels, applied to the aged statesman to help him as he had his father, Lin responded to the call of his sovereign, but death came upon him before he reached Kwangsi, on the 22d of November, 1850, at the aiie of sixty-seven. More endurino; than some of his official acts was the preparation and publication of the History of Maritime Nations, with maps, in fifty books, in which he gave his countrymen all the details he could gather of other nations.’

Much less is known of the official life of Iviying than of Lin, but the Manchu proved himself superior to the Chinese in trinunino; his course to meet the inevitable and avoid the rocks his predecessor struck. In 1835 his name is mentioned as president of the Board of Revenue and controller of the Tsung-jin fu. lie was detained at the capital as commander-in chief of the forces there until 1842, when his Majesty sent him to Canton to take the place of Yihshan. He was ordered to stop at Ilangchau, however, on his way, and make a report of the condition of affairs; his memorials seem to have had great influence, for he was appointed joint commissioner with llipu in April of that year. At the negotiations of Xanking Iviying acted as chief commissioner, and was mainly instrumental in bringing the war to a conclusion. He proceeded to Canton in May, 18-43, to succeed llipu, and there acted as sole commissioner in negotiating the supplementary treaty and the commercial regulations with the British, returning to the capital in December, 1843. His prudence and vigor had great effect in calming the irritation of the people of Canton. On the arrival of the American plenipotentiary lie was vested with full powers to treat with Mr. Cushing, and soon after with the French and Swedish envoys, with all of whom he signed treaties. During the progress of these negotiations Ki Kung died and Iviying succeeded him.

‘ Compare Dr. Bowring in N. C. Br. R. A. Soc. Journal, Part III., Art VII. (Dec, 1852).

His administration as governor-general continued till January, 1848, when he returned to Peking to receive higher honors from the Emperor. In 1849 he went to Kiangsu to inquire into the salt department, and then to Northern Shansi to settle differences with the Mongols. From this period he held various posts in the cabinet and capital, busy in all court intrigues, and rather losing his good name, till he fell into disgrace.

In 1856, when the envoys of the four western Powers were at Tientsin, he entered into some underhand dealings against the policy of Kweiliang and Ilwashana, and was sent there as joint commissioner, he had hardly entered upon his functions by the presentation of his commission, when he suddenly returned to Peking against the Emperor’s will, and was ordered to take poison in the presence of the head of the Clan to avoid the ignominy of a public execution,’ Few Chinese statesmen in modern times have borne a higher character for prudence, dignity, and intelligence than Iviying, and the confidence reposed in him is creditable to his imperial master. In his demeanor, says Sir Thomas Wade, ” there was a combination of dignity and courtesy which more than balanced the deficiencies of a by no means attractive exterior.” The portrait of him has been engraved from a native painting made at Canton, and is a good one. It was kindly furnished for this work by J. P. Peters, Jr.

‘ Chinese Repository, passim. Oliphant, Lord Elgin’s Mission to China and Jiqmu, Cluii). XVIT. Minister Reed, in U. >S’. Dip. Correspondence, 1857-58.

AGED STATESMEN RETAINED IN OFFICE. 461

The facts of this man’s career are not all known, but his connection by birth with the Clan brought him into an entirely different set of influences from Lin, while his training removed him from the contact with the people which made the other so popular and influential. Both of them were good instances of Chinese statesmen, and their checkered lives as here briefly noticed resemble that of their compeers in the highest grades of official dignity. The sifting which the personnel of the Emperor’s employees in all their various grades receive generally brings the cleverest and most trustworthy to the top ; no one can come in contact with thein in state affairs without an increase of respect for their shrewdness, loyalty, and skill. One observable feature of the Chinese political world is the great age of the high officers, and It is not easy to account for their

being kept in their posts, when almost worn out, bj a monarch

who wished to have efficient men around liim, until we learn

how little real power he can arbitrarily exert over the details of

the branches of his government. It is somewhat explainable

on the ground that, as long as the old incumbents are alive, the

Emperor, being more habituated to their company and advice,

prefers to retain those whose competency has been proven by

their service. The patriarch, kept near the Emperor, is moreover

a kind of hostage for the loyalty of his following ; and the

latter, scattered throughout the provinces, can be managed and

moved about through him with less opposition : he is, still

further, a convenient medium thrcjugh which to receive the

exactions of the younger members of the service, and convey

such intimations as are thought necessary. Tlie system of

clientelage which existed among the Gauls and Franks is also

found in China with some modifications, and has a tendency to

link officers to one another in parties of different degrees of

power. The Emperor published an order in 1S33 against this

system of patronage, and it is evident that he would find it seriously interfering with his power were it not constantly broken up by changing the relations of the parties and sending them away in different directions. Peking is almost the only place where the ” teacher and pupils,’^ as the patron and client call each other, could combine to much purpose ; and the principal safeguard the throne seems to have against intrigues and parties around it lies in the conflicting interests arising among themselves, though a long-established oi- unscrujiulous favorite, as in the cases of Duke IIo and Suhshun in 1S55-C1, can sometimes manage to engross the whole power of the crown.

Notwithstanding the heavy charges of oppression, cruelty, bribery, and mendacity which are often brought against officers Math more or less justice, it must not be inferred that no good qualities exist among them. Thousands of them desire to rule equitably, to clear the innocent and punish the guilty, and exert all the knowledge and power they possess to discharge their functions to the acceptance of their master and their own good name among the inhabitants. Such officers, too, generally rise, while the cruelties of others are visited with degradation, The pasquinades which the people stick up in the streets indicate their sentiments, and receive much more attention than would such vulgar expressions in other countries, because it is almost the only way in which their opinions can be safely uttered. The popularity which upright officers receive acts as an incentive to others to follow in the same steps, as well as a reward to the person himself. The governor of Ivwangtung in 1833, Chu, was a very popular officer, and when he obtained leave to resign his station on account of age, the people vied with each other in showing their hearty regret at losing him.

The old custom was observed of retaining his boots and presenting him with a new pair at every city he passed through, and many other testimonials of their regard were adopted.

On leaving the city of Canton he circulated a few Aerses, ” to console the people and excite them to virtue,” for he heard that some of them w^ept on learning of his departure.

From ancient days, my fathers trod the path
Of literary fame, and placed their names
Among the wise ; two generations past,
Attendant on their patrons, they have come
To this provincial city. ‘ Here this day
‘Tis mine to be imperial envoy ;
Thus has the memory of ancestral fame
Ceased not to stimulate this feeble frame.
My father held an office at Lungchau.”

And deep imprinted his memorial there ;
He was the sure and generous friend
Of learning unencouraged and obscure.
When now I turn my head and travel back
In thought to that domestic hall, it seems
As yesterday, those early happy scenes—
How was he pained if forced to be severe 1

‘ The Chinese have a great affection for the place of their nativity, and coneider a residence in any other province like being in a foreign settlement.

They always wish to return thither in life, or have their remains carried and interred there after death.

VALEDICTORY VERSES OF GOVERNOR CHU. 463

‘^ A district in the province of Kwangsi.
From times remote Kwangtung has been renowned
For wise and mighty men ; but none can stand
Among them, or compare with Kiuh Kiang :’
Three idle and inglorious years are past,
And I have raised no monument of fame,
By shedding round the rays of light and truth,
To give the people knowledge. In this heart
I feel the shame, and cannot bear the thought.
But now, in flowered pavilions, in street
Illuminations, gaudy shows, to praise
The gods and please themselves, from year to year

The modern people vie, and boast themselves,
And spend their hard-earned wealth—and all in vain;
For what shall be the end? Henceforth let all
Maintain an active and a useful life,
The sober husband and the frugal wife.
The gracious statesman, “politic and wise,
Is my preceptor and my long-tried friend ,

Called now to separate, spare our farewell

The heartrending words affection so well loves.

That he may still continue to exhort

The people, and instruct them to be wise,

To practice virtue and to keep the laws

Of ancient sages, is my constant hope.

When I look backward o’er the field of fame

Where I have travelled a long fifty years,

The struggle for ambition and the sweat

For gain seem altogether vanity.

Who knoweth not that heaven’s toils are close,
Infinitely close V Few can escape.
Ah! how few great men reach a full old age f
How few unshorn of honors end their days I
Inveterate disease has twined itself
Around me, and binds me in slavery.
The kindness of his Majesty is high ‘
And liberal, admitting no return

‘ Kiuh Kiang was an ancient minister of state during the Tang dynasty. Hia imperial master would not listen to his advice and lie therefore retired. Rebellion and calamities arose. The Emperor thought of his faithful servant and sent for him ; but he was already dead.

• Governor Loo.

* In permitting Chu to retire from public life.
Unless a grateful heart ; still, still my eyes
Will see the miseries of the people—
Unlimited distresses, mournful, sad,
To the mere passer-by awaking grief.
Untalented, unworthy, I withdraw,
Bidding farewell to this windy, dusty world;
Upward I look to the supremely good—
The Emperor—to choose a virtuous man
To follow me. Henceforth it will oe well—
The measures and the merits passing mine;
But I shall silent stand and see his grace
Diffusing blessings like the genial spring.

Ilipn, Ki Kiing, the late governor-general of Ivwangtnng, and Shn, the prefect of Ningbo in 1842, are other officers who have been popular in late years. When Lin passed through Macao in 1839, the Chinese had in several places erected honorary portals adorned with festoons of silk and laudatory scrolls ; and when he passed the doors of their houses and shops they set out tables decorated with ^’ases of flowers, ” in order to manifest their profound gratitude for his coming to save them from a deadly vice, and for removing from them a dire cahnnity by the destruction and severe intei’diction of opium.” Alas, that his efforts and intentions should have been so fruitless! The Pehing Gazette frequently contains petitions from old officers describing their ailments, their fear lest they shall not be able to perform their duties, the length of their official service, and requesting leave of absence or permission to retire.

OFFICIAL PETITIONS AND CONFESSIONS. 465

It is impossible to regard all the expressions of loyalty in these papers, coming as they do from every class of officers, as heartless and made out according to a prescribed form; but we are too ready to measure them by our own standard and fashion, forgetting that it is not the defects of a system which give the best standard of its value and efficiency. Let us rather, as an honest expression of feeling, quote a few lines from a memorial of Shi, a censor in 1824: “Reflecting within myself that, notwithstanding the decay of my strength, it has still pleased the imperial goodness to employ me in a high office instead of rejecting and discarding me at once, I have been most anxious to eft’ect a cure, in order that, a weak old horse as I am, it might be still in my power, by the exertion of my whole strength, to recompense a ten-thousandth part of the benevolence which restored me to life/”

Connected with the triennial schedule of official merits and

demerits is the necessity the high officers of state are under of

confessing their faults of government ; and the two form a

peculiar and somewhat stringent check upon their intrigues and

malversation, making them, as Le Comte observes, “exceeding

circumspect and careful, and sometimes even virtuous against

their own inclinations.” The confessions reported in i\\Q Peking

Gazette are, however, by no means satisfactory as to the real extent

or nature of these acts ; most of the confessors are censors,

and perhaps it is in virtue of their office that they thus sit in

judgment upon themselves. Examples of the crimes mentioned

are not wanting. The governor-general of Chihli requested severe

punishment in 1S32 for not having discovered a plotting

demagogue who had collected several thousand adherents in his

and the next provinces ; his request was granted. An admiral

in the same province demands punishment for not having properly

educated his son, as thereby he went mad and wounded several people. Another calls for judgment upon himself because the Empress-dowager had been kept waiting at the palace gate by the porters when she paid her Majesty a visit. One officer accused himself for not being able to control the Yellow River; and his Majesty’s cook in 1830 requested punishment for being too late in presenting his bill of fare, but M^as graciously forgiven. The rarity of these confessions, compared with the actual sins, shows either that they are, like a partridge’s doublings, made to draw off attention from the real nest of malversation, or that few officers are willing to undergo the mortification.

The Emperor, in his character of vicegerent of heaven, occasionally imposes the duty of self confession upon himself.

‘ Chinese Repositunj , Vol. IV., p. 71.

Kiaking issued several public confessions during his reign, but the Gazette has not contained many such papers within the last thirty years. These confessions are drawn from him more by natural calamities, such as drought, freshets, epidemics, etc., than by political causes, though insurrections, tii-es, ominoug portents, etc., sometimes induce them. The personal character of the monarch has much to do with their frequency and phraseology. On occasion of a drought in 1817 the Emperor Kiaking said : ” The remissness and sloth of the officers of government constitute an evil which has long been accumulating.

It is not the evil of a day ; for several years I have given the most pressing admonitions on the subject, and have punished many cases which have been discovered, so that recently there appears a little improvement, and for several seasons the weather has been favorable. The drought this season is not perhaps entirely on their (the officers’) account. I have meditated upon it, and am persuaded that the reason why the aznro Heavens above manifest disapprobation by withholding rain for a few hundred miles only around the capital, is that the fifty and more rebels who escaped are secreted somewhere near Peking.

Hence it is that fertile vapors are fast bound, and the felicitous harmony of the seasons interrupted.” On the 14th of May, 1818, between five and six o’clock in the evening, a sudden darkness enveloped the capital, attended by a violent “wind from the southeast and much rain. During its action two intervals occurred when the sky became a lurid red and the air offensive, terrible claps of thunder startling the people and frightening the monarch. His astroloo;ers could not relieve his forebodings of evil, and he issued a manifesto to explain the matter to his subjects and discharge his own conscience. One sentence is w^orth quoting : ” Calumnious accusations cause the ruin and death of a multitude of innocent people; they alone are capable of provoking a sign as terrible as this one just seen. The wind coming from the southeast is proof enough that some great crime has been committed in that region, which the officials, by neglecting their duties, have ignored, and thereby excited the ire of Heaven,” ‘

^Anncdes de la Foi, No. 6, 1823, pp. 21-24.

PRAYER FOR RAIN OF TAUKWANG. 467

One of the most remarkable specimens of these papers is a prayer for rain issued by Taukwang, July 24, 1832, on occasion of a severe drought at the capital. Before publishing this paper he had endeavored to mollify the anger and heat of heaven by ordering all suspected and accused persons in the prisons of the metropolis to be tried, and their guilt or innocence established, in order that the course of justice might not be delayed, and witnesses be released from confinement. But these vicarious corrections did not avail, and the drought continuing, he was obliged, as high-priest of the Empire, to show the people that he was mindful of their sufferings, and would relieve them, if possible, by presenting the following memorial:

*’ Kneeling, a memorial is hereby presented, to cause affairs to be beard.

” Oh, alas ! imperial Heaven, were not the world afflicted by extraordinary changes, I would not dare to present extraordinary services. But this year the drought is most unusual. Summer is past, and no rain has fallen. Not only do agriculture and human beings feel the dire calamity, but also beasts and insects, herbs and trees, almost cease to live. I, the minister of Heaven, am placed over mankind, and am responsible for keeping the world in order and tranquillizing the people. Although it is now impossible for me to sleep or eat with composure, although I am scorched with grief and tremble with anxiety, still, after all, no genial and copious showers have been obtained.

“Some days ago I fasted, and offered rich sacrifices on the altars of the gods of the land and the grain, and had to be thankful for gathering clouds and slight showers; but not enough to cause gladness. Looking up, I consider that Heaven’s heart is benevolence and love. The sole cause is the daily deeper atrocity of my sins; but little sincerity and little devotion. Hence I have been unable to move Heaven’s heart, and bring down abundant blessings.

” Having searched the records, I find that in the twenty-fourth year of Kienlung my exalted Ancestor, the Emperor Pure, reverently performed a ‘great snow service’. I feel impelled, by ten thousand considerations, to look up and imitate the usage, and with trembling anxiety rashly assail Heaven, examine myself, and consider my errors; looking up and hoping that I may obtain pardon. I ask myself whether in sacrificial services I have been disrespectful? Whether or not pride and prodigality have had a place in my heart, springing forth there unobserved? Whether, from length of time, I have become remiss in attending to the affairs of government, and have been unable to attend to them with that serious diligence and strenuous effort which I ought ‘i Whether I have uttered irreverent words, and have deserved reprehension? Whether perfect equity has been attained in conferring rewards or inflicting punishments ? Whether in raising mausolea and laying out gardens I have distressed the people and wasted property ? Whether in the appointment of officers I have failed to obtain fit persons, and thereby the acts of government have been petty and vexatious to the people V Whether punishments have been unjustly inflicted or not V Whether the oppressed have found no meaus of appeal ? Whether in pc^rsecuting lieterodox sects the innocent have not been involved ? Whether or not the magistrates have insulted the people and refused to listen to their affairs ‘i Whctln’r, in the successive military operations on the western frontiers, then’ may imt liavu been the horrors of human slaughter for the sake of imperial rewards V Whether the largesses bestowed on the afflicted southern provinces were properly applied, or the people were left to die in the ditches ‘i Whether the efforts to exterminate or pacify the rebellious mountaineers of Hunan and Kwangtung were properly conducted ; or whether they led to the inhabitants being trampled on as mire and ashes ? To all these topics to which my anxieties have been directed I ought to lay the plumb-line, and strenuously endeavor to correct what is wrong ; still recollecting that there may be faults which have not occurred to me in my meditations.

” Prostrate I beg imperial Heaven (Jlmmcj Tieu) to pardon my ignoiance and stupidity, and to grant me self-renovation ; for myriads of innocent people are involved by me, the One man. My sins are so numerous it is difficult to escape from them. Summer is past and autumn arrived ; to wait longer will really be impossible. Knocking head, I pray imperial Heaven to hasten and confer gracious deliverance—a speedy and divinely beneficial rain, to save the people’s lives and in some degree redeem my iniquities. Oh, alas ! imperial Heaven, observe these things. Oh, alas ! imperial Heaven, be gracious to them. I am inexpressibly grieved, alarmed, and frightened. Reverently this memorial is presented.” ‘

This paper apparently intimates some acknowledgment of a

ruling power above, and before a despot like the Emperor of

China would place himself in such an equivocal posture before

his people, he would assure himself very thoroughly of their

sentiments ; for its effects as a state paper would be worse than

null if the least ridicule was likely to be thrown upon it. In this

case heavy showers followed the same evening, and appropriate

thanksgivings were ordered and oblations presented before the

six altars of heaven, earth, land, and grain, and the gods of

heaven, earth, and the revolving year.

‘ Chinese Bepository, Vol. I., p. 236.

METHODS OF PUHLISITINO EDICTS. 469

The orders of the court are usually transmitted in manuscript, except when some grand event or state cei’cmony requires a general i)i”oclanuition, in which cases the document is printed on yellow paper and published in both the Chinese and ]\[anchu languages, encin;led with a border of dragons. The governors and their suboi’dinatos, imperial commissioners, and collectoi’s of customs are the principal officers in the provinces who publish their orders to the people, consisting of admonitions, exhortations, regulations, laws, special ordinances, threatenings, and municipal j-e<|uirements. Standing laws and local regulations are often superbly carved on tablets of black marble, and placed in the streets to be ” held in everlasting remembrance,” so that no one can plead ignorance ; a custom which recalls the mode of publishing the Twelve Tables at Rome. Several of these

monuments, beautifully ornamented, are to be seen at Canton

and Macao. The usual mode of publishing the commands of

government is to print the document in large characters, and

, post copies at the door of the offices and in the streets in public

places, with the seal of the officer attached to authenticate them.

The sheets on -which they are printed being connnon bamboo

paper, and having no protection from the weather, are, however,

soon destroyed ; the people read them as they are thus

exposed, and copy them if they wish, but it is not unconnnon,

too, for the magistrates to print important edicts in pamphlet

form for circulation. These placards are written in an official

style, differing from common Meriting as much as that does

in English, but not involved or obscure. A single specimen of

an edict issued at Canton will suffice to illustrate the form of

such papers, and moreover show npon what subjects a Chinese

ruler sometimes legislates, and the care he is expected to take

of the people.

” Sii and Hwang, by special appointment magistrates of the districts of Nanliai and Pwanyn, raised ten steps and recorded ten times, hereby distinctly publish important rules for the capture of grasshoppers, that it may be known how to guard against them in order to ward off injury and calamity. On the 7th day of the Sth month in the 18th year of Taukwang [September 20, 1838], we received a communication from the prefect of the [department of Kwangchau], transmitting a despatch from their excellencies the governor-general and governor, as follows:
” ‘ During the fifth month of the present year flights of grasshoppers appeared in the limits of Kwangsi, in [the departments of] Liu, Tsin, Kwei, and Wu, and their vicinage, which have already, according to report, been clean destroyed and driven off. We have heard that in the department of Kauchau and its neighborhood, conterminous to Kwangsi, grasshoppers have appeared which multiply with extreme rapidity. At this time the second crop is in the blade (which if destroyed will endamage the people), and it is proper, therefore, immediately, wherever they are found, to capture and drive them off, marshalling the troops to advance and wholly exterminate them. But Kwang tung heretofore has never experienced this calamity, and we apprehend the officers and people do not understand the mode of capture; wherefore we now exhibit in order the most important rules for catching grasshoppers. Let the governor’s combined forces be immediately instructed to capture them secundum artem; at the same time let orders be issued for the villagers and farmers at once to assemble and take them, and for the magistrate to establish storehouses for their reception and purchase, thus without fail sweeping them clean away.

If you do not exert yourselves to catch the grasshoppers, your guilt will be very great ; let it be done carefully, not clandestinely delaying, thus causing this misfortune to come upon yourselves, transgressing the laws, and causing US again, according to the exigencies of the case, to promulgate general orders and make thorough examination, etc., etc. Appended hereto are copies of the rules for catching grasshoppers, which from the lieutenant-governor must he sent to the treasurer, who will enjoin it upon the magistrates of the depart-, meats, and he again upon the district magistrates.’

“Having received the preceding, besides respectfully transmitting it to the colonel of the department to be straightway forwarded to all the troops under his authority, and also to all the distri(-t justices, that they all with united purpose bend their energies to observe, at the j^roper time, that whenever the grasshoppers become numerous they join their forces and extirpate them, thus removing calamity from the people ; we also enjoin upon whomsoever receives this that the grasshoppers be caught according to these several directions, which are therefore here arranged in order as follows:

“‘1. When the grasshoppers first issue forth they are to be seen on the borders of large morasses, from whence they quickly multiiily and fill large tracts of land; they produce their young in little hillocks of black earth, using the tail to bore into the ground, not quite an inch in depth, which still remain as open holes, the whole somewhat resembling a bee’s nest. One grasshopper drops ten or more pellets, in form like a pea, each one containing a hundred or more young. For the young grasshoppers fly and eat in swarms, and this laying of their young is done all at once and in the same spot; the place resembles a hive of bees, and therefore it is very easily sought and found.

” ‘2. When the grasshoppers are in the fields of wheat and tender rice and

the thick grass, every day at early dawn they all alight on the leaves of the

grass, and their bodies being covered with dew are heavy and they cannot fly

or liop ; at noon they begin to assemble for flight, and at evening they collect

in one spot. Thiis each day there are three periods when tliey can be caught,

and the p(!ople and gentry will also have a short respite. The mode of catching

them is to dig a trench before them, the broader and longer tlio better, on

each side placing boards, doors, screens, and such like things, oiu> stretched

on after another, and spreading open each side. The whole multitude must

then cry aloud, and, holding boards in their hands, drive them all into the

trench; meanwhile those on the opposite side, provided with brooms and

rakes, on seeing any leaping or crawling out, must sweep them back; then

covering them with dry grass, burn them all up. Let the fire be first kindled

in the trench, and then drive; tlunn into it ; for if they are only buried upi

then many of them will crawl out of the openings and so escape.

EDICT FOR THE DESTRUCTION OF GRASSHOPPERS. 471

” ‘3. When the swarms of grasshoppers see a row of trees, or a close line of

flags and streamers, they nsnally hover over and settle ; and the farmers frequently

suspend red and white clothes and petticoats on long poles, or make

red and green paper flags, but they do not always settle with great rapidity.

Moreover, tliey dread the noise of gongs, matchlocks, and guns, hearing which

they fly away. If they come so as to obscure the heavens, you must let off

the guns and clang the gongs, or fire the crackers ; it will strike the front

ranks with dread, and flying away, the rest will follow them and depart.

” ‘4. When the wings and legs of the grasshoppers are taken off, and [their

bodies] dried in the sun, the taste is like dried prawns, and moreover, they

can be kept a long time without spoiling. Ducks can also be reared upon the

dried grasshoppers, and soon become large and fat. Moreover, the hill people

catch them to feed pigs ; tliese pigs, weighing at first only twenty catties

or so, in ten days’ time grow to weigh more than fifty catties ; and in rearing

all domestic animals they are of use. Let all farmers e.xert themselves and

catch them alive, giving rice or money according to the number taken. In

order to remove this calamity from your grain, what fear is there that you will

not perform this V Let all these rules for catching the grasshoppers hb diligently

carried into full effect.’

“Wherefore these commands are transcribed that all you soldiers and people

may be fully acquainted with them. Do you all then immediately in

obedience to them, when you see the proper time has come, sound the gong ;

and when you see the grasshoppers and their young increasing, straightway

get ready, on the one hand seizing them, and on the other announcing to the

oflicers that they collect the troops, that with united strength you may at once

catch them, without fail making an iitter extermination of them ; thus calamity

will be removed from tlie people. We will also then confer rewards upon

those of the farmers and people who first announce to the magistrates their

approach. Let every one implicitly obey. A special command.

” Promulgated Taukwang, 18th year, 8th month, and 15th day.’”

The concluding part of an edict affords some room for displaying

tlie character of the promulgator. Among other endings

are sucli as these : ” Hasten ! hasten ! a special edict.”

‘• Tremble liereat intenselj.” ” Lay not up for yourselves future

repentance by disobedience.” ” I will by no means eat my

words.” ” Earnestly observe these things.” In their state

papers Chinese officers are constantly referring to ultimate

tmiths and axioms, and deducing arguments therefrom in a

peculiarly national grandiloquent manner, though some of their

‘ Easy Lessons in Chinese, pp. 223-227. The effect of these instructions relating to grasshoppers does not appear to have equaled the zeal of the officers composing them ; swarms of locusts, however, are in general neither numerous nor devastating in China.

conclusions are preposterous iion-sequitvirs. Commissioner Lin addressed a letter to the Queen of England regarding the interdiction of opium, which began with the following preamble:” Whereas, the ways of Heaven are without partiality, and no sanction is allowed to injure others in order to benefit one’s self, and that men’s natural feelings are not very diverse (for where is he who does not abhor death and love life ?)—therefore your honorable nation, though beyond the wide ocean at

a distance of twenty thousand /?, also acknowledges the same

ways of Heaven, the same human nature, and has the like perceptions

of the distinctions between life and death, benefit and

injury. Our heavenly court has for its family all that is within

the four seas ; and as to the great Emperor’s heaven-like benevolence—

there is none whom it does not overshadow ; even

regions remote, desert, and disconnected have a part in his

general care of life and well-being.”

The edicts furnish almost the only exponents of the intentions

of government. They present several characteristic features

of the ignorant conceit and ridiculous assumptions of the

Chinese, while they betray the real weakness of the authorities

in the mixture of argument and command, coaxing and threatening,

pervading every paragraph. According to their phraseology,

there can possibly be no failure in the execution of every

order ; if they are once made known, the obedience erf the people

follows almost as a nuitter of course; while at the same

time both the writer and the people know that most of them are

not only perfunctory but nearly useless. The resj^onsibility of

the writer in a measure ceases witli the promulgation of his

orders, and when they reach the last in the series their efficiency

has well nigh departed. Expediency is the usual guide

for obedience ; deceiving superiors and oppressing the people

the rule of action on the part of many officials ; and their orders

do not more strikingly exhibit their weakness and igno-

I’ance than their mendacity and conceit. A large proportion of

well-meanino; officers are sensible too that all their efforts will

be neutralized by the half-paid, imscrupnlous retainers and

clerks in the ymnuns ; and this checks their energy.

It is not easy, without citing many examples accompanied

CHAKACTEK AND PHRASEOLOGY OF THE EDICTS. 478

with particular explanations, to give a just idea of the actual

execution of the laws, and show how far the people are secured

in life and pi’opcrty hy their i-ulei”s ; and perhaps nothing has

been the source of such differing views regarding the Chinese

as the predominance writers give either to the theory or the

practice of legislation. Old Magaillans has hit this point pretty

well when he says : ” It seems as if the legislators had omitted

nothing, and that they had foreseen all inconveniences that were

to be feared ; so that I am persuaded no kingdom in the world

could be better governed or more happy, if the conduct and

probity of the officers were but answerable to the institution of

the government. But in regard they have no knowledge of the

true God, nor of the eternal rewards and punishments of the

other woi-ld, they are subject to no remorses of conscience, they

place all their happiness in pleasure, in dignity and riches ; and

therefore, to obtain these fading advantages, they violate all

the laws of God and man, trampling under foot religion, reason,

justice, honesty, and all the rights of consanguinity and

friendship. rThe inferior officers mind nothing but how to defraud

their superiors, they the supreme tribunals, and all together

how to cheat the king ; which the}’ know how to do

with so much cunning and address, making use in their memorials

of words and expressions sb soft, so honest, so respectful,

so humble and full of adulation, and of reasons so plausible,

that the deluded prince frecpiently takes the greatest falsehoods

for solemn truths. So that the people, finding themselves continually

oppressed and overwhelmed without any reason, murmur

and raise seditions and revolts, which have caused so much

ruin and so many changes in the Empirp^ Nevertheless, there

is no reason that the excellency and perfection of the laws of

China should suffer for the depravity and wickedness of the

magistrates.”

‘

Magaillans resided in China nearly forty years, and his opinion

may be considered on the whole as a fair judgment of the

real condition of the people and the policy of their rulers.

* A new nistory of China, containing a description of tJie most considerable

particulars of that Empire, written by Gabriel Magaillans, of the Society oj

Jesus, Missionary Apostolick. Done out of French. Loudou, 1G88, p. 249.

474 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

“When one is living in the country itself, to hear the complaints

of individuals against the extortion and cruelty of their rulers,

and to read the reports of judicial murder, torture, and crime

in the Pekimj Gazette^ are enough to cause one to wonder how

such atrocities and oppressions are endured from year to year,

and why the sufferers do not rise and throw aside the tyrannous

power M’hich thus abuses them. But the people are generally

conscious that their rulers are no better than themselves,

and that they would really gain nothing by such a procedure,

and their desire to maintahi as great a degree of peace as possil)

le leads them to submit to many evils, which in western

countries would soon be remedied or cause a revolution. In

order to restrain the officers in their misrule. Section CCX. of the

code ordains that ” If any officer of government, whose situation

gives him power and control over the people, not only does

not conciliate them by proper indulgence, but exercises his

authority in a manner so inconsistent with the established laws

and approved usages of the Empire, that the sentiments of the

once loyal subjects being changed by his oppressive conduct,

they assemble tunniltuously and openly rebel, and drive him at

length from the capital city and seat of his government ; such

jeer shall suffer death.”

Ry the laws of China, every officer of the nine lanks must

be previously qualified for duty by a degree; in the ninth are

included village magistrates, deputy treasurers, jailers, etc., but

the police, local interpreters, clerks, and other attendants on the

courts are not considered as having any rank, and most of them

are natives of the place where they are employed. The oidy

degradation they can feel is to turn them out of their stations,

but this is hardly a palliative of the evils the people suffer from

thein ; the new leech is more thirsty than the old. The cause

of many of the extortions the people suffer from their rulers is

found in the system of purchasing office, at all times practised

in one shape or other, but occasionally resorted to by the government.

As the counterpart of this system, that of receiving

bribes must be expected therefore to prevail, and l)eing in fact

l)ractised by all grades of dignitaries, and sometimes even uplield

by them as a ” necessary evil,” it adds still more to the

EXTORTIONS PRACTISED BY MAGISTRATES. 475

bad consequences lesulting fi-oni tliis mode of obtaining oflBce.

Indeed, so far is tlie practice of “covering the eyes” carried in

China, that the people seldom approach their rulers without a

gift to mahe way for them.

One mode taken hy the highest ranks to obtain money is to

notify inferiors that there are certain days on M’hich presents

are expected, and custom soon increases these as nnich as the

case will admit. Subscriptions for objects of public charity or

disbursements, such as an inundation, a bad harvest, bursting

of dikes, and other similar things which the government must

look after, are not uufrequently made a source of revenue to

the incumbents by requiring nnich more than is needed ; those

who subscribe are rewarded by an enqDty title, a peacock’s

feather, or employment in some insignificant formality. The

sale of titular rank is a source of revenue, but the government

never attempts to subvert or interfere with the well-known

channel of attaming office by literary merit, and it seldom confers

much real power for money when unconnected with some

degree of fitness. The security of its own position is not to be

risked for the sake of an easy means of filling its exchequer,

yet it is impossible to say how far the sale of office and title is

carried. The censors inveigh against it, and the Emperor

almost apologizes for resorting to it, but it is nevertheless constantly

practised. The government stocks of this description

were opened during the late rebellions and foreign wars, as the

necessities of the case were a sufficient excuse for the disreputable

practice. In 1SS5 the sons of two of the leading hongmerchants

wei’e promoted, in consequence of their donations of

$25,000 each to repair the ravages of an inundation ; subscribers

to the amount of §;10,000 and upward were rewarded by an

honorary title, whose only privilege is that it saves its possessor

from a bambooing, it being the law that no one holding any

office can be personally chastised.’/

Besides the lower officers, the clerks in their employ and the

police, who are often taken from the garrison soldiery, are the

agents in the hands of the upper ranks to squeeze the people.

‘ Compare tlie Chinese Repository, Vol. XVIII., p. 207.

476 TIIK .AIIDDLK KINGDOM.

There are many clerks of vaiious duties and grades about all

the offices who receive small salaries, and every application and

petition to their sujDeriors, going through their hands, is attended

by a bribe to pass them up. The military police and

servants connected with the offices are not paid any regular

salary, and their number is great. In the large districts, like

those of Nanhai and Pwanyu, which compose the city of Canton

and suburbs, it is said there are about a thousand unpaid

police ; in the middle-sized ones l)etween tln*ee and four hundred,

and in the smallest from one to two hundred. This

number is increased by the domestics attending high officers as

part of their suite, and by their old acquaintances, who make

themselves known when there is any likelihood of being employed.

Among other abuses mentioned by the censors is that

of magistrates appointing their own creatures to fill vacancies

until those nominated by his Majesty arrive ; like a poor man

oppressing the poor, such officers are a sweeping rain. A

similar abuse arises when country magistrates leave their posts

to go to the provincial capital to dance attendance npon their

superiors, and get nominated to a higher place or taken into

their service as secretaries, because they will work for nothing

the duties of their vacated offices are meantime nsually left undone,

and underlings take advantage of their absence to make

new exactions. The governor fills vacant offices with his own

friends, and recommends them to his Majesty to be confirmed

;

but this has little effect in consolidating a system of oppression

from the constant changes going on. In fact, it is hard to say

which feature of the Chinese polity is the least disastrous to

good government, these constant changes which neutralize all

sympathy with the people on the part of rulers, or on the

other hand make it useless for seditious men to try to foment

rebellion.

The retinues of high provincial officers contain many dependents

and expectant supermnneraries, all subservient to

them ; among them arc the descendants of poor officers ; the

sons of bankrupt merchants who once possessed influence

;

dissipated, well bred, uiiscru]iulous men, who lend themselves

to everything flagitious ; and lastly, fortune-seekei’s without

AGENTS AND MODES OF OFFICIAL EXACTION. 477

money, T)ut posscssinp; talents of good order to he used bv any

one who will hire them. Such persons are not })ecnliar to

China^ and their employment is guarded against in the code,

but no law is more of a dead letter. (Officers of government,

too, conscious of their delinquencies, and afraid their posts will

soon be taken from them, of course endeavor to make the most

of their opportunities, and by means of such persons, who are

iisually well acquainted with the leading inhabitants of the

district, harass and thi’eaten such as are likely to pay well for

being left in quiet. It does them little or no good, however,

for if they are not removed they must fee their superioi-s, and

if they are punished for their misdeeds they are still more certain

of losing their wicked exactions. /

In the misappropriation of pul)lic funds, and peculation of all

kinds in materials, government stores, rations, wages, and salaries,

the Chinese officials are skilled experts, and are never surprised

at any disclosures.

Another common mode of plundering the people is for officers

to collude with bands of thieves, and allow them to escape for a

composition when arrested, or substitute other persons for the

guilty party in case the real offenders are likely to be condemned.

Sometimes these banditti are too strong even for an

upright magistrate, and he is obliged to overlook what he cannot

I’emedy ; for, however much he may wish to ari-est and

bring them to justice, his policemen are too much afraid of

their vengeance to venture nipon attacking them. An instance

of this occurred near Canton in 1S39, when a boat, containing a

clerk of the court and three or four police, came into the fleet

of European opium-ships to hunt for some desperate opium

smugglers Avho had taken refuge there. The fellows, hearing

of the arrival of the boat, came in the night, and surrounding

it took out the crew, bound their pursuers, and burned them

alive with the boat in sight of the whole fleet, to whom the

desperadoes looked for protection against their justly incensed

countrymen.

A censor in 1819, complaining of flagrant neglect in the administration of justice in Cliihli, says : ” Among the magistrates are many who, without fear or shame, connive at robbery and deceit. Formerly, horse-stealers were wont to conceal themselves in some secret place, but now they openly bring their plunder to market for sale. “When they perceive a person to be weak, they arc in the habit of stealing his property and returning it to him for money, while the officers, on hearing it, treat it as a trivial matter, and blame the sufferer for not being more cautious. Thieves are apprehended with warrants on them, showing that when they were sent out to arrest

thieves they availed of the opportunity to steal for themselves.

And at a village near the imperial residence are very many

plunderers concealed, M’ho go out by night in companies of

twenty or thirt}- persons, carrying weapons with them ; they

frequently call up the inhabitants, break open the doors, and

having satisfied themselves with what food and wine they can

obtain, they threaten and extort money, Avhich if they cannot

procure they seize their clothes, ornaments, or cattle, and depart.

They also frequently go to shops, and having broken

open the shutters impudently demand money, which if they do

not get they set fire to the shop with the torches in their

hands. If the master of the house lay hold on a few of them

and sends them to the magistrate, he merely imprisons and

beats them, and ‘ before half a month allows them to run

away.” ‘

The impaid retainers about the ycnmins a^e very numerous,

and are more di-eaded than the police ; one censor says they are

looked upon by the people as tigers and wolves ; he effected

the discharge of nearly twenty-four thousand of them in the

province of Cliihli alone. They are usually continued in their

places by the head magistrate, who, wheii he arrives, being

ignorant of the characters of those he must employ, re-engages

such as are likely to serve. In cases of serious accusation the

clei-ks frequently subpoena all who are likel}^ to be implicated,

and demand a fee for liberating them when their innocence is

shown. These myrmidons still fear the anger of their superiors

and a recoil of the people so far as to endeavor to save

appeai-ances by hushing up the matter, and liberating those

‘ Chinese licposituryy Vol. IV., p. 218.

VENALITY OF THE POLICE AND CLERKS. 479

unjustly cappreliended, with great protestations of conipassion.

It may be added that, as life is not lightly taken, thieves are

careful not to murder or maltreat their victims dangerously,

nor do the magistrates venture to take life outright by torture,

though their cruelties frequently result in death by neglect or

starvation. Money and goods are what both policemen and

officials want, not blood and rcA^enge. Parties at strife with

each other frequently resort to legal inq^lication to gratify their

ill-will, and take a pitiful revenge by egging on the police to

pillage and vex their enemy, though they themselves profit nowise

thereby.

The evils resulting from a half-paid and venal magistracy are

dreadful, and the prospects of their removal very slight. The

governor of Chihli, in 1829, memorialized the Emperor upon

the state of the police, and pointed out a remedy for many

abuses, one of which was to pay them fair salaries out^ of the

public treasury ; but it is plain that this remedy must begin

with the monarch, for until an officer is released from sopping

his superior he will not cease exacting from his inferiors. Experience has shown the authorities liow f^r it can safely be carried; while many officers, seeing how useless it is to irritate the people, so far as ultimately enriching themselves is concerned, endeavor to restrain their policemen. One governor issued an edict, stating that none of his domestics were allowed to browbeat shopmen, and thus get goods or eatables below the market price, and permitted the seller to collar and bring them to him

for punishment when they did so. When an officer of high

rank, as a governor, treasurer, etc., takes the seals of his post, he

ofttimes issues a proclamation, exhorting the subordinate ranks

to do as he means to do—” to look up and embody the kindness

of the high Emperor,” and attend to the faithful discharge of

their duties. The lower officers, in their turn, join in the cry,

and a series of proclamations, by turns hortative and mandatory,

are echoed from mastiff, spaniel, and poodle, until the cry ends

upon the police. Thus the prefect of Canton says : ” There are

hard-hearted soldiers and gnawing lictors who post themselves

at ferries or markets, or rove about the streets, to extort money

under various pretexts ; or, being intoxicated, they disturb and annoy the people in a hundred ways. Since I came into office iicre I have repeatedly commanded the inferior magistrates to act faithfully and seize such persons, but the depraved spirit still continues.”

A censor, speaking of the police, says : ” They no sooner get a warrant to bring up witnesses than they assail both plaintiff and defendant for money to pay their expenses, from the amount of ten taels to several scoi’es. Then the clei’ks must have double what the runners get; if their demands be not satisfied they contrive every species of annoyance. Then, again, if there are people of property in the neighborhood, they will implicate them. They plot also with pettifogging lawyers to get np accusations against people, and threaten and frighten them out of their money.” ‘

One natural consequence of such a state of society and such

a perve/sion of justice is to render the people afraid of all contact

with the officers of government and exceedingly selfish in

all their intercourse, though the latter trait needs no particular

training to develop it in any heathen comitry. It also tends to

an inhuman disregard of the life of others, and chills every emotion

of kindness which might otherwise arise ; for by making a

man responsible for the acts of his neighbors, or by involving a whole village in the crimes of an individual, all sense of justice is violated. The terror of being iinplieatcd in any evil that takes place sometimes prevents the people from cpienching fires until the superior authorities be first informed, and from relieving the distressed until it is often too late. Hence, too, it not unfrequently happens that a man who has had the ill fortune to be stabbed to death in the street, or who falls down from disease and dies, remains on the spot till the putrescence obliges the neighbors, for their own safety, to remove the corpse. A dead body floating down the river and washing ashore is likely to remain

on the banks until it again drifts away or the authorities

get it buried, for no unofficial person would voluntarily run the

risk of being seen interring it. One censor reports that when

he asked the people why they did not remove the loathsome ob-

‘ Compare Doolittle, Socidl Life of the CJit’nene, Vol. I., p. 330.

EFFECT OF IMUTUAL llESPONSIBILITY. 481

ject, tliej said: “Wo always let the bodies be either buried in

the bellies of fishes or devoured by the dogs ; for if we inform

the magistrates they are sure to make the owner of the ground

buy a coffin, and the clerks and assistants distress us in a hundred

ways/’ The usual end of these memorials and remonstrances is that the police are ordered to behave better, the clerks commanded to abstain from implicating innocent people and retarding the course of justice, and their masters, the magistrates, threatened with the Emperor’s displeasure in ease the grievance is not remedied : after which all goes on as before, and will go on as long as both rulers and ruled are what they are.

(The working out of the principle of responsibility accounts for many things in Chinese society and jurisprudence that otherwise appear completely at variance with even common humanity.

It makes an officer careless of his duties if he can shift the responsibility of failure upon his inferiors, who, at the same time,

he knows can never execute his orders; it renders the people

dead to the impulses of relationship, lest they become involved

in what they cannot possibly control and hardly know at the

time of its commission. Mr. Lindsay states that when he was

at Tsungming in 18r>2 the officers were very urgent that he

should go out of the river, and in order to show him the effect

of his non-compliance upon others a degraded subaltern was

paraded in his sight. ” His cap with its gold button was borne

before him, and he nuirched about blindfolded in procession between

two executioners, with a small flag on a bamboo pierced

through each ear. Uefore him was a placard with the inscription,

‘ By orders of the general of Su and Sung : for a breach

of militaiy discipline, his ears are pierced as a warning to the

multitude.’ Ilis offence was having allowed our boat to pass

the fort without reporting it.’^

During the first war with England, fear of punishment induced many of the subordinates to commit suicide when unable to execute their orders, and the same motive impelled their superiors to avoid the wrath of the Emperor in like fashion.

The Hong-merchants and linguists at Canton, during the old regime, were constantly liable, from the operation of this principle, to exactions and punishments for the acts of their foreign customers. One of them, Sunsliing, was put in prison and ruined because Lord Napier came to Canton from Whampoa in the boat of a ship which the unhappy merchant had ” secured” several weeks before, and the hnguist and pilot were banished for allowing what they could not possibly have hindered even if they had known it.

Having examined in this general manner the various grades

of official rank, we come to the people ; and a close view will

show that this great mass of human l)eings exhibits many equally

objectionable traits, while oppression, want, clannish rivalry,

and brigandage combine to keep it in a constant state of turmoil.

The subdivisions into tithings and hundreds are better

observed in rural districts than in cities, and the headmen of

those communities, in their individual and collective character,

possess great influence, from the fact that they represent the

popular feeling. In all parts of the country this popular organization

is found in some shape or other, though, as if everything

was somehow perverted, it not unfrequently is an instrument of

greater oppression than defence. The division of the people

into clans is far more marked in the southern provinces than in

those lying north of the Yangtsz’, and has had a depressing

effect upon their good government. It resembles in general the

arrangement of the Scottish clans, as do the evils arising from

their dissensions and feuds those which histoiy records as excited

among the Highlanders by the i-ivalry between Campbells

and Macgregors.

‘ H«eren, Asiatic Nations, Vol. II., p. 259. Raffles, Java, Vol. II. App.Biot, Vlmtructioii publique, pp. 59, 200.

VILLAGE ELDERS. 483

The eldership of villages has no necessary connection with the clans, for the latter are unacknowledged by the government, but the clan having the majority in a village generally selects the elders from among their number. This system is of very ancient date; its elementary details are given in the Chau-l’i, one of the oldest works extant in China ; Ileeren furnishes the same details for India and Kaffles for Java, reaching back in their duration to remote antiquity.’ In the vicinity of Canton the elder

is elected by a sort of town meeting, and holds his office during

good behavior, receives such a salary as his fellow villagers give

him, and may be removed to make way for another whenever

the principal persons in the village are displeased with his conduct.

His duties are limited to the supervision of the police

and general oversight of what is done in the village, and to be a

sort of agent or spokesman between the villagers and higher authorities; the duties, the power, and the rank of these officers

vary almost indeiinitel}’. The preponderance of one clan prevents

much strife in the selection of the elder, but the degree of

power reposed in his hand is so small that there is probably little

competition to obtain the dignity. A village police is maintained

by the inhabitants, under the authority of the elder ; the village

of Whampoa, for instance, containing about eight thousand inhabitants, pays the elder $300 salary, and employs fourteen

watchmen. His duties further consist in deciding upon the

petty questions arising between the villagers and visiting the

delinquents with chastisement, enforcing such regulations as are

deemed necessary regarding festivals, markets, tanks, streets,

collection of taxes, etc. The system of surveillance is, howevei-,

kept up by the superior officers, who appoint excise officers, grain

agents, tide-waiters, or some other subordinate, as the case may

require, to exercise a general oversight of the headmen.

The district magistrate, with the s’mnkien and their deputies

over the hundred, are the officers to whom appeals are carried

from the headmen ; they also receive the reports of the elders

respecting suspicious characters within their limits, or other

matters which they deem worthy of reference or remonstrance.

A similarity of interests leads the headmen of many villages

to meet together at times in a public hall for secret consultation

upon important matters, and their united resolutions are

generally acted upon by themselves or by the magistrates, as

the case may be. This system of eldership, and the influential

position the headmen occupy, is an important safeguard the

people possess against the extremity of oppressive extortion; while, too, it upholds the government in strengthening the loyalty

of those who feel that the only security they possess against

theft, and loss of all things from their seditious countrymen, is to uphold the institutions of the land, and that to suffer the evils of a bad magistracy is less dreadful than the horrors of a lawless brigandage.

The customs and laws of clanship perpetuate a sad state of

society, and render districts and villages, otherwise peaceful, the

scenes of unceasing tm-moil and trouble. There are only about

four hundred clans in the whole of China, but inasmuch as all

of the same surname do not live in the same place, the separation

of a clan answers the same purpose as multiplying it. Clannish

feelings and feuds are very much stronger in Kwangtung

and Fuhkien than in other provinces. As an instance which

may be mentioned, the Gazette contains the petition of a man

from Chauchau fu, in Kwangtung, relating to a quarrel, stating

that “four years before, his kindred having refused to assist

two other clans in their feuds, had during that period suffered

most shocking cruelties. Ten jiersons had been killed, and

twenty men and women, taken captives, had had their eyes dug

out, their ears cut off, their feet maimed, and so rendered useless

for life. Thirty houses Avere laid in ruins and three hundred

acres of land seized, ten thousand taels plundered, ancestral

temples thrown down, graves dug up, dikes destroyed, and water

cut off from the fields. The governor had oifered a reward of

a thousand taels to any one who would apprehend these persons,

but for the ten murders no one had been executed, for the

police dare not seize the offenders, whose nmnbers have largely

increased, and M’ho set the laws at defiance.” This region is

notorious for the turbulence of its inhal)itants ; it adjoins the

province of Fuhkien, and the people, known at Canton as Ilolio,

emigrate in large immbers to the Indian Archipelago or to other

provinces. The later Gazettes contain still more dreadful accounts

of the contests of the clans, and the great loss of life and

property resulting from their forays, no less than one hundred

and twenty villages having been attacked, and thousands of

people killed. These battles are constantly occurring, and the

authorities, feeling themselves too weak to put them down, are

()l)]iged to comiive at them and let the clans fight it out.

Ill will is kept up between the clans, and private revenges

gratified, by every personal annoyance that malice can suggest

SOCIAL EVILS OF CLANSHIP. 485

or opportniiity tempt. If an unfortunate individual of one clan

is met alone by his enemy, he is sure to be robbed or beaten, or

botli ; the boats or the houses of each party are plimdered or

burned, and legal redress is almost impossible. Graves are defaced

and tombstones injured, and on the annual visit to the

family sepulchre perhaps a putrid corpse is met, placed there

by the hostile clan ; this insult arouses all their ire, and they

vow deadly revenge. The villagers sally out with such arms as

they possess, and death and wounds are almost sure to result

before they separate. In Shunteh (a district between Canton

and Macao) upward of a thousand men engaged with spears

and iirearms on one of these occasions, and thirty-six lives were

lost ; the military were called in to quell the riot. In Tungkwan

district, southeast of Canton, thirty-six ringleaders w^ere

apprehended, and in 1S31 it was reported that four hundred

persons had been killed in these raids ; only twenty-seven of

their kindred appealed to government for redress.

When complaint is made to the prefect or governor, and investigation becomes inevitable, the villagers have a provision to meet the exigencies of the case, which puts the burden of the charges as equally as possible upon the whole clan. A band of ”devoted men ” are found —persons who volunteer to assume such crimes and run their chance for life—whose names are kept on a list, and they come forward and surrender themselves to government as the guilty persons. On the trial their friends employ witnesses to prove it a justifiable homicide, and magnify the provocation, and if tliei-e are several brought on the stand

at once they try to get some of them clear by proving an alibi.

It not unfrequently happens that the accused are acquitted—

seldom that they are executed ; transportation or a fine is the

usual result. The inducement for persons to run this risk of

their lives is security from the clan of a maintenance for their

families in case of death, and a reward, sometimes as high as

$300, in land or money when they return. This sum is raised

by taxing the clan or village, and the imposition falls heavily

on the poorer portion of it, who can neither avoid nor easily

pay it. This sj-stem of substitution pervades all parts of society,

and for all misdemeanors. A person was strangled in Macau in 183S for having been engaged in the opium trade, who had

been hired bj the real criminal to answer to liis name. Another

mode of escape, sometimes tried in sucli cases when the

person has been condemned, is to bribe the jailers to report him

dead and carry out his body in a cotiin ; but this device probably

does not often answer the end, as the turnkeys require a

larger bribe than can be raised. There can be little doubt of the

prevalence of the j)ractice, and for crimes of even minor penalty.

To increase the social CN^ils of clanship and systematized

thieving, local tyrants occasionally spring up, persons who rob

and maltreat the villagers by means of their armed, retainers,

who are in most cases, doubtless, members of the same clan.

One of these tyrants, named Yc/i, or Leaf, became quite notorious

in the district of Tungkwan in 1833, setting at defiance

all the power of the local authorities, and sending out his men

to plunder and ravage whoever resisted his demands, destroying

their graves and grain, and particularly molesting those who

would not deliver np their wives or daughters to gratify him.

lie was arrested through craft by the district magistrate at

Canton leaving his office and inducing him, for old acquaintance

sake, to return with him to the provincial city ; he was there

tried and executed by the governor, although it was at the time

reported that the Board of Punishments endeavored to save his

life because he had been in office at the capital. In order that

no attempt should be made to rescue him, he was left in ignorance

of his sentence until he was put into the sedan to be carried

to execution.

Clannish banditti often supply themselves with firearms, and prowling the countiy to revenge themselves on their enemies, soon proceed to pillage every one; in disarming them the government is sometimes obliged to resort to contemptible subterfuges, which conspicuously show its weakness and encourage a repetition of the evil. Parties of tramps, called /lakka, or ‘guests,’

roam over Ivwangtung provinc^e, s(juatting on vacant places

along the shores, away from the villages, and forming small

clannish communities ; as soon as they increase, occupying more

and more of the land, they l)egin to commit petty depredations

upon the crops of the inhabitants, and demand money for the

BANDITTI AND TRAMPS, 487

privilege of burying upon the unoccupied ground around tliem.

The government is generally unwilling to drive them ofP bv

force, because there is the alternative of making them robbers

thereby, and they are invited to settle in other waste lands,

which they can have free of taxation, and leave those they have

cultivated if strictly private property. This practice shows the

populousness of the country in a conspicuous manner. To these

evils nnist be also added the large bodies of floating l)anditti or

dakoits, who rove up and down all the watercourses ” like

sneaking rats ” and pounce upon defenceless boats. Hardly a

river or estuary in the land is free from these miscreants, and

lives and property are annually destroyed by them to a very

great amount, especially on the Yangtsz’, the Pearl Iviver, and

other great thoroughfares.

The popular associations in cities and towns are chiefly based

upon a community of interests, resulting either from a similarity

of occupation, wdien the leading persons of the same calling

form themselves into guilds, or from the municipal regulations

requiring the householders living in the same street to unite to

maintain a police and keep the peace of their division. Each

guild has an assembly-hall, where its members meet to hold the

festival of their patron saint, to collect and appropriate the subscriptions of the members and settle the rent or storage on the

rooms and goods in the hall, to discuss all public matters as well

as the good cheer they get on such occasions, and to confer with

other guilds. The members often go to a great expense in

emulating each other in their processions, and some rivalry

exists regarding their rights, over which the government keeps

a watchful eye, for all popular assemblies are its horror. The

shopkeepers and householders in the same street are required to

have a headman to superintend the police, watchmen, and beggars

within his limits. The rulers are sometimes thwarted in

their designs by both these forms of popular assemblies, and they

no doubt tend in many ways to keep up a degree of independence

and of nmtual acquaintance, which compels the respect of

the government. The governor of Canton in 1838 endeavored

to search all the shops in a particular street, to ascertain if there

Was opium in them ; but the shopmen came in a body at the iiead of the street, and told the policemen that they would on no account permit their shops to be searched. The governor deemed it best to retire. Those who will not join or agree to what the majority orders in these bodies occasionally experience petty tyranny, but in a city this must be comparatively trilling.

Several of the leading men in the city are known to hold meetings

for consultation in still more popular assemblies for different

reasons of a public and pressing nature. There is a building

at Canton called the Mhuj-lun Tang^ or ” Free Discussion

Hall,” where political matters are discussed under the knowledge

of government, which rather tries to mould than put them

down, for the assistance of such bodies, rightly managed, in

carrying out their intentions, is considerable, while discontent

would be roused if they were forcibly suppressed. In October,

1842, meetings were held in this hall, at one of which a public

manifesto was issued, here quoted entire as a specimen of the

public appeals of Chinese politicians and orators: “We have been reverently consulting upon the Empire— a vast and undivided whole ! How can Yfi^ permit it to be severed in order to give it to others ‘? Yet we, the rustic people, can learn to practice a rude loyalty; we too know to destroy the banditti, and thus requite his Majesty. Our Great Pure dynasty has cared for this country for more than two hundred years, during which a succession of distinguished monarchs, sage succeeding sage, has reigned ; and we who eat the herb of the field, and tread the soil, have for ages drank in the dew of imperial goodness, and been imbued with its benevolence. The people in wilds far remote beyond our influence have also felt this goodness, comparable to the heavens for height, and been upheld by this bounty, like the earth for thickness. Wherefore peace being now settled in the country, ships of all lands come, distant though they be from this for many a myriad of miles ; and of all the foreigners on the south and west there is not one but what enjoys the highest peace and contentment, and entertains the profoundest respect and submission.

” But there is that English nation, whose ruler is now a woman and then a man, its people at one time like birds and then like beasts, with dispositions more fierce and furious than the tiger or wolf, and hearts more greedy than the snake or hog—this people has ever stealthily devoured all the southern barbarians, and like the demon of the night llicy now suddenly exalt themselves.

MANIFESTO ISSUI^-O AGAINST THE ENGLISH. 489

During the reigns of Kienlung and Kiaking these English barbarians humlily besought entrance and permission to make a present ; they also presumptuously reijuested to have Chusan, but those divine personages, clearly perceiving their traitorous designs, gave them a peremptory refusal. From that time* linking themselves in with traitorous traders, they have privilj dwelt at Macao, trading largely in opium and poisoning our brave people.

They have ruined lives— how many millions none can tell ; and wasted property—how many thousands of millions who can guess! They have dared again and again to murder Chinese, and have secreted the murderers, whom they have refused to deliver up, at which the hearts of all men grieved and their heads ached. Thus it has been that for many years past the English, by their privily watching for opportunities in the country, have gradually brought things to the present crisis.

“In 1888, our great Emperor having fully learned all the crimes of the

English and the poisonous effects of opium, (quickly wished to restore the

good condition of the country and compassionate the people. In consequence

of the memorial of Hwang Tsioh-sz’, and in accordance to his request, he

specially deputed the public-minded, upright, and clear-headed minister, Lin

Tseh-sii, to act as his imperial commissioner with pleniijotentiary powers, and

go to Canton to examine and regulate. He came and took all the storedup

opium and stopped the trade, in order to cleanse the stream and cut

off the fountain ; kindness was mixed with his severity, and virtue was

evident in his laws, yet still the English repented not of their errors, and

as the climax of their contumacy called troops to their aid. The censor

Hwang, by advising peace, threw down the barriers, and bands of audacious

robbers willingly did all kinds of disreputable and villainous deeds. During

the past three years these rebels, depending upon their stout ships and effective

cannon, from Canton went to Fuhkien, thence to Chehkiang and on

to Kiangsu, seizing our territory, destroying our civil and military authorities,

ravishing our women, capturing our property, and bringing upon the inhabitants

of these four provinces intolerable miseries. His Imperial Majesty was

troubled and afflicted, and this added to his grief and anxiety. If you wish

to purify their crimes, all the fuel in the Empire will not suffice, nor would

the vast ocean be enough to wash out our resentment. Gods and men are

alike filled with indignation, and Heaven and Earth cannot permit them to remain.

“Recently, those who have had the management of affairs in Kiangnan have been imitating those who were in Canton, and at the gates of the city they have willingly made an agreement, peeling oH the fat of the people to the tune of .hundreds of myriads, and all to save the precious lives of one or two useless officers ; in doing which they have exactly verified what Chancellor Kin Ying-lin had before memorialized. Now these English rebels are barbarians dwelling in a petty island beyond our domains ; yet their coming throws myriads of miles of country into turmoil, while their numbers do not exceed a few myriads. What can be easier than for our celestial dynasty to exert its fulness of power and exterminate these contemptible sea-going imps, just as the blast bends the pliant bamboo? But our highest officers and ministers cherish their precious lives, and civil and military men both dread a dog as they would a tiger ; regardless of the enemies of their country or the griefs of the people, they have actually sundered the Empire and granted its wealth ; acts more flagitious these than those of the traitors in the days of the Southern Sung dynasty, and the reasons for which are wholly beyond out comprehension. These English barbarians are at bottom without ability, and yet we have all along seen in the memorials that officers exalt and dilate upon their prowess and obstinacy ; our people are courageous and enthusiastic, but the officers on the contrary say that they are dispirited and scattered : this is for no other reason than to coerce our prince to make peace, and then they will luckily avoid the penalty due for ‘ deceiving the prince and betraying the country.’ Do you doubt ? Then look at the memorial of Chancellor Kin Ying-lin, which says : ‘ They take the occasion of war to seek for self-aggrandizement ;’ every word of which directly points at such conduct as this.

“We have recently read in his Majesty’s lucid mandate that ‘There is no other way, and what is requested must be granted ; ‘ and that ‘ We have cou’ferred extraordinary powers upon the ministers, and they have done nothing but deceive us.’ Looking up we perceive his Majesty’s clear discrimination and divine perception, and that he was fully aware of the imbecility of his ministers ; he remembers too the loyal anger of his people. He has accordingly now temporarily settled all the present difficulties, but it is that, having matured his plans, he may hereafter manifest his indignation, and show to the Empire that it had not fathomed the divine awe-inspiring counsels.

” The dispositions of these rebellious English are like that of Hlie dog or sheep, whose desires can never be satisfied ; and therefore we need not inquire whether the peace now made be real or pretended. Remember that when they last year made disturbance at Canton they seized the Square fort, and thereupon exhibited their audacity, everywhere plundering and ravishing.

MANIFESTO ISSUED AGAINST THE ENGLISH. 491

If it had not been that the patriotic inhabitants dwelling in Hwaitsing and other hamlets, and those in Shingping, had not killed their leader and destroyed their devilish soldiers, they would have scrupled at nothing, taking and pillaging the city, and then firing it in order to gratify their vengeance and greediness : can we imagine that for the paltry sum of six millions of dollars they would, as they did, have raised the siege and retired ‘i How to be regretted ! That when the fish was in the frying-pan, the Kwangchau fu should come and pull away the firewood, let loose the tiger to return to the mountains, and disarm the people’s indignation. Letting the enemy thus escape on one occasion has successively brought misery upon many provinces: whenever we speak of it, it wounds the heart and causes the tears to fiow.

” Last year, when the treaty of peace was made, it was agreed that the English should withdraw from lieyond Lankeet, that they should give back the forts near there and dwell temporarily at Hongkong, and that thenceforth all military operations were forever to cease. Who would have supposed that before the time stipulated had passed away they would have turned their backs upon this agreement, taken violent possession of the forts at the Bogue with their ‘ wooden dragons ‘ [i.e. , ships of war]—and when they came upon the gates of the City of Rams with their powerful forces, who was there to oppose them ? During these three years we have not been able to restore things as at first, and their deceptive craftiness, then confined to these regions, has rapidly extended itself to Kiangnan. But our high and mighty Emperor, preeminently intelligent and discerning [lit. grasping the golden mirror and holding the gemmeous balances], consents to demean himself to adopt soothing counsels of peace, and therefore submissively accords with the decrees of Heaven. Having a suspicion that these outlandish people intended to encroach upon us, he has secretly arranged all things. We have respectfully read through all his Majesty’s mandates, and they are as clear-sighted as the sun and moon ; but those who now manage affairs are like one who, supposing the raging fire to be under, puts himself as much at ease as swallows in a court, but who, if the calamity suddenly reappears, would be as defenceless as a grampus in a fish-market. The law adjudges the penalty of death for betraying the country, but how can even death atone for their crimes V Those persons who have been handed down to succeeding ages with honor, and those whose memories have been execrated, are but little apart on the page of righteous history ; let our rulers but remember this, and we think they also must exert themselves to recover their characters. We people have had our day in times of great peace, and this age is one of abundant prosperity ; scholars are devising how to recompense the kindness of the government, nor can husbandmen think of forgetting his Majesty’s exertions for them. Our indignation svas early excited to join battle with the enemy, and we then all urged one another to the firmest loyalty.

“We have heard the English intend to come into Pearl River and make a

settlement ; this will not, however, stop at Chinese and foreigners merely

dwelling together, for men and beasts cannot endure each other ; it will be

like opening the door and bowing in the thief, or setting the gate ajar and

letting the wolf in. While they were kept outside there were many traitors

within ; how much more, when they encroach even to our bedsides, will our

troubles be augmented ? We cannot help fearing it will eventuate in something

strange, which words will be insi;flicient to express. If the rulers of

other states wish to imitate the English, with what can their demands be

waived V Consequently, the unreasonable demands of the English are going

to bring great calamity upon the people and deep sorrow to the country. If

we do not permit them to dwell with us under the same heaven, our spirits

will feel no shame ; but if we willingly consent to live with them, we may in truth be deemed insensate.

” We have reverently read in the imperial mandate, ‘There must indeed be some persons among the people of extraordinary wisdom or bravery, who can stir them up to loyalty and patriotism or unite them in self-defence ; some who can assist the government and army to recover the cities, or else defend passes of importance against the robbers ; some who can attack and burn their vessels, or seize and bring the heads of their doltish leaders ; or else some with divine presence and wisdom, who can disclose all their silly counsels and get to themselves a name of surpassing merit and ability and receive the highest rewards. We can confer,’ etc., etc. We, the people, having received the imperial words, have united ourselves together as troops, and practise the plan of joining hamlets and villages till we have upward of a million of troops, whom we have provisioned according to the scale of estimating the produce of respective farms; and now we are fully ready and quite at ease as to the result. If nothing calls us, then each one will return to his own occupation ; but if the summons come, juiuiug our strength iu force we will incite each other to e.7ort ; our brave sons and brothers are all animated to deeds of arms, and even our wives and daughters, finical and delicate as jewels, have learned to discourse of arms. At first, alas, those who guarded the passes were at ease and careless, and the robbers came unbidden and undesired; but now [if they come], we have only zealously to appoint each other to stations, and suppress the rising of the waves to the stillest calm [i.e., to exterminate them]. When the golden pool is fully restored to peace, and his Majesty’s anxiety for the south relieved; when the leviathan has been driven away, then will our anger, comparable to the broad ocean and high heavens, be pacified.

” Ah ! We here bind ourselves to vengeance, and express these our sincere intentions in order to exhibit great principles ; and also to manifest Heaven’s retribution and rejoice men’s hearts, we now issue this patriotic declaration. The high gods clearly behold : do not lose your first resolution.” ‘

This spirited paper was subsequently answered Ly the party desirous of peace, but the anti-English feeling prevailed, and the committee appointed by the meeting set the English consulate on fire a few days after, to prevent it being occupied.

There were many reasons at the time for this dislike; its further exhibition, however, ended with this attack, and has now pretty much died out with the rising of a new generation. The many secret as.^ociations existing among the people are mostly of a political character, but have creeds like religious sects, and differ slightly in their tenets and objects of worship.

‘ ChineHe Ilejwsitory, Vol. XI., p. 0:50.

POPULAR SECRET ASSOCIATIONS. 493

They are traceable to the system of clans, which giving the people at once the habit and spirit for associations, are easily made use of by clever men for their own purposes of opposition to government. Similar grievances, as local oppression, hatred of the Manchus, or hope of advantage, add to their mimbersand strength, and were they founded on a full acquaintance with the grounds of a just resistance to despotism, they would soon overturn the government ; but as out of an adder’s egg only a cockatrice can be hatched, so until the people are enlightened with regard to their just rights, no ]”)cnnanent melioration can be expected. It is against that leading feature in the ]\[anchu policy, isolation^ that these societies sin, which further prompts to systematic efforts to suppress them. The only objection the supreme government seems to have against the religion of the people is that it brings them together ; they may be Buddhists, nationalists, Jews, J\rohammedans, or Christians, apparently, if they will worship in secret and apart. On the other hand, the people naturally connect some religious rites with their opposition and cabals in order to more securely bind their members together.

The name of the most powerful of these associations is mentioned in Section CLXII. of the code for the purpose of interdicting it ; since then it has apparently changed its designation from the Pih-Uen l-kio, or ‘AVater-lily sect,’ to the Tien-ti hioui or Siui-hoh /itnii, i.e., ^ Triad society,’ though both names still exist, the former in the northern, the latter in the maritime provinces and Indian Archipelago; their ramifications take also other appellations. The object of these combinations is to overturn the reigning dynasty, and in putting this prominently forward they engage many to join them. About the beginning of the century a wide-spread rebellion broke out in the northwestern and middle provinces, which was put down after eight years’ war, attended with desolation and bloodshed ; since that time the AYater-lily sect has not been so often spoken of. The Triad society has extended itself along the coasts, but it is not popular, owing more than anything else to its illegality, and the intimidation and oppression employed toward those who will not join it. The members have secret regulations and signs, and uphold and assist each other both i)i good and bad acts, but, as might be inferred from their character, screening evil doers from just punishment oftener than relieving distressed members. The original designs of the association may have been good, but what was allowable in them soon degenerated into a systematic plan for plunder and aim at power.

The government of Hongkong enacted in 1845 that any Chinese living in that colony who was ascertained to belong to the Triad society should be declared guilty of felony, be imprisoned for three 3’ears, and after branding expelled the colony. These associations, if they cause the government much trouble by interfering with its operations, in no little degree, through the overbearing conduct of the leaders, uphold it by showing the people what may be expected if they should ever get the upper hand.’

The evils of lual-adiniiiistratiou are to be learned chiefly

from the memorials of censors, and although they may color

their statements a little, very gross inaccuracies would be used

to their own disadvantage, and contradicted by so many competitors,

that most of their statements may be regarded as having

some foundation. An unknown person in Kwangtung memorialized

the Emperor in 1838 concerning the condition of that

province, and drew a picture of the extortions of the lower

agents of government that needs no illustrations to deepen its

darkness or add force to its complaints. An extract from each

of the six heads into which the memorial is divided will indicate

the principal sources of popular insurrection in China,

besides the exhibition they give of the tyranny of the officers.

In his preface, after the usual laudation of the beneficence

and popularity of the monarch, the memorialist proceeds to express

his regret that the imperial desires for the welfare of his

subjects should be so grievously thwarted by the villany of his

officers. After mentioning the calamities which had visited the

province in the shape of freshets, insurrections, and conflagrations,

he says that affairs generall}’ had become so bad as to

compel his Majesty to send connnissioners to Canton repeatedly

in order to regulate them. ” If such as this be indeed the state

of things,” he inquires, ” what wonder is it if habits of plunder

characterize the people, or the clerks and under officers of the

public courts, as well as village pettifoggers, lay themselves out

on all occasions to stir up quarrels and instigate false accusations

against the good?” He reconnnends reform in six departments,

under each of which he thus specities the evils to beremedied: “‘

Compare Dr. Milne, in Transnctions R. A. S. of Gr. Brit, and Irel., Vol.I., p. 240 (182.”)). Journal of the R. A. R, Vol. I., p. 9;}, and Vol. VI., p.120. Chinese Repository, Vol. .XVIII., pp. 280-295. A. Wylie, in the Shttncjhiti Almtinacfor ISrA. Notes and Queries on C and ,/., Vol. III., p. M. T. T. Meadows, The Chinese and their Rebellions, London, 1850. Gustave Schlegel, Thian Ti Ilitui, the JIunfj-Jjeague or JTeaven-Earth-League. A Secrel Society with the Chinese in China and India, Hatavia, lS(i().

MEMORIAL UPON OFFICIAL OPPRESSION. 495

First.—(In the department of police there is great negligence

and delay in the decision of judicial cases. Cases of plunder

are very common, most of which are committed hy banditti

under the designations of Triad societies, Heaven and Earth

brotherhoods, etc. These men carry off persons to extort a

ransom, falsely assume the character of policemen, and in sinuilated

revenue cutters pass up and down the rivers, plundei’iiig

the boats of travellers and forcibly carrying off the women.

Husbandmen are obliged to pay these robbers an ” indemnity,”

or else as soon as the crops are ripe they come and carry off

the M’hole harvest. In the precincts of the metropolis, where

their contiguity to the tribunals prevents their committing depredations

in open day, they set tire to houses during the night,

and under the pretence of saving and defending the persons and

property carry off both of them; hence, of late years, calamitous

fires have increased in frequency, and the bands of robbers

multiplied greatly. In cases of altercations among the villagers,

who can only use their local patois, it rests entirely with the

clerks to interpret the evidence ; and when the magistrate is lax

or pressed with business, they have the evidence pre-arranged

and join with bullies and strife-makers to subvert right and

wrong, fattening themselves upon bribes extorted under the

names of ” memoranda of complaints,” ” purchases of replies,”

etc., and retarding indefinitely the decision of cases. They also

instigate thieves to bring false accusations against the good, who

are thereby ruined by legal expenses. While the officers of the

government and the people are thus separated, how can it be

otherwise than that appeals to the higher tribunals should be

increased aiid litigation and strife prevail ?

Second.—Magistrates overrate the taxes with a view to a deduction for their own benefit, and excise officers connive at non-payment. The revenue of Kwangtung is paid entirely in money, and the magistrates, instead of taking the commutation at a regular price of about five dollars for one hundred and fifty pounds of rice, have compelled the people to pay nine dollars and over, because the inundation and bad harvests had raised the price of grain.j In order to avoid this extortion the police go to the villagers and demand a douceur, when they will get them off from all payment. But the imperial coffers are not filled b;^ this means, and the people are by and hy forced to pay up their arrearages, even to the loss of most of their possessions.

Third.—There is great mismanagement of the granaries, and instead of being any assistance to the people in time of scarcity, they are only a soiu’ce of peculation for those who are charged with their oversight.

Fourth —The condition of the army and navy is a disgrace;

illicit traffic is not prevented, nor can insurrections be put down.

The only care of the officers is to obtain good appointments,

and reduce the actual nmnber of soldiers below the register in

order that they may appropriate the stores. The cruisers aim

only to get fees to allow the prosecution of the contraband traffic,

nor will the naval officers bestir themselves to recover the

pi-operty of plundered boats, but rather become the protectors

of the lawless and partakers of their booty. Robberies are so

common on the rivers that the traders from the island of Hainan,

and Chauchau near Fuhkien, prefer to come by sea, but

the revenue cutters overhaul them under pretence of searching

for contraband articles, and practise many extortions/*

Fifth.—The monopoly of salt needs to be guarded more

strictly, and the private manufacture of salt stopped, for thereby

the revenue from this source is materially diminished.

S’uih.—^\\Q inei-case of smuggling is so great, and the evils

flowing from it so multiplied, that strong measures nmst be

taken to repress it. Traitorous Chinese combine with depraved

foreigners to set the laws at defiance, and dispose of their opium

and other commodities for the pure silvci-. In this manner the

country is impoverished and every evil arises, the revenues of

the customs are diminished by the unnecessary number of persons

employed and by the fees they receive for connivance, i If

all these abuses can be remedied, ” it will be seen that when

there are men to rule well, nothing can be found beyond the

reach of their government.”

FREQUENCY OF KOBBEllY AXI) DAKOITY. 497

The chief efforts of officials are directed to put down banditti, and maintain such a degree of peace as will enable them to collect the revenue and secure the people in the quiet possession of their property ; but the people are too ready to resist them rulers, and this brings into operation a constant struggle of opposing desires. ( )nc side gets into the habit of resisting even the proper re(piisitions of the officers, who, on their part, endeavor in every way to reimburse their outlay in bribes to their superiors ; and the combined action of the two proves an insurmountable impediment to the attainment of even that degree of security a Chinese officer wishes.”i The general commission of robbery and dakoity, and the prevalence of bands of thieves, therefore proves the weakness of the government, not the insurrectionary disposition of the people. In one district of Ilupeh the governor reported in 1828 that “very few of the iuliabitants have any regular occupation, and their dispositions are exceedingly ferocious; they fight and kill each other on every provocation. In their villages they harbor thieves who flee from other districts, and sally forth again to plunder.” In the northern parts of Ivwangtung the people have erected high and strongly built houses to which they flee for safety from the attacks of robbers. These bands sometimes fall upon each other, and the feudal animosities of clanship adding fuel and

rage to the rivalry of partisan warfare, the destruction of life

and property is great. Occasionally the people zealously assist

their rulers to apprehend them, though their exertions depend

altogether upon the energy of the incumbent ; an officer in

Fuhkien is recommended for promotion because he had apprehended

one hundred and seventy-three persons, part of a band

of robbers which had infested the department for years, and

tried and convicted one thousand one hundred and sixty criminals,

most or all of whom were probably executed.

In 1821 there were four hundred robbers taken on the borders

of Fuhkien ; in 1827 two hundred were seized in the

south of the province, and forty-one more brought to Canton

from the eastward. The governor offered $1,000 reward for

the capture of one leader, and ,^3,000 for another. The judge

of the province put forth a proclamation upon the subject in

the same year, in w’hieh he says there were four hundred and

thirty undecided cases of robbery by brigands then on the calendar

; and in 1816 there were upward of two thousand waiting

his decision, for each of which there were perhaps five or six persons in prison or under constraint until the ease was settled.

These bands prowl in the large cities and commit great

cruelties. In 1830 a party of live hundred openly plundered a

rich man’s house in the western suburbs of Canton ; and in

Shunteh, south of the city, $600 were paid for the ransom of

two persons carried off by them. The ex-governor, in 1831,

was attacked by them near the Mei ling pass on his departure

from Canton, and plundered of about ten thousand dollars.

The magistrates of ITiangshan district, south of Canton, M-ere

ordered by their superiors the same year to apprehend five

hundred of the robbers. Priests sometimes harbor gangs in

their temples and divide the spoils with them, and occasionally

go out themselves on predatory excursions. Xo mercy is

shown these miscreaTits when they are taken, but the multiplication

of executions has no effect in deterring them from crime.

Cruelty to individual prisoners does not produce so nuich disturbance

to the general peace of the community as the forcible

attempts of officers to collect taxes. / The people have the impression

that their rulers exact more than is legal, and consequently

consider opposition to the demands of the tax-gatherer

as somewhat justifiable, which compels, of course, more stringent

measures on the part of the authorities, whose station depends

not a little on their punctuality in remitting the taxes. Bad

harvests, floods, or other public calamities _i-ender the people

still more disinclined to pay the assessments./ (In 184:5 a serious

disturbance arose near jS^ingpo on this accoimt, which with unimportant differences could probably be paralleled in every prefecture in the land. The people of Funghwa liien having refused to pay an onerous tax, the prefect of Ningpo seized three literary men of the place, who had been deputed to collect it, and put them in prison ; this procedure so irritated the gentry that the candidates at the literary examination which occurred at Funghwa soon afterward, on being assembled at the public hall before the cJuhicn, rose upon him and beat him severely.

DIFFICULTY IN COLLECTING TAXES. 499

They were still further incensed against him from having recently detected him in deceitful conduct regarding a ]>etition they had made at court to have their taxes lightened; he had kept the answer and pocketed the difference, he was consequently superseded by another magistrate, and a deputy of the intendant of circuit was sent with the new incumbent to restore order. But the deputy, full of his importance, carried himself so haughtily that the excited populace treated him in the same manner, and he barely escaped with his life to Xingpo.

The intendant and prefect, finding matters rising to such a pitch, sent a detachment of twelve hundred troops to keep the peace, but part of these were decoyed within the walls and attacked with such vigor that many of them were made prisoners, a colonel and a dozen privates killed, and two or three hundred wounded or beaten, and all deprived of their arms. In this plight they returned to Ningbo, and, as the distance is not great, apprehensions were entertained lest the insurgents should follow up their advantage by organizing themselves and ii>arching upon the city to seize the prefect. The officers sent immediately to Ilangchau for assistance, from whence the governor sent a strong force of ten thousand men to restore order, and soon after arrived himself. He demanded three persons to be given up who had been active in fomenting the resistance, threatening in case of non-compliance that he would destroy the town ; the prefect and his deputy from the intendant’s office were suspended and removed to another post.^ These measures restored quiet to a considerable extent.’

The existence of such evils in Chinese society would rapidly

disorganize it were it not for the conservative influence upon

society of early education and training in industry. The government

takes care to avail itself of this better element in public

opinion, knd grounds thereon a basis of action for the establishment

of good order. But this, and ten thousand similar

instances, only exhibit more strongly how great a work there is

to be done before high and low, people and rulers, will understand

their respective duties and rights ; before they will, on

the one hand, pay that regard to the authority of their rulers

which is necessary for the maintenance of good order, and, on

the other, resist official tyranny in preserving their own liberties.

If the character of the officers, therefore, be such as has been

^Mmionary Chronicle, Vol. XTV., p. 140. Smith’s China, p. 250.

briellv shown—open to hi-ibeiy, colluding with criminals, sycO’

phantic toward suporions, and cruel to the people ; and the constituents of society present so many repulsive features—opposing clans engaged in deadly feuds, bandits sccjuring the country to rob, policemen joining to oppress, truth universally disregarded, selfishness the main principle of action, and almost every disorganizing element but imperfectly restrained from violent outbreaks and convulsions, it will not be expected that the regular proceedings of the courts and the execution of the laws will prove on examination to be any better than the materials of which they arc composed. As civil and criminal cases are all judged by one officer, one court tries nearly all the questions which arise. A single exception is provided for in the code, wherein it is ordered that ” in cases of adultery, r()l)bery, fraud, assaults, breach of laws concerning marriage, landed property or pecuniaiy contracts, or any other like offences committed by or against individuals in the military class—if any of the people are implicated or concerned, the military commanding officer and the civil magistrate shall have a concurrent jurisdiction.” ‘

‘ For cases of this sort in Cambodia, R’musat makes mention of a variety of ordeals which curioush’ resemble tiiose resorted to on the continent of Europe lUuing the Middle Ages. Nouveaux Milanyes, Tome I., p. 126.

CHARACTER OF JUDICIAL PROCEEDINGS. 501

At the bottom of the judicial scale are the village elders. This incipient element of the democratic principle has also existed in India in much the same form ; but while its power ended in the local eldership there, in China it is only the lowest step of the scale. The elders give character to the village, and are expected to manage its public affairs, settle disputes among its inhabitants, arrange matters with other villages, and answer to the magistrates on its behalf. The code provides that all persons having complaints and informations address themselves in the first instance to the lowest tribunal of justice in the district, from which the cognizance of the affair may be transferred to the superior tribunals. The statement of the case is made in writing, and the officer is required to act upon it immediately; if the parties are dissatisfied with the award, the judgment of the lower courts is carried np to the superior ones. No case can be carried directly to the Emperor ; it must go through the

Board of Punishments ; old men and womeu, however, sometimes

present petitions to him on his journeys, but such appeals

seldom occur, owing to the ditficulty of access. The captains in

charge of the gates of Peking, in 1831, presented a memorial

upon the subject, in which they attribute the number of appeals

to the obstinacy of many persons in pressing their cases and

the remissness of local officers, so that even women and girls of

ten years of age take long journeys to Peking to state their

cases. The memorialists reconnnend that an order be issued requiriug

the two high provincial officers to adjudicate all cases,

either themselves or by a court of errors, and not send the complainants

back to the district magistrates. These official porters

must have been much troubled with young ladies coming to see

his Majesty, or perhaps were advised to present such a paper to

afford a text for the Emperor to preach from ; to confer such

power upon the governor and his associates would almost make

them the irresponsible sovereigns of the provinces. A2:)peals

frequently arise out of delay in obtaining justice, owing to the

amount of business in the courts ; for the calendar may be

expected to increase when the magistrate leaves his post to

curry favor with his superiors. The almost utter impossibility

of learning the truth of the case brought before tliern, either

from the principal parties or the witnesses, must be borne in

mind when deciding upon the oppressive proceedings of the

magistrates to elicit the truth. Mention is made of one officer

promoted for deciding three hundred cases in a year ; again of

a district magistrate who tried upward of a thousand within

the same period ; while a third revised and decided more than

six hundred in which the parties had appealed. What becomes

of the appeals in such cases, or whose decision stands, does not

appear ; but if such proceedings are common, it accounts for the

constant practice of sending appeals back to be revised, probably

after a change in the incumbent.

Eew or no civil cases are reported in the Gazette as being carried up to higher courts, and probably only a small proportion of them are brought before the authorities, the rest being settled by reference. Appeals to court receive attention, and it may be inferred, too, that many of them are mentioned in the Gazette in order that the carefnhiess of the supreme government in revising the unjust decrees against the people should be known through the country, and this additional check to malversation on the part of the lower courts be of some use. Many cases are reported of widows and daughters, sons and nephews, of murdered persons, to -whom the revenge of kindred rightly belongs, appealing against the unjust decrees of the local magistrates, and then sent back to the place they came from ; this, of course, was tantamount to a nolle 2^i’osequL At other times the wicked judges have been degraded and banished. One case is reported of a man who found his way to the capital from Fuhkien to complain against the magistracy and police, who protected a clan by whom his only son had been shot, in consideration of a ])i-ibe of $2,000. His case could not be understood at Peknig in consequence of his local pronunciation, which indicates that all cases are not reported in writing. One appeal is reported against the governor of a province fur not carrying into execution the sentence of death passed on two convicted murderers ; and ant»tlicr appellant requests that two persons, who were bribed to undergo the sentence of the law instead of the real murderers, might not be substituted—he, perhaps, fearing their subsequent vengeance.

All officers of government are supposed to be accessible at

any time, and the door of justice to be open to all who claim a

hearing ; and in fact, courts are held at all hours of night and

day, though the regular time is from sunrise to noonday. The

style of address varies according to the rank ; t((jin, or magnate,

for the highest, ta laoye, or gi-eat Sii-, and hioi/e, Sir, for the

lower grade, are the most common. A drum is said to be

placed at the inferior tribunals, as well as before the Court of

Representation in Peking, which the plaintiff strikes in order to

make his presence known, though from the mimberof hangerson

a!)Out the doors of official residences, the necessity of employing

this mode of attracting notice is rare. At the gate of the

governor-general’s palace are placed six tablets, having appropriate

inscriptions for those who have been wronged by wicked

officers ; for those who have suffered from thieves ; for persons

STYLE OF OFFICIAL ESTABLISHMENTS. 508

falsely accused ; for those who have been swindled ; for such as

have been grieved by other parties ; and lastly, for those who

have secret information to impart. The people, however, are

aware how useless it would be to inscribe their appeals upon

these tablets ; they write them out and carry them up to his

excellency, or to the proper official—seldom forgetting the indispensable present.

Magistrates are not allowed to go abroad in ordinary dress

and without their official retinue, which varies for the different

grades of rank. The usual attendants of the district magistrates

are lictors M’ith whips and chains—significant of the

punishments they inflict; they are preceded by two gong-

Mode of Carrying High Officers in Sedan.

bearers, who every few moments strike a certain number of

raps to intimate their master’s rank, and by two avant-couriers,

who howl out an order for all to make room for the great man.

A servant bearing aloft a lo^ or state uml)]-ella (of which a

drawing is given on the title-page), also goes before him, further

to increase his display and indicate his rank.’ A subaltern

usually runs by the side of his sedan, and his secretary and messengers,

seated in moi*e ordinary chairs or following on foot,

make up the cortege. The highest officers are carried by eight

bearers, others by four, and the lowest by two. Lanterns are

used at night and red tablets in the daytime, to indicate his

rank. Officers of higher ranks are attended by a few soldiers

Hee.’en informs us that a similar insignia was used in Persia in early days.

in addition, and in the capital are required to liave mounted

attendants if tliej ride in carts ; those who bear the sedan are

usually in a uniform of their masters devising. The parade

and noise seen in the provinces are all hushed in Peking, where

the presence of majesty subdues the glory of the officers which

it has created. When in court the officer sits behind a desk upon

which are placed writing materials ; his secretaries, clerks, and interpreters

being in waiting, and the lictors with their instruments

of punishment and torture standing around. Persons who are

brought before him kneel in front of the tribunal. His official

seal, and cups containing tallies which are thrown down to indicate

the number of blows to be given the culprits, stand upon

the table, and behind his seat a I’l-luu or unicorn, is depicted

on the wall. There are inscriptions hanging around the room,

one of which exhorts him to be merciful. There is little pomp

or show, either in the office or attendants, compared with our

notions of what is usual in such matters among Asiatics. The

former is a dirty, unswept, tawdry room, and the latter are beggarly’

and impertinent.

No counsel is allowed to plead, but the written accusations,

pleas, or statements required nmst be prepared by licensed

notaries, Avho may also read them in court, and who, no doubt,

take opportunity to explain circumstances in favor of their

client. These notaries buy their situations, and repay themselves

by a fee upon the documents ; they are the only persons

who are analogous to the lawyers in western countries, and

most of them have the reputation of extorting largely for their

services. Of course there is no such thing as a jury, or a chief

justice stating the case to associate judges to learn their

opinion ; nor is anything like an oath required of the witnesses.

The presiding officer can call in others to assist him in the

trial to any extent he pleases. In one Canton court circular it

is stated that no less than sixteen officers assisted the governorgeneral

and governor in the trial of one criminal. Tlie report of

the trial is as summary as the recital of tlic bench of judges is

minute: “II. E. Gov. Tang arrived to join the futai in examining

a criminal ; and at 8 a.m., under a salute of guns, the

doors of the great hall of audience were thrown open, and their

VKISONEK lON-‘JEMNEn TO TUE CANGUE, IN COURT.

(Bis son praying to take his place.)

MODE OF PROCEDURE IN LAW COURTS. 605

excellencies took their seats, supported by all the other func

tioiiaries assembled for the occasion. The police officers of the

judge were then directed to bring forward the prisoner, Yeli

A-sliun, a native of Tsingyuen hien ; he was forthwith brought

in, tried, and led out. The futai then requested the imperial

death-warrant, and sent a deputation of officers to conduct the

criminal to the market-place and there decapitate him. Soon after the officers returned, restored the death-warrant to its place, and reported that they had executed the criminal.”’ The prisoner, or his friends for him, are allowed to appear in every step of the inquiry prior to laying the case before the Emperor, and punishment is threatened to all the magistrates through whose hands it passes if they neglect the appeal ; but this extract shows the usage of the courts.

The general policy of officers is to quash cases and repress appeals, and probably they do so to a great degree by bringing extorted confessions of the accused party and the witnesses in proof of the verdict. Governor Li of Canton issued a prohibition in 1834: against the practice of old men and women presenting petitions—complaining of the nuisance of having his chair stopped in order that a petition might be forced into it, and threatening to seize and punish the presumptuous intruders if they persisted in this custom. lie instructs the district magistrates to examine such persons, to ascertain who pushed them forward, and to punish the instigators, observing, ” if the people are impressed with a due dread of punishment, they will return to respectful habits.” It seems to be the constant effort on the part of the officers to evade the importunities of the injured and shove by justice, and were it not owing to the perseverance of the people^ a system of irremediable oppression would soon be induced. But the poor have little chance of being heard against the rich, and if they do appeal they are in most cases remanded to the second judgment of the very officer against Mdiom they complain ; and of course as this is equivalent to a refusal from the high grades to right them at all, commotions gradually grow out of it, which are managed according to the exigencies of the case by those who are likely to be involved in their responsibility. The want of an irresistible police to compel obedience luis a restraining effect on the rulers^ who know that Lyncli law niav perhaps be retaliated upon them if they cxaspei’ate the people too far. A prefect was killed in Chauchan fu some years ago for his cruelty, and the people excused their act by saying that, it was done because the officer had failed to carry out the Emperor’s good rule, and they would not endure it longer. Amid such enormities it is no wonder if the peaceably disposed part of the community prefer to submit in silence to petty extortions and robberies, rather than risk the loss of all by unavailing complaints.

The code contains many sections regulating the proceedings

of courts, and provides heavy punishments for such officers as

are guilty of illegalities or cruelty in their decisions, but the recorded

cases prove that most of these laws are dead letters.

Section CCCCXYI. ordains that ” after a prisoner has been tried

and convicted of any offence punishable with temporary or perpetual

banishment or death, he shall, in the last place, be

brought before the magistrate, together with his nearest relations

and family, and informed of the offence M’hereof he

stands convicted, and of the sentence intended to be pronounced

upon him in consequence ; their acknowledgment of its justice

or protest against its injustice, as the case maybe, shall theii be

taken down in writing: and in every case of their refusing to

admit the justice of the sentence, their protest shall be made

the ground of another and more particular investigation.” All

capital cases must be reviewed by the highest authorities at the

metropolis and in the provinces, and a final report of the case

and decision submitted to the Emperor’s notice. Section

CCCCXY. requires that the law be quoted M’hen deciding. The

numerous wise and merciful provisions in tlie code for the due

administration of justice only place the conduct of its authorized

executives in a less excusable light, and prove how impossible it

is to procure an equitable magistracy by mere legal requirements

and penalties.

MODES AND EXTF>:T OF TORTUllIXG CULPRITS. 507

The confusion of the civil and criminal laws in the code, and the union of both functions in the same person, together with the torture and imprisonment employed to elicit a confession, serve as an indication of the state of legislation and jurisprudence. The common sense of a truthful people would revolt against the inliietioii of torture to get out the true deposition of a witness, and their sense of honor would resist the disgraceful exposure of the cangue for not paying debts. As the want of truth among a people indicates a want of honor, the necessity of more stringent modes of procedure suggests the practice of torture ; its application is allowed and restricted by several sections of the code, but in China, as elsewhere, it has always been abused. Torture is practised upon both criminals and witnesses, in court and in prison ; and the universal dread among the people of coming before courts, and having anything to do with their magistrates, is owing in great measure to the illegal sufferings they too often must endure. It has also a powerful deterrent effect in preventing crime and disorder. IN^either imprisonment nor torture are ranked among the five punishments, but they cause more deaths, probably, among arrested persons than all other means.

Among the modes of torture employed in court, and reported in the Gazette^ are some revolting to humanity, but which of them are legal does not appear. The clauses under Section I. in the code describe the legal instruments of torture ; they consist of three boards with proper grooves for compressing the ankles, and five round sticks for squeezing the fingers, to which may be added the bamboo; besides these no instruments of torture are legally allowed, though other ways of putting the question are so common fis to give the impression that some of them at least are sanctioned. Pulling or twisting the ears with roughened fingers, and keeping them in a bent position while making the prisoner kneel on chains, or making him kneel for

a long time, are among the illegal modes. Striking the lips

with sticks until they are nearly jellied, putting the hands in

stocks before or behind the back, wrapping the fingers in oiled

cloth to burn them, suspending the body by the thumbs and

fingers, tying tlie hands to a bar under the knees, so as to bend

the body double, and chaining by the neck close to a stone, are

resorted to when the prisoner is contumacious. One magistrate

is accused of having fastened up two criminals to boards by

nails driven through their palms ; one of them tore his hands loose and was nailed np again, which caused his death ; using beds of iron, boiling water, red hot spikes, and cutting the tendon Achilles are also charged against him, but the Emperor exonerated him on account of the atrocious character of the criminals. Compelling them to kneel upon pounded glass, sand, and salt mixed together, until the knees become excoriated, or simply kneeling upon chains is a lighter mode of the same infliction.

Mr. Milne mentions seeing a wretch undergoing this torture, his hands tied behind his back to a stake held in its position by two policemen; if he swerved to relieve the agony of his position, a blow on his head compelled him to resume it. The agonies of the poor creature were evident from his quivering lips, his pallid and senseless countenance, and his tremulous voice imploring relief, which was refused with a cold, mocking command, ” Suffer or confess.” ‘

Flogging is one of the five authorized punishments, but it is used more than any other means to elicit confession; the bamboo, rattan, cudgel, and whip are all employed. When death ensues the magistrate reports that the criminal died of sickness, or hushes it up by bribing his friends, few of whom are ever allowed access within the walls of the prison to see and comfort the sufferers. From the manner in which such a result is spoken of it may be inferred that immediate death does not often take place from torture. A magistrate in Sz’chuen being abused by a man in court, who also struck the attendants, ordered him to be put into a coffin which happened to be near, when suffocation ensued ; he was in consequence dismissed the service, punished one hundred blows, and transported three years. One check on outrageous torture is the fear that the report of their cruelty will come to the ears of their superiors, who are usually ready to avail of any mal-administration to get an officer removed, in order to fill the post. In this case, as in other parts of Chinese government, the dread of one evil prevents the commission of another.

‘ W. C. Milne, Life in China, Loudon, 1857, p. 99.

THE FIVE LEGAL PUNISHMENTS. 509

The five kinds of punishment mentioned in the code are from ten to fifty bloM’s with the lesser bamboo, from fifty to one hundred with the greater, transportation, perpetual banishishment, and death, each of them modified in various ways. The small bamboo weighs about two pounds, the larger two and two-thirds pounds. Public exposure in the Ida, or cangue, is considered rather as a kind of censure or reprimand than a punishment, and carries no disgrace with it, nor comparatively much bodily suffering if the person be fed and screened from the sun. The frame weighs between twenty and thirty pounds, and is so made as to rest upon the shoulders without chafing the neck, but so broad as to prevent the person feeding himself.

The name, residence, and offence of the delinquent are written upon it for the information of every passerby’, and a policeman is stationed over him to prevent escape. Branding is applied to deserters and banished persons.

Imprisonment and fines are not regarded as legal punishments, but rather correctives ; and flogging, as Le Comte says, ” is never wanting, there being no condemnation in China without this previous disposition, so that it is unnecessary to mention it in their condemnation ; this being always understood to be their first dish.” When a man is arrested he is effectually prevented from breaking loose by putting a chain around his neck and tying his hands.

Mode of Exposure in the Cangue.

Most punishments are redeemable by the payment of money if the criminal is under fifteen or over seventy years of age, and a table is given in the code for the guidance of the magistrate in such cases. An act of ofrace enables a criminal condemned even to capital punishment to redeem himself, if the oifenee be not one of wilful malignity ; but better legislation would have shown the good effects of not making the punishments so severe. It is also ordered in Section XA^IIL, that ” any offender under sentence of death for a crime not excluded from the contingent benefit of an act of grace, who shall have infirm parents or grandparents alive over seventy years of age, and no other male child over sixteen to support them, shall be recommended to the mercy of his Majesty ; and if only condemned to banishment, shall receive one hundred blows and

redeem himself by a fine/’ Many atrocions laws may be forgiven

for one such exhibition of regard for the care of decrepid

parents. Few governments exhibit such opposing principles of

actions as the Chinese : a strange blending of cruelty to prisoners

with a maudlin consideration of their condition, and a constant

effort to coax the peoj^le to obedience while exercising

great severity npon individuals, are everywhere manifest. One

M’ho has lived in the country long, however, knows well that

they are not to be held in check by rope-yarn laws or whimpering

justices, and unless the rulers are a terror to evil-doers, the

latter w\\\ soon get the upper hand. Dr. Field Avell considers

this point in his interesting notes describing his visit to a

yaniwi at Canton.’ The general prosperity of the Empire

proves in some measure the ecjuity of its administration.

Banishment and slavery are punishments for minor official

delinquencies, and few officers who live long in the Emperor’s

employ do not take an involuntary journey to Mongolia, Turkestan,

or elsewhere, in the course of their lives. The fates

and conduct of banished criminals are widely unlike; some

doggedly serve out their time, others try to ingratiate themselves

with their nuisters in order to alleviate or shorten the

time of service, while hundreds contrive to escape and return

to their homes, though this subjects them to increased punishment.

‘ Dr. H. M. Field, From Effypt fo Japan, Chap. XXIV., passim. New York,1877. CMtN’sp Rrpox’/fori/, Vol. TV., pp. 214, 2fiO.

CORRECTION OF MINOR OFFENCES. 511

Publicly Whipping a Thief through the Streets.

Persons banished for treason are severely dealt with if they return without leave, and those convicted of crime in their place of banishment are increasingly punished ; one man was sentenced to be outlawed for an offence at his place of banishment, but seeing that his aged mother had no other support than his labor, the Emperor ordered that a small sum should be paid for her living out of the public treasury. “Whipping a man through the streets as a public example to others is frequenty practised upon persons detected in robbery, assault, or some other minor offences. The man is manacled, and one policeman goes before him carrying a tablet, on which are written his name, crime, and punishment, accompanied by another holding a gong. In some cases little sticks bearing flags

are thrust through his ears, and the lictor appointed to oversee

the fulfilment of the sentence follows the executioner, who

strikes the criminal with his whip or rattan as the rap on the

gong denotes that the appointed number is not yet complete.

Decapitation and strangling are the legal modes of executing

criminals, though Ki Kung having taken several incendiaries at

Canton, in 1843, who were convicted of fii-ing the city for purposes

of plunder, starved them to death in the public squares of the city. The least disgraceful mode of execution is strangulation, which is performed by tying a man to a post and tightening the cord which goes round his neck by a winch ; the infliction is very speedy, and apparently less painful than hanging. The least crime for which death is awarded appears to be a third and aggravated theft, and defacing the branding inflicted for former offences. Decollation is considered more disgraceful than strangling, owing to the dislike the Chinese have of dissevering the bodies which their parents gave them entire. There are two modes of decapitation, that of simple decollation being considered, again, as less disgraceful than being ” cut into ten thousand pieces,” as the phrase Uikj cluli has been rendered. The military officer who superintends the execution is attended by a

guard, to keep the populace from crowding upon the limits and

prevent resistance on the part of the prisoners. The bodies are

given up to the friends, except when the head is exposed as a

warnini>; in a cao-e where the crime was committed. If no one

is present to claim the corpse it is buried in tlie public pit. The

criminals are generally so far exhausted that they make no resistance,

and submit to their fate without a groan—nmch more,

without a dying speech to the spectators. In ordinary cases

the executions are postponed until the autumnal assize, when

the Emperor revises and confirms the sentences of the provincial

governors; criminals guilty of extraordinary offences, as robbery

attended with murder, arson, rape, breaking into fortifications,

liiglivvay robbery, and piracy, may be immediately beheaded

M’ithout reference to court, and as the expense of maintenance

and want of prison room are both to be considered, it is the

fact that criminals condennied for one or other of these crimes

comprise the greater part of the um-eferred executions in the

provinces.

It is impossible to ascertain the number of persons executed

in China, for the life of a condennied criminal is thought little

of ; in the court circular it is merely reported that ” the execution

of the criminals was completed,” without mentioning their

crimes, residences, or names. At the autunmal revises at Peking

the number sentenced is given in the Gazette; 935 were

sentenced in 1S17, of which 133 were from the province of

MANNER OK PUHLIC EXECUTIONS. 613

Kwangtnng ; in 1820 tlicro wci’c r)Sl ; in 182S the number

was 789, and in the next year 579 names were marked off, none of

whose crimes, it is inferrible, are inchided in tlie list of offences

mentioned above. The condenniations are sent from the capital

by express, and tlie executions take place innnediately. Most

of the persons condemned in a province are executed in its capital,

and to hear of the death of a score or more of felons on a

single day is no uncommon thing. The trials are more speedy

than comports with our notions of justice, and the executions are

performed in the most summary manner. It is reported on one

occasion that the governor-general of Canton ascended his judgment-

seat, examined three prisoners brought before him, and

having found then\ guilty, condemned them, asked himself for

the death-warrant (for he temporarily filled the office of governor),

and, having received it, had the three men carried away

in about two hours after they were first brought before him. A

few days after he granted the warrant to execute a hundred

bandits in prison. During the terrible rebellion in Ivwangtung,

in 1854-55, the prisoners taken by the Imperialists were usually

transported to Canton for execution. In a space cf fourteen

months, up to January, 1856, about eighty-three thousand malefactors

suffered death in that city alone, besides those who died

in confinement ; these men were arrested and delivered to execution

by their countrymen, who had suffered untold miseries

through their sedition and rapine.

“When taken to execution the prisoners are clothed in clean

clothes.* A military officer is present, and the criminals are

brought on the ground in hod-like baskets hanging from a pole

borne of two, or in cages, and are obliged to kneel toward the

Emperor’s residence, or toward the death-warrant, which indicates

his presence, as if thanking their sovereign for his care.

The list is read aloud and compared with the tickets on the

prisoners ; as they kneel, a lictor seizes their pinioned hands

and jerks them i.pward so that the head is pushed down horizontally,

and a single down stroke with the heavy hanger severs

‘ Persons who commit suicide also dress themselves in their best, the common notion being that in the next world they will wear the same garments in which they died.Vol. I.—33

it from tlie neck. In the slow and ignominious execution, or

ling chih, the criminal is tied to a cross and hacked to pieces ; the

executioner is nevertheless often hired to give the coup-de-grace

at the first blow. It is not uncommon for him to cut out the

gall-bladder of notorious robbers and sell it, to be eaten as a

specific for courage. There is an official executioner besides the

real one, the latter being sometimes a criminal taken out of the

prisons.

Probably the number of persons who suffer by the sword of

the executioner is not one-half of those who die from the effects

of torture and privations in prisons. Not much is known of

the internal arrangement of the hells, as prisons are called ; they

seem to be managed with a degree of kindness and attention to

the comfort of the prisoners, so far as the intentions of government

are concerned, but the cruelties of the turnkeys and older

prisoners to exact money from the new comers are terrible. In

Canton there are jails in the city under the control of four different

officers, the largest covering about an acre, and capable

of holding upward of five hundred prisoners. Since it is the

practice of distant magistrates to send their worst prisoners up

to the capita], these jails are not large enough, and jail distempers

arise from over-crowding ; two hundred deaths were

reported in 1826 from this and other causes, and one hundred

and seventeen cases in 1831. Private jails were hired to accommodate

the number, and one governor reports having found

twenty-two such places in Canton where every kind of cruelty

was practised. The witnesses and accusers concerned in appellate

causes had, he says, also been brought up to the city and

imprisoned along with the guilty party, where they were kept

months Avithout any just reason. In one case, M’here a defendant

and plaintiff were imprisoned together, the accuser fell upon

the other and murdered him. Sometimes the officer is unable

from press of business to attend to a case, and confines all the

principals and witnesses concerned until he can examine them,

but the government takes no means to provide for them during

the interval, and many of the poorer ones die. No security’ or

bail is obtainable on the word of a witness or his friends, so

that if unable to fee the jailers he is in nearly as bad a case as the

ATROCIOUS MAXAGEMENT OF PRISONS. 515

criminal. Extending bail to an accused criminal is nearly unknown,

but female prisoners are put in charge of their husbands

or parents, who are held responsible for their appearance. Tliie

constant succession of criminals in the provincial head prison

renders the posts of jailers and turnkeys very lucrative. The

letters of the Roman Catholic missionaries from China during

the last century, found in the Lettres Edijiantes and Annales de

la Foi, contain many sad pictures of the miseries of prison life

there.

The prisons are arranged somewhat on the plan of a large

stable, having an open central court occupying nearly one-fourth

of the area, and small cribs or stalls covered by a roof extending

nearly around it, so contrived that each company of prisoners

shall be separated from its neighbors on either side night and

day, though more by night than by day. The prisoners cook for

themselves in the court, and are secured by manacles and gyves,

and a chain joining the hands to the neck ; one hand is liberated

in the daytime in order to allow them to take care of themselves.

Heinous criminals are more heavily ironed, and those in the

prisons attached to the judge’s office are Avorse treated than the

others. Each criminal should receive a daily ration of two

pounds of rice, and about two cents \vith which to buy fuel, but

the jailer starves them on half this allowance if they are unable

to fee him ; clothing is also scantily provided, but those who

have money can pi’ocure almost every convenience. Each crib

full of criminals is under the control of a turnkey, who with a

few old offenders spends much time torturing newly arrived

persons to force money from them, by which many lose their

lives, and all suffer far more in this manner than they do from

the officers of government. Well may the people call their

prisons hells, and say, when a man falls into the clutches of the

jailers or police, “the flesh is under the cleaver.”

There are many processes for the recovery of debts and fulfilment of contracts, some legal and others customary, the latter depending upon many circumstances irrelevant to the merits of the case. The law allows that debtors be punished by bambooing according to the amount of the debt. A creditor often resorts to illegal means to recover his claim, which give rise to tnanj excesses ; sometimes he quarters himself upon the debtor’s family or premises, at others seizes him or some of his family and keeps them prisoners, and, in extreme cases, sells them.

Unscrupulous debtors are equally skilful and violent in eluding, cheating, and resisting their incensed creditors, according as they have the power. They are liable, when three months have expired after the stipulated time of payment, to be bambooed, and their property attached. In most cases, however, disputes of this sort are settled without I’ecourse to government, and if the debtor is really without property, he is not imprisoned till he can procure it. The effects of absconding debtors are seized and divided by those who can get them. Long experience, moreover, of each other’s characters has taught them, in contracting debts, to have some security at the outset, and therefore in settling up there is not so much loss as might be supposed considering the difficulty of collecting debts. Accusations for libel, slander, breach of marriage contract, and other civil or less criminal offences are not all brought before the authorities, but are settled by force or arbitration among the people themselves and their elders.

The nominal salaries of Chinese officers have already been

stated (p. 294). It is a common opinion among the people that

on an average they receive about ten times their salaries ; in

some cases they pay thirty, forty and more thousand dollars

beforehand for the situation. One encouragement to the

harassing vexations of the official secretaries and police is the

dislike of the people to carry their cases before officers who

they know are almost compelled to fleece and peel them ; they

think it cheaper and safer to bear a small exaction from an

underling than run the risk of a greater from his master.

If the preventives against popular violence which the supreme

government has placed around itself could be strengthened

by an efficient military force, its power would be well

secured indeed ; but then, as in Kussia, it would probably become,

by degrees, an intolerable tyranny. The troops are, in

fact, everywhere present, ostensibly to support the laws, protect

the innocent, and punish the guilty ; such of them as are employed

by the authorities as guards and policemen are, on the

whole, efficient and coni-tcous, though iniseralily paid, while the regiments in garrison are contemptible to both friend and foe.

LATENT INFLUENCE OF PUI5LIC OPINION. 517

The efficacy of the system of che<*ks upon the high courts and provincial officers is ijicreased by their intrigues and contlicting ambition, and long expeiuence has shown that the Emperor’s power has little to fear from proconsular rebellion. The inefficiency of the army is a serious evil to the people in one respect, for more power in that arm would repress banditti and pirates; while the sober part of the community would cooperate in a hearty effort to quell them. The greatest difficulty the Emperor finds in upholding his authority lies in the general want of integrity in the officers he employs ; good laws may be made, but he has few upright agents to execute them. This has been abundantly manifested in the laws against opium and gambling ; no one could be found to carry them into execution, though everybody assented to their propriety^

The chief security on the side of the people against an unmitigated oppression such as now exists in Turkey, besides those already pointed out, lies as much as anywhere in their general intelligence of the true principles on which the government is founded and should be executed. With public opinion on its side the government is a strong one, but none is less able to execute its designs when it runs counter to that opinion, although those designs may be excellent and well intended.

Elements of discord are found in the social system which would

soon effect its ruin were they not counteracted by other influences,

and the body politic goes on like a heavy, shackly, lumbering

van, which every moment threatens a crashing, crumbling

fall, yet goes on still tottering, owing to the original goodness

of its construction. From the enormous population of this

ancient van, it is evident that any attempt to remodel it mut^t

seriousl}^ affect one or the other of its parts, and that when

once upset it may be impossible to reconstruct it in its original

form. There is encouragement to hope that the general intelligence

and shrewdness of the government and people of China,

their language, institutions, industry, and love of peace, will ail

act as powerful conservative influences in working out the

changes which cannot now be long delayed ; and that she will luaintaiii her unitv and industry while going through a thorough reform of her political, social, and religious systems.

It is very difficult to convey to the reader a fair view of the administration of the laws in China. Notwithstanding the cruelty of officers to the criminals before them, they are not all to be considered as tyrants ; because insurrections arise, attended

with great loss of life, it must not be supposed that

society is everywhere disorganized ; the Chinese are so prone

to falsify that it is difficult to ascertain the truth, yet it must

not be inferred that every sentence is a lie ; selfishness is a

prime motive for their actions, yet charity, kindness, filial

affection, and the unbought courtesies of life still exist among

them. Although there is an appalling amount of evil and crime

in every shape, it is mixed with some redeeming traits ; and in

China, as elsewhere, good and bad are intermingled, [^ome of

the evils in the social system arise from the operation of the

principles of mutual responsibility, while this very feature produces

sundry good effects in restraining people who have no

higher motive than the fear of injuring the innocent;^ TTeliear

so much of the shocking cruelties of courts and prisons that

the vast number of cases before the bench are all supposed to

exhibit the same fatiguing reiteration of suffering, injustice,

bribery, and cruelty. One must live in the country to see how

the antagonistic j^rinciples found in Chinese society act and react

upon each other, and are affected by the wicked passions of the heart. Officers and people are bad almost beyond belief to one conversant only with the courtesy, justice, purity, and sincerity of Christian governments and society; and yet we think they are not as bad as the old Greeks and Romans, and have no more injustice or torture in their courts, nor impurity or mendacity in their lives. As in our own land we are apt to forget that the recitals of crimes and outrages which the daily papers bring before our eyes furnish no index of the general condition of society, so in China, where that condition is immeasurably worse, we must be mindful that this is likewise true.

CHAPTER IX.EDUCATION AND LITERARY EXAMINATIONS

Among the points relating to the Chinese people which have attracted the attention of students in the history of intellectual development, their long duration and literary institutions have probably taken precedenceJ To estimate the causes of the first requires much knowledge of the second, and from them one is gradually led onward to an examination of the government, religion, and social life of this people in the succeeding epochs of their existence. The inquiry will reveal much that is instructive, and show us that, if they have not equaled many other nations in the arts and adornments of life, they have attained a high degree of comfort and developed much that is creditable in education, the science of rule, and security of life and property.

Although the powers of mind exhibited by the greatest

writers in China are confessedly inferior to those of Greece

and Rome for genius and original conceptions, the good influence

exerted by them over their countrymen is far greater, even

at this day, than was ever obtained by western sages, as Plato,

Aristotle, or Seneca. The thoroughness of Chinese education,

the purity and effectiveness of the examinations, or the accuracv

and excellency of the literature must not be compared with

those of modern Christian countries, for there is really no common

measure between the two ; they must be taken with other

parts of Chinese character, and comparisons drawn, if necessary,

with nations possessing similar opportunities. (The importance

of generally instructing the people was acknowledged even before

the time of Confucius, and practised to a good degree at an age

when other nations in the world had no such system; and although in his day feudal institutions prevailed, and offices and rank were not attainable in the same manner as at present, on the other hand magistrates and noblemen deemed it necessary to be well acquainted with their ancient writings’. It is said in the Booh of RitcH (b.c. 1200), ” that for the purposes of education among the ancients, villages had their schools, districts their academies, departments their colleges, and principalities their universities.” This, so far as we know, was altogether superior to what obtained among the Jews, Persians, and Svrians of the same period.’

TTlie great stimulus to literary pursuits is the hope thereby of

] obtaining office and honor, and the only course of education

followed is the classical and historical one prescribed by law.

Owing to this undue attention to the classics, the minds of the

scliolars are not symmetrically trained, and they disparage other

branches of literature which do not directly advance this great

1 end, /’^very department of letters, except jurisprudence, his-

* t^ tory, and official statistics, is disesteemed in comparison ; and

the literary graduate of fourscore will be found deficient in

most branches of general learning, ignorant of hundreds of

common things and events in his national history, which the

merest schoolljoy in the western world would be ashamed not

to know in Lis. This course of instruction does not form wellbalanced

minds, but it imbues the future rulers of the land

with a full understanding of the principles on which they are

to govern, and the policy of the supreme power in using those

principles to consolidate its own authoi-ityj

(C’entralization and conservatism were the leading features of

the teachings of Confucius which first recommended them to

the rulers, and have decided the course of public examinations

in selecting officers who would readily uphold these principles.

The effect has been that the literary class in China holds the

functions of both nobles and priests, a perpetual association,

genu edema in qua nemo nascitiir, holding^ in its liands public

opinion and legal power to maintain it.- The geographical

isolation of the people, the nature of the language, and the

absence of a landed aristocracy, combine to add efficiency to

this system ; and when the peculiarities of Chinese character,

and the nature of the class-books which do so much to mould that character, are considered, it is impossible to devise a better plan for insuring the perpetuity of the government, or the contentment of the people under that government./

STIMULUS TO LITERARY PURSUITS. 621

Lit was about a.d. 600, that Taitsung, of the Tang dynasty,

instituted the present plan of preparing and selecting civilians

by means of study and degrees, founding his system on the

facts that education had always been esteemed, and that the ‘

ancient writings were accepted by all as the best instructors o£J

the manners and tastes of the peopji^. ‘ According to native

historians, the rulers of ancient times made ample provision for

the cultivation of literature and promotion of education in all

its branches. They supply sojne details to enable us to understand

the mode and the materials of this instruction, and glorify

it as they do everything ancient, but probably from the want

of authentic accounts in their own hands, they do not clearly

describe it. fThe essays of M. I^douard Biot on the History of

Public Instruction in China,{contains well-nigh all the information

extant on this interesting subject, digested in a very lucid

manner. Education is probably as good now as it ever was,

and its ability to maintain and develop the character of the

people as great as at any time ; it is remarkable how much it

really has done to form, elevate, and consolidate their national

institutions. The Manchu monarchs were not at first favorably

disposed to the system of examinations, and frowned upon the

literary hierarchy who claimed all honors as their right ; but

the next generation saw the advantages and necessity of the

concours, in preserving its own power.

^oys commence their studies at the age of seven with a

teacher/; for, even if the father be a literary man he seldom instructs

his sons, and very few mothers are able to teach their

offspring to read. Maternal training is supposed to consist in

giving a right direction to the morals, and enforcing the obedience

of the child ; but as there are few mothers who do more

than compel obedience by commands, or by the rod, so there are

none who can teach the infantile mind to look up to its God in

prayer and praise.

Among the many treatises for the guidance of teachers, the Siao Hioh, or ‘ Juvenile Instructor,’ is regarded as most author*itative. When establishing the elements of education, this book advises fathers to “choose from among their concubines those who are fit for nurses, seeking such as are mild, indulgent, affectionate, benevolent, cheerful, kind, dignified, respectful, and reserved and careful in their conversation, whom they will make

governesses over their children. “When able to talk, lads must

be instructed to answer in a quick, bold tone, and girls in a slow

and gentle one. ^t the age of seven, they should be taught to

count and name the cardinal points ; but at this age the sexes

should not be allowed to sit on the same mat nor eat from the

same table. At eight, they must be taught to wait for their superiors,

and prefer others to themselves. At ten, the boys

must be sent abroad to private tutors, and there remain day and

night, studying writing and arithmetic, wearing plain apparel,

learning to demean themselves in a manner becoming their age,

and acting with sincerity of purpose. At thirteen, they must

attend to music and poetry ; at fifteen, they must practise archery

and charioteering. At the age of twenty, they are in due

form to be admitted to the rank of manhood, and learn additional

rules of propriety, be fathful in the performance of filial

and fraternal duties, and though they possess extensive knowledge,

must not affect to teach others. At thirty, they may

marry and commence the management of business. At forty,

they may enter the service of the state ; and if their prince

maintains the reign of reason, they must serve him, but otherwise

not. At fifty, they may be promoted to the rank of ministers

; and at seventy, they must retire from public life.”

Another injunction is, t^Let children always be tanght to

speak the simple truth ; to stand erect and in their proper places,

and listen with respectful attention.” The way to become a

student, ” is, with gentleness and self-abasement, to receive implicitly

every word the master utters. The pupil, when he sees

virtuous people, nuist follow them, when he hears good maxims,

conform to them. He must cherish no wicked designs, but always

act uprightly ; whether at home or abroad, he nmst have

a fixed residence, and associate with the benevolent, carefully

regulating his personal deportment, and controlling the feelings

METHODS AND PURPOSE OF EDUCATION IN CHINA. 623

of his heart. lie must keep his clothes in order. Every morning

he must learn something new, and rehearse the same every

evenuig.” The great end of education, therefore, among the

ancient Chinese, was not so much to fill the head M’ith knowledge,

as to discipline the heart and purify the affections^ One

of their writers says, ” Those who respect the virtuous and put

away unlawful pleasures, serve their parents and prince to the

utmost of their ability, and are faithful to their word ; these,

though they should be considered unlearned, we must pronounce

to be educated men.” Although such terms as purity, filial

affection, learning, and truth, have higher meanings in a Christian

education than are given them by Chinese masters, the inculcation

of them in any degree and so decided a manner does

great credit to the people, and will never need to be superseded

—only raised to a higher grade.’

In intercourse with their relatives, children are taught to attend

to the minutest points of good breeding ; and are instructed in

everything relating to their personal appearance, making their

toilet, saluting their parents, eating, visiting, and other acts of

life. Many of these directions are trivial even to puerility, but

they are none too minute in the ideas of the Chinese, and still

form the basis of good manners, as much as they did a score of

centuries ago ; and it can hardly be supposed that Confucius

would have risked his influence upon the grave publication of

trifles, if he had not been well acquainted with the character of

his countrymen. Yet nothing is trifling which conduces to the

growth of good manners among a people, though it may not

have done all that was wished.^

\lules are laid down for students to observe in the prosecution

of their studies, which reflect credit on those who set so

high a standard for themselves.’ Dr. Morrison has given a

synopsis of a treatise of this sort, called the ‘ Complete Collection

of Family Jewels,’ and containing a minute specification of

‘ Compare Du Halde, Description de VEmpire fie la Chine, Tome IT., pp. 365-384 ; A. Wylie, Notes, p. 68 ; Chinese Repository, Vols. V., p. 81, and VI., pp.185, 393, and 563; China Review, Vol. VI., pp. 120, 195, 253, 328, etc. ; New Enghmder, May, 1878.

”Chinese Repository, Vol. IV., pp. 83-87, 306-316.

duties to be performed by all who would be thorough students.

The author directs the tyro to form a hxed resolution to press

forward in his studies, setting his mark as high as possible, and

thoroughly understanding everything as he goes along. “I

have always seen that a man who covets much and devotes

liimself to universal knowledge, when he reads he presumes on

the quickness and celerity of his genius and perceptions, and

chapters and volumes pass before his eyes, and issue from his

mouth as fluently as water rolls away ; but when does he ever

apply his mind to rub and educe the essence of a subject? In

this manner, although much be read, what is the use of it ?

Better little and fine, than much and coarse.” lie also advises

persons to have two or three good volumes lying on their tables,

which they can take up at odd moments, and to keep commonplace

books in which they can jot down such things as occur to

them. They should get rid of distracting thoughts if they

wish to advance in their studies ; as ” if a man’s stomach has

been filled by eating greens and other vegetables, although the

most precious dainties with exquisite tastes should be given

him, he cannot swallow them, he must first get rid of a few

portions of the gi-eens ; so in reading, the same is true of the

mixed thoughts which distract the mind, which are about the

dusty affairs of a vulgar world.” The rules given by these

writers correspond to those laid down among ourselves, in such

books as Todd’s Manual for Students, and reveal the steps

which have given the Chinese their intellectual position.’

iFor all grades of scholars, there is but one mode of study ;

the imitative nature of the Chinese mind is strikingly exhibited

; in the few attempts on the part of teachers to improve upon

the stereotyped practice of their predecessors, although persons

of as original minds a,aL_tlic country affords are constantly en-

^_gage_d in education.^When the lad connnences his studies, an

impressive ceremony takes place—or did formerl}-, for it seems

to have fallen into desuetude : the father leads his son to the

teacher, who kneels down before the name of some one or other

of the ancient sages, and supplicates their blessing upon his

‘ Morrison’s (JlUiU’se Dictionary, Vol. T., Tiirt T., ])p. TlD-ToH.

ARRANGEMENT AND REGIME OF BOYS’ SCHOOLS. 525

pupil ; after which, seating himself, he receives tlie homage

and petition of the lad to guide him in his lessons.’ As is the

case in Moslem countries, a present is expected to accompany

this initiation into literary pursuits. In all cases this event is

further marked by giving the lad his shu oning or ‘ book name,’

by which he is culled during his future life. The furniture of

the school merely consists of a desk and a stool for each pupil,

and an elevated seat for the master, for maps, globes, blackboards,

diagrams, etc., are yet to come in among its articles of

furniture. In one corner is placed a tablet or an inscription on

the wall, dedicated to Confucius and the god of Letters ; the

sage is styled the ‘ Teacher and Pattern for All Ages,’ and incense

is constantly burned in honor of them both.

^The location of school-rooms is usually such as would be considered

bad elsewhere, but by comparison with other things in

China, is not so. A mat shed which barely protects from the

weather, a low, hot upper attic of a shop, a back room in a

temple, or rarely a house specially built for the purpose, such

are the school-houses in China. The chamber is hired by the

master, who regulates his expenses and furnishes liis apartment

according to the number and condition of his pupils ; their

average nundjer is abont twenty, ranging between ten and forty

in day schools, and in private schools seldom exceeding ten.

The most th<n-ough course of education is probably pursued in

the latter, where a well-qualified teacher is hired by four or five

persons living in the same street, or nnituully related by birth

or marriage, to teach their children at a stipulated salary. In

such cases the lads are placed in bright, well-aired apartments,

superior to the common school-room. ^Tlie majority of teachers

have been unsuccessful candidates for literary degrees, who

having spent the prime of their days in fruitless attempts to

attain office, are unfit for manual lal)or, and unable to enter on

mercantile life.J In Canton, a teacher of twenty boj’s receives

from half a dollar to a dollar per month from each pupil ; in

country villages, three, four or five dollars a year are given,

with the addition, in most cases, of a small present of eatables

1

‘ This custom obtains also in Bokhara.

from each scholar three or four times a year. Private tutors

receive from $150 to $350 or more per annum, according to

particular engagement. There are no boarding-schools, nor

anything answering to infant schools ; nor are public or charity

schools established by government, or by private benevolence

for the education of the poor. ‘

The first hours of study are from sunrise till ten a.m., when

the boys go to breakfast ; they reassemble in an hour or more,

and continue at their books till about five p.m., when they disperse

for the day. In summer, they have no lessons after dinner,

but an evening session is often held in the winter, and evening

schools are occasionally opened for mechanics and others

who are occupied during the day. When a boy comes into

school in the morning, he bows reverentially before the tablet

of Confucius, salutes his teacher, and then takes his seat. The

vacations during the year are few ; the longest is before new

year, at which time the engagement is completed, and the school

closes, to be reopened after the teacher and parents have made a

new arrangement. The common festivals, of which there are a

dozen or more, are regarded as holydays, and form very necessary

relaxations in a country destitute of the rest of the Sabbath.

(The requisite qualifications of a teacher are gravity, severity,

and patience, and acquaintance w^ith the classics ; he has

only to teach the same series of books in the same fashion in

which he learned them himself and keep a good watch over his

charge,)

When the lads come together at the opening of the school,

their attainments are ascertained ; the teacher endeavors to

have his pupils nearly equal in this respect, but inasmuch as

they are all put to precisely the same tasks, a difference is not

material. If the boys are beginners, they are brought up in a

line before the desk, holding the San-tsz’ King, or ‘ Trimetrical

Classic,’ in their hands, and taught to read off the first lines

after the teacher until they can repeat them without help. He

calls off the first four lines as follows:

Jin chi tsu, smgpun sTien /

SiTig sirnig hm, slh sian^ yuen /

ELEMENTARY INSTRUCTION. 527

when his pupils siniultaiieoiisly cry out:

, Jin ehi tsii, Hinypan slien ^

Sing siang kin, sih siang yuen.

‘Mispronunciations are corrected until each can read the lesson

accurately ; they are then sent to their seats to commit the

sounds to memory. As the sounds are all entire words (not

letters, nor syllables, of which they have no idea), the boys are

not perplexed, as ours are, with symbols M’hich have no meaning.

All the children study aloud, and when one is able to recite

the task, he is required to hach it—come up to the mastei-‘s

desk, and stand with his back toward him while rehearsing it.)

‘ The San-tsz’ King was compiled by Wang Pih-hao of the

Sung dynasty (a. d. 1050) for his private school. It contains

ten hundred and sixty-eight words, and half that number of different

characters, arranged in one hundred and seventy-eight

double lines. It has been commented upon by several persons,

one of whom calls it ” a ford which the youthful inquirer may

readily pass, and thereby reach the fountain-head of the higher

courses of learning, or a passport into tlie regions of classical and

historical literature.”) This hornbook begins with the nature of

man, and the necessity and modes of education, and it is noticeable

that the first sentence, the one quoted above, which a Chinese

learns at school, contains one of the most disputed doctrines in

the ancient heathen world :

** Men at their birth, are by nature radically good ;
Though alike in this, in practice they widely diverge.
If not educated, the natural character grows worse ;
A course of education is made valuable by close attention.
Of old, Mencius’ mother selected a residence,
And when her son did not learn, cut out the [half-wove] web.
To nurture and not educate is a father’s error;
To educate without rigor shows a teacher’s indolence.
That boys should not learn is an unjust thing ;
For if they do not learn in youth, what will they do when old ?
As gems unwrought serve no useful end, ,
So men untaught will never know what right conduct is.”

The importance of filial and fraternal duties are then inculcated by precept and example, to which succeeds a synopsis of the various branches of learning in an ascending series, under several heads of numbers ; the three great powers, the four seasons and four cardinal points, the five elements and live constant virtues, the six kinds of grain and six domestic animals, the seven passions, the eight materials for music, nine degrees of kindred, and ten social duties. A few extracts will exhibit the mode in which these subjects are treated.

“There are three powers,—heaven, earth, and man.
There are tliree lights,—the sun, moon, and stars.
There are three bonds,—between prince and niinister, justice ;
Between father and son, affection ; between man and wife, concord.
Humanity, justice, propriety, wisdom, and truth,—
These five cardinal virtues are not to be confused.
Rice, millet, pulse, wheat, sorghum, millet grass,
Are six kinds of grain on which men subsist.
Mutual affection of father and son, concord of man and wife;
The older brother’s kindness, the younger one’s respect;
Order between seniors and juniors, friendship among associates;
On the prince’s part regard, on the minister’s true loyalty ;—
These ten moral duties are ever binding among men.”

To this technical summary succeed rules for a course of

academical studies, M’ith a list of the books to be learned, and

the order of their use, followed by a synopsis of the general history

of China, in an enumeration of the successive dynasties.

The work concludes with incidents and motives to learnino;

drawn from the conduct of ancient sages and statesmen, and

from considerations of interest and gh)iy. The exam})les cited

are curious instances of pui-suit of knowledge under difficulties,

and form an inviting part of the treatise.

” Formerly Confucius had young Iliang Toh for his teacher;

Even the sages of antiquity studied with diligence.

Chau, a minister of state, read tlu^ Confucian Dialogues,

And he too, though high in office, studied assiduously.

One copied lessons on rec’ds, another on slii)s of l)amb()o ;

These, though without books, eagerly sought knowledge.

[To vanquish sleep] one tied his head [by tlu! hair] to a beam, and auothel pierced his thigh with an awl;
Though destitute of instructors, these were laborious in study.
One read by the glowwoi’ui’s light, another by rellection from snow;

TIIK TRIM ETHICAL CLASSIC. 629

These, tliougli tlieir families were poor, did not omit to study.

One carried faggots, and another tied his books to a cow’s horD«

And while thus engaged in labor, studied with intensity.

Su Lau-tsiuen, when lie was twenty-seven years old

Commenced close study, and applied his mind to books;
This man, when old, grieved that he commenced so late ;
You who are young must early think of these things.
Behold Liang Hau, at the ripe age of eighty-two,
In the imperial hall, amongst many scholars, gains the first rani:’f

This he accomplished, and all regarded liim a prodigy ;

You, mj’ young readers, shoukl now resolve to be diligent.

Yung, when only eiglit years old, could recite the Odes ;

And Pi, at the age of seven, understood the game of chess;
These displayed ability, and all deemed them to be rare men ;

And you, my hopeful scholars, ought to imitate them.

Tsai Wan-ki could play upon stringed instruments ;

Sie Tau-wfin, likewise, could sing and chant;
These two, though girls, were bright and well informed ;

You, then, my lads, should surely rouse to diligence.

Liu Ngan of Tang, when only seven years old,

Proving himself a noble lad, was able to correct writing:

He, though very young, was thus highly promoted.

You, young learners, strive to follow his example, .

For he who does so, will acquire like honors.

” Dogs watch by night ; the cock announces the morning J

If any refuse to learn, how can they be esteemed men ?

The silkworm spins silk, the bee gathers honey ;

If men neglect to learn, they are below the brutes.

He who learns in youth, to act wisely in mature age.

Extends his influence to the prince, benefits the people.

Makes his name renowned, renders his parents honorable ;

Reflects glory on his ancestors, and enriches his posterity.

Some for their Ouspring, leave coffers filled with gold ;

While I to teach children, leave this one little book.

Diligence has merit ; play yields no profit;
Be ever on your guard ! Rouse all your energies !”

These quotations illustrate the character of the T7imetri’

cal Classic, and show its imperfections as a book for voung

minds. It is a syllahns of studies rather than a book to be

learned, and ill snited to entice the boy on in his tasks by giving

him mental food in an attractive form. Yet its influence has

been perhaps as great as the classics during the last four dynasties,

from its general use in primary schools, where myriads of

lads have ” backed ” it who have had no leisure to study much

more, and when they had crossed this ford could travel no

farther, (The boy commences his education by learning these

maxims ; and by the time he has got his degree—and long before,

too—the higiiest truths and examples known in the land

are more deeply impressed on his mind than are ever Biblical

truths and examples on graduates of Yale, Oxford, Heidelberg

or the Sorbonne.’ Well was it for them that they had learned

nothing in it which they had better forget, for its deficiencies,

pointed out by Bridgman in his translation, should not lead us

to overlook its suggestive synopsis of principles and examples.

The commentary explains them very fully, and it is often

learned as thoroughly as the text. Many thousands of tracts

containing Christian truths written in the same style and with

the same title, have been taught with good effect in the mission

schools in China.”

( The next hornbook put into the boy’s hands is the P\h Kla,

S’mg, or ‘ Century of Surnames.’ It is a list of the family or clan

names commonly in use. Its acquisition also gives him familiarity

with four hundred and fifty-four common words employed

as names, a knowledge, too, of great importance lest mistakes

be made in choosing a wrong character among the scores of

horaophonous characters in the language) For instance, out of

eighty-three common words pronounced hi, six only are clan

names, and it is necessary to have these very familiar in the

daily intercourse of life. The nature of the work forbids its being

studied, but the usefulness of its contents probably explains

its position in this series.’^

The third in the list is the Tsien Tsz^ Wan, or ‘Millenary

Classic,’ unique among all books in the Chinese language, and

whose like could not be produced in any other, in that it consists

‘ Compare Dr. Morrison in the Horm Sinic/v, pp. 122-146 ; B. Jenkins, The

Three-Glmnicter CluxHic, romanized acrording to the Khaufihai di(dect, Shanghai,

1800. The Classic has also been translated into Latin, French, German, Russian,

and Portuguese. For the Trimetrical Classic of the Tai-ping regime see

a version in the North China Herald, No. 147, May 21, 185;}, by Dr. Medhurst •

also a translation by Rev. S. C. Malan, of Balliol College, Oxford. London,

1856.

” E. C. Bridgman in the Chinese Eepository, Vol. IV., p. 152. Livre de Cent

famiUes, Perny, Diet., App., No. XIV., pp. 156 fE.

THE THOUSAND-CHARACTER CLASSIC. 531

of just a thousand characters, no two of which are alike in form or

meaning. The author, Chau lling-tsz’, flourished ahout a.d. 550,

and according to an account given in the history of the Liang

dynasty, wrote it at tlie Empei-or’s request, who had ordered his

minister Wang Hi-chi to write out a thousand characters, and

give them to him, to see if he could make a connected ode with

them.’ This he did, and presented his performance to liis majesty,

who rewarded him with rich presents in token of his approval.

Some accounts (in order that so singular a work might

not M’ant for corresponding wonders) add that he did the task in

a single night, under the fear of condign punishment if he

failed, and the mental exertion was so great as to turn his hair

white. It consists of two hundred and fifty lines, in which

rhyme and rhythm are both carefully observed, though there

is no more poetry in it than in a multiplication table. The

contents of the book are similar but more discursive than those

of the Trimetrical Classic. Up to the one hundred and second

line, the productions of nature and virtues of the early monarchs,

the power and capacities of man, his social duties and

mode of conduct, with instructions as to the manner of living,

are summarily treated.’ Thence to the one hundred and sixtysecond

line, the splendor of the palace, and its high dignitaries,

with other illustrious persons and places, are referred to. The

last part of the w’ork treats of private and literary life, the pursuits

of agriculture, household government, and education, interspersed

with some exhortations, and a few illustrations. A few

disconnected extracts from Dr. Bridgman’s translation’ will show

the mode in which these subjects are handled. The opening

lines are,

*’ The heavens are sombre ; the earth is yellow

;

The whole universe [at the creation] was one wide waste ;

“

after which it takes a survey of the world and its products, and

Chinese history, in a very sententious manner, down to the

thirty-seventh line, which opens a new subject.

‘ Chinese Bepository, Vol. IV., p. 229.

” Now this our human body is endowed
With four great powers and five cardinal virtues:
Preserve with reverence what your paieuts nourished,—
How dare you destroy or injure it V
Let females guard their chastity and purity,
And let men imitate the talented and virtuous.
When you know your own errors then reform;
And when you have made acquisitions do not lose them.

Forbear to complain of the defects of other people,

And cease to brag of your own superiority.

Let your truth be such as may be verified,

Your capacities, as to be measured with difficulty.

” Observe and imitate the conduct of the virtuous,

And command your thoughts that you may be wise.

Your virtue once fixed, your reputation will be established

;

Your habits once rectified, your example will be correct.

Sounds are reverberated in the deep valleys.

And the vacant hall reechoes all it hears

;

So misery is the penalty of accumulated vice.

And happiness the reward of illustrious virtue.

” A cubit of iade stone is not to be valued,

But an inch of time you ought to contend for.

” Mencius esteemed plainness and simplicity;

And Yu the historian held firmly to rectitude.

These nearly approached the golden medium,

Being laborious, humble, diligent, and moderate.

Listen to what is said, and investigate the principles explained

:

Watch men’s demeanor, that you may distinguish their characters.

Leave behind you none but purposes of good ;

And strive to act in such a manner as to command respect.

When satirized and admonished examine 3’ourself,

And do this more thoroughly when favors increase.

” Years fly away like arrows, one pushing on the other;

The sun shines brightly through his whole course.

The planetarium keeps on revolving where it hangs ;

And the bright moon repeats her revolutions.

To support fire, add fuel ; so cultivate the root of happiness,

And you will obtain eternal peace and endless felicity.”

Tlie conimentaiy 011 the TJiousand Character Classic contains

many just observations and curious anecdotes to explain

this hook, whose text is so familiar to the people at large that its

lines or characters are used as lal)ols instead of figures, as thev

take up less room. If Western scholars were as familiar with

the acts and sayings of King Wan, of Su Tsin, or of Kwan

(hung, as they are with those of Sesostris, Pericles, or Horace,

THE ODES FOR CIirLDREN. 583

these incidents and places would naturally enough he deemed

more interesting than they now are. But where the power of

genius, or the vivid pictures of a brilliant imagination, are

wanting to illustrate or beautify a subject, there is comparatively

little to interest Europeans in the authors and statesmen of such

a distant country and remote period/

(The fourth in this series, called V-iu ITioh Shl-tlch^ or ‘ Odes

for Children,’ is written in rhymed pentameters, and contains

only thirty-four stanzas of four lines.’ A single extract will

show its character, which is, in general, a brief description and

praise of literary life, and allusion to the changes of the season,

and the beauties of nature.

It is of the utmost importance to educate children ;

Do not say that your families are poor,

For those who can handle well the pencil,

Go where they will, need never ask for favors.

One at the age of seven, showed himself a divinely endowed youth,

‘Heaven,’ said he, ‘gave me my intelligence :

Men of talent appear in the courts of the holy monarch,

Nor need they wait in attendance on lords and nobles.

‘ In the morning I was an humble cottager,

In the evening I entered the court of the Son of Heaven:
Civil and military offices are not hereditary.
Men must, therefore, rely on their own efforts.
‘ A passage for the sea has been cut through mountains,

And stones have been melted to repair the heavens ;

In all the world there is nothing that is impossible ;

It is the heart of man alone that is wanting resolution.

• Once I myself was a poor indigent scholar.

Now I ride mounted in my four-horse chariot.

And all my fellow-villagers exclaim with surprise.’

Let those who have children thoroughly educate them.

The examples of intelligent youth rising to the highest offices

of state are numerous in all the works designed for beginners,

* Compare Das Tsidn clsii wen, oder Buch von Tamend MDrtern, aus dem

Schinesisclien, niit Bei’dckschtit/unf/ der Koraisclien und Jwpaninchen Uebersetzumj,

ins DeuUche ubertragen, Ph. Fr. de ^iehoXdi, Nippon, Abh. IV., pp. 105-

191 ; B. Jenkins, The Thou’sand-ChanieUr Cittssic, romanized, etc. Shanghai,

1860; Ths/en-2’ffeu-Weii, Le Livre des MiUe Mots, etc., par Stanislas Julien

(with Chinese text), Paris, 18G4 ; China Review, Vol. II., pp. 1S3 ff.

and stories illustrative of their precocity are sometimes given

in toy-books and novels. One of the most common instances ia

here quoted, that of Confucius and Iliang Toh, which is as well

known to every Chinese as is the story of George Washington

barking the cherry-tree with his hatchet to American youth..

” The name of Confucius was Yu, and his style Chungni ; he established himself as an instructor in the western part of the kingdom of Lu. One day, followed by all his disciples, riding in a carriage, he went out to ramble, and on the road, came across several children at their sports ; among them was one who did not join in them. Confucius, stopping his carriage, asked him, saying, ‘ Why is it that you alone do not play V ‘ The lad replied, ‘ All play is without any profit ; one’s clothes get torn, and they are not easily mended ; above me, I disgrace my father and mother ; below me, even to the lowest, there is fighting and altercation ; so much toil and no reward, how can it be a good business ? It is for these reasons that I do not play.’ Then dropping his head, he began making a city out of pieces of tile.

“Confucius, reproving him, said, ‘ Why do you not turn out for the carriage V ‘ The boy replied, ‘ From ancient times till now it has always been considered proper for a carriage to turn out for a city, and not for a city to turn out for a carriage. ‘ Confucius then stopped his vehicle in order to discourse of reason. He got out of the carriage, and asked him, ‘ You are still young in years, how is it that you are so quick V ‘ The boy replied, saying, ‘ ^human being, at the age of three years, discriminates between his father and his mother ; a hare, three days after it is born, runs over the ground and furrows of the fields ; fish, three days after their birth, wander in rivers and lakes ; what heaven thus produces naturally, how can it be called brisk ?’

“Confucius added, ‘In what village and neighborhood do you reside, what is your surname and name, and what your style? ‘ The boy answered, * I live in a mean village and in an insignificant land ; my surname is Hiang, my name is Toh, and I have yet no style.’

” Confucius rejoined, ‘ I wish to have you come and ramble with me ; what do you think of it V ‘ The youth replied, ‘ A stern father is at home, whom I am bound to serve ; an affectionate mother is there, whom it is my duty to cherish ; a worthy elder brother is at home, whom it is proper for me to obey, with a tender younger brother whom I must teach ; and an intelligent teacher is there from whom I am required to learn. How have I leisure to go a rambling with you V’

“Confucius said, ‘I have in my carriage thirty-two chessmen; what do you say to having a game together V ‘ The lad answered, ‘ If the Emperor love gaming, the Empire will not be governed ; if the nobles love play, the government will b<5 impeded ; if scholars love it, learning and investigation will be lost and thrown by ; if the lower classes are fond of gambling, they will utterly lose the support of their families ; if servants and slaves love to game, they will gel a cudgelling ; if farmers love it, they miss the time for ploughing and sowing; for these reasons I shall mit play with you.’

THE STORY OF CONFUCIUS AND IIIANG TOIL 585

“Confucius rejoined, ‘I wish to have you go with me, and fully equalize the Empire; what do you think of this? ‘ The Lad replied, ‘ The Empire cannot be equalized; here are high hills, there are lakes and rivers; either there are princes and nobles, or there are slaves and servants. If the high hills be levelled, the birds and beasts will have no resort ; if the rivers and lakes be filled up, the fishes and the turtles will have nowhere to go ; do away with kings and nobles, and the common people will have much dispute about right and wrong ; obliterate slaves and servants, and who will there be to serve the prince ! If the Empire be so vast and unsettled, how can it be equalized ?’

” Confucius again asked, ‘ Can you tell, under the whole sky, what fire has no smoke, what water no fish ; what hill has no stones, what tree no branches ; what man has no wife, what woman no husband ; what cow has no calf, what mare no colt ; what cock has no hen, what hen no cock ; what constitutes an excellent man, and what an inferior man ; what is that which has not enough, and what which has an overplus ; what city is without a market, and who is the man without a style ?’

” The boy replied, ‘A glowworm’s fire has no smoke, and well-water no fish ; a mound of earth has no stones, and a rotten tree no branches ; genii have no wives, and fairies no husbands ; earthen cows have no calves, nor wooden mares any colts ; lonely cocks have no hens, and widowed hens no cocks ; he who is worthy is an excellent man, and a fool is an inferior man ; a winter’s day is not long enough, and a summer’s day is too long ; the imperial city has no market, and little folks have no style.’

” Confucius inquiring said, ‘ Do you know what are the connecting bonds between heaven and earth, and what is the beginning and ending of the dual powers ? What is left, and what is right ; what is out, and what is in ; who is father, and who is mother ; who is husband, and who is wife. [Do you know]where the wind comes from, and from whence the rain V From whence the clouds issue, and the dew arises V And for how many tens of thousands of miles the sky and earth go parallel ?’

“The youth answering said, ‘Nine multiplied nine times make eighty-one, which is the controlling bond of heaven and earth ; eight multiplied by nine makes seventy-two, the beginning and end of the dual powers. Heaven is father, and earth is mother ; the sun is husband, and the moon is wife ; east is left, and west is right ; without is out, and inside is in ; the winds come from Tsang-wu, and the rains proceed from wastes and wilds ; the clouds issue from the hills, and the dew rises from the ground. Sky and earth go parallel for ten thousand times ten thousand miles, and the four points of the compass have each their station.’

“Confucius asking, said, ‘ Which do you say is the nearest relation, father and mother, or husband and wife ? ‘ The boy responded, ‘ One’s parents are near ; husband and wife are not [so] near.’

“Confucius rejoined, ‘While husband and wife are alive, they sleep under the same coverlet ; when they are dead they lie in the same grave ; how then can you say that they are not near V ‘ The boy replied, ‘ A man without a wife is like a carriage without a wheel ; if there be no wheel, another one is made, for he can doubtless get a new one ; so, if one’s wife die, he seeks again, for he also can obtain a new one. The daughter of a worthy family must certainly marry an honorable husband ; a house having ten rooms always has a plate and a ridgepole ; three windows and six lattices do not give the ligh\ of a single door ; the whole host of stars with all their sparkling brilliancy do not equal the splendor of the solitary moon : the affection of a father and mother—alas, if it be once lost !’

“Confucius sighing, said, ‘How clever! how worthy!’ The boy asking the sage said, ‘ You have just been giving me questions, which I have answered one by one ; I now wish to seek information ; will the teacher in one sentence afford me some plain instruction V I shall be much gratified if my request be not rejected.’ He then said, ‘ Why is it that mallards and ducks are able to swim; how is it that wild geese and cranes sing ; and why are firs and pines green through the winter ‘?

‘ Confucius replied, ‘ Mallards and ducks can swim because their feet are broad ; wild geese and cranes can sing because they have long necks ; firs and pines remain green throughout the winter because they have strong hearts.’ The youth rejoined, ‘ Not so ; fishes and turtle’; can swim, is it because they all have broad feet ? Frogs and toads can sing, is it because their necks are long V The green bamboo keeps fresh in winter, is it on account of its strong heart *’

“Again interrogating, he said, ‘ How many stars are there altogether in the sky V ‘ Confucius replied, ‘ At this time inquire about the earth; how can we converse about the sky with certainty?’ The boy said, ‘Then how many houses in all are there on the earth ? ‘ The sage answered, ‘ Come now, speak about something that’s before our eyes ; why mu.st you converse about heaven and earth ? ‘ The lad resumed, ‘ Well, speak about what’s before our eyes—how many hairs are there in your eyebrows ‘?’

“Confucius smiled, but did not answer, and turning round to his disciples called them and said, ‘ This boy is to be feared ; for it is easy to see that the subsequent man will not be like the child. ‘ He then got into his carriage and rode off.”‘

6Xext in course to this rather trifling primer conies the Hlao

King, or ‘ Canons of Filial Duty,’ a short tractate of only 1,903

characters, which purports to be the record of a conversation

held between Confucius and his disciple Tsitng Tsan on the

principles of filial piet}*! Its authenticity has been disputed by

critics, but their doubts are not shared by their countrymen,

who commit it to memory as the words of the sage. The legend

is that a copy was discovered in the wall of his dwelling, and

compared with another secreted by Yen Chi at the burning of

the books ; from the two Liu Iliang chose eighteen of tlie

chapters contained in it as alone genuine, and in this shape it

has since remained. The sixth section of the Imperial Catalogue

is entirely devoted to writers on the Iliao Kmg, one of whom was

‘ Chinese Repository, Vol. X., p. 614.

THE HIAO KING, OR CANONS OF FILIAL DUTY. 537

Vnentsuiig, an emperor of the Tang dynasty (a.d. T33). Another

comment was publislied in 32 vohimes in Kanghi’s reign, discussing

the whole sul)ject in one liundred cliapters. Though it

does not share in critical eyes the conlidence accorded to the

nine classics, the brevity and subject matter of this work have

commended it to teachers as one of the best books in the

language to be placed in the hands of their scholars ; thus its

influence has been great and enduring. It has been translated

by Bridgman, who regards the first six sections as the words of

Confucius, while the other twelve contain his ideas. Two quotations

are all that need be here given to show its character.

Section I.

—

On the origin and nature ofjUial duty.—Filial duty is the root

of virtue, and the stem from which instruction in the moral principle springs.

Sit down, and I will explain this to you. The first thing which filial duty requires

of us is, that we carefully preserve from all injviry, and in a perfect

state, the bodies which we have received from our parents. And when we

acquire for ourselves a station in the world, we should regulate our conduct

by correct principles, so as to transmit our names to future generations, and

reflect glory on our parents. This is the ultimate aim of filial duty. Thus it

commences in attention to parents, is continued through a course of services

rendered to the prince, and is completed by the elevation of ourselves. It

is said in the Book of Odes,

Ever think of your ancestors

;

Reproducing then- virtue.

Section V.

—

0>i the attention of scholars to flial duty.—With the same love

that they serve their fathers, they should serve their mothers ; and with the

same respect that they serve their fathers, they should serve their prince ; unmixed

love, then, will be the offering they make to their mothers ; unfeigned

respect the tribute they bring to their prince ; while toward their fathers both

tliese will be combined. Therefore they serve their prince with filial duty and

are faithful to him ; they serve their superiors with respect and are obedient to

them. By constant obedience and faithfulness toward those who are above

them, they are enabled to preserve their stations and emoluments, and to offer

the sacrifices which are due to their deceased ancestors and parents. Such is

the influence of filial piety when performed by scholars. It is said in the

Book of Odes,

When the dawn is breaking, and I cannot sleep,

The thoughts in my breast are of our parents.

‘

‘ Compare Pere Cibot in Memoires.concernant les Chinois, Tome IV., pp. 1 ff.

;

Dr. Legge, ±he Sacred Books of China, Part I. The ShU-kinr/, Reliyious Portions of the Shih-kinff, the Hsido-kimj, Oxford, 1879 ; Asiatic Journal, Vol XXIX., pp. 302 if., 1839.

(The highest place in the list of virtues and obligations is accorded

to filial duty, not only in this, but in other writings of

Confucius and those of his school. ” There are,” to quote from

another section, ” three thousand crimes to which one or the

other of the five kinds of punishment is attached as a penalty ;

and of these no one is greater than disobedience to parents.

When ministers exercise control over the monarch, then there

is no supremacy ; when the njaxims of the sages are set aside,

then the law is abrogated ; and so those who disregard filial

duty are as though they had no parents. These three evils prepai*

e the way for universal rebellion.’^

This social virtue has been highly lauded by all Chinese

wn-Iters, and its observance inculcated upon youth and children

by precept and example. Stories are written to show the good

effects of obedience, and the bad results of its contrary sin,

which are put into their hands, and form also subjects for pictorial

illustration, stanzas for poetry, and materials for conversation.

The following examples are taken from a toy-book of

this sort, called the Twenty-four F’diah^ one of the most popular

collections on the subject.

” During the Chau dynasty there lived a lad named Tsang Tsan (also Tsz’-yu),

who served his mother very dutifully. Tsang was in the habit of going to the.

hills to collect fagots ; and once, while he was thus absent, many guests came

to his house, toward whom his mother was at a loss how to act. She, while

expecting her son, who delayed his return, began to gnaw her fingers. Tsang

suddenly felt a pain in his heart, and took up his bundle of fagots in order to

return home ; and when he saw his mother, he kneeled and begged to know

what was the cause of her anxiety. She replied, ‘ there have been some guests

here, who came from a great distance, and I bit my finger in order to arouse you to return to me.’

” In the Chau dynasty lived Chung Yu, named also Tsz’-lu, who, because his

family was poor, usually ate herbs and coarse pulse ; and he also went more

than a hundred I’l to procure rice for his parents. Afterward, when they were

dead, he went south to the country of Tsu, where he was made commander of

a hundred companies of chariots; there he became rich, storing up grain in

myriads of measures, reclining upon cushions, and eating food served to him

in numerous dishes; but sighing, ho said, * Although I should now desire to

eat coarse herbs and bring rice for my parents, it cannot be !

‘

” In the Chau dynasty there flourished the venerable Lai, who was very obedient

and reverential toward his parents, manifesting his dutifulness by exerting

liimself to provide them with every delicacy. Although upward of

EXTRACTS FROM THE TWENTY-FOUR FILIALS. 539

seventy years of age, he declared that he was not yet old ; and usually

dressed liimself in parti-colored embroidered garments, and like a child

would playfully stand by the side of his parents. He would also take up

buckets of water, and try to carry them into the house ; but feigning to slip,

would fall to the ground, wailing and crying like a child: and all these things

he did in order to divert his parents.

” During the Han dynasty lived Tung Yung, whose family was so very poor

that when his father died he was obliged to sell himself in order to procure

money to bury his remains. After this he went to another place to gain the

means of redeeming liimself ; and on his way he met a lady who desired to become

his wife, and go with him to his master’s residence. She went with him,

and wove three hundred pieces of silk, which being completed in two months,

they returned home ; on the way, having reached the shade of the cassia tree

where they before met, the lady bowed and ascending, vanished from his sight.

” During the Han dynasty lived Ting Lan, whose parents both died when

he was young, before he could obey and support them ; and he reflected that

for all the trouble and anxiety he had caused them, no recompense had yet

been given. He then carved wooden images of his parents, and served them

as if they had been alive. For a long time his wife would not reverence them ;

but one day, taking a bodkin, she in derision pricked their fingers. Blood immediately

flowed from the wound ; and seeing Ting coming, the images wept.

He examined into the circumstances, and forthwith divorced his wife.

“In the days of the Han dynasty lived Koh Kii, 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. Koh says to his wife,

‘ We are so poor that our mother cannot be supported, for the cliild divides

with her the portion of food that belongs to her. Why not bury this child V

Another child may be born to us, but a mother once gone will never return.’

His wife did not venture to object to the proposal ; and Koh immediately dug

a hole of about three cubits deep, when suddenly he lighted upon a pot of gold,

and on the metal read the following inscription :

‘ Heaven bestows this treasure

upon Koh Kii, the dutiful son ; the magistrate may not seize it, nor shall

the neighbors take it from him.’

“Mang Tsung, who lived in the Tsin dynasty, when young lost his father.

His mother was very sick ; and one winter’s day she longed to taste a soup

made of bamboo sprouts, but Mang could not procure any. At last he went

into the grove of bamboos, clasped the trees with his hands, and wept bitterly.

His filial affection moved nature, and the ground slowly opened, sending forth

several shoots, which he gathered and carried home. He made a soup with

them, of which his mother ate and immediately recovered from her malady

” WuMang, a lad eight years of age, who lived under the Tsin dynasty, was

very dutiful to his parents. They were so poor that they could not afford to

furnish their bed with mosquito-curtains ; and every summer’s night, myriads

of mosquitos attacked them unrestrainedly, feasting upon their flesh and

blood. Although there were so many, yet Wu would not drive them away,

lest they should go to his parents, and annoy them. Such was his affection.”

‘

‘ Chinese Repository, Vol. VI., p. 131.

The last book learned before entering on the classics has had

almost as great an influence as any of them, and none of the works

of later scholars are so well calculated to sliow the ideas of the

Chinese in all ages upon the principles of education, intercourse

of life, and rules of conduct as this ; precepts are illustrated by

examples, and the examples referred back to precepts for their

moving cause. (This is the Siao Hloh, or ” Juvenile Instructor,”

and was intended by Chu Hi, its author, as a counterpart of the

Ta Hlao, on which he had written a connnentary, “^ It has had

more than fifty commentators, one of whom says, ” We confide

in the Siao Hioli as we do in the gods, and revere it as we do

our parents.” It is divided into two books, the ” fountain of

learning,” and ” the stream flowing from it,” arranged in 20

chapters and 385 short sections. The first book has four parts

and treats of the first principles of education ; of the duties we

owe our kindred, rulers, and fellow-men, of those we owe

ourselves in regard to study, demeanor, food, and dress ; and

lastly gives numerous examples from ancient history, beginning

with very early times down to the end of the Chau dynasty,

B.C. 249, confirmatory of the maxims inculcated, and the good

effects resulting from their observance. The second book contains,

in its first part, a collection of wise sayings of eminent,

men who flourished after e.g. 200, succeeded by a series of examples

of distinguished persons calculated to show the effects of

good principles ; both designed to establish the truth of the

teachings of the first book. One or two quotations, themselves

extracted from other works, will sulfice to show something of

its contents.

” Confucius said, ‘ Friends must sharply and frankly admonish each other, and brothers must be gentle toward one another.’ “

“Tsz’-kung, asking about friendship, Confucius said, ‘ Faithfully to inform and kindly to instruct another is the duty of a friend ; if he is not tractable, desist ; do not disgrace yourself.’ “

“Whoever enters with his guests, yields precedence to them at every door ;

when they reach the innermost one, he begs leave to go in and arrange the

seats, and then returns to receive the guests ; and after they have repeatedly

declined he bows to them and enters. He passes through the right door, they

through the left. He ascc^nds the eastern, they the western steps. If a guest

be of a lower grade, he must api)roach the steps of the host, while; the latter

THE SIAO IIIOH, OR JUVENILE INSTRUCTOR. 541

must reppatedly dc^cline this attention ; then the guest m.\v return to the western

steps, he ascending, both liost and guest must mutually yield precedence:

then the host must ascend first, and tlie guests follow. From step to step they

must bring their feet together, gradually ascending—those on the east moving

the right foot lirst, those on the west the left.”

The great influence wliicli these six school-books have had is

owing to their formative power on youthful minds, a large proportion

of whom never go beyond them (either from want of

time, means, or desire), but are really here fui-nished with the

kernel of their best literature.

(The tedium of memorizing these unmeaning sounds is relieved

by writing the characters on thin paper placed over copy slips.

The writing and the reading lessons are the same, and both are

continued for a year or two until the forms and sounds of a few

thousand characters are made familiar, but no particular effort

is taken to teach their meanings. It is after this that the teacher

goes over the same ground, and with the help of the commentary,

explains the meaning of the words and phrases one by one, until they are all understoodJ It is not usual for the beginner to attend much to the meaning of what he is learning to read and write, and where the labor of committing arbitrary characters is so great and irksome, experience has probably shown that it is not wise to attempt too many things at once.

^The boy has been familiarizing himself with their shapes as

he sees them all the time around him, and he learns what they

mean in a measure before he comes to school. The association

of form with ideas, as he cons his lesson and writes their words,

gradually strengthens, and results in that singular interdependence

of the eye and ear so observable among the scholars of the

far East. They trust to what is read to help in understanding what

is heard much more than is the case in phonetic languages. (_Xo

effort is made to facilitate the acquisition of the characters by the

boys in school by arranging them according to their component

parts ; they are learned one by one, as boys are taught the names

and appearance of minerals in a cabine^<_^The effects of a course of

study like this, in which the powers of the tender mind are not

developed by proper nourishment of truthful knowledge, can

hardly be otherwise than to stunt the genius, and drill the faculties of the mind into a slavish adherence to venerated usage and dictation, making the intellects of Chinese students like the trees which their gardeners so toilsomely dwarf into pots and jars—plants, whose unnaturalness is congruous to the insipidity of their fruit.)

The number of years spent at school depends upon the means

of the parents. Tradesmen, mechanics, and country gentlemen

endeavor to give their sons a competent knowledge of the

usual series of books, so that they can creditably manage the

common affairs of life. (No other branches of study are pursued

than the classics and histories, and what will illustrate

them, ineanwhile giving much care and practice to composi-

,_jtioiiivNo arithmetic or any department of mathematics, nothing

of the geography of their own or other countries, of natural

philosophy, natural history, or scientific arts, nor the study of

other languages, are attended to.) Persons in these classes of

society put their sons into shops or counting-houses to learn the

routine of business with a knowledge of figures and the style

of letter-writing ; they are not kept at school more tlian three

or four years, unless they mean to compete at the examinations.

Working men, desirous of giving their sons a smattering,

try to keep them at their books a year or two, but millions

nnist of course grow up in utter ignorance. It is, however,

an excellent policy for a state to keep up this universal honor

paid to education where the labor is so great and the return

so doubtful, for it is really the homage paid to the principles

taught.

r^ Besides the common schools, there are grammar or high

I schools and colleges, but they are far less effective. In Canton,

I there are fourteen grammar schools and thirty colleges, sqinej:)f

/ wluch are quite ancient, but most of them are neglected,/ Three

of the largest contaimeach about two hundred students and two

or three professors. (The chief object of these institutions is to

instruct advanced scholars in composition and elegant writing ;

the tutors do a little to turn attention to general literature, but

have neither the genius nor the means to make many advances.”)

In I’ural districts students are encouraged to meet at stated times

in the town-house, where the lieadman, or deputy of the sz” or

HABITS OF STUDY—SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES. 543

township, examines them on themes previously proposed by him.’

In large towns, the local officers, assisted by the gentry and

graduates, hold annual examinations of students, at which pre

miums are given to the best essayists. At such an examination

in Amoy in March, 1845, there were about a thousand

candidates, forty of whom received sums varying from sixty to

sixteen cents

^One of the most notable, as well as the most ancient of collegiate

institutions, is the Jvwoh-Uz’ Kien, or ‘ School for the Sons

of the State,’ whose extensive buildings in Peking, now empty

and dilapidated, show how much easier it is to found and plan

a good thing than to maintain its efficiency^ , This state school

orighiated as early as the Chau dynasty, andTtlie course of study

as given in the Tt’itual of Chau was much the same three thousand

years ago as at present. Its officers consisted of a rector,

usually a high minister of state, aided by five councillors, two

directors, two proctors, two secretaries, a librarian, two professors

in each of the six halls, and latterly five others for each of the

colleges for Bannermen. These halls are named Hall of the

Pursuit of “Wisdom, the Sincere of Heart, of True Virtue, of

Koble Aspiration, of Broad Acquirements, and the Guidance of

Xature. ^he curriculum was not intended to go beyond the classics

and the six libei-ai arts of music, charioteering, archery, etiquette,

writing, and mathematics’; but as if to encourage the

professors to ” seek out by wisdom concerning all things that are

done under heaven,” as Solomon advises, they were told to take

their students to the original sources of strategy, astronomy, engineering,

music, law, and the like, and points out the defects and

merits of each author. The Kiooh-tsz’ Kien possesses now only

the husk of its ancient goodness ; and if its professors were not

honored, and made eligible to be distinct magistrates after three

years’ term, the buildings would soon be left altogether empty.

Instead of reviving and rearranging it, the Chinese Government

. i^ Chinese Repository, VoL IV., p. 414. See also Vol. VI., pp. 229-241;Vol. IV., pp. 1-10; Vol. XL, pp. 545-557 ; and Vol. XIII. , pp. 626-641, for further notices of the modes and objects of education ; Biot, Essai stir VHistoiie de I’Instruction PiMiqiie en Chine, and liis translation of the C1uw-li, VoL H.,p. 27, Paris, 1851. Chinese Recorder, September, 1871.

Las wisely supplanted it by a new college with its new professors

and new course of studies—the Tang-iodn Kwan mentioned on p.

436. Kative free schools, established by benevolent })ersons in

city or country, are not uncommon, and serve to maintain the literary

spirit ; some may not be very long-lived, but others take

their place. In Peking, each of the Banners has its school, and so

lias the Imperial Clan ; retired officials contribute to schools

opened for boys connected with their nativ^e districts living in

the capital. Such efforts to promote education are expected

from those who have obtained its high prizes.

ow great a proportion of the people in China can read, is a

difficult question to answer, for foreigners have had no means of

learning the facts in the case, and the natives never go into such

inquiries. More of the men in cities can read than in the country,

and inore in some provinces than in othfirSj,’ In the district

anhai, which forms part of the city of Canton, an imperfect

examination led to the belief that neaily all the men are

able to read, except fishermen, agriculturists, coolies, boat-people,

and fuelers, and that two or three in ten devote their lives

to literary pursuits. In less thickly settled districts, not more

than four- or five-tenths, and even less, can read. /Tn Macao,

perhaps half of the men can read. From an examination of the

hospital patients at Kingpo, one of the missionaries estimated

the readers to form not more than five per cent, of the men ;

while another missionary at the same place, w^ho made inquiry in

a higher grade of society, reckoned them at twenty per cent.

The villagers about Amoy are deplorably ignorant ; one lady

who had lived there over twenty years, writes that she had never

found a woman who could ycad, but these were doubtless from

among the poorer classes. It appears that as one goes north, the

extent and thoroughness of education diminishes. ^Throughout

the Enipiretho ability to understand books is not commensurate

with the ability to read the characters, and both ha\e been somewhat

exaggerated. Owiner to the manner in which education is

commenced^learning the forms and sounds of characters before

their meanings are understood—it comes to pass tliat many persons

can call over the names of the characters while they^do not

comprehend in the least the sense of what they readJ/ They can

rROPOllTIOX OF THOSE WHO CAN READ IX CHINA. 545

pick oat ;i word here and there, it may be a phrase or a sentence,

but they derive no clearer meaning from the text before them

than a lad, who has just learned to scan, and has proceeded half

through the Latin Header, does from reading Virgil ; while in

both cases an intelligent audience, unacquainted with the facts,

might justly infer that the reader understood what he was readino-

as well as his hearers did. Moreover, in the Chinese language,

different subjects demand different characters ; and although a

man may be well versed in the classics or in fiction, he may be

easily posed by being asked to explain a simple treatise in medicine

or in mathematics, in consequence of the many new or unfamiliar

words on every page. This is a serious obsta^e in the way

of obtaining a general acquaintance with boolvS^The mind be-‘

comes weary with the labor of study where its toil is neither rewarded

b}^ knowledge nor beguiled by wit ; consequently, few

Chinese are well read in their natural literature. The study o£

books being regarded solely as the means wherewith to attain ai

‘

definite end, it follovs naturally that when a cultivated man haa

reached his goal he should feel little disposed to turn to these;

inmlements of his profession for either instruction or pleasure^

(Wealthy or official parents, who wish their sons to compete

for literarv honors, o-ive them the advantages of a full course in

reading and rhetoric under the best masters. Composition is

the most difficult part of the training of a Chinese student, and

requires unwearied application and a retentive memory. lie

who can most readily quote the classics, and approach the nearest

to their terse, comprehensive, energetic diction and style, is,

cmierls iKtrihus^ most likely to succeed ; while the man who can

most quickly throw off well rhythmed verses takes the palm

from all competitor^. In novels, the ability to compose elegant

verses as fast as the pencil can fly is usually ascribed to the hero

of the plot. How many of those who intend to compete for

degrees attend at the district colleges or high schools is not

known, but they are resorted to by students about the time of

the examinations in order to make the acquaintance of those

who are to conq^ete with them. Xo public examinations take

place in either daj’ or private schools, nor do parents often visit

them, but rewards for remarkable proficiency are occasionally conferred. (There is little gradation of studies, nor are any diplomas conferred on students to show that they have gone Q . through a certain course. Punishments are severe, and the rattan or bamboo hangs conspicuously near the master, and its liberal use is considered necessary : ” To educate without rigor, shows the teachers indolence,” is the doctrine, and by scolding,

starving, castigation, and detention, the master tries to instil

habits of obedience and compel his scholars to learn their

task. )

Notwithstanding the high opinion in which education is held,

the general diffusion of knowledge, and the respect paid to

learning in comparison with mere title and wealth, the defects of

the tuition here brieHy described, in extent, means, purposes, and

results, are very great. Such, too, must necessarily be the case

until new principles and new information are infused into it.

Considered in its best point of view, this system has effected all

that it can in enlarging the understanding, purifying the heart,

and strengthening the minds of the people ; but in none of these,

nor in any of the essential points at which a sound education

aims (as we understand the matter), has it accomplished half that

is needed. The stream never rises even as high as its source,

and the teachings of Confucius and Mencius have done all that

is possible to make their countrymen thinking, useful, and intelligent

men.

Turn we now from this brief sketch of primary education

among the Chinese, to a description of the mode of examining

students and conferring the degrees which have been made the

passport to office, and learn what are the real merits of the systeuL^-‘

tPersons from almost every class of society may become

(—’^naidates for degrees under the certificates of securities, but

none are eligible for the second diploma who have not already

received the first. It therefore happens that the republican

license apparently’ allowed to well-nigh every subject, in reality

reserves the prizes for the few most talented or wealtiiy persons

in thficonamunity.) |V majority of the clever, learned, ambitious,

and intelligent spirits in the laTid look forward to these examinations

as the only field woithy of their efforts, and where they are

most likely to find their equals and friends. How much better

MODE OF EXAMINATION AND CONFERRING DEGREES. 547

for the good of society, too, is this arena than the camp or

the feudal court, the tournament or the monastery !

There are four regular literary degrees, with some intermediate

steps of a titular sort. The first is called slu-tsal, meaning

‘ flowering talent,’ because of the promise held out of the future

success of the scholar ; it has often been rendered ‘ bachelor of

arts ‘ as its nearest equivalent. The examinations to obtain it

are held under the supervision of the chihien in a public

building belonging to the district situated near his yamun ; and

the chief literary officer, called Moh-ching^ ‘ corrector of learning,’

or Mao-yu, ‘ teacher of the commands,’ has the immediate

control. (When assembled at the hall of examination, the district

magistrate, the deputy chancellor, and prefect, having prepared

the lists of the undergraduates and selected the themes,

allow only one day for writing the essays. The number of candidates

depends upon the population and literary spirit of the district

} in the districts of Xanhai and Pwanyu, upward of two

thousand persons competed for the prize in 1832, while in

Hiangshan not half so many came together. The rule for apportioning

them was at first according to the annual revenue.

“When the essays are handed in, they are looked over by the

board of examiners, and the names of the successful students

entered on a roll, and pasted upon the walls of the magistrate’s

hall ; this hoaor is called Men ming, i.e., ‘ having a name in

the village.’ Out of the four thousand candidates referred to

above, only thirteen in one district, and fourteen in the other,

obtained a name in the village ; the entire population of these

two districts is not much under a million and a half. Many of

the competitors at this primary tripos are unable to finish their

essays in the day, others make errors in writing, and others

show gross ignorance, all of which so greatly diminish their

numbers, that only those who stand near the head of the list of

Men mhuj do really or usually enter on the next trial before

the prefect. ^ But all have had an equal chance, and few complain

that their performances were disregarded, for they can try as often as they please.

(Those who pass the first examination are entered as candidates for the second, which takes place in the chief town of the department before the literary chancellor and the prefect, as. sisted bj a literary magistrate called Mao-shao, ‘ giver of instructions; ‘ it is more rigorous than that held before the chihlcn^ though similar to it in nature. The prefect arranges the candidates from each district by themselves according to their standing on their several lists, and it is this vantage ground which makes the first trial in one’s native place so important to the

ambitious scholar. The themes on which they have tested their

scholarship are published for the information of friends and the

other examiners. If the proportion given above of successful

candidates at the district examinations hold for each district,

there would not be more than two hundred students assembled

at the prefect’s hall, but the number is somewhat increased by

persons who have purchased the privilege ; still the second trial

is made among a small number in projjortion to the first, and

yet more trifling when compared with the amount of population.

The names of the successful students at the second trial are exposed

on the walls of the office, which is called y^* mlng^ i.e.,

‘ having a name in the department,’ and these only are eligible

as candidates for the third trial} (In addition to their knowledge

of the classics, the candidates at this trial are often required to

write off the text of the Siting Yu, or ‘ Sacred Edict,’ from memory,

as this work consists of maxims for the guidance of officer§li

The literary chancellor exercises a superintendence over the

previous examinations, and makes the circuit of the province to

attend them in each department, twice in three years. There

are various ranks among these educational officials, corresponding

to the civilians in the province ; transfers are occasionally

made from one service to the other, and the oversight of the

latter is always given at; the examinations wherever they ai’C

held. Most of the literary officers, however, remain in their

own line, as it is highly honorable and more permanent. (At the

third trial in the provincial capital, he confers the first degree of

siio-tmi upon those who are chosen out of the whole list as the

best scholars.^

EXAMINATION FOR THE DEGREE OF SIU TSAI. 649

There are several classes of bachelors, depending; somewhat on the manner in which they obtained their dciirree ; those who get it in the maimer here described take the precedence. yiAiQ possession of this degree protects the person from corporeal punishment, raises him above the common people, renders him a consj)icuons man in his native place, and eligible to enter the triennial examination for the second degree. (Those who have more money than learning, purchase this degree for sums varying from $200 up to $1000, and even higher; in later years, according to the necessities of the government, diplomas have been sold as low as $25 to $50, but such men seldom risel They are called kien-sd/Kj, and, as might be supposed, are looked upon

somewhat contemptuously by those who have passed through the

regular examinations, and ” won the battle with their own

lance.” A degree called Imng-sdng is purchased by or bestowed

upon the slu-tsal, but is so generally recognized that it has almost

become a fifth degree, which does not entitle them to the

full honors of a ku-jin. What proportion of scholars are rewarded

by degrees is not known, but it is a small number compared

with the candidates. A graduate of considerable intelligence

at Ningbo estimated the number of sia-tsal in that city at four hundred, and in the department at nearly a thousand. ( In

Canton City, the number of shin-hin, or gentry, who are allowed

to wear the sash of honor, and have obtained literary degrees, is

not over three hundred ; but in the wdiole province there are

about twelve thousand bachelors in a population of nineteen

millions.) Those who have not become siu-tsal are still regarded

as under the oversight of the hiao-yu and others of his class,

who still receive their essays ; but the body of provincial

siu-tsai are obliged to report themselves and attend the prefectural

tripos before the chancellor, under penalty of losing all the

privileges and rank obtained. (This law brings them before

those who may take cognizance of misdeeds, for these men are

often very oppressive and troublesome to their countrymen^

The graduates in each district are placed under the control of a chief, whose power is almost equal to the deputy chancellors; from them are taken the two securities required by each applicant to enter the tripos.

The candidates for siu-tsai are narrowly examined when they enter the hall, their pockets, shoes, wadded robes, and ink-stones, all being searched, lest precomposed essays or other aids to com position be smuggled in. When they are all seated in the hall in their proper places, the wickets, doors, windows, and other entrances are all guarded, and pasted over with strips of paper.

The room is filled with anxious competitors arranged in long seats, pencil in hand, and ready to begin. The theme is given out, and every one immediately writes off his essay, carefully

noting how many characters he erases in composing it, and hands

it up to the board of examiners ; the whole day is allotted to the

task, and a signal-gun announces the hour when the doors are

thrown open, and the students can disperse. (A man is liable to

lose his acquired honor of sla-tsai if at a subsequent inspection

he is found to have discarded his studies, and he is therefore impelled

to pursue them in order to maintain his influence, even if

he does not reach the next degree. ‘\

^ince the first degree is sometimes procured by influence and

money, it is the examination for the second, called hiljin, or

‘ promoted men,’ held triennially in the provincial capitals before

two imperial commissioners, that separates the candidates

into students and ofiacers, though all the students who receive a

diploma by no means become officers./ This examination is held

at the same time in all the eighteen provincial capitals, viz., on

the 9th, 12th, and 15tli days of the eighth moon, or about the

middle of September ; while it is going on, the city appears exceedingly

animated, in consequence of the great number of relatives

and friends assembled with the students. The persons

who preside at the examination, besides the imperial commissioners,

are ten provincial officers, with the futai at their head,

who jointly form a board of examiners, and decide upon the

merits of the essays. (The number of candidates who entered

the lists at Canton in the years 1828 and 1831 was 4,800 ; in

1832 there were 6,000, which is nearer the usual number. In

the largest provinces it reaches as many as 7,000, 8,000, and upward.]

^Chinese Repository, Vol. II., p. 349; Vol. XVI., pp. 67-72. Doolittle, Social Life of f/te Chineisc, Vol. I., pp. 376-443. Dr. Martin, The Chinese.

EXAMINATION Foil THE SECOND DEGREE. 551

Previous to entering the Kunrj T’aen, each candidate has given in all the necessary proofs and particulars, which entitle him to a cell, and receives the ticket which designates the one he is to occupy. He enters the night before, and is searched to see that no manuscript essay, “skinning paper,” or miniature edition of the classics, is secreted on his person. If anything of the sort is discovered, he is punished with the cangue, degraded from his first degree, and forbidden again to compete at the examination; his father and tutor are likewise punished. ( Some of the pieces written for this purpose are marvels of penmanship, and the most finished compositions ; one set contained an essay on every sentence in the Four Books, each of the sheets covered with hundreds of characters, and the paper so thin that they could be easily read through it. The practice is, however, quite common, notwithstanding the penalties, and one censor requested a law to be passed forbidding small editions to be

printed, and booksellers’ shops to be searched for tlieni^

The general arrangement of the examination halls in all the

provincial capitals is alike. A description of that at Canton,

given on page 166, is typical of them all.

The Hall at Peking, situated on the eastern side, not far from

the observatory, contains ten thousand cells, and these do not

always suffice for the host which assembles. The Hall at Fuhchau

is equally large ; each cell is a little higher than a man’s

head, and is open on but one side—letting in more rain and wind

during inclement days than is comfortable. Confinement in

these cramped cells is so irksome as to frequently cause the death

of aged students, who are unable to sustain the fatigue, but who

still enter the arena in hopes of at last succeeding. Cases have

occurred where father, son, and grandson, appeared at the same

time to compete for the same prize. (Dr. Martin’ found that out

of a list of ninety-nine successful competitors for the second

degree, sixteen were over forty years of age, one sixty-two, and

one eighty-three. The average age of the whole number was over

thirty—while in comparison with like statistics foi* the third degree,

a proportionate increase might be looked for.) The unpleasantness

of the strait cell is nnich increased by the smoke arising

• The Chinese, p. 50.

from the cooking, and by the heat of the weather. All servants are provided by government, but each candidate takes in the rice and fuel which he needs, together with cakes, tea, candles, bedding, etc., as he can afford ; no one can g(> in with him. The enclosure presents a bustling scene during the examination, and its interest intensifies until the names of the successful scholars

are published. Should a student die in his cell, the body is pulled

through a hole made in the wall of the enclosure, and left there for

his friends to carry away. Whenever a candidate breaks any of

the prescribed regulations of the contest, his name and offence are

reported, and his name is ” pasted out ” by placarding it on the

outer door of the hall, after which he is not allowed to enter until

another examination comes around. More than a hundred

persons are thus ” pasted out ” each season, but no heavy disgrace

seems to attach to them in consequence.

(On the first day after the doors have been sealed up, four themes are selected by the examiners from the Four Books, one of which subjects must be discussed in a poetical essay. The minimum length of the compositions is a hundred characters, and they must be written plainly and elegantly, and sent in without any names attached^ In 1828, the acumen of four thousand

eight hundred candidates was exercised during the first day on

these themes : ” Tsang-tsz’ said, ‘ To possess ability, and yet ask

of those who do not ; to know much, and yet inquire of those

who know little ; to possess, and yet appear not to possess ; to

be full, and yet appear empty.’ “—” lie took hold of things by

the two extremes, and in his treatment of the people maintained

the golden medium.” “A man from his youth studies eight

principles, and when he arrives at manhood, he wishes to reduce

them to practice.”—The fourth essay, to be written in

pentameters, had for its subject, “The sound of the oar, and the

green of the hills and water.” Among the themes given out

in 1843, were these: “lie who is sincere will be intelligent,

and the intelligent man will be faithful.”—”In carrying out

benevolence, there are no rules.” In 1835, one was, ” lie acts

as he ought, both to the common people and official men, receives

his revenue from Heaven, and by it is protected and highly

esteemed.” Among other more practical texts are the following: ” Fire-arms began with the use of rockets in the Chau dynasty ; in what book do we first meet with the word for cannon? Is the defence of Kaifung fii its first recorded use ?

METHOD OF CONDUCTING THE EXAMINATION. 553

Kublai klian, it is said, obtained cannon of a new kind ; from whom did he obtain them ? When the Ming Emperors, in the reign of Yungloh, invaded Cochincliina, they obtained a kind of cannon called the weapons of the gods; can you give an account of their origin ‘( “

The three or five themes (for the number seems to be optional)

selected from the Five Classics are similar to these, but as those

works are regarded as more recondite than the Four Books, so

nmst the essayists try to take a higher style/ An officer goes

around to gather in the pa] )ers, which are first handed to a body

of scholars in waiting, who look them over to see if the prescribed

rules have all been observed, and reject those which infringe

them, /The rest are then copied in red ink, to prevent

recognition of the handwriting, and the original manuscripts

given to the governor. The cojjies are submitted to another

class of old scholars for their criticism, each of whom marks the

essays he deems best with a red circle, and these only are placed

in the hands of the chancellors sent from Peking for their decision.

The examining board are aided by twelve scholars of

repute, to each of whom forty or fifty essays are given to read.

The students are dismissed during the niglit of the ninth day,

and reassemble before sunrise of the eleventh ; all M’hose essays

were rejected on the first review are refused enti-ance to their

cells. At the second tripos, five themes are given out from the

Five Classics, and everything pi-oceeds as before in respect

to the disposal of the manuscripts. The students are liberated

early on the thirteenth as before by companies, under a salute

and music as they leave the great door; their number has been

much reduced by this time. On the next morning the roll is

called, and those who answer to their names for the last struggle

are furnished with five themes for essays, one for poetry, taken

from the classics or histories, upon doubtful matters of government,

or such problems as might arise in law and finance.

These questions take even a more extended range, including topics relating to the laws, history, geography, and customs of the Empire in former times, doubtful points touching the classical works, and the interpretation of obscure passages, and biograpli«ical notices of statesnieiil Ut is forbidden, however, to discusa any points relating to the poHcy of the present family, or the character and learning of living statesmen); but the conduct of their rulers is now and then alluded to by the candidates. (Manuals of questions on such subjects as candidates are examined in, are commonly exposed for sale in shops about the time of these examinations.’ By noon of the sixteenth day of the eighth moon, all the candidates throughout the Empire have left their halls, and the examination is over.’

The manner in which subjects are handled may be readily illustrated

by introducing an essay upon this theme : ” When persons

in high stations are sincere in the performance of relative

and domestic duties, the people generally will be stimulated to

the practice of virtue.” It is a fair specimen of the jejune style

of Chinese essayists, and the mode of reasoning in a circle M’hick

pervades their writings.

“When the upper classes are really virtuous, the common people will inevitably become so. For, though the sincere performance of relative duties by superiors does not originate in a wish to stimulate the people, yet the people do become virtuous, which is a proof of the effect of sincerity. As benevolence is the radical principle of all good government in the world, so also benevolence is the radical principle of relative duties amongst the people. Traced back to its source, benevolent feeling refers to a first progenitor ; traced forward, it branches out to a hundred generations yet to come. The source of personal existence is one’s parents, the relations which originate from Heaven are most intimate; and that in which natural feeling blends is felt most deeply. That which is given by Heaven and by natural feeling to all, is done without any distinction between noble or ignoble. One feeling pervades all. My thoughts now refer to him who is placed in a station of eminence, and who may be called a good man. The good man who is placed in an eminent station, ought to lead forward the practice of virtue; but the way to do so is to begin with his own relations, and perform his duties to them.

” In the middle ages of antiquity, the minds of the people were not yet dissipated—how came it that they were not humble and observant of relative duties, when they were taught the principles of the five social relations V This having been the case, makes it evident that the enlightening of the people must depend entirely on the cordial performance of immediate relative duties. The person in an eminent station who may be called a good man, is he who appears at the head of all others in illustrating by his practice the relative duties.

‘ Blot, Essai sur VInstruction en Chine, p. 603.

EXAMPLE OF AN ESSAY. 555

To ages nearer to our own, the manners of the people were not far removed from the dutiful; how came it that any were disobedient to parents, and without

brotherly att’ectioii, and that it was yet necessary to restrain men by intiictiug

the eight forms of punishment ‘! This having been the case, shows tliat in the

various modes of obtaining promotion in the state, there is nothing regarded of

more importance than filial and fraternal duties. The person in an eminent

station who may be called a good man, is he who stands forth as an example of

the performance of relative duties.

” The difference between a person filling a high station and one of the common

people, consists in the dej^artment assigned them, not in their relation to

Heaven ; it consists in a difference of rank, not in a difference of natural feeling; but the common people constantly observe the sincere performance of relative duties in people of high stations. In being at the head of a family and preserving order amongst the persons of which it is composed, there should be sincere attention to politeness and decorum. A good man placed in a high station says, ‘ Who of all these are not related to me, and shall I receive them with mere external forms ‘?

‘ The elegant entertainment, the neatly arranged

tables, and the exhilarating song, some men esteem mere forms, but the good

man esteems that which dictates them as a divinely instilled feeling, and at

tends to it with a truly benevolent heart. And who of the common peoj^le

does not feel a share of the delight arising from fathers, and brothers, and

kindred ? Is this joy resigned entirely to princes and kings ?

” In favors conferred to display the benignity of a sovereign, there should

be sincerity in the kindness done. The good man says, ‘ Are not all these

persons whom I love, and shall I merely enrich them by largesses ? ‘ He gives

a branch as the sceptre of aiithority to a delicate 3’ounger brother, and to another

he gives a kingdom witli his best instructions. Some men deem this as

merely extraordinary good fortune, but the good man esteems it the exercise

of a virtue of the first order, and the effort of inexpressible benevolence.

But have the common people no regard for the spring whence the water flows,

nor for the root which gives life to the tree and its branches ? Have they no

regard for their kindred ? It is necessary both to reprehend and to urge them

to exercise these feelings. The good man in a high station is sincere in the

performance of relative duties, because to do so is virtuous, and not on account

of the common people. I3ut the people, without knowing whence the impulse

comes, witli joy and delight are influenced to act with zeal in this career of

virtue ; the moral distillation proceeds with rapidity, and a vast change is effected.

” The rank of men is exceedingly different ; some fill the imperial throne, but every one equally wishes to do his utmost to accomplish his duty ; and success depends on every individual himself. The upper classes begin and pour the wine into the rich goblet ; the poor man sows his grain to maintain his parents ; the men in high stations grasp the silver bowl, the poor present a pigeon ; they arouse each other to unwearied cheerful efforts, and the principles implanted by Heaven are moved to action. Some things are difficult to be done, except by those who possess the glory of national rule ; but the kind feeling is what I myself possess, and may increase to an unlimited degree.

The prince may write verses appropriate to his vine bower ; the poor man can think of his gourd shelter ; the prince may sing his classic odes on fraternal regards ; the poor man can muse on his more simple allusions to the same subject, and asleep or awake indulge his recollections ; for the feeling is instilled into his nature. When the people are aroused to relative virtues, they will be sincere ; for where are there any of the common people that do not desire to perform relative duties ? But without the upper classes performing relative duties, this virtuous desire would have no point from which to originate, and

therefore it is said, ‘Good men in high stations, as a general at the head of liis

armies, will lead forward the world to the practice of social virtues.’”

_\ The discipline of mind and memory wliicli these examinations

di’aw ont fm-nishes a grade of intellect which only needs the

friction and experience of public life to make statesmen out of

scholars, and goes far to account for the influence of Chinese in

Asia. The books studied in preparation for such trials must be

remembered with extraordinary accuracy,)though we may wish

they contained more truth and better science. The following

are among the questions proposed in 1853, and must be taken

as an average : ” In the Ilan dynasty, there were three commentators

on the J7A King^ whose explanations, and divisions

into chapters and sentences were all different : can you give an

account of them ?

“—” Sz’ma Tsien took the classics and ancient

records in arranging his history according to their facts ; some

have accused him of undulv exaltino; the Taoists and thinking

too highly of wealth and power. Pan Ku is clear and compreliensive,

but on Astronomy and the Five Elements, he has written

more than enough. Give examples and proof of these two

statements.”—” Chin Shao had admirable abilities for historical

writings. In his San Kiooh Chi he has depreciated Chu-koh

Liang, and made very light of t and I, two other celebrated

characters. What does he say of them ? ” This kind of

question involves a wide range of reading within the native literature,

though it of course contracts tlie mind to look upon that

literature as containing all that is worth anything in the world/J

( Twenty-five days are allowed for the examining board to de

cide on the essays ; and few tasks can be instanced moi-e irksome

to a board of honest examiners than the perusal of between flfty

and seventy-flve thousand papers on a dozen subjects, through

which the most monotonous uniformity nuist necessarily run,

ARDUOUS LABORS OF THE EXAMIXERS. 551

and out of wliich tliey have to choose the seventy or eighty best

—for the number of successful candidates cannot vary far from

this, according to the size of the province. The examiners, as

lias ah’eady been described, are aided by literary men in sifting

this mass of papers, which relieves them of most of the laboi”,

and secures a better decision. If the number of students be

five tliousand, and each writes thirteen essays,- there will be

sixty-five thousand papers, whicli allots two hundred and sixty

essays for each of the tenexamineivs. With the help of the assistants

who are intrusted with their examination, most of the essays obtain a reading, no doubt, by some qualified scholar.

There is, therefore, no little sifting and selection, so that when at the last the commissioners choose three rolls of essays and poems from each of the sessions belonging to the same scholar, to pass their final judgment, the company of candidates lilcely to succeed has been reduced as. small in proportion as those in Gideon’s host who lapped water. (One of the examining committee, in 183:2, who sought to invigorate his nerves or clear his intellect for the task by a pipe of opium, fell asleep in consequence, and on awaking, found that many of the essays had caught fire and been consumed. It is generally supposed that hundreds of them are unread, but the excitement of the occasion, and the dread on the part of the examining board to irritate the body of students, act as checks against gross omissions. Very trivial errors are enough to condemn an essay, especially if the examiners have not been gained to look upon it kindly. Section LIT. of the code

regulates the conduct of the examiners, but the punishments are

slight. One candidate, whose essay had been condenmed without

being read, printed it, which led to the punishment of the

examiner, degradation of the graduate, and promulgation of a

law forbidding this mode of appealing to the public. Another

essay was rejected because the writer had abbreviated a single characterj

When the names of the successful wranglers are known, they are published by a crier at midnight, on or before the tenth of the ninth moon ; at Canton, he mounts the highest tower, and, after a salute, announces them to the expectant city ; the next morning, lists of the lucky scholars are hawked about the streets, and rapidly sent to all parts of the province. The proclamat) m which contains their names is pasted upon the governor’s office under a salute of three guns ; his excellency comes out and bows three times towards the names of iha I’i’omoted men^ and retires under another salute. The disappointed multitude must then rejoice in the success of the few, and solace themselves with the hope of better luck next time ; while the successful ones are honored and feasted in a very distinguished manner, and are the objects of flattering attention from the whole city. On an appointed day, the governors, commissioners, and high provincial officers banquet them all at the futai’s palace; inferior officers attend as servants, and two lads, fantastically dressed, and holding fragrant branches of the olive(pleafragrans) in their hands

grace the scene with this symbol of literary attainments. The

number of A.M., licentiates, or kil-jtn, who triennially receive

their degrees in the Empire, is upwards of thirteen hundred :

the expense of the examinations to the government in various

ways, including the presents conferred on the graduates, can

hardly be less than a third of a million of taels. (Besides the

triennial examinations, special ones are held every ten years,

and on extraordinary occasions, as a victory, a new reign, or an

imperial marriage. One was granted in 1835 because the Empress-

dowager had reached her sixtieth year)

The third degree of tsln-sz\ ‘entered scholars,’ or doctors, is

conferred triennially at Peking upon the successful licentiates

who compete for it, and only those among the h’d-j’m., who have

not alread}’ taken office, are eligible as candidates. On application

at the provincial treasury, they are entitled to a part of their

travelling expenses to court, but it doubtless requires some interest

to get the mileage granted, for many poor scholars are detained

from the metropolitan examination, or nnist beg or bor

row in order to reach it. The procedure on this trial is the

same as in the provinces, but the examiners are of higher rank ;

the themes are taken from the same works, and the essays ai’e

but little else than repetitions of the same ti-ain of thought and

argument. After the degrees are conferred upon all who are

deeined worthy, which varies from one hundi-ed and fifty to four

hundred each time, the doctors are introduced to the Emperor,

EXAMINATIONS FOR TIIIKD AND FOUKTII DEGREES. 559

and do him reverence, the three highest receiving rewards from

him) At this examination, candidates, instead of being promoted,

are occasionally degraded from their acquired standing

for incompetency, and forbidden to appear at them again. VThe

graduates are all inscribed upon the list of candidates for promotion,

by the Board of Civil Office, to be appointed on the lirst

vacancy ; most of them do in fact enter on official life in some

way or other by attaching themselves to high dignitaries, or getting

employment in some of the departments at the capital-/

(One instance is recorded of a student taking all the degrees

within nine months ; and some become Tianlin before entering

office. Others try again and again, till gi’ay hairs compel them

to retire.) I’here are many subordinate offices in the Academy,

the Censorate, or the Boards, which seem almost to have been

instituted for the employment of graduates, whose success has

given them a partial claim upon the country. The Emperor

sometimes selects clever graduates to prepare works for the use

of government, or nominates them upon special literary commissions’”

‘ It can easily be understood that no small address in

managing and appeasing such a crowd of disciplined active

minds is required on the part of the bureaucracy, and only the

long experience of many generations of the graduates could suffice

to keep the system so vigorous as it is.

The fourth and highest degree of Jianlln is rather an office

than a degree, for those who attain it are enrolled as members

of the Imperial Academy, and receive salaries. The triennial

exatnination for this distinction is held in the Emperor’s palace,

and is conducted on much the same plan as all preceding ones,

though being in the presence of the highest personages in the

Empire, it exceeds them in honor.’ *^ Manchus and Mongols

‘ Chinese Repository, Vol. IX., p. 541 ; Vol. III., p. 118.

2 See Morrison’s Chinese Dictionary, Vol. I., Part I., pp. 759-779, for the laws

and usages of the several trials. Also Doolittle’s Sucidl Life, Vol. I. , Chaps.

XV., XVI., and XVII. ; Biot, Essai snr VHistoirc de VInstruction PubUque en

Chine ; W. A. P. Martin, T/iC Chiiu’se, pp. 39 ff. ; Journal Asiatique, Tomes

III., pp. 257 and 331, IV., p. 3, and VII. (3d Series, 1839), pp. 32-81;

Journal Asiatic Soc. Benr/al, Vol. XXVIII., No. 1, 1859; Journal N. C. Br.

R. As. Soc, New Series, Vol. VI., pp. 129 ff. ; China Review, Vol. II., p

309.

compete at these trials with the Chinese, but many facts show

tliat the former are generally favored at the expense of the latter’;

the large proportion of men belonging to these races filling

high oflSces indicates who are the rulers of the landT] The candidates

are all examined at Peking ; one instance is recorded

of a Chinese who passed himself oif for a Mancliu, but afterward

confessed the dissimulation ; the head of the division was

tried in consequence of his oversight. It is the professed policy

of the govermnent to discourage literary pursuits among them,

in order to maintain tho ancient energy of the race ; but Avhero

the real power is lodged in the hands of civilian^^, it is impossible

to prevent so powerful a component of the population

from competing with the others for its possession.

The present dynasty introduced examinations and gradations

among the troops on the same principles as obtain in the civil

service ; nothing more strikingly proves the power of literary

pursuits in China, than this vain attempt to harmonize the profession

of arms in all its branches with them. Their enemies

were, however, no better disciplined and equipped than they

themselves were. Candidates for the first degree present

themselves before the district magistrate, with proper testimonials

and securities. On certain days they are collected on

the parade-grounds, and exhibit their skill in archery (on foot

and in the saddle), in wielding swords and lifting weights,

graduated to test their muscle. The successful men are assembled

afterward before the prefect ; and again at a third trial

before the literary chancellor, who at the last tripos tests them

on their literary attainments, before giving them their degrees

of siu-tsai. The number of successful military slu-tsal is tho

same as the literary. They are triennially called together by

tho governor at the provincial capital to undergo further examination

for Mi-jin in four successive trials of the same nature.

These occasions are usually great gala days, and three or four

scores of young warriors who carry off pi’izes at these tournaments

receive honors and degrees in much the same style as

their literary compeers. The trials for the highest degree are

lield at Peking ; and the long-continued efforts in this service

generally obtain for the young men posts in the body-guard of

COMPETITIVE EXAMINATIONS OF THE MILHARV. 561

the governors or staff uppointrneiits. The forty- nine successful

candidates out of several thousands at tlie trieiniial examination

for l-il-jln. in Canton, November, 1882, all hit the target on

foot six times successively, and on horseback six times ; once

with the arrow they hit a ball lying on the ground as they

passed it at a gallop ; and all were of the first class in wielding

the iron-handled battle-axe, and lifting the stone-loaded beam,

tl’he candidates are all persons of property, who find their own

horses, dresses, arms, etc., and are handsomely dressed, the

horses, trimmings, and accoutrements in good order—the arrows

being without barbs, to prevent accidents. One observer

says, ” the marks at wliich they fired, covered with white

paper, were about the height of a man and somewhat wider,

placed at intervals of fifty yards ; the object was to strike the>ie

marks successively with their three ari’ows, the horses be^.’g

kept at full speed. Although the bulTs-eye was not always

hit, the target was never missed : the distance did not exceed

fifteen or twenty feet.’y

(Since military honors depend so entirely on personal skill, it

may partly account f(jr the inferior rank the graduates hold in

comparison with civilians. I\^o knowledge of tactics, gunnery,

engineering, fortifications, or even, letters in general, seems to

be required of them; and this explains the inefficiency of the

army, and the low estimation its officers are held in. Sir J.

Davis mentions one military officer of enoi’mous size and

strength, Avhom. he saw on the Pei ho, who had lately been

promoted for his personal prowess ; and speaks of another attached

to the guard on one of the boats, who was such a foolish

fellow that none of the civilians would associate with him.”

All the classes eligible to civil promotion can enter the ^.sts for

military honors ; the Emperor is present at the examination for

the highest, and awards prizes, such as a cap decorated with a

peacock’s feather ; but no system of prizes or examinations can

supply the want of knowledge and courage. Military distinctions

not being much sought by the people, and conferring but

•Ellis, Embassy to China, p. 87; Chinese Repository, No\. XVI., p. 63;

Vol. IV., p. 125.

^ Davis, Sketches, Vol. I., pp. 99, 101.

little emolument or power, do not stand as high in public estimation as the present government wishes. The selection oi officers for the naval service is made from the land force, and a man is considered (piite as fit for that branch after his feats of archery, as if the trials had been in yacht-sailing or manning the yards. I

Such is the outline of the system of examinations through

which the civil and military services of the Chinese government

are supplied) and the only part of their system not to be

paralleled in one or other of the great monarchies of past or

present times ; though the counterpart of this may have also

existed in ancient Egypt. ” It is the only one of their inventions,”

as has been remarked, “which is perhaps worth preserving,

and has not been adopted by other countries, and carried

to greater perfection than they were equal to.” CBut such a

system w^ould be unnecessary in an enlightened Cliristian

country, where the people, pursuing study for its own sake, are

able and willing to become as learned as their rulers desire

without any such inducement. Nor M’ould they submit to the

trammels and trickery attendant on competition for office ; the

ablest politicians are by no means found among the most

learned scholars. The honor and power of official position

liave proved to be ample stimnlus and reward for years of

patient study, (^ot one in a score of graduates ever obtains an

office, not one in a hundred of competitors ever gets a degree ;

but they all belong to the literary class, and share in its influence,

dignity, and privileges. Moreover, these books render

not only those who get the prizes well acquainted with the true

principles on which power should be exercised, but the whole

nation—gentry and commoners—know them also. These unemployed

literati form a powerful middle class, whose members

advise the work-people, who have no time to study, and aid

ri their rulers in the management of local affairs. Their intelligence

fits them to control most of the property, while few

acquire such wealth as gives them the power to oppress. They

make the public opinion of the country, now controlling it,

then cramping it; alternately adopting or resisting new influences,

and sometimes successfully thwarting the acts of officials,

OBSERVATIONS UPON THE SYSTEM. 503

when the rights of the people are in danger of encroachment

;

or at other times combining with tlie authorities to repress anarchy

or relieve suffering.’

(This class has no badge of I’ank, and is open to every man’s

highest talent and efforts, but its complete neutralization of

hereditary rights, which would have sooner or later made a

privileged uligari^iij anil-aJiUJdeifiiLfeiKhLLMi§tQcracy, proves

its vitalizing, democratic influence.) It has saved the Chinese’

people from a second disintegration into numerous kingdoms,

by the sheer force of instruction in the political rights and

duties taught in the classics and their conmientaries. f While

this system put all on equality, human nature, as we know, has

no such equality. .Vt its inception it probably met general

support from all classes, because of its fitness for the times, and

soon the resistance of multitudes of hopeful students against

its abrogation and their consequent disappointment in their lifework

aided its continuance.^ As it is now, talent, wealth, learning,

influence, paternal raidc, and intrigue, each and all have

full scope for their greatest efforts in securing the prizes. If

these prizes had been held by a tenure as slippery as they

are at present in the American Republic, or obtainable only

by canvassing popular votes, the system would surely have

failed, for ” the game would not have been worth the candle.”

But in China the throne gives a character of pernumency to

the government, which opposes all disorganizing tendencies,

and makes it for the interest of every one in ofiice to strengthen

the power which gave it to him. This loyalty was remarkably

shown in the recent rebellion, in which, during the eighteen

years of that terrible carnage and ruin, not one imperial official

voluntarily joined the Tai-pings, while hundreds died resisting

them.

There is no space here for further extracts from the classics

which will adequately show their character. They would prove

that Chinese youth, as well as those in Christian lands, are

taught a higher standard of conduct than they follow. The

former are, however^ drilled in the very best moral books the

language affords ; if the Proverbs of Solomon and the New Testament were studied as thoroughly in our schools as the Four Books are in China, our young- ineu would be better fitted to act their part as good and useful citizens.

fin this way literary pursuits have taken precedence of warlike,

and no unscrupulous (“sesar or ]^apoleon has heen able to

use the army for his own aggrandizement. The army of

Cliina is contemptible, certainly, if compared with those of

Western nations, and its use is rather like a police, whose powers

of protection or oppression are exhibited according to the

tempers of those Avho employ them. But in China the army

has not been employed, as it was by those great captains, to

destroy the institutions oti ^vhich it rests ; though its weakness

and want of discipline often make it a greater evil than good to

the people.) But had the military waxed strong and efficient,

it would certainly have l)ecome a terror in the hands of ambitious

monarchs, a drain on the resources of the land, pci-haps

a menace to other nations, or finally a destroyer of its own.

(The officials were taught, when young, what to honor in their

rulers ; and, now that they liold those stations, they learn that

discreet, upright magistrates do receive reward and promotion,

and experience has shown them that peace and thrift are the

ends and evidence of good government, and the best tests of

their own fitness for office.?

Another observable result of this republican method of getting

the best-educated men into office is the absence of any

class of slaves or serfs among the population. Slavery exists in

a modified form of corporeal mortgage for debt, and thousands

remain in this serfdom for life through one reason or another.

But the destruction of a feudal baronage involved the extinction

of its correlative, a villein class, and the oppression of

poor debtors, as Avns the case in Rome under the consuls. Only

freemen are eligil>le to enter the concoKfs^ but the percentage

of slaves is too snuill to influence the total. To this cause, too,

may, perhaps, to a large degree, be ascribed the absence of

anything like caste, which has had such bad effects in India.

<‘^The system could not be transplanted ; it is fitted for the

‘genius of the Chinese, and they have become well satisfied

with its workings, jits purification would do great good, doubtless,

if the mass or^the people are to be left in their present

VARIOUS KKSl’LTS TO THE LAND AND PKOI’LIO. 565

state of ignoi’ance, but their elevation in knowledge would, ere

long, revolutionize the whole. There can be no doubt as to

tlie important and beneficial i-esnlts it has accomplished, with / .

all its defects, in perpetuating and strengthening the system of

government, and securing to the people a more equitable and

vigorous body of magistrates than they could get in any other

way. It offers an honorable career to the most ambitious, taleiited,

or turbulent spirits in the country, which demands all

their powers ; and by the time they enter upon office, those

aspirations and powers have been drilled and molded into use-

1

ful service, and are ever after devoted to the maintenance of \

the system they might otherwise have wrecke^.f Most of the

real benefits of Chinese education and this sj’sfem of examinations

are reached before the conferment of the degree of Ixujin.

These consist in diffusing a general respect and taste for

letters among the people ; in calling out the true talent of the

country to the notice of the rulers in an honorable path of effort

; in making all persons so thoroughly acquainted -with the

best moral books in the language that they cannot fail to exercise

some salutary i-estraint ; in elevating the genei-al standard

of education so much that every man is almost compelled to

give his son a little learning in order that he may get along in

life ; and finally, through all these influences, powerfully contributing

to uphold the existing institutions of the Empire.

From the intimate knowledge thus obtained of the writings

of their best minds, Chinese youth learn the principles of democratic

nde as opposed to personal authority ; and from this instruction

it has resulted that no monarch has evei* been able to

use a standing army to enslave the people, or seize the proceeds

of their industry for his own selfish ends^’ Nothing in Chinese

politics is more worthy of notice than the unbounded reverence

for the Emperor, while each man resists unjust taxation, and

joins in killing or driving away oppressive officials. [Educated

men form the only aristocracy in the land ; and the attainment

of the first degree, by introducing its owner into the class of

gentnj, is considered ample compensation for all the expense

and study spent in getting it. On the whole, it may safely be

asserted that these examinations have done more to maintain the stability, and explain the continuance, of the Chinese government than any other single canse.)

Ijhe principal defects and malversations in the system can

soon be shown. Some are inherent, but others rather prove

the badness of the material than of the system and its harmonious

workings. One great difRcnlty in the way of the graduated

students attaining office according to their merits is the

favor shown to those who can buy nominal and real honors.

“”Two_censm:g^,-ill–1822, laid a document before his Majesty, in

M’hich the evils attendant on selling office are shown ; viz., elevating

priests, highwaymen, merchants, and other unworthy or

uneducated men, to responsible stations, and placing insurmountable

difficulties in the way of hard-working, worthy students

reaching the reward of their toi^ They state that the

plan of selling offices connnenced during the II an dynasty, but

speak of the greater disgrace attendant upon the plan at the

present time, because the avails all go into the privy purse instead

of being applied to the public service ; they recommend,

therefore, a reduction in the disbursements of the imperial estal)

iishment. LVniong the items mentioned by these oriental

Joseph Humes, which they consider extravagant, are a lac of

taels (100,000) for tlowers and rouge in the seraglio, and 120,-

000 in salaries to waiting-boys ; two lacs were expended on the

gardens of Yuenming, and almost half a million of taels upon

the parks at Jeh ho, while the salaries to officers and presents

to women at Yuenming were over four lacs. ” If these few

items of expense were abolished,” they add, “there would be a

saving of moi’e than a million of taels of useless expenditure

;

talent might be brought forward to the service of the country,

and the people’s wealth be secured.”

i^n consequence of the extensive sale of offices, they state

that more than five thousand ^.s/;? -,<?.;’ doctors, and more than

twenty-seven thousand l-il-j’ui licentiates, arc waiting for employment

; and those first on the list obtained their degrees

thirty years ago, so that the pi-obability is that when at last

employed, they will be too old for service, and be declared

superannuated in the first examination of official merits and demerits.

The rules to be observed at the regular examinations

ITS rilACTICAL DEFECTS AND CORRUPTION. 067

are strict, but no questions are asked the buyers of office ; and

they enter, too, on their duties as soon as the money is paid.

The censors quote tliree sales, ^vhose united proceeds amounted

to a quarter of a million of taels, and state that the whole income

from this source for twenty years was only a few lacs.

Examples of the flagitious conduct of these purse-proud magistrates

are quoted in proof of the bad results of the plan.

” Thus the priest Siang Yang, prohibited from holding office,

bought his way to one ; the intcndant at Xingpo, from being a

mounted highwayman, bought his M’ay to office ; besides others

of the vilest parentage. But the covetousness and cruelty of

these men are denominated purity and intelligence ; they inflict

severe punishments, which make the people terrified, and

their superiors point them out as possessing decision : these are

our able officers !

“/^

After animadverting on the general practice “of all officers,

from governor-generals down to village magistrates, combining

to gain their jMU-poses l)y hiding the truth from the sovereign,”

and specifying the malversations of Tohtsin, the premier, in

particular, they close their paper with a protestation of their

integrity. “If your Majesty deems what we have now stated

to be right, and will act thereon in the government, you will

realize the designs of the souls of your sacred ancestors; and

the army, the nation, and the poor people, M’ill have cause for

gladness of heart. Should we be subjected to the operation of

the hatchet, or suffer death in the boiling caldron, we will not

decline it,”

These censors place the proceeds of “button scrip “far too

low, for/in 1826, the sale produced about six millions of taels,

and was continued at intervals during the three following

years. In 1831, one of the sons of HoAvqua was created a

ku-jin by patent for having subscribed nearly fifty thousand

dollars to repair the dikes near Canton ; and upon another was

conferred the rank and title of ” director of the salt monopoly”

for a lac of taels toward the war in Turkestan, Neither of

these persons ever held any office of power, nor probably did

they expect it ; and such may be the case with many of those

who are satisfied with the titles and buttons, feathers and robes, which their money procures./ The sale of office is rather accepted

as a State necessity which does not necessarily bring

tyrants npon the bench ; but when, as was the case in 1863.

Peiching, head of the Examining Board at Peking, fraudulently

issued two or three diplomas, his execution vindicated

the law, and deterred similar tampering with the life-springs of

the system, ^i^uring the present dynasty, military men have

l)een frequently appointed to magistracies, and the detail of

their offices intrusted to needy scholars, which has tended, still

further, to disgii^ and dishearten the latter from resorting to

the literary arena.)

The language itself of the Chinese, which has for centuries

aided in preserving their institutions and strengthening national

homogeneity amid so many local varieties of speech, is now

rather in the way of their progress, and may be pointed to as

another unfortunate feature which infects this system of education

and examination ; for it is impossible for a native to write

a treatise on grammar about another language in his own

tongue, through which another Chinese can, unaided, learn to

speak that language. This people have, therefore, no ready

means of learning the best thoughts of foreign minds. Such

being the case, the ignorance of their first scholars as regards

other races, ages, and lands has been their misfortune far more

than their fault, and thej’ have suffered the evils of their isolation.

One has been an utter ignorance of what would have

conferred lasting benefit resulting from the study of outside

conceptions of morals, science, and politics, (inasmuch as

neither geography, natural history, mathematics, nor the history

or languages of other lands forms part of the curriculum,

these men, trained alone in the classics, have naturally grown

up with distorted views of their own country. The officials

are imbued with conceit, ignorance, and arrogance as to its

power, resources, and comparative influence, and are helpless

when met by greater skill or strength. However, these disadvantages,

great as they are and have been, have mostly resulted

naturally fi-om their secluded position, and are rapidly yielding

to the new influences which are acting upon government and

people.^ To one contemplating this startling metamorphosis,

SALE OF DEGREES a:ND FORGED DIPLOMAS. D6j)

the foremost wish, indeed, must he that these causes do not

disinte^’-rate their ancient economies too fast for the recuperation

and preservation of wliatever is good therein.

|\nother evil is ^h^ bribery practised to attain the degrees.

By certain signs placed on the essays, the examiner can easily

pick out those he is to approve; §8,000 was said to be the

price of a bachelor’s degree in Canton, but this sum is within

the reach of few out of the six thousand candidates. The poor

SL’liolars sell their services to tlie rich, and for a certain price

will enter the hall of examination, and personate their employer,

running the risk and penalties of a disgraceful exposure if

detected ; for a less sum they will drill them before examination,

or write the essays entirely, which the rich booby must commit

to memory.) ^The purchase of forged diplomas is another mode

of obtaining a graduate’s honors, which, from some discoveries

made at Peking, is so extensively practised, that when this and

other corruptions are considered, it is surprising that any person

can be so eager in his studies, or confident of his abilities,

as ever to think he can get into office by them alone. In 1830,

the Gazette contained some documents showing that an inferior

officer, aided by some of the clerks in the Board of Hevenue,

during the successive superintendence of twenty presidents of

the Board had sold twenty thousand four hundred and nineteen

foi-ged diplomas ; and in the ])rovince of Xganhwui, the

writers in the office attached to the Board of Ileveuue had

carried on the same practice for four years, and forty-six persons

in that province were convicted of possessing them. All

the principal criminals convicted at this time were sentenced to

decapitation, butCjhese cases are enough to show that the real

talent of the country does not often find its way into the magistrate’s

seat without the aid of money ; nor is it likely that the

tales of such delinquencies often appear in the Gazette. Literary

chancellors also sell bachelors’ degrees to the exclusion of

deserving poor scholars ; the office of the // ‘lohchhuj of Kiangsi

was searched in 1828 by a special commission, and four lacs of

taels found in it ; he hung himself to avoid further punishment,

as did also the same dignitary in (^anton in 1833, as was supposed,

for a similar cause. It is in this way, no doubt, that the ill-fjotten o;ains of most officers return to the o-enenil cirdilation.’

Notwithstanding these startling corruptions, which seem to

involve the principle on which the harmony and efficiency of

the whole machinery of state stand, it cannot be denied, judging

from tlie results, that the highest officei’s of the Chinese

government do possess a very respectable rank of talent and

knowledge, and carry on the unwieldy machine with a degree

(»f integrity, pati’iotism, industry, and good order which shows

that the leading minds in it are well chosen. The person who

has originally obtained his rank by a forged diploma, or by

direct purchase, cannot hope to rise or to maintain even his first

standing, without some knowledge and parts. One of the tlu’ce

commissioners whom Kiying associated with himself in his

negotiations with the American minister in lS4-i, was a supernumerary

cluhloi of forbidding appearance, who could hardly

Avrite a common document, but it was easy to see the low estimation

the ignoranms was hold in. It may therefore be fairly

inferred that enough large prizes are drawn to incite successive

generations of scholars to compete for them, and thus to maintain

the literary spirit of the people. At these examinations

the superior minds of the country are brought together in large

bodies, and thus they learn each others views, and are able to

check official oppressions with something like a public ojunion.

In Peking the concourse of several thousands, from the remotest

provinces, to compete at or assist in the triennial examinations,

exerts a great and healthy influence upon their rulers

and themselves. jSTothing like it ever has been seen in any

other metropolis.

^The enjoyment of no small degree of power and influence in

their native village, is also to be considered in estinuiting the

rewards of studious toil, whether the student get a diploma or

not ; and this local consideration is the most common i-eward

attending the life of a scholar. ^ In those villages where no

governmental officer is specially appointed, such men are almost

sure to become the headmen and most influential persons in the

very spot)where a Chinese loves to be distinguished, (rraduates

are likewise allowed to erect flag-staffs, or put up a red sign

INFLUENCE AND IlESPECT OBTAINED BY BACHELORS. 57]

over the door of tlieir lionses si lowing tlie degree tliev have obtained,

wliich is both a hariuloss and gratifying reward of

stud}’/; like the additions of Cant((h. or Odvu.^ D.D. or LL.D.,

to their owner’s names in other lands.

(The fortune attending the unsuccessful candidates is various/

Thousands of them get employment as school-teachers, pettifogging notaries, and clerks in the public offices, and others who are rich return to their families. Some are reduced by degrees to beggary, and resort to medicine, fortune-telling, letter-writing, and other such shifts to eke out a living. Many turn their attention to learning the modes of drawing up deeds and forms used in dealings regarding property ; others look to aiding military men in their duties, and a few turn authors, and thus in one way or another contrive to turn their learning to account.

During the period of the examinations, when the students are assembled in the capital, the officers of government are careful not to irritate them by punishment, or offend their €ii]^>i-it ile corj)s^ but rather, by admonitions and warnings, induce them to set a good example. The personal reputation of the officer himself has much to do with the influence he exerts over the students, and whether they will heed his cdveats. One of the examiners in Zhejiang, irritated by the impei’tinence of a bachelor, who presumed upon his immunity from corporeal chastisement, twisted his ears to teach him better manners; soon after, the student and two others of equal degree were accused before the same magistrate for a libel, and one of them beaten forty strokes upon his palms. At the ensuing examination, ten of the xiucai indignant at this unauthorized treatment, refused to appear, and all the candidates, when they saw who was to preside, dispersed immediately. In his memorial upon the matter, the governor-general recommends both this officer, and another one who talked much al)Out the affair and produced a great effect upon the public mind, to be degraded, and the bachelors to be stripped of their honors. A magistrate of Honan, having punished a student with twenty blows, the assembled body of students rose and threw their caps on the ground, and walked ofp, leaving him alone. The prefect of Canton, in 1842, having become obnoxious to the citizens from the part lie took in ransoming the city M’lien surrounded by the British forces, the students refused to receive him as their examiuer, and when he appeai’ed in tlie liall to take his seat,

drove him out of the room by throwing their ink-stones at him ;

he soon after resigned his statio’N. Perhaps the siu-tsai are

more impatient than the hu-jin from being better acquainted

with eacli other, and being examined by local officers, while the

I’il-jin are overaw’ed by the rank of the commissioners, and,

coming from distant parts of a large province, have little

}mitual sympathy or acquaintance. The examining boards,

however, take pains to avoid displeasing any gathering of graduates.

We have seen, then, in what has been of necessity a somewhat

cursory resmue, the management and extent of an institution

which has opened the avenues of rank to all, by

teaching candidates how to maintain the principles of liberty

and equality they had learned from their oft-quoted ‘ancients.’

All that these institutions need, to secure and promote the highest welfare of the people—as they themselves, indeed, aver—is their faithful execution in every department of government; as we find them, no higher evidence of their remarkable wisdom can be adduced, than the general order and peace of the land. When one sees the injustice and oppressions in law courts, the feuds and deadly fights among clans, the prevalence of lying, ignorance, and pollution among commoners, and the unscrupulous struggle for a living going on in every rank of life, he wonders that Tuiiversal anarchy does not destroy the whole machine. But ‘ the powers that be are ordained of God.”

The Chinese seem to have attained the great ends of human government to as high a degree as it is possible for man to go without the knowledge of divine revelation. That, in its great truths, its rewards, its hopes, and its stimulus to good acts has yet to be received among them. The course and results of the struggle between the new and the old in the land of Sinim will fomi a remarkable chapter in the history of man.

FKMA^ EDUCATION IX CHINA. 573

With regard to female education, it is a singular anomaly among Chinese writers, that while they lay great stress upon maternal instruction in f(u-ining the infant mind, and leading i* on to exoelleiK’O, no more of them should have turned their attention to the preparation ©f hooks for girls, and the establishment of female schools. There are some reasons for the absence of the latter to be found in the state of society, notable among which must stand, of course, the low position of woman in every oriental community, and a general contempt for the capacity of the female mind. It is, moreover, impossible to procure many qualified schoolmistresses, and to this we must add the hazard of sending girls out into the streets alone, where they would run some risk of being stolen. (^~~The principal stimulus

for boys to study—the hope aiid:”~pi”ospect of office—is

taken away from girls, and Chinese literature offei’s little to re-|

pay them for the labor of learning it in addition to all the

domestic duties which devolve upon them// Nevertheless, education

is not entirely confined to the sti-onger sex ; seminaries

for young women are not at all unconnnon in South China, and

it is not unusual to find private tutors giving instruction to

young ladies at their houses.* Though this must be regarded

as a comparative statement, and holding much more for the

southern than for the northern provinces, on the other hand, it

may be asserted that literary attainments are considered creditable

to a wonuin, more than is the case in India or Siam ; the

names of authoresses mentioned in Chinese annals would make

a long list. Yuen Yuen, tlie governor general of Canton, in

1S20, while in office, published a volume of his deceased’s

daughter’s poetical effusions ; and literary men ai-e usually desirous

of having their daughters accomplished in music and

poetry, as well as in composition and classical lore. Such an

education is considered befitting their station, and reflecting

credit on the family.

One of the most celebrated female writers in China is Pan

Ilwui-pan, also known as Pan Chao, a sister of the historian

Pan Ivu, who wrote the histoiy of the former Ilan dynasty.

She M’as appointed historiographer after his death, and completed

his unfinished annals ; she died at the age of seventy,

and was honored by the Emperor Ho with a public burial, and

‘ Arcluleacon Gray, China, Vol. I., p. 167.

the title of the (ireat Lady Tsao. About a.d. So, slie was made

pi”eeeptress of tlie Empress, and wrote the Urst woi-k in any

language on female education ; it was called Nil Kiai or Fe-

‘inale Precej’ts^ and has formed the basis of many succeeding

books on female education. The aim of her writings was to

elevate female character, and make it virtuous. She says, ” The

virtue of a female does not consist altogether in extraordinary

abilities or intelligence, but in being modestly grave and inviolably

chaste, observing the requirements of virtuous widowhood,

and in being tidy in her person and evei-ything about

her ; in whatever she does to be unassmning, and M’henever she

moves or sits to be decorous. This is female virtue.” Instruction

in morals and the various branches of domestic economy

are more insisted upon in the Mi-itings of this and other authoresses,

than a knowledge of the classics or histories of the country.

One of the most distinguished Chinese essayists of modern

times, Luhchau, published a Avork for the benefit of the sex,

called the Female Instructor j an extract from liis preface will

show what ideas are generally entertained on female education

by Chinese moralists.

” The basis of the government of the Empire lies in the habits of the people, and the surety that their usages will be correct is in the orderly management of families, which last depends chiefly upon the females. In the good old times of Cliau, the virtuous women set such an excellent example that it influenced the customs of the Empire—an influence that descended even to the times of the Ching and Wei states. If the curtain of the inner apartment gets thin, or is hung awry [i.e., if the sexes are not kept apart], disorder will enter the family, and viltimately pervade the Empire. Females are doubtless the sources of good manners ; from ancient times to the present this has been the case. The inclination to virtue and vice in women differs exceedingly; their dispositions incline contrary ways, and if it is wished to form them alike, there is nothing like education. In ancient times, youth of both sexes were

in.structed. According to the A’rtwa^ 0/ 67</<m, ‘the imperial wives regulated the law for educating females, in order to instruct the ladies of the palace in morals, conversation, manners, and work ; and each led out her respective

(dasses, at proper times, and arranged them for examination in the imperial

presence.’ But these treatises have not reached us, and it cannot be distinctljr

ascertained what was their plan of arrangement

“The t^lncation of a woman and that of a man arc* very <lissimilar. Tlius,

a man can study during his whole life ; whether he is abroad or at home, lit

THE “female IISrSTRUCTOR” ON WOMEN”. 575

can always look into the classics and history, and liecome thorouglily ac-nainted

wilh the wlioUi range of authors, lint a woman does not study mori; than ten

years, when she takes upon her the management of a family, whave a multiplicity

of cares distract her attention, and having no leisure lor undisturbed

study, she cannot easily understand learned authors ; not having obtained a

thorough acquaintance with letters, she does not fully comprehend their principles

; and like water that has flowed from its fountain, she cannot regulate

lier conduct by their guidance. How can it be said that a standard work on

female education is not wanted 1 Every profession and trade has its appropriate

master ; and ought not those also who possess sucli an influence over manners

[as females] to be tanght their duties and tluir proper limits ? It is a

matter of regret, that in these books no extracts liave been made from the

works of Confucius in order to make them introductory to the writings on polite

literature ; and it is also to be regretted that selections have not been made

from the commentaries of Clung, Chu, and other scholars, who have explained

his writings clearly, as also from the whole range of writers, gathering from

them all that which was appropriate, and omitting the rest. These are circulated

among mankind, together with such books as the Juvenile InstrucU/i’

;

yet if they are put into the hands of females, they cause them to become like a

blind man without a guide, wandering hither and thither without knowing

where he is going. There has been this great deficiency from very remote times until now.

“Woman’s influence is according to her moral character, there Tore that point

is largely explained. First, concerning her obedience to her husband and to

liis parents ; then in regard to her complaisance to his brothers and sisters,

and kindness to her sisters-in-law. If unmarried, she has duties toward her

parents, and to the wives of her elder brothers ; if a principal wiie, a woman

must have no jealous feelings ; if in straitened circumstances, she must be

contented with her lot ; if rich and honorable, she must avoid extravagance

and haughtiness. Then teach her, in times of trouble and in days of ease,

how to maintain her purity, how to give importance to right principles, how

to observe widowhood, and how to avenge the murder of a relative. Is she

a mother, let her teach lier children ; is she a step-mother, let her love

and cherish her husband’s children ; is her rank in life high, let her be

condescending to her inferiors ; let her wholly discard all sorcerers, superstitious

nuns, and witches ; in a word let her adhere to propriety and avoid

vice.

“In conversation, a female should not be freward and garrulous, but observe

strictly what is correct, whether in suggesting advice to her husband, in

remonstrating with him, or teaching her children, in maintaining etiquette,

humbly imparting her experience, or in averting misfortune. The deportment

of females should be strictly grave and sober, and yet adapted to the occasion

; whether in waiting on her parents, receiving or reverencing her husband,

rising up or sitting down, when pregnant, in times ol’ mourning, or when

fleeing in war, she should be perfectly decorous. Rearing the silkworm and

working cloth are the most important of the employments of a female ; pre’

paring and serving up the food for the household, and setting lu order th* sacrificee, follow next, each of which must be attended to ; after them, studj

and learning can fill up the time.” ‘

The work thus prefaced, is similar to Sprague’s Letters to a

Daughter, rather than to a text-book, or a inaiiual intended to

be read and obeyed rather than recited by young ladies. Happy

would it be for the country, however, if the instructions given

by this moralist were followed ; it is a credit to a pagan, to write

such sentiments as the followinor : ” Durino; infancv, a child ardently

loves its mother, who knows all its traits of goodness: while the father, perhaps, cannot know about it, there is nothing

which the mother does not see. Wherefore the mother teaches

more effectually, and only by her unwise fondness does her son

become more and more proud (as musk by age becomes sourer

and stronger), and is thereby nearly ruined.”—*’ Heavenly order

is to bless the good and curse the vile ; he who sins against it

will certainly receive his punishment sooner or later : from lucid

instruction springs the happiness of the world. If females are

unlearned, they will be like one looking at a wall, they will know

nothing : if they are taught, they will know, and knowing they

will imitate their examples.”

It is vain to expect, however, that any change in the standing

of females, or extent of their education, will take place until influences

from abroad are brought to bear upon them—until the

same work that is elswhere elevating them to their proper place

in society by teaching them the principles on which that elevation

is founded, and how they can themselves maintain it, is

begun. The Chinese do not, by any means, make slaves of their

females, and if a comparison be made between their condition in

China and other modern unevangelized countries, or even with

ancient kingdoms or Moslem races, it will in many points acquit

them of much of the obloquy they have received on this behalf.

There are some things which tend to show that more of the

sex read and write sufficiently for the ordinary purposes of life,

than a slight examination would at first indicate. Among these

may be mentioned the letter-writers compiled for their use, in

which instructions are given for every variety of note and epis-

‘ Chinese lieposltorij, Vol. IX., p. 543.

EXTRACT FROM A GIHLs’ PRIMER. 577

tie, except, perhaps, love letters. The works just inentioiied, intended

for their improvement, form an additional fact. A

Mancliu official of rank, named Sin-kwau, who rose to be governor

of Kiangsi in Kiaking’s reign, wrote a primer in 1838, for

girls, called the Nu-rh Yu, or ‘ Words/or Women and Girls.”

It is in lines of four characters, and consists of aphorisms and

short pi-ecepts on household management, behavior, care of

children, neatness, etc., so written as to be easily memorized.

It shows one of the ways in which literary men interest themselves, in educating youth, and further that there is a demand for such books. A few lines from this primer will exhibit its tenor
Vile looks should never meet your eye,
Nor filthy words defile your ear ;
Ne’er look on men of utterance gross,
Nor tread the ground which they pollute.
Keep back the heart from thoughts impure,
Nor let your hands grow fond of sloth ;
Then no o’ersight or call deferred
Will, when you’re pressed, demand your time
In all your care of tender babes,
Mind lest they’re fed or warmed too much;
The childish liberty first granted
Must soon he checked by rule and rein;
Guard them from water, fire, and fools ;
Mind lest they’re hurt or maimed by falls.
All flesh and fruits when ill with colds
Are noxious drugs to tender bairus—
Who need a careful oversight,
Yet want some license in their play.
Be strict in all you bid them do.
For this will guard from ill and woe.

The pride taken by girls in showing their knowledge of letters is evidence that it is not common, while the general respect in which literary ladies ai-e held proves them not to be so very rare ; though for all practical good, it may be said that half of the Chinese people know nothing of books. The fact that female education is so favorably regarded is encouraging to those philanthropic persons and ladies who are endeavoring to establish female schools at the mission stations, since they have not preiudice to contend with in addition to ignorance.