从此走进深度人生 Deepoo net, deep life.

作者: deepoo

  • 周嬉皮:体制内的公务员二代:县城里“精英圈层”的内循环

      县城里的“内循环”

      要说什么人最爱公务员,无疑是县城人。

      县城只有两种工作,安稳吃财政饭和吊儿郎当打普通工。中国1301个县城,有支柱产业支撑的寥寥无几,提供的多元化岗位也屈指可数。因此,公务员、事业单位、国企、教师、银行职员等安稳工作扛起了县城保留人才的大旗。

      县城虽小,但各类科局俱全,使得县城公务员成为了全国最庞大的公务员群体,印证了司马迁的名言“县集而郡,郡集而天下”。县城公务员则更是成为众星捧月般的存在。

      而回到县城考公的人群大概有两类人:一类是从村镇到县城的跨越;一类是返乡“世袭爵位”。在体制内,前者较大概率是熬资历;后者是公开的秘密“捷径”,通过上一代编织的关系网运作,起步就比没背景的快。

      总之,在县城这个讲究关系、人情的江湖里,关系决定成败。北上广深通用的规则、能力、才华等等,在这里一切靠后。县城的精英家庭,都会努力让孩子吃财政饭。  

      1. 工作一年就借调到了县政府

      陈真大三那年暑假,在某个深夜,他的父亲突然找他促膝长谈,非常庄重询问了他对工作的想法:想从事什么职业,想在什么地方定居。

      如果倒回18岁,陈真幻想过在大城市发展。但在外读了三年大学后,他非常坚定要返回家乡。留在县城,房子和车子随时都能解决;但去超一线城市发展,只是房子就会掏空父母的口袋。

      最重要的是,留在家乡,父母伸伸手,就能帮他铺平下半生的职业道路,能让他比其他人少熬几年的资质。

      陈真父母的职业在县城职业鄙视链顶端,几十年工作下来,打声招呼就能在县城办事顺风顺水。陈真家住当地别墅“富人区”。别墅群汇集了县城的精英家庭,有各个单位的干部、有县城垄断生意人、还有外地创业族。总之,要融入这个城市的精英层,房价就是入场券。

      陈真的大学和专业都不优秀,他在省内二本末流院校读财务管理专业。如果进企业,只能是普通财务,晋升通道比较狭窄。父亲建议他考县城乡镇公务员。家乡的乡镇公务员,每年有二十几个名额,陈真考上的难度系数小,以后的仕途之路家里也能帮衬帮衬。

      “要说读书考名校,我没什么天赋,从小也不爱学习,成绩一直不好,就是被拿来当反面教材的‘别人家孩子’。但是从小受父母影响,擅长应付各种人情往来”,陈真觉得体制内是非常不错的归宿,自信笑容溢上脸庞。

      县城公务员体系中,晋升快的部门有县委办、县府办和组织部,再就是乡镇公务员。

      于普通乡镇公务员而言,晋升通道是乡镇公务员-乡镇副科(副镇长)-乡镇党委委员-副书记-镇长-书记-县城局长-退休。但事实上,到副镇长之后就得熬资历,镇长已是大部分乡镇公务员的金字塔尖,往高的县级单位转的更是少数。

      陈真就是少数派。从考上乡镇时起,他就做好了向“县级”迈进的准备。工作一年后,他就和家里提出借调的想法。在父母关系打通下,成功借调去了县政府。而同批次进入单位的同事,目前还都驻守在原单位。陈真现在已经在县政府工作两年了。

      在体制内混迹快三年的陈真,体制的外显迹象也逐渐明显。发型从之前的锡纸烫变成现在的大背头;穿搭从之前的高街风格变成现在的中山装,公文包不离身;谈吐也从之前的校园八卦到现在张嘴就是国家大事。

      陈真周围的“县城精英圈层”朋友,大学后的选择都和他出奇一致。

      这些朋友的父母职业是医生、教师,或是体制内的党员干部,都处于小县城职业鄙视链的最顶端,就连退休金都比年轻人工资高。他们的下一辈,大部分是普通本科毕业,只不过,大家都默契地选择毕业回家在,银行、事业单位、学校,和本地国企舒服地“端铁饭碗”。

      但另一边,那些在县城没有根基的同学,有的远离县城,跳槽3-4次了还没找到一个满意工作;有的留在县城,做点小买卖;甚至有的考上职校,现在在县城开挖掘机,巧合的话,还能碰到陈真负责的项目。

      经过了几年的磨练,又有家里的帮衬,陈真的未来是可预见的光明。

      在小县城,“上学-工作-婚姻-生孩子”这条传输链的速度极其之快,接下来要考虑的就是婚姻。

      对于陈真这一群人而言,家里最喜欢干的事情就是相亲。“县城的圈子很小,之前没对象的时候,逢年过节就各单位的叔叔阿姨来我家拜年,总有些人想帮我介绍对象。”陈真说当时微信都加了一堆。

      于有些人而言,在体制内除了家里安排的相亲,自己很难有途径去解决个人问题。而陈真家庭条件好、爱打篮球、会弹吉他、是相亲市场的香饽饽。  

      刚确定工作岗位没多久后,父母就特地为他和当地某局长的女儿组了个饭局。在父母的撮合下,现在在已经在一起快3年了。双方父母都很满意对方,随着年龄的增长,父母提起结婚的频率逐渐增加。  

      2. “以后劳烦领导多照顾照顾新人”

      周洁是家中独女,2016年填高考志愿时家里就把大学范围限死在省内,并向她灌输未来工作也要在省内的观念,能回家里县城是最好的选择。

      2020年周洁大学毕业,为了在省会有购房资格,她在省内最大的美妆公司做了两年电商运营,交了两年社保。公司资源好,时常能接触头部主播,她自己看来,这是一份“光鲜亮丽”的工作。只不过由于时常要加班到凌晨,在她父母看来,却是个不稳定的“辛苦活”。

      她父母时时刻刻给她洗脑体制内的优越。

      周洁记得,为了让她回家,爸妈最常对她说的话是,“朝九晚五多好,你想买房我们帮你买,不会有什么经济压力,就回来自己过过小日子就可以”。所以,拿到购房资格后立马离职,努力复习一段时间后上岸了县城的乡镇公务员。 

      县城范围小,人口少,属于熟人社会。即使家族中没有直接对应的单位领导,通过熟人关系,也能让进体制内的后辈更加舒适。周洁的家族关系网庞大,“某个叔叔在某某所,另一个伯伯在某某局”之类的关系比较多。总之,这种情况下,就默认了“前辈铺路,后代乘凉”。

      虽然乡镇公务员是大家眼中最眼热的职业,但实际上也有高低之分。县城每个乡镇情况千差万别,晋升空间和办公环境差的不是一丁半点。有的办公环境和县城无异,有的光是从县城到单位的路程都要驾车一个小时。

      周洁父母和她的体制内亲戚们,自然不会让她去落后的乡镇“受委屈”。

      这场“仗”,从周洁收到上岸消息后就开始了。周洁还没反应过来,她的父母酒准备好了礼物和好酒,带上了体制内“有说话分量”的亲戚,办了好几次饭局邀请单位领导一起吃饭。

      在饭桌上,周洁笨拙地举着装着茶的酒杯,跟在父亲身后打圈陪笑,一遍又一遍重复着“以后还要多麻烦各位领导多照顾照顾”。诚意和关系,县里办事的万金油;双管到位,周洁最终得偿所愿。

      在县城里,公务员是“面子”的指向标。

      即便周洁只是个乡镇公务员,但在周洁和周洁老家村里的人看来,这是权力和安稳的象征。老家村里的人开始找周洁维系关系,希望周洁以后多多帮忙。当别人问起周洁的工作时,周洁父母也会自豪地说出女儿是公务员。

      乡镇公务员是在单位报道后按需定岗,同周洁一批进单位的有5个。周洁定岗在的岗位,虽然是个比较辛苦的差事,但前途光明。在单位时常得到领导的关照,属于机会的第一梯队候选人。领导经常安排周洁参加培训,意味着领导对周洁有重点培养的意向。  

      县城很多“体二代”的发展路径都类似。先让孩子进入体制环境,先解决“有没有”的问题,而乡镇公务员因为工作环境相对差,不如县城公务员“体面”,也就成为众多“体二代”的优先选择。而在之后的晋升路上,有关系支撑的家庭,父母会再利用熟人社会的关系帮助孩子尽量解决“好不好”的问题。

      周洁的路径也是如此。工作过程中,每次和家里倒单位的苦水时,家里时常有一句鼓励的话:“这几年你先好好干,服务期满,再想办法帮你调到更好的单位。”

      因为县城提供不了多样化、更丰富的就业岗位,所以在县城除了吃财政饭的是高学历者,其他领域打工人高学历者少而又少。所以,即使在不同乡镇工作,周洁的朋友圈和陈真的高度重叠。  

      3. “世袭”的财政饭,县城内循环

      往县城里一看,你大概率会发现同一个职位,一二线城市和县城截然不同的情形。

      大城里政府大院,985/211的硕士研究生埋头写材料;放眼至县城,普通科员常常自带“某某领导孩子”的标签。北上广深的银行玻璃间,装了不少英美澳的金融海归;小城里的普通柜员,可能是父母花了六位数打点的“关系户”。

      县城是一个关系网络编织成的社会,所以混在县城,最重要的是关系。而关系中确定性最高的,便是“世袭”。在县城内,体制父母的孩子也还是在体制内、从医父母孩子也在医院、生意父母孩子也在生意场上,形成了相对稳定的职业“内循环”。

      有前瞻的“县城精英”父母,从孩子高考填志愿起便落子开棋,谋划孩子的城市和专业选择。学历是敲门砖,无需比拼距离和排行。省内普通二本和省外211,前者往往才是他们的先手干预。

      临近孩子毕业即布局。父母会通过自己的人脉和圈子让孩子继承自己的衣钵,并为孩子在后续发展中提供全力支持。

      北大社会学博士冯军旗就读期间,在河南省新野县挂职了两年。期间通过走访与调查完成了《中县干部》这一篇博士论文。在文中总结出在县城运行的潜规则:“年龄是个宝,能力做参考,关系最重要。”

      而关系主要有血亲、姻亲、干亲、同乡、同事、同学、战友等等。除了血亲是自然的连接纽带,也是最强的连接纽带外,其它都是社会性的连接纽带,都需要编织和维持。运作的方式就包括喝酒、打牌和送礼。

      喝酒是编织关系网的最重要方式。酒场不仅是关系建立的桥梁,还是八卦信息的流动地,办事的润滑剂。几杯酒下肚,从陌生到熟悉,甚至开始小心翼翼称兄道弟,局中人便是自己人。

      喝完酒尽兴后,打牌必不可少。打牌赢不赢钱,一是靠技术;二是靠手气。而领导赢不赢钱,主要看各位小兵们愿不愿意输钱。而逢年过节,想和领导打好关系的干部也总是在去找领导的路上。

      冯军旗博士在论文中也总结出了部分县城关系网。他们通过各种关系运作方式,形成大大小小的“政治家族”,在后辈就业时,也就能提供一定的帮助。

    《中县干部》举例关系网的原文摘选

      干部子女如果想在大城市就业,最重要的途径就是接受高等教育,形成学历优势。而如果学历一般,孤身一人在大城市漂泊也不是很多干部家庭认为的最优选择,此时有关系有根底的人就会千方百计地回到县城,就再次巩固了政治家族的根基。

      县城关系网的运作,让县城职业形成了相对静态的社会形态。

      4. 结语

      只要将定位回归县城,县城精英二代比普通小镇青年先行一步。

      尤其强调关系的县城,核心信息的传递、交流逐渐呈现静态、固化的形态,一个个小的“政治家族”更快地获取信息,更迅速链接资源形成干预,成为县城隐形的职业壁垒。

      小镇青年没有一定关系根底,即使是985研究生也很难在没有裙带联结的小县城混出一片天地,甚至,薪酬回报并不会比本科生高。

      所以,很多没有根基的高学历学生并不会选择回到县城,他们往往都在相对公平的城市创造属于自己的价值。

      从某种角度而言,他们并不是不想回到家乡,不想守在父母身边;而是县城没有足够多元化的岗位,体制内又无法享受到县城公平。曾经的家乡也因为越来越高的壁垒而成为回不去的地方。

  • 香港 曾章成:我一生只有一位老师,名字叫泥土

    曾章成 Johnson Tsang,1960年出生于香港,专业制作陶艺、陶瓷雕塑。

    他做过服务员炸薯片、烫衣工人、冷气学徒、跟车工人,后为了家庭生计走上了警察的道路。
    在当警察期间会定期安排上训练班,在训练结束后,曾章成会到香港艺术中心转转。“那一刻,我好像进入了真正属于我的世界。”

    “ 曾几何时,我以为是自己在塑造泥土,反过来,其实是泥土塑造了我。”

  • WELLS WILLIAMS《The Middle Kingdom》24-26

    CHAPTER XXIV.  THE TAIPING REBELLION

    The war, which was brought to an end by the treaty of JS anking, left the imperial government astonished and crippled, but not paralyzed or dejected. It had, moreover, the effect of arousing it from the old notions of absolutism and security; and though the actual heads of bureaus at Peking were unable, from their secluded position and imperfect education, to ascertain and appreciate the real nature of the contest, the maritime officials could see that its results were likely to be lasting and serious. A few thoughtful men among them, as Ilipu, Seu Kiyu, Iviying and his colleagues, understood better than their superiors at the capital that the advent of the ‘ Western Ocean people ‘ at the five open ports introduced a permanent influence upon the Black-haired race. They could not, of course, estimate what this influence would become, but a sense of its power and vitality had the effect of preventing them from petty opposition in carrying out the treaty stipulations. With the major part of the officials, on the other hand, life-long prejudice, joined to utter ignorance as to the numbers, position, and resources of foreign nations, led them to withdraw from even such a measure of intercourse with consular and diplomatic officials as they could easily have held. The tone of official society was opposed to having any personal relations with their foreign colleagues, and after the old Emperor Taukwang had passed off the stage in 1850, his son showed—even eight years after the peace—that promotion was incompatible with cultivating a closer acquaintance with them.

    It is not surprising that this reaction took on the form of doing as little as possible, and that its stringency was increased ill reality by the device of making the governor-general at Canton the only channel of correspondence with foreign ministers.

    This magnate was surrounded in that city by ^subordinates whose training had been inimical to extending intercourse with foreigners, because they had reaped the advantages of the old system in their monopoly of the trade. The intendants at the other open ports were directed to refer difficult (piestions relating to foreigners to this high functionary, but as they wero more disposed to let such disputes settle themselves, if possible, few cases were ever sent to him. The animus of the whole governing class gradually assumed a settled determination to keep aloof from those who had humbled them in the e^’es of their subjects, and yet give no handle to these potent outsiders to repeat their descent on the coast. It was a poor policy in every point of view, only serving to hasten the evils they dreaded.

    SIR JOHN DAVIS AND KITING, 577

    Sir John Davis was appointed governor of Hongkong in 1844, and during four years’ service so soon after the war saw much of this proud and foolish spirit. His two volumes, published in 1852 (China during the AVan and since the Peace), contain a digest of the official records and acts of the Chinese government which is highly instructive. It is remarkable that lie should show so much surprise at the mendacity, ill-will, and weakness of the officers in these reports to their master, or at the Emperor’s persistency in wreaking his wrath on those whose poltroonery had done him so much harm. A residence of nearly thirty years in the country should have developed, in his case, an intimate acquaintance with native ideas of honor and mercy, and shown him how little of either are practised in time of war.

    If he blames the Chinese leaders for their ignorance and silly mistakes in its conduct, one can readily see that they never had an opportunity to learn the truth about their enemies. Their struggle against the impossible was not altogether in vain, therefore, if it prepared them for accepting the inevitable. Had Sir John manifested a little sympathy for their plight in such an unequal contest, and shown more humanity for their sufferings under the evils which afflicted them, his opinion of the best remedies would have carried much weiirht. As an instance of the result of Ills own training in the East India Company’s school, he remarks respecting the imperial edicts against opium, that they fell into disuse, and that the subject had never been revived since the war ; adding, ” But at no time was the traffic deserving the full load of infamy with which many were disposed to heap it, for at most it only supplied the poison, which the Chinese were not obliged to take. The worst effect, perhaps, was the piracy it engendered, for this has told against the honest trade.” ‘ In his first interview with Kiying, in May, 1844, he proposed that the Chinese government should legalize the opium trade, for ” such a wise and salutary measure would remove all chances of unpleasant occurrences between the two governments; it might provide an ample revenue for the Emperor, and check to the same extent the consumption of a commodity which was at present absolutely untaxed.’” He, however, brought it more directly to his notice the next year in consequence of the revival of smuggling at Whampoa to as great a degree as in 1839, and the opium vessels all left the Reach.

    Kiying was entirely indisposed to move, or even aid, in this matter, which he knew would be distasteful to the Emperor, other than by a truly Chinese device—that the oflScials of both nations should let it go on by nnitual connivance. Sir John naively remarks on this : ” The only thing wanting was that the Emperor should publicly sanction what he had once publicly condemned. . . . The trade, however, was practically tolerated, and to us this made a great difference. The Chinese government was not sufficiently honest to make a public avowal of this change in its system, but the position in which Great Britain stood became materially altered. China had distinctly declined a conventional arrangement for the remedy of the evil, and expressed a desire that we should not bring the existing abuse to its notice.” ^ With two such men in command, of course nothing was ever done by either side to restrain the evils growing out of this contraband and demoralizing trade, until another war and new treaties changed the national relations.

    ‘ Chimi chning tits War, etc., Vol. I., p. 19.Ubid., Vol. li., p. 44.3/6j«., Vol. n., p. 303.

    At Canton the long-cherished dislike to foreigners was fomented by demagogues and idlers. These worked upon the fears of the people In- telling them that their lands were to be taken to build warehouses upon ; and this rumor was so far believed that it soon became unsafe for foreigners to venture far into the suburbs. In December, 1847, not long after the arrangement with Sir John Davis respecting an entrance into Canton city was made, six Englishmen were attacked by a mob at Hwang-chuh-ki while on a ramble, and all killed, some of them with reiined cruelty. Kiying took immediate measures—extremely creditable to his sense of what he owed to justice and maintenance of peace—to pnnisli these villagers. A mimber of men whom their fellows indicated as leaders in the outrage were arrested ; the prisoners were tried at Canton by the regular courts. Four were presently decapitated in the sight of a military deputation sent from Hongkong, and two others by orders from Peking. This well-timed justice secured the safety of foreigners peaceably going about the city and environs ; but it was creditjly stated afterward that there were numerous placards already posted in that region informing the people that foreigners would perhaps be coming thither to select sites for themselves. These unfortunate Englishmen, indeed, would perhaps have been allowed to return home, if they had been able to speak to the villagers and explain their object.

    DISPOSITION OF CHINESE TOWARD FOREIGNERS. ^70

    This incident makes it proper to notice a common misapprehension abroad in respect to the influence of the treaties which had been signed with China upon the people themselves. It was inferred that as soon as the three treaties with England, France, and America had been ratified, the great body of educated Chinese at least would inquire and learn what were their provisions, and a natural curiosity would be manifested to know something about the peoples of those lands. Nothing could be more likely—nothing was farther from the reality, No efforts were ever made by the imperial officers at the capital or in the provinces to promulgate these national compacts, whose original and ratified copies were never even transmitted to Peking. Consequently, the existence and nature of these Iiaoo yoh, or ‘peace contracts,’ had to be continually taught to the natives, who on their part did not usually feel themselves under much obligation to obey them. In China, as elsewhere, just laws never execute themselves, and it is hardly surprising that not an officer of the Emperor should go out of his way to enforce their distasteful stipulations.

    It was therefore uphill work to see that the treaties did not become a dead letter, and all the hardest part of this labor fell to the lot of the British consuls. They alone stood forth among foreign officials as invested with some power of their own ; and being generally able to use the Chinese language, they came into personal relations with the local officers, and thus began the only effectual mode through which the treaties could become agencies for breaking down the hoary wall of prejudice, ignorance, and contempt which had so long kept China out of the pale of progress. In doing this, no fixed course could be laid down ; though the constant tendency of the consuls was to encroach on the power of the mandarins, these latter were generally able to recur to the treaties, and thus learn the necessity and benefits of adherence to them. Their education was a colossal undertaking, and considering the enormous difficulties, its progress has been as rapid as was consistent with the welfare of themselves or their subjects. In this progress they bear the greatest share of the burden ; its responsibilities and costs, its risks and results, almost wholly come upon them, while foreign nations, with the immense undefined rights of exterritoriality on their side, are interested on-lookers, ready to take advantage of every fauxpas to compel them to conform to their interpretation of the treaties. Very little consideration is given to their ignorance of international law, to their full belief in the power of China, or to their consequent disinclination to accept the new order of things so suddenly forced on them. On the other hand, no one who knows all the features of this period will withhold the praise due to the British authorities in China for their conduct in relations with its functionaries ; it might fairly be added that the improved state of international intercourse is mostly due to them.

    The condition of the Empire at the close of the war was most discouraging to its rulers, who had not dreamed of receiving so crushing a defeat. It is creditable to them that they honorably paid up the $21,000,000 exacted of them by the British, who of course restored Chusan at the stipulated time.

    The name of II. Montgomery Martin, tlien treasurer of Hongkong colony, must be awarded due mention as being the only Queen’s official who endeavored to resist its surrender, on the plea of its great benefit to her eastern empire and influence.

    Sir John Davis speaks of the “political and military considerations” which gave importance to it ; but the proposal of Mr. Martin was promptly rejected by his superiors, and the whole archipelago has since been neglected. At the four northern ports opened by treaty, with the exception of Fuhchau, trade began without difficulty. This city having entirely escaped the ravages of the war, its proud gentry influenced the citizens against foreigners and their trade ; the first European residents there met with some ill-usage, but this bitter feeling gradually wore off as the parties became better known.

    At Canton the case was aggravated by the prejudices of race and the turbulence of the unemployed braves who had flocked into it on the invitation and inducements of Commissioner Lin to enlist against the English. They had been disbanded by Kiying, but had not returned to their homes ; their lawlessness increased till it threatened the supremacy of the provincial government, and required the strongest measures of repression.

    The disorders spread rather than diminished under an impoverished

    treasury and ill-paid soldiery, and prepared the way for

    the rebellion which during the next twenty years tasked the utmost

    resources’ of the nation. The ignorance of one part of its

    people of what was taking place in another province—which

    during the foreign war so greatly crippled the Emperor’s efforts

    to interest his subjects in this struggle—hete did much to preserve them from unitino; against him to his overthrow. It was

    plain to every candid observer that however weak, unprincipled,

    and tyrannical the Manchu rulers might be, they were as efficient

    sovereigns as the people could produce, and no substituted sway

    could possibly’ elevate and purify them until higher principles of

    social and political life had been adopted by the nation at large.

    CAUSES OF THE TAI-PIXG IXSURRECTIOIS”. 58T

    The protracted convulsion, known abroad as the Tai-ping Rebellion, owed much of its duration as well to the exposure of the government’s internal rottenness as to its weakness against foreign nations ; hut many other causes were at work. The body of the Chinese people are well aware that their rulers are no better than themselves in morals, honesty, or patriotism ; but they are all ready to ascribe the evils they suffer from robbers, taxation, exactions, and unjust sentences to those in authority.

    The rulers are conscious that their countrymen consider it honorable

    to evade taxes, defy the police when they can safely do so,

    and oppose rather than aid in the maintenance of law and order.

    There is no basis of what in Christian lands is regarded as the

    foundation of social order and just government—the power of

    conscience and amenableness to law ; nevertheless, from the

    habits of obedience taught in the family and in the schoolroom,

    the people have attained a good degree of security for themselves

    and show much regard to just rulers. The most serious

    evils and sufferings in Chinese society are caused by its disorderly

    members, not its rapacious rulers ; and both can only be

    removed and reformed by the reception of a higher code which

    raises the standard of action from expediency to obligation.

    In giving an account of the rise and overthrow of the Tai-pin Rebellion, it will be necessary to limit the narrative to the most important religious, political, and military events connected with it up to its suppression in ISGT. The phrase ” Tai-ping Rebellion ” is wholly of foreign manufacture ; at Peking and everywhere among those loyal to the government the insurgents were styled Changmaozei or ‘Long-haired rebels,’ while on their side, by a whimsical resemblance to English slang, the imperialists were dubbed imj)s. When the chiefs assumed to be aiming at independence in 1850, in order to identify their followers with their cause they took the term Ping Chao, or ‘Peace Dynasty,’ as the style of their sway, to distinguish it from the Qing Chao, or ‘ Pure Dynasty,’ of the Manchus. Each of them prefixed the adjective Da (or Tai, in Cantonese), ‘ Great,’ as is the Chinese custom with regard to dynasties and nations ; thus the name Tai-ping became known to foreigners. The leader took the style Tien-teh^ or ‘Heavenly Virtue,’ for his reign, thereby indicating his aim in seeking the throne, his own personal name, Hong Xiuquan, was regarded as too sacred to be used by his followers. The banners and edicts used at Nanjing and in his army bore the inscription, Tian-fu, Tian-xiong, Tian-wang Tai-ping Tian-guo, or ‘ Heavenly Father, Heavenly Elder Brother, Heavenly King of the Great Peace [Dynasty] of the Heavenly Kingdom ‘ (i.e., China).

    The incidents of this man’s early life and education were ascertained in 1854, from his relative Hung Jin, by the Rev. Theodore Hamberg, whose narrative’ bears the marks of a trustworthy recital. Hung Siu-tsuen was the youngest son of Hung Jang, a well-to-do farmer living in Plwa hien, a district situated on the North Eiver, about thirty miles from Canton city, in a small village of which he was the headman. The family was from Kiaying prefecture, on the borders of Kiangsi, and the whole village was regarded as belonging to the Hakkas, or Squatters, and had little intercourse with the Pun-tis, or Indigenes, on that account. Siu-tsuen was born in 1813, and at the usual age of seven entered school, where he showed remarkable aptitude for study. His family being too poor to spare his services long, he had to struggle and deny himself, as many a poor aspirant for fame in all lands has done, in order to fit himself to enter the regular examinations. In 1826 his name appeared on the list of candidates in Hwa hien, but Hung Jin says : ” Though his name was always among the first upon the board at the district examinations, yet he never succeeded in attaining the degree of Siu-tsai.” In 1833 he was at Canton at the triennial examination, when he met with the native evangelist Liang A-fah, who was distributing and selling a number of his own writings near the Kung yuen to the candidates as they went in and out of the hall. Attracted by the venerable aspect of this man, he accepted a set of his tracts called Quan Shi Liang Yan, or ‘ Good Words to Exhort the Age.’ He took them home with him, but threw them aside when he found that they advocated Christianity, then a proscribed doctrine.

    ‘ Visions of Hun(j Siu-tshuen and Orifjin. oftlie Kwang-si Insurrectioii, Hongkong, 1854. Mr. W. Sargent in the North American Review for July, 1854,Vol. LXXIX., p. 158.

    THE LIFE OF HONG XIU-QUAN 583

    In 1837 he was again in the provincial tripos, where his repeated disappointment and discontent aggravated an illness that seized him. On reaching his home he took to his bed and prepared for death, having had several visions foretokening his decease, he called his parents to his bedside and thus addressed them: “My days are counted and my life will soon be closed. O my parents ! how badly have I returned the favor of your love to me ; I shall never attain a name that shall reflect lustre on you.”

    After uttering these words he shut his eyes and lost all strength and command over his body, and became unconscious of what was going on around him. His outward senses were inactive, his body appeared as dead, but his soul was acted upon by a peculiar eneigy, seeing and remembering things of a very extraordinary nature.

    At first, when his eyes were closed he saw a dragon, a tiger,

    and a cock enter the room ; a great number of men placing

    upon instruments then approached, bearing a beautiful sedanchair

    in which they invited him to be seated. Kot knowing

    wdiat to make of this honor, he was carried away to a luminous

    and beautiful place wherein a multitude of fine men and women

    saluted him on arrival with expressions of joy. On leaving the

    sedan an old woman took him down to a river, saying : ” Thou

    dirty man, why hast thou kept company with yonder people and

    defiled thyself ? I must now wash thee clean.” After the

    washing was over he entered a large building in company with

    a crowd of old and virtuous men, some of whom were the ancient

    sages. Here they opened his body, took out the heart and other

    organs, and replaced them by new ones of a red color ; this

    done, the wound closed without leaving a scar. The whole

    assembly then went on to another larger hall, whose splendor

    was beyond description, in which an aged man, with a golden

    beard and dressed in black robes, sat on the liighest place. Seeing

    Siu-tsuen, he began to shed tears and said : ” All human

    beings in the world are produced and sustained by me ; they eat

    my food and wear my clothing, but not one among them has a

    heart to remember and venerate me ; what is worse, they take

    my gifts and therewith worship demons ; they purposely rebel

    against me and arouse my anger. Do thou not imitate them.”

    Hereupon he gave him a sword to destroy the demons, a seal to overcome the evil spirits, and a sweet yellow fruit to eat. Sintsueii

    received them, and straightway began to exhort his venerable

    companions to perform their duties to their master. After

    doing so even to tears, the high personage led him to a spot

    whence he could behold the world below, and discern theliorrible

    depravity and vice of its inhabitants. The sight was too awful to

    be endured, and words were inadequate to describe it. So he

    awoke from his trance, and had vigor enough to rise and dress

    himself and go to his father. Making a bow, Siu-tsuen said : “The venerable old man above has commanded that all men shall turn to me, and that all treasures shall ilow to me.” This sickness continued about forty days, and the visions were multiplied.

    ]Ie often met with a man in them whom he called his elder brother, who instructed him how to act and assisted him in going after and killing evil spirits. lie became more and more possessed with the idea, as his health returned, that he had been commissioned to be Emperor of China ; and one day his father found a slip on which was written ” The Heavenly King of Great Heason, the Sovereign King Tsuen.”” As time wore on, this lofty idea seems to have more and more developed his mind to a soberness and purity which overawed and attracted him. ]S’othing is said about his utterances while the war with England was progressing, but he must have known its progress and results. His cataleptic fits and visions seem not to have returned, and he pursued his avocation as a school teacher until about 1843, having meanwhile failed in another trial to obtain his degree at Canton. In that year his wife’s brother asked to take away the nine tracts of Liang A-fah to see what they contained ; when he returned them to Siu-tsuen he urged him to road them too.

    HIS HKLIEF IN HIS DIVINE CALLING. 585

    They consisted of sixty-eight short chapters upon common topics, selected from the Bible, and not exactly fitted to give him, in his excited state and total ignorance of western books and religion, a fair notion of Christianity. As he read them he saw, as he thought, the true meaning of his visions. The venerable old man was no other than God the Father, and his guide was Jesus Christ, who had assisted him in slaying the demons. “These books are certainly sent purposely by heaven to me to confirm the truth of my former experience. If I had received them without having gone through the sickness, I should not have dared to believe in them, and by myself to oppose the customs of the whole world. If I had merely been sick, but not also received the books, I should have had no further evidence as to the truth of my visions, which might also have been considered as mere products of a diseased imagination.”

    This sounds reasonable, and commends itself as wholly unlike the ravings of a madnuin. Nevertheless, while it would be unwise for us to closely criticise this narrative in its details, and assert that Siu-tsuen’s pretensions were all hypocritical, we must bear in mind the fact that he had certaiidy, neither at this time nor ever afterward, a clear conception of the true nature of Christianity, judging from his writings and edicts.

    The nature of sin, and the dominion of God’s law upon the sinner ; the need of atonement from the stain and effects of sin ; Christ’s mediatorial sacrifice ; were subjects on which he could not possibly have received full instruction from these fragmentary essays. In after days his conviction of his own divine calling to rule over China, seems to have blinded his understanding to the spiritual nature of the Christian church.

    His individual penchant was insufficient to resist or mould the

    subordinates who accepted his mission for their own ends. But

    lie was not a tool in their hands at any time, and his personal

    influence permeated the ignorant mass of reckless men around

    him to an extraordinary degree, while his skill in turning some

    of the doctrines and requirements of the Bible as the ground

    and proofs of his own authority indicated original genius, since

    the results were far beyond the reach of a cunning impostor.

    From first to last, beginning with poverty, obscurity, and weakness in II wa, continuing with distinction, power, and royalty at Nanking and throughout its five adjacent provinces, and ending with defeat, desertion, and death in his own palace, Hung never wavered or abated one jot of his claim to supreme rule on earth. When his end was reported at Peking in August, 1864, thirty-one years after his receiving Liang A-falTs tracts, the imperial rescript sadly said : ” Words cannot convey any idea of the misery and dedolation lio caused ; the measure of his iniquity was full, and the wrath of both gods and men was roused against him.”

    N^ A career so full of exceptional interest and notable incidents

    cannot, of course, be minutely described in this sketch. xVfter

    Hung’s examination of the tracts which had lain unnoticed in

    his hands for ten years, followed by his conviction of the real

    meaning of his visions in 1837, he began to proclaim his mission

    and exhort those around him to accept Christianity. Hung

    Jin (who furnished Mr. llamberg with his statements) and a

    fellow-student, Fung Vun-shan, were his first converts; they

    agreed to put away all idols and the Confucian tablet out of

    their schools, and then baptized or washed themselves in a

    brook near by, as a sign of their purification and faith in Jesus.

    As they had no portion of the Sacred Scriptures to guide them,

    they were at a loss to understand many things spoken of by

    Liang A-fah, but his expositions of the events and doctrines

    occurring in them were deeply pondered and accepted. The

    Mosaic account of creation and the flood, destruction of Sodom,

    sermon on the Mount, and nature of the final judgment, were

    given in them, as well as a full relation of Christ’s life and

    death ; and these prepared the neophytes to receive the Bible

    M’hen they got it. Jhit the same desire to find proof of his

    own calling led Siu-tsuen to fix on fanciful renderings of certain

    texts, and, after the maimer of commentators in other lands,

    to extract meanings never intended. A favorite conceit, among

    others, was to assume that wherever the character tsaen, ^,

    meaning ‘ whole,’ ‘ altogether,’ occurred in a verse, it meant

    himself, and as it forms a part of the Chinese phrase for al-

    Qiilghtij, he thus had strong reasons (as he thought) for his

    course. The phrase Tien kwoh, denoting the ‘ Kingdom of

    Heaven ‘ in (Jhrisfs preaching, they applied to China, With

    such preconceived views it is not w^onderful that the brethren

    were all able to fortify themselves in their opinions by the

    strongest arguments. All those discourses in the series relating

    to repentance, faith, and man’s depravity were apparently

    entirely overlooked by them.

    HIS C0:N VERSION AM) EARLY ADHERENTS. 587

    The strange notions, unaffected earnestness, moral conduct, and new ideas about God and happiness of these men soon began to attract people to them, some to dispute and cavil, others to accept and worship with them. Their scholars, one and all, deserted

    them as soon as the Confucian tablet was removed from

    the schoolroom, and they were left penniless and unemployed,

    sometimes subjected to beatings and obloc^uy for embracing an

    outlandish religion, and other times ridiculed for forsaking their

    ancestral halls. The nundjer of their adherents was too few to

    detain them at home, and in May, 1844, Siu-tsuen, Yun-shan,

    and two associates resolved to visit a distant relative who lived

    near the MiaoZu in Kwangsi, and get their living along the road by peddling ink-stones and pencils. They reached the adjoining district, Tsingj’uen, where they preached two months and baptized several persons ; some time after Hung Jin took a school there, and remained several years, baptizing over fifty converts. Siu-tsuen and Yun-shan came to the confines of the Miaotsz’ in Sinchau fu in three months, preaching the existence

    of the true God and of redemption by his Son, and after many

    vicissitudes reached their relative’s house in Kwei hien among

    the mountains. Here they tarried all summer, and their earnest

    zeal in spreading the doctrines which they evidently had found

    so cheering to their own hearts, arrested the attention of these

    I’ude mountaineers, and many of them professed their faith in

    Christ. Siu-tsuen returned home in the winter, and was disappointed

    in not finding his colleague Yun-shan there as well as the other two, nor could he give any account of his course.

    It appeared afterward that Yun-shan had met some acquaintances on his road, and became so much interested in preaching to them at Thistle-mount that he remained there two years, teaching school and gathering churches.

    Siu-tsuen continued to teach and preach the truth as he had

    learned it from the books in his hands. In 1846 he heard of I.

    J. Roberts, the American missionary, living at Canton, and the

    next spring received an invitation to come there and study. He

    and Hung Jin did so ; the former remained with Mr. Roberts about two months, giving him a narrative of his own visions, conversion, and preaching, at the same time learning the nature and extent of foreign mission work in that city. He made a visit home with two native Christians, who had been sent to llwa to learn more about him. They seem to have obtained good reports of his character; but others in Mr. Roberts’ employ were afraid of his influence if he should enter their church, and therefore intrigued to have him refused admission just then.

    IMr. Tl(A)erts appears to have acted discreetly according to the

    light he had respecting the applicant’s integrity, and would no

    doubt have baptized him had not the latter soon after left

    Canton, where he had no means of support. At this time

    the i^olitical distui-bances in Kwangtung seem to have greatly

    influenced Siu-tsuen’s course, and Mhen he reached home he

    made a second visit to his relative, and thence went to Thistlemoimt

    to rejoin Fung Ynn-shan. Hung Jin states that before

    this date he had expressed disloyal sentiments against the Manchus,

    but these are so common among the Cantonese that they

    attracted no notice. On secini; Yun-shan and meeting the two

    thousand converts he luid gathered, it is pretty certain that

    hopes of a successful resistance must have revived in his breast.

    A woman among them also began to relate some visions she had seen ten years before, foretelling the advent of a man who should teach them how to worship God. The number of converts rapidly increased in three prefectures adjacent to the liivcr ^ uh ill the eastern part of Kwangsi, and no serious hindrance was met with from the officials, though there were not wanting enemies, by one of whom Yun shan was accused and then thrown into prison. However, the prefect and district magistrate to whom the case was referred, fiiuling no sutlicient cause for punishment, liberated him; though the new sectaries had made themselves somewhat obnoxious to the idolaters by their iconoclasm —so hard is it to learn patience and toleration in any country. In very many villages in that region the ^-^Shaiigti hwui^ or ‘ Associations for worshipping God,’ began to be recognized, but they do not seem to have quoted the toleration edict obtained in 1844 in favor of Christianity, as that only spoke of the Tun-ehu kiao, or Catholics. The worship of Shangdi is a peculiar function of the Emperor, as has been already explained ; and it is not surprising to 1)C told by Hung Jin that tlic new sect was reiiarded as ti’casonable.

    ORGANIZATION OF THE SIIANGTI IIWUI. ^89

    111 1848 Sill tsueii’s father died trusting in the new faith and

    directing that no Buddhist services be lield at his funeral ; the

    whole family had l)y this time become its followers, and when

    the son and Yun-shan met them soon after, they began to discuss

    their future. The believers in Kwangsi were left to take

    care of themselves during the whole winter, and appear to liavo

    gone on witli their usual meetings without hindranceo In June,

    1849, the two leaders left Uwa for Kwangsi, assisted by tlio

    faitliful, and found much to encourage them in their secret

    plans in the general unit}’ which pervaded the association.

    Some members had been favored with visions, others had become exhorters, denouncing those who behaved contrary to the doctrines; others essayed to cure diseases. Siu-tsuen was immediately acknowledged by all as their leader; he set himself to introduce and maintain a rigid discipline, forbade the use of opium and spirits, introduced the observance of the Sabbath, and regulated the worship of God. No hint of calling in the aid of a foreign teacher to direct them in their new services appears to have been suggested by any member, nor even of sending to Canton to engage the services of a native convert, though Liang A-fah was still living then. The whole year was thus passed at Thistle-mount, and the nucleus of the future force thoroughly imbued with the ideas of their leader, who had, by June, 1850, gathered around him his own relatives and chosen his lieutenants.’

    ‘ The insurgents cut off the tail, allowed their hair to grow, and decided that all who joined the insurrectional movement should leave off the chinig and the Tartar tunic, and should wear the robe open in the front, which their ancestors had worn in the time of the Mings. —Callerv and Yvan, llixiory of the Jimarycctiou in China, translated by John Oxeuford, p. 61. London, 1853.

    The existence of such a large body of people, acting together under the orders of one man, whose aspirations and teachings had gradually filled their minds with new ideas, could not remain unnoticed by the authorities. The governor-general lived at Canton, and received his information through local magistrates and prefects, whose policy was rather to understate the truth. But Sii Kwang-tsin felt that he was not fitted for the coming struggle. His place was therefore filled by the appointment of Lin, then living in Fuhchau, who started to fulfil his new ehai’ge, but died in October, as he entered the province.

    Governor Sii Avas obliged to leave Canton on duty, but he never

    met the enemy nor returned to his post. The po})ulac’e of the

    city made themselves merry over his violent conduct toward a

    poor paper-image maker near the landing, who had just set out

    to di-y some effigies dressed in high ofiicial costume, each one

    lacking a head. Su chose to regard this proceeding as an intentional

    insult, as the artisan must have known that he was to

    pass by that way, and ordered him to be bambooed and his ettigies

    destroyed to neutralize the bad omen. The Peking government

    had just sent three Manchus to superintend operations in

    Kwangsi ; their predecessors, Li and Chau, with the provincial

    governor, Clung, were all degraded, but these new imperial

    officials did no better, nor did those on the spot expect that

    they would succeed. Tahungah was the ruffian who had executed

    one hundred and eighty British prisoners in Formosa

    nine years before ; and Saishangah was the prime minister of

    the young Emperor llienfung, as worthless as he was depraved.

    Cruntai, who had long been in command of the Manchu garrison

    at Canton, was also sent, in May, 1851, to check the growing

    power of the insurgents. They were well posted in Wusiuen

    hien, near the junction of two rivers, and this chieftain

    naively expresses his surprise in his report to the Emperor that

    the rebels should occupy an important })Ost which he had just

    decided to fortify. However, his official rei)oit ‘ explains the

    reasons for the imperial reverses better than anything wliich

    had hitherto appeared. Corruption, venality, idleness, opiumsmoking,

    and peculation had made the whole army a mass of

    rottenness ; no one can wonder that the Tai-pings marched

    without dan<»;er throufrh the land to their ij-oal at Xankiuii;.

    A year previous to this date, however, the conflict had been

    begun by the followers of Siu-tsuen. In tlieir zeal against idolatry

    they had destroyed tem])les and irritated the people, which

    ei-e long aroused a S])irit of distrust and emnity ; this was further

    increased by the long-standing feud and mutual hatred

    * Chinese Reposikn’y, Vol. XX. , p. 493.

    COMMENCEMENT OF THE IJEVOLT. 591

    between the j>un-iis and h<(kk-as (natives and squatters) wlileh

    j-an through society. 8iu-tsuen and his chiefs were mostly of

    the latter class, and whenever villages were attacked and the

    hakkas worsted, they moved over to Thistle-mount and professed

    to worship Shangti with Siu-tsuen. In this way the

    whole population had become more or less split up into parties.

    When a body of imperial soldiers sent to artest him and Yunshan

    were driven off, they availed themselves of the enthusiasm

    of their followers to gather them and occupy Lienchu, a lai-ge

    market-town in Kwei hien. This proceeding attracted to their

    banner all the needy and discontented spirits in that region, but

    their own partisans were now able to regulate and employ all

    who came, requiring a close adherence to their religious tenets

    and worship. This town of Lienchu w^s soon fortified, and the

    order of a camp began to appear among its possessors, wdio, however, spared the townspeople. The drilling of the force, now increased to many thousands, commenced ; its vitality was soon tested when it was deemed best to cross the river and advance on Taitsun in order to obtain more room. The imperialists were hoodwinked by a simple device, and when they found their enemy had marched off, their attack on the rear was repulsed

    with much loss. Like all their class, they turned their

    wrath on the peaceful inhabitants of Lienchu, killing and burning

    till almost nothing was left. This needless cruelty recoiled

    on themselves, and all the members of the Shangti /iwui, loyal

    and disaffected alike, felt that their very name carried sedition

    in it, and they must join Siu-tsuen’s standard or give up their

    faith. lie had induced some recent comers belonging to the

    Triad Society to put their money into the military chest and

    to submit to his rules. One of his religious teachers had been

    detected embezzling the funds while on their way to the commissariat, but the public trial and execution of the man had

    served both as a warning and an encouragement to the different

    classes who witnessed the affair. Most of the Triad chiefs, however,

    were afraid of such discipline, and drew off to the imperialists

    with the greater number of their followers. The defection

    furnished Siu-tsuen an opportunity to make known his settled

    opposition to this fraternity, and that every man joining his party must leave it. At this time the discipline and good order exhibited in the eneaiiipment at Taitsiin nnist have struck the people around it with surprise and admiration, if the meagre accounts we have received are at all trustworthy.

    About one jeai- elapsed between the contiict near Lienchu

    and the capture of Yung-ngaii chau, u city on the liiver j\Iei in

    Pingloh pi’efecture. During this period Siu-tsuen had become

    more and more possessed with the idea of liis divine mission

    from the Tieti-fu, or ‘ Heavenly Father,’ as God was now

    connnonly called, and the Tien-Jiiung, or ‘ Ileaveidy Elder

    Brother,’ as he termed Jesus Christ. He began to seclude

    himself from the gaze of his followers, and deliver to them

    such revelations as he received for the management of the force

    committed to him to clear the land of all idolatry and 0})pression,

    and cheer the hearts of those pledged to the gloiious

    cause. This course was destructive of all those peculiar tenets

    which Christianity teaches, and, so far as can be learned, neither

    lie nor Yun-shan any longer prominently set forth the doctrines

    of salvation by repentance and faith in Christ, as they had done

    in their first journey among the INIiaotsz’, but held their followers

    together by fanaticism and the hope of final triumph. In

    its main features, his course was copied from that of IMoses and

    Aaron when they withdrew into the tal)ernacle, and it was

    easy to impress upon his ujiinstructed followers the repetition

    in his person of the same mode of making known the will of

    Heaven. An adequate reason can also be found in this scheme

    why he never called in the aid of foreign missionaries to teach

    his followers the truth as it is in Christ Jesus, knowing full

    well that none of them w^onld lend any conntenance to such delusion.

    As early as April, 1849, when still in Kwei hien, he began to promulge his decrees in the form of revelations received from the Heavenly Father and Elder Brother, when one or the other came down into the world to tell him what course lie should pursue. In March, 1853, just before capturing Nanking, he issued a book of ” Celestial Decrees,” containing a series of these revelations, from which the I’eal nature of his character can be learned. Two extracts will be sufficient to

    (piote:

    CHAKACTEU OF THE TIEN-WANd’s ATJTHOKITY. 593

    The Heavenly Father addressed the multitude, saying, O my children ! Do

    you know your Heavenly Father and your Celestial Elder Brother ? To which

    they all replied, We know our Heavenly Father and Celestial Elder Brother.

    The Heavenly Father then said, Do you know your Lord, and truly ‘i To

    which they all replied, We know our Lord right well. The Heavenly Father

    said, I have sent your Lord down into the world to l)ecome the Celestial King

    (Tkn-icniuj) ; every word lie litters is a celestial command ; you must be obedient

    ; you must truly assist your Lord and regard your King ; you must not

    dare to act disorderly, nor to be disrespectful. If you do not regard your Lord and King, every one of you will be involved in difficulty.’

    It is only from these official documents that we can learn the real political and religions tenets of the revolutionists now intrenched at Yung-ngan, and soon to burst forth in fury upon their country. It was in vain to expect gospel ligs from such a bramble bush.

    Another extract exhibits their jugglery still more clearly. It is dated December 1), 1S51, and contains the proceedings and sentence in the case of Chan Sih-nang, mIio had been detected holdins intercourse with General Saishan^ah at Taitsun. Four of the kings were that day consulting upon some weighty matters, when suddenly the Heavenly Father came down among them and secretly told them to instantly arrest Chan and two others and bring them to Yang, the Eastern King, while he returned to heaven. They did so, and reported the matter to the Tian Wang, but none of them had any evidence to proceed upon.

    ” Happily, how^ever, the Heavenly Father gave himself the

    trouble to appear once more,” and ordered two of the royal cousins

    to go and inform the several princes of his presence. They

    all attended at court and entreated the Ileavenlv Kino; to

    accompany them. Hereupon, his Majesty, guarded by the

    princes and body-guards, together with a host of officials, advanced

    into the presence of the Heavenly Father. They all

    kneeled down and asked, ” Is the Heavenly Father come down ?

    He replied, addressing the Tien-wang, ” Siu-tsuen, I am going

    to take this matter in hand to-day ; a mere mortal would find

    it a hard task. One Chan has been holdins; collusive commu-

    ‘ This decree bears the date April 19, 1851, at Tung-hiang, a village nea<

    Wusiuen.

    iiication with the enemy yesterday, and has returned to court,

    intending to carry into effect a very serious revolt. Go and

    bring him liere.” The culprit soon came, and the examination

    is reported in full. In answer to tlie question, ” Who is it that

    is now speaking to you ? ” he replied, ” The Heavenly Father,

    the Supreme Lord and Great God (Shangti) is addressing me.”

    He said soon after, ” I am aware that the Heavenly Father is

    omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent/’ By a series of

    questions his guilt was proved, and he and his accomplices, with

    his wife and son, were all put to death as a warning to traitors,

    in presence of a large concourse, to whom they confessed the

    justice of their fate.

    When in possession of Nanking, Hung Siu-tsuen was formally

    proclaimed by his army to be Emperor of China, and assumed

    the style and insignia of royalty. Five leading chiefs were

    appointed to their several corps as South, East, West, North,

    and Assistant Kings ; Fung Yun-shan w’as the Southern King.

    Who among them were the efficient disciplinarians and leading

    minds in carrying on their plan cannot be now ascertained, so

    complete was the secrecy which enveloped the whole movement

    from first to last as to the personnel of the force. Dr. Medhurst’s

    translations of their orders, tenets, laws, revelations, and textbooks

    furnish the most authentic sources for estimating its

    character, but they fail to describe its living agents. In so

    large an army, composed of the most heterogeneous elements,

    it cannot be expected that there would be at any time nnicli

    knowledge of the sacred Scriptures, on which its leaders based

    their assumed powers derived from the ‘ Heavenly Father and

    Elder Brother ;

    ‘ but there certainly was a remarkable degree

    of sobriety and discipline among them during the first few

    years of their existence. A most perplexing question, which

    increased in its urgency and difficulty as soon as opposition

    drove the rebel general to intrench himself at Liencliu, was

    temporarily arranged by forming a separate cMcaiu])inent for

    the women, and placing over them officers of their own sex to

    see that discipline was maintained. In doing this he allowed

    the married people as great facilities for the care of their children

    as was possible under the conditions of army life; but

    THE REBEL ADVANCE TO THE YANGTSZ\ 505

    diiriu*^ their progress through the land in 1852 and 1853, much

    suffering must have been endured.

    In 1852 the state and size of the army in Yung-ngan fully

    authorized the leaders of the I’evolt to march northward. Several

    engagements had given their men confidence in each other

    as thev saw the imperialists put to flight ; defeats had furthermore

    shown that their persevering enemy entertained no idea

    of sparing even one of them if captured. The want of provisions

    durino- their fiv^e months’ sieo;e within its walls further

    trained them to a certain degree of patient endurance ; when,

    therefore, they broke through the besieging force in three divisions

    on the night of April T, 1852, they were animated by

    success and hope to possess themselves of the Empire. Marching

    north they now attacked Kweilin, the provincial capital,

    May 15tli, but having no cannon fit to besiege a walled city of

    that size, crossed the border and captured Tau in Hunan, which

    gave them access to the Iliver Siang and means of transportation.

    Their course was thenceforth an easy conquest of the

    towns along its valley. Kweiyang chau, Chin chau, Tunghing,

    ISTganjin, and others were taken and evacuated, one after the

    other, until they reached the capital of this province, September

    18th. Chano-sha and Siangtan together form one immense city,

    and its defenders fully understood their peril, and the probability

    of entire destruction if they allowed it to be captured.

    For eighty days the Tai-pings exerted themselves in vain to

    obtain possession, losing, however, very few men, and doing no

    great harm to their enemy, who kept beyond reach. December

    1st they raised the siege, and by the 13tli reached Yohchau on

    the Yangtsz ‘, which was taken without a struggle. Ten days

    after, replenished and encouraged by the spoil found in Yohchau,

    they occupied Hanyang and Wuchang, the capital of

    Ilupeli province, lying on the other side of the river. Its garrison

    was unable to escape, and many eoldiers were destroyed.

    Hwangchau and Kiukiang, two prefect cities lower down, were

    captured January 12th and February 18th, while Nganking,

    the capital of i^ganhwui, fell a week later. Nothing seemed

    able to resist the advance of the insurgents, and on March

    8th they encamped before Nanking. It was garrisoned by Mancbus and Chinese, who, however, made no better defence than their comrades in other cities ; in ten days its walls were breached, and all the defenders found iii>i(lc put to death, including Luh, the governor-general of the province. Chiidciang and Yangchau soon were dragged to the same fate, thus depriving the imperialists of their control of the (irand Canal.

    This I’apid progress through the land since leaving Yung-ngan eleven months previously had spread consternation among the demoralized officers and soldiers of the Emperor, mIio, on his part, Avas as weak and ignorant as any of his subordinates.

    The march of the insurgents showed the ntter hollowness of the imperial troops, the incapacity of their most trusted leaders, and the little interest taken by the great body of the nation in the conflict. Many causes which might adequately c.\}»lain this extraordinary success cannot now be ascertained, but a national dislike of the Mancbus on the part of the Chinese lay at the bottom of their coldness. They felt, too, that a government wdiich could not protect them against a few thousand foreign troops might as well give place to a native one. The insurgents had perhaps not more than ten thousand adherents, including women and children, when they left Yung-ngan ;’but these went forth in the full conviction of the heavenly commission of their leader to destroy idolatry, set up the worship of the true God, and inaugurate the kingdom of heaven hi the person of the “Heavenly King.”‘ The term SJuDujti was known by every schoolboy to be the name of the God worshipped at Peking by the Emperor in his right as Son of Heaven, and the successor of the ancient sovereigns mentioned in the Ska King ,’ accordingly, when the insurgents set up the worship of the true God as they had been able to learn it from Gutzlaff’s revised version of the Bible, their countrymen immediately recognized the challenge. It was an attack on the religious as well as political position of Taukwang; whoever maintained his side in the gage of battle, with him were undoubtedly the powers above. The progress of the new banner from Yuiig-ngan to banking was like that of a fiery cross, and the sufferings of the people, except in a few large cities, were really more owing to the savage itnperialists than to the Taipings.

    ‘ Though one of their officers told Mr. Meadows, at Nanking, that the force was about three thousand.

    SOUIICKS OI- rilKHl STKENGTir. 597

    The latter grew in strength as they advanced, owing to indiscriminate slaughter on the part of their enemies of unoffending natives, and at last reached their goal with not much less than eighty thousand men.

    Their position was now accessible to foreigners—who had

    been watching their rise and progress under great disadvantages

    in arriving at the truth—and they were soon visited by them

    in steamers. The first to do so was Governor Bonham in

    II. M. S. Ilermes, accompanied by T. T. Meadows, one of the

    most competent linguists in China, who published the result of

    liis inquii-ies. The visitors were at first received with incredidity,

    but this soon gave way to eager curiosity to learn the real

    nature of their religious views and practices. The insurgents

    themselves were even inore ignorant of foreigners than were

    these of the rebels, so that the interest could not fail to be reciprocal,

    nor could either party desire to come into collision with the other.

    About two months after the cities of Nanjing, Chinkiang, and Yangzhou had been taken, garrisoned, and put in a state of defence by their inhabitants, working under the direction of Tai-ping officers, the leaders felt so much confidence in their cause, their troops, and their ability, that they despatched a division to capture Peking. Xo particulars of its size or composition are given, but its course and achievements are recorded in the Peking Gazette. The force landed not far from Kwacliau, where it defeated a body of Manchus, and then proceeded to Liuho and Fungyang fu without finding serious opposition.

    Crossing the province of Xganhwui, they entered that of Honan, and in one month from landing the troops laid siege to Kaifeng, the provincial capital, June 19th. Three days later they were repulsed, and their leaders crossed the Yellow River to Hwaiking fu, about a hundred miles west of Kaifung. For two months they were baffled by an unusual resistance on the part of the imperialists, and were compelled to leave it and go west into Shansi, where they took Pingyang fu and flanked the enemy by turning east and north-east till they crossed the Liiuniing pass and got into Chihli. It was their design to have gone down the River “Wei to Lintsing chau on the Grand Canal, but they were compelled to make a detour of some hundreds of miles to reacli this last place. In doing so they ascended the steep defiles leading from the basin of the Yellow River to the plateau in South Shansi. This march was accomplished in the month of September, and on October9th the prefect city of Shinchau in Chihlf, only two hundred

    miles from Peking, was taken. Their army remained at Shinchau

    for a fortnight, when they marched across the plain northeasterly

    to Tsinghai hien, on the Grand Canal. Here they

    intrenched themselves on October 2Sth, but twenty miles south

    of Tientsin. A detachment sent to attack that city was repulsed,

    and the whole body were blockaded on Xovember 3d by

    the Manchu force, wliicli had followed it from Ilwaiking, and

    other corps ordered from the north to intercept its progress

    toward the capital. In six months this insurgent force had

    traversed four provinces, taken twenty-six cities, subsisted themselves

    on the enemy, and defeated every body of impei’ialists

    sent against thenio The men who performed this remarkable

    march of fully one thousand five hundred miles in the face of

    such odds, would have accomplished even greater deeds under

    better training. Considering all things, it is quite equal to

    General Sherman’s march to the sea in 1861: ; yet so little is

    known of the details of this feat, that we are not even cei’tain

    of its leader’s name—whether Lin Fung-tsiang, spoken of by

    the Gazette as a ‘ Pretended Minister,’ or some other general,

    was in command.

    . It is rather hard to understand why the Tai-pings intrenched

    themselves so near to Tientsin, but the officials of that city, in

    1858, ascribed it to the fact that water covered the plain, preventing

    all operations against the town. Perhaps their want

    of siege guns, and the cavalry now brought from Mongolia, decided

    the leaders to intrench themselves at Tsinghai and send

    to Nanking for reinforcements. The Tai-ping Wang immediately

    despatched an auxiliary force, which also crossed Kganliwui

    to Funghien on the north bank of the Yellow lliver ; this

    THE EXPEDITION AGAINST PEKING. 599

    place was captured March IT, 1854, “after taking city after

    city,” as the Emperor llieiifung expressed it. The ice was gone

    when the army reached Liiitsiiig cliau, April 12th, and that

    city was taken by a tierce assault against the combined resistance

    of its garrison and the imperialists outside, after the insur’-‘

    ciit auxiliary was attacked in force. The other body had

    left Tsinghai in February, starved out rather than driven away,

    and gone to the district town of Ilien, which they left March

    KUh for Fauching, and probably rejoined their comrades somewhere

    between that and Lintsing. They were about a hundred

    miles apart, and the intervening region was no doubt forcibly

    drained of its supplies. This joint army remained in possession

    of their depots as long as they saw lit, and ti-eated the inhabitants

    reasonably well, among whom there were no Manchus,

    The inability to understand each other s speech kept the people

    of this district from mixing with the southerners, and, combined

    with the impossibility of keeping open the road to Nanking,

    decided the Tai-pings to return. This they did in March, 1855,

    by re-entering IS^ganhwui and rejoining the main body whereever

    ordered ; but no details are known of their movements for

    nearly a year before that date. Peking and the Great Pure

    dynasty were saved, however ; while the failure of Hung Siutsuen

    to risk all on such an enterprise proved his ignorance of

    the real point of this contest. lie never was able to undertake

    a second campaign, and his followers soon degenerated into

    banditti.

    The possession of Nanking, Chinkiang, and Kwachau, with

    the large flotilla along the Yangtsz’ River west to Ichang in

    Hupeh, a distance of over six hundred miles, had entirely sundered

    the Emperor’s authority over the seven south-eastern provinces.

    The country on each side for fifty or one hundred and

    fifty miles was visited by the insurgents’ troops merely for supplies.

    Their boats penetrated to Nanchang in Kiangsi, went

    up the Piver Siang even beyond Changsha in Ilunan, ravaged

    one town after another in quest of provisions and reinforcements,

    which were either taken to Nanking or used to support

    the crews ; but nowhere did the leaders set up anything like a

    government, nowhere did they secure those who submitted or pursued their avocations quietly any protection against imperialist

    or other foes. As a revohition involving a reorganizatioTi of the Chinese nation on Christian principles, and a well-defined assertion of the rights and duties of rulers and subjects, it had failed entirely within a year after the possession of Kanking.

    There was no hope that any of the leaders in the movement would develop the ability to initiate the establishment of a consistent and suitable control, since not one of them was endowed either with the experience necessaiy to introduce provisional government over concpiei’ed communities, or with that tact calculated to impress their inhabitants with enduring confidence in them. All their prisoners were compelled to work or fight in their service, and were willing to earn their food and clothes ; while in obeying such orders, and going through such religious ceremonies as were told them, they of course had not much to complain of ; but this conduct did not imply hatred of the mandarins or an abjuiation of Buddhism.

    During the three years after JS’anking had V)een occupied, the people in the Vangtsz* valley had suffered much from the conflict. Both armies lived on the land, and tlu; danger of resisting the demands for food, clothes, and animals was nearly equaled by that of j(,)ining the contending forces ; in either case beggary or loss of life was sure to be the end. As an instance of by no means unexamjilcd suffering, the populous mart of Hankow and its environs was taken by assault six different times during the thirty months ending in May, 1855, and finally was left literally a heap of ruins. In country places the imperialists were, of the two parties, perhaps the more terrible scourge, but as the region became impoverished each side vied with the other in exhausting the people. The Tai-pings were gradually circumscribed to the region around Kaiiking and Nganking by the slow approaches of the government troops, and in 1800 seemed to be near their end. The interest which had been aroused at Shanghai in 1853, upon hearing of their Christian tenets and organization, had been satisfied in the various visits of foreign functioiuiries to Xanking, the intercourse with the leaders and men, perusal of their books, and observation of their policy.

    FAILURE OF THE ENTERPRISE. 601

    One inherent defect in the enterprise, when viewed in its political bearing, ere long showed itself. Nothing could induce Iluiii”: Siu-tsuen to lead his men to the north and risk all ill an attack on Peking. His own conviction of his divine mission had been most cordially received by his generals and the entire b(xly of followers which left Yung-ngan in 1852; but their faith was not accepted by the enormous additit>ns made to the Tai-pings as they advanced to Nanking, and gradually the original force became so diluted that it was inade<juate to restrain and inspirit their auxiliaries. Moreover, the Tien-wang had never seriously worked out any conception of the radical changes in his system of government, which it would be absolutely necessary to inaugurate under a Christian code of laws.

    Having had no knowledge of any western kingdom, he probably regarded them all as conformed to the rules and examples given in the Bible ; perhaps, too, he trusted that the ” Heavenly Father and Elder Brother ” would reveal the proper course of action when the time came. The great body of literati would naturally be indisposed to even examine the claims of a western religion which placed Shangdi above all other gods, and allowed no images in worship, no ritual in temples, and no adoration to ancestors, to Confucius, or to the heavenly bodies. But if this patriotic call to throw off the Manchu yoke had been fortified by a well-devised system of public examinations for office—modified to suit the new order of things by introducing more practical subjects than those found in the classics—and had been put into practice, it is hard to suppose that the intellectual classes would not gradually have ranged themselves on the side of this rising power. The unnecessary cruelty and slaughter practised toward the Manchu garrisons and troops carried more dread into the hearts of the population than stimulus to co-operate with such ruthless revolutionists. The latter had weakened their prospects by destroying confidence in their moderation, justice, and ability to carry out their aim to establish a new sway. There was a large foundation of national aspirations and real dislike to the present dynasty, on which the Tien-wang could have safely reckoned for help and sympathy. But he was far from equal to the exigency of his opportunity. The doubts of his countrymen as to his coiiipeteney were proved by the ^iitisfaction and relief felt when his movement collapsed.

    When the remnants of the two corps which returned from the north in 1855 were incorporated into the forces holding the Grand Canal and the Liang Kiang province, their outposts hardly extended along the Great Eiver beyond Chinkiang on the east and Xganking on the west. In that year dissensions sprung up among the leaders themselves inside of Nanking, which ended in the execution of Yang, the Eastern King, the next year ; a tierce struggle maintained by Wei, the Northern King, on behalf of the Tien-wang, upheld his supremacy, but at a loss of his best general. Another man of note, Shi Dakai, the Assistant King, losing faith in the whole undertaking, managed to withdraw with a large following westward, and reached Sz’chuen. The early friend of Hong Xiuquan, Feng Yunshan, known as the Southern King, disappeared about the same time. Humors of these conflicts reached Shanghai in such a contradictory form that it was impossible to learn all their causes.

    (3ne source of sti’ife arose by Yang assuming to be the Holy

    Ghost. Ileceiving communications from the Heavenly Father

    and Elder Brother, he thus placed himself above the Tien-wang, and, it is said by Wilson,’ ” required him to humble himself and receive forty lashes” for some misdemeanors complained of by the Comforter. The notices of this man which have reached us show that he early took a prominent part in the movement, and perhaps manipulated ”descents of the Heavenly Father,” like the one referred to above as mentioned in the ” Book of Declarations ” in the case of Chan Sih-nang.” Many proclamations were issued in his name (»n the progress to Naidving, which set forth the principles under which the Heavenly Dynasty were trying to conquer. Incentives addressed to the patriotic feelings of the Chinese were mixed up with their obligations to worship Shangdi, now made known to them as the Great God, our Heavenly Father, and security promised to all who submitted.

    ‘ Tfie, ** ?Jrer-Vict<>rums Army,”^ Lt.-Col. Gordon’s Chinrxr Citmpaiqn, p. 43.

    ‘.T. Milton Mackie, Life of Tni-pinfi-Wang, Chief of the Chinese Insurrection^Chap. XXXIV., New York, 1857.

    DISSENSIONS AMONG THE TAI-PING LEADERS. 603

    In one sent forth by liini when nearing Nanking, he thus summarizes the rules which guided the Tai-pings:

    I, the General, in obedience to the royal commands, have put in motion the troops for the punishment of the oppressor, and in everyplace to which I have come the enemy, at the first report, have dispersed like scattered rubbish. As soon as a city has been captured, I have put to death the rapacious mandarins and corrupt magistrates therein, but have not injured a single individual of the people, so that all of you may take care of your families and attend to your business without alarm and trei^idation. I have heard, however, that numbers or lawless vagabonds are in the villages, who previous to the arrival of our troops take advantage of the disturbed state of the country to defile mens’ wives and daughters, and burner plunder the property of honest people. . . .

    I have therefore especially sent a great officer, named Yiien, with some hundreds of soldiers, to go through the villages, and as soon as he finds these vagabonds he is commissioned forthwith to decapitate them ; while if the honest inhabitants stick up the word shun [‘ obedient ‘J over their doors, they will have nothing to fear.

    ‘Such manifestoes could not reassure the timid population of the valley of the Yangtsz’, and the carnage of the unresisting JVLanchus inXanking, Chinkiang, and elsewhere indicated a ruthless license among the followers of the Tien-wang, which made them feel that their success carried with it no promise of melioration.

    In addition, as the vast spoil obtained from these cities and towns up to 1S50 was consumed, the outlook of the rebels was most discouraging. Among their forces, the disheartened, the sick, and the wounded, with the captived and desperate, soon died, deserted, or skulked, and their places Avere filled by forced

    levies. Under these circumstances the dissensions within the

    court at Xanking imperilled the whole cause, and showed the

    incapacity of its leaders in face of their great aim. Yang had

    sunk into a sensual, unscrupulous faction leader who could no

    longer he endured ; by October, 1856, he and all his adherents,

    to the number of twenty thousand, were utterly cut off by Wei.

    But this latter king speedily met with a like fate. Shih, the

    Assistant King, was at this time in the province of Kiangsi. It

    had become a life struggle with Siu-tsuen, and his removal of the

    four kings resulted in leaving him without any real military

    chief on whose loyalty he could depend. The rumors which

    ‘Lindley, Tai-ping Tien-kwoh, \ol. I., p. 94. reached Shanghai in 1856 of the fierce conflict in the city were probably exaggerated by the desire prevalent in that region that the parties would go on, like the Midianites in Gideon’s time, beatinir down each other till they ended the matter.

    The success of the Tai-pings had encouraged discontented leaders in other parts of China to set up their standards of revolt. The progress of Shih Ta-kai in Sz’chuen and Kweichau engaged the utmost efforts of the provincial rulers to restore peace. In Kwangtung a powerful band invested the city, but the operations of Governor Yeh, after the departure of Sii Kwang-tsun in 185i, were well supported by the gentry. By the middle of 1855 the rising was quenched in blood. The destruction of Fatshan, Shauking, and other large towns, had shown that the sole object of the rebels was plunder, though it was thought at first that they were Tai-pings. The executions in Canton during fourteen months np to August, 1856, were nearly a hundred thousand men ; but the loss of life on both sides must be reckoned by millions. A band of Cantonese desperadoes seized the city of Shanghai in September, 1853, killing the district magistrate and some other officials. They retained possession till the Chinese New Year, January 27, 1854, leaving the city amid flames and carnage, when many of the leaders escaped in foreign vessels.’ None of these men were affiliated with the Tai-pings.

    Jn Formosa and Hainan, as well as in Yunnan and Kansuh, the provincial authorities had hard work with their local contingents to maintain the Emperor’s authority. This wretched prince was himself fast bound under the sway of Suhshun and his miserable coterie, devising moans to rej>lcnish his coffers by issuing iron and paper money, and proposing counters cut out of jade stone to take the place of bullion. The national history, however, had many notices of precisely such disastrous epochs in former times, and the nation’s faith in itself was not really weakened.

    THE REBEL SORTIE FROM NANKING. 605

    By 1857 the imperialists had begun to draw close lines about ‘No foreigners here or elsewhere in China were injured designedly during all this insurrection.

    the rebels, when they were nearly restricted to the river banks between Nganking and Nanking, both of which cities were blockaded. Two years later the insurgent capital was beleaguered,

    but in its siege the loyalists trusted almost wholly to

    the effects of want and disease, which at last reached such an

    extreme degree (up to 18G0) that it was said human flesh was

    sold on the butchers’ stalls of Xanking. Their ammunition was

    nearly expended, their numbers were reduced, and their men

    apparently desirous to disperse ; but the indomitable spirit of the

    leader never quailed. He had appointed eleven other ((‘(okj, or generals,

    called Chung TFan^ (‘ Loyal King ‘j, Ylng Wang (‘Heroic

    King’), Kan TH/vi^ (‘ Shield King’), Ting Wang (‘Listening

    King ‘), etc., whose abilities were cpiite equal to the old ones.

    As the siege progressed events assumed daily a more threatening

    aspect. Chang Kwo-liang and Ilo Chun, two imperialist generals,

    invested the city more and more closely, driving the insurgents

    to extremity in every direction. The efforts of these men

    were, however, not aggressive in conseqnence of the war then

    waging with the British and French on the Pei ho. This encouraged

    the beleaguered garrison to a desperate effort to free themselves,

    and on May G, 18G0, a well-concerted attack on the

    armies which had for years been intrenched behind outworks

    about the city scattered them in utter disorder. A small body

    of Tai-pings managed to get out toward the north of Kiangsu,

    near the Yellow Kiver. Another body had already (in March)

    carried Hangchau by assault by springing a mine ; as many as

    seventy thousand inhabitants, including the Manchu garrison,

    perished here during the week the city remained in possession of

    the rebels. On their return to Nanking the joint force carried all before it, and the needed guns and annnunition fell into their hands. The loyalist soldiers also turned against their old officers, but the larger part had been killed or dispei’sed. Chinkiang and Changchau were captured, and Ilo Kwei-tsing, the governor-general, fled in the most dastardly manner to Suchaii, without an effort to retrieve his overthrow. Some resistance was made at Wnsih on the Grand Canal, but Ilo Chnn was so paralyzed by the onslaught that he killed himself, and Sucliau fell into the hands of Chung Wang with no resistance whatever.

    It was, nevertheless, burned and pillaged by the cowardly imperialists before they left it, Ho Kwei-tsiug setting the large suburbs on tire to uncover the solid walls. This destruction was so unnecessary that the citizens welcomed the Tai-pings, for they would at least leave them their houses. AVith Suchau and Ilangchau in their hands, the Kan Wang and Chung Wang had control of the great watercourses in the two provinces, and their desire now was to obtain foreign steamers to use in regaining niasteiy of the Yangzi River. The loss of their first leaders was by this time admirably supplied to the insurgents by these two men, who had had a wider experience than the TianWang himself, while their extraordinary success in dispersing their enemies had been to them all an assurance of divine protection and approval.

    The populous and fertile region of Kiangnan and Chehkiang was wholly in their hands by June, 1800, so far as any organized Mancliu force could resist them. The destruction of life, property, and industry within the three months since their sally from Nanking had been unparalleled probably since the Conquest, more than two centuries before, and revived the stories told of the ruthless acts of Attila and Tamerlane. Shanghai was threatened in August by a force of less than twenty thousand men led by the Chung Wang, and it would have been captured if it had not been protected by British and French troops. Many villages in the district were destroyed, but the flotilla approaching from Sungkiang recoiled from a collision with foreigners, and the insurgents all retired before September. They, however,

    could now be supplied with nnmitions of war, and even began

    to enlist foreigners to help them drill and light. It was an

    anomalous condition of things, possible only in China, that

    while the allied force was marching upon Peking to extort a

    treaty, the same force was encircling the walls of Shanghai, burning its suburbs to destroy all cover, and aiding its rulers to preserve it to Ilienfung— all in order to conquer a trade. It was then the moment for the Tai-pings to have moved rapidly upon Chihli and tried the gage of battle before the metropolis, as soon as possible after Lord Elgin had withdrawn. But they had now very few left to them of the kind of troops which threatened the capital in 1853-54, and could not depend on recruits from Kiangnan in the hour of adversity.

    FOREKiN AID AGAINST THE REBELS. ”><)7

    At this juncture the imperialists began to look toward foreigners for aid in restoring their prestige and power by employing skill and weapons not to be found among themselves.

    An American adventurer, Frederick G. Ward, of Salem, Mass., proposed to the Intendant Wu to recapture Sungkiaiig from the Tai-pings ; he was repulsed on his first attempt at the head of about a hundred foreigners, but succeeded on the second, and the imperialists straightway occupied the city. This success, added to the high pay, stimulated many others to join him, and General Ward ere long was able to organize a larger body of soldiers, to which the name of Cliang-shing Mun, or ‘ Ever-victorious force,’ was given by the Chinese ; it ultimately proved to be well applied. Its composition was heterogeneous, but the energy, tact, and discipline of the leader, under the impulse of an actual struggle with a powerful foe, soon moulded it into something like a manageable corps, able to serve as a nucleus for training a native army. Foreigners generally looked down upon the undertaking, and many of the allied naval and military officers regarded it with doubt and dislike. It had to prove its character by works, but the successive defeats of the insurgents during the year 1862 in Kiangsu and Chehkiang, clearly demonstrated the might of its trained men over ten times their number of undisciplined braves.

    But we must retrace our steps somewhat. In 1860 the possession of the best parts of Kiangsu and Chehkiang led the Tian Wang to plan the relief of Nganking by advancing on Hankow with four separ’ate corps. They were under the leadership of the Chung Wang, and, so far as the details can be gathered, manifested a practical generalship hardly to be expected.

    The Ying Wang was to move through Ng-anhwui from Lucliau westerly to Ilwangchau ; the Attendant King (Shih) was to leave Kiangsi and co-operate with the Chung Wang by reaching the Yangtsz’ as near Hankow as possible, and a smaller force under the Tu AVang was to recover Ilukau at the mouth of Poyang Lake and ascend the Great River in boats. The area through which this campaign was to be carried on may be understood when we learn that the Chung Wang’s march of five hundred miles was over the two ranges of mountains on the frontiers of Kiangsi, and that of the Ying Wang two hundred miles through the plains of Xganhwui. This last king did actually take his force of about eighty thousand men two hundred miles to II wangchau (fifty miles below Hankow) in eleven days, but none of his colleagues came to his aid. The experience of eight years had quite changed the elements of the contest.

    The people now generally realized that neither life, property, nor government was secured under the Tai-pings ; the imperialists had learned how to obtain the co-operation of the patriotic gentry, and the rank and file of the Tai-pings were by this date mostly conquered natives of the same region, as no recruits had ever come from Kwangsi. Moreover, the region was impoverished, and this involved greater privations to all parties. Yet the Chung AVang went from AVuhu south-west to Kwangsin, crossed the water-shed into Kiangsi, defeated a force at Kienchang, crossed the River Kan near Linkiang, and marched north-west to AVuning hien on the River Siu. Here he heard of the defeat of Tu AVang, and the non-arrival of Shih’s force ; and, lest he should be hemmed in himself, as the failure of the campaign was evident, he led his army back across the province to Kwangsin by September, 1861. The particulars of this last great exploit of the Tai-pings are so imperfectly known, that it is impossible to judge of it as a military movement accomplished under enormous difficulties ; but the Loyal King must have been a strategist of no mean rank. In November, 1861, Nganking succumbed to the imperialists. Its defenders and the citizens endured untold sufferings at the last, while its victors had an empty shell ; but the river Avas theirs down to Nanking, On his return east, Chung AVang moved into Chehkiang and overran all the northern half of that province, his men inflicting untold horrors upon the inhabitants, whom they killed, burned, and robbed as they listed.

    THE ” EVER-VICTOKIOUS FORCE.” 609

    Ningpo was taken December 9th and held till May 10th, when it was recaptured by the allies; foreign trade had not been interrupted during this period, and the city suffered less than many others. In September the Tai-pings were driven out of the valley of the Yung River, but the death of General Ward at Tsz’ki deprived the imperialists of an able leader. The career of this man had been a strange one, but his success in training his men was endorsed by honorable dealing with the mandarins, who had reported well of him at Peking. He was buried at Sungkiang, where a shrine was erected to his memory, and incense is burned before him to this day.

    It was difficult to find a successor, but the command rather devolved on his second, an American named Bui-gevine, who was confirmed by the Chinese, but proved to be incapable. He was superseded by Holland and Cooke, Englishmen, and in April, 1863, the entire command was placed under Colonel Peter Gordon, of the British army. During the interval between May, 1860, wdien Ward took Sungkiang, and April 6, 1863, when Gordon took Fushau, the best manner of combining native and foreign troops M’as gradually developed as they became more and more acquainted with each other and learned to respect discipline as an earnest of success. Such a motley force has seldom if ever been seen, and the enormous preponderance of Chinese troops would have perhaps been an element of danger had they been left idle for a long time.

    The bravery of the Ever-victorious force in the presence of the enemy had gradually won the confidence of the allies, as well as the Chinese officials, in whose pay it was ; and when it operated in connection with the French and British contingent in driving the Tai-pings out of jS^ingpo prefecture, the real worth of Ward’s drill was made manifest. The recapture of that city by Captain Dew’s skilful and brave attack in reply to their unprovoked firing at H. M. S. Encounter, brought out the bravery of all nationalities, as well as restored the safety of the port. An extract from Captain Dew’s report will exhibit the dreadful results to the common people of this civil war:

    I had known Ningbo in its palmy days, when it boasted itself one of the first commercial cities of the Empire; but now, on this 11th of May, one might have fancied that an angel of destruction had been at work in the city as in the suburbs. All the latter, with their wealthy hongs and thousands of houses, lay levelled ; while in the city itself, once the home of half a million of people, no trace or vestige of an inhabitant could be seen. Truly it was a city of the dead. The rich and beautiful furniture of the houses had become firewood, or was removed to the walls for the use of soldiers. The canals were filled with dead bodies and stagnant filth. The stonework of bridges and pavements had been nplifted to strengthen walls and form barricades in the streets ; and in temples once the pride of their Buddhist priests, the chaotic remains of gorgeous idols and war gods lay strewn about—their lopped limbs showing that they had become the sport of those Christian Tai-pings whose chief, the Tien-wang. eight years before at Nanking, had asked Sii George Bonham if the Virgin Mary had a pretty sister for him, the King of Heaven, to marry ! It has been my good fortune since to assist at the wresting o; many cities from these Tai-pings, and in them all I found, as at Ningbo, that the same devilish hands had been at work—the people expelled from their houses and their cities ruined.’

    Yet so speedy was the revival from the ruins, that we are told that in one month houses had been refurnished and shops opened ; their owners had mostly fled across the river into the foreign settlement. A larger force was now organized

    —MM. Le Brethon and (iiquel behig in charge of a Franco-Chinese regiment—and an advance made on Yiiyau, which was retaken, and one thousand drilled Chinese left to defend it.

    Tsz’ki, Funghwa, and Sluuigyii were also cleared of rebels, and during the month of March they evacuated the prefect city of Shauhing, never again to return to this fertile valley. Their inroad had been an unmitigated scourge, for they had now given up all pretense of Christianity, and had not the least idea of instituting a regular government ; to plunder, kill, and destroy was their only business. Their sense of danger from the liatred of the people whom they had so grievously maltreated led them at this time to defend the walled cities with a reckless bravery that made their capture more difficult and dangerous. This was shown in the siege of Shauhing fu, within whose walls about forty thousand Tai-pings were well led by the Shi Wang. The possession of cannon enabled them to reply to the balls thrown by Captain Dew’s artillery, while despair lent energy to their resistance ; so that the attack turned into a regular siege of a montlrs duration, when, food and amnumition being exhausted, they retreated en mas.se to llangchau.

    > A. Wilson, The ” Ecer-Vidorious Armi/,” p. U)2, London, 18G8.

    SUCCESSES OF THE FORCE UNDER GOItDON. 611

    While this success relieved the greater part of Chehkiang from the scourge, the failure of the Ever-victorious force to retake Taitsang and Fuslian, under Holland and Brennan, had discouraged Governor Li, who had now come into power, he applied to General Stavely, who, with a full appreciation of the exigencies of the case, and concurrence of Sir Frederick Bruce, aided iti reorganizing Ward’s force and placing Colonel Gordon over it with adequate powers. There were live or six infantry regiments of about five hundred men each, and a battery of artillery; at times it numbered five thousand men. The commissioned officers were all foreigners, and their national rivalries were sometimes a source of trouble ; the non commissioned officers were Chinese, many of them repentant rebels or seafaring men from Canton and Fuhkien, promoted for good conduct. The uniform was a mixture of native and foreign dress, which at first led to the men being ridiculed as ‘ Imitation Foreign Devils ; ‘ after victory, however, had elevated their esprit du corps, they became quite proud of the costume.

    In respect to camp equipage, arms, commissariat and ordnance departments, and means of transport, the natives soon made themselves familiar with all details; while necessity helped their foreign officers rapidly to pick up their language. It is recorded, to the credit of this motle}^ force, that ” there was very little crime and consequently very little punishment; . . . as drunkenness was unknown, the services of the provost-marshal rarely came into use, except after a capture, when the desire for loot was a temptation to absence from the ranks.”‘

    In addition, the force had a fiotilla of four small steamers, aided by a variety of native boats to the number of fifty to seventy-five. The plain is so intersected by canals that the troops could be easier moved by water than land, and these boats enabled it to carry out surprises which disconcerted the rebels. Wilson well remarks concerning Gordon’s force : ” Its success was owing to its compactness, its completeness, the quickness of its movements, its possession of steamers and good artillery, the bravery of its officers, the confidence of its men, the inability of the rebels to move large bodies of troops with nqudity, tlio nature of the country^ the almost intuitive perception of the leader in adapting his operations to the nature of the country, and his untiring energy in carrying them out.*”

    ‘ Wilson, ibid, p. 133.

    The details of this singular troop are worth telling with more minuteness than spaee here allows, for its management will no doubt form a precedent in the future ; hut the good its remarkable chief effected in restoring peace to Kiangsu calls for that recognition which skill, tact, and high moral purpose ever deserve. Being formally put in command on March 24, 18G3, he promptly reinstated the foreign officers belonging to the force, paid their dues, and within a few days was in readiness to march upon Fnshan, a town on the Yangtsz’ above Panshan.

    The fall of this place on April Gth led to the ca}>tu]”e of (“hanzu,

    when preparations wei-e made for besieging Taitsang fu, where

    an army of ten thousand rebels, aided by foreign adventurers,

    presented a formidable imdertaking for his force of two thousand

    eight hundred men, although supported by a large body

    of imperialists. In its capture (May 2d) the killed and wounded

    numbered one hundred and sixty-two officers and men ; the

    boot}- obtained was so large that Colonel Gordon led his men

    back to Sungkiang, in order to reorganize them after this experience

    of their conduct. Finding that their former license

    in appropriating the loot thus obtained tended to demoralize

    them all, he accepted the resignations of some of the discontented

    officers, and adopted stringent measures to bring the

    others to render military obedience. Consequently, when he

    started for Iviunshan with about three thousand men, he had

    liis force in a much better condition. This city occupied an

    important position between Shanghai, Chanzu, Taitsang, and

    other large towns on the east, and Suchau on the Avest. The

    rebels had set up a cannon foundry within its M-alls, and from

    it obtained supplies for the last-named city, with which it -was

    connected by a causeway. By means of the armed steamer

    Ilyson, Colonel Gordon was able to bi-ing up through one of

    the canals a comj^any of three hundred and fifty men and field

    artillery, cutting the causeway and pursuing its defenders, some

    ‘ Ibul, p. 138.

    ENVIRONMENT OF SUCIIAU. 613

    into the town and some toward Sncliau, almost to its veiy

    gates. On the return of the steamer in the night, the commander

    found the imperialists engaged M’ith the garrison in a

    sharp contest, in which the foreigners then aided, and completely

    routed the rebel body of nearly eight thousand men.

    Fully four thousand of them were killed outright, and others were drowned or cut off by the exasperated peasantry before the day was over. This was on May 30th. The captured town was made headquarters by its victors, as a more eligible location than Sungkiang, though against the wishes of the native office’s, who desired to go back there with their booty. The loss of men, material, and position to the rebels was very great, and Colonel Gordon could now safely turn his whole thoughts to the capture of Suchau.

    This city is like Venice in its approaches by canals ; owing to its location it was deemed best, before attempting its capture, to reduce certain towns in the vicinity, from which it derived supplies, so that the Chung “Wang should not be able to co-operate with its garrison. The district towns of AVukiang and Kahpu were both taken in July with comparatively little loss. This rapid reduction of many strong stockades, stone forts, and walled towns, with the panic exhibited by the men, proved how useless to the rebels the foreigners in their service had been in rendering them really formidable enemies, and how incapable the wangs had been to appreciate the nature and need of discipline.

    After these places had been occupied. Colonel Gordon found his position beset with so many unexpected annoyances, both from his rather turbulent and incongruous troops as well as from the Chinese authorities, that he went to Shanghai on August 8th for the purpose of resigning the command. Arriving here, however, he ascertained that Burgevine had just gone over to the Tai-pings with about three hundred foreigners, and was then in Suchau. The power of moral principle, which guided the career of the one, was then seen in luminous contrast to its lack as shown in the other of these soldiers of fortune. To his lasting credit Colonel Gordon decided to return at once to Kiunshan, and, in face of the ingratitude of the Chinese and iealousy of his officers, to stand by the imperialist cause. he uraduallv restored his influence over officers ai\(l men. ascertained that Burgevine’s position in the Tai-ping army did not allow him freedom enough to render his presence dangerous to their foes, and began to act aggressively against ISuchau by taking Patachiau on its southern side in September, Emissaries from the foreigners in the city now reported considerable dissatisfaction with their position, and Colonel Gordon was able to arrange in a short time their withdrawal without much danger to themselves. It is said that Burgevine even then proposed to him to join their forces, seize Suchau, and as soon as possible march on Peking Avith a large army, and do to the Manchus what the Manchus had done, two hundred and twenty years before, to the Mings, (\jlonel Gordon’s own loyalty was somewhat suspected by the imperialist leaders, but his integrity carried him safely through all these temptations to swerve from his duty.

    As soon as these niercenaries among the rebels were out of the

    way, operations against Suchau were prosecuted with vigor, so

    that by Xovember 19th the entire city was invested and carefully

    cut off from comnnmication with the north. The city

    being now hard pushed, the besieging force prepared for anight

    attack upon a breach previously made in the stockade near the

    north-east gate. It was well planned, but the Muh Wang, /rtc^/Ai

    j)rince2)s among the Tai-ping chiefs in courage and devotion,

    liaving been informed of it, opened such a destructive fire that

    the Ever-victorious force was defeated with a loss of about two

    hundred officers and men killed and wounded. On the next

    morning, however (November 2Sth), it was reported that the

    cowardly leaders in the city were plotting against the Muh

    Wang—the only loyal one among their number—^and were talking

    of capitulating, using the British chief as their intermediary.

    This rumor proved, indeed, to be so far true, that after some

    further successful operations on the part of Gordon’s division,

    the Wangs made overtures to General Ghing, himself a foi-mcr

    rebel commander, but long since returned to the impei’ial cause

    and now the chief over its forces in Kiangsu. The Muh Wang

    was publicly assassinated on December 2d by his comrades,

    SURRENDER AXD EXECUTION OF ITS GENERALS. 615

    and on tlie 5th tlie negotiations liad proceeded so far that interviews

    were held. Colonel Gordon had withdrawn his troops a

    short distance to save the city from pillage, hut did not succeed

    in obtaining a donation of two months’ pay for their late bravery

    from the parsimonious Li. IJe therefore proposed to lay down

    his command at tliree o’clock i’.m., and meanwhile went into tlie

    city to interview the Na Wang, who told him that everything was

    proceeding in a satisfactory manner. Upon learning this he

    repaired to the house of the nun-dered Muh Wang in order to

    get his corpse decently buried, but failed, as no one in the place

    would lend him the smallest assistance. While he was thus occupied,

    the rebel wangs and officers had settled as to the terms

    they would accept ; and on reaching his own force, Gordon found

    General Ching there with a donation of one month’s pay, which

    his men refused.

    The next morning he returned into the city and was told by

    Ching that the rebel leaders had all been pardoned, and would

    deliver up the city at noon ; they were preparing then to go out.

    Colonel Gordon shortly after started to return to his own camp

    and met the imperialists coming into the east gate in a tumultuous

    manner, prepared for slaughter and pillage. He therefore

    went back to the Xa Wang’s house to guard it, but found

    the establishment already quite gutted ; he, however, met the

    Wang’s uncle and went with him to protect the females of the

    family at the latter’s residence. Here he was detained by

    several hundred armed rebels, who would neither let him go

    nor send a message by his interpreter till the next morning

    (December Ttli), when they permitted him to leave for his

    boat, then waiting at the south gate ; narrowly escaping, on his

    way thither, an attack from the imperialists, he reached his

    Ijodyguard at daybreak, and with them was able to pi-event

    any more soldiers entei’ing the city. His preservation amid such

    conflicting forces was providential, but his indignation was great

    M-hen he learned that Governor Li had beheaded the eight rebel leaders the day before. It seems that they had demanded conditions quite inadmissible in respect to the control of the thirty thousand men under their orders, and were cut off for their insolent contumacy. Another account, published a* Shanghai in 1871, states that nearly twenty chiefs were exe cuted, and about two thousand privates.

    As Colonel Gordon felttliat his good name was compromised

    by this cruelty, he threw up his command until he could confer

    with his superiors. On the 2*Jth a reply came to Li llungchang

    from Prince Kung, highly praising all who had been

    engaged in taking Suchau, and ordering him to send the leader

    of the Ever-victorious force a medal and ten thousand taels—

    both of w Inch he declined. The posture of affairs soon became

    embarrassing to all pai’tics. The rebellion was not suppressed ;

    the cities in rebel hands would soon gather the desperate men

    escaped from Suchau ; Colonel Gordon alone could lead his

    troops to victory ; and all his past bi-avery and skill might be

    lost. He therefore resumed his command, and presently recommenced operations by leading his men against Ihing hien, west of Suchau.

    Concerning this wretched business of the Suchau slaughter,

    much was said both in the foreign commimities in China and

    later in England. Mr. Wilson, in his book compiled largely

    from Colonel Gordon’s notes on this campaign, discusses the

    question with as great fairness as precision, and concludes—as

    must every well-wisher of China with him—that it was in every

    way fortunate, both for his reputation and the cause to which

    he had lent himself, that this heroic man returned to his thankless

    task. Summing up the arguments of the Chinese and the

    various attendant circumstances that brought about this execution,

    Mr. Wilson points to Li’s not nnnatural desire after revenge

    for his brother’s murder by the rebels before Taitsang;

    to the army still under control of the wangs ; to the almost

    absolute certainty of massacre of those imperialists who had

    already entered the city should he refuse compliance with their

    demands ; as also to the impossibility of arresting these chiefs

    without an alarm of treachery spreading among their troops

    within the walls, and thus giving them time to close the gates,

    cutting off the imperial soldiers inside the city from those who

    were without. ” Li was in a very ditficult and critical position,”

    he says, ” which imperatively demanded sudden, unprcmedilated

    action ; and though, no doubt, it would have been more

    COLONEL OORDON’S FURTHER OPERATIONS. 617

    honorable for liiin to have made the wangs prisoners, he cannot

    in tlie circumstances be with justice severely censui-ed for haviuij;

    ordered the Tai-ping chiefs who were in liis power, but who

    detied his authoi’ity, to be innuediately killed. It is also certain

    that Colonel Gordon need not liave been in a hui-ry to consider

    himself as at all responsible for this almost necessary act,

    because in a letter to him (among his correspondence relating

    to these affairs) from the Futai [Li], dated November 2, 18G3,

    I find the following noteworthy passage, wliich shows that the

    governor did not wish Gordon to interfere at all in regard to

    the capitulation of the Suchau chiefs :

    ‘ With respect to Moh Wang and other rebel leaders’ proposal, I am quite satisfied that you have determined in no way to interfere. Let Ching look after their treacherous and cunning management.’” ‘

    On reaching thing, the dreadful effects of the struggle going on around Gordon’s force were seen, and more than reconciled him to do all he could to bring it to an end. Utter destitution prevailed in and out of the town; people were feeding on dead bodies, and ready to perish from exposure while waiting for a comrade to die. The town of Liyang was surrendered on his approach, and its iidiabitants, twenty thousand in number, supplied with a little food. From this place to Kintan proved to be a slow and irksome march, owing to the shallow water in the canal and the bad weather. On March 21st an attack was made on this strong post by breaching the walls; but it resulted in a defeat, the loss of more than a hundred officers and men, and a severe wound which Colonel Gordon received in his leg— oddly enough the oidy injury he sustained, though frequently compelled to lead his men in person to a charge. Next day he retired, in order, to Liyang, but hearing that the son of the Chung Wang had retaken Fushan he started with a thousand men and some artillery for Wusih, which the rebels had left.

    ‘Wilson, The ” Eccr-Victorioiis Army,” p. 204.

    The operations in this region during the next few weeks conclusively proved the desperate condition of the rebels, but a hopeless cause seemed often but to increase their bravery in defending what strongholds were left them. At the same time a body of Franco-Chinese was operating, in connection with Gen^eral Ching on the south of Suchau, against Kiahing fn, a large city on the (4rand Canal, held by the Ting Wang. This position was taken and its defenders put to the sword on March 20th, but with the very serious loss of General Ching, one of the ablest generals in the Chinese army. Ilangchau, the capital of Chehkiang, capitulated the next day, and this was soon followed by the reduction of the entire province and dispersion of the rebels among the hills.

    Colonel Gordon had recovered from his wound so as to lead an attack on Waisu April Cth, which town fell on the 11th, when most of its defenders were killed by the peasantry as they attempted to escape. His force was also much weakened, and needed to be recruited. With about three thousand in all, he now went to aid Governor Li in reducing Chaiigchau fu, and invested it on the 25th. The entire besieging force numbered over ten thousand ; and as the rebels were twice as many, on the Mhole well provided, and knew that no mercy would be shown, their resistance was stubborn. Several attacks were repulsed with no small loss to Gordon’s force, so that slower methods of approach were resorted to till a general assault was planned on May 11th, when it succumbed. Only fifteen hundred rebels were slain, and the greater part of the prisoners were allowed to go home, the Xwangsi men alone being executed. With this capture ended the operations of the Evervictorious force and its brave leader. Nanking was now the only strong place held by the Tai-pings, and there was nothing for that army to do there, as Tsang Kwoh-fan, the generalissimo of the imperial armies, had ample means for its capture.

    THE EVHU-VICTOllIOns FOUCE DIS;BANDED. 619

    Colonel Gordon, therefore, in conjunction with Governor Li, dissolved this notable division ; the latter rewarded its officers and men with liberal gratuities, and sent the natives home. During its existence of about four years down to June 1, 1804, nearly fifty places had been taken (twenty-three of them by Gordon), and its higher discipline had served to elevate the morale of the imperialists who operated with them. It perhaps owed its greatest triumph to the high-toned uprightness of its Christian chief, which impressed all who served with him. The Emperor conferred on liinitlie bigliest iiiilitarj- rank of t’l-tuJi, or

    ‘ Captain-General,’ and a yellow jacket {ina-k(ca) and other uniforms,

    to indicate the sense of his achievements. Sir Fredei’ick

    Bruce admirably summed up his character in a letter to Earl

    Russell when sending the imperial rescript:

    Hongkong, July 12, 1864.

    My Lord,

    I enclose a translation of a despatch from Prince Kung containing the decree

    published by the Emperor, acknowledging the services of Lieutenant-

    Colonel Gordon, R. E., and requesting that her Majesty’s government be

    pleased to recognize them. This stej) has been spontaneously taken. Lieutenant-

    Colonel Gordon well deserves her Majesty’s favor ; for, independently

    of the skill and courage he has shown, his disinterestedness lias elevated our

    national character in the eyes of the Clnuese. Not only has he refused any

    pecuniary reward, but he has spent more than his pay in contributing to the

    comfort of the officers who served under him, and in assuaging the distress of

    the starving population whom he relieved from the yoke of their oppressors.

    Indeed, tlie feeling that impelled him to resume operations after the fall of

    Suchow was one of the purest humanity. He sought to save the people of

    the districts that had been recovered from a repetition of the misery entailed

    uijon them b/this cruel civil war. I have, etc.,

    F. W. A. Bruce.

    The foreign merchants at Shanghai expressed their sense of

    his conduct in a letter dated November 24th, written on the

    ev^e of liis retui-n to England, in which they truly remark : ” In

    a position of unecpialled difficulty, and surrounded by complications

    of every possible nature, you have succeeded in offering

    to the eyes of the Chinese nation, no less by your loyal and

    disinterested line of action than by your conspicuous gallantry

    and talent for organization and command, the example of a

    foreign officer serving the government of this country with

    honorable tidelity and undeviating self-respect/’ ‘

    ‘ ” The rapidity with which the long-descended hostility of the Chinese government became exchanged for relations of at least outward friendship, must be ascribed altogether to the existence of the Tai-ping Rebellion, without whose pressure as an auxiliary we might have crushed, but never conciliated the distrustful statesmen at Peking.”—Fraser^s Magazine, Vol. LXXL,p. 145,February, 18G5.

    Such men are not only the choice jewels of their own nation(and England may justly be proud to reckon this son among her worthies), but leave beliiiul them an example, as in the case of Colonel Gordon, which elevates (1n-istianity itself in theeyes of the Chinese, and will remain a legacy for good to them through coming years.’

    After the dissolution of the Ever-victorious force, its leader visited Nganking and Nanking to see the governor-general, Tsiing Kwoh-fan, and his brother, mIio were directing operations against the rebels, in order to propose some improvements in their future employment of foreign soldiers and military appliances. They listened with respect, and took notes of important suggestions—knowing at the same time that their subordinates were uiuible to comprehend or adojit many such innovations. The work before’ Ts’anking indicated the industry of its besiegers in the miles of walls connecting one hundred and forty mud forts in their circumvallations. and in various mines leading under the city walls. The Tai-pings at that

    date seldom appeared on the walls, and had recently sent out

    thi’ee thousand women and children to be fed by their enemies,

    proof enough of their distressed condition. The only general

    capable of relieving the Tien “Wang was the Chung Wang,

    whose army remained on the southern districts of Kiangsu,

    while he himself was in the city with the Ivan “Wang (Hung Jin), now the trusted agent of his half-brother. All egress from the doomed city was stopped by flune 1st, when the explosion of mines and bursting of shells forewarned its deluded defenders of their fate. Of the last days of their leader no

    authentic account has been given, and the declaration of the

    Chung Wang in his autobiography, that he poisoned himself

    on June 30th, ” owing to liis anxiety and troul)le of mind,” is

    probably true. His body was buried behind his palace by one

    of his wives, and afterward dug up by the imperialists.

    On Julv 19, 1804, the wall was breaclied hy the explosion of

    forty thousand pounds of powder in a mine, and the Chung

    Wang, faithful to the last, defended until midnight the Tien

    Wang’s family from the imperialists. lie and the Kan Wang

    ‘Compare further Col. C. C. Chesney’s Essays on Modern Military Biograpliy

    (from the Fjliithnnjh Rcdeir), pp. 1G3-213, London, 1874.

    FALL OF NANKING. 621

    then escorted Hung Fu-tien—a lad of sixteen, who had succeeded to the throne of Great Peace three weeks before—with a thousand followers, a short distance beyond the city. The three leaders now became separated, but all were ultimately captured and executed. The Chung AVang, during his captivity before death, wrote an account of his own life, which fully maintains the high estimate previously formed of his character from his public acts.’ lie was the solitary ornament of the whole movement during the fourteen years of its independent existence, and his enemies would have done well to have spared

    him. More than seven thousand Tai-pings were put to death

    in Xanking, the total number found there l)eing hardly over

    twenty thousand, of whom probably very few Mere southern

    Chinese —this element having gradually disappeared.

    After the recaptui-e of Xanking, two small bodies of rebels

    remained in Chehkiang. The largest of them, under the Tow

    Wang, held Iluchau fu, and made a despei’ate resistance until

    a large force, provided with artillery, compelled them to evacuate.

    During this siege the sanguinary conduct of the Taipings

    showed the natural result of their reckless course since

    their last escape from Xanking; the narrative of an escaped

    Irishman, who had been compelled to serve them in Iluchau

    for some months, is terrible enough : ” All offences received

    one puinshment—death. I saw one hundred and sixty men

    beheaded, as I understood, for absence from parade ; two boys

    were beheaded for smoking ; all prisoners of war were executed ;

    spies, or people accused as such, were tied with their hands behind

    their backs to a stake, brushwood put around them, and

    they burned to death.” The rebel force nundjered nearly a

    hundred thousand men, and tlieir vigorous defence was continued

    for a fortnight, till on August 14th their last stockade

    was carried by the imperialists, and about half their number

    made good tlieir escape to the neighboring hills, leavijig the

    usual scene of desolation behind them. This body undertook

    to march south through the hilly regions between Kiangsi and

    ‘ Tlie Autohiofp’dphy of tlie Chung- Wang, translated from the Chinese b^

    W. T. Lay, Shanghai, 1865.

    Clielikiaiig. The best disciplined portion was led by the Shi

    Wan*’, who had joined it witli his men from the former province,

    and arranged an attack on Kwangsin, near wliich they

    were defeated. The remainder managed to march across tlio

    intervening districts south-westerly to the city of Changchau,

    near Amoy, where they intrenched themselves till the next

    spring, subsisting on the supplies found in it and the neighborhood.

    The Shi Wang and Kan Wang then left it April 16th,

    in two bodies, unable to resist the disciplined force of eight

    thousand men brought from the north. Feeling that their

    days were numbered, the}’ seem to have scrupled at nothing to

    show their savagery—as, for example, when they slaughtered

    sixteen hundred imperialists who had surrendered on a promise

    of safe-conduct. No mercy was therefore shown them by the

    iidiabitants ; at Clumping in Kwangtung they even cut down

    their growing rice in order to prevent the rebels using it. The

    last straggling relics of the Tai-ping Heavenly King’s adherents

    were thus gradually destroyed, and his ill-advised enterprise

    brought to an end.

    Fifteen years had elapsed since he had set up his standard of

    revolt in Kwangsi, and now there was nothing to show as a return

    for the awful cariuige and misery that had ensued from his

    efforts. No new ideas concerning God or his redemption for

    mankind had been set forth or illustrated by the teachings or practices of the Tai-ping leader or any of his followers, nor did they ever take any practical measures to call in foreign aid to assist in developing even the Christianity they professed. True the Kan Wang called Mr. Roberts to Nanking, but instead of consulting with him as to the establishment of schools, opening chapels, preparing books, or organizing any kind of religious or benevolent work to further the welfare of his adherents, the Tien AVang did not even grant an interview to the missionary, who, on his part, was glad to escape with his life to Shanghai.

    If this rebellion practically exhibited no religious truth to the educated mind of China, it was not for lack of jniblications setting forth the beliefs its leaders had drawn from the Bible, or for laws sanctioned by severe peiuilties, both of which were scattered throuirh the land. Dj-. Medhurst’s careful translations

    END OF TIIK TAI-1’IN(J IlEBELLION. 6^^’

    of these tracts has preserved them, so that the entire disregard

    manifested hj the new sect of tlieir plainest injunctions may he

    at once seen.’ Tlie strong expectations of the friends of China

    for its regeneration through the success of Ilung Siu-tsuen,

    would not have heen indulged if they liad hetter known the

    inner workings of liis own mind and the flagitious conduct of

    liis lieutenants.

    In his political aspirations the Tien Wang entertained no new

    principle of govermnent, for he knew nothing of other lands,

    their jurispi’udence or their polity, and wisely enough held his

    followers to such legislation as they were familiar with. They

    all probably expected to alter affairs to their liking when they

    liad settled in Peking. But if this mysterious iconoclast had

    really any ideas above those of an enthusiast like Thomas Miinzer

    and the Anabaptists in the early days of the Reformation

    whose course and end offers many parallels to his own—he

    must have lamented his folly as he reviewed its results to his

    country. The once peaceful and populous parts of the nine

    great provinces through which his hordes passed have hardly

    yet begun to be restored to their previous condition. Ruined

    cities, desolated towns, and heaps of rubbish still mark their

    course from Kwangsi to Tientsin, a distance of two thousand

    miles, the efforts at restoration only making the conti’ast more

    apparent. Their presence was an unmitigated scourge, attended

    by nothing but disaster from begimiing to end, without the

    least effort on their part to rebuild what had been destroyed, to

    protect what was left, or to repay what had been stolen. Wild

    beasts roamed at large over the land after their departure, and

    made their dens in the deserted towns ; the pheasant’s whirr resounded

    where the hum of busy populations had ceased, and

    weeds or jungle covered the ground once tilled with ])atient industry.

    Besides millions upon millions of taels irrecoverably

    lost and destroyed, and the misery, sickness, and starvation

    ‘ Pamphlets issued hy the Chinese Tnsnnients at JVan-Kinfj ; to whicJi is added

    a histwy of the Kwangsi liehellion, etc., etc., compiled by W. H. Medhurst,

    Senr., Shanghai, IS”):}. Coinjjare II. J. Forrest in Joirrntd iV. C Br. R. A.

    Soc, No. IV., December, 18G7, pp. 1«7 ff. The China Mail for February 2,1854. which were endured by the survivors, it has heon estimated by foreigners living at Shanghai that, during- the whole period from 1851 to 1905, fully twenty millions of human beings were destroyed in connection with the TaiPing Rebellion.’

    V ‘ The most complete authorities on this conflict are files of the North China lliruld (Slianghai) and the Vhina Mail (Hongkong) during the years from 1853 to 1869 ; a careful summary of these has been made by M. Cordier in his Bibliotheat Sinica, pp. 273-281, wliich will be useful alone to those who can gain access to these newspapers. The number of articles on various phases of the rebellion contained in English and American magazines is exceedingly numerous, and can be readily found by reference to Poole’s Index. Among these compare especially the London Qudrterly, Vol. 112, for October, 1862; Fmser^s Magnzine, Vol. 71, February, 1865 ; Blarktrood’s, Vol. 100, pp. 604 and 683 ; W.Sargent in the North Antcrican Revieir, Vol. 7v’), July, 1854, p. 158. See also the various Blue Books relating to China ; Capt. Fishbourne, Inijiremons of China and the Present Berohttion, London, 1855; Gallery and Yvan, LTnsnrrertion en Chine, Paris, 1853—translated into English, London, 1853; Charles Macfarlane, The Chinese Berohttion, London, 1853 ; T. T. Meadows, The Chinese and their Behellions, London, 1856 ; J. M. Mackie, Life of Tai-piny Wang,N. Y., 1857; Commander Lindesay Brine, Narrative of the Rise and Progress of the Taeping Rebellion in China, London, 1862; “Lin-le,” Ti-Ping Tienkifoh,the History of the Ti-Ping Berolution, London, 1866— a rather untrustworthy record ; Sir T. F. Wade in the Shanghai Miscellany^ No. I. ; Richthofan, Letter on the l^rotince of Shensi.

    CHAPTER XXV. THE SECOND WAR BETWEEN GREAT BRITAIN AND CHINA

    The particulars given in the last chapter respecting the TaiPing Rebellion did not include those details coiniected with foreign intercourse during the same period which have had such important results on the Chinese people and government.

    It is a notable index of the vigor and self-poise of both, that

    during those thirteen terrible years, the mass of inhabitants in

    the ten eastern provinces never lost confidence in their own

    government or its ability to subdue the rebels ; while the leading

    officers at Peking and in all those provinces at no time expressed

    doubt as to the loyalty of their countrymen when left

    free to act. The narrative of foreign intercourse is now resumed

    from the year 1849, when the British authorities waived

    the right of insisting upon their admission into the city of

    Canton according to the terms of the convention with Iviying

    in 1847. The conduct of the Cantonese, in view of the forcible

    entrance of English troops into their city, is an interesting

    exhibition of their manner of arousino; enthusiasm and raisino’

    funds and volunteers to cope with an emergency. The series

    of papers found in Vol. XVIII. of the Chinese Re2)Ository well

    illustrates the curious mixture of a sense of wrong and deep concern

    in public affairs, combined with profound ignorance and

    inaptitude as to the best means for attaining their object.

    A candid examination of the real meaning of the Chinese

    texts of the four earlier treaties makes clear the fact that there

    were some grounds for their refusal ; but more attractive than

    this appears the study of an address from the gentry of Canton,

    sent upon the same occasion, to Governor Bonham at Hongkong,

    dissuading him from attempting the entry. Their conduct was naturally legarded by the British as seditious, and of these many urged their authorities to vindicate the national honor and force a way over the walls into the city. The practice of an unwonted approach toward self-government which this popular movement in defence of their metropolis gave the citizens, was of real service to them in the year 1855, when it was beleaguered by the rebels, since they had learned how to use

    their powers and resources. One result of their fancied victory

    over the British at this time was the erection of six stone j)ailau,

    or honorary portals, in various parts of the city and suburbs,

    on each of which was engraved the sentence, ” Reverently

    to commemorate glory conferred,” together with a copy of

    the edict ordering their establishment, and a list of the w^ards

    and villages which furnished soldiers during their time of need.’

    The outcome of the working of treaty provisions between

    foreigners and natives at the five opened ports during the ten

    years up to 1853, had been as satisfactory to both sides

    as could have been reasonably expected. The influx of foreigners

    had more than doubled their numbers ; and as almost

    none of them could talk the Chinese language, it happened that

    natives of Canton became their brokers and compradores

    rather more by reason of speaking pl(/eon-Migllsh than by their

    wealth or capacity. The vicious plan of marking off a separate

    plat of land for the residence of foreigners at each port was

    adopted, and their development tended to build up concessions,

    or settlements, which were to be governed by the various nationalities.

    In doing this the local authorities vacated their

    rights over their own territory, and these settlements have since

    become the germs of foreign cities, if not colonies. The British

    and French consuls at Shanghai claimed territorial jurisdiction

    over all who settled within the limits of their allotted districts,

    and carried this assumption so far as to exercise authority

    over the natives against their own rulers. The British erelong

    gave up this pernicious system, which had no legal basis by

    treaty or conquest, and yielded the entire internal management

    ‘ The one placed near the southern gate became a target for the British gunners

    in October, 1856, its demolition, most unfortunately, involving the de

    Ptruction and burning of uiiilionii of Chinese books iu the shops on that street

    INFLUENCE OF TREATIES ON THE CHINESE. 627

    of all consular communities to those foreigners which composed

    them. There were not enougli residents elsewliere to raise this

    question of local government to any importance, but the progress

    of the Tai-piiigs and the rapid growth of Shangliai as a

    centre of trade for the Yangtsz’ basin, compelled the preparation

    and adoption of a set of land regulations in order to institute

    some means of governing the thousands of foreigners who

    had flocked thither. George Balfour, the first British consul

    in that port, had sanctioned a seiies of rules in 1845, which

    purported to be drawn up by the tautal, or intendant of circuit,

    and which worked well enough in peaceful times.

    In the year 1853, however, the civil war altered the conditions,

    when certain Cantonese rebels captured Shanghai and

    killed some of its magistrates, driving others into the British

    settlement, to which ground the custom-house was shortly afterward

    removed. The collector of the port, AVu Kien-chang, had

    formerly been a hong merchant at Canton, and he willingl}^

    entered into an arrangement for putting the collection of foreign

    duties into the hands of a commission until order was restored.

    The presence there of the British, American, and

    French ministers facilitated this arrangement. Their respective

    consuls, R. Alcock, R. C. Murphy, and B, Edan, accordingly

    met Wu on June 29, 1854, and agreed to a set of custom-

    house rules which in reality transferred the collection of

    duties into the hands of foreigners. The first rule contains the

    reason for this remarkable step in advance of all former positions,

    and has served to perpetuate the employment of foreigners

    at all the open ports, and maintain the foreign inspectorate

    :

    Rule I.—The chief difficulty experienced by the superintendent of customs

    having consisted in the impossibility of obtaining custom-house officials

    with the necessary qualifications as to probity, vigilance, and knowledge of

    foreign languages, required for the enforcement of a close observance of treaty

    and custom-house regulations, the only adequate remedy appears to be in the

    introduction of a foreign element into the custom-house establishment, in the

    persons of foreigners carefully selected and apjjointed by the tantai, who

    shall supply tlie deficiency complained of, and give him efficient and trustworthy

    instruments wherewith to work.’

    ‘ McLane’s Cornnpondcixr, 1858. Senate Ex. Doc, No. iJ8, p. 154.

    628 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    In. carrying out the new arrangement, each consul nominated

    one man to the intendant, viz., T. F. Wade for the British, L.

    Carr for the American, and Arthur Smith for the French

    member of the board of inspectoi-s, who togetlier were to talce

    charo-c of the new department. The chief responsibility for its

    oro-anization fell on Mi-. Wade, inasmuch as he alone of this

    number was familiar with the Chinese language, and possessed

    other qualifications fitting him for the post. He, however, resigned

    within a year, and the intendant appointed II. X. Lay,

    a clerk in the British consulate, who completed the service organization.

    This proceeding shows the readiness with which

    the Chinese will shirk their own duties and functions in government

    employ, and illustrates as well many peculiar traits in

    their character.

    The city of Shanghai had been in possession of a Cantonese

    chief, Liu Tsz’-tsai, and his rabble since September T, 1853, and

    the position of foreigners at that port in the presence of such a

    body of outlaws developed new points of international law. If

    the foreignei’s had all been of one nationalitv the consul would

    probably have assumed temporary control of the city and j^ort

    to assui’e their safety ; but in this case a naval force under each

    flag lying in the river guaranteed ample protection of life and

    property. As soon as the city was occupied the difficulty of

    restraining the disorderly elements, as well among foreigners

    as nativ^es, became painfully apparent to their rulers. Foreign

    rowdies eagerly purchased the plunder brought to them and

    supplied arms and other things in return—a line of conduct

    very naturally irritating to the officials in charge of the siege

    and inclining them at once toward coercive measures.

    The fact that the French settlement adjoined the moat on

    the north side of the city made its authorities desirous to dislodge

    the brigands, which they essayed to do January 6, 1855,

    b}’ joining the imperialists in breaking the walls ; they were

    repulsed, however, with a loss of fifteen men killed and thii’tyseven

    wounded, out of a rank and file numbering two hundred

    and fifty. Another joint attack, undertaken a month later, was

    likewise unsuccessful, though the attempt seems to have frightened

    the force within the walls, since on the night of February

    WORK or THE REBELS AT SirANGIIAI AND AMOY. 629

    JOtli tliej retired, leaving the })lace in ruins. A like cordiality

    was nevertheless not always maintained between native and foreign

    soldiers, for in the previous year (April 4, 1854) occurred a

    collision with the imperialists, in consequence of their near approach

    to the foreign quarter, in which over three hundred Chinese

    soldiers were killed by the foreigners who landed to resist

    them. This untoward rencontre did not, however, interrupt

    amicable relations with the intendant, and was followed by consular

    notifications that whoever entered the service of the combatants

    in or out of the city would forfeit all protection.

    These notices were nevertheless soon disrefrarded as the struggle

    went on, for the temptation to enjoy a lawless life was too

    strong for hundreds of sailors then found in that port. It was

    an anomalous state of affairs, and the exigency led to some acts

    of violence by consuls in control of men-of-war.

    The city of Anioy had been captured by insurgents on May

    IS, 1852, but no contravention occurred ; the number of foreigners

    residing at this port was small, while the opposite island

    of Kulang su afforded a refuge beyond the range of missiles.

    The city was regained by the imperialists before a jear had

    passed. The districts north of Canton, whence Hung Siu-tsuen

    and many of his adherents originated, began the same year to

    send forth their bands of robbers to pillage the province. These

    gangs had really no affinity with the Tai-pings, either in doctrine

    or plans, and none of them succeeded in gaining even a

    temporary success. When the booty was expended they usually

    quarrelled, and the impei-ialists destroyed them in detail. Every

    part of the province was at one time or another the scene of

    savage conflict between tliese contestants, and it was soon shown

    that no regenerating principle was involved on either side. The

    confidence of the educated and wealthy classes in the just cause

    and final success of their rulers was shown in raising men and

    money for the public service and organizing bodies of local

    police ; but the want of a sagacious leader to plan and execute,

    so that all this mateiial and action should not be frittered away,

    was painfully apparent.

    In the capture of banking by Tai-pings, the restless leaders

    of sedition in Kwangtung saw their opportunity, and gathered

    630 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    their bands of freebooters in tlic southern prefectures. In June,

    185-i, the district town of Tungkvvan neur the JJogue was taken,

    the ricli manufacturing mart of Fuhshan (or Fat-slian) near

    Canton fell a month later, followed by that of Shuntch, Sanf-

    hui, and other lesser places, throwing the southern part of the

    province into a state of anarchy. The theory of the Chinese

    govermnent, that if the capital is preserved the whole province

    is loyal, and its officers can use its revenue, enabled Governor-

    General Yell to concert measures to repress these disorders.

    The City of Hams was environed during August by large bttdies

    of insurgents, whose wants were supplied from Fuhshan. In

    this crisis about one thousand five hundred houses abutting

    outside the city walls Mere destroyed, and the ward police

    strengthened for the better protection of their neighborlioods

    against incendiaries. In all these proceedings the foreigners

    at Canton were ne\er consulted or referred to by the ofiicials,

    l)ut their merchant steamers kept the Pearl River open to the

    sea, while their men-of-war lying off the factories proved a

    safeguard to the crowded city. The rebels had occupied a post

    near Whampoa, and their gunboats prowled through every

    creek in the delta, burning, destroying, capturing, and murdering

    without resti-aint. They would be followed by a band of

    imperialists, whose excesses were sometimes even more dreadful

    than those of their enemies. So terrible was the plight of

    the ^\•retched countrymen that the headmen of ninety-six villages

    near Fuhshan formed a league and armed their people

    to keep soldiers from either side from entering their precincts.

    In September, at a general meeting of the gentry of Canton,

    a pi-oposal to save the city by asking foreign aid was approved

    by Yell, but liappily the project failed of fulfilment and only

    resulted in showing them how nmch better was a reliance upon

    their own resources. The news of this discussion led Chin Uienliang,

    the rebel leader near Whampoa,. to circulate proposals

    aniong the foreigners asking them to help him in capturing the

    city and promising as rewai’d a portion of the island of Ilonan.

    The condition of the peo])le at this time was sad and desperate

    indeed, and their only remedy was to arm in self-defence, in

    doing which they found out how small a ]>ro})ortion of the inTHE

    INSUKRECTION IN KWANGTUNG. 631

    habitants was disloyal. Ko quarter was given on either side.

    and the carnage was appalling Avhenever victory remained with

    the imperialists. During this year the emigration to California

    and Australia became larger than ever before, while the coolie

    trade waxed flonrishing, owing to the multitudes thi’own out of

    employment who wci-e eager in accepting the offers of the

    brokers to depart from the country and escape the evils they

    saw everj’where about them. The terrors of famine, fighting,

    and plundering paralyzed all industry and trade, and enal)led

    one to better understand similar scenes described by ancient historians

    as occurring in Western Asia.

    The exhaustion and desperation consequent on these events

    had almost demoralized society in and around Canton, which

    was overcrowded M’ith refugees, raising food to famine prices.

    It was creditable to these poor and sickly people that their influx

    produced no other fear than that of a higher rate of living—

    none of pestilence or plunder, even in the extremity of

    their sufferings. In Fuhshan, fifteen miles away, no one was

    safe. The rebels had depleted its resources, killed its gentry,

    and oppressed the townsfolk until a quarrel broke out in their

    camp, and they departed about the season of Christmas, leaving

    the whole a smoking ruin. One of the insurgent practices consisted

    in driving great numbers of people into squares and there

    shooting them down by cannon placed in the approaching streets,

    while the houses around them were burning. The flames could

    be seen for two or three days from Canton, and it was estimated

    that during this conflict fully two hundred thousand human

    beings perished. The town was the manufacturing centre for the

    foreign trade, where silks, satins, shawls, paper, fire-crackers,

    pottery, and other staples were made, and their workmen resided.

    After this dreadful act the insui-gents grew more and more desperate,

    feeling that they could not hold out much longer for

    want of booty and supplies to keep their men together. By

    March the force of fifteen thousand men inside the city was

    ready, and on the 6th it went quietly down to attack the fort

    below Whampoa. The onset and resistance were most determined

    ; before the position succumbed, some twenty-five thou-,

    sand men must have perished by battle or flood ; the rebel

    632 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    leader escaped toward lliangslmu. The insurrection was, however,

    scotched, and its victoi-s celebrated their triumph three

    days later in the city to a grateful and applauding concourse.

    When the city of Shanking, west of Canton, was retaken in

    May, its victors boasted that thirty thousand rebels were drowned

    or beheaded.

    Notwithstanding these reverses the insurgents did not yet disappear,

    but maintained themselves along the watercourses in

    lai’ge flotillas during many months. The Portuguese and British

    also fitted out expeditions to pursue the pirates, as the same men

    were now called, desti’oying them and their haunts at Kulan

    Lantao, and elsewhere. In rooting out these land and sea

    brigands, the merciless character of the people was made manifest

    ; every one convicted of rebellion was straightway executed

    by the authorities. At Canton, where prisoners were received

    from all such districts, the executions were on a terribly huge

    scale, as many as seven or eight hundred persons being beheaded

    in a single day. A count taken at the city gate whence they

    all issued on their way to the field of blood near the river, revealed

    the fact that fully eighty thousand were thus executed

    in the year 1855. This did not include thousands who connnitted

    suicide in places provided for them near their homes, from

    which their relatives could take their bodies to the family tomb.

    As might be expected, other thousands left the province for the

    north, or escaped into distant lands as coolies and emigrants.

    I’ublic attention abroad was at this time so engrossed with

    the greater rebellion going on along the Yangtsz’ Tliver that the

    liorrors of that in Kwangtung were overlooked. There were

    many foreigners at Whampoa and Hongkong who sided with

    the leading brigands, reported their successes in the newspapers,

    and supplied them with munitions of war. The inefiiciency of

    a foreign consul to restrain his countrymen thus flagrantly violating

    all their treaty obligations toward China, showed most

    conclusively how easy it is for the stronger party in such cases

    to demand their rights, and shirk their duties if it suits their

    convenience.

    During the year 1856 affaii’S between the Chinese government

    and foreign powers became more and more hampered, while

    flELATIUNS BETWEEN ENGLAND AND CHINA. 633

    all attempts to ai’rangc difficulties as tliey arose wore defeated

    by the obstinate refusal of Yeh Ming-chin, the governor-general

    at Canton, to meet any foreign minister. He intrenched himself

    behind the city gates, and would do nothing. Sir John

    iiowring, the British plenipotentiary and governor of Jlongkong,

    had most reason to be dissatisfied with this conduct, inasmuch

    as there were many questions which could have been easily

    ari’anged in a personal interview. It was ascertained from some

    documents ‘ afterward found in Yeh’s office that this seclusion was

    a })art of the system devised at Peking to maintain a complete

    isolation and keep the dreaded foreigners at a distance. Ko

    coui’se could be more likely to bring upon tlie government the

    evils it feared, and at the same time show more conclusively the

    ignorant and inapt cliaracter of those who carried it on. This

    state of things could not long continue when such powerful

    agencies were at work along the coast to disorganize legal trade

    and thwart the utmost efforts of all officials to resti-ain the

    reckless conduct of their subjects. The ten years now elapsed

    since the opening of the five ports had involved the Chinese in

    more complications, miseries, and disasters than had been known

    since the Mancliu conquest ; nevertheless, neither rebellion nor

    foreign comjdications seem to have impi’essed their lessons upon

    the proud bureaucracy in Peking, which was as unwilling to

    remedy as unable to appreciate the real nature of the difficulties

    that beset the country.

    In the struggle between nations, as between individuals, the

    agony and weakness of one side becomes the opportunity of the

    other ; and these conditions were now open to the British, who

    speedily found their excuse for further demands. In order to

    develop the trade of the free port of Hongkong, its laws encouraged

    all classes of shipping to resort thither, by removing

    all charges on vessels and granting licenses, with but few and

    unimportant restrictions, to Chinese craft to cany on trade

    inider the British flag. This freedom had developed an enormous

    snuiggling trade, especially in opium, which the Chinese

    revenue service was unable to restrain or unwilling to legalize.

    ^ Blue Book, 1857.

    634 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    These boats cruised wlierever they might tiiid a trade to invite

    or reward them, wholly indifferent to their own government,

    which could exercise no adequate control over them, and kept

    from the last excesses only on account of the risk of losing

    their cargoes. To the evils of smuggling were added the worse

    acts and dangers of kidnapping natives to supply baracoons at

    Macao. The Poi’tuguese had many of these lorchas to carry on

    their commerce, and gradually a set of desperate men had so

    far engrossed them in acts of daring and pillage that honest

    native trade about any part of the coast south of Shanghai

    became almost impossible except undei” their con vo3\ The two

    free ports of Macao and Hongkong naturally became their resorts,

    where they all took on the aspect of legitimate traders,

    which, indeed, most of them were—save under great temptations.

    It was not surprising that Chinese rulers should confound

    these two classes of vessels, nor, from the traders’ side, was it a

    wonder that their crews should use the flag which gave them

    the greatest protection when beyond foreign inspection and

    jurisdiction. Few nations have ever been subjected to such

    continuous and prolonged irritation in respect to its connnercial

    regulations as was the Canton government from those two

    alien communities during the ten years ending with 1850 ; few

    nations, on the other hand, have acted more unwisely in exertions

    toward peace and the removal of such difficulties than

    did the unspeakable Governor-General Yeh. That the inevitable

    collision between the Chinese and British was now at hand,

    follows almost as a matter of course, when to our knowledge

    of the commissioner’s character we add Mr. Justin McCarthy’s

    very appropriate estimate of the two Englishmen in whose

    hands well-nigh all British affairs in China were vested : ” Mr.

    Consul Parkes,” says he, ” was fussy. Sir John Bowring was

    a man of considerable ability, but . . . full of self-conceit,

    and without any very clear idea of political principles on the

    large scale.”

    Early in the morning of October 8th, two boat-loads of

    ‘ A Uintonj uf Our Own Times, Chap. XXX.

    THE CASE OF THE LOltCllA AKUOW. 635

    Chinese sailors, Avith their ofiicers, put off from a large war-junk,

    boarded the lorcha Arrow lying’ at anchor in the river before

    Canton, pinioned and carried away twelve of the fourteen natives

    who composed her crew, and added to this unexpected

    ” act of violence,” as Mr. Tarkes stated it, ” the significant insult

    of hauling down the Iji’itish ensign.” One Kennedy, a

    young Irishman who is described as a very respectable man of

    his class, was master of the lorcha, but chanced at the time to

    be on another boat lying in the innnediate neighborhood of his

    own, and could in consequence offer no resistance. It is probable,

    judging from testimony given at the British consulate, that

    the hauling down of the flag was a mere bit of wantonness on

    the part of the junk’s oflicer upon his finding that no foreigner

    was (ni board, and the offence might readily have been followed

    by an apology had the command of negotiations been in any

    other hands than those of Yeh. The Arrow was owned by a

    Chinese, Fong A-ming, her nominal master being engaged by

    Mr. Block, the Danish consul at Hongkong; his vessel was not,

    however, entitled to protection, inasmuch as her British register

    had expired by its own limitation eleven days before the

    episode in Canton lliver, and the lorcha was already forfeited

    to the crown.’ Her papers were then at the consulate, and it

    was contended by Mr. Parkes that under Clause X. of the

    ordinance she retained a right to protection ; a mere quibble,

    since the cause refers to the vessel when upon a voyage, and the

    Arrow had confessedly remained about the ports of Macao and

    Canton during a month.

    Consul Parkes, aftei’ ascertaining the facts connected with

    this high-handed outrage, pushed off to the war-junk—which

    remained the while quietly at anchor—to claim the captured

    sailors and ” explain to the officers, if it were possible that they

    had acted in error, the gi’oss insult and violation of national

    ‘ Sir John Bowring indeed conceded that ” the Arrow had no right to hoist

    the British flag,” but alleged that the Chinese had no knowledge of the expiry

    of the license, and that this ignorance deprived them of the legal value of

    the truth. He quoted, moreover. Article IX. of the Supplementary Treaty,

    requiring tliat ‘• all Chinese malfaisants in British ships shall be claimed

    throui’h the British authorities.”

    636 I’HE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    rights which tlicy had coininitted.” ‘ Tliis was in vain. ^Viiiuiig

    the men was a notorious pirate, he was told, and tlieir orders

    wei’e tliat the suspected crew should be sent to the governor

    for examination. Veh stoutly upheld the act of his subordinate,

    and affii’med that the lorcha had no right to fly the British

    flag, disclaiming, however, any intention of molesting lawful

    traders under the emblem. Katui-ally enough, he would

    not yield the right of jurisdiction over his own subjects, and in

    doing this was asserting precisely what Great Britain and every

    other nation on the globe knew to be the first privilege of an independent

    government. The case was not unlike that much-discussed

    affair of the American Commodore AVilkes, who boarded

    the Trent in 1863 and captured Mason and Slidell—performing

    a right-enough action, but in a wrong and hasty fashion.

    In his reply to Mr. Parkes, Yeh declares that he has held an

    examination of the sailors and finds that three of them M’ere

    implicated in a piracy of the preceding month on St. John’s

    Island, that the officei’s had good reasons for seizing these men,

    that the remaining nine shall ])e sent back to their vessel ; which

    he straightway does, but they are as promptly returned l)y the

    consul because the entire crew is not given up. Sir John Bowring

    now demands, through his representative at Canton (1), ” an

    apology for what has taken place, and an assurance that the

    British flag shall in future be respected ; ” (2) ” that all proceedings

    against Chinese offenders on board British vessels

    must take place according to the conditions of the treaty ; ” “

    in case of refusal the consul is to concert with the naval autliorities

    the measures necessary for enforcing redress. This

    threat extracted from the governor-general a promise that

    ” hereafter Chinese officers will on no account, without i-eason,

    seize and take into custody the people belonging to foreign

    lorchas;” adding very properly, “but when Chinese subjects

    build for themselves vessels, foreigners should not sell registers

    to them, for if this be done, it will occasion confusion between

    native and foreign ships, and render it difficult to distinguish

    ^ Blue Book: Papers relatinri to tlie Proceedings of her Majesty^s Naval Forces

    at Canton, p. 1.

    ‘Blue Book, Ibid., p. 13.

    OPENING or HOSTILITIES. 637

    between them.” ‘ Twelve days afterwuiU (Octoljer 22d) the

    entire crew were returned, but once more refused by Mr.

    Parkes, ostensibly because the apology was not sent with them

    —and this the connnissioner coukl not offer either in justice to

    his government or to the cause of truth.

    Ensconced behind, the walls of Canton city, Yeh resolved to

    stand firm on his rights as he understood them, even should the

    doing so involve the lives and property of thousands of his

    countrymen. To all foreigners in Chiua this affair was intinuitely

    connected with most important possibilities and consequences:

    the inviolability of national flags, protection to

    every one whom they covered, personal intercourse with Chinese

    officers, maintenance of treaty rights. In upholding these

    the British drew to their side the good wishes of all intelligent

    observers for their success in arms, however unhappy their excuse

    for a resort to such means might be. One more word

    from Mr. McCarthy before leaving the initial episode of this

    war. ” The truth is,” he sums up, ” that there has seldom been

    so flagrant and so inexcusable an example of high-handed lawlessness

    in the dealings of a strong with a weak nation,” ^ but

    like many another conflict where strength and justice have been

    ranged on opposite sides, the latter was speedily pushed to the

    wall. The incident of the Arrow” appeared a trifling one ; nevertheless

    on so slight a hinge turned the future welfare and

    progress of the Chinese people in their intercourse with other

    nations, a hinge which, opening outward, unclosed the door for

    all parties to learn the truth respecting the countries of each,

    and, in the end, agree upon the only grounds on which a beneficial

    and intelligent intercourse could be maintained.

    It is hardly necessary to recount in detail the steps by which

    Governor Bowring and Admiral Seymour vainly attempted to

    bring Yeh to their terms. ” Acknowledge that you are in the

    wrong,” was their ultimatum, ” by merely sending the three

    ‘Ibid.., p. 15.

    ‘^ Ifixtory of Our (hen Times, Vol. III., Chap. XXX. Lord Elgin in his journal

    refers frankly enough to ” that wretched question of the Arrow, which is

    a scandal to us, and is so considered, I have reason to know, hy all except the

    few who are personally compromised.”

    Letters and Journcds of Lord EJlgin,

    edited by T. Walrond, p. 209.

    638 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    bUspects to the consulate, and ask that tliey be returned on

    cliarge of piracy.” The long-continued national policy of exclusion

    could not, however, be so easily ovei’thrown ; its reduction

    must be by force. The seizure of a military junk was the

    lirst act of the British, then the capture of the liarrier forts,

    followed by that of all others on the south of Canton, and lastly

    breaching the city wall opposite Yeh’s yamun. This was entered

    by Adnural Seymour with a snudl party of marines.

    Sir John Bowring had already nuide the demand that the city

    gates should be opened to them in accordance with the agreement

    entered into ten years before between Governor Davis

    and Kiying, and expresses his gratification to the consul that now

    one great object of hostile action had been satisfactorily accomplished—

    an object whicli Mi’. Parkes declares was clearly based

    on treaty rights. However, they did not see Yeh, who resorted

    to all manner of petty annoyances, the evils of which mostly fell

    on his own people, without in the least advancing his cause.

    On Xovember 15th, to the complications with the English

    was added a quarrel with the Americans, whose boats had

    been twice fired into and one man killed by the Chinese officers

    in command of the Barrier forts. Commodore J. Armstrong

    had under his connnand the San Jacinto, Poi-tsmouth, and Levant,

    then lying at Whampoa. He ordered the two latter to go

    as near to these forts as possible, and directed Captain A. H.

    Foote of the Portsmouth to destroy them all. Foote accordingly

    organized a large force and attacked them on the 16th,

    20th, and 21st, till they were reduced and occupied. The resistance

    of the Chinese on this occasion was unusually brave

    and ])rolonged, the admirable position of the forts enabling

    each of them to lend assistance to the others. On the part of

    the Americans, seven were killed and twenty-two wounded ;

    perhaps three hundred Cliinese were put hors de comhat ; the

    guns in the forts (one hundred and seventy-six in all) were destroyed,

    and the sea-walls demolished with powder found in

    the magazines.’ This skirmish is the only passage of arms ever

    ‘ One brass gun of eight-inch calibre was twenty-two feet five inches long ;

    the entire armament of these forts was superior in equipment to anything

    before seen in China.

    COLLISION WITH THE AMKltlCANS. 639

    engaged in by American and Chinese forces— one whieli ^cli

    seemed to ix-gard as of slight moment, and for wliich he cared

    neither to apologize nor sympathize, llis unexampled indifference

    in referring to the affair less than two days after the

    demolishment of his forts ‘ was met by an equal frankness on

    the part of Dr. Parker, who at once resumed correspondence

    •witli the commissioner, and, content with the practical lesson

    just administered, said no more about ” apologies and guarantees.”‘

    This episode is interesting chiefly as an example of the

    American course regarding an insult to the national flag, as contrasted

    with the English dealing with an injury not very different

    either in nature or degree.

    Relations between Great Britain and China continued in this

    constrained position until the opening of another year, the conflict

    now being almost wholly restiicted to unimportant collisions

    with village braves on land and voluminous discussions

    with the governor-general on paper. In Xovember the French

    minister withdrew his legation from Canton, there being by

    that time neither French citizens nor interests to watch over.

    Principal among the events during this interval was the burning

    of the foreign factories by order of Yeh, Decend^er 14th.

    They were fired in the night and were entirely consumed with

    all their contents, as well, too, as the contiguous poi’tion of the

    suburbs. The offer of thirty taels head-money for every Englishman

    killed or captured resulted in a few endeavors on the part

    of natives, whereby they kidnapped or slew two or three seamen

    when separated from their ships. These attempts at

    guerilla warfare were so promptly met and rewarded on the

    part of the English, by wholesale punishment of offending

    villages, as to cause little annoyance after the lesson of certain

    retribution had been taken to heart by the Chinese. More important

    than all these was a dastardly attempt, on January 11,

    ‘ ” There is no matter of strife between our respective nations. Henceforth

    let the fashion of the flag which American ships employ be ck^arly defined,

    and inform me what it is beforehand. This will be the verification of the

    friendly relations which exist between the two countries.”—Hoppin, Life of

    Admiral Foote, pp. 110-140. CorrcKpondenrc of McLdue and Parker, Senate

    Document No. 2^, December 20, 1858, pp. lOlo’ff. lUue Book, p. 137.

    640 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    1857, to poison the foreigners at Hongkong, by putting arsenic

    in the bread supplied from a Chinese baker. This, it was afterward

    asce]”tained, was at the instigation of certain officials on

    the mainland, but fortunately even here their villany was

    foiled, owing to the overdose Contained in the dough. It

    ought to be stated, in passing, that such acts are not common

    in China, and, in this case, that the baker’s employers were proven

    entirely innocent.

    Duriner much of this time Canton had been reminded of the

    presence of the British force by intermittent bombarding of the

    city from guns in Dutch Folly Fort. Sir John Bowring had

    demanded an interview wdth Yeh in Xovember, but received a

    prompt refusal, followed by a still more vigorous carrying on of

    the war in his peculiar fashion, and by raising the price on

    English heads. Admiral Seymour had now less reason for remaining

    within the Bogue, as all trade was at an end. Hundreds

    of foreigners had already been thrown out of employment,

    their property destroyed, their plans broken np, and in a

    few instances their lives lost in consequence of tliis quarrel.

    After holding an intrenched position around the church and

    ])arracks of the factories for the s])ace of a month, the uselessness

    of this effort when sustained by so paltry a force seems tf

    have moved the admiral (January 14, 1S5T) to retire from

    Canton, falling back npon Macao Fort nntil reinforcements

    should arrive from India. Before leaving the site of the factories,

    however, he burned down the warehouses of those native

    merchants in the vicinity, their inmates having previously

    beeu warned to leave them. These buildings and their contents

    were private pi’operty, and the intrenched position in the factory

    garden was not endangered by their reniaining. The

    leaders of the British operations had hitherto professed to spare

    private property ; and even if the performance was meant as a

    })arting menace to the governor-general—” to show him,” as

    ]Mr. Parkes remarked, ” that we can burn too “—it Avas one of

    the few acts, on their side, which has left a stigma npon the

    English name in China. The hostile proceedings of the Chinese

    authorities had been both petty and nseless, but as Admiral

    Seymour’s force was inadequate to take and hold Canton,

    PUBLIC SENTIMENT IN ENGLAND. 641

    a more serious cannonading of the imperial quarters might have

    been a more honorable method of taking retribution for outrages,

    and better calculated than this cuunter-incendiarism to increase

    respect for British arms and civilization.

    The news of these operations in China excited great interest

    and speculation in Europe, inasmuch as all its nations were more

    or less interested in the China trade. Parliament was the scene

    of animated argument as to the policy of Sir John Bowring and

    his colleagues ; the moral, commercial, and political features of

    British intercourse with China were discussed most thoroughly

    in all their bearings, the arguments of both parties in the debate

    being drawn from the same despatches. One remarkable

    series of papers was presented to the House of Lords in February,

    1857, entitled Coi’vespoiulence resjpecting Insults in China,

    “containing the particulars of twenty-eight outrages committed

    by the Chinese upon British and other foreigners between the

    years 1812 and 1856.” This publication M’as intended apparently

    to show how impracticable the Chinese authorities were

    in all their intercourse with foreigners, and its contents became

    to members of the House so many arguments for placing this

    intereourse on a better basis at the imperial court. To those

    who had watched since 1812 the results of treaty stipulations

    upon the people of China and their rulers, it was plain that no

    satisfactory political intercourse could be hoped for so long as

    the governor-general at Canton had the power of concealing

    and misrepresenting to his government everything that happened

    between foreign representatives and himself. Xevertheless

    such a series of papers was but one side of the insults

    endured. As long as the British government upheld the

    opium trade, and did nothing to restrain smuggling and the

    awful atrocities of the coolie traffic at MaccO, which were tilling

    the ears of all the world with their sho ‘king tales, these

    few ” outrages •’ seem very petty if put forward as a defence

    of Lord Palmerston’s going to war on account of the lorcha

    Arrow.

    In the vote upon the question of employing force in China,

    the better sense of Parliament protested against the policy

    which had directed recent events ; but the Premier knew his

    642 THE MIDDLE KIXGDOM.

    fouiitiynien, and in forty days from the dissolution (March

    21st) England returned him a House of Commons strongly

    in his favor. He now decided to complete what had been

    wanting in the treaty of Nanking, and obtain a residence for

    a l>ritish n)inister at Peking. The governments of France,

    liussia, and the United States wei’e invited to co-operate with

    England so far as they deemed proper, and their united interests

    were those of Christendom, Xo well-wisher to China

    could j)atiently look forward to a continuation of the past tantalizing

    senjblance of official intercourse at Canton, and the

    Aaried experience of twelve years at other ports proved that the

    Chinese people did not sympathize in this policy. The French

    Emperor had a special grievance against II. I. M. Ilienfung, on

    account of the judicial murder of Pere Chapdelaine, a missionary

    in Kwangsi province, who had been tortured and beheaded

    at Si-lin hien on February 20, 1856, by order of the

    district magistrate. This outrage was in direct violation of

    the rescript of ISII, and some atonement and apology were

    justly demanded. How totally unconscious of all these discussions

    and plans were Hienfung and his counsellors at Peking,

    may be guessed from their blind fright during subsequent

    events, Mdiile their inability to devise a course of action corresponded

    to their childish ignorance of their position and

    duties.

    A j^owerful though nnspoken reflection among these rulers

    }iiust not here be overlooked as a secret motive in deciding

    many of their short-sighted counsels. Pemembering the way

    in Avhich their ancestors had captured the Empire over two centuries

    before, they felt that great risk was run in admitting the

    barbarians to the capital now, since the same game would probably

    be ])layed over again. The visits of foreign ministers to

    the insurgents at Xanking, and their readiness at Canton to

    quarrel about so trifling a point as pulling down a flag and carrying

    off a few natives under its protection, all indicated, in

    their opinion, nothing shoi’t of conquest and spoliation. With

    such tremendous ])ower ari-ayed against so weak an adversary,

    they knew well enough what would ensue. Their miserable

    policy of isolation liad left them more helpless in their ignoBOMBARDMENT

    AND CAPTURE OF CANTON. 643

    ranee than diminislied in their resources, and thoy had to })ay

    dearly for their instruction.

    Tlie appointments of Lord Elgin and Baron Gros as plenipotentiaries

    for Great Britain and France were most foi’tunate

    as a selection of eminent diplomatists and clear-headed men.

    The two ambassadors entered into most cordial relations as

    soon as the land and sea forces placed at their disposal arrived

    on the Chinese coast. Lord Elgin reached Hongkong in July,

    but learning the state of affairs in that region, and that no advances

    had been made from Peking to settle the dispute, concluded

    to take the Shannon to Calcutta, to the assistance of Lord

    Canning against the mutineers ; from this place he proposed

    to proceed in the cold weather, when the force detailed for China

    would all be ready. Returning to Hongkong by September

    20th, he was obliged to tarry yet another mouth before the last

    of his reinforcements, or those of the French, had joined him.

    By the end of November the American minister, W. B. Reed,

    in the fi-igate Minr.esota, and the Russian admiral, Count

    Poutiatine, in the gunboat Amerika, had likewise come.

    Early in December, after a refusal on the part of Yeh of their

    ultimatum, the allied forces advanced up the Canton River. An

    extract from one of Lord Elgin’s private letters illustrates admirably

    the spirit in which he entered upon the work he had been

    chosen to do. ” December 22d.—On the afternoon of the 20th

    I got into a gunboat with Commodore Elliot, and went a short

    way up toward the Barrier forts, w^iicli were last winter destroyed

    by the Americans. When we reached this point, all

    was so quiet that we determined to go on, and we actually

    steamed past the city of Canton, along the whole front, within

    pistol-shot of the town. A line of English men-of-war are now

    anchored there in front of the town. I never felt so ashamed

    of mj’self in my life, and Elliot remarked that the trip seemed

    to have made me sad. There we were, accumulating the means

    of destruction under the very eyes and \vithin the reach of a

    population of about one million people, against whom these

    means of destruction were to be employed !

    ‘ Yes,’ I said to

    Elliot, ‘ I am sad, because, when I look at that town, I feel that

    I am earning for myself a place in the Litany, immediately

    644 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    after “plague, pestilence, and famine.”‘ I believe, however,

    that, as far as 1 am concerned, it Mas impossible for me to do

    otherwise than as I have done. . . . AVhen we steamed up

    to Canton and saw the rich alluvial banks covered with the luxurious

    evidences of nnrivalled industry and natural fertility

    combined—beyond them barren uplands sprinkled Avith a soil

    of reddish tint which gave them the appearance of heather

    slopes in the Highlands, and beyond these again the White

    Cloud mountain range standing out bold and blue in the clear

    sunshine—I thought bitterly of those who, for the most selfish

    objects, are trampling under foot this ancient civilization.”

    On the 2Ttli the British and French, about six thousand in

    all, landed on the east bank a short distance below the walls.

    During the whole of the following day a furious bombardment

    was opened upon the city from tlie ships, driving thousands of

    the frightened natives into the western sul)ur])S and destroying

    considerable portions of the town. By three o’clock of the 20th

    the city was in the hands of the foreigners—almost exactly the

    two hundred and seventh anniversary of its capture and entire

    reduction by the Manclnis (November, 1()50). The A’ictory was

    not a brilliant one, since scarcely any one could be found witli

    whom to fight ; tln-ee or four forts to l)e entei’ed, the wall scaled,

    a loss of one hundred and ten in killed and wounded to the victors,

    perhaps five times as numy to the vanquished—this was alL

    Immediately upon their entry within the hitherto forbidden

    city the chiefs were forced to turn their energy upon their own

    troops and prevent them fi-om bullying and looting the helpless

    Chinese.

    Governor-General Yeh was, after some little search, found

    and captured while attempting an escape from his yamun,° and

    within twenty-four hours the lieutenant-governor, Tartar general,

    and all others in high authority came into possession of the

    invaders. Yeh was carried forthwith on board II. B. M. S.

    Inflexible, a wise step which deprived him of further power of

    ‘ Letters and JoitrnaU, p. 212.

    ‘ Some very cnrions documents were found among his archives ilhistrating

    the character both of tlie man and his government. See Oliphant, Elr/i>i\>t Mis’

    mn to China, Vol. I., Chap. VIII. Reed’s Correspondence, 1858, pp. 443-488.

    TUE CITY OF CANTON AND ADJACENT ISLANDS.

    646 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    resistance and misrepresentation, and left the plenipotentiaries

    free to arrange some method of temporary government for the

    city. This was a difficult problem, ciiietiy owing to the lack of

    competent interpreters, but rendered mure so by the natural irritation

    of the conquered people at the losses they had sustained,

    the flight of the local officers, and the alarming extent of robbery

    by natives, somewhat countenanced by foreign soldiers.

    The skill and tact of Lord Elgin were never better shown than

    in the construction out of such incongruous materials of a mixed

    government whose subsequent easy working abundantly proved

    the master mind of the builder.’ The two Manchus, Governor

    Pihkwei and the connnandant of the garrison-—called also the

    Tartar general—were now brought forward to assist in saving

    tlieir capital from destruction and to form with the allies a joint

    tribunal. Pihkwei became legally (by Yeh’s capture) the governor-

    general of the Liang Kwang, and his functions in that

    capacity were not interfered with ; those of his colleague had

    always been restricted within the city walls. On January 9tli

    they were installed by Lord Elgin and Baron Gros with all possible

    ceremony as rulers of the city, under the surveillance of

    three foreigners. Colonel Ilolloway and Consul Harry Parkes

    for the British, and Captain Martineau for the French. This

    commission had its headquarters in the same extensive yanmn

    with Pihkwei, in whom happily were combined some estimable

    qualities for managing the difficult post he filled. The orderly

    habits of the literati and traders in and around Canton afforded

    a guaranty that no seditious proceedings would be countenanced

    against this joint authority if it gave them the security they had

    asked from the allies. A force of marines and the Fifty-ninth

    Regiment were quartered on Pagoda Hill, on the north side of

    the city, and ere long the commandant’s yaniun was cleared of

    its rubbish and put in order for the commission, leaving the

    other for Pihkwei. The allied chiefs deemed it wisest to attempt

    to govern as little in detail as possible, and their commissioners

    found enough to do in adjusting complaints brought by

    ‘ “You may imagine,” he writes, “what it Is to undertake to govern seme

    millions of people when we have in nil two or three people who understand

    the language ! I never had so difficult a matter to arrange.

    JOINT GOVERNMENT OF THE CITY. 647

    the Chinese against their own men. The Cantonese did not fail

    to contrast the considerate treatment they received irunx their

    foreign captors with the carnage and utter ruin which would

    have followed the occupation of the city by the Tai-pings or

    other insurgents, and during the whole period quietly submitted.

    The greater part of the responsible labor came upon Mr. Parkes,

    because of liis ability to talk Chinese, but before many mouths

    he had taught many natives how to assist in carrying out the

    necessary details. He showed much skill in circumventing the

    designs of the discontented officials at Fuhshan, giving Pihkwei

    all the native criminals to judge, restraining the thievery or

    cruelty of the foreign police, and sending out proclamations for

    the guidance and admonition of the people.’

    The kindness shown by Lord Elgin after the capture of Canton

    infused itself into the minds of those working with and

    under him, and the newly installed governor soon recovered his

    composure as he found himself in possession of his own dignities

    and power. The local and provincial officers under liim

    kept themselves at Fuhshan, now recovering from its destruction

    of three years before. By the end of January affairs were

    put in order, the blockade was taken off the port, foreign merchants

    returned and settled in the warehouses still unharmed

    on llonam, while the native dealers reopened their shops in the

    vicinity.^ Sixteen months had elapsed since the affair of the

    Arrow, and every one felt that a new day had begun to dawn

    on the relations of China with other lands.” Among the papers

    ‘ Blue Book: Lord Elginls Correspondence, July 15, 1859, Despatches Nos. 88,

    94, 108, and 128. Oliphant, ^^//w/’.v ^fimon to China, Vol. I., p. 170.

    ” Oddly enough, among the most earnest appeals for the restoration of commerce

    came one from Fihkwei himself, who wrote to Lord Elgin : “The

    eagerness with which merchants will devote themselves to gain, ii: the trade

    be now thrown well open, will increase manifold the good understanding between

    our nations, and the step will thus, at the same time, enhance your

    excellency’s reputation.”

    Bine Bonk, January 24, 1858.

    ^ The letters of G. W. Cooke, the Times’ correspondent (London, Routledge,

    1858), contain a fairly complete accoiint of the proceedings of the allies at

    Canton ; his conversations with Governor-General Yeh on the way to Calcutta

    are less valuable Compare an article in the Revue des Devr Monde;’. {V JTiillet.

    1859), by C. Lavallee, Un Historiograplie de la Presse anglaise dans la guerre d«

    Chiiui.

    648 THK MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    taken in Yeh’s yamuu were the ratilied copies of the treaties

    between Cliiua and Great Uritriu, France, and the United kStatt l^

    carefully preserved there, it was said, by directions from Peking,

    m order to serve for reference in case of dispute as to the text.

    It was, however, one of the indexes proving the desire of the

    Emperor to keep liiniself aloof from pergonal contact with

    foreigners.

    The allied chiefs, early in the month of February, proposed

    to their American and llussian coadjutors to join them in

    laying their demands before the Peking Court, and affording

    it one more opportunity to amicably settle the pending difficulties

    by sending an officer to Shanghai with full powers

    for that end. Both Russians and Americans were cordially in

    miison with the allies, and their several despatches addressed

    to Yii, the first member of the J^ul JC/i, or “Inner Council,’

    at Peking, were taken up to Shanghai and thence to Suchau,

    where Ho Ivwei-tsing received and forwarded them before the

    end of February. These four letters simultaneously sent to

    the secluded court at Peking contained nothing which could

    alarm its members ; but such was the ignorance of the highest

    officers there, that they knew not M’hat to do—ostrich-like,

    hiding their heads from the approaching danger, simply declining

    to answer any tmpleasant communication, hoping

    thereby to put far off the evil day. Their isolation would remain

    if left to themselves, and to have sent Kiying again to

    the south would only have cherished their stupid pride and

    worked their subjects ultimate injury. Their old-time policy

    of absolute non-intercourse lay like some great frigate sunk

    athwart the mouth of a river ; the obstacle once removed,

    nothing remained to prevent the vast and populous regions

    beyond the barrier from an active and profitable communion

    with the whole world. They could no longer be left in statu

    quo, and few can find fault with the plan proposed to solve their

    difficulties—a })lan which brought the four most powerful nations

    of Christendom in joint consent to set themselves on a

    fair and advantageous footing with the most ancient and populous

    nation of Asia. To those who admit the direct government

    of tiie Almighty lluler in ordering the policy of nations in accord

    ADVANCE OF THE ALLIES TOWARD PEKING. 640

    with His wise plans, this simultaneous approach to Peking will

    always be deemed as one of the waymarks f human progress.

    The letfc”; o presented to tlie Emperor ‘ form in their topics

    and toie a pleasant . >ntrast to the connnunications in past

    years. That of the ll’issian minister was peculiar in bringing

    forwaid the desH’ableness of llowing he profession of (Christianity

    to all natives desirous of embracing it ; but this point

    was made the subject of an address by the British missionaries

    at Xingpo and Shanghai to Lord Elgin, Avliose reply was a

    happy exposition of the dangers and difficulties connected with

    the toleration of Christianity by a government ignorant of its

    precepts. The imperial replies to these advances were, as

    everyone expected, in the strain of non 2)0ssumus. Lord Elgin

    returned his copy to Ho Kwei-tsing at Suchau, and enclosed

    therewith another despatch to Yii, in which he announced his

    intention to proceed to Taku, Mhere he would aw^ait the arrival

    of a commissioner qualified to treat upon the points in dispute.

    The force designed to accompany the allied chiefs was gathering

    at Sha glial, and by t.^.e miv, die vi April most of the ships

    and transports had anchored off the Pci ho, together with the

    American frigates Minnesota and Mississippi and the Russian

    gunboat Amerika, having the legations of those nations on

    board. Xothing could be more dreary than the aspect of the

    rendezvous at this season. The ships were obliged to anchor

    about eight miles from shore, which M’as level, and would have

    been invisible if it had not been for the forts at the entrance of

    the river. The dim, hazy horizon was lurid with the rays of

    the sun shiniiii; throu<:;h the dust that came in clouds from the

    plains of Mongolia and Chihli. Th^ turbid waters were often

    lashed into foam by the conflicting forces of tides and winds

    which acted on it from every quarter, and kept the gulf in a

    turmoil. Xo native boats ventured out to traffic, as would have

    been the case in the south, and the only signs of life were the

    gunboats and launches running in and out of the river, or the

    barges passing from ship to ship. Added to other discommodi-

    ‘ These are all given in the correspondence of IVlr. Reed, printed hy the

    Senate—Despatch No. 9, Ex. Dociuiteitt No. 30, March 13, IbGU, pp. 122-183.

    650 THE MIDDLE KIXGDOM.

    ties, were occasional blasts of hut air which swept over the

    water, charged with fine dust that settled on the decks and rigffin’^

    and insinuated itself into the dress and faces in an uncomfortable

    manner.

    As usual the Chinese had done nothing. The increasing

    number and size of the ships which were anchored off the Pei ho

    luid, however, been duly reported at Peking, and the llussian

    admiral had received a reply to his announcement of arrival.

    On April 23d communications were addressed by the four

    ministers to Yu-ching at Peking, and on the 20th replies came

    from Tan Ting-siang, governor-general of Chihli, informing

    them that he, with Tsunglun and Wu, had been deputed to

    ” receive their complaints and investigate and manage.”‘ The

    governor-general was not empowered to settle upon the terras

    of a treaty, but he desired to have a personal conference to

    learn what was demanded. Upon the day appointed the Russian

    and American ministers met Tan at the Taku forts (April

    30th) at separate hours, when they learned that he had not

    been invested with ” full powers,”‘ like those granted to Kiying

    and tlipu in 18-12, but had authority to discuss all matters preparatory

    to signing a ti-eaty. The truth was that they were

    (juitc ignorant of the important questions raised at Canton ; but

    while willing to discuss them, they were equally set on keeping

    the foreigners away from the capital. Here the allied chiefs

    and their two colleagues took issue. The former held out for

    commissioners to be sent with full powers ; but the latter deeming

    that the governor-general had adequate authority, accordingly

    presented him with the main points of their demands and

    afterward with the drafts of their treaties. The negotiations

    were delayed by the difficulties of the entrance, but they afforded

    a needed instruction to these conceited and ignorant

    men, who were thus enabled at their leisure to prepare for the

    struggle. Not only were the officers themselves brought face

    to face with their dreaded visitors, and made to perceive the

    folly of resisting the armaments at their connuand, but with

    the democratic habits usual in Chinese courts, the hundreds of

    attendants present at the conferences heard all that passed.

    Ere the non-belligerent powers had completed their negoCAPTURE

    OF THE TAKU FORTS. 651

    tiations, tlie allies turned over theirs into the liands of the

    two admirals, MM. Seymour and liigault de Genouilly. These

    advanced up the river on May 20th, forcing the slight boom

    across the stream, and capturing all the forts on both banks,

    with all their stores. Comparatively few Chinese were killed,

    and their defence of the forts was creditable to their courage

    and skill. All the troops fled or w^ere driven from their

    intrenched camps as far as Taku town, and the other defences,

    stockades, and fire-rafts having been destroyed, the

    gunboats proceeded to Tientsin. The losses by shot on the

    part of the Allies were unhappily doubled bj^ the explosion

    of a powder magazine in a fort as a party of Frenchmen entered.

    The news that the foreigners had forced the defences

    at the mouth of the Pel ho was soon spread thi-ough the towns

    along its banks, and myriads of unarmed people flocked to the

    shore to see the gun-boats, whose smoke and masts towering

    above the low land indicated their presence to the amazed inliabitants.

    A house having been prepared at Tientsin for the allied

    chiefs, Lord Elgin and Baron Gros reached the city at daylight

    on May 30th, followed by the other two ministers, all of them

    having come np during the night without mishap or oppo

    siti(m. The inhabitants of the city were highly excited at

    the presence of the vessels and those of whom they had lieard

    fiuch dreadful stories, but their curiosity and fear kept them

    quiet and civil, and they wei-e content with lining the shores in

    dense crowds, to gaze and talk. The general ignorance of each

    other’s lanOsuaOse did not prevent a constant intercourse with IT

    the citizens, all the more agreeable after the confinement on

    board ship. One old man was found managing a ferry-boat,

    who remembered Lord Amherst’s visit in 1816. After his inquiries

    as to the meaning of the flags on board the ships had

    been answered, he exclaimed, “How easily you and we could

    get along if you but understood our language “—to which the

    crowd around reechoed their hearty assent.

    Two higher commissioners now appeared on the scene of action,

    Kweiliang and llwashana, who superseded the discomfited

    Tan, Tsunglun, and Wu, and presented their cards as

    652 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    having been invested with full powers to treat. Negotiations

    were opened witli them, and thus, after months of delay, tlie

    plan which Yeli had so foolishly adhered to at Canton in October,

    to refuse all personal discussion, was accomplished at

    Tientsin under far more promising circumstances. The Chinese

    were obliged to accept almost any terms offered them, for

    negotiations carried on under such conditions were hardly those

    of free agents. The high commissioners were ignorant beyond

    conception of the gravity of their position and the results

    which were to flow from these treaties, whose provisions, linked

    into one compact by the favored nation clause, were, in fact, to

    form the future magna charta between almost the two halves

    of the human race. It was true that the Chinese commissioners

    were not altogether their own masters in making them, but

    owing to their perverse seclusion, they had foolishly shut themselves

    out from the opportunity of learning their rights. They

    had, of course, no desire to learn what they knew nothing

    about, and there was no alternative other than the display of

    force to break down the barriers which pride alone made

    strong. They had some grounds for fear, from their recent

    occupation of Canton, that the British wished for more territory

    than Hongkong ; and the frequent visits of the national vessels

    of Great Britain, the United States, and France to the insur-

    “•ents at Xankini;; indicated serious results in the future, for the

    latter owed all their religious fanaticism to foreign inspiration.

    To the persistent smuggling of opium along the whole coast

    shice the treaties negotiated by Kiying sixteen years before,

    and the many social and financial evils entailed thereby, were

    now added the atrocities of the coolie trade in Kwangtung province.

    Yet the reserve of the officials upon these and other

    topics on which they might be expected to have expressed their

    views or remonstrances, was only equalled by the politeness and

    freedom with which they met their enemies in consultation.

    Never again in the history of nations can functionaries to

    whom were confided the settlement of questions of so great

    moment, be brought together in such honest ignorance of the

    other’s intentions, fears, and wishes. It was high time for

    each of the five powers, now face to face, to have the way

    THE ALLIES AT TIENTSIN—APPEARANCE OF KIYING. t53

    opened for the removal of this ignorance and a better understanding

    substituted.

    Tlie despatches of Lord Elgin and Mr. Reed contain translations

    of many reports and memorials which were found in

    Yeh’s yamun at Canton, and give one a good idea of the sort

    of information furnished to the Emperor by his highest officers.

    It is a wrong view of these papers to regard their extraordinary

    misstatements as altogether designed to deceive the court and

    screen the ill-success of the writers, for they had had no more

    facilities to investigate the real condition of foreign lands and

    the policy of their rulers than had the poor boy Caspar Ilauser

    to learn about his neighbors.

    One untoward event occurred durino; the negotiations. Tliis

    was the sudden arrival of Kiying (June 8th) and his effort to

    force himself into the company of the plenipotentiaries. Since

    his departure from Canton in IS-iT he had filled the premiership

    before the death of the late Emperor Taukwang, after

    which he had been deprived of all power and most of his

    honors. He seemed to have tried to recover them by making

    large promises at court respecting his influence over the harhariatis

    / but when he reached Tientsin he was without credentials

    enabling him to participate, and acted as if his misfortunes

    had in a measure unsettled his reason. The British minister

    was suspicious of his designs, and sent his two secretaries,

    on the 9th, to learn what they could of or from him. These

    gentletnen plainly pointed out to the old man the difficulties in

    the way of settling the present troubles in any other manner

    than by acceding to the demands of Lord Elgin. Kiying had,

    however, put himself in a serious dilemma. Finding very soon

    that he was powerless to change the course of events and get the

    steamers away from Tientsin (as he no doubt had promised to

    do, and thus prove his influence), he returned to Peking on the

    12th, though he had announced the reception of his full powers

    only the day before. His colleagues were not sorry to have

    him depart, but nothing definite was learned of his fate until

    at the end of three weeks, when the Emperor’s rescript ordering

    him to connnit suicide was received. His case was deemed

    of sufficient importance to call for a summation of the principal features in order to prove the righteousness of Iiis sentence, and manifest the Emperor’s extreme desire to be at once just and gracious in his decree. Kiying’s case is rather an unusual one auiung Chinese officials, but the real reasons for his fall are probably not all stated; his prominence abroad, arising from his connection with the ]Sanking treaty, was no criterion of his influence at home or of the loss to the government by his death.’

    Soon after his departure the impertinence of a native crowd

    to a party of British officers while walking through the city,

    lent some strength to the belief that Kiying’s counsel had been

    warlike, and that a coup^ similar to the one made at Canton in

    1841 by Yihshan, had been suggested, and the destruction of

    all the foreigners in Tientsin was hoped for as its result. Their

    relations with the citizens thus far had been amicable on the

    whole, and the interruption in this desirable state of things was

    very brief. Negotiations continued, therefore, but with an

    undercurrent of doubt as to details on some important points

    among the foreign envoys. Lord Elgin had the greatest responsibility,

    indeed, and the task before him was difficult and delicate,

    but he failed in drawing to himself his colleagues and

    learning their views. They hardly knew w^iat to do, for none

    of them wished to thwart his desires for complete and honorable

    intercourse with the central government, though the

    manner of reaching this end might admit of discussion. This

    he never invited. The position of the American and Russian

    envoys, pledged to their instructions not to fight, and having

    the feeling that their nations were to obtain the atlvantages resulting

    from the hostilities of the allies, was not a pleasant one; but it could have been made so, and he himself relieved of his main anxiety as to the result, by an interview. In contrast

    ‘ Oliphant’s Mission of Lord Elgin to China and Japan, pp. 2B8-253 (American edition), N. Y., 1860. It is interesting to note, before leaving this episode,

    u Frenchman’s opinion of the character of this statesman: ” Kiying a

    ote de 1842 a. 1844 le grand nugociateur de la Chine. Les ministres ctrangers ont vautu son habilete, sa finesse, ses fa(^ons aimables et courtoises.

    Son nom sjmbolisait line politiqne nonvelle, bienveillante ponr les ctrangers, tolerante, liberale ; il representait nne sorto de ‘eune Chine.”—M. C. Lavalleo

    in the Eenie des Deux Mondrs, If) Dc’c. IHni), p. (502. The same article contains an interesting account of the first e.\])edilion up the Pei ho and its results.

    iSai ijilii -“eN -r- IMPE^RIS’-. CCN1MIS3I0NER .

    LORD Elgin’s perplexities. 65^

    with Lord Elgin’s general bearing toward those around him, as detailed in his correspondence, his biographer gives an extract from a private letter written the day after signing his treat^, which describes his perplexities:
    June 29th.—1 have not written for some days, but they have been busy ones. We went on lighting and bullying, and getting the poor commissioners to concede one point after another, till Friday the 2″)th, when we had reason to believe that all was settled, and that the signature was to take place the following day. On Friday afternoon, however, Baron Gros came to me with a message from the Russian and American ministers to induce me to recede from two of my demands—1, a resident minister at Feking, and, 2, permission to our people to trade in the interior of China ; because, as they said, the Chinese plenipotentiaries had told them that they had received a decree from the Emperor stating that they should infallibly lose their heads if they gave way on these points.

    The resident minister at Peking I consider far the most important matter gained by the treaty ; the power to trade in the interior hardly less so. I had at stake not only these important points in my treaty, for which I had fought so hard, but I know not what behind. For the Chinese are such fools that it was impossible to tell, if we gave way on one point, whether they would not raise difficulties on every other. I sent for the admiral; gave him a hint that there was a great opportunity for England ; that all the powers were deserting me on a point which they had aH, in their original applications to Peking, demanded, and which they all intended to claim if I got it ; that, therefore, we had it in our power to claim our place of priority in the East by obtaining this when others would not insist on it. Would he back me V This was the forenoon of Saturday, 2Gth, and the treaty was to be signed in the evening.

    I may mention, as a proof of the state of people’s minds, that Admiral Seynour told me that the French admiral had urged him to dine with him, assuring him that no treaty would be signed that day ! I sent Frederick to the imperial commissioners to tell them that I was indignant beyond all expression at their having attempted to communicate with me through third parties ; that I was ready to sign at once the treaty as it stood ; but that if they delayed or retreated, I should consider negotiations at an end, go to Peking and demand a great deal more, etc. Frederick executed this most difficult task admirably, and at six r.M. I signed the treaty of Tientsin. I am now anxiously awaiting some communication from Peking. Till the Emperor accepts the treaty I shall hardly feel safe. Please God he may ratify without delay ! I am sure that I express the wish just as much in the interest of China as in our own. Though I have been forced to act almost brutally, I am China’s friend in all this.’

    ‘ Walrond’s Life and Letters of Lord EUjin , p. 252.

    The importance of these two provisos was not exaggerated in his mind, but lie might have seen that the difficulties with his colleagues were increased by his own reticence.

    However much a different course might have liariuouized these discordant views, the pressure on the city of Tientsin was too near and severe upon the Chinese, and they yielded from fear of worse consequences when no other arguments coukl have induced them. It was not Lord Elgin alone who felt very sensibly, on that occasion, ” the painfulness of the position of a negotiator who has to treat with persons who yield nothing tu reason and everything to fear, and who are at the same time profoundly ignorant of the subjects under discussion and of their own real interests.” Looked at in any point of view, this period of negotiation at Tientsin in 1858 was a remarkable

    epoch. The sole great power of paganism was being bound by

    the obligations of a treaty extorted from its monarch by a

    handful of men in possession of the entrance to its capital. As

    one of the British officers pithily stated it, two powers had China

    by the throat, while the other two stood by to egg them on, so

    that all could share the spoil. Yet the past sixteen years had

    proven most conclusively that, unless this pressure was exerted,

    the imperial government would make no advance, admit no

    opening for learning its real position among the nations of the

    world, but mulishly cherish its ignorance, its isolation, its conceit,

    and its folly, until these causes had worked out the ruin so

    fondly hoped to be avoided. Even the necessity of coming

    into personal official relations with the foreign consuls to promote

    the maintenance of good order between their subjects had

    been hampered or neutralized by the Chinese authorities at all

    the ports ; and there was no hope of introducing a better state

    of things until foreign ministers were received at Peking. Happily, Lord Elgin then saw the question in all its bearings, and no one ever proved to be a truer friend to China than did he in forcing it upon her. He had little idea, probably, of one^’.iOtive for their resistance, namely, the fear of the ManZu rulers, already referred to, that in admitting the enemy to the capital they would be as summarily ejected as had been their predecessors in 1644.

    TIIK TREATIES SIGNED AND RATIFIED. 60?

    However, by the first week in July the four treaties had been signed and ratified by Hienfung, and all the vessels had left the Pei ho, which itself was no doubt the greatest proof to his Majesty that they were valid compacts ; for if the tables had been turned he would not have let them oif so easily, and perhaps wondered that Tientsin had not been ransomed at the same rate that Elliot had spared Canton in 1841. It is difficult to fully appreciate the crass ignorance and singular perversity of the men in whose hands the sway of the Chinese people were now lodc-ed. lie who is unwillinci: to acknowledge the overruling hand of God in this remarkable meeting of nations, would find it very difficult to acknowledge it anywhere in human history.

    The revision of the tariff had been deferred for a future discussion among those qualified for the work. Five Chinese commissioners reached Shanghai early in October for this and other purposes, of whom Kweiliang and Ilwashana were two. In this part of the negotiations the controlling power was properly left in the hands of the British, for their trade was worth more than all others combined. They used this power most selfishly, and fastened on the weak and distracted Empire a veritable remora, which has gone on sucking its resources without compunction or cessation. By making the tariff an integral part of the treaty, they theoretically made every infraction a casus Ijelli, and as no provision was left for revision, it was virtually rendered impossible, since the original four powers could not again be brought to unite on its readjustment with a view to the rights of China. While particular provision was made in it for preventing the importation of salt and the implements and munitions of war, the trade in opium was legalized at a lower rate than was paid on tea and silk entering England, and the brand of itmnorality and smuggling was removed from its diffusion throughout China. The weakness and isnoranee of the Chinese were such as laid them open to the power and craft of other nations, but the inherent wrong of the principle of ex-territorial ity was never more unjustly applied than in breaking down the moral sense of a people by forcing them to legalize this druc;. The evils of smug-o-lino: it were insufferable, but a heavy duty was desirable as a check and stigma upon the traffic. The solution to a statesman in Lord Elgin’s position was exceedingly difficult in relation to this point, and he perhaps took the safest course under the existing circumstances, but it has proved to be fraught with evils to the Chinese.

    One who now reads his biography and learns his nice sense of right and equity in national affairs, will not be surprised to see his doubts as to the best course to take where all were so many moves in the dark.

    The war which arose about the Arrow was now virtually closed, but many things remained to be enforced in can-ying out the treaty stipulations or restraining the irritation they produced. The vastness of the Empire sundered its inhabitants so widely that each felt the troubles it endured only when they came near; but to all of them the obligations of treaty were of the most shadowy nature. It would require years of patient instruction to educate the mass of natives up to the idea that these obligations affected them as individuals. One means of this instruction, which subsequent years have shown to be both practical and profitable, was the extension and reorganization of the administration of the customs under foreign supervision. Its short service at Shanghai had proved it to be easy and safe of operation, and the increased fidelity everywhere in collecting the duties gratified the central and provincial governments exceedingly.

    It was a startling proof of the degrading effects of the opium and smuggling trade upon the honor of the foreign merchants that they generally resisted the transfer of collecting duties from native to foreign hands, and endeavored in a thousand ways to thwart and ridicule the altered system. This feeling, however, disappeared with the incoming of a new set of merchants, and the Chinese government has, since the first, found no difficulty in utilizing the skill, knowledge, and power of their employes, not only in fiscal departments, but where ever they felt the need of such qualifications. Beginning at Shanghai, when the local officers were helpless against their own subjects, mandarins and people alike desired the advantages of an honestly collected tariff to be extended to every port opened for foreign trade.

    CLOSING INCIDENTS OF THE WAR, 659

    The changes formulated in the treaties of Tientsin could receive their accomplishment only after patient efforts on the part of ministers, consuls, and collectors to carry them into effect with due regard to the position of the native rulers. In order to open the way into the country, Lord Elgin visited Hankow in four ships in November, after he had signed the tariff. The rebels in possession of Naidving and other towns, being unapprised of his character, fired at him from some of their forts, for which “they were pounded pretty severely in return.” But a few words afterward proved more effectual than many shots, and no further altercation occurred. The voyage to and return from Hankow occupied seven weeks, and inaugurated a commerce and intercourse which has resulted in much good to the natives by making them rapidly acquainted with foreigners. The right of China to the exclusive navigation of her internal waters was summarily set aside by making Hankow a seaport; on the other hand, the government derived many advantages in the moral assistance given her at the time against the rebels by having them restrained, and, up to the present day, in the stimulus given to internal trade and rapid intercourse between the peoples of remote districts.

    The year 1858 was fraught with great events, involving the welfare of the people of China and Japan and their future position and progress. Much against their will they had been forced into political relations with Europe and America, and in a measure deprived of their independence under the guise of treaties which erected an {77vperiiim in iinpeiHO in their borders.

    Their rulers, ignorant of the real meaning of these principles of ex-territoriality, were tied down to observe them, and found themselves within a few years humbled before those of their own subjects who had begun to look to foreigners for protection.

    The perplexity of the Chinese commissioners at Shanghai in this new position was exhibited in a despatch addressed on November 1, 1858, to the three envoys. In it they discuss the right of foreigners who have no treaties to go into the interior, and insist upon the absolute necessity of restraining them, which their own mercantile consuls could not and would not do. ” Being unacquainted,” they wrote, ” with the usages of foreign nations in this respect, and unwilling of ourselves to lav down preventive regulations respecting issuing passports, \\g desire first to receive the result of your deliberations before we act ill the premises/’ They then proceed tu show how necessary it will be for the future peace between contiicting interests and nationalities that consuls should not be merchants, for” some of those of your respective nations have formerly and often acted in a manner calculated to impede and mar the harmony that existed between their nations and our own; wilfully disregarding everything but their own opinions, they have carried out their own high-handed measures to the ruin of all cordial feeling.”” The writers had no idea how this despatch was an argument and a proof of the need of strong measures to drag them out of their stupid ignorance and childish desires for isolation, and compel them to understand their duties.

    The education then begun was the only means through which to raise the Chinese rulers and people to a higher plane of civilization and liberty. One document like this carries in itself enouo;li to show how ignorant were its writers and their coleso leagues of their own duties, and how hopeless was the prospect of their emergiiiii; voluntarilv from their seclusion. The treaties bound them down to keep the peace, while they opened the channels through which the people could learn whatever was true and useful, without fear of punishment or reproach. The toleration of Christianity, the residence of foreign ministers at Peking, and the freedom to travel through the land were three avenues heretofore closed against the welfare and progress of China which the treaties opened, and through which she has already made more real advances than ever before in her history.’

    ‘ For full details on these important negotiations, see the Blue Book presented to Parliament July 15, IS”)!), containing Lord Elgin’s correspondence; f’. <?. Senate Krerutice Document No. 30, read March i;}, IHGO, containing correspondence of Messrs. Reed, Williams, and Ward, from June, 1857, to September 17, 1859; Oliphant’s Mmioii of Lord Elrjin to China and Japan, London and New York, ISfiO ; Lieutenant-Colonel Fisher, Pers<onal Narrative of Three Years’ Serrire in (lldna, London, 1S(>:}; le Marquis de Moges, liaron. Groups EndxtHny to China and Japan, 1800; Walrond’s Letterx and JoiirnaU of James, Earl of Elfjin, London, 1872; Lieut. J. D. Johnston, China and Japan, Philadelphia, 18C0 ; North American Reriew, Vol. XC, p. 125; BlackwoocPii Magazine. Vols. LXXXVL, p. G47, LXXXVIL, pp. 430, 535, audLXXXIX., p. 37a

    SENTIMENT OF CHINESE TOWARD THE ALLIES. 661

    By the end of December, 1858, the four envoys had left China, as well as most of the small force under their control. Koneof them had reached Peking, so that the Emperor was relieved of his fear that he would be carried off as was his commissioner, Yeh, from Canton; he had, moreover, another year of grace to learn what he ought to do to carry out the treaties. lie was also relieved by the refusal of the allies to join their quarrel with the efforts of the Tai-pings and march together to the conquest of the Empire. In Canton the presence of the allies had been an irritation chiefly to the provincial officers, who busied themselves in stimulating large bodies of braves in its vicinity to assassinate and rob individual foreigners near or in the city, keeping up in this manner a lasting feeling of discontent. Several skirmishes took place, and a large district within the city near the British quarters on Kwanyin Shan Avas burned over to insure protection against sudden attacks.

    The new governor-general, Hwang, had formed a league of the gentry and braves, which chiefly exhibited their power in harassing their own countrymen. He was removed in disgrace at Lord Elgin’s request, and all these puny and useless attacks brought to an end.

    An incident which occurred near Canton about fifteen months after the city had been captured, strikingly shows the character of the people: ” February 11th.—On the 8th a body of troops about one thousand strong started on an expedition which was to take three days. I accompanied, or rather preceded them on the first day’s march, about twelve miles from Canton. We rode through a very pretty country, passing by the village of Shek-tsing, where there was a fight a fortnight ago. The people were very respectful, and apparently not alarmed by our visit. At the place where the troops were to encamp for the night a cattle fair was in progress, and our arrival did not seem to interrupt the proceedings. February 13th.—The military expedition was entirely successful. The troops were everywhere received as friends. Considering what has been of yore the state of feeling in this province toward us, I think this almost the most remarkable thing which has happened since I came here. Would it have happened if I had given way to those uiio wished me to carry tire and swoni through all the country villages ? ” ‘

    These same villages furnished thousands of volunteers in May, 1841, to attack Sir Hugh Gough’s army, and had been engaged in a desperate struggle with their countrymen only three years before, so that this change was owing neither to cowardice nor Bulkiness. It had been brought about chiefly through considerate treatment of the people by the British gari-ison in Canton, by honest payment for supplies, and by regard for the traffic and local government of the city ; the citizens consequently had no complaint to make or revenge to satisfy. Those who from infancy had been brought up to call every foreigner ^fan-lm^ei^ or ‘ foreign devil,’ now slowly appreciated the fact that they had been mistaken—nor were the misconceptions all on their side. During the three years the city was occupied, public opinion there underwent an entire change ; and the Cantonese are now as courteous as they before were ill-mannered.

    At this season of rebellion and foreign war under which China was now suffering, the province of Kwangtung had a special cause for just irritation against all foreigners in the coolie trade. The headquarters of this trade were at Macao, and by 1860 it had become nearly the only business carried on there.

    ‘ Walrond’s Letters and Joxi,rnals of Lord Elgin, p. 308.

    ATROCITIES OF THE COOLIE TRADE. 663

    The population of the colony is perhaps seventy-odd thousand, of whom less than five thousand wear a foreign dress. Traffic and industry are mostly carried on by Chinese, who do all the work. When the trade of hiring Chinese as contract laborers to go to Cuba, Peru, and elsewhere began, there was no difficulty in obtaining men willing to try their fortunes abroad. As rumors of gold diggings open to their labors in California were spread abri)ad and confirmed by returning miners, the coolie ships were readily filled by men whose ignorance of outer lands made them easily believe that they were bound to El Dorado, whatever country they shipped for. The inducement for hiring them was the low rate of wages ($4 a month) at which they were willing to sell their labor, and the profits derived from introducing them into westeirn tropical regions. The temptations of this business became so great that within ten years the demand had far exceeded the supply. Seldom has the unscrupulous character of trade, where its operations are left free from the restraints either of competent authority or of morality, been more sadly exhibited than in the conduct of the agents who filled these coolie ships. The details of the manner in which natives of all classes, scholars, travelers, laborers, peddlers, and artisans, were kidnapped in town and country and sent to Macao, were seldom known, because the victims were unable to make themselves heard. When the rebels at Fuhshan were defeated in 1855, thousands of their followers were glad to save their lives by shipping as coolies, but this lasted only a short time.

    The allied commissioners in charge of Canton took cognizance of these outrages, and upon the representations of Governor-General Lao took vigorous measures for breaking up the trade at Wham]x»a.’ The United States minister, lion. J. E. “Ward, lent his aid in February, 1860, by allowing the Chinese authorities to take three hundred and seventeen men out of the American ship Messenger in order to ascertain whether any of them were detained on board against their will. Every one of them declined to go back to the ship, but it was not proved how many had been beguiled away on false pretences—the usual mode of kidnapping. The report of the commission sent to Cuba a dozen ^-ears later asserts, as the result of careful inquiries, that the majority of the coolies in Cuba ” were decoyed abroad, not legitimately induced to emigrate.”

    The Portuguese rulers of Macao “were unwilling to make thorough investigation into the facts about this business until after the return of the commission sent to Cuba in 1873, whose report disclosed the inevitable evils and wrongs inherent in the traffic. Urged by the British government, they finally (in 1875) closed the barracoons, and thus put an end to it. During the twenty-five years of its existence about five hundred thousand coolies were taken away.

    ‘ Compare Lieutenant-Colonel Fisher, Pfrsomd Nan-ative of Three Years^ Serrke in China, pp. 260-342, where the matter is pretty thoroughly discussed and Lao’s proclamations given in detail.

    To return to the war : throughout the winter no event of note occurred in any part of China, but the imperial government was busily employed in fortifying the mouth of the Pei ho to prevent the entrance of the allies. They demolished the old forts to rebuild new ones of materials gathered on the spot, and constructed somewhat after the manner laid down in foreign authorities on fortification. These books had been translated for them by natives trained in mission schools. Notwithstanding all that Kweiliang and llwashana may have assured them to the contrary, the Emperor and his officers could not divest

    themselves of their fears of serious reprisals, if not of conquest,

    should they pennit the allied gunboats to anchor a second

    time at Tientsin and their embassies to enter the capital. The

    two commissioners awaited at Shanghai the arrival of the British,

    French, and American plenipotentiaries, for the purpose of

    urging them to exchange the ratifications in that city. Nevertheless,

    since Peking was expressly appointed in the first two

    treaties as the place for signing them, Mr. Bruce and M. Bourboulon,

    the English and French ministers, determined to insist

    upon this detail. The poor commissioners, on the other hand,

    knowing more than they dared to tell of the hostile preparations

    going on, steadily declined the offer of a passage to Taku.

    KEPULSE OF THE ALLIES BEFORE TAKU. 665

    Mr. Ward was not tied down to any place or time for exchanging the American treaty, but decided to do so at the same place with his colleagues. The three ministers remained in the south to exchange views and allow the British gunboats to collect off Taku before their arrival, when they all joined them on June 20th. The appearance of the forts was entirely different from last year, and confirmed the reports of the great efforts making to prevent foreigners reaching the capital in large numbers. The river was found to be barred by an elaborate boom of timber and chains; but though no soldiers were in sight on the battlements, it was evident that a collision was intended. The reconnoissance had been carefully made from the ITth to the 2tl:th, and the riiiuese gcnierul, S;nig-k()-lin-siii, felt confident of his ability to hold his own against the shi])s inside of the bar. All official intercourse was refused with Admiral Hope, though he had stated his purpose clearly, because, as was alleged, these forts and men were merely gathered by the conniion people to defend themselves against pirates.

    In order to discover the real state of feeling toward a neutral, Commodore Tatnall took Mr. AVard, in the United States chartered steamer Toeywan, into the river on the 24th, and proceeded toward a jetty near the fort. The steamer ran aground when about half a mile short of it; the minister then sent his interpreters to the jetty, where they were met by a dozen or more miserably dressed fellows who had come from the fort for that purpose. On learning the errand of the foreigners, one or two of the men spoke up in a way which showed that they were officers—probably disguised as coolies—telling the deputation

    that the passage to Tientsin by the Pei ho had been barred, but

    that the governor-general, Ilangfuh, was then at Pehtang, a

    place about ten miles up the coast, where he was ready to receive

    the American minister. They added that they had no

    authority to take any letter or card for him ; that they knew

    very well the nationality of the Toeywan, which would not be

    harmed if she did not attempt to break through the boom laid

    just above the jetty ; and, lastly, that they were not at all empowered

    to aid or advise the Americans in getting up to Pehtang.

    The whole episode was a ridiculous ruse on the part of the Chinese to hide their design of forcibly preventing the ministers from ascending the river; but by so undignified a behavior the general commandino; the works forfeited whatever moral advantage might otherwise have remained on his side. After Admiral Hope had commenced his operations against the barriers, Ilangfuh did indeed send a letter to the British minister—then lying nine miles off the shore—informing him of the arrangements made at Pehtang to take the allied envoys from thence to the capital. These arrangements certainly violated no article of the treaties, nor any promise made to the foreigners, though they neutralized entirely the journey to Peking upon which the British government had determined to send its plenipotentiary.

    One may learn from the letters of Mr. Bruce to Lord Malmesbury(of July 5th and 13th) many details of the impertinent reception accorded to Admiral Hope’s messengers by the rabble and soldiers near the Taku forts, all proving plainly enough their hostile intentions. But the minister overlooks what we, in retracing the history of these years, cannot too attentively keep in mind, namely, the ever-present fear of trickery and foul play with their unknown engines of war which the Emperors counsellors momentarily dreaded from their foreign adversaries.

    On the other hand, what could be done with a government which would never condescend to appreciate its own weakness, would never speak or act the truth, would never treat any other nation as an equal ? These and other despatches from the Blue Book afford a key to the policies of both parties in this remarkable contest, and convince the impartial student of the necessity of personal contact and acquaintance before it was possible to reach a lasting understanding between the holders of so widely separated views.

    During the night of the 23d, after the Toeywan had floated at high water, the British advanced and blew up the first boom, leaving, however, the second and stronger obstruction untouched.

    The attempt to ascend the river in force was commenced by the allies in the following afternoon, when the forts opened fire upon them and by evening had sunk or silenced almost every vessel. In this Hect thirteen small ii’unboats were enji-ased, one of the largest among them, a French craft, carrying six hundred men ; besides these were some six hundred nuirines and engineers

    designed to serve as an escort upon the journey to the

    capital. This guard was now landed in the mud before the

    forts and an attempt made to carry the works by escalade, but

    the effort failed, and by daylight the men were all once more

    afloat. From the gunboats twenty-five men were killed and

    ninety-thi-ee wounded ; the loss among tlie marines was naturally

    heavier—sixty-four killed and two hundred and fifty-two

    wounded, while of the boats four were sunk.’

    Throughout this action the American vessel Toeywan remained inside of the Ijar, being a non-combatant. The gallant energy of Commodore Tatnall, who in the thick of the fight passed through the fleet to visit the British admiral lying

    ‘ One of these afterward lloated of itself and was preserved.

    Upper North Fort

    PLAN OF THE MOUTH OF THE PEI-HO.

    Sheicing the Defences

    and illustrative of the Attack o/25!» June, 1859

    wounded in the Plover, well-nigh cost him his life; a shot from the Chinese guns tore into the stern of his harge, killing the coxswain, and narrowly missed sinking the boat with all on board. Tatnall’s declaration, in extenuation of his technical violation of international law by towing boat-loads of British marines into action, that ” blood is thicker than water,” has indissolubly associated his name with this battle of the Pei ho.’

    The American minister was present as a spectator at this repulse before the Taku forts, but this could not be properly considered as a reason for not making further attempts to reach Peking. He accordingly, though not without some difficulty, notified the governor-general at Pehtang of his arrival, and four days later a pilot was sent off and the Toeywan taken up to Pehtang. Mr. Ward, in his report to Washington, expresses his belief that he would not be allowed to reach Peking, while the Chinese had no other intenti(jn than to escort him there and bring him safely back. On July Sth boats were sent to conduct his party to the place of meeting, which they reached through a line of soldiers in uniform placed along the sides of the streets, and were ushered into a large hall amid a crowd of officials. The recent encounter at Taku was discussed in a sensible manner, without apparent anxiety or bravado, and then the arrangements for taking the whole party of twenty to Peking were made known. Among other topics of inquiry brought forward was the cost of such vessels as had been sunk in the Pei ho by their guns—as if the officials had been estimating the probable expense of their victory when the English brought in their usual bill of damages. But the offer of Commodore Tatnall to place his surgeons at the disposal of the Chinese, to aid in treating the wounded men at the forts, was declined.

    ‘ Lieutenant-Colonel Fisher’s Personal Nmrative of Three Tears” Service in China, Chaps. XIII. and XIV.

    MIJ. WAKD’s visit to PEKING. 660

    Everything being made ready by July 20th, the American minister set out under the escort of Chunghow, now first brought into contact with foreigners. About forty miles of flat, saltish plain was crossed, until the party reached Pelitsang, on the Pei ho, where were lying the boats prepared for their reception. As they proceeded up the river the inhabitants flocked to the banks to behold the dreaded foreigners, but no expressions of vaunting or hostility were heard among the myriads who now gazed for the first time upon them. The

    vast crowd at Tungchau, when the twenty Americans landed,

    comprised apparently the whole population of that city ; clad in

    white summer garments, and preserving a most remarkable

    stillness and decorum as they lined the river banks and highway,

    this silent, gazing multitude produced upon the strangers

    an effect incomparably weird. The day was oppressively hot,

    and many preferred the carts to the mules provided for the

    trip to Peking, where they all arrived on the 2Ttli. A ridiculous

    rumor, illustrated by appropriate pictures, respecting this

    journey was circulated in Paris about a fortnight afterward,

    stating that Mr. Ward and his party were conducted from the

    coast in an innriense ” box or travelling chamber, drawn overland

    by oxen,” and then put ” on a raft to be towed up the river and

    Imperial Canal as far as the gate of the capital. They were

    well treated, and were taken back to the coast in the same

    manner.” This jeux (Tesjyi’it ju-obably expressed the popular

    sentiment in France of what was expected from the Chinese,

    and has ever since been associated with it.

    On announcing his arrival, a meeting was arranged for the 30th between Mr. Ward and Kweiliang and Ilwashana, at which all the time was occupied in discussing the question of the manner of audience. The minister had the advantage in this interesting colloquy, for he had come up at the invitation of the governor-general, had no directions from the President upon the matter, was quite indifferent as to the result of the conference, and had no presents to be rejected as Lord Amherst’s were in 181G. The nature of the hotow and the reasons for requiring it of all who had audience of the Emperor were fully discussed at several interviews in the most amicable and courteous manner. The Chinese were anxious to bring about an audience, and went so far as to waive the ketou or knocking head, from the first, and proposed instead that the envoy should bend one knee as he approached the sovereign. This was even less of an obeisance than English courtiers paid their Queen, and might have been accepted without difficulty—if any eouiproinise were possible—had not one of the party previously declared the religious nature of the ceremony by saying, ” If we do not kneel before the Emperor, we do not show him any respect; it is that or nothing, and is the same reverence which we pay the gods.” Kweiliang further said that he himself would willingly burn incense before the President of the United States if asked to do so.’

    During their whole national history the Chinese rulers and

    people had accepted this ceremony as the inseparable prerogative

    of the Son of Heaven ; and as this discussion in their capital

    was in the hearing of a great crowd of officials, who, doubtless,

    were prompt enough in circulating among the populace a

    report of the disagreement, one may appreciate the feelings of

    the latter when the American embassy was allowed quietly to

    leave the city without enterhig into the “Great Interior” to

    behold the Dragon’s Face. Foreigners have been so ready in

    China to ridicule or depi’eciate whatever partakes of resistance

    to their notions (unless it be backed up by force to make it respected),

    that this remarkable discussion on a vital point in Chinese

    etiquette and theology was generally regarded as silly verbiage

    on their part or ascribed to the effect of fear on the part

    of the Americans. As the time and phice for exchanging ratifications

    were not mentioned in the treaty, there was no insuperable

    difficulty in adjourning the ceremony to another place; yet it seemed a grotesque ending to the four days’ discussion for Kweiliang to seriously ask the minister for what purpose he had come to Peking, he himself being quite at a loss to understand the reason. Mr. Ward replied that it was to deliver the letter from the President, and to exchange the ratifications. It would have been better if he had held him to the promise made by the governor-general at Pehtang to do so in Peking. However, the return trip was concluded by the exchange of ratifications on August 15th at Pehtang, and the departure of the frigate for Shanghai soon after.

    ‘ See Ward’s despatches, pp. 594-617, U. 8. Senate Executue Document No. 30, read Marcli 1;5, 1800; American Eclectic Magazine, New York, Vol. 51, April and May, 18G1 •, North China Br. Ji. A. Society, Vol. I., No. 3, 1859.

    LORD ELGIX AND BARON GROS RETURN TO CHINA 671

    The mortification of having been repulsed at Taku was not concealed by the British public or press, when they ascribed it to the too hasty landing at sunset on a mud flat over which there was no pathway or footing. There certainly was no treachery on the part of the Chinese, as Mr. Swinhoe declares in his JVorf/i China Ca//tj>ai^n, for they plaiidy told what they would do if the passage were attempted.’ Yet it was a grievous disappointment to find that the exchange of ratifications had been interrupted from any cause; and though it will probably always be a debatable point whether it was right for the allied envoys to refuse the offered means of reaching Peking by way of Pehtang, there was no debate now as to the necessity of hastening to the capital at once.

    ‘ Though they told many lies as well. These charges against the Chinese were reiterated until they were believed by all the world; but in the effort to find a good reason for proceeding to Peking in order to exchange the ratifications, it was not needful to say that the forts fired upon the British ships without notice. Mr. Bruce’s despatches to Lord Malmesbury (of Jul}’ i;]th), together with the eufilosures and translations of native documents, discuss this question with much good sense.

    The British and French governments moved immediately in the matter, and M’isely decided to place the settlement of the question in the same hands that had carried it thus far. In April, 1860, Earl Kussell wrote to Lord Elgin that ” Her Majesty resolved to employ every means calculated to establish peace with the Emperor of China, and had determined to call upon him again to give his valuable services to promote this important object.” The indispensable conditions were three, viz., an apology for the attack on the allied forces at the Pei ho ; the ratification and execution of the treaty ; and payment for the expenses incurred by the allies. Lord Elgin’s colleague was Baron Gros, and the two were ready to leave Europe in April. They were supported in making their demands by an army of about ten thousand British troops of all arms, gathered from England, Cape Colony, and Lidia, and nearly seven thousand French sent from France. Their respective naval forces were not largely added to, but the requisite transports increased the fleets to more than two hundred vessels in all, of which thirty-three

    were French. The latter had small iron gunboats, fitted to carry one gun, brought from home hi fifteen pieces each; when screwed together each boat had three compartments, made water-tight with layers of vulcanized rubber at the joinings^

    The British forces gathered at Talien-wan Bay on the southeastern side of Prince llegent’s Sword, and the French at Chifu on the coast of Shantung. The plenipotentiaries had arrived iu July of this year and found the imperial government maintaining its old attitude of conciliation and undue assumption.

    On March 8th the foreigners^ terms had been made known by Mr. Bruce, and a reply shortly afterward transmitted to him through Ho Kwei-tsing at Shanghai. In it the lurking fear of reprisals, so largely actuating its conduct, appears from the conclusion, when the council says : ” If Mr. Bruce will come north without vessels of war and with but a moderate retinue, and will wait at Pehtang to exchange the treaties, China will not take him to task for what has gone by. But if he be resolved to bring up a number of war-vessels, and if he persist in proceeding by way of Taku, this will show that his true purpose is not the exchange of treaties.” ‘ After such a declaration there was but one way left by which to prove to the Emperor how thoroughly in earnest were the allies in their intention of exchanging the treaties. The last bulwark of Chinese seclusion was now to be broken down—never more, we may hope, to be erected against the advancing influences of a more enlightened civilization.

    ‘ Wolseley’s Narrative, p. 14. Fislier’s C/nmi, Chap. XXIII.

    LANDING OF THE ALLIES AT PEIITANG. 673

    After the usual delays incident to moving large bodies of troops with their various equipages, the combined forces left their anchorages on July 26th, presenting with their long lines of ships a grand sight as they went up the smooth waters of the Gulf of Pechele toward the mouth of the Pehtang River. This assemblage was many times larger than the armaments sent to the same region in the two previous years, and the experiences of those years had prepared both parties to regard this third attempt to reach the Court of Cambaluc as decisive of their future relations. The forces found much inconvenience in effecting a landing at Pehtang, where the beach at low tide extends over miles of ooze and sticky mud, but met no forcible opposition. The towns in this region are among the most repulsive-looking on the whole Chinese coast. In consequence of

    the saline soil no trees or grass are to be seen on the wide

    plain ; the only green things being a few fruit trees near the

    Jiouses, or scattering patches of salsola and similar plants. The

    houses are built of mud and chopped straw ; their walls rest on

    layers of sorghum stalks spread on the foundation to intercept

    the saline influences, while the thatched roofs also contain

    much mud. These soon present a scanty covering of grass,

    which, speedily withering in the hot sun, imparts to the dwelling a still more forlorn aspect. Cheerless enough on a bright day, the appearance of one of these hamlets in wet weather—with mud streaming from the roofs, the streets reeking with noisome filth, through which loaded carts and half-naked men wend dolefully their way—is certainly melancholy beyond any description.

    The allies were on shore by the evening of August 2d, and

    in a most pitiable plight in their own eyes. The men had been

    obliged to wade through the mud left by the retiring tide to

    reach solid ground, and then cross a moat that received the

    drainings of the town, a reeking mass much worse, of course,

    than the other. Xo fresh water was to be had, and the time

    which elapsed before the men could be supplied from the boats

    Avas spent in putting themselves up for the night, Avet, dirty,

    and hungry as they were. In the morning it was found that

    the few forts which they were to attack were merely for show,

    and soon the town was occupied by the ti’oops, their generals

    taking the temples for quarters. In less than three days every

    house in it had been pillaged, and whatever was worthless for

    plunder was destroyed as useless, ” the few natives that still

    lingered by their uinisurped domiciles,” adds Mr. Swinhoe,

    ” quietly watching with the eye of despair the destruction of

    all the property they possessed in the world, and the ruin of

    their hopes perhaps forever.” Even the poor wretches who

    were trying to cany off their goods in packs were stopped and

    stripped by the prowling soldiers.

    Ill less than a fortnight the entire force had been brought

    ashore without accident or opposition. There were men, tents,

    guns, horses, provisions, animals, stores, ammunition, baggage, —everything, in short, which an army now needs and which

    steam easily brings to it. Besides these, two thousand live

    hundred Cantonese coolies, each of whom is estimated by

    Colonel Wolseley, with supreme candoi’, to have been of more

    general value than any three baggage animals. They were

    working constantly for ten days, carrying water, landing stores,

    and performing the toil devolving on camp followers, for which

    this author magnanimously praises them by saying: “They

    were easily fed, and when properly treated most manageable.”

    On August 12th the forces were ready to move on the Taku

    forts lying about five miles distant across the plain, now rendered

    miry by the constant rains. A single causeway three

    miles long, flanked by deep ditches, traversed it, and along this

    progress, especially for the heavy artillery, was exceedingly

    slow. Upon their passage of this road the Chinese general,

    Sangkolinsin, yielded the only vantage-ground where he could

    have encountered his enemy with hope of success. This ignorant

    blunder on the part of so energetic a commander seems all

    the more unaccountatle, since a week previously the Chinese

    cavalry had been nnich emboldened by some slight successes

    over a reconnoitring party of the allies, and ” approached our

    outposts with wonderful courage, a few even advancing to within

    a few hundred yards, brandishing the swords and making grotesque

    gesticulations.”

    At last the allies were ready to advance to the attack of the

    Chinese. The Mongol horsemen commenced the engagement

    by rushing fearlessly forward in several irregular lines of

    skirmishers, and bravely received the shot from the Armstrong

    guns, until they charged with a loud, M’ild yell the Sikh cavalry,

    with whom they engaged in close conflict. But ” in less than

    a minute the Tartai’s had turned and were flying for their lives

    before our well-armed irregulars supported b}^ two squadrons

    of the finest dragoons in the British army ; the ])ursuit lasted

    for five miles, and was then only ended by our horses being

    pumped out. Had they been in good working order the vq

    CAPTURE OF SINIIO AXD THE TAKU FOKTS. 675

    suits would have been far more satisfactory, and the worthy tax-payers at home would have had the pleasure of gloating over the account of an immense Mst of slain enemies.”‘

    TliQ allied infantry had already reached the intrenched canjp, near the village of Sinho, and the ” beautifully precise practice” of the Armstrongs, together with the accurate rifled guns of the French, were brilliantly successful in knocking over the Chinese who served their gingalls at the ranges of fourteen hundred or a thousand yards.

    The reader cannot desire further particulars of this unequal

    contest as described by Colonel (now Lord) Garnet “Wolsele^-.

    The various forces of the Chinese M-ere entirely routed by the

    allies ; the plain was speckled for miles l)y native corpses, while

    the care of wounded men called out the sympathies and skill of

    their conquerors. The village of Sirdio was plundered, and its

    inhabitants fled, glad to escape with their lives.^ The next

    morning an advance was made by the entire force upon the five

    forts and intrenched camps at Tangku, three miles ofF, from

    which the imperialists were dislodged with considerable loss on

    their part, the rest retreating across the Pei ho toward Taku.

    Tangku town was occupied by the foreigners, who took under

    their care everybody left in it, and relieved the wounded and

    starving while preparing for the intended attack on the forts.

    This kindness, and the consequent increased acquaintance arising

    between the contending parties in obtaining supplies, did much

    to remove their ignorance and contempt of each other—a result

    far more desirable and useful than the capture of forts and

    prisoners.

    ‘Wolseley, NniTatiir, p. 108.

    ‘ A great collection of official documents disclosing the views of the court upon the struggle was found iu the yamun.

    ” Lieutenant-Colonel Fisher, Personal Narrative, pp. 404-409.

    The French having already- encamped on the further bank of the Pei ho, each army commenced the building of a bridge ^ across the stream, completing the structure so speedily that by the morning of August 21st the whole attackingforce was in position. The twenty-three pieces of artillery now began to fire upon the north fort, from which the Chinese replied with all the alacrity they could, although taken thus in rear. About six o’clock, when the fire waxed hotter and hotter, and the troops were anxiously looking for the signal to advance, ” a tall black pillar, as if by magic, shot up from the midst of the nearest fort, and then bursting like a rocket after it had obtained

    a great height, was soon lost in the vast shower of earth and

    wood into which it resolved itself—a loud, bursting, booming

    sound marking the moment of its short existence.” But the

    fire from the fort only ceased for a minute or two, and the

    gunners served their pieces most manfully, though sometimes

    unprotected in any way from the crushing shell fire opposed to

    them. The attack Ijegan about seven o’clock, nearly four thousand

    men all told forming the advance. A gallant defence was

    made to a still bi-aver onset, but the victoiy naturally fell to

    the disciplined forces of the allies, who had j^ossessed themselves

    of all the defences before noon. A few guns taken from

    the ships destroyed June 25, 1850, were now recovered l)y the

    British, but otherwise the fort contained nothing of Aalue. The

    loss of life on both sides was coni]):iratively slight. The Jh-itish

    had seventeen killed and one hundred and eighty-three wounded ; the French, one hundred and thirty casualties in all; the Chinese lay dead in heaps in the fort, and their total loss probably exceeded two thousand. The interior testified in every part the noble manner in which it had been defended, even after the disastrous explosion had crippled the resources and discouraged the enthusiasm of its garrison. From this position the allies moved on the other n(n-thern fort with their artillery, under a continual fire from its Avails ; but before the guns could open upon it, many white; flags appeared on the parapets; messengei’S were ere long seen to leave the gi’cat southern fort. They were all given up before sunset, and the famous Taku foi’ts, Avhieh had last year witnessed the discomfiture of the allies, now saw them enter as conquerors’—” the tarnished honor of our arms was <i;loriouslv vindicated.”

    ‘ When tlio allied generals came to carefully examine the construction of the walls, casemates, and internal arrangements, with the preparation made outside to hinder the enemy, they declared them to be absolutely impregnabW from seaward if defended as well as the north fort had been.

    THE ADVANCE TO TIENTSIN. 077

    Lord Elgin M-as quietly resting in Tangkn, and refused to jeceive their surrender, or even to hold intercourse with Hangfnh, the governor-general of Chihli, then in command, but turned him over to the commander of the forces. The path heing now open for the troops to march upon Tientsin, the gunboats were sent forward to see that the river was clear. On the ^.^th the two ])loiiipotentiaries wei-e again housed at Tientsin,

    accompanied by naval and land forces amply strong to take

    them to Peking. Xo opposition M’as, howevei”, experienced in

    i-eaching that city, while the pleasing contrast in the surface of

    this country with that of the dreary flats near Pehtang and

    Taku refreshed the men as much as the abundant supplies and

    })eacefulness of the people aided them. Such remarkable contrasts

    in China illustrate the inert character of this extraordinary

    people; and further, also lead one to incpiire what is the

    reason for their loyalty to a government which fails so completely

    in protecting them from their enemies. Mr. Swihhoe

    records’ a conversation held with a M’ell-to-do Chinese, in which

    this inquiry receives a partial answer in the peaceful education

    of a race M’hicli lias no alternative.

    ‘ North China Campairjn, pp. 158-161.

    His intrenchments at Sinho and Tangku being demolished, his vaunted defences upon the liver razed, his enemies’ ships in possession of Tientsin, nothing now remained for Sangkolinsiii save to move his entire army nearer Peking, and there again meeting the invaders, endeavor to preserve the capital from capture. He would not there be able to shift the odium of defeat on the difficulties of the river defences, while the moral effect would be incomparably greater if he were vanquislied near the palace. The aged Jvweiliang, the father-in-law of Prince Kung, was again directed to repair to Tientsin, where he arrived about August 2Sth. He and two others (all of them Manchus) endeavored to negotiate a peace so as to prevent the allies from advancing on Peking with their armies. Finding that they were trifling, Lord Elgin stopped the palaver, and started for Tungchau on September Stli, the British taking the left bank and the French keeping the southern. jS^ear Yangtsun a new cummission of higher rank reported itself, but it was rejected, and the army continued on its M’ay. Further on, at Ilosi-wu and Matau, signs of serious strife began to appear, but the commissioners assured their negotiators, Messrs. Wade and Parkes, that

    everything was or would be ready at Tungchau to conclude the

    convention. Affairs were becoming critical in the matter of

    supplies and transport, for Sangkolinsin’s army prevented the

    people from safely bringing animals and making sales. The commissariat,

    therefore, was obliged to seize what could be found

    to feed the advancing force, and this involved ransacking most

    of the towns and handets lying near the river between Hosi-wu

    and Tungchau. The progress of the force was, therefore, much

    slower than below Tientsin, though the possession of sixty or

    eighty small boats helped to bring on the amnumition and

    other supplies.

    On September 1ith the interpreters, Messrs.AYade and Parkes,

    reached Tungchau, in order to meet Prince I and his colleague

    to discuss the terms for stoj^ping the army and exchanging

    the ratifications. This interview was marked with apparent

    sincerity, and resulted in an order for the army to move forward

    to a place designated near the town of Changkia-wan,

    about three leagues from Tungchau, \vhere the troops were to

    encamp. The camp broke up from IIosi-wu early on the 17th

    to carry this arrangement into effect. Mr. Parkes was again sent

    forward to Tungchau (twentj^ -five miles), accompanied by an escort

    of twenty-six Sikh and other soldiers, to inform the imperial

    connnissioners, and finally arrange terms. The ground pointed

    out was reached, and seemed to be well suited for the j^ui-pose.

    At Changkia-wan the party met an ofiicer at the head of some

    cavalry, who challenged them, but allowed all to go on to Tungchau.

    Mr. Parkes soon met another high official in charge of a

    guard, who treated them with marked courtesy, informing

    them that he had been the general at Sinlio, and let them proceed.

    They were received at Tungchau and conducted through

    the town to a temple by a messenger sent from the prince. At

    one o’clock the discussions began, but instead of entering into

    the details of carrying out the agreement, difficulties were made

    OCCUKRENCES AT TUNGCIIAU. 679

    about Lord Elgin’s delivering his letter of credence to the Emperor.

    The whole afternoon was consumed in this debate,

    which probably was grounded not a little on the recent decision

    of Ilienfung to leave the capital for his summer palace at

    Jeh-ho while the way was yet clear. At eventide the commissioners

    waived the settlement of the audience, and soon agreed

    to all the other points relating to the encampment near Changkia-

    wan. In the morning Mr. Parkes, Colonel Walker, and

    eleven others, leaving the rest of their party in the temple to

    await the arrival of the plenipotentiaries the next day, departed

    to view the designated encampment. Their journey was somewhat

    eventful. As they reached Changkia-wan they met bodies

    of Chinese infantry going south, but no notice was taken of

    them, and the foreigners rode on to reach the appointed spot.

    In doing so they came across a body of a thousand dismounted

    liorsemen concealed in a dry watercourse, or nullah, evidently

    placed there in ambush ; while riding along in front no interruption

    was made to their progress. Further on, in a small

    village, they detected a large force hidden behind the houses

    and in gardens, but still no hindrance to their advance was interposed

    by these men. A short distance ahead they came upon

    a masked battery of twelve guns just placed in position, from

    which they were driven away. It was now phiin that Sangkolinsin

    Avas preparing an ainbushment for the allied forces to

    enter, feeling confident, no doubt, of his success.

    Mr. Loch, who accompained Mr. Parkes thus far, was now

    designated to force his way through the Chinese troops, so as to

    meet the allied generals and tell them the state of things. Sir

    Hope Grant had already noticed some bodies of men on his

    flanks, and was preparing for them when he learned the truth ;

    but in order to give Mr. Parkes and the others a chance to escape

    from Tungchau, he agreed to delay two hours before opening

    upon the enemy. Mr. Loch accordingly started, in company

    with Captain Brabazon and two horsemeu,to return to Tungchau.

    They reached it in a few hours and found their friends, unconscious

    of the danger, wandering through the town. Mr. Parkes

    had learned something of it, and called on Prince I at his

    quarters to claim protection ; this dignitary was in a state of much excitement, and said that ” mitil the question of delivering the letter of credence was settled there coiikl \)c no peace ; there must be war.” On returning to their temple the foreigners immediately started off in a body, but some of their horses were jaded, and the country was filled with moving bodies of troops.

    When about five miles wei”e gone over they came on a brigade

    of matchlock men, and ere long an officer of rank stopped them

    from going further, but offered to accompany two of them to

    obtain from the general a pass allowing the whole party to ride

    around the Chinese army on their way back. Mr. Parkes and

    Mr. Loch and a Sikh accordingly M’ent with him, and he bravely

    looked after their safety. Meanwhile the battle had alreadybcgun,

    as the booming cannon intimated. They had advanced only a

    few rods when the trio found themselves in the midst of a large

    body of infantry, some of whom seized their bridles, but their

    guide rushed in, striking i-ight and left, and thus cleared the

    way. Ten rods in the rear they met the Chinese general, to

    whom Mr. Parkes addressed himself, pointing to the flag of

    truce and asking for a pass for the whole party to return to the

    P>ritish armv. 8aii<rkolinsin ” irave a derisive lau<2;h, and broke

    out into a torrent of abuse, lie accused Parkes of being the

    cause of all the troubles and difficulties that had arisen. Not

    content with attempting to impose conditions which would have

    been derogatory to the dignity of the Empei’or to accept, he

    had now brought the allied armies down to attack the imperial

    forces.” This is only a part of his excited conversation with Mi”.

    Parkes, as reported by Mr. Loch. They were now imprisoned,

    and ordered to l)e taken in an open cart with two French prisoners

    to Tungehau, and delivered over to Prince I. The others,

    twenty-three in all, had also been made prisoners where they

    were waiting, and ere long conducted to Tungehau in charge

    of a guard.

    The five in the cart reached Tungehau after Prince I had

    left his temple, and were therefore hurried on to Peking after

    him, but on the way were turned off near Pa-li-kiau {i.e.,

    ‘ Eight Lt Bridge’) and taken to the quai’ters of Jinlin, a general

    then in command of the Peking gendarmerie, fie ques’

    IMPKISONMENT OF PARKES AND LOCH. 681

    tioned Mr. Parkes upon the strength of the allied foi’ces, until

    the latter ended this catechising under the torture of kneeling

    with the arms twisted behind him, by pretending to faint.

    In the aftei-noon, MJiile again undergoing examination by some

    officials formerly with Prince 1, they were suddenly interru})

    ted b}’ a commotion, and everybody ran off, leaving them

    alone. Soon a number of soldiers rushed in and bound their

    arms, while they were led away to be beheaded in an outer

    court. But just as they crossed the yard a mandarin hurried

    forward, and seizing liold of the soldier, then waving his

    sword over Mr. Loch, rescued them both and hurried them into a cart, where the other three prisoners lay, upon which they immediately started for Peking by the great stone road. The torture and jolting of this ride over the rough causeway were increased by their weariness, hunger, and cramped position, and when they got out of the cart at the Iling Pu, in Peking, they were utterly prostrated. Kevertheless, their misery during the ride of ten miles was transient and light compared with what awaited them inside of the Board of Punishments.

    They were there separated, heavily pinioned, and put with the native prisoners. Mr. Loch justly commends these wretched men for their sympathy, and mentions many little acts of kindness to him in dividing their cakes and giving him a special bench to sit on during the ten days he was quartered with them. Tie was then tai:en to the room with Mr. Parkes, and they were soon driven away to a temple in the northern part of the city, whore rooms had been fitted up for them. As to the party of twenty-three English and thirteen Frenchmen left by Parkes at his capture, they had been taken to Yuan-ming Yuan under a strong guard.

    Meanwhile the allied army had come up to the Chinese

    forces. These, about twenty thousand men in all, had been

    posted with considerable skill betvreen Changkia-wan and the

    Pei ho, showing a front of nearly four miles, nuich of which

    w^as intrenched and presenting a succession of batteries. The

    battle on the 18th died away as the allies reached that town, having driven Sangkolinsin’s troops toward Peking, captured eighty guns, and burned all his camps. The loss of life was much less among his men than at the Taku fort, for here none of them were chained to their guns, and were able to escape when their position was untenable. Changkia-wan was thoroughly pillaged that night by those who could get at it, especially the poor natives who followed the army.

    On the 21st the Chinese forces made another stand near the

    Eight Li Bridge over the Canal, from which the French dislodged

    them without much difficulty. The British came up on

    their flanks and drove them in upon their centre, which of

    course soon resulted in a general dispersion. The artillery

    opened up at long range ; the cavalry riding in upon the

    Chinese horsemen, easily scattered them, often burning the

    separate camps before returning. The contest at the bridge

    was the most serious, and their loss here was estimated at three

    hundred ; on the whole field it probably did not exceed five

    hundred, for neither their cavalry nor infantry often presented

    a solid front. The entire losses of the allies were less than

    fifty killed and wounded. Nothing intei’posed now between

    them and Peking, but they delayed to move until October

    3d, when their entire force had come up, siege guns and

    commissary stoi-es included. Full knowledge had been obtained

    of the environs of Peking, and iiegotiations had been

    going on respecting the return of the prisoners as a preliminary

    to the close of hostilities. These were now conducted with

    Prince Ivung, the next youiiger brother of the Emperor, who

    was himself by this time safe at Jeh-ho.

    TILLAGE OF YUEN-MINU YUEN. G88

    On October Gtli Lord Elgin and the generals M-ere settled in the spacious quarters of the Hwang s//, a lamasaiy near the northwest gate of Peking, and their army occupied much of the open spaces between it and the city. On that day, the outposts of the French army and some of the British cavalry reached the great cantonment of Hai-tien (where the Manchu garrison of Peking was quartered) and the palace of Yuan-ming Yuan near by. This was soon pillaged under circumstances and in a barbarously wasteful manner which will reflect lasting obloquy upon General Montaubon, who, more than any other person, could have interposed to save the hnniense and precious collection of objects illustrating Chinese art, architecture, and literature. Lord Elgin’s journal gives his view of this act in a few words:
    October 7th, 5 o’clock r. M. —I have just returned from the Summer Palace.

    It is really a line thing, like an English park—numberless buildings

    with handsome rooms, filled with Chinese curios, handsome clocks, bronzes,

    etc. But alas ! such a scene of desolation. The French general came up,

    full of protestations. He had prevented looting in order that all the plunder

    might be divided between the armies, etc. There was not a room that I saw

    m which half the things had not been taken away or broken to pieces. I

    tried to get a regiment of ours sent to guard the place, and then sell the things

    by auction ; but it is difficult to get things done by system in such a case, so

    some of the officers are left [there], who are to fill two or three carts with

    treasures, which are to be sold. Plundering and devastating a place like this

    is bad enough, but the waste and breakage are much worse. Out of a million

    pounds’ worth of property, I daresay fifty thousand pounds will not be realized.

    French soldiers were destroying in every way the most beautiful silks,

    breaking the jade ornaments and porcelain, etc. War is a hateful business.

    The more one sees of it the more one detests it.

    Mr. Swinhoe’s account of one room in this palace has now a historical interest—but his description must be condensed:
    Facing the gate (he says) stood the grand reception hall, well adorned outside, and netted with copper wire under the fretted eaves to keep off the birds.

    Entering it we found ourselves on a marble floor in front of the Emperor’s

    ebony throne ; tliis was adorned with carved dragons in various attitudes ; its

    floor was covered with light red cloth, and three low series of steps led up to

    it, on the central and widest of which his subjects made the kotow. The left

    side of the hall was adorned with a picture representing the grounds of the

    palace, and the side tables contained books in yellow binding and ornaments.

    There was somehow an air of reverence throughout this simple but neat hall.

    On an audience day the Emperor here seated himself attired in a yellow robe

    wrought with dragons in gold thread, his head surmounted with a spherical

    crown of gold and precious stones with pearl drops suspended around b}’ light

    gold chains. Eunuchs and ministers in court costume kneel on each side in

    long lines, and the guard and musicians are arranged in the outer court. The

    name of the person to be introduced is called out, and as he approaches the

    band strikes up. He draws near the ” Dragon’s Seat” and kneels before the

    central steji, removes his hat, placing it on the throne floor with the peacock’s

    feather toward the imperial donor. His Ma’esty moves his hand and down

    goes the head, striking on the step three times three. The head is then raised,

    but with downcast eyes the man hears the behests of his great master. Wheii

    ‘ Elgin’s Letters^ p. 361.

    the voice ceases, again the hciul niukes t\w nine knocks, thus acknowledging the sovereign right, and the man withdraws. How different the scene now, adds Mr. Swinhoe. The hall filled with crowds of a foreign soldiery, and the throne floor covered with the Celestial Emperor’s choicest curios, destined as gifts for two far more worthy monarchs. ” See here,” said General Montaubon, pointing to them, ” I have had a few of the most brilliant things selected to be divided between the Queen of Great Britain and the Emperor of the French.” ‘

    On the following day—October Sth—the coniuiaiulers were

    greatly relieved by the return of Parkes, Loch, d’Escayrac de

    Lauture, and five soldiers ; the first two of these gentlemen had

    been comparatively well treated after their terrible experiences

    within the lling Pu. A few days later botli armies were horrified

    by the appearance in camp of eleven wretched men—all who

    had survived from the party of French and English made prisoners

    near Tungchau ; Anderson, Bowlby, de Xornian, and

    others had succumbed to the dreadful tortures caused by the

    cords which bound them. The coffined bodies were all brought

    to camp within a few days, hardly recognizable from the effects

    of lime thrown upon them. On the 16th occurred the impressive

    ceremony of theii* interment in the Russian cemetery near

    Peking, Lord Elgin, Sir Hope (Jrant, Parkes, and Loch being

    chief mourners, while a deputation from every regiment in the

    allied armies followed in the train.

    Two days after this Lord Elgin ordered the destruction of the

    palace of Yuen-ming Yuen ; a sudden though deliberate act.

    Feeling prul)ably that such a decision would be closely criticised

    by those wlio were far removed in time and place from the exciting

    scenes around him, he took occasion to review his position

    in a long despatch. It was impossible in his situation to learn

    whether the responsibility for the capture and savage treatment

    of these men rested with the same Chinese officials.’ This

    ‘ Swinhoe, JVorth China Campairin, pp. 294 fF. —the most detailed and interesting

    account of this palace and its destruction. Compare M. C. Lavalloe in

    the Reciie den Deux MowUs for August 1, 18(io. Other French writers on this

    war are Lieutenant de vaisseau Pallu, lirhitioit (U I’expeditMn de Cliiiic, Paris,

    1803; le Cornte d’Escayrac de Lauture, Memoirex sur hi Ch/’nc, Paris, 18(54;

    Sinnebaldo de Mas, Iai Ghiiie et les ptmsances chretiennes, 18()1.

    •’ I’robably not. The prisoners were in the hands of lictors wliosc habit it

    was to torture in the hope of extorting money on their own account. The

    DESTRUCTION OF THE SUMMER PALACE. 685

    much, nevcrtlieless, was })laiii—that the Chinese were full^

    aware of the obligations of a tlag of truce, inasmuch as they

    had ah’eady often av’ailed themselves of its privileges. Lord

    Elgin makes the Emperor personallj responsible for the crimes

    which had been committed, but specifies Sungkolinsin as the

    real culprit, lie then says

    :

    I had reason to bolieve that it was an act which was calcnlated to produce a

    greater effect in China and on the Emperor than persons who look on from

    a distance may suppose. It was the Emperor’s favorite residence, and its

    destruction could not fail to be a blow to his pride as well as to his feelings.

    To this place he brought our hapless countrymen, in order that they might

    undergo their severest tortures within its precincts. Here have been found

    the horses and accoutrements of the troopers seized, the decorations torn from

    the breast of a gallant French officer, and other effects belonging to the

    prisoners. As almost all the valuables had ah-eady been taken from the

    palace, the army would go there, not to pillage, but to mark, by a solemn act

    of retribution, the horror and indignation with which we were inspired by the

    perpetration of a great crime. Tlie punishment was one which would fall,

    not on the people, who may be comparatively innocent, but exclusively on the

    Emperor, whose direct personal responsibility for the crime committed is establislied,

    not only by the treatment of the prisoners at Ynen-ming Yuen,

    but also by the edict in which he offered a pecuniary reward for the

    heads of the foreigners.

    ‘The work of destruction left hardly a trace of the palace of the ” Round-bright Garden ;” indeed, the provocation for this act was great. The despatch refers only to the palace where Hienfung spent most of his time, and it is probable that Lord Elgin intended to burn that alone. He gave no orders for the destruction of the buildings on Wan-shao shan, Yuh-tsien shau, the Imperial Park near Pih-yun sz’, and other places five to ten miles distant. All of these residences or villas had been erected or enlarged by former Emperors of the present dynasty ; none have since been rebuilt. It is, nevertheless, easy to gather from Colonel Wolseley’s record that his lordship’s satisfaction in this candid spirit of Loch’s narrative is wanting in the more colored accounts of Wolseley and Swinlioe, written in the flush of victory. The charges they make against Prince I of treachery toward Mr. Parkes are not borne out ; the deaths of Captain Brabazon and the Abb; de Luc seem to have been by order of Pao, and not from SSngkolinsin. Compare an article in the Rente den Deux Mondcn (If) juillet, 18G5) by C. Lavallue, UExpedition anglo-francaise en Chine ‘ Elyin”s Letters and Journals, p. 300. ” retribution”‘ was not greatly impaired by its over-zealous performance on the part of the troops. In addition to the loss of the palaces, the Chinese had to pay £100,000 as indemnity to be given to the prisoners and their families, before the victors would consent to sign the convocation.

    On the 13tli the ultimatum had been accepted by Prince

    Kung, who about two hours before noon opened the An-ting or

    northeast gate of Peking, wdiich commanded the whole city.

    Arrangements were gradually completed for the grand entry of

    the plenipotentiaries into Peking. The L’l Pu, or Board of

    Rites, was selected as the place for exchanging the ratifications

    of the treaty of Tientsin and signing the convention, while the

    fa^ or palace of Prince I, had been chosen for Lord Elgin’s residence

    in the city. On October 24th the latter was escorted to

    both these places by many officers, together with a body of four

    hundred infantry and one hundred cavalry, while in all the streets

    leading to them were guards placed. The wdiole city was out to

    witness the unusual parade. The procession passed slowly through

    the wide avenues, the music of the band heralding i’ts approach to

    the dignitaries anxiously awaiting the arrival. The utmost care

    had been taken that no excuse should be ever after brought ft»rward

    that the Emperor had not assented to tlie two documents

    signed that day ; but much besides Mas done to show Prince

    Kung and liis officers that they were in the presence of their

    conquerors.’

    The following day Baron Gros signed his convention and exchanged

    the ratifications of the French treaty under similar

    fornuilities. The principal points in the l>ritish convention of

    nine articles were—the payment of eight million taels ; the permission

    given by imperial sanction for the emigration at will of

    Ciiinese subjects as contract laborers or otherwise ; the cession

    of Kowlung to the crown as part of the colony of Hongkong.

    Without delaying for additional connnent, the insertion here

    of a poi’tion of Lord John Uusseirs despatch to Eord Elgin will

    ‘ The frontispiece of this volume is intended to represent this ceremony.

    Its interest lies chielly iu the fact that it is from the work of one of the ablest

    painters in the capital, and represents from a native’s staud-poiut one of the most remarkable and important events in the history of modern China.

    THE TREATIES SIGNED AT PEKING. 687

    not be uninteresting in connection witli these treaties. His

    lordship’s document reads like the balance-sheet of a London

    merchant at the termination of some successful adventure:

    “The Convention is entirely satisfactory to Her Majesty’s

    Government, it records the reparation made by the Emperor

    of China for his disregard in the previous year of his treaty

    engagements ; it sets Her Majesty’s government free from an

    implied engagement not to insist m all particulars on the fulfilment

    of those engagements ; it imposes upon China a fine

    in the shape of an augmented rate of indemnity ; it affords an

    additional opening for British trade ; it places on a recognized

    footing the emigration of Chinese coolies, whose services are so

    important to Her Majesty’s colonial possessions ; it relieves Her

    Majesty’s colony of Hongkong from a source of previous

    annoyance.”

    ‘The French convention of ten articles contained like demands

    and rewards, but instead of a slice of territor}^, the sixth

    provided that Koman Catholic Christians should be indemnified

    for ” all such churches, schools, cemeteries, lands, and buildings

    as were owned on former occasions by persecuted Christians,

    and the money handed to the French representative at Peking

    for transmission to the Christians in the localities concerned.”

    The fulfilment of this article required over ten years ; and as

    the injuries had been done in some cases as far back as the reign

    of Louis XHL, great irritation was aroused in the minds of the

    natives who had for generations been quietly in possession of

    lands which they had purchased.^

    ‘”The practical result was not very great,” concludes Mr. McCarthy.

    •’ Perhaps the most important gain to Europe was the knowledge that Peking

    was by no means so large a city as we had all imagined it to be. . . . There

    is some comfort in knowing that so much blood was not spilt wholly in vain.”

    —A History of Our (km Times, Chap. XLII., Vol. III.

    ^’An instance is mentioned in No. IV. of the Journal of the N. C. Br. R. A.Soc, 18G7, pp. 21-33, where a Roman Catholic church at Hangchau, which had been confiscated by the Emperor Yungcliing (about 1730), was changed into a temple dedicated to 7Y(7i JLto, the Queen of Heaven, “to serve th« double purpose of extirpating a religion of false gossip and obduracy, and of making an offering to a spirit who really has a beneficial influence over humaa destinies.”

    The i:;reat objects of tlie expedition wei’e now attnined, and

    foi-ei*;n nations conld congi-atulate tl)eniselves n)M»n liaving settled

    their representatives in tlie Chinese caj)ital on terms of

    equality. Two /^«, or palaces, were immediately occupied by

    those from Great Britain and France. Subsecjuently, the niiii’

    isters from other countries have grouped themselves around

    these, and a foreign (piarter has gradually grown up in the

    south-eastern part of the city. The chief agents in this im])ortant

    opening, Lord Elgin and Baron Gros, were well fitted by

    their urbanity, phiUiuthropy, and moderation for the delicate

    task assigned them. Tlie terrified officials and citizens in

    Peking had expected the worst consequences on the capture of

    their city, but besides the destruction of Yuen-ming Yuen, their

    capital and national unity escaped uninjured.

    It was probably a great aid to the policy adopted by Prince

    Kung and his colleagues that the Emperor and his court had

    fied to Jeh-ho, for their influence, as the sequel proved, would

    have opposed any pacification. It was still more important for

    all future co-operation that he never came back at all, and thus

    the real guidance of affaii’s fell into better hands.

    The 24:th day of October saw the ending of the seclusion of

    the Chinese from their fellow-men ; the contest honestly enough

    begun in 1839 by Lin, to rescue his country from the curse of

    opium, was in a manner completed on that day by the admission

    of those regenerating influences which could alone effectually remove that evil. The intermediate twenty years had done much to prepare the Chinese for this concluding act ; and the honorable manner in which they fulfilled their promises and payments will stand as a lasting monument to, their national credit.

    The retirement of the allies from Peking was accomplished

    without impediment from the Chinese army under Sangkolinsin

    ; the money disbursed for boats, carts, supplies, fuel, etc.,

    as the troops went down the river, compensating many natives

    for their losses. By the end of November all had embarked

    except the garrisons left at Tientsin and Taku, which latter

    were removed as soon as the portion of the indemnity involving

    their occupation was paid up. The effectual and salutary work

    OBJECTS OF tup: WAR AC(‘0Mri>I8IIEU. 689

    ing of tlio treaty stipulations for the niutual welfare of all parties

    deiieiided on the di})loiiiatic and consular oflEicers left in the

    capital and open ports. The British fijoverninent alone was

    adequately supplied in this respect, and their consulates hecaine

    the expositors to the local rulers of the manner in wliieli tlie

    treaties were to be interpreted and enforced. The great mass

    of natives knew almost nothing of their provisions, and looked

    upon the struggle chiefly as one between their sovereign and

    the foreigners. The defeat of the latter was in remoter districts

    declared proven by their retirement from Peking ; but

    along the coasts and up the Yangtsz’ the actual sight of steamers

    and contact with foreigners who could talk with them and

    explain the new state of things, really did more than anything

    else to show them that these strangers were by no means overcome.

    What was thus achieved to enlighten the people near

    the trading marts only required time and contact to spread into

    distant regions of the interior. As for the citizens of Peking,

    they met only those foreigners who could talk with them, for

    that city was not open to trade ; and thus one prolific source of

    misunderstanding was removed. The death of the Emperor

    Ilienfung (August 17, 1861) relieved them, too, from any attempt

    he might have made, in his irritation on returning to the Forbidden

    City and seeing his ruined palaces, to vent his wrath on the

    few foreigners then living near him. Christian missionaries

    also began their work in 1861, and thus thousands, who had had

    only vague ideas about the ” barbarians,” could easily learn the

    truth concerning them. Most fortunately, then, circumstances

    were from the first favorable for forming an intelligent public

    opinion in the capital.

    CHAPTER XXVI. NARRATIVES OF RECENT EVENTS IN CHINA

    Twelve months elapsed before the political atmosphere of China was disturbed by any break or change in its condition—a period of qniet which the government sorely needed for an appreciation of its relations with the foreigners who had forced their way into the capital. His Majesty Ilienfung having ascended the Dragon Throne on high, left the Empire in the

    hands of his only son, a child six years old ; whether thixxigh

    incapacity or disease, the debauched sovereign had long before

    his death allowed his courtiers to engross the reins of goveriv

    ment, and these now formed a cotei’ie which at Jeh-lio was ajipowerful.

    At his death the administration i-csted in the hands

    of a council of eight, whose nominal head was Tsai-yuen, Prince

    1, a member of the imj)erial family belonging to the same generation

    with the infant Emperor. The design of this cabal was to

    at once assume the absolute power of a regency, to retain possession

    of the young Emperor’s person at Jeh-ho, to make way

    in secret with his mother and the Empress-dowager, and lastly

    to arrest and destroy his father’s three brothers ; these initiatory

    steps to sovereignty being accomplished, nothing would

    interrupt their complete mastery of the government.

    But in Prince Kung,’ the Emperor’s oldest surviving brother.

    ‘ Kung Tsin-waiig, ‘Prince Respect’—called by the people Wu-ako, ‘Fifth

    Elder Rrother ‘—is the sixth son of Tauk’.vang, and was born about 1S;!1.

    ‘Ihree older brothers died young ; Ilienfung, the fourth, succeeded his father,

    wliile the fifth, being adopted into a branch of the Emperor Kiaking’s faujily,

    was dropped out of Tankwang’s household, leaving Princa Kung. in 18G1 ‘«>

    be the first prince during the minority of Tungchi. His persona’, name, Tih-hii.

    is never employed by those outside his immediate family. He has : roni

    mendable record for an Asiatic statesman trained in habits Ol autocratic .1151.

    mand The background in the i)ortrait ou the opposite page is a bit of ”oxm

    work in the Foreign Office at Peking.

    PRINCE KUNG. THE COUP D’ETAT OF PKINCE KUNG. 691

    the conspirators found an opponent of no ordinary ability, to

    whose astuteness in outwitting their machinations (as may he

    safely affirmed in view of events which followed) is doubtless

    owing the continuance of the present reigning family. The

    prince was in concealment during the autumn of 1860, when

    his brother fled to Jeh-ho, but appearing when the capital was

    surrendered to the allies, he bore the brunt of that impleasant

    task, signing the treaties, and undertook almost alone the management

    of affairs with foreigners while the government was

    recovering from its paralysis of defeat. It was a happy augury

    for the continuance of peace and friendly intercourse that to a

    man so well fitted by temperament for liis difficult position

    should be joined the able and experienced statesman Kweiliang

    ;

    though too old to take an active part in the settlement of the

    succession, this skilful diplomatist lent the greatest aid to his

    son-in-law by giving advice and a much needed support to the

    Empresses-dowager at this critical period.

    Hastily quitting Jeh-ho with the boy—who had been proclaimed

    Emperor under the reign-name of Ki-tsiang, ‘ Lucky

    Omen ‘—the two Empresses availed themselves of their right to

    join the first prince, and repaired to Peking. Once settled in

    the Forbidden City they were able to impart to Prince Kung

    the magnitude of the plot against them, and concert measures

    witli leading members of the impei’ial clan for the general

    safety. The arrest and trial of the traitors was promptly carried

    out ; by a decree of December 2, 1861, Prince 1 and his

    principal coadjutor, Prince Chin, were allowed to commit

    suicide, while their powerful and clever colleague, Suhshun, was

    executed in the market-place, to the unfeigned delight of the

    populace. This conspirator in his machinations and gross assumptions

    had acted like a veritable Tigellinus, and earned for

    himself a hatred and contempt which even members of the war

    party could not conceal. Others of this unsuccessful clique

    were disgraced or banished, but the punishments were not

    numerous or barbarous. The reign-name was now changed

    from Ki-tsiang to Timg-chi, or ‘ Union Rule,’ to mark the successful

    demolition of this conspiracy, while Prince Kung (now

    but thirty years old), the shrewd perpetrator of the couj? cPetat,

    692 THE CUDDLE KINGDOM.

    was \)roc]’dimed T-e/ung-ivamj, or ‘licgeiit I’liiicc,’ mid with the

    Empresses constituted the regency during the iniiK^rity.’

    Considerini>- all the circumstances of this ijalace intriijue, the

    rank of its leading members, and its successful suppression hy

    tlie operation of legal methods alone, it may well deserve the

    attention of those interested in the political and historical

    development of China as an admirable instance of both the

    strength and weakness of her paternal government. To the

    ordinary outlays of the Empire were superadded the innuense

    burdens of a foreign invasion just concluded and a terrible

    struggle with domestic enemies; yet neither the Regent nor his

    colleagues appear during this period of stress to have lost a

    particle of their contidence in the loyalty of the people ; through

    loss and gain, failure of material or resource, treachery in palace

    or camp, abuse or assistance frozn foreigners, this faith in one

    another failed not. The face of China in 1865 was perhaps as

    wi-etchcd as that of Central Europe after the peace of AVest»

    phalia; indeed a more general desolation could hardly be imagined.

    Xevertheless the rapidity with which its iidiabitants not

    only resumed their occupations as best they could but rebuilt

    dwellings and reorganized trade, startled even their habitual

    disparagers into praise and testified to the marvellous recuperative

    powers of this much-despised civilization.

    Pleased with the excellent results of the introduction of

    western drill and ai-ms into their military service, as against

    the Tai-pings, certain of the mandarins at the south proposed

    utilizing foreign war-vessels to the same end. To this scheme

    as at first suggested there was not, perhaps, much to say either

    in its behalf or otherwise. Their purpose was to purchase three

    or four gun and despatch boats, man them with as many scores

    of native seamen, and impart to these the necessary instruction

    by placing them under foreign ofiicers. Mr. Horatio X. Lay

    liad in 1850 proposed the use of armed revenue vessels in the

    customs service, a very similar suggestion. But innocent as

    were these conce])ti()ns, they assumed the gravest proportions

    Wounud N. C. Br. R. A. S., December, 1864, pp. 110-114. Dr. Rennie,

    J’ekiitr/ (iiul the Pekinfjese, Vol. II., passim—an interesting contemporary recorcj

    of this event.

    THE LAY-OSBORNE FLOTILLA. 693

    when in 1861 Mr. Lay was allowed to visit England and there contract

    for the construction of a steam fleet and secure a number

    of British naval officers for three years” service.’ The Peking

    authorities were still laboring under the disadvantages of their

    ignorance, and nothing can illustrate better than this remarkable

    enterprise the good influence which Sir Frederick Bruce had

    acquired in their counsels, and their willingness to follow his

    sufforestions. Their secluded life in Pekinii; had pi’evented thera

    from learning many things in respect to the conduct of affairs

    in their new relations, but they could hardly have had a better

    counsellor than he. The instructions from Prince Ivung sent to

    Mr. Lay in England described the kind of officers and hands

    which the vessels were to carry ; they were to be men able and

    willing to teach ignorant sailors the practice of navigation, the

    management of machinery, and the use of guns of every kind.

    Instead of these he contracted for ei<:;ht gunboats of different

    sizes, one or two of them powerful vessels, able to carry two

    hundred and more men ; they arrived in China early in 1863

    under the command of Capt. Sherard Osborne, H. X. Mr.

    Lay’s disappointment was great and undisguised when, on reachinn;

    Pekingr in June, he found that Prince Kung and his advisers

    were totally unprepared for such a fleet, and unwilling to

    endorse the engagements he had entered into with the Queen’s

    officers ; nor were the funds for their current expenses provided.

    His ideas of his own position were soon modified, for he found

    that the vessels must necessarily be placed under the direction

    of the provincial authorities in operations against the rebels.

    One of the articles in the agreement with Captain Osborne stipulated

    that he should receive all his orders on those matters from

    the Foreign Office through Mr. Lay, and would follow his own

    choice in obeying others. Mr. Lay says himself that he was

    “ambitious of obtaining the position of middle-man between

    China and the foreign powers, because I thought I saw a way of

    solving the problem of placing pacific relations with China upon

    a sure footing. . . . My position was that of a foreigner engaged

    by the Chinese government to perform certain work for

    • Blue Bool; China, No. 2 (1864), p. 7.

    694 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    them, not under them. I need scarcely observe, in passing,

    that the notion of a gentleman acting under aw Asiatic barbarian

    is preposterous.” ‘ Ideas like these quite unfitted him for working

    with the Chinese, either under orfor them, lie could not

    understand that the former days of coercion and bullying had

    passed awa}’, and that time must be allowed for them to graduallv

    learn in their own way how to rise in the scale of nations,

    and adopt such improvements as they pleased.

    In his perplexity and chagrin, he began to blame the British

    minister for lukewarmness in supporting his schemes, and to

    weary the members of the Tsung-li Yamun by his demands.

    The controversy continued to grow warmer after Captain

    Osborne’s arrival at Peking in September, where he first learned

    its real nature. Finally, in October, Prince Kung refused to

    ratify Mr. Lay’s agreement made in England, very properly

    remarking upon the obnoxious article which required the commander

    of the flotilla to act only under orders from Peking.

    Happily for China, the dissolution of the force was decided on.

    The ships were to be sent back, for it was impossible to prevent

    the native officials from selling them after they had full

    control, and persons were already looking at them for their own

    lawless designs. At this juncture Sir F. Bruce came to the relief

    of the Chinese, and took the ships off their hands on

    account of the British government, paying back from the indemnity

    fund due to England all claims for wages, salary, and

    other expenses to officers and men till their arrival in London.

    This settlement involved an outlay of about $525,000, but the

    total cost of the vessels, crews, and outfit from first to last was

    not nnu’h less than a million sterling. The Peking government

    had, therefore, by this arrangement escaped a serious

    imbroglicj with the provincial governors and generals—one

    which would have soon neutralized all responsibility, and perchance,

    even at that late date, entailed the success of the

    Tai-pings.

    Mr. Lay, blinded by his own egotism and ambition, ascribes

    his failure to the negligence, treachery, ignorance, and ill-will

    ‘ Our Interests in China : A Letter to Earl Russell, p. 19.

    COLLAPSE OF THE SCHEME. 695

    of Sir F. Bruce, whose performances in these lines are fully

    detailed in his Letter to Earl RusselV of November 26, 1864.

    This statement of wliat occurred in relation to the Lay-Osborne

    flotilla exhibits the difficulties in the progress of Asiatic nations

    in the path of what we call civilization^ and the ideas which

    such men have as to the way in which they are to be forced

    into this desirable condition. This extraordinary paper is an

    instructive exhibition of British interference in tlie administration

    of Asiatic countries, and how totally alien ” the spirit of

    trade and progress” is to the independence and elevation of a

    pagan people when it alone is the chief agency depended on.

    In no case, nor under the best control, could Mr. Lay’s plan

    liave worked real benefit to China ; but carried out under the

    domineering leadership of such a man, the scheme would have

    not only been humiliating in the last degree to those whom it

    was designed to assist, but would have inevitably resulted in

    the restoration of the conservative party to power and another

    profitless struggle with the foreigners.

    Upon the dismissal of Mr. Lay the management of the Lnperial

    Maritime Customs was placed in the hands of Robert Hart,

    Esq., who for a period of two years had given proof of his discretion

    in this position, and (in the words of Mr. Burlingame)

    had ” by his tact and ability w^on the regard of every one.”

    Already the imperial officers began to appreciate the immense

    material advantages of a regular income from the open ports,

    especially in the practical help it furnished toward the expenses

    of the dviui’ i-ebellion. The contact of native and foreisrn

    rule in the same territory necessarily involved much assumption

    of power and friction of authority growing out of the undefined

    limits of the laws of ex-territorial ity ; but the legitimate working

    of treaty provisions—the prompt reference of grievances

    from complainant to consul, from the consul to his minister at

    Peking—served to enlighten court and country as to the gen-

    ^ Our Interests in China, by H. X. Lay, C.B., London, 1864, pp. 66. See

    also correspondence in Blue Gjok, and letter of Sir F. Bruce, of November 19,

    1863. U. S. Diplomatic Coi^respond^iwe for 1864, Part III., pp. 348-378 ; and

    for 1865, Part I., p. 670. A. Wilson, The ” Erer- Victorious Army,” pp. 260-

    266. Fraser’s Magazine, February, 1865, p. 147.

    696 TIIIO MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    eral honesty of their quoiulaiii enemies, in a fashion whicli

    neither preaching nor fighting conld ever have accomplished.’

    In the year 1866 the arsenals at Fnhchau, Nanking, and Shangliai

    were reorganized and made to inclnde schools for naval and

    military instruction as well as engine and gun works ; the value

    of such works was promptly nndei’stood by the Chinese, and

    has been already the source of a creditable navy.”

    The retirement of the Hon. Anson Bnrlingame from the position

    of United States minister in November, 1867, furnished to

    the Chinese government both an admirable agent and opportunitv

    for an initial step in establishing diplomatic intercourse

    M-ith the treaty powers. Into the hands of this gentleman was

    placed the charge of a general mission to those governments,

    there being added two co-ordinate Chinese ministers, an English

    and French secretary, and six students from the Tung-wiin

    Kwan at Peking. The three ministers were appointed Imperial

    Envoys and furnished with a letter of credence to eleven

    governments. The party left Shanghai February- 25, 1868,

    for San Francisco, which ])ort they reached about a month

    later. Few persons can now appreciate the excitement and

    discussion in China and elsewhere caused by this first diplomatic

    effort of the imperial government to take its place among

    the family of nations. Mr. Bnrlingame, naturally hopeful and

    enthusiastic, described his mission as an earnest of future peaceful

    relations with the Middle Kingdom. AVherever he went he

    elevated the estimate held of that ancient land by his hearers,

    and urged the European courts to l)ut wait in patience until its

    backward people might be pi-epared for the changes it wished

    to adopt. Those changes and improvements were only to be

    ‘ The trial and condemnation of an American, who was hung at Shanghai in

    1804 for the murder of two Chinese, tended to repress lawlessness on the part

    of foreigners and assure the native rulers of theirearnest co-operation in bringing

    tlic guilty to punishment. Tlie enlightened and friendly action of Prince

    Kiing in issuing a proclamation, at re(iuest of Mr. Burlinganie, against allowing

    any American Confederate cruisers to enter Chinese waters, was warmly appreciated

    by this and the other treaty powers as an interesting testimonial of

    tlie genuine friendsliip which was already disarming fear.

    ‘Compare Captain Bridge, 77w; Warlike Power of China, iu Franer^s Magazine,

    Vol. 90, pp. 778 ir.

    THE BI^RLINGAME MISSION. 697

    adopted when China liad become convinced of their need and

    practicability ; but many of Mr. Bnrlingame’s hearers were

    botli more eager and more ambitions than he, regarding the

    introduction of raih’oads, telegraphs, and steamers as opening

    an enormous field for their own innnediate activity and gain.

    The consequent indignation among foreign merchants in China and at hojue upon learning the extent of his exaggeration was universal ; the British merchants especially representing in strong terms the evil consequences of such ” baseless expectations.”

    The different points of view of the two parties will account for their opposite opinions. On the one side, the merchants were vexed that their hopes of a general trade arising all over China, as a result of the treaties of Tientsin, were likely to be disappointed, owing to the increasing attention of native traders in their own internal and external commerce to the exclusion of foreigners ; while on the other, Mr. Burlingame laid great stress on those things which the Chinese government desired

    and intended to do as they became more and more qualified

    to act for themselves, through the agencies and institutions

    which they were inaugm-ating. The merchants seemed to

    think that nothing had as yet been accomplished in the direction

    of ” progress,” inasmuch as their personal expectations of an

    instant and lucrative trade were not realized ; in reply to Mr.

    Burlingame’s ” enthusiastic fictions,” they called for “tangible

    evidence of the existence of this spirit M’hich he celebrates so

    loudly—some tittle of proof to support his sweeping theory.” ‘

    Without dw^elling further upon these discussions, it pertains

    to the present narrative to briefly point out the two salient

    features of China’s initial attempt to knock at the doors of

    ‘ See the letters to the Daily News of J. Barr Robertson, of Shanghai, which have been taken as a fairly characteristic specimen of the mercantile and political view. An article by the same gentleman in the Wedminster Revkic for January, 1870, is rather calmer in language. Other data and opinions may be gathered from a work filling 890 pages, by the late J. von Gumpach, entitled The Biirlinf/ir/ne Miaxion : A Political Disrlostire, etc., 1872. Compare also the English newspapers issued in Shanghai and Hongkong in 1867-70; Bntish ParUamentay Papers ; U. S. Ex. Doc., Foreign IMitions, 1868-71; Harper’s Monthly Maaazine, Vol. XXXVII., p. 592; The Galaxy, Vol. VI., p. 613-

    Other nations. Of these the first may be described as wholly

    sentimental ; but it was the healthy sentiment of justice and

    good feeling towai’d a distant and unknown community, which

    Mr. Burlingame’s tact and ability called forth in behalf of his

    clients’ cause from their recent conquerors. Dui’ing the years

    1SG8 and 1869 he spoke for the right and privilege of the

    Chinese to manage their om’ii affairs, and in America, England,

    France, Prussia, and other countries had already created a more

    healthy feeling of forbearance toward them, when his sudden

    death at St. Petei-sburg (February, 1870) cut short the complete

    achievement of his mission.’

    ‘ His colleagues, Chi-kaiig and Sun Kia-kii, afterward visited Italy, Spain, and other countries, returning to China within the same year. Neither of them was, however, brought forward at the capital as an adviser in relation to foreign ailairs.

    ITS TKEATY BETWEEN CHINA AND AMERICA. 699

    In the United States the passage of this embassy might have made but a transient impression had it not negotiated a treaty of eight articles (July 28, 1868), regarded as an integral part of the Reed, treaty of ten years previous. This, the second feature of the mission, has been attended with consequences whose influence does not yet appear to have ceased. Owing to the surprise of the Chinese government, which had given no express instructions as to treaty-making, the Foreign Office was somewhat tardy in ratifying this compact. This was, however, done in the following year. Its fifth article provides that the contracting powers “cordially recognize the inherent and inalienable right of man to change his home and allegiance, and also the nuitual advantage of the free migration and emigration of their citizens and subjects respectively from the one country to the other for the purposes of curiosity, or trade, or as permanent residents. The high contracting parties therefore join in reprobating any other than an entirely voluntary emigration for these purposes.” At this time the British and French ministers had recently agreed to a convention with Prince Kung respecting the conduct of the coolie trade in accordance with the stipulations made at Peking in October, 1860. The draft of those regulations had been submitted to the American as well as all other foreign legations, but only the Spanish treaty contained an article allowing the engagement of Chinese laborej’s in their own country for service abroad. This traffic had become so infamous

    from the cruelties and wrongs perpetrated on the coolies,

    both in China before they embarked and in Cuba and Peru

    after they had landed, that the American Congress had already

    passed laws against it ; and this article was drawn up almost

    wholly with reference to that trade, and to show the abhorrence

    with which it was regarded. Chinese immigrants had come

    to San Francisco to the number of Hfty-three thousand since

    1855, and had been harshly treated by the miners and others in their common struggle for gold ; the Burlingame treaty simply acknowledged their right to immigrate like other foreigners.’

    Meantime at Peking the foreign ambassadors were in the way

    of learniny; that in their relations with the government to which

    they were accredited they had to deal with men of acute minds,

    whose prejudices and conservatism only needed enlightening to

    bring them quite upon a level with any other body of intelligent

    diplomatists. It was indeed a crucial period with Prince

    Kung and his coadjutors of the Tsung-li Yamun—Wansiang,

    Tung Sinn, Tan Ting-siang, llung-ki—who were placed between

    the two great pressures of a warped and bigoted nuiltitude of

    literati wedded to the old regime and the ministers of the outside

    powers, themselves dwelling complacently in the imperial

    city and representing armies and navies which had been found

    invincible. Tlie pride of the ” Celestial ” was necessarily

    brought low, but the situation was accepted, on the whole,

    both wisely and cautiously ; the good fortune of having men of

    the kindness and honor of Bruce, Ylangali, P>erthemy, and Burlingame as heads of the four chief legations, can hardly be exaggerated in its encouraging and healthful effects upon the impression taking root in the minds of Chinese officers.

    At this juncture occurred the massacre at Tientsin of twenty

    ‘ But notwithstanding its acceptance of their “inalienable right ” to freely change their residence, the clamor against this admission was afterward so great among the people on the Pacific coast that a special embassy of three commissioners was sent to Peking in 1880, which relegated the right of admitting Chinese as immigrants into American territory entirely to Congress.

    French and Eussiaus and destruction ui’ the French consuhite

    L’Uthedral, and uj’phanage, by a niub on June 21, l:?i7U, attended

    by circumstances of great atrocity. The event was a severe

    blow as well to the anxious mandarins at the capital as to

    every honest friend of the new order of things thioughout the

    Empire. The Peking authorities were slow at lirst in opening

    an investigation, but testified to their earnestness and righteous

    indignation at the enormity in disposing troops about the capital

    and summarily examining the criminals, so that by the end

    of a month every fear of a general emeute had vanished.

    The causes which led to this outbreak appear to have been

    almost wholly local, taking their rise in the year 1861, w’hen

    the French occupied as their consvdate a temple in Tientsin,

    where in former times the citizens nsed to promenade ; this and

    other unpopular acts kept the natives at enmity with them.

    A more especial account of the most important of these is contained in Mr. Low’s despatch of June 27th: ”At many of the principal places in China open to foreign residence, the Sisters of Charity have established institutions, each of which appears to combine in itself a foundling lu)spital and orphan asylum. Finding that the Chinese were averse to placing children in their charge, the managers of these institutions offered a certain sum per head for all the children })l;iced under their control given to them, it being understood that a child once in their asylum no parent, relative, or guardian could claim or exercise

    any control over it. It has been for some time asserted

    by the Chinese, and believed by most of the non-Catholic foreigners

    residing here, that the system of paying bounties induced

    the kidnapping of children for these institutions for the

    sake of the reward. It is also asserted that the priests or Sisters,

    or both, have been in the habit of holding out inducements

    to have children brought to them in the last staii^es of illness,

    for the purpose of being baptized in aiilealo /jwrtis. In

    this way many children have been taken to these establishments

    in the last stages of disease, baptized there, and soon

    after taken away dead. All these acts, together M’ith the

    secrecy and seclusion which ap]’)ear to be a part and parcel of

    the regulations which govern institutions of this character

    THE TIENTSIN MASSACRE. 701

    everywhere, have created suspicions in the minds of tlie Chinese,

    and these suspicions have engendered an intense hatred

    agahist tlie Sisters on tlie pai-t of all the common ])e(»ple who

    live anywhere near a mission ; and any rumor concei’ning tlie

    Sisters or their acts, however improbable or absuixl, found thousands

    of willing and honest believers among the ignorant and

    superstitious people. Some time about the end of May or be«

    ginning of June an epidemic prevailed at the Sisters’ institution

    at Tientsin, and a considerable number of the children died.

    In some way the report got abroad that the Sisters were killing

    the children to get their eyes and hearts for the purpose of

    manufacturing some sort of a medical specific much sought

    after in Europe and connnanding a fabulous price. This report

    spread from one to another, and soon the belief became

    general. Crowds of people assembled from time to time near

    the mission buildings, demanding the liberation of the children,

    and on one occasion they became so noisy that the Sisters, fearing

    violence from the mob, consented that an examination

    should be made by a connnittee of five. The consul, hearing

    of the disturbance, made his appearance about this time, and

    although the connnittee had been selected and were then in the

    building, he stopped the whole proceeding and drove away the

    committee Nvith angry w^ords. Subsequently the district magistrate

    took a man who had been industriously spreading the reports,

    who said he could ])oint out the persons who were guilty

    of acts of sorcery and o^her crimes, to question him in the presence

    of the Sisters, and when confronted by them admitted that

    all his stories were without foundation and false. The day

    prior to the outbreak the district magistrate {ch’iJilen) called

    upon the French consul, and stated that unless permission be

    given for a thorough examination of the Sisters’ establishment,

    it was difficult to foretell the result. The consul, construing

    the language into a threat, replied that the magistrate being inferior

    in rank to the consul, no negotiation could take place

    between them for the purpose indicated or any other.”’

    ‘ Foreign Relations of the United States, 1870, p. 355. A private letter quoted in the Westminster Review for April, 1871, says : ” Even then (on the I9th) I think the riot could have been prevented if the consul had earnestly joined

    This very unwise answer turned the popuLir rage against the

    French consuLate as well as the cathedi-al and orphanage, and

    the 21st saw a surging multitude assembled in their vicinity

    ready for any violence. M. Foutanier, the Frent-h ct)nsul, now

    thoroughly alarmed, hurried off to the yannm of Chuughow (the

    superintendent of customs), while stones Hew about the building

    he was quitting. For the rest, this poor man’s fate is involved

    in uncertainty. Eeaching Chunghow’s office in a ” state of excitement

    bordering upon insanity,” he failed, either by persuasion

    or menace, in getting that dignitary to promise the impossible—

    to quell at once the angry }nob. The officials, indeed, by this

    time were as helpless as he, and coidd only urge his renuiining

    in the compound until the streets were clear. But the Frenchman

    and his clerk heeded nothing ; how they were cut down in

    the way, after firing into the angry mob, hoM* the rampant populace

    now attacked and pillaged the three or four French l)uildino-

    s, how the defenceless Sisters were butchered in their orphanaire

    after sufferini^; nameless barbarities, and how the frenzied

    host left the burning ruins to glut their passions upon the

    neighboring houses, has come to the wt)rld solely on Chinese

    authoi-ity, and nnist renuiin always in the obscurity resulting

    from greatly contiicting testimony. The children of the orphanage,

    however, were taken off, and tht)ugh attenq^ts upon

    some of the Protestant buildings were made, nothing serious

    resulted. Among the saddest casualties of this bloody day was

    the death of a Russian, his young bride, and a friend, who in

    esca|)ing toward the foreign settlement of Tsz’-chuh-lin, two

    miles away, were mistaken for Frenchmen and pronq^tly hacked

    to pieces on the road. The total number of victims in the

    massacre amounted to twenty foreigners and as many more

    Chinese servants, acolytes, and others.

    To the joint note of the seven foreign ministers in ‘Peking, calling* for immediate and vigorous measures in the face of this terrible news, Prince Kung replied (on the 25th) that in vindication of the honor and justice of the inq3erial government toward with the local authorities in raakinq a full inquiry, with a number of the gentry, inside of the infirmary and church, to show them again that the rumors of foul deeds therein were groundless.”

    ACTION OF THE PEKING GOVEllNMENT. 703

    foreigners, Tsang Ivvvoli-faii (governor-general of the province)

    and Cliunghow luiJ already been directed to do everything

    in their power to suppress tlie spirit of riot and arrest lawless

    men. An imperial edict was issued for the appiehension

    of Chau, Chang, and Lin, the intendant, prefect, and magistrate

    of Tientsin, for their remissness and complicity in the riot.

    The fact that no foreign armed vessel was there on the 21st

    doubtless had its weight with these officials in carrying ont

    their plans at the moment. They now saw that they had pursued

    their ill-will too far, and that retribution was sure to follow

    for their atrocities. Exaggerated reports of their doings had

    rapidly gone over the world, and as the extent and strength of

    the disaffection in other provinces could not be ascertained, the

    inference was made that all foreigners in China were in tmminent

    jeopardy, and that the people had at last risen in their streno;th to aid their sovereii^n to drive them out of the land.

    When the storm had passed over, and those in authority had examined the criminals and given such justice as they could, the opinions of the best informed observers as to the immediate causes were found to be sustained.

    In a few weeks the naval forces of the leading powers had assembled at Tientsin. The French charge d’affairs, Count E-ochechouart, took the lead and demanded the execution of the prefect and magistrate for having instigated the riot. The Chinese refused to do this until a trial had proved their guilt

    liaving, perhaps, in some measure recovered their composure

    upon learning of the commencement of hostilities between

    France and Germany, The imperial government was unable

    itself to coerce the turbulent populace of Tientsin, for it had no

    troops who could be depended on to punish the rioters, with

    whom the soldiers sympathized. The extravagant statements

    and demands continually put forth in the Shanghai and Hongkong

    newspapers tended to irritate and disconcert those high

    officials, who w^ere already at their wits’ end and were anxious

    to prevent a worse disaster. The foreigners seemed to think

    that they could utter hard charges indiscriminately against the

    Chinese rulers and people, who on their part were not to say a

    word. Minister Low, in his despatch of August 24th, when

    speaking of tlie thousands of fans sold at Tientsin containing

    luc-turco of the riot and murdering of foreigners, sajs : ”These

    fans are made to suit the taste of the people, and the fact that

    such engravings Mill cause a better sale for the fans is a conclusive

    argument that there is no sentiment of regret or sorrow

    among the people over the result of the riot. There is, undoubtedly,

    greater unanimity of opinion in Tientsin in favor of

    the rioters than in Ireland among the peasantry in favor of one

    of their number who shoots his landlord. If this feelinij in

    Ireland is strong enough to baffle all attempts of the English

    government to bring to justice by the ordinary forms of laM’ a

    peasant accused of injuring the person or property of his landlord,

    is it surprising that this feeble central government should

    find it difficult to ascertain and punish the rioters in a city of

    four hundred thousand inhabitants, all of whom either aided

    in the massacre or sympathized with the rioters?”‘

    The judicial investigations in Tientsin were conducted in a

    dilatory manner, but the above indicates some of the difficulties

    in the way of the presiding judges. However, on October 5th

    and 10th II. I. Majesty’s decrees were made known to the foreign

    ministers, stating that the prefect and magistrate had been

    banished to Manchuria, twenty criminals who had killed the

    foreigners sentenced to death, and twenty-one others actively

    aiding in the riot banished. On the morning of October I8th

    sixteen were decapitated in the presence of the foreign consuls

    and others assembled as witnesses. This closing act of the

    tragedy, as a condign punishment of guilt, was, however, unfortunate

    ; it was made rather an occasion of showinic to the

    people that the sufferers had the sympathy of their rulers, while

    many foreigners looked upon the execution as a ghastly farce

    ” a cold-blooded nuu’der.” Many believed that the sixteen men

    M-ere purchased victims; the proofs were ample, however, of

    the complicity of all ; indeed, some of them gloried in what they

    Iiad done, and were escorted by admiring friends to the block.”

    ^Foreifin Jirlntiov!^ of the UnHed StatcK- China, 1871, p. 380.

    ‘ As an instance of some of the bitter sentiment rampant upon this occasion,

    may he quoted tlie open proposition of a British missionary, who insisted that

    one-half of the city of Tieutsiu be razed by a detachment of foreign troops of

    PUNISHMENT OF THE RIOTERS. 705

    It is a pal})al)le exaggeration of the power or desires of a

    Chinese official to affirm that he is capable of buying up candidates

    for ini mediate execution.

    As to the remaining four condemned culprits, M. Ylangali, the

    Tvussian minister, judiciously refused to accept their deaths as a

    proper satisfaction foi- the murder of the three Ilussians until satisfied

    personally of their direct complicity in the deed. A careful

    examination of their case having been made before the consulgeneral

    of the Czar at Tientsin, revealed the fact that only two

    were guilt v of the actual crime ; the minister consented then

    that the punishment of the other two should be commuted to

    banishment. The sum of Tls. 400,000 was paid to the French

    for loss of life and property ; in addition to this the loss done

    to Protestant mission premises was also made good. Chunghow

    was appointed imperial commissioner to proceed to France

    and present to that government a formal apology for the affair.

    This mission left Peking early in 1871 and returned the following

    year. The American missionaries who had in August been

    frightened away from their post in Tangchau’ by the warnings

    and threats of certain evil disposed persons, were taken back from

    their asylum in Chifu two months later in the U. S. S. Benicia,

    and publicly received by the prefect. This was the only instance

    throughout the Empire, connected with the riot of June,

    in which foreigners were interfered with, and here grave doubts

    exist as to the i-eality of danger and need of flight from Tangchau.

    In estimating the conduct of the Chinese in dealing with this

    eruption, the foreign press habitually spoke of them as if they

    were unwilling to grant any redress or take any measures for

    the future safety of those living among their sul)jects. Little

    consideration was made for the enormous difficulties of their

    position. They had been reared in ignorance of the multiplied

    questions and responsibilities involved in the recent treaties

    with other nations ; and though the foreign ministers were

    various nationalities, and that a pillar be erected upon the open space thus

    made, with a suitable inscription as to the occasion and authors of the monument.

    ‘ On the promontory of Shantung.

    really acting most kindly toward them in forcing them to can-v

    out every plain treaty obligation, the fair-minded observer can

    find small excuse for the harsh criticism, not to add abuse,

    which was hurled at everything said or done by Prince Kung

    and his colleagues in their peril and perplexity. The writers in

    newspapers seemed to look upon China as an appanage of

    Europe—one Englishman even going so far as to urge the most

    reckless employment of force to compel her rulers to give up

    the three odious officials to be dealt with and publicly executed.

    Another says that the execution of the sixteen criminals could

    “hardly be viewed as other than cold-blooded murder while

    those men are shielded from the demands of justice.” Yet

    these writers forgot that all the treaties required that ” Chinese

    subjects guilty of criminal acts toward foreigners shall be arrested

    and punished by the Chinese authorities according to

    the laws of China ;” and each nation obliged itself to try and

    punish its own criminals. Chunghow was the object of much

    abuse because he had not prevented or put down the mob,

    though he was merely a revenue officer and had neither territorial

    nor military jurisdiction at Tientsin. Even the members

    of the Tsung-li Yamun were freely charged with complicity

    in the tragedy, if not knowledge or approval. In short, the

    whole history of the riot—its causes, growth, culmination, results,

    and repression—combine as many of the serious obstacles

    in the way of harmonizing Chinese and European civilizations

    as anything which ever occurred.’

    ‘ The records of this event are widely scattered in the local papers published in China and in diplomatic correspondence. See the ^fi’ssio^l(l)•l/ Recorder November, 1870, and January, 1871 ; Jouriuil of N. C. Bnntch of li. A. Soc, No. VI., pp. 18()-1!)0; Eiliiihiir(]h Iier/nr, Jannary, 1871; ]\'(!<tiitiii!itcr Reriew, April, 1871, Art. VI. ; T/te Tiod^in Massacre, kc, by Geo. Thin, M.D., Edinburgh, 1870; Foreitpi Relations of the United States for 1870 and 1871 ; Ij^gation to China ; ParUamentanj Elite Book, 1871 ; H. Blerzy, Les affaires de Chine en 1871, Revue des Deu.r Mondes, 1 juillet, 1871 ; North China Daily News and North China lTer(dd for 1870. One of the most carefully prepared and interesting accounts of the massacre is contained in Baron Iliibner’s Rani’hie Jionnd the World, translated by Lady Herbert, New York, 1875, pp. 526-573.

    KULES SUGGESTED FOR CONTROL OF MISSIONARIES. 707

    As a natural sequence to the judicial proceedings which terminated the Tientsin tragedy, came the inquiry of the imperial counsel into what was briefly summed upas the “missionary question.” More than ten years had now elapsed since the general repeal of all pre-existing edicts against Christianity in the Empire, and the officials were already concerned as to the movements and rumors respecting the new sect which had come to their ears since that time. Accordingly in February, 1871, after an earnest study of the matter from their stand-point, the Foreign Office sent to the various legations the following note and memorandum:

    TuNGCiii, 9th year, 12th moon, 24th day.

    Sir : In relation to the missionary question, the members of the Foreign

    Office are apprehensive lest in their efforts to manage the various points connected

    with it they .shall interrupt the good relations existing between this

    and other governments, and have therefore drawn up several rules upon the

    subject. These arc now enclosed, witli an explanatory minute, for your examination,

    and we hope that you will take them into careful consideration.

    With compliments, cards of Wansiang.

    Shan Kwei-fan.

    The rules proposed (1) that only the children of native Christians be received into Komish asylums ; (2) that ” in order to exhibit the reserve and strict propriety of Christianity,” no Chinese females should enter the chapels nor foreign women propagate the doctrines ; (3) that missionaries should confine themselves to their proper calling, and that they ” ought not to be permitted to set up an independent style and authority ;” (4) that they should not interfere in trials of their native converts when brought into criminal courts ; (5) that passports given to missionaries should not be transferred, but returned to the Chinese authorities when no longer required, “nor should they avail themselves of the passport to secretly go elsewhere,” as the French ofttimes did ; (6) that the missionaries should never receive men of bad character into the church, nor retain

    those of notoriously evil characters ; moreover that quarterly reports

    of the converts be handed in to the provincial officers, as

    did the Buddhist and Taoist houses ; (7) that missionaries

    should not use official seals, nor write official despatches to the

    local authorities, nor otherwise act as if they were officials

    instead of commoners. The last rule complained of the unreasonable demands of the Rouiisli missionaries for lands and houses to be restored to them in accordance with the Peking convention ; it proposed that no more be restored, and that lantis bought for erecting churches be held in the name of the native church members.

    This state paper was remarkable as being the first in which

    the Chinese government had expressed its desire for a satisfactory

    discussion and decision of the difficult questions involved

    in Christian missions, and the quasi independence allowed their

    foreign agents by the treaties. The public sentiment among

    foreigners in China was that these good people had a right to

    do everything not expressly prohibited by treaty until their

    own consular officers notified them to the contrary. The un

    authorized conduct of Romish missionaries in two western

    provinces had already given rise to riots, in which Frenchmen

    had been killed. In such judicial proceedings as that described

    by Abbe Hue in his interesting travels are seen the high-handed

    perversion of justice denounced in the seventh section of this

    paper.’ The writers of these rules were hardly aware of the

    serious import of the questions they had grappled, still less of

    the ignorance they exhibited in their handling of them. All

    the strictures referred exclusively to the Roman Catholics, for

    Protestant missionaries were hardly known to the Chinese

    magistrates, no complaints having been entered against them.

    Most of the foreign ministers long delayed their answers to this

    minute, so that no personal discussion ever took place between

    the parties most interested. The straightforward and eai’iiest reply of Mr. Low, the United States envoy (dated March 20th), carefully went over all the main points, and gave Wansiang

    and Shan Kwei-fan a clear idea of what they might expect from

    other ministers, together Avith manv “‘ood sut^y-estions as to their

    own duties. Nothing practical ever came of the paper, but the

    discussions it caused throughout the country showed the interest

    felt in the whole matter.” A few Protestant missionaries

    themselves indulged in harsh sti-ictures on the native officials,

    ‘ Travels in tJie Chinese Empire, Vol. I., Chap. VI.

    ‘ Forciyn Relations of the United States, 1871, pp. 99-111 ; also for 1872, pp 118-130 and 137-138. Missionary Recorder, Vols. III. and IV. passim.

    THEIR RECEPTION BY FOREIGNERS. 709

    one going the length of saving tliat he “looked upon the document

    rather as an excuse offered beforehand for premeditated

    outrages than as an indication of measures being taken to prevent

    them.” However, no evil results ever came to the converts

    or their teachers from the discussion of the minute, and

    its diffusion gave many i-eaders their first information on the

    whole subject. Differences of opinion led to a comparison of

    facts, and the small number of grievances reported upheld the

    conclusion that the Chinese officials and literati had been, on the

    whole, extremely moderate, considering their limited opportunities

    to examine the question and the irritation aroused by the

    demands and hauteur of the Romish missionaries. The unjust

    manner in which they possessed themselves of the ground

    within the city of Canton on which the governor-general’s yamun

    once stood had made a deep impression on the citizens;

    and when their cathedral, towering above all the temples and

    ofiices of the metropolis, was located upon this site, their indignation

    knew no bounds.

    The year 1873 saw the conclusion of the Mohammedan insurrection

    in the north-western provinces, the exact extent of

    which has never been perfectly made known. The capture of

    Suhchau (near the Kiayii Pass in Kansuh) by the imperial

    troops under General Tso Tsung-tang brought to an end all organized

    rebellion in China Proper.’ As is customary, the central

    government threw the responsibility of promoting the

    peace of the provinces upon their governors, and the welldisposed

    among the people were usually sure of protection.

    The foreign administration of the import customs turned a

    large and certain revenue into the hands of the Peking officials,

    and their development of the defences of the coast in buildingforts,

    launching war steamers, and making war material at the

    new arsenals, indicated their fears of foreign reprisals and

    their unwisdom in deeming such outlays effectual. The same

    money spent in making good wagon roads, working iron, coal,

    and other mines, deepening navigable watercourses, and intro-

    ‘ Foreign Relations of the United States., 1874^ p. 350. Peking Gazette, December 28, 1873. ciuc’ing fimall steamers on them, would have brought more substantial returns. But these were achievements which the future alone coukl accomplish, and the people must be somewhat taught and prepared for them before any permanent advances would ensue.’

    On October 16, 1872, occurred the marriage of the Emperor Tungchi to Aluteli, a Manchu lady. The ceremonies attending her selection, betrothal, and espousal were elaborate and complete in every particular. Such an event had only once before taken place during the Manchu dynasty—when Kanghi was a minor, in 1674—all the other emperors having been

    married during their fathers’ reigns. The occasion, therefore,

    excited great attention, while the attendant expenses were

    enormous ; but all passed off without the least disturbance and

    apparently to general satisfaction. The two Empresses-dowager

    controlled the details, the most important of which were announced

    to the Empire in a series of edicts prepared by members

    of the Li P\i^ or Board of Bites, containing directions for

    every motion of the two principal actors, as well as for those

    who joined the ceremonies during the occasion till the 21st of

    the montli.^

    The young Emperor entered into the spirit of the preparations

    with great interest, and on the day before sending the

    bride her phoenix robes and diadem he ordered three princes to

    offer sacrifice and burn incense on the altar to heaven, ” these

    informing heaven that he was about to marry Aluteh, the wise,

    virtuous, and accomplished daughter of Chung, duke and

    member of the llanlin.” Another prince informed mother

    earth, and a third announced it to the imperial ancestors, in

    their special temple. During the weeks preceding and following

    the happy day, all courts throughout the land were closed

    and a general jail delivery promulgated.

    ‘ Compare a rather enthnsiastic article by Captain A. G. Bridge, The Bciiral vf the Warhke Poirer of China, Fmnrfs Mitfiozinp ior imw, 1879, p. 778.

    * A translation of these papers was made at Shanghai, not long after, by Miss L. M. Fay, an American lady, and furnishes an interesting and authentic account of the whole wedding.

    MARRIAGE OF THE EMPEROR TUNOCIII, 711

    Many of the ceremonies and processions in Peking were not public, for considerations of state and security deuianded great care.’ On the 19tli the wedding was thus announced to the foreign ministers by II. I. Majesty, through Prince Kung : “We having with pious veneration succeeded to the vast dominion founded by Our ancestors, and enjoying in its fuhiess the glorious lot to which We have been destined, have chosen one

    virtuous and modest to be the mistress of Our imperial home.

    Upon October 15th, We, by patent, installed Aluteh, daughter

    of Chung Chi, a sJu-tslany in the Ilanliu College, as Empress.

    This from the Emperor.” The court had not as yet outgrown

    its exclusiveness further than this step of announcing the marriage

    and its completion ; and to those best acquainted with the

    etiquette observed for centuries, even this seemed to be a good

    deal in advance of former times. The great counsellors of

    state soon arranged for closing the regency which had existed

    since 1861. The Emperor Tungchi, though born on April 27,

    1856, was called seventeen at his marriage. The Empressesdowager

    accordingly announced on October 22d that he

    would attain his majority at the next Chinese new year, and be

    inaugurated with all the usual ceremonies. One of his special

    imperial functions, that of offering sacrifices to heaven at the

    winter solstice, would be performed by him in person—a ceremony

    which had been intermitted since December, 1859.

    ‘ For a report of what could be watched of this ceremony, see William Simpson, Meeting (lie Sun, Chap. XV. The bridal procession came off during the night, when a bright moonlight enabled him to see it pass, without molestation, from the shop where he was hidden. This chiaroscuro sort of panorama rather suited the ideas of the people, and was submitted to by the Pekingese crowd without a murmur. Compare K. Bismark in the Galaxy, Vol. XIX., p. 182; CornMl Magazine, Vol. XXVII., p. 83.

    Accordingly, on February 23, 1873, he issued a decree through the Board of Rites, as follows : ” A¥e are the humble recipient of a decree from their Majesties the two Empresses, declaring it to be their pleasure that We, being now of full age, should in person assume the superintendence of business, and in concert with Our officers in the capital and in the provinces, attend to the work of good government. In respectful obedience to the commands of their Majesties, We do in person enter upon the important duty assigned to L s on the 26th day of the 1st moon of the 12th year of the reign Tungclii.”

    This announceineTit was on the same day connnunicated to the

    ministers of Itussia, Germany, tlie United States, Great Britain,

    and France. They returned a collective note the following

    morning, and asked Prince Ivnng to ” take his Imperial Majesty’s

    orders with reference to their reception.”” This intimation

    could not have been nnexpected to him and his colleagues, but

    with their nsual habit of putting off the inevitaljle, they began

    to make excuses. .Vfter deferring the consultation with the envoi’s

    a fortnight on the plea of AVansiang’s illness, they met

    at the Russian legation on March 11th. The question of

    the I’ofoir was the crucial point, as it had Ijeen in 1859 between

    1\ weiliang and Mr. Ward. Then the conrt was willing to accept

    a sort of curtsey instead of a prostration when the American

    minister apjjroached the throne. Xow the court had put the

    strongest argument into the hands of foreign ministers by

    sending the Burlini^-ame mission to their courts, and the ritjhts

    of independent nations could not be waived or implicated by

    the least sign of inferiority. The conference was amicable and

    the matter fully ventilated. The demands n])on the Chinese

    were summarized by the ministers : That a pei-sonal audience

    with the Emperor was proper and needful ; that it should not

    be unnecessarily delayed ; and that they would not kneel before

    him, nor perform any other ceremony derogatory to their

    own dignity or that of their nationalities. These points were

    maintained as their united decision in the weary series of conferences,

    correspondence, and delays which ensued during the

    next four months in Peking. The prince and his colleagues,

    by their discussion of the point, had aroused the resistance of

    the great body of literati and conservative officials in the Empire,

    who had grown u]^ in the belief that its unity and prosperity

    were involved in the [)erf()rnuince of the kotow. The

    discussion in July, 185!), when the Emjieror Ilienfung could

    safely decline to admit Mr. Ward to an audience without it, had

    exhausted their ai’gunu’iits ; but his son had come to the throne

    under the new influences, which were rapidly breaking down

    all those old ideas and safeguards. The prince had, moreover,

    DISCUSSION OF THE AUDIENCE QUESTION. 7J3

    ieariied tiiat the foreign ministers were not very strongly sup^

    ported by tlieir own governments, none of whom intended to

    make the audience question a casus helli, or even a reason for

    withdrawing their legations from Peking. Perhaps the Yannni

    thought that the departure of the Ilussian and German ministers

    would leave the other three less inclined to persist in their

    demand, if serious consequences were likely to result.

    The American minister clearly states the pith of the matter

    in his despatch of March S-ith in his closing words : ” I attach

    importance to the proper settlement of the audience question

    at the earliest time possible. To demand it, and urge compliance

    with the demand, is a duty every western nation owes

    to its own dignity and to the welfare of its citizens and subjects

    residing here ; it is also a kindness to this government to try

    through this moans to improve relations, and thus prevent, or

    at least postpone, what are now likely at any time to occur—hostile collisions, with their dreadful consequences.” ‘ This

    alternative was not a fanciful one, and this canse of chronic

    dispute and irritation between China and other nations during

    many centuries was removed chiefly through the patient pereistance

    of Mr. Low in this discussion. His despatches contain

    every fact and argument of importance in perhaps the most

    serious controversy ever brought before China. One cannot

    but sympathize with Prince Ivung and his colleagues in their

    dilennna, and to this embarrassment Mr. Low gives due weight.

    The Chinese ofhcials took a month to discuss the points

    among themselves, and signs of yielding were apparent both

    in the note of Prince Kung of April IGth and the memorandum

    of the 29th brought forward at an interview with the

    legations. Much of the same ground was gone over again ; a

    vacation ensued, then another protocol on May 15tli appeared,

    followed by notes on the 20th and 29th from both sides,

    all tending to the desired conclusion. At last the audience

    question was settled on June 29th by the Emperor first

    ‘ Forenjn EelatioriH nfllip United Sfiitrs, 1873, p. 160. See also the despatches

    of that year, and compare Pauthier’s ITixUrfrc flea TiiiatioiiH Politique (fe la Cliine, Paris, 1858. Narrative of the American Embassy’s visit to Peking, N. a Br. R. As. Sv., Vol. I, 1859.

    receiving Soyeshima, the ambassador from Japan, by himself; and immediately afterward the five ministers of Russia, the United States, (ireat Britain, J”ranee, and Holland, accompanied only by Mr. Carl Bismarck, the German secretary, who interpreted for them.’ Mr, Low’s despatch of July 10th, giving the details of the ceremonies and the previous discussion in settling them, with the difficulty the prince and others had in swallowing

    the bitter pill, is very valuable as a description of the finale

    of this last struggle of Chinese seclusion to resist the incoming

    wave of w’estern power. The wall of their separation was at

    last broken down. They were really stronger and wiser than

    ever, and every nation interested felt a relief that the days of

    proud assumption were ended. The young Emperor held only

    three more audiences during his short reign of nineteen months ;

    and in all these discussions he seems to have taken no active

    part, nor did he oppose the conclusion. His ignorance of the

    whole question made his opinion a matter of small moment.

    Among other advantages resulting to all parties by the settlement

    of this question was the right adjustment of the Chinese

    government in its relations with other courts. This acknowledgment

    of their equality as independent nations did not in anywise

    interfere with the obeisance of native ofiicials when approaching

    their sovereign ; but it smoothed the way for future

    diplomatic relations. Xo western power could maintain an

    envoy near the TTtrmvjt’i at Peking with the least self-respect

    if he were not allowed to see this potentate unless by prostrating

    himself. While none of the great nations would deem a mere

    matter of ceremony a sufficient pretext for resorting to war

    since war itself often fails to convince—a long, continuance of

    this state of affairs must inevitably have led to complications

    the more unpleasant to diplomatists because sure to be oft-recurring.

    It was probably owing to the personal influence of Prince Kung and Wansiang, the two most enlightened statesmen of this period, that a further insistance upon the kotow was not made, and preparations thus arranged for reciprocal courtesies when Chinese ambassadors appeared at foreign courts.

    ‘ Compare the lUustrated London News for June 23, 1873.

    THE AUDIENCE GRANTED—COOLIE TKADE STOPPED. 715

    But against what tremendous odds of superstition and national

    prejudice these two otiicials were pitted in this curious contest

    those who liave never lived in the Empire can liardly appreciate.’

    The years 1873 and IST-i were marked by the abolition of

    the coolie trade at Macao, which since its rise in IS-iS had been

    attended with many atrocities on land and sea. During these

    twenty-five years attempts had been made to conduct the trade

    with some regard for the rights of the laborers, but experience

    had shown that to do this was practically impossible if the

    business were to be made remunerative. Driven from Hongkong

    and Whampoa, the agents of this traffic had long found

    shelter in the Portuguese harbor of Macao, from which semiindependent

    port they could despatch Chinese crimps on kidnapping

    excursions for their nefarious trade. When at last the

    governor closed this haven to its continuance, the Spaniards and

    Peruvians were the only nationalities whom the action affected ;

    but Spain, falling back on her treaty of 1864, insisted that the

    coolie trade be allowed. The Yanmn was advised not to admit

    this privilege until the harsh treatment of the laborers in Cuba

    had been inquired into. This was done in 1873, by means of a

    commission composed of three foreigners and two Chinese, who

    made as thorough an inquiry as the Cuban authorities would

    permit and reported the results in 1874. Since the dreadful

    disclosures which transpired in their report the trade has never

    revived. Peru, indeed, sent M. Garcia as its envoy to Peking to negotiate a treaty and obtain the right of engaging laborers,

    but tills o-entleinan met with no success whatever. The Chinese iieirotiations on this occasion showed the <rood resulti? of their freer intercourse with foreigners in the improved character of their arguments for maintaining their rights.” Tlic Lamentable condition of Chinese laborers in Peru was fully enough proved, inasmuch as their appeal for relief to their home government had been before the Yannm since 18GS, but it could do nothing effectual to help them.

    ‘ Of Wansiang’s personal history little is known. He was a Mancliu, and a man of uncommonly prepossessing manner, being perhaps most highly esteemed of all the officials who came in contact with the foreign legations. At the termination of hostilities and the organization of the Tsung-li Yamun in 1861, he came prominently forward as a most efficient and sagacious adviser of the government. We have already in this narrative had occasion to note the influence of his name in the settlement of the Lay-Osborne flotilla and in the missionary question, the satisfactory conclusion of which was a meet tribute to his talents and judgment. He died at an advanced age in 1875, at the head of the administration. In his death the Chinese government lost an unselfish patriot and a keen observer of those things which were for the best interests of his country.

    The Japanese government undertook in this year to try the

    issue of war with the Chinese in order to settle its demand of

    redress for the murder, in 18T1, of some fifty-four Lewchewan

    sailors by savages on the eastern coast of Formosa. Japan

    had recently deposed the native authorities in Shudi, and being

    hard pressed for some employment of the feudal retainers of

    the retired daimios, undertook to redress Lewchewan grievances

    by occupying the southern part of Formosa, asserting that

    it did not belong to Cliina because she either -vvould not or

    could not govern its savage inhabitants. This view of the divided

    ownership of the island was promptly rejected by the foreign

    ministers resident at Tokio, but the officials were persuaded

    that all they had to do was to occupy the whole southern

    district, and the Chinese could not drive them out when once

    their intrenchments were completed.

    The Mikado accordingly gathered his forces in Kiusiu during

    the years 18T3-T-4-, placing them under the command of (ieneral

    Saigo, and engaging (qualified foreign military men to assist.

    The expedition was called a High Commission, accompanied by

    a force sufficient for its protection, sent to aboriginal Formosa to

    inquii-e into the murder of fifty-four Japanese subjects, and

    take steps to prevent the recurrence of such ati’ocities. A pi-oclamation

    was issued April IT, 1874, and another May 19th,

    stating that General Saigo was directed to call to an account

    the persons guilty of outrages on Japanese subjects. As he

    knew that Chiiui was not prepared to resist his landing at

    Liang-kiao, his chief business was to provide means to house

    ‘ Foreign Relations of tJie United Stntcn, 1874, pp. 198-232. Westminster

    lievietr, Vol. lUO, p. 75. Customs Hqjort on Cabau Coolie Trade, 1870.

    JAPANESE EXPEDITION TO FORMOSA. 717

    and feed tlie soldiers under his command. Tlie Japanese authorities

    do not appear very creditably in this affair. JSo sooner

    did they discover the wild and barren nature of this unknown

    region than they seemed fain to beat an incontinent and hasty

    retreat, nor did the troops landed there stand upon the order of

    their going. They had in some measure been misled by the fallacious

    arguments of Gen. Charles Le Gendre, formerly United

    States consul at Amoy, who had travelled through these districts

    in 18G5 ; the enormous cost which they had already incurred

    made them hesitate about proceeding further, though they had

    announced their intention of retaining possession of the territorj’.

    The aborigines having tied south after the first rencontre, the

    Japanese leader employed his men as best he could in opening

    roads through the jungle and erecting houses.

    Meanwhile the Peking authorities were making ^^reparations

    for the coming struggle, and though they moved slowly they

    were much in earnest to protect their territory. General Shin

    Paochin having been invested with full powers to direct operations

    against the Japanese forces, began at once to draw together

    men and vessels in Fuhchau and Amoy. The Japanese consuls

    at Amoy and Shanghai were allowed to remain at their posts;

    and during the year two envoys arrived at Peking to treat

    with the Court. Their discussions soon narrowed down to a

    demand on the Japanese ministers, Yanagiwara and Okubo, to

    withdraw from Formosa before treating with them upon the

    outrages there ; which was met by a refusal on the ground that

    the Emperor had voided his sovereignty by having for three

    years taken no steps to punish his subjects, notwithstanding the

    repeated requests made to this end. The Chinese proved that

    the Japanese had violated their ti-eaty, and acted in an underhand

    manner in certain negotiations w^ith their envoy, Soyeshima,

    the preceding year ; but this continued sparring was mere

    child’s play. The probabilities were strong against any settlement,

    when the parties were induced to arrange their quarrel

    by the intervention and wise counsel of Sir T. F. Wade, the

    British minister. The Japanese accepted five hundred thousand

    taels for their outlays in Formosa for roads, hotises, and

    defences ; agreeing thereupon to retire and leave the further punishment of the aborigines to the Chinese authorities. The two envoys left Peking, and this attempt at war was happily frustrated.’

    The history of this affair was exceedingly instructive to those who saw the risks to their best interests which both these nations were running in an unnecessary appeal to force. Never, perhaps, has the resort to arbitration been more happy, when to the difficulty of keeping out of a quarrel which so many fortune seekers were ready to encourage was added the fact that both nations had been eagerly developing their land and marine forces by adopting foreign arms, drill, ships, and defences; every friend felt the uselessness of a disastrous conflict at this

    time and willingly strove to prevent any such result. The civilization

    of all parts of Foi-mosa has since rapidly advanced by

    the extension of tea and sugar culture, the establishment of

    Christian missions, and the better treatment of the native

    tribes. A single incident at this time illustrated the undefined

    position of the parties in this dispute. This was the arrival

    in Peking, after Okubo’s departure, of a large embassy of Lewcliewans

    to make their homage to the Emperor Tungchi. The

    Japanese charge d’affaires was denied admittance to the Lewchewan

    hotel, and the Yamun refused to dismiss the embassy,

    but gave it an audience, as was the usage in former days—probably

    the last in their history. The experience acquired by these

    three natioTis in their quarrel concerning Formosa has not prevented

    considerable bitterness aljout their rights to Lewchew.

    No sooner had the Chinese government escaped from the

    Japanese imbroglio by the payment of half a million taels than

    it foiuid itself involved in another and more troublesome question

    with the British. This arose from the persistent attempts

    of the latter to open a trade through Burmah, along the Irrawadi

    River, with Yunnan and other south-western parts of

    China. The Indian government had sent or encouraged explorers

    to go through the little known regions lying between

    ‘ h Ahorif/inal Formosa a part of tJie Chinese Empire? with eight maps,

    folio, Shangliai, 1874, pp. 20. Foirign Relations of the United States for 1873

    and 1.S74—( liina and Japan, passim. 71ie Japan Herald aud North China

    Herald for those years record all the leading events.

    MAJOR SLADEN’S MISSION TO YUNNAN. 719

    tlie Brahmaputra and Lantsang rivers, but no ti-ade could be

    developed in so wild and thinly settled a region. During the

    Tai-ping Rebellion the Emperor’s authority in Yunnan had

    been practically in abeyance, and over the western half of the

    province it had been superseded by a revolt of the Panthays, a

    Mohammedan tribe long settled in that region. These sectaries

    date their origin from the Tang dynasty, and had been generally

    unmolested by the Chinese so long as they obeyed the

    laws. During the Mongol sway their numbers increased so that

    they began to participate in the government, while ever since

    they have enjoyed more or less the control of affairs.’ The

    differences in faith and practice, however, aided in keeping them

    distinct ; and in Yunnan their numbers were recruited by settlers

    from Ivansuh and Koko-nor, so tliat they were led to

    throw off the Chinese rule altogether.

    They began about the year 1855 to defend themselves against

    the imperialists, captured Tali in 1857, pushing their arms

    as far eastward as the provincial capital Yunnan fu, which was

    seized and held for a brief period ; but in 1867 they proclaimed

    Tu Win-siu as their Imam, and located their capital in Tali.

    With affairs in this condition law and order speedily vanished,

    life and property were sacrificed, and general misrule furnished

    the lawless with an opportunity to burn, kill, and destroy until

    the land became a desert. The Panthays, as the Burmese

    called the insurrectionists, turned their hopes westward for

    succor, and to this end endeavored to keep open the trade with

    Burmah and India, but under the circumstances it could not

    flourish. The British in those countries were, however, quite

    ready to countenance, if not aid, the new ruler at Tali, as soon

    as his power was sufficiently consolidated to keep open the roads

    and protect traders.

    In 1868 a party was ordered to proceed to this city and ” discover

    the cause of the cessation of trade formerly existing by

    these routes, the exact position held by the Kakhyens, Shans, and

    Panthays Avith reference to that traflic, and their disposition or

    ‘ Compare Dr. Anderson, From Mandalay to Momien, p. 323. Du Halde,

    Hutoire, Tome I., p. 199. Grosier, China, Vol. IV., p. 270. Gamier, Voyaye

    d’Explaration, Tome I. Cooper, Travels of a Pioneer of Commerce.

    otherwise to resuscitate it.” This party, iininberiiii;- a hnmlred

    in all, was in charge of Major Sladen, assisted by live qualitied

    men, and guarded by an escort of fifty armed police ; its object

    embraced diplomacy, engineering, natural science, and commerce.

    Their steamer reached IJliamo January 22, ISOS, and

    the party began their travels early in March, arriving after nuicli

    delay at Momcin (or Tuiig-yueh chau), a town on the Taping

    River, one hundred and thirty-five miles from Bhanio and about

    five thousand feet above the sea. Another forced delaj- of near] ,•

    two months convinced them of the impossibility of their getting

    to Tali (nearly as far again) ; in face of the determined opposition,

    therefore, both of the hill tribes and Chinese traders. Major

    Sladen was fain to retire in safety to Bhamo. The retreat of

    this anomalous expedition could be officially ascribed to the

    weakness of the Panthay rulers, the wild region traversed, and

    its yet wilder inhabitants. But to what principles of justice or

    equity can we attribute the action of the British in retaining

    their minister at the capital of an Empire Avhile sending a

    peaceful mission to a rebel in arms at its boundaries ? This

    impertinence seems thinly veiled by dubbing the expedition one

    of inquiry concerning trade ; no trade did or could exist with

    an ill-assorted rabble of wild mountaineers; when these had

    been duly subjected an expedition for purposes of science would

    meet with as ready assistance from the authorities as did that

    of the Frenchman, Lieutenant Garnier, then exploring eastern

    Yunnan. This disregard of the courtesies and i-ights of independent

    nations refiects as little credit upon the powerful luition

    which used her strength thus unfairly as does her similar attempt

    of negotiating with another rebel, Yakub Beg in Ili.

    Major Sladen’s mission, owing to the admirable qualities of

    its leader, made so fair an impression upon the natives along

    his route that upon his return in 1873 his progress was materially

    assisted, instead of retarded, by them as far as Momcin.

    In the years intervening the Imam at Tali, with about forty

    thousand of his followers, had been hemmed in by the Chinese

    forces under the leadership of Li Sieh-tai, or Brigadier Li. The

    Mohannnedans felt their weakness against such odds, and the

    80-called Sultan Suleiman sent his son Hassan to London to

    SECOND BRITISH MISSION TO YUNNAX. 721

    implore recognition and aid from tlie British government ; but

    before lie returned his father had killed himself and the victorious

    Chinese had massacred most of their opponents and regained

    possession of the whole province in 1873. Its western

    half had been virtually inde])endent since 1855, during which

    period the wretchedness of the inhabitants had greatly reduced

    their numbers and resources.

    Trade soon revived. The British appointed an agent to reside

    at Bhamo and learn its amount and character. In 1874 an ex

    pedition—this time provided with Chinese passports—was

    planned to make the trip across China from Burmah to Hankow,

    as Lieutenant Garnierhad done from Saigon. The Chinese

    traders in Burmah set themselves to circumvent it, for its success

    boded disaster to them, as they better knew the resources

    of their competitors. The British plan was to send an accredited

    agent across the country from Hankow to Bhamo, there to

    meet a party under charge of Col. Horace Browne, which was

    to “thoroughly examine the capabilities of the country beyond

    Momein.” As only six years had passed since Sladen’s party

    had reached that town on its way to the Panthays at Tali, there

    had perhaps been hardly time to remove all suspicion among

    the local officials about the objects of this new move. One

    of the consular clerks, Augustus R. Margary, was furnished

    with necessary passports and instructions from her Majesty’s

    legation to go to Bhamo and act as Colonel Browne’s guide and

    interpreter. His journals testify that no better choice could have

    been made, and all who knew him were hopeful of the success

    of this young man.” He left Hankow September 2d and reached

    Bhamo January 17th without molestation or accident, having

    been received with respect by all Chinese officials, whom the

    governor-general of Yunnan had required thus to act. While

    the party in Bhamo prepared the equipment for its journey, Dr.

    Anderson observes that the Chinese ” watched its movements

    with a secret feeling that the objects contemplated were somewhat

    beyond the peaceful pursuits of commerce and scientific inquiry.’”

    ‘ Journals of A. R. Margary, edited by Sir R. Alcock, London, 1877.

    – The report was also circulated that the party was going to lay down a rail road.

    Mr. Margary intimated that lie thought there were intrigues

    going on at Manwyne adverse to the advance of the mission ; but

    Brigadier Li, who treated liim there with great honor, did every

    thing to promote his journey to Bhamo.

    The arrangements as to routes and escorts were at last completed

    so far as to allow the party iinally to leave Bhamo

    February 3, 1875 ; it numbered nearly fifty persons in all, together

    with a Burmese guard of one hundred and iifty. The rivalries and

    deceptions of the Ivakhyen tribes proved to be worse than in 1868,

    and progress was slower from the difficulty of providing animals

    for transport. By the 18th it had crossed the frontier, and the

    next morning Mr, Margary left, with five Chinese, for Manwyne,

    to arrange there for its reception by Brigadier Li. Increased

    dissensions among the tribes as to escort, transport, and pay

    led Colonel Browne to push on after him with a guard so as to

    reach that town and find some competent authority to aid his

    expedition. Many signs of serious opposition had by this time

    manifested themselves ; and when he was preparing to start

    from Seray on the 23d, large bodies of armed men were seen

    on the opposite hills coming to attack the British. A Burmese

    messenger also arrived from Manwyne with letters giving an

    account of the horrid murder of Mr. Margary and his attendants

    by the treacherous officials there on the 20th, The Chinese

    soldiers or robbers were in a manner repulsed by the

    bravery of Browne’s escort and by firing the jungle, but the expedition

    was in face of too powerful an opposition to contemplate

    advancing after such disasters. The return to Bhamo was

    soon made, and the earnest efforts of the Burmese officers there

    to recover everything beloi^ging to the British proved their

    lionesty.

    The disappointment at this rebuff was exceeded by the general

    indignation at tlie treachery which marked the murder. It

    was soon known’ that J^i Sieh-tai was not at Manwyne at tlie

    time, though the real actors in tlie tragedy l)el()nged to his ainiy,

    and must have made him cognizant of the (IcmhI.’

    ‘ MiDiihild]! to Momien : A Narratm’ of Tiro Krjmh’t/ous toWfufcrii (‘fii)ia,

    by T)i .lolm Anderson, contains a most satisfactory narrative of tlu’se attempts;

    the writer’s ojjinion is of the highest value.

    MURDER OF MARGARY AT MANWYNE. 7:^3

    When news of this disaster reached London and Peking, the

    British minister was directed to deinand an investigation of tlie

    facts connected with the outrage in presence of a British

    officer in Yunnan, the issue by the Yaniun of fresh passports

    for a new mission, and an indemnity. After montlis of dehiy

    and correspondence with the Yamun Sir Thomas Wade, the

    British minister, was able to make np his commission and despatcli

    it from Hankow, November 5th, for Yunnan fu. It consisted

    of the Hon. T. G. Grosvenor, second secretary of the

    legation, and Messrs. Davenport and Baber of the consular

    ser\”ice, all of them well fitted by previous training for attaining

    the objects of their expedition. The journey was performed

    in company with a Chinese escort, without danger or

    interference, the city of Yunnan being reached in March. The

    gentlemen found the provinces through which they travelled

    perfectly at peace, and the Emperor’s authority everywhere

    acknowledged—a fact extremely creditable to the Chinese after

    more than twenty years of civil war.

    The Chinese appointed to condnct the inquiry into the

    murder, in connection with Mr. Grosvenor, was Li Han-chang,

    governor-general at Wuchang and brother of Li Ilung-chang.

    He Avas long in making the journey, but the two began their

    proceedings, having Sieh IIwan, an old member of the Yamun

    in 1864, as aid. Those who had any experience or acquaintance

    with similar joint commissions in China anticipated but

    one result from it—an entire failure in proving or punishing

    the guilty parties ; while those who wish to see their character

    should read Mr. Grosvenor’s various reports ‘ to learn how slow

    are the advances of the Chinese in truth-telling. Nevertheless,

    such an investigation had some prospective benefit in that the

    trouble which the British made on account of the taking of one

    life warned the officials to exercise the greatest caution in

    future. In this preventive aspect, the mission doubtless accomplished

    more than can be estimated. Mr. Baber is sure that

    Margary was killed (and his opinion is entitled to great respect)

    by the discontented Chinese trainbands then around Manwyne—

    ‘ Rue Book—China, No. 1 (1876) and No. 3 (1877).

    a lawless set, who were afterward hunted to death.’ Tlie

    weight of evidence obtained at Yunnan fu went to prove that

    the repulse of the British party was countenanced, if not

    planned, by the governor-general, and carried into effect w^ith

    the cognizance of Brigadier Li. Amid so much ii-reconcilable

    evidence, the inference that the officers, ch icily by so doing, intended

    to prevent the extension of trade by the British, offers

    the niost adequate explanation. When the impoverished condition

    of Southwestern China is remembered, the question

    arises, Why should the Indian government strive to open a trade

    where industry and population have been so destroyed ? But

    the expectation that thereby a greater market would be found

    for its opium in all Western China is a sufficient reason, perhaps,

    for undertaking so costly an experiment.

    Xo sooner had Sir Thomas Wade learned of Margary’s

    death than he impressed upon the Chinese government the

    necessity for unremitting and vigorous measures toward the

    arrest and punishment of the guilty. In addition to what has

    been already stated concerning this reparation, he brought forward

    some other matters affecting the intercoui-se between the

    two countries. They were long and painfully debated, and

    those agreed on were embodied in a convention wdiich was

    signed l)y himself and Li Ilung-chang, on the part of Great

    Britain and China, September 13, 1870. The correspondence

    relating to this convention is given, with its text, in the Parliamentary

    Bhie Books,” and is worth perusal by all Avho M-ish to

    learn the workings of the Chinese government.

    The Yunnan case was settled by inmiediate payment of two

    hundred thousand taels (.^280,000), which included all claims

    of British merchants on the Chinese government; by posting

    an imperial proclamation in the cities and towns throughout

    the Empire ; by sending an envoy bearing a letter of regret to

    Queen Victoria for what had occurred in Yunnan ; and by

    ‘ Blue Book—CMna, No. 3, 1878. Beport of Mr. Baher on the route follovxd

    Inj Mr. (rrosveno7’^s luvmion between Tali fit, and Moinein. Reprinted, with his

    other interesting travels and researches in Western Cliina, in Supplementary

    Papers, Vol. I., Part 1, 1882, of Roi/. fM)f/. Sor., London.

    ^Bluc Book— China, No. 1 (1876) and No. 3 (1877).

    THE CTIIFTT CONVENTION. 725

    stationing Untisli officers at Tali or elsewhere in that province

    to “observe the conditions of trade.” The proclamation’ was

    posted very widely (three thonsand copies in Kiangsu province

    alone), and through it the people learned that the safety of all

    foreigners travelling through their countrj^ was guaranteed by the

    Emperor. Other matters agreed upon in this convention were

    the manner of official intercourse between native and foreign

    officers at Peking and the ports, so that perfect equality might

    be shown ; the better administration of justice in criminal cases between their respective subjects, every such case being tried by the official of the defendant’s nationality, while the plaintiffs official could always be present to watch proceedings; the extension of trade by opening four new ports as consular stations, and six on the Yangtsz’ River for landing goods, with other regulations as to opium, transit, and U-km taxes on goods; and lastly, the appointment of a joint commission to establish some system that should enable the Chinese government to protect its revenue without prejudice to the junk trade of Hongkong.

    This final article might well have been omitted. The concessions

    and advantages in it accrued to the British, and through

    them also measurably to other nationalities. But while the

    Chinese under the circumstances had no right to complain

    of paying heavily for Margary’s life, it was manifestly unfair

    to cripple their commerce by sheltering Hongkong smugglers

    under promise of a commission which could never honestly

    agree. In order to better understand the British minister’s

    views regarding the political and commercial bearing of his

    convention, the reader is referred to his labored minute of July

    ‘ Blue R)ok—Chm<i, No. 3 (1877). “^ Ihid , pp. 111-147.

    1-1, 1877,’ in which the fruits of thirty-five years of official experience in China impart much value to his opinions. The singular mixture of advice, patronizing decisions, and varied knowledge running through the M^hole i-ender the paper extremely interesting. The Chinese historian of the next century will read with wonder the implied responsibility of the British minister for the conduct of the Empire in its foreign management, and the enormous development of the principle of ex-ter ritorialitv so as to cover almost every action of every British subject. He may also be instructed by this proof of the ignorance and fears of the former rulers, as well as their conceit

    and hesitation in view of their wants and backwardness to cope

    with the advancing age. lie must acknowledge, too, that the

    sharj) and prolonged discussion of eighteen months between Sir

    Thomas and the Yamun was one of the most protitable exercises

    in political science the high officers of Peking ever had allowed

    them.

    Since the convention of Chifu the progress of China at home

    and abroad has been the best evidence of an improved administration.

    The reign of Hienfung ended in 1861, with the prestige,

    resources, and peace of the realm he had so miserably

    governed reduced to their lowest ebb. During the twelve years

    of his son’s nominal regime, the face of affairs had quite changed

    for the better. Peace and regular government had been for the

    most part resumed throughout the Eighteen Provinces, and even

    to the extreme western frontier of Ivashgar and Kuldja. The

    people were returning to their desolated villages, while their

    rulers did what they could to promote agriculture and trade.

    The young Emperor gave small promise of beconung a wise or

    efficient ruler ; and when he died (January 12, 1875) it was felt

    that an effigy only had passed away, and no change would ensue

    in the administration. In the question of selecting his inheritor

    were involved some curious features of Chinese customs. It

    is a rule that the succession to the Lung-wei, or ‘ Dragon’s

    Seat,’ cannot pass to the preceding generation, since this would

    involve the worship of a lower or younger generation by an

    older one. The line of Jlienfung died out in his childless son ;

    the eldest of his brothers had, as we have seen, been made posthumous

    heir of an uncle in 1854, consequently his son, Pu-lun,

    was ineligible. The elevation of Prince Kung’s son Tsai-ching

    to be Emperor was in the highest degree inexpedient, as this

    would necessitate the retirement of his father from active participation

    in the govermnent, arising from their relationship of

    father and s(mi. The next eligible candidate, Tsai-tien, a child

    of Prince Chun—the seventh son of Taukwang—born August 15j

    ACCESSION OF THE EMPEROR K^\’ANGS^j. 727

    1871, was unanimously chosen by the Empresses dowager and assembled princes of the Manchu Imperial Clan. His parents were brother and sister of those of his predecessors, while the same regency had been reappointed, so that his tender age involved neither difficulty nor alteration during the minority.

    He took the reign-name of Kwang-sl’i., or ‘ Illustrious Succession,’

    having reference to the disturbance in the regular descent.

    By this arrangement the same general set of officials

    was continued on the government, and the risk to its peaceful

    working from the freaks of Tungchi avoided.’

    A most notable event during the last decade has been the recovery of the vast regions of the Tarim Valley to the imperial sway. Their loss took place during the early part of the Tai-ping Rebellion, beginning in Kansuh, where the discontented Moslem population, aided by the reckless and seditious of all clans, arose and drove out the governmental minions even to the eastern side of Shensi. Of this extended revolt little is known in the west save the name of its figure-head and leading character under whose mastery it culminated and succumbed.

    The famous Yakub Beg, whom the jealous attentions of both

    England and Russia had united in raising to the rank of a hero,

    commenced his militarv career as lieutenant of Buzuro; khan,

    a son of the notable Jehangir, kojeh of Ivokand. By the

    year 1866 the energetic lieutenant had made way with his licentious

    and cowardly chief, and possessed himself of a large part

    of Western Kashgaria ; then, turning his attention to the rebellious

    Dunganis north of him, a series of vigorous campaigns

    ended in leaving him undisputed ruler of all Tien- Shan Nan

    Lu. These conquests over, hordes of neighboring rebels nmst

    now be recognized as fatal errors in the policy of Yakub. The

    Atalik Gliazi, or ‘ Champion Father’ as he was now called,

    had not only attracted the distrust of Russia—manifested in

    their taking of Kuldja from the Dunganis before his approach

    was possible—but in annihilating other Moslem insurrectionists,

    ‘ The Eastern Empress-dowager, the legal widow of Hienfung, whose only

    child, a daughter, died early in 1875, followed her to the grave in 1881, leaving

    the regency with her coadjutor, the Empress An, aided by Prince Kung had constituted himself an avenger of Chinese wrongs, and prepared the way of his own enemies whenever the terrible day of reckoning should come.

    The attempt on the part of China to restore its prestige in a

    territory where every hand was tm-ned against her seemed

    indeed liopeless. Her exhausted resources, her constant fear

    of tlie foreigners within lier gates, her suspicions of Russia,

    the immense distances to be traversed, seemed to unite every

    factor against her success. Nevertlieless, by 1871 symptoms of

    disorganization began ah-eady to appear among tlie rebels, wliile

    in the wishes of the common people for a strong power to insure

    order and encourage trade Tso Tsung-tang, the Chinese

    general, found both assistance and men.

    A moment’s attention to the relations l)etwecn the Chinese

    and Mohammedans of this region will throw much light on

    their contest. Since their conquest by Kienlung, the inhabitants

    of Eastern Turkestan had enjoyed an unexampled period of

    tranquillity and prosperous trade. The Chinese, known as

    Kitai, settled in their cities and brought a degree of wealth

    and civilization far ahead of anything previously known, wliile

    the rulers, or ambans, joined to their duties as administrators of

    justice a fostering care of trade routes and methods for developing

    the country. They have at all times been celebrated for

    irrigating their provinces, and now reproduced their wonderful

    canals (says Boulger) ” even in this outlying dependency.

    Eastern Turkestan is one of the worst-watered regions in the

    world. In fact there is only a belt of fertile country around

    the Yarkand lliver, stretching away eastward along the slopes

    of the Tien Shan as far as Ilanii. The few snudl rivers which

    are traced here and there across the map are during many

    months of the year dried up, and even the Yai’kand then

    becomes an insignificant stream. To remedy this, and to

    husband the supply as much as possible, the Chinese sunk dikes

    in all directions. By this means the cultivated country was

    slowly but sui-ely spi’cad over a great extent of territory, and

    the vicinity of the three cities of Kashgar, Yangi llissar, and

    Yarkand ])e(‘ame known as the garden of Asia. Corn and fruit

    grew in abundance, and from Yarkand to the south of the Tien

    TAKUB BEG AND THE REVOLT IX TURKESTAN. 729

    Shan the traveller could pass through one endless orchard. On all sides he saw nothing but plenty and content, peaceful hamlets and smiling inhabitants. These were the outcome of a Chinese domination.” ‘

    In addition to the fields and rivers, mines were worked, mountain passes cut and kept in repair, and the internal government of tribes placed on an equable basis. As to the precise manner in which discontent and rebellion crept into this apparently happy territory, it must always remain a matter of conjecture. The customs of its inhabitants have for ages been based on the tribal principle to such an extent that they found it impossible to assimilate with the Chinese and their methodical government, even though for their advantage to do so. The repeated failures of the United States to introduce a certain degree of civilization among the Indians present an analogous case. Uneasiness among the natives caused by agents from Kokand and Tashkend was speedily followed by larger demands from turbulent Mussulmans, who saw in Chinese moderation an evidence of weakness and decline. Jehangir’s rebellion not unjustly incensed a government which had devoted more than half a century to the building up of a shattered State, and was punished with merciless rigor. Oppression from the Chinese met by resistance, equitable rule alternating with weakness and injustice, trade impeded by illegal imports, ambitious Usbeck chiefs exciting their tribes to rise against their conquerors—these and similar causes had been at work to prevent all permanent progress in Turkestan.

    ‘ Life of Yakoob Beg, London, 1878, p. 59. See also R. B. Shaw, Visiti to High Tartary, Yarkand, and Kashgar, London, 1871, Chaps. II. and III.

    During the lowest ebb of JSIanchu authority in the Empire, when foreigners and Tai-pings were straining the utmost resources of the government in the East, a small village of Kansuh was the scene of a sudden riot. When after two days couriers brought word that the disturbance was quelled with some loss of life, the authorities began to suppose that the affair had already been forgotten; but it proved to be the fuse that lighted an outbreak scarcely smaller than the other civil war within the provinces.’ The Dunganis had arisen and spreaa the infection of revolt wherever they existed—over hirge districts «^tf Slieiisi, but principally toward the west, to Turfan, Ivuche. and Aksu—continuing the weary story of surprise, slaughter,

    and barbarity even to the city of Knldja.’ Allying with

    themselves the Tarantchi, a sort of fellah class which the Chinese

    had imported into the regions from Kashgar, the victorious

    rebels established one of those ephemeral governments over the

    Tien Shan and its adjoining valleys that have so frequently

    arisen in the history of Central Asia. Under their rule ti’avel

    beyond the Kia^’ii Pass was of course impossible, while trade

    diminished throughout the conntry, and Russia, as we have seen,

    wrested Knldja from Abul Oghlan in order to secnre her own

    borders. The first sei’ious check received by this confederation

    Avas its virtnal overthrow, when Yakub advanced npon Aksu

    and from thence cleared the great road eastward to Tnrfan.

    Tso’s first labor, then, was to clear Shensi and Kansuh of the

    rebels, in which his progress was marked by admirable foresight

    and energy in disposition of men, arrangement of conrier

    service, and use of modern arms. Establishing himself by 1876

    in Barknl and Ilami as headcpiarters, by the following spring

    he was prepared for a concerted movement from the north

    (Gutchen and Urumtsi) and east (Pidshan) npon ‘^’akub l>eg at

    Turfan. The redoubtable chieftain was finally caught by the

    tardy but certain power which he had long despised with impunity,

    and driven backward through the towns of Toksnn and llarashar to Tvorla, where he died or was murdered, May, 1877.

    ‘ *’ It is impossible not to connect this event in some degree with that unaccountable revival among Mohammedans, which has produced so many important events during the last thirty years, and of which we are now witnessing some of the most striking results. “—Boulger. Life of Yakooh li’f/, p. 95.

    “^ Which fell in January, 18C0, after the Chinese governor had destroyed himself and his citadel by gunpowder.

    THE REBELLION SUPPUESSED. 731

    During this and the following years the governor-general succeeded in reinstating the authority which had been in abeyance nearly a score of years. His army under two able generals advanced along the parallel roads north and south of the Tien Shan, punishing the rebels without mercy, while ” the Moham-niedaiis who submitted themselves were perm’.lfc<\ to revert to their peaceful avocations.” ‘ When upon the desert the troops were provisioned from Russian territory, but during the early years of the campaign it appears that the soldiers were made to till the ground as well as construct fortifications. The history of the advance of this ” agricultural army ” would, if thoroughly known, constitute one of the most remarkable military achievements in the annals of any modern country.^

    With the fall of Kashgar (December 17, 1877) the reconquest was practically completed, though Yarkand and the neighboring towns held out some months longer, at the end of which the chiefs of the Moslem movement had either fled to Ferghana or succumbed in the light. The Chinese now turned their attention to the occupation of Kuldja, and sent Chunghow in December, 1878, to St. Petersburg upon a mission relating to its restoration. The envoy needed, indeed, but to remind the Czar of Russian promises made in Peking in 1871 concerning the prompt retrocession of the occupied territory when China should have reasserted her authority in those regions; but neither European nor Oriental diplomats seemed to regard the city “held in trust for China by the Russian government” as in the least likely to return to the dominion of the Huangdi, while many were persuaded that Russia would resort to arras before surrendering one of the most prosperous of her possessions in order to keep a rash promise.^

    ‘ Peking Gazette.

    « The Spectator, April 13, 1878, Pall Mall Gazette, June, 1878, and London Times, November, 1878. Boiilger, Life of Yalvol) Bn/, Chaps. XII. -XIV.

    ^ For an excellent illustration of the prevailing sentiment on this question, even after Chunghow’s embassy, see Mr. D. C. Boulger in tVaner’s Magazine fcr August, 1680, p. 104.

    Chunghow—whose capacity had been in some degree tested in the Tientsin riot—was hardly the best choice for envoy even among the still ignorant officers at Peking, inasmuch as to the seemingly apparent defect of an unusually Boeotian temperament was added a profound ignorance of any European language, of modern methods of diplomacy, and of the topography of the territory in question. It is almost needless to add that such an enil)assy was ill-prepared to cope with the astute diplo niatists of an eager court, or that it speedily fell a prey to the designs upon it. A treaty of eighteen articles was signed at Livadia yielding a portion of the Kuldja district to China, Russia retaining, however, the fruitful valley of the Tekes river, all the more important strategic strongholds and passes in the Tian Shan, and the city of Yarkand ; China, moreover, to pay as indenmity five million rubles for the cost of occupying Kuldja.

    Other important concessions, such as a trade route from Hankow through Suhchau to Kuldja and Siberia, the opening to Russian caravans of thirty-six frontier stations, the modification of the Kashgarian frontier, the arming of Muscovite merchants, and the navigation of the Songari River, were apparently added to this compact according as the Russians increased their experience of the “gullability” of these remarkable ambassadors.

    Even officers of the Czar’s army, in referring afterward to this treaty, were prone to add to their remarks some measure of apology. When in January, 1880, Chunghow returned home with the unwise and humiliating document in his possession, he could not have felt wholly certain of a triumphant reception. Nevertheless it is not likely that the luckless ambassador contemplated being at once deprived by imperial edict of all his offices and turned over to a board for trial and punishment. Statesmen of both parties joined in denouncing him, Li Hongzhang and Tso alike presenting memorials to the same effect, while a flood of petitions more or less fierce poured upon the

    govei’ument from mandarins of all ranks. On the 2Sth the

    returned envoy was cashiered for having signed away territory

    and promised indemnity without special authorization, and in

    punisliment was sentenced to decapitation. The actoi’s in this

    movement, which upon the manifestation of such prompt and

    furious measures assumed the phase of an intrigue of the war

    party, were Tso and Prince Chung, who seized upon the popular

    wrath as an opportune moment for a master stroke against

    Prince Kung.

    NEGOTIATIONS RESPECTING THE CESSION OF KULDJA. 733

    With the appearance of danger such as this the party in power recoiled at once from its angry position, depreciated the highly bellicose tone of court officials, and accepted the good offices of the foreign ministers who j(»ine(l in protesting against the unworthy treatment of Chunghow and the monstrous barbarity of his sentence. Possibly the temperance (»f Russia’s attitude in demanding the uncoiuiitiunal pardon of ( liunghow before consenting to receive a second ambassador—the Marquis Tsang, minister to Enghmd, aheady appointed—materially aided in quieting the storm. Fortunately, tuo, amid the rumors of a resort to arms and manifest preparations of the palace discontents to force an issue, Colonel Gordon visited the capital, and in a communication to Governor Li pointed out the folly of attempting a foreign conflict and the peculiar dangers in overwhelming, by courting a certain defeat, the great benefits which nnist come to the Chinese army by its gradual reorganization

    upon modern methods. “Potentially,” said this unpalatable

    but honest critic, “you are perhaps invincible, but the outcome

    of this premature war will show you to be vulnerable at a thousand

    points.” Counsels such as these carried unusual weight

    as coming from a man whom all parties in China respected and

    admired ; there can be little doubt that it sensibly decreased

    the war feeling, and possibly proN^ented the country from rushing

    to certain disaster.

    Chunghow was accordingly reprieved, and in June of this

    year set free. The intelligence and experience of Tsang’

    proved an acceptable contrast to his ^predecessor’s unguarded

    conduct, and resulted in an agreement (May 15th) on the part of

    the Czar’s negotiators to recede nearly the whole of the contested

    district, excepting a narrow strip upon its western edge

    for purposes of colonization or retreat for those inhabitants of

    III who preferred to remain under Russian control.’ In return

    ‘ Upon his return to China the marquis published his diary, some portions of which have found their way into the China Review (Vol. XI., p. 135) and are extremely interesting as the outspoken opinion of an appreciative and enlightened Chinese gentleman.

    ‘-‘ Precisely the extent of this strip depends upon the exact definition of the boundary here under Taukwang. The present line is laid down in that portion of the new treaty quoted in Volume I., p. 218 ; the territory forms approximately a wedge whose a])ex is in the Ala Tau Mountains, and whose base, about three degrees south of this point, lies against the crest of the Tian Shan.

    It meets the old boundary at the Muzart (or Muz-daban) Pass. Since the treaty

    “for military expenses incurred by Ilnssia in lu>](Iing and pro

    teeting Ili on belialf of China since the year 1871, and in satisfaction

    of all claims by Russian merchants for losses previonsiy

    suffered by pillage within Chinese territory, and by Russians

    who have suffered outrage,” the Chinese agreed to pay nine

    million roubles. This appears to have been less repugnant to

    oriental diplomacy than live millions in acknowledgment of

    getting back their borrowed property. As for the other points,

    the treaty does not seem to have been greatly altered, save in

    the Songari River and other more vexatious clauses. This treaty

    was ratified August 19, 1881.

    From domestic wars and political complications, the influences

    of which have hai’dly as yet disappeared fi’om our morning

    newspapers, our attention must be turned to the yet sadder

    spectacle of famine and pestilence. The occasional notices of a

    great scarcity of food in Xorthwestern China which drifted into

    the news items of western countries may still remain within the

    memory of many; those, however, who live under the ascendancy

    of occidental institutions can with difficulty appreciate,from

    any mere description of this scourge, its immense influence as a

    factor in removing somewhat the suspicions of the ignorant and

    apathetic Chinese against their fellow-men in other lands. The

    sympathies and chai’ities of the Chi-istian world, as called forth

    by this terrible visitation, were more effectual in making acceptable

    the distasteful presence of foreigners within their cities

    than had been the miited influence of two wars and a halfcentury

    of trade, diplonuicy, and social intercourse.

    The Great Famine of 1878 was in some measure foretold

    over Sliansi and Shensi by the decreasinir rainfall of the four

    ])revious years. The peculiar nature of this loess-covered

    region, and its absolute dependence for fertility upon a sufficient

    supply of moisture, has been pointed out in another chapter

    of this woj-k. Here, then, and in Shantung the missionaries

    of all denomiiuitions were called upon to organize methods

    strenuous efforts have been made by the officers of both nationalities stationed

    tliere to entice the U.sbeck, Kirghis, and Diinganis of the region to settle per

    manently on their side of the boundary.

    THE GEEAT FAMINE OF 1878. 735

    of relief as early as the summer of 1877. By the opening of

    the following spring a central committee in Shanghai and their

    agents in Chifu and Tientsin—all Protestant and Roman Catholic

    missionaries—had put forth so great energy in their Avelldirected

    efforts as to gain the zealous co-operation of Li Iluugchang,

    governor-general of Cliihli, and active countenance of

    the rulers and gentry in otlier provinces. “At the beginning

    of their labors,” writes the secretary of the committee, ” the

    distributors were received with a degree of prejudice and suspicion

    which utterly frustrated any attempt to prosecute the

    work. They were supposed to have sinister objects in view,

    and not only was their charity refused, but they were even in

    innninent danger of their lives. It required the utmost carefulness

    on their part to carry on their operations with any degree

    of success. They were urged to act in a way that contemplated

    the speedy exhaustion of their funds and their evacuation of

    the pla-ce. So far as we can ascertain, however, the distributors

    conducted themselves in a most connnendable manner,

    and after a time at least bore dow^n the ill-will and aspersions

    of all classes, changing their sentiments and feelings of doubt

    and distrust into those of the deepest gratitude and respect, so

    that they are now regarded as the very saviours of the people.” ‘

    After the experience of some weeks in the destitute regions,

    it was found that only the strictest adherence to a business system

    of distribution could be attended with any mitigation of the

    evil. Tickets representing certain amounts of money were given

    to the houses of each community which appeared on the catalogues

    of needy families furnished by village elders. Food being

    plenty in the south, the means of transportation and storage

    during distribution constituted the chief labor of those concerned

    in this work. When brought to the starving settlements,

    grain was promptly doled out in exchange for the tickets, and

    to the lasting credit of the Chinese character it must here be noticed

    that not a single raid upon the provisions or resort to force

    in any way has been recorded of these famished multitudes.

    ‘ Rev. W. Muirliead, in Report of the China Famine Relief Fund, Shanghai, 1879, p. 4.

    That good-will, affection, an] gratitude should take the place

    of the old mistrust under these conditions was niOst natural.’

    Xevertheless the terrors of their experiences in this awful time

    were hardly lightened by this cheering aspect of the curse.

    Misery and desolation such as this overwhehned every other

    sentiment save that of compassion. The visitor was often met

    hy the solitary remnant of a large household, to hear from him

    a harrowing recital of suffering and death, fitted to shock the

    most callous of humanity. Again, he would come upon the

    corpse of one recently fallen in the vain effort to walk to a

    neighboring town, and about it a lazy pack of wolves squatting

    —gorged and stupid from the fulness of many ghastly meals.

    At other times a silent dwelling might be found giving shelter

    only to the cadaverous bodies of its former inmates ; or anon a

    ruined house would tell M’here the timbers had been plucked

    out and sold for a little bread. Of the last extreme of famine,

    caimibalism, which cropped out here and there, but which in

    most cases met with instant punishment when discovered, it is

    hardly necessary to add notice or description. The remarkable

    patience under suffering exhibited by the people made their

    relief compai’utively easy, though the despair which had rendered

    them insensible to excitement or violence often prevented their

    recuperation from the fever and plague which laid hold upon their

    weakened bodies even after plenty had returned to the land.

    In their report the connnittee at Shanghai acknowledge

    Tls. 204,560 as having passed through their hands, while about

    as much more may safely be said to have been otherwise expended

    by foreigners for the relief of the sufferers.” The

    Chinese government furnished food and supplies amounting to

    ‘ A notable exception to this universal sentiment of kindliness was exhibited

    among the officials and gentry of Kaifung, the capital of Honan, in which city

    foreigners were to the last forbidden to remain, or even to carry on their work in the environs.

    FOREIGlSr EFFOETS TOWARD ITS RELIEF. 737

    ‘•’ About $22,070 were subscribed in the United States—which does not include, however, the donation from the Pacific slope. An effort was made to Induce Congress to return on this occasion the surplus of the Chinese indemnity fund, amounting to nearly $()()(),()()(), but upon this the Committee on Foreign Affairs rcportiul adversely, alleging among other reasons that all the starving people would be dead before the machinery of both nations would admit of this money being exchanged for food I

    more than Tls. 2,000,000, while rich natives contributed very

    lai-gely in their own districts. Sixty-nine foreigners were personally

    engaged upon the work of (listributi(jn in the four

    afflicted provinces, of whom Messrs. Ilall, Hodge, Barradale,

    and AVhiting died in consequence of exposure and overwork.’

    Upon the mortality connected with this frightful visitation

    there exist hut the vaguest figures. ” The destruction as a

    whole is stated to be from nine and a half to thirteen millions,”

    observes the JA^mH^ alreiidy quoted, and its proofs in support

    of this statement are as trustworthy as any that can be compiled.

    Xo famine is recorded in the history of any land which equalled

    this in death-rate. The area at the base of the Tibetan and

    Mongolian highlands will always be subject to great vicissitudes

    of heat and moisture,’ and the future, like the past, cannot but

    suffer from these frightful droughts unless a careful attention

    to the climatic influence of trees and irrigation mitigate in some

    degree the dreadful comings of these plagues.

    The Chinese plenipotentiary in London, T\ woh Sung-tao, gave

    utterance to the sincere sentiments of his government in saying:

    The noble philanthropy wliich heard, In a far-distant country, the cry of

    suffering and hastened to its assistance, is too signal a recognition of the common

    brotherhood of humanity ever to be forgotten, and is all the more worthy

    to be remembered because it is not a passing response to a generous emotion,

    but a continued effort, persevered in until, in sending the welcome rain.

    Heaven gave the assuring promise of returning plenty, and the sign that the

    brotherly succor was no longer required. Coming from Englishmen residing

    in all parts of the world, this spontaneous act of generosity made a deep impression

    on the government and people of China, which cannot but have the

    effect of more closely cementing the friendly relations which now so happily

    exist between China and Great Britain. But the hands that gave also assumed

    the arduous duty of administering the relief ; and here I would not forget to

    offer my grateful thanks and condolence to the families of those, and they are

    not a few, who nobly fell in distributing the fund.’*

    Mr. Whiting was honored by the governor of Shansi with a public funeral

    in Taiyuen, the provincial oaiiital.

    » P. 7.

    ^ Mr. A. Hosi.i in the X 0. Br. E. A. P!. JoHvniil, Vol. XIII., 1878, has

    translated the native lists of more than eight hundred famines and droughts

    occurring in the Yangtsz’ basin and northward on the Plateau during a thousand

    years ending a.d. 1643.

    * Letter of October 14, 1878, to Lord Salisbury.

    One who has been acquainted with Chinese affairs for the last

    fifty years can better than younger persons appreciate from this

    letter the vast stride wliieh has been made by (^hina since the

    withdrawal of the East India Company’s factory in 1834. The

    Empire had then been closed for more than a century, and its

    inhal)itants liad been taught to believe that all mankind outside of

    its b()un(hiries were little better than i<!;norant savaijes. Their

    rulers had maintained that ” barbarians could only be ruled by

    misrule,” and in their honest efforts to keep them fi-om entering

    the gates of the Celestial Empire in order that the people might

    not become contaminated, had faithfully though ineffectually

    endeavored to fulfil the first duty of every government. We

    have seen how small was their success when dealing with the

    iniquitous opium traffic ; no amount of moral or ethical principle

    in the cause which he represented could make up to Connnissioner

    Lin for his ignorance and stiff-neckedness in pushing his

    injudicious methods of reforming this abuse. Had he succeeded

    as he and his imperial master had ])lamied, they would have

    sealed their country against the only possible remedies for those

    evils they were striving to remove—free intercourse, commercial,

    intellectual, and political, with their fellow-men.

    The story of Cliina’s rapid progress from semi-barbarism

    toward her appropriate position among nations is now fully

    known to any whose interests have directed their attention

    thither. It cannot be denied that the advance has been hampered

    by the mass of superstitions, assumptions, and weaknesses

    through which every such stride to reformation nnist push forward

    ; nor is it strange that interested foreigners from their vantage-

    ground of a more perfect civilization should at times bemoan

    the wearisome course and manifold errors of this regeneration.

    Nevertheless, liopeful signs abound on every side ; against a

    few errors may be balanced a multitude of genuine successes,

    and the fact that these latter have come about deliberately

    assures us that they are permanent. In the hands of statesmen

    as far-sighted and ])atriotic as those who now control the government,

    there is little cause to apprehend retrograde steps or a return

    to the exclusive policy of (yonnnissioners Lin and Yeh. As

    for the conservative spirit which yet characterizes the present

    THE CHINESE EDUCATIONAL COMMISSION. 739

    regime, in this will be found the safeguard against extravagant

    and premature adoption of western machines, institutions,

    nietliods, dress, and the thousand adjuncts of modern European

    life which, if too rapidly applied to an effete and backward

    civilization, push it rather into bankruptcy and overthrow than

    out into a new existence.

    Before closing these volumes, and as an illustration of these

    observations, it remains to notice the so-called Chinese Education

    Commission—a highly lauded project which is still fresh

    in the minds of many Americans. Soon after the Tientsin

    riot and Chunghow’s mission of apology, Yung Wing, a

    Chinese graduate of Yale College, proposed to Li Ilung-chang

    and others in authority a plan of utilizing certain surplus

    moneys remaining from the fund for military stores, to defray

    the expenses of educating a number of Chinese boys in the

    United States. The scheme found such favor with the governor-

    general and members of the Foreign Office, that early in

    the year 1872 thirty boys were selected by competitive examination

    at Shanghai, and took passage for San Francisco July

    12th, Yung Wing having preceded them to make the necessary

    arrangements. This gentleman’s acquaintance w^ith the

    social life and educational methods in IS^ew England was so

    complete as to enable him readily to place the students—usually

    in pairs—in comfortable households, where they might learn

    English and become initiated into the manner of life among

    western peoples as agreeably as possible.

    The commission established its headquarters in Hartford and

    easily disposed their boys in adjoining towns of Connecticut

    and Massachusetts, where numbers of families welcomed them

    with open arms. Prince Kung’s satisfaction upon learning of

    this friendly reception was expressed in a personal note of

    thanks to Mr. Low at Peking, while the fair prospects of the

    scheme now tended to hasten other parties of students to these

    shores until their number was swelled to one hundred and

    twenty.’ These lads proved themselves almost without excep-

    ‘ The original plan included the sending of one hundred and fifty boys, but the fund laid aside for the purpose was found to be insufficient to cover the cost of the full number.

    tion capable and active in tlie studies set before them, and a8

    their hold upon the language increased, began to outrank all

    but the brightest of their American classmates. As they advanced

    into the higher scientific schools or colleges, greater

    liberty was allowed them, each boy pursuing his inclination as

    to a special course or institution. With the appointment of

    Yung “Wing to the Chinese legation at Washington and the

    arrival of one Wu Tsz’-tang (who knew no English) as commissioner

    in his place at Hartford, the complexion of this enterprise

    seems to have changed. In the spring of 1881 a formal

    memorial, endorsed by Chin Lan-pin, the minister at Washington,

    was addressed to the home government, complaining of

    the course of study pursued by these youths as including Latin

    and Greek and other unnecessary subjects ; of the disrespectful

    behavior of the l)oys when brought before their chiefs ; of

    their deplorable luck of patriotism ; of their forgetting their

    mother tongue, and other sins of omission and commission.

    The memorial seems to have fallen in with the desires of those

    momentarily in power at Peking ; the commission and students

    were all recalled by the return mail, and arrived at Shanghai

    in the fall of the same year.

    Although this action may have been in some degree

    prompted by a spirit of conservatism and distrust, the leading

    motive of the Chinese government cannot be far to seek.

    Had these boys of a dozen years each received his fifteen years’

    instruction in our common-school, classical, and })r(>fessional

    courses, it is impossil)le to believe that the}’ would not at the

    end of this time have been more American than Chinese.

    Their speedy recall was a matter of regret to the many friends

    these interesting lads had made in New England, but from a

    truly Chinese stand-point this foreign popularity would become

    as the flesh-pots of Egypt to them after their return to

    the arid intellectual life in China—and the event in one or two

    instances appears to have proved the shrewdness of this surmise.

    However, this expei’iment can in no wise be considered

    a failure, even if we consider only the knowledge of English

    and elements of a western education obtained by each student; how considerable has been its success will be seen when the

    PROSPECTS FOR THE FUTURE OF CHINA. 741-

    young incii—now engaged by their government in telegraph

    posts, arsenals, schools, etc.—shall have achieved sufficient distinction

    in their vai-ious professions to prove their fitness for

    the pains bestowed upon them. The organization of scliools

    for other than Chinese methods of education is already begun

    in China—as, for example, tlie Tung-wan Kwan, under charge

    of Dr. Martin, at Peking—and from these a much more

    rational advance to their proper position in scientific knowledge

    may be expected, than by hazardous schemes of foreign

    tuition.

    The pages of this brief compendium of our present knowledge

    of the Chinese Empire were not written in the first place,

    nor have they been revised, with any intent to laud that people

    beyond their just deserts. What there is of weakness, vice,

    narrowness, bigotry, in the national character has been pointed

    out with great frankness, while their blindness and folly after

    the lessons of two warlike visitations from foreign nations

    have not passed unnoticed. The experiences of the last three

    decades will probably prove more momentous for the Chinese

    than those of any previous century in their history, and these

    have not come about without much bitterness and the surly

    traces of misunderstanding and misrepresentation. But the

    great fact must have become apparent, even to the cursory

    reader, that in the Chinese character are elements which in due

    time must lift her out of the terribly backward position into

    which she had fallen and raise her to a rank among the foremost

    of nations. There is a basis of encouragement when we

    keep in mind the literary institutions of tho country and their

    early attention to obtaining a corps of scientific men of their

    own nationality, as in the effort just mentioned.’

    ‘ The reserved force in the Chinese character was very strikingly brought

    out in a new-year’s call at Peking, which the writer remembers, in 1870.

    The topic came up as to how to diminish the expense of getting coal from the

    mines to the city (which up to that time was carried on camels and mules , so

    a.i to put it within the reach ol the poor people. I suggested a tram road

    as the best plan for the fifty miles distance from the mines, and involving

    trifling expense. After listening to the plan, Tan Ting-siang, one of the

    members of the Board of Revenue, and Prince Kung, together exclaimed,

    ” Tieh-lu lai liao! Tkh-la lai Uao!” (‘ Railroads are coming in time’}, Tke ex

    Another ground of hope—and tliese words are as pertinent

    today as when written thirty-five years ago—lies in the matterof-

    fact habits of the Chinese, tlieir want of enthusiasm and dislike

    of cliange, which are rather favorable than otherwise to

    their development as a great community. The presentation

    and reception of the highest truths and motives the human

    mind can realize always excites thought and action ; the chiefest

    fear must be that of going too fast in schemes of reform

    and correction, and demolishing the fabric before its elements

    are ready for reconstruction. The non-existence of caste, the

    weakness of a priesthood which cannot nerve its persecuting

    arm with the power of the State, the scanty influence religion

    has over the ])opular mind, the simplicity of ancestral worship,

    the absence of the allurements of gorgeous temples, splendid

    ritual, seductive music, gay processions, and above all, sanctified

    licentiousness, to uphold and render it enticing to depraved

    human nature, the popular origin of all government holidays,

    and lastly, the degree of industry, loyalty, and respect for life

    and property—these are characteristics which furnish some

    grounds for trusting that the regeneration of China will be accomplished,

    like the operation of leaven in meal, without shivering

    the vessel.

    istence of the treaty principle of ex-territoriality and its consequences is constantly

    before the Chinese high officers, though they appreciate as well the

    fact that their country is preparing and will be the better for such improve*

    ments.

    INDEX.

    ABACUS, or Sioanpan, principle of,

    ii. 60.

    Abeel, Rev. D., i. 134, 835, ii. 240 ; arrives

    in China, ii. 325, 327, 338, 348; memoir,

    ii. 368.

    Abel, Clarke, i. 363, ii. 458.

    Aboriculture, curiosities of, ii. 13.

    Aboriginal races, of China, i. 41 ; of Formosa,

    i. 137 ; in Hunan, i. 148.

    Abulgasi (History of the Tartars), i. 202-

    203.

    Abu Zaid, his work on China, ii. 168

    ;

    generally trustworthy, ii. 414, 425.

    Acupuncture, ii. 123.

    Adams, Hon. John Quincy, his mistaken

    notions of Chinese war, ii. 469.

    Agar-agar, a glue made from seaweed, ii.

    397.

    Agnosticism, Chinese, ii. 201.

    Agriculture, Temple of, Peking, i. 78 ; in

    loess fields, i. 302 ; Chinese works upon,

    i. 686 ; consideration of, ii. 1 ; utensils,

    ii. 3.

    Aksa, town and river of fli, i. 225 ; Yakub

    Bey captures, ii. 730.

    Alabaster’s Wheel ofthe Law, ii. 229.

    Alak. See Tien Siian.

    Alcock. Sir R. , ii. 637.

    Almanac, rectified by Jesuits, ii. 68, 298

    ;

    its importance, ii. 79.

    Altai, i.e., ‘Golden Mountains,’ or Kin

    Shan, i. 9.

    Altars, to Heaven, Agriculture, and Earth,

    Peking, i. 70-78 ; fashion of Romish, in

    China, ii. 31.-).

    Altchuku, or A-shi-ho, town in Kirin, i.

    197.

    Alum, found in Sz’chuen, i. 308 ; an article

    of export, ii. 392.

    Amber, brought to China, ii. 398.

    Amherst, Lord, rebuff of his embassy at

    Ynen-niing Yuen, i. 80 ; his mission to

    the capital, ii. 4.58.

    American, missionaries and the Hangchau

    settlement, ii. 351 ; treaty with China

    respecting toleration of Christianity, ii.

    360 ; trade with China, ii. 460 ; residents

    at Canton and Governor Lin, ii. 514

    1

    embassy to China concludes treaty oi

    VVaiighia, ii. .567 ; homicide of Chinese

    by, in Canton, ii. 568 ; Chinese favorably

    disposed toward, ii. 570 ; fleet destroy

    the Barrier forts, ii. 638 ; government

    asked to co-operate with England,

    ii. 642 ; minister. Sir. Reed, arrives in

    China, ii. 643 ; minister, Mr. Ward, cooperates

    in preventing coolie trade, ii.

    663 ; negotiations with the Chinese

    ofiicials at Taku forts, ii. 665 ; embassy

    escorted to Peking via Pehtang, ii. 669

    ;

    minister refuses to kotow and returns,

    ii. 670 ; sailor hung for murder at Shanghai,

    ii. 696 ; treaty with China negotiated

    )jy Burhngame, ii. 6US ; missionaries

    frightened away from TSugchau, iL 705.

    Amiot, Pere i. 598, ii. 96, 149, SOU.

    Ampere, J. J., i. 715.

    Amoy, climate of, i. 53 ; island, i. 129

    ;

    city, i. 183; its environs, i. 134; lexicon,

    the Shili-wrt Yin, i. 590; dialect,

    i. 611, 612,615; New Year usages at,

    i. 814; infanticide at, ii. 239; sentiment

    toward foreigners, ii. oS8 ; Protestant

    mission at, ii. 348; Chinese and Dutch

    take, ii. 438 ; East India Company trade

    at, ii, 445, 448 ; taken by the English,

    ii. .524, .528 ; not hostile to foreigners, ii.

    573 ; during Tai-ping Rebellion, ii. 629.

    Amulets and charms, to ward off evil, iL

    25.5-257.

    Amusements, at dinner, i. SOS ; out-door,

    i. 825 ; peaceful character of Chinese, i.

    829.

    Amur River (called also Sas^alien, Kwantung,

    Helung kiang), i. 189.

    Analects of Confucius, the Lun Yu, i.

    656.

    Ancestral worship, compatible with

    Buddhism, ii. 223; its antiquity, ii. 236;

    its forms, etc., ii. 250-2.55; allowed by

    Ricci, ii. 292, 299; and Christianity, ii.

    355.

    Anderson, Dr. John, i. 79, 181, 184, 337,

    ii. 719, 721, 732.

    (44 INDEX.

    Anglo-Chinese College <at Malacca, ii. 324.

    Animals, of China, quadiumanous, i. 814-

    317, carnivoious, SlV-^iriO, ruminants.

    320-323, dome stic, 323-320, rodents and

    smaller animals, 32G-o2′.>, cetaceous,

    329-330, four fabulous, 342-34r) ; in the

    Herbal, i. 374-377 ; used as iood, i. 772,

    77() ; pack, ii. 7 ; of the calendar and

    zodiac, ii. fi’.t, 71 ; sculptured, ii. 115.

    Ant-eater, or pangolin, Chinese ideas of,

    i. 328.

    Antelope, hwangyang, or clzcren, of Mongolia,

    i. 321.

    An-ting man, in Peking wall, 1. 63

    ;

    opened to the allied troops, ii. 680.

    Ants, studied by Chinese, i. 354.

    Apple, or haw. of Manchuria, i. 300.

    Arab, merchants introduce the name

    Chhia into Europe, i. 3; travellers in

    China, li. l’;S, 414, 421; name for opium,

    ii, 373.

    Arabdan, khan of the ^ongares, i. 233.

    Architecture, Chinese, compared with Indian,

    i. 72(i, domestic, ‘i28, military,

    758 ; its needs and limitations, ii. 11(1.

    Area of the Eighteen Provinces, i. 272,

    £70.

    Argali, mountain sheep, in China, i. 321.

    Arithiuctic, Chinese knowledge of, ii. GO.

    Arms used in warfare, ii. 88.

    Army of China, pay of, i. 2′.)3 ; laws concerning,

    i. 388 ; memorial as to its condition

    in 1838, i. 494 ; examination

    system in, i. 560 ; in theory and practice,

    ii. SS-93 ; its condition on outbreak

    of Tai-ping Rebellion, ii. 590.

    Arnold’s Light of AfIu, ii. 220.

    Arrow, case of the lorcha, ii. 359,

    035-038.

    Art, Chinese, in book illustrations, i. 080 ;

    in aboriculture, ii. 13 ; in bronze, ii. 31 ;

    porcelain decorations, ii. 25 ; carving,

    etc., li. 59 ; illustrative, iL 105-111

    ;

    symbolic, ii. Ill, 112; caricatures, ii.

    115 ; export of objects of, ii. 393 ; example

    of, ii. 080, note.

    Assam, tea native of, iL 51.

    Ass, wild, of the steppes, i. 212, 323.

    Assembly balls, or club-houses, in Chinese

    cities,!. 70, 122,107,739.

    Astrology and divination, ii. 09, 74.

    Astronomy, Chinese study of, ii, 68, 72

    romance of, ii, 70 ; and Jesuits, ii. 298.

    Atkinson, T, W., i. 331.

    Atlas of China, the Tien Chii, or ‘Heaven’s

    Pillar Mountains,’ i. 13.

    Auber, Peter, on foreign trade with

    China, ii. 4.50. 45;).

    Audience, of officials before Emperor of

    China, i. 801 ; of the Dutch ambassadors

    Goyer and Keyzer,. ii. 435 ; of

    Lord Macartney, ii. 4.55 ; question not

    raised by Gushing, ii. 570 ; question discussed

    by Ward’s embassy at Peking,

    ii. 009 ; Rwinhoe’s descriptin -^f an, at

    Yuen-ming Yuen, ii. 083; _, .uted to

    all foreign ministers, ii. 714.

    Azaleas about Ningpo, i. 370.

    Azure Sea (see Koko-nor), i. 210.

    BABER, E. C, i. 181 ; sent on Gro*.

    venor mission, ii. 723, 724.

    Baldwin, C. C, i. 015.

    Balfour, F. H., li. 212.

    Ball, Samuel, ii. .5.5, 373.

    Ballads, specimens of Chinese, i. 705-714.

    Balls, hollow, how carved, ii. 59.

    Bamboo, beauty and uses of, i. 3.58-.’;00;

    articles exported, ii. 393.

    Bamboo books, the, i. 681 ; their authenticity,

    ii. 149, 15.5.

    Banditti numerous in China, i. 480,

    495, 497.

    Banks and banking system in China,

    ii. 85.

    Baptism, of moribund infants by Catholics,

    ii. 310; discussion among missionaries

    concerning Mord for, ii. 363.

    Baptist Missionary Society in Hong Kong,

    ii. 347.

    Barbers’ establishments in China, i. 7(50;

    their traitment of tlie eye.s, ii. 129.

    Barkul (or Chinsi fu), town and lake of

    Kansuh, i. 214.

    Barkut, or golden eagle, hunting with,

    i. 331.

    Barrier forts, near Canton, destroyed by

    Americans, li. 038.

    Barrow, J., i. 22, 105, 117, 175, 287, 290,

    741, 7.55, 772; ii. 5, 9.5, 97, 104, 240, 455.

    Batang, in Sz’chuen, i. 20.

    Bats, Chinese, i. 316 ; symbol of happiness,

    ii. Ill

    .

    Bayan-kara in the Kwanlun system, i. 11,

    211.

    Bazin, i. 84.5, 714, ii. 213, 217.

    Beal, Samuel, ii. 229.

    Bcal, T., aviary of, at Macao, i. 341.

    Bears, Chinese, i. 317.

    Beggars, on the Tai-shan, i. 91 ; in Canton,

    i. 730 ; how controlled, i. 742 ; condition

    of, i. 835 ; and Buddhist priests,

    ii. 220; alms for, ii. 203.

    Bell, great, of Peking, i. 74 ; temple of, at

    Puking, i. 79.

    Bell, John, his residence at Peking,

    ii. 442.

    Belles-lettres, character and variety of

    Chinese, i. 074.

    Bellew, Dr. II. W., i. 234, 227.

    Bells, rich in tone, ii, 20.

    Belur-tag, Tartash ling, Tstmg ling,

    ‘ Onion ‘ or ‘ Blue Mountains,’ i. 9.

    Benevolent institutions, Chinese, ii. 208-

    20() ; foreign : Morrison’s and Parker’s

    hospitals, ii. 333 ; Society for Diffusion

    of Useful Knowledge, ii. 340 ; Morrison

    Education Society, ii. 341.

    INDEX. 745

    Bentham, Gro., i. 9,<}C>, 355.

    lietel-nut, a masticatory, how used, ii.397.

    Jittiothment, cereniotiies relative to, i.

    785 ; ‘spilling the tea,’ i. T’Jo ; evils attending

    earl J’, i. 7135.

    Bible, translated by Nestorians, ii. 280 ;

    Montecorvino ordered to illustrate the,

    ii. 288 ; withheld from Chinese by

    Ricci, ii. 292 ; Ur. Morrison’s translation,

    ii. lil’.l, o20; revi.sion, ii. SOo, o04 ;

    contains the earliest notice of China,

    ii. 408 ; revision and J. R. Morrison,

    ii. 5(i0.

    Biohe-de-mer, or sea-slug, how eaten,

    i. 780 ; imported, ii. ;)U7.

    Bickmore, A. S., i. 29(>.

    Biographies, numerous in Chinese literature,

    i. (581.

    Biot, Edouard, i. 259, 263, 271, 413, 421,

    482, 521, 543, 554, 559, 590, G3S, 644,

    081, ii. 34. 87, 203.

    Birds, of Tibet, I 243 ; of China, i. 330-

    341 ; under one radical, i. 374.

    Birds’-nest soup, its preparation, i. 780

    ;

    and sharks’ fins imported, ii. 397.

    Birthday fete at Ningpo, i. 814.

    Black-haired race. Li Alin, common term

    for Chinese, i. 5.

    Blacksmith, his shop and tools, ii. 57.

    Blakiston, T. W., i. 21-22, 145, 30.^.

    Blodget, Dr. H., ii. 304.

    Blood of animals used for food, medicines,

    etc., i. 778.

    Boards, Six, in government, i. 415 ; Civil

    Office, i. 421 ; Revenue, i. 422 ; Rites,

    1. 423; War, i. 424 ; Punishments, i. 426;

    Works, i. 427 ; iiresidents of, i. 436

    ;

    subordinate offices in the, i. 559.

    Boats, bridge of, at Ningpo, i. 121 ; variety

    and number of, in China, i. 749-753 ;

    decorated at New Year, 1. 813 ; and internal

    navigation of China, ii. 390.

    Bogue, or Bocca Tigris, near Canton, i.

    100; negotiations v/ith Kishen at, ii.

    517 ; forts taken, ii. 520 ; destroyed

    again, ii. .528 ; supplementary treaty

    signed at, ii. .501 ; Governor Davis retakes

    the forts, li. .573.

    Bonham, Governor, visits the Tai-pings

    at Nanking, ii. .577; advised by gentrv

    of Canton not to enter the city, ii.

    025.

    Bwk of Rites {Li Ki), i. 424, 520, 643-

    047, 805, ii. 33.

    Book of Odes {Shi King), i. 636-643, ii.

    236, 321.

    Book of Records {Shu Kijig), i. 633-636,

    808, ii. 32, 30, 08, 146 ff., 169, 372.

    Book of Chanfies ( Yih Kiiir/), i. 027-033.

    Books, used in schools, i. .520-.541, .574 ;

    manufacture and price of, i. 600-0( 2

    burned by Tsin. B.C. 200, ii. 101 ; Nestorian,

    destroyed, ii. 286 ; circulated in

    the opium traffic, ii. 379 ; destroyed at

    Canton, ii. 026 ; by Protestants, ii. 328»

    331, 340.

    Boone, W. J., ii..^38, 348.

    Bore, or Eagre, of the Tsientang, i. 114,

    ii. 415.

    Borget, A., i. 128, 320, 771.

    Bostang-nor, or Lake Bagarash, i. 24,

    223, 224.

    Botany, of China, i. b’SS-SIO ; of the

    /’lilt tsito, i. 372-374.

    Boulgcr, D. C, i. 237, ii. 137; notice of

    Turkestan, ii. ‘i28 ; of Mohammedan

    revolt, ii. 730, 731.

    Boundaries, of the Chinese Empire, i. 6 ;

    of tlu! Eighteen Provinces, i. 8 ; made

    under Kienlung. i. .59; of 111, i. 215 ;

    of Tibet, i. 237 ; disputes concerning

    the Amur, ii. 441 ; of the Empire near

    Kuldja, ii. 733.

    Bowring, Sir John, i. 459 ; his relations

    with Yeh, ii. 033 ; his character, ii.

    634; action in the Arrow case, ii.

    635 ; opens hostilities with China, ii.

    ‘ 637 ; his conduct discussed in Parliament,

    ii. 041.

    Braam, Andreas van, Dutch ambassador

    to Kienlung, i. 324, ii. 489.

    Bremer, Sir Gordon, attacks Tinghai

    with the fleet, ii. 514; takes the Bogue

    forts, ii. 517, 520 ; sails for Calcutta,

    ii. 521.

    Breton, i. 314, 771.

    Bretschneider, Dr. E., i 84, 345, 651,

    ii. 413.

    Bribes, nature and extent of, among officials,

    i. 474 ; at examinations, i. 569.

    Bricks, Chinese, their shapes and uses,

    i. 728.

    Bridges, construction and variety of, in

    China, i. 7.53-756.

    Bridgman, Dr. E. C, i. .530, 537. ii. 277;

    arrives in China, ii. 327, 333, 335,

    342, 346.

    Bridgman, J. G., i. 43, 209, 316.

    Bronze, beauty and excellence of, ii. 20.

    Bros.set, jeniic, i. 643.

    Brown, Rev. S. R., ii. 342, .344.

    Bruce, Sir Frederick A., and reorganization

    of Ever-Victoiious force, ii. 611 ;

    commendation of (Gordon’s conduct,

    ii. 619 ; sent by Elgin to commissioners

    at Tientsin, ii. 655 ; repairs to Taku

    with the allies, ii. 064, 065, 071, 672 ;

    his good offices in Lay-Oslxime flotilla

    affair, ii. 093, 694 ; his influence in

    China, ii. (i99.

    Buddha, temple and statue of, in Peking,

    i. 71 ; near Si-ngan, i. 151 ; his life,

    ii. 218 ; Chinese expedition to buy

    relics of, ii. 414.

    Buddhism, of the Mougol.s, i. 305,

    ii. 234 ; in Khoten, i. 231 ; the lion and,

    i. 317; ridiculed in the ‘Sacred Commands,’!.

    689; and pagodas in China,

    746 INDEX.

    i. 744; introduced a.b. 05, under

    Ming ti, ii. 163 ; in fourtli century A. d.,

    ii. 165; and the Emperor Wu ti, ii.

    166 ; its growth in China, ii. 217-229

    and Koniaiiism compared, ii. 281,

    315; bibliography, ii. 22′.t, 232, 234;

    and J’uii(/-s/iui, ii. 246.

    Buddhist, name for China, Chin-tan, i 3,

    5; Olympus, i. 12; temples in

    Peking, i. 73-79 ; manufactories at

    Dolon-nor, i. 87; temples in Hangchau,

    i. lis ; on Puto Island, i. 124; at

    Canton, i. I(i4-1()() ; books translateil into

    Mongolian, i. 206 ; temples at Kuldja,

    i. 218; at H’lassa, i. 245; priests

    and snakes, i. 346 ; images in clamshells,

    i. 350 ; c7iaA’*v<»’ar^^i audCliinese

    hwamjt’i^ i. 395 ; arrangement of Chinese

    characters, i. 589 ; tractatG, i. 708 ;

    chanting, ii. 96 ; pilgrims between

    India and China, ii. 413 ; notions of cosmogony,

    ii. 139 ; charm cut in Kiiyung

    kwan gateway, ii. 176; missionaries

    in China, ii. 189 ; priest as rain-maker,

    ii. 203 ; priests oppose Nestorians, ii.

    280, 28(5.

    Buffalo {^hui ni/i), used more than the

    ox. i. 274, 320 ; in rice-fields, ii. 3

    ;

    worshipped, ii. 14.

    Bukur, a town of 111, i. 225.

    Bunge, Alex, von, i. 296, 355.

    Ikirdon, Bishop J., ii. 364.

    Burgevine, succeeds Ward in command

    of the Ever-Victorious force, ii. 609;

    goes over to Tai-pings, ii. 613 ; his proposal

    to (Jordoii, ii. 614.

    Burial, of lamas in Tibet, i. 250 ; places

    in china, i. 275 ; ceremonies attending,

    ii. 243-2.55 ; ceremonies and Christians,

    ii. 3] 3.

    Burkhan-buddha in the Kwanlun system,

    i. 11, 211.

    liiirlingame, Hon. Anson, ii. ()95 ; enters

    upon Ills mission to foreign powers, ii.

    696 ; his death, ii. 698 ; influence in

    China, ii. 699.

    Bushell, Dr. S. W., i. 88, ii. 160, 174.

    (CABINET, or Imperial Chancery, i.

    ; 415-417.

    Callery, J. M., i. 589, 643, 644, 672, 627.

    Cambaluc (Peking), i. 61, 63, 6.5.

    Camellia, a favorite flower, i. 367; akin

    to tea, ii. 40.

    Camels, wild, of Lob-nor, i. 223 ; usefulness

    of, i. 325 ; hair rugs, ii. 39.

    Camphor on Formosa, i. 140; its preparation,

    ii. 55.

    Canals (se<! (Irand Canal, i. 31), i. 37.

    Candida, a Roman Catholic convert,

    establishes hospitals, ii. 265; baptized,

    ii. 292 ; her good works, ii. 294.

    Cangue {Icia), its use as a punishment, i.

    509.

    Canfu (or Kanpu), i. 127, ii. 414 ; Abu

    Zaid concerning, ii. 415.

    Cannon, imitating English, found, ii. 62 ;

    cast b}’ Jesuit missionaries, ii. 298;

    found at Tinghai, ii. 525 ; at Shanghai,

    ii. .536 ; at Barrier forts, ii. 638.

    Canton, climate of, i. 53 ; rainfall, i. 56 ;

    description, i. 160-169 ; environs, i.

    169-170 ; granaries in, i. 295 ; the tankia,

    i. 412, 751 ; location of magistrates

    in, i. 445 ; Gov. Chu’s departure

    from, i. 462 ;

    ‘ Free Discussion Hall

    at, i. 488 ; executions at, in 18.54, i. 513 ;

    prisons, i. 514 ; examinations, i. 550

    ;

    words in dialect, i. 611, 614; shops,

    i. 736; street scenes, i. 740; fire control

    in, i. 743 ; the river craft of, i. 749 ;

    dog-mear, restaurants, i. 778 ; at New

    Year, i.813; at Feast of Lanterns, 1.819 ;

    porcelain painting, ii. 26 ; a cotton

    factory experiment at, ii. 63 ; taken by

    Manchus in 1650, ii. 179; the prefect

    and governor of, pray for rain, ii. 203-

    205 ; infanticide rare in, ii. 239,

    242 ; disposal of the dead at, ii 254 ;

    worship at street shrines, ii. 263 ; Moslems

    in, ii. 268; excitement in, about

    Portuguese, ii. 292 ; Morrison arrives in,

    ii. 318; dies there, ii. 327 ; unpromising

    field for missionarit’s, ii. 34() ; Marcus

    Aurelius’s eiiiliassy enters, ii. 410 ; the

    East India (“onipany established at, ii.

    446 ; homicides among foreigners in, ii.

    451; Lord Napier at, ii. 467-473; foreigners

    detained Ijy Lin at, ii. 498 ; Elliot

    leaves, ii. 503 ; fortified, ii. 513, 521 ;

    Elliot accepts a ransom for, ii. 523 ; dislike

    of foreigners at close of war, ii. 555 ;

    Kiyiiig sent to. ii. 557 ; troubles at, with

    foreigners, ii. .5(i8

    ; question of admittance

    to the city, ii. 573; lawlessness

    at, ii. 580 ; sentiment in. ii. 625 ; rebels

    about, ii. 630 ; their wholesale execution,

    ii. 632 ; Admiral Seymour enters,

    ii. 638 ; French legation withdraws

    from, ii. 639 ; taken by Franco-English

    forces, ii. 644 ; influence of Elgin’s tact

    at, ii. 647, 661 ; coolies with British

    at Taku, ii. 674 ; French missionary

    aggressions at, ii. 709.

    Cantor, Dr. T. E., i. 350, 351.

    Caps, various official, i. 414.

    Cards, visiting, i. 802.

    Caricature in Chinese art, ii. 11.5.

    Carving, delicacy of Chinese, ii. 59 ; exj)

    ort of, ii. :!94 ; horn and ivory, ii. 400.

    Cassia, and cinnamon, ii. .55 ; and cassia

    oil as exports, ii. 392 ; the inalaOatliriDii

    of the Periplus, ii. 412.

    Catalogue, Imperial, i. 626; of ancient

    Chinese books recovered, ii. 149.

    Cathay, a modern Persian name for

    China, i. 4 ; its signification in the Middle

    Ages, ii. 408.

    INDEX. 747

    Cats (kia-li), in China, i. 318 ; eaten, 1.

    777.

    Celestial Empire, derived from 2^ie7i

    C/iiix, ‘Heavenly Dynasty.’ i. 5.

    Celestial Mountains. .See Tien Shan.

    Censorate, its duties and influence, i. 430-

    483.

    Censors, report.s from, i. 4G4, 480, .5(]().

    Censuses of China, i. 2.58-2(54 ; considered

    and compared, i. 2U5-272 ; method of

    taking, i. 2S()-282 ; probable accuracy,

    i. 283-288.

    ‘Century of Surnames ‘ {Pi/i Kia Sing),

    a school-book, i. S^’IO.

    Ceremonies, importance of, in government,

    i. 424 ; (jourt of, i. 43.5 ; the iSiao Ilioh

    upon, i. .540 ; in broader sense mean /t,

    i. G45 ; marriage, i. 787-701 ; of obeisance

    at court, i. 801 ; funeral, ii. 243-

    250.

    Ceylon, Yungloh’s expedition against, ii.

    414.

    Chahar. See Tsakhar, i. 87.

    Chalmers, John, ii. 72, 207, 211.

    Chang-an, in Shensi. See Si-ngan.

    Changchau, in Puhkien, i. 13.5-13G ; bridge

    at, i. 7.55 ; infanticide in, ii. 240

    ;

    taken by Tai-pings, ii. 605.

    Chang-peh Shan, ‘ Long White Mountains,’

    their position, i. 10 ; called Kolmin-

    shanguin alin by Manchus, i. 13,

    188.

    Changsha, capital of Hunan, i. 147

    stormed by Tai-pings, ii. 595.

    Chapu, i. I2(i, ii. 414; captured by the

    British, ii. .533.

    Characters, Chinese, for bee, ant, etc. , i.

    354 ; botanical, i. 372 ; zoological, i.

    874; method of memorizing, at school,

    i. 5-11 ; origin of, i. 580; six classes, i.

    583 ; their number, i. 580 ; classification,

    i. .590-.508.

    Chan, ‘department’ or ‘district,’ term

    explained, i. .58; prefect of, i. 441.

    Chan dynasty, term ‘ Middle Kingdom ‘

    dates from, i. 4 ; and the Kvi-oh-tsz’

    Kien, i. .543 ; King Wan of the, i. 020;

    Duke, i.C37, 643, 808, ii. 157-1(50 ; After

    Chan, ii. 172.

    Chau hu, ‘Nest Lake,’ in Nganhwui, i.

    109.

    Chau-ll, or ‘ Ritual of Chau,’ i. 483; its

    character, i. (543.

    Chau-sm, Emperor of the Shang, ii. 1.56.

    Chehkiang province, climate of, i. 55 •,

    position and water ways, i. 114; trees

    and productions, i. 11.5; the mulberry

    in, ii. 11; silk, ii.34 ; missions in, ii. .)51.

    Chess, the Chinese games of, i. 827-829.

    Chih-li, ‘ Direct rule,’ term explained,

    i. 58.

    Chihli province, position, i. 60; lakes

    and rivers of, i. 88 ; productions, i. 89.

    Children, course of study for, i. 521-541 ;

    how regarded in ancient time.s, i. 640;

    ari’angement of their hair, i. 765

    ;

    names, i. 797 ; how sj)oken of, i. 804 ;

    infanticide, ii. 239ff.; foundling hospitals

    for, ii. 264 ; baptism of, by Catholics,

    ii. 310 ; in the Tientsin Romanist

    orphan asylum, ii. 700.

    Chifu, in Shantung, i. 90, 9.3 ; gold near,

    i. 311 ; French at, ii. 6’i2 ; convention,

    ii. 724.

    Chin dynasty, its trade and intercourse,

    ii. 166.

    Vhi)\ sub-district or department, term

    explained, i. .59.

    Chin Hwa-ching, Chinese general, at

    Wusung, ii. 534 ; his bravery, ii. .53.5.

    China, origin of name uncertain, probably

    from Tuin, i. 2, ii. 161 ; name

    introduced into Europe by Arab traders,

    i. 3 ; native names of, i. 4 ; Buddhist

    and Mohammedan terms for, i. 5 ;

    dimensions of the Empire, i. 5 ; of the

    Eighteen Provinces, i. 8 ; boundaries,

    i. 6 ; its three grand divisions, i. 7 ;

    its mountain systems, i. 9 ; deserts, i.

    15-17; rivers, i. 18; lakes, i. 23 ; coast,

    i. 25; Great Wall of, i. 29; Grand

    Canal, i, 31 ; roads, i. 37; general aspect,

    i. 40 ; aboriginal races of, i. 42 ;

    climate on coast of, compared with

    America, i. .55 ; colonies, i. 185-257

    ;

    population, i. 264; science in, i. 297,

    377; education in, i. .521 ft’.; popular

    ideas concerning, i. 724 ; methods of

    cultivation in, ii. 7 ; its early history

    not without foundation, ii. 135; Christianity

    in, ii. 275 ; surve}^ of, by the

    Jesuits, ii. 308 ; prospects of Christian

    missions in, ii. 354 ; ancient and modern

    commerce of, ii. 372. 390 ft’. ; earliest

    notices of, ii. 408 ; general condition of,

    after first war, ii. .573 ; forcibly opened,

    ii. 656 ; condition in 1865, ii. 6′.)3 ; hopeful

    prospects for the country, ii. 738,

    743.

    Chinchew, or Tsiuenchau, the ancient

    Zayton, i. 129, 136; bridge at, i. 755;

    Portuguese traders at, ii. 428.

    Chin-chin, origin of the word, i. 805.

    Chinese, race types, i. 41 ; women, 1. 42

    ;

    industry and civilization of, i. 46 ; works

    on geography, i. 49 ; people of Shantung,

    i. 93; policy in I’ll, i. 314 ft’.;

    Herbal, i. 370-377 ; political education

    of, i. 384; divisions of society, i. 411;

    advancement aft’ected by their language,

    i. 579 ; philosophy mixed with divination,

    i. 629, 632, ii. 74 ; care of their

    early records, i. 651 ; their notions of

    foreign countries, i. 725 ; popular ideas

    respecting their food, i. 777 ; their social

    customs, i. 782 ; regulations regarding

    marriage, i. 792; names, how written,

    i. 798 ; ceremony and etiquette, i.

    748 IXDEX.

    800 ; a temperate people, i. 808 ; commendable

    traits of the, i. H’d’d ; gardeners

    rather than farmers, ii. o ; societj’,

    industry of, ii. C3 ; their tendency to

    co-operate, ii. 88 ; chronology and cosmogony,

    ii. 13G-144; their origin, it

    144 ; adopt the queue, ii. 17′.) ; causes

    of their remarkable duration, ii. 188 ft”.;

    influence of ancestral worship on, ii.

    ‘2o7 ft”. ; benevolence, ii. SG:! fT. ; Christian

    missions among the, ii. 27.^ ; character

    of, emigrants in the Archipelago, ii.

    3’2:^ ; future influence of newspapers

    among, ii. o41 ; generally irreligious, ii.

    355 ; tluir early isolation and suspicion,

    iL 40t) ; subse<iuent estimate of foreigners

    influenced by early Portuguese traders,

    ii. 4:27 ; maltreated by Spaniards in

    Manila, ii . 432 ; terms for ‘ foreigner,

    ii. 461 ; view of first war with England,

    iL 508 ; national confidence during Taiping

    Rebellion, ii. 604, 625 ; foreigners’

    abuse of, ii. 706 ; character as exhibited

    during the great famine, ii. 735,

    736 ; Education Commission to the

    United States, iL 7’39, 740.

    Chinese Rcj)ository, its origin and object,

    ii. 332 ; on first war with England, ii.

    .550.

    Chinhai, in Chehkiang, L 123 ; capture of,

    ii. 520.

    Ching-hwang miao, of Peking, i. 69 ; in

    Canton, i. 165 ; in Shanghai, i. 107, ii.

    202, 535.

    Chingtih. See Jeh-ho, L 88.

    Chingtu, in Sz’chuen, L 149, 156-157.

    Chinkiang, in Kiangsu, i. 104 ; Nestorians

    in, ii. 285 ; capture by British, ii.

    .540; by Tai-pings, ii. 590; recaptured

    by rebels, ii . 605.

    Cholera and small-pox common, ii. 132.

    Chop (//'(“), meaning of the term, i. 800 ;

    in tea trade, ii. 48.

    Chop-sticks (Av/vji tsz’), how used, L 807.

    Christianity, and the Sabbath in China,

    i. 810; its introduction into China l)y

    Nestorian.s, ii. 275 ; l)y Roman (‘atholics,

    ii. 287 ; confounded with Triad

    Sect, iL 312 ; Protestants commence

    their labors, ii. 318 ; prospects for toleration

    in China, ii. 354 ; jjreached in

    Formosa by the Dutch, ii. 434 ; Hung

    Siu-tsuen accepts, ii. 58(i ; he studies at

    Canton, ii. 588 ; absence of its principles

    in Tai-ping movement, ii. 600- Lord

    Elgin’s reply to missionaries concerning,

    ii. 649 ; and missions in China,

    problem discussed by the officials, ii.

    707.

    Chronology, Chinese, ii. 135 ; its claims

    to belief, ii. 143.

    Chu, (Jovernor, valedictory ode of, i. 462.

    Chu Hi, commentator of Confucius, his

    home in Kiangsi.i. 113 ; his Siau IHolt^

    i. .540 ; commentaries of, i. 652, 654,

    677 ; his philosophy, i. 683 ; on cosmogony,

    ii. 141; on Tablet of Yu, iL

    150, 174, 200.

    Chukiang. See Pearl River, L 22, 159,

    etc.

    Chung-ho tien, ‘ Hall of Central Peace,’

    Palace at Peking, i. 68.

    Chunghow, escorts American embassy to

    Peking, ii. 668 ; in the Tientsin riot, ii.

    702, 703 ; sent to France on a mission

    of apology, ii. 7C.5 ; abused by the

    foreign press, ii. 706 ; sent to Russia,

    ii. 731 ; jjunishmcnt for negotiating

    treaty of Livadia, ii. 732.

    Chungking, in S/.’cliueii, L 155, 158.

    Vhuriij Kiuoh, or ‘ Middle Kingdom,’ name

    for China since B.C. 1150, i. 4, 98.

    Chusan Archipelago, i. 123-126; British

    fleet arrives at, ii. 515 ; restored, ii. 580.

    Chun 2’xiu, or ‘ Spring and Autumn Record,’

    i. 647-651, 663.

    Chu Tsun, a censor, i. 432.

    Cibot, Pere, i. 537, iL 14.

    Cicadas, tricks with, i. 3.52.

    Cities in China, aspect of, i. 40 ; arrangement

    of streets in, i. 738 ; their dull

    appearance, i. 746.

    Civilization, of the Chinese, L 46, 380-

    383 ; the wife in, i. 792.

    Club-houses, in Peking, i. 76 ; Ningpo, i.

    122; Canton, i. 167, 739.

    Clans, in south China, i. 482 ; their customs,

    i. 484 ; secret societies, i. 492 ; in

    the Archipelago, ii. 323.

    Classics, or Chinese canonical books,

    characters in, i. 589 ; the minor, as

    school-books, i. 526-541 ; price of the

    nine, i. 602 ; the five cliief, described, i.

    627-651 •, the ‘Four Books,’ or minor,

    L 652-672 ; Hall of the, i. 74, 730.

    Clientclage in Chinese official ranks, i. 461.

    Climate, of Eighteen Provinces, i. 50 ; of

    Mongolia, i. 201 ; of lli, L 223 ; of Tibet,

    i. 241.

    Cloisonni’, its manufacture, ii. 60.

    Coal, in Chilili, i. 89 ; in Shantung, i. 93 ;

    in Shansi, i. 94-95 ; in Formosa, i. 139;

    in Hunan, i. 147; Kwangtung, i. 174;

    Yunnan, i. 184 ; modeo.f working, i. 305.

    Coast, length of Chinese, i. 7 ; granitic

    mountains of, i. 14; character of, i.

    26 ; climate of, i. 55 ; trade along the,

    ii. 389.

    Cobblers, itinerant, ii. 39.

    Cobdo province, i. 208 ; Tourgouths in,

    i. 220.

    Coffin, C. C, i. 781.

    Coffins, stored in temples, i. 275 ; form

    and value of, ii. 244 ; in larariums, ii.

    2.54.

    Cole, R., i. 604, ii. 325, 350.

    Colledge, Dr. T. R., his hospital at Ma.

    cao, ii. 333, 335.

    INDEX. (49

    Colleges, in Canton, i. 542, 545 ; Anglo-

    Chinese, at Malacca, ii. 324.

    Collie Kev. David, i. 054, ii. o24, 368.

    Colonial Office, Peking, i. 72, 426.

    Colonial Possessions oi Cliina, i. 7 ; genoral

    table of, i. KSi» ; population, i. 284 ;

    governed by the Li Fan Yuen, i. 428.

    Commerce, Chinese, ii. 373^05. See also

    nnder Trade

    Concessions, or foreign settlements at

    trade i)orts, ii. 020.

    Concubines, their position in the household,

    i. 791.

    Confucius, worship of, in ‘ Hall of Intense

    Thought,’ Peking, i. (>’.); temple to, at

    Peking, i. 73. ii. 15!) ; l)irthplace, i.

    90; ‘ bird of,’ the pjacock, i. 337 ; influence

    of, on permanence of Chinese institutions,

    i. 3SL ; family of, ennobled,

    i. 387, 406. 52;), 525 ; and Hiang Toll, i.

    534, 530, 538, (;3t), 637 ; and the Li Ki, i.

    644 ; his Ckiui Tsiii, i. 047 ; Ana ects of,

    i. 6.5() ; his life, i. 058 ; character of his

    philosophy, i. 003 ; worship of, i. 004 ;

    influence in government j)olity, ii. 92;

    on music, ii. 94 ; and early emperors, ii.

    146 ; writings burned, ii. 101 ; worshipped,

    ii. 195 ; on religion, ii. 199 ; tsmples

    to, ii. 203 ; as an example, ii. 206 ; his

    meeting with Lau-tsz’, ii. 212, 218, 237.

    Contrarieties in Chinese and Western

    usages, i. 829-833.

    Cooking among the Chinese, i. 781.

    Cool.e trade, and Kwangting rebellion, ii.

    631 ; its atrocities, and efforts toward its

    suppression, li. 0tj2 ; labor employed by

    the British at Taku, ii. 084 ; convention

    signed respecting, ii. 098 ; is finally

    abolislied, ii. 715.

    Cooper, T. T., i. 43, ii. 719.

    Copper, m Yunnan, i. 184 ; uses and localities

    of, i. 311 ; manufacture, ii. 19.

    Cordier, Henri, i. 034, 781, ii. 318, 024.

    Corea. frontier of, i. 190 ; trade at Ki-iu

    wan fair, i. 194 ; Chinese attempts to

    conquer, ii. 92 ; conquest of, by the

    Tang, ii 109; language, ii. 190.

    Cormorant, fishing with the, ii. 10 ; noticed

    by Friar Odoric, ii. 423.

    Cosmogonj’-, Chinese, ii. 137 ; Chu Hi’s,

    li. 141, 200.

    Cotton cultivati m, ii. 9 ; and manufacture,

    ii. 36, 02.

    Cottrell, C. H., i. 207.

    Council of State, or General Council, i.

    415, 418.

    Couriers, government and post, i. 389, 425.

    Court, of Controllers, Peking, i. 69 ; arrangemont-^

    of imperial, i. 407 ; of Colonial

    Government, i. 428 ; Censorate, i.

    430 , Transmission and Judicature, i.

    433 ; minor court.s, i. 4:!5 ; criminal, i.

    503 ; dialect, i. 013 ; ceremony otkotoii\

    i. 801.

    Creation, Chinese ideas concerning, u

    137.

    Crickets used for gambling, i. 352, 886.

    Crime, laws respecting, in the code, i

    389.

    Crow, the, on Desert of Sha-moh, i. 17

    ;

    about Peking, i. 334.

    Cashing, Hon. Caleb, appointed U. S.

    minister to China, ii. 505 ; concludes

    treaty of Wanghia with Kiying, ii. 567 ;

    correspondence in case of homicide, ii.

    568.

    Customs, management of, i. 444, ii. 402 ;

    internal transit, ii. 391 ; revenue, ii.

    404 ; put into hands of foreigners at

    Shanghai, ii. 027, 658 ; under Mr. Hart,

    ii. 095.

    Cutch, or terra japonica, a dve, imported,

    ii. 398.

    Cuvier, Baron G., i. 343.

    Cycle adopted by Hwangti, ii. 69, 146.

    Cyclopedias in Chinese literature, i. 693.

    DALAI-LAMA of Tibet, i. 245, 256 ;

    the Pope of Shamanism, ii. 3:!3.

    Dancing, or posture-making, ii. 104.

    Daourian Mountains, on north frontier of

    China, i. 9.

    Darwin, Charles R., i. 3.”34.

    Darwin, Erasmus, i. 357.

    Dates, so-called, of China, the jujube

    plum, i. 305, 775.

    D’Avezac, ii. 416, 418.

    David, P.re, i. 157, 343, 290, 314, 317,

    331, 3.52, 355.

    Davis, Sir J., notice of Grand Canal, L

    32 ; of Yuen-mir.g Yuen, i. 80 ; on

    Canal, i. 92 ; Nanking, i. 101 ; Nganking,

    i. HO; tSketches, i. 114, 101,

    290, 297, 434, 5(51, 055 ; Vhinc.ae Poetry,

    i. 703, 714, 715, 719, 722, 745, ii. 19,

    22, 27, 28, .5.5, 05, 79, 118, 137, 1.52,

    179, 200, 214, 220, 233, 349, 3.52, 382,

    400, 42(), 440, 4i9, 454, 458, 404 ; Kiying

    introduced to, ii. 567 ; takes the Bogue

    forts, ii. .573, 574; his China during

    the. W<u\ ii. 570.

    Day, its divisions, ii. 79.

    Debts and debtors, laws and practice concerning,

    i. 515 ; at New Year, i. 811.

    Deer, varieties of, in China, i. 321.

    Degrees, four literary, in China, i. 547-

    500 ; sale of, i. 549, 500 ; value of, i.

    571.

    De Guignes, i. 37, 119, 200, 271, 280, 289,

    291, 292, 081, 724, 735, 794, 800, 812,

    ii. 30, 32, 33, 73, 96, 307, 250, 271, 410,

    439.

    D’Herbelot, on origin of name China, L

    3 ; on Tartar, i. 302.

    Deluge of Yao, probably an inundation,

    ii. 147.

    Dennys, N. B., i. 84, 130, 170.

    ‘ Density of population in China, i. 373.

    750 l^•l)EX.

    Dent, invited to meet liin in Canton, ii.

    4’M ; conducted to consulate by Captain

    Elliot, ii. 5UU ; Liu probably wislies

    him as a liostage, ii. 5U8.

    D’Entiecolks, ii. ^0.

    DeQuincey, Tiiomas, i. 234.

    Desert of Gobi, or Sha-moh, i. 15. See

    Gobi.

    Deshauterayes, Le Roux, i. l’)”)!.

    Dew, Captain, captures Ningpo, ii. GOO

    ;

    before Shauhing, ii. 010.

    Dialects, of the Chinese language, i. 611;

    the Mandarin, i. Gil! ; Canton and Amoy,

    i. ()14-Gia

    Dictionary, of Kanghi, i. 588, 591, 592,

    G02, (u’i ; Dr. Morrison’s, i. 611 ; its

    compilation, ii. o20.

    Dictionaries, used by the Chinese, i. 589-

    591 ; words in various, i. 611 ; of dialects,

    i. 015 ; in the Imperial Catalogue,

    i. 672.

    Dikes, along Yellow River, i. 19 ; the

    Grand Canal, i. o5 ; at Kaifung, i. 99,

    100.

    Dinners, formal Chinese, described, i.

    806.

    Dish-mending by travelling tinkers, ii. 58.

    Diseases prevalent in China, ii. 12U.

    Divination, by the figures of the Yifi

    Jung, i. 632 ; by the horary characters,

    ii. 69 ; at graves, ii. 240 ; Chinese, compared

    with Roman, ii. 201.

    Divisions, of China, i. 7 ; of Mongolia, i.

    202 ; of Tibet, i. 244 ; of society, i. 412 ;

    b}- Yang Kien into chau, hieii, etc.,

    ii. 167.

    Divorce, laws respecting, i. 794.

    Dogs, in China, i. 318 ; eaten, i. 777.

    Dolon-iior, or Lania-miao, i. 87.

    Dominican friars in China, ii. 297; rivalry

    and quarrels with .Jesuits, ii. 299, 300 ;

    persecuted in Macao, ii. 302.

    Doolittle, Justus, i. 480, .550, .5.59, 719,

    7.52, 781, 788, 797, 817, 821, 827, ii.

    14, 7(), 87, 104, 119, 212, 2-Jl, 242, 248,

    255, 2(;i.

    Douc, or Cochinchinese monkey, i. 314.

    Douglas, Dr. C, i. 61.5.

    Douglas, R. K., i. 663, ii. 217, 261.

    Dragon, or funr/, of the Chinese, i. .344

    ;

    imperial enil^lcm, i. 395 ; on Emperor’s

    used as symbol, ii. 112 ; and grave geomancv,

    ii. 246.

    Dragon-boat Festival, i. 148. 696, 816.

    Dramas and plays in China, i. 714 ; resume

    of a plot, i. 822.

    Dress, style and variety of Chinese, i.

    7.59 ; of Chinese women, i. 763 ; at theatrical

    representations, i. 822 ; felts and

    skins as, ii. 39 ; of Tai-pings, ii. .589.

    Drought, action of officials during, ii.

    203-205.

    Drum Tower, Peking, i. 74 ; stone drums

    in Confucian Temple, ii. 159.

    Ducks, numerous, i. 339 ; the mandarin,

    i. 340 ; hatching establishments, i. 77a.

    Dudgeon, Dr. J., i. 770, li. 134, 240, 241,

    44a.

    Dufresse, Romish missionary to China,

    ii. 30(j, 307 ; on infant baptism, ii. 311

    his letters, ii. 317.

    Du Halde, i. 02, 196, 523, ii. 137, 294,

    443, 719.

    Duuganis, Mohammedan tribe of, L 210,

    and Yakub lieg, ii. 727 ; their revolt,

    ii. 730.

    Du Ponceau, P. S., i. 586.

    Dutch, bring tea into Europe, ii. 51

    ;

    tlriven from Formosa by Ko.\inga, ii.

    180; in the Pescadores, i. 141, ii.

    433 ; and missionaries in the Archipelago,

    ii. 320 ; Chinese notice of, ii. 427

    ;

    trade and embassies to China, ii. 434.

    Dutch Folly Fort, at Canton, i. 163,

    170 ; British bombard Canton from, iL

    640.

    Dwellings, in loess, i. 301 ; in cities,

    construction and arrangement, i. 727-

    733 ; boats used as, i. 750.

    Dyer, Samuel, i. (iC»4, ii. 325, 368.

    Dynasties, table of the Chinese, ii. 186.

    Dzaring Lake, in Koko-nor, i. 18.

    EAGLE, or Barkut, in Mongolia, i.

    331.

    East India Company, appoint Morrison as

    translator, ii. 319: oppose his son’s

    press at Macao, ii. 345 ; and the opium

    trade with China, ii. 376, 377 ; its influence

    and character in China, ii. 443,

    4.59, 403 ; attempt to start a trade at

    Fuhchau, ii. 445 ; control the British in

    China, ii. 453; its responsibility, ii.

    458 ; its close, ii. 4.V.), 738.

    Eclip.se.s, of moon at (^antou, i. SI 9 ; Chinese

    observations of, ii. 73 ; noticed in

    the tShii, ii. 149.

    Edicts, style of, and modes of publishing,

    i. 409.

    Edkins, Dr. Joseph, i. 3, 752, ii. 197,212,

    217, 229, 247, 271, 364.

    Education, in China, Chap. IX. ; probable

    extent of, i. 545 ; female, i. 572-

    577 ; character of Chinese, ii. 370 ; of

    Chinese by missionaries, ii. 310, 341 ;

    of Chinese boys in the United States,

    ii. 739-741.

    Egypt, Chinese snuff-bottles found in, ii

    27,

    Eighteen Provinces (or China Proper),

    called Shih-jxih Sing and C’him(\

    Kwoh in Chinese, i. 8; its mountaiu

    system, i. 14 ; boundaries, i. 25 ; coast,

    i. 26; climate, i. .50; topographical

    divisions, i. .58 ; area and population’

    density of. i. 272 ; their government, i

    437-443.

    INDEX. 761

    Eitel, Ernest, ii. 233, 247.

    Elders of villages, their position, i. 483,

    500.

    Elephants at Peking, i. 323.

    Eleuths, tribe uf Mongols, i. 213, 219.

    Elgin, Loid, his opinion of the Arrow

    case, li. 037; arrival in China, ii. (143;

    before Canton city, ii. (144 ; construction

    of municipal control at its capture,

    ii. (;4G ; replies to Shanghai missionaries

    on toleration of Christianity, ii. 049

    ;

    reaches Tientsin, li. Ool ; bearing toward

    the allies in Tientsin, ii. 054 ; and

    the opium question, ii. 057 ; visits the

    rebels at Hankow, ii. 059 ; among native.”?

    near Canton, ii. 001 ; reappointed

    plenipotentiary to ( liina, ii. 071 ; refuses

    surrender of Takii forts and advances

    to Peking, ii. 0’i7; view of the

    pillage of Yuen-miiig Yuen, ii. 683 ; he

    orders its destruction, ii. 684 ; signs

    the treaty of Peking, ii. OsO \ his character,

    ii. 688.

    Elliot, Admiral G., arrives at Chusan,

    ii. 515.

    Elliot, Captain Charles, made superintendent

    of trade, ii. 481 ; his opinion of

    the opium trade, ii. 482 ; . ordered to

    drive away opium ships, ii. 491 ; his

    exertions to stop smuggling, ii. 496 ; returns

    to Canton and oilers co-operation

    with Lin, ii. 499 ; his circular upon surrendering

    the opium, ii. 502 ; leaves

    Canton with the prescribed Englishmen,

    ii. 503 ; retires with them on board

    ship, ii. 506 ; effect upon Lin of his

    protecting Dent, ii. 509 ; arrival off

    Chusan as plenipotentiary, ii. 515 ; interview

    with Kishen at Taku, ii. 510

    ;

    at the Bogue, ii. 518; his humane

    policy, ii. 519 ; reward offered for, ii.

    520; accepts a ransom for Canton, ii.

    523 ; superseded by Sir H. Pottinger, ii.

    524.

    Ellis,’Henry, i. 85, 174, 5(il, ii. 458.

    Embassy, received by Kienlung, ii. 182;

    to China : of Marcus Aurelius, ii. 410 ;

    Ibn Batuta, ii. 423 ; character of an,

    during the Ming, ii. 42() ; the Portuguese

    send four, ii. 438 ; Spanish, ii.

    432 ; Dutch, ii. 438, 439 ; Macartney’s,

    ii. 454 ; Lord Amherst’s, ii. 458 ; Pottinger’s

    question concerning reception

    of an, ii. 5.53 ; the Burlingame, to

    foreign countries, ii. 097.

    Embroidery, on official costume, i. 703

    ;

    on ladies’ dresses, i. 7(55 ; Chinese skill

    in, ii. 36.

    Emigration, restrictions to, from China,

    i. 378, 411 ; character of, to the

    Archipelago, ii. 323 ; of Chinese to

    Amei’ica, treaties respecting, ii. 699.

    Emperor of China, his residence at Peking,

    i. ()6-69 ; country place at Jeh-ho,

    i. 88 ; revenue of, i. 289 ; position, titles,

    etc., i. 393-399; inaugural proclamation,

    i. 399 ; coronation, i. 401 ; authority, i.

    403; family of, i. 404; his escort, i. 410 ;

    relations with ministers, i. 420, 437 ;

    his dress, i. 703 ; worship, i. 801 ; his

    ceremony of ploughing, ii. i;> ; in Chine.

    se annals, ii. 15^ ; tables of Ming and

    Tsing, ii. 1!?6; worships Heaven as

    ‘Tiv)i.-tsz\ ii. 194-199; prays lor rain,

    ii. 305 ; and ancestral worship, ii. 2;.’S ;

    funeral of, ii. 250; worshipped in

    mosques, ii. 370 ; peculiarities about

    succession of the present, ii. 726.

    Empress-dowager, position of, i. 409; death

    of the Eastern, ii. 727.

    Empress-regent, two during Tungchi, ii.

    184 ; their critical position at death of

    Hienfung, ii. 091 ; and marriage ceremonies

    of Tungchi, ii. 710.

    England, compared with China as to population-

    density, i. 273 ; consumption of

    tea in, ii. 51 ; attitude of, at commencement

    of opium war, ii. 510 ; observations

    upon, ii. 572.

    English, manifesto against, at Canton,

    i. 488; caricature of, ii. 116; outrage

    the dead at Canton, ii. 354 ; toleration

    clause in, treaty, ii. 360 ; introduce

    opium into China, ii. 377 ; commerce

    attempted in 1635 and 1664, ii. 444 ; and

    French sailors’ quarrels, ii. 451 ; troops

    at Macao, ii. 456 ; and Chinese expectations

    at Napier’s arrival, ii. 400 ; at

    Canton petition the king regarding

    trade, ii. 470 ; losses during the hrst

    war, ii. 550 ; murder of, near Canton,

    ii. 578 ; consuls at Chinese ports, ii.

    579 ; waive right of entering Canton,

    ii. 573, 025 ; attack pirates, ii. 032

    ;

    insult to flag, ii. 035 ; open hostilities

    at Canton, ii. 638 ; sustain Palmerstoii’s

    war policy at home, ii. 041 ; influ.

    ence of, consular body, ii. 0S9 ; expeditions

    “of trade and exploration” into

    Yunnan, ii. 718-723 ; responsibility foi

    China, ii. 725.

    Erman, A., i. 306.

    Escayrac-de-Lauture, Comte de, ii. 215;

    his return from imprisonment at Peking,

    ii. 684.

    Etiquette, at a court levee, i. 800; of a

    formal call, i. 803.

    Eunuchs in imperial household, i. 407.

    ” Ever-Victorious Force” {Cha)ip-sfn)iff

    Kiuii), its organization under Ward, ii.

    007 ; under Col. Gordon, ii. 009; uniform

    and character, ii. Oil ; takes

    Fushan and other towns, ii. Oil 2 ; before

    Suchau, ii. 013 ; last operations, ii. 617;

    dissolved June 1. 1864, ii. (»18.

    Examinations, Hall of, at Canton, i.

    106 ; riot, i. 498 ; system of, founded, i.

    521 ; mode of conducting, i. 547 ; ar752

    IXDEX.

    rangements, i. 551 ; example of an es-

    Si.j , i. 554 ; statistics of, i. 55S ; army,

    i. 560 ; practical merits and demerits of

    system, i. 5t»2-573.

    Execution, of criminals, i. 511 ; attempted,

    in front of factories, ii. 405 ; of rebels

    in Canton, ii. 632 ; of Shushun, ii. 691

    ;

    of Tientsin rioters, ii. 704.

    Exports, of silk from China, ii. ‘SH ; items

    of, from China, ii. 373, 3112 ; table of,

    ii. 405 ; duties on, in eighteenth century,

    ii. 447.

    Ex-territoriality, its inherent wrong, ii

    657 ; Chinese officials inquire concerning,

    ii. 659; its indirect influence, ii.

    695 ; assumption of, by British minister,

    ii. 72(; ; anecdote illustrating Chinese

    dislike of, ii. 741.

    Extortions practised by officials, i. 475.

    Eyelet-hole ware, called ‘ rice-China,’ how

    made, ii. 25.

    FABER, Ernst, i. 603, ii. 25.5.

    Fabulous animals of the Chinese, i.

    342.

    Factories, the, at Canton, i. 107 ; Chinese

    troops placed over, ii 474 ; mob attack

    the, ii. 495 ; Lin confines foreigners in,

    ii. .500 ; occupied by British troops, ii.

    521 ; brawl and fire at, ii. 556 ; burned

    by Yeh, ii. 639.

    Fairs, on frontiers of Corea, i. 194 ; at

    Peking, i 817.

    Falcons in Peking, i. 332.

    Families, cluster together in China, i.

    277 ; Confucian, ennobled, i. 387 ; in

    tea cultivation, ii. 41 ; and ancestral

    worship, ii. 2:>6 ff’.

    P’amine of 1878, Chinese benevolence

    during, ii 266 ; its extent and terrors,

    ii. 734 ; efforts of foreigners toward its

    relief, ii. 73 5.

    fan River, in .Shansi, i. 94.

    J<^au kuiei, ‘ foreign devils.’ reason for

    name, i. 42 ; use at Canton, ii. 346,

    347 ; influence of the term, ii. 461

    gradual disappearance, ii. (i(i2.

    Farce, a Chinese, i. 715.

    Farms in Cldna, generally small, i. 276,

    278.

    Feet, compressed, origiti and extent of

    practice, i. 776 ; its appearance and effects

    ujjon women, i. 768 ; noticed by

    Friar Odoric, ii. 423.

    Pelt, poorly m;ide, ii. 39.

    Female, education in China, i. .57:2-577

    ;

    dress, i. 763 ; position in society, i. 784

    privileges and misfortunes, i. 794-796

    ;

    parts in theatres, i. 821 ; missionaries,

    ii. 36i.

    Fergusson, James, i. 726, 727, 745, 758,

    ii. 176, 232.

    Festivals, of Dragon-boats, i. 696, 816

    numerous and popular, i.809; New Year,

    i. 810-816 ; of lanterns, i. 817, 818 ; of

    ploughing and the first of spring, iL 13.

    Fiction (see also Novels), character of

    Chinese, i 694.

    Field. Dr. H. M., on Chinese justice,

    i. .510.

    Fi-fi, Chinese monkey, i. 31.5.

    Filial Duty, the ‘ Canons of,’ or Ifiao

    King^ i. 536 ; notable examples of, i

    .

    .538 ; taught in the JJoolc of liitvs, i.

    646.

    Finn, James, ii. 271, 274.

    Fires, how controlled in cities, i. 743 ; in

    pawnshops, ii. 87.

    Fire-wells in Sz’chuen, i. 312.

    Fire-works, in Peking, i. 817; a- id gunpowder,

    ii. 90.

    Fischer, Heinr., i. 309.

    Fisher, Lieut. -Col, ii. 600, 663, 667, 608,

    675.

    Fishes, immense supply of, in China, i.

    276 ; of the Empire, i. 340-350 ; shellfish,

    i. 350-351 ; in (“Janton m.arkets, i.

    780; models of, carried in procession, i.

    818; and fishermen, ii. 14; fins and

    maws eaten, ii. 397.

    Fishing, various methods of, i. 779, ii.

    14.

    Five Sovereigns, the, of Chinese legendary

    history, ii. 142-148.

    Flag, Chinese national and private, i. 7.52.

    Flint, his efforts to establish a trade, ii.

    448 ; imprisoned, ii. 449.

    Flogging, a common punishment, i. .509.

    Flowers, much esteemed, i. 368 ; worn

    upon the head, i. 704 ; at New Year, i.

    811 ; culture of, ii. 12 ; used in scenting

    tea, ii. 48.

    Food, of Tibetans, i. 241 ; in use in China,

    i. 274 ; supplies of palace, i. 408 ; Chinese,

    i. 771-778.

    Foreigners, how classified, i. 429; ideas

    of Cliiuese society, i. 782 ; thought to

    have no surnames, i. 798; tricks playi’d

    on, i. 799 ; establish free hospitals, ii.

    333 fi”. ; Morrison Education Society, ii.

    340; Chinese contempt for, ii. 450-4.5-1 ;

    Chinese terms for, ii. 401 ; in Canton

    kept like animals, ii. 477; imprisoiu’il liy

    Lin in the factories,’ ii. 500 ; how looked

    uj)on by the Chinese, ii. 538 ; in general

    included in terras of English treaty of

    Nanking, ii. oCd ; continued hatred of,

    at Canton, ii. .578,-580; and the Taipings

    at Nanking, ii. 597 ; none injured

    by Tai-pings, ii. 604 ; enlisted by

    the rebels, ii.OOO ; by imperialists under

    Ward, ii. 007; and the Ever-Victorious

    force, ii. (ill ; and collection of duties

    at Shanghai, ii. 627 ; Chinese opinjpn

    of, after the war of ISliO, ii. <iS9 ; phm

    of employing, on war vessels, ii. 692 ;

    their abuse of China, ii. 70() ; admitted

    to audience of Emperor, ii. 714 ; efforts

    INDEX. 753

    toward relief of the famine of 1878, ii.

    735.

    Formosa Island, or Taiwan, i. 27, 44

    ;

    position, character, and products of, i.

    137-141 ; hog found in, i. 324 ; pheasant

    of, i. 337 ; camplior on, ii. .55 ; Dutch

    driven from, ii. 180 ; missions in, ii.

    349 ; history of the Dutch occupation of,

    ii. 433^38 ; massacre of shipwrecked

    crews on, ii. 554 ; during the Tai-ping

    Rebellion, ii. (i()4 ; Japanese descent

    upon, ii. 710 ; its recent growth and

    improvement, ii. 71S.

    Ports, their construction in China, i. 758 ;

    at the Bogue. ii. 520; at Taku, ii. 676.

    Fortune, R., i. 107, 136, 29e”., 370, 733, ii.

    10, 12, 29, 38, 55, 2.53.

    Fortune-tellers, and the cabala of the Yih,

    i. 632 ; and astrology, ii. 74 ; their

    methods, ii. 260.

    Fox, localities of, ideas concerning, i. 320.

    French, studies in Chinese silk-culture,

    ii. 32, 34 ; toleration clauses in, treaty,

    ii. 361 ; relations with China, ii. 441 ;

    and English sailors, their quarrels at

    Canton, ii. 451 ; treaty of Whampoa

    with China, ii. 571 ; attack on rebels at

    Shanghai, ii. 028 ; legation withdraws

    from Canton, ii. 639 ; grievance against

    China, ii. 642 ; convention of Peking,

    ii. 087 ; massacre of consul and Sisters

    of Charity at Tientsin, ii. 700 ; action

    of the, charge’, ii 703.

    Fritsche, H., i. 52, 57.

    Frogs, how caught, i. 778.

    Fruits, of China, i. 366 ; common table,

    i. 774 ; at dinner, i. 807.

    I^’u, ‘ department ‘ or ‘ prefecture, ‘ term

    explained, i. 58 ; government, i. 441.

    Fuhchau (Hokchiu), description of, i.

    130-133 ; its dialect, i. 611 ; bridge at,

    i. 754 ; nunneries abolished in, ii. 230 ;

    missions at, ii. 349 ; van Hoorn lands

    at, ii. 438 ; East India Company commence

    trade at, ii. 44.5 ; treatment of

    foreigners at, ii. 580 ; arsenal established

    at, ii. 61)6.

    Fuh-hi, the inventor of writing, i. 580 ;

    and the Yih King, i. 627-628 ; the first

    monarch, ii. 142 ; confounded with Fuh

    (Buddha), ii. 217.

    Fuhkien province, temperature of, i. .55 ,

    description of, i. 127-13’t; dialect, i.

    614-616 ; marriage customs of, i. 78.5,

    7S7; experiment in coinage, ii. 84;

    Taoist priests in, ii. 215_; infanticide

    in, ii. 240 ; funeral customs, ii. 243 ;

    missions in, ii. 348.

    Fuh-niu shan, in Honan, i. 98.

    Fuhshan (or Fat-shan), a mart near Canton,

    i. .59 ; taken by rebels, ii. 630 ; their

    brutalities in, ii. 631.

    Funerals, ceremonies attending, ii. 343-

    255.

    Vol. II.—48

    Fung-hmang, or phoenix, i. 343 ; as an

    emblem, ii. 111.

    Fuiig-shui, founded on the Yih King^ i.

    628 ; a system of geomancy, ii. 246.

    Fung Sien tien, temple in Emperor’s

    Palace, Peking, i. 09.

    Fung Yun-shan, an early follower of

    Hung Siu-tsuen, ii. 586 ; made the

    ‘ Southern King,’ii. 594 ; he disappears,

    ii. 602.

    Furniture, in country houses, i. 733

    materials, i. 734.

    Furs used for winter garments, i. 763.

    Futai^ orfuyen^ governor of a province,

    i. 438.

    Fuyin, or mayor of Peking, i. 82.

    GABEL, or Salt Department, its im^

    portance, i. 443.

    Gambier, an import, ii. 400.

    Gamble, VV., i. 604, ii. 325.

    Gambling, modes and extent of, i. 825.

    Games, morra {cliai rnri)^ at dinner, L

    808 ; out-door, i. 825 ; chess, i. 827.

    Gang-<lis-ri, Zang, or Kailasa Mountains,

    i. 13.

    Gardens, style of private, in China, i. 734;

    in Shanghai, ii 202.

    ” Gates of China,” perhaps Straits of Luichau,

    i. 26 ; probably at Canfu, i. 127,

    ii. 415.

    Gaubil, Pore, i. 63.3, 634,0.36, 809.

    Gegen, at Wu-tai shan, in Shan si, i. 96.

    Geography, Chinese knowledge of foreign,

    i. 49 ; native topographies, i. 50, 185

    ;

    popular ideas of, in China, ii. 80,

    Geology of China, i. 297-312.

    Gerbillon, Pere, i. 88, ii. 181, 441.

    German representative sent to China in

    1843, ii. .565.

    Genghis khan, i. 726 ; takes Peking, iL

    175 ; and Pres^r John, ii. 286.

    Gill, Capt. \V., r21.

    Ginseng, localities of, i. 367.

    Glass, manufacture of, ii. 21.

    Gobi, or Sha-moh, Great Desert of, the

    Olympus of Buddhist and Taoist myths,

    i. 12 ; its position and area, i. 15; sandhills,

    i. 16 ; called Peh hai and Hah hai,

    i. 2.5, 201, 216 ; grasses of, i. 357 ; its influence

    on Chinese civilization, ii. 189.

    God, word for, in Chinese, ii. 154; discussion

    concerning, among Romanists, ii.

    297 ; among Protestants, ii. 304.

    Goddard, Josiah, i. 015.

    Goes, Benedict, i. 310 ; his journey to

    Cathay, ii. 424.

    Gold, found in Shensi, i. 151 ; in Khoten,

    i. 230 ; in Tibet, i. 244 ; uses of, i. 311,

    ii. 19 ; never coined, ii. 83, 84.

    Golden Island (Kin Shan), in Kiangsu, i

    10.5.

    Gold-fish, methods of rearing, i. 348.

    Gon9alves, J. A., i. 591.

    IND1′:X.

    Gongs, how made, ii. 20 ; their use, ii.

    103.

    Gordon, Colonel Peter, ii. 91 ; takes command

    of the ‘ Ever-Victorious force,’

    ii. 609, i’Al ; captures Fushan, ii. 012;

    before Suchau, ii. Clo ; efforts to protect

    life after its surrender, ii. CIS;

    indignation, ii. (510; wounded before

    Kintan, ii. 017 ; dissolves the ‘ Ever-

    Victorious force,’ ii. 018; his honorable

    conduct appreciated, ii. 019 ; visits

    the works before Nanking, ii. 020; his

    advice to Peking officials as to a war

    with Russia, ii 7c!3.

    Gough, Sir Hugh, arrives to command

    English land force, ii. 521 ; invests Canton,

    ii. 522 ; at Ningpo, ii. 529 ; his

    foroe at taking of Chapu, ii. 5:>) ; at the

    capture of Chinkiang, ii. 542; before

    Nanking, ii. 545 ; his rewards after the

    war, ii. 556.

    Gould, Dr., ii. 340.

    Gould, John, i. 330.

    Government, of Peking, i. 82-83 ; of Mongolia,

    i. 199 ; of Ili, i. 231-233 ; of Tibet,

    i. 255-;357 ; revenue of imperial, i. 289-

    292 ; Chinese, its theory patriarchal, i.

    380 ; laws and departments of, i. 381-

    384; cabinet and boards of, i. 415; provincial,

    i. 437-447 ; influence upon literature,

    i. 719.

    Grain, Commissioner of, i. 443.

    Grains, in the Herbal, i. 372 ; eaten by

    the Chinese, i. 772; how sown, ii. 5.

    Grammar of the Chinese language, i.

    617-021 ; MoiTison’s, ii. 321.

    Grand Canal, Chah ho, or Yun ho, i. 31 ;

    Davis’s description of, i. 32; present

    condition, i. 35, .52, 89, 92, 108, 119;

    deepened by Kublai, ii. 17() ; Tai-pings

    control, ii. 590.

    Grasshoppers, edict for destruction of, i.

    409.

    Graves, in China, i. 275 ; legend concerning

    the false, ii. 107; geomancy in selecting,

    ii. 240 ; pai shan at, ii. 252

    ;

    prayers before, ii. 262.

    Gray, Archdeacon J. H., i. 413, 573, 715,

    778, 788, 790, 821, ii. 14, 231, 355, 201,

    271.

    Gray, Mrs., i. 752, 788.

    Great Plain of China, i. 14 ; extent, i. 27 ;

    pojjulation of, i. 28 ; climate, i. 52.

    Great Wall. Waii-li Chang Ching, i. 29;

    construction, i. 30; aspect, i. 31, 152,

    203; built by Tsin, ii. 100; Arch of

    Mongol dynasty in, ii. 170.

    Greece, and China, infanticide in, ii. 242 ;

    China known as Q\v in, ii. 408 ; communication

    with China in the dark ages,

    ii. 412.

    Griffis, W. E., ii. 78.

    Gros, Baron, arrives in China, ii. 043 ; at

    capture of Canton, ii. 646 ; arrives at

    Tientsin, ii. 6.51 ; leaves China, ii. 661 ;

    reappointed envoy with Lord Elgin, ii.

    671 ; signs the treaty of Peking, ii. 686

    ;

    well fitted tor his task in China, ii, 688.

    Grosier, Abbe, ii. 38, 5(), 90, 104, 719.

    Grosvenor, Hon. T. (I., sent as commissioner

    to Yunnan, ii. 723.

    Gully, Robert, his shipwreck and murder

    on Formosa, ii. .554.

    (iunpowder, invention and use of, ii. 89.

    Gutzlaff, Rev. Charles, i. 100, 193, ii. 137,

    180, 325 ; his three voyages, ii. 328, 350,

    303 ; at Chusan during the war, ii. 515

    at Shiinghai, li. 530, 542, 548, 556.

    Gypsum, uses of, i. 306.

    HAAS, Joseph, i. 033.

    Hailing, General, at Chinkiang, ii.

    2.’)5 ; his devotion, ii. 540 ; posthumous

    honors to, ii. .557.

    Hainan Island, aborigines on, i. 44 ; notice

    of the island, i 175.

    Hair, how dressed and worn, i. 701 ; of

    women, i. 704.

    Hai-tien, near Peking, i. 80 ; British and

    French troops at, ii. 083.

    JIai-tuh, or khi-doc, a Chinese monkey,

    i. 31.5.

    Hakkas, in Formosa, i. 138 ; in Kvvangtung,

    i. 486 ; and the Tai-pings, ii. 582,

    591.

    Hales, Dr., chronology of, ii. 143, 145.

    Hanbury, Daniel, i. 3.53, 3.55, ii. 134.

    Hamberg, Rev. Theodore, his Life of

    Ilnnq SUi-Uncn, ii. ,582.

    Hami, or Kamil, in Kansuh, i. 213, 224.

    Han dynasty, Latin name of .SVjv.s originated

    during, i. 4; Hau (or ‘After’ Han)

    at Chingtu, i. 1.54 ; censuses under, i.

    260 ; its historians, ii. 159 ; its founder

    Kautsu, ii. 162; and Eastern Han, ii.

    164 ; After Han, XXth dynasty, ii. 172.

    Hance, Dr. H. F., i. 3.”)5, 305.

    Hangchau, capital of Chehkiang, i. 115;

    its temples and manufactures, i. 117-

    119 ; pagoda at, i. 744 ; Moslems in, ii.

    268, 270 ; Nestorians in, ii. 285 ; missions

    in, ii. 251 ; Abu Zaid on, ii. 415;

    retaken by imperialists, ii. 618; Romanist

    church confiscated at, ii. 087.

    Hanchuug, in iShensi, i. 151.

    Han hai, ‘ Mirage Sea,’ or Desert of Lobnor,

    i. 16.

    llan-jin^ JIa7i-tiiz\ ‘Men,’ or ‘Sons of

    Han,’ terms used by Chinese for themselves,

    i. 4. ii. 102.

    Hankow, in Hupeh, i. 144; its fortune

    during the reljellion, ii. 000, 007 ; visited

    by Lord Elgin, ii. 0.59.

    Hanlin Yuen, National Academy, Peking,

    i. 72 ; its character, i. 434 ; membership

    a degree of literary rank, i. 559.

    Han River, in Hupeh, i. ]4’2.

    Han-sing Pass, in Shansi, i. 97.

    INDEX. 755

    Hao-king, ancient name of Si-ngan, i. 3.

    Harashar (or Karashar), town and district

    of I’ll, i. 234

    Hardy, R. S., i. 395, 413, ii. 217, 218, 2:30,

    224, 2J6, 232.

    Hare, alpine and others, i. 327.

    Harem, imperial, i. 407 ; and Board of

    Revenue, i. 422 ; Sung’s daughter in, i.

    45().

    Harland, Dr., ii. 123.

    Hart, Sir Robert, takes management of

    customs service, ii. G95.

    Hats, official, i. 414 ; laborers’ and other,

    i. 762.

    Hayton, king of Armenia, vists Mangu

    khan. ii. 420.

    Heaven, Altar to, Peking, i. 76; ideas

    concerning the creation of, ii. 138

    ;

    worship of, ii. 194-198 ; and the term

    tifii, ii. 300.

    Hedde, Isidore, ii. 34.

    Heeren, A. H. L., i. 196, 238, 343, 398, 413,

    44(i, 482, 503, ii. 410, 412.

    Hemp, four kinds of, ii. 10.

    Henderson, Dr. James, ii. 127.

    Hepburn, Dr., ii. 131.

    Jferbnl, Chinese (see Pii?i tsao)^ i. 370,

    etc.

    Herdsman and weaver-girl, fable of the,

    ii. 76.

    Hereditary local officers of «.?’ districts,

    i. 59.

    Hervey-Saint-Denys, Marquis d’, i 703,

    701, ii. 14.

    Hia dynasty, founded by Yu, ii. 148 ; its

    early annals, ii. 152 ; its period, ii. 158.

    Hia, Tartar tribe, ii. 173, 174.

    Hiao, Emperor, B.C. 909. confers Tsinchau

    on Prince Feitsz’, i. 2.

    Hiao Kinf], or ‘Canons of Filial Duty,’

    a school-book, i. 536.

    Hieii, ‘district,’ term explained, i. 58;

    its fAi, or ‘ district magistrate,’ i. 441.

    Hienfung, Emperor, his reign, ii. 184;

    attitude toward foreigners, ii 575 ; imbecilifcv

    during Tai-ping revolt, ii. 604 ;

    childish ignorance during war with

    England, ii. 642 ; signs treaty of Tientsin,

    ii. ()5() ; escapes to Jeh-ho, ii 679 ;

    his death, ii. 689.

    Hieroglyphics, Chinese and Assyrian, L

    581 ; early Chinese, i. 583-586 ; erroneous

    ideas concerning Chinese, i. 605,

    606.

    Himalaya Mountains, i. 10 ; the fourth

    mountain system of China, i. 13.

    Hindu name for China, ‘ Ma-chin,’ i. 3.

    Hing-an mountain system, i. 13.

    Hingking (Yenden), in Shingking, i. 193.

    Hinkai-nor, in Kirin, i. 24.

    History, of ili, i. 233-237; of Tibet, i.

    254-255 ; in Chinese literature, i. 675

    ;

    and chronoloj^y of China, ii 136 ; period

    of fable, ii. 1 37 ; of legend, ii. 143 ; of

    the twenty-six dynasties, il. 148-187″

    worth of Chinese, ii. 413.

    iriston/ of the Tlirie States, a Chinese

    historical novel, i. 603, 677-680, ii. 164.

    H’lassa, capital of Tibet, i. 245-247.

    Ho, Duke, i. 80 ; career of, i. 452.

    Hobson, Dr., i. 776, ii. 125, 137, 337.

    Hohson, B. H. E., ii. 180, 346.

    Hodgson, B. H., i. 243, 254.

    Hog, a[)i)earance and usefulness of, i. 334

    ;

    much eaten, i. 777 ; for sacrifices, i. 781.

    Ho Kwei-tsing, governor-general of Kiangsn,

    his cowardice at fall of Chinkiang

    and Suchau, ii. 605; receives letters

    of the allies, ii. 648 ; sends reply

    to Mr. Bruce at Shanghai, ii. 672.

    Homicides, foreign, at Canton, ii. 451-454,

    460 ; of Lin Wei-hi at Hongkong, ii.

    505 ; of Sii A-mun at Canton, ii. 568 ; of

    Englishmen near Canton, ii. .578.

    Honam, or Honan Island, opposite Canton,

    i. ir)4-165, 169.

    Honan province, its position and people,

    i. 97-99.

    Hong, explanation of term, i. 167 ; merchants

    : their garden.s, i. 736 ; their integrity,

    i. 834 ; monopoly established,

    ii. 447 ; relations with foreign traders,

    ii. 450 ; their position between Governor

    Lu and Napier, ii. 469, 473 ; and

    Chinese shopkeepers, ii. 477 ; expostulate

    with foreigners concerning opium

    smuggling, ii. 493, 494 ; a last attempt

    to squeeze, ii. 559.

    Hongkong, climate of, i. 54 ; description

    of city, i. 171-173 ; botany of, i. 355 ;

    Triad Society prohibited in, i. 493 ;

    missions remove to, ii. 347 ; homicide

    of Lin Wei-hi at, ii. 50.”) ; taken possession

    of b}’^ British, ii. 557 ; influence as

    a free port on smuggling, ii. 633 ; attempt

    to poison foreigners at, ii. 640 ;

    British encouragement to smuggling at,

    ii. 725.

    Honorary Portals, or Pai-lati, i. 83, 756.

    Hoorn, Van, Dutch ambassador to Peking,

    ii. 438.

    Hoppiu, Prof. J. M., ii. 639.

    Horse, new wild, found by Prejevalsky

    in Khoten, i. 231 ; little used, i. 274,

    320 ; appearance, i. 323 ; notices of, in

    the Herbal, i. 375 ; shoeing, ii. 4.

    Hospitals, native foundling, at Shanghai,

    ii. 2(i4 ; established by Candida, ii. 295 ;

    by Dr. Parker at Canton, ii. 333, 334

    fF.; versus itinerary practice, ii. 340; at

    Tinghai and Shanghai, ii. 351.

    Howqua, a Canton merchant, his son.

    created kn-Jin, i. 567; and Parker’s

    hospital, ii. 334 ; his death, ii. 559.

    Hue, Pere Evariste Re’gis, i. 88, 144, 156,

    195, 210, 313, 246. 257, 336, 343, 644, ii.

    50, 331, 332, 277, 386, 390, 293, 299, 42:3,

    708.

    7.”iG INDEX.

    Hiimlioldt.’s theory of hills in Mongolia,

    i. 11; Sx’chucn springs, i. 81o; on the

    plantain, i. 362.

    Hume, David, on infanticide in Rome, ii.

    242.

    Himan province, i. 140-14S; inscription

    of Yu in, ii. 149.

    Hung Jin, brother of the Tien Wang, ii.

    58:i ; is converted, ii. 58G ; teaches and

    baptizes, ii. 587 ; at the capture of Nanking,

    ii . 620 ; subsequent efforts, ii.

    Hung Siu-tsuen, the Tim Wang, leader

    of the Tai-jnng revolt, ii. .582 ; his

    vision, ii. 58o ; belief in his divine calling,

    ii. .58.5 ; goes to Mr. Roberts, ii.

    .588 ; commencement of military movement,

    ii. 5′.t0 ; his opposition to the

    Triad Society, ii. .501 ; his ‘ Celestial

    Decrees,’ ii. 5y:3 ; proclaimed Emperor

    at Nanking, ii. 594 ; failure to reach

    Peking the death of his movement, ii.

    .500 ; dissensions among his generals, ii.

    602 ; his indomital)le sfiirit, ii. 605 ;

    his death at Nanking, ii. 620 ; character

    of his political aspirations, ii.

    623.

    Hungtsih Lake, in Kiangsu, i. 24, 100, 100.

    Hungwu, Emperor, tomb of, at Nanking,

    i. 101, ii. 115 ; inaugural proclamation

    in 1644, i. 395 ; founds the Ming, ii.

    177.

    Huns, driven back by Tsin, ii. 161 ; inroads

    during third century A.D., ii.

    165 ; their kingdom of Wei in fifth and

    sixth centuries a.d., ii. 166; go West

    instead of East, ii. 169.

    Hunter, W. C, ii. 560.

    Hupeh ]n-ovince, i. 142-140.

    Hurun Lake, in Manchuria, i. 24.

    Hwaiking, in Shansi, i. 01.

    Ilira Hill, ‘ Glorious Hia,’ an ancient

    term for China, i. 5.

    Ilwai-ngan, in Kiangsu, i. 108.

    Hwang Ching, ‘ Imperial Citj-,’ Peking,

    i. 60.

    Hwang ho. See Yellow River.

    Hwangti’, an appellation of the Emperor,

    i. 303 ; a jjrimeval monarch, tlie pos.sibleinventor

    of writing, i . 580 ; of clothing,

    ii. 32; of the si ^tj -year cycle, ii.

    60, 146; importance of audience before

    the, ii. 714.

    JIuHUKj gang (AnlrJnpc gnlluroaa), i. 321.

    Hwang sz’, monument to Teshu Lama,

    Peking, i. 70 ; Lord I’^lgin at, ii. 682.

    Hwashana, Commissioner, at Tientsin, ii.

    651 ; at Shangliai, on tai ill’ revision, ii.

    657, 664 ; discusses audience question

    with Ward at Peking, ii. 660.

    Hwuichau, in Nganhwui, i. 110.

    Hwui, kwan, cluh-houses at Peking, i. 76 ;

    ‘clubs,’ variety and extent of, ii. 87.

    Hyacinthe, Pere, i, 63.

    I

    ‘BARBARIAN,’ a term for foreign

    ^ ers, ii. 461.

    I, Prince, and the British interpretei-s at

    Tungchau, ii. 67!-!, (i70 ; the ])risoners

    sent to, ii. 680 ; Elgin located in palace

    of, ii. 686 ; his conspiracy, ii. 600

    ;

    death, ii. 691.

    Ibn Batuta, ii. 271, 373 ; his travels iu

    Cathay, ii. 421.

    Ibn Wahab, an Arab traveller, ii. 414, 425.

    Ice in Peking, i. 52 ; the coast towns, i.

    .53.

    Tchang, in Hupeh, i. 145.

    Iching, on the Yangtsz’, reception of the

    English at, ii. 544.

    Ides, E. Ysbrandt, envoy of Russia to

    Peking, ii. 442.

    Idols, how carved, ii. 115; iu Buddhist

    temples, ii. 235 ; ])atronage of, general,

    ii. 2.59 ; allowed by Ricci, ii. 202.

    Ifung hien, in Ilonan, waste-wier at, i.

    Tlchi, capital of Khotcn, i. 230.

    lli province, i. 21.5 ; its recent boundaries,

    i. 215; physical features, i. 216; its

    two circuits — Songaria, i. 218-220;

    Eastern Turkestan, i. 221-231 ; its government,

    i. 231-233 ; historical notice

    of, i. 233-237 ; Mohammedans of, ii.

    271

    .

    Ilipu, Governor-General and Commissioner,

    i. 464 ; truce with Elliot at

    Chusan, ii. 517 ; his banishment, ii.

    529 ; thanks the English for care of

    prisoners, ii. 534 ; associate commissioner

    with Kiying, ii. 537; concludes

    and signs treaty, ii. 547, 553 ; death, ii.

    557.

    Imitation a Chinese national trait, ii. 6.3.

    Imperial, City, Ibi’ang Ching, I’eking, i.

    69 ; clan and its government, i. 40.5

    family, i. 407 ; Academy, or Hanlin

    Yuen, i. 434.

    Imports, of opium into China, ii. 388

    ;

    from the Archipelago, ii. 306.

    Infanticide, female, in Fuhkien, i. 136

    prevalence of the practice in China, ii.

    239-241 ; comparison with Greece and

    Rome, ii. 242.

    Ink, materials of India, i. 500.

    Inner Council, or Cabinet, i. 41.5.

    Inscription, of Yu, in Kau-lau shan,

    Hunan, ii. 140; in gateway at Kii-yung

    kwan, ii. 176; on Nestorlan Tablet of

    Si-ngan, ii. 277.

    Insects of China, i. 351-3.54.

    Intercourse, social, among the Chinese, i.

    800; between China and Western Asia,

    ii. ICiC) ; ancient, with foreign nations,

    ii. 408; mediaeval, ii. 414. See also

    under Trade.

    Iron, in Shantung, i. 93 ; in Shansi,

    al)undant, i. 95-‘J6 ; its manufacture,

    ii. i’J,

    INDEX. 757

    Irrigation, various morlos of, ii. 6.

    Islaniisni. Sec Moliaiiinietlan.

    Issik-kul, or Lnkr ‘rciniiitu, i. 24, 217.

    Isolation of the (“hinesi’, its influence on

    their character, i. 5^3, Soo ; its causes

    and results, ii. lSS-100, 642, 648, 660.

    Isothermal lines of China, L 51.

    Ivory imported from Africa, ii. 400.

    JADE, or yuhs found in Khoten, i.

    22.3, 220 ; description of, i. 309 ; feU

    txui, or jadeite, i. 312.

    Janiho, food used in Tibet, i. 241.

    Japan, tea shrub.s, ii. 41 ; character symbols

    and sounds in, ii. 190 ; expedition

    to Formosa, ii. 716.

    Jauchau, in Kiangsi, i. 113.

    Jehangi’r, kojeh of Kashgar, i. 235, 454

    ;

    his end, ii. 184, 727, 729.

    Jeb-ho, or Chingtih, Emperor’s summer

    retreat, i. 88, 312; thermal springs at,

    i. 313 ; Sung at, i. 455 ; expense of, L

    566 ; Hienfung retires to, ii, 682 ; palace

    conspiracy at, ii. 690.

    Jenkins, Dr. B., i. 530, ii. 90.

    Jesuit missionaries, correct the Chinese

    calendar, ii. 68 ; their map-making, ii.

    80; enter China in 1.580, ii. 177; and

    ancestral rites, ii. 2.52, 293, 299 ; and

    other Catholics, ii. 294, 297 ; obnoxious

    to Yungching, ii. 443.

    Jewels, of China, i. 310 ; imported, ii. 400.

    Jews in China, ii. 271 ; visited by Dr.

    Martin, ii. 272.

    Jones, Owen, ii. 107.

    Johnson, Samuel, his Oriental Religions,

    i. 691, ii. 211, 217,255.

    Johnson, Rev. Stephen, ii. 349.

    Judicial proceedings, character of, i. .500-

    508 ; cruelty and mercy of, i. 510 ; in

    cases of foreign homicides, ii. 451 flF.,

    460.

    Julien, Stanislas, i. 345, 590, 674, 714, iL

    22, 32, 33, 62, 207, 212, 229.

    Junks, Chinese, 1. 7.5.3; coast trade in,

    decreasing, ii. 389.

    ‘Just Medium,’ the, Vliunfj Yung, i. 053.

    KAIFUNG (Pien-liang), capital of

    Honan, i. 99 ; Jews in, ii. 271 ff.;

    stormed by Tai-pings, ii. 597 ; surly

    spirit in, during the famine, ii. 736.

    Kailasa, mountain in Tibet, i 239.

    Kalgan, town in Northern Chihli, i. 203.

    Kalkas, Mongol tribc’S. i. 20.5, 206, 209.

    _ Kan River, tributary of the Yangtsz’, L

    21, 112; boats upon, i. 751.

    Kanchau, in Kiangsi, i. 113.

    Kane, Dr. H. H,, ii. 388.

    Kang. or brick bed. i. 53, 306.

    Kanghi, Emperor, singular festival of, i.

    08 ; abolishes capitation tax, i. 266

    ;

    dictionary of, i. 588-591, 602, 672, etc.;

    orders copper types, i. 603 ; his ‘ Sacred

    Commands,’ i. 687; tries to suppress

    fashion of compressed feet, i. 770 ; and

    the calendar, ii. 68 ; introduces foreign

    music, ii. 103; and Koxinga, ii. 180;

    against strange religions, ii. 227; prevents

    immolation of women, ii. 250

    ;

    and Father Schaal, ii. 297, 298 ; memorialized

    by Jesuits, ii. 299 ; counter decree

    agaiiist the Pope, ii. 302 ; Portuguese

    embassy to, ii. 429 ; letter of

    Louis XIV. to, ii. 441 ; sends Tulishen

    to the Czar, ii. 442 ; his prophecy

    quoted, ii. 484.

    Kanpu, or Canfu, i. 127.

    _

    Kansuh province, climate, i. 55 ; description

    of, i. 152-154 ; Mohammedan insurrection

    in. ii. 269, 7;>0.

    Kaolin, a constituent of jjorcelain, ii. C3.

    Kara-korum, Mountains, their position,

    i. 13 ; town, Carpini’s mission to Kuyuk

    at, ii. 416.

    Kashgar, government and town, i. 227-

    228, ii. 728 ; its reconquest, ii. 731

    .

    Katshe, or Korkache, a district of Tibet,

    i 238.

    Kantsu. or Lin Pang, founder of the Han,

    ii. 162.

    Kautsung, Emperor of Tang dynasty, iL

    170.

    Kerr, Dr. J. G., i. 164, ii. 337, 339, 340.

    Khoten, district of 111, i. 230-231.

    Kiakhta, trading post on Russian frontier,

    i. 207 ; apples of, i. 366, ii. 443.

    Kiaking, the Emperor, i. 431, 453, 465,

    466 ; his reign, ii. 182 ; prohibits import

    of opium, ii. 378.

    Kiang, ‘river.’ See Yangtsz’.

    Kialing River, in Sz’chuen, i. 1.55.

    Kiangnan—the two Kiang, fertility of

    the region, L 100.

    Kiangning (see Nanking), i. 100.

    Kiangsi province, its surface, i. 111.

    Kiangsu province, i. 99 ; watercourses, i.

    100 ; its towns, etc., i. 101-108. _

    Kiao, ‘sect,’ meaning of term, ii. 193,

    194; its vagueness, ii. 358.

    Kiayii kwan. on Great ^V’aU in Kansuh, L

    1.52, 211, ii. 14.5, 189.

    Kieh Kwei, last Emperor of the Hia, ii.

    1.53.

    Kienlung, Emperor, festival of, i. 67-68

    ;

    effusion on Mukden, i. 193, 5V»8 ; revives

    census, i. 260, 285, 291 ; upon naming

    his successor, i. 404 ; casts lead types,

    i. 603 ; bronzes made under, ii. 20 ; his

    reign, ii. 181 ; treatment of Catholics,

    ii. 305 ; Van Braam’s embassy to, ii.

    439, 447, 449.

    Kicn Tsing Kung, ‘ Palace of Heavenly

    Purity,’ Peking, i. 68.

    Kihngan, in Kiangsi, i. 112.

    Ei-lin, or unicorn, i. 342 ; Sz’ma Kwang

    and the pretended, i. 676.

    758 INDEX.

    Kilung, on Formosa Island, i. 1 “7.

    Kin, or Niu-chih (or Nu-chih), Tartars, i.

    202; established in Pi’king, ii. 174;

    inscription at Kii-yung kwan, ii. 176 ;

    overthrow tlie Mings, ii. 178.

    Kinchau, in Shingking, i. I!t3, 195.

    King, Kiiig-tu, Ki>i(/-s.z\ Chinese terms

    for the capital, i. CO, (il.

    King Shan. Prospector Coal Hill, Peking,

    i. 70.

    Kingsmill, T. W., i. 296, 298, 299, 304,

    ii. 159, 40().

    Kingteh chin (Kiangsi), porcelain works

    at, i. lis, ii. 22, 394.

    Kin-sha. ‘ River of Golden Sand,’ a name

    of the Yangtsz’, i. 20, 155.

    Kin Shan, or Altai Mountains, i. 9.

    Kircher. i. 79, 257, ii. 277, 284, 286.

    Kirghis, and Prutli Kirghis, tribes of Ili,

    i. 22() ; in Kashgar, etc., i. 2o(‘), “31.

    Kirin. province of M.anchuria, i. 19()-198;

    town, called Chiien Chwang, i. 197.

    Kishen. governor-general of Cliihli’, interview

    with Captain Elliot at Taku, ii.

    .516 ; apologizes for attack on flag of

    truce, ii. 517 ; negotiation with Captain

    Elliot at the Bogue, ii. 518 ; ordered to

    Peking, ii. 521 ; reprieved and associated

    with Yihlcing, ii. 529.

    Kitai, a Russian form of Ca/Iiai/, i. 4;

    term for (‘hinese in 111, i. 224.

    Kitan, or Liautiing Tartars, oppress the

    After Tsin, ii. 172.

    Kites, flying, a favorite amusement, i.

    820.

    Kiukiang, on the Yangtsz’, captured by

    Tai-pings, ii. .595.

    Kiu-tiao shan, in Shensi, i. 151

    .

    Kiying, Commissioner, his life, i. 459,

    570 ; obtains toleiation for Christians,

    ii 356, 358 ; grants privileges to Macao,

    ii. 430; joint commissioner with llifiu,

    ii. 537; writes to Pottinger, ii. 546;

    signs Nanking treaty, ii. 549; exchanges

    ratifications, ii. .557 ; his proclamation,

    ii. 558 ; includes all foreigners

    under terms of Nanking treaty, ii.

    561 ; interviews with representatives of

    other foreign power.s, ii. 5(15 ; reappointed

    commi.^sioner to meet Mr.

    Gushing, ii. 566; his correspond 3nce on

    case of homicide, ii. 56^ ; concludes a

    treaty with M. de Lagrene’, ii. 571 ; interview

    with Governor Davis on opium

    question, ii. 577 ; action regarding murder

    of l]nglislim(!ii near Canton, ii. 57S;

    disbands companies of braves about

    Canton, ii. 58() ; his sudden apjiearance

    at Tientsin, ii. 6.53 ; his untimely end,

    ii. 654.

    Klaproth, .[., derives name of Tsung ling

    from onions found there, i. 9 ; on (irand

    Canal, i. 3(>-37 ; Peking, i. 62 ; Afemoircs^

    12<.», 141, 188, 193, 204, 213, 226; on

    Tibet, i. 245, 2.54, 285 ; deluge of Yao

    ii. 147; on Tsin, ii. 160, 163, 20.5, 232,

    233,411, 421, 442.

    Koeppen, C. F., on IJuddhism, i. 249, 250,

    ^ii. 229, 259.

    Koko-nor, Tsing hai, or ‘ Azure Sea,’ i.

    35, 209-213.

    Kopi. See Gobi.

    Koro-s, Cosma de. Hungarian author o*

    Tibet, i. 244, 353.

    Kotow, or prostration, Ceremonial Court

    and the, i. 435 ; described, i. 801 ; at

    funerals, ii. 245 ; performed by Dutch

    ambassadors, ii. 435 ; by Ides, ii. 442

    ;

    discussed before Ward’s embassy at

    Peking, ii. 669 ; its importance in audience

    of the Emperor, ii. 712; the ceremony

    yielded in case of foreign minister.

    s, il. 714.

    Ko-tsing shan, in Western Nganhwui, i.

    12.

    Koulkun. See Kwanlun.

    Kowlung, opposite Hongkong Island, i.

    172 ; allVay at, in 1839, ii. 506; ceded to

    the British, ii. 558, ()86.

    Koxinga, his descendants ennobled, i. 406;

    takes Formosa, ii. 180, 435.

    Kreitner, Lieutenant G.,i. 151, 1.58, 213,

    214, 357, 300, 715.

    Kublai khan, i. 176, 181, 281, 318, 3-30;

    his pai)er money, ii. 85; his reign, ii.

    175; receives Montccorvino, ii. 3S7;

    and the Polos, ii^ 420.

    Kuche, a town of Ili, i. 225, ii. 730.

    Kil-jhi, ‘promoted men,’ second degree of

    literary rank, i. 550 ; their number, i.

    5.58 ; military, i. 560, 5()().

    Kuldja (Goul(lja), Kuren, or Hwuiyuen

    ching, capital of Ili, i. 218 ; it^ capture,

    i. 219; occupation by Russia, i. 236,

    ii. 727, 730 ; Friar Pascal at, ii. 289

    ;

    negotiations respecting its cession, ii.

    731-734.

    Kung. Princp, Kunr/ tshi-waiir/ his proper

    title, i. 405; appointed a regent, ii. 184;

    rewards Colonel Gordon, ii. 616; conducts

    negotiations with Elgin at Peking,

    ii. 682 ; signs the treaty, ii. 686 ; iiis coup

    cCttat, ii. 691 ; refuses to ratify Lay’s

    agreement, ii. 694; signs convention respecting

    coolie trade; ii. 698.699; inTicntsin

    riot correspondence, ii. 702, 705

    discusses audience question, ii. 712, 715;

    his son and the succession, ii. 726, 739.

    Ku-peh kau Pass, in Great VV’all, i. 39, 89.

    Kuren (see Urga). i. 204.

    Kur-kara usu (Kingsni ching), town and

    district of Ili, i. 2.iO.

    Kuro-siwo, ocean current, i. 55.

    Kutuktu, lama high-priest in Urga, i. 204.

    Kuyiik khan, Piano Carpiiii’s embassy to,

    ii. 415.

    Kuzupchi, sand-hills on Desert of Gobi, i

    16.

    INDEX. 759

    Kii-V’ing Kwan, gateway at,, ii. ITfi.

    Kwangsi, an unhealthy province, i. 55 ;

    its position and proilucts, i. 17(5; rise of

    Tai-ping Rebellion in, ii. 5′.’0-595.

    Kwangsii, his succession to the throne, i.

    398, 404 ; his reign, ii. 185, 186 ; his accession,

    ii. 7′.iC.

    Kwaiigtung, considered unhealthj’, i. 5.^ ;

    description and towns of, i. 158-1 Tfi;

    revenue of, i. 290 ; resists the Manchu

    conquest, ii. 179; missions in, ii. o48 ;

    rebels in, ii. (i04, C;JO.

    Kwanlun, or Koulkun Mountains, position

    and extent, i. 11 ; mineral treasures,

    i. 12 ; source of Yangtsz’, i. 20.

    Kwanyin, (Joddess of Mercy, temple to,

    in Kwangtung, i. 175.

    Kweichau province, 1. 55 ; description of,

    i. 1 78-180.

    Kweiliang, Commissioner, meets allies at

    Tientsin, ii. (iSl ; sent to Shanghai to

    revise tariff, ii. 057 ; refuses to accompany

    the allies to Taku, ii. Wi ; discusses

    the audience question with Minister

    Ward, ii. (i()9; sent to intercept-

    Elgin at Tientsin, ii. 677 ; his support

    to Prince Kung, ii. (>91.

    Kweilin, capital of Kv/angsi, i. 177; attacked

    by Tai-pings. ii. 595.

    Kn’oh hao, national designation, period,

    or reign name of Emperor, i. 398.

    LACHARME, Pere, 1. 643.

    Lacquered-ware, Hwuichau, i. 110;

    its manufacture, ii. 30 ; export, ii. 394.

    Ladak not a Chinese possession, i. 13.

    Lagrene, French envoy to China, ii. 309 ;

    obtains toleration for Christians through

    Kiying, li. 355, 357 ; his mission in

    1844, ii. 441 ; concludes treaty of

    Whampoa with Kiying, ii. 571.

    Lakes, of China, i. 23 ; of Hupeh, i. 143 ;

    of ill’, i. 216-317 ; of Tibet, i. 240.

    Lama, mausoleum to a, Peking, i. 79.

    Lamasary ( Yumj-lio Kung) at Peking, i.

    to.

    Lanchau, capital of Kansuh, i. 154.

    Land, how held, ii. 1-3.

    Landscape, appearance of, in China, i. 40.

    Land tax in China, i. 294, 739.

    Language, of Tibet, i. 253 ; proportion of

    readers in China, i. .544 ; Chinese, its

    groups of natural objects, i. 372 ; labor

    of learnin;,^ its characters, i. .541 ; an obstacle

    to progress, i. 568 ; its influence

    upon people and literature, i. 579, ii. 190;

    origin of, i. 581 ; misaj>prehciision regarding,

    i. 605 ; dialects, Mandarin and

    local, i. 611-616 ; its grammar, i. 617 ; defects,

    i. 621 ; methods of studying, i. 623 ;

    an obstacle to missions, ii. 370 ; ignorance

    of, by earlj’ traders, ii. 450, 453.

    Lange, Laurent, his residence at Peking,

    IL 442.

    Lanterns, feast and variety of, i. 817.

    Lantsan River, in Yunnan, L 181.

    Larks as song birds, i. 333.

    Lau-tsz’, founder of Taoism, i. 684 ; hifl

    life, ii. 2U6 ; and teaching.s, ii. 207-214.

    Lavallc’e, C, ii. 647, 654, 684, 685.

    Laws, of China, i. 384 ; reports pf, 385 ;

    Penal Code, 3S5-393 ; their administration.

    Chap. VIII.; as a profession, i.

    ‘(83 ; controlling marriage, i. 793.

    Lav, C. T., i. 60.5, 606, 715, 822, ii. 102,

    103, 117, 330.

    Lay, H. N., appointed intendant of customs,

    ii. 62.S ; his tiotilla fiasco, ii. 692.

    Lay, W. T., ii. 621.

    Leather, quality and uses of, ii. 39.

    Le Comte, i. 289, 509, ii. 285, 295.

    Le (iendre, C. W., i. 140, ii. 717.

    Legge, Dr. James, i. 398, 537, 627, 639,

    633, 634, 635, 636, 638 ff., 648, 603, 671,

    674, 681, 703, 809, ii. 73, 143, 144, 147,

    198, 213, 237, 347. 372.

    Legislation, general features of, i. 391-

    394.

    Li Hung-Chang, Governor-General, concurrence

    in reorganizing the ‘ Ever-Victorious

    force,’ ii. 611 ; executes surrendered

    wangs at Suchau, ii. 615 ; his

    position there, ii. 616 ; dis.solves the

    ‘ Ever- Victorious force,’ ii. 618; and

    Sir T. Wade in the Chifu convention,

    ii. 734 ; denounces the treaty of Livadia,

    ii. 733 ; co-operates with foreigners

    in relief of Great Famine, ii. 735.

    Li Tai-peh, a poet of the Tang dynasty,

    story of, i. 696-703 ; extent of his collected

    poems, i. 704.

    Liang dynasty, the Xlllth, ii. 166 ; After

    Liang, XVIIth dynasty, ii. 171.

    Liang A-fah, Morrison’s first convert, ii.

    321 ; his labors and persecution, ii. 328,

    347, 371 ; his tracts fall into the hands

    of Hung Siu-tsuen, ii. .582, 589.

    Liau River (?>ira-muren), in Manchuria,

    i. 190.

    Liau, Tartar tribe, ii. 173, 174.

    Library at Peking, i. 69 ; its catalogue, i.

    62().

    Li E . or ‘ Book of Rites,’ i. 643-647, 805,

    ii. 196.

    Li-kilt., or ‘ cash a catty’ tax, i. 444.

    Lilies, varieties of, i. 361 ; eaten, i. 773.

    Li Miu, ‘ Black-haired Race,’ common

    name for Chinese, i. 5 ; a tribe on Hainan

    Island, i. 176.

    Lime, made from shells, i. 307 ; use in

    building, i. 729 ; how burned, ii. 56.

    Li-mn, aboriginal tribe, i. 41 ; iu Hainan,

    i. 44 ; mountains, i. 1.59.

    Li shui River, in Hunan, i. 147.

    Lin Tseh-si), Commissioner, geography of,

    i. 50 ; and the rhubarb trade, i. 365

    ;

    career of, i. 457, 4()4, 473, ii. 184 ; ar*

    rives at Canton, ii. 497 ; demands sur«

    760 IlS^DEX.

    render of opirnn, ii. 40S; imprisons

    foreigners in factories, ii. 50() ; an example

    of his i)nl)lic writings, ii. 501 ;

    visits Macao, ii. oO(i ; his reason for demanding

    Mr. Dent, ii. 508 ; reply to

    American request, ii. 514 ; offers rewards

    for British, ii. 510 ; his recall, ii.

    510; memorializes the P^mpcror against

    peaceful measures, ii. 518; recalled from

    hanishmcnt, ii. 5rJ9 ; his death, ii. S’JO.

    Lindsay, H. H., i. 481.

    Lintin, Sir G. Robiuson among opium

    smugglers at, ii. 479 ; Captain Elliot ordered

    to send opium smugglers away

    from, ii. 491.

    Lin-tsing-chau, in Shantung, i. 93.

    Lion, tlie, in China, i. ol7.

    Liquor little used in China, i. 808.

    Literati, or literary class, the gentry of

    China, its influence, i. 520, 5()”2 ; and

    religious sects, i. (391 ; persecuted by

    Tsin, ii. 1()2 ; their opposition to Buddhism,

    ii. 2;2o, 237 ; to Christianity, ;J69.

    Literature, Chinese geographical, i. 50

    ;

    classical, size and importance, i. 020

    five greater, i. 027-052, and four lesser

    classics, i. 052-072 ; works on history, i.

    075; historical novels, etc., i. 077; fiction,

    i. 094, ballads and impromptu

    verses, L 705; dramas, i. 714; its limits

    and deficiencies, i. 718; of Chinese

    music, ii. 98; flourishes under the

    Hans, ii. 164; foreign missionary, ii.

    367.

    Ljilngstedt, Sir A., i. 171, ii. o33, 428;

    his liistory of Macao, ii. 4o().

    Lob-nor, Desert of, i. 16 ; Lake, 1. • 24,

    222-223.

    Lobscheid, Rev. W., i. 271, 615.

    Loch, Captain G. G., i. 105, ii. 302, .53(),

    541, 543, .547, .5.50.

    Loch, Henry, experiences at Tungchau,

    ii. 678 ; capture and imprisonment at

    Peking, ii. ()80, CSl ; is returned to the

    English, ii. 084, 085.

    Lockhart, Dr. Wm., ii. 123, 139, 134,300,

    336, 339, 350, 354.

    Locusts, occasional ravages of, i. 351

    edict against, i. 460 ; character for, i.

    587 ; Father Faber’s miracle of the, ii.

    290.

    Loess, roads in, i. .38, 97; of Shanst, i.

    95; of Shensi, i. 149; extent of, in

    China, i. 297; its nature, i. 298-300;

    dwellings in, i. 301 ; Richthofen’s theory

    of origin, i. 303; terraces, ii. 0;

    great famine in the region, ii. 734.

    Loll (or Fo Loll) River, in Sz’chuen, i. 15,5.

    Lohyang, made the capital by Siangkwan,

    i.’S, ii. 159, 102, 104, 108, 174; and

    Buddhism, ii. 218, 411.

    Lolos race, in Sz’chuen, i. 43, 158 ; in

    Yunnan, i. 183.

    Longevity, Temple of, at Canton, i. 104.

    Loomis, Rev. A. W., i. 703, ii. 350.

    Lotus, highly esteemed, i. 308.

    Low, Hon. P. F., United States Ministef

    to China, ii. 700 ; concerning sentiment

    toward foreigners at Tientsin, ii. 704

    ;

    his reply to Wansiang’s note, ii. 708 ; on

    audience question, ii. 713, 714 ; thanked

    bv Prince Kuiig, ii. 739.

    Lowrie, \V. M., i. 7.55, ii. 287, 350, 368.

    Lu, governor of Kwangt>ung, opposes Napier’s

    coming to Canton, ii. 464 ; rejects

    iiis letter, ii. 467 ; stops the trade, ii.

    471, 473 ; his succes.sor Tang, ii. 481.

    Luhchau, on female education, i. .574 ; instance

    of reproving a mother-in-law, i.

    795.

    Lukan Gorge, on Yangt-sz’, i. 146.

    Ltinfi, or dragon of the Chinese, i. 344;

    carried in procession, i. 818.

    Lung River, in Fuhkien, i. 129.

    Lung-tsiien, in Shansi, i. 95.

    Lute, or kln^ a favorite instrument, ii. 99.

    “\ r A TSUPU, marine goddess, temple

    ItL to, at Ningpo, i. 123; and the Virgin,

    ii. 316.

    MaTwan-lin, his Antiquarian Rcsearclies,

    i. 259-205, 081 ; list of comets, ii. 73.

    Macao, climate of, i. 54 ; description of,

    i. 170; governor of Canton retires to,

    from pirates, ii. 183; Ricci in, ii. 390;

    Tournon imprisoned in, ii. .302 ; Mrs.

    Gutzlaft”s school at, ii. 345 ; smuggling

    trade in opium at, ii. 378 ; origin of the

    settlement and name, ii. 438 ; recent

    history, ii. 4oO ; the Dutch repulsed before,

    ii. 433 ; English man-of-war at, ii.

    448 ; their troops occupy, ii. 4.5(i ; Lord

    Napier reaches, ii. 404; Elliot and the

    English retire to, ii. .500 ; Lin’s soldiers

    repiiLsed at, iL 51(j ; Kiying goes to, ii.

    507 ; becomes a resort of smugglers, ii.

    034 ; of coolie traders, ii . 002 ; finally

    closed to the coolie trade, ii. 715.

    Macartney, Lord, i. 402, 431, 452, 454;

    his embassy to Peking, ii. 4.54.

    Macgowan, Dr. D. J., ii. 3.50, 388.

    Ma-chin, from Mah<i-china, ‘ Great

    China,’ its Hindu name, i. 3.

    Mackie, J. Milton, ii. 002, 624.

    Macy, Wm. A., ii. 344.

    Magaillans (Magalhaens), Pere Gabriel, i.

    04, 289, 473, 589, 817, ii. 297; his embassy,

    ii. 429.

    Mahdbhdrata, name China occurs in the,

    i. 2.

    Mail I a, J-A-M. de M., ii 34. 7.3, 137, 152,

    309, 413.

    Maimai chin, of Urga, i. 204 ; of Kiakhta,

    i. 207, ii. 443.

    Malacca, Protestant missions in, ii. 323i

    324.

    Malte Brun, estimate of Eighteen Prov

    inces, i. 8, 296.

    INDEX. r6i

    Manchu, physical traits, i. 44 ; Empprors

    pul>lish the I’eiial Code, i. 385 ; nobility,

    i. 3S7; and education system, i. 521,

    5()0 ; and Chinese poem, i. 598 ; alter

    the Chinese head-dress, i. 761 ; names,

    how written, i. 79S ; military endeavors

    of their Emperors, ii. 9:3 ; peculiar dread

    of foreign invasion, ii. 6-1;*.

    Manchuria, one of the three grand divisions,

    i. 7 ; extent of, i. LS7 ; watercourses

    and mountains, i. 188-191

    ;

    three provinces, i. 191-‘2O0; climate, i.

    195; adndnistration of government, i.

    199; by native nobles, i. 40().

    Manchus, their ancestors the Kins, ii.

    174 ; overthrow the Mings, ii. 178 ; their

    government better than the Mings, ii.

    185; and the Triad Society, ii. 2(57;

    close China to foreign trade, ii. 420

    ;

    terrible destruction of, at Chinldang,

    ii. 542 ; as rulers of China, ii. 580 ; national

    dislike of, and Tai-ping revolt,

    ii. 596.

    Mandarin ducks, fidelity of, i. 340 ; as an

    emblem, ii. 112.

    Mandarin, derivation of word, i. 417.

    Mandarin (or court) dialect, the kwan

    hwa, i. 613; the Bible in, ii. 364.

    Mangu khan, successor of Kuyuk, mission

    of Rubruquis to, ii. 418 ; of King

    Hayton to, ii. 420.

    Manji, tribes in Yunnan, i. 4.

    Manning, T., mission of, to Tiljet in

    1811, i. 246.

    Mausoleum, of Grand Lama at Peking, i.

    79 ; at Teshu Lumbo, i. 252 ; of Chinese

    Emperors, ii. 248.

    Munu, Laws of] mention of China in, i.3.

    Manures, preparation of, ii. 8.

    Marble, uses of, i. 307; slabs, etc., exported,

    ii. 394.

    Marco Polo. See Polo.

    Margary, A. R., i. 184; sent from Hankow

    to Bhamo, ii. 721 ; his murder, ii.

    722 ; its subsequent investigation, ii.

    723, 734.

    Marriage, customs in Tibet, i. 251 ; in

    Puhkien, i. 785-791 ; good sense of the

    laws controlling, i. 793 ; and ancestral

    worship, ii. 239 ; of Emperor Tungchi,

    ii. 710.

    Marshall, Thos., ii. 287, 307, 318.

    Marshman, J., i. 657, ii. 320; his term

    for baptism, ii. 363.

    Martin, R. M., i. 120, 285, ii. 406, 443,

    562 ; his proposition regarding Chusan,

    ii. 580.

    Martin, Dr. W. A. P., i. 20, 435, 550, 551,

    559, ii. 217, 372, 741.

    Match-makers employed in marriages, i.

    785, ‘586.

    Matting, grass grown for, i. 357 ; manufacture

    and uses of, ii. 61 ; export of,

    ii. 395.

    Mavers, W. F., i. 438, 753, ii. 90, 185,

    217, 348.

    Maximo witch. CarlJ., i. 296, 355.

    McCarthy, Justin, ii. 565; estimate of

    Bowring and Parkes, ii. 6:34, 637 ; on

    results of the w.ar, ii. 687.

    McCarty, Dr. D. B., ii. 350.

    McClatchie, Rev. Canon T., i. 633, 633;

    ii. 142, 200.

    McCulloch’s area of China, i. 5 ; of the

    Eighteen Provinces, i. 8 ; population on

    Plain, i. 28 ; Mongols, i. 45 ; popula-»

    tion, i. 285.

    Meadows, T. T., i. 192, 494, ii. 3, 596.

    597. 624.

    Measures of length, weight, etc., ii. 81.

    Meats seen upon Chinese tables, i. 776.

    Mechanical arts, and implements, ii. 18;

    attainments in, ii. 117.

    Medhurst, W. H., i. 12.5, 2(15, 271, 278,

    290, 530, 615, 634, 636, 685, 755, 809.

    ii. 28, 151, 214, 258, 295, 321, 336, 329,

    330, 352, .354, 3(i3, 369; his Tai-ping

    translations, ii. 594, 623.

    Medicine, practice better than theories

    of, i. 377 ; its profession in Chinese

    society, i. 783 ; attainments in, ii. 118-

    134.

    Mei ling, in Kwangtung, i. 12.

    ]VIoi Shan, or ‘ Coal Hill,’ Peking, i. 70.

    Mencius, birthplace of, i. 90 ; praises the

    Chiui Tsiu, i. 649 ; life of, i. 666 ; his

    doctrines, i. 66S-672 ; and early Emperors,

    ii. 146; writings burned, ii. 161 ;

    a saint, ii. 201, 237.

    Mendacity of the Chinese, i. 834.

    Metals and metallurgy, ii. 1 S ; knowledge

    of, ii. lis.

    Metaphysics of Chu Hi and tendency of

    Chinese thought, i. 6S3-(i85.

    Meteorology of China, i. 51-.55.

    ATi’ao hao, or ancestral name of Emperor,

    i. 399.

    Miaotsz’, i. 41 ; sa?:.ff and sliuh, i. 43, lli},

    177, 179-180; tankla descendants of, at

    Canton, i. 412 ; songs, ii. 95 ; Hung

    Siu-tsuen among, ii. 587.

    Michie, A., i. 20.5.

    Middle Kingdom, Chung Kwoh, a name

    for China since B.C. 11.50, i. 4.

    Military, control of, in provinces, i. 444 ;

    examinations among the, i. 560 ; architecture

    in China, i. 758 ; science, ii. 88.

    Milk little used, i. 77(5.

    Millet, Italian {Setaria”, in Shingking, L

    191 ; much eaten in the North, i. 772.

    Milne, Rev. Wm. C, i. 121, 494, .508, 686,

    744, 745, 746, il 132, 339, 231, 265, 369,

    350.

    Milne, Dr. W.. ii. 325 ; arrives in China,

    ii. 319; at Malacca, ii. 323, 368.

    Min River, in Fuhkien, i. 128; in Sz’chuen,

    i. 154, 155.

    Minerals, probably abundant in Kwan’

    r62 INDEX.

    lun, i. 12; of Shantung, i. 93; of

    Yunnan, i. 183 ; of the Empire, i. 304-

    310.

    Ming dynasty, its period, ii. 177-179; table

    of Emperors, ii. 1S6 ; trade during,

    ii. 373.

    Ming ti, Emperor, ii. 163 ; introduces

    Buddhism, ii. 21 S, 229.

    Mint, its management, i. 428 ; one in

    every province, ii. 83.

    Mirrors, Chinese magic, ii. 20; to cure

    maniacs, ii. 2.50.

    Missionaries, letter from Romish, concerning

    Chinese boat life, i. 751 ; they teach

    mathematics at Peking, ii. 07 ; under

    Kanghi, ii. 181 ; Buddhist, their influence,

    ii. 189 ; Mcsiem, ii. 268 ; Nestorian,

    ii. 275, 2Sr) ; Roman Catholic, ii.

    287 ; their conduct in China, ii. 305

    ;

    the first Protestant, ii. 318 ; female,

    their influence, ii. 304 ; information derived

    from French, ii. 440 ; French, beheaded

    ia Kwangsi, ii. 642 ; British,

    address to Lord Elgin, ii. 649 ; their

    influence in Peking, ii. 689 ; massacre

    of French, at Tientsin, ii. 700 ; American,

    frightened away from Tangchau,

    ii. 705 ; Chinese grievances against, ii.

    701) ; their devotion during the great

    famine, ii. 736.

    Missions, earliest Christian, to China, the

    Nestorians, ii. 275-286 ; Roman Catholic

    : first period, ii. 287-289 ; second period,

    ii. 289-304 ; decrease after edict of

    Yuiigching, ii. 394 ; statistics of Catholic,

    ii. :)07 ; their literary and educational

    labors, ii, 309 ; Protestant, introduced

    by MorrLson, ii. 318; among

    Chinese emigrants in the Archipelago,

    ii. 323 ; their hospital practice, ii.

    333-340 ; condition of Protestant, at

    Morrison’s death, ii. 340 ; conference

    of, in 1877, ii. 3(;5 ; ob.stacles and encouragements

    to, ii. 3fi8 ; Russian, established

    at Peking, ii. 443 ; problem

    of foreign, in China, rules suggested, ii.

    707.

    Mobs, fear of, in Peking, i. 84; attack

    British troops before Canton, ii.

    523 ; attack tiie factories, ii. 495, 556,

    50S.

    Mohammedan, name for China, Timg

    Tu, i. 5 ; mosque in Peking, i. 74

    in Hangchau, i. 119; rebellion in 1865-

    73, i. 149, 154, 2(i9 ; sect in China, ii.

    268-271 ; insurrection in Kansuh suppressed,

    ii. 709; uprising in Yunnan

    province, ii. 719 ; rebellion in Eastern

    Turkestan, ii. 727-731.

    Mohammedans, in Kuldja, i. 219; in

    B ikur, i. 225 ; first come to China, ii.

    268; the sect in tlie Empire, 270; found

    by Ibn Batuta, ii. 422 ; universal uprising

    of, ii. 730.

    Monetary system of the Chinese, ii. 83,

    Mongol, race characteristics, i. 144;

    derivation of name, i. 202 ; dynasty

    (Yuen) and paper money, ii. 8.5, 177;

    regime, ii. 175; Buddhists, ii. 229,

    233.

    Mongolia, position and climate, i. 200-

    202 ; divisions—Inner Mongolia, i. 202-

    204 ; Outer Mongolia, i. 204-209 ; Kokonor,

    i. 209-213 ; outljing towns, i.

    213-21.5.

    Mongols, their number, i. 45; religion.

    Shamanism, ii. 233 ; tolerate the Nestorians,

    ii. 280 ; and first period of

    Catholic missions, ii. 288 ; their conquests

    in Europe, and the embassies to,

    ii. 415.

    Monkeys of China, i. 314-316.

    Monsoons on coast, i. .53-54.

    Moutecorvino, John of, ii. 271 ; goes to

    Cathay, ii. 287, 421 ; found in Peking

    by Friar Odoric, ii. 423.

    Moon, an eclipse at Canton, i. 819; symbols

    of, ii. 73, 74.

    Morals of the Chinese stage, i. 824.

    Morrison, J. R., ii. 332, 342, 345, 363 ; revi’ard

    offered for, ii. 520 ; services as an

    interpreter, ii. 547, 548, 556 ; his death,

    ii. 560

    Morrison, Dr. Robert, i. 230, 265-269,

    282, 284, 523, 524, 5:^0. 559, 603, 622,

    624, 074, 801, 817, ii. 227; his life, ii.

    318; and-Ricci compared, ii. 322,333,

    333, 303, 453, 458, 459.

    Morrison Education Society, ii. 341.

    Mosques, at Kuldja, i. 218 ; near Moslem

    pagoda in C;inton, i. 745 ; notice of, at

    Ningpo, ii. 269.

    Mountains, of China, its frontier, i. 9

    ;

    its four great ranges, i. 10; Pnmpelly’s

    ” Sinian Sy.stem,” i. 14 ; passes

    in, i. 39 ; of Manchuria, i. 188.

    Mourning, cards, i. 802 ; customs in

    China, ii. 249, 250.

    Mukden, capital of Shingking, i. 87

    desci-iption of, i. 192 ; money remitted

    to, i. 295 ; Kienlung’s elegy on, i.

    598.

    Mulberry and silk worms, ii. 10.

    Mules, fine, in China, i. 323.

    2TuH-pai, or ‘ door-tablet ‘ for the census,

    i. 283, 388.

    Murray, Hugh, i. 309, ii. 137, 1.52, 400,

    410.

    Murui-ussu, ‘Tortuous River,’ i. 20.

    Music, in Tibet, i. 25:1; Board of, i. 424 A

    works on, in the ratalogue, i. 072; style

    j and principles of Chinese, ii. 93-98 ; m-j

    • strumcnts of, ii. 99-104. /

    Musk, and mu.sk-deer in China, i. 332 ;

    exporte<l, ii. 395.

    Myths and legends, of the Chinese, ii.

    70; of the creation, ii. 138-142 ;TaoiBt,

    ii. 210 ; Buddhist, ii. 222.

    llSTDEX. 763

    NAILS worn long on fingers, i. TOO.

    Names, for China, i. 2-5, ii. 408 ; ancestral,

    of Emperor, i. ;!99; how inilicated

    in books, i. fJ’il ; changed at marriage,

    i. 788 ; several, during life, i. T’.IT

    ; periphrases

    in use for. i. )S0o ; for jiorcelain,

    ii. ‘2’i ; for tea, ii. 45 ; for opium, ii. 87o.

    Nanchang, cajjital of Kiaugsi, i. 113;

    Ricci in, ii. 2W.

    Nanhiung, in Kwangtimg, i. 174.

    Nan-kan, ‘South Gate,’ in Great Wall,

    i. 14, 81.

    Nankeen, a cotton cloth, ii. 37 ; decrease

    in export of, ii. o95.

    Nanking, climate of, i. 52 ; description of,

    i. 100; Porcelain Tower of, i. 102; its

    iKiiikce/i cloth, ii. 37 ; stone animals at,

    ii. 115; capital of one of the ‘Three

    States,’ A.D. 211, ii. 1(54; pillaged by

    the Kin, ii. 175; capital of the Ming,

    ii. 177 ; Ricci in, ii. ~90 ; the English

    before, ii. 545 ; treaty of, ii. 549

    ;

    Hung Siu-tsuen proclaimed Emperor

    (Tien-teh) at, ii. 584 ; rebel capture of,

    ii. 59*’) ; their stress in, ii. (505 ; taken by

    imperialists, ii. 020.

    Nan ling, ‘Southern Mountains,’ a continuation

    of the Yun ling, i. 12.

    Nan shall, in Kwangtuiig, i. 159; in

    Koko-nor, i. 211.

    Napier, John, mentioned in a Chinese treati.

    se, ii. 07.

    Napier, Lord, superintendent of trade,

    his arrival, ii. 4(54; letter to (Governor

    Lu rejected, ii. 407; contest with the

    governor, ii. 471 ; retires from Canton

    and dies suddenh-, ii. 474.

    Nari ( A-li), a division of Tibet, i. 244, 2.56.

    Navarette, a Dominican friar, and the

    Jesuits, ii. 300.

    Natural history, study of, in China, i.

    290 ; geology, i. ‘297-313 ; zoology, i.

    313-340 ; ichthyology, i. 340-351 ; insects,

    i. 351-354; botany, i. 355-370;

    the Pun-tsao, or Herbal, i. 371-376

    ;

    condition of the science in China, i.

    377-379.

    Niu-chih, or Kin Tartars, i. 202 ; ancestors

    of Manchus, ii. 174.

    Navy, control of, interchanged with army,

    i. 445, 496, 502 ; Lay’s flotilla fiasco, ii.

    ()92.

    Nestor’an, monument at Si-ngan, i. 151,

    ii 27(i ; missionaries at court of Taitsung,

    ii. 1(J9 ; during the Yuen, ii. 280 ;

    oppose Corvino, ii. 287 ; missionaries

    come with traders, ii. 411 ; priest and

    Rubruquis, ii. 418.

    Nevius, J. L., i. 810, ii. 217.

    Newspapers (see also I’ck’uKj Gazette) and

    chea]) type.s, i. 005 ; edited by Protestant

    missionaries, ii. 341.

    New Year, festival and ceremonies, i. 810-

    810 ; its date, ii. 70,

    Nganhwui province, i. 108.

    Nganking, or Anking, in Nganhwui, i.

    110; taken by Tai-pings, ii. .595 ; their

    march to relief of, ii. 007 ; captured by

    imperialists, ii. 008.

    N)ng[)o, tempeiature at, i. 53; description

    of, i. 120-123; the to niin of, 1.

    412; l)irthday fete at, i. 814; spring

    festival, ii. 14 ; cannon found at, ii.

    02; the cholera at, ii. 132; nunneries

    at, ii. 231 ; foundling hospital, ii. 205 ;

    its mosque, ii. 269 ; missions at, ii. 350 ;

    Portuguese at, ii. 428 ; its capture by

    the British, ii. 527 ; attemi)t at recapture,

    ii. 531, ii. 573; during Tai-ping

    Rebellion, ii. 008, 009.

    Nieuwhof (or Nieuhoff), J., ii. 3, 428;

    account of the fall oi Fort Zealandia,

    ii. 436.

    Nitre common in China, i. 308.

    Niu Kien, Governor-General, conduct at

    Wusung, ii. 535, 537 ; British offer, opj)

    ortanity of ransoming Nanking, ii.

    544 ; joint letter to Pottinger, ii. 546.

    Niuchwang (Yingtsz’), in Shingking, L

    194, 751.

    Nobility, Manchu and Chinese, i. 387

    ;

    orders of, i. 406.

    Notation, Chinese arithmetical, ii. 66

    musical, ii. 94.

    Novels, Tibetan, i. 251 ; and tales in Chinese

    literature, i. 692; character of

    Chinese fiction, i. 095.

    Nui Hing-an ling, or Sialkoi Mountains,

    west of the Amur, i. 1 3.

    Numerals, Chinese, i. 619 ; limitations to

    use of, ii. 60.

    Nuns, Buddhist, at Canton, i. 105 ; and

    nunneries, ii. 230.

    Nii-rh Yu, ‘ Words for Women and

    Girls,’ a school-book, L 577.

    OBEISANCE, sundry degrees of, i.

    801.

    Observatory at Peking, i. 72; and the

    Jesuit missionaries, ii. 298.

    Odes, the Book of (see Shi Kinrj, i. 686,

    etc.), ‘for children,’ the Yin Hioh Shitlrh,

    i. 533 ; in Nestorian inscription at

    Si-ngan, ii. 282.

    Odoric, Friar, i. 302 ; on casting out

    devils, ii. 314; his journey to Cathay,

    ii. 422.

    Officers, in China, their extortions, i. 278 ;

    nine ranks, i. 413-415 ; and Board of

    Civil Office, i. 421 ; provincial, i. 438-

    448; checks upon, i. 449; their character

    and position, i. 451 ; their establishments,

    i. 503 ; compelled to e.xtortion,

    i. 510 ; of education, i. 548 ; dresses, i.

    703 ; formalities of meeting, i. 805

    ;

    their religious duties, ii. 201-205 ; instance

    of their functions, ii. ‘230 ; of

    their corruption, ii. 378 ; of theil

    764 INDEX.

    methods, ii. 557; attitude toward foreigners

    at close of the opium war,

    ii. 575.

    Oling Lake, in Koko-nor, i. 18.

    Oliphant, Lawrence, i. 400, ii. 644, 647,

    654, 0()0.

    Olives (the Pimela), so-called, of China,

    i. o()5, 775.

    Olyphant & Co., their assistance to missionaries,

    ii. o2S, hiSO, 342.

    Oineto Fiih, Buddhist prayer, i. 125.

    Om maiu padiiii hum, its meaning, i.

    349.

    Opium, smuggling incident, i. 477 ; its

    increase under Taukwang, ii. 184; introduction

    and names of, ii. 37y ; cultivation

    in India, ii. o74 ; preparation

    and sale, ii. o76 ; manner of smoking,

    ii. 381 ; its effects, li. 384 ; value of the

    trade, ii. 3S7, 430 ; Robinson’s paper

    on smuggling, ii. 479 ; proposal to

    legalize, ii. 48’3 ; the matter referred to

    Canton, ii. 480 ; prohibitory laws severely

    enforced, ii. 490 ; increase of smuggling,

    ii. 492 ; demanded by Lin, ii.

    498 ; surrendered, ii. 502 ; and destroyed,

    ii. 504 ; sales recommence, ii. 506 , Pottinger’s

    position regarding, ii. 538 ; his

    discussions on, with commissioners, ii.

    5.50 ; smuggling and the port of Hongkong,

    ii. 558 ; laissez fairc policy of

    British and Chinese after first war. ii.

    501, 577 ; increase of smuggling, ii. 033 ;

    legalized in revised tariff, ii. 0.57.

    Oranges, many varieties of, at Canton, i.

    774.

    Osbeck, Peter, his voyage to China, ii.

    461.

    Onchterlony, Lieutenant J., his Chinese

    \Vio\n. .551, 574.

    Oysters common along the coast, i. 350

    ;

    their quality, i. 780.

    PAGODA, Porcelain, at Nankin* i.

    1 02 ; and dagoba in China, i. 743 ;

    purpose and construction, i. 745 ; plain,

    at Canton, ii. 209.

    J’ai-laii, in Peking, i. 83 ; their purpose

    and construction, i. 7.50-7.58 ; to commemorate

    British retreat from Canton,

    ii. 620.

    Painting, as a fine art in China, ii. 105

    examples of illustrations, ii. 100-116

    on pith paper, ii. 113. For reproductions

    of Chinese, see the two frontispieces

    of these volumes.

    Pakhoi, port in Kwanj^tung, i. 175.

    Palace, of Emijcror, at Peking, i. 65-69 ; of

    Yuen mitig Yuen, i. 80; life and arrangements

    of, i. 407.

    Palafox, Bishop, i. 162.

    Palisade boundary between Chihli and

    Shingking, i. 25, 187.

    PalladiuB, Archimandrite, ii. 277, 285.

    Palms, fan, cocoanut, etc., i. 300.

    Palti, or Yamorouk Lake, in Tibet, i. 25.

    Panthay insurrection in Yunnan province,

    ii. 719.

    Pao-ho tien, ‘ Hall of Secure Peace,’ in

    Peking, i. 68.

    Pao-tch, on Yellow River, and chief anticlinal

    axes of Sinian system, i. 14.

    Paper, in China, history and varieties of,

    i. 599 ; used for window glass, i. 732

    ;

    collected by priests, ii. 257 ; burned for

    spirits, ii. 257.

    Paper monej’, in Fulichan, i. 132 ; Polo’s

    delight over, ii. 85 ; and Yuen dynasty,

    ii. 177; mentioned by Ibn Batuta, ii.

    422.

    Parker, Admiral Sir William, arrives

    from England, ii. 524.

    Parker, Dr. P., i. 706, ii. 124, 325; his

    hospital at Canton, ii. 333-337, 567,

    639.

    Parkes. Sir Harry, ii. 29 ; McCarthy’s

    estimate of, ii. 634 ; action in the Arrow

    case, ii. 635-637, 040; one of

    commission to govern C.mton, ii. 046 ;

    his ability, ii. 047; experiences _ at

    Tungchau, ii. 078 ; his capture and imprisonment,

    ii. 080.

    Pascal, a Spanish friar, missionary to

    Kuldja, ii. 289, 424.

    Patriarchal feature of government, i. 381.

    Panting, in Chihli, i. 85.

    Pauthier, G., i. 05, 84, 043, 003, 674, iL

    34, 85, 87, 137, 149, 150, 101, 307, 210,

    212, 280, 413, 419, 713.

    Pauying Lake, in Kiangsu, i. 100.

    Pavif. T., i. 096.

    Pavilion, prominent feature of Chinese

    architecture, i. 730.

    Pawnbrokers’ establishments, ii. 86.

    Peacocks reared throughout China, i. 337.

    Pearl River, in Kwangtung, i. 22, 1.59;

    duck-hatching on, i. 778 ; pirates on,

    during this century, ii. 183 ; kept open

    by foreigners, ii. 630.

    Pearls, genuine and artificial, i. 350.

    Pechele (for Pch-rhihli), sometimes used

    for Chihli, i. 00.

    Peepnl, or 7J?<-^i tree {Ficus religiosa),

    worshipped, ii. 259. .

    Pell ling, ‘ Northern Mountains,’ in

    Kwanlun system, i. 12.

    Peh-ta -sz’, ‘ White Pagoda Temple,’ Peking,

    i. 75.

    Pehtang, Americans urged to go to. ii.

    ()(J5 ; they repair to Peking, via, ii. (i08

    ;

    Ho asks Englisli to exchange treaties

    at, 072 ; allies land and capture, ii. 073.

    Pei iio, and towns on its banks, i. 85-86;

    allied fleet reach, ii. 649 ; repulse at

    battle of, ii. 0()6.

    Peking, climate of, i. 51 ; situation, area,

    and history, i. ()0-64 ; walls, i. (i4

    ;

    ‘ Prohibited City,’ i. 05 ; plan of, i. 66,*

    INDEX. 765

    palaces, i. 07-60; ‘Imporial City,’ i.

    G9 ; parks, public buildings, temples, i.

    69-T!>; Altar to Heaven, i. 7<); otlier

    temples, i. 78 ; summer palace, i. 80 ;

    streets, city government, life, i. 81-84 ;

    dogs of, i. yi9 ; crows about, i. 3H4

    State school at, i. 543 ; examinations

    for isin-sz’ degree, i. 558 ; Pih-yung

    Kung, i. 73, 730 ; street scenes in, i.

    741 ; carts used by royalty in, i. 747 ;

    compressed feet in, i. 770 ; marriage

    processions at, i. 7S9 ; fireworks in, i.

    817; ploughing ceremony at, ii. 13; its

    medical college {T’ai-i Yucit), ii. 121 ;

    taken by the Mongols, ii. 175; by the

    Mings, ii. 177, 178; Barrow on infanticide

    in, ii. 240 ; funerals in, ii. 345,

    2.50; Moslems in, ii. 2(59; Catholics first

    established in, ii. 287 ; Ricci goes to,

    ii. 291 ; medical instruction at, ii. 33′.)

    Friar Odoric visits, ii. 423 ; Van

    Hoorn’s embassy to, ii. 438 ; Russian

    mission at, ii. 443 ; Tai-ping expedition

    against, ii. 597 ; Ward’s visit to,

    ii. 6′)9 ; allied troops at, ii. (382, 686 ; a

    foreign quarter in, ii. 088.

    Pekinq Gazette {Kiiirj Pao), on revenue,

    i. 293 ; notice of, i! 420.

    Paial Code, of China, i. 279, 282, 287 ;

    examination of, i. 384-392 ; regulating

    trials and punishments, i. 50(3 ; number

    of characters in, i. 589 ; laws on

    land, ii. 2 ; on physicians, ii. 133

    ;

    framed by Yungloh, ii. 177.

    People of China, their clans, i. 483 ; general

    education, i. 519.

    Pepys, Ramtiel, mentions tea, ii. 51.

    Ferny, P., i 719, ii. 90.

    Pescadores, or Panghu Islands, i. 27, 141 ;

    the Dutch in, ii. 433.

    Petitions presented by the poor to high

    magistrates, i. 505.

    Petroleum in Formosa, i. 139.

    Pheasants, gold, silver, Reeves, and

    others, i. 336.

    Philosophy, Chinese, of the Yih Kinq, i.

    028-033 ; of Confucius, i. 062 ; of Chu

    Hi, i. (183 ; ideas concerning the ‘ action

    and reaction of the elements,’ ii.

    74 ; of the creation, ii. 137-144 ; Bazin’s

    view of growth of Chinese, ii. 213.

    Phoenix, or Fniifj-Zitrnng, i. 343.

    Physical traits of Chinese, i. 41.

    Physicians, their position in society, i.

    783 ; their practice, ii. 124-127; foreigners

    educate Chinese as, ii. 339.

    Pigeon-English, an unwritten patois, i.

    624 ; examples of, i. 832, ii. 340, 402,

    62().

    Pigeons, abundant in Peking, 1. 335

    ;

    raised and eaten, i. 779.

    Pihkwei, made governor of Canton after

    Yeh’s capture, ii. 64(! ; asks Lord Elgin

    to reopen trade, ii. 647.

    Pih-ynngKung, or ‘ Classic Hall,’ Confu«

    cian Temple, Peking, i. 73, 730, 757.

    Pilgrims, to Tai Shan, i. 90 ; Chinese, ta

    Mecca, ii. 370 ; travels of Buddhist, iL

    413.

    Pines, the white, etc., i. 302.

    Pirates, infest Kwangtung, ii. 183 ; pursued

    by British and Portuguese, ii. 032.

    Piry, A. Theophile, i. 080.

    Pi-shan, a doubtful volcano in 111, i. 11.

    Plain. See Great Plain, i. 14, 27, etc.

    Piano Carpini, John of, missionary to

    China, ii. 287 ; his mission to Kuyuk, ii.

    417.

    Plantain, productiveness of, i. 301 ; how

    eaten, i. 774.

    Plough, its construction, ii. 3; drillplough,

    ii. 5; foreifjn, introduced, ii. 63.

    Ploughing, annual ceremony of,at Peking,

    i. 78, ii. 1, 13.

    Poetry of the Sh I King, i. 038-043 ; characteristics

    of Chinese, i. 7(3 ; examples

    of their odes and liallads, i. 70,5-714.

    Po-lai-tsz’, a name of the Yangtsz’ kiang,

    i. 20.

    Police, of Peking, i. 83; tyranny and

    venality of, i. 475—480; memorial to

    Emperor concerning, i. 495.

    Policy of Cliinese government, in Ili, i.

    214 ; its theory, i. 3S0-3S4 ; toward foreign

    traders since the Mings, ii. 426 ; at

    close of opium war, ii. 575.

    Polo, Marco, i. 32, 110, 118, 127, 130, 157,

    181, 213, 242, 281, 304, 330, 330, 337,

    343, 345, 350, 300, 304, ii. 51, 85, 176,

    271, 285, 415 ; his journeys in China,

    ii. 420, 425.

    Polyandry in Tibet, i. 350.

    Polygamy, its extent in China, i. 792.

    Poor, troublesome element of Peking

    population, i. 84 ; petitions forced upon

    magistrates, i. .505 ; dwellings of the, i.

    733 ; disposal of their dead, ii. 2,54.

    Pope of Rome, appoints Corvino archbishop,

    ii. 287 ; sends other missionaries

    to China, ii. 288 ; Ming claimants write

    to, ii. 29(5 ; and question of rites, ii. 299,

    301, 302 ; supports Tournon and the

    Dominicans, ii. 303 ; sends Carpini to

    Kuyuk khan, ii. 415.

    Population, of Great Plain, i. 28 ; of Peking,

    i. (i3, 84; of Canton, i. 101; of

    Shingking, i. 193 ; of the Empire, i.

    2.58-288 ; of Tibet, unknown, i. 284 ; of

    China during the Tang, ii. 171 ; of Peking

    at last determined, ii. 087.

    Porcelain, i. Ill ; works, i. 113 ; materials

    and manufacture, ii. 22 ; export of, ii.

    394.

    Porcupine in China, i. 328.

    Portuguese, church in Peking, i. 75 ; in

    Ningpo, i. 120; settlers in Formosa, i,

    137; in Macao, i. 170; name porcelain,

    ii. 22 ; during the Mings, ii. 177 ; and

    766 INDEX.

    pirate fleets, ii. IS” ; oppose introducing

    Christianity, ii. 281) ; excitement iu Canton

    against, ii. ‘.i’.U ; conduct of early,

    traders with China, ii. 42t; ; misrepre-

    Bent the English, ii. 444 ; keep tFiem

    out of Canton, ii. 44() ; homicide of a, at

    Canton, ii. 451 ; attack the pirates, ii.

    632 ; smuggling lorchas, ii. K’A ; abolish

    coolie trade at Macao, ii. (163.

    Pottinger, Sir Henry, arrives irom England,

    ii. r)”24 ; takes Chinhai and Ningpo,

    ii. 527 ; his proclamation before

    Chinkiang, ii. 5;i7 ; his position regarding

    the opium trade, ii. Oo’J ; Kiying

    writes to, ii. 546; exchanges civilities

    with commissioners, ii. 547; discusses

    opium problem with them, ii. 550

    ;

    ^igns Nanlcing treat}’, ii. 5.53 ; action

    on hearing of Formosa massacres, ii.

    5.55 ; exchanges ratifications with Kiying,

    ii. 557 ; on J. R. Morrison, ii. 501 ;

    action against opium smuggling, ii. 502.

    Poutiatine, Admiral Count, his arrival in

    China, ii. 043.

    Poyang Luke, in Kiangsi, i. 33, 111.

    Players, Buddhist, ii. 225, 226 ; machines

    for, ii. 334 ; at ancestral tomb, ii. 253;

    ‘Girdle Classics,’ ii. 257.

    Prejevalsky, Colonel N., observations on

    Gobi, i. 10; on source of Yangtsz’, i.

    20 ; Lob-nor, i. 24 ; Kansuh, i. 153

    Mongolia, i. 205, 210, 212, 222, 231, 243,

    290, 338, 355, 304.

    Pre’mare. Pere, i. 581), 714, ii. 232.

    Prester John, Prince of the Kara Kitai,

    ii. 385, 280.

    Priests, in Canton, i. 104, 165; and

    snakes, i. 340 , harbor thieves, i. 498

    in society, i. 783 ; and theatres, i. 830 ;

    grow tea, ii. 42 ; no hierarchy of, in

    China, ii. 101, 199; Taoist, ii. 214, 215;

    Buddhist, ii. 220, 224, 250 ; Nestorian,

    ii. 285, 380.

    Primitives in the Chinese language, i.

    591-593.

    Printing, in China, i. 600 ; missionary, ii.

    307.

    Processions, marriage, i. 787-791 ; style

    of, i. 819 ; funeral, ii. 345, 348.

    Professions, the liberal, in Chinese society,

    i. 783.

    Prisons in (>anton, i. 167, 514.

    Pronunciation, varieties in local Chinese,

    i. 61.5-017.

    ‘Prohibited City’ of Peking, i. 65.

    Pro.spect, or ‘Coal’ Hill, Peking, i. 70.

    Protestants, first, missionaries to (!hina,

    ii. 31S ; niethods compared with Catholics,

    ii. ;?22 ; toleration granted to, ii.

    357 ; statistics of, in China, ii. oOtJ.

    Proverbs, Chinese, i. 110,442, 019; collections

    of, and specimen, i. 719-733,

    792, ii. 244.

    Provincial governments, character of the

    system, i. 437; higher, i. 438, and lowei

    officers, i. 441 ; law courts, i. 504.

    Prussian blue, \i8ed in coloring teas, ii.

    47 ; introduced, ii. 62.

    P.salmanazar, George, his Ilintory of Forinoaa,

    i. 141.

    Ptolemy, the geographer, his mention of

    China, ii. 408 ; his “Stone Tower,” ii.

    409.

    Pulses, their importance in medical practice,

    ii. 122, 12.5.

    Pumpellyj R., his “Sinian System” of

    mountains, i. 14; remarks on Gobi, i.

    17; quoted, i. 145, 205, 207, 296, 304,

    305.

    Punishments, Board of, i 426; five kinds,

    i. 508 ; Parkes and Loch at Board of,

    ii. 681.

    Pan t.iao, or ‘Chinese Herbal,’ i. 316;

    concerning the sphex. i. 354 ; its author

    and scope, i. 370 ; divisions of : geology,

    i. 371 ; botany, i. 372 ; zoology, i. 374 ;

    notices of the horse, i. 375, 691, iL

    373.

    Pushtikhur, mountain knot in Turkestan,

    i. 10.

    Puto Island, i. 124.

    Puyur, or Pir Lake, in Manchuria, i. 24.

    Pwanku, the first man, ii. 138-141.

    UAILS, fighting, i. 826.

    ^ Queues, how worn, i. 761 ; false ohair in, i. 765 ; imposed upon Chinese

    by the Tartars, ii. 179 ; mourning,

    ii. 249 ; cut ofT by Tai-pings, ii. 589.

    Quicksilver mines in Kweichau, i. 178,

    311 ; experiments in, ii. 118.

    I)

    ACES (see under Aboriginal), abor-

    \) iginal and colonial, of China, i. 43.

    Radicals in the Chinese language, i. 591-

    593.

    Raffles, SirT. S., i. 482.

    Rain, in North China, i. 51 ; in the south,

    i. 53; contrast in. between coasts of

    China and America, i. 55 ; Taukwang’s

    prayer for, i. 407 ; eflbrts after, by

    officers, ii. 203-205.

    Ranking, J., i. 330.

    Ranks, titular, of noblemen, i. 405 ; of

    the people, i. 411 ; insignia of, i. 414.

    Rationalists, or Taoists, considered as

    magicians, i. ()94 ; ideas of the creation,

    ii. 138; creed, ii. 207 0″.

    Rats, how and when eaten, i. 778.

    lied Book, of officials, its character, i

    452.

    Reed, William B.^ United States Minister,

    i. 400; arrives in China, ii. 643,

    649.

    Regis, Pere J. B., i. 633.

    Reinaud, J. T., i. 127, u. 168, 271, 414,

    425. 426.

    Religion, sects in Tibet, i. 248 ; ridicuU

    INDEX. 7G7

    of, by the literati, i. 601 ; none in early

    mythology, ii. 14)3; only external modifying

    intlaence in China, ii. 18′.); two

    negative features of Chinese, ii. 192

    ;

    the tliree ki<w, or sects : State, ii. 194 ;

    Tao. or Rationalist, ii. 207 ; Fuh, or

    Buddhist, ii. 217; toleration of, in

    Cliiua, ii. 221 ; eft’eto among the people,

    ii. 2G0.

    Be’musat, Abel, his derivation of word

    Tsunfj ling, i. 9 ; myths of the Great

    Deseit, i. 12 ; river basins of China, i.

    27, 2i:!, 214, 2:50, 2:11, 2>!:;, 2:J4, 237, 28t<,

    2.’)0, 2.”)1, 254, 308, 353 ; observations on

    natural sciences, i. 377, 500, .^97, ()0.5

    ;

    on Chinese grammar, i. 617 ; Mencius,

    i. (iOtJ, 674, 675, 681, 682, 694, 696. ii.

    123, 139, 167, 176, 180, 224, 232, 233,

    293, 309, 441.

    Rennie, Dr. D. F., i. 05, ii. 602.

    Researches of Ma Twan-lin, i. 2.59-265.

    Responsibility, a main feature of government,

    i. 382-383 ; its operation, i. 436 ;

    of Emperor for natural calamities, i.

    465; results of, i. 481.

    Revenue, of Chinese Empire, i. 289-292

    ;

    Board of, i. 422 ; Department of, i. 443 ;

    and transit duties, ii. 391.

    Rhubarb from Kansuh, i. 864.

    Ricci, Father Matteo, comes to China, ii.

    289 ; travels northward, ii. 290 ; his

    death, ii. 2,12 ; his character, ii. 293 ; decision

    as to the rites, ii. 292, 299 ; compared

    witli Morrison, ii. 322 ; compiles

    account of Goes’ journey, ii. 425.

    Rice, its importance, i. 772 ; its cultivation,

    ii. 5-7; paper, painting on, ii.

    113; an import, ii. 396.

    RichanlsL.!!, Sir John, i. 296, 347, 348.

    Richthofen, Biron F. von, remarks on

    conformation of Central Asia, i. 18

    roads in loess, i. 39, 97, 120, 150, 1.5S,

    184. :^12, 221, 222, 257, 296, 297, 303,

    305. 636, ii. 137 ; on early knowledge of

    China, ii. 407. 411, 624.

    Ripa, Pere M., ii. 124; arrives in China,

    ii. 302; observations on Catholic missionaries,

    ii. 305.

    Rites, five kinds of, i. 423; Book of, i.

    643-f)47 ; question of the, Ricci’s precedent,

    ii. 292 ; Catholic quarrels concerning,

    ii. 297-303.

    Ritter, Carl, i. 208, 234, 237, 257.

    Rivers, of China, i. 18; of Shansi, i. 94;

    boat life on, i. 751.

    Roberts, Rev. I. J., his connection with

    Hung Siu-tsnen, ii. 587, 622.

    Roads, public, i. 37 ; mountain, i. 39 ; of

    Shansi, i. 91″!

    ; of Sz’chiien, i. 156; safety

    of, in the Empire, i. 212 ; in loess region,

    i. 300.

    Robinson, Sir G. B., associated with Napier,

    ii. 464 ; succeeds him as superintendent,

    ii. 479.

    Rome, Chinese knowledge cf, during the

    Han dynasty, ii. 163; the country ‘i’u

    Tsin, ii. 207 ; and Ciiiiia, infanticide in,

    ii. 242 ; divination in China and, ii.

    261 ; intercourse with Cliiua, ii. 410.

    Roman Catholics’, and Huddliists’ rituals

    compared, ii. 231, 315 ; they suggest

    the founding of hospitals, ii. 205 ; missi

    jns first established in China, ii. 286

    ;

    second period of their missions, ii. 289

    diseussions concerning the rites, ii. 253,

    292, 299 ; expelled from China by Yungciiing,

    ii. 304 ; character of their la})or3

    in China, ii. 316 ; they move to Hongkong,

    ii. 347 ; restitution of their confiscated

    property, ii. 361 , 362 ; indemnified

    in treaty of Peking, ii. 687.

    Rondot, Natalis, Chinese commerce, ii.

    19, 31, 38, 83.

    Roofs, how constructed in China, i. 726,

    729.

    Rubruquis, Friar William, sent by Louis

    XI. to Mangu khan, ii. 418, 425.

    _

    Russia, treaty^ between, and China on

    frontier of II i, i. 215, .594; and toleration

    of Christianity in China, ii. 360

    ;

    boundary disputes, trade, and treaties

    of, with China, ii. 441 ; takes possession

    of Kuldja, ii. 727.

    Russian, ‘pigeon,’ spoken in Vierny, ii.

    402 ; Admiral Poutiatine arrives in

    China, ii. 643 ; and American ministers

    at Tientsin, ii. 6 4 ; diplomacy and the

    Kuldja question, ii. 732.

    SABBATH not known in China, i. 809.

    SacharofF, T., i. 271.

    Sacred Edict (or Commands) of Kanghi,

    the Shing Ym, i. .548; a politico-moral

    treatise, i. 686-601 ; its observations on

    mulberry culture, ii. ; 3 ; illus-trations

    from, ii. 107-111, 227,_ 267.

    Sacrifices, no human, in China, ii. 192;

    three grades, ii. 105; of women at funeral

    of Empress, ii. 250.

    Sagalicn, River (see Amur), i. 180; town

    of (Igoon),i. 108.

    Sa,int-Martin, Didier, Romish missionary

    to China, ii. 3C6, 312 ; on casting out

    demons, ii. 314.

    Salaries, of Chinese officers, i. 204 ; of

    Mongol princes, i. 430.

    Sale of office practised continually by

    Emperor, i. 475.

    Salisbury, Prof. E. E., ii. 232.

    _

    Salt, produced in Shansi, i. 95 ; in

    Sz’chuen, i. 158, 308 ; Yunnan, i. 184

    ;

    Department, or Gabel, i. 443.

    Salve tat, ii. 23, 24.

    ‘Sand,’ a malady at Nanking, i. 52.

    Sand-storms on the Plains, i. .52 ; dunes

    or moving hills in Kashgar, i. 227.

    Sangkolinsin, Tartar general, at Takii

    forts, ii. 664 ; drives back the allies, il

    7G8 INDEX.

    606 ; blunder in operations against allies

    before Taku, ii. 074 ; retires toward Peking,

    ii. (577 ; his deception, ii. 079

    ;

    conversation with Parkes, ii. (i80 ; his

    connection with treatment of English

    pi isoners, ii. 085 ; allows the return of

    allied troops, ii. 088.

    San-Ux’ Kim], or ‘ Trimetrical Classic,’ a

    school-book, i. 526-530.

    Sayce, Prof. A. H., on hieroglyphics, i.

    581.

    iSchaal, Father Adam, recommended to

    the Emperor, ii. ;i94 ; and Shunchi’, ii.

    2y0 ; j)roscribed, and dies, ii. ;i’J7

    ;

    makes cannon, ii. ~98.

    Scarborough, W., i. 720.

    tSchereschewsky, Bishop, S. I. J., ii. 873,

    304.

    Science, study of, in China, i. 297; foreign

    terms of, introduced, i. 021 ; abstract,

    not pursued, ii. 65 ; attainments

    in and ideas upon, ii. 06-86.

    B.adegel, Dr. Gustave, i. 48, 494, 633.

    (School name, shu mltit/, i. 525; when

    conferred, i. 797.

    Schools, boys’, how conducted, i. 525

    books studied, i. 527-541 ; high, i. 542

    Romish mission, ii. 310 ; Morrison

    Education Society, ii. 341-345.

    Rchuhmacher, M. Job. H. , i. 033.

    Schuyler, Eugene, i. 217, 219, 233, ii. 402.

    Sculpture as a fine art, ii. 105, 114.

    Secret societies in China, i. 492 ; their

    character, ii. 2()7.

    Sedan chairs of magistrates, i. 50;! ; their

    kinds and uses, i. 748.

    Senamand, J., i. 003.

    Seres, Latin designation for China, i. 4 ;

    distinguished from Sinw, ii. 408.

    Sen Ki-yu, Governor, compend of geography

    by, i. 50; and Dr. Abeel, ii. 348,

    409, 575.

    Sevres and Chinese porcelains compared,

    ii. 23.

    Seymour, Admiral, ii. 037 ; enters Canton

    city, ii. 038 ; withdraws from the river

    to Macao Fort, ii. (J40 ; takes Taku

    forts, ii. i’>T>\.

    Sexes, separation of in Chines&^ociety, i.

    784. _

    -^

    Shamanism, the Buddhism of Tibet and

    Mongolia, ii. 233-235.

    Shameen, foreign settlement at Canton,

    i. 168.

    Sha-moh (see Gobi), i. 15 ; its character,

    i. 17.

    Shang dynasty, its annals, ii. 154-157, 158.

    Shangchuen, Sancian, or St. John’s Island,

    Kwangtung, i. 173, ii. 289, 437.

    Blianghai, climate, i. 53 ; rainfall, i. 50 ;

    description of, i. 100; its dialect, i.

    01 1 ; Ching-hwang miao at, ii. 202

    ;

    foundling hospital at, ii. 264 ; missions

    aBtablished at, ii. 351, 357 ; conference,

    ii. 305 ; taken and ransomed by th«

    British, ii. 530 ; at close of lirst war, ii

    573 ; captured by rebels, ii. 004 ; protected

    from Tai-pings by foreigners, ii.

    000 ; foreigners at, thank Gordon, ii.

    019; customs duties entrusted to foreigners

    at, ii. 027 ; troubles with Cantonese

    rebels at, ii. 628 ; arsenal estab

    lished at, ii. 690.

    Shangti’, worship of. as God, ii. 154, 157

    ;

    the Taoist, ii. 215 ; and Tien, the term

    question among Catholics, ii. 297

    among Protestants, ii. 364 ; Hung Siutsuen

    and the worship of, ii. 588, 590.

    Shangtu, or Xanadu, i. 87.

    Shan-hai kwan, a town on the Gulf of

    Pechele, i. 25.

    Shansi province, description of, i. 94;

    productions, i. 95 ; mountain passes, i.

    97 ; loess regions of, i. 398-303.

    Shantung province, i. 89 ; productions, L

    92 ; people of, i. 93.

    Shark, mode of catching, i. 347 ; fins

    eaten, ii. 397.

    Shasi, in Hupeh, i. 14.5.

    Shauchau, in Kwangtung, i. 173.

    Shanking, a town in Kwangtung, i. 173;

    Ricci establislied there, ii. 290, 431

    ;

    rebel slaughter at, ii. 632.

    Shaw, R. B., ii. 729.

    Shaw, Samuel, his voyage to China, ii. 460.

    Sheep, domestic and mountain, i. 321

    .

    Shensi province, i. 148-152 ; loess in, L

    298 ; the Huns in, ii. 10.5.

    Shigatsc’, capital of Ulterior Tibet, i. 247.

    Shih, a grain measure, its value, i. 290.

    Shih-pah Sang, or ‘ Eighteen Provinces,’

    called t’liHHij Kii’oh. i. 8.

    Slii Kin(/, the ‘ Book of Odes,’ its poetry,

    i. 03(5-043, 703 ; allusion to silk, ii. 32

    and ancestral worship, ii. 230.

    Shingking colony, i. 25 ; a province of

    Manchuria, i. 191-19(5.

    Shinnung, inventor of agriculture, temple

    to, at Peking, i. 78.

    Shoeing animals, manner of, ii. 4.

    Shoes, how made and worn, i. 701 ; women’s,

    i. 769 ; given at New Year, i. 811.

    Shops, in Peking, i. 82 ; arrangement of

    Chinese, i. 73(5 ; their names, i. 799

    ;

    decorated at New Yeai’, i. 811-813.

    Shiiga Mountains, in the Kwanlun system,

    i. 11.

    SJinKing, the ‘Book of Records,’ i. 90;

    its character and value, i. 633-630 ; on

    temperance, i. 808 ; notice of silk culture,

    ii. 32 ; of cotton, ii. 3(5 ; of early

    attention to astronomy, ii. OS, (59 ; the

    deluge of Yao, ii. 147 ft’.; its credibility,

    ii. 152, 155 ; and House of Chau, u.

    157, 159; and religion, ii. 190; on ancient

    commerce, ii. 372, 59(5.

    Shun, an early Emperor, ii. 145, 146-148.

    Shunchi, Emperor, i. 385 ; orders women

    INDEX. (GO

    immolated, ii. 250 ; and Schaal, ii. 290,

    -,

    ^*^-

    Shuntien, a department of Chihli, i. (iO.

    Sialkoi Mountains, in Manchuria, L 13,

    1S».

    Slang River, in Hunan, i. 14fi.

    eiangkwan, King of Tsinchau, changes

    his ca[)it;il to Lohyang, i. o.

    Siao lUiih, or •Juvenile Instructor,’ a

    text-book, i. 5:22, 540.

    _

    Sign-boards of Poking, i. 8o. 738.

    Sihota, or Sili-hih-teh Mountains, in

    Manchuria, i. 10, 188.

    Si Hu, ‘West Lake,’ near Hangchau, i.

    117; near Fuhchan, i. 131.

    Silk. Hangchau. i. 119; of Sz’chuen, i.

    157 ; worm reared, i. 351 ; manufacture,

    ii. 33-35 ; export of. ii. 395.

    Siik-worm, discovered by Yuenfi, i. 71

    ;

    its culture, ii. 33.

    Silver, localities of, i. 311 ;

    ‘ shoes ‘ of

    si/crr. ii. 84.

    Silver Island (Siung Shan), near Chinkiang.

    i. 100.

    Simon, Eug. , ii. 88.

    Simpson, William, i. 737.

    Si-ugan (Hao-king and Chang-an), abandoned

    in 770 1?. c. by Siangkwan, i. 3;

    description of the city, i. 1 50 ; capital of

    the Chau, ii. l.-)2. 1.58, 102. 105; during

    the Tang, ii. 108 ; temple to Lautsz’ in,

    ii. 215 ; Nestorian tablet of, ii. 270, 408.

    Sining, in Kansuh, i. 154, 210, 213. 2.52.

    ijiu fsui. or ‘Bachelor of Arts,’ first degree

    in examination system, i. .547;

    military, i. 500 ; Hung Siu-tsuen tries

    for, ii. ‘582.

    Siuenhwa, in Chihli, i. 86.

    Six Boards, bureaus of, Peking, i. 72, 415,

    421-428.

    Si Yuen, ‘Western Park,’ Peking, i. 70.

    ” Skinning papers ” used in examinations,

    i. 551.

    Slaves, few in China, i. 413, 564.

    Smith, Rev. Arthur, i. 97.

    Smith, Bishop George, i. 498, ii. 242, 272.

    Smith, F. Porter, ii. 134, 241.

    Smuggling, desperate case of opium, L

    447 ; at Macao and Whampoa, ii. 378 ;

    increase of, about Hongkong, ii. 633

    British encouragement of, ii. 725.

    Snakes in China, i. 34′>.

    Snow, in Peking, i. 51 ; in Shanghai, i.

    .53 ; in Canton, i. .”4.

    Snuff, how taken, i. 771 ; bottles found

    in Egypt, ii. 27.

    Social life, in China, i. 782-830 ; and government

    in reform movements, ii. 581.

    Society, Medical Missionary, ii. ;)34 ; for

    the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge in

    China, ii. 340 ; Morrison Education, ii.

    341.

    Songari River, in Manchuria, i. 190 ; in

    treaty of Livadia, ii. 732.

    Vol. II.—49

    Songaria (see Tien-shan Peh Lu), or

    Dzungaria, i. 215 ; its productions, i.

    218; chief cities, i. 219; history, i.

    233-230.

    Sorghum (kaoliaiuj), on Teungming Island,

    i. 108 ; not used for sugar, i. 776.

    Sounds, of the Chinese language indicated

    by symbols, i. 580; mistaken

    ideas regardmg, i. 005 ; still unwritten,

    i. 608 ; dialectic, of Canton and Amoy,

    i. 615; and sense in Chinese rhymes, i

    704.

    Soy, how made, i. 365, 773 ; an export, ii.

    390.

    Soyorti Mountain.s. See Sialkoi.

    Spanish, trade and relations with China,

    ii. 431 ; Don S. de Mas appointed, minister,

    ii. 505 ; government and the

    coolie trade, ii. 715.

    Spectacles, fashion of Chinese, ii. 22.

    Sphex, or solitary wasp, Chinese ideas respecting,

    i. 354.

    Spirits, ardent, temperance in use of, L

    808 ; dread of wandering, ii. 258.

    Squirrels, varieties of, i. 327.

    Stanlev, Dean A. P., on Confucius and

    Buddha, ii. 220.

    Stanovoi, or Wai Hing-an Mountains,

    their position, i. 9.

    Stars, arrangement of the, ii. 76.

    Staunton, Sir G. L.. i. 89, 118, 269, 353,

    362, 403, 453, ii. 444, 454.

    Staunton, Sir G. T., i. 279, 384, 589, 674,

    080, ii. 318, 4.52, 458. 400.

    Steel everywhere made, ii. 19.

    Stent, Geo. C, i. 703, 7C6, 770.

    Stevens, Rev. Edwin, i. 93, 129, 764, ii.

    329, 352, 308.

    Stimpson, i. 290.

    Strass, made in Tsinan, i. 91 ; uses of,

    ii. 21.

    Strauss, Victor von, i. 643, ii. 207, 212.

    Streets, of Peking, i. 82 ; of Canton, L

    168 ; scenes in, i. 740 ; at New Year,

    812, 815; at Emperor’s funeral, ii. 250.

    Sturgeon, or ijin yii, in Yaugtsz’, i. 347.

    Sii, a censor, his punishment, i. 432.

    Su-Hwui, a poetess of the fourth century,

    i. 708.

    Sii Kwang-hi, or Paul Sii, his Encyclopedia

    of Aqricnlture, i. 686, ii. 10, 51

    ;

    converted by Ricci, ii. 291, 292, 294,

    354.

    Sii Kwang-tsin, Governor-General, keepp

    foreigners out of Canton, ii. 573 ; his

    folly, ii. .590, 604.

    Suchau, in Kiangsu, i. 103 ; captured by

    Tai-pings, ii. OUG ; recapture of, ii. 013-

    616.

    Sugar, on Formosa, i. 139; largely grown,

    i. 776; how made, ii. 11.

    Suhshun, favorite of Hienfung, ii. 604;

    his conspiracy and death, ii. 691.

    Sui dynasty, ii. 167.

    770 INDEX.

    Suicides carofiilly drcssod, i. 513.

    Sulphur found in Formosa, i. 139.

    Sun symbolized by a raven, ii. 74.

    Sung dynasty, cotton introduced during

    the, ii. ;>7 ; the Xlth dynasty or Northern

    Sung, ii. 10.5 ; the XXIId, its period,

    ii. 173 ; the Southern Sung, ii. 174.

    Sung, a censor, his rectitude, i. 431 ; his

    career, i. 4.54.

    Sunijkiaug, in Kiangsu, recaptured by

    Ward, ii, (507 ; Gordon retires to, ii.

    (iia.

    Suuglo hills, in Nganhwui, i. lO’J ; in

    ‘ Tea-Picker.s’ Ballad,’ i. 710 fF.

    Sunnite tribe of Mongols, i. ^06.

    Superstitions, of the Chinese, respecting

    divination, 1. tilJO ; in marriages, i. 785

    ff.; Taoist priests and, i. 694, ii. 214;

    m funerals, fung s?iui, ii. 24.5, 24()

    ;

    various, ii. 255-‘3()o ; Chinese and

    Romish, ii. 314, 316; of mediaeval travellers

    in the East, ii. 423.

    Supremacy, Governor Lu’s ideas of Chinese,

    ii. 472 ; Chinese principles of, ii.

    475, 476 ; illustrated in case of Lin’s

    homicide, ii. 506, 510; Chinese, and

    Pottinger’s proclamation, ii. 538.

    Swallows about Peking, i. 332.

    Swinlioe, Robert, i. 206, 318, 328, 329,

    331, 337, 342, ii. 671, 673, 677, 683, 684,

    685.

    Symbolism, Chinese, ii. 74, 111.

    Syle, B. W., ii. 96.

    Sz\ a ‘township’ or ‘commune,’ i. 59;

    government of, i. 441.

    /Sz’ (‘Silk’), origin of the Latin Seres,

    China, i. 4 ; of silk, ii. 35.

    Sz’chuen province, climate, i. .55 ; description

    of, i. 1.54-158; alum found in,

    i. SOS ; wax-worm of, i. 353 ; tea of,

    ii. 50,

    Sz’ Hai, ‘ All within the Four Seas,’ ancient

    Chinese terra for the land, i. 4.

    Sz’ma Kwang, a historian, i. 676, ii. 174.

    Sz’ma Tsicn, a Chinese historian, i. 675,

    ii. 140, 149, 212.

    TABLES : Area and population of

    Eurojjean States, i. 272 ; Censuses

    of the Eiglite(-n Provinces since 1710, i,

    264; Colonies of China, their government

    and sulidivisions, i, 186 ; Dynasti:;

    s of China, ii. 18(;; Expenditure

    of Chinese government, i. 293 ; Exports

    from China during 1880 iind 1881, ii,

    405 ;

    ” Five Sovereigns ” of Chinese

    legendary annahs, ii. 148; Ming and

    Tsing Emperors, ii. 18(i; Missionaries

    (Protestant) in China, 1877, ii. 366;

    Nature, ywwers, and functions of elementary,

    ii, 75 ; Numerals, (‘iiinese, in

    three dialects, i. 619; Opium import

    to Hongkong, ii, 388 ; /’«// Kirn of Puhlii’,

    in the )’//’ Kiii’i. i. O’.’B ; Population

    of China, comparatirc estimates of, i

    263 ; Provinces, government and divisions

    of the Eighteen, i, 01 j Provincial

    officer.?, i. 444 ; Pulse and its corresponding

    organs in the human body, u. i22 ;

    Revenue of the Eighteen Provinces

    :

    Cu.stoms report, ii. 4U4 ; De Guifines’a

    estimate, i. 291 ; Medhurst’s estimate,

    i. 299 ; Radicals of the Chinese language,

    i. 592 ; Rice tribute sent to Peking,

    ii. 5 ; Tea exj)()rt during ten

    years, ii. 404 ; Trade, value of Chinese

    foreign, ii. 4():>; Zodiac, divisions of

    the Chinese, ii. 71

    .

    Ta-chungsz’, ‘Bell Temple,’ Peking, i. 79.

    Ta Hioli, or ‘Superior Learning,’ i. 052,

    Ta hu, or Tai hu, ‘(ireat Lake,’ near the

    Yangtsz’, i. 2:!, 100, 103.

    Tai-ho tien, ‘ Hall of Highest Peace,’

    imperial palace, Peking, i. 67.

    Tai Miao, ‘Great Temple,’ Peking, i. 70.

    Taintor, E. C, i. 141, 176, 433.

    _ Tai-ping, ‘ Tri-netrieal Clas-sic ‘ of, i.

    .530 ; loyalty of imperial officials during

    the rebellion, i, 5C3, ii. 184, 3.59

    ;

    origin of the t3rm, ii. 581 ; commencement

    of insurryctiaii, ii. 589 ; first military

    success, ii. 591 ; character of its

    control, ii. 59 J ; arrangement of camp,

    ii. 594 ; advance to Nanking, ii. .595

    ;

    expedition against Peking, ii. 597

    rapid degeneration of the movement

    after this failure, ii. 599 ; dissensions

    among the leaders, ii. 602 ; eleven new

    wangs appointsd—the sortie from Nanking

    of May, 1 800, ii. 005 ; they fail in

    not following Elgi.i to Peking, ii. 600 ;

    operations to relieve Nganking, ii. 607

    ;

    resistance at Suchau, ii. 613 ; execution

    of leaders at its surrender, ii. 61 5 ; desperate

    condition of the rebels, ii. 617

    end of rebellion in the fall of Nanking,

    ii. 620 ; subsequent movements of the

    refugees, ii. 621 ; their final collapse,

    ii. 622; authorities on the rebellion, ii.

    624 ; army at Hankow visited bv Elgin,

    ii. 0.59.

    Tai shan, in Shantung, i. 90.

    Taitsung, Emperor, of t!ie Tang dynasty,

    institutes examination system, i. .521

    ;

    his reign and acts, ii. 168-170.

    Taiwan, on b’ormosa, i. l-;0.

    Taiyuen, cai>ital of Shansi, i. 96.

    Taku, on the Pei ho, i. 86; interview between

    Elliot and Kishen at, ii. 515 ; the

    allied licet at, ii. 049 ; Russian and

    American interviiw with Tan at, ii. 6.50;

    forts taken by l^nglish and French, ii.

    651 ; the four forci>;n ministers repair

    to, ii, t)64; negotiations of Americans

    at, ii. 065 ; repulse of the allies at, ii.

    600 ; attack upon .and capture of, ii. 676.

    Tallow and the tallow-tree, ii, 11.

    Tang dynasty, the best period of Chinese

    INDEX. 771

    poetry, i. 704; drama originates dnring,

    1. 714; its brilliant period, ii. Ui7-17l ;

    the After Taug, ii. 17^.’; Mo.slems in

    Ciiina during the, ii. 268 ; Arabs, ii. 41 o ;

    travelling regulations under, ii. 4~5.

    Tnii</Jin, Tail’/ Shan, local terms for the

    Chinese and China, i. 4, ii. 1G8.

    Tangnu Mountains’, in Mongolia, i. 0.

    Tang Ting-ching, governor at Canton, ii.

    481 ; his son in the opium trade, ii. 4′.)3

    ;

    his helpless position toward foreigners,

    ii. 4′.)5 ; foolish answer to Elliot, ii. 4’JG

    ;

    visit.s Macao, ii. 506.

    TangTsz’, Temple to Imperial Ancestors,

    Peking, i. 73.

    Tangnts, tribe of, i. 210, 212.

    Tankia boats at Canton, i. 412, 751.

    Tan Ting-siang, governor-general of

    Chihli, meets American and Russian

    minist^ns at Taku, ii. (JiiO ; superseded

    by Kwciliang at Tientsin, ii. 651.

    Taoism, or Rationalism, priests regarded

    as magicians, i. 694 ; its founder, ii.

    206 ; its classic, the Tao Teh King, ii.

    297-214; 3.ndfu)!g s/nii, ii. 246.

    Tarbagatai, district of Songaria, i. 220.

    Tariff and commercial regulations after

    the first war, ii. 558 ; after the second,

    ii. 657.

    Tarim, or Ergu River, i. 16 ; its course and

    basin, i. 221-223 ; reconquest of the

    valley, ii. 727.

    Tartars, or Tatars, i, 44; ” Fish-skin,” i.

    1U6 ; derivation of name, i. 2U2 ; Kitaii

    of Liautung and the After Tsin, ii. 172 ;

    and the Kin, ii. 174.

    Tartary, country formerly called, i. 202.

    Tatnali, Commodore, at Taku, ii. 665 ; his

    conduct during the action, and bon mot,

    ii. ()68.

    Ta Tshu/ Kwoh, ‘Great Pure Kingdom,’

    present official name of China, i. .5.

    Tati, Tau-tui, ‘Circuit’ and ‘ Intendant

    of Circuit,’ i. .59, 440.

    Taukwang, the Emperor, coronation address,

    i. ;J99 ; honors the Empress-dowager,

    i. 409 ; rescript of, i. 449 ; prayer

    for rain i. 466 ; his reign, ii. 18o ; his

    efforts to stop the opiam trade, ii. 492,

    497; rejects Bogne treaty, ii. 519; his

    spirit in pushitig the war, ii. 527 ; proclamation

    concerning th”? causes of the

    war, ii. 539 ; his death, ii. .575.

    Taxes, in China, i. 294 ; difficulty of collecting,

    i. 498; ‘Sacred Edict’ upon,

    i. 688 ; on building lots, i. 739 ; land,

    ii. 2; how paid, ii. 84.

    Taye, son of Emperor Chuen-hii, founder

    of the Tsin family, i. 2.

    Taylor, Dr. C, i. 1(>2.

    Tea, in Ngauhwni, i. 109 ; Kiakhta trade

    in. i. 207; its preparation in Tibet, i.

    ‘241 ; ballad on picking, i. 710 ; culture,

    ii. 39; manufacture, etc., ii. 40-55; as

    an export, ii. 373, 404; duty on, in

    1689, ii. 446.

    Teachers in boys’ schools, i. .524 ff.

    ;

    qualitications, i. .526 ; severity required,

    i. 546.

    Temperance, address of Duke Chau i”

    the Shu King, i. 808, ii. 157 ; of th^.

    Chinese, ii. .54.

    ‘J’emples, in Peking (q.v. ) i. 73-80; in

    Canton, i. 164-166 ; in Tibet, i. 245

    ;

    pillars of Chinese, i. 730 ; public resorts,

    i. 738, ii. 202 ; to Confucius, li.

    203 ; proportion of Buddhist, ii. 224 ;

    worship in, ii. 232, 263.

    Temperature, of Peking, i. 51 ; of coast

    towns, i. .53.

    Tengkiri-nor, in Tibet, i. 25, 240. •

    Tennent, Sir E., ii. 413.

    Terrace cultivation, in loess, i. 300; extent

    of, ii. 6.

    Terranova, an American sailor, case of,

    ii. 453 ; his judicial murder, ii. 460.

    Teshu-lama, monument to a, Peking, i.

    79 ; palace of the, at Teshu-Lumbo,

    Tibet, i. 247, 2.52, 2.56.

    Theatres, management of, i. 820 ; style of

    plays, i. 714, b22 ; morals of Chinese, i.

    824.

    Thom, Robert, interpreter to Pottinger,

    ii. 548, 556. 557.

    Thompson, James, i. 771.

    Tlioms, P. P., i. 392 ; fonts of Chinese

    type of, i. 603 ; Chinese Courtshij:), i.

    704, ii. 320.

    ‘ Thousand Character,’ or ‘ Millenary

    Classic’ {Tsien Txz’ IV’ds;*), a schoolbook,

    i. 531, 598.

    Thrashing-floors, how made, ii. 9,

    Thrushes, trained, i. 333.

    Tibet, physical characteristics of people,

    L 45; names and boundaries, i. 237;

    natural features, i. ‘238-240 ; climate,

    productions, and animals, i. 241-244

    ;

    H’lassa and Shigatse, i. 245-247 ; manners

    and customs, i. 248-2.54 ; language,

    i. 2.53 ; history, i. 2.54 ; government, i.

    255 ; population not numbered, i. ‘284

    ;

    manner of concocting tea in, ii. 50 ; annexed

    by Kienlung, ii. 182 ; Shamanism

    in, ii. 2.33.

    Tick kii, ‘ Iron whirlwind,’ term for typhoon,

    i. 57.

    Tien, ‘ Heaven.’ worshipped, ii. 194, 195,

    198; and Shanr/ti, as terms for Grod, ii.

    297, 300.

    Tien chu, ‘Heaven’s Pillar,’ or Atlas of

    China, a name for the Kwanlun. i. 13.

    Tifn Ilia, ‘ Beneath the Sky,’ a term for

    China, i. 4.

    Tien shan, Tengkiri, or Celestial Mountains,

    in Cobdo, i. 9 ; erroneously called

    Alak, i. 10; one of the four great

    chains of China, i. 11.

    Tien-shan Nan Lu, or Southern Circuit

    772 INDEX.

    (Eastern Turkestan), i. 231 ; its position

    and topography, i. :221-2:i3 ; population,

    i. ;224 ; towns, i. 324-231 ; history, i.

    233-237.

    Tieu-shan Peh Lu, or Northern Circuit

    (Songaria), i. 218; its towns and districts,

    i. 218-221.

    Tien Tan, ‘Altar to Heaven,’ Peking, i.

    70; Emperor’s worship at, ii. 195-198.

    Tientsin, description, i. S~) ; riot and missions,

    ii. 313 ; Mr. Gutzlaff’s visit to,

    ii. 328 ; Flint at, ii. 449 ; Tai-pings repulsed

    at, ii. 598 ; allies reach, ii. 051 ;

    negotiations of the allies at, ii. 654 ; the

    armies again reach, ii. 677 ; riot and

    massacre of foreigners at, ii. 700 ; feeling

    in the city, ii. 703.

    Tiger, the, in China, i. 318 ; in geoniancy,

    ii. 246.

    Timur, or Ching-tsung, Kublai khan’s

    successor, ii. 176.

    Ti’iy, ‘department’ or ‘district,’ term

    explained, i. .58; prefect of, i. 441.

    Tiughai, capital of Chusan Archipelago,

    i. 123; Lockhait’s hospital at, ii. S.^O;

    capture of, by British in 1841, ii. 514

    ;

    second cajjture, ii. 525.

    Tinikow.ski, i. SO, 207, 2.50, ii. 442, 44.3.

    Ti Tan, ‘Altar to Earth,’ Peking, i. 78.

    Titles, of Emperor, i. 397-399 ; of nol)ility,

    i. 405, 40(i ; and Board of Civil

    Office, i. 422 ; assumed on taking office,

    i. 799 ; of the Tien Wang, ii 582.

    Ti Wang Miao, the Walhalla of China, i.

    75.

    Tobacco, introduced into China, i. 309

    how used, i. 776; exported, ii. 394.

    Tonil)s, of the Chinese, ii. 246; worship

    at, ii. 252.

    Tones {sfii7ig’), in the Chinese language, 1.

    609.

    Topographical, terms, i. 58 ; divisions of

    China, i. 61.

    Tortoise, or kiccl, fabulous animal, i. 345.

    Torture, its infliction upon criminals, i.

    .507.

    Tourgouths, tribe of, in Northern fli, i.

    2’20; flight of, from Knssia, i. 234

    ;

    Tulishen’s embassy, concerning, ii. 442.

    Trade, restrictions of, with Corea, i.

    194 ; tl:rouL;h Kiakhta, i. 206 ; revenue

    from, etc., i. 291 ; ancient, of China, ii.

    372 ; value of opium, ii. 388 ; general

    export, ii. 391 ; import, ii. 397 ; present

    management of, ii. 402 ; ancient, with

    Roman Empire, ii. 411, 414 ; limited to

    Canton by the Manchns, ii. 426 ; Portuguese,

    ii. 430 ; Sj)anish, ii. 431 ; Dutch,

    ii. 433 ; Russian, ii. 141 ; history of the

    English, ii. 443-4.59 ; peculiarities of

    early Chinese, ii. -1.50 ; American, ii.

    4t)0 ; Napier appointed suiiernitcndent

    of British, ii. 464 ; mutations of, during

    Napier’s embroglio, ii. 473-477 ; Lin

    finally stops the British, ii. 507 ; carried

    on during the war, ii. 517, 521, 524;

    settlement of, regulations after the first

    war, ii. .557.

    TransformatiLns, Chinese notions about,

    I. 345, 378.

    Travelling, modes of, in China, i. 747

    ;

    rognhitions under the Tangs, ii. 425.

    Treaties, Husso-Chinese, concerning frontier

    of Hi, i. 215; clauses of toleration

    in, of June, 1858, ii. 360 ; Russian, ii.

    441 ; failure of the negotiations at the

    Bogue, iL 518 ; of Nanking, ii. 549 ; its

    ratification, ii. 557 ; British supplementary,

    signed at Bogue, ii. 5(;i ; of

    Wanghia l>etween China and the United

    States, ii. 567 ; French, of Whampoa,

    ii. 571 ; how regarded by the Chinese,

    ii. 578 ; of Tientsin signed, ii. 656 ; difficulty

    of enforcing, in CJhina, ii. 658 ;

    American, ratified at Pehtang, ii. 670;

    English and French, signed at Peking,

    iL 686; the Burlingame, ii. 698; of

    1880, ii. 699 ; of Chunghow at Livadia,

    iL 732 ; of MarquLs Tsfing in settlement

    of Kuldja question, iL 734.

    Triad Society, or Water-lily Sect, i. 493 ;

    its character, ii. 267 ; and Christians,

    iL 812, 323 ; opposition of Hung Siutsuen

    to, ii. .591.

    Trials, criminal, how conducted, i. 504.

    Trigautius (or Trigault), French missionary,

    i. 265, 289, ii. 293, 309, 425, 428.

    ‘ Trimetritxil Classic,’ Saii-tsz’ King, a

    school-book, L 52()-.530.

    Trinity of the Tao-teh -King, Pauthier’a

    fancy, ii. 210.

    Tsaidam, plain of, L 210.

    Tsakhar, or Chahar, territory in Chihli,

    i. 60, 87 ; tribes, i. ‘203.

    Tsang Kwoh-fan, generalissimo of imperial

    forces against the Tai-pings, ii.

    618 ; is visited by Gordon, li. 620 ; investigates

    Tientsin massacre, ii. 703

    his son sent to England and Russia, iL

    733.

    Tsau hu, in Nganhwui, i. 23 ; its goldfish,

    i. 348.

    Tsau-ti, or Gras.sland of Gobi, i. 17.

    Tsetsen khanate, i. 204.

    Tsi dynasty, A. i). 479-502, ii. 166.

    Tsientang River, in Chehkiang, L 114.

    Tsin, the IXth dynastv in Cliina, ii. 165;

    After Tsin, XIXth,’ii. 172.

    Tsin, name t’hin.a. derived from family

    of, i. 2, ii. 101 ; tbey establisli the custom

    of giving tlie Empire the dynastic

    name, i. 4; dynasty ends witli Chwaiigsiang,

    ii. 1()3 ; Tit-tsii).. an ancient name

    for Rome, ii. 410.

    Tsin Chi Hwangti, ‘Emperor First,’

    alters taxes, i. 2C0 ; first universal

    monarch, ii. 160 ; subjugates feudal

    States, iL 188.

    INDEX. 773

    Tei’nan, capital of Shantung, i. 91

    .

    Tsinchau awarded to Feitsz’, a prince of

    Tsin, i. 3.

    Tsing, present dynasty of China, ii. 179-

    186.

    Tsing hai (see Koko-nor), i. 209.

    Tsining chau, in Shantung, i. 92.

    TzinistiP, a term for China, i. 4 ; used by

    the Greek monk Cosmas, ii. 412.

    Tsin-sz’, third literary degree, i. 558, 566.

    Tsitsihar province (Helung kiang), i.

    198-21)0 ; town of, i. 199,

    Tsiuenchau (Chinchew), the ancient Zayton,

    i. 129, lo6, ii. 431.

    Tso Churn, a commentary on the Chun

    Tsiu. i. 649.

    Tso Tsung-tang, commences operations

    against Mohammedan rebels, ii. 709,

    728 ; his successful campaign, ii. 730 ;

    leader of the war faction, ii. 732.

    Tsungming Island, mouth of Yangtsz’

    River, i. 108.

    Tsungling, ‘Onion,’ or ‘ Blue Mountains,’

    also Belur-tag and Tartash ling, its

    position, i. 9.

    Tsiingttih, Governor-General, or Viceroy,

    i. 438.

    Tsz’ki, near Ningpo, visited by British

    troops, ii. 530 ; camp near, ii. 531 ;

    Ward’s death at, ii. 609 ; taken from

    the rebels, ii. 610.

    Tuchetu (Tusietu) khanate, i. 204.

    Tumors common among tke Chinese, ii.

    131.

    Tunes, examples of Chinese, ii. 97.

    Tungchau, the port of Peking, i. 86

    Ward’s embassy at, ii. 669 ; Parkes’s

    experiences in, ii. 678-681.

    Tungchi, the Emperor, i. 411 ; his reign,

    ii. 184 ; palace intrigue upon his accession,

    i. 404, ii. 691 ; Peking in mourning

    for, ii. 250, 276 ; his marriage, ii.

    710 ; audience before, iL 714 ; his death

    and successor, ii. 726.

    Tungting Lake, in Hunan, i. 23, 147.

    Tung Til, ‘Land of the East,’ Mohammedan

    name for China, i. 2.

    Tung-wan Kwan, at Peking, i. 436, ii.

    339, 696, 741.

    Turkestan, Eastern (see Tien-shan Nan

    Lu), i. 221-337; the region, ii. 728.

    Turkoman races of Mongolia, i. 44.

    Til sz\ commune divisions in South

    China, i. .59.

    Types, movable printing, in China, i.

    603-605 ; Dyer’s work on, ii. 32.5, 367.

    Tyfoons, phenomena described, i. 56.

    ULIASUTAI, in Sainnoin khanate, i.

    208, 209.

    Unicorn, or ki-lin, i. 343.

    United States, trade relations with China

    up to 1843, ii. 460 ; first minister to China,

    ii. 565 ; treaty of Wanghia, ii. 567

    ;

    Minister Ward visits Peking, ii. 660

    ;

    the Burlingame treaty with China, i.

    698 ; action of Congress as to indemnity

    surplus, ii. 736 ; Chinese boys sent

    to, for education, ii. 739.

    Urga, or Kuren, i. 17, 204.

    Urumtsi, or Tih-hwa, western department

    of Kansuh, i. 214.

    Ushi, or Ush-turfan, a towTi of 111, i. 225,

    226.

    VACCINATION, its adoption in China,

    ii. 132.

    Van Braam, A. E. (see Braam), i. 324.

    Varnishes, manufacture and use of, ii. 32.

    Vegetables used in Chinese cooking, i. 773.

    Verbiest, a Jesuit priest, ii. 297 ; appointed

    astronomer at Peking, ii. 298.

    Vermilion, its preparation, ii. 61.

    Vice, never deified in China, ii. 192 ; absence

    of, in their mythology, ii. 232,

    and in theic funerals, ii. 254 ; the opium,

    ii. 386.

    Victoria (see Hongkong), i. 171.

    Villages (hiang), usual aspect of Chinese,

    i. 40 ; about Canton, i. 280 ; their

    elders, i. 483, 500.

    Visdelou, Bishop Claude, i. 3, 202, 633,

    681, ii. 277, 309.

    Visiting, the etiquette of formal, i. 802

    ;

    at New Year, i. 815; cards, how adorned,

    ii. Ill, 249.

    Vissering, W., ii. 87.

    Vlangali, Russian minister at Peking, ii.

    699 ; his temperate action in trial of

    Tientsin rioters, ii. 705.

    Vocabularies (see also Dictionaries), native

    Chinese, i. 590.

    Volcanoes, so-called, in Formosa, i. 140

    in Central Asia, i. 319.

    Voltaire, founds a drama on the ” Orphan

    of China,” i. 714.

    Vrooman, Daniel, i. 169.

    WADE, Sir T. F., i. 398, 420, 460,

    611, ii. 624 ; nominated intendant

    of customs at Shanghai, ii. 628

    experiences at Tungchau, ii. 678 ; his

    good offices between China and Japan,

    iL 717 ; action upon murder of Margary,

    ii. 734 ; his minute on the Chifu

    convention, ii. 725.

    Wai Hing-an, or Stanovoi Mountains, i. 9.

    Wall (see also Great Wall) of Peking, i.

    63.

    Wallace, A. R., i. 360.

    Walls, construction of house, i. 738.

    I Walrond, T., ii. 637, 6.55, 660, (502.

    Wanghia, treaty of, between the United

    States and China, ii. .507 ; taken as basis

    for French treaty of Whampoa, ii.

    .571.

    Wanleih, Emperor, receives Ricci, ii. 293,

    294.

    774 INDEX.

    Wan Miao, ‘Literary Temple,’ Peking, i.

    73.

    Wansiang, a minister of the Foreign Office,

    his superstition, ii. 304, 691); letter

    to foreign ministers at Peking, ii.

    707; Low’s reply to, ii. 708, 712, 714;

    his character and influence, ii. 715.

    Wan-yuen koh, or library, Peking, i. 69.

    War, I3oard of, i. 425 ; theory of. studied,

    ii. SS.

    War, with England, features of the first

    Chinese, ii. 4Kj ; Lord John Russell’s

    reasons for declaring, ii. 510; debate

    upon, in Parliament, ii. 512 ; opened

    by capture of Tinghai, ii. 514 ; resumed

    after negotiations at the Bogue, ii. 521

    ;

    thouglit by Chinese to be an opium

    war, ii. 539 ; concluded with treaty of

    Nanking, ii. 547, 550 ; a wholesome infliction

    upon Cliina, ii. 572 ; authorities

    upon, ii. 574 ; Tai-ping Rebellion, ii.

    575-624 ; second, with England and

    France—the Arrow case, ii. 635 ; hostilities

    opened by Admiral Seymour,

    ii. 637 ; discussed in Parliament, ii.

    641 ; a’rival of Elgin and Gros and

    capture of Canton, ii. 643 ; Taku forts

    taken, ii. 651 ; treaties signed at Tientsin,

    ii. 656 ; closing incidents, 6.59 ; repulse

    of allied envoys at Taku forts, ii.

    666 ; allies land at Pelitang and recommence

    the, ii. 673 ; capture of Taku

    forts, ii. 676 ; operations on tlie way to

    Peking, ii. 679-682 ; autljorities on the,

    of 1860, ii. 684 ; objects attained, ii.

    687, 688.

    Ward, Frederick G. , organizes the ‘ Ever-

    Victorious force,’ ii. 607; his deatli at

    Tsz’ki, ii. 6t9.

    Ward, Hon J. E., ii. 660; co-operates in

    suppressing coolie trade, ii. 6(53 ; repairs

    with tho allies to Taku, ii. 661

    ;

    interview with natives, ii. 665 ; goes

    to Peking, ii. 6(58 ; refuses to kotow

    before the Emperor, and returns, ii.

    670.

    Watters, T, ii. 212, 229.

    Wa.x-worm of Sz’chuen, i. 3.53.

    Wei River, in Shensi, i. 148.

    Whales, and mode of catching them, 1.

    339.

    Whampoa, a town on the Pearl River, i.

    170 ; opium lirst shir)ped to, ii. 378 ;

    case of lioniicide at, ii. 453 ; treaty of,

    between France and Ciiina, ii. .571.

    Wheelbarrows used for travelling, i. 747,

    ii. 7.

    White Deer Vale, in Kiangsi, i. 113.

    Whitney, Prof. Wm. D., ii. 73, 234.

    Wife, her jjosition in Chinese society, i.

    792 ; controlled liy the mother-in-law,

    i. 795 ; is given a new name, i. 797,

    799 ; elevated in ancestral worship, ii.238.

    Willow, in poetry, etc., i. 363.
    Williams, John, on comets, ii. 73.
    WilUam.son, Rev. Ale.x., i. 65, 87, 190,200, ii. 277.
    Wilson, Andrew, i. 250, ii. 92, 602, 610,611, 616, 617, 69.5.
    Wolseley, Colonel Garnet, ii. 672 ; observations on Canton coolies, ii. 674, 675 ;character of his narrative, ii. 685.
    Women, physical traits of Chinese, i. 43;in Tibet, i. 248 ; laws resbricting, i. 388of imperial palace, i. 408 ; illiteracy of mothers, i. 521 ; their education, i. 572;

    position, i. 646 ; consideration of literary,

    i. 681 ; kidnapped at fires, i. 743

    their dress, i. 763 ; shoes, i. 769 ; toilet,

    i. 770 ; their milk sold, i. 776 ; separation

    from men, i. 784 ; conduct toward

    young brides, i. 789; never appear at

    feasts, i. 806 ; well treated in crowded

    fairs, i. 817 ; their skill in embroidery,

    ii. .36 ; they practise obstetrics, ii. 123;Chinee historians on Empress Wu, ii.171 ; not admitted to worship, ii. 196 ;Yungching against, at Buddhist temples,ii. 228 ; as nuns, ii. 230 ; their tablets honored in tlie ancestral hall,

    ii. 338, 350 ; Kanghi forbids immolation

    of, ii. 250 ; old, employed as baptists

    by Catholics, ii. 311; as missionaries

    among the Chinese, ii. 364;

    how disposed of in Tai-ping camp, ii 594.

    Wolves in China, i. 320.
    Wood, Lieutenant J., i. 321, 230, 341,310.
    Wordsworth, W., ii. 233.
    Worship, of Shangti in Shang dynasty,ii. 154; by the Emperor, ii. 197; of Heaven, the ceremony and its meaning,i. 76, ii. 194-198; various objects of, ii. 202; Buddhist and Catholic, compared,

    ii. 3-!2 ; ancestral, ii. 236-255

    disputes respecting ancestral, by Romanists,

    ii. 297-1303.

    Writing, how taught in schools, i. 541 ;six styles of, L 597-598 ; materials, i..599.
    Wu River, in Kweicliau, i. 31.
    Wu Tsih-tien, the Empress
    Wu of the Tang, her reign, ii. 170, 280.
    Wuchang, in Hupch, i. 144; taken by the Tai-pings, ii. .595.
    Wuchau fu, in Kwangsi, i. 177.
    Wuhu hien, on the Yangtsz’, i. 110.
    Wusung, near Shanghai, j. 106; captured by the English, ii. 534.
    Wylie, A. , i. 494, 523, 68(), ii. 67, 72, 73,119, 176, 213, 214, 377, 286, 321.

    XANADU, or Shangtu, ancient palace of Kublai, i. 87.
    Xavier, tomb of, on Shaiigchuen Island, i.

    173 ; his mission to China, ii. 289, 428.

    a reward of i?200 for such evidence as would lead to the eonvic*

    tioii of the offenders ; and advanced in all S2,00U to the friends of

    the deceased as some compensation for their lieavy loss, and to

    the villagers for injuries done to them in the riot. Having

    formed the court, he politely invited the provincial officers to attend

    the trial ; and when it was over, informed them that he had

    been unable to ascertain the perpetrator of the deed. Five sailors

    were convicted and punished for riotous conduct hy fine and imprisonment,

    and sent to England under arrest, but to everybody’s

    surprise were all liberated on their arrival. The proceedings in

    this matter were perfectly fair, and the commissioner should have

    been satisfied ; but his subsequent violent conduct really placed

    the dispute on an entirely new ground, though he regarded his

    action as simply exercising the same prerogative of control over

    foreigners in both cases. Finding his demand for the murderer

    disregarded, he took measures against the English then in INfacao

    which were calculated to bring serious loss upon the Portuguese

    population. His course was prompted by anger at losing the

    trade, and only injured liis own cause. In order to relieve the

    unoffending and helpless people in Macao, Captain Elliot and

    all British subjects who could do so left the settlement August

    26th, and M’ent on board ship for a time. During this interval

    Lin and Governor Tang visited Macao under an escort of Portuguese

    troops, but retired the same day. This move placed the

    English beyond his reach, but did not advance his efforts to

    drive the opium ships from the coast, or induce the regular

    traders to enter the port. The sales of opium had begun again

    even before the destruction of the drug, and ra])idly increased

    when it M^as knoM’n that that immense quantity had really been

    destroyed. Lin now began to see that his plan of proceedings

    might not ultimately prove so successful as he had anticipated^

    for he was bound to remain at Canton until he could report the

    complete suppression of the contraband and safe continuance of

    the legal trade.

    Finding that the British fleet at Hongkong was too strong to

    drive away, he forbade the iidial)itants supplying the ships with

    ])rovisions. This led to a collision between the British and three

    junks near Ivowlung, which resulted, however, in no serious

    FURTIIEK TROUBLES BETWEEN EiNCJLlSII AND CHINESE. 507

    damage. On Septcinber lltli, Captain Elliot, luiving oixlered

    all British vessels engaged in the opium trade to leave the

    harbor and coast, thej mostly proceeded to Tsamoh. TJie

    Chinese burned the next day a Spanish vessel, the IJilbaino, in

    Macao waters, under the impression that she was English.

    In unison with all the strange features of this struggle, while

    hostilities were going on, negotiations for continuing trade M-ere

    entered into in October, when the connnissioner signed the agreement,

    and Captain Elliot furnished security for its being conducted

    fairly. But the unauthorized entrance of the English

    ship Thomas Coutts, whose captain signed the bond, led to a

    rupture and the renewed demand for the murderer of Lin

    Wei-hi. Captain Elliot ordered all British ships to reassemble

    at Tungku under the protection of the ships of w^ar Yolage

    and Hyacinth. He also proceeded to the Bogue to request a

    withdrawal of the threats against the British until the two

    governments could arrange the difficulties, when an engagement

    ensued between Admiral Kwan, with a fleet of sixteen

    junhs, and the two ships of war ; three junks w^ere sunk, one

    blown up, and the rest scattered. The commissioner had been

    foiled in all his efforts to destroy the opium trade and continue

    the legal commerce. As a last effort against the Bi-itish,

    he declared their trade at an end after December G, 1839, and

    issued an edict like that of Xapoleon at Berlin, Kovember 19,

    1806, forbidding their goods to be imported in any vessels. An

    enormous amount of property now lay at Canton and on board

    ship waiting to be exchanged in the course of regular trade, but

    only the opium traffic flourished.

    The close of the year 1839 saw the two nations involved

    in serious difficulties, and as the events here briefly recounted

    were the cause of the war, it will be proper to compare the

    opinions of the two parties, in order to arrive at a better judgment

    upon the character of that contest. The degree of

    authority to be exercised over persons Mdio visit their shores is

    acknowledged by Christian nations among themselves to be

    nearly the same as that over their o\vn subjects ; but none of

    these nations have conceded this authority to unchristian

    powers, as Turkey, Persia, or China, mainly because of the little security and justice to be expected. The Chinese luive looked upon foi-eigners resortino; to their ports as dinng so by sufferance ; they entered into no treaty to settle the conditions of authority on either side, for the latter considered themselves as sojourners and aliens, and the natives were unaware of their rights in the matter. Their right to prohibit the introduction of any particular articles was acknowledged, and the propriety of making regulations as to duties allowed. But traders from western nations often set light by the fiscal regulations of such countries as China, Siam, etc., if they can do so without personal detriment or loss of character ; and where there is a want of power in the government, joined to a lack of moral sense in the people, all laws are imperfectly executed.

    No one acquainted with these countries is surprised at frequent and flagrant violations of law, order, justice or courtesy, both among rulers and ruled ; yet the obligation of foreigners to obey just laws made known to them surely is not to be measured solely by the degree of obedience paid by a portion of the people themselves.

    The Chinese government discussed the measure of legalizing

    a trade it could not suppress, but before constructing a law to

    that effect, it determined to nudce a final and more vigorous

    effort to stamp it out. Might nuikes right, or at least enforces

    it ; had the Chinese possessed the power to destroy every ship

    found violating their laws, although the loss of life M-ould have

    been dreadful, no voice would have been raised against the proceeding.

    “Her Majesty’s government,” said Lord Palmerston,

    “cannot interfere for the purpose of enabling Bi’itisli sul)jects

    to violate the laws of the country to which they trade.” But in

    that case this power would not have been dared; the known

    weakness of the government end)oldened both sellers and

    buyers, until Captain Elliot told the Foreign Secretai-y that ” it

    was a confusion of terms to call the opium trade a snuiggling

    trade.”

    Lin probably wished to get Mr. Dent as a hostage for the

    delivery of the opium in the hands of his countrymen, not to

    punish him for disobedience to previous oi’dei’s ; expecting no

    opposition to this denuiud, he seems to have been unwilling to

    MOTIVE.S AND POSITION OP COMMISSIONEIl LIN. 509

    seize him iuimediately, preferring tu try persuasion and command

    longer, and detain him and other foreigners niitil he was

    obeyed ; Captain Elliot he viewed as a mere head merchant.

    When, therefore, the attempt was made, as he supposed, to take

    Mr. Dent out of his hands, lie was ap[)rehensive of a sti’uggle,

    and instantly took the strongest precautionary measui-es to prevent

    the prey escaping. Considei-ate allowance should he granted

    for the serious mistake lie made of imprisoning the innocent

    M’ith the guilty ; hut when Captain Elliot took Mr. Dent thus

    under his protection, the connnissioner felt that his pui-pose

    would be defeated, and no opium ol>tained, if he began to draw

    a distinction. I)esides, conscious that lie possessed unlimited

    power over a few defenceless foreigners, nearly all oi whom

    were in his eyes guilty, he cared vfry little M’here Ids acts felL

    There is no s’ood evidence to show that he seriouslv meditated

    anything which would liazard their lives. “When lie had received

    this vast amount of property, success evidently made him

    careless as to his conduct, and judging the probity and good

    faith of foreigners by his own standard, he deemed it safest to

    detain them until the opium was actually in his possession.

    Concluding that Captain Elliot did attempt to abscond with Mr,

    Dent, it is less surprising, therefore, that lie should have looked

    upon his offers to ” carry out the will of the great Emperor,”

    when set at liberty, as a hire rather than a sincere proposition.

    In imprisoning him he had no more idea he was imprisoning,

    insulting, threatening, and coercing the representative of a

    power like Great Britain, or violating rules western powers call

    jus gentium, than if he had been the envoy from Siam or Lewcliew.

    Wliether he should not have known this is another

    question, and had he candidly set liimself, on his arrival at

    Canton, to ascertain the power, position, and commerce of west

    em countries, he would have found Captain Elliot sincerely

    desirous of meeting him in his endeavors to fulfil his high commission.

    Let us deal fairly by the Chinese rulers in their desire

    to restrain a traffic of which they knew and felt vastly more of

    its evil than we have ever done, and give Lin his due, though

    his endeavors failed so signally.

    The opium was now obtained ; no lives had been lost, nor any one endangered ; but the Uritisli government felt bound to pay its own subjects for their cliests. The only source Captain Eiliut suggested was to make the Chinese refund. The Emperor ordered it to be destroyed, and the conunissioner, after executing that order, next endeavored to separate the legal from the contraband trade by demanding bonds ; they liad been taken in vain from the hong merchants, but there was more hope if taken directly from foreigners. The bonds were not

    made a pretext for war by the English ministry ; that, on the

    part of England, according to Lord John llussell, was “set

    afoot to obtain reparation for insults and injuries offered her

    Majesty’s superintendent and subjects; to obtain indenniitieatiou

    for the losses the merchants had sustained under threats of

    violence ; and, lastly, to get security that persons and property

    trading with China should in future be protected from insult

    and injury, and trade maintained upon a proper footing.”

    Looking at the war, therefore, as growing out of this trade, and

    waged to recover the losses sustained by the surrendry to the

    British superintendent, it was an unjust one. It was, moreover,

    an imnioral contest, when the standing of the two nations was

    examined, and the fact could 7iot be concealed tluit Great Britain,

    the first Cliristian ])Ower, I’eally waged this war against the

    pagan monarch who had vainly endeavored to put down a vice

    hurtful to his people. The war was looked upon in this light

    by the Chinese ; it will always be so looked upon by the candid

    historian, and known as the Opium War.

    On the other hand, the war was felt by every well-wisher to

    China to involve far higher princi})lcs than the mere recovery of

    the opium ; and had it been really held to be so by the English

    ministry, they would have done well to have alluded to them.

    Lin’s reiterated denumds for the murderer of Lin AVei-hi,

    though told that he could not be found, was only one form of

    the supremacy the Chinese arrogantly assumed over other nations.

    Li all their intercourse with their fellow-men the}’ maintained

    a patronizing, unfair, and contemptuous position, which

    left no alternative but withdrawal from their shores or a humiliating

    submission that no one feeling the least inde])endence

    could endure. ‘SoX. unjustly prt)ud of their country in compariCHAKACTER

    OF THE DEBATE UPON THE WAU. 511

    son with those near it, her Emperor, her nileivs, and her people

    all believed her to be inipregnably strong, portentously awful,

    and ininienselj rich in learning, power, wealth, and territory,

    Konc of them imagined that aught could be learned or gained

    from other nations ; for the ” outside barbarians ” were dependent

    for their health and food upon the rhubarb, tea, and

    silks of the Inner Land. They had seen, indeed, bad specimens

    of western power and people, but there were equal opportunities

    for them to have learned the truth on these points. The i-eception

    of the religion of the Bible, the varied useful branches

    of science, and the many mechanical arts known in western

    lands, with the free passage of their own people abroad, M’ere

    all forbidden to the millions of China by their supercilious

    rulers ; they thereby preferred to remain the slaves of debasing

    superstitions, ignorant of common science, and deprived of

    everything which Christian benevolence, philanthropy, and

    knowledge could and wished to impart to them. This assumption

    of supremacy, and a -real impression of its propriety, was a

    higher wall around them than the long pile of stones north of

    Peking. Force seemed to be the only effectual destroyer of

    such a barrier, and in this view the war may be said to have

    been necessary to compel the Chinese government to receive

    western powers as its equals, or at least make it treat their subjects

    as well as it did its own people. There was little hope of

    an adjustment of difficulties until the Chinese were compelled

    to abandon this erroneous assumption ; the conviction that it

    was unjust, unfounded, and foolish in itself could safely be left

    to the gradual influences of true religion, profitable commerce,

    and sound knowledge.

    The report of the debate in the British Parliament on this

    momentous question hardly contains a single reference to this

    feature of the Chinese government. It turned almost wholly

    upon the opium trade, and w^hether the hostilities had not proceeded

    from the want of foresight and precaution on the part

    of her Majesty’s ministers. The speeches all showed ignorance

    of both principles and facts : Sir James Graham asserted that

    the governors of Canton had sanctioned the trade ; Sir George

    Staunton that it woidd not be safe for British power in India if these insults were not cheeked, and that the Chinese had far exceeded in their recent efforts the previous acknowledged laws of the land ! Dr. Lushington maintained that the connivance of the local rulers accjuitted the smugglers ; Sir John llohhouse truly stated that the reason why the government had done nothing to stop the opium trade was that it was profitable; and Lord Melbourne, with still more fairness, said : ” We possess immense territories peculiarly fitted for raising opium, and though I would wisli that the government were not so directly concerned in the traffic, I am not prepared to pledge

    myself to relinquish it.” The Duke of AWllington thought

    the Chinese government was insincere in its efforts, and therefore

    deserved little sympathy ; while Lord Ellenborough spoke

    of the million and a half sterling revenue ” derived from foreigners,”

    which, if the opium monopoly was given up and its eultivatio7i abandoned, they must seek elsewhere, 2\”o one advocated war on the groimd that the opium had been seized, but

    the majority were in favor of letting it go on because it was

    begun. This debate was, in fact, a remarkable instance of the

    way in which a moral question is blinked even by conscientious

    persons whenever politics or interest come athwart its course.

    Xo declaration of war was ever published by Queen Victoria,

    further than an order in coimcil to the admiralty, in which it

    was recited that ” satisfaction and reparation for the late injurious

    proceedings of certain officers of the Emperor of China

    against certain of our officers and subjects shall be demanded

    from the Chinese government ; ” the object of this order was,

    chiefly, to direct concerning the disposal of such ships, vessels,

    and cargoes belonging to the Chinese as might be seized. Perhaps

    the formality of a declaration of war against a nation

    which knew nothing of the law of nations was not necessary,

    but if a minister plenipotentiary from Peking had been present

    at the debate in Parliament in April, 1S40, he would have

    declared the motives and proceedings of his government

    strangely misrepresented. It was time that better ideas of

    one another should find ]>lace in their councils, and tliat means

    enould l)e afforded tlie rulers of each nation to learn the truth.

    The Chinese apparently foresaw the coming struggle, and

    PREPARATION FOR HOSTILITIES. 513

    began to collect troops and repair their forts ; Lin, now governor-

    general of Kwangtnng, purchased the Chesapeake, a large

    ship, and appointed an intendant of circuit near Macao, to

    guard the coasts. The English carried on their trade under

    neutral flags, and Lin made; no further efforts to annoy them.

    He, however, wrote two official letters to Queen Victoria, desiring

    her assistance in putting down the opium trade, in which

    the peculiar ideas of his countrymen respecting their own importance and their position among the nations of the earth

    were singularly exhibited.’ Ts otwithstanding the causes of complaint

    he had against the English, he behaved kindly to the

    surviving crew of the Sunda, an English vessel wrecked on

    Hainan, and sent them, on their arrival at Canton, to their

    •countrymen, ‘ Chimse Bejwsitory, Vol. VIII., pp. 9-12, 497-503 ; Vol. IX., pp. S41-257.

  • WELLS WILLIAMS《The Middle Kingdom》19-23

    CHAPTER XIX. CHBISTIAN MISSIONS AMONG THE CHINESE

    The earliest recorded attempt to impart the knowledge of the true God to the Chinese ascribes it to the Nestorian church in the seventh century; though the voice of tradition, and detached notices in ecclesiastical writers of the Eastern Empire collated by Fabricius, lead to the belief that not many years elapsed after the times of the apostles before the sound of the gospel was heard in China and Chin-India. If the tradition contained in the breviary used among the Malabar Christians, that by Saint Thomas himself the Chinese were converted to the truth, be not received, Mosheim well remarks that ” we may believe that at an early period the Christian religion extended to the Chinese, Seres, and Tartars. There are various arguments collected from learned men to show that the Christian faith was carried to China, if not by the apostle Thomas, by the first teachers of Christianity.” Arnobius, a.d. 300, speaks of the Christian deeds done in India, and among the Seres, Persians, and Medes. The Nestorian monks who brought the eggs of the silk-worm to Constantinople(a.d. 551) had resided long in China, where it is reasonable to suppose they were not the first nor the only ones who went thither to preach the gospel. The extent of their success must be left to conjecture, but ” if such beams have travelled down to us through the darkness of so many ages, it is reasonable to believe they emanated from a brighter source.”

    The time of the arrival of the Kestorians in China cannot be specified certainly, but there are grounds for placing it as early as a.d. 505. Ebedjesus Sobiensis remarks that ” the Catholicos Salibazacha created the metropolitan sees of Sina and Samarcand, though so e say they were constituted by Acbseus and Silas.” Silas was patriarch of the Xcstorians fi-oni a.d. 505 to 520 ; and Achneus was archbishop at Scleucia in 415. The metropolitan bishop of Sina is also mentioned in a list of those subject to this patriarch, published by Amro, and it is placed in the list after that of India, accordmg to the priority of foundation.

    NESTOKIATs^ MISSION IN CHINA. 277

    The only record yet found in China itself of the labors of the Nestorians is the celebrated monument which w’as discovered at Si-ngan fu in Shensi, in 1625 ; and though the discussion regarding its authenticity has been rather warm between the Jesuits and their opponents, the weight of evidence, both interiml and external, leaves no doubt regarding its vei’ity. It has been found quite recently to be in good preservation, and i-ubbings taken from it are nearly perfect. The Syi-iac characters composing the signatures of Olopun and his associates have made it an object of much interest to the natives; these, as Avell as the singular cross on its top (seen in the illustration), have doubtless contributed to its preservation. It was set up in 1850 by a Chinese who liad so much regard for it as to rebuild it in tlic brick wall where it had once stood outside of the city. The stone seems to be a coarse marble.

    It has been often translated since the first attempt by Boime, published with the original by Kircher in Holland. In 1845 Dr. E. C. Bridgman published Kircher’s Latin translation with the French version of Dalquie, and another of his own, which brought it more into notice. The style is very terse, and the exact meaning not easily perceived even by learned natives. As Dr. Bridgman says, ” Were a hundred Chinese students employed on the document they would probably each give a different view of the meaning in some parts of the inscription.” This is apparent when four or five of them are compared. The last one, by A.Wylie, of the London Mission at Shanghai, goes over the whole subject with a fullness and care which leaves little to be desired.’

    ‘ Visdelou in Bthliotheque Oriental, Vol. IV. Kircher’s China Illustrata, Part I., Antwerp, 1667. Chinese Eejwsitory, XIV., pp. 201-329. Hue, Christianity in Chinti, I., pp. 49-58. Wylie, North China Herald, 1855, reprinted in Journal of Am. Oriental 8oc., Vol. V., p. 277. Archimandrite Palladius published a Russian version. Williamson, Journeys in North China, I., p. 382.Le (‘(itholicimne en Chine au VIIl” Sierle de notreere arec nne nourelle traduction de ^inscription de Sif-nr/a/ifoK, par P. D. de Thiersant, Paris, 1877.

    TABLET EULOGIZING THE PROPAGATION OF THE ILLUSTRIOUS RELIGION IN CHINA, WITH A PREFACE; COMPOSED BY KINGTSING, A PRIEST OF THE SYRIAN CHURCH.

    Behold the unchangeably true and invisible, who existed through all eternity without origin; the far-seeing perfect intelligence, whose mysterious existence is everlasting; operating on primordial substance he created the universe, being more excellent than all holy intelligences, inasmuch as he is the source of all that is honorable. This is our eternal true lord God, triune and mysterious in substance. He appointed the cross as the means for determining the four cardinal points, he moved the original spirit, and produced the two principles of nature; the sombre void was changed, and heaven and earth were opened out; the sun and moon revolved, and day and night commenced; having perfected all inferior objects, he then made the first man; upon him he bestowed an excellent disposition, giving him in charge the government of all created beings; man, acting out the original principles of his nature, was pure and iinostentatious ; his unsullied and expansive mind was free from the least inordinate desire ; until Satan introduced the seeds of falsehood, to deteriorate his purity of principle ; the opening thus commenced in his virtue gradually enlarged, and by this crevice in his nature was obscured and rendered vicious ; hence three hundred and sixty-five sects followed each other in continuous track, inventing every species of doctrinal complexity; while soYne pointed to material objects as the source of their faith, others reduced all to vacancy, even to the annihilation of the two primeval principles; some sought to call down blessings by prayers and supplications, while others by an assumption of excellence held themselves up as superior to their fellows ; their intellects and thoughts continually wavering, their minds and affections incessantly on the move, they never obtained their vast desires, but being exhausted and distressed they revolved in their own heated atmosphere ; till by an accumulation of obscurity they lost their path, and after long groping in darkness they were unable to return. Thereupon, our Trinity being divided in nature, the illustrious and honorable Messiah, veiling his true dignity, appeared in the world as a man; angelic powers promulgated the glad tidings, a virgin gave birth to the Holy One in Syria ; a bright star announced the felicitous event, and Persians’ observing the splendor came to present tribute; the ancient dispensation, as declared by the twenty-four holy men,’- was then fulfilled, and lie laid down great principles for the government of families and kingdoms; he established the new religion of the silent operation of the pure spirit of the Triune ; he rendered virtue subservient to direct faith ; he fixed the extent of the eight boundaries,”‘ thus completing the truth and freeing it from dross ; he opened the gate of the three constant principles, introducing life and destroying death ; he suspended the bright sun to invade the chambers of darkness, and the falsehoods of the devil were thereupon defeated ; he set in motion the vessel of mercy by which to ascend to the bright mansions, whereupon rational beings were then released; having thus completed the manifestation of his power, in clear day he ascended to his true station.

    ‘ Po-sz\ ‘ Persians.’ This name was well known to the Chinese at that time, being the designation of an extensive sect then located in the Empire, and the name of a nation with which they had held commercial and political intercourse for several centuries. The statement here is in admirable harmony with the general tradition of the early church, that the Magi or wise men mentioned in Matthew’s gospel were no other than philosophers of the Parsee sect.

    ‘ The ” holy men ” denote the writers of the books of the Old Testament.
    ”The “eight boundaries” are inexplicable; some refer them to the beatitudes
    •The “three constant iiiiiiciplfs” may perhaps mean faith, hope, and charity.
    ‘ Exactly the number we have in the New Testament.

    THE TABLET OF SI-NGAN FIT. 279

    Twenty-seven sacred books have been left, which disseminate intelligence by unfolding the original transforming principles. By the rule for admission, it is the custom to apply the water of baptism, to wash away all superficial show and to cleanse and purify the neophytes. As a seal, they hold the cross, whose influence is reflected in every direction, uniting all without distinction. As they strike the wood, the fame of their benevolence is diffused abroad; worshipping toward the east, they hasten on the way to life and glory; they preserve the bea^d to symbolize their outward actions, they shave the crown to indicate the absence of inward affections ; they do not keep slaves, but put noble and mean all on an equality ; they do not amass wealth, but cast all their property into the common stock ; they fast, in order to perfect themselves by self-inspection ; they submit to restraints, in order to strengthen themselves by silent watchfulness ; seven times a day they have worship and praise, for the benefit of the liring and the dead; once in seven days they sacrifice, to cleanse the heart and return to purity.

    It is difficult to find a name to express the excellence of the true and unchangeable doctrine; but as its meritorious operations are manifestly displayed, by accommodation it is named the Illustrious Religion. Now without holy men, principles cannot become expanded ; without principles, holy men cannot become magnified ; but with holy men and right principles, united as the two parts of a signet, the world becomes civilized and enlightened.

    In the time of the accomplished Emperor Taitsung, the illustrious and magnificent founder of the dynasty, among the enlightened and holy men who arrived was the Most-virtuous Olopun, from the country of Syria. Observing the azure clouds, he bore the true sacred books; beholding the direction of the winds, he braved difficulties and dangers. In the year A.D. G35 he arrived at Chang-an; the Emperor sent his Prime Minister, Duke Fang Hiuenling ; who, carrying the official staff to the west border, conducted his guest into the interior; the sacred books were translated in the imperial library, the sovereign investigated the subject in his private apartments; when becoming deeply impressed with the rectitude and truth of the religion, he gave special orders for its dissemination. In the seventh month of the year A. D. G38 the following imperial proclamation was issued: “Right principles have no invariable name, holy men have no invariable station; instruction is established in accordance with the locality, with the object of benefiting the people at large. The Greatly-virtuous Olopun, of the kingdom of Syria, has brought his sacred books and images from that distant part, and has presented them at our chief capital. Having examined the principles of this religion, we find them to be purely excellent and natural; investigating its originating source, we find it has taken its rise from the establishment of important truths ; its ritual is free from perplexing expressions, its principles will survive when the framework is forgot ; it is beneficial to all creatures ; it is advantageous to mankind. Let it be published throughout the Empire, and let the proper authority build a Syrian church in the capital in the l-ning Way, which shall be governed by twenty-one priests. When the virtue of the Cliau dynasty declined, the rider on the azure ox ascended to the west ; the principles of the great Tang becoming resplendent, the Illustrious breezes have come to fan the East.”

    Orders were then issued to the authorities to have a true portrait of the Emperor taken ; when it was transferred to the wall of the church, the dazzling splendor of the celestial visage irradiated the Illustrious portals. The sacred traces emitted a felicitous influence, and shed a perpetual splendor over the holy precincts. According to the Illustrated Memoir of the Western Regions, and the historical books of the Han and Wei dynasties, the kingdom ii Syria reaches south to the Coral Sea ; on the north it joins the Gem Mountains ; on the west it extends toward the borders of the immortals and the flowery forests; on the east it lies open to the violent winds and tideless waters. The country produces fire-proof cloth, life-restoring incense, bright moon-pearls, and night-lustre gems. Brigands and robbers are unknown, but the people enjoy happiness and peace. None but Illustrious laws prevail; none but the virtuous are raised to sovereign power. The land is broad and

    ample, and its literary productions are perspicuous and clear.

    The Emperor Kautsung respectfully succeeded his ancestor, and was still

    more beneficent toward the institution of truth. In every province ho

    caused Illustrious churches to be erected, and ratified the honor conferred

    npon Olopun, making him the great conservator of doctrine for the preservation

    of the State. While this doctrine pervaded every channel, the State

    became enriched and tranquillity abounded. Every city was full of churches,

    and the royal family enjoyed lustre and happiness. In the year A.D. (iD!) the Buddhists, gaining power, raised their voices in the eastern metropolis;

    ‘ in the year a.d. 713, some low fellows excited ridicule and spread slanders in the western capital. At that time there was the chief priest Lo-han, the Greatly virtuous Kie-leih, and others of noble estate from the golden regions, lofty minded priests, having abandoned all worldly interests; who unitedly maintained the grand princii)les and preserved them entire to the end.

    The high-principled Emperor Iliuentsung caused the Prince of Ning and others, five princes in all, personally to visit the felicitous edifice; he established the place of worship ; .he restored the consecrated timbers which had been temporarily thrown down ; and re-erected the sacred stones which for a time had been desecrated.

    In 742 orders were given to the great general Kau Lih-sz’, to send the five sacred portraits and have them placed in the church, and a gift of a hundred pieces of silk accompanied these pictures of intelligence. Although the dragon’s beard was then remote, their bows and swords were still within reach; while the solar horns sent forth their rays, and celestial visages seemed close at hand.’

    ‘ “Eastern metropolis” is Tiiiu/ Chan, literally ‘Eastern Chau.’ The Empire was at this time under the government of the Empress Wu Ze-tian, who had removed lu!r residence from Chang-an to Luoyang in Honan.

    ‘These personages are the first five Emperors of the Tang dynasty, Hiuentsung’s predecessors. Their portraits were so admirably painted that they seemed to be present, their arms could almost be handled, and their foreheads, or ” horns of the sun,” radiated their intelligence.

    THE TABLET OF SI-NGAX FU. 281

    In 744 the priest Kih-ho, in the kingdom of Syria, looking toward the star(of China), was attracted by its transforming influen, e, and observing the sun(i.e., Emperor), came to pay court to the most honorable. The Emperor commanded the priest Lo-han, the priest Pu-lun, and others, seven in all, together with the Greatly-virtuous Kih-ho, to perform a service of merit in the Hing-king palace. Thereupon the Emperor composed mottoes for the sides of the church, and the tablets were graced with the royal inscriptions ; the accumulated gems emitted their effulgence, while their sparkling brightness vied with the ruby clouds ; the transcripts of intelligence suspended in the void shot fortli their rays as reflected by the sun ; the bountiful gifts exceeded the height of the southern hills ; the bedewing favors were deep as the eastern Bea. Nothing is beyond the range of ri’rht principle, and what is permissible may be identified; nothing is beyiunl tin^ power of the holy man, and that which is practicable may be related.

    The accomplished and enlightened Emperor Suhtsung rebuilt the Illustrious churches in Ling-wu and four other places ; great benefits were conferred, and felicity began to increase ; great munificence was displayed, and the imperial State became established.

    The accomplished and military Emperor Taitsung magnified the sacred succession, and honored the latent principle of nature ; always, on the incarnation-day, he bestowed celestial incense, and ordered the performance of a service of merit ; he distributed of the imperial viands, in order to shed a glory on the Illustrious Congregation. Heaven is munificent in the dissemination of blessings, whereby the benefits of life are extended ; the holy man embodies the original principle of virtue, whence he is able to counteract noxious influences.

    Our sacred and sage-like, accomplished and military Emperor Kienchung appointed the eight branches of government, according to which he advanced or degraded the intelligent and dull ; he opened up the nine categories, by means of which he renovated the illustrious decrees ; his transforming influence pervaded the most abstruse principles, while openness of heart distinguished his devotions. Thus, by correct and enlarged purity of principle, and undeviating consistency in sympathy with others; by extended commiseration rescuing multitudes from misery, while disseminating blessings on all around, the cultivation of our doctrine gained a grand basis, and by gradual advances its influence was diffused. If the winds and rains are seasonable, the world will be at rest; men will be guided by principle, inferior objects will be pure ; the living will be at ease, and the dead will rejoice ; the thoughts will produce their appropriate response, the affections will be free, and the eyes will be sincere ; such is the laudable condition which we of the Illustrious Religion are laboring to attain.

    Our great benefactor, the Imperially-conferred-purple-gown priest,’ I-sz’, titular Great Statesman of the Banqueting-hou.se, Associated Secondary Military Commissioner for the Northern Region, and Examination-palace Overseer, was naturally mild and graciously disposed, his mind susceptible of sound doctrine, he was diligent in the performance ; from the distant city of Rajagriha,^ he came to visit China; his principles more lofty than those of the

    ‘ It was no rare occurrence for priests to occupy civil and military offices in the State during the Tang and preceding dynasties. Of the three titles here given, the first is merely an indication of rank, by which the bearer is entitled to a certain emolument from the State ; the second is his title as an officer actively engaged in the imperial service ; and the third is an honorary title, which gives to the possessor a certain status in the capital, without any duties or emolument connected therewith.

    – WaiHj-s/ii’?!, literally ‘Royal residence,’ which is also the translation of the Sanskrit word Rajagriha, is the name of a city on the banks of the Ganges, thret:’ dynasties, his practice was perfect in every department; it first he applied himself to duties pertaining to the palace, eventually his name was inscribed on the military roll. When the Duke Koh Tsz’-i, Secondary Minister of State and Prince of Fan-yang, at first conducted the military in the northern region, the Emperor Suhtsung made him (1-sz’) his attendant on his travels; although he was a private chamberlain, he assumed no distinction on the march •, he was as claws and teeth to the duke, and in rousing the military he was as ears and eyes ; he distributed the wealth conferred upon him, not accumulating treasure for his private use ; he made offerings of the jewelry which had been given by imperial favor, he spread out a golden carpet for devotion; now he repaired the old churches, anon he increased the number of religious establishments; he honored and decorated the various edifices, till they resembled the plumage of the pheasant in its Hight ; moreover, practising the discipline of the Illustrious Religion, he distributed his riches in deeds of benevolence ; every year he assembled those in the sacred oflice from four churches, and respectfully engaged them for fifty days in purification and preparation ; the naked came and were clothed ; the sick were attended to and restored ; the dead were buried in repose ; even among the most pure and selfdenying of the Buddhists, such excellence was never heard of ; the white-clad members of the Illustrious Congregation, now considering these men, have desired to engrave a broad tablet, in order to set forth a eulogy of their magnanimous deeds.

    ODE.
    The true Lord is without origin,
    Profoiand, invisible, and unchangeable ;
    With power and capacity to perfect and transform,
    He raised up the earth and established the heavens.
    Divided in nature, he entered the world,
    To save and to help without bounds ;
    The sun arose, and darkness was dispelled,
    All bearing witness to his true original.
    The glorious and resplendent, accomplished Emperor,
    Whose principles embraced those of i)receding monarchs,
    Taking advantage of the occasion, suppressed turbulence ;
    Heaven was spread out and the earth was enlarged.
    When the pure, bright Illustrious Religion
    Was introduced to our Tang dynasty,
    The Scriptures were translated, and churches built,
    And the vessel set in motion for the living and the dead;
    Every kind of blessing was then obtained,
    And all the kingdoms enjoyed a state of peace.

    which occurs in several Buddhist works. As this was one of the most important of the Buddhist cities in India, it is natural to suppose that 1-sz’ was a Buddhist priest.

    THE TABLET OF SI-NGAJS Fl’. 283

    When Kautsung succeeded to his ancestral estate,
    He rebuilt the edifices of purity ;
    Palaces of concord, largo and light,
    Covered the length and breadth of the land.
    The true doctrine was clearly announced.
    Overseers of the church wore appointed in due form;
    The people enjoyed liappiness and peace,
    While all creatures were exempt from calamity and distress.
    When Hiuentsung commenced his sacred career,
    He applied himself to the cultivation of truth and rectitude ;
    His imperial tablets shot forth their effulgence,

    And the celestial writings mutually reflected their splendors.

    The imperial domain was rich and luxuriant.

    While the whole land rendered exalted homage ;

    Every business was flourishing throughout,

    And the people all enjoyed prosperity.

    Then came Suhtsung, who commenced anew,

    And celestial dignity marked the imperial movements;
    Sacred as the moon’s unsullied expanse,
    While felicity was wafted like nocturnal gales.

    Happiness reverted to the imperial household.

    The autumnal influences were long removed;

    Ebullitions were allayed, and risings suppressed.

    And thus our dynasty was firmly built up.
    Taitsung the filial and just
    Combined in virtue with heaven and earth ;
    By his liberal bequests the living were satisfied,

    And property formed the channel of imparting succor.

    By fragrant mementoes he rewarded the meritorious.

    With benevolence he dispensed his donations ;

    The solar concave appeared in dignity,

    And the lunar reti-eat was decorated to extreme.

    When Kienchung succeeded to the throne,

    He began by the cultivation of intelligent virtue;

    His military vigilance extended to the four seas.
    And his accomplished purity influenced all lands.

    His light penetrated the secresies of men,
    And to him the diversities of objects were seen as in a mirror;
    He shed a vivifying influence through the whole realm of nature,
    And all outer nations took him for example.
    The true doctrine how expansive I
    Its responses are minute ;
    How difficult to name it!
    To elucidate the three in one.
    The sovereign has the power to act f
    While the ministers record ;
    We raise this noble monument 1
    To the praise of great felicity.

    This was erected in the 2d year of Kienchung, of the Tang dynasty (A.D. 781), on the 7th day of 1st month, being Sunday.

    Written by Lu Siu-yen, Secretary to Council, formerly Military Superintendent for Taichau ; while the Bishop Ning-shu had the charge of the congregations of the Illustrious in the East.

    The two lines of Syriac, of which the following is a transcript, are in the Estrangelo character, and run down the right and left sides of the Chinese respectively :
    Adam Kasiso Vicur-apiskupo in Papasi de Zinstun.

    Beyumi aba dahaliotha Mar liana Jemia katholihi patriarcJds.

    Kircher translates this as follows :

    “Adam, Beacon, Vicar-episcopal and Pope of China.

    In the time of the Father of Fathers, the Lord John Joshua, the

    Universal Patriarch.”

    The transcript of the Sjriac at the foot of the stone is given

    here on the authority of Kircher :

    Bemnatli alf utisaain vtarten diaranoie. Mor Jihuznd Kasiso Vcurapt’skupo de Cnmdan mediiialt malcutho bur niJih napso Militi Kama dincn Balehh medintho Tahhurstan Akim Luclio 7iono Papa dictabon bch medabarniitho dphirwkan Vcm’uzutJion dabhain didnat malclte dizinio.

    ” In the year of the Greeks one thousand and ninety-two, the Lord Jazedbuzid.

    THE TABLET OF SI-NGAN FU. 285

    Priest and Vicar-episcopal of Cumdan the royal city, son of the enlightened Mailas, Priest of Balach a city of Turkestan, set up this tablet, whereon is inscribed the Dispensation of our Redeemer, and the preaching of the apostolic missionaries to the King of China.”

    After this, in Chinese characters, is ” The Priest Lingpau.”

    Then follows:

    Adam mesclmmschdno Bar Jiclbuzad Ciirapishupo.

    Mar Snnju Kasiso, Vcurapiskiqyo.

    8abar Jchiui Kasiso.

    Oabriel Kasiso Varcodiakun, VriscJi medintho de Cumdan vdasrag.

    * Adam the Deacon, sou of Jazeclbiizid, Vicar-episcopal.

    The Lord Sergius, Priest and Vicar-episcopal.

    Sabar Jesus, Priest. .

    Gabriel, Priest, Archdeacon, and Ecclesiarch of Cumdan and Sarag.”

    The following subscription is appended in Chinese:
    ” Assistant Examiner : the High Statesman of the Sacred rites, the Imperijilly-conferred-purple-gown Chief Presbyter and Priest Yi-li.”

    On the left hand edge are the Sjriac names of sixty-seven

    priests, and sixty-one are given in Chinese.

    This trnly oriental writing is the most ancient Christian inscription

    yet found in Asia, and shows plainly that Christianity

    had made great progress among the Chinese. Kircher and Le

    Comte claimed it as a record of the success of the Itomisli

    church in China, but no one now doubts that it commemorates

    the exertions of the Nestorians.

    Timothy, a patriarch, sent Subchal-Jesus in 780, who labored in Tartary and China for many years, and lost his life on his return, when his place was supplied by Davidis, who was consecrated metropolitan. In the year 845 an edict of Wu-tsung commanded the priests that belonged to the sect that came from Ta Tsin, amounting to no less than three thousand persons, to retire to private life. The two Arabian travellers in the ninth century report that many Christians perished in the siege of Canfu. Marco Polo’s frequent allusions lead us to conclude that the Kestorians were both numerous and respected.

    He mentions the existence of a church at Ilangchau, and two at Chinkiang, built by the prefect Marsarchis, who was himself a member of that church, and alludes to their residence in most of the towns and countries of Central Asia.

    The existence of a Christian prince called Prester John, in Central Asia, is spoken of by Marco Polo and Montecorvino.

    The exact position of his dominions, and the extent of his intluence in favor of that faith, have been examined by Col. Yule and M. Paiithier in their editions of the Venetian, and the glamour which once surounded him has been found to have arisen mostly from hearsay I’eports, and from eonfounding different persons under one name. When the conquests of (Tenghis khan and his descendants threw all Asia into commotion, this Prester John, ruler of the Kara Kitai Tartars in northern China, fell before him, a.d. 1203. The Xestorians suffered much, but maintained a precarious footing in China during the time of the Yuen dynasty, having been cut off from all help and intercourse with the mother church since the rise of the Moslems.

    They had ceased long before this period to maintain the purity of the faith, however, and had apparently done nothing to teach and diffuse the Bible, which the tal)let intimates was in part or in whole translated by Olopun, under the Emperor’s auspices.

    At the present time no works composed by their priests,

    or remains of any churches belonging to them or buildings

    erected by them, are known to exist in the Empire, though perhaps

    some books may yet be found. The buildings erected by

    the Nestorians for churches and dwellings were, of course, no

    better built than other Chinese edifices, and would not long

    remain when deserted ; while, to account still further for the

    absence of books, the Buddhists and other opposers may have

    sought out and destroyed such as existed, which even if carefully

    kept would not last many generations. The notices of the

    tablet in Chinese authors, which Mr. Wylie has brought together,

    prove that those writers had confounded the King h’lao with Zoroastrianism and Manicheism, and such a confusion is not surprising. The records of futurity alone will disclose to us the names and labors of the devoted disciples and teachers of true Christianity in the Xestorian church, who lived and died for the gospel among the Chinese.’

    The efforts of the Roman Catholics in China have been great, but not greater than the importance of the field demanded.

    ‘ Yvxle’s ‘Marco Polo, Vol. I., p. 275, passim. N. 0. Ai^. Soc. Jonrnnl, Arch.

    Palladius’ notes on it, Vol. X., pp. 20-2:5. Hue, (Un-isiiHuHy in Chiiiu, Chaj)

    II. Pauthi.T’s )r,irro Polo, Chaps. XLVIII.-L. Yule, Cothuy and the Way

    7 hither, \o\. I.,i)p. 174-1»:5.

    TRACES OF THE NESTORlAN MISSIONARIES. 287

    They have met with varied success, and their prudence in the choice of measures and zeal in the work of evangelizing have reflected the highest credit upon them, and would probably, if their object had simply been that of preaching the gospel, have gradually made the entire mass of the population acquainted with the leading doctrines of Christianity. The history of their missions is voluminous, and the principles on which they have been conducted can be learned from their own writings, especially the Lettres Edijiantes^ the Annales de la Foi, and in the elaborate works of Hue and Marshall in later times. The present sketch need embrace only the principal points, for which we shall depend chiefly upon those writers who have already examined these sources.

    The first epoch of their missions in China is the thirteenth

    century. Subsequent to the mission of John of Piano Carpini

    to Kuyuk khan in 1246-47, there were several envoys sent by

    one party to the other whose intercourse resulted in nothing

    permanent. The first attempt which can be called a settled

    mission was that of John of Montecorvino, from Nicholas T\.,

    in 1288. Corvino arrived in India in 1291, and after preaching

    there a twelvemonth, during which time he baptized a hundred

    persons, he joined a caravan going to Catha}^ and was kindly

    received by Kublai khan. The Nestorians opposed his progress,

    and for eleven years he carried on the work alone, but not till

    the latter part of this period with much success. He built a

    church at Cambaluc, ” which had a steeple and belfry with

    three bells that were rung every hour to summon the new eonverts

    to prayer.” He baptized nearly six thousand persons

    during that time, “and bought one hundred and fifty children,

    whom he instructed in Greek and Latin and composed for them

    several devotional books.”

    ‘Clement V., hearing of Corvino’s success, appointed him archbishop in 1307 and sent him seven suffragan bishops as. assistants. Two letters of his are extant in which he gives a pleasing account of his efforts to preach the gospel, but of the
    ‘ Chinese Bepositoi’y, Vol. III., p. 112; Vol. XIII., passim. Lowrie, Land of Sinim.

    subsequent success of the endeavors made by him and his coadjutors to propagate the faith there are only imperfect records.

    Corvino was ordei’ed to have tlie mysteries of tlie Bible represented

    by pictures in all his churches, for the purpose of captivating

    the eyes of the barbarians. He died in 1328, when about

    eighty years of age, ” after having converted more than thirty

    thousand iniidels.” One of the accounts relates that at his

    funeral ” all the inhabitants of__Cambaluc, \vithout distinction,

    mourned for the man of God, and both Christians and pagans

    were present at the funeral ceremony, the latter rending their

    garments in token of grief, . . . and the place of his

    burial became a pilgrimage to which the inhabitants of Cambaluc

    resorted with pious eagerness.” It is not easy to estimate

    the real value of the labors of this priest and his successors, nor

    to decide how much better they were than those of the Xestorians

    in making known the Cross of Christ among the Mongols. The

    short record preserved of Corvino speaks well of his character

    and favorably of the toleration granted by the Mongols to his

    efforts to instruct them. It is affec^ting to hear him say, ” It is

    now twelve years since I. have heard any news from the West.

    I am become old and grayheaded, but it is rather through labors

    and tribulations than through age, for I am onlv lifty-eight

    years old. I have learned tlie Tartar language and literature,

    into which I have translated the whole New Testament and the

    Psalms of David, and liave caused them to be transcribed with

    the utmost care. I write and read and preach openly and freely

    the testimony of the law of Christ.”

    The Pope sent Nicholas to succeed Montecorvino at Peking,

    and a company of twenty-six Franciscans with him, but no authentic

    record of their arrival there has been preserved. In 1336

    the last Mongol Emperoi-, Shunti, whose reign was then called

    Chiyuen, sent Andre, a Frank, as his ambassador to the Pope,

    to whom was also addressed a letter from the Alain Christians

    asking for a bishop to take Corvino’s place, Nicholas not having

    then reached his see. Benedict XII. sent four nuncios, one of

    whom, John of Florence, returned to Europe in 1353, after

    residing and travelling in China twelve years, bringing friendly

    letters from the Emperor ^hunti. At this period there was

    EOMAN CATHOLIC MISSIONS—MONTECORVINO. 289

    another bishopric among tlie Mongols at Ih’, or Kuldja, and a

    letter from Pascal, a Spanish friar, dated from that city in 1338,

    lias been preserved. It would seem that during the sway of the

    Mongol princes these missionaries carried on their work chiefly

    among their tribes. It is, if such was the case, less surprising,

    therefore, that we hear nothing of them and their converts after

    the Chinese troops had expelled Kublai’s weak descendants from

    the country in 1368, since they would naturally follow them

    into Central Asia. After the final establishment of the Ming

    dynasty almost nothing is known concerning either them or the

    Nestorians, and it is probable that during the wanderings of the

    defeated Mongols the adherents of both sects gradually lapsed

    into ignorance and thence easily into Mohammedanism and

    Buddhism. There is no reasonable doubt, however, that during

    the three centuries ending with the accession of Hungwu, the

    greater part of Central Asia and Northern China was the scene

    of many flourishing Christian communities.

    The second period in the history of Romish missions in China

    includes a space of one hundred and fifty years, extending from

    the time when Matteo Ricci first established himself at Shanking

    in 1582 to the death of the Emperor Ynngching in 1736.

    Before Ricci entered the country there had been some efforts

    made to revive the long-deferred work among the Chinese, but

    the Portuguese and Spanish merchants were opposed to the extension

    of a faith which their flagitious conduct so outrageously

    belied. The Chinese government was still more strongly opposed

    to the residence of the foreign missionaries. Francis

    Xavier started from Goa in 1552 in company with an ambassador

    to China, but the embassy was hindered by the Governor of

    Malacca, who detained Pereyra and his ship, and Xavier was

    obliged to go alone. He died, however, at Shangchnen, Sancian,

    or St. John’s, an island about thirty miles south-west of Macao,

    disappointed in his expectations and thwarted in his plans by

    the untoward opposition of his countrymen. Other attempts

    were made to accomplish this design, but it was reserved for

    the Jesuits to carry it into effect. Valignani, the Superior of

    their missions in the East, selected Michael Ruggiero, or Roger,

    for this enterprise. He arrived at Macao in 1580 and com-

    VoL. II.—19

    290 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    menced the study of the language. Soon after he was joined

    by Matthew Ricci, and aftgr a series of efforts and disappointments

    they succeeded, in 1582, in obtaining lodgment at IShauking,

    then the residence of the Governor of Kwangtung. He

    granted them permission to build a house there, as they had

    told him that ” they had at last ascertained with their own eyes

    that the Celestial Empire was even superior to its brilliant

    renown. They therefore desired to end their days in it, and

    wished to obtain a little land to construct a house and a church

    where they might pass their time in prayer and study, in

    solitude and meditation, which they could not do at Macao on

    account of the tumult and bustle which the perpetual activity

    of commerce occasioned.” A beginning like this indicated the

    policy which has marked the progress of their work during the

    thi’ee centuries now passed. Xothing is said of making known

    Christ and him crucified as the great theme of their preaching.

    Hue tells us, too, that they took down the picture of the Virgin,

    because ” the report had been spread that the strangers

    worshipped a woman,” and replaced it by an image of the

    Saviour; and in this also they set the example, which successive

    ages have strengthened, of upholding the native idolatry. In

    their intercourse with the people of all classes they won good

    opinions by their courtesy, presents, and scientific attainments,

    and Hue sums up their principles in his approving remark,

    “they thought justly that the philosopher would make more

    impression than the priest upon minds so sceptic and so imbued

    with literary conceit.” The appointed means given by the

    Founder of Christianity for its propagation are never mentioned

    as their guide and authority, and the building corresponds to

    the foundations laid.

    In 151)-i Yalignani advised Ricci and his associates to exchange

    their garb of Buddhist priests for the nu)re respected

    dress of the literati ; and soon after he set out from Shauchau, in

    the north of Kwangtung, for Tsanchang, the capital of Kiangsi,

    and thence made his way to Nanking, still a place of great

    importance, althougli not the capital of the Empire. He was

    directed to depart, and returned to Nanchang, where he was

    permitted to lay the foundation of a religious institution and

    FATTTEK MATTEO RICCI. 291

    establish his associates, lie tlien left again for ^Nanking, but

    finding many obstacles proceeded to Suchau, the capital of

    Kiangnan, and there, too, established a school. The times becoming

    favorable, he appeared a third time at Xanking, in 1598,

    where he was received with amity, frankness, and good breeding,

    and his lectures on the exact sciences listened to with rapture. The

    progress of the mission had been so considerable that Valignani

    had appointed Ricci its Su])erior-General, which gave him power

    to regulate its internal concerns, for which he was well fitted.

    An officer whom he had known in Shauchau, and who had been

    appointed President of the Board of Civil Office, was induced to

    take him to Peking on his return there from a mission to Hainan

    ; but opposition arising this friend, Kwang, advised him

    to return M’ith him to Nanking, as tlie officials at the capital

    were much disappointed to find that he knew nothing about

    making silver and gold, which w^as wanted to pay for the expedition

    to Japan. After Kwang’s departure he and his colleague,

    Cataneo, found themselves nearly penniless, and he decided

    to return south, although it was wintei*. lie reached

    Suchau in a very weak condition, but, having recovered, went

    to Xanking in 1599, where the high provincial authorities visited

    and aided him, heard his discourses on astronomy, and

    enabled him to get a house.

    Everything progressed favorably, and Cataneo had returned

    from Macao with funds and presents. Eicci availed himself

    of a timely proposal from a eunuch to go with him to Peking,

    and started in a junk with his presents. The eunuch, however,

    wished to keep the latter, and by misrepresentations contrived

    to detain Ricci and his companion, Pantoja, at Tientsin for six

    months, at the end of which the villany was exposed, and the

    foreigners invited to court by imperial orders. They reached

    Peking January 4, 1601, twenty-one years after Ricci landed

    in Macao. The pleasing manners and extensive acquirements

    of Picci, joined to a distribution of presents, gained him the

    favor of men in authority. He soon numbered some of them

    among his adherents, among whom Sii, baptized Paul, was one

    of his earliest and most efficient co-operators, and assisted him

    in translating Euclid.

    292 THE MIDDLE KIXGDOM.

    Tlie Emperor AVanleih received liini with kinJnos?, and allowed

    him and Pantoja to be accommodated at the phvce where

    foreign envoys usually remained ; he subsequently permitted

    them to hire a house, and assigned them a stipend. In the

    meantime other Jesuits joined him at Peking, and were also

    settled in all the intermediate stations, where they carried on

    the work of their missions under his direction with success and

    favor. Paul Sii and his widowed daughter, M’ho took the baptismal

    name of Candida, proved efficient supporters of the new

    faith. The new religion encountered many obstacles, and the

    officers who saw its progress felt the necessity of checking its

    growth before it got strength to set at naught the commands

    of government. Much excitement arose in 1005 between the

    Portuguese and the officials at Canton in consequence of a

    rumor of the former going to attack the city ; and it was carried

    to such a height that the latter seized a convert named

    Martinez and punished him so severely that he died. A decree

    in 1617 ordered the missionaries to dejiart from court to

    Canton, there to embark for Euro2)e, but, like many others of

    the same import subsequently issued, it received just as much

    v_5>bedience as they thought expedient to give it—and properly

    too ; for if they were not disturbers of the peace or seditious,

    they ought not to be sent out of the country. This edict hindered

    their work only partially, and such Avas their diligence

    • that by the year 163(3 they had published no fewer than three

    hundred and forty treatises, some of them religious, but mostly

    on natural philosophy and mathematics. Ilicci formulated a set

    of rules for their guidance, in Avhicli he allowed the converts to

    practise the rites of ancestral worship, because he considered

    them purely civil in their luiture. The matter subsequently

    became a bone of contention between the Jesuits and Franciscans.

    The talented founder of these missions died in 1G1(», at the

    age of tifty-eight, and for skill, perseverance, learning, and

    tact, his name deservedly stands highest among their missionaries.

    His withholding the l)ible fi’om the Chinese, and substitution

    of image worship, ritualism, and ])riestly ordinances

    for the pure truths of the gospel, have been maintained by his

    M\S LI IF, AND ClIAHACTKR. 293

    successors, for tliey are essential features of the churcli which

    sent them forth. He lias been extolled by the Jesuits as a man

    possessed of every virtue. Another writer of the same church

    gives liim the following character : ” Ricci was active, skilful,

    full of schemes, and endowed with all the talents necessary to

    render him agreeal)le to the great or to gain the favor of

    princes ; but at the same time so little versed in matters of

    faith that, as the Bishop of Conon said, it was sufficient to read

    his work on the time religion to be satistied that he was ignorant

    of the first principles of theology. Eeiiig more a politician

    than a theologian, he discovered the secret of remaining

    peacefully in China. The kings found in him a man full of

    complaisance ; the pagans a minister who accommodated himself

    to their superstitions ; the mandarins a polite courtier

    skilled in all the trickery of courts ; and the devil a faithful

    servant, who, far from destroying, established his reign among

    the heathen, and even extended it to the Christians. lie

    preached in China the religion of Christ according to his own

    fancy ; that is to say, he disfigured it by a faithful mixture of

    pagan superstitions, adopting the sacrifices offered to Confucius

    and ancestors, and teaching the Christians to assist and cooperate

    at the worship of idols, provided they only addressed

    their devotions to a cross covered with flowers, or secretly attached

    to one of the candles which were lighted in the temples

    of the false gods.” ‘ His work was described by Trigault in

    1616, w’hen full materials were accessible, so that his actions

    and motives are known more fully than many who have come

    after him.

    After his death his place was filled by Longobardi, whose

    experience, learning, and judgment well fitted him for the

    post. The efforts of many enemies caused a reaction in 1616,

    and an edict was issued ordering all missionaries to leave the

    country ; but they w’ere sheltered b}^ their converts, especially

    through the exertions of Sii, who in 1622 obtained the reversal

    of the edict of expulsion, and thereby caused the persecution

    ‘ Anecdotes de la Chine, Tome I., Pref. vi, vii. Hue, Christianity in China^

    Vol. II., Chaps. II. toV. Remusat, Kouceaux MelaiKjcs, Tome II., p. 207.

    204 THE MIDDLE KITfGDOM.

    to cease.’ The talents and learning of Schaal, a German

    Jesuit, who was recommended by Sii to the Emperor’s regard

    in 162S, soon placed him at the head of all his brethren and

    ranked him among the most distinguished men in the Empire.

    The Dominicans and Franciscans also flocked to the land

    which had thus been opened by the Jesuits, but they were not

    welcomed by those who wished to build up their own power.

    After the death of Wanleih, in 1620, and those converts

    within the palace who had favored the cause, new influences

    against it arose, and during the short reign of his young grandson,

    Tienlii, troubles increased. Amid the breaking up of

    the Ming dynasty and the establishment of the present family

    on the throne (1630-1660), the missions suffered much, their

    spiritual guides retired to places of safety from the molestations

    of soldiers and banditti, and converts were necessarily left

    without instruction. The missionaries in the north sided with

    the Manchus, and Schaal became a favorite with the new monarch

    and his advisers, by whom he was appointed to reform

    the calendar. lie succeeded in showing the incompetency of

    the persons who had the supervision of it, and after its revision

    was appointed president of the Kin Tien Kien, an astronomical

    board established for this object, and invested with the insignia

    and emoluments of a grandee of the first class. He employed

    his influence and means in securing the admission of other

    missionaries, and to build two churches in the capital and

    repair many of those which had fallen to decay in the

    provinces.

    The exertions of the native converts did nuich to advance

    the cause of religion, and the baptismal names of Leon, Michel,

    etc., have been preserved among these early confessors ; but

    none are more famous than Sii and his daughter, Candida. He

    gave his influence in its favor and his property to assist in

    building churches, while his revision of their Avritings made

    them acceptable to fastidious scholars. His daughter also spent

    her life in good works. According to Du TIalde, she exhibited

    the sincerity of her profession by building thirty-nine churches

    ‘Sii’s Apology is given in full in the CMnese Repository^ Vol. XIX., p. 118.

    LABORS OF MISSIONARIES AND CONVERTS. 295

    in different provinces, and printing one liundred and thirty

    Christian books for tlie instruction of her countrymen. Having

    hearcl that the pagans in several of the provinces were

    accustomed to abandon their cliildren as soon as born, she established

    a foundling hospital ; and seeing many blind people

    telling idle stories in the streets for the sake of gain, she got

    them instructed and sent fortli to relate the different events of

    the gospel history. A few years before her death the Emperor

    conferred on her the title of shojin, or ‘virtuous woman,’

    and sent her a magnificent habit and head-dress adorned with

    pearls, which it is said she gradually sold, expending the proceeds

    in benevolent works. She received the last sacrament

    with a lively faith of being united to that God whom she .had so

    zealously loved and served. She and her father have since

    been deified by the people, and are worshipped now at Shanghai

    for their good deeds. The large mission establishment at

    Sikawe (properly Su ITia-wei, or the ‘ Sii Family Hamlet ‘), situated

    near that city, under the care of the Roman Catholics, now

    covers the same ground once owned by this eminent man. Candida’s

    example was emulated by another lady of high connections,

    named Agatha, who was zealous in carrying on the same

    works. We can but hope that although the worship of these

    converts was mixed with much error, and Mary, Ignatius, and

    others received their homage as well as Christ, their faith was

    genuine and their works done by an actuating spirit of humble

    love.’

    The Romish missionaries had friends among the high families

    in the land during the first hundred years of their labors,

    besides converts of both sexes. Few missions in pagan countries

    have been more favored with zealous converts, or tlieir missionaries

    more aided and countenanced hy rich and noble supporters,

    than the early papal missions to China. Le Comte speaks

    of the high favor enjoyed by all the laborers in this work

    through the reputation and influence of Scliaal at court. One

    of those who obtained celebrity was Faber, whose efforts in

    Shensi were attended with great success, and who wrought many

    ‘ Medhurst’s China, p. 188. Du Halde’s China, Vol. II., p. 8.

    296 TiiK :^[ir)DLK kixgdom.

    miracles during liis ministry in tliat province. Among otliera

    lie mentions that ” the town of Hang ching was at a certain

    time overrun with a prodigious multitude of locusts, which ate

    up all the leaves of the trees and gnawed the grass to the very

    I’oots, The inhabitants, after exhausting all the resources of

    their own superstitions and charms, applied to Faber, who

    promised to deliver them from the 2)lague provided they would

    become Christians. When they consented he marched in ceremony

    into the highways in his stole and surplice, and sprinkled

    up and down the holy water, accompanying this action with the

    prayers of the church, but especially with a lively faith. God

    heard the voice of his servant, and the next day all the insects

    disappeared. But the people refused to perform their promise,

    and the plague grew worse than before. AVitli much contrition

    they came to the father, confessing their fault and entreating

    his renewed interposition ; again he sprinkled the holy water,

    and the insects a second time disappeared. Then the Avhole

    borough was converted, and many years afterward was reckoned

    one of the devoutest missions in China. His biographer mentions

    that Falser was carried over rivers through the air ; he

    foretold his own death, and did several other such wonders

    ;

    but the greatest mii-acle of all was his life, which he spent in

    the continual exercise of all the apostolical virtues and a tender

    devotion to the mother of God.”

    The increase of churches and converts in the northern provinces

    was rapid during the reign of Shunchi, but the southern

    parts of the Empire not being completely subdued, the claimant

    to the throne of Ming w^as favored by the missionaries there,

    and his troops led on by two Christian Chinese otRcers, called

    Thomas Kiu and Luke Chin. His mother, wife, and son were

    baptized with the names of Helena, Maria, and Constantine,

    and the former wrote a letter to Pope Alexander VH., expressing

    her attachment to the cause of Christianity, and wishing

    to put the country through him under the protection of God.

    He kindly answered her, but the expectations of the llomanists

    were disappointed by the death of Tunglieh, the Emperor.

    During the reign of Shunchi Schaal and his coadjutors stood

    high at Peking, and missions prospered in the provinces ; but

    THE JESUIT FATHER ADAM SOHAAL. 297

    on the Emperor’s deatli tlie administration fell into the hands

    of four regents, and as they were known to be opposed to the

    new sect, a memorial was sent to court setting forth the evils

    likely to arise if it was not repressed. It should be mentioned

    that several monks of the Dominican and Franciscan orders,

    especially of Fuhkien province, where Capellas, a Spaniard, had

    been martyred in 1648, had i-esumed the labors of Archbishop

    John of Montecorvino at Peking, more than thirty years

    before this date. ” Their presence had been resisted by the

    Jesuits [so ran the memorial], and the strifes between these orders

    about the meaning and worship of tien and shanfjti (words

    used for the Supreme Being) revealed the important secret that

    the principles of the new doctrine were made to subserve the purposes

    of those who were aspiring to influence. It was remembered

    also that while the Catholics continued in Japan, nothing

    but intrigue, schism, and civil war was heard of, calamities that

    might sooner or later befal China if the criminal eagerness of

    the missionaries in enlisting people of all classes was not checked.

    The members of the different orders wore distinctive badges of

    medals, rosaries, crosses, etc., and were always ready to obey the

    calls of their chiefs, who could have no scruple to lead them on

    to action the moment a probability of success in subverting the

    existing political order and the ancient worship of China should

    offer.” The regents took the memorial into consideration, and

    in 1665 the tribunals under their direction decreed that ” Schaal

    and his associates merited tlie punishment of seducers, who announce

    to the people a.false and pernicious doctrine.”

    Notwithstanding the honora])le position Schaal held as tutor

    of the young Emperor Kanghi, he was proscril)ed and degraded

    with several high officers who had been baptized. Some of them

    perished, Schaal himself dying of grief and suffering August

    16th of the same year, at the age of seventy-eight, having been

    thirty-seven years in imperial employ, under five monai-chs.

    Verbiest and others were imprisoned, one of whom died ; and

    twenty-one Jesuits, with some of other sects, were sent out of the

    country. Magaillans says he himself was ” loaden for four whole

    months together with nine chains, three about his neck, his arms^

    and his legs ; he was also condenmed to have foi-ty lashes, and

    298 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    to be banished out of Tartaiy as long as he lived. But a great

    earthquake that happened at that time at Peking delivered both

    him and the rest of his companions.’” ‘ Their relief, however,

    was probably owing more to the favor of Kanghi on taking the

    reins of government in 1671 than to the earthquake ; he soon

    released Verbiest to appoint him astronomer, and allowed the

    missionaries to return to their stations, though he forbade his

    subjects embracing Christianity. This favorable change is partly

    ascribed, too, to the errors Verbiest pointed out in the calendar,

    which showed an utter ignorance of the commonest principles

    of astronomy On the part of those who prepared it. An intercalary

    month had been erroneously introduced, and the unfortunate

    astronomers wei’e made to exchange places with the

    imprisoned missionaries, while their intercalary month was

    discarded and the year shortened, to the astonishment of the

    common people. It may reasonably be doubted whether the

    priest acted with sagacity and prudence in thus exasperating

    those in high places by this public ridicule of their incompetency.

    Verbiest also prepared an astronomical work entitled ” The

    Perpetual Astronomy of the Emperor Kanghi,” which he graciously

    received and conferred the title of tajln, or ‘ magnate,’ on

    him, and ennobled all his kindred. ” He had no relatives in China,

    but as the Jesuits called each other brother, they did not hesitate

    to use the same title. Tiio gi-eatest part of the religious caused

    it to be inscribed on the doors of their houses.*”‘

    The favor of the Empei-or continued, and the missionaries re-

    (piited his kindness with many signal services, besides those of

    a literaiy and ustron(Mnicul nature, among which was casting

    camion for his army. In 1636 Scliaal had made a mimber for

    Tsungching, and Verbiest, his successor, cast several hundreds in

    all for the Emperor Kanghi. On one occasion, in 1680, the })ieces,

    three hundred and twenty of all sizes, were to be tested in the

    presence of the coui’t; but before doing so Verbiest ” had an altar

    prepared on which he placed a cross. Then, clothed in his surplice

    and stole, he worshipped the true (Jod, prostrating himself nine

    times, and striking the earth nine times with his forehead, in

    ‘ Magaillans’ C’hiinf, p. 147. Chinese Itepository, Vol. I., p. 434.

    QUESTION OF THE KITES. 299

    the Chinese manner of expressing adoration ; and after that he

    read the prayers of the church and sprinkled the cannon with

    holy water, having bestowed on each of them the name of a female

    saint, which he had himself drawn on the breech.” ‘ Some

    of the high othcers were still opposed to the toleration of

    foreign priests, and the Governor of Chehkiang undertook to

    cany into effect the laws against their admission into the country

    and their proselyting labors ; but Verbicst, on informing the Emperor

    of their character as excellent mathematicians and scholars,

    obtained their liberation. Ko foreigner has ever enjoyed so

    great favor and confidenee from the inilers of China as this able

    priest. lie seems indeed to have deserved this for his diligence,

    knowledge, and purity of conduct in devoting all his energies

    and opportunities to their good. His residence of thirty years

    at Peking (1G5S-1G8S) was passed under the eyes of suspicious

    observers ; but his modesty in the end won their confidence as

    his writings and devotions called forth their approval.

    During all this time—or at least since the other sects came to

    assist in the work—there had been constant disputes, as has already

    been intimated, between the disciples of Loyola, Dominic,

    and Francis, excited probably by rivalry, but ostensibly relating

    to the rites paid to deceased ancestors and to Confucius. Ricci

    had drawn up rules for the regulation of the Jesuits, in which

    he considered these customs to be merely civil and secular, and

    such as might l)e tolerated in their converts. Morales, a Spanish

    Dominican, however, opposed this view, declaring them to be

    idolatrous and sinful, and they were condemned as such by the

    Propaganda, which sentence was confirmed by Innocent X. in

    1645. This decree of the see at Home gave the Jesuits some

    annoyance, and they set themselves at work to procure its revision.

    Martinez was sent to Home as their principal agent in

    this, and by nuiny explanations and testimonials proved to the

    satisfaction of the tril)unal of inquisitors their civil nature, and

    Alexander Yll., in 1050, approved this opinion. There were

    thus two infallible decrees nearly opposed to each other, for

    Alexander took care not to directly contradict the bull of Inno-

    ‘Hue, Christianity in Cliina, Vol. III., p, 81.

    SOO THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    cent, and worded his decision so that botli claimed it. When

    all the missionaries were imprisoned or sent to Canton, a good

    opportunity offered for mutual consultation and decision upon

    these and other points. Twenty-three priests met in the Jesuit

    seminary at Canton in 1665, and drew up forty-two articles to

    serve hereafter for rules of conduct, all of which were unanimously

    adopted. The one relating to the ceremonies was as

    follows

    :

    In respect to the customs by whicli the Chinese worship Confucius and

    the deceased, the answer of the congregation of tlie universal Inquisition,

    sanctioned in 1(556 by his Holiness Alexander VII., shall be invariably followed

    : for it is founded upon the most probable opinion, without any evident

    proof to the contrary ; and this probability being admitted, the door of salvation

    must not be shut against innumerable Chinese, who would abandon our

    Christian religion were they forbidden to attend to those things that they may

    lawfully and without injury to their faith attend to, and forced to give up

    what cannot be abandoned without serious consequences.

    One member of this meeting, the Dominican Navarette, soon

    expressed his dissent, and the dispute was renewed as virulently

    as ever. The opponents of the Jesuits complained that they

    taught their converts that there was but little difference generallj^

    between Christianity and their own belief, and allowed

    them to retain their old superstitions ; they were chai’ged, moreover,

    with luxurj^ and ambition, and neglecting the duties of

    their ministry that they might meddle in the affaii’s of State.

    These allegations were rebutted l)y the Jesuits, though it appears

    from Mosheim that some of them partially acknowledged

    their ti’uth. In 1098 Maigrot, a bishoj) and apostolic vicar living

    in China, issued a mandate on his own authority diametrically

    opposed to the decision of the Inquisition and the Pope,

    in which he declared that tten signified nothing niore than the

    material heavens, and that the Chinese customs and I’ites were

    idolatrous. In 1699 the Jesuits l)r()ught the matter before the

    Empei’or in the folhnving memorial :

    We, your faithful subjects, although originally from distant countries, respectfully

    supi)licate your Majesty to give us clear instructions on the following

    points. The scholars of Euro])e have understood that the Chinese practise

    certain ceremonies in honor of Confucius, that they o!Ter sacrifices to heaven,

    and that tlicy oliserve peculiar rites toward their ancestors ; but persuaded

    POPE CLEMENT XI. AXD KANGHI. 301

    that these ceremonies, sacrifices, and rites are founded in reason, though ignorant

    of their true intention, earnestly desire us to inform them. We have

    always supposed that Confucius was honored in China as a legislator, and that

    it was in this character alone, and with this view solely, tliat th(j ceremonies

    established in his honor were practised. We believe that the ancestral rites

    are only observed in order to exhibit tlie love felt for them, and to hallow tlie

    remembrance of the good receive<l from them during their life. We believe

    that the sacririces offered to heaven are not tendered to the visible heavens

    which are seen above us, but to the Supreme Master, Author, and Preserver of

    heaven and earth, and of all they contain. Such are the interpretation and

    the sense which we liave always given to these Chinese ceremonies ; but as

    strangers cannot be considered competent to pronounce on these ‘mportant

    points with the same certainty as the Chinese themselves, we presume to request

    your Majesty not to refuse to give us the explanations which we desire

    concerning them. We wait for them with respect and submission.’

    The Emperor’s reply in 1700 to this petition, and another

    one presented to him, was sent to the Pope ; in it he decLared

    that ” tien means the true God, and that tlie customs of China

    are political.” The enemies of the Jesuits say that they ” confirmed

    the sentiments expressed in the imperial rescript by the

    oaths which they exacted from a multitude of Chinese, among

    whom were many from the lowest classes, not only entirely

    ignoi-ant of the meaning of many characters in their own

    language, but even of Christian doctrine.” The strongest efforts

    were made by both parties to influence the decision of the Pope,

    but the Jesuits failed. In 1701: a decree of Clement XI. confirmed

    the decision of Bishop Maigrot. It had been reached

    after careful and candid “examination, and was substantially as

    follows: ” As the true God cannot conveniently be named in

    the Chinese language with European words, we must employ the

    words Tien Chu, i.e., ‘ Lord of Heaven,’ in use for a long time

    in China, and approved by both missionaries and their converts.

    AVe must, on the contrary, absolutely reject the aj^pellation of

    Tien (Heaven) and Shangtl (August Emperor) ; and for this

    reason it must on no accoimt be permitted that tablets shall be

    suspended in churches with the inscription King Tien (Adore

    Heaven).” The court of the Vatican had already dispatched a

    legate d latere and apostolic visitor to China in the person of

    ‘ Life of Saint-Manin, p. 292.

    302 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    Tounion, who was consecrated Patriarch of Antioch in order to

    give him a title of sufficient dignity in the distant regions to

    which he was bound.

    The legate landed at Macao in April, 17(>5, and was received

    with a show of honor by the governor and bishop. He arrived at

    Peking in December, but the Jesuits had already prejudiced the

    Emperor against him, and at an audience accorded to him in

    June, 1706, the former brought forward the subject to learn the

    legate’s views. After some delay, however, the patriarch issued

    the Pope’s mandate, which was contrary to the monarch’s decision.

    Kanghi was not the num who would transfer to a pope

    the right of legislating over his own subjects, and in December,

    1706, he decreed that he would countenance those missionaries

    who preached the doctrines of Ricci, but persecute those who

    followed the opinion of Maigrot. Examiners were a])pointed

    for ascertaining their sentiments, but Tournon, who had been

    banished to Macao, forbade the missionaries, under ])ain of excommunication,

    holding any discussion on these points with the

    examiners. The Bishop of Macao conlined the legate in a private

    house, and M-hen he used his ecclesiastical authority and

    powers against his enemies, stuck up a monitory on the very

    door of his residence, exhorting him to revoke his censures

    within tliree days midcr pain of excommunication, and exhibit

    proofs of his legation to his diocesan. This was re-echoed from

    Tournon by a still severer sentence against the bishop. Three

    new missionaries reached Macao at this jun(;ture in January,

    1710, and one of them, l*cre Ilipa, gives an account of a nocturnal

    visit they paid the legate in his })rison after eluding the

    vigilance of his guards. Ripa renuirks that about forty missionaries

    of different religious orders were confined with Tournon,

    who had lately been nuide a cardinal, but he himself and

    his companions were left at liberty. Ills eminence sent a remonstrance

    to the Governor of Canton against his imprisonment,

    and also a memorial to the Emperor stating that six

    missionaries had arrived from Europe, three of whom were

    acquainted with mathematics, music, and painting. Kipa, who

    was to be the painter, says that he knew only the rudiments of

    the art, and records his dissatisfaction at this change in his voQUARRELS

    OF THE JESUITS AND DOMINICANS. 303

    cation, Lut soon resigned himself to obedience. Touruon died

    in his coniinenient in July of the same year.

    The proceedings of Tournon were mainly confirmed by the

    Pope, and in 1715 he dispatched Mezzabarba, another legate, by

    way of Lisbon, who was favorably received at Peking, lie

    ” was instructed to express the Pope’s sincere gratitude to

    Kanghi for his magnanimous kindness toward the missionaries,

    to beg leave to remain in China as their head or as superior of

    the whole mission, and to obtain from Kanghi his consent that

    the Christians in China might submit to tlie decision of his

    Holiness concerning the rites.” The Emperor evaded all reference

    to the rites, and the legate, soon perceiving that his Majesty

    would not surrender any part of his inherent authoiity,

    solicited and obtained permission at his last audience to return

    to Europe, which he did March 3, 1721. The first fifteen

    years of the eighteenth century was the period of the greatest

    prosperity to the Pomish missions in China. It is stated

    that in the governor-generalship of Kiangnan and Kiangsi alone

    there were one hundred churches and a hundred thousand converts.

    The survey of the Empire was carried on by the Emperor’s

    connnand from 1708 to 171S, under the direction of

    ten Jesuits, of whom Pegis, Bouvet, and Jartoux were the most

    prominent.’ It was a great work for that day, and considering

    the instruments they had, the vast area they traversed, and tlic

    imperfect education of their assistants, its accuracy and completeness

    form the best index of the ability of the surveyors.

    The disputes between the various orders of missionaries and

    the resistance of some converts to the Emperor’s commands

    respecting the ancestral rites, together with the representations

    of his own ofiicers upon the tendency of the new religion to

    undermine his own authority, gradually opened his eyes to the

    true character of the propagandists. In 1718 he forbade any

    missionary remaining in the country without permission from

    himself, given only after their promise to follow tlie rules of

    Picci. Yet no European missionary could repair to China

    ‘ An additional re-survey was made and presented to the Emperor Kienlung

    in ITGl by Beuoit and AUerstein.

    304 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    without subscribing a funnuhi in which he proniised fully and

    entirely to obey the orders of Cleiiieut XI. upon these ceremonies,

    and observe those injunctions without any tergiversation.

    Kan^^hi was made acquainted with all these nuitters and took

    his measures, gradually i-estraining the missionaries in their

    work and keeping them about him at court, while he allowed

    persecuting measures to be carried on in the provinces. Tho

    work of Ripa affords evidence of this plan, and it was characteristic

    of Chinese policy.

    After the death of Kanghi in 1723 the designs of the govern

    ment under his son Yungching were still more evident. In

    172-i an order was promulgated in which every effort to propagate

    the Tien C/m klao, or ‘ Religion of the Lord of Heaven,’

    as it was then and has ever since been called, was strictly prohibited.

    All missionaries not required at Peking for scientitic

    purposes were ordered to leave the country, by which more than

    three hundred thousand converts were deprived of teachers.

    Many of the missionaries secreted themselves, and the converts

    exhibited the greatest fidelity in adhering to them even at the

    risk of death. AVhen the missionaries reached Canton, where

    tliey were allowed to remain, they devised measures to return

    to their flocks, and frequently succeeded. The influence of

    those remaining at Peking was exerted to regain their former

    toleration, but wdth partial success. Their enemies in the

    provinces harassed the converts in order to extort money, and

    found plenty of assistants who knew the names and condition

    of all the leading adherents of the proscribed faith, and aided

    in compelling them to violate their consciences or lose their

    property.

    The edict of Yungching forms an epoch in the Uoniish missions

    in China. Since that time they have experienced various

    degrees of quiet and storm, but on the whole decreasing in

    number and influence until the new era inaugurated by the

    treaties of 1S58. The troubles in France and Europe toward

    the latter part of the eighteenth centui-y withdi-ew the a»ttention

    of the supporters of missions from those in China, while in the

    country itself the maintenance of the laws against the ])ropagation

    of Christianity, and an occasional seizure of })i-iests and

    THE CATHOLICS EXPELLED FUOM CHIXA. 30.”i

    converts by a zealous officer, caused a still further diminution.

    Tlie edicts of Kienluiig, soon after his accession in 1T3(), showed

    that no countenance was to be expected from court ; the rulers

    were thoroughly dissatisfied with the foreigners, and ready to

    take almost any measures to relieve the country of them. Perhaps

    their personal conduct had something to do with this

    course of procedure, for Ripa, wlio cannot be accused of partiality,

    says, when speaking of the number of converts, that

    “if our European missionaries in China would conduct themselves

    with less ostentation, and accommodate their manners to

    persons of all ranks and conditions, the number of converts

    would be immensely increased. Their garments are made of

    the richest materials ; they go nowhere on foot, but always in

    sedans, on horseback, or in boats, and with numerous attendants

    following them. AVith a few honorable exceptions, all the missionaries

    live in this manner ; and thus, as they never mix with

    the people, they make but few converts. The diifusion of our

    holy religion in these parts has been almost entirely owing to

    the catechists who are in their service, to other Christians, or

    to the distribution of Christian books in the Chinese language.

    Thus there is scarcely a single missionary who can boast of having

    made a convert by his own preaching, for they merely baptize

    those who have been already converted by others.” ‘ But

    this missionary himself afterward assigns a nnich better reason

    for their not preaching, when he adds that, up to his time in

    ITl-i, “none of the missionaries had been able to surmount the

    language so as to make himself understood by the people at

    large.” This remark must, however, be taken with some explanations.

    There had l)een al^out five hundred missionaries sent

    from Europe between 1580 and 172-1:, wliich was less than an

    annual average of four individuals during a centurv and a half.

    When the intentions of the new Emperor were known, there

    Avould not lono; be wantino; occasions to harass the Christians.

    In 1747 a persecution extended over all the provinces, and

    Bishop Sanz and five Dominican priests in Fuhkien lost their

    lives. All the foreign priests who could be found elsewhere were

    ‘ Residence at PeMnr/, p. 43.

    Vol. II.—20

    306 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    sent away—a mark of leiiiency tlie more striking wlien it was

    supposed by the Chinese that some of them had ah’eady once

    returned from banishment. The missions in Sz’cliuen and

    Shansi suffered most, but througli the zeal of their pastors

    maintained themselves better than elsewhere ; their bishops,

    Mullener, and after him Pottier, contrived to remain in the

    country most of the time between 1712 and 1792. The missions

    in Yunnan and Kweichau were not so flourishing as that

    in Sz’chuen. In this province M. Gleyo was apprehended in

    1767, and endured nuich suffering for the faith he came to

    preach ; he remained in prison ten years, when he was liberated

    through the efforts of a Jesuit in the employ of government.

    For several years after this the order enjoyed comparative

    quiet, but in 1784 greater efforts than ever were made to discover

    a*nd apprehend all foreign priests aiid their abettors,

    owing to the detection of four Europeans in Ilukwang while they

    were going to their mission. M. de la Tour, the procureur of

    the mission at Canton, through whose instrumentality they were

    sent tlirough the country, was apprehended and carried to Peking

    ; and the hong merchant who had been his security was

    glad to purchase his own safety by the sacrifice of one hundred

    and twenty thousand taels of silver.

    Didier Saint-Martin, who was then in Sz’chuen, gives a long

    account of his own capture, trial, and imprisonment, and many

    particulars of the sufferings of his fellow missionaries. Eighteen

    Europeans were taken away from the missions by it, but

    none of them were actually executed ; twelve w-ere sentenced to

    perpetual imprisonment, six having died, but for some reason

    the Emperor revoked the decree soon after it was made, and

    gave them all the choice to enter his service or leave the country

    ; nine of the twelve preferred to depart, the other three

    joining the priests at the capital. This search was so close that

    few of the foreigners escaped. Pottier was not taken, though

    he was obliged at one time to conceal liimself for a month in a

    small house, and in so confined a place that he hardly dared

    either to cough or to spit for fear of being discovered. Saint-

    Martin and Dufresse retired to Manila, where they were received

    with great honors, and were enabled to return after a

    PERSECUTION OF THE MISSIONARIES. ^ 307

    time to Sz’cliuen. The former died in 1801 in peace, but Dufresse

    was beheaded in 1814 ;

    ‘ in 1816 M. Triora was strangled

    in Hupeh, and M. Clet three years after ; in the interval,

    Schoeffler, Bounard, and Diaz perished, and Chapdelaine in

    1856. But no data are available to show the number of native

    priests and converts who suffered death, toiture, imprisonment,

    and banishment in these storms. The records of constancy and

    cheerful fortitude exhibited under tortures and cruel mockings,

    given in the writings of the time, show their faith in Christ.

    The details are summarized in Marshall’s work, and probably

    the number may reasonably be estimated by hundreds.

    The period which elapsed after the pronmlgation of the

    edicts of 1767 up to 1820 contains less to interest the reader

    than since the last date. At that time restored quiet in Europe

    urged a resumption of the work ; and the Annalcs ds la Foi

    henceforth continue the narratives of the missions, formerly

    recorded in the Lettres Kdifiantes, with the approval of the

    directors and bishops. It is not easy at any period to learn

    their condition and number, for only vague estimates of hundreds

    of churches, hundreds of thousands of converts, scores

    of missionaries, schools, catechists, priests, and stations, comprise

    the data given in the flourishing days of Verbiest and

    Parennin. Perhaps many of the early statistics have perished,

    yet it has never been easy to obtain accurate data, and

    often they have been withheld from public knowledge. There

    is no responsibility or reckoning required from the managers

    of the missions by the body of the church as to wdiat is done

    with the funds, as among Protestant missions. In 1820 an

    estimate gives 6 bishops, 2 coadjutors, 23 foreign missionaries,

    80 native priests, and 215,000 converts. In 1839 a table in

    the Annales gives for that year, 8 bishops, 57 foreigners, ll-t

    native priests, and 303,000 converts. In 1846 the record shows

    12 bishops, 7 or 8 coadjutors, 80 foreign missionaries, 90 natives,

    and 400,000 converts; 54 boys’ and 114 girls’ schools

    are put down for Sz’chuen. In 1866 they report 20 bishops,

    ‘ Annales de la Foi, Tome I., pp. 25, 53, 68. Dufresse was afterward

    canonized.

    308 Tin; MIDDLE KINGDO^r.

    233 foreign missionaries, 237 native priests, 12 colleges, 331

    students in seven of them, and 363,000 converts ; these figures

    include only those in the Eighteen Provinces. In 1870 the tahles

    show 254 foreigners, bishops and missionaries, 13S native

    priests in nine provinces, and 404,530 converts.

    Lastly, from the Hong Kong Catholic liegister we learn that

    the statistics in 1881 were : Bishops, 41 ; European priests,

    664; native priests, 559 ; converts in toto^ 1,092,818 ; colleges,

    34 ; convents, 34. The paper which publishes this summary,

    ” from a most reliable source,” gives no information as to where

    the missions or colleges are located, or what numbers are found

    in the different provinces. It is, moreover, somewhat difficult

    to learn what constitutes a college, or whether the grade in

    these institutions is uniform throughout the land. In addition

    to the education imparted at home, a number of Chinese are

    yearly sent to Tiome to be educated at the College of the Propaganda.

    The total number of converts includes all the members

    of the various families who give an outward adherence to

    the rites of the church. In the persecutions which these adherents

    have endured at various times, some have left the faith,

    but a large number of the descendants of these early converts

    have remained faithful, generation after generation, to the religion

    which their ancestors had embraced under more favorable

    auspices. Hence this estimate represents the number now

    adhering to them, many of them being the descendants of early

    converts ; and this number of followers has become so numerous

    largely by natural increase. AVe have no information as

    to the number of converts year by year. In one village of

    South China, where there are some Poman Catholics resident,

    it has been noted that the increase is almost entirely by natural

    generation. The girls of Catholic families are only permitted

    co-religionists. The men inarry heathen wives on the promise

    that they will become Pomanists. One man and his wife of

    this village first became converts. The number of adherents now

    hei-e is over one hundred, all descendants of this first pair; and

    this increase is entirely by natural descent and by marriage.

    With the increased openings since the treaties of 1858 the

    regulation of the missions has devolved on different societies,

    STATISTICS OF CATHOLIC MISSIONS IN CITIXA. 309

    which liavc apportioned their hiborers in the provinces. The

    Lazarists have Cliihh’, Iviangsi, and Chehkiang ; the Franciscans,

    Sliantung, Shansi, Shensi, and llnkwang; the Jesuits,

    Kiangnan and eastern Chihh ; tlie Dominicans, Fnhkien ; the

    Gallic church, all the western and south-western rcirions, with

    Manchuria; one society in Milan has charge of Ilonan, and

    another in Belgium labors in Mongolia. The successful efforts

    of M. Lagrend, the French envoy to China in 1844, to obtain

    formal recognition of the Christian religion and protection to

    its professors from their own rulers, entitle him to the thanks

    of every well-Avisher of missions. The intention of the Chinese

    authorities in tolerating such efforts was to limit them to the

    newly opened ports, where alone churches could be erected, for

    the missionaries are disallowed free entrance into the country.

    This partial permission of 1844 prepared the way for the

    toleration articles in the treaties of 1858, when the four

    Powers present at Tientsin obtained a more explicit acknowledgment

    from the Emperor of the rights of Christian laborers

    and professors among the Chinese. Those articles have been

    in force during the past twenty years, and have proved a safeguard

    and a warrant for the faith of Christ and its adherents

    even beyond the hopes of those who first proposed them.

    The exclusive labors of the Roman Catholics among the

    Chinese comprise a period of about two hundred and fifty years

    from the date of Ricci’s reception at Peking. The various

    works written l)y them during this period contained not only

    the details of their labors, but nearly everything that was then

    known relating to the Chinese. The essays, translations, histories,

    travels, etc., of Visdelou, Mailla, Trigault, Semido,

    Amiot, Le Comte, and scores of others, still remain to inform

    those wdio seek to learn their acts.” Every reader must honor

    the men who thus suffered and labored, prospered and died, in

    the prosecution of their work. It is \vorthy of consideration,

    as to the self-supporting character of this work, that their constant

    experience has shown that, however numerous and zealous

    the converts, the presence of European pastors and overseers is

    Kemusat, Nouveaux Melanges, pp. 207 ff.

    310 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    indispensable to their spiritual prosperity.’ “Whether this is

    owing to the character of the Chinese mind, or to the little

    Christian instruction and principle these converts really have,

    cannot in most cases be easily decided. It can hardly be expected

    that pagans should perceive much difference immediately

    between their old worship and the cei’emonies of the new fait)-

    in the presence of pictures, images, and crosses, before which

    they were taught to prostrate themselves. The native priests

    and catechists were not instructed to maintain the authority

    of the law and word of God above all human teachings in this

    respect, for the second commandment had been early expunged

    from the Decalogue, and thus the connnand of God made

    void, which prohibits man to make, to servo, or to bow down

    to such things. It may be this defect in their religious training

    which keeps these native priests in tutelage under the foreigners,

    and prevents the maintenance of self-supporting, indigenous

    churches under their oversight.

    In former days the entrance of missionaries into the interior

    of China was attended with considerable hazard, delay, and

    uncertainty, arising from the weakness or ignorance of those

    guides to whose care they were entrusted, and the risks they

    ran if detected. This has now all passed awa}’^, and access to

    all parts of the Empire is even more free than it was in the

    days of the Emperor Kanglii. In those early times the development

    of missionary work was not as well understood as it

    is now after long experience, and less attention was paid to

    education and self-support. Those points were not appreciated

    even in Europe, and we should not look for stronger growth in

    the branches of the tree than in its trunk. Within the last

    twent}^ years, not only have the theological schools of the Romish

    missions increa’Sed so that eighteen were open in 1859,

    but with the introduction of the Sisters of Cliarity many thousands

    of young children are taught needlework, reading, and

    various handicrafts to prepare them for useful lives. These

    schools and oi-phanages exert a widespread and lasting influence.

    The baptism of children and adults has ever been a very

    ^Lettrea Mifiantes, Tome IV., p. 77.

    THE BAPTISM OF DYING INFANTS. 3J 1

    important work witli the Roman Catholic missionaries, and

    especially (if its fre(nient mention is an evidence) the baptism

    of uioribumh, or dying children of heathens. The agents in

    this work are usually elderly women, says Yerolles, ” who have

    experience in the treatment of infantile diseases. Furnished

    with innocent pills and a bottle of holy water whose virtues

    they extol, they introduce themselves into the houses where

    there are sick infants, and discover whether they are in danger

    of death ; in this case they inform the parents, and tell them

    that before administering other remedies they must wash their

    hands with the purifying waters of their bottle. The parents,

    not suspecting this j}ieuse ruse, readily consent, and by these

    innocent frauds we procure in our mission the baptism of seven

    or eight thousand infants every year.*’ Another missionary,

    Dufresse, one of the most distinguished of late years, says :

    ” The women who baptize the infants of heathen parents announce

    themselves as consecrated to the healing of infants, and

    to give remedies gratis, that they may satisfy the vow of their

    father who has commanded this as an act of charity.” The

    number of baptized children thus saved from perdition is carefully

    detailed in the annual reports, and calculations are made

    by the missionaries for the consideration of their pati-ons in

    France and elsewhere as to the expense incun-ed for this branch

    of labor, and the cost of each soul thus saved ; and appeals for

    aid in sending out these female baptists are based upon the

    tabular reports. It may, however, be a question, even with a

    candid Romanist who believes that unbaptized infants perish

    eternally, whether baptism performed by women and unconsecrated

    laymen is valid ; and still more so, whether it is ritual

    when done by stealth and under false pretences. The number

    thus annually baptized in all the missions cannot be placed

    much under fifty thousand, and some years it exceeds a hundred

    thousand. Xo attention seems to be given to the child in ordinary

    cases if it happen to live after this surreptitious baptism.

    The degree of instruction given to the converts is trifling,

    partly owing to the great extent of a single diocese and partly to

    imperfect knowledge of the language on the part of missionaries.

    The vexations constantly experienced urge them to be

    812 THE MIDDLE KIXODOM.

    cautious ; and truly if a missionai-y believes that baptism, confirmation,

    confession, and absolution, are all the evidences of faith

    that ai-e required in a convert to entitle him to salvation, it

    cannot be supposed he will deem it necessary to give them longcontinued

    instruction. The canses which usually bring the converts

    into trouble with their CDuntrymen or the officials were

    thus described many years ago by the Bishop of Caradre in

    Sz’chuen ; they are still partly applicable.

    First. Christians are frequently confounded with tlie members

    of the Triad Society, or of the AVhite Lily sect, both by

    their enemies and by persons belonging to those associations.

    Second. The Christians refuse to contribute to the erection

    or repair of temples, or subscribe to idolatrous feasts and superstitious

    rites ; though, according to the A)i7iales, they sometimes

    defray the charges of the theati’ical exhibitions which

    follow, in order to avoid the malice of their adversaries.

    Third. ” Espousals are ahnost indissoluble in China, and

    whenever the Christians refuse to ratify them by proceeding

    to a marriage already commenced, they are regarded as lawbreakers

    and treated as such.” ‘ This is the most common

    source of trouble, especially when the parents of the girl have

    become converts since the beti-othment, and the other party

    is anxious to fulfil the contract. These engagements are sometimes

    broken in a sufficiently unscrupulous manner, and nothing

    draws so much odium upon Christians as their refusal to

    adhere to these conti-acts. On one occasion this bishop assisted

    in breaking up such an engagment, when the parents, on the

    death of a sister of the girl, asserted that the deceased was the

    one who had been betrothed. He adds : ” I thirdc the faith of

    the parents and the purity of their motives will readily excuse

    them before God for the sin of lying.” On other occasions

    the missionaries endeavor to dissolve these engagements by exhorting

    the believing party to take voavs of celibacy.

    Fourth. All connnunication with Europeans being interdicted,

    the magistrates seek diligently for every evidence of their exist-

    Lettres Edifiantes, Tome III., p. 37, wliere there appear two or three cases

    wf this and Saint-Martin’s reasonini,’ on thu point.

    GRIEVANCES AGAINST CATHOLIC CONVERTS. 313

    eiicc in the country, by searching for the objects used in worship,

    as crosses, breviaries, etc.

    Fifth. The little respect the converts have for their ancestors

    is always an offence in the eyes of the pagans, and leads

    to recrimination and vexatious annoyances.

    Sixth. As the converts are obliged to take down the ancesti-al

    tablets in order to put u]> those of their own religion, they are

    seldom forgiven in this change, and occasion is taken therefrom

    to persecute.

    Seventh. The indiscreet zeal of the neophytes leading them

    to break the idols or insult the objects of public worship is

    one of the most common causes of persecution.

    Eightli. The disputes between the missionaries themselves,

    regarding the ceremonies, have frequently excited troubles.

    In addition to these causes, some of ‘which are now removed,

    there are others which have grown up since the toleration

    granted to Christianit}^ by the treaties, and which may develop

    still more. They are discussed in the minute drawn up by the

    Chinese government in 1871, after the Tientsin riot, in which

    eight rules for their regulation are proposed. The grievances

    refer to the seclusion of children in orphanages ; to the pi-esence

    of w^omen in religious assemblies ; to missionaries interfering

    in legal cases so as to screen criminals, and their interchanging

    passports ; to the neophytes rescuing criminals from

    justice ; to the missionaries affecting the style of native officials

    ;

    and, lastly, to their demand for land alleged to have once belonged

    to them, whatever ma\’ have been its ownership meanwhile.

    This has since ceased, and the others have been somewhat

    restrained.

    Christians sometimes refuse to have their deceased friends

    buried with the idolatrous ceremonies required by their relatives,

    upon which the latter occasionally carry the matter

    before the officers, or resort to petty annoyances. In order to

    keep up the spirit of devotion among the neophytes, crucifixes,

    reliquaries, and other articles were given them, and ‘” God

    wrought several miracles among them to authorize the practice.”

    These articles, in the estimation of both priest and people,

    probably have no little influence over the demons which vex and

    314 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    harass tlie pagans, l)nt wliicli never trouble Christians. Saint-

    Martin, writing to liis father from the capital of Sz’chnen in

    1774, says: “The most sensible proof for the pagans, and one

    always in force, is the power the Christians have over demons.’

    It is astonisliing how these poor infidels are tormented, and

    they can find remedy onl}” in the prayers of Christians, by

    whose help they are delivered and then converted. Seven or

    eight leagues from this spot is a house which has been infested

    with demons for a month ; they maltreat all who come near

    them, and have set the dwelling on fire at different times. Tliey

    have had recourse to all kinds of superstitious ceremonies,

    calling in the native priests, but all to no effect ; and the master

    of the family where I am staying has now gone to assist

    them. He is a man of lively faith, and has already performed

    many miraculous cures.”

    It is interesting to compare with this the account of Friar

    Odoric, ” How the friars deal with devils in Tartary.” In his

    Travels we read that ” God Almighty hath bestowed such grace

    upon the Minor friars that in Great Tartary they think it a

    mere nothing to expel devils from the possessed, no more, indeed,

    than to drive a dog out of the house. For there be many

    in those parts possessed of the devil, both men and women,

    and these they bind and bring to our friars from as far as ten

    days’ journey off. The friars bid the demons depart forth

    instantly from the bodies of the possessed, in the name of

    Jesus Christ, and they do depart immediately in obedience to

    this command. Then those who have been delivered from

    the demon straightway cause themselves to be baptized ; and

    the friars take their idols, which are made of felt, and carry

    them to the fire, while all the people of the country round

    assemble to see their neighbor’s gods burnt. The friars accordingly

    cast the idols into the fire, but they leap out again. And

    so the friars take holy water and sprinkle it upon the fire, and

    that straightway drives away the demon from the fire ; so the

    friars again casting the idols into the fire, they are consumed.

    ‘ retires ^diJian(£S, Tomes I., pp. 39 and 151, passim, and IV., p. 27.

    ^ TAfe of Didier Saint-Martin, p. 35.

    CARTIISrG OUT DEVILS. 315

    And then the devil in the air raises a shout, saying :

    ‘ See

    then ! see then ! how I am expelled from my dwelling place !

    And in this way our friars baptize great numbers in that

    country.”

    When persons educated in a country like France allow their

    converts to entertain such ideas, even if they do not favor them

    :>Ss^

    Roman Catholic Altar near Shanghai.

    themselves, and countenance their endeavors to exorcise the

    possessed, we cannot look for a very high degree of knowledge

    or piety. If they are l)rouglit out of pagan darkness, it is but

    little if any better than into light hardly bright enough to enable

    them even to distinguish trees from men.

    The points of similarity between Buddhism and Romanism

    have already been noticed, and the converts from one to the

    » Yule, Cathay and tlie Way TJiitlier, Vol. I., p. 155.

    31G THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    other see but little more change than they do when going from

    Buddhism to the metaphysical speculations of the learned ju

    Mao. If Romisli ])riests have allowed their converts to worship

    before pagan images, provided a cross is put into the

    candles, it would not be difficult for the latter to put the names

    of their departed parents behind the ” tablets of religion,” and

    worship them together. Similar to such a permission is the

    combination of the cross and dragon carved on a Romish altar

    near Shanghai, given on the preceding page, and at which both

    pagans and Christians could alike worship.

    Agnuses, crosses, etc., are easily substituted for coins and

    charms, and it does not surely require much faith to believe the

    former as effectual as the latter. The neophyte takes away the

    tablet in his house or shop having shin, ‘aeon’ or ‘ spirit,’ written

    on it,’ and puts up another, on which is written shin, chin

    chu, tsaotien ti jin-wuh, or ‘ God, true Lord, Creator of heaven,

    earth, man, and all things,’ and burns the same incense befoi-e

    this as before that. Chinese demigods are changed for foreign

    saints, with this difference, tha’^ now they worship they know

    not what, while before they knew something of the name and

    character of the ancient hero from popular accounts and historical

    legends. They cease, indeed, to venerate the queen of

    Heaven, holy mother ISFa tsupu, but Mhat advance in true religion

    has been made by falling down before the Queen of

    Heaven, holy mother Mary ? The people call the Buddhist

    idols and the Romish images by the same name, and apply

    nmch the same terms to their ceremonies. Such converts can

    easily be numbered by thousands ; and it is a wonder, indeed,

    when one considers the nature of the case, that the whole population

    of China have not long since become ” devout confessors

    ” of this faith. Conversions depend, in such cases, on

    almost every other kind of influence than that of the Holy

    Spirit blessing his own word in an intelligent mind and a

    quickened conscience. The missionaries write that ‘• being

    forced in three or four months after their arrival to preach

    ‘ Converts in Sz’chuen sometimes steal tlie idols from the roadside. J.ettres

    ^difiantes, Tome I., p. 219.

    CHARACTER OF CATHOLIC MISSIONARY WORK. 317

    when they do not know tlie language sufficiently either to be

    understood or to understand theniselves, they have seen tlieir

    auditors inunediately embrace Christianity.”

    We pass no decision upon these converts, except what is

    given or drawn from the writings of their teachers. Human

    nature is everywhere the same in its great lineaments, and the

    effect of living godly lives in Christ Jesus will everywhere excite

    opposition, calumny, persecution, and death, accordiug to

    the liberty granted the enemies of the truth. There may have

    been true converts among the adherents to Romanism ; but what

    salutary effects has this large body of Chi-istians wrought in the

    vast population of China during the three hundred years since

    Ricci established himself at banking ? T^one, absolutely none,

    that attract attention. The letters of some of the missionaries

    written to their friends breathe a spirit of pious ardor and true

    Christian principle worthy of all imitation. Among the best

    letters contained in the Annales is one from Dufresse to his

    pupils then at Penang. It is a long epistle, and contains

    nothing (with one exception) which the most scrupulous Protestant

    would not approve. The same may be paid of most of

    the letters contained in the same collection written in prison

    by Gagelin, a missionary who was strangled in Annam in

    1833. It is hardly possible to doubt, when reading the letters

    of these two men, both of whom were mai’tyred for the

    faith they preached, that they sincerely loved and trusted in

    the Saviour they proclaimed. Many of their converts also exhibit

    the greatest constancy in their profession, preferring to

    suffer persecution, torture, imprisonment, banishment, and

    death rather than to deny their faith, though every inducement

    of prevarication and mental reservation was held out to

    them by the magistrates in order to avoid the necessity of proceeding

    to extreme measures. If undergoing the loss of all

    things is an evidence of piety, many of them have abundantly

    proved their title to this virtue. But until there shall be a

    complete separation from idolatry and superstitioTi ; until the

    confessional shall be abolished, and the worship of the A^irgin,

    wearing crosses and rosaries, and reliance on ceremonies and

    penances be stopped ; until the entire Scriptures and Decalogue

    318 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    be tauglit to tlie converts; until, in sliort, the essential doctrine

    of justitication by faitli alone be substituted for the many

    forms of justification l)y works, tlie mass of converts to liomanism

    in China can liai’dly be considered as much better than

    baptized pagans.’

    Turn we now to a brief survey of tlie efforts of Protestants

    among the Chinese, and the results which have attended their

    labors. Hardly forty years have passed since the treaty of Nan^

    king opened the five ports to their direct work in the Empire,

    and the results thus far necessarily partake of the incompleteness

    of new enterprises. The radical distinction between their

    modes of operation and those of their predecessors is indicated

    in the names ‘ Tvclioion of Heaven’s Lord ‘ and ‘ lteli»j;ion of

    Jesus ;

    ‘ the Romanists depend much on their teachings and cere-

    / monies to convert men, the Protestants on the preaching of the

    ‘ word of God and a blessing on its vital truths.

    The first Protestant missionary to China was Rev. Robert

    Morrison, of Morpeth, England, who was sent out by the London

    Missionary Society, lie arrived at Canton, by way of Xew

    York, in Se])teniber, 1807, and lived there for a year, in a quiet

    manner, in the factory of Messrs. Milner and Bull, of Xew York.

    He early made the acquaintance of Sir George T. Staunton,

    one of his firmest friends, and already well versed in Chinese

    studies; Mr. Robarts, the chief of the British factory, advised

    hijii to avow his intention to the Chinese of translating the Scriptures

    into their language, on the ground that it was a divine

    book which Christians highly esteemed and which the Chinese

    should have the opportunity of examining. In consequence of

    difficulties connected with the trade, he was obliged to leave

    Canton in 1S08 with all British subjects and repair to Macao,

    where he deemed it prudent to maintain a careful retirement in

    ‘ An exhaustive collection of the titles of every work of importance upon

    Catholic missions in China, as well as a rhuine of their jieriodical publications,

    may be found in M. Cordier’s Diction ihiirc hibii(H/riij)/iiqiU’ t/iK oiirrKijfK ChinotK,

    Tome I., pp. IJ^O-.ITH, and following these pages are the works concerning

    Protestant missions, pp. .ITH-G’J;}. Compare also Thos. Marshall, (Viristitui

    Mmioun: their Afieittx it lul their lienidtn, London, IHO;^, and Chr. H. Kalkar,

    Oetchichte der christlichen Mission uiit<:r den J/eiih n, (iiitiTsloh, 1879-80.

    THE PROTESTANTS IN CHINA—DR. MORRISON. 319

    order not to attract nndue notice from the Portuguese priests.

    His associate, Dr. Milne, observed, with reference to these traits

    in his character, that ” the patience that refuses to be conqnered,

    the diligence that never tires, the caution that always trembles,

    and the studious habit that spontaneously seeks retirement were

    best adapted for the tirst Protestant missionary to China.”

    He married Miss Mary Morton in 1809, and accepted the appointment

    of translator under the East India Company, in whose

    service he continued until 1834. His position was now a wellunderstood

    one, and his official connexion obtained for him all

    necessary security so that he could prosecute his work with diligence

    and confidence. He no doubt did wisely in the circumstances

    in wdiicli he was placed, for his dictionary could hardly

    have been printed, or his translation of the Scriptures and other

    works been so successfully carried on, without the countenance

    and assistance of that powerful body. The entire Xew Testament

    was published in 181-1:, about half of it having been translated

    by Morrison and the remainder revised from a mamiscript

    which had been deposited in 1739 in the British Museum.

    Rev. W. Milne arrived in July, 1813, as his associate, and resided

    in Canton, leaving his wife at Macao. In 1814 he sailed

    for the Indian Archipelago, provided with about seventeen

    thousand copies of Testaments and tracts for distribution among

    the Chinese there. He stopped at Banca on his route, and then

    proceeded to Java, where he was received by Sir Stamford

    Raffles, a man far in advance of the times in his suppoi-t and

    patronage of missions. Milne was enabled to travel over the

    island and distribute such books as he had. From Java he

    went to Malacca, then a Dutch settlement, afterward returning

    to Canton, where he remained undisturbed, though a severe

    persecution, in which Dufresse lost his life, was waging against

    the Christians throughout the Empire. Milne, finding it difficult

    to prosecute his labors in China (for the East India Company

    would not countenance him), embarked for Malacca in 1815, accompanied

    by a teacher and workmen for printing Chinese

    books ; here he resided till his death in 1822.

    The leading objects in sending Morrison to Canton, namely,

    the translation of the Bible and preparation of a dictionary,

    320 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    occupied the greater portion of his time. He soon commenced

    a Sabbath service with his domestics and acquaintances in his

    own apartments, which lie never relinquished, though it did not

    expand into a regular public congregation dui-ing his lifetime.

    He considered this as one of the most important parts of his

    work, and was much encouraged when in 1814 one of his

    audience, Tsai A-ko, made a profession of his faith and was

    baptized. He was the first convert, and it is reasonably to be

    hoped, judging from his after-life, that he sincerely believed to

    salvation.

    The compilation of the dictionary progressed so well that in

    1814 a few members of the Company’s establishment, among

    whom Mr. Elphinstone and Sir George Staujiton were prominent,

    interested themselves in getting it printed. The Court of

    Directors responded to the application on the most liberal scale,

    sending out as printer P. P. Tlioms, together with a printing

    office. The first volume was issued in 1817, and the whole was

    completed in six quarto volumes, containing four thousand five

    hundred and ninety-five pages, in 1823, at an expense of about

    twelve thousand pounds sterling. It consisted of three parts,

    viz., characters arranged according to their radicals, according to

    their pronunciation, and an English and Chhiese part. This

    work contributed much to the advancement of a knowledge of

    Chinese literature, and its aid in missions has been manifold

    greater. The plan was rather too comprehensive for one man

    to fill up, and also involved much repetition ; a reprint of the

    second part was issued in a smaller volume, in 1854, without

    material addition.

    While the dictionary was going through the press, the ti-anslation

    of the Old Testament was progressing by the joint labors

    of Morrison and Milne, and in November, 1818, the entire

    Bible was published. Another version, by Dr. Marshman at

    Serampore, was completed and printed with movable types in

    1822. A second edition of the Baptist version was never struck

    off, and comparatively few copies have ever been circulated

    among the Chinese. Both these versions are such that a sincere

    inquirer after the truth cannot fail to comprehend the

    meaning, though both are open to criticisms and contain mistakes

    LABORS OF MORKISOX AX I) MILNE. 321

    incident to first translations. Tliev are now numbered anionosuperseded

    versions like those of AViclif and Tyndal, the Italic

    and I’liilas in other languages, but will ever be regarded Nvith

    gratitude.’

    During the years he was thus engaged Morrison published a

    tract on Redemption, a translation of the Assembly’s Catechism,

    church of England liturgy, a synopsis of Old Testament history,

    a hymn book, and a Tour of the World ; altogether, nearly thirty

    thousand copies were printed and distributed. He prepared a

    Chinese grammar on the model of a common English grammar,

    which was printed at Serampore in 1815 ; also a volume

    of miscellaneous information on the chronolog}’, festivals,

    geography, and other subjects relating to China, under the

    title of View of China for Philological P>irj>oses. The list

    of his writings comprises thirty-one titles, of which nineteen are

    in English ; each work bears witness to his learning and piety.

    In 1821 Mrs. Morrison died, and about eight months after he

    visited Malacca and kSingapore, where he was nnich delighted

    by what he saw. The Anglo-Chinese College was then under

    the care of Collie, and this visit from its founder encouraged

    both principal and students. In 1824 he returned to England

    and was honorably received by his Majesty George IV., and

    obtained the approbation of all wdio took an interest in the

    promotion of religion and learning. He published a volume of

    sermons and a miscellany called Ilorce Sinicw while in England ;

    and having formed a second matrimonial connection, left his native

    land again in May, 1826, under different circumstances from

    the lirst time. During his absence the mission at Canton was

    left in charge of the first native preachei-, Liang Kung-fah, or

    Liang x\-fah, whom Morrison had ordained as an evangelist. This

    worthy man carried on his useful labors in preaching and writing

    until his death in 1855 at that city, from whence, in 1834,

    he had been forced to flee for his life. He takes a deservedly

    high position at the head of the native Pi-otestant Christian min-

    ‘ Medhurst’s CMnn, p. 217. Chinese Reposit/)ry, VoL IV., p. 249. Life of

    Morrison, by his widow, passim, 2 Vols , London, 1839. Wylie in Chinese Recorder,

    VoL I., pp. 121, 145. Lives of the I^eaders of our Church Universal.

    p. 819, Phila., 1879.

    Vol.. II.—21

    322 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    istiy among the Chinese in respect to time, and his writings

    have been highly. successful and beneficiah

    During the years whicli elapsed between the return and

    death of Morrison, he was principally occupied by his duties as

    translator to the Coinpany and in literary labors. Uh Metnoirs

    furnish all the particulars of their contents, as well as the details

    of his useful and uneventful life. His last years were

    dieered by the arrival of five fellow-laborers from the United

    States, the first who had come to his assistance since Milne left

    him in 1814. On the dissolution of the East India Company’s

    establishment, in April, 1834, he was appointed interpreter to

    the King’s Commission, but his death took place August 1,

    1834, at the age of fift3′-two, even then nnich worn out with

    his unaided labors of twenty-seven years.

    Perhaps no two persons were ever less alike than the founders

    of the Romish and Protestant missions to China, but no

    plans of opei’ations could be more dissimilar than those adopted

    by Ricci and Morrison. We have already sketched the lifework

    of the former, obtained from friendly sources. When

    Morrison was sent out the directors of the London Missionary

    Society thus expressed their views of his labors : ” AVe trust

    that no objection will be made to yoiw continuing in Canton

    till you have accomplished your great object of acquiring the

    language ; when this is done, you may pi’obably soon afterward

    begin to turn this attainment into a direction which may be of

    extensive use to the world ; ])erhaps you may have the honor of

    forming a Chinese dictionary, more comprehensive and correct

    than any preceding one, or the still greater honor of translating

    the sacred Scriptures into a language spoken by a third pai’t of

    the human race.” The enterprise thus connuitted to the hands

    of a single individual was only part of a system which neither

    the pi’ojectors nor their collaborator supposed would end there.

    They knew that the great work of evangelizing and elevating a

    mass of mind like that using the Chinese language reqnired

    large preparatory labors, of whi(di those here mentioned were

    among, the most important. China was a sealed country when

    Morrison landed on its shores, and he could not have forced his

    way into it if he had ti-ied, with any prospect of ultimate sueTHE

    MISSIONARIES RICCI AND MORRISON. 323

    cess, even by adopting the same plans which Ilicci did. It is

    doubtful if he could have lived there at all had it not been for

    the protection of the East India Company. After all his toil,

    and faith, and prayer, he only saw three or four converts, no

    churches, schools, or congregations publicly assembled ; but his

    last letter breathes the same desires as when he first went out:

    ” I wait patiently the events to be developed in the course of

    Divine Providence. The Lord reigneth. If the kingdom of

    God our Saviour prosper in China, all will be M’ell; other matters

    are comparatively of small importance.” He died just as the

    day of change and progress was dawning in Eastern Asia, but

    liis life was very far from being a failure in its results or influence.

    The principles of these two missionaries have been followed

    out by their successors, and we are quite willing to let their results

    be the test of their foundation upon the Chief Corner

    Stone.

    Protestant missions among the Chinese emigrants in Malacca,

    Penang, Singapore, Tihio, Borneo, and Batavia have never taken

    much hold upon them, and they are at present all suspended or

    abandoned. The first named was established in 1815 by Milne,

    and was conducted longest and with the most efficiency, though

    the labors at the other points have been carried on with zeal and

    a degree of success. The comparatively small results which have

    attended all these missions may be ascribed to two or three reasons,

    besides the fewness of the laborers. The Chinese residing

    in these settlements consist chiefly of emigrants who have fled

    or left their native countries, in all cases without their families,

    some to avoid the injustice or oppression of their rulers, but

    more to gain a livelihood they cannot find so well at home. Consequently

    they lead a roving life ; few of them marry or settle

    down to become valuable citizens, and fewer still are sufficiently

    educated to relish or cai’e for instruction or books. These communities

    are much troubled by branches of the Triad Society,

    and the restless habits of the Malays are congenial to most of

    the emigrants who enter among them. The Chinese, coming as

    they do from different parts of their own land, speak different

    dialects, and soon learn the Malay language as a lingua franca

    ;

    their children also learn it still more thoroughly from their

    324 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    mothers, notwithstanding the education their fathers give them

    in Chinese. The want of fixedness in the Cliinese population

    therefoi’e pai’tly accounts for tlie little permanent impression

    made on it in these settlements by missionary efforts.

    It was at Malacca that the Anglo-Chinese College was established

    in 1818 by Dr. Morrison, assisted by other friends of

    religion. Its objects were to afford Europeans tlie means of acquiring

    the Chinese language and enable Chinese to become

    acquainted with the religion and science of the West. It was

    productive of good up to the time of its removal to Hongkong

    in 18M. About seventy persons were baptized while the mission

    remained at Malacca, and about fifty students finished their education,

    part of whom were sincere Christians and all of them respectable

    members of society. Three or four of the converts have

    become preachers. There is little hesitation, however, in saying

    that the name and array of a college were too far in advance of

    the people among whom it w’as situated. The efforts made in

    it would probably have been more profitably expended in establishing

    common schools among the people, in wdiich Christianity

    and knowledge went hand in hand. It is far better among an

    igiiorant pagan people that a hundred persons should know one

    thing than that one man should know a hundred ; the M’idest

    diffusion of the first elements of religion and science is most desirable.

    The mission was not, however, large enough at any

    one time for its members to superintend many common schools.

    Among the books issued besides Bibles and tracts were a periodical

    called the Indo-Chinese Gleaner, edited by Dr. Mihie ; a

    translation of the Four Books, by Mr. Collie ; an edition of Premare’s

    Not’dla IJngxm Srnicep^ a life of ]\Iilno, and a volume of

    sermons by Morrison. The number of volumes printed in Chinese

    was about half a million.

    The mission at (reorgctown, in tlie island of Pcnang. like that

    at Malacca, was established in 1810 by the Ldndon Missionary

    Society, and continued till 1843, at which time it was suspended.

    The mission at 8inga])(>i’e was commenced in Isl!) by INfr. Milton

    ; the colonial govei’ument granted a lot, and a chapel and

    other buildings wei-e erected in the course of a few years.

    Messrs. Smith and Tonilin came to the settlement in 1827, but

    MISSIONS TO CHINESE IN THE ARCHIPELAGO. 325

    did not remain long. Gutzlaff came over from the Dutch settlement

    at lihio, but did not remain long enough to effect anything

    : nor did Abeel, who came fi-om China in 1831 and left soon

    after for Siam. The German missionary at this station, Thomsen,

    when about to leave in 1834, sold his printing apparatus to

    the mission newly established there under the American Board

    by Tracy. The prospects in China appearing unpromising at

    this time, it was designed by the directors of the American

    society to establish a well-regulated school for both Chinese and

    Malays, which was by degrees to become a seminary, and as

    many primary schools as there were means to support ; besides

    the usual labors in preaching and visiting, a type foundry and

    printing office for manufacturing books in Chinese, Malay,

    Bugis, and Siamese were also contemplated. In December,

    1834, Tracy was joined by the Kev. P. Parker, M.D., who

    opened a hospital in the Chinese part of the town for the

    gratuitous i-elief of the sick ; in 1835 Wolfe arrived from

    England, and tvVo years afterward Rev. Messrs. Dickinson,

    Hope, and Travelli, and T^orth from the United States, to take

    charge of the schools and printing office. The school established

    by the American mission was carried on until 1844, when

    the mission was removed to China and the Malay portion of it

    given up.

    The English mission, after the death of Wolfe in 1837, was

    under the care of Messrs. Dyer and Stronach, the former of

    whom had removed there from Penang and Malacca. Dyer

    had been for many years engaged in preparing steel punches for

    a font of movable Chinese type, and his patient labors had already

    overcome the principal difficulties in the way when the

    work was arrested by his death in 1843. He had, however,

    finished matrices for so many characters of two fonts that the

    enterprise needed only to be carried on by a practised mechanic

    to assure its success. This was afterward done by Messrs. Cole

    and Gamble of the American Presbyterian Board. Tn their

    superior styles and the different sizes now in use wo must

    not forget Dyer’s initiatory steps. .This gentleman labored

    nearly seventeen years with a consecration of energy and singleness

    of purpose seldom exceeded, and won the affectionate re326

    THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    spect of the natives wlierever lie lived. The mission was continued

    until 1845, when the printing office was removed to

    Hongkong, and nearly all pi’oselyting efforts in the colony by

    British Christians suspended. This point of intiuence has peculiar

    claims on them as a radiating centre for the various nations and

    tribes which trade in Singapore.

    The mission to the Chinese in Java was commenced by Slater

    in 1819 and reinforced in 1822 by Medhurst, who continued in

    charge of it, with some interruptions, until 1843, when he removed

    to Shanghai. The Dutch churches have carried on

    evangelizing work in all their colonies, aided and guided somewhat

    by the government officials, but have done almost nothing

    for the Chinese, except as they have been addressed in Malay.

    Such labors in the Dutch colonies have been left to them, and

    foreign societies have now withdrawn from the Archipelago in

    a great measure. The efforts of the American missionaries

    were confined to Borneo and Singapore up to 1844, when they

    all removed to China. The suspicious and restrictive bearing

    of the Dutch authorities toward such efforts had its influence

    in making this change.

    A summary of labors at the stations was given by Medhurst

    in 1837, who refers in it almost exclusively to the English missionaries,

    as the Americans had at that time only recently commenced

    operations. ” Protestant missionaries, considering themselves

    excluded from the interior of the Empire of China, and

    findiuir a host of emic-rants in the various countries in the

    Malayan Archipelago, aimed first to enlighten these, with the

    hope that if properly instructed and influenced they would, on

    their return to their native land, carry with them the gospel

    they had learned and spread it among their countrymen. With

    this view they established themselves in the various colonies

    around China, studied the language, set up schools and seminaries,

    wrote and printed books, conversed extensively with the

    people, and tried to collect congregations to whom they might

    preach the word of life. Since the commencement of their

    missions they have translated the Holy Scriptures and printed

    two thousand complete Bibles in two sizes, ten thousand Testaments

    and thirty thousand separate books, and ujiward of half

    THE MISSIONS WITHDRAWN. 327

    a million of tracts in Chinese ; besides four thousand Testaments

    and one hundred and fifty thousand tracts in the languages

    of the archipelago, making about twenty millions of

    printed pages. About ten thousand children have passed

    through the mission schools, nearly one hundred persons have

    been baptized, and several native preachers raised up, one of

    whom has proclaimed the gospel to his countrymen and endured

    persecution for Jesus’ sake.”

    Since this was written the number of pages printed and circulated

    has more than doubled, the number of scholars taught

    has increased many thousands, and preaching proportionably

    extended ; while a few more have professed the gospel

    by baptism and a generally consistent life. All these missions,

    so far as the Chinese are concerned, are now suspended,

    and, unless the Dutch resume them, are not likely to be soon

    revived. The greater openings in China itself, and the small

    number of cpialified men ready to enter them, invited all the

    laborers away from the outskirts and colonies to the borders,

    and into the mother country itself. The idea entertained, that

    the colonists would react upon their countrymen at home,

    proved illusive ; for the converts, when they returned to dwell

    among their heathen countrymen, were lost in the crowd, and

    though they may not have adopted or sanctioned their old

    heathen customs, were too few to work in concert and too

    ignorant and unskilled to carry on such labors.’

    When Robert Morrison died at Canton in 1S3-I-, the prospect

    of the extension of evangelistic work among the people was

    nearly as dark as when he landed ; in China itself during that

    time only three assistants had come to his help, for there were

    few encouragements for them to stay. Bridgman, the first missionary

    from the American churches to China, in company with

    D. Abeel, seaman’s chaplain at Whampoa, arrived in February,

    1830. Abeel remained nearly a year, when he went to Singapore,

    and subsequently to Siam. They were received in Canton

    ‘ Besides the regular publications of the societies engaged in this brancli of

    missions wliich give authentic details, see the memoirs of Abeel, Dyer, Milne,

    and Morrison, Tomlin’s Missionary Letters, and Abeel’s Residence in China and

    the neighboring countries.

    328 TIIK MIDDLE KIXGDOM.

    by the house of Olypliaiit ik Co., in wliose establishment ono

    or both were maintained during the first three years, and wliose

    partners remained tlic friends and supporters of all efforts for

    the evangelization of the Chinese till its close, fifty years afterward.

    Bridgman took four or five boys as scholars, but his

    limited accommodations prevented the enlargement of the school,

    and in 183-i it was disbanded by the departure of its pupils,

    whose friends feared to be involved in trouble.

    During the summer of 1833 Liang A-fah distributed a large

    number of books in and about Canton, a work which well suited

    his inclinations. Many copies of the Scriptures and his own

    tracts had reached the students assembled at the literary examinations,

    when the ofiicers interfered to prevent him. In

    1834 the authoriti,es ordered a search for those natives who

    had ” traitorously” assisted Lord Xapier in publishing an appeal

    to the Chinese, and Liang A-fah and his assistants were immediately

    suspected. Two of the latter were seized, one of

    whom was beaten with forty blows upon his face for refusing

    to divulge ; the other made a full disclosure, and the police next

    day repaired to his shop and seized three printers, with four

    hundi’ed volumes and l)locks ; the men were subsequently released

    by paying about eight hundred dollars. Liang A-fah

    fled, and a body of police arrived at his native village to arrest

    him, l)ut not finding him or his family they seized three of his

    kindred and sealed up his house, lie finally nuide his way to

    Macao and sailed to Singapore.

    Few books were distributed after this at Canton until ten

    years later, but numerous copies were circulated along the coast

    as far noi’th as Tientsin, accompanied with such explanations as

    could be given. The first and most interesting of these voyages

    was made by Gutzlaff, on board a junk proceeding from Bangkok

    to Tientsin, June 9, 1831, in which the sociable character

    of the Chinese and their readiness to receive and entertain

    foreignc’rs when they could do so without fear of their rulers

    was plainly seen.’ After his an-ival at Macao, December 13th,

    ‘ For an account of a trip much like it, see Annates de la Foi, Tome VII^

    p. 356.

    gutzlaff’s voyages along the coast. 329

    he was engaged by the enlightened chief of the English factory,

    Charles Marjoribanks, as interpreter to accompany Lindsay in

    the ship Lord Amherst, on an experimental commercial voyage

    which occnpied about seven months (February 20 to September

    5, 1832), and presented further opportunities for learning the

    feelings of the Chinese officers regarding foreign intercoui’se.

    Many religious and scientific books were distributed, among

    which was one giving a general account of the English nation

    that was eagerly received by all classes. Within a few weeks

    after his return Gutzlaff started a third time, October 20tli, in

    the Sylph, an opium vessel in the employ of a leading English

    firm at (Janton, and went as far as Manchuria while the winds

    were favorable. She returned to Macao April 29, 1833, visiting

    many places on the downward trip. The interest aroused

    in England and America among political, commercial, and religious

    people, fifty years ago, by the reports of these three

    voyages can now hardly be appreciated. They opened the prospect

    of new relations with one-half of mankind, and the other

    half who had long felt debarred from entering upon their rightful

    fields in all these diversified interests prepared for great

    efforts.

    Great Ihitain took the lead in breaking down the barriers,

    and the religious world urged on the work of missions. Contributions

    were sent to Gutzlaff from England and America, encouraging

    him to proceed, and grants were made to aid in

    printing Bibles and tracts. Li 1835 he gave up his connection

    with the opium trade and took the office of interpreter to the

    English consular authorities on a salary of eight hundred pounds

    sterling, which he retained till his death, August 9, 1851, aged

    fortj’-eight. lie was a man of great industry and knowledge

    of Chinese, and carried on a missionary organization at Hongkong

    by means of native Christians for several years. His

    publications in the Chinese, Japanese, Dutch, German, English,

    Siamese, C/Ochinchinese, and Latin languages number eightyfive

    in all ; they are now seldom seen.

    Li 1835 Medhurst visited China, and, assisted by the house of

    Olyphant & Co., embarked in the brig Huron, accompanied by

    the American missionary Stevens and furnished with a supply

    530 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    of books. During tlie three months of the voyage, tliey ” went

    through various parts of four provinces and many villages, giving

    away about eighteeTi thousand volumes, of which six thousand

    were portions of the Scriptures, among a cheerful and

    willing people, without meeting with the least aggression or injury

    ; having been always received by the people with a cheerful

    smile, and most genei-ally by the officers with politeness and

    respect.”‘ Medhurst’s ability to sj)eak the Amoy dialect introduced

    him to the peo})le in the junks at all the ports on the

    coast. Years after this voyage the Methodist missionaries at

    Fuhchau found that some of the books given away on Ilaitan

    Island had been read and rememl)ered, and thus j^repared the

    people there for listening to further preaching.

    The most expensive enterprise for this object was set on foot

    in 1830, and few efforts to advance the cause of religion among

    the Chinese have been planned on a scale of greater liberality.

    The brig Himmaleh was purchased in ISTew York by the firm of

    Talbot, Olyphant & Co., principally for the pui-pose of aiding

    missionaries in circulating religious books on the coasts of

    China and the neighboring countries, and arrived in August,

    183G. Gutzlaff, who was then engaged as interpreter to the

    English authorities, declined going in her, because in that case

    he must resign his commission, and there was no other missionary

    in China acquainted with the dialects spoken on the coast.

    The brig remained unemployed, therefore, until December,

    when she was dispatched on a cruise among the islands of the

    archipelago under the direction of Mr. Stevens, accompanied

    by G. T. Lay, agent of the Ih-itish and Foreign Bible Society,

    recently arrived. This decision of Gutzlaif, who had again and

    again urged such a measure, and had himself ceased his voyages

    on the coast because of his implied connection thereby with the

    opium trade, was quite unexpected. The death of Mr. Stevens

    at Singapore, in January, threw the chief responsibility and direction

    of the undertaking upon Capt. Fi’azer, who seems to

    have been poorly qualified for any other than the maritime

    part. Kev. Messrs. Dickinson and Wolfe went in Stevens’

    place, but as none of these gentlemen understood the Malayan

    language, less direct intercourse was had with the people at the

    THE DISTRIBUTION OF BOOKS. 331

    places where they stopped than was anticipated. The Himiiialeh

    reached China in July, 183T, and as there was no one

    qualiiied to go in her, she returned to the Ignited States. An

    account of the voyage was written by Lay and published

    in Xew York, in connection M’ith that of the ship Morrison to

    Japan in August, 1837, by C. W. King, of the tirni of Olyphant

    & Co., under whose direction the trip of the latter was

    taken for the purpose of restoring seven shipwrecked Japanese

    to their native land. Gutzlaff accompanied this vessel as interpreter,

    for three of the men were under the orders of the

    English superintendent ; the expedition failed in its object, and

    all the men were brought back. Probably fifty thousaud books

    in all were scattered on the coast in these and other voyages,

    and more than double that number about Canton, Macao, and

    their vicinity.

    This promiscuous distribution of books has been criticised by

    some as injudicious and little calculated to advance the objects

    of a Christian mission. The funds expended in printing and

    circulating books, it was said by these critics, who have never undertaken

    aught themselves, could have been nnich better employed

    in establishing schools. To scatter books broadcast

    among a people whose ability to read them was not ascertained,

    and under circumstances which prevented any explanation of

    the design in giving them or inquiries as to the effects produced,

    was not, at first view, a very wdse or promising course.

    But it must be remembered that prior to the treaty of Nanking

    this was the only means of appi’oaching the people of the

    country. The Emperor forbade foreigners residing in his borders

    except at Canton, and Protestant missionaries did not believe

    that it was the best means of recommending their teachings

    to come before his subjects as persistent violators of his laws

    ;

    God’s providence would open the way when the laborers M’ere

    ready, Xo one supposed that the desire to receive books was

    an index of the ability of the people to understand them or

    love of the doctrines contained in them. If the plan offered a

    reasonable probability of effecting some good, it certainly could

    do almost no harm, for the respect for printed books assured

    us that they would not be wantonly destroyed, but rather, in

    332 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    most cases, carefully preserved. The business of tract distribution

    and colportage may, however, be carried too far in advance

    of other parts of missionary work. It is much easier

    to write, print, and give away religious treatises, than it is

    to sit down with the people and explain the leading truths

    of the Bible ; but the two go well together among those who

    can read, and in no nation is it more desirable that they should

    be combined. If the books be given away without explanation,

    the people do not understand the object and feel too little

    interest in them to take the trouble to find out ; if the preacher

    deliver an intelligible discourse, his audience will probably

    remember its general purjwrt, but they will be likely to read

    the book with more attention and understand the sermon

    better when the two are combined ; the voice explains the

    book and the book recalls the ideas and teachings of the

    preacher.

    It is not surprising that the fate of these books cannot be

    traced, for that is true of such labors in other lands. On the

    one hand, they have been seen on the counters of shops cut in

    two for wra})})ing up medicines and fruit—which the shopman

    would not do with the worst of his own Ijooks ; on llie other, a

    copy of a gospel containing remarks was found on board the

    adniirars junk at Tinghai, when that town was taken by the

    English in 1840. Tliey certainly have not all been lost or contemptuously

    destroyed, though perhaps most have been like

    seed sown by the wayside. In missions, as in other things, it

    is impossil)le to predict the result of several courses of action

    before trying them ; and if it was believed that many of those

    who receive books can read them, there was a strong inducement

    to press this branch of labor, when, too, it was the only

    one which could be brought to bear upon large portions of the

    people.

    In 1832 the Chinese Itepository was commenced by Bridgman

    and encouraged by Morrison, who, with his son, continued

    to furnish valual)le papers and translations as long as they lived.

    Its object was to diffuse correct information concerning China,

    while it foi-med a convenient rcjiertoiy of the essays, travels,

    translations, and papers uf contriljutors. It was issued monthly

    A MISSION HOSPITAL AT CANTON. 333

    for twenty years under the editorship of Messrs. Bridgnian and

    AVillianis, and contains a history of foreign intercourse and missions

    during its existence. Tlie Chinese Recorder lias since

    chronicled the latter cause and the China Review taken the

    literary branch.

    In 1834 Dr. Parker joined the mission at Canton, and opened

    a hospital, in October, 1835, for the gratuitous relief of such

    diseases among the Chinese as his time and means would allow,

    devoting his attention chiefly to ophthalmic cases and surgical

    operations. This branch of Christian benevolence was already

    not unknown in China. Morrison in 1820 had, in connection

    with Dr. Livingstone, commenced dispensing medicines at

    Macao, while T. R. Colledge, also of the East India Company,

    opened a dispensary at his own expense, in 1827, and finding

    the number of patients rapidly increasing, he rented two small

    houses at Macao, where in four years more than four thousand

    patients were cured or relieved. The benevolent design was

    encouraged by the foreign community, and about six thousand

    five hundred dollars were contributed, so that it was, after the

    first year, no other expense to the founder than giving his time

    and strength. It was unavoidably closed in 1832, and a philanthropic

    Swede, Sir Andrew Ljungstedt, prepared a short account

    of its operations, and inserted several letters written to Dr. Colledge,

    one of which is here quoted :

    To knock head and tliank the great Englisli (hiotor. Venerahle gentleman :

    May your groves of almond trees be abundant, and the orange trees make tlie

    water of your well fragrant. As lieretofore, may you be made known to tlie

    world as illustrious and brilliant, and as a most profound and skilful doctor.

    I last year arrived in Macao blind in both eyes ; I liave to tliank you, venerable

    sir, for having by your excellent methods cured me perfectly. Your

    goodness is as lofty as a hill, your virtue deep as the sea; therefore all my

    family will express their gratitude for your now-creating goodness. Now I

    am desirous of returning home. Your profound kindness it is impossible for

    me to requite ; I feel extremely ashamed of myself for it. I am grateful for

    your favors, and shall think of them without ceasing. Moreover, I am certain

    that since you have been a benefactor to the world and your good government

    is spread abroad, heaven must surely grant you a long life, and you will enjoy

    every happiness. I return to my mean province. Your illustrious name,

    venerable sir, will extend to all time ; during a thousand ages it will not decay.

    I return thanks for your great kindness. Impotent are my words to sound

    your fame and to express my thanks. I wish you i!verlasting tranquillity.

    THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    Presented to the great Englisli doctor and noble gentleman ia the lltli year ol

    Taukwang, by Ho Shuh, of the district of Chau-ngan, in the department of

    Changchau in Fuhkien, who knocks head and presents thanks.

    Another patient, in true Chinese style, returned thanks for

    the aid he had received in a poetical effusion :

    This I address to the English physician : condescend, sir, to look upon it.

    Diseased in my eyes, I had almost lost my sight, when happily, sir, I met witli

    you. You gave me medicine ; you applied the knife ; and, as when the clouds

    are swept away, now again I behold the azure heavens. My joys know no

    bounds. As a faint token of my feelings, I have composed a stanza in heptameter,

    which, with a few trifling presents, I beg you will be pleased to accept.

    Then happy, happy shall I be

    !

    He lavishes his blessings, but seeks for no return

    ;

    Such medicine, such physician, since Tsin were never known

    :

    The medicine—how many kinds most excellent has he !

    The surgeon’s knife— it pierced the eye. and spring once more I see.

    If Tung has not been born again to bless the present age,

    Then sure ’tis Sii reanimate again upon the stage.

    Whenever called away from far, to see your native land,

    A living monument I’ll wait upon the ocean’s strand.

    When Dr. Parker\s scheme was made known to Howqna, the

    hono; merchant, he readily fell in with it and let his huilding

    for the purpose, and after the first year gave it rent free till its

    destruction in 1856. It was opened for the admission of patients

    Xovend)er 4, 1835. The peculiar circumstances nnder

    which this enterprise was started imposed some caution on its

    superintendent, and the hong merchants themselves seem to

    have had a hu’king suspicion that so ])ui’ely a henevolent object,

    involving so mnch expense of timt\ laboi’, and moiiev, must

    have some latent object which it l)ehooved them to watch. A

    linguist’s clei’k was often in attendance, partly for this purpose,

    for three or fonr years, and made liimself very useful. The

    patients, who numbered about a hundred daily, were often i-estless,

    and hindered their own relief by not patienth’ awaiting

    their turn ; but the habits of order in which they are trained

    made even such a company amenable to rules. The surgical

    operations attracted nnicli notice, and successful cui-es were

    spoken of abroad and served to advertise and recommend the

    institution to the hi<i;her ranks of native societv. It is difficult

    SUCCESS OF Parker’s medical scheme. 33^5

    at this date to full}- appreciate the extraordinary ignorance and

    prejudice respectin<^ foreigners wliicli tlie Chinese tlien entertained,

    and which could be best removed by some such form of

    benevolence. On the other hand, the repeated instances of

    kind feeling between friends and relatives exhibited among the

    patients, tender solicitude of j)arents for the relief of children,

    and the fortitude shown in bearing the severest operations, or

    faith in taking unknown medicines from the foreigners’ hands,

    all tended to elevate the character of the Chinese in the opinion

    of every beholder, as their unfeigned gratitude for restored

    health increased his esteem.

    The reports of this hospital in Sin-tau-lan Street gave the

    requisite information as to its operations, and means were taken

    to place the whole system upon a surer footing by forming a

    society in China. Suggestions for this object were circulated

    in October, 1836, signed by Messrs. Colledge, Parker, and

    Bridgman, in which the motives for such a step and the good

    effects likely to result from it were thus explained

    :

    We cannot close these siiggestions without adverting to one idea, thougli

    this is not the place to enlarge upon it. It is affecting to contemplate this

    Empire, embracing three hundred and sixty millions of souls, where almost

    all the light of true science is unknown, where Christianity has ncdredy shed

    one genial ray, and where the theories concerning matter and mind, creation

    and providence, are wofully destitute of truth ; it is deeply affecting to see the

    multitudes who are here suffering under maladies from which the hand of

    (diarity is able to relieve them. Now we know, indeed, that it is the glorious

    gospel of the l)lessed God onl}’ that can set free the human mind, and that it

    is only when enlightened in the true knowledge of God that man is rendered

    capable of rising to his true intellectual elevation ; but while we take care to

    give this truth the high place which it ought ever to hold, we should beware

    of depreciating other truth. In the vast conflict which is to i-evolutionize the

    intellectual and moral world, we may not underrate the value of any weai^on.

    As a means, then, to waken the dormant mind of China, may we not place a

    high value upon medical truth, and seek its introduction with good hope of

    its becoming the liandmaid of religious truth ? If an inquiry after truth upon

    any subject is elicited, is there not a great point gained ‘? And that inquiry

    after medical truth may be provoked, there is good reason to expect ; for, exclusive

    as China is in all her systems, she cannot exclude disease nor shut her

    people up from the desire of relief. Does not, then, the finger of Providence

    point clearly to one way that we should take with the people of China, directing

    us to seek the introduction of the remedies for sin itself by the same door

    througli which we convey those which are designed to mitigate or remove its

    336 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    evils ? Although medical truths cauuot restore the sick and afflicted to the

    favor of God, yet perchance the spirit of inquiry about it once awakened

    will not sleep till it inquires about the source of truth ; and he who comes

    with the blessings of health may prove an angel of mercy to point to the Lamb

    of God. At any rate, this seems the only open door ; let us enter it. A faith

    that worketh not may wait for other doors. Xcfne can deny that tlii.-i is a way

    of charity that worketh no ill, and our duty to walk in it seems plain and

    imperative.’

    This paper was favorably received, and in Februarj’, 1838, a

    public meeting was convened at Canton for the purpose of

    forming a society, ” tlie object of which shall be to encourage

    gentlemen of the medical profession to come and practise gratuitously

    among the Chinese by aifording the usual aid of hospitals,

    medicines, and attendants ; but that the support or remuneration

    of such medical gentlemen be not at present within

    its contemplation.” Some other rules were laid down, but the

    principle here stated has been since adhered to in all the similar

    establishments opened in other places. It has served, moreover,

    to retain them under the oversight and their resident physicians

    in the employ of missionary societies. Xo directions were

    given by the framers of the first society concerning the mode

    of imparting religious instruction, distributing tracts, or doing

    missionary work as they had opportunity. The signers of the

    original paper of suggestions also issued an address, further

    setting forth their views and expectations:

    To restore health, to ease pain, or in any way to diminish the sum of

    human misery, forms an object worthy of the philanthrojiist. But in the

    prosecution of our views we look forward to far higher results than the mere

    relief of human suffering. We hope that our endeavors will tend to break

    down the walls of prejudice and long-cherished nationality of feeling, and to

    teach the Chinese that those whom they affect to despise are both able and

    willing to become their benefactors. They shut the door against the teachers

    of the gospel ; they find our books often written in idioms which they cannot

    readily understand ; and they have laid such restrictions upon commerce that

    it does not awaken among thein that love of science, that spirit of invention,

    and that love of thought which it uniformly excites and fosters whenever it

    is allowed to take its own cour.se without limit or interference. In the way of

    doing them good our opportunities are few ; but among these that of practis-

    ‘ Chinese Repositoi’y, Vol. V., p. 372; Vol. VII., pp. 33-40. Lockhart’s Med’

    iciU Missionary in China, 18G1, p. 134.

    FORMATION OF MEDICAL MISSIONARY SOCIETY. 337

    ing medicine and surgery stands pre-eminent. Favorable results have hitherto

    followed it, and will still continue to do so. It is a department of benevolence

    peculiarly adai)ti’d to China.

    In the depaitnieut of benevolence to which our attention is now turned,

    purity and disinterestedness of motive are more clearly evinced than in any

    other. They appear unmasked ; they attract the gaze and excite the admiration

    and gratitude of thousands, llcul the nirk is our motto, constituting alike

    the injunction under which we act and tlie object at which we aim ; and

    which, with the blessing of God, we hope to accomplish by means of scientific

    practice in the exercise of an unbought and untiring kindness. We have

    called ours a missionary society because we trust it will advance the cause of

    missions, and because we want men to fill our institutions wlio to requisite

    skill and experience add the self-denial and liigh moral qualities which are

    looked for in a missionary.

    The undertaking so auspiciously begun at Canton, in 1835,

    has been carried on ever since, and was the pattern of many

    similar hospitals at the stations afterward occupied. The

    greatest part of the funds needed for carrying tliem on has

    been contributed in China itself by foreigners, wlio certainly

    would not have done so had they not felt that it was a wise and

    useful charity, and known something of the way their funds

    were employed. The hospital at Canton has exceeded even the

    hopes of its founders, and its many buildings and wards attest

    the liberality of the community which presented them to the

    society. The native rulers, gentry, and merchants are now

    well acquainted with the institution, and contribute to carry it

    on. During the forty-five years of its existence it has been

    conducted by Drs. Parker and Kerr nearly all the time, who

    have relieved about seven hundred and fifty thousand patients

    entered on the books ; tlie outlay has been over one hundred

    and twenty-five thousand dollars. Several dispensaries in the

    country have also been carried on with the society’s grants in

    aid. A separate hospital was conducted in Canton from 1846

    to 1856 by B. Ilobson, F.R.C.S., who iias left an enduring

    record of his labors in eighteen medical works in Chinese,

    many of them illustrated. J. G. Kerr, M.D., has also issued

    several small treatises, and the publications of this kind in

    Chinese suitable for the people, issued by them and other missionary

    physicians, already number nearly fifty.

    In these details of the inception of the plan of combining

    Vol. II.—22

    338 THE MIDDLE KINGDO^F.

    medical labors witli the work of Cliristian missions in China,

    it will be seen how the confined position of foreigners at Canton

    proved to be an incentive and an aid to its prosecution for

    some years—lo7ig enough to show its place and fitness. On

    the cessation of hostilities between China and tireat Britain in

    1842, other fields were opened, wliere its benefits were even

    more strongly shown. The war had left the people amazed

    and irritated at what they deemed to be a causeless and unjust

    attack by superior power. This was the case at Amoy, where no

    foreigners had lived until the British army took possession in

    August, 1841. In February, 1842, Eevs. D. x\beel and W. J.

    Boone went there and made the acquaintance of the people on

    Kulang su, who were much pleased to meet with those who

    could converse with them and answer their inquiries. Di-.

    Gumming was able, by their assistance, as soon as he opened

    his dispensary, to inform the people of his designs ; and the

    missionaries, on their part, preached the gospel to the patients,

    distributing in addition suitable books. The people were so

    ready to accept tlic proffenid relief that it was soon impossible

    for one man to do more than wait upon the blind, lame, diseased,

    and injured who thi-onged his doors. A few months

    more equally proved that while the phj^sician was attending

    to the patients in one room, the preacher could not ask for a

    better audience than those who were waiting in the adjoining

    one. An invitation to attend more formal services on the

    Sabbath was soon accepted by a few, whose curiosity led them

    to come and hear more of foreigners and their teachings. The

    reputation of the hospital was seen when taking short excursions

    in the vicinity, for persons M’ho had been relieved constantly

    came forward to express their heartfelt thanks. Thus

    suspicion gave way to gratitude, enemies were converted to

    friends, and those who had enjoyed no opportnnity of learning

    the character of foreigners, and had been taught to regard

    them as barbarians and demons, were disabused of tlicir (M-ior.

    The favorable impression thus made at Amoy, forty years ago,

    has never been suspended, and numerous native chnrchos have

    been gathered in all that region. Just the same uuicn of

    pi’eaching and practice was begun at iShaughai by Dr. W.

    POPULARITY AND INCREASE OF HOSPITAL WORK. 339

    Lockliart after the capture of that city in 1844, and has been

    continued to this time. Ningpo and Fuhcliau received similar

    benefits soon after ; tliese and many others have received aid

    fi’om foreigners residing in the Empire. Several thousand

    dollars were sent from Great Britain and the United States to

    further the object, and one society was formed in Edinburgh

    in 1S56 to develop this branch of missionary work.

    The proposition in the original scheme of educating Chinese

    youth as physicians and surgeons has not been carried out to a

    great extent. The practising missionary has hardl}^ the time

    to do his students justice, and unless they show great aptitude

    for operations, the assistants get M^eary of the I’outine of attending

    to the patients and go away. Dr. Lockhart speaks of

    his own disappointments in this I’espect. Dr. Parker had only

    one pupil, Kwan A-to, who took up the profession among his

    countrymen. Dr. Wong A-fun received a complete medical

    education in Edinburgh, and rendered efficient help for many

    years in the hospital at Canton till his death. The college at

    Peking has now a chair of anatomy and physiology, which will

    aid in introducing better practice. Dr. Kerr gives some other

    reasons for the small number of skilled physicians educated

    in the missionary hospitals, yet some of his pupils had obtained

    lucrative practice. Others had imposed themselves in

    remote places on the people as such, who had only been employed

    as students a few months—a gratifying index of progress.

    It is not likely, however, that the Chinese generally

    will immediately discard their own mode of practice and adopt

    another from their countrymen so far as to support them in

    their new system. They have not enough knowledge of medicine

    to appreciate the difference between science and charlatanism

    ; and a native physician himself might reasonably

    have fears of the legal or personal results of an unsuccessful or

    doubtful surgical case among his ignorant patients, so far as

    often to prevent him trying it.

    The successive annual reports issued from the various missionary hospitals in China furnish the amplest information concerning their management, and numerous particulars respecting the people who resort to them. At the Missionary Conference in Shanghai (1877) Drs. KeiT and (iould presented papers relating to this branch of labor in all its various aspects. The latter discussed the advantages of hospital versus itinerary practice ; the modes of bringing the patients under religious instruction: how to limit their number so as to not wear out the physician; oversight of assistants and education of pupils; how far this gratuitous relief should be extended; what was the best mode of getting a fee from those natives who were able to pay something; and, finally, the reasons for not uniting the ministerial functions with the medical. These various points show clearly how the experience of past years had manifested the wisdom and foresight of those who originated the work, and the manner it has developed in connection with other branches. If kept as an auxiliary agency, there seems to be no reason for reducing the efforts now made by foreign societies until native physicians and surgeons are able to take up this work, just as native preachers are to oversee their own churches.

    Another benevolent society, whose name and object was the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge in China, was established in December, 1834. The designs of the association were ” by all means in its power to prepare and publish, in a cheap form, plain and easy treatises in the Chinese language, on such branches of useful knowledge as are suited to the existing state and condition of the Chinese Empire.” It published six or eight works and a magazine during the few years of its existence, and their number would have been larger if there had been more persons capable of writing treatises. Since then this kind of mission work has been taken up by various agencies better fitted to develop its several departments, and, excepting newspapers, the preparation of suitable histories,

    geographies, and scientific books has been done by Protestant

    missionaries. The Chinese government has directed its employes

    in the ai’senal schools to translate such works as will

    fm-nish the scholars with good elementary books.

    Their usefulness as aids and precursors of the introduction

    of the gospel is very great. Among a less intelligent population

    they are not so important until the people get a taste for

    knowledge in schools ; but where the conceit of false learning

    SOCIETY FOR DIFFUSION OF USEFML KNOWLEDGE. 341

    and pride of literary uttaininents cause such a contempt for all

    other than their own l)ooks, as is the case in Chinese society,

    entertaining narratives and notices of otlier people and lands,

    got up in an attractive form, tend to disabuse them of these

    ideas (the offspring of arrogant ignorance rather than deliberate

    rejection) and incite them to learn and read more. The

    influence of newspapers and other periodical literature will be

    very great among the Chinese when they begin to think for

    themselves on the great truths and principles which are now

    being introduced among them. They have already begun to

    discuss political topics, and the great advantage of movable

    tj’pes over the old blocks tends to hasten the adoption of

    foreign modes of printing. It may, by some, be considered as

    not the business of a missionary to edit a newspaper ; but those

    who are ac(|uainted with the debased hiertness of heathen

    minds know that any means which will convey truth and

    arouse the people tends to advance religion. The influence

    of the Dnyanodya in Bombay, and other kindred publications

    in various places hi India, is great and good ; hundreds of the

    people read them and then talk about the subjects treated in

    them, who would neither attend religious meetings, look at the

    Scriptures, nor have a tract in their possession. The same will

    be the case in China, and it is not irrelevant to the work of a

    missionary to adopt such a mode of imparting truths, if it be

    the most likely way of reaching the prejudiced, proud, and

    ignorant people around him. When the native religious community

    has begun to take form, this mode of instruction and

    disputation will be left to its most intelligent members.

    In January, 1835, the foreign community in China established a third association, which originated entirely with a few of its leading members. Soon after the death of Dr. Morrison, a paper was circulated containing suggestions for the formation of an association to be called the Morrison Education Society, intended both as a testimonial of the worth and labors of that excellent man, more enduring than marble or brass, and a means of continuing his efforts for the good of China. A provisional committee was formed from among the subscribers to this paper, consisting of Sir G. 13. Robinson, Bart., Messrs. W. Jardine, D. W. C. Olypliant, Lancelot Dent, J. 11. Morrison, and Rev. E. C. Bridgnian ; live thousand nine hundred and seventy-seven dollars were immediately subscribed, and about one thousand five hundred volumes of books presented to its library. This liberal spirit for the welfare of the people among whom they sojourned reflected the highest credit on the gentlemen interested in it, as well as upon the whole foreign community, inasmuch as, with only four or five exceptions, none of them were united to the ‘jountry by other than temporary business relations.

    The main objects of the Morrison Education Society were ^’ the establishment and improvement of schools in which Chinese youth shall be taught to read and write the English language in connection with their own, by which means shall be brought within their reach all the instruction rc(piisite for their becoming wise, industrious, sober, and virtuous members of society, fitted in their respective stations of life to discharge well the duties which they owe to themselves, their kindred, their country, and their (iod.” The means of accomplishing this end by gathering a library, employing competent teachers, and encouraging native schools were all pointed out in this programme of labors, whose comprehensiveness was ecpialled only by its phi-]anthroj)y. Applications were made for teachers both in England and America ; from the former, an answer was received that

    there was no likelihood of obtaining one ; a person was selected

    in the latter, the Tlev. S. II. Brown, who with his wife arrived

    at Macao in February, 1839. In the interval between the formation

    of the Society and the time when its operations assumed

    a definite shape in its own schools, something was done in collecting

    information concerning native education and in supporting

    a few boys, or assisting Mrs. Gutzlaff’s school at Macao.

    THE MOKRISOlsr EDUCATION SOCIETY. 343

    The Society’s school was opened at Macao in November, 1839, with six scholars ; four years afterward it removed to INforrison Hill in Hongkong, into the connnodious quarters erected by its president, Lancelot Dent, on a site granted by the colonial government for the purpose. In 181-5 Brown had thirty pupils, who filled all the room there was in the house. He stated in his report of that year, as a gratifying evidence of confidence on their part, that no parent had asked to have his child leave during the year. ” When the school was coMiinenced,” observes Mr. Brown, ” few offered their sons as pupils, and even they, as some of them have since told me, did it with a good deal of apprehension as to the consequences. ‘ We could not understand,’ says one who first brought a boy to the school, ‘ why a

    foreigner should wish to feed and instruct our children for nothing.

    We thought there must be some sinister motive at the bottom

    of it. Perhaps it was to entice them away from their parents

    and country, and transport them by and by to some foreign

    land.’ At all events, it was a mystery. ‘ But now,’ said the

    same father to me a few weeks ago, ‘ I understand it. I have

    had my three sons in your school steadily since they entered it,

    and no harm has happened to them. The eldest has been qualified

    for service as an interpreter. The other two have learned

    nothing bad. The religion you have taught them, and of which

    1 was so much afraid, has made them better, I myself believe

    its truth, though the customs of my country forbid my embracing

    it. I have no longer any fear ; you labor for others’ good, not

    your own. I understand it now.’ “

    This suspicion was not surprising, considering the connnon

    estimate of foreigners among the people, and indicates that it

    was high time to attempt something Avorthy of the Christianity

    which they professed. The scliool was conducted as it would

    have been if removed to a town in Xew England ; and when its

    pupils left they were fitted for taking a high rank in their own

    country. Their attachment to their teacher was great. One

    instance is taken from the fourth report : ” Last spring the

    father of one in the older class came to the house and told his

    son that he could not let him remain here any longer but that

    he must put him out to service and make him earn something.

    His father is a poor miserable man, besotted by the use of opium,

    and has sold his two daughter into slavery to raise money. The

    boy ran away to his instructor and told him what his father

    liad said, adding, ‘I cannot go.’ Willing to ascertain the sincerity

    of the boy and the strength of his attachment to his

    friends, his teacher coolly replied, ‘ Perhaps it will be well for

    yon to go, for probably you could be a table-boy in some gentleman’s house and so get two dollars a month, which is two more than jou get here, where only your food is given yon.’ The little fellow looked at him steadily while he made these remarks, as if amazed at the strange language he used, and when he had done, turned hastily about and burst into tears, exclaiming, ‘ 1 cannot go ; if I go away from this school I shall be lost.’ He did not leave, for his father did not wish to force him away.”

    Another case shows the contidence of a parent on the occasion

    of the death of one of the pupils, his only child : ” He heard

    of his son’s illness too late to arrive before he died, and when he

    caiue it was to bury his remains. He was naturally overwhelmed

    with grief at the affliction that had come upon him, and his apprehensions

    of the effect of the tidings upon the boy’s mother

    were gloomy enough. After the funeral was over, I conversed

    with him. To my surprise he made not the least complaint as

    to what had been done for the sick lad, either in the “way of

    medical treatment or otherwise, but expressed many thanks for

    the kind and assiduous attentions that liad been l)estowcd upon

    him. He said he had entertained great hope of his son’s future

    usefulness, and in order to promote it had placed him here at

    school. But now his family would end in liimself. I showed

    him some specimens of his son’s drawing, an annisement of

    which he was particularly fond. The tears gushed faster as his

    eyes rested on these evidences of his son’s skill. ‘Do not show

    them tome,’ said he; ‘it is too much. I cannot speak now. I

    know you have done well to my son. I pity yon, for all your

    labor is lost.’ I assured him I did not think so. He had been

    a very diligent and obedient learner, and had won the esteem of

    his teachers and companions. He had been taught concerning

    the true drod and the way of salvation, and it might have done

    him everlastin<; ijood. As the old man was leavinc; me, he

    turned and asked if, in case he should adopt another boy, I

    would receive him as a pupil, to which I replied in the affirmative.”

    An assistant teacher, Wm. A. Macy, joined Mr. Brown in

    184G; the latter returned to America in 1847, and the school

    was closed in 184J>, owing chiei^y to the departure of its early

    patrons from China and the opening of new ])orts of trade,

    scattering the foreign comnnmity so that funds could not be

    ITS SUCCESSFUL OPERATION. 345

    obtained. Mission societies began to enlarge their work at

    tliese ports and occupy the same department of education as

    tlie Morrison School. It, however, did a good work in its education

    of half a score of men who now fill high places in their

    country’s service, or occupy posts of usefulness most honorably

    to themselves. The boy mentioned in a previous paragraph

    afterward went through a medical course at Edinbui-gh, became

    a practising surgeon and physician at Canton, and died there in

    1878, honored by foreigners and natives during a life of usefulness

    and benevolence. In that year Mr. Brown visited

    China for his health, and M’as received hy this Dr. Wong and

    others of his old pupils with marks of regard honorable and

    gratifying to both ; they fitted up a house there for him, presented

    him Avith a beautiful piece of silver plate, and paid his

    passage up to Peking and back to Shanghai.

    The efforts of Protestants for the evangelization of China

    were largely of a preparatory nature until the j-ear 1842. Most

    of the laborers were stationed out of China, and those in the

    Empire itself were unable to pursue their designs without many

    embarrassments. Mrs. Gutzlaff experienced many obstacles in

    her endeavors to collect a school at Macao, partly from the

    fears of the parents and the harassing inquiries of the police,

    the latter of which naturally increased the former ; partly again

    from the short period the parents were M’illing to allow

    their children to remain. The Portuguese clergy and government

    of Macao have done nothing themselves to impede Protestant

    missionaries in their labors in the colony since 1833,

    when the governor ordered the Albion press, belonging to Dr.

    Morrison’s son, to be stopped, on account of his publishing a

    religious newspaper called the Miscellanea /Sinicw / and this he

    was encouraged to do from knowing that the East India Company

    was opposed to its continuance. The governor intimated

    to one of the American missionaries in 1839 that no tracts

    nnist be distributed or public congregations gathered in the colony,

    but no objection would be made to audiences collected in

    his own house for instruction. Xo obstacle was put in the way

    of printing, and the press that was interdicted in 1833 was carried

    back to Macao in 1835, after the dissolution of the East India Company, under the diiection of the American mission. Several aids in the study of the Chinese language were issued from it during the nine years it was there under the author’s charge.

    The city of Canton was long in China one of the most unpromising

    fields for missionai-y labors, not alone when it was

    the only one in the Empire, but until recently. This was owins

    to several causes. The pui-suits of foreigners were limited

    to trade. Their residence was confined to an area of a few

    acres held by the guild of hong merchants allowed to trade with

    them, and all intercourse was carried on in the jargon known as

    Pi(Jeon-English. They were systematically degraded by the

    native rulers in the eyes of the people, who knew no other appellation

    for the strangers than fan-kicei^ or ‘ foreign devil.’

    The opium war of 1839-42 had aroused the worst passions of

    the Cantonese, and their conceit had been increased by the unsuccessful

    attempts to take the city in 1841 and 1847 by the

    English forces. Since 1858 the citizens have been accessible to

    other infiuences, and learned that their isolation and ignorance

    brought calamity on themselves.

    When Morrison died, Dr. Bridgman and the writer of these

    pages were the oidy fellow-laborers belonging to any missionary

    society then in China; the Christian church formed in 1835

    contained only three members. It was indeed a day of small

    things, but from henceforth grew more and more bright. The

    contrast even in twelve years is thus described in Dr. llobson’s

    report of his hospital ; the extract shows the little freedom then

    enjoj^ed in comparison with what it now is, nearly forty years

    after:

    MISSIOX AT CANTON. 347

    The average attendance of Chinese has been over a hundred, and nono have been more respectful and cordial in their attention than those in whom aneurism has been cured or sight restored, from whom the tumor has been extirpated or the stone extracted. These services must be witnessed to understand fully their interest. Deep emotions have been awakened when contrasting the restrictions of the first years of Protestant missions in China with the present freedom. Then, not permitted to avow our missionary character and object lest it might eject us from the country; nor could a Chinese receive a Christian book but at the peril of his safety, or embrace that religion without hazarding his life. Now he may receive and practise the doctrines of Christ, and transgress no law of the Empire. Onr interest may he more easily conceived than expressed as we have declared the truths of the gospel, or when looking upon the evangelist Liang A-fah, and thought of him fleeing for his life and long banished from his native land, and now ruturned to declare boldly the truths of the gospel in the city from which he had fled. Well did he call upon his audience to worship and give thanks to the God of heaven and earth for what he had done for them. With happy effect he dwelt upon the Saviour’s life and example, and pointing to the paintings suspended on the walls of the room, informed his auditors that these were performed by his blessing and in conformity to his precepts and example. Portions of the Scriptures and religious tracts are given to all the hearers on the Sabbath, and likewise to all the patients during the week, so that thousands of volumes have been sent forth from the hospital to scores of villages and to distant provinces.

    Before the capture of the city the people had become quite friendly to all missionary labors, through the ameliorating influences of the hospitals. While the city was beleaguered by the insin-gents in 1S55, the wounded soldiers were attended to by Dr. Hobson, who sometimes had his house full. After Canton was occupied by the allies in 1858 there was an enlargement of mission work in the city and envh-ons, which has been growing in depth and extent till the changes draw the attention of the most casual observer. Foreigners are now seldom addressed £LS yan-hvei, and their excursions into the country and along the streams are made in safety. The Germans have established

    stations in many places between Canton and Hongkong,

    and easterly along the river up to I\ia-ying, where the

    people are more turbulent than around the city or toward the

    west.

    The occupation of Hongkong in 1841 induced the American

    Baptists to make it a station immediately, and Messrs. Roberts

    and Shuck began the mission work, followed by the London

    Mission two years after, when Dr. Legge removed there from

    Malacca. The Roman Catholic missionaries also moved over

    from Macao at the earliest date. The colonial authorities in

    time began a system of common schools for all their subjects, so

    that mission schools have been less necessary since that date,

    but are still opened to some extent. The benevolent labors by

    German, British, and American missionaries in Plongkong and

    its vicinity have been zealously carried on in harmony, and there are fully fifty separate stations on the mainland northerly from the island which are worked from this colony. The number in the whole province of Kwangtung amounts to more than seventy-five, all of them efficiently established since 1858.

    The mission at Amoy was commenced in 1842 by Messrs.

    Abeel and Boone under the most favorable auspices. Tlie

    English expedition took that city in August, 1841, and on leaving

    it stationed a small naval and military force on the island

    of Kulang su. The people of Anio}’ and its environs cared perhaps

    little for the merits of the war then raging, but they knew

    that they had suffered much from it, and no intei-j^reters were

    available to carry on communication between the two parties.

    Both these gentlemen could converse in the local dialect, and

    were soon applied to by many desirous of learning something of

    the foreigners or who had business with them. The Chinese

    authorities were also pleased to obtain the aid of competent interpreters, and the good opinion of these dignitai-ies exercised considerable influence in inducing the people to attend upon the ministrations of the missionaries. Both officers and ]n-ivate gentlemen invited them to their residences, where they had opportunity to answer their reasonable inquiries concerning foreign

    lands and customs, and convey an outline of the Christian

    faith. One of these officers was Sen Ki-yu, afterward governor

    of the province and author of the Jlmj Ilwan CIn Lioh, in

    which he mentions Abeel’s name and speaks of his indebtedness

    to him in preparing that work. The number of books given

    away was not great, but part of every day was spent in talking

    with the people; when the hospital was opened by Dr. Cumming,

    greater facilities were afforded for intercourse. The iri’itation

    caused by what the people naturally looked upon as an unprovoked

    outrage was gradually allayed. There had been no long

    education of intercommunication between natives and foreigners

    in Amoy as at Canton. The work so pleasantly begun in 1842 in

    Kulang su lias extended over most parts of the province of

    Fuhkien, and westward into the prefecture of Chauchau in

    Kwangtung. There are more converts, native pastors, and

    schools in this province than any other in China.

    MISSIONS IlSr AMOY AND FUHCHAU. o49

    Its capital was never visited by a foreign enemy, nor did it siiflFer from the Tai-ping rebels, so that the gentry of Fuhchau have never been scattered nor their influence broken, like those of many other provincial centres. The mission work was commenced there in 1847 by Kev. Stephen Johnson, from Bangkok, who was soon joined by other American and English colleagues. He speaks of the great prejudices against all foreigners among the citizens in consequence of the evil effects of opium-smoking, which destroyed the people who would not cease to buy it. An experience of thirty years has not altogether removed this dislike, which even lately found an opportunity to exhibit itself in removing the Church Missionary Society’s mission from the Wu-shih Hill, where it had rented buildings for that period and ” injured the good luck of the city.” These prejudices will gradually give way with a new generation of scholars and merchants, and we can afford to be patient with them when we reflect on their slow progress in other things.

    The American Board, American Methodist, and Church Missionary

    Societies have each extended their stations beyond the

    city into the country almost to the borders of Chehkiang and

    Kiangsf, occupying in all nearly two hundred localities with

    their assistants. Besides these agencies, the China Inland mission

    has occupied three cities on the eastern coast and about

    sixteen other stations. The whole number of places in the

    province of Fuhkien where Protestants have opened their woi k

    in one form and another is now over two hundred and fifty,

    under seven separate societies. In most of these towns the

    good will of the people has remained with them when their objects

    have been fully imderstood ; and the contrasts of destroying

    their chapels or book-shops, as at Ivien-ning, have been found tt)

    be mixed up with other causes. Since the year 18G3 the island

    of Formosa has been occupied by two or three British societies,

    and the work of their missionaries in the cliief towns has been

    greatly prospered. Dr. Maxwell has carried on his hospital at

    Taiwan with eminent success as a means of winning the good

    opinion of suspicious natives and aborigines and inclining them

    to listen to the gospel. Native churches have been gathered in

    various parts remote from the coast, and thirty-five stations are

    now worked by the two British societies which have taken up this field. This progress has not been without opposition, for two of the converts were martyred a few years ago by their countrymen.

    The first missionary efforts north of Canton of a permanent nature were made in ISiO by Dr. Lockhart, in the establishment of a hospital at Tinghai in Chusan. They were resumed by Milne in 1842, and while the island was under the control of British troops. Gutzlaff occupied the office of Chinese jnagistrate of Tinghai in 1S42, and endeavored to hold meetings.

    Milne left Xingpo in June, 1843, and came to Hongkong overland

    dressed in a native costume. After his departure, some

    time elapsed before his place was supplied. The journal of his

    residence in that city indicated a great willingness on the part of

    people of all ranks to cultivate intercourse with such foreigners

    as could converse with them. Drs. Macgowan and McCarty

    went there in 1S43 and 1844 to open a hospital, and were followed

    by Messrs. Lowrie, Culbertson, Loomis, and Cole, the latter

    in charge of a printing office of English and Chinese type and a type foundry. Keligious services are held at the hospitals in that city, and Dr. IMacgowan says: “Each patient is exhorted to renounce all idolatiy and wickedness and to enibruce the religion of the Saviour. They are aduiitted by lens into the prescribing room, and before being dismissed are addressed by the physician and the native Christian assistant on the subject of religion.

    Tracts are given to all who are able to read.” The more such labors are carried on the better will the prospect of peace and a profitable intercourse between China and western nations become ; the more the people learn of the science and resources, the character and designs, and partake of the religion and benevolence of western nations, the icss chance will there be of collisions, and the more each party will respect the other. The fear is, however, that the disruptive and disorganizing influences will preponderate over the peaceful, and precipitate new outbreaks before these influences obtain much hold upon the Chinese.

    MISSIONS IN CHEHKIANG PROVINCE. 351

    The occupation of Ningbo in 1841 by the British troops, and their excursions into the country, had the effect of preparing the people of Zhejiang province to listen to foreigners. The mission work begun at Ningbo by three or four societies in 1842-4S has been carried on with marked success and completeness in its agencies. The various missions have taken different parts of the province for their particular fields, and by means of chapels, hospitals, schools, printing offices, itinerating and preaching excursions, and the sale of religious books, have made known the truth. A large part of the province was ravaged by the Tai-ping rebels, and after their dispersion in 18G7 Hangzhou and Shanking were occupied. These two cities were well high destroyed, but their inhabitants are learning that no force or governmental influence accompanies the preaching of the doctrines of Jesus. This idea has considerable strength among all the Chinese, and no disclaimer or explanations have much effect at first. The people of Zhejiang province have less energy and individuality than their countrymen in the southern provinces, but they have received the faith in simplicity, maintaining its ordinances and bearing its expenses in many cases without foreign aid. In the seventy stations now occupied by six societies from England and America, the advance is seen to be great since the capture of Ningbo and Tinghai forty years ago, even by the confession of those who still hold aloof. The good reputation of the missionaries was shown in the amicable settlement of an irritating question in Ilangchau city in 1874. It arose

    from the occupation of the hillside by the Americans, who had

    bought the spot when it was bare of houses and erected their

    own dwellings. These were deemed to be detrimental to its

    prosperity, and a riot arose which was quelled by the authorities.

    A proposal was then made l)y the gentry to remove them by getting

    another site in the lower city, and this harmonized all parties

    while establishing a good precedent for future observance.

    The great city of Shanghai was almost unknown to foreign

    nations until the treaty of Nanking opened it to their trade in

    1842. Its inhabitants suffered greatly at its capture, but the

    growing commerce ere long brought prosperity. As soon as arrangements could be made the London Mission moved its hospital from Chusan Island to Shanghai (in 1844), and Dr. Lockhart immediately commenced his work. Ilis rooms were thronged, and it is stated that ten thousand nine hundred and seventy eight patients were attended to between May, 1844, and June, 1845. The knowledge of this charity spread over the province of Kiangsu, and removed much of the ill-will and ignorance of the people toward foreigners. One effect in the city was to incite the inhabitants to open a dispensary during four summer months, for the gratuitous relief of the sick. It was called iS/d I Kuiig-kluJi, or ‘ Public Establishment for Dispensing Healing.’

    ” It was attended by eight or nine iiative practitioners, who saw

    the patients once in five da\’S ; this attendance was gratuitous

    on the part of some of them, and was paid for in the case of

    others. The medicines are supplied from the different apothecary

    shops, one furnishing all that is wanted during one day,

    which is paid for by subscriptions to the dispensary. The patients

    vary from three hundred to five hundred. The reason

    given for the recent establishment of this dispensary for relieving

    the sick is that it has been done by a foreigner who came

    to reside at the place, and therefore some of the wealthy natives

    wished to show their benevolence in the same way.” Such a

    spirit speaks well for the inhabitants of Shanghai, for nothing

    like competition in doing good has ever been started elsewhere,

    nor even a public acknowledgment made of the benefits conferred

    by the hospitals.

    During the voyage along the coast of China made by Messrs. Medhurst and Stevens, in 18l>5, they visited Shanghai ; and an abstract of Medhurst’s interview with the officers on that occasion is taken from his journal. lie had already been invited by them to enter a temple hard by the landing-place, to the end that they might learn the object of the visit, and was conversing with them.

    The party was now joined by another officer named Chin, a hearty, rough-looking man, with a keen eye and a voluble tongue. He immediately took the lead in the conversation, and asked whether we had not been in Sliantung and had communication with some great officers there ? He inquired after

    Messrs. Lindsay and GutzlafF, and wished to know whither we inttjnded to

    proceed. I told him these gentlemen were well ; but we could hardly tell

    where we should go, quoting a Chinese proverb, “We know not to day what

    will take place to-morrow.” But, I continued, as your native conjurors are

    reckoned very clever, they may perhaps be able to tell you. ” I am conjuror

    enough for that,” said Chin ; ” but what is your profession V ” I told him that I

    ENTRY OF MISSIONS INTO SnANGHAI. 35J?

    was a toachor of religion. . . . AfttT a little time a great noise was heard outside, and the arrival of the chief magistrati; of the city was announced, when several officers came in and requested me to go and see his worship.

    He appeared to be a middle-aged man, but assumed a stern aspect as I entered, though I paid him the usual compliments and took my seat in a chair placed opposite. This disconcerted him much, and as soon as he could recover himself from the surprise at seeing a barbarian seated in his presence, he ordered me to come near and stand before him, while all the officers called out, ” Rise ! Rise! ” I arose accordingly, and asked whether I could not be allowed to sit at the conference, and as he refused, I bowed and left the room. I was soon followed by Chin and Wang, who tried every effort to persuade me to return ; this, however, I steadfastly refused to do unless I could be allowed to sit, as others of my countrymen had done in like circumstances. . .

    Having been joined by Mr. Stevens (who had been distributing books

    among the crowd without), we proceeded to converse more familiarly and to

    deliver out books to the officers and their attendants, as well as to some

    strangers that were present, till they were all gone. A list of such provisions

    as were wanted had been given to Wang, whom we requested to purchase them

    for us, and we would pay for them. By this time tlie articles were brought

    in, which they offered to give us as a present, and seeing that there was no

    other way of settling the question, we resolved to accept of the articles and

    send them something in return. The rain having moderated, we aro.se to take

    a walk and proceeded toward the boat, where the sailors were busy eating

    their dinner. Wishing to enter the city we turned o3E in that direction, but

    were stopped by the officers and their attendants, and reluctantly returned to

    the temple. After another hour’s conversation, and partaking of refreshments

    with the officers, they departed. On the steps near the boat we observed

    a basket nearly full of straw, and on the top about half a dozen books

    torn in pieces and about to be burnt. On inquiry, they told us that these

    were a few that had been torn in the scuffle, and in order to prevent their

    being trodden under foot they were about to burn them. Recollecting, however,

    that Chin had told his servant to do something with the books he had

    received, it now occurred to us that he had directed them to be burned in our

    presence. On the torch being applied, therefore, we took the presents which

    were lying by and threw them on the fire, which put it out. The policeman, taking off the articles, applied the torch again, while we repeated the former operation ; to show them that if they despised our presents, we also disregarded theirs. Finally the basket was thrown into the river and we left, much displeased at this insulting conduct.’

    ‘ China: Its State and Prospects, pp. 371-377. Chinese Repository, Vol. IV.,pp. 330, 331.

    This extract might be thouffht to refer to an event which took place in the days of Hicci instead of one within the memory of the living. The progress and changes since it occurred in that city typify what has been going on throughout the whole land. Medhurst came back to Shanghai to live, within nine years after this incident, and when his failing health compelled his retirement in 1856, he closed an honorable service of thirty-nine years in the mission field. His dictionaries, translations, and writings in Chinese and English (ninety -three in all) indicate his industry ; and through them he, being dead, yet speaketh to the Chinese upon his favorite themes of redemption.

    The work which he began was reinforced by colleagues from Groat Britain and America until the whole population was reached, and towns lying south of the Yangzi river were all visited. After the rebellion was quelled in 1867 other cities were occupied, until about forty-five localities in all parts of Kiangsu are now held as preaching stations. People are returning to their deserted homes, and lands that lay fallow for years are retilled ; thither foreign and native preachers and colportors bring the living word without hindrance.’

    The consequences of the introduction of the gospel into China are likely to be the same that they have been elsewhere, in stirring up private and public antagonism to what is so opposed to the depravity of the human heart. There are some grounds for hoping that there will not be much systematic opposition from the imperial government when once the chiefs of

    the nation learn the popular sentiments and will. The principal

    reasons for this are found in the character of the people,

    who are not cruel or disposed to take life for opinions when

    those opinions are held l)y numbers of respectable and intelligent

    men. The fact that the officers of government all spring from

    the body of the people, and that these dignitaries are neither

    governed nor influenced by any State hierarch}’—by any body

    of pi’iestly men, who, feeling that the progress of the new faith

    will cause the loss of their influence and position, are determined

    to use the power of the State to put it down—leads us to

    hope that such officers as may adopt the new faith will not, on

    account of their profession, be banished (»r disgraced. Such

    was the case with Sii, who assisted and countenanced Ricci.

    ‘ In this connection the work of Dr. Lockhart {.}f<‘(h’riil 3fmionnry in China, London, IHCil) may prolitably be read for the details and results of mission labors in Shanghai.

    PROSPECTS FOR CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA. 355

    The general character of the Chinese is irreligious, and they

    care much more for money and power than they do for religions

    ceremonies of any kind ; they would never lose a battle as

    the Egyptians did because the Persians placed cats between the

    annies. There are no ceremonies which they consider so binding

    as to be willing to tight for them, and persecute others for

    omitting, except those pertaining to ancestral worship ;—these

    are of so domestic a nature that thousands of converts miirht

    discard them before much would be known or done by the people

    in relation to the matter. The conscientious Christian

    magistrate would be somewhat obnoxious to his master, and

    liable to be removed for refusing to perform his functions at

    the ching-hivang iniao before the tutelar gods of the Empire.

    These and other reasons, growing out of the character of the people

    and the nature of their political and religious institutions, lead

    to the hope that the leaven of truth will permeate the mass of

    society and renovate, purify, and strengthen it without weakening,

    disorganizing, or destroying the government. There

    are, also, some causes to fear that such will not be the case,

    arising from the ignorance of the people of the proper results

    of Christian doctrines; from a dread of the government respecting

    its own stability from foreign aggression ; from the

    evil consequences of the use of opium, and the drainage of the

    precious metals ; and from the disturbing effects of the intercourse

    with unscrupulous foreigners and irritated nati^’es often

    leading to riots and the interference of government authorities.

    The toleration of the Christian religion had been allowed throughout the Empire by imperial edicts issued in the reign of Shunchi and his son ; and often and often discountenanced and persecuted after those dates. The governmental policy had been long settled to disallow its profession by its subjects or the residence of the Koman Catholic missionaries in its borders.

    In 1844 the French envoy, M. de Lagrene, brought their disabilities to the notice of Kiying, who memorialized the throne and received the following rescript, which reversed the bloody decrees of 1722 and later years. For his efforts in this matter he deserves the thanks and remembrance of every friend of Christianity and the Chinese.

    Kiying, imperial fonimissioner, minister of State, and governor-general of Guangdong and Guangxi, respectfully addresses the throne by memorial.

    On examination it appears that the religion of the Lord of Heaven is that professed by all the nations of the West ; that its main object is to encourage the good and suppress the wicked ; that since its introduction to China during

    the Ming dynasty it has never been interdicted ; that subsequently, when

    Chinese, practising tliis religion, often made it a covert for wickedness, even

    to the seducing of wives and daughters, and to the deceitful extraction of the

    pupils from the eyes of the sick,’ government made investigation and inflicted

    punishment, as is on record ; and that in the reign of Kiaking special clauees

    were first laid down for the punishment of the guilty. The prohibition, therefore,

    was directed against evil-doing under the covert of religion, and not

    against the religion professed by the western foreign nations.

    Now the request of the French ambassador, Lagrene, that those Chinese

    who, doing well, practiise this religion, be exempt from criminality, seems

    feasible. It is right therefore to make the request, and earnestly to crave

    celestial favor to grant that, henceforth, all natives and foreigners without

    distinction, who learn and practise the religion of the Lord of Heaven, and do

    not excite trouble by improper conduct, be exempted from criminality. If

    there be any who seduce wives and daughters, or deceitfully take the pupils

    from the eyes of the sick, walking in their former paths, or are otherwise

    guilty of criminal acts, let them be dealt with according to the old laws. As

    to those of the French and other foreign nations who practise the religion, let

    them only be permitted to build churches at the five ports opened for commercial intercourse. They must not presume to enter the country to propagate religion.

    Should any act in opposition, turn their backs upon the treaties, and rashly overstep the boundaries, the local officers will at once seize and deliver them to their respective consuls for restraint and correction. Capital punishment is not to be rashly inflicted, in order that the exercise of gentleness may be displayed. Thus, peradventure, the good and the profligate will not be blended, while the equity of mild laws will be exhibited.

    This request, that well-doers practising the religion may be exempt from criminality, I (the commissioner), in accordance with reason and bounden duty, respectfully lay before the throne, earnestly praying the august Emperor graciously to grant that it may be carried into effect. A respectful memorial. DaoGuang, 24th year, 11th month, 19th day (December 28, 1844), was received the vermilion reply : ” Let it be according to the counsel [of Kiying].”

    This is from the Emperor.’-‘
    ‘ Tills is thus explained by a Chinese : ” It is a custom with the priests who teach this religion, when a man is about to die, to take a handful of cotton, having concealed within it a sharp needle, and then, while rubbing the individual’s eyes with the cotton, to introduce the needle into the eye and puncturi! the pupil with it ; the humors of the pupil saturate the cotton and are afterward used as a medicine.” This foolish idea has its origin in the extreme unction administered by Catholic i)riw5ts to the dying. See, moreover, th«

    Lettrca FjIiJitiiittK, Tome IV., p. 44.

    ‘^ Chiiieite lifj)Oiiitorij, Vol. XIV., p. 195.

    TOLKKATIOli OBTAINED THKOUGII KITING. 357

    This rescript <2,rniito(l toleration to the Christians already in the country, known only by the term Tien Cha k!ao, or ‘ Keligion of the Lord of Heaven/ and referring only to those persons who profess Catholicism. Subsequently the French minister was asked to state whether, in making this request of the Chinese officers, he intended to include Christians of all sects, as there had been some doubts on that point, he therefore brought the subject again before Qiying, who issued an explanatory notice, without making a second appeal to his sovereign. It is not necessary to quote the entire reply, which granted as conq:)lete toleration to all Christian sects as its writer was able to do from his knowledge of their differences. The term Vesii, kiao, since adopted for Protestants, was not then current. After quoting the purport of M. de Lagj’enc’s communication, Qiying thus sums up his conclusions :

    Now I find that, in the first place, when the regulations for free trade were agreed upon, there was an article allowing the erection of churches at the five ports. This same privilege was to extend to all nations ; there were to be no distinctions. Subsequently the commissioner Lagrene requested that the Chinese who, acting well, practised this religion, should equally be held blameless. Accordingly, I made a representation of the case to the throne, by memorial, and received the imperial consent thereto. After this, however, local magistrates having made improper seizures, taking and destroying crosses, pictures, and images, further deliberations were held, and it was agreed that these [crosses, etc.] might be reverenced. Originally I did not know that there were, among the nations, these differences in their religious practices. Now with regard to the religion of the Lord of Heaven—no matter whether the crosses, pictures, and images be reverenced or be not reverenced—all who, acting well, practise it, ought to be held blameless. All the great western nations being placed on an equal footing, only let them by acting well practise their religion, and China will in no way prohibit or impede their so doing Whether their customs be alike or unlike, certainly it is right that there should be no distinction and no obstruction.—December 22, 1845.

    The sentence in this document which speaks of local magistrates making improper seizures probably refers to something which had occurred in the country. At Shanghai the intondant of circuit issued a proclamation in November, lS-i5. based upon the Emperor’s rescript, in which he defines the Tien Chu Mao ” to consist in periodically assembling for unitedly worshipping the Lord of Heaven, in respecting and venerating the cross, with pictures and images, as well as in reading aloud the works of the said religion ; these are customs of the said relio-ion in question, and practices not in accordance with these cannot be considered as the religion of the Lord of Pleaven.”

    The varions associations and sects found throughout China are all included under the vague name of klao, or ‘ doctrine ;

    ‘ they are an annoyance to the government and well disposed people, and are referred to and excepted against in this proclamation.

    In a decree received by Qiying at Canton, February 20, 1846, relating to the restoration of the houses belonging to Romanists, the views of the Chinese government respecting the foreign missionaries were further nuxde known.

    On a former occasion Qiying and others laid before Us a memorial, requesting immunity from punishment for those who doing well profess the religion of Heaven’s Lord; and that those who erect churches, assemble together for worship, venerate the cross and pictures and images, read and explain sacred books, be not prohibited from so doing. This was granted. The religion of the Lord of Heaven, instructing and guiding men in well-doing, differs widely from the heterodox and illicit . ects ; and the toleration thereof has already been allowed. That which has been requested on a subsequent occasion, it is right in like manner to grant.

    Let all the ancient houses throughout the provinces, which were built in the reign of Kanghi, and have been preserved to the present time, and which, on personal examination by proper authorities, are clearly found to be their bona fide, possessions, be restored to the professors of this religion in their respective places, excepting only those churches which have been converted into temples and dwelling-houses for the people.

    If, after the promulgation of this decree throughout the provinces, the local officers irregularly prosecute and seize any of the professors of the religion of the Lord of Heaven, who are not bandits, upon all such the just penalties of the law shall be meted out.

    If any, under a profession of this religion, do evil, or congregate people from distant towns, seducing and binding them together; or if any other sect or bandits, borrowing the name of the religion of the Lord of Heaven, create disturbances, transgress the laws, or excite rebellion, they shall be punished according to their respective crimes, each being dealt with as the existing statutes of the Empire direct.

    Also, in order to make apparent the proper distinctions, foreigners of every nation are, in accordance with existing regulations, prohibited from going into the country to propagate religion.

    GOVERNMENT POLICY TOWARD MISSIONARIES. 359

    For these purposes this decree is given. Cause it to be made known.
    From the Emperor.'(‘ Chinese Repository, Vol. XV., p. 155, where the original is given.)

    The directors of Protestant missions did not think it right to violate the Last paragraph in this rescript, and confined their efforts to the open ports, where their agents had much preliminary work to do. This went on quietly, and on the whole peaceably, as the inhabitants found that the missionaries were their friends. Chapels^ schools, hospitals, printing offices, and dwellings were erected at all the ports, bo that by the year 1858 about one hundred Protestants were carrying them on. The number of converts was few, and there was not much result to show in tabular lists. It was a time of seed-sowing.

    In 1849 the adherents of Hong Xiu-quan began to make trouble in the west of Kwangtung, and to be called the Shangdihui / and the Peking authorities were unable to distinguish them from Protestants, who had thus rendered the name for God in the version of the Bible used by these misguided men. Their rapid successes against the imperial troops soon roused the utmost energies of the government to suppress them and retake Nanking. In 1856 a more dangerous struggle was precipitated by the impolitic action of Yeh Ming-chin, the governor-general at Canton, in respect to the Arrow, a snniggling lorcha carrying the British flag, which ended in a declaration of war against China. When hostilities ceased in 1858 by signing treaties of peace at Tientsin with envoys of the four nations there assembled, it was deemed to be a favorable time to introduce some definite stipulations respecting the toleration of Christianity in China. The rescripts of the Emperor DaoGuang in 1844 had never carried any real weight among rulers or people, nor had the Romanists ever been able to re-possess their old churches and other real estate taken from them. The largest part had long been occupied or destroyed.

    Any opposition to such a proposal was not likely to be very persistent on the part of the Chinese plenipotentiarie^s in face of the force at the call of those who had just captured the forts at Taku and held the city of Tientsin under their guns. The four nations. Great Britain, France, the United States, and Russia, were, as representatives of Christendom, in the providence of God brought face to face with China, the representative of paganism. They came to demand an arrangement of commercial, diplomatic, civil, and ex-territorial rights, and the introduction of religious privileges did not enter into their plans.

    The war on the part of the two first-named powers had no reference to religion, and their two colleagues wuuld doubtless have omitted the articles on toleration if the Chinese had held out on those alone. At this singular and most unexpected correlation of moral and physical forces among the nations of the world, involving the greater part of its inhabitants, the freedom of the rising church of Christ in China was quietly secured by the four following articles of toleration inserted in the treaties signed in June, 1858. They are here given in the order of their dates:

    Russian. Art. YIII.—The Chinese government having recognized the fact that the Christian doctrine promotes the establishment of order and peace among men, promises not to persecute its Christian subjects for the exercise of the duties of their religion; they shall enjoy the protection of all those who profess other creeds tolerated in the Empire. The Chinese government, considering the Christian missionaries as worthy men who do not seek worldly advantages, will permit them to propagate Christianity among its subjects, and will not hinder them from moving about in the interior of the Empire. A certain number of missionaries setting out from the open ports, or cities, shall be provided with passports signed by Russian authorities.

    American. Art. XXIX.—The principles of the Christian religion, as professed by the Protestant and Roman Catholic churches, are recognized as teaching men to do good, and to do to others as they would have others do to them. Hereafter, those who quietly profess and teach these doctrines shall not be harassed or persecuted on account of their faith. Any person, whether, citizen of the United States or Chinese convert, who according to these tenets peaceably teaches and practises the principles of Christianity, shall in no case be interfered with or molested.

    TREATY STIPULATIONS RESPECTING CHRISTIANITY. 361

    British. Art. VTTI.—The Christian religion, as professed by Protestants or Roman Catholics, inculcates the practice of virtue, and teaches man to do as he would be done by. Persons teaching it or professing it, therefore, shall alike be entitled to the protection of the (‘liinose authorities ; nor sliull any siicli, peaceably pursuing their calling, and not offending against the laws, be persecuted or interfered with.

    French. Art. XIII.—La religion Chretienne, ayant pour objet essentiel, de porter les honinies a la vertu, les niembres de toutes communions Ohretiennes jouiront d’une entiere securite pour leurs personnes, leurs proprietes, et le libre exercice de leurs pratiques religieuses ; et une protection efficace seia donnee aux missionnaires qui se rendront pacifiquement dans I’interieur du pays, munis des passeports reguliers dont il est parle dans TArticIe VIII. Aucune entrave ne sera apportee par les autorites de TEmpire Cliinois au droit qui est reconnu a tout individu en Chine d’einbrasser, s’il le vent, le Christianisme et d’en suivre les pratiques, sans etre passible d’aucune peine intiigee pour ce fait. Tout ce qui a etc precedemment ccrit, proclame, ou public en Chine par ordre du gouvernement centre le culte Chretien, est compK’tement abroge, et reste sans valeur dans toutes les pi’ovinces de I’Empire.

    An article similar to these in its general import has been

    inserted in nearly all the treaties subsequently signed with the

    Chinese. They contain as nmch freedom of faith and practice

    by converts as could be desired by any reasonable man ; but

    many missionaries were disappointed that their provisions were

    violated or disregarded by native officials. These sanguine persons

    often forgot that forbearance and time were both needed

    to bring the people and their rulers up to an appreciation of tlie

    new liberties and obligations contained in the treaties, and that

    their ignorance would be best and thoroughly removed by the

    living evidences of the purity and power of Christianity among

    its converts. These have already begun to show their faith by

    their works.

    The only additional action of the Chinese government in this direction that needs to be noticed is Article YI., agreed upon with the French envoy and contained in the convention signed at Peking in October, 1860, in relation to the restoration of property once o^^^^ed by the Romanists. The translation is as follows :

    Art. VI.—It shall be promulgated throughout the length and breadth of the land, in the terms of the imperial edict of February 20, 1846, that it is permitted to all people in all parts of China to propagate and practise the teachings of the Lord of Heaven, to meet together for preaching the doctrines, to build churches and to worship; further, all such as indiscriminately arrest [Christians] shall be duly punished, and such churches, schools, cemeteries, lands, and buildings as were owned on former occasions by persecuted Christians shall be paid for, and the money handed to the French representative at Peking for transmission to the Christians in the locality concerned.

    It is in addition permitted to French missionaries to rent and purchase land in all the jyovinces, and to erect buildings thereon at jpleasure^

    In carrying out the details of this article, so much injustice and violence were exhibited by native Ilomanists, supported by the missionaries in claiming lands alleged to have belonged to them as far back as the days of Ilicci and in the Ming dynasty, and forcing their owners and occupants to yield them without any or sufficient compensation, that riots and hatreds arose in many parts of China. Temples, houses, and shops which had been in the legal possession of natives for one or two centuries were claimed under this stipulation, and they forcibly resisted the surrender. The discontent became so great that the French minister at last issued a notice, about 1872, that no more claims of this kind would be received from the missionaries, and further complaints ceased. The imbroglio was heightened by the murder of two or three missionaries in Kweichau and Sz’chnen during the previous years, and the escape of the guilty parties into other provinces.

    ‘ This sentence in italics is not contained in the French text of the convention; hut as that Language is made, in Art. Ill of the Treaty of Tientsin, the oiiUi authoritative text, the surreptitious insertion of this important stipulation in the Chinese text makes it void. The procediu-e was unworthy ofa great nation like France, whose army environed Peking when the convention was signed.

    REVISION OF THE BIBLE IN CHINESE. 363

    The feelings of all the llomish missionaries at the removal of the many disabilities under which they had long lived and bravely suffered were expressed by the Bishop of Shantung in an encyclical letter to his people, in which he exhorts them to “maintain and diligently learn the holy religion. . . . Let them also pray that the holy religion may he greatly promoted, remembering that the kind consideration of the Emperor toward our holy religion springs entirely from the favor of the Lord of Heaven. After the reception of this order, let thanks be oifered up to God for his mercies in the churches, for three Lord’s days in succession. While the faithful rejoice in this extraordinary favor, let Ave Marias be recited to display grateful feelings.”

    The subject of the thorough revision of the Chinese Bible had long occupied the thoughts of those best acquainted with the need of such a work; and when the English missionaries met at Hongkong in 1843, a general conference of all Protestant missionaries was called to take measures for the preparation of so desirable a work. The version of Morrison and Milne was acknowledged by themselves to be imperfect, and the former had begun some corrections in it before his death. Messrs. Medhurst, Gutzlaff, Bridgman, and J. R. Morrison had united their labors in revising the New Testament, and published it in 1836.

    The greatest harmony existed at this meeting, and the books

    of the New Testament were distributed among the missionaries

    at the several stations without regard to denomination. Some

    discussion arose as to the best word for haptt’sm, for all agieed

    that it could not well be transliterated. The question was referred

    to a committee, which, finding itself unable to agree upon

    a term, recommended that in the proposed version this word

    should be left for each party to adopt which it liked. The

    term si I’l, wdiich had been in use to denote this rite since the

    days of Ricci, by Romanists of all opinions, had been taken by

    Morrison and Medhurst, and by those associated with them.

    Marshman preferred another word, tsan^ which was so unusual

    that it would almost always require explanation ; and in fact

    could only be fully explained by the ceremony itself. Some of

    the American Baptist missionaries have taken Marshman’s term,

    and others have proposed a third one, yuh. Their joint action

    with their brethren in regard to a common version was after* ward repudiated by the societies in the United States, which directed them to prepare separate translations.

    The question of the proper word for God in Chinese was also referred to a committee at this mooting in Hongkong, which reported its inability to agree; and this point, like the word for baptism, was therefore left to the decisiuns of the respective missions, after the version itself was finished. The delegates on the projected translation were chosen by the body of missionaries at each station, and met at Shanghai in June, 1847. They consisted of Eev. Messrs. Medhurst, J. Stronach, and Milne from the London Missionaiy Society, and Rev. Messrs. Bridgman, Boone, Shuck, Lowrie, and Culbei’tson from American societies ; of the last five, Culbertson took Lowrie’s place after his death, and Bp. Boone was never able to take an active share in the work, The New Testament was finished July 25, 1850, and was published soon after with different terms for God and Spirit.

    The Old Testament was translated by the three first named in 1853 ; while another, more adapted to common readers, was completed in 1862 by Messrs. Bridgman and Culbertson.

    (jiitzlaff also issued two or three revisions by himself. In 1805

    a committee was formed in Peking for the purpose of making

    a version of the SS. in the Mandarin dialect, especially that

    prevalent in the northern provinces. It was done by Rev.

    Messrs. Blodget, Edkins, Burdon, and Schereschewsky ; the New Testament was completed by them jointly in 1872, and the Old Testament in 1874 by the last named alone. It made the sixth complete translation of the Bible into Chinese during this century. Other translations have been made into the five southern patois of several books of the liible—and at ]S’ingpo and Amoy they are issued in the Romanized letters, and not in the Chinese character. These last, of course, are unintelligible to all natives not taught in mission schools.

    PROGRESS IN EVANGELIZING THE CHINESE. 365

    The influence and labors of female missionaries in China is, from the constitution of society in that country, likely to be the only, or principal means of reaching their sex for a long time to come, and it is desirable, therefore, that they should engage in the work by learning the language and making the acquaintance of the families jirouiid them. No nation can be elevated, <)!• (In’istian institutions placed upon a pci’nianent basis, until fenuiles are taught their rightful place as the companions of men, and can teach their children the duties they owe to their God, themselves, and their country. Fenuile schools arc the necessary complement of boys’, and a heathen wife soon carries a man back to idolatry if he is only intellectually convinced of the truths of Christianity. The comparatively high estimation the Chinese place upon female education is an encouragement to nniltiply girls’ schools. The formation of mission boards in western lands, conducted entirely by women, has made these schools and medical work among women in China both practical and necessary. No large mission is now regarded as complete without one or more women to carry on such parts of the work as belong to them ; and this is true of the Komish missions as well as Protestants.

    The advance in the work of evangelization since the opening of the Empire in 1842 by the Treaty of Nanking has been in the highest degree encouraging. It was soon ascertained that the hatred and contempt of foreigners which were supposed to dwell in the minds of all Chinese, needed only to be met with kindness and patient teachings to give place to respect and confidence.

    The sufferings from the war with England, and the evils resulting from the snuiggling and use of opium among the people, had embittered the minds of dwellers along the coast ; but as most of this was local, the enlargement of mission work did nuich to remove the ignorance which nursed the dislike. The free relief of disease and pain in the hospitals aided greatly to improve intercourse, so that at this day the natives in and around the open ports have become entirely changed in their feelings.

    This outline of Protestant mission work in China may be closed by a notice of the conference held at Shanghai in May, 1877, at which one hundi-ed and twenty-six men and women, connected wath twenty different bodies, assembled to discuss their common work in its various departments. The report of their proceedings gives fuller statistics of the work then going on than is to be found elsewhere, and the twenty-seven papers read and discussed in the three -days’ sessions contain the ripened views of competent thinkers upon the most serious questions connected with the welfare of China. The following table has been taken from this report, and exhibits a remarkable development in education and preaching, considering that most of the stations have been opened since 1860.

    STATISTICS or PROTESTANT MISSIONS TO CHINA FOR THE YEAR 1877.

    Branches of Mission Work.

    Stations where missionaries reside

    Out-stations

    Organized churches

    {i<) Wholly self-supporting

    (b) Partially self-supporting

    Communicants,

    -j g^^es ‘.’.’.’.’.’.[[‘.’.][‘.’.

    Pupils in 31 boj’s’ boarding-schools

    ” 177 boys’ day-schools

    ” 39 girls’ boarding-schools

    ” 82 girls’ day-schools

    ” 21 theological schools

    ” 115 Sunday-schools

    Pastors and preachers ordained

    Assistant preachers

    Colportors

    Bible women

    Church buildings for worship

    Chapels and preaching places

    In-patients / .^^^^ i.ospitals, 187G …\

    Out-puticnts, \ f f^

    Patients treated in 24 dispensaries, 1876.

    Medical students

    Contributions of native Christians, 1876..

    American British

    Missions. Missions.

    41 215 150 11

    115

    3,117

    2,183

    347

    1,255

    464

    957

    94

    2,110

    42

    212

    28

    62

    113

    183

    1,390

    47,635

    25,107

    19

    $4,482

    43

    290

    156

    7

    149

    4,504

    2,440

    154

    1,470

    206

    335

    120

    495

    28

    273

    46

    28

    118

    249

    3,905

    41,170

    16,174

    13

    $5,089

    Continental Missions.

    8

    27

    12

    687

    584

    146

    265

    124

    15

    22

    “”*3

    34

    3

    2

    15

    Total,

    92

    532

    318

    18

    264

    8,308

    5,207

    647

    2,991

    794

    1,307

    236

    2,605

    73

    519

    77

    92

    246

    457

    5,295

    88,805

    41,281

    33

    $9,571

    STATISTICS OF PROTESTANT MISSIONS TO CHINA. 367

    The total number of men who have joined the Protestant missions to the Chinese up to 1876, as nearly as can be ascertained, has been 484. Of these 41 were laymen, chiefly physicians, and no women or natives are included. Twelve American societies had sent out 212 ordained missionaries, and the same number of British societies had sent 196 ; all the agents of the 8 or 10 continental societies amounted to 35. The number in 1847 was 112 of all nations; in 1858, this figure had increased to 214 ; and a table made out in 1877 by the Shanghai Conference gives 473 as the total number of persons then engaged in active missionary work in China, including 15 not employed by any of the 25 societies enumerated. Of these 210 belonged to 10 American, 242 to 13 British, and 26 to 2 German societies; 172 of the whole number being wives of missionaries, and 63 unmarried females.

    No one acquainted with the practical evangelical work in

    China needs to be told that these statistics give no idea of the

    cliaracter and attainments of the fourteen thousand converts

    which have joined native churches, or the extent and thoroughness

    of the education given the five thousand seven hundred

    children counted in. Those who look for more than the

    merest beginnings of faith and culture in the minds of natives

    just brought out of the ignorance, sottishness, and impurity of

    heathenism into tlie brightness of Christianity, or those who

    .harshly criticise these results of mission work, will do well to

    examine for themselves more fully the limitations and nature

    of all its branches.

    ‘No mention is made in these items of the amount of printing

    done at mission presses, for those particulars are scattered

    over hundreds of reports issued during the last score or two

    years. The presses formerly conducted by Williams, Wylie,

    and Cole at Canton, Slianghai, and Hongkong during an aggregate

    of nearly forty years, have been superseded by more and

    larger establishments ; moreover, the facilities for transporting

    books render their issues more available at the remotest parts

    of the country. The manufacture of Chinese and Japanese

    types by the Presbyterian Mission press and foundiy furnishes

    native workmen with the means of printing newspapers and

    books, which otherwise could never have been done (so as to

    become self-supporting) by means of blocks. At this establishment

    over thirty millions of pages are annually sent forth,

    and this amount is more than doubled by all the other mission

    presses. The effects of this literature upon the native mind,

    which these agencies are scattering wider every year, will be

    apparent in the near future.

    The worth and labors of many men comprised in this number of missionaries have long been known to the Christian publie. Milne and Collie ardently longed and labored diligentlv for the comino; and extension of the kingdom of Christ in China, though not allowed to live in its borders. Few men in the missionary corps have exceeded Edwin Stevens in sound judgment and steady pursuit of a well-formed purpose, which in his case was to aid in perfecting the version of the Bible, he was employed nearly three years as seamen’s chaplain at Whampoa before entering the service among the Chinese, and his labors in that department were highly acceptable to those who frequented the port.

    The warm-hearted, humble piety and singleness of purpose

    of Samuel Dyer were also well known to every one engaged

    with him. His long and assiduous labors to complete a fount

    of Chinese metallic type, amid many obstacles and hindrances,

    were prompted by the hope that, when once finished, books

    could be printed M’itli more elegance, cheapness, and rapidity

    than in any other way. He lived to see it brought into partial

    use, and to satisfy himself concerning the feasibility of this

    plan. If the impulses of private friendship and the esteem

    generally entertained for David Abeel should prompt a notice

    of his character and labors, it would soon extend to many

    pages ; they have been well worthy the fuller notice which is

    given in his memoir. Among other biographies may be mentioned

    those of Walter M. Lowrie, William C. Burns, D. Sandeman,

    J. Henderson, Samuel Dyer, E. C. Bridgman, and W. Aitcheson, which will furnish information upon the details of their labors. Female missionaries have also done much, and will do more, in this work, which recpiires minds and labors in large variety. Mrs. Maiy Morrison, Mrs. Sarah Boone, Mrs. Theodosia Dean, Mrs. L\icy J]all, IVIrs. Henrietta Shuck, Mrs. Doty, and Mrs. Pohlman, all died in China before 184G—the first of scores of honorable women who have since thus ended their lives.

    JTOTICES OF FORMER PROTESTANT MISSIONARIES. 369

    Before closing this brief sketch of Christian missions among the Chinese, it may be well to mention some of the peculiar facilities and difficulties which attend the work. The business of transforming heathen society and reconstructing it on diristian principles is a great and proti’;u*tt'(l undertaking, and is to be commenced in all communities by working on individuals. The opposition of the iinregenerate heart can be overcome only by the transforming influences of the Spirit, but the intellect must be enlightened, and the moral sense instructed by a system of means, before the truths of the Bible can be intelligently received or rejected. This opposition is not peculiar to China, but it will probably assume a more polemic and argumentative cast there than in some other countries. The proud literati are not disposed to abase Confucius below the Saviour, but rather inclined to despise the reiteration of his name and atonement as a seesaw about “one Jesus who was dead, whom we affirm to be alive”. Medhurst notices a tract written against him by

    a Chinese, in which it is argued that ” it was monstrous in barbarians

    to attempt to improve the inhabitants of the Celestial

    Empire when they were so miserably deficient themselves.

    Thus, introducing among the Chinese a poisonous drug, for

    their own benefit to the injury of others, they were deficient in

    benevolence ; sending their fleets and armies to rob other nations

    of their possessions, they could make no pretentions to

    rectitude ; allowing men and women to mix in society and walk

    arm in arm through the streets, they showed that they had not

    the least sense of propriety ; and in rejecting the doctrines of

    the ancient kings they were far from displaying wisdom ; in

    deed, truth was the only good quality to which they could lay

    the least claim. Deficient, therefore, in four out of the five

    cardinal virtues, how could they expect to renovate others ?

    Then, while foreigners lavished money in circulating books for

    the renovation of the age, they made no scruple of trampling

    printed paper under foot, by which they showed their disrespect

    for the inventors of letters. Further, these would-be exhorters

    of the world were themselves deficient in filial piety, forgetting

    their parents as soon as dead, putting them off with deal coffins

    only an inch thick, and never so much as once sacrificing to

    their manes, or burning the smallest trifle of gilt paper for their

    support in the future world. Lastly, they allowed the rich and

    noble to enter office without passing through any literary examinations, and did not throw open the road to advancement to the poorest and meanest in the land. From ^JJ these, it appeared that foreigners were inferior to Chinese, and therefore most unfit to instruct them.”

    To these arguments, which commend themselves to a Chinese with a force that can hardly be understood by a foreigner, they often add the intemperate, immoral lives and reckless cupidity of professed Christians who visit their shores, and ask what good it will do them to change their long-tried precepts for the new-fangled teachings of the Bible? The pride of learning is a great obstacle to the reception of the humiliating truths of the Gospel everywhere, but perhaps especially in China, where letters are so highly honored and patronized. The language is another difficulty in the way of the diffusion of the Gospel, both on the part of the native and the missionary. The mode of education among the Chinese is admirably fitted for the ends they propose, viz., of forming the mind to implicit belief and reverence for the precepts of Confucius, and obedience

    to the government which makes those precepts the outlines of

    its actions, but it rather weakens the intellect for independent

    thought on other subjects. The language itself, as we have

    had opportunity to observe, is an unwieldy vehicle for imparting

    new truths, either by writing or speaking, chiefl}’ because of

    the additional burden every new character or term imposes upon

    the memory. The immense number, who read and speak this

    language, reconciles one, however, to extra labor and patience

    to become familiar with its forms of speech, and ascertain the

    best modes of conveying truth.

    When the five ports were opened in 1845 to practical missionary

    work among the two or three millions of people living

    in and around them, it was soon found that they were tolerably

    well-disposed to foreigners when they understood what was said

    to them. Fifteen years of constant labor changed the ignorance

    and suspicion with which they regarded the first missionaries,

    into respectful regard if not acceptance of their message. At

    the end of this period, the capture of Peking and the ratification

    of the treaties of Tientsin completed the opening of China

    to such labors as far as diplomatic agency could go. Congregations

    are now collected, and truth explained to them with a

    good degree of acceptance every Sabbath, and all that is wanted

    CHECKS AND PROMOTIONS IN CHINESE MISSIONS. 371

    to get more congregations is more preachers ; long before missionary labors are accomplished in all the ports, the whole land will afford every choice of climate and position. Facilities for learning the language are constantly increasing. Dictionaries, vocabularies, phrase books, grammars, and chrestomathies in all the dialects will soon be prepared ; and the list now is not small. They have all, with few exceptions, been made and printed by Protestant missionaries.

    Churches have increased since the first one was formed in Canton in 1835, and some of them are served by native evangelists, two of whom, Liang A-fali and Tsin Slien, of the London Mission, deserve mention as among the first of their countrymen who became educated, earnest preachers of the gospel. The future is full of promise, and the efforts of the church with regard to China will not cease until every son and daughter of the race of Ilan has been taught the truths of the Bible, and has had them fairly propounded for reception or rejection. They will progress until all the cities, towns, villages, and hamlets of that vast Empire have the teacher and professor of religion living in them; until their children are educated, their civil liberties understood, and political rights guaranteed; their poor cared for, their literature purified, their condition bettered in this world by the full revelation of another made known to them. The work of missions will go on until the government is modified, and religious and civil liberty granted to all, and China takes her rank among the Christian nations of the earth, reciprocating all the courtesies due fi-om people professing the same faith.

    CHAPTER XX.  COMMERCE OF THE CHINESE

    It is probable that the applications made in remote times to the rulers of China for liberty to trade with their subjects, partook in their opinion very much of the nature of an acknowledgment of their power; the presents accompanying the request were termed I’ung, and regarded as tribute, while the traders themselves also looked upon the intercourse in somewhat the same light. The chapter of the Book of Records, called the ” Tribute of Vu,’” is one of the most ancient documents in existence relating to the products of a country, and indicates a trade in them of no small extent. Silk, lacquer, furs, grass-cloth, salt, gems, gold, silver, and other metals, ivory and manufactured goods are enumerated ; they are mostly identified with articles still produced, as Legge has shown in his translation. The records of the origin and early course of this trade are lost to a great extent, but the Chinese annals furnish proof of similar traffic for two thousand years after the days of Yu. It had the effect of extending the influence of Chinese institutions among less civilized neighbors, and of making foreign commerce a means of benefit to all parties. The restrictions and charges upon all trade were of small amount at this early period ; as it extended, the cupidity of local officers led them to burden it with numerous illegal fees, which gradually reduced its value, and finally, in some instances, drove it away altogether.

    TIIADE WTTIT nillSrA. 373

    The materials in Chinese literature for investigating this subject after the period of the Han dynasty are abundant, and they will reward the careful analysis of foreign scholars. Mairo Polo, the two Arab travelers in a.d. 850 and 878, and Ibn BaAXCIENT tuta, in 1330, have each contributed their narratives, hinting therein more than they could carefully investigate of the wide ransre and value of the Chinese forei2;u commerce. During; the Ming dynasty this trade fell off, owing to the impoverishment of the land by the Mongols ; but when (about 1000) the stimulus of European ships along the coast began to develop and reward native manufactures, foreign nations and merchants appreciated the fact that it was more profitable to trade with China than attack her.

    The principal items of export and import have not materially changed during the last century ; the splendid fabrics of Chinese looms, their tea, lacquered ware, and products of their kilns, being still bartered for the cottons, metals, furs, and woolens of the west. Such articles as possess peculiar interest, and have not been already described, together with a few notices respecting the present extent and mode of conducting the trade, will suffice to explain its general features.’ The history of the cultin-e and trade in tea by Samuel Ball of Canton in 1835, may yet be considered as an authority upon the subject.

    The growth in the use of tea is instructive, too, rising from an importation of about eighty pounds into England in 1670, till it had so well vindicated its virtues and enlarged its use among that people, that in ISSO one hundred and eighty million pounds were required to supply them ; and more than that was exported elsewhere from China.

    The first item which attracts attention in the table of trade with China is opium, whose growth and momentous consequences require a detailed account. The use of opium as a medicine has not long been known to Chinese doctors, though, from the way the poppy is mentioned in the Hcrhal, there is reason to suppose it to be indigenous. The drug is called apien, in imitation of the word ojnum, while the plant is called qfuipinjj, a transliteration of the Arabic name Afi/un, from which country it was brought about the ninth century. It has many

    ‘Ample materials are now provided in the full reports of the Custom’s .service and the Exhibition Catalogues of Vienna, Paris, Philadelphia, etc. ; the reports of Rondot, Iledde, and other members of the French Legation in 1844 are still valuable.

    names, as great smoke, ‘black commodity black earthy foreign medicine; the last is the term used in the tarifP. The compiler of the llerhal^ who wrote two centuries ago, speaks of the plant and its inspissated juice, saying that both were formerly but little known ; he then concisely describes the mode of collecting it, which leads to the inference that it was then used in medicine. None was imported coastwise for scores of years after that date, but the poppy is now grown in every province and in Manchuria, and no real restraint is anywhere put on its cultivation. The juice is collected and prepared by the people for their own consumption in much the same manner as in India; as long ago as 1S30 we find one official observing in respect to the cultivation, which was extending, that it was ” not only bringing injury on the good, but greatly retarding the work of the husbandmen.”

    The mode of raising the poppy in the Patna district in India

    is thus described : The ryot or cultivator havhig selected a

    piece of ground, always preferring {cceter’is paribus) that which

    is nearest his house, fences it in. He then, by repeated ploughings

    and manuring, makes it rich and fine, and removes all

    the weeds and grass. Xext. he divides the field into two or

    more beds by small dikes of mould, running lengthwise and

    crosswise according to the slope and nature of the ground, and

    again into smaller squares by other dikes leading from the

    principal ones. A tank is dug about ten feet deep at one end

    of the field, from which by a leathern bucket, water is raised

    into one of the principal dikes and carried to every part as

    required ; this irrigation is necessary because the cultivation is

    carried on in the dry weather. The seed is sown in November,

    and the juice collected in February and March, during a period, usually, of about six weeks ; weeding and watering commence as soon as the plants spring up, and are continued till the poppies come to maturity. Cuts are then made in the capsule with a niishtur or notched iron instrument made of three or four sharp laiicet-likc plates; this is done at sunrise, and the exudation is scraped off next morning by a scoop or slttuJia, and deposited in the dish hanging at the ryot’s side. He takes it home and after draining it dry in a large shallow dish, turns

    OPIUM CULTIVATION IN INDIA. 375

    it over and over in the air for a month till the mass is equally dried, and it is lit to carry to the godown. Here it is thrown into a great tank, and kneaded to a uniform consistence; when ready it is rolled into balls according to the size of a brass bowl; these balls are covered with a coating of popp}’ petals, and stored in a drying-house till ready for jjacking. The quality of the article depends very much upon the care taken in the drying and covering with Ikoa or opium paste when the ball is prepared.

    The cultivator must deliver a certain quantity at the stipulated

    price to the collector, the amount being fixed by a survey

    of the field when in bloom ; he receives about one dollar and

    sixty-five cents for a seer (one pound thirteen ounces) of the

    poppy juice, which must be of a certain consistence. The ryot

    has, in most cases, already received the advance money, and if

    he sell this crude opium to any other than the collector, or if

    he fail to deliver the estimated quantity, and there is reason for

    supposing he has embezzled it, he is liable to punishment. In

    all parts of India, the cultivation of the poppy, the preparation

    of the drus, and the traffic in it until it is sold at auction for

    exportation, are under a strict monopoly. Should an individual

    undertake the cultivation without having entered into

    engagements with the government to deliver the produce at the

    fixed rate, his property would be immediately attached, and he

    compelled either to destroy the poppies, or give security for

    the faithful delivery of the product. The cultivation of the

    plant is compulsory, for if the ryot refuse the advance for the

    year’s crop, the simple plan of throwing the rupees into his

    house is adopted ; should he attempt to abscond, the agents

    seize him, tie the advance up in his clothes, and push him into

    his house. There being then no remedy, he applies himself as

    he may to the fulfilment of his contract. The chief opium district is on the Ganges valley, occupying the best land in Benares and Behar, to the extent of about a thousand square miles. The northern and central parts of India are now covered with poppies, while other plants used for food or clothing have nearly been driven out. In Turkey, Persia, India, and China many myriads of acres and millions of people are employed in the cultivation of poppies.’ The growth has extended so much in Persia that opium has lately come from thence to China.

    The preparation of the opium is superintended by official examiners, and is a business of some difficulty, from the many substances put into the juice to adulterate or increase its weight.

    Wetting it so that the mass shall be more fluid than it naturally is, mixing sand, soft clayey mud, sugar, coarse molasses, cowdung, pounded poppy-seeds, and the juice of stramony, quinces, and other plants, are all resorted to, though with the almost certain result of detection and loss. When the juice has been dried properly, to about seventy per cent, spissitude, it appears coppery brown in the mass, and when spread tliin on a \vhito plate, shows considerable translucency, with a gallstone yellow color and a slightly granular texture. When cut with a knife it exhibits sharp edges without drawing out into threads ; and is tremulous like strawberry-jam, to which it has been aptly compared. It has considerable adhesiveness, a handful of it not dropping from the inverted hand for some seconds.

    ‘ Chinese Eepository, Vol V. , p. 472.

    PREPARATIOiSr AND SALE OF OPIUM. 377

    All the opium grown is brought to Calcutta and stored in government warehouses, until it is exposed for sale at auction, at an upset price, graduated according to the market price in China. It is supposed not to cost much more than seven hundred rupees a chest, and is sold at as high an advance as it will bear. Great care is taken to suit the taste of the Chinese ; on one occasion, the East India Company refunded part of the price on a lot which had been differently prepared, to try whether that people would prefer it. There are several sorts of opium : Turkey and Persian, which sell cheapest, and reach China from Aden ; Patna and Benares which are sold at Calcutta ; and Malwa, which is cultivated out of British jurisdiction. In order to equalize its competition, an export duty was until 1812 put on each chest of one hundred and twenty-five rupees, which has been increased to six hundred rupees. The drug is rolled in balls, and then packed in strong boxes, weighing from one hundred and sixteen pounds for Patna, to one hundred and thirty-four pounds or one hundred and forty pounds for Malwa. .Mahva opium is grown and prepared by natives, and is often extensively adulterated ; between four hundred and five hundred cakes are in a chest, and the cultivator there receives double the wages of the ryot in Bengal.

    Opium chests are made of mango wood in Patna and Benares and consist of two parts, in each of which there are twenty partitions; the balls are carefully rolled in dry poppy leaves.

    The chest is covered with hides or gunny bags, and the seams closed so as to render it as impervious to the air as possible. After the drug is sold at auction, there is no further tax on it. The revenue from this monopoly has become so great and important, that its continuance is described by a leading editor in India as a matter of life and death to the Government. In 1840, the income was somewhat over two millions sterling; it has since steadily increased, till in 1872 it amounted to £7,657,000; the average annual sum between the years 1869 to 1876 was £6,524,000, and it has been over five millions ever since the peace of Tientsin. The purity and flavor of the drug has been carefully maintained by competent scientists, and by this date the prejudice in its favor has become so strong among the Chinese, as to induce them to pay an enormous premium for the Indian article over any native product.

    The use of opium among the Chinese two centuries ago must

    have been very little,^ or tjie writings of Bomish missionaries,

    from 1580 down to the beginning of the nineteenth century,

    would certainly have contained some account of it. It was not

    tdl the year 1767 that the importation reached a thousand chests,

    and continued at that rate for some years, most of the trade

    being in the hands of the Portuguese. The East India Company

    made a small adventure in 1773 ; and seven years after, a depot

    of two small vessels was established by the English in Lark’s Bay, south of Macao ; the price was then about $550 a chest.

    In 1781 the company freighted a vessel to Canton, but were obliged to sell the lot of 1,600 chests at 8200 a chest, to Sinqua, one of the hong-merchants, who, not being able to dispose of it to advantage, reshipped it to the Archipelago. The price in 1791 was about ,$370 a chest, and was imported under the head of medicine at a dutv of about seven dollars a hundredweight, including charges. The authorities at Canton began to complain of the two ships in Lark’s Bay in 1793, and their owners being much annoyed by the pirates and revenue boats, and inconvenienced by the distance from Canton, loaded the opium on board a single vessel, and brought her to AVhampoa, where she lay unmolested for more than a year. She was then loaded and sent out of the river, and the drug introduced in another ship ; this practice continued until 1820, when the governor-general and collector of customs issued an edict, forbidding any vessel to enter the port in which opium was stored, and making the pilots and Hang-merchants responsible for its being on board. The Portuguese were also forbidden to introduce it into Macao, and every officer in the Chinese custom-house there was likewise made responsible for preventing it, under the heaviest penalties. “Be careful,” says his excellency in conclusion, ” and do not view this document as mere matter of form, and so tread within the net of the law, for you will find your escape as impracticable as it is for a man to bite his own navel.”

    The importation had been prohibited by the Emperor JiaQing in 1800, under heavy penalties, on account of its use wasting the time and destroying the property of the people of the Inner Land, and exchanging their silver and commodities for the ” vile dirt ” of foreign countries. The supercargoes of the Company therefore recommended the Directors to prohibit its shipment to China from England and India, but this could not be done ; and they contented themselves by forbidding their own ships bringing it to China. The Hang-merchants were required to give bonds, in 1809, that no ship which discharged her cargo at Whampoa had opium on board ; but they contrived to evade the restriction. The traffic was carried on at Whampoa and Macao by the connivance of local officers, some of whom watched the delivery of every chest and received a fee; while their superiors, i-emote from the scene of smuggling, pocketed an annual bi’ibe for overlooking the violation of the imperial orders.

    SMUGGLIiS”G TRADE IN OPIUM. 379

    The system of bribery and condoning malpractices, so common

    in China, Is well illustrated bj a case which occurred in connection

    with this business. In September, 1S21, a Chinese inhabitant

    of Macao, who had been the niediuni of receiving from

    the Portuguese, and paying to the Chinese officers the several

    bribes annually given for the introduction of opium, was arrested

    by government for hiring banditti to assault one of his personal

    opponents. Having got the man in their power, quicksilver was

    poured into his ears, to injure his head without killing him;

    they also forced him to drink a horril)le potion of scalding tea

    mixed with the short hairs shaved from his head. The vile

    wretch who originated this cruel idea and paid the perpetrators

    of it, was a pettifogging notary, who brought gain to tlie officials

    by intimidating the people, until he was the pest and terror of

    the neighborhood. An official enemy at last laid his character

    and doings before the governor, who had him seized and thrown

    into prison, when he turned his wrath on his former employers,

    and confessed that he held the place of bribe-collector, and that

    all the authorities received so much per chest, even up to the

    admiral of the station. The governor, though doubtless aware

    of these practices, was now obliged to notice them ; but instead

    of punishing those who were directly guilty, he accused the senior Hang-merchant, a rich man, nicknamed the ” timid young lady,” and charged him with neglecting his suretyship in not pointing out every foreign ship which contained opium. It was in vain for him to plead that he had never dealt in opium, nor had any connection with those who did deal in it; nor could lie search the ships to ascertain what was in them, or control the authorities who encouraged and protected the smuggling of opium: notwithstanding all his pleas, the governor was determined to hold him responsible. He was accordingly disgraced, and a paper, combining admonition, with exhortation and entreaty, was addressed by his excellency to the foreigners, Portuguese, English, and Americans. The gods, he said, would conduct the fair dealers in safety over the ocean, but over the contraband smugglers of a pernicious poison, the terrors of the royal law on earth, and the wrath of the infernal gods in hades were suspended. The Americans brought opium, he observed, “because they had no king to rule them.” The opium ships thus being driven from Wkanipoa, and the Portuguese unwilling or afraid to admit it into Macao unless at a high duty, the merchants established a floating depot of receiving-ships at Lintin, an island between Macao and the Bogue. In summer, the ships moved to Kumsing moon, Kapshui moon, Hongkong, and other anchorages off the river, to be more secure against the tyfoons ; remaining near Lintin during the north-east monsoon, until 1S39.’

    The mode of introducing opium into the country, when the prohibitions against its use were upheld by the moral approval of the best portion of the native society, has hardly any interest now, except as a matter of history. It is a sad exhibition of power, habit, skill, and money all combining to weaken and overpower the feeble, desultory resistance of a pagan and ignorant people against the progress of what they knew was destroying them. The finality of such a struggle could hardly be doubted, and when the tariff of 1858 allowed opium to enter by the payment of a duty, the already enfeebled moral resistance seemed to die out with the extinction of the smuggling trade in opium, now raised to a licensed commerce. The rise and course of the trade up to that year can be learned from the volumes of the Chinese Repository and newspapers issued in China.

    ‘ CMnetse RejMisitonjj Vol. \., ]ip. 546-553.

    PREPAEING THE DllFCi FOR SMOKING. 381

    The utensils used in preparing the opium for smoking, consist chiefly of three hemispherical brass pans, two bamboo filters, two portable furnaces, earthen pots, ladles, straining-cloths, and sprinklers. The ball being cut in two, the interior is taken out, and the opium adhering to or contained in the leafy covering is previously sinnnered three several times, each time using a pint of spring water, and straining it into an earthen pot; some cold water is poured over the dregs after the third boiling, and from half a cake (weighing at first about twenty-eight pounds, and with which this process is supposed to be conducted), there will be about five pints of liquid. The interior of the cake is then boiled with this liquid for about an hour, until the whole is reduced to a paste, which is spread out with a spatula in two pans, and exposed to the fire for two or three minutes at a time, till the water is driven off; during this operation it is often broken up and re-spread, and at the last drying cut across with a knife. It is all then spread out in one cake, and covered with six pints of water, being allowed to remain several hours or over night for digestion. When sufficiently soaked, a rag filter is placed on the edge of the pan, and the whole of the valuable part drips slowly through the rag into a basket lined with coarse bamboo paper, from which it falls into the other brass pan, about as much liquid going through as there was water poured over the cake. The dregs are again soaked and immediately filtered till found to be nearly tasteless ; this weaker part usually makes about six pints of liquid.

    The first six pints are then briskly boiled, being sprinkled

    with cold water to allay the heat so as not to boil over, and removing

    the scum by a feather into a separate vessel. After

    boiling twenty minutes, five pints of the weak liquid are poured

    in and boiled with it, until the whole is evaporated to about

    three pints, when it is strained through paper into another pan,

    and the remaining pint thrown into the pan just emptied, to

    wash away any portion that may remain in it, and also boiled

    a little while, when it is also strained into the three pints. The

    wliole is then placed over a slow fire in the small furnace, and

    boiled down to a pi-oper consistency for smoking ; while it is

    evaporating a ring forms around the edge, and the pan is taken

    off the fire at intervals to prolong the process, the mass being

    the while rapidly stirred with sticks, and fanned until it becomes

    like thick treacle, when it is taken out and put into small

    pots for smoking. The boxes in which it is retailed are made

    of buffalo’s horn, of such a size as easily to be carried about the

    person. The dregs containing the vegetable residuum, together

    with the scum and washings of the pans, are lastly strained and

    boiled with water, producing about six pints of thin, brownish

    licpiid, which is evaporated to a proper consistence for selling to

    the poor. The process of seething the crude opium is exceedingly

    unpleasant to those unaccustomed to it, from the overpowering narcotic fumes which arise, and this odor marks every shop where it is prepared and every person who smokes it.

    The loss in weight by this mode of preparation is about one half. The Malays prepare it in much the same manner. The custom in Penang is to reduce the dry cake made on the first evaporation to a powder, and when it is digested and again strained and evaporated, reducing it to a consistence resembling shoemaker’s wax.

    The opium pipe consists of a tube of heavy wood furnished at the head with a cup which serves to collect the residuum or ashes left after combustion; this cup is usually a small cavity in the end of the pipe, and serves to elevate the bowl to a level with the lamp. The bowl of the pipe is made of earthenware, of an ellipsoid shape, and sets down upon the hole, itself having a small rimmed orifice on the fiat side. The opium-smoker always lies down, and the impossible picture given by Davis of a ” Mandarin smoking an opium-pipe,” dressed in his official

    robe.s and sitting up at a table, becomes still more singular if the

    author ever saw a smoker at his pipe. Tying along the couch,

    lie holds the pipe, aptly called yen tsiang, i.e., ‘ smoking-pistol,’

    60 near the lamp that the bowl can be brought close up to the

    flame. A pellet of the size of a pea being taken on the end of

    a spoon-headed needle, is put upon the hole of the l)owl and set

    on fire at the lamp, and inhaled at one whiff so that none of the

    smoke shall be lost. Old smokers will retain the breath a long

    time, filling the lungs and exhaling the fumes through the nose.

    The taste of the half-lluid extract is sweetish and oily, somewhat

    like rich cream, but the smell of the burning drug is rather

    sickening. When the pipe has burned out, the smoker lies listless

    for a moment while the fumes are dissipating, and then

    repeats the process until he has spent all his purchase, or taken

    his prescribed dose. When the smoking commences, the man

    becomes loquacious, and breaks out into boisterous, silly merriment,

    which gradually changes to a vacant paleness and shrinking

    of the features, as the quantity increases and the narcotic

    acts. A deep sleep supervenes fi’om half an hour to

    three or four hours’ duration, during which tlie pulse becomes

    slower, softer, and smaller than before the debauch. No refreshment

    is felt from this sleep, when the person has become

    a victim to the habir, but a universal sinking of the .powers

    of the body and mind is experienced, and complete reckless ness of all consequences, if only the craving for more can be appeased.

    MANNER OF SMOKING OPIUM. 383

    A novice is content with one or two wliiffs, which produce vertigo, nausea, and headache, though practice enables him to gradually increase the quantity; “temperate smokers,”‘ warned by the sad example of the numerous victims around them, endeavor to keep within bounds, and walk as near the precipice as they can without falling over into hopeless ruin. In order to do this, they limit themselves to a certain quantity daily, and take it at, or soon after meals, so that the stomach may not be so much weakened. A ” temperate smoker”(though this term is like that of a tenvperate robber, who only takes sliillings from his employer’s till, or a tenvperate bloodletter, who only takes a spoonful daily from his veins) can seldom exceed a mace weight, or about as much of prepared opium as will balance a pistareen or a franc piece ; this quantity Mill fill twelve pipes. Two mace weight taken daily is

    considered an innnoderate dose, which few^ can bear fur any

    length of time ; and those who are afraid of the effects of the

    drug upon themselves endeavor not to exceed a mace. Some

    persons, who have strong constitutions and stronger resolution,

    continue the use of the drug within these limits for many

    years without disastrous effects upon their health and spirits

    though most of even these moderate smokers are so nmch the

    slaves to the habit that they feel too wretched, nerveless, and

    imbecile to go on with their business without the stimulus.

    The testimony regarding the evil effects of the use of this pernicious drug, which deserves better to be called an ” article of destruction ” than an ” article of luxury,” are so unanimous that few can be found to stand up strongly in its favor. Dr. Smith, a physician in charge of the hospital at Penang, says: “The baneful effects of this habit on the human constitution are particularly displayed by stupor, forgetfulness, general deterioration of all the mental faculties, emaciation, debility, sallow complexion, lividness of lips and eyelids, languor and lacklustre of eye, and appetite either destroyed or depraved, sweetmeats or sugar beino; the articles that are most reiished.’*

    These synq)toms appear when the habit has weakened the physical powers, but the niiliappy man soon begins to feel the power cf the drug in a general languoi- and sinking, which disables him, mentally more than bodily, from carrying on his ordinary pursuits. A dose of opium does not produce the intoxication of ardent spirits, and so far as the peace of the community and his family are concerned, the smoker is less troublesome than the drunkard; the former never throws the chairs and tables about the room, or drives his wife out of

    doors in his furious rage ; he never goes reeling through the

    streets or takes lodgings in the gutter ; but contrariwise, he is

    quiet or pleasant, and fretful only when the effects of the pipe

    are gone. It is in the insupportable languor throughout the

    whole frame, the gnawing at the stomach, pulling at the shoulders,

    and failing of the spirits that the tremendous power of

    this vice lies, compelling the *’ victimized ” slave “to seek it yet

    again.” There has not yet been opportunity to make those

    minute investigations respecting the extent opium is used

    among the Chinese, what classes of people use it, their daily

    dose, the proportion of reprobate smokers, and many other

    points which have been narrowly examined into in regai’d

    to the use of alcohol ; so that it is impossible to decide the

    (question as to which of the two is the more dreadful habit.

    These statistics have, heretofore, been impossible to obtain in

    (“hina, and it will be very difficult to obtain them, even when

    a person who may have the leisure and abilities shall undertake

    the task.

    Various means have been tried by benevolent natives to dissuade their countrymen from using it, such as distributing tracts showing its ruinous effects, compounding medicines for the smoker to take to aid him in breaking off the habit, and denouncing the smoking-shops to government. A painter at Canton made a series of admonitory pictures, showing the several steps in the downward course of the opium-smoker, until beggary and death ended the scene; one of them, showing the young debauchee at his revels, is here introduced.

    DISASTROUS EFFECTS OF THE HABIT. 385

    Manner of Smoking Opium.

    A Chinese scholar thus sums up the bad effects of opium, which, ‘le says, us taken at first to raise the animal spirits and prevent lassitude i ” It exhausts the aninuil spirits, impedes the regular performance of business, wastes the flesh and blood, dissipates every kind of property, renders the person ill-favored, promotes obscenity, discloses secrets, violates the laws, attacks the vitals, and destroys life.” Under each of these heads he lucidly shows the mode of the process, or gives examples to uphold his assertions: “In comparison with arsenic, I pronounce it tenfold the greater poison ; one swallows arsenic because he has lost his reputation, and is so involved that he cannot extricate himself. Thus driven to desperation, he takes

    the dose and is destroyed at once ; but those who smoke the

    drug are injured in many ways. It may be compared to raising

    the Avick of a lamp, which, while it increases the blaze,

    hastens the exhaustion of the oil and the extinction of the light.

    Hence, the youth who smoke will shorten their own days and

    cut off all hopes of posterity, leaving their parents and wives

    without any one on whom to depend. From the robust who

    smoke the ‘flesh is gradually consumed and worn away, and the

    skin hangs like a bag. Their faces become cadaverous and

    black, and their bones naked as billets of wood. The habitual smokers doze for days over their pipes, without appetite ; when the desire for opium comes on, they cannot resist its impulse. Mucus flows from their nostrils and tears from their eyes; their

    very bodies are rotten and putrid. From careless observers the

    sight of such objects is enough to excite loud peals of laughter.

    The poor smoker, who has pawned every article in his possession,

    still remains idle ; and when the periodical thirst comes

    on, will even pawn his wives and sell his daughters. In the

    province of Xganhwui I once saw a man named Chin, who, being

    childless, purchased a concubine and got her with child; afterward, when his money was expended and other means all failed him, being unable to resist the desire for the pipe, he sold her in her pregnancy for several tens of dollars. This money being expended, he went and hung himself. Alas, how painful was his end ! “‘

    The thirst and burning sensation in the throat which the wretched sufferer feels, only to be removed by a repetition of the dose, proves one of the strongest links in the chain which drags him to his ruin. At this stage of the habit his case is almost hopeless; if the pipe be delayed too long, vertigo, complete prostration, and discharge of M’ater from the eyes ensue; if entirely withheld, coldness and aching pains are felt over the body, an obstinate diarrhoea supervenes, and death closes the scene.

    ‘ Chinese Repository, Vol. VII., p. 108.

    MISERABLE CONDITION OF TTIE SMOKER. 387

    The disastrous effects di the drug are somewhat delayed or modified by the quantity of nourishing food the person can procure, and consequently it is among the poor who can least afford the pipe, and still less the injury done to their energies, that the destruction of life is the greatest. The evils suffered and crimes committed by the desperate victims of the opium pipe are dreadful and multiplied. Theft, arson, muder, and suicide are perpetrated in order to obtain it or escape its effects. Some try to break off the fatal habit by taking a tincture of the opium dirt in spirits, gradually diminishing its strength until it is left off entirely; others mix opium with tobacco and smoke the compound in a less and less proportion, until tobacco alone remains. The general belief is that the vice can be overcome without fatal results, if the person firmly resolve to forsake it and keep away from sight and smell of the pipe, laboring as much as his strength will allow in the open air until he recovers his spirits and no longer feels a longing for it. Few, very few, however, emancipate themselves from the tyrannous habit which enslaves them; they are able to resist its insidious effects until the habit has become strong, and the resolution to break it off is generally delayed until their chains are forged and deliverance felt to be hopeless.

    Swallowing opium is commonly resorted to as a means of suicide; the papers published in China constantly report cases where physi(;ians have tried to save the patient by injections of atrophine before life is gone, and the number of these applications painfully show how lightly the Chinese esteem life. A comparison is sometimes drawn between the opium-smoker and drunkard, and the former averred to be less injured by the habit; but the balance is struck between two terrible evils, both of which end in the loss of health, property, mind, influence, and life. Opium imparts no benefit to the smoker, impairs his bodily vigor, beclouds his mind, and unfits him for his station in society ; he is miserable without it, and at last dies by what he lives upon.

    The import having been legalized in 1858, under the pressure

    of war, it was useless fo.v the imperial government longer to

    prevent the cultivation of the poppy, and the growth has rapidly

    extended throughout the provinces. Since all the opium brought,

    to China reaches it through Hongkong, and the consumption upon

    that island must be comparatively insignificant, the table on the

    following page, taken from the Chinese Customs Reports, will

    convey a very fair idea of the amount and value of the import

    during the past six years.

    Although it is difficult to make a general statement regarding an import of such varying quantity and value, the average total may be safely enough put at between twelve and thirteen million pounds, the approximate value of which is something over sixty million dollars, per annum. The prices range from $540 to $580 per pecul for Benares, $740 for Malwa, $560 for Patna, $540 for Persian, and nearly $1,500 for the prepared drug. The imports of Persian and Tnrkisli, though steadily increasing, amount as yet to hardly one-fiftieth of the total. But the merest guesses can be made at the production of native opium.

    TOTAL IMPORT OF OPIUM AT HONGKONG.

    Year.

    VALUE OF THE OPIUM TRADE. 389

    do without now,” said a British minister once in a soiTOwing

    mood, as he acknowledged its evils ; l)ut there are many other

    commodities, and a survey of the native and foreign conmierce

    will exhibit the extent and variety of the resources of the Empire.

    The Chinese trade with foreign ports in native vessels is

    at present nearly extinct, in consequence of the increase of foreign

    shipping and advantages of insurance enabling the native

    trader to send and receive commodities with less risk and more

    speed than by junks. The facilities and security of commerce

    in a country are atnong the best indices of its government being

    administered, on the whole, in a tolerably just manner, and on

    those principles which give the mechanic, farmer, and merchant

    a good prospect of reaping the fruits of their industry. This

    security is afforded in China to a considerable degree—far more

    than in Western Asia—and is one of the most satisfactory proofs,

    amid all the extortions and depravity seen in their courts and

    in society at large, that the people, generally speaking, enjoy the

    rewards of industry. Tranquillity may often be owing to the

    strong arm of power, but trade, manufactures, voyages, and

    large commercial enterprises must remunerate those Mdio undertake

    them, or they cease. The Chinese are eminently a trading

    people ; their merchants are acute, methodical, sagacious, and

    enterprising, not over-scrnpulous as to their mercantile honesty

    in small transactions, but in large dealings exhibiting that regard

    for character in the fulfilment of their obligations which

    extensive commercial engagements usually produce. The roguery

    and injustice which an officer of government may commit Nvithout

    disgrace would blast a merchant’s reputation, and he undertakes

    the largest transactions with confidence, being guaranteed

    in his engagements by a combination of mercantile security and

    responsibility, which is more effectual than legal sanctions.

    These are like the rings and. guilds, the corporations, patents,

    co-operative societies, etc., which are fonn<l in Europe and America,

    and enter into nil branches of industry.

    The coasting trade is disproportionately small compared with the inland commerce ; large junks cross the seas, but smaller ones proceed crAitionsly along the coast from one headland to another, and sail chiefly by day. Their cargoes consist of rice, stockfish, vegetables, timber, poles, coal, stones, and other bulky articles. Between the unopened ports the native trade still employs thousands of small craft, whose crews know no other homes; but the progress of steam and sailing ships has gradually turned the coasting trade into foreign bottoms.

    The foreign ports now visited by Chinese junks are Singapore,

    Labuan, Borneo, IJangkok and elsewhere in Siam, Manila, Corea,

    and Japan. The cargoes carried to these places comprise

    coarse crockery, fruits, cottons, cheap silks, and metallic articles

    of great vai’iety. European goods are not brought to any great

    amount by junks, but the variety of articles of food or domestic

    use and raw materials for manufactures, known under the general

    denomination of Straits2yrodtice, is large. Rice is the chief

    import from Bangkok and Manila ; i-attans, pepper, and betelnut

    from Singapore and Borneo; biclK’-de-mer from the Sulu

    Sea. Of the amount of capital embarked iji this commerce, the

    number of vessels, the mode in which it is carried on, and the

    degree of risk attending it, little is known. It is gradually decreasing,

    and all the valuable portions are already transferred to foreign bottoms.

    The natural facilities for inland navigation in China are, as the first chapters of this work have pointed out, unusually great, and have been, moreover, improved by art for travel and transportation.

    INTERNAL TRADE AND TRANSIT DUTIES. 391

    It will be a hazardous experiment for the peace of the country to hastily supplant the swarms of boats on its rivers and canals by shallow-draught steamers and launches, and throw most of their poor and ignorant crews out of employment. The sugar, oil, and rice of the southern provinces, the tea, silk, cotton, and crockery of the eastern, the furs, grain, and medicines of the northern, and the metals and minerals of the western, are constantly going to and fro and demand myriads of boats; add thereto the immense number of governmental boats required for the transportation of salt and the taxes paid in kind, the passage-boats plying in great numbers between contiguous towns, the pleasure and cfflcial barges and revenue cutters, and lastly, the far greater number used for family residences, and the total of the inland shipping, it will be seen, imist be enormous. It is, however, impossible to state the amount in any satisfactory

    manner, or give an idea of the proportion between the different

    kinds of boats. The transit duties levied on the produce carried

    in these vessels partake of the nature of an excise duty, and

    afford a very considerable revenue to the government, the greatest

    so, probably, next to the land tax. It was estimated that

    the additional charges for transit duty and transportation on

    only those teas brought to Canton overland for exportation

    amounted to about a million of dollars. Whenever a boat loaded

    with produce passes the custom-house, the suj^ercargo presents

    his manifest, stating his name and residence, the name of the

    boat and its ci’ew, and the description of the cargo, and when

    the charges are paid proceeds on his voj-age. The tariff on

    goods at these places is light, but their number in a journey of

    any length, and the liability to imforeseen detention and exaction

    by the tidewaiters, greatly increase the expense and delay.

    Since the treaties of 1842 and 1858, the Chinese and British

    authorities have been in constant dispute about the right and

    mode of levying transit dues on foreign and native produce

    going through the country—a dispute which involves and disturbs

    the whole revenue system of the country.

    The mode of conducting the foreign trade with China now

    presents few of those peculiarities which formerl}” distinguished

    it, for the monopoly of the hong merchants and of the East India

    Company- both being abolished, native and foreign traders

    are free to choose with whom they will deal. The introduction

    of regular printed permits, clearances, and other customs blanks

    to facilitate trade, followed the treaty of 18-12, and their acceptance

    has now extended to every port. The employment of

    foreigners to conduct the details of the trade in connection with

    native officers and clerks has worked easily, and its extension

    to all commerce is gradually perfecting.

    The articles of trade are likely to increase in variety and amount, and a brief account of the principal ones, taken from the Chinese Commercial Guide, may be interesting to those unacquainted with the character of this commerce. The foreign export and import trade divides itself into two branches, that between India and the Archipelago and China, and that beyond the Isthmus of Suez ; the former comprises the greatest variety, but its total value is much less. Alum of an inferior quality is sent to India to use in dyeing, making glass, and purifying water. Aniseed stars, seeds of many sorts of anioniaiii, euhehs, and tarrtieric are all sought after for their aromatic properties. The first is the small five-rayed pod of the lUicium anisatum / the pods and seeds are both prized for their aromatic qualities, and a volatile oil, used in perfumery and medicine in Europe, is obtained from them; the Asiatics employ them in cooking, Ciihths^ the produce of a vine (d/hcha ofic/’/tah’s), are externally distinguished from black pepper chiefly by their lighter color, and a short process where the seed is attached to the stalk.

    The taste is warm or pungent and slightly bitter, with a pleasant

    aromatic smell ; the Chinese article goes to India, the consumption

    of Europe being supplied from Java. Turmeric is

    the root of the CiircuDui longa^ and is used over the Archipelago

    and India for its coloring and aromatic properties, and for

    food. The roots are uneven and knotty, of a yellowish-saffron

    color ; the smell resembles ginger, with a bitterish taste; and the

    two are usually combined in the composition of curry-powders.

    Its color is too fugacious for a dye, no mordant having yet been

    found to set it.

    Cassia and cassia oil are sent abroad in amounts far exceeding

    the whole of the preceding; cassia buds also form an article

    of commerce. Cassia oil is used for confectionery and perfumery,

    and the demand is usually much greater than the supply.

    Arsenic is exported to India for medicinal purposes, and the

    native sulphuret or orpiment is sometimes shipped under the

    Hindustani name of harfalL as a A^ellow colorinii; druij;.

    Wrist and ankle rings, known by the Hindu name of Ijangles,

    ai’e exported largely, with false pearlsj coral, and beads ; the

    Chinese imitate jade and chalcedony in their mamifacture, iu

    which the Hindus do not succeed so well. The universal use

    and brittle nature of these ornaments render their consumption

    enormous in Eastern Asia. Ilrans foil., or tinsd, is made into

    the kin hwa, or ‘golden flowers,’ M-hich are placed before

    shrines and adorn the rooms of houses, imitating bouquets and

    tableaux with cuiming art ; it is also used for coatings of toys.

    Bones and horiis are manufactured into buttons, opium-boxes,

    PRINCIPAL EXPORTS FROM CHINA. 393

    hair-pins, etc., some of which go abroad. Many kinds of use^

    fill and fancy articles are made from bamboo and rattan, and

    their export forms an item of some importance. Chairs, baskets,

    canes and umbrella handles, fishing-rods, furniture, and

    similar articles are still made in vast variety. The same may

    be said of the great assortment of articles comprised under the

    head of cui-‘tosities, as vases, pots, jars, cups, images, boxes, plates,

    screens, statuettes, etc., made of copper, iron, bronze, porcelain,

    stone, wood, clay, or lacquered-ware. During tlie last twenty

    years the native shops have been nearly cleared of the choicer

    specimens of Chinese art and skill in these various departments.

    Caj)oo)’ cutchefy, corrupted from the Hindu name Aafur.

    Jcuchri, or camphor root, is the aromatic root of the Iledychiwn,

    and also of the K(jemj)ferla ; it goes to Bombay for perfumery,

    plasters, and other medicinal ends, as well as preserving clotlies

    from insects. It is about half an inch in diameter, and cut up

    when brought to market ; it has a pungent, bitterish taste.

    Galangal is another aromatic root exported for perfumery and

    medicine. The name is probably a corruption of Kaoliang, or

    Ko-loiig, meaning ‘ mild ginger,’ from Ivauchau, in the southwest

    of Kwangtung, where the best is found. It is the dried

    root of the Alplnia qfficinarurii (liance) and other species, and

    thousands of peculs reach Europe and America, wdiere it is

    used as a cordial and tonic. There are two or three sorts ; the

    smaller is a reddish-colored root, light and firm in texture, with

    an acrid, peppery taste.

    The larger is from a different plant (Kmmpferia galanga), and inferior in every respect. Both are used as spicery, and the powder is mixed in tea among the Tartars, and to flavor a liquor called nastoihi drank in Russia. All the plants whose roots have the aromatic sliai’p taste of ginger are prized by the Chinese. China-7’oot is a commercial name applied to two different products, for which the native namefuh-ling rather misleads.

    One is the root of Smilax China, a vine-like dodder in appearance ; it is a knotty and jointed brown tuber, white and starchy when cut, and sweetish. The other is a curious fungus(Pachyma) produced by fir roots apparently as it is found under that tree. The article is whitish and reddish when cut, ])itter isli and sharp to the taste, and eaten hot as a stomachic in rice-cakes where it is cheap. It is similar to the Indian bread, oi tuck-ahoo, of the Carolinas.

    The exportation of porcelain and ch’uiaware, which was so

    great last century, dimiiushed as European skill produced finer

    sorts at cheaper rates, and ceased altogether about twenty-five

    years ago, when the Tai-ping rebellion dispersed the workmen

    in Kingteh chin. Since the peace, those kilns have resumed

    work, and the demand for their finest pieces has arisen once

    more from western lands, so that China bids fair to regain her

    original reputation. She still supplies most parts of Asia with

    coarse stoneware and crockery for domestic use. Glue of a

    tolerabl}’ good quality, made from ox-hides, supplies the Chinese

    and furnishes an article for export to India. IsinglasSy or

    fisli-ii;lue, is nuide from the sounds and noses of sturo;eons and

    other sorts of fish, as the bynni carp, or l^oli/neniiis ^ it is used

    in sizing silk and in cookery, as well as in manufacturing of

    India-ink, water-colors, and false pearls.

    A kind of parasol, made of oiled paper, or silk called /i/'(tt/^ol {i.e., (juitte sol), is exported to India ; the article is durable, considering its material, and its cheapness induces a large consumption.

    Tobacco, one of the most widely cultivated plants in China (for men, women, and children smoke), is also sent to the Indian Islands in considerable quantity, for use among the natives. Ware made from ivory, tortoise-shell, mother-o’-pearl, and gold and silver constitutes altoo-ether a considerable item in the trade, for the beautiful c;irving of the Chinese always commands a market. The workmen easily imitate new patterns for boxes, combs, and buttons of mother-o’-pearl or tortoiseshell, while the cheapness and beauty with which silver table furniture is made cause a large demand. Lacqtiered-icare is not so much sent abroad now as fornuM-ly, the foreign imitations of the trays and tables having nearly superseded the demand, for the Chinese ware. Marhle dahn of a clouded lilue limestone are wrought out in Kwangtung province for floors, and some go abroad ; square tiles are used everywhere for pavements, roofing, brick stoves, and drains. In the southern provinces they are well biii-iied and make serviceable floors.

    PRINCIPAL EXPORTS FROM CHINA. 395

    2Iats of rattan for table furniture, and of grass for floors, are

    all made by liand. The latter is manufactured of two or three

    sorts of grass in different widths and patterns, and though the

    amount annually sent to the United States and elsewhere exceeds

    five million yards, it forms a very small proportion to the home

    consumption. Floor matting is put up in rolls containing

    twenty mats, or forty yards. Musi; though still in demand, is

    often and much adulterated, or its quality impaired by disease.

    It comes in bags about as large as a walnut; when good, it is of a dark purplish color, dry and light, and generally in concrete, smooth, and unctuous grains; its taste is bitter and smell strong; when rubbed on paper the trace is of a bright yellow color, and the feel free from grittiness. A brown unctuous earth is sometimes mixed with it, and the bags are frequently artificial; the

    price is about forty-five dollars a pound for the best quality.

    Nanl’eeii is a foreign name given to a kind of reddish cotton

    cloth manufactured near Xanking and Tsungming Island ; it was

    once largely exported, but the product has now nearly ceased.

    It is the most durable kind of cotton cloth known, and its excellence

    always repays the cultivator. The opening of the country

    to foreigners, and the disorders ensuent on the Tai-ping rebellion,

    altered the character of the silh trade. The loss of capital

    and dispersion of workmen in the vicinity of Canton nearly

    destroj’ed the export of raw silk and piece-goods formerly made

    at Fatshan, and the pongees once woven there are seldom seen.

    The elegant crape shawls and scarfs, gauzes and checked lustrings, satins and lining silks, which were sent abroad from Canton, have all dwindled away. Raw silk makes the bulk of the export, amounting to over a hundred thousand bales, of which nearly two-thirds goes to Great Britain. The annual average for the six years ending 1860 was seventy-eight thousand five hundred bales ; in 1836 it was twenty-one thousand the price of the best sorts was about five hundred and fifty dollars a pecul. Silk goods are exported to the annual value of about two million taels ; they consist chiefly of gauzes, pongees, handkerchiefs, scarfs, sarsnet, senshaws, levantines, and satins; ribbons, sewing-thread, and organzine, or thrown silk, are not much shipped. The silk trade is more likely to increase than any other branch of the commerce, after tea, and the Chinese can furnish ahnost any amount of raw and manufactured silks, according to the demand for them. Soij is a name derived from the Japanese sho-ya • it is made by boiling the beans of the Dol’ichos soja, adding an equal quantity of wheat or barley, and leaving the mass to ferment; a laj^er of salt and three times as much water as beans are afterward put in, and the whole compound stirred daily for two months, when the liquid is pressed and strained. Another method of making the condiment has already been mentioned in Volume I., p. 365.

    Besides the articles above-mentioned, there are many others which singly form very trifling items in the trade, but their total exportation annually amounts to man}^ lacs of dollars. Among them fire-crackers, and straw braid Moven in Shantung from a variety of wheat, are both sent to the United States. Among other sundries, vermilion, gold leaf, amber, sea-shells, preserved insects, fans, ginger, sweetmeats and jellies, rhubarb, gamboge, camphor, grass-cloth, artificial flowers, insect wax, fishing-lines, joss-sticks, spangles, window-blinds, vegetable tallow, and pictures arc the most deserving of mention. Some of them may perhaps become important articles of commerce, and all of them, except vermilion, gamboge, and i-attans, are the produce of the countiy.

    The inq)orts make a much longer list than the exports, for almost everything that should or might sell there is from time to time offered in the market ; and if the Chinese at Canton had had any inclination or curiosity to obtain the productions or manufactures of other lands, they have had no want of specimens. It will only be necessary to mention articles of import whose names are not of themselves a sufficient description. ()})ium, rice, raw cotton, long cloths, domestics and sheetings among manufactured cottons, ginseng, tin, lead, bar, rod, and hoop iron, and woolen goods, constitute the great bulk of the import trade. Rice is brought from southern islands, and a bounty used to be paid on its importation into Canton by taking oft” the tonnage dues on shi})s laden with this alone—a bonus of about three thousand dollars on a large vessel.

    IMPORTS FROM THP] ARCHIPELAGO. 397

    The importations from the Indian Aix’liipelago comprise a large variety of articles, though their total amount and value

    are not very great. Ayar-ayar, or ayal-agal, is the Malay name

    for the Plocarla tena,i\ Gnicillarla^ and other sorts of seaweed ;

    it is boiled and clarified to make a vegetable glue which is

    largely employed in lantern and silk manufacture instead of

    isinglass ; it is also made into a jelly, but the seaweed {Lalnihiarla)

    from Japan has supplanted it. Betel-nut is the fruit of

    the areca palm, and is called hetel-nat because it is chewed with

    the leaf of the betel pepper [Chavlca) as a masticatory. The nut

    is the only part brouglit to China, the leaf being raised along

    the southern coast ; it resembles a nutmeg in shape and color,

    is a little larger, and the whole of the nut is chewed. They

    are boiled or eaten raw, the former being cut into slices and

    boiled with a small quantity of cutcli and then dried. Those

    brought to China are simply deprived of the husk and dried.

    AVhen chewed, a slice of the nut is wrapped in the fresh leaf

    smeared with a mixture of gambler or shell-lime colored red,

    and the whole masticated to a pulp before spitting it out. The

    teeth become dark red from using it, but the Chinese are careful

    to remove this stain. The taste of the fresh pepper leaf is

    herbaceous and aromatic with a little pungency, and those who

    chew have it seldom out of their mouths ; the habit is not

    general where the fresh leaf cannot be obtained.

    Birlie-(h-iiiei\ i.e., slug of the sea, or tripang, is a marine gasteropod {Ilolothui’la) resembling, when alive, a crawling sausage more than anything else ; it is sometimes over a foot long and two or three inches through ; it inhabits the shallow waters around the islands of the Pacific and Indian Archipelago, and is obtained by diving or spearing, and prepared by cleansing and smokirjg it. In the market it appears hard and rigid, of a dirty brown color ; when soaked in water it resembles porkrind, and when stewed is not unlike it in taste. The Chinese distinguish nearly thirty sorts of hal sung—’sea ginseng;’ in commerce, however, all are known as white or black, the prices ranging from two dollars up to eighty dollars a pecul.

    Birds’ nests., sJiarks\ti)is, and JisJi-uKUrs are three other articles of food prized by Chinese epicures for their supposed stimidating quality, and they readily fetch high prices. The tii’st is the nest of a species of swallow {Collocalia)^ which makes the gelatinous fibres from its own crop out of the seaweed (Gelidlum) it feeds on. These nests resemble those of the chinmey swallow in shape, and are collected in most dangerous places along the cliffs and caves in the Indian Islands.

    The article varies from thirty dollars to three dollars a pound, and its total import is hardly five hundred peculs a year. The taste of the Chinese for the gelatinous fins and stomachs of the shark aids in clearing the seas of that ferocious fish even as far as the Persian Gulf. The soup nuide from the fins resembles that from isinglass, and is worthy of acceptance on other tables. Amhe?’ is found on various eastern shores, along the Mozambique coast, in the Indian Islands, and localities in Annam and Yunnan. The consumption for court beads and other ornaments is great, and shows that the supply is permanent, for none is brought from Prussia. The Chinese use the powder of amber in their high-priced medicines. Their artists have also learned to imitate it admirably in a variety of articles made of copal, shell-lac, and colophony.

    The hezoars, or biliary calculi from ruminating and other animals, always find a ready market in China for drugs ; that from the cow is most prized, and is often imitated with pipeclay and ox-gall mixed with hair, or adulterated by the camel bezoar. The Mongols prize these substances very highly ; the pure goat and cow bezoars are ground for paints by the Cantonese.

    Outeh, or terra japonica, is a gummy resin, obtained from a species of areca palm and the Acacia catechu, and was for a long time supposed to be a sort of earth found in Japan ; it is called aotc/i from the Ilunn of Cutch, near which the tree grows. The best is fi-iable between the fingers, is of a reddish-brown color, and used in China as a dye. There are two kinds, black andjf>«Zd y the former is made by boiling the heartwood of the acacia and putting the resin into snutll cakes ; it is now brought in small quantities, as gambler has supplanted it.

    IMPORTS FROM THE ARCHIPELAGO, 399

    Rose-maloes, corruj)ted from rasaiiiala, the Javanese name of the Altingia excelsa^ is a liquid storax obhined from the Styrax ; it is a scented gummous oil (tf the consistency of tar, and is 1)ronglit from Bombay to China for medicine. Guruhemoin, or henjamin, is one of the gnm-resiiis brouglit from abroad, and highly prized by Chinese doctors; its Chinese name indicates that it came from Partliia ; but it is collected from the Styrax henzoin in Snmatra and Borneo by making incisions in the bark in much the same manner as opium, until the plant withers and dies. It comes to market in cakes, which in some parts of those islands formerly served as standards of value.

    Good benzoin is full of clear light-colored spots, marbled on the broken surface, and giving off an agreeable odor when heated or rubbed ; ‘it is the frankincense of the far East, and has been employed by many nations in their religious ceremonies; for what was so acceptable to the worshippers was soon inferred to be equally grateful to the gods, and sought after by all devotees as a delightful perfume. The quantity of benzoin imported is, however, small, and the Arabian frankincense, or olihanion, is more commonly seen in the market, and is employed for the same purposes. This gum-resin exudes from the Boswellia thurifera cultivated in Coromandel; the drops have a pale reddish color, a strong and somewhat unpleasant smell, a pungent and bitterish taste, and when chewed give the saliva a milky color ; it burns with a pleasant fragrance and slight residuum. Dragon”s hlood is probably an equivalent of the Chinese name lung-yen hiang, given to this resin from its coming to market in lumps formed from the agglutinated tears.

    It is the gummy covering of the seeds of a rattan palm (D(jemonoroj)S draco) common in Sumatra, which is separated by shaking them in a basket or bag ; an inferior sort is made by boiling the nuts. It is used in varnishing, painting, and medical preparations. ‘

    Cloves are consumed but little by the Chinese, and mostly in expressing an oil which forms an ingredient in condiments and medicines, like the oil of peppermint made by themselves. Pepper is much more used than cloves, the tea being considered beneficial in fevers ; the good effects as a febrifuge seem to be doubted lately, for the importation is only twenty thousand peculs, not one-half what it was fifty years ago.

    Barooa camj^hor is still imported from Borneo, the people supposing that the drops and lumps found in the fissures of the tree (Dryohalanops) in that island are more powerful than their own gum; the proportion between the two, both in price and quantity, is about eighteen to one.

    Gamhier is obtained from the gambier vine {Uncar’ai) by boiling the leaves and inspissating the decoction ; a soapy substance of a brownish-yellow color remains, which is both chewed with betel-nut and forms a good and cheap material for tanning and dyeing. Putchuch is the root of a kind of thistle {Aio’I.-landla) cultivated in Cashmere ; it comes in dry, brown, broken pieces, resembling rhubarb in color and smell, and affording an agreeable perfume when burned ; the powder is employed in making; incense-sticks and the thin shaviiiics mixed in medicines.

    Cornelians, agates, and other stones of greater or less value are purchased by the Chinese for manufacturing into official insignia, rings, beads, and other articles of ornament; they are brought chiefly from India or Central Asia. 8eed jpearls^ to the amount of three hundred thousand dollars, are annually brought from Bombay to Canton, where they are run on strings to be worn in ladies’ head-dresses ; coral is also a part of cargoes from the Archipelago. Mother-of-pearl shells and tortoise-shell are brought from the same region and the Pacific islands, Muscat, and Bombay, a large part of which is re-exported in the shape of buttons, combs, and other productions of Chinese skill.

    ‘ The elegant plumage of the tiirquois kingfisher and some other birds is aiso worked into ornaments and head-dresses.

    GEMS, IVORY, AND WOODS IMPORTED. 401

    Jvorij still comes from Africa via Bombay, and ^Nfalaysia, mostly from Bangkok ; the fossil ivory of Siberia has furnished the material for the inlaid tables of Ningbo ; but the cost of fine ivory has prevented the manufacture of many articles once common at Canton. Rhinoceros’ horns are all brought to China to be carved into ornaments, or served in remedies and tonics.’ But the principal use of these horns is in medicine and for amulets, for only one good cup can be carved from the end of each horn ; the parings and fragments are carefully preserved to serve for the other purposes. The teeth of the sperm whale, walrus, lamantine, and other phocine animals, form an article of import in limited quantities under the designation of ” sea-horse teeth; ” these tusks weigh from sixteen to forty ounces, their ivory being nearly as compact though not so white as that of the elephant.

    Several kinds of wood are brought for cabinet and inlaid work, medical preparations, and dyeing. Among these are ebomj and cainagon {^inao tsz’), both obtained from species of Diosjr//ros growing in India and Luzon ; they are often very cleverly imitated by covering teak and other hard woods with a black stain.

    Galiru icood—also called eagle oragila wood (Aquilaria)—furnishes the calambak timber, highly prized for its perfume ; the diseased heart-Avood of this tree is the precious aloes wood, the lign aloes of the Bible.’ Among dye-stuffs the laka wood (^Tanarius) from Sumatra, mangrove bark, sapan wood {Coesal2>ini(i), and redwood are important articles; the imports of sandal wood for incense, rosewood, satin wood, amboyna or knot wood, camphor and hranjee are employed in various ways for junks, buildings, and furniture.

    The greater facilities of trade with foreign countries since 1860 have vastly enlarged the list of imports and exports, and brought many new and useful articles within reach of the natives living far from the ports. In their fear and ignorance the Chinese associated everything dreadful with the name and coming of those whom they called devils and barbarians, and knew chiefly in connection, with war and opium. By degrees,

    however, they are learning the benefits of a wider commercial

    as well as intellectual intercourse. One of the ]nost notable

    among the imports, which carries with it something of this

    broadening influence, is kerosene; the traveller in China, as well

    as in Algeria, Greece, and Egypt, can hardly fail to note with

    interest the multitude of benefits arising from the introduction

    of a cheap and brilliant lamp into a house whose only light

    before has been a water-lamp or tallow candle. Electric lighting

    is now employed in certain of the foreign settlements, and will

    doubtless become as popular in the far East as among Western

    nations. It is needless, however, to enumerate the novelties in

    which the Chinese are constantly urged and tempted to invest.

    The mode of conducting the trade is described in the author’s

    ‘ Chinese Commercial Guides Fifth Edition, p. 106.

    Chinese Ccmimercial Guide (fifth edition, Ilonglcong, 1863), which contains the treaties, tariffs, regulations, etc., of other nations as well as of China. A peculiar feature of this trade is the fact that the natives have always conducted it in English,—that is, they do business in the jargon called jrlyeon-English, whose curious formation has already received some attention in a previous chapter. The Chinaman using it deems no sentence complete until it contains the same number of words and in thensame idiom as its equivalent phrase in his own language. A sample of this hybrid lingo, with its melange of Chinese, Portuguese, and Malay words and grammatical constructions, may

    not be out of place here. We will suppose a shopkeeper is

    soliciting custom from a foreigner : ” My chin-chin you,” he

    says, “one good fleen [friend], tahe care for \ny [patronize me];

    ‘spose you wanchee any first chop ting, my can catch ee for you

    [obtain]. I secure sell ’em plum cash [prime cost], alia same

    cumsha [present] ; can do ?” The foreigner, with great gravity,

    replies : ” Just now my no wanchee anyting ; any teem [time]

    ‘spose you got vel}’^ number one good ting, p’rhaps I come you

    shop look see.” After hearing for a few days such sentences,

    the foreigner begins to imitate them, soon learning to adapt his

    speech to his interlocutor’s, and thus perpetuating the jargon.

    Other nationalities are also obliged to learn it, and the whole

    trade is conducted in this meagre gibberish, which the natives

    suppose, however, to be correct English, but which hardly enables

    the two parties to exchange ideas upon even household

    subjects. Much of the misunderstanding and trouble experienced

    in daily intercourse with the Chinese is doubtless owing

    to this iniperfect medium.’

    The trade at the five ports opened by the treaty of Nanking

    in 1842 was conducted by native custom-house officers,

    as it had been previously at Canton, but under regulations

    which insured more honesty and efficiency. In lSr>;>, however,

    the capture of Shanghai by insurgents throw tlic whole trade

    into such confusion that the collector, who had been formerly

    ‘ Mr. Scluiyler mentions hearing some Chinese residents at Vierny speaking” pigeon-Kiissian.” Tiirkt)it(tii,\o\. If., p. 147.

    PRESENT MANAGEMENT OF TRADE IN CHINA. 403

    A mongrel with the Russian officers ol the post, which might be called a Hang merchant at Canton, called in the aid of foreigners to carry on his duties. A trio of inspectors was nominated for this purpose by tlie British, American, and French ministers from their nationalities ; and so well did it work in honestly collecting the revenue for the imperial coffers, that when the city was recaptured the system was made permanent for that port. In the negotiations growing out of the treaties of Tientsin in 1858, the Chinese government felt so much confidence in the feasibility of the plan, that it was extended to all the ports and placed under the entire control of an inspector-general.

    By thus utilizing the experience and integrity of foreign employes in carrying on this important branch of its administration, the rulers broke through their long seclusion and isolation, and opened the way for removing the impediments to their own progress in every branch of polity.

    The following tables, compiled or abridged from the so-called

    ” Yellow Books,” or Trade Reports, issued by the Imperial

    Maritime Customs, will furnish a general idea of the foreign

    trade with China and some statistics concerning its domestic

    commerce. It is hardly necessary to add, however, that concerning

    the latter when unconnected with foreigners, there are

    almost no figures of value attainable. The Ilaihwan tael^ it

    may be well to repeat, is valued at $1.36|^, or 5s. Qh,d. The

    jpecul weighs 133| pounds.

    ANNUAL VALUE OF THE FOREIGN TRADE OF CHINA. 1871 TO 1881.

    Ybab.

    CUSTOMS REVENUE, 1871 TO 1881.

    Year.

    1871

    1872

    1873

    1874

    1875

    1876

    1877

    1878

    1879

    1880

    1881

    Duties on Native Produce

    Exported to—

    Foreign Countries.

    Ilk. Tls.

    5,246,467

    5,840,261

    4,978,179

    5,535,041

    5,640,062

    5,772,709

    5,703,321

    5,803,485

    5,958,176

    6,696,290

    6,869,486

    Chinese Ports.

    Ilk. Th.

    138,116

    099,724

    158,938

    147,686

    291,923

    222,860

    140,442

    306,118

    426,894

    572,392

    460,182

    Total Revenue fkom—

    Foreign Trade. Home Trade. TotaL

    Ilk. Tls.

    9,508,972

    10,029,050

    9,238,675

    9,775,743

    10,030,226

    10,318,631

    10,356,415

    10,.524,811

    11,391,329

    11,899,995

    12,494,889

    Ilk. Tls.

    1,707,174

    1,649,-586

    1,738,407

    1,721,529

    1,937,S83

    1,834,290

    l,710,()ti3

    1,956,177

    2,140,341

    2,3.58,588

    2,190,273

    Ilk. Tls.

    11,216,146

    11,()7S,636

    10,977,083

    11,497,273

    11,968,109

    12,152,921

    12,067,078

    12,483,988

    13,.53 1,670

    14,2.58,583

    14,685,163

    EXPORT OF TEA FROIM CHINA DURING TEN YEARS.

    Ybar.

    TRADE STATISTICS. 405

    EXPORT OF NATIVE CHINESE GOODS TO FOREIGN COUNTRIES,

    1880 AND 1881.

    Description of Goods.

    Silk, all kinds
    Tea, all kinds
    Bags, all kinds
    Bamboo, all kinds
    Beans and beancake
    Cassia lignea\ Camphor \ Chinaware and pottery\ Coal\ Clothing, boots, and shoes\Cotton, raw and waste\Cnrios
    Dyes, colors, and paints
    Fans, all kinds\Fish, provisions, and vegetables\Fire-crackers\Flour, grain, and pulse\Fruits, all kinds
    Grasscloth
    Hemp

    Hides and hoops

    Indigo

    Lung-ngans

    Mats and matting

    Medicines

    Metals, manufactured

    Metals, unmanufactured

    Nankeens and wool

    Nutgalls and preserves

    Oil, all kinds

    Paper, books, tin, and brass foil

    Rattans and rattanware

    Rhubarb

    Skins, all kinds

    Straw braid

    Sugar, white, brown, candy…

    Tobacco

    Vermicelli and macaroni

    Sundries, unenumerated ClasKifier of Quantity.

    1880. 1881.

    Peculs.

    Pieces.

    Value.

    Peculs.

    Value.

    Peculs.

    Value.

    Peculs.

    Pieces.

    Peculs.

    Pieces.

    Peculs.

    Total value.

    Pieces.

    Peculs.

    Value.

    Quantity 114,831 3,097,119 749, S83 154,645 38,785 12,337 75,143

    161 30,315 Value. Quantity.676 6,387,989 68,940 37,051 149,394 73,720 1,1S5 19,548 30,786 3,847 8,080 384,680 S8,676i 14,284 217

    6,511 47,690 3,692

    43,581

    2,085

    6,153

    344.193

    48,970

    1,138,196 19,077 26,991 Bk. Tls. 1 29,831,444 35,728,169 *20,555 74,597 159,996 225,692 100,679 379,574 34 337, .548

    182.918 44,948

    3,196 38,881

    165,922 260,010

    139,653 92,913

    104,719 160,602

    2.53,.548 13,768;

    34,669′ 533,027 i

    194,451

    147,405 i

    8751

    122,815

    432,774

    70,295

    .512,720 8.975 212,.537 152,486 1,227,670 3,263,889 167,931 13.5,432 2,366,290 Vahie. 77,883,587

    CHAPTER XXI.  FOREIGN INTERCOURSE WITH CHINA

    The most important notices which the research of authors had collected respecting the intercourse between China and the West, and the principal facts of interest of a political and commercial nature down to the year 1834, are carefully arranged in the first three chapters of Sir John Davis’ work.’ In truth, the terms intercourse and ambassies, so often used with reference to the nations of Eastern Asia, indicate a peculiar state of relations with them ; for while other courts send and receive resident ministers, those of China, Japan, Corea, and Cochinchina liav^e until very recently kept themselves aloof from this national interchange of civilities, neither understanding its principles nor appreciating its advantages. Embassies have been sent by most European nations to the two first, which have tended rather to strengthen their assumptions of supremacy than to enlighten them as to the real objects and wishes of the courts proposing such courtesies. The commercial intercourse has, like the political, either been forced upon or begged of these governments, constantly subject to those vexatious restrictions and interruptions which might be expected from such ill-defined arrangements; and though mutually advantageous, has never been conducted on those principles of reciprocity and equality which characterize commerce at the West. As yet, the rulers and merchants of oriental nations are hardly well enough acquainted with their own and others’ rights to be able or willing

    ^ The Chinese, 2 Vols., Harper’s Family Library, 1837. See also Murray’s China, Vol. I., 1848. Montgomery Martin’s Chiu(t, passim, 1847. Memoires conr. les Chino/K, Tome V., pp. 1-23. T. W. Kingsmill in iV’. C. Br. M. A.Soc. Jourml, N. S., No. XIV., 1879.

    ISOLATION AND SUSPICION OF THE CIIIXESE. 407

    to enter into close relations with European powers. Both magistrates

    and people are ignorant and afraid of the resources, power,

    and designs of Christian nations, and consequently disinclined

    to admit them or their subjects to unrestrained intercourse.

    When western adventurers, as Pinto, Andrade, Wcddell, and

    others came to the shores of China and Japan in the sixteenth

    and seventeenth centuries, they found the governments disposed

    to traffic, but the conquests subsequently made by Europeans in the neighboring regions of Lu9onia, Java, and India, and their cruel treatment of the natives, led these two powers to apprehend like results for themselves if they did not soon take precautionary measures of exclusion and restriction.

    Nor can there be much doubt that this policy was the safest measure, in order to preserve their independence and maintain their authority over even their own subjects. Might made right more generally among nations then than it does now, and the belief entertained by most Europeans at that period, that all pagan lands belonged justly to the Pope, only wanted men and means to be everywhere carried into effect. Had the Chinese and Japanese governments allowed Portuguese, Spanish, French, and English colonists to settle and increase within their borders, they would, probably, long since have crumbled to pieces and their territories have been possessed by others.

    The data brought together by Davis in 1838 on this subject has since been enlarged and illustrated by Col. Yule in his admirable ” Preliminary Essay ” of 18GG, prefixed to ddJiay and the Way Thither, and by Richthofen, the latter half of whose first volume on China is devoted to an exhaustive treatise upon the ” Development of the Knowledge of China.” ‘ A digest of these elaborate works would be too long for our purpose here,

    ‘ China, Ergehnisse eigener Beisen und darnvf gegriindeter Studien, Berlin,1877. This author’s arrangement of the subject into ” Periods ” is as follows :

    I.—Legendary notices of intercourse before the year 1122 B.C.
    II.—From the accession of the Chans to the building of the Great Wall (1122-213 B.C.).
    III.—From the building of the Great Wall to the accession of the Tangs (212B.C.-619 A.D.).
    IV.—From the Tangs to the Mongols (619-1205).
    V.—From the rise of the Mongol power to the arrival of the Portuguese in China (1205-1517).
    VI. —From the arrival of the Portuguese to the present time.

    where only the most interesting points can be noticed. The first recorded knowledge of China among the nations of the West does not date further hack than the geographer Ptolemy, a.d. 150, who seems himself to have Ijeeii indebted to the Tyrian author Marinus. The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, however, refers to the same land under the name ©Iv, or 77iin, at perhaps an earlier date. Previous to this time, moreover, accounts of the existence of the land of Confucius, and an appreciation and demand for the splendid silks made there, had reached Persia, judging from the legends found in its writers alluding to ancient w^ars and embassies with China, in which the country, the government, people, and fabrics are invested with a halo of power and wealth which has not yet entirely vanished. These legends strengthen the conclusion that the Prophet Isaiah has the first mention now extant of the FloMcry Land under theimmeSinujK

    The interchange of the initial in China, Thina or Tina, and Sitia ought to give no trouble in identifying the land, for such changes in pronunciation are still common in it ; e.g., Chun-cha^b fu into Tlt-chiu hu.

    The Periphis of Ari-ian places the city of Thina perhaps as far east as Si-ngan, but too vaguely to be relied on ; that great city must certainly have then been known, however, among the trader’s of Central Asia, who probably were better acquainted with its geography than the authors who have survived them. Under the term Seres the Chinese are more clearly referred to at even an earlier date than Sina, and among the Latin writers it was about the only term used, its association with the silks brought thence keeping it before them. The two names were used for different regions,’ the Seres being understood as lying to the north. Mela places them between the Lidians and Scythians; Ptolemy calls the country Seriee and the capital Sera, but regarded them as distinct from the Slna>, precisely as a Chinese geograplier might confuse Britain and England. He says there

    ‘ The diflFerent appellations soeiu to have been employed according as it was

    regarded as the terminus of a southern sea route for a journey across the continent.

    In the former aspect the name has nearly always beim some form of

    Sin, (Jhiii, Hinjc, Cliina ; in the latter, to the ancients as the land of the Seres,

    to the middle ages as the Empire of Catlxnj.—Yule.

    EARLIEST NOTICES OF CHINA. 409

    was a long and dangerous land route leading to Sera through

    Persia to Bactria, over mountain deiiles and perilous patlis,

    wliicli occupied the largest part of a year. Besides Ptolemy,

    there are notices by Pliny of the Seres, and these two authors

    furnished their successors with most of their knowledge down

    to the reign of Justinian. Col. Yule concisely summarizes the

    knowledge of China down to that date among the Romans:” The region of the Seres is a vast and populous country, touching on the east the ocean and the limits of the habitable world; and extending west nearly to Imaus and the confines of Bactria.

    The people are civilized men, of mild, just, and frugal temper; eschewing collisions with their neighbors, and even shy of close intercourse, but not averse to dispose of their own products, of

    which raw silk is the staple, but which include also silk stuffs,

    furs, and iron of remarkable quality.” lie further explains how

    authors writing at Pome and Constantinople were quite unable

    to traverse and rectify what was said of the marts and nations

    spoken of in the farthest East, and place them with any precision.

    They wei”e, in truth, in the same difficulty in coming to an accurate

    conclusion that the Chinese geographer Sen Ki-yu was when writing at Fulichau in 1847 ; he could not explain the discrepancies he found between llhodes and its colossus and Rhode Island in the United States.

    Among the marts mentioned in the various authors, Greek,

    Roman, and Persian, only a few can be identified with even fair

    ])robability. The ” Stone Tower ” of Ptolemy seems to have

    denoted Tashl-eiul, a name of the same meaning, and a town

    still resorted to for trade. His port of Cattigara may have

    l)een a mart at the mouth of the Meinani, the Meikon, the Chu

    Kiang, or some other large stream in that region, where seafaring

    people could exchange their wares with the natives, then

    quite independent of the Chinese in Shensf, who were known

    to him as Seres. Cattigara is more probably to be looked for

    near Canton, for its annals state that in the reign of 11wan ti

    (a.d. 147-168) ” Tienchuh (India), Ta-tsin (Rome, Egypt or

    Arabia), and other nations came by the southern sea with

    tribute, and from this time trade was carried on at Canton with

    foreigners.” During the same dynasty (the Eastern Han), foreigners came from Cantoo, Lu-li\vaiig-clii, and other nations in the south. The nearest was about ten days’ journey, and the farthest about iive months’.’

    On the hind frontier, the Chinese annals of the Ilan dynasty

    record the efforts of Wu ti (b.c. 140-86) to open a communication

    with the Yuehchi, or Getji?, who liad driven out the Greek

    rulers in Bactria and settled themselves north of the lliver Oxns,

    in order to get their help against his enemies the Huns. He

    sent an envoy, Chang Kiang, in 135, who was captured by the

    Iluns and kept prisoner for ten j^ears, when he escaped with

    some of his attendants and got to Ta-wan, or Ferghana, and

    thence reached the Yuehchi further south. He was unsuccessful

    in his mission, and attempted to return home through

    Tibet, but was re-taken by the Huns, and did not succeed in

    reporting himself at Chang-an till thirteen years had elapsed.

    The introduction of the vine into China is rather doubtfully

    ascribed to this brave envoy.

    De Guignes concludes that this notice about trade at Canton

    refers to the embassy sent in a.d. IGG by the Emperor Marcus

    Aurelius (whom the Chinese call An-tun), which entered China

    by the south at Tongking, or Canton. The Latin author Florus,

    who lived in Trajan’s reign, about fifty years before, has a passage

    showing, as proof of the universal awe and veneration in

    which the power of Rome was held under Augustus, that ambassadors

    fi-om the remotest nations, the Seres and the Indians,

    came with presents of elephants, gems, and pearls—a rhetorical

    exaggeration quite on a par with tlie Chinese account of the

    tribute sent from An-tun, and not so well authenticated.

    AVhether, indeed, the Ta-tsin kwoh mentioned by Chinese writers

    meant Judea, Home, or Persia, cannot now be exactly ascertained,

    though Yule concludes that this name almost certainly

    means the Roman Empire, otherwise called the Kingdom

    of the Western Sea. The title was given to these regions be

    cause of the analogy of its people to those of the Middle King-

    ‘ Chinese Eeiiository, I., p. 365. Heeren, Addtir Ri’HeairhcH, IT., pp. 285-295.

    Murray’s China, I., p. 141. Yulo’s Cathay, Vol. I., pp. xli-xlv. Smith,

    Claaskal Dictionary, Art. SicuES.

    INTERCOUIlSK RKTWKEX MOMV. AXD CHINA. 411

    dom.’ The envoys sent to tliut coiintiT repoi-ted that ” beyond

    the territoi-y of the Tuu-slii (perhaps tlie Persians) there was

    a great sea, by wliicli, sailing; (hie west, one might arrive at tlie

    country where tlie sun sets.” like most attempts of the kind

    in subsequent days, the mission of Antoninus appears to liave

    been a faihn-e, and to have returned without accomplishing

    any practical benefit to intercourse or trade between the two

    greatest empires in the world. It was received, no doubt, at

    Lohyang, then the capital, with ostentatious show and patronizing

    kmdness, and its occurrence inscribed in the national i-ecords

    as another evidence of the glory and fame of the Son of

    Heaven. That a direct trade between Home and China did

    not result at this period may have been largely due to the

    jealousy of the Parthian merchants, who reaped great profits

    as middle-men in the traffic, and disposed of their own woven

    and colored stuffs to the Romans, all of which gain they knew

    would have passed over their heads had the extreme East and

    West come into more intimate relations.

    It is worthy of observation how, even from the earliest times,

    the traffic in the rich natural and artificial productions of India

    and China has been the great stimulus to urge adventurers to

    come from Europe, who on their part offered little in exchange

    besides precious metals. The Scrk-a ‘vestls, whether it was a

    silken or cotton fabric, and other rarities found in those regions,

    bore such a high price at Pome as to tempt the merchants to

    undertake the longest journeys and undergo the greatest hardships

    to procure them ; and such was the case likewise during

    the long period before the discovery of the Cape of Good Hope.

    The existence of this trade early enabled the Xestorian missionai’ies

    to penetrate into those remote regions, and keep up a

    communication with their patrons at home ; the more extended

    ‘ Cathay and iJie Way Thilher, p. Ivi. Klaproth, Tahleanx IIistoriqne>i de

    VAsie (Paris, 182G), p. 68. So Richtliofen {China, Bd. I., p. 470), who adds : ” It

    is accepted now, by almost all those who have written on the subject, that the

    Chinese by Ta-tsin meant to denote ‘Great-China,’ and through this, on the

    other hand, we have a proof that the Chinese called their own country Ti^in.

    It will hardly do, however, to suppose that so prejudiced a people as they would recognize another folk as greater. The; appellation Ta (great) is given, to every nation whoso power the Chinese feel to be considerable.” voyages of modern comniorce likewise assist benevolent poisons in reaching the remotest tribes and carrying on their labors, through their patrons on the other side of the world, probably with less danger and delay than a mission at Cadiz could have been directed from Jerusalem in the days of the apostles.

    The notices in Cosmas (a Greek monk who had been a merchant,

    and wrote his ” Universal Christian Topography” between

    530 and 550 a.d.) of China and its products refer to the

    maritime trade under the Byzantine emperors. This country

    he locates very correctly as occupying the extreme east of Asia,

    and calls Tzinista^ a name probably picked up from the Persians

    or old Hindus, and nearly similar to the Tsinisthan of the

    tablet at Si-ngan. Another Greek, Theophylact, in the next

    century describes the internal intercourse in Central Asia, and

    a great Turkish people, the Taugas, whom he was unaware were

    the Chinese. It may be that he miswrote Taiig in a grecized form

    for the dynasty just about that time settling its power. The

    indirect commerce between China and the Greek Empire increased

    by sea and land until the i-ise of the Moslem power.

    The same indifference on the part of the Chinese respecting

    the power, resources, and position of other lands is seen through

    all their notices of those western kingdoms. The products carried

    west were silk in various forms, but the demand for this

    article diminished after the worms had been successfully taken

    to Greece about a.d. 550. Cotton fabrics, medicines, and spices

    went westward as well as silk, but it is impossible to distinguish

    the trade with China from that with India. The leaf

    called raalcibathrum in the Periplus was not a Chinese plant,

    but the tamalapatra, a kind of cassia {Cinnamonutm liitidum,

    whose leaves were purchased in Rome for three hundred denarii

    per pound), and now called Malabar leaf ; it was probably mixed

    or confounded with tlie Indian nard and with camphor. The

    people called SesaUe in the Periplus are probably to be looked

    for in Assam or Sikkim, where wild cassia grows, and where

    the real tea plant is native ; but neither tea nor betel-leaf can

    be regarded as the ancient malabathrum.’

    ‘Heeren’s Asiatic Researches, II., p. 294; Yule’s Cathciy, pp. xlvi, cxliv.

    co:\rMrNiCATiox wnii tiik greek empire. 413

    Witliin the last few years the translations of the travels of

    Buddhist ])ilgrinis hetweon China and India have furnished

    more satisfactory details of the peoples iidiahiting the central

    and western parts of Asia than all the Greek and Latin authors.

    Those of Fahian (309-414), of Iliucn-tsang (628-645), and of

    Ilwui-sing (518), are the most extensive. Further researches into

    conventual libraries in China and Tibet are encouraged by

    what has been found on their shelves, and from them enough

    has already been gained to .reward the labor. Of greater worth

    than these, perhaps, are the official histories of the Han, Tsin,

    and Tang dynasties, reaching from b.c. 200 to a.d. 900, only

    portions of which have yet been made accessible in full. Their

    trivialties are so numerous that their entii-e translation intoEng;-

    lish would hardly repay the printing, as the experiment by

    Mailla, in 1785, oitheTang Klen. Kang-mnh, in thirteen volumes

    quarto, shows. These histories, on the whole, supply more accurate

    information about Syria, Pei-sia, Greece, and Parthia,

    than the Avriters of those countries give about China ;—for

    example, the notices of FuUn, or Constantinople, are more

    minute than any account of Chang-an in western writers. But

    as Yule well remarks, there is much analogy between the fragmentary

    views each party had, the same uncertainty as to exact

    position, and the same application of facts belonging to the

    nearer skirts of a half-seen empire to the whole land. It can

    M^ell be paralleled by reading some of our own travellers who

    applied all that they saw and heard at Canton to the Eighteen

    Pi-ovinces. Only a few emljassies from Ta-tsin and Falln are

    enumerated by Pauthier in his Chine as coming down to the year

    1091 ; but the tractate by Dr. E. Bretschneider, of the Russian

    Legation at Peking,’ shows how constant were the visits of the

    Arabs down to the Sung (a.d. 1086), and especially during the

    Tang dynasty. During the Tsin and Wei dynasties the visits

    of envoys from Ceylon were frequent, all of them an outgrowth

    of Buddhism, but repaid in more ways than one by the trade

    and its results—as shown by Sir E. Tennent in his H’lMory of

    Ceylon. In 1266 the King of Ceylon had Chinese soldiers in

    ‘ On the Knmdedge of the Arabs and Arabian Colonies possessed by the Ancient Chinese, London, 1871.

    his service, and envoys came to liiiii to \n\\ Iluddlia’s sacred

    alms-disli. In 14(»5 tlie Emperor Ynngloh of the Ming dynasty,

    taking underage at the indiginties offered to liis re[)resenlative

    by Wijayabahu IV., despatclied Ching IIo with a Heet of sixtytwo

    ships and a hind force to cruise along the coasts of Cambodia,

    Siam, and other places, demanding ti-ihnte and conferring

    gifts as the successor of the throne held by the great

    Kublai. Going again the next year as far as Ceylon, Ching

    IIo evaded a snare set by the king, and captured him and his

    whole familv and officials, carrvini>; them all to Pekinj;. In

    1411 the latter were set free, but a new king was appointed

    to the vacant throne, who reigned fifty jears and sent tribute

    till 1459 ; this was only thirty-eight years before Gama arrived

    at Calicut. It was the last attempt of the Chinese to assert their sway beyond the limits of the Middle Kingdom seaward.’

    ‘Tennent’s Ccijlov, I., pp. 607-62G. Yule’s Cathay, pp. Ixvi-lxxvi.

    – Relation des Voyar/es faitit par l(‘« Anihes ct Ics JVi-nans (hum Vlnde et dla Chine dans le IX”” Siede de Ver’ Chretienitc, 2 Vols., Paris, 1845.

    NOTICES OF ARAB TRAVELLERS. 41fi

    One intimation of a continuance of the intercourse with China from the time of Justinian to that of the Arab travelers Wahab and Abu Zaid, is the Xestorian inscription (page 277). The narratives of the Arabs (a.d. 850 and 877) are trustworthy in their general statements as to the course pursued in the voyage, the port to which they sailed in China, the customs of the people there, and the nature and mode of conducting the trade; they form, in fact, the first authentic accounts we have of the Chinese from western writers, and make us dinibt a little whether others like them have not been lost, rather than suppose that such were never written. These interesting relics were translated by Reinaud in 1845, with the text and notes.” The second traveler speaks of the sack of the city of Canfu, then the port of all the Arabian merchants, in which one hundred and twenty thousand Mohannnedans, Jews, Christians, and Magians, or Parsees, engaged in traffic, were destroyed. This shows the extent and value of the trade. Canfu was Kanpu, a fine port near the modern town of the same name, twenty-five miles from HangZhou, and near Chapu on the Bay of Hangzhou ; the Gates of China were probably in the Chusan Arcliipelago and its nmnerons channels. Much of the statement made 1)V >\bn Zaid respecting the wealth, extent, and splendor <»f Canfu really refers to the city of Hangzhou. The bore in the Qiantang river makes it impossible for ships to lie off that place, and this had its effect in developing Kanpn. The destruction of the capital in 877 contributed to direct part of the trade to Canton, which even then and long after was comparatively a small place, and the people of that part of the country but little removed from gross barbarism. In Marco Polo’s time Ganpu was frequented by all the ships that bring merchandise from India.’

    Prior to the date when he reached the confines of the Pacific,

    the ravages of the Mongols, under Genghis and his successors, in

    the regions between the Mediterranean and Caspian, and their

    great victory near Lignitz, April 12, 1241, had aroused the fears

    of the Pope and other potentates for their own safety. After

    the sudden recall of the hosts of Okkodai, in the same year, at

    his death, and their retreat from Bohemia and Poland to the

    Dneiper, the Pope determined to send two missions to the Tartars

    to urge them to greater humanity. One was a Franciscan

    monk, John of Piano Carpini, wdio carried the following letter

    to Batu klian on the Wolga:

    INNOCENT, BISHOP, SERVANT OF THE SERVANTS OF GOD, TO THE KING AND PEOPLE OF THE TARTARS.

    ‘ Chinese ReposiUrry, Vol. I., pp. G, 42, 2.’)2 ; Vol. III., p. 115. Yule’s ilfarctf Pdo, Vol. II., pp. 149, 1.50. Catltiiy^ p. uxciii.

    Since not only men, but also irrational animals, and even the mechanical mundane elements, are united by some kind of alliance, after the example of superior spirits, whose liosts the Author of the universe has established in a perpetual and peaceful order, we are compelled to wonder, not without reason, how you, as we have heard, having entered many lands of Christians and others, have wasted them with horrible desolation, and still, with continued fury, not ceasing to extend further your destroying hands, dissolving every natural tie, neither sparing sex nor age, direct indifferently against all the fury of the sword. We therefore, after the example of the Prince of Peace, desiring to unite all mankind in unity and the fear of God, warn, beseech, and exhort you henceforth to desist wholly from such outrages, and especially from the persecution of Christians ; and since, by so many and so great offences, you have doubtless grievously provoked the wrath of the Divine majesty, that you make satisfaction to him by suitable penitence ; and that you be not so daring as to carry your rage further, because the omnipotent God has hitherto permitted the nations to be lai<l prostrate before your face. He sometimes thus passes by the proud men of the age; but if they do not humble themselves, he will not fail to inflict the severest temporal punishment on their guilt.

    And now, behold, we send our beloved brother John, and his companions, bearers of these presents, men conspicuous for religion and honesty, and endued with a knowledge of sacred Scripture, whom we hope you will kindly receive and honorably treat as if they were ourselves, placing confidence in what they may say from us, and specially treat with them on what relates to peace, and fully intimate what has moved you to this extermination of other nations, and what you further intend, providing them in going and returning with a safe conductor, and other things needful for returning to our presence.

    We have chosen to send to you the said friars, on account of their exemplary eonduct and knowledge of the sacred Scriptures, and because they would be more useful to you as imitating the humility of our Saviour, and if we had thought they would be more grateful and useful to you, we would have sent ither prelates or powerful men.’

    M. D’Avezac’s essay contains a full account of the travels

    and proceedings of Carpini and his companion, Benedict, in

    their hazardous journey of a hundred days from Kiev, across

    the plains of Russia and Bokhara, to the court of Kuyuk, who

    had succeeded Okkodai. They were first sent forward by the

    commanding ofiicers of the several posts to Batu’s camp, where

    the Pope’s letter was translated ; from hence they were again

    despatched at the most rapid rate, on horseback, to Kara-korum,

    M’here they arrived July 22, 124G, almost exhausted. After

    they had been there a few days the election was decided, and

    all ambassadors were introduced to an audience to the khan,

    when the Pope’s envoys alone werf^ without a present. The

    letter was read, and an answer ret’:<i-ned in a few weeks in the

    same style. These two potentates, so singularly introduced to

    each other in tlieir mutual ignorance by the letters carried by

    John, had much more in common in their pretensions to universal

    dominion by the command of God than they suspected.

    ‘ Murray’s Marco Polo, p. 49. Yule’s CatJuty, p. cxxiii ff. D’Avezac’s essay in the liecueU de Voyages, IV. , p. 399,

    MISSION OF THE POPE TO BATU KUAN. 417

    LETTER OF THE KING OF THE TARTARS TO THE LORD POPE.

    The khan’s letter was as follows :
    The strength of God, Kuyiik kliiui, the ruler of all men, to the great Pope. You and all the Christian people who dwell in tlie West have sent by your messengers sure and certain letters for the purpose of making peace with us. This we have heard from them, and it is contained in your letter. Therefore, if you desire to have peace with us, you Pope, emperors, all kings, all men powerful in cities, by no means delay to come to us for the purpose of concluding peace, and you will hear our answer and our will. The series of your letters contained that we ought to be baptized and to become Christians ; we briefly reply, that we do not understand why we ought to do so. As to what is mentioned in your letters, that you wonder at the slaughter of men, and chiefly of Christians, especially Hungarians, Poles, and Moravians, we shortly answer, that this too we do not understand. Nevertheless, lest we should seem to pass it over in silence, we think proper to reply as follows: It is because they have not obeyed the precept of God and of Genghis khan, and, holding bad counsel, have slain our messengers;’ wherefore God has ordered them to be destroyed, and delivered them into our hands. But if God had not done it, what could man have done to man V But you, inhabitants of the West, believe that you only are Christians, and despise others ; but how do you know on whom he may choose to bestow his favor ? We adore God, and, in his strength, will overwhelm the whole earth from the east to the west. But if we men were not strengthened by God, what could we do ?”

    ‘ Allusion is here made to Tartar ambassadors, whom the Russians murdered before the battle of Kalka.

    ”Murray’s Marco Polo, p. 59.

    The khan took the precaution, which the Pope did not, of putting his reply into an intelligible language, and when it yvaa written in Tartar he had it carefully explained to the friars, who translated it into Latin, and were soon after dismissed.

    They left the court on November 13, 1246, and ” travelled all winter through a wide open country, being commonly obliged to sleep on the ground after clearing away the snow, with which in the morning they often found themselves covered.” They reached Kiev the next June, and Carpini was rewarded for his hardships by being appointed Archbishop of Antivari in Dalmatia. As Yule remarks, “they were the first to bring to western Europe the revived knowledge of a great and civilized nation lying in the extreme East upon the shores of the ocean.”

    Louis XL of France having heard that Sartach, the son of Batu, then commanding on the w^estern frontier, was a Christian, sent z mission to liini, consistin<5 of the friar AVilliani Rubrnquis ‘ and three companions. They left Constantinople May 7, 1253, and proceeded to the Crimea, from wlience they set ont with a present of wines, frnits, and biscuits intended for the khan. In three days they met the Tartars, who conducted them first to Scacatai, a chieftain by whom, after considerable delay and vexation, they were furnished with everything necessary for a journey across the plains of southei-n Russia to the Wolga and the camp of Sartach. The monks attempted to convert the rude nomads, but igno.ance of the language and

    suspicions of their intentions interposed great obstacles on

    both sides. On arriving at the end of their journey, they were

    disappointed at finding the ruler of these warriors a besotted

    infidel, who expected all persons admitted into his presence to

    bring him costly presents. A Nestorian named Cojat, whom

    Rubruquis regarded as. no better than a heretic, was high in

    authority, and the only medium of counmmication with the

    khan. He told the friar to bring his books and vestments

    and make himself ready to appear before the khan on the

    mori’ow ; their elegance was such that at the close of the audience

    Cojat seized most of them under an idle pretext that it

    was improper to appear in them a second time before Batu

    khan, to whom Rubruquis and his companions were to be sent.

    Their journey was soon after prosecuted by following up the

    Wolga some distance, and when they arrived at the encampment

    of Batu khan, he made many inquiries about the resources and

    power of the French king and the war he was waging with the

    Saracens. On his introduction, ” the friar bent one knee, but

    finding this unsatisfactory did not choose to contend, and dropped

    on both. Misled by his position, instead of answering questions

    he began a prayer for the conversion of the khan, with

    warning of the dreadful consequences of unbelief. The prince

    merely smiled ; but the derision which was loudly expressed by

    the surrounding chiefs threw him into a good deal of confusion.”

    ‘ Or, more correctly, Rubruk, as D’Avezac lias pointed out {Bull. <1e hi Soc. de Geof/i:, 18G8), and in whose conclusions Yule joins {Marco Polo, second edition, p. 536).

    EMBASSY OF KUBRUQUIS TO MANGU KlIAI^. 419

    The interview was followed by an order to proceed to the court of Mangu, who had succeeded Kuyuk as Grand khan. This long journey occupied four months, through the high hind of Central Asia (farther eastward than where Carpini found Kuyuk’s court), and subjected them to severe hardships. Mangu received the mission hardly with civility, but having been examined by some Xestorian priests, they were admitted to an audience. The same ceremonies were required as at Batu’s court, and inquiries made as to the possessions of the French king, especially the number of rams, horses, and oxen he owned, which, the friar was amazed to learn, were soon to be attacked by the Tartars. Xo permission to remain could be obtained, but he was furnished with a house and allowed to tarry till the cold mitigated. In this remote region he found a European architect, William Bourchier, and his wife, from Mentz, besides many Armenians, Saracens, and Xestorians, all of whom the khan received, he accompanied the coin-t to Kara-korum, where he nearly became involved in dangei’ous religious disputes, and on the approach of milder weather was conqjelled to return to Batu khan, by whom he was sent on, in a south-westerly direction, until he entei’ed Armenia, and thence found his way to Iconium, having been absent nearly two years.

    These ambassadors had not the aid of printing to diffuse their narratives, and it was perhaps chiefly owing to the high standing of those who sent them that their relations have been preserved. In the case of many travellers of humbler origin or pretensions, there Avas no inducement to write what they had seen ; these therefore only told their stories, which were lost with the narrators.

    Even the travels of Marco Polo would perhaps never have been given to the world if the leisure of captivity had not induced him to adopt this method of relieving its tedium. Every examination of his record has added to its reputation for accuracy, both in the position of the cities he mentions or visited and in the events he details ; and when it is considered that he dictated it several years after his return to a fellow-prisoner, Rusticiano of Pisa, who wrote it in French, his accuracy is wonderful.

    The edition by Marsden in 1818 remained for fifty years the chief authority, but the recent editions by Pauthier and Yule, with their full notes, have made the traveller’s record vastly better understood, while adding iiiiich to our knowledge of mediaeval Asia.

    Ser Marco Polo, the Venetian, was the son of ]Sieolo Polo, who with his brother Matteo, nobles and merchants of Venice, first left that city about 125-i, and Constantinople in 1260, on a mercantile voyage to the Crimea, from which point a series of events led them eastward as far as China, then lately conquered by Kublai, the Grand Khan and successor of Mangu khan, whom Rubruquis visited. They were favorably received, and when they left Kublai it was under a promise to return, which they did about December, 1274, bearing letters from

    Gregory X., and accompanied by young Marco, then about sixteen

    years old. He soon became a favorite with the Emperor,

    and was able to travel to many parts of the country, spending in

    all about twenty-one years in the East ; the three Polos reached

    Venice again in 1295. Marco was prefect at Yangchau on the

    Grand Canal for three years, and this involves a knowledge of

    Mongolian and Chinese speech and writing, without which he

    could hardly have administered its ofHcial duties. His possession

    of these accomplishments was nearly indispensable to the

    post, though Col. Yule infers, from an easily explained mistake

    in Chapter LXXV., that he did not have them. On reaching

    Venice, by way of India and Persia, the long-lost travellers appeared

    so completely altered that their friends and countrymen

    did not recognize them. Their wealth and entertainini>- recitals,

    however, soon restored them to the highest ranks of society.

    The industry of recent editors has probably brought togethei- all

    that can be learned of their subsequent history, which is now so

    well known as to require no further words here.

    NARRATIVES OF POLO AND OF KING TTAYTON. -t21

    In the year 1254, Ilethum, or Hayton, king of Little Armenia, undertook a journey to Mangu khan, to petition for an abatement of the tribute which he had been obliged to pay the Mongols. Having first sent forth his brother, Senipad, or Sinibald (in 1240), to Kuyuk khan, Hayton himself set out upon the accession to the throne of his successor. Passing through Kars and Armenia Proper to the Wolga, he was there received by Patu and foi-warded by a route to the north of that traversed by Carpini to Kara-korum and the Grand khan. At the end of a six weeks’ sojourn with the court, during which time he appears to have been kindly received, Ilayton commenced his homeward journey via Bishbalig and Song-aria to Samarkand, Bokhara, Khorasan, and thence to Tabriz. The accounts of these two embassies, wherein are described many wonderful things concerning the heathens of the East and barbarians upon the route, made up, doubtless, a large part of the ” History ”(written in 1307) by the king’s relative, Ilayton of Gorigos.’

    The different positions held by these men and the Polos naturally led each of them to look upon the same people and events with vastly different feelings. The efforts of John of Montecorvino to propagate Christianity in China were undertaken just as the Polos returned, but no detailed accounts of his labors(beyond what Col.Yule has gathered in his Cathay) have been preserved.

    Among the most important mediaeval travelers in Asia was the Moor, Ibn Batuta, who at the age of twenty-one set out(in 1325) upon his journeys, from which he did not return until thirty years later.” Abu-Abdullah Mahomed (nicknamed Ibn Batuta, ” The Traveller “) commenced his wanderings, which were contemporaneous with those of the more doubtful Englishman, Sir John Mandeville, by a series of pilgrimages to the sacred places of his religion ; among other excursions, he found time at one period to continue three years in Mecca. Going from one city to another, along the shores of the Mediterranean, and in the countries between it and the Caspian, he at length reached Delhi, where he resided eight years, enjoying—until the latter end of his stay—high favor from the Sultan Mahomed.

    ‘ The chapter concerning Cathay appears in Yule’s Cathay, p. cxcv. A translation of the elder Hayton’s narrative is given by Klaprotli in the Journal Asiatique, IV” Scries, Tome XII., pp. 273 ff.

    ‘ His work has been very ably edited and translated into French by M. Defremery and Dr. Sanguinetti (four volumes, Paris, 1858-5!)), under the patronage of the Asiatic Society of Paris. Several partial translations of the journal have appeared from time to time within the present century.

    The versatile Moor occupied the position of judge, though there is good reason to doubt his serious attention to any business while at this magnificent court, other than that of spending his master’s money. In the spring of 1342, having recovered tVoin a temporary disgrace, he was despatched on an ambassy to

    China hy tlie Sultan. It seems that a (“liincse envoy had arrived

    at Delhi to request permission for the natives to rebuild

    a temple in Butan, as they were poor and dependent upon the

    inhabitants of the plain, and had besought the Chinese government

    to intercede for them. Ibn Batuta was sent with lavish

    presents to the Emperor, but a refusal to assist in the building

    project uidess that sovereign would go through the form of

    paying a poll-tax to the Sultan. This embassy was attacked by

    a body of Hindus when scarcely out of Delhi, and obliged to

    return. Again it was sent out, going to Calicut on the Malabar

    coast, where were found fifteen Chinese vessels or galleys at

    anchor, whose crews and guard amounted to a thousand men

    each. The envoy embarked his attendants on one of these

    ships, but while he remained on shore to pray for a prosperous

    voyage, a storm sunk the vessel and all on board. After this

    second mishap the luckless Moor was afraid to return to Ids

    master, and went to Sumatra, from whence he found his way

    to China, landing at Zayton, the present Chinchew, in Fuhkien.

    Though it is doubtful if Ibn Batuta, notwithstanding his description

    of the place, ever reached Peking, his spirited accounts

    of Zayton, Sinkalan (Canton), Khansa (Hangchau), Kanjanfu,

    and other centres of trade in the soutli, are both entertaining

    and important. Spite of exaggerations, confusion of names

    and dates, and certain cases of positive fiction, one can hardly

    fail to put faith in the generality of his statements and conclude

    in favor of his veracity and genuine character. He mentions

    that tlie circulation of paper money, wliich Marco Polo thought

    so excellent a device for a king to raise funds, had entirely

    driven out the use of metallic currency. In every large town

    lie found Mohammedans, ruled by officers of their own persuasion.

    TRAVELS OF IBN BATUTA AND FRIAR ODORIC. 423

    The journal of Friar Odoric (1286-1331) contains much of interest in connection with China of the middle ages. This worthy priest landed at ” Censcalan ” (Canton), after a long and tedious trip from Bagdad round by Sumatra and thence northeast by land to Zayton. Here, says he, ” we friars minor have two houses, and there I deposited the bones of our friars who suffered martyrdom for the faith of Jesus Christ.” He had brought these relics from Tana, near Bombay. Thence he journeyed to Fnlichau, Hangzhou, and Nanjing, going on northward to Peking, where the aged archbishop, (Jorvino, was still living, and remained there three years. His return journey as far as H’lassa was not very different from that of Hue and Gabet in 184-3 ; from the Tibetan capital he probably continued on a westerly course to Cabul and Tabriz, reaching Venice in 1330, after an absence of thirteen years. His itinerary was taken down the following year by William of Solagna, a brother of the order, at Padua.

    In this narrative there is mention of a number of characterise tics of the Chinese, well known to all the world of to-day, but left wholly unnoticed by other travellers of his age. “His notices of the custom of fishing with cormorants, of the habits of letting the finger-nails grow long, and of compressing the women’s feet, as well as of the divisions of the khan’s Empire into twelve provinces, with four chief vizirs, are peculiar to him, I believe, among all the European travellers of the age.

    Polo mentions none of them. The names which he assigns to the Chinese post-stations, and to the provincial Boards of Administration, the technical Turki term which he uses for a sack of rice, etc., are all tokens of the reality of his experience.’”

    • Yule, Catlmy and the Way Tliither, p. 31.

    On the other hand, the influence of superstition upon their own minds rendered most of the religious travellers into Central Asia—Odoric as well as the others—less trustworthy and observant than they would perhaps have been either centuries before or after that period. Everything of a religious sort they regarded as done under the direct agency of the powers of darkness, into whose dominions they were venturing. Too fearful, moreover, to examine candidly or record accurately’ what they beheld, these pious adventurers were constantly misled by endeavors to explain any uncommon experience by referi-ing the same to their own imperfect or erroneous conceptions. This is true as well of the Bomish priests connected with the Peking mission, a few of whose letters have been preserved and recently made known to the public by Col. Yule; among tlieso are Friar Jordanus, Bishop Andrew of Zayton, Pascal of Vittoria, together with the Ai-chbisliop of Soltania, author of the “Book of the Estate and Governance of the (Ireat Caan of Cathay.” ‘

    But much fairer than these missionaries, in his reputation

    for veracity, was tlie Jesuit Benedict Goes, wlio in the centui-

    y preceding what nva,y be termed the modern period of our

    knowledge of China, undertook a journey across the desert,

    to die on the threshold of the Empire. Born in one of the

    islands of the Azore group. Goes spent his youth in the profession

    of a soldier on board of the Portuguese fleet. Becoming

    suddenly converted, he entered the service of the Jesuits as a

    lay brother—which humble i-ank he i-esolutely held during the

    rest of his career—and was sent to the court of Akbar, His

    residence in India gained hijn a high reputation for courage,

    judgment, and skill in the Persian tongue, the linguafranca

    of Asia at that date. He was selected, therefore, to undertake

    a journey to the Cathay of Marco Polo, in the capital of which

    Jerome Xavier thought he had hopes of finding the Christian

    ruler and descendant of Prester John. Goes set out from

    Agra in 1602, joined a company of merchants, and with them

    took a route passing through Cabul, the Hindu kush, along

    the River Oxus to its head-waters on the Pamir table-land,

    and so to Yangi Hissar, Yarkand, Aksu, and Suh-chau, where

    he was detained seventeen months, and finally died, shortly

    after assistance had been sent him from the mission at Peking.

    ‘ About 13:30. See ibid., pp. 238-250.

    JOURNEY OF BENEDICT GOES. 425

    De Christiana Ej’pedit’wne apiul /Sinas.’ To Benedict Goes

    His journey was full of terrible hardships, and it was to these as well as to the careless treatment he suffered in Suhchau that he owed his untimely end. Could we have Goes’ own narrative of his experience, the information concerning the unknown regions of Central Asia over which he toiled would be of priceless worth. His journals, however, were either lost or destroyed during his miserable detention at the frontier town, and nothing remained save a few meagre notes

    and his faithful Armenian servant Isaac, whose language no one at Peking could understand. Such as it was, an account was compiled from these soun-es by Ilicci himself, and published soon after that missionary’s death in the work of Trigautius, we may give the credit of the discovery that Cathay and China(Sina) were in reality one and the same land. It is a curious illustration of the condition of intercommunication between distant parts of the world in those days, that this fact must have been known to the earliest Jesuit missionaries in Peking, though the friars of the same order stationed in India held to a belief in Cambaluc and its Christian prince until far into the seventeenth century.

    In many particulars the practical descriptions of Abu Zaid, Masudi,” Ibn Wahab, and Marco Polo stand in decided contrast to the details noted down by such as Rubruquis and Odoric. The accounts of all these writers convey the impression that China was in their time free to all travellers. Ibn Wahab, speaking of the regulations practised under the Tang dynasty, observes:

    If a man would travel from one province to another, he must take two passes with him, one from the governor, the other from the eunuch [or lieutenant]. The governor’s pass permits him to set out on his journey and contains the names of the traveller and those also of his company, also the ages of the one and the other and the clan to which he helongs. For every traveller in China, whether a native or an Arab, or other foreigner, cannot avoid carrying a paper with him containing everything by which he can be verified.

    ‘ A translation of this notice appears in Col. Yule’s oft-quoted CatJuiy and the Wiiy Thither, pp. 529-591. Trigautins’ work appeared in 1615, and was subsequently translated into all the continental languages. Compare Purchas, His PiUjriiites, Vol. III., pp. 380, ff.—A Ducourse of the Kingdonte of Ghimi, tnken ont of Eiecivs and I’rif/avfivii, rontayning the Conntrey, People, Gotiernmevt, etc., etc. ° Reinaud, Relation des Voyaf/e,i, etc. MM. Barbier de Meynard and Favet de Courteille, Les Prariex d’Or, Paris, 1801-OG.

    The eunuch’s pass specifies the quantities of money or goods wliich the traveller and those with him take along ; this is done for the information of officers at the frontier places where these two passes are examined. Whenever a traveller arrives at any of them, it is registered that ” .Such a one, son of such a one, of such a calling, passed here on such a day, month, and year, having sufii things with him.” The governmpnt resorts to this means to prevent danger to travellers in their money or goods ; for should one suifer loss or die, everything about him is immediately known and lie himself or his heirs after his death receive whatever is his. ‘

    The same writer speaks of the Mabed, a nation dwelling in Yunnan, on the south-west, who sent ambassadors every year with presents to the Emperor; and in return he sent presents annually to them. These embassies, indeed, were simply trading companies in disguise, who came from the Persians, Arabs, and other nations, with every protestation of respect and humility, bearing presents to the Son of Heaven. The dignity of the Emperor denumded that these should be returned with gifts three or four times the value of this ” tribute,” and that the ambassadors should be royally entertained during their sojourn at the capital. It is needless to add that such missions were repeated by the merchants as often as circumstances would permit. Entrance into the country overland otherwise than by some such ruse seems to have been withheld after the fall of the Mongol dynasty.

    It was, however, not until the subjugation of the Empire by

    the Manchus that foreign trade was limited to Canton, the

    jealous conduct of the present rulers being to a certain extent

    actuated by a fear of similar reprisals from some quarter, which

    the Mongols experienced. The outrageous behavior of foreign

    traders theujselves must, moreover, be regarded as a chief

    cause of the watchful seclusion with which they were treated.

    ” Their early conduct,” says Sir John Davis, referring to the

    Portuguese, ” was not calculated to impress the Chinese witli

    any favorable idea of Europeans ; and when in course of time

    they came to be com])etitors with the Dutch and the English,

    the contests of mert;antile avarice tended to place them

    all in a still worse point of view. To tliis day the character of

    the Europeans is represented as that of a race of men intent

    alone on the gains of commercial traffic, and regardless altogether

    of the means of attainment. Struck by the perpetual hostilities which existed among these foreign adventurers, aslleinaud, siiiiilated in other respects by a close resemblance in their costumes and manners, the government of the country became disposed to treat them with a degree of jealousy and exclusion which it had not deemed necessary to be exercised toward the more peaceable and well ordered Arabs, their predecessors.” ‘

    IkUition, Tome I., p. 41.

    THE empire: closed to foreigners. 427

    These characteristics of avarice, lawlessness, and power have been the leading traits in the Chinese estimate of foreigners from their first acquaintance with them, and the latter have done little to effectually disabuse orientals upon these points.

    The following record of their first arrival, taken from a Chinese work, is still good authority in the general opinion of the natives:

    During the reign of Cliingtili [1506], foreigners from the West, called Fahlan-ki [Franks], who said that they had tribute, abruptly entered the Bogue, and by their tremendously loud guns, shook the place far and near. This was reported at court, and an order returned to drive them away immediately and stop their trade. At about this time also the Hollanders, who in ancient times inhabited a wild territory and had no intercourse with China, came to Macao in two or three large ships. Their clothes and their hair were red; their bodies tall; they had blue eyes, sunk deep in their heads. Their feet were one cubit and two-tenths long; and they frightened the people by their strange appearance. “‘

    ‘ The Chinese, Vol. I., p. 20.- The term hong-mao, or * red-haired,’ then applied to the Dutch, has sLuc« been transferred to the English.

    The Portuguese Hafael Perestrello sailed in a junk for China in 1516, five 3’ears after the conquest of IVIalacca, and was the first person who ever conducted a vessel to China under a European flag. Ferdinand Andrade came in the next year, in fcjur Portuguese and four Malay ships, and gave great satisfaction to the authorities at Canton by his fair dealings; his galleons were allowed to anchor at Shangchuen, or St. John’s Island. His brother Simon came the following year, and by his atrocious conduct entirely reversed the good opinion formed of his countrymen; the Chinese besieged him in port and drove him away in 1521. Others of his countrymen followed him, and one of the earliest ships accompanied some Chinese junks along the coast, and succeeded in establishing a factory at 2singpo; trade was also coiicliicted at Amoy. In 1537 there were three Portuguese settlements near Canton, one at St.

    John’s, one at a smaller island called Lanipa9ao (Lang-peh-kau), lying north-west of the Grand Ladroncs, and the third just l)eirun on Macao.’ In 1542 traders had left St. John’s for

    Lainpa9ao, and ten years afterward, at the time of Xavier’s

    death, trade was concentrated at the latter, where five or six

    hundred Portuguese constantly resided in 1500. Macao was

    connnenced under the pretext of erecting sheds for drying goods

    introduced under the appellation of trihute, and alleged to have

    been damaged in a storm. In 1573 the Chinese government

    erected a barrier wall across the isthmus joining Macao to the

    island of liiangshan, and in 1587 established a civil magistracy

    to rule the Chinese. By their ill conduct at Ningbo the Portuguese

    drew upon them the vengeance of the people, who rose

    upon them and ” destroyed twelve thousand Christians, including

    eight hundred Portuguese, and burned thirty-five ships and

    two junks.” One of their provocative acts is stated to have

    been going out in large parties into the neighboring villages

    and seizing the women and virgins, by which they justly lost

    their privileges in one of the provinces and ports best adapted

    to European trade. Four years later, in 15-19, they were also

    driven from their newly formed settlement at Chinchew.

    ‘ There stood originally on tlio site of tins town an idol known as Avia. Amau-gau, or Ama-kdu, then, meant the ‘Harbor of Ama,’ which in Portuguese was written Amiicuo, and afterward shortened to Marao. Conip. Trigautius, Be OJiristiana E.vjmHtione apvd S/iiks, Hiir). Nieuwhof, Niivirhriiru;e Bes’-Jiryrivf/e nivH Gosandarhitp, etc., Amsterdam, ^CtGA. Sir A. Ljungstedt, Historical Sketch of the Portii (pi cue Settlements in China, Boston, 18^(5. Chinese Commercial Guide, lifth edition, i^. 22’J.

    PORTUGUESE RELATIONS WITH CHINA. 429

    The Portuguese have sent four embassies to the Emperor of China. The first envoy, Thome Pires, was appointed by the Governor at Goa, and accompanied Ferdinand Andi-adc lo Canton, in 1517, where he was received and treated in the usual style of foreign ambassadors. When his mission was reported at Peking the Emperor Chingtih was infiuenced against it by a subject of the Sultan of Malacca, and detahied Pires at Canton three years; the flagitious conduct of Andrade’s brother

    and the character of the Portuguese induced the Emperor to

    appoint a court to examine whether the embassy was legitiujate

    or spurious, and Pires and his companions were adjudged to be

    spies and sent back to Canton to be detained till Malacca was

    restored. This not being done, he and others suffered death in

    September, 1523 ; other accounts lead to the inference that he

    died in 2)rison. Thus the innocent were made to suffer for the

    guilty. The next embassy was undertaken in 155’2, at the suggestion

    of Xavier, by the Viceroy of Goa, but the mission proceeded

    no farther than Malacca, the governor of that towTi

    refusing to allow it to leave the place—a significant intimation

    of the degree of subordination and order maintained by the

    Portuguese in the administration of their new colonies. The

    third was also sent from Goa in 1667, in the name of Alfonso

    YL, on occasion of the suspension of the trade of Macao by

    Kanghi ; the expense was defrayed by that colony (about

    forty thousand dollars), and ” the result of it so little answered

    their expectations that the Senate solicited his Majesty not to

    intercede in behalf of his vassals at Macao with the government

    of China, Avere it not in an imperious and cogent case.”

    A good opportunity and necessity for this, it was thought, presented itself in 1723, when Magaillans returned to China carrying the answer of the Pope to Kangxi, to send an envoy, Alexander Metello, along with him to Peking, lie arrived at court in May, 1727, and had his audience of leave in July, receiving in exchange for the thirty chests of presents which he offered, and which Yungching received with pleasure ” as evidences of the affection of the King of Portugal,” as many for his master, besides a cup of wine and some porcelain dishes, sent from the Emperor’s table, and other presents for himself and his retinue, which were ” valuable solely because they were the gifts of a monarch.” No more advantage resulted from this than the embassy sent a century previous, though it cost the inhabitants of Macao a like heavy sum. Another and last Portuguese embassy reached Peking in 1753, conducted and ending in much the same maimer as its predecessors ; all of them exhibiting, in a greater or less degree, the spectacle of humiliating submission of independent nations through their envoys to a I’oiirt which took pleasure in arrogantly exalting itself on the homage it received, and studiously avoided all reference to the real business of the embassy, that it might neither give nor deny anything. But in estimating its conduct in these respects, it must not be overlooked that the imperial court never associated commercial equality and regulations with embassies and tribute.

    The influence and wealth of the Portuguese in China for the last century and a half have gradual decreased. A Swedish knight. Sir Andrew Ljungstedt, published a historical sketch of their doings down to 1833, including an account of the colony, which is still the fullest book on the subject. In 1820 the opium trade was removed to Lintin, and that being the principal source of income, the commerce of the place for many years was at a low ebb. The imperial commissioner Iviying granted some additional privileges to the settlement in 1844, among others, permitting the inhabitants to build and repair new houses, churches, and ship’s without a license, and to trade at the five ports open to foreign commerce on the same terms as other nations ; it was just three centuries before this that the Portuguese were driven away from Ningbo. The anchorage of the Typa was included in the jurisdiction of Macao, but the application of the Portuguese commissioner to surcease payment of the anmial ground-rent of five hundred taels to the Chinese met with a decided refusal. Its advantages as a summer resort and its accessibility to a densely peopled region M^est invite visitors and traders to some extent, but the proximity and wealth of Hongkong make it secondary to that. Its short-lived prosperity in 1839-50, during the opium war and curly days of Hongkong, was followed b}’ the enlargement of the coolie trade, which for twenty-five years was the only real business.

    EMBASSIES AND TRADE. 431

    The Chinese have never ceded the peninsula to the Portuguese crown, although they were powerless to prevent the export of coolies; the relations now between the two countries are not distinctly defined. In 1862 a treaty was negotiated at Peking by Governor Guimaraes, in which the supremacy of the Portuguese authority over the ten-itory within the Barrier was implied rather than declared in Article IX., wherein the ecpial apTHEIR pointment of consular officers was mutually agreed to. The Chinese found out, however, that this virtually acknowledged the independence of the colony, and refused to i-atify the treaty without an express stipulation asserting their right of domain to the peninsula. It has never been ratified, therefore, but trade is unfettered, and the Chinese inhabitants continue to increase; no rental has been paid for the ground-tax since 1849. The cessation of the coolie trade in 1873 has reduced Macao lower than ever, and it now hardly pays its own officials; all the thrifty or wealthy foreign citizens have removed elsewhere.

    The trade between the Spaniards and Chinese has been

    smaller, and their relations less important than most other

    European nations. The Spanish admiral Legaspi conquered

    the Philippines in 1543, and Chinese merchants soon began to

    trade with Manila ; but the first attempt of the Spaniards to

    enter China was not made until 1575, when two Augustine

    friars accompanied a Chinese naval officer on his return home

    from the pursuit of a famous pirate named Li-ma-lion, whom

    the Spaniards had driven away from their new colony. The

    missionaries landed at Tansuso, a place on the coast of Kwangtung,

    and went up to Canton, where they were courteously received.

    The prefect sent them to the governor at Shanking,

    by whom they were examined ; they stated that their chief object

    was to form a close alliance between the two nations for

    their mutual benefit, adding at the same time what their countrymen

    had done against Li-ma-hon ; a second object was their

    wish to learn the language of China and teach its inhabitants their religion. The governor kept them in a sort of honorable bondage several weeks, and at last sent them back to Manila, doubtless by orders from court, though he alleged as a reason that the pirate Li-ma-hon was still at large. After the return of this mission the governor of the Philippines deemed it advisable to let the trade take its own course, and therefore refused the proposal of a body of Franciscans to enter the country.

    They, however, made the attempt in a small native vessel, and passed up the river to Tsiuenchau, where they were seized and examined as to their designs. Not being acquainted with the language, they were both themselves deluded and misrepresented to the prefect by a |)r()fes.se(l native friend who understood Portuguese; after many months’ delay they were mortified to learn that no permission to remain would be given, and in 1580 they returned to Manila, not at all disposed to renew the enterprise.

    Philip II,, however, having received the suggestion made by

    the Chinese admiral that he should send an embassy to Peking,

    had already ordered the governor to undertake such an enterprise.

    He fitted out a mission, therefore, in 1580, at the head

    of which was Martin Ignatius. It gives one a low idea of the

    skill of navigators at that day to learn that in this short trip,

    the vessel being carried np the coast northward of Canton, the

    party thought it better to land than to try to beat back to their

    destination. The envoy and all with him were brought before

    the Chinese officers, who, probably entirely misunderstanding

    their object, imprisoned them ; after considerable delay they

    were brought before a hio;her officer and sent on to Canton,

    where they were again imprisoned ; the Portuguese governor of

    Macao subsequently obtained their liberation. This unlucky

    attempt, if Mendoza is right in calling it an embassy, was the

    only one ever made by the Spanish government to communicate

    with the court of Peking nntil the mission of Don Sinibaido de

    Mas in 1847 and his treaty of 18G4. The pecular feature of that treaty was the piivilege, first granted to Spanish merchants, of engaging coolies as contract lal)orcrs for Cuba. The harsh treatment they received there led the Chinese to send a commission of inquiry in 1873, aiul to suspend the validity of this article until the truth could be ascertained. This procedure has resulted in a cessation of imported Chinese laborers at Havana.

    INTERCOUKSE BETWEEN HOLLAND AND THE EAST. 43.J

    The Chinese have carried on a valuable trade at Manila, but the Spaniards have treated them with peculiar severity. They are burdened Avith special taxes, and their immigration is rather restrained than encouraged. The harsh treatment of Chinese settlers there excited the attention and indignation of one of their countrymen many years ago, and on his return to Canton he exercised all his inHuence with officers of his own government, making what he had seen the model and the mative to induce them to treat all foreigners at Canton in the same way. It ended in perfecting the principal features of the system of espionage and restriction of the co-hong which existed for nearly a century, until the treaty of 1842;—another instance of the treatment requited upon foreigners for their own acts.

    The Dutch commerce with the East commenced after their successful struggle against the Spanish yoke, and soon after completing their independence they turned their arms against the oriental possessions of their enemies, capturing Malacca, the Spice Islands, and other places. They appeared before Macao in 1622 with a squadron of seventeen vessels, but being repulsed with the loss of their admiral and about three hundred men, they retired and established themselves on the Pescadores in 1624. Their occupation of this position was a source of great annoyance both to the Spaniards and to the Chinese authorities in Fuhkien. According to the custom of those days, they began to build a fort, and forced the native Chinese to do their work, treating them with great severity. Many of the laborers were prisoners, whom the Dutch had taken in their attacks.

    Alternate hostilities and parleys succeeded, the Chinese declaring that the Dutch must send an envoy to the authorities on the mainland ; they accord higly despatched Yon Mildert to Amoy, and the sub-prefect forwarded him to Fuhchau to the governor. He decided to send a messenger to the Dutch to state to them that trade would be allowed if they would remove to Formosa, but this proposition was refused. However, after a series of attacks and negotiations, the Chinese constantly increasing their forces and the Dutch diminishing in their supplies, the latter acceded to the proposition, and removed to Formosa, where they erected Fort Zealandia in 1G24. It is recorded that the Chinese landed five thousand troops on one of the Pescadore Islands ; and their determined efforts in repelling the aggressions or occupation of their soil by the Dutch probably raised their reputation for courage, and prevented the repetition of similar acts by others. It was doubtless a good stroke of policy on their part to propose the occupation of Formosa to the Dutch in exchange for the Pescadores, for they had not the least title to it themselves, aiul hardly knew its exact size at the character of the inhabitants. The Dutch endeavored ta extend their power over it, but with only partial success; in the villages around Fort Zealandia they introduced new laws among the inhabitants, and instead of their councils of elders, constituted one of their chief men supervisor in every village, to administer justice and report his acts to the governor of the island.

    The moral interests of the natives were not neglected, and in 162G George (Jandidius, a Protestant minister, Avas appointed to labor among them, and took great pains to introduce Christianity. The natives were ignorant of letters, their superstitions resting only on traditions or customs which were of recent origin; the prospects, therefore, of teaching them a better religion were favorable. In sixteen months he had instructed over a hundred in the leading truths of (,’hristianity. The work was progressing favorably, churches and schools were multiplying, the interniarria£o:es of the colonists and natives M-ere brinfofufiitr them into closer relationship with each other, and many thousands of the islanders had been baptized, when the Dutch governors in India, fearful of offending the Japanese, who were then persecuting the Christians in Japan—in which the Dutch helped them, to their lasting disgrace—restricted these benevolent labors, and discouraged the further conversion of the islanders. Thus, as often elsewhere in Asia, the interests of true religion were sacrificed upon the altar of mammon, and the trade thus bought died from inanition.

    During the struggles ensuent upon the overthrow of the Ming dynasty, many thousands of families emigrated to Formosa, some of whom settled under the Dutch, while others planted separate colonies ; their industry soon changed the desolate island into a cultivated country, and increased the produce of rice and sugar for exportation. The immigration went on so rapidly as to alarm the Dutch, who, instead of taking wise measures to conciliate and instruct the colonists, tried to prevent their landing, and thereby did much to irritate them and lead them to join in any likely attempt to expel the foreigners.

    DUTCH OCCUPATION OF FORMOSA. 435

    Meanwhile, their trade with China itself was trifling compared with that of their rivals, the Portuguese, and when the undoubted ascendancy of the Manchus was evident, the government of Batavia resolved to despatch a deputation to Canton to petition for trade. In January, 1653, Schedel was sent in a richly freighted ship, but the Portuguese succeeded in preventing any further traffic, even after the envoy had spent considerable sums in presents to the authorities, and obtained the governor’s promise to allow his countrymen to build a factory.

    Schedel was informed, however, that his masters would do well to send an embassy to Peking, a suggestion favorably entertained by the Company, which, in 1055, appointed Goyer and Keyzer as its envoys. The narrative of this embassy by Nieuwhof, the steward of the mission, made Europeans better acquainted with the country than they had before been—almost the only practical benefit it produced, for as a mercantile speculation it proved nearly a total loss. Their presents were received and others given in return ; they prostrated themselves not only before the Emperor in person, but made the kotow to his name, his letters, and his throne, doing everything in the way of humiliation and homage likely to please the new rulers. The only privilege their subserviency obtained was permission to send an embassy once in eight 3’ears, at which time they might come in four ships to trade.

    This mission left China in 1657, and very soon after, the Chinese chieftain, Ching Ching-kung (Koshinga, or Koxinga as his name is written by the Portuguese), began to prepare an attack upon Formosa. The Dutch had foreseen the probability of this onset, and had been strengthening the garrison of Zealandia since 1G50 while they were negotiating for trade ; Koxinga, too, had confined himself to sending emissaries among his countrymen in Formosa, to inform them of his designs. He set about preparing an armament at Amoy, ostensibly to strengthen himself against the Manchus, meanwhile carrying oil his ordinary traffic with the colony to lull all apprehensions until the council had sent away the admiral and force despatched from Java to protect them, when in June, 1661, he landed a force of twenty-five thousand troops, and took up a stroll”” position. The coinmniiicatinn hctweoii tlic forts being cnt off, the governor sent t\v<> ImiKbvd ami forty nien to dislodiTc the enemy, only luilf of whom retiirneil alive ; one (»f the four ships in the luirbor was burned by the Chinese, and another hastened to Batavia for reinforcements. Koxinga fol-\o\voa\ u\> these successes by cutting off all communication between the garrison and the surrounding country, and compelling the surrender of the garrison and cannon in the small fort.

    Fort Zealandia was now closely invested, but finding himself severely galled, he turned the siege into a blockade, and vented his rage against the Dutch living in the surrounding country, and such Chinese as abetted them. Some of the ministers and schoolmasters were seized and crucified, under the pretext that they encouraged their parishioners to resist ; others were used as ao-ents to treat concerninG; the surrender of the fort. Yalentyn has given a clear history of the occupation of Formosa by his countrymen in his great work, and especially of their defeat at Zealandia. He narrates an incident of Rev. A. Ilambroek, as does also ^^ieuwhof, from whose travels it is quoted.

    Among the Dutch prisoners taken in the country, was one Mr. Hambroek, a minister. This man was sent by Koxinga to the governor, to propose terms for surrendering the fort ; and that in case of refusal, vengeance would be taken on the Dutch prisoners. Mr. Hambroek came into the castle, being forced to leave his wife and children behind him as hostages, which sufficiently proved that if he failed in his negotiation, they had nothing but death to expect from the chieftain. Yet was he so far from persuading the garrison to surrender, that he encouraged them to a brave defence by hopes of relief, assuring them that Koxinga had lost many o” his best ships and soldiers, and began to be weary of the siege. When ho had ended, the council of war left it to his choice to stay with them or return to the camp, where he could expect nothing but present death; every one entreated him to stay. He had two daughters within the castle, who hung upon his nock, overwhelmed’ with grief and tears to see their father ready to go where they knew he must be sacrificed by the merciless enemy. But he represented to them that having left his wife and two other children as hostages, nothing but death could attend them if he returned not: so unlocking himself from his daughters’ arms, and exhorting everybody to a resolute defence, he returned to the camp, telling them at parting that he hoped he might prove serviceable to his poor fellow-prisoners, fvoxinga received his answer sternly ; then causing it to be rumored that the prisoners excited the Formosans to rebel, he ordered all the Dutch male prisoners to be slain ; some being beheaded, others killed in a more barbarous manner, to the number of five hundred, th ir b di .> .sviijipcd quite naked and buried; nor were the women and children spared, many of them. likewise being slain, though some of the best were preserved for the use of the commanders, and the rest sold to the common soldiers. Among the slain were Messrs. Hambruik, Mus, Wiiisam, Ampzingius, and Campius, clergymen, and many schoolmasters.

    KOXIXCiA DRIVES THEM FROM TIIK ISLAND. 4’17

    A force of ten ships and seven hundred men arriving from Batavia, the besieged began to act on the offensive, but were nnal)le to drive Koxinga from the town, though they checked his operations and brought down the garrisons from Kihmg and Tamsui to their aid. A letter from the governor of Fuhkien to Coyet, the Dutch governor, came soon after, suggesting a junction of their forces to drive Koxinga away from the coast, after which both could, easily conquer him in Formosa. This proposal was followed, but no sooner had the five vessels gone than Koxinga made his advances so vigorously that the garrison was forced to surrender, after a siege of nine months and the loss of one thousand six hundred men. Thus ended the Dutch rule in Formosa, after twenty-eight years’ duration.’

    ^ Chinese Repository, Vols. I., p. 414, and XX., p. 543. Journal N. C. Br.R. As. Soc, Vol. XI. (1876), Art. I. Moreau de St.-Mery, Vot/iu/e de VArnbassade de la ComjMignie des Iiuks orientales Ilolldnduises vers V Einpereur de la Chine, tire dujoiirtnd d^Andre Evcnird van, Branm Houckc/eest, translated and published in London, 2 Vols., 1798. J. Nieuwhof, JVamrkenrir/c Beachryrincie ran’t Oesandschap der NederlandtscJie Oost-Lidische Compagnie van Batavia nar Peking in Sina, door de Ileeren Pieter de Ooyer en Jacob de Keyser, Amsterdam,1G64.

    This loss induced the council at Batavia to prosecute their former enterprise against Anioy, where Koxinga still had a garrison. Twelve vessels were fitted out under Bort, who arrived, in 1662, at the mouth of the River Min, where he was visited by deputies from the governor, and induced to send two of his officers to arrange with him concerning operations. The governor was in the country, and the two officers, on reaching his camp, soon saw that there could be no cordiality between their leaders ; this proposal of a foreign power to assist them against the Chinese was too much like that of Wn San-kwei to their chieftains in 1644 for the Manchus to entertain it. Bort, desirous of doing something, commenced a series of attacks on the fleet and garrisons of Koxinga, burning and destroying them in a piratical manner, that was nut less ineffectual toward regaining Formosa and obtaining privilege of trade at Canton than harassing to the Chinese on the coast. lie returned to Batavia in 1663, and was despatched to Fnhkien in a few months with a stronger force, and ordered to make reprisals on both Manchus and Chinese, if necessary, in order to get satisfaction for the loss of Formosa. The governor received him favorably, and after a number of skirmishes against the rebellious Chinese, Amoy was taken and its troops destroyed, which completed the subjugation of the province to the Manchus. As a reward for this assistance, the real value of which cannot, however, be easily ascertained, the governor lent two junks to the Dutch to retake Formosa, but Koxinga laughed at the pitiful force sent against him, and Bort sailed for Batavia.

    These results so cliagrined the council that they fitted out no more expeditions, preferring to despatch an embassy, under Van lloorn, to Peking, to petition for trade and permission to erect factories, lie landed at Fulichau in 1664, where he was received in a polite manner. The imperial sanction had been already received, but he unwisely delayed his journey to the capital until his cargo was sold. While discussing this matter the Dutch seized a Chinese vessel bringing bullion from Java contrary to their colonial regulations, and the governor very properly intimated that until restitution was made no amicable arrangement could be completed ; consequently Van lloorn, in order to save his dignity and not contravene the orders of his own o;overnment, was obliged to allow the bullion to be carried ofp, as if by force, by a police officer.

    EMBASSIES OF VAN IIOORN AND VAN BRAA:\r. 439

    These preliminary disputes were not settled till nearly a year had elapsed, wdien A^an lloorn and his suite left Fulichau, and after a tedious journey up the River Min and across the mountains to llangchau, they reached the canal and Peking, having been six months on the way, ” during which they saw thirty seven cities and three hundred and thirty-five villages.” The same succession of prostrations before an empty throne, followed by state banquets, and accompanied by the presentation and conferring of presents, characterized the reception of this embassy as it had all its predecessors. It ended with a similar farce, alike pleasing to the haughty court which received it, and unworthy the Christian nation which gave it; and the “only result of this grand expedition was a sealed letter, of the contents^ of which they were wholly ignorant, but which did not, in fact, grant any of the privileges they so anxiously solicited.” They had, by their performance of the act of prostration, caused their nation to be enrolled among the tributaries of the Grand khan, and then were dismissed as loyal subjects should be, at the will of their liege lord, with what he chose to give them. It was a fitting end to a career begun in rapine and aggression toward the Chinese, who had never provoked them.

    The Dutch sent no more embassies to Peking for one hundred and thirty years, but carried on trade at Canton on the same footing as other nations. The ill success of Macartney’s embassy in 1793 induced Van Braam, the consular agent at Canton, to propose a mission of salutation and respect from the government of Batavia, on the occasion of Kienlung reaching the sixtieth year of his reign. He hoped, by conforming to Chinese ceremonies, to obtain some privileges which would place Dutch trade on a better footing, but one would have supposed that the miscarriage of former attempts might have convinced him that nothing was to be gained by new humiliations before a court which had just dismissed a well-appointed 3mbassy. The Company appointed Isaac Titsingh, late from lapan, as chief commissioner, giving Van Braam the second place, and making up their cortege with a number of clerks and interpreters, one of whom, De Guignes, wrote the results of his researches during a long residence in Canton, and his travels with the embassy to Peking, under the title of Vo;/-arjen d Peking. It is needless to detail the annoyances, humiliations, and contemptuous treatment experienced by the embassy on its overland journey in midwinter, and the degrading manner in which the Emperor received the envoys : his hauteur was a befitting foil to their servility, at once exhibiting both his pride and their ignorance of their true position and rights.

    They were brought to the capital like malefactors, treated when there like beggars, and then sent back to Canton like mountebanks to perform the three-times-three prostration at all times and before everything their conductors saw fit; avIio on their part stood by and hiughed at their embarrassment in mailing these evolutions in their tight clothes. They were not allowed a single opportunity to speak about business, which the Chinese never associate with an embassy, but were entertained with banquets and theatrical shows, and performed many skillful evolutions themselves upon their skates, greatly to the Emperors gratification, and received, moreover, a present of broken victuals from him, which had not only been honored by coming from his Majesty’s own table, but bore marks of his teeth and good appetite;” they were upon a dirty plate, and appeared rather destined to feed a dog than form the repast of a human creature.” Van Braanrs account of this embassy is one of the most humiliating records of ill-requited obsequiousness before insolent government lackeys which any European was ever called upon to pen. The mission returned to Canton in April, 1706, having attained no more noble end than that of saluting the Emperor, and this, indeed, was all the Chinese meant should be done when themselves suggesting the entire performance; for in order to understand much of their conduct toward their guests, the feelings they entertained toward them must not be lost sight of.

    In 1843 the governor-general at Batavia sent T. Modderman to Canton to make inquiries respecting trade at the newly opened ports and establish consulates. The council there had, in 1839, forbidden Chinese to settle in any of their Indian colonies, owing to their skill in engrossing the native trade; but when this prohibition was removed about 1875, the Chinese showed no disposition to emigrate to Java. In 1803 a treaty was negotiated by M. Van der Ilooven at Tientsin, which placed the trade on the same footing as other nations.

    RELATIONS OF FRANCE AND KTTSSIA WITH CHIXA. 441

    The French Government has never sent a formal mission to the capital to petition for trade and make obeisance, though thnjugii their missionaries that nation has made Europeans better acquainted with China and given the Chinese more knowledge of western countries than all other Christian nations together. In the year 12S!) Pliilij) the Fair received a letter from Argun khan in Persia, and in 1305 another from Oljaitu, both of them proposing joint action against their enemies the Saracens. The originals are still to be seen in Paris. In 1G88 Louis XIV. addressed a letter to Ivanghi, whom he called “Most high, most excellent, most puissant, and most magnaniuious prince, dearly beloved good friend ; ” and signed himself “Your most dear and good friend, Louis.” Li 1844 diplomatic relations were resumed by the appointment of a large mission, at the head of which was M. Lagrenc, by whom a treaty was formed between France and China.’

    The Russians have sent several embassies to Peking, and

    compelled the Chinese to treat them as equals. The first recorded

    visit of Russian agents at Peking is that of two Cossacks,

    Petroff and Yallysheff, in 1567, who, however, did not

    see the Emperor Lungking, who succeeded to the throne that

    year, because they had brought no presents. In 1619 Evashko

    Pettlin i-eached that city, having come across the desert from

    Tomsk ; but he and his companion, having no presents, could

    not see the ” dragon’s face,” and were dismissed with a letter,

    which all the learning at Tobolsk and Moscow could not decipher.

    Thirty-four years after, the Czar Alexis (1653) sent his

    envoy Baikoff, who refused to prostrate himself before the

    Erapei-or Shunchl, and was promptly dismissed. This repulse

    did not interfere with trade, for in the years 1658, 1672, and

    1677 three several trading embassies reached Peking. During

    j»ll this time Russian and Chinese subjects and soldiers frequently

    quarrelled, especially along the banks of the Amur, and

    the necessity of settling these disturbances and pretexts for

    trouble by fixing the boundary line being evident to both nations,

    commissioners were appointed and met at Xipchu, where,

    on August 27, 1689, they signed the first treaty ever agreed

    upon by the court of Peking. The principal points in it were

    the retirement of the Russians from Albazin and Manchuria,

    where they had held their own for thirty-eight years, the fj-eedom

    of trade, and defining the frontier along the Daourian

    Mountains. The missionary Gerbillon was mainly instrumental

    ‘ CMnese Repository, Vol. XIX., pp. 526-535. Yule’s CatJiay, p. cxxx. Re*muriut in Mem. de I’AacJ. Ins., Vol. VII., pp. 367, 391 ff.

    ill settling these disputes, and neitlier party would probably

    have lowered its ari-ogaut claims if it had not been through his

    influence ; the Chinese were far the most difficult to please.’

    Peter sent Ysbrandt Ides in 1G92 as his envoy to Peking to

    exchange the ratitications. llis journey across the wilds and

    wastes of Central Asia took up more time than a voj^age by

    sea, for it was not till a year and eight months that “he could

    return thanks to the great God, who had conducted them all

    safe and well to their desired place.” Ides’ own account of his

    mission contains very slight notices regarding its object or how

    he was received ; but it is now credibly believed that he performed

    the kotoio before the Emperor. About twenty years

    after iiis departure, Kanghi sent a Manchu envoy, Tulishen,

    through Russia to confei” with the khan of the Tourgouth Tartars

    about their return to China, which a portion of them accomplished

    some years after. Tulishen executed his mission so

    well that he was sent again as envoy to the Czar about 1730,

    and reached Petersburg in the reign of Peter II. In 1719 Peter the Great despatched another embassy, under Ismailoif, to arrange the trade then conducted on a precarious footing—an account of which was drawn up by John Bell in 17G3. Ismailoff refused to prostrate himself until it was agreed that a Chinese minister, whenever sent to Petersburg, should conform to the usages of the Russians ; a safe stipulation, certainly, to a court which never demeans itself to send missions. The evident desii-ableness of keeping on good terms with the Russians led the Chinese to treat their envoys with unusual respect and attend to the business they came to settle. One of the most instructive books on the kind of intercourse carried on during this period is the Journal of Lange, who went first in 1716, and thrice afterward, and has left an account of his residence at Kangxi’s capital.’

    ‘ Chinese Repository, Vol. VIII., pp. 417, 500. Du Halde, Description geo’gi’fiphiqiie, historiqne, chronologique, ]iulitique el phyHique iJe V Empire tie la Chine”t deht, T(trf(irie chinoiHC, 4 vols., Paris, 1735. G. Timkowski, Travels of the liiisKian Mission through Mongolia to China, etc., 2 vols., London, 1827. Klaproth, Memoires stir I’ A.sie, Tome I., pp. 1-81.

    ” Published in one volume with Bell: Joitritcy froni St. Petersburgh in Ruatin to Ispahan in Persia, etc., London, 1715.

    RUSSIAN MISSIONS TO PKKIXG. 443

    In 1727 a fifth mission was sent by the Empress Catherine under Count Vladishivitcli, which succeeded in establishing the intercourse on a still better basis, viz., that a mission, consisting of six ecclesiastical and four lay members, should remain at Peking to study the Chinese and Manchu languagea, so that in terpreters could be prepared and communications carried on satisfactorily; the members were to be changed decennially. The caravans, which had been the vehicles of trade, were regulated about 1730 by the establishment, at Kiakhta and Maimaichin, of two marts on the frontier, where it could be brought under regulations; the last reached Peking in 1755. This embassy was the most successful of all, and partly owing to the Emperor Yungcliing”s desire to counterbalance Jesuit intrigues by raising up other interpreters. This treaty, signed August 27, 1727, remained in force till June, 1858—the longest lived treaty on record.

    The narrative of George Timkowski, who conducted the relief sent in 1821, gives an account of his trip from Kiakhta across the desert, together with considerable information relating to the Kalkas and other Mongol tribes subject to China. The archimandrite.

    Hyacinth Batchourin, has given a description of Poking, but such works as the members of the Russian college have written are for the most part still in that language. Up to the present date there have been sixteen archiniandrites (1736 to 1880) and many monks attached to the ecclesiastical mission in Peking.’

    The intercourse of the English with Chiria, though it commenced

    later than other maritime nations of Europe, has been

    far more important in its consequences, and their trade greater

    in amount than all other foreign nations combined. This intercourse

    has not been such as was calculated to impress the Chinese

    with a just idea of the character of the British nation as a

    leading Christian people ; for the East India Company, which

    had the monopoly of the trade between the two countries for

    nearly two centuries, systematically opposed every effort to diffuse

    Christian doctrine and general knowledge among them down to the end of their control in 1834.

    ‘ Dudgeon’s monograph on Russian Intercourse with China contains notices of all events of any importance between the two nations, digested with great care, pp. 80, Peking, 1872. Also, Martin’s China, Vol. I., p. 386.

    The liri^t English vessels anc-liored oft Macao in July, 1G35

    under the coiumand of AVeddell, who was sent to China in ac

    o’ordance witli a “truce and free trade” which liad been entered

    into between the Enghsh merchants and the viceroy of Goa, wlio

    gave letters to the governor of Macao. The iieet was coldlj

    received and AVeddell deluded with vain promises until the

    Portuguese fleet had sailed for Japan, when he was denied permission

    to trade. Two or three of his officers having visited

    Canton, he was very desirous to participate in the traffic, and

    proceeded wi’di his whole fleet up to the Bogue forts, where

    this desire was made known to the commanders of the forts,

    who promised to return an answer in a week. Meanwhile the

    Portuguese so misrepresented them to the Chinese that the

    commander of the forts concluded to end the matter by driving

    them away. Having made every preparation during the j^eriod

    the fleet M’as waiting, an attack was first made upon a wateringboat

    by firing shot at it when passing near the forts.

    ” Herewith the whole fleet, being instantly incensed, did, on

    the sudden, display their bloody ensigns ; and, weighing their

    anchors, fell up with the flood, and berthed themselves before

    the castle, from whence came many shot, yet not any that

    touched so much as ludl or rope ; wdierenpon, not being able to

    endure their bravadoes any longer, each ship began to play

    furiously upon them with their broadsides ; and after two or

    three hours, perceiving their cowardly fainting, the boats were

    landed with about one hundred men : which sight occasioned

    them, w’ith great distractions, instantly to abandon the castle and

    fly ; the boats’ crews, in the meantime, without let, entering the

    same and displaying his Majesty’s colors of Great Britain upon

    the walls, having the same night put aboard all their ordnance,

    fired the council-house and demolished wdiat they could. The

    boats of the fieet also seized a juidv laden with boards and timber,

    and another wuth salt. Another vessel of small moment

    was surprised, by whose boat a letter was sent to the chief

    mandarins at Canton, expostulating their breach of truce, excusing

    the assailing of the castle, and withal in fair terms r&

    i[uiring the liberty of trade.” ‘ This letter was shortly answered,

    ‘ Staunton’s E^mbassy^ Vol. I.

    , y\>. 5-12.

    COMMENCEMENT OF J5KIT1SII INTEKCOUKSE. 44^

    and after a little explanatory negotiation, hastened to a favorable

    conclusion on the part of the Chinese by what they had

    seen, trade was allowed after the captured guns and vessels

    were restored and the ships supplied with cargoes.

    No other attempt to open a trade was made till 1G64, and

    during the change of dynasty which took place in the interim,

    the trade of all nations with China suffered. The East India

    Company had a factory at ijantam in Java, and one at Madras,

    but their trade with the East was seriously inconnnoded by tlie

    war with the Dutch ; when it was renewed in 1664, only one

    ship was sent to Macao, but such v/ere the exactions imposed

    upon the trade by the Chinese, and the effect of the misrepresentations of the Portuguese, that the ship returned without

    effecting sale. This did not discourage the Company, however,

    who ordered their agents at Bantam to make inquiries respecting

    the most favorable port and what commodities were most

    in demand. They mentioned ” Fuhchau as a place of great

    resort, affording all China commodities, as raw and wrought

    silk, tutenague, gold, china-root, tea, etc.” A trade had been

    opened with Koxinga’s son in Formosa and at Amoy, but this

    rude chieftain had little other idea of traffic than a means of

    helping himself to every curious commodity the ships brought,

    and levying heavy imposts upon their cargoes. A treaty was

    indeed entered into with him, in which the supercargoes, as

    was the case subsequently in 1842, stipulated for far greater

    privileges and lighter duties than Chinese goods and vessels

    would have had in English ports. Besides freedom to

    go where they pleased without any one attending them, access

    at all times to the king, liberty to choose their own clerks

    and trade with whom they pleased, it was also agreed ” that

    what goods the king buys shall pay no custom ; that rice

    imported pay no custom ; that all goods imported pay three

    per cent, after sale, and all goods exported be custom free.”

    The trade at Amoy was more successful than at Zealandia, and a small vessel was sent there in 16TT, which brought back a favorable report. In 1078 the investments for these two places were $30,000 in bullion and $20,000 in goods ; the returns were chiefly in silk goods, tutenague, rhubarb, etc.; the trade was continued fur several years, ajiparently with considerable profit, though the Manchus continually increased the restrictions under which it labored. In 16S1 the Company ordered their factories at Anioy and Formosa to be withdrawn, and one established at Canton or Fuhchau, but in 1685 the trade was renewed at Amoy.

    The Portuguese managed to prevent the English obtaining a footing at Canton until about 10S4 ; and, as Davis remarks, the stupid pertinacity with which they endeavored to exclude them from this port and trade is one of the most striking circumstances connected with these trials and rivalries. It is the more inexplicable in the case of the rortuguese, for they could carry nothing to England, nor could they force the English to trade with them at second hand ; theirs M’as truly the ” dog in the manger” policy, and they have subsequently starved upon it.

    In 10S9 a duty of five shillings per pound was laid upon tea imported into England ; and the principal articles of export are stated to have been wrought silks of every kind, porcelain, lacquered-ware, a good quantity of fine tea, some fans and screens.

    Ten years after, the court of directors sent out a consul’s commission to the chief supercargo, Mr. Catchpoolo, which constituted him king’s minister or consul for the whole Empire of China and the adjacent islands. In ITOl an attempt was made by him to open a trade, and he obtained permission to send ships to Chusan or Ningbo; an investment in three vessels, worth £101,300, was accordingly made, but he found the exactions of the government so grievous, and the monopoly of the merchants so oppressive, that the adventure proved a great loss, and the traders were compelled to withdraw. The Company’s hopes of trade at that port nuist, however, have been great, for their investment to Amoy that year was only ,£34,400, and to Canton £40,800. In 1702 Catchpoole also established a factory at Pulo Condore, an island near the coast of Cochin China which had been taken by the English. The whole concern, however, experienced a tragical end in 1705, when the Malays rose upon the English, murdered them all, and burned the factory. The Cochin Chinese are said to have instigated this treacherous at tack to regain the island, which was claimed by them.

    EARLY EFFORTS IX ESTABLISHING A TRADE. 447

    The extortions and grievances suffered by the traders at Canton were increased in 1T02 by the appointment of an individual who alone had the right of trading with them and of farming it out to those who had the means of doing so. The trade seems hardly, even at this time, to have taken a regular form, but by 1720 the number and value of the annual commodities had so much increased that the Chinese established a uniform duty of four per cent, on all goods, and appointed a body of native merchants, who, for the privilege of trading with foreigners, became security for their payment of duties and good behavior. The duty on imports was also increased to about sixteen per cent, and an enormous fee demanded of purveyors before they could supply ships with provisions, besides a heavy measurement duty and cumshaw to the collector of customs.

    These exactions seemed likely to increase unless a stand was taken against them. This was done by a united appeal to the governor in person in 1728 ; yet the relief was only temporary, for the plan was so effectual and convenient for the government that the co-hona; was ei-e lono- re-established as the only medium through which the foreign trade could be conducted. An additional duty of ten per cent, was laid upon all exports, which no efforts were effectual in removing until the accession of Kienlung in 1736. This apparently suicidal practice of levying export duties is, in China, really a continuation of the internal excise or transit duties paid upon goods exported in native vessels as well as foreign.

    The Emperor, in taking off the newly imposed duty of ten per cent, required that the merchants should hear the act of grace read upon their knees ; but the foreigners all met in a bodv, and each one ao;i’eed on his honor not to submit to this slavish posture, nor make any concession or proposal of accommodation without acquainting the I’est. The Emperor also required the delivery of all the arms on board ship, a demand afterward waived on the payment of about ten thousand dollars.

    The Hang merchants shortly became the only medium of communication with the government, themselves being the exactors of the duties and contrivers of the grievances, and when complaints were made, the judges of the equity of their own acta

    In 1734 only one English ship came to Canton, and one waa sent to Anioy, but the extortions there were greater than at the other port, whereupon the latter vessel withdrew. In 1736 the number of ships at Canton was four English, two French, two Dutch, one Danish, and one Swedish vessel ; the Portuguese ships had been restricted to Macao before this date.

    Commodore Anson arrived at Macao in 1742, and as the Centurion was the first British man-of-war which had visited China, his decided conduct in refusing to leave the river until provisions were furnished, and his determination in seeking an interview with the governor, no doubt had a good effect. A mixture of decision and kindness, such as that exhibited by Anson when demanding only what was in itself right, and backed by an array of force not lightly to be trifled with or incensed, has always proved the most successful way of dealing with the Chinese, who on their part need instruction as well as intimidation. The constant presence of a ship of war on the coast of China would perhaps have saved foreigners nnich of the personal vexations, and prevented many of the imposts upon trade which the history of foreign intercourse exhibits, making it in fact little better than a recital of annoyances on the part of a government too ignorant and proud to understand its own true interests, and recriminations on the part of traders unable to do more than protest against them.

    EXERTIONS AND PUNISHMENT OF MR. FLINT. 449

    In consequence of the exactions of the government and the success of the co-hong in preventing all direct intercourse with the local authorities, the attempt was again made to trade at .Vmoy and jSingpo. The llardwicke was sent to Amoy in 1744, and obliged to return without a cargo. Messrs. Flint and Harrison were despatched to Tsingpo in 1755, and were well received ; but when the Ilolderness subsequently came to trade, it was with difficulty that she procured a cargo, and an iuq)erial edict was promulgated soon after restricting all foreign ships to Canton. In 175i> the factor}- at IS’ingpo was demulished, so that Mr. Flint, who repaired there that year, was imable to do anything toward restoring the trade. This gentleman was a person of uncommon perseverance and talents, and had mastered the difficulties of the Chinese language so as to act as interpreter at Canton twelve years before lie was sent on his mission, ” The ungrateful return which his energy and exertions in their service met with from his employers,” justly observes Sir erolin Davis, ” was such as tended in all probability, more than any other cause, to discourage his successors from undertaking so laborious, unprofitable, and even hazardous a work of supererogation.”

    On his arrival at Ningpo, Mr. Flint, finding it useless to attempt anything there, proceeded in a native vessel to Tientsin, from whence he succeeded in making his case known to the Emperor Kienlung. A commissioner was deputed to accompany him overland to Canton ; Mr. Flint proceeded to the English factory soon after his arrival, and the foreigners of all nations assembled before the commissioner, who informed them that the hoppo had been superseded, and all duties remitted over six per cent, on goods and the cumshaw and tonnage dues on ships. The sequel of Mr. Flint’s enterprise was unfortunate, and the mode the Chinese took to bring it about thoroughly characteristic.

    It proved, however, that these fair appearances were destined only to be the prelude to a storm. Some days afterward the governor desired to see Mr. Flint for the purpose of communicating the Emperor’s orders, and was accompanied by the council of his countrymen. When the party had reached the palace, the Hang merchants proposed their going in one at a time, but they insisted on proceeding together ; and on Mr. Flint being called for, they were received at the first gate and ushered through two courts with seeming complaisance by the officers in waiting ; but on arriving at the gate of the inner court they were hurried, and even forced into the governor’s presence, where a struggle ensued with their brutal conductors to force them to do homage after the Chinese fashion until they were overpowered and thrown down. Seeing their determination not to submit to these base humiliations, the governor ordered the people to desist ; and then telling Mr. Flint to advance, he pointed to an order, which he called the Emperor’s edict, for his banishment to Macao, and subsequent departure for England, on account of his endeavoring to open a trade at Ningpo contrary to orders from Peking He added that the native who had written the petition in Chinese was to b^ beheaded that day for traitorously encouraging foreigners, which was performed on a man quite innocent of what these officers were pleased to call a crime. Mr. Flint was soon after conveyed to Tsienshan, a place near Macao, called Casa Branca by the Portuguese, where he was imprisoned two years and a half and then sent to England. ‘

    ‘Davis, Chinese, Vol. I., p. 58.

    Mr. Flint stated to the Company that a fee of one thousand two hundred and fifty dollars to the governor would set him at liberty, but they contented themselves Avith a petition. The punishment he received from the Chinese for this attempt to break their laws would not have been considered as unmerited or unjust in any other country, but the neglect of the Company to procure the liberation of one who had suffered so much to serve them reflects the greatest reproach upon that body.

    The whole history of the foreign trade, as related by Auber

    In his chronological narrative, during the one hundred and fifty years up to 1842 is a melancholy and curious chapter in national intercourse. The grievances complained of were delay in loading ships and plunder of goods on their transit to Canton; the injurious proclamations annually put up by the government accusing foreigners of horrible crimes ; the extortions of the underlings of office ; and the difficulty of access to the high authorities. The Hang merchants, from their position as traders and interpreters between the two parties, were able to delude both to a considerable extent, though their responsibility for the acts and payments of foreigners, over whom they could exercise no real restraint, rendered their .situation by no means pleasant. The rule on which the Chinese government proceeded in its dealings with foreigners was this :

    *’ The barbarians are like beasts, and not to be ruled on the same principles as citizens. AYere any one to attempt controlling them by the great maxims of reason, it would tend to nothing but confusion. The ancient kings well understood this, and accordingly ruled barbarians by misrule ; therefore, to rule barbarians by misrule is the true and best way of ruling them.”

    The same rule in regard to foreign traders was vii-tuallj^ acted on in England during the reign of Henry A”II., and the ideas among the Chinese of their power over those who visit their shores are not unlike those which prevailed in Europe before the Reformation.

    ANOMALOUS POSITION OF FOREIGNERS IX CHINA. 451

    The entire ignorance of foreign traders of the spoken and written language of China brought them into contempt with all classes, and where all intercourse was carried on in a jargon which each party despised, the results were often misunderstanding, dislike, and hatred. Another fruitful source oi difficulty was the turbulent conduct of sailors. The French and English seamen at Whanipoa, in 1754, carried their national hatred to such a degree that they could not pursue their trade without quarrelling; and a Frenchman having killed an English sailor, the Chinese stopped the trade of the former nation

    until the guilty person was given np, though he was subsequently

    liberated. The Chinese allotted two different islands

    in the river at Whampoa for the recreation of the seamen of each

    nation, in order that such troubles might be avoided in future,

    A similar case occurred at Canton in 17S0, when a Frenchman

    killed a Portuguese sailor at night in one of the merchants’

    houses and fled to the consul’s for refuge. The Chinese demanded

    the criminal, and after some days he was given up to

    them and publicly strangled ; this punishment he no doubt merited,

    although it was the fii’st case in which they had interfered

    where the matter was altogether among foreigners. In 1784

    a native was killed by a ball left in a gun when firing a salute,

    and the Chinese, on the principle of requiring life for life, demanded

    the man who had fired the gun. Knowing that the

    English were not likely to give him up, the police seized Mr. Smith, the supercargo of the vessel, and carried him a prisoner into the city. On the seizure of this gentleman the ships’ boats were ordered up from Whampoa with armed crews to defend the factories, A messenger from the Chinese, however, declared that their purpose in seizing Smith was simply to examine him on the affair, to which statement the captive himself added a request that the gunner should be sent up to the authorities and submit to their questions. Trusting too much to their promises, the man was allowed to go alone before the officials within the city walls, when Mr. Smith was immediately liberated and the unhappy gunner strangled, after some six weeks’ confinement, by direct orders of the Emperor. The man, probably, underwent no form of trial intelligible to himself, and his condemiuition was the more unjust, as by Section CCXCII. of the Chinese code he was allowed to ransom himself by a fine of about twenty dollars. As a counterpart of this

    tragedy, the Chinese stated (and there was reason for believing

    tliein) tliat a native who had accidentally killed a British sea

    man about the same time was executed for the casualty.

    The Chinese mode of operations, when it was inipracticablo

    to get possession of the guilty or accused party, was well exhibited

    in the ease of a homicide occurring in 1807. A party

    of sailors had been drinking at Canton, when a scuffle ensued,

    and the sailors put the populace to flight, killing one of the

    natives in tlie onset. The trade was promptly stopped, and the

    liong merchant M’ho liad sccxred the .ship lield responsible for

    the delivery of the offender. Eleven men were arrested and a

    court instituted in the Company’s hall before Chinese judges,

    Captain Rolles, of II. B. M. ship Lion, being present with the

    committee. The actual homicide could not be found, but one

    Edward Sheen \vas detained in custody, which satisfied the

    Chinese M’hile he remained in Canton ; but when the committee

    wished to take him to Macao with them they resisted, imtil

    Captain Holies declai’cd that otherwise he should take the ])risoner

    on board his own ship, which he did. Being now beyond

    their reach, the authorities were fain to account for the affair

    to the supreme triljunul at the capital by inventing a tale, stating

    that the prisoner had caused the death of a native by raising

    an upj)er window and accidentally dropping a stick npon

    liis head as he was passing in the street below. This statement

    was reported to his Majesty as having been concurred in by the

    English after a full examination of witnesses who attested to

    the circumstances ; the imperial rescript affirmed the sentence

    of the Board of Punishments, which ordered that the prisoner

    should be set at liberty after paying the nsual fine of twenty

    dollars provided by law to defray the funeral expenses. The

    trade was thereupon resumed.’

    ‘ Sir G. T. Staunton, Penal Code of Chiiut^ p. 516.

    CIIIXKSK ACTION IN CASP:S OF nOMIClDE. 453

    Another case of homicide occurred at AVhampoa in 1820, when the authorities reported that the butcher of another ship, who had committed suicide the day of the inquest, was the guilty person. The court of directors very properly blamed their agents at Canton for their complicity in this subterfuge, and spoke of ” the paramount advantages which must invariably be derived from a strict and inflexible adherence to truth as the foundation of all moral obligations.” ‘

    Other cases of murder and homicide have since occurred between foreigners and natives. In the instance of the British frigate Topaze at Lin tin Island in 1822, whose crew had been attacked on shore, her captain successfully resisted the surrender of a British subject for the death of two natives in the affray.

    The dignified and united action of the British authorities on this occasion was a striking contrast to the weakness of the Americans the year before in the case of Terrariova. It proved the beneficial results of a stand for the I’ight, for no foreigner has since been executed by the Chinese. It also proved the necessity and advantages of competent interpreters and translators, inasmuch as the case owed much of its success to Dr. Morrison’s aid, which had been rejected by the Hang merchants the previous year.”

    These cases are brought together to illustrate the anomalous

    position which foreigners once held in China. They constituted

    a community by themselves, sui)ject chiefly to their own

    sense of honor in their mutual dealings, but their relations wdth

    the Chinese were like what lawyers call a ” state of nature.”

    The change of a governor-general, of a collector of customs, or

    senior hong merchant, involved a new couree of policy according

    to the personal character of these functionaries. The committee

    of the East India Company had considerable power over

    British subjects, especially those living in Canton, and could

    deport them if they pleased ; but the consuls of other nations

    had little or no authority over their countrymen. Trade was

    left at the same loose ends that politics were, and the want of

    an acknowledged tariff encouraged sniuggling and kept up a

    constant spirit of resistance and dissatisfaction between the native

    and foreign merchants, each party endeavoring to get along

    as advantageously to itself as practicable. IS or was there any

    acknowlediied medium of communication between them, for the

    ‘ Auber, Chirm: An Outline of its Oovernment, Tmws, Policy, etc., p. 286,London, 18;M.

    – ChhuHi’ Repository, Vol. II., pp. 513-515. Moriison’s Memoirs, Vol. XL.App., p. 10- Auber, China, its Government, etc., pp ~88-309.

    (•(.iit^iils, not being credited by the Chinese Government, came

    and went, hoisted or lowered their flags, without the slightest

    notice fi’oni the authorities. Trade conld proceed, perhaps,

    without involving the nations in war, since if it was unprofitable

    it would cease ; but while it continued on such a precarious

    footing national character suffered, and tlic misrepresentations

    produced thereby rendered explanations dilficult, inasmuch as

    neither party understood or believed the other.

    The death of the unfortunate gunner in 1784, and the large

    debts owed to the English by the hong merchants, Avhich there

    seemed no probability of recovering, induced the British Government

    to tnrn its attention to the situation of the king’s subjects in

    China with the purpose of placing their relations on a better

    footing. The flagitious conduct of a Captain M’Clary, who seized

    a Dutch vessel at Whampoa in 1781, which Davis narrates,”

    and the inability of the Company to restrain such proceedings,

    also had its weight in deciding the crown to send an embassy to

    Peking. Colonel Cathcart was appointed envoy in 1788, but his

    death in the Straits of Sunda temporarily deferred the mission,

    which was resumed on a larger scale in 1792, when the Earl of

    Macartney was sent as ambassador, with a large suite of able

    men, to place the relations between the two nations, if possible,

    on a well-understood and secure footing. Two ships were appointed

    as tenders to accompany his Majesty’s ship Lion (04),

    and nothing was omitted, either in the composition of the mission

    or the presents to the Emperor, to insure its success. Little

    is known regarding its real impression upon the Chinese ;

    they treated it with great consideration while it remained in

    the country, although at an estimated cost of $850,000, and probably dismissed it with the feeling that it was one of the most splendid testimonials of respect that a tributary nation had ever paid their court. The English were henceforth registered among the nations who had sent tribute-bearers, and were consequently only the more bound to obey the injunctions of their master.”

    ‘ The Cfiitirsr, Vol. I., p. 03.

    ‘Sir G. L. Staunton, Authentic Account of an Embassy from the King of Great Britain to the Emperor of China, 3 vols., London, 1798.

    EMBASSY OF LOIID MACA KINKY, 45.0

    To the European world, as well as to the British nation, however, this expedition may be said to have opened China, so great was the interest taken in it and so well calculated were the narratives of Staunton and Barrow to convey better ideas of that remote country. ” Much of the lasting impression which the relations of Lord Macartney’s embassy leave on the mind of his reader,” to quote from a review of it, ” must be ascribed, exclusive of the natural effect of clear, elegant, and able composition, to the number of persons engaged in that business, the variety of their characters, the reputation they already enjoyed or afterward acquired ; the bustle and stir of a sea voyage; the placidity and success which finally characterized the intercourse of the English with the Chinese ; the splendor of the reception the latter gave to their European guests ; the walks in the magnificent gardens of the ‘ Son of Heaven ; ‘ the picturesque and almost romantic navigation upon the imperial canal; and perhaps, not less for the interest we feel for every grand enterprise, skillfully prepared, and which proves successful, partly in consequence of the happy choice of the persons and the means by which it was to be carried into effect.” This impression of the grandeur and extent of the Chinese Empire has ever since more or less remained upon the minds of all readers of Staunton’s narrative ; but truer views were imparted than had before been entertained concerning its real civilization and its low rank among the nations.

    That the embassy produced some good effect is undeniable, though it failed in most of the principal points.. It also afforded the Chinese an opportunity of making arrangements concerning that future intercourse which they could not avoid, even if they would not negotiate, and of acquiring information concerning foreign nations which would have proved of great advantage to them. Their contemptuous i-ejection, ignorant though they decided to remain of the real character of these courtesies, of peaceful missions like those of Macartney, Titsingh, and others, takes away much of our sympathy for the calamities which subsequently came upon them. With characteristic shortsightedness they looked upon the very means taken to arrange existing ill-understood relations as a reason for considering those relations as settled to their liking, and a motive to ^\\\\ further exactions.

    For many years subsequent to this endjassy the trade went on without interruption, though the demands and duties were rather increased than diminished, and the personal liberty of foreigners more and more restricted. The government generally, down to the lowest underling, systematically endeavored to degrade and insult foreigners in the eyes of the populace and citizens of Canton, in order, in case of any disturbance, to have their co-operation and sympathy against the ” barbarian devils,” The dissolute and violent conduct of many foreigners toward the Chinese gave them, alas, too many arguments for their aspersions and exactions, and both parties too frequently considered the other fair subjects for imposition.

    In 1S02 the English troops occupied Macao by order of the governor-general of India, lest it should be attacked by the French, but the news of the treaty of peace arriving soon after, they re-embarked almost as soon as the Chinese remonstrated.

    The discussion was revived, however, in 1808, when the French again threatened the settlement ; and the English, under Admiral Drury, landed a detachment to assist the Portuguese in defending it. The Chinese, who had previously asserted their complete jurisdiction over this territory, and which a little examination would have plainly shown, now protested against the armed occupation of their soil, and immediately stopped the trade and denied provisions to the ships. The English traders were ordered by the Committee to go aboard ship, and the governor refused to have the least communication with the admiral until the troops were withdrawn. He attempted to proceed to Canton in armed boats, but was repulsed, and finally, in order not to implicate the trade any further (a step not at all apprehended in protecting the Portuguese), he wisely withdrew his troops and sailed for India. The success of the native authorities greatly rejoiced them ; a temple was built on the river’s bank to commemorate their victory, and a fort, called ” Ilowqua’s Folly ” by foreignerb(since washed away), erected toguai’d the river at that point.

    ATTITUDE OF CHINESE TUWAKD FOREIGN TKAUEKS. 457

    The Chinese, ignorant of the principles on which international intercourse is regulated among western powers, regarded every hostile deinoiistratiuii between them in their waters as directed toward themselves, and demanding their interference. Though often powerless to defend themselves against their own piratical subjects, as has been manifested again and again—for example, in 1810, and also in 1(500, when Koxinga ravaged the coast—they still assume that they are able to protect all foreigners who ” range themselves under their sway.” This was exhibited in 1814, when the British frigate Doris, against all the acknowledged rights of a nation over its own waters, and simply because it could be done with impunity, cruised off the port of C’anton to seize American vessels. The provincial authorities ordered the Committee to send her away, saying that if the English and Americans had any petty squabbles they must settle them between themselves and not bring them to China.

    The Committee stated their inability to control the proceedings of men-of-war, whereupon the Chinese began a series of annoyances against the merchants and shipping, prohibiting the employment of native servants, entering their houses to seize natives, molesting and stopping ships’ boats proceeding up and down the river on business, hindering the loading of the ships, and other like harassing acts so characteristic of Asiatic governments when they feel themselves powerless to cope with the real object of their fear or anger. These measures proceeded at last to such a length that the Committee determined to stop the British trade until the governor would allow it to go on, as before, without molestation, and they had actually left Canton for Whampoa, and proceeded down the river some distance, before he showed a sincere wish to arrange matters amicably. A deputation from each party accordingly met in Canton, and the principal points in dispute were at last gained. In this affair the Chinese would be adjudged to have been altogether in the right according to international law. At this time the governor general conceded three important points to the Committee, viz., the right of corresponding with the government, under seal, in the Chinese language, the unmolested employment of native servants, and the assurance that the houses of foreigners should not be entered without permission ; iior were these stipulations evei retracted or violated.

    The proceedings in this affair were conducted with no little apprehension on both sides, for the value of the traffic was of such importance that neither party could really think of stepping it. Besides the revenue accruing to government from duties and presents, the preparation and shipment of the articles in demand fur foreign countries give employment to millions of natives in different parts of the Empire, and had caused Canton to become one of the greatest marts in the world. The governor and his colleagues were responsible for the revenue and peaceful continuance of the trade; but through their ignorance of the true principles of a prosperous commerce, their fear of the consequences ]’esidting from any innovation or change, or the least extension of privileges to the few half-imprisoned foreigners, they thought their security la}’ rather in restriction than in freedom, in a haughty bearing to intimidate, and not in conciliation to please their customers. On the other hand, the existence of the East India Company’s charter depended in a good degree upon keeping a regular supply of tea in England, and therefore the success of the Committee’s bold measure of stopping the trade depended not a little upon the ignorance of the Chinese of the great power a passive course of action would give them.

    The government at home, on learning these proceedings, resolved to despatch another ambassy to Peking in order to stato the facts of the case at court, and if possible agree upon somo understood mode of conducting trade and communicating with, the heads of government. Lord Amherst, who like Lord Macartney had been governor-general of Lidia, was appointed ambassador to Peking, and Henry Ellis and Sir George T. Staunton associated with him as second and third commissioners.

    A large suite of able men, with Dr. Morrison as principal interpreter, accompanied the ambassy, and the usual quantity and variety of presents.’ The mission reached the capital August 28, 1816, but was summarily dismissed without an audience, because the ambassador would not perform the kotow

    ‘ Ellis, Embassy to China, London, 1840. Sir J. F. Davis, Sketclies of China, 2 Vols., London, 1841. Clarke Abel, Ndrrative of a Journey in the Interioi of Chiiiii (111(1 a Voyaae to (iiid from that Country in 1816 and 1817, London,1»18. II. Morrison, A View of China, etc., Macao, 1817. LOKI> AMHEKST’s embassy TO I’KKING. 459

    or appear before his Majesty as soon as he un-ived ; tlie intrigues

    of the authorities at Canton with the high officers about

    the Emperor to defeat the ambassy by deceiving their master

    have also been adduced as reasons for its faihire. Its real failure,

    as we can now see, was owing to the utter misconception

    of their true position by the Emperor and his officials, arising

    from their ignorance, pride, isolation, and mendacity, all combining

    to keep them so until resistless force should open them

    to meliorating influences. It was the last attempt of the kind,

    and three alternatives only remained : the resort to force to

    compel them to enter into soine equitable arrangement, entire

    submission to wdiatever they ordered, or the withdrawal of all

    trade until they proposed its resumption. The course of events

    continued the second until the flrst was resorted to, and eventuated

    in laying open the whole coast to the enterprise of western

    nations.

    At the close of the East India Company’s exclusive rights in China, the prospect for the continuance of a peaceful trade was rather dubious. The enterprising Mr. Marjoribanks despatched a vessel to ascertain how far trade could be carried on along the coast, which resulted in satisfactorily proving that the authorities were able and determined to stop all traffic, however desirous the people might be for it. The contraband trade in opium was conducted in a manner that threatened ere long to

    involve the two nations, but the Company nominally kept itself

    aloof from it by bringing none in its ships: the sajne Company,

    however, did everything in India to encourage the

    growth and saleof the drug, and received from it at the time of

    its dissolution an annual revenue of nearly two millions sterling.

    During its whole existence in China the East India Company stood forward as the defenders of the rights of foreigners and humanity, in a manner which no community of isolated merchants could have done, and to some extent compelled the Chinese to treat all more civilly. As a body it did little for the encouragement of Chinese literature or the diffusion of Christian truth or of science among the Chinese, except the printing of Morrison’s Dictionary and an annual grant to the Anglo-Chinese College; and although Dr. Morrison was their official translator for twenty-five years, the directors never gavb liiiii the empty compliment of enrolling him in the list of tlieii servants, nor contributed one penny for carrying- on his great work of translating and printing the Bible in Chinese. They set themselves against all such efforts, and during a long existence the natives of that country had no means put into their hands, by their agency, of learning that there was any great difference in the religion, science, or civilization of European nations and their own.

    The trade of the Americans to China commenced in 1784, the first vessel having left New York February 22d of that year, and returned May 11, 1785 ; it was commanded by Captain Green, and the supercargo, Samuel Shaw, on his return, gave a lucid narrative of his voyage to Chief Justice Jay. His journal, published in 1847, contains the only lecord of this voyage, and furnishes many curious facts about the political and social relations existing between foreigners then in China. Our trade with China steadily increased after this date, and has been the second in amount for many years. The only political event in the American intercourse up to 1842 was the suspension of trade in October, 1821, in consequence of the homicide of a Chinese by a sailor at Whampoa. The American merchants were really helpless to carry the trial of Terranova to a just conclusion against the Chinese law, which peremptorily required life for life wherever foreigners were concerned, and gave him up on the assurance that his life was in no danger.

    They are stated, in a narrative published in the North American lieview, to have told llowtpia at the trial on board the Emily at Whampcja, “We are bound to submit to yowY laws while we are in your waters; be they ever so unjust, we will not lesist them.” The poor man was taken out of the ship by force, while all the Americans present protested against the unfair trial he had had ; he was then promptly carried to Canton and strangled at tlif public execution ground (October 25) ; his body was given up next day, and the trade reopened.’

    ‘Shaw’s Jonrnal, Boston, 1847. North Anirrtrm) Ifrvicir, Jannary, IS’^iry. ChiiirKP /iVyw.v/Vo/v/, So])t(‘ml)(‘r, 18:50 Kir Geo. T. Staiiutou’s iVWi’aa <>/ Ohiiuif Becond editiuii, pp. 4()’J—lo2, 1850.

    AMERICAN TKADE WITH CHINA. 461

    The American Government neither took notice of this affair nor made remonstrance against its injustice, but still left the commerce, lives, and property of its citizens wholly unprotected, and at the mercy of (Chinese laws and rulers. The consuls at Canton were merely merchants, having no salary from their government, no funds to employ interpreters when necessary, or any power over their countrymen, and came and went without the least notice or acknowledgment from the Chinese.

    The trade and intercourse of the Swedes, Danes, Russians, Italians, Austrians, Peruvians, Mexicans, or Chilians, at Canton, have been attended with no peculiarities or events of any moment. None of these nations ever sent ” tribute ” to the court of the Son of Heaven, and their ships traded at Canton on the same footing with the English. The voyage of Peter Osbeck, chaplain to a Swedish East Indiaman, in 1753, contains considerable information relating to the mode of conducting the trade and the position of foreigners, who then enjoyed more liberty and suffered fewer extortions than in later years.’

    The termfaii-l’wel, by which they were all alike called by the Cantonese, indicated the popular estimation, and this epithet of foreign deviV did much, in the course of years, to increase the contempt and ill will which it expressed, not only there but throughout the Empire, for they were thereby maligned before they were known. Another term, /’, has been raised into notice by its condenmation in the British Treaty as an epithet for British subjects or countries. This word, there rendered ‘ harharian,” conveys to a native but little more than the idea that the people thus called do not understand the Chinese language and usages, and are consequently less civilized. This epithet harharian meant to the Greeks those who could not speak Greek, as it did to Shakespeare those who were not English; likewise among the Chinese, under ^were included great masses of their own subjects. By translating icai i as ‘ outside harhai’imis,” foreigners have been misrepresented in the status they held among educated natives, which was not that of savages but of the illiteracy growing out of their ignorance of the language and writings of Confucius.

    ‘ A Voyage to China and the East Indies, translated from the Germun b^Joliu R. Forster, 2 vols. , London, 1771.

    The ancient Chinese hooks speak of four wild nations on the four sides of the country, viz., the fan, i, tih, man / the first two seem to have been applied to traders from the south and west, and grew into more distinct expressions because these traders often acted so outrageously. Other terms, as ” western ocean men,” ” far-travelled strangers,” and ” men from afar,” have occasionally been substituted when i was objected to. When used as a general term, without an opprobrious addition, i is as well adapted as any to denote all foreigners ; but the most recent usage gives prominence to the terms ical hwok and yangjdn (‘outside country’ and ‘ocean man’). Among educated natives the national names are becoming more and more common, as Ying A-wo/i, Fah l-woh, Jlei hoohy Teh kwoh^ for England, France, Americaj Germany, etc.

    CHAPTER XXII.  ORIGIN OF THE FIRST WAR WITH ENGLAND

    The East India Company’s commercial privileges ceased in 1834, and it is worthy of note that an association should have been continued in the providence of God as the principal representative of Christendom among the Chinese, which by its character, its pecuniary interests, and general inclination was bound in a manner to maintain peaceful relations with them, while every other important Asiatic kingdom and island, from Arabia to Japan, was at one time or another during that period the scene of collision, war, or conquest between the nations and their visitors. Its monopoly ceased when western nations no longer looked upon these regions as objects of desire, nor went to Rome to get a privilege to seize or claim such pagan lands as they might discover, and when, too. Christians began to learn and act upon their duty to evangelize these ignorant races.

    China and Japan were once open to such agencies as well as trade, but no effective measures were taken to translate or distribute the pure word of God in them.

    Believing that the affairs of the kingdoms of this world are ordered by their Almighty Governor with regard to the fulfilment of his promises and the promulgation of his truth, the first war between England and China is not only one of great historical interest, but one whose future consequences cannot fail to exercise increasing influence upon many millions of mankind.

    This war was extraordinary in its origin as growing chiefly out of a commercial misunderstanding ; remarkable in its course as being waged between strength and weakness, conscious superiority and ignorant pride ; melancholy in its end as forcing the weaker to pay for the opium within its borders against all its laws, thus paralyzing the little moral pcrsi its feeble government could exert to protect its subjects ; and momentous in its results as introducing, on a basis of acknowledged obligations, one-half of the world to the other, without any arrogant demands from the victors or humiliating concessions from the vanquished. It was a turning-point in the national life of the Chinese race, but the compulsory payment of six million dollars for the opium destroyed has left a stignui upon the English name.

    In 1834 the select Committee of the East India Company repeated its notice given in 1831 to the authorities at Canton, that its ships would no longer come to China, and that a king’s officer would be sent out as chief to manage the affairs of the British trade. The only ” chief ” whom the Chinese expected to receive was a commercial headman, qualified to communicate with their officers by petition, through the usual and legal medium of the Hang merchants. The English Government justly deemed the change one of considerable importance, and concluded that the oversight of their subjects and the great trade they conducted required a commission of experienced men.

    The Tit. Hon. Lord Xapier was consequently appointed as chief

    superintendent of British trade, and ari’ived at Macao July 15,

    1834, where were associated with him in the commission John

    F. Davis and Sir G. B. Bobinson, formerly servants of the

    Company, and a number of secretaries, surgeons, chaplains, interpreters,

    etc., whose miited salaries amounted to $91,000.

    On arriving at Canton the tide-waiters officially repoi’ted that

    three ” foreign devils ” had landed. As soon as Governor Lu

    had learned that Lord Xapier had ]-eached Macao, he ordered

    the hong merchants to go down and intimate to him that he

    nuist remain there until he obtained legal permission to come

    to Canton ; for, having received no orders from couit as to the

    manner in which he should treat the English su[)erintendent,

    lie thought it the safest plan to adhere to the old regulations.

    Lord Napier had been ordered to report himself to the governor

    at Canton 7j>/ lette/’. A short extract from his instructions

    will show the intentions of the English (iovei’iiment in constituting

    the connnission, and the entirely wrong views it had of

    lORD NAriKK Sri’EllINTENDENT OK HKI’ilSII I’KADK. 465

    the notions of the Chinese respecting foreign intercourse, and the character they gave to the English authorities. Lord Palmerston says: In addition to the duty of protecting and fostering the trade of his Majesty’s subjects with the port of Canton, it will be one of your principal objects to ascertain whether it may not be practicable to extend that trade to other parts of the Chinese dominions. . . . It is obvious that, with a view to the attainment of this object, the establishment of direct communications with the jiort of Peking would be desirable ; and you will accordingly diiect your attention to discover the best means of preparing the way for such communications, bearing constantly in mind, however, that j)ecnliar caution and circumspection will be indispensable on this point, lest you should awaken the fears or offend the prejudices of the Chinese Government, and thus put to hazard even the existing opportunities of intercourse by a precipitate attempt

    to extend them In conformity with this caution you will abstain from entering

    into any new relations or negotiations with the Chinese authorities, except

    under very urgent and unforeseen circumstances. But if any opportunity for

    such negotiations should appear to you to present itself, you will lose no time

    in reporting the circumstance to his Majesty’s government, and in asking

    for instructions ; but previously to the receipt of such instructions you will

    adopt no proceedings but such as may have a general tendency to convince the

    Chinese authorities of the sincere desire of the king to cultivate the most

    friendly relations with the Emperor of China, and to join with him in any

    measures likely to promote the happiness and prosperity of their respective Bubjects.

    (jrovernor Lu’s messengers arrived too late to detain the

    British superintendent at Macao, and a military officer despatched

    to intercept liun passed him on the way ; so that the

    first intimation the latter received of the governor’s disposition

    was in an edict addressed to tlie hong merchants, from which

    two paragraphs are extracted :

    On this occasion the barbarian eye, Lord Napier, has come to Canton

    witliout having at all resided at Macao to wait for orders ; nor has he requested

    or received a permit from the superintendent of customs, but has hastily come

    up to Canton— a great infringement of the established laws! The customhouse

    waiters and others who presumed to admit liim to enter are sent with a

    communication requiring their trial. But in tender consideration for the said

    barbarian eye being a new-comer, and unacquainted with the statutes and laws

    of the Celestial Empire, I will not strictly investigate. . . . As to liis object

    in coming to Canton, it is for commercial business. The Celestial Empire appoints

    officers, civil ones to rule the people, military ones to intimidate the

    -nicked. The petty affairs of commerce are to be directed by the merclianta

    themselves : the officers have nothing to hear on the subject. … If any

    affair is to be newly commenced, it is necessary to wait till a respectful memorial be made, clearly reporting it to the great Emperor, and hi? mandate h?

    received ; the great ministers of the Celestial Empire are not permitted to have intercourse by letters with outside barbarians. If the said barbarian eye throws in private letters, I, the governor, will not at all receive or look at them. With regard to the foreign factory of the Company without the walls of the city, it is a place of temporary residence for foreigners coming to Canton to trade ; they are permitted only to eat, sleep, buy and sell in the factories; they are not allowed to go out to ramble about.’

    How unlike were these two docunients and the expectations

    of their writers ! The governor felt that it was safest to wait

    for an imperial mandate before commencing a new affair, and

    refused to receive a letter from a foreign officer. Had he done

    so he would have laid himself open to reprimand and perhaps

    punishment from his superiors ; and in saying that the superintendent

    should report himself and apply for a permit before

    coming to Canton, he only required what the members of the

    Company had always done when they returned from their sum

    mer vacation at Macao. Lord Xapier thought he had tlie same

    liberty to come to Canton without announcing himself that

    other and private foreigners exercised ; but an officer of his

    rank would have pleased the Chinese authorities better by observino;

    their regulations. He had thought of this contingencv

    before leaving England, aiid had requested ” that in case of

    necessity he might have authority to treat with the government

    at Peking ;

    ” this request being denied, he desired that his appointment

    to Canton might be announced at the capital ; this

    not being granted, he wished that a connnunication from the

    home authorities might be addressed to the governor of Canton

    ; but this was deemed inexpedient, and he was directed to

    ” go to Canton and report himself by letter.” These reasonable

    requests involved no loss of dignity, but the court of St. James

    chose to send out a superintendent of trade, an officer partaking

    of both ministerial and consular powers, and ordered him to

    act in a certain manner, involving a violation of the regulations

    of the country where he was going, without providing for tlic

    alternative of his rejection.

    ‘ (Jorrcspondenee relatimj to China (Blue Book), p. 4. Chinese Bepository, Vol. III., p. 188 ; Vol. XL, p. 188.

    HIS LETTER REJECTED I5Y GOVERNOR LU. 467

    To Canton, therefore, he came, and the next day reported himself by letter to the governor, sending it to the city gates. His lordship was directed to have nothing to do with the Hang merchants ; and therefore when they waited upon him the morning of his arrival, with the edict they had been sent down to Macao to ” enjoin upon him,” he courteously dismissed them, with an intimation that “he would communicate immediately with the viceroy in the manner befitting his Majesty’s commission and the honor of the British nation.” The account of the reception of his communication is taken from his correspondence: On the arrival of the party at the city gates, the soldier on guard was despatched to report the circumstance to his superior. In less than a quarter of an hour an officer of inferior rank appeared, whereupon Mr. Astell offered my letter for transmission to the viceroy, which duty this officer declined, addiner that his superior was on his way to the spot. In the course of an hour several officers of nearly equal rank arrived in succession, each refusing to deliver the letter on the plea that higher officers would shortly attend. After an hour’s

    delay, during which time the party were treated with much indignity, not

    unusual on such occasions, the linguists and hong merchants arrived, who entreated

    to become the bearers of the letter to the viceroy. About this time

    an officer of rank higher than any of those who had preceded him joined the

    party, to whom the letter was in due form offered, and as formally refused.

    The officer having seen the superscrijition on the letter, argued, that “as it

    came from the superintendent of trade, the hong merchants were the proper

    channels of communication : ” but this obstacle appeared of minor importance in their eyes, upon ascertaining that the document was styled a letter, and not & petition. The linguists requested to be allowed a copy of the address, which was of course refused.

    About this time the kicang-hielt, a military officer of the rank of colonel, accompanied by an officer a little inferior to himself, arrived on the spot, to whom the letter was offered three several times and as often refused. The senior hong merchant, Howqua, after a private conversation with the colonel, requested to be allowed to carry the letter in company with him and ascertain

    whether it would be received. This being considered as an insidious attempt

    to circumvent the directions of the superintendents, a negative was made to

    this and other overtures of a similar tendency. Suddenly all the officers took

    their departure for the purpose, as it was afterward ascertained, of consulting

    with the viceroy. Nearly three hours having been thus lost within the city,

    Mr. Astell determined to wait a reasonable time for the return of the officers, who shortly afterward reassembled ; whereupon Mr. Astell respectfully offered the letter in question three separate times to the colonel and afterward to the other officers, all of whom distinctly refused even to touch it; upon which the party returned to the factory.’

    * Chinese Bepositori/, Vol. XI. , p. 27.

    The goveriKir ]e})orted this oecurreiu’e at court in a meinorial, in which, after stating that his predecessor had instructed the Company’s supercargoes to malce arrangements tluit “a ?’«//7<;ni[or supercargo, the word. being applied to all foreign consuls] acquainted with affairs should still be appointed to come to Canton to control and direct the trade,” he states what had occurred, and adds:
    The said Larbarian eye would not receive the Hang merchants, but after-M’ard repaired to the outside of the city to present a letter to me, your Majesty’s minister, Lu. On the face of the envelope the forms and style of equality were used, and there were absurdly written the characters Ta Thuj kiroh [‘Great English nation’]. Now it is plain on the least reflection, that in keeping the central and outside [people] apart, it is of the highest importance to maintain dignity and sovereignty. Whether the said barbarian eye has or has not official rank there are no means of thoroughly ascertaining. But though he be really an officor of the said nation, he yet cannot write letters on equality with the frontier officers of the Celestial Empire. As the thing concerned the national dignity, it was inexpedi’^nt in the least to allow a tendency to any approach or advance by which lightness of esteem might be occasioned.

    Accordingly orders Mere given to Ilan Shau-king, the colonel in command of the military forces of this department, to tell him authoritatively that, by the statutes and enactments of the Celestial Empire, there has never been intercourse by letters with outside barbarians ; that, respecting commercial matters, petitions must be

    made through the medium of the hong merchants, and that it is not permitted

    to offer or present letters. . . . On humble examination it appears that

    the commerce of the English barbarians has hitherto been managed by the

    hong merchants and taipans ; there has never been a barbarian e^-e to form a

    precedent. Now it is suddenly desired to appoint an officer, a superintendent,

    which is not in accordance with old regulations. Besides, if the said nation

    has formed this decision, it still should have stated in a petition the affairs

    which, and the way how, such superintendent is to manage, so that a memorial

    miglit be presented requesting yovir Majesty’s mandate and pleasure as to what

    should be refused, in order that obedience might be paid to it and the same be

    acted on accordingly. But tlie said barbarian eye, Lord Napier, wjthout having

    made any plain nqiort, suddenly came to the barbarian factories outside the

    city to reside, and presumed to desire intercourse to and fro by official documents and letters with the officers of the Central Flowery Land; this was, indeed, far out of the bounds of reason.’

    ‘^ Chinese Bepouionji Vol. III., p. 327.

    CONTEST BETWEEN THE COVEIINOR AXD NAPIER. 460

    The governor here intimates that the intention of his government in requesting a taijpan to come to Canton was only to have a responsible officer with whom to communicate. In refusing to receive an ‘eye,” or superintendent, therefore, he did not, in his own view of the case, suppose that he was refusing, nor did he or the court of Peking intend to refuse, the residence of a supercargo, for they were desirous to have responsible heads appointed over the connnerce and subjects of every ration trading at Canton. These occurrences were discussed by the Hon. John Quincy Adams in his lecture upon the war with China, delivered in 1841, in which he alleged that the rejection of Lord JSTapier’s letter and mission was a sufficient reason for the subsequent contest, he showed the impolicy of allowing the Chinese ideas of supremacy over other nations, and exhibited their natural results in the degraded position of foreigners. He had, however, only an imperfect conception of the strength of this assumption,

    but it was not debated in this contest between Governor Lu and

    Lord Napier. The former was not blameworthy for endeavoring

    to carry the laws of his own country into execution, while

    the latter was doing his best to obey the instructions of his own

    sovereign. The question of the propriety of those laws, involving

    as they did the supremacy of the Emperor over the English,

    or the feasibility of those instructions, could only he discussed

    and settled by their principals. Whether this assumption was

    a proper ground of hostilities is altogether another question.

    When Lord Napier’s letter was rejected he would probably have

    referred home to his government for further instructions if it

    had intended to settle the question of supremacy, but he did not

    do so, nor did the ministry refer to it or remonstrate against the

    unhandsome treatment their representative received.

    The refusal of Lord Napier to confer with the hong merchants,

    and of the governor to receive any communication except

    a petition, placed the two parties in an awkward position.

    In his letter the former stated the object of his coming to Canton,

    and requested that his excellency Avould aecoi-d him an interview

    in order that their future intercoui’se might be arranged ;

    and considering the desirableness of giving him accurate views,

    the party at the gate would have acted M’isely in permitting the

    hong merchants to take it to him. The governor was irritated

    and alarmed, and vented his anger upon the unfortunate hong

    merchants. These had two or three interviews with Lord Na’pier after the rejection of the letter, but as they now said it

    Mould not be received unless superscribed _^??’;i, or ‘ petition.’

    they were dismissed. Having heard that there was a party

    among the British residents in Canton who disapproved of the

    proceedings of the superintendent, they vainly endeavored to

    call a meeting of the disaffected on the 10th of August, while his

    lordship assembled all of his countrymen next day, and found

    that they generally approved of his conduct. On the 14th he

    reviews his position in consequence of the rejection of his letter

    ivad the subsecpient conduct of the governor. After recommending

    the renewal of the effort to open better understood relations with the court of Peking by a demand upon the Emperor to allow the same privileges to all foreigners residing in China which Chinese received in foreign countries, he goes on to say:

    My present position is, in one point of view, <a delicate one, because the trade is put in jeopardy on account of the difference existing between the viceroy and myself. I am ordered by his Majesty to ” go to Canton and there report myself by letter to the viceroy.” I use my best endeavors to do so ; but the viceroy is a presumptuous savage, and will not grant the same privileges to me that have been exercised constantly by the chiefs of the committee.

    He rakes up obsolete orders, or perhaps makes them for the occasion ; but

    the fact is, the chiefs used formerly to wait on the viceroy on their return

    from Macao, and continued to do it nntil the viceroy gave them an order to

    wait upon him, whereupon they gave the practice iip. Had I even degraded

    the king’s commission so far as to petition through the liong merchants for an

    interview, it is quite clear by the tenor of the edicts that it would have been

    refused. Were he to send an armed force and order me to the boat, I could

    then retreat with honor, and he would implicate himself; but they are afraid

    to attempt such a measure. What then remains but the stoppage of the trade

    or my retirement ? If the trade is stopped for any length of time the consequences to the merchants are most serious, as they are also to the unoffending

    Chinese. But the viceroy cares no more for commerce, or for the comfort

    and happiness of the people as long as he receives his pay and plunder, than

    if he did not live among them. My situation is different ; I cannot hazard

    millions of property for any length of time on the mere score of etiquette. If

    the trade shall be stopped, which is probable enough in the absence of the frigate, it is possible I may be obliged to retire to Macao to let it loose again.

    Then has the viceroy gained his point and the commission is degraded. Now, my lord, I argue that whether the commission retires by force of arms or by the injustice practised on the merchants, the viceroy has committed an outrage on the Britisli crown which should be equally chastised. The whole system of government here is that of subterfuge and shifting the blame from tlia

    oppositp: vikus of the two parties, 471

    shoulders of the one to the other. … I shall not go, however, without jiublishini; in Chinese and disseminating far and wide the base conduct of the viceroy in oppressing the merchants, native as well as foreign, and of my having taken the step out of pure compassion to them. I can only once more implore your lordship to force them to acknowledge my authority and the king’s commission, and if you can do that you will have no difficulty in opening the ports at the same time.’

    Such were the sentiments and desires which filled the mind of the English superintendent. He is in error in saying that the governor would not grant him the same privileges as had been accorded to the chiefs of the Company. The present question was not about having an interview, but regarding the superscription of his letter ; for the chiefs of the Company sent their sealed communications through the Hang merchants as petitions. The governor stopped the English trade on the 16th, and two days after issued an explanatory paper in reply to the report that his orders on that subject had been carried into effect. This document sets forth his determination to uphold the old regulations, and a few sentences from it are here introduced as a contrast with the preceding despatch. The conviction of the governor in the supremacy of his Emperor over all foreign nations which had sent embassies to his court, and his own official position making him responsible for successfully maintaining the laws over foreigners, must be borne in mind :

    To refer to England : slrould an official personage from a foreign country proceed to the said nation for the arrangement of any business, how could he neglect to have the object of his coming announced in a memorial to the said nation’s king, or how could he act contrary to the requirements of the said nation’s dignity, doing his own will and pleasure? Since the said barbarian eye states that he is an official -personage, he ought to be more thoroughly acquainted with these principles. Before, when he offered a letter, I, the governor, saw it inexpedient to receive it, because the established laws of the Celestial Empire do not permit ministers and those under authority to have private intercourse by letter with outside barbarians, but have, hitherto, in commercial affairs, held the merchants responsible; and if perchance any barbarian merchant should have any petition to make requesting the investigation of any affair, [the laws require] that by the said ttiipiiu a duly prepared petition should be in form presented, and an answer by proclamation awaited.

    * Chinese Repository, Vol. XV., p. 68.

    There has never been such a thing as outside barbarians sending in a letter.

    He then says that there had iic’ver been any official correspondence to and fro between the native officers and the barbarian merchants ; by this he means a correspondence ol equality, which the Chinese Government had indeed never yielded. The idea of supremacy never leaves him—witness, for example, the following strain, peculiarly Chinese :

    The Hang merchants, because the said barbarian eye will not adhere to the old regulations, have requested that a stop should be put to the said nation’s commerce. This manifests a profound knowledge of the great principles of dignity. It is most highly praiseworthy. Lord Napier’s perverse opposition necessarily demands such a mode of procedure, and it would be most right immediately to put a stop to buying and selling. But considering that the said nation’s king has hitherto been in the highest degree reverently obedient,

    he cannot in sending Lord Napier at this time have desired him thus obstinately

    to resist. The some hundreds of thousands of commercial duties yearly

    coming from the said country concern not the Celestial Empire the extent of

    a hair or a feather’s down. The possession or absence of them is utterly unworthy

    of one careful thought. Their broadcloths and camlets are still more

    unimportant, and of no regard. But the tea, the rhubarb, the raw silk of the

    Inner Land, are the sources by which the said nation’s people live and nuiiutain

    life. For the fault of one man, Lord Napier, must the livelihood of the

    whole nation be precipitately cut off? I, the governor, looking up and embodying

    the great Emperor’s most sacred, most divine wish, to nurse and tenderly

    cherish as one all that are without, feel that I cannot bring my mind to

    bear it ! Besides, all the merchants of the said nation dare dangers, crossing

    the seas myriads of miles to come from far. Their hopes rest wholly in the

    attainment of gain by buying and selling. That they did not attend when

    summoned by the hong merchants to a meeting for consultation, was because

    they were under the direction of Lord Napier ; it assuredly did not proceed

    from the several merchants’ own free will. Sliould the trade be wholly cut

    off in one morning, it would cause great distress to many persons, who, having

    travelled hither by land and sea, would by one man, Lord Napier, be

    ruined. They cannot in such case but be utterly depressed with grief. . . .

    I hear the said eye is a man of very solid ai\d expansive mind and placid speech. If he consider, he can himself doubtless distinguish right and wrong: let him on no account permit himself to be deluded by men around him. . . . Hereafter, when the said nation’s king liears respecting these repeated orders and official replies, [he will know] that the whole wrong lies on the barbarian eye ; it is in nowise owing to any want on the part of the Celestial Empire of extreme consideration for the virtue of reverential obedience exercised by the said nation’s king.’

    ‘ Chinese Bejwsitori/, Vol. III., p. 235.

    CHINESE IDEAS OV SUPREMACY. 473

    He consequently sent a deputation of officials to Lord Napier to inquire ‘why he had come to Canton, what business he was appointed to perform, and when he would retire to Macao. The letter was again handed them, but the superscription still remained, and they refused to touch it. They, however, leariuKl enough to be able to inform their master what he wished to know : the real point of dispute between the two could only be settled between their sovereigns. The governor by this deputation showed a desire to make some arrangement, and the trade would probably have been shortly reopened had not Lord Kapier carried out his idea, two days after, of appealing to the people in order to explain the reasons why the governor had stopped the trade and brought distress on them. The paper simply detailed the principal events which had occurred since his arrival, laying the blame upon the*” ignorance and obstinacy “of the governor in refusing to receive his letter, and closino; with—” The merchants of Great Britain wish to trade with all China on principles of mutual benefit ; they will never relax in their exertions till they gain a point of equal importance to both countries; and the viceroy will find it as easy to stop the current of the Canton River as to carry into effect the insane determination of the hong.”

    In many of the former proceedings between the Chinese and foreigners, based as they were upon incorrect ideas, the rules of diplomacy elsewhere observed formed no guide ; but the publication of this statement was unwise and dangerous. Not only did it jeopardize the lives and property of British subjects, but of all other foreigners residing at Canton, to whose safety and interests, as involved with his own dispute. Lord Napier makes no reference in his despatches. Happily, Governor Lu did not appease his irritation by letting loose the populace of Canton, which was highly excited, but by imprisoning members of the co-hong for allowing the superintendent to come to the city.

    The governor and his colleagues stopped the English trade on September 2d, in a proclamation containing many inaccurate statements and absurd reasonings, in which he forbade either natives or foreigners to give aid or comfort to Lord Xapier. Communication with the shipping at AV^hampoa was also interdicted, so that, in reality, the entire foreign trade was interrupted. A guard of Chinese troops was placed near tlio (\)nipany’s factoiy, but no personal distress was felt on account of the interdict. 11. B. M. frigates Andromache and Imogene were ordered up to protect the shipping and persons of British subjects, and the two vessels anchored at Whanipoa on the 11th.

    In their passage through the Bogue they returned the fire from the forts, with little damage to either ; and on anchoring, a lieutenant and boat’s crew were despatched to Canton to protect the English factory. These decisive proceedings troubled the native authorities not a little, who, on their part, prepared for stronger measures by blocking up the river and stationing troops about Whampoa, but were relieved when they found that the ships remained* at their anchorage.

    Lord Xapier sent a protest against the proceedings of the

    governor in stopping the trade, through the Chamber of Commerce

    and hong merchants ; but at this juncture his health gave

    way so rapidly that three days after the frigates had anchored

    he decided to return to Macao and wait for insti’uctions. Tlie

    Chinese detained him on his passage down until the ships were

    out of the river; but he sank and died October 11th, a fortnight

    after reaching that city. As soon as he left Canton the

    trade was reopened. On hearing that the ships had reached

    AVhampoa, the Emperor degraded or suspended all the officials

    who had been in any way responsible ; but when he learned

    that ” Lord Xapier had been driven out, and the two ships of

    war dragged over the shallows and expelled,” he restored most

    of those whom he had thus punished. The governor also vented

    his indignation upon ten of his subordinates, by subjecting them

    to torture in order to “ascertain if they were guilty of illicit

    connection with foreigners.” The drama was closed on the part

    of the Chinese by an imperial mandate : ” The English barbarians

    have an open market in the Inner Land, but there has

    hitherto been no interchange of official communications. Yet

    it is absoluteh’ requisite that there should be a person possessing

    general control, to have the special direction of affairs; wherefore let the governor immediately order the Hang merchants to command the said separate merchants, that they send a letter back to their country calling for the appoint ineiit of luiotlier person as taqxin^ to come for the couti’ol and direction of conunercial affairs, in accordance with the old regulations.”

    STOPPING OF THE TP.ADK AND IJKA’III OF XAI’IKK. 475

    The principles on which the Chinese acted in this affair are

    plainly seen. To have granted official intercourse bv letter

    would have been to give up the whole question, to consider the

    king of England as no longer a tributary, and so release him

    and his subjects from their allegiance. To do so would not only

    permit them to come into their borders as equals, subject to no

    laws or customs, but would fui’ther open the door for resistance

    to their authority, armed opposition to their control, and ultimate

    in possession of their territory. The governor hints at

    this when speaking of the necessity of restraining the barbarian

    eye: “AVith regard to territory, it would also have its consequences.”

    These would be the probable results of allowing

    such a mode of address from the Kalkas, or Tibetans, and the

    Emperor felt the importance of irs concession in a way that

    Lord Xapier himself could not appreciate. Xcvertheless, with

    the inconsistency of children, the Son of Heaven and his courtiers,

    in the mandate just quoted, yi(;ld their obligations to justly

    govern the far-travelled strangers, by requiring them to get a

    countryman ” to exercise general control ” and live among them

    —thus establishing the principle of ex-territoriality within their

    borders which they now find so irksome.

    It is pitiable, and natural too, that the Chinese should have had notions so incorrect and dangerous, for it led them to misinterpret every act of foreigners. Their entire intercourse with Europeans, since the Portuguese first came to their shores, had conspired to strengthen the opinion that all traders were crafty, domineering, avaricious, and contumacious, and must be kept down in every possible way to insure safety to the Chinese natives. The indignation of the Emperor on hearing of the entrance of the ships of war was mixed with great apprehension,

    ” lest there were yet other ships staying at a distance ready to bring in aid to him ” [Lord Xapier]. Ignorant as he was of the true character of the embassies which had been received at Peking, he was still more likely to take alarm at any attempt to open an equal intercourse, and disposed to resist it as he would a forcible occupation of his territory, of which it was, in his view, only the precursor.

    That these were the feelings of the rulers at Peking cannot be doubted; and we must know what views and fears actuated them in order to understand their proceedings. If the position of England in the eyes of the Chinese had been fully known in London, the unequal contest imposed upon Lord Xapier would either have been avoided or directed against the imperial government.

    The offer of an amicable intercourse was given to the Chinese, but through the inapplicable instructions which his lordship received this offer was not made to the weaker and ignorant party in such a way as not to excite its fears, while it fully explained the real position and intentions of England, and through her all Christendom, in seeking intercourse with China. Yet so long as the court of Peking, in virtue of the Emperor’s vicegerency over mankind, claimed supremacy’ over other nations, the struggle to maintain that assumption was sure to come. This false notion did, however, really continue among them for about forty years, till five foreign ministers had their first audience with the Emperor Tungchl, June, 1873, and stood before his throne as they presented their credentials.

    The Pritish residents at Canton saw the point of difficulty clearly, and in a petition to the king in council, dated December 4, 1834, recommended that a commissioner be sent to one of the northern ports with a small fleet to arrange the matter of future intercourse. In this petition they ” trace the disabilities and restrictions under which Pritish connnerce now labors to a long acquiescence in the arrogant assumption of supremacy over the monarchs and people of other countries claimed by the Emperor of China for himself and his subjects,” and conclude that ” no essentially beneficial result can be expected to arise out of negotiations in which such pretensions are not decidedly repelled.”

    PETITION OF BRITISH MERCHANTS TO TIIK KING. 477

    The recommendations of the petitioners were disregarded in England. The cabinet disapproved of the spirit of Lord Napier’s despatches, and intimated to him that it was “not by force and violence that his Majesty intended to establish a commercial intercourse between his subjects and China, but by conciliatory measures.” After the events of 1834 if a commissioner, backed by a small fleet, had Leen iininediatelj appointed to Peking to arrange the terms of future intercourse, the subsequent wai might have been averted, though it is more likely that the imperial court would have rejected all overtures until compelled to treat by force.

    As things were situated at Canton, it was really impossible for

    the Chinese Government to carry on a line of policy with respect

    to foreign intercourse wdiich would at once maintain its assumptions,

    avoid the risk of a rupture, squeeze all the money possible

    out of the trade, and repress the complaints of the Bi-ilish

    merchants. The cessation of the Company’s monopoly, as well

    as its control over all British subjects, had weakened the leverage

    of the local authorities to manage them, to a greater degree

    than they were aware.

    The trade was conducted during the next season to the satisfaction

    of all parties. That of other nations had been practically

    stopped with that of the English, but the suspension was at a

    dull season of the 3’ear. Their consuls took no official part in

    the dispute, though they had some ground for complaint in the

    suspension of their trade and the imprisonment of their countrymen.

    The Chinese shopkeepers known as “outside merchants”

    having been interdicted trading at all with foreignei’s, went to

    the governor’s palace in a laige body and soon obtained a removal

    of the restriction. The hong mei’chants themselves instigated

    this decree, for these shopkeepers, while deriving large

    profits from their business, were almost free from the extortions

    which the monopolists suffered. All the extraordinary expenses

    incurred by the provincial exchequer in the late affair were i”equired

    of these unfortunate men ; and the}^ 7)iifst get it out of

    the trade in the best way they could. Amelioration could not

    be expected from such a system ; for as soon as the foreigners

    began to complain, the hong merchants were impelled by every

    motive to misrepresent their complaints to the governor and

    quash every effort to obtain redress. The situation of foreigners

    there was aptly likened by a wi’iter on the subject to the inmates

    of the Zoological Garden in Regent’s Park : ” They [the animals]

    have been free to play what pranks they pleased, so that

    they made no uproar nor escaped from confinement. The keepers looked sharply after them and tried to keep them (Hiiet, because annoyed by the noise tliey made and responsible for the mischief they miglit commit if they got at Hberty. They might do what was right in their own eyes with each other. The authorities of China do not expect from wild and restless barbarians the decorum and conduct exemplified in their own great family.”

    The peculiar position of the relations with the Chinese and the

    value of the trade, present and prospective, was so great that

    these events called out many pamphleteers both in England and

    the East. The servants of the Company naturally recommended

    a continuance of the peaceable system, nrging that foreigners

    should obey the laws of tlie Empire where they lived and not

    interfere with the restrictions put upon them. Others counselled

    the occupation of an island on the coast, to which Chinese

    “traders would immediately resort, and which was to be held

    only so long as the Emperor refused to open liis ports and allow

    a fair traffic with his people. Othei’S deprecated resort to force

    until a commissioner to Peking had explained the designs and

    wishes of his government, demanded the same privileges for

    foreigners in China that the Chinese enjoyed abi’oad, and then,

    in the event of a refusal, compel acquiescence. Some advised

    lettiuii: thing’s take their own course and conducting trade

    as it could be at Canton until circumstances compelled the

    Chinese to act. ” That which we now require is not to lose the

    enjoyment of what w^e have got,” said the Duke of Wellington,

    and his advice was followed in most respects. A few thought it

    would be the wiser way to disseminate juster ideas of the position,

    power, and wishes of England and all foreign nations among the

    Chinese in their own language. They argued very properly that

    ignorance on these points would neutralize every attempt to

    bring about a better state of things ; that although the Chinese

    were to blame for their uncompromising arrogance, it was also

    their great misfortune that they really had had little opportunity

    to learn the truth respecting their visitors. All these suggestions

    looked forward to no long continuance of the present undefined,

    anomalous relations, and all of them contained much pertinent

    advice and many valuable items of information ; but ii

    CONTINUATION OF THE TRADE. 479

    was a question not more difficult than important what course of

    procedure was the best. AVliile the point of supremacy seemed

    to be settled in favor of the Son of Heaven, the virus of the

    contraband opium trade was working out its evil effects among

    his subjects and hastening on a new era.

    The British superintendents now lived in Macao pending the

    action of their government, merely keeping a clerk at Canton

    to sign manifests. The foreign residents established the Society

    for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, and other benevolent

    projects mentioned in a previous chapter ; they also sent two

    or three vessels along the coast to see what openings existed for

    entering the countrj’, preaching the gospel, or living on shore.

    The results of the voyages fully proved the impossibility of entering

    the country in an open manner without the permission

    of the rulers, and the limited intercourse with the people also

    showed that the character of foreigners was generally associated

    with the opium trade. The dwellers immediately on the coast

    were eager for an extension of the traffic, because it brought

    them large gains, and the officers at the principal ports were

    desirous of participating in the emoluments of their fellows

    at Canton ; but those who had the good of the countiy at

    heart (and there are many such in China) thought that the extension

    of foreign trade would bring with it unmitigated evil

    from the increased use of opium.

    Sir G. B. Robinson, the superintendent, remained at Lintin

    on board a cutter among opium ships anchored there during the

    season of 1835-30, and was so well satisfied with his position

    that he recommended his government to purchase a small ship

    for the permanent acconunodation of the commission there beyond

    the reach of the Chinese officers, and to vest its powers in

    a single individual. He also expressed his conviction that there

    was little hope of establishing a proper understanding with the

    Chinese Government, except by a resort to force and the occupation

    of an island off the mouth of the river:

    I see no grounds to apprehend the occurrence of any fearful events on the north-east coast, nor can I h\arn what new danger exists. I am assured from the best authority that the scuffles between different parties of smugglers and mandarins, alike engaged and competing in the traffic, are not more serious or frequont than in this province. In no case have Europeans been engaged in any kind of conflict or affray : and while this increasing and lucrative trade is in the hands of the parties whose vital interests are so totally dependent ou its safety and continuance, and by whose prudence and integrity it has been brought into its present increasing and flourishing condition, I think little apprehension may be entertained of dangers emanating from imprudence on their part. Should any unfortunate catastrophe take place, what would our

    position at Canton entail upon us but responsibility and jeopardy, from which

    we are now free ? On the question of smuggling opium I will not enter in

    this place, though, indeed, smuggling carried on actively in the government

    boats can hardly be termed such. Whenever his Majesty’s government directs

    us to prevent British vessels engaging in the traffic, we can enforce any order

    to that effect, but a more certain method would be to prohibit the growth of

    the poppy and the manufacture of opium in British India ; and if British

    ships are in the habit of committing irregularities and crimes, it seems doubly

    necessary to exercise a salutary control over them by the presence of au authority

    at Lintin.

    Taking all things into consideration, this is a remarkable despatch

    to be sent by the representative of a Cliristian government

    writing from the midst of a fleet of smugglers on the

    shores of a pagan country. ” The scuilles caused by the introduction

    of opium are,” he remarks, ^’not more serious or frequent

    on the coast than about Canton ; ” though even there,

    l)i-obably, not one-half which did occur were known ; but Europeans

    never personally engaged in any of them. They only

    brought the cause and object of these collisions where the people

    could get it, and then quietly looked on to see them fight

    about it. Tlie ” prudence and integrity ” of the merchants were

    engaged in cherishing it to a high degree of prosperity, and

    they were not likely to act imprudently. The orders of the

    supreme government for its officers on the coast to stop the

    traffic were utterly powerless, through the cupidity and venality

    of tho.se officers and their underlings ; yet their almost complete

    failure to execute them does not impugn the sincerity of

    the court in issuing them. There is not the least evidence to

    show that the couii of Peking was not sincere in its desire to

    suppress the trade, from the first edict in 1800 till the war broke

    out in 1840. The excuse that the government smuggled because its revenue cruisers engaged in it and the helpless provincial authorities winked at it, is no more satisfactory than to make the successful bribery of custoui-liousc officers in Enghiiul or elsewhere a proof of the corruption of the treasury department.

    SIR GEORGE ROBINSON ON OPHT^r-SM (tggF.IXG. 481

    The temptation of an ” increasing and lucrative ” trade was as strong to the unenlightened pagan Chinese smuggler as it was to the Christian merchants and monopolists who placed the poisonous drug constantly within his reach. It would have been far more frank on the part of the British superintendent to have openly defended a traffic affording a revenue of more than two millions sterling to his own government, and suggested that such an ‘” increasing and lucrative ” business should not be impeded, than to say that he could stop British ships enji:ao;iiio: in it as soon as he received orders to that effect.

    The existence of tlie commission at the outer anchoi-ages was

    fully known to the authorities at Canton, but no movement

    toward reopening tlie intercourse was made by either party.

    Lord Palmerston instructed the superintendent not to comnmnicate

    with the governor-general through the hong merchants,

    nor to give his written connnnnications the name of

    petitions. Captain Elliot succeeded Sir George in 183G, and

    innnediately set about reopening the connnunication with the

    Chinese officei’s in the same way that the supercargoes of the

    Company had conducted it. lie defended this course upon

    the grounds that he had no right to direct official communication with the governor, and that the remarkable movements of the Chinese and the state of uncertainty in respect to the whole foreign trade rendered it desirable to be at Canton. The successor of Lu, Tang Ting-ching, M’illingly responded to this proposition by sendiug a deputation of three officers to Macao with the hong merchants to make some inquiries before memorializing the Emperor. In his report the governor avoided all reference to Lord Napier, and requested his Majesty’s sanction to the present request as being in accordance with the orders that the English merchants should send home to have a supercargo come out to manage them. It was of course granted; and the British connnission, having received a ” red permit “

    from the collector of customs, returned to Canton April 12,

    1837, after an absence of about thirty months. In his note to

    the governor upon receiving the imperial sanction, Captain Eliot says: “The undersigned respectfully assures his excellencj’ that it is at once his duty and his anxious desire to conform in all things to the imperial pleasure ; and he will therefore heedfully

    attend to the points adverted to in the papers now before

    him.” This language was decided, and his excellency after-

    Mard called upon the superintendent to do as he had promised.

    The remarkable movements of tlie supi’eme government here

    referred to grew out of a memorial from IIu Xai-tsi, formerly

    salt commissioner and judge at Canton, proposing the legalization

    of the opium trade. In this paper he acknowledges tliat

    it is impossible to stop the traffic or use of the drug ; if the

    foreign vessels be driven from the coast, they will go to some

    island near by, where the native craft will go off to them ; and

    if the laws be made too severe upon those who smoke the drug

    they will be disregarded. By legalizing it, he says, the drain of

    specie will be stopped, the regular trade rendered more profitable

    and manageable, and the consumption of the drug regulated.

    He proposes instant dismissal from office as the penalty for all

    functionaries convicted of smoking, while their present ineffectual

    attempts to suppress the trade, which i-esulted in general

    contempt for all law, would cease, and consequently the dignity

    of government be better maintained. The ti-ade on the coast

    would be concenti’ated at Canton, and the fleet at Lintin broken

    up, thereby bringing all foreigners more completely under

    control.

    This unexpected movement at the capital caused no little stir

    at Canton, and the hong merchants presently advertised the foreigners

    that soon there would no longer be any use for the receiving-

    ships at Lintin. Captain Elliot wrote that he thought

    legalization had come too late to stop the trade on the coast, and,

    with a prescient eye, adds that the “feeling of independence

    created among British subjects from the peculiar mode of conducting

    this bi’anch of the trade,” would ere long lead to graver

    difficulties and acts of violence requiring the armed interference

    of his govennncnt. The impression Avas general at Canton

    that the trade would be legalized, and increased preparations

    were accordingly made in India to extend the cultivation. The

    governor and his colleagues reconnnended its legalization on the

    PROPOSAL TO LEGALIZE TFIE OPIUM TRADE. 483

    grounds that ” the tens (»f millions of precious money which

    now annually ooze out of the Empire will be saved,” the duties

    be inei’eased, the evil practices of transporting contraband goods

    by deceit and violence suppi-essed, numberless quarrels and litigations

    arising therefrom and the crimes of wortliless vagrants

    diminished. They also deluded themselves with the idea that if

    the officers were dismissed as soon as convicted, the intellif^ent

    part of society would not indulge their depraved appetites, but

    let the ” victims of their own self-sacrificing folly,” the poor

    opium-smokers, be found only among the lower classes. In connection

    with this report, the hong merchants replied to various

    inquiries respecting the best mode of carrying on the opium

    trade in case it should be legalized, and their mode of conducting

    commerce generally ; adding that it was bej-ond their power to

    control thesnniggling traffic or restrain the exportation of sycee,

    and showed that the balance of trade would naturally leave the

    country in bullion. These papers are fairly drawn up, and their

    perusal cannot fail to elevate the character of the Chinese for

    consideration, carefulness, and business-like procedure.’

    There were other statesmen, however, who regarded Ilii Xaitsi’s

    memoi’ial as a dangerous step in the downward path, and

    sounded the alarm. Among these the foremost was Chu Tsun,

    a cabinet minister, who sent in a counter-memorial couched

    in the strongest terms. He advised that the laws be more

    strictly maintained, and cited instances to show that when the

    provincial authorities earnestly set about it they could put the

    trade down ; that the people would soon learn to despise all laws

    if those against opium-smoking were suspended ; and that recreant

    officers should be superseded and punished. His indignation

    warms as he goes on : ” It has been represented that

    advantage is taken of the laws against opium by extortionate

    underlings and worthless vagrants, to benefit themselves. Is it

    not known, then, that when government enacts a law, there is

    necessarily an infi-action of that law ? And though tlie law

    should sometimes be relaxed and become ineffectual, yet surely

    it should not on that account be abolished ; any more than we

    ‘ Chinese Eepositoi-y, Vol. V., pp. 139, 259, 385 fiE.

    eliould altogether cease to eat because of stoppage of the throat

    The laws which forbid the people to do wrong may be likened

    to the dikes which prevent the overflowing of water. If any

    one urging, then, that the dikes are veiy old and therefore useless,

    we should have them thrown down, w hat words could ex-

    ]u-ess the consequences of the impetuous lush and all-destroying

    overflow! Yet the provincials, when discussing the subject of

    opium, being perplexed and bewildered by it, think that a prohibition

    which does not iiUerhj prohibit is better than one which

    does not effectually prevent the importation of the drug. . . .

    If we can l)ut prevent the importation of o])ium, the exportation

    of dollars will then cease of itself, and the two offences will both

    at once be stopped. Moreover, is it not better, by continuing the

    old enactments, to find even a partial remedy for the evil, than by

    a change of the laws to increase the importation still further? “

    lie then proceeds to show that the native article could not

    compete with the foreign, for it would not bo as well luainifactured,

    and moreover ” all men prize what is strange and undervalue

    whatever is in ordinary use.” Its cultivation would occupy

    rich and fertile land now used for nutritive grains : ” To draw

    off in this way the waters of the great fountain requisite for the

    production of food and raiment, and to lavish them upon the

    root whence calamity and disaster spring forth, is an eri-or like

    that of the physician who, when treating a mere external disease,

    drives it inward to the heart and centre of the body. Shall

    the fine fields of Kwangtnng, ^vhich produce their three crops

    every year, be given up for the cultivation of this noxious Meed ‘i”

    He says the question does not concern property and duties, but the welfare and vigor of the people ; and quotes from the 7//,vtory of Formosa a passage showing the way in which the natives there were enervated by using it, and adds that the purpose of the English in introducing opium into the country has been to weaken and enfeeble it. Kanghi long ago (1717) remarked, he observes, ” There is cause for apprehension, lest in the centuries or millenniums to come China may be endangered by collisions with the various nations of the AYest who come hither from beyond the seas.” And now, in less than two centuries, “weseo the commencement of that danger which he apprehended.”

    CIIU T8UN OPPOSES THE PROPOSITION. 485

    The suggestion of II ii Nai-tsi, to allow it to the people ami interdict the officers, is called bad casuistry, ” like shutting a woman’s ears before you steal her earrings/’ He shows that thi& distinction will be vain, for it will be impossible to say who is of the people and who are officers, for all the latter are taken from the body of the former. The permission will induce people to use it who now refrain from fear of the laws ; for even the proposal has caused ” thieves and villains on all hands to raise their heads and open their eyes, gazing about and pointing the finger under the notion that wheu’once these prohibitions

    are repealed, thenceforth and forever they may regard themselves

    far from every restraint and cause of fear.” He asserts

    that nothing l)ut strong laws rigidly carried into effect will restrain

    them from their evil ways, and concludes by recommending

    increased stringency in their execution as the only hope of

    reformation.

    This spirited paper was supported by another fvom a sub-censor,

    Hii Kiu, on the necessity of checking the exportation of

    silver, and reconnnending that a determined officer be sent to

    punish severely the native traitors, which would add dignity to

    the laws ; and then the barbarians would be awed and consequently

    reform and be entirely defeated in their designs of conquering

    the country. He cites several instances of their outrageous

    A’iolation of the laws, such as levelling graves in Macao

    for the purpose of making a road over them, landing goods

    there for entering them at Canton in order to evade the duties

    and port charges, and even riding in sedans with four bearers,

    like Chinese officers. Force needed only to be put foi’th a little

    and they would again be humbled to subjection ; but if they

    still brought the pernicious drug, then inflict capital punishment

    upon them as well as upon natives. The sub-censor agrees with Chu Tsun regarding the designs of foreigners in doing so, that they wished first to debilitate and impoverish the land as a pi-cparatory measure, for they never smoked the drug in their own country, but brought it all to China. This prevailing impression was derived mainly from the abstinence of foreign merchants and seamen.

    Both these papers were transmitted to Canton for deliberation, although the local officers had already sent a memorial to the cabinet approving the suggestions of Hii Nai-tsi. At this time, however, it was properly remarked that ” there had been a diversity of opinion in regard to it, some requesting a change in the policy hitherto adopted, and others recommending the continuance of the severe prohibitions. It is highly important to consider the subject carefully in all its bearings, surveying at once the whole field of action so that such measures may be adopted as shall continue forever in force, free from all failure.”

    This subject, the most important, it cannot be doubted, which had ever been deliberated upon by the Emperor of China and his council, was now fairly brought before the whole nation ; and if all the circumstances be taken into consideration, it was one of the most remarkable consultations of any age or country.

    A long experience of the baneful effects of opium-smoking upon the health, minds, and property of those who used it, had produced a deep conviction in the minds of well-wdshers of their country of the necessity of some legal restraint over the people; while the annual drainage of specie at the rate of three or four million sterling for what brought misery and poverty in its train, alarmed those who cared only for the stability and prosperity of the country. The settlement or management of the question was one of equal difficulty and importance, and the

    result proved that it was quite beyond the reach of both their

    power and wisdom. Fully conscious of the weak moral principle

    in themselves and in their countrymen, they considered it

    right to restrain and deter the people by legislative enactments

    and severe penalties. Ignorant of the nature of commercial

    <lealings, they thought it both practicable and necessary to limit

    the exportation of specie; for not having any substitute for

    coin or any system of national credit, there was serious hazard,

    otherwise, that the government would ultimately be bankrupted.

    It is unjust to the Chinese to say, as was argued b}’ those who

    had never felt these sufferings, that all parties were insincere in

    their efforts to put down this trade, that it was a mere affectation

    of morality, and that no one would be more chagrined to see it

    stop than those apparently so strenuous against it. This assertion

    was made bv Lord Palmerston in Parliament and re-echoed

    THE MATTER REFERRED TO CANTON”. 487

    by the Indian officials ; but those who have candidly examined

    the proceedings of the Chinese, or have lived among the people

    in a way to learn their real feelings, need not be told how incorrect

    is the remark. The highest statesman and the debilitated,

    victimized smoker alike agreed in their opinion of its bad effects,

    and both were pretty nnich in the position of a miserable lamb

    in the coil of a hungry anaconda.

    The debate among the Chinese excited a discussion among

    foreigners, most of whom were engaged in the traffic. Here

    the gist of the question turned upon the points whether opium

    was really a noxious stinnilant 2^^^ ^^1 ^.nd whether the Chinese

    government was sincere in its prohibitions in the face of the

    notorious connivance of the officers along the coast from Hainan

    to Tientsin. One writer conclusively proved its baneful effects

    upon the system when taken constantly, and that its habitual

    use in the smallest degree almost certainly led to intemperate or

    uncontrollable use ; he then charges the crime of nuirder upon

    those who traffic in it, and asserts that ” the perpetuating and

    encouraging and engaging in a trade which promotes disease, misery, crime, madness, despair, and death, is to be an accomplice

    with the guilty principals in that tremendous pursuit.” He

    exposes the fallacy, liypocrisy, and guilt of the question whether

    it be less criminal for a man to engage in a pursuit which he

    knows to be injurious to his fellow-men, because if he does not

    do so some one else will. The Court of Directors, even, whom

    all the world knows to be chief managers of the cultivation,

    manufacture, and sale of the drug, says in one of its despatches

    that ” so repugnant are their feelings to the opium trade, they

    would gladly, in compassion to mankind, put a total end to the

    consumption of opium if they could. But they cannot do this,

    and as opium will be grown somewhere or other, and will l)e

    largely consumed in spite of all their benevolent wishes, they

    can only do as they do ” !

    Another Englishman engaged in the traffic defended it on the ground that what is bad now was always bad ; and the Emperor and his ministers had doubtless other grounds for their sudden opposition. He asserts that opium is ” a useful soother, a harmless luxury, and a precious medicine, except to those wli “abuse it,” and that while a few destroy themselves, the prudent many enjoy a pleasing solace, to get which tends to produce the persevering economy and the never-ceasing industry of the Chinese. He estimates that at a daily allowance of one and onethird ounce not more than one person in three hundred and twenty-six touches the pipe, and that there were not inore than nine hundred and twelve thousand victimized smokers in the Empire. He also remarked that the present mode of conducting the trade by large capitalists kept it respectable, and that if their characters were held up to odium and infamy it would get into the hands of desperadoes, pirates, and marauders. He looked upon the efforts to put it down as utterly futile as the proclamations of Elizabeth were to put down hops, or the Counterl) laste of James to stop tobacco.

    This rejoinder was responded to by two M’riters, who clearhcxhil)

    ited its nnsoundness and ridiculed the plea that the trade

    should be kept in the hands of gentlemen and under the direction

    of a monopol}’. The smuggler brought his vessel on the

    coast, and there waited till the people came oif for his merchandise,

    disposing of it without the least risk to himself, ” coolly

    commenting on the injustice of the Chinese government in refusing

    the practice of international law and reciprocity to countries

    whose subjects it only knows as engaged in constant and

    gross infraction of laws, the breaking of M’hich affects the basis

    of all good government, the morals of the country.” The true

    character of the smu”-“;lini»; trade is well set forth :

    Reverse the picture. Suppose, by any cliaucc, that Cliinese junks were to

    import into England, as a foreign and fashionable luxury, so harmless a thing

    as arsenic or corrosive sublimate ; that after a few years it became a rage ; that

    thousands, yea, hundreds of thousands used it, and that its use was, in consequence

    of its bad effects, prohibited. Suppose that, in opposition to the prohibition,

    junks were stationed in St. George’s Channel with a constant supply,

    taking occasional trips to the Isle of Wight and the mouth of the Thames when

    the officers were sufficiently attentive to their duty at the former station to prevent

    its introduction there. Suppose the consumption to increase annually,

    and to arouse the attention of the government and of those sound-thinking

    men who foresaw misery and destruction from the rapid spread of an insidious,

    unprofitable, and dangerous habit. Suppose, in fact, that, muUiUy vomive, all

    which has been achieved here had been practised there. Suppose some con-

    Beivators of the public morals to be aroused at last, and to remonstrate againsJ

    DISCUSSION AMONG THE FOREIGNERS. 489

    its use and increase ; and that among the nation sending forth this destroyer to prey on private happiness and pnhlic virtue, one or two pious and wellmeaning bonzes were to r’jiuonstrato with their countrymen on the enormity of their conduct : —how wonderfully consolatory to one party, and unanswerable to the other, must be the remark of Ihe well-dressed and well-educated Chinese merchant: ” Hai ya ! my friend, do not you see my silk dress and the crystal knob on my cap; don’t you know that I have read and can quote Confucius, Mencius, and all the Five Books ; do you not see that the barbarians are passionately

    fond of arsenic, that they will have it, and even go so far as to pay for

    it ; and can you, for one moment, doubt that it would not be much worse for

    tliem if, instead of my bringing it, it were left to the cliance, needy, and uncertain

    supply which low men of no capital could afford to bring V ” ‘

    Tlie writer sliows that instead of only one person in every

    three hiindi-ed and twenty-six using the pipe, it was far more

    probable that at least one out of every one hundred and fifty

    (or about two million five hundred thousand in all) of the population

    was a victimized smoker. The assertion of its being a

    harmless luxury to the many, like wine or beer, is disputed, and

    the sophisticated argument of its use as a means of hospitality

    exploded. ” What would a benevolent and sober-minded

    Chinese think,” he asks, ” were the sophistry of the defendei’s

    of this trade translated for him ? Where would he find the

    high-principled and high-minded inhabitants of the far-off

    coimtry ? How could he be made to comprehend that the believers

    in and practisers of Christian morality advocated a trade

    so ruinous to his country ? That the government of India compelled

    the growth of it by unwilling ryots; and that, instead of

    its being brought to China by ‘ desperadoes, pirates, and marauders,’

    it was purveyed by a body of capitalists, not participating

    certainly in what they carry, but supplying the Indian revenue

    safely and peaceably ; that the British government and others

    encouraged it ; and that the agents in the traffic M-ere constantly

    residing at Canton, protected by the government whose

    laws they outraged, but monstrously indignant, and appealing to

    their governments, if No. 2 longcloths are classed as No. 1 through the desperate villany of some paltry custom-house servant ?”

    ‘ Chinese Repository, Vol V., p. 409.

    The other writer exposes the sinful fallacy of the argument of expediency, and then proceeds to show how great an obstacle it is in the way of diffusing the gospel among the Chinese. We nnist refer to their own remarks’ for the fuller development of the arguments, but this one showed the earnestness of his convictions by offering a premium of £100 for the best essay ” showing the effects of the opium trade on the commercial, political, and moral interests of the nations and individuals connected therewith, and pointing out the course they ought to pursue in regard to it.” There was, however, so little interest in the subject that this premium was neverawarded, though the proposal was extensively advertised both in China and England.

    The governor of Canton and his colleagues soon learned that

    the feeling at court was rather against legalizing the drug,

    though they were directed to report concerning the amount of

    duty proper to be levied on it ; and to show their zeal, arrested

    several brokers and dealers. A-ming, one of the linguists, M’as

    severely tortured and exposed in the cangue for exporting

    sycee ; others escaped similar treatment by absconding. The

    chief superintendent naively expressed his opinion that ” the

    legalization of the trade in 0})ium would afford his ]\[ajesty’s

    government great satisfaction,” but suggested that the gradual

    diversion of British capital into other channels would be attended

    with advantageous conse(piences. To one situated between

    his own government, which promoted the preparation

    and importation of opium, and the Chinese government, which

    was now making extraordinary efforts to regulate it, and

    deeply sensible of the injury resulting from its use to the

    people around him, and to the reputation of his own and all

    foreign nations from the constant infraction of the laws, the proposed

    step of legalization offei-cd a timely relief. Xo one was

    more desirous of putting a stop to this destructive traffic than

    Captain Elliot, but knowing the impossibility of cheeking it by

    laws, he naturally wished to see the nniltitude of political and

    commercial evils growing out of snuiggling done away with.

    There were, indeed, many things to urge in favor of this

    ‘ Chinese liepository, Vol. V., pp. 407, 41o, uud passim.

    TUE PKOHIBITOKY LAWS ENFORCED. 491

    course ; but the fact ought never to be lost sight of, and be

    mentioned to the lasting credit of the Emperor Taukwang and

    his advisers, in the midst of their perplexity and weakness, that

    he would not admit opium because it was detrimental to his people.

    The conflict was now fairly begun ; its issue between the

    parties, so unequally matched—one having almost nothing but

    the right on its side, the other assisted by every material and

    physical advantage—could easily be foreseen. Captain Elliot,

    as the recognized head of the British trade, received an order

    through the Iiong merchants from the provincial authorities to

    drive away the i-eceiving-ships from Lintin, and send the Emperor’s

    commands to his king, that lieneeforth they be prohibited

    coming. He replied that he could not transmit any orders

    to his own sovereign which did not come to him direct from

    the government, and quoted the recent instance of the governor-

    general of Fuhkien communicating directly M’ith the captain

    of a British ship of w^ar. The governor was therefore

    forced to send his orders to the prefect and colonel of the

    department to be enjoined on Captain Elliot. He replied by

    promising to send it to his country, and adds, in true diplomatic

    style, unworthy of himself and his nation : ” He has already

    signified to your excellency, with truth and plainness, that his

    commission extends only to the regular trade with this Empire ;

    and further, that the existence of any other than this trade has

    nev’eryet been suljmitted to the knowledge of his own gracious

    sovereign.” Captain Elliot transmitted with these “orders” a

    minute account of the condition of the opium trade, and a

    memorandum respecting the desirableness of opening comnnmication

    with the court. Lord Palmerston, in reply, intimates

    that “her Majesty’s government do not see their way in such a

    measure with sufficient clearness to justify them in adopting it

    at the present moment.” He adds that no protection can be

    afforded to ” enable British subjects to violate the laws of the

    country to which they trade. Any loss, therefore, which such

    persons may suffer in consequence of the more effectual execution

    of the Chinese laws on this subject, must be borne by the parties who have brought that loss on themselves by their own acts.” A most paradoxical but funvonient position for this ‘• honorable ” officer of the Englisli goveriiuieiit to assiiiiie, and worthy to be recorded in contrast to the utterances from J-‘eking.

    ^’ear the close of 1837 the British flag was again hauled

    down at Canton, and the superintendent returned to Macao because

    he refused to superscribe tlie word p/’/iyOr ‘petition,’ upon

    his communications, according to his instructions, and the governor

    declined to receive them without it. In July, 1838, Sir

    Frederick Maitland arrived in the Wellesley (T-l), and was

    brought into correspondence with the Chinese Admiral Kwan,

    in consequence of the forts firing upon an English schooner

    passing the Bogue and stopping her to inquire Nvhether he or

    any of his crew or women were on board. The Wellesley and

    her two consorts were anchored near the forts, and the Chinese

    admiral made a full apology for the mistake ; his conduct in

    the affair was very creditable both to liis judgment and temper.

    As soon as Sir Fj-ederick arrived, Captain Elliot vainly

    endeavored to reopen correspondence with the governor by

    sending an open letter to the city gates, which was received

    and taken to him, but returned in the evening because it had

    not the requii’cd superscription.

    INCREASE OF SMl’GGLIXG AND AFFRAYS. 493

    Having now fully taken the sense of the Empire in the replies received from all its highest officials, the Emperor DaoGuang increased his efforts to suppress the trade. In April, 1838, a native named Kwoh Si-ping was publicly strangled at Macao by express command of the Emperor, as a warning to others not to engage in exporting sycee or introducing opium. The execution was conducted by the district magistrate and subprefect with dignity and order in the presence of a crowd of natives and foreigners. More than fifty small craft under the English or American flag were constantly plying off the port of Canton, most of them engaged in smuggling. Sometimes the government exerted its power ; boats were destroyed, smugglers seized and tortured, and the sales checked ; then it M-enton again as briskly as ever. These boats were easily caught, for the government could exercise entire control over its own subjects; but when the foreign schooners, heavily urmcd and manned, sailed up and down the river delivering the drug, the revenue

    cruisers vvei’e afraid to attack them. The hong merchants addressed

    a note to all foreign residents concerning them, the close

    of which vividly exhibits their unlucky position as the ” responsible

    advisers’” of the barbarians : “Lately we have repeatedly

    received edicts from the governor and lioppo severely reprimanding

    us ; and we have also written to you, gentlemen of the different

    nations, several times, giving you full information of the

    orders and regulations, that you might perfectly obey them and

    manage accordingly ; but you, gentlemen, continue wholly regardless.”

    Collisions became more and more frequent between the Chinese

    and their rulers, in consequence of the increased stringency of

    the orders from court. In September, in an affray near Whampoa

    between the militarj’ and villagers, several persons were

    killed and scores arrested. The retailers at Canton were imprisoned,

    and those found in other places brought there in

    chains. In Ilupeh it was reported that the officers had punished

    arrested smokers by cutting out a portion of the upper lip

    to incapacitate them from using the pipe. Still, such was the

    venality of the officers that even at this time the son of Governor

    Tang himself was engaged in the traffic, and many of the

    underlings only seized the drug from the smuggling-boats to retail

    it themselves. The memorial of Hwang Tsioh-tsz”, advising

    the penalty of death, was promulgated in Canton ; and the

    Empd’or’s rescript urged to stronger measures. In a rapid survey

    of the ill effects from the use of the drug, Hwang aeknoMdedges

    that it had extended to Manchuria, and pervaded all ranks

    of official and humble life. The efflux of silver “into the insatiate

    depths of transmarine regions ” had caused the rate of

    exchange for cash to rise until it was difficult to carry on the

    business of government. lie then reviews the different plans

    proposed for checking the cause of all this evil, such as guarding

    the ports, stopping the entire foreign trade, arresting the smugglers,

    shutting up the shops, and, lastly, encouraging the home

    growth. lie confesses that the bribes paid the coast-guard service

    and the maritime officei-s are so great as entirely to prevent

    their vigilance; and that the home-prepared drug does not yield the same stimulus as the foreign article. As a last resort, he proposes to increase the penalties upon the consumers, laying all the blame upon them, and advises death to be awarded all who smoke opium after a year”s warning has been given them. The well-known subdivision of responsibility was to be made doubly strong by requiring bonds of every tithing and hundred that there were no smokers within their limits. Officers found guilty were not only to be executed, but their children deprived of the privilege of competing at the public examination. One cannot withhold a degree of sympathy for the helpless condition of the officers and statesmen of a great Empire sincerely desirous of doing their country service, and yet so sadly ignorant of their false position by their assumption of supremacy over the very nation whom they could not restrain, and whose officials they rejected for a formality. They might as well have tried to concert a measure to stop the YangZi Jiang river in its impetuous flow, as to check the opium trade by laws and penalties.

    TRADE STOPPED AT CANTON”. 495

    On December 3, 1SB8, about two peculs of opium were seized while landing at the factories, and the coolies carried into the city. They declared that they had been sent to Whampoa by Mr. Lines, a British merchant, to obtain the opium from an American ship consigned to Mr. Talbot. The governor ordered the Hang merchants to expel these two gentlemen and the ship within three days, on the garbled testimony of the two coolies. Mr. Talbot sent in a communication, stating that neither the ship nor himself had anything to do with the opium, and obtained a reversal of the order to leave. The Hang merchants were justly irritated, and informed the Chamber of Commerce that they would not rent their houses to any who would not give a bond to abstain from such proceedings, and refusing to open the trade until such bonds were given; they furthermore declared their intention to pull Mr. Innes’ house down if he refused to depart. The Chamber protested that ” the inviolability of their personal dwellings was a point imperatively necessary ” for their security ; the Hang merchants then )-esorted to entreaty, stating their difficult position between their own rulers on one side, who held them responsible for executing their orders, and the foreigners on the other, over whom they had little or no power. The Chamber could only express its regret at the unjust punishment inflicted on a Hang merchant, Punhoyqua, for this, and reassert its inability to control the acts of any foreigner.

    The governor had put himself in this helpless condition by

    refusing Captain Elliot’s letters ; and it is remarkable that he

    hesitated to arrest Mr. Innes, when one word would have set

    the populace on the factories and their tenants, and destroyed

    them all. As an alternative, he now resolved to show foreigners

    what consequences befel natives who dealt in opium ; and

    while Mv. Innes still remained in Canton, he sent an otRcer

    with fifteen soldiers to execute Ilo Lau-kin, a convicted dealer,

    in front of the factories. The officer was proceeding to carry

    his orders into effect near the American flag-stafP, when the

    foreigners sallied out, pushed down the tent he was raising, and

    told him in loud tones not to execute the man there. Quite

    unprepared for this opposition, he hastily gathered up his implements

    and went into a neighboring street, where the man

    was strangled. Meanwhile a crowd collected to see these extraordinary

    proceedings, whom the foreigners endeavored to

    drive away, supposing that a little determination would soon

    scatter them. Blows, however, were returned, the foreigners

    driven into their factories, and the gates shut ; the crowd had

    now become a mob, and under the impression that two natives

    had been seized, they began to batter the fronts and break the

    windows with stones and brickbats. They had had possession

    of the square about three hours, and the danger was becoming

    imminent, when the Pwanyu hien, or ‘ district magistrate,’ came

    up, with three or four other officers, attended by a small body

    of police. Stepping out of his sedan he waved his hand over

    the crowd, the lictors pouncing upon three or four of the most

    active, whom they began to chastise upon the spot, and the

    storm was quelled. About twenty soldiers, armed with swords

    and spears, took their stand in a conspicuous quarter ; the magistrate

    and his retinue seated themselves, leaving the hong

    merchants and the police to disperse the crowd. The foreigners

    were also assured that all should be kept quiet during the

    night, but not a word was said to them regarding their conduct in interfering with the execution or their lolly in bringing this danger upon themselves. This occurrence tended to impress both the government and people with contempt and hatred for foreigners and their characters, fear of their designs, and the necessity of restraining them. The majority of them Avere engaged in the opium trade, and all stood before the Empire as violators of the laws, while the people themselves suffered the dreadful penalty.

    There is no room for the details and correspondence connected with this remarkable incident.’ Captain Elliot now reappeared in Canton, and at a general meeting expressed his conviction of the cause of these untoward events in the snniggling traffic on the

    river, declaring his intention of ordering all the British-owned

    vessels to leave it within three days ; he moreover expressed tlie

    hope that the further step of opening connnunication with the

    provincial authorities to obtain their co-operation to drive them

    out would be prevented by their speedy departure. Injunctions

    and entreaties to his countrymen were, however, alike unavailing,

    and he accordingly addressed the governor, stating liis wish to

    co-operate in driving them out. In a public notice he remarked

    that ” this course of traffic was rapidly staining the British

    character with deep disgrace ” and exposing the regular commerce

    to innninent jeopardy, and that he meant to shrink from

    no responsibility in drawing it to a conclusion. The governor,

    as was expected, praised the superintendent for his offer, but

    left him to do the whole work; lenuirking, in that peculiar

    strain of Chinese conceit which so effectually forestalls our

    sympathy for their difficulties, that ” it may well be conceived

    that these boats trouble me not one iota :”—as if all he had to

    do was to arise in his majesty, and they were gone. The boats,

    hoM’ever, gradually left the river. Mr. Innes retired, and the

    regular trade was j-esumed in January.

    Chinese Jtepositai’y, Vol. VII. , pp. 437-456.

    ArPOINTMENT OF COMMISSIONER LIN. 497

    No British consular officer has been placed in a more difficult and humiliating dilemma, and Captain Elliot did himself honor in his efforts. The English newspapers ridiculed him as a tidewaiter of the Chinese custom-house, a man who aided the cowardly authorities to carry their orders into effect, thereby staining the honor of her Majesty’s commission. Although ho did not intend to draw a line between the heinousness of the opium trade inside of the I’ogue and its harmlessness beyond that limit, still there were good reasons, under his peculiar position, for some action to show the Chinese government that British power would not protect British subjects in violating the laws of China.

    At this period the Peking govermnent had taken its course

    of action. Reports had been received from the provincial authorities

    almost unanimously recommending increased stringency

    to abolish the traffic. History, so far as we know, does

    not record a similar example of an arbitrary, despotic, pagan government taking the public sentiment of its own people before

    adopting a doubtful line of conduct. It was a far more momentous

    and difficult question than eyen the cabinet deemed it to

    be, while their conceit and ignorance incapacitated them from

    dealing with it prudently or successfully. There can be no reasonable

    doubt that the best part of his people and the moral

    power of the nation were with their sovereign in this attempt.

    Hii Xai-tsi was dismissed for proposing legalization, and three

    princes of the blood degraded for smoking opium ; arrests, fines,

    tortures, imprisonments, and executions were frequent in the

    provinces on the same grounds, all showing the determination

    to eradicate it. The governor of llukwang, Lin Tseh-sii, was

    ordered to proceed to Canton, with unlimited powers to stop the

    traffic. The trade thei’e was at this time almost suspended, the

    deliveries being small and at losing pi-ices. Many underlings

    were convicted and summarily punished, and on February

    2Gth Fung A-ngan was strangled in front of the factoi-ies

    for his connection with opium and participation in the affray

    at Whampoa. The foreign flags, English, American, Dutch,

    and French, were all hauled down in consequence. The entire

    stoppage of all ti-ade ^yas thi-eatened, and the governor urged

    foreigners to send all opium ships from Chinese waters.

    Commissioner Lin arriyed in Canton March lOth. The Emperor sent him to inquire and act so as thoroughly to remove the source of the evil, foi-, says he, ” if the source of the evil lie not clearly ascertained, how can we hope that the stream of pernicious consequences shall be stayed? It is our full hope that the long-indulged habit will be forever laid aside, and every root and o-erni of it entirely eradicated : we would fain think that our ministers will be enabled to substantiate our wishes, and so remove from China the dire calamity/’ It was reported in Canton that the monarch, when recounting the evils which had long afflicted his people by means of opium, paused and wept, and turning to Lin, said : ” How, alas ! can I die and go to the shades of my imperial father and ancestors, until these direful evils are removed ! ” Such was the chief purpose of this movement on the part of the Chinese government, and Lin was invested with the fullest powers ever conferred on a subject. Although long experience of the ineffectiveness of Chinese edicts generally lead those residing in the country to regard them as mere verbiage, still, to say that they are all insincere and formal because they are ineffectual, is to misjudge and pervert the emotions of common humanity. Lin appears to have been well fitted for the mission , and if he had been half as enlightened as he was sincere, he would perhaps have averted the war which followed, and been convinced that legalization was the most judicious step he could recommend.

    The connnissioner spent a week making inquiries, during

    which time nothing was publicly heard from him; while natives

    and foreigners alike anxiously speculated as to his plans. It was

    not until March 18th that his first proclanuitions were issued to

    the hong merchants and foreigners ; that to the latter required

    them to deliver up all the opium in the storeships, and to give

    bonds that they would bring no more, on penalty of death.

    The poor hong merchants were, as usual, instructed regarding

    their responsibility to admonish the foreigners, and strictly

    charged to procure these bonds, or they would be made examples

    of. Three days were allowed for compliance with these demands.

    Thehoppo had already issued orders detaining all foreigners

    in Canton—in fact, making them prisoners in their own

    houses; comnnmication with the shipping was suspended, troops

    were assembled about the factories, and armed cruisers stationed

    on the river. The Chamber of Commerce wrote to the hong

    LIN DEMANDS A SURRENDER OF OPII’M. 499

    merchants on the 20th^ through their chamiian,W. S, Wetniore,

    an American, stating that they would send a definite reply in

    four days, and adding that ” there is an almost unanimous feeling

    in the community of the absolute necessity of the foreign

    residents of Canton having no connection with the opium traffic/’

    This paper was taken to the commissioner, and ahout ten

    o’clock P.M. the hong merchants again met the Chaniber, and

    told them that if some opium was not given up two of their

    number would be beheaded in the morning. The merchants

    present, including British, Parsees, Americans, and others, acting

    as individuals, then subscribed one thousand and thirtyseven

    chests, to be tendered to the commissioner ; but the hong

    merchants reported next morning that this amount was insufficient.

    In the afternoon Lin sent an invitation to Mr. Dent, a

    leading English merchant, to meet him at the city gates, who

    expressed his willingness to go if the commissioner would give

    him a safe-warrant guaranteeing his return within a day. The

    hong merchants returned without Inm ; and the next morning

    two of them, Howqua and Mowqua, came again to his house

    with chains upon their necks, having been sent with an express

    order for him to appear. They repaired to the Chamber of

    Commerce then assembled, but all soon returned to Mr. Dent’s

    house, where an animated debate took place, which resulted in

    the unanimous decision on the part of the foreign residents

    that he should not go into the city without the safe-warrant.

    This unexpected demand caused much discussion among foreigners, as it was doubtless a contrivance to secure a hostage; and the refusal of the former to give a written safe-warrant would probably have ended in seizing Mr. Dent and imprisoning him, if Ilowqua, the senior hong merchant, had not allowed everything to wait over one day till Monday. Mr. Dent’s partner had that day seen i\\e a7i-chah sz\ or ‘provincial judge,’ in the city to explain why he hesitated to go to Lin.

    On the 22d Captain Elliot sent a note to the governor expressing his readiness to meet the Chinese officers, and use ” his sincere efforts to fulfil the pleasure of the great Emperor as soon as it was made known to him.” The Chinese could hardly draw any other conclusion from this admission than that he had the power, as well as the inclination to put down the opium trade, which he certainly could not do ; it tended therefore to deceive them. This note was followed by a letter to Captain Blake, of the Larne, requesting his assistance in defending British property and life, and by a circular ordering all British ships, opium and others, to proceed to Hongkong and prepare themselves to resist every act of aggression. A second circular to British subjects detailed the reasons which compelled him to withdraw all conlidencc in the “justice and moderation of the provincial government,”‘ and demand passports for all his countrymen who wished to leave Canton, while counselling every one to make preparations to remove on board ship. Elliot

    now proceeded to Canton, which he safely reached about sunset

    Sunday evening, dressed in naval uniform and closely attended

    by cruisers watching his movements. The British flag was

    then hoisted, and Captain Elliot, conducting Mr. Dent to the

    consulate in the most conspicuous manner, summoned a public

    meeting, read his notice of the previous day, and told the hong

    merchants to inform the commissioner that he was willing to

    let Mr. Dent go into the city if he could accompany him.

    His coming up the river had excited the apprehensions of

    the Chinese that he meant to force his way out again, and

    oi’ders were issued to close every pass around the factories. By

    nine o’clock that evening the foreigners, about two hundred

    and Feventy-fi\e in number, Avere the only inmates of their

    houses. Patrols, sentinels, and officers, hastening hither and

    thither, with the blowing of trumpets and beating of gongs,

    added confusion to the darkness of the night.

    THE FOKEIGNEKS IMPRISONED IN THE FACTORIES. 501

    On the 25th most of the foreign merchants of all nations signed a paper pledging themselves ” not to deal in opium, nor to attempt to introduce it into the Chinese Empire : ” how many of the individuals subsequently broke this pledge on the ground that it Avas forced from them cannot be stated, but part of the firms which signed it afterward actively engaged in the trade. Captain Elliot applied for passports for himself and countrymen, and requested the return of the servants, avoiding all reference to his promise of three days before, or mention of the cause of these stringent proceedings. His requests were refused ; no native was allowed to bring food or water to the factories; letters could not be sent to AVlianipoa or Macao, except at ininiiucnt risk ; the continciiient was complete, and had been effected without the least personal harm. The heavy punishment which had fallen on Kwoh Si-ping, Ho Lau-kin, and Fung A-ngan had now come near to the foreign agents of the traihc ; but not an individual had been touched.

    The commissioner next issued an exhortation to all foreigners,

    urging them to deliver the drug on four grounds, viz., because

    they were men and had reason ; becanse the laws forbade its

    use, nnder severe penalties ; because they should have feelings

    for those who suffered from using it ; and because of their

    present duress, from which they would then be released. This

    paper, as were all those issued by Lin, was characterized by an

    uimsual vigor of expression and cogency of reasoning, but betrayed the same arrogance and ignorance which had misled his predecessors. One extract will suffice. Under the first reason why the opium should be delivered up, lie says that otherwise the retribution of heaven will follow them, and cites some cases to prove this: Now, our great Emperor, being actuated by the exatted virtue of heaven itself, wishes to cut off this deluge of opium, which is the jilainest proof that such is the intention of high heaven! It is then a traffic on which heaven looks with disgust, and who is he that may oppose its will ? Thus in the instance

    of the English chief Robarts, who violated our laws ; he endeavored to

    get possession of Macao by force, and at Macao he died! Again, in 1834, Lord

    Napier bolted through the Bocca Tigris, but being overwhelmed with grief and

    fear he almost immediately died : and Morrison, who had been darkly deceiving

    him, died that very year also! Besides these, every one of those who have

    not observed our laws have either been overtaken with the jiidgments of heaven

    on returning to their country, or silently cut off ere they could return

    thither. Thus then it is manifest that the heavenly dynasty may not be opposed I Two communications to Captain Elliot, from Lin through the prefect and district magistrates, accompanied this exhortation,

    stating his view of the superintendent’s conduct in contumaciously

    resisting his commands and requiring him to give np the

    opium. For once in the history of foreign intercourse with

    China, these commands were obeyed, and after intimating his readiness to comply, Captain Elliot issued a circular on Marcb

    27th, which from its important results is quoted entire :

    I, Charles Elliot, chief superintendent of the trade of British subjects in

    China, presently forcibly detained by the provincial government, together with

    all the merchants of my own and the other foreign nations settled liere, without

    supplies of food, deprived of our servants, and cut off from all iutercoui’se

    with our respective countries (notwithstanding my own official demand to be

    set at liberty that I might act without restraint), have now received the commands

    of the high commissioner, issued directly to me under the seals of the

    honorable officers, to deliver into his hand all the opium held by the people

    of my own country. Now I, the said chief superintendent, thus constrained by

    paramount motives affecting the safety of the lives and liberty of all the foreigiu’rs

    here present in Canton, and by other very weighty causes, do hereby,

    in the name and on the behalf of her Britannic Majesty’s government, enjoin

    and require all her Majesty’s subjects now present in Canton, forthwith to

    make a surrender to me for the service of her said Majesty’s government, to be delivered over to the government of China, of all the opium under their respective control : and to hold the British ships and vessels engaged in the opium trade subject to my immediate direction : and to forward me without delay a sealed list of all the British-owned opium in their respective possession.

    And I, the said chief superintendent, du now, in the most full and unreserved manner, hold myself responsible for, and on the behalf of her Britannic Majesty’s government, to all and each of her Majesty’s subjects surrendering the said British-owned opium into my hands, to be delivered over to the Chinese government. And I, the said chief superintendent, do further especially caution all her Majesty’s subjects here present in Canton, owners of or charged with the management of opium the property of British subjects, that failing the surrender of the said opium into my hands at or before six o’clock this day, I, the said superintendent, hereby declare her Majesty’s government wholly free of all manner of responsibility in respect of the said British-owned opium.

    And it is specially to be understood that proof of British property and value of all British-owned opium surrendered to mo agreeable to this iu)tic(>, shall bedetermined upon principles, and in a manner liereafter to be defined by her Majesty’s government.

    ‘The guarantee offered in this notice was deemed sufficient by

    the merchants, thoui2;h Captain Elliot had no authority to take

    such a responsibility, and exceeded his powers in giving it ; being

    the authorized agent of the crown, however, his government

    was responsible for his acts, though the notice did not, nor

    could it, set any price npon the sui-rendercd property.

    At the time it was given it could not l)e honestly said that

    ‘ Cliinese Repository, Vol. VII., p. 633.

    CAPTAIN ELLIOT S CIRCULAR. 503

    tlic lives of foreigners were in jeopardy, and Lin liad promised

    to reopen the trade as soon as the opium was delivered and the

    bonds given. What the other ” very weighty causes ” were

    nnist be guessed ; but the requisition was promptly answered,

    and before night twenty thousand two hundred and eighty-three

    chests of opium had been surrendered, which Captain Elliot the

    next day tendered to the connnissioner. Their market value at

    tlie time was not far from nine millions of dollars, and the cost

    price nearly eleven millions. Directions were sent to twentytwo

    vessels to anchor near the Bogue, to await orders for its

    delivery, the commissioner and the governor themselves going

    down forty miles to superintend the transfer. On April 2d the arrangements for delivering the opium were completed, and on May 21st it was all housed near the Bogue.

    When the guard M-as placed about the factories, no native

    came near them for three days, but on the 21>tli a supply of

    sheep, pigs, poultry’, and other provisions was “graciously bestowed

    ” upon their inmates, most of whom refused them as

    gifts, which impressed Lin with the belief that they were not

    actually suffering for food. On May 5th the guards and boats

    M-ere removed, and communication resumed with the shipping.

    Sixteen persons, English, Americans, and Parsees, named as

    principal agents in the opium trade, were ordered to leave the

    country and never return. On the 24th Captain Elliot left

    Canton, accompanied by the ten British subjects mentioned

    among the sixteen outlawed persons. In order still further to

    involve her Majesty’s ministers in his acts, he forbade British

    ships entering the port, or any British subject living in Canton,

    on the ground that both life and property were insecure; there were, however, no serious apprehensions felt by other foreigners remaining there ; and the propriety of the order was questioned by those who were serious sufferers from its action.

    This success in getting the opium encouraged Lin to demand the bond, but although the captains of most of the ships signed it when the port was first opened, it was not required long after. The British merchants at Canton prepared a memorial to the foreign secretary of their government, recapitulating the aggressive acts of the Chinese government in stopping the legal trade, detaining all foreigners in Canton until the opium was surrendered, and requiring them to sign a hund not to bring it again, which involved their responsibility over those whom they could not control; but nothing was said in it of their own unlawful acts, no reference to their promises of a few months before, no allusion to the causes of these acts of aggression. Its burden was, however, to urge the government to issue a notice of its intentions respecting the pledge given them by the superintendent in his demand for the opium.

    Lin referred to Peking for orders concerning the disposal of

    the opium, and his Majesty commanded the Mhole to be destroyed

    by him and his colleagues in the presence of the civil

    and military officers, the inhabitants of the coast, and the foreigners,

    ” that they may know and tremble thereat.” Captain

    Elliot, on the other hand, before it had all been delivered, wrote

    to his government, April 22d, his belief that the Chinese intended

    to sell it at a high price, remunerating the owners and

    pocketing the difference, ])reparatory to legalizing the traffic,

    and making some arrangements to limit the annual importation

    to a certain number of chests ; consequently he recommended

    an ” innnediate and strong declaration to exact complete indemnity

    for all manner of loss ” from the Chinese. lie calls Lin “false and perfidious,” though it is difficult to see why he applies these epithets to one who seems to have sincerely endeavored to carry out instructions, while his own communicfttions certainly tended to mislead him. The sense of the responsibility he had assumed, and the irritating confinement under which it was written, account, in a measure, for this despatch, so different in its tenor from his previous declarations.

    THE OPIU.>r YIELDED AND DESTROYED. 505

    The opium was destroyed in the most thorough manner, by Hiixiiig it in parcels of two hundred chests, in trenches, with lime and salt water, and then drawing off the contents into the adjacent creek at low tide. Overseers were stationed to prevent the workmeunor villagers from ])urloining the opium, and one man was summarily executed for attempting to carry away a small quantity. No doubt remained in the minds of persons who visited the place and examined the operation, that the entire quantity of twenty thousand two hundred and ninety-one eliests received from the English(eiglit nioi-e having been sent from Macao) was completely destroyed:—a solitary instance in the history of the world of a pagan monarch preferring to destroy what would injure his subjects, rather than to fill hisown pockets with its sale. The whole transaction M’ill ever remain one of the most remarkable incidents in human history for its contrasts, and the great changes it introduced into China.’

    The course of events during the remainder of the year 1839 presents a strange mixture of traffic and hostility. The British merchants were obliged to send their goods to Canton in ships sailing under other Hags, which led the commissioner to issue placards exhorting British captains to bring their ships into port. This procedure brought out a rejoinder from Captain Elliot, giving the reasons why he had forbidden them to do so, and complaining of his own unjust imprisonment as unbecoming treatment to the “officer of a friendly nation, recognized by the Emperoi*, who had always performed his duty peacefully and irreproachably.” Captain Elliot’s own correspondence shows, however, that this is an unfair statement of the political relations between them.

    While this matter of trade was pending, a drunken affray occurred at Hongkong with some English sailors, in which an inoffensive native named Lin Wei-lii lost his life. The commissioner ordered an inquest to be held, and demanded the nnn–derer, according to Chinese law. The superintendent empanelled a regular court of criminal and admiralty jurisdiction at Ilongicong, to try the seamen who had been arrested. He also offered’ Sir Robert Peel declared that this property was obtained by her Majesty’s agent without any authority ; but when the six millions of dollars were received from the Chinese as indemnity, the British government made its subjects receive their money in London, charged them with all expenses insteal of paying it in China, and priced the opium at scarcely half what the East India Company had received from it, by taking the market rates when the trade at Canton was nominal. The merchants lost, with accruing interest, about two millions sterling, and “Sir R. Peel transferred a million sterling from their pockets to the public treasury.”—Chinese liepositon/, Vol. XIIL, p. 54 (from London paper).

    CHAPTER XXIII. PROGRESS AND RESULTS OF THE FIRST WAR BETWEEN ENGLAND AND CHINA

    On June 22, 1840, before the advance part of the British force reached China, Sir Goi’don Bremer published a notice oi the blockade of the port of Canton. The Americans living There had requested Lin to let all their ships arriving before it was laid on come directly up the river, lie granted the application, but declared it ” to be an egregious mistake, analogous to an audacious falsehood, that the English contemplated putting on a hlo’^kade.”” Captain Elliot also issued a manifesto to the people, which was widely dispersed, setting forth the grievances which had been suffered by the English at the hands of Lin, and assuring them that noliarm would come while they pursued their peaceful occupations—for the quarrel was entirely between the two governments, and the Queen had deputed high officers to make known the truth to the Emperor.

    Sir Gordon Bremer’s force of live ships of war, three steamers,

    and twenty-one transports reached Tingliai harbor July 1th. In

    reply to a summons to surrender, the Chinese officers declared

    their determination to resist as far as their means allowed ; but

    complained of the hardship of being made answerable for

    wrongs done at Canton, upon which place the blow should properly

    fall. The attack was made on Sunday, July 5th, when the

    Wellesley (74) opened her guns on the town, which were

    answered by the juidcs and batteries. A few minutes sufficed

    to silence the latter, and three thousand men landed and

    menaced Tinghai, whose walls were lined with soldiers. The

    town was. evacuated dm-ing the night, most of the respectable

    inhabitants going to NingBo ; many of the Chinese high officials were killed, which, with the experience of the terrible foreign force brought against them, disheartened their troops beyond measure.

    AERIVAL OF THE J5KITISH—FALL OF TINGIIAI, 515

    Two days after this attack tiie joint plenipotentiaries, Admiral G. Elliot and Captain Elliot, arrived in the Melville (74) at Cliusan. To the authorities at Amoy and Ningbo they sent copies of Lord Palmerston’s letter to the Emperor, with a request to forward them to Peking ; the officials declined, however, undertaking any such responsibility.

    The prefect of Ningbo took measures to prevent the people of Chusan from ” aiding and comforting” their conquerors by sending police-runners to mark those who supplied them ; a purveyor from Canton was seized and brought back. An idea that the Chinese people wished to throw off the Manchu yoke, and a desire to conciliate the islanders, led the British to take less decided measures for supplying themselves with provisions than they otherwise would. A small party was sent to recapture the puwvyor, but its unsuccessful trip over the island showed the unwillingness of the people to have anything to do with their invaders, while their dread was increased by the arrest of several village elders. Mr. Gutzlaff was stationed at Chusan, doing his best to reassure the people ; and as he went around exhorting them to act peaceably, some of them asked him, ” If you are so desirous of peace, why did you come here at all ?”

    After arranging the government of the island, the stations of

    the troops, and blockading of Amoy, Ningpo, and the mouths

    of the Min and Yangtsz’ Rivers, the two plenipotentiaries left

    Tinghai and anchored off the Pei ho August 11th, Captain Elliot

    went ashore, and finding that Kislien, the governor-general of

    Chilli], was at Taku, delivered the letter to his messenger, who

    returned with a request for ten days’ delay in which to lay it

    before the Emperor. During this interval the ships visited the

    coast of Liautung to procure provisions, which they obtained

    with some difficulty. No message coming ofp, a strong boat force was sent ashore on the 28th, with a menacing letter to Kishen, wdien it was ascertained that the reply had in reality been awaiting the return of the ships during several days. Arrangements were now made for a personal interview at Taku between Kisheu and Captain Elliot, on Sunday, August 30th, in a large tent. Kislien argued his side of the question with great tact and ability, sincerely urging the argument that his master had the most unquestionable right to treat the English

    as he had done, for they were and had em-olled themselves his

    tributary subjects. He could not treat definitely on all the

    points in dispute, and obtained a further delay of six days in

    order to refer again to Peking. The conclusion was the reasonable

    arrangement that Kishen should meet the English

    plenipotentiaries at Canton, where the truth could be better

    ascertained ; and on September 15th the squadron returned to Chusan.

    While these things were taking place at Taku, there had occurred a few skirmishes elsewhere. A shipwrecked crew had fallen into Chinese hands and been carried to 3s’ingpo, and some foraging parties were roughly handled. Lin tried to inspirit his troops by offering large rewards for British ships and subjects, and a force of about one thousand two hundred men was stationed in and around the Barrier at Macao. Captain Smith, however, moved two sloops and a steamer near their position, and soon drove the soldiers away, destroying their guns and barracks.

    Lin was busy enlisting volunteers and preparing the defences

    of Canton, but in the sunnner he was ordered to return ” with

    the speed of flames ” to Peking. His Majesty was uimeccssarily

    severe upon his servant : ” You have not only proved

    yourself unable to cut off their trade,” he says, ” but you have

    also proved yourself unable to seize perverse natives. You

    have but dissembled with empty words, and so far fi’om having

    been any help in the affair, you have caused the waves of confusion

    to arise, and a thousand interminable disorders are

    sprouting ; in fact, you have been as if your arms wei’c tied,

    without knowing what to do : it appears, then, you are no bettor

    than a wooden image. When I meditate on all these things,

    J am lilled with anger and melancholy.” Trade was carried on

    notwithstanding the blockade, by sending tea and g(Kxls thi’ough

    Macao ; and many ships loaded for England and the United

    States.

    INTERVIEW BETWEEN ELLIOT AND KISIIEN. 517

    Admiral Elliot entered into a truce with Tlipu, governorgeneral

    of (“lielikian*;, by wliicli each party agreed to observe

    certain boundaries. ISickness and deatli had made sad inroads

    into the health and numbers of the troops at Tinghai, owing to

    their bad location, malaria, and iiii]>ro{)er food ; more than four

    hundred out of the four thousand landed in July having died,

    and three times that number being in the hospitals. The

    people dared not reopen their shops until after the truce ; the

    visits paid to various parts of the island better informed the

    inhabitants of the personal character of their temporary rulers,

    and a profitable trade in provisions encouraged them to farther

    acquaintance.

    The two plenipotentiaries returned November 20th, and immediately sent a steamer bearing a despatch from Ilipu to Kishen; the vessel was fired upon by an officer unacquainted with the meaning of a white flag—the intent and privileges of which were after this understood; Kishen made an ample apology for this mishap. Negotiations were resumed during the month of December, but the determination of the Chinese to resist rather than grant full indemnity for the opium was more and more apparent.

    Kishen probably found more zeal among the people for a fight than he had supposed, but his own desires were to settle the matter ” more soon, more better.’” What demands were made as a last alternative are not known, but one of them,

    the cession of the island of Hongkong, he refused to grant, and

    broke off the discussion. Commodore Bremer thereupon attacked

    and took the forts at Chuenpi and Taikok-tau on January

    7th, when the furthei- progress of his forces was stayed bv

    Kishen, who was present and saw enough to convince him of

    the folly of resistance.

    On January 20th the suspended negotiations had proceeded so far that Captain Elliot announced the conclusion of preliminary arrangements upon four points, viz., the cession of the island and harbor of Hongkong to the British crown, an indemnity of six millions of dollars in annual instalments, direct official intercourse upon an equal footing, and the immediate resumption of English trade at Canton. By these arrangements Chusan and Chuenpi were to be immediately restored to the Chinese, the prisoners at Ningbo released, and the English allowed to occupy Hongkong. One evidence of Kishen’s

    ” scrupulous good faith,” mentioned in Captain Elliot’s notice,

    is the edict he put up on Hongkong, telling the inhabitants

    they were now under English authority. Two interviews took

    place after this, at the last of which it was plain that two of the

    four stipulations, viz., the first instalment of a million of dollars,

    and opening of trade by February 1st, would not be fulfilled.

    The intimations of the designs of the court were so

    evident that the treaty was probably never even presented to

    the Emperor for ratification.

    Kishen carried his negotiations thus far, with the hope perhaps

    that an adjustment of the ditficulties on such terms would

    be accepted by his imperial master. On the other hand, Lin

    and his colleagues memorialized him as soon as Kishen came to

    Canton against peaceful measures, and their reconnnendations

    as to the necessity of resistance were strongly backed by the

    mortifying loss of Cliusan. The approach of a large force to

    the Pei ho alarmed his Majesty, and conciliatory measures were

    taken, and a reference to Canton proposed before settling the

    dispute ; when the men-of-war left, he was inclined for peace,

    and issued orders not to attack the ships while the discussions

    were going on. But the memorials had already changed iiis

    mind, and war was determined on at the date of signing the

    treaty. It is probable if, instead of seizing Chusan, which had

    given no cause of provocation, the English had gone up the

    Yangtsz’ kiang and Pei ho, and stationed themselves there until

    their demands were granted, peace would have been soon made.

    But, in that case, would the vain notion of their supremacy have

    left the Chinese ?

    Looking back forty years, one can recognize the benefit to

    both parties whicli resulted from the failure of this treaty. The

    great desire of Chi’istian people, who believed that China was

    finally to receive the gospel, was that it might be opened to

    their benevolent effoi’ts, l)ut this treat)’ left the country as closed

    as ever to all good influences, commercial, political, social, and

    religious, while the evils of smuggling, law-breaking, and opium-

    Bmoking remained unmolested. The crisis which had brought

    FAILURE OF NEGOTIATIONS AT THE BOGUE. 519

    out this expedition was not likely soon to recur, and if this

    failed to break down its seclusiveness, no other nation Mould

    attempt the task. Every well-wisher of China cherished the

    hope that, since this unfortunate conflict nnist needs be, its outcome

    would leave the entire land fully accessible to the regenci–

    ating, as well as shielded from the evil influences of Christian

    nations.

    Captain Elliot appreciated the dilemma into which the Emperor

    had been brought by the acts of Lin, and knew that

    ignorance was much more the misfortune than the fault of

    both ; he acted humanely, therefore, in pui’suing a mild course

    at first, until the points at issue had been fairly brought before

    the people as well as the cabinet. However justly some parts

    of his conduct may have merited criticism, this praiseworthy

    feature of his policy by no means earned the torrent of abuse

    he received for consistently pursuing such a course. His countrymen

    would have had him burn, kill, and destroy, as soon as

    the expedition reached the coast, before even stating his

    demands at court ; and during his negotiations with Ivishen,

    and when Chusan was restored, a smile of contempt at his supposed

    gullibility was everywhere seen. The treaty of the Bogue, though formed in good faith by both commissioners, was rejected by both sovereigns, though for opposite reasons; by Victoria, because it did not grant enough, by Taukwang, because it granted too much.

    The Emperor issued orders to resume the war, collect troops

    from the provinces upon Canton and Tinghai, in order to ” destroy

    and wipe clean away, to exterminate and root out the

    rebellious barbarians,” and urged the people to regard them

    with the same bitterness they did their personal enemies. His

    mandate is couched in strong terms, saying that his enemies

    have been rebellious against heaven, opposing reason, one in

    spirit with the brute beasts, ” beings that the overshadowing

    vault, and all-containing earth can hardly suffer to live,” obnoxious

    to angels and men, and that he must discharge his

    heaven-conferred trust by sweeping them from the face of the

    earth. This decree exhibited the true principles of action of

    this proud government, which deliberately rejected the offer of peace, and determined to npliold its fancied supremacy to the utmost. China nnist now win or hi’eak.

    Ilostih} intentions had become so evident that Captain Elliot

    announced that Commodoi’e l>i-emer would return to the Bogue

    with tlie force ; the boats of the Nemesis were fired upon while

    sounding, and the battery near Anunghoy was attacked the

    same day that Clnisan was evacuated. Rewards of $50,000

    were ofPered for Elliot, Bremei-, Morrison, and other ringleaders,

    and all the defences put in the best condition. On Februarv

    20th the Bogue foi’ts were all taken. Admiral Kwan falling

    at his post. The British had nine ships, assisted by less than

    five Inmdred troops, and two steamers. The Chinese force was

    prol)ably over three thousand, but it made no resistance after

    tlie batteries were taken ; the total loss Avas supposed to be not

    far from a thousand. The forts were built so solidly that few

    were kihed by tlie broadsides of tlie ships, and their magazines

    so well protected that no explosions took- place; the powdeifound

    in them was nsed to demolish the walls. There were in

    all eight large forts on the sides of the river and AVangtong

    Island, forming altogether a line of batteries which would have

    been impregnable in the hands of European troops, and was not

    without reason deemed to be so by the Chinese themselves.

    The next day the small ships moved up to the First Bar, where

    a long fortification on the river bank, and an intrenched camp

    of two thousand troops, defended by upward of a hundred

    cannon, with a strong raft thrown across the river, showed a

    resolution to make a stand. The ships and steamers opened a

    hot tire upon the batteries and camp, which returned it as well

    as they could, but the loss of life was greatest when the English

    landed. Many instances of personal bravery showed that the

    Chinese were not all destitute of courage, but without discipline

    and better weapons it was of no avail. Nearly one-fourth

    were killed, their camp burned, the Chesapeake and all her

    stores blown up, and most of the crew killed. The raft was

    easily removed b}^ the steamers, to the mortification of the

    Chinese, who had trusted that this might prove a permanent

    barrier to the approach of ships to the city. From this point

    the way was open to within five miles of Canton, and when the forts at that place were taken, the prefect met Captain Elliot on March od with a Hag of truce proposing a suspension of hostilities for three days.

    CAPTURE OF THE APPKOACIIES TO CANTON”. 621

    Kishen had already been ordered to return to Peking to

    await his trial; his nieniorial’ on hearing of his degradation

    does him credit. Iliang was left in command of the province

    until four general officers, leading large bodies of troops, should

    arrive. The highest of these was Yihshan, a nephew of the

    Emperor, assisted by “i’ang Fang, Lungwan, and Tsishin. On

    the part of the English, Major-dreneral Sir Hugh Gougli arrived

    fi’om India to take command of the land forces, and Sir Gordon

    Bremer sailed for Calcutta to procure recruits. Bodies of troops

    were gathering in and around Canton to the amount of five

    or six thousand, most of whom had come from the North-West Provinces, and were not less strange and formidable to the citizens than were their foreign” enemies.

    After the truce, had expired the English moved toward Canton

    by both the channels leading to the city, the iron steamer

    Nemesis proceeding up the Irmer Passage, subduing all obstacles

    in her way until every fort, raft, battery, camp, and stockade

    between the ocean and Canton had been taken or destroyed,

    and the city lay at their mercy. The factories had been kept

    safely, and were occupied by British troops just two years

    after Lin had imprisoned the foreigners there. A second truce

    was agreed upon March 20th, by which trade was allowed to

    proceed on the old mode ; merchant ships accordingly advanced

    up the river, and for about six weeks trade went on uninterruptedly—one party getting their tea and the other their duties.

    The new governor, Ki Kung, together with the “rebel-quelling general ” Yihshan, then arrived, and the people, thinking that a slight cause would disturb the truce, took advantage of it to remove their effects, well aware how much they would suffer from their own army in case of trouble.

    ^Chinese Repository, Vol. X., p. 335.

    Toward the middle of May the hostile intentions of the Chinese were manifest, though cloaked under professions of amity; and on the 21st Captain Elliot notilied all foreigners to go

    aboard ship. The secret prepai-ations for attack were very extensive. Large fire-boats and rafts were prepared, masked batteries erected along the river, troops quartered in the temples, and large camion placed in the streets. The day before the notice of Captain Elliot was issued, the prefect had the impudence to publish a proclamation assuring all classes of the

    peaceful intentions of the commissioners. Finding their prey

    gone, a night attack was made by land and water on the ships,

    but none were seriously injured. As daylight advanced the

    Xemesis went in pursuit of the fire-boats and junks, and burned

    upward of sixty, while three men-of-war silenced the batteries

    along shore. Meantime the Chinese troops searched the factory

    buildings for arms and pillaged three of the hongs, to the

    consternation of the prefect, who told the commissioner that he

    would be forced to pay for losses thus sustained. On the 24th

    the land and naval forces under Sir Hugh Gongh and Sir Fleming

    Senhouse arrived from Hongkong and prepared to invest

    the city. Most of the troops debarked above it, at Xeishing,

    under the personal directions of Sir Fleming, M’ho had provided

    many boats in which the force of two thousand six hundred

    men, besides followers, guns, and stores, were toM’ed about

    twelve miles. A detachment landed and took possession of the

    factories. Sir Hugh Gough remained near the place of debarkation

    till the next morning, when the whole body moved

    onward to attack the forts and camps behind the city. As the

    English advanced the Chinese found that their shot did not

    reach them, so that after an hour”s firing they began to collect

    outside of the forts, preparatory to retiring. The advance

    puslied on, and sent them scampering down the hills toward

    the city ; the intrenched camp was cai’ried with considei’able

    loss to its defenders, who everywhere ran as soon as the fight

    came to close quarters ; but in the forts there were many furious

    struo;o;:les.

    THE CITY RANSOMED. 523

    On the 20th a driving rain stopped all operations ; and a ])arley was also requested from the now deserted city walls by two officers, who agreed to send a deputation to make arrangements for surrender. Night came on before any heralds appeared, so that it was not till morning that the troops were in position, the guns loaded and primed, port-fires lighted, and

    everything in readiness to open lire, when a messenger arrived

    from captain Elliot, desiring fm-ther operations to be

    delayed until he had concluded his negotiations. The terms

    were : that the forces should remain in position until a ransom

    of $(),000,000 was paid ; that the three imperial commissioners

    and all their troops should march sixty miles from the city; that compensation for the loss of property in the factories and

    burning the Spanish brig Bilbaino should be at once handed

    over or secured ; and that the Chinese troops, nearly fifty thousand

    in number, should evacuate the city. Captain Elliot ought

    indeed to have demanded a personal apology from Yihshan and

    his colleagues for their infamous treachery before letting them

    go. His acceptance of this ransom and sparing the city from

    capture were sharply criticised at the time, and the contemptuous

    bearing of the citizens during the sixteen ensuing years

    of their possession proved that it was an ill-timed mercy. How

    nuich influence the ordeis from home to be careful of the teatrade

    had in this course cannot be learned.

    While the English forces were occupying the heights the

    lawless soldiers from Kweichau and Kwangsi began to plunder

    the citizens, who retaliated till blood was shed and more than a

    thousand persons were killed in the streets ; a patriot mob of

    v^illagers, numbering about fifteen thousand, attacked the few

    British troops left on the hills north of the city, but a prompt

    advance on the part of Sir Hugh drove this rabble a rout of

    some three miles. Upon their reappearance next day, the prefect

    was told that if they were not instantly dispersed the city

    would, be bombarded ; the threats and persuasions of the commissioners,

    aided by a British officer, finally induced the mob to

    retire. The superiority of discipline over mere numbers was

    probably never more remarkably exhibited ; though the Chinese

    outnumbered the English more than forty to one, not a single

    foreigner was killed.

    On the 31st the prefect furnished five hundred coolies to assist in transporting the guns and stores to the river side^ and ten days after Captain Elliot’s first notice everything was restored to the Chinese. The casualties among the British forces were fourteen killed and one hundred and twelve wounded, but about three hundred died from sickness. The losses of the Chinese from first to last could hardly have been much under five thousand men, besides thousands of cannon, ginjals, and

    matchlocks. In posting their forces, placing their masked batteries,

    and equipping their troops and forts, the Chinese showed

    considerable strategy and skill, ])ut lack of discipline and confidence

    rendered every defence unavailing. Yihshan and his associates

    memorialized the Emperor, detailing their reasons for

    ransoming the city and requesting an inquiry into their conduct.^

    The sickness of the troops compelled the British force to

    remain at Hongkong to recruit and wait for reinforcements.

    Commodore 13remer returned as joint plenipotentiary, bringing

    additional forces from Calcutta, and the expedition was on the

    point of sailing northward when both he and Captain Elliot

    were wrecked in a tyfoon, and this detained the ships a few

    days longer. Before they sailed Sir Henry Pottinger and ^Vdmiral

    Sir William Parker arrived direct from England to supersede

    them both. Sir Henry announced his appointment and

    duties, and also sent a communication to the governor of Canton,

    assuring him that the existing truce would be observed as

    long as the Chinese did not arm their forts, impede the regular

    trade, which had been lately reopened to British ships by imperial

    command, or trouble the merchants residing in the factories.

    The trade went on at Canton, after this, without any

    serious interruption during the M-ar, the usual duties and

    charges being paid as if no hostilities existed.

    The expedition moved northward, August t^lst, under the

    joint conniiand of Sii” Hugh Gough and Admiral Parker, consisting

    of two seventy fours and seven other ships of war, four

    steamers, twenty-three transports, and a surveying vessel, carrying

    in. all about three thousand five hundred troops. Six ships

    and four or five liundicd Indian troops remained off (‘anton

    and at Hongkong, to compel the observance of the tmice. The

    force reached Amoy, and after a hasty reconnoissance attacked

    ‘ Chinese Repository, Vol. X. (p. 402), in which, and in Vols. “VIII., IX., and XI., most of the official papor.s issued from the Chinese and English authorties during the war are contained.

    FALI OF AMOY AND TINGHAI. 5*25

    all its defences, which were carried without inuch loss of life on

    either side. The city was taken on the 27t]i, and all the arms

    and public stores, wall-pieces, ginjals, matchloc-ks, shields, uniforms,

    bows, arrows, spears, and quantities of powder were destroyed

    ; five hundred cannon were found in the forts. AVlien

    II. M. S. Blonde came into this harbor, fourteen months previous,

    to deliver the letter for Peking, the fortifications consisted

    only of two or three forts near the city, but every island and pro

    tecting headland overlooking the harbor had since been occupied

    and arn.ed, while a line of stone wall more than a mile long, with

    embrasures roofed by large slabs covered with earth to protect

    the guns, had been built, and batteries and bastions erected al

    well-chosen points. The broadsides of the ships had little effect

    liere, and it was not until the troops landed and drove out tha

    garrisons, who “stood right manfully to their guns,’” that the

    fire slackened, and the Chinese retreated. The city was completely

    pillaged by native robbers, who ran riot during several

    weeks until the craven authorities came back and resumed tliei.v

    functions. The island of Kulang su was garrisoned by a detachment

    of five hundred and fifty troops, and three ships left

    to protect them. The British found one two-decker among the

    war junks, built on a foreign model, launched and i-eady for

    sea, canying twenty guns; all were bui-ned.

    The English fieet again entered the harbor of Tinghai, September

    29th, and found the beach much altered since February.

    Stone walls and fortifications extended two miles in front of the

    suburbs, besides sand-bags and redoubts thrown up q}\ well-selected

    positions. They were taken after a defence marked with

    unusual courage ; the general connnanding the battery and all his

    suite were killed at their posts, and many hand-to-hand confiicts

    took place. But bravery and numbers were alike unavailing,

    and in two hours their defences were cleared, the walls of the

    town escaladed, the whole force scattered, and the island subdued,

    with the estimated loss to the Chinese of a thousand men.

    Great quantities of oitlnance, among which were forty brass guns made in imitation of foreign howitzers, with military stores and provisions in abundance, were seized. A detachment was sent throughout the island to drive oft’ the enemy’s troops, and announce to the inhabitants that they were now under English authority. They evinced none of the alarm they had done the year before; provisions came in, shops were opened, and confidence in these proclamations generally exhibited. A military government was appointed, and a garrison of four hundred men left to protect the island.

    The military operations in Chehkiang were conducted by

    Yukien and Yu Pu-yun ; l)<)th these men had urged war, and

    had done all they could to fortify Tinghai and Chinhai, whose

    batteries and magazines showed the vigor of their operations.

    The English fleet proceeded to Chinhai October 9th, and a force

    of about two thousand two hundred men, with twelve field

    pieces and mortars, landed next morning to attack the citadel

    and intrenched camp. There were nearly five thousand men in

    this position, who formed in good order as the English advanced,

    opening a well-directed fire upon the front column, but (piite

    neglecting two detachments on their flanks ; as the three opened

    upon them nearly simultaneously, their force was completely

    bewildered, and all soon broke and fled. Knowing nothing of

    the mode of asking for quarter, while some fled into the country,

    the greater part retreated toward the watei’, pursued by the

    three colunms, hundreds being shot and hundreds drowned. Sir

    Hugh (lough sent out a flag with Chinese written upon it, to

    inform them that their lives >vould be spared if they yielded, but

    not more than five hundred either could or would throw down

    their arms. The water was soon covered with bodies, and fully

    fifteen hundred soldiers lost their lives. The town and its

    defences Avere bombarded, and the troops driven out. Yukien

    endeavored to drown himself on seeing the day was lost,

    but being ])revented he retreated to Yiiyau, whiere he comnntted

    suicide, as was said, by swallowing gold leaf. lie was a

    Manchu, and could not brook his master’s displeasure; but his

    atrocious crueltv to two Englishmen who fell into his hands,

    one of whom was flayed and tlien burnt to death, had aroused

    general detestation against him. About one hundred and flfty

    pieces of brass ordnance, with great quantities of gunpowder

    and other military stores, were destroyed. Tlie guns and carriages

    in the fort and batteries were so well made and phiced

    CAPTURE OF CIIINIIAI AND NINGPO. 527

    that ill some cases the victors on eutering turned tlieni against

    the flying Chinese. The frame of a wlieel vessel, intended to

    he moved hy human power, was found near Chinhai, sliowing,

    as did the brass guns, traversing carriages, and frigate at Amoy,

    that the Chinese were ah-eady imitating tlie machinery of war

    from their foes.

    Niiigpo was taken without resistance on the 13th. Many of

    the people left the city, and those who remained shut themselves

    in their houses, writing ,sA?^H nihi, ‘submissive people,’

    on the doors. Captain Anstruther took possession of his old

    prison—where he found the identical cage he had been carried

    in—and released all the inmates to make way for his detachment

    of artillery. About !5lOO,000 in sycee were found in this building,

    upward of $70,000 in the treasury’, many tons of copper

    cash in the mint, and rice, silk, and porcelain in the public

    stores, forming altogether the most valuable prizes yet secured.

    Sir Henry Pottinger intended at first to burn the city, but, happily

    for his reputation, he decided to occupy it as winter quarters.

    Leaving a garrison at Chinhai, he returned to Hongkong

    in February, 1842, Sir Hugh and the admiral remaining at the

    north.

    The fall of Anioy, Tinghai, Chinhai, and Xingpo, instead of

    disheartening the Emperor, served rather to inspirit him. His

    commissioners, generals, and high officers generally did the best

    their knowledge and means enabled them to do, and when defeated,

    endeavored to palliate the discomfiture they could not

    entirely conceal by misrepresenting the force brought against

    them, and laying the blame upon the common people, the elements,

    the native traitors who aided the British, or the inefficiency

    of the naval armaments. The troops sent home Avith

    tokens of victory from Canton stimulated the war spirit in the

    western provinces. After they had gone Yihshan concocted

    measures of defence, one of wliich was to enlist two or

    three thousand volunteers, or “village braves,” near the city.

    and place them under their own officers. The people having

    been taught to despise foreigners were easily incensed against

    them, and several cases of insult and wantonness were repeated

    and magnified in order to stir up a spirit of revenge. These patriots supposed, nioi-eover, tliat it” the great Emperoi had failed on Mt-y/’, instead of entrusting the conduct of the (piarrel to truckling traitorous polti’oons like Kishen and the prefect, they could li ve av ^ -^ l»iin of his enemies.

    Consequently the truce was soon broken in an underhand

    manner by sinking hundreds of tons of stones in the river.

    II. M. S. lloyalist levelled ;;:he fortifications at the Bogue, and

    Captain Is ias destroyed a number of boats at Whampoa. After

    the destruction of these forts and his retirement from the rivci\

    Yihshan directed his attention to erect in o- forts near the citv,

    casting guns, and drilling the volunteers, v.-ho numbered nearly

    thirty thousand at the new year. He also gave a public dinner

    to the rich men of the city, in order to learn their willingness

    to contribute to the expenses of these measures. However,

    since no serious obstacles were placed in the way of shipping

    teas by the provincial officers, from the duties on which they

    chiefly derived the funds for these undertakings, the Britisli

    officers deemed it advisable to let them alone.

    The case was different at other ))oints. The imperial government

    had supposed that Amoy would be attacked, because the

    visit of the Blonde showed that the barbarians, “sneaking in

    and out like rats,” knew of its existence ; but the people of that

    province, except near Amoy, took no particular interest in the

    dispute, and probably knew far less of it than was known in

    most parts of England and the United States; no newspapei\s,

    with “own correspondents” to write the “latest accounts from

    the seat of war,” narrated the progress of this struggle, which to

    them was like the silent reflection of distant lightning in their

    own quiet firmament. The sack of Amoy was a heavy blow to

    its citizens, but the plunderers were mostly their countiymen; and when Captain Smith of the Druid had been there a short

    time in command, and his character became known, they returned

    to their houses and shops, supplied the garrison with provisions,

    and even brought back a desei’ter, and assisted in chasing

    some ])irates. Rumors of attack were always bi’ought to

    him, and his decthwations allayed their fears, so that after the

    sulj pi’efect resumed his authority no distui’bance occurred. The

    p.xplanations of the missionaries on Kulang su, in diffusing a

    better understanding of the object in occupying that island, also contributed to this result.

    DETERMINED MEASURES OF DP:FKN(n:. 529

    The loss of Chinhai and Xingpo threw the eastern parts of

    Chehkiaug open to the invaders, and alarmed the couit far more

    tlian the destruction of Canton would have done. The Emperor

    appointed his nephew, Yihking, to be ” majesty-bearing genei-alissimo,” and with him Tih-i-shun and Wunwei, all Manchus, to

    command the grand army and arouse the dwellers on the seacoast

    to arm and defend themselves. ” Ministers and people !

    Inhabitants of our dominions ! Ye are all the children of our

    dynasty ! For two centuries ye have trod our earth and eaten

    our food. Whoever among you has heavenly goodness nnist

    needs detest these rebellious and disordei-ly barbarians even as

    ye do your personal foes. On no account allow yourselves to be

    deceived by their wiles, and act or live abroad with them.”

    Such was the closing exhortation of an imperial proclamation

    issued to encourage them. In order to raise funds for its operations,

    the government resorted to the sale of office and titles

    of nobility, and levied benevolences from rich individuals and

    contributions from the people ; which, when large in amount,

    were noticed and rewarded. Kishen, who had been tried at

    Peking and sentenced to lose his life, was for some reason reprieved

    to be associated with Yihking as an adviser, but never

    proceeded beyond Chihli. Lin was also recalled from Ili, if

    indeed he ever went be^’ond the Great “Wall, and Ih’pu, whose

    treatment and release of the prisoners at Xingpo had gained

    him the good-will of the English, was also sentenced to banishment,

    but neither did he go beyond the Desert,

    Defences were thrown up at Tientsin and Taku to guard the

    passage to the capital, but the bar at the mouth of the Pei ho

    was its sufficient protection. Fearing tliat the English would

    advance upon the city of Ilangchau, the troops of the province

    and all its available means were put into requisition. Sir Hugh

    Gough could only approach it by a land march from Kingpo,

    and deemed it advisable to wait for reinforcements, his available

    force being reduced to six hundred men on entering that city.

    The rewards given to the families of those who had fallen in

    battle, and the posthumous honors conferred by the Emperor, stimnfated others to deeds of valor and a determination to accomplish their master’s vengeance. Yukien, ” who gave his

    life for his country, casting himself into the water,” received

    high titular honors in the hall of worthies, and his brother was

    permitted to bring his corpse within the city of Peking. The

    names of humbler servants were not forgotten in the impei-ial

    rescripts, and a place was granted them among those whom the

    “king delighteth to honor.” Thus did the Chinese endeavor

    to reassert their supremacy, though their counsels and efforts

    to chastise the rebellious barbarians were not unlike the deliberations of the rats upon ” how to bell the cat.”

    The occupation of Ningpo was an eyesore to the Chinese

    generals, but the citizens had learned their best interests and

    generally kept quiet. They showed their genius in various contrivances

    to carry off plunder, such as putting valuable articles

    in coffins and ash-baskets, wrapping them around corpses, packing

    them under vegetables or rubbish. One party overtook two

    persons near Ningpo running off with a basket between them; on overtaking and recovering it, a well-dressed lady was found

    coiled up, who, however, did not scream when detected. Another

    was found in a locker on board a junk, and as the captain was

    desirous of examining the mode of bandaging her feet, he told

    his men to lift the body out of the closet, when a scream explained

    the trick ; she was dismissed, and the money she had

    endeavored to hide put into her hands. Opium M^as found in

    most of the official residences ; its sale received no serious check

    from the war, and no reference was made to it by either party.

    Toward the end of the year 1841, information was received

    of the collection of a large force at Yiiyau. Two iron steamei’S

    soon landed seven hundred men, who took up a position for the

    night, intending to escalade the walls in the morning ; but their

    defenders evacuated the ])lace. The marines and seamen took

    the circuit of the walls, and found the troops, about a thousand

    strong, drawn up in array ; and the two, after exchanging their

    fire, started on the run. The ])ublic stores wore destroyed, and

    the town left to the care of its citizens, without inncli loss of life

    on either side. On his return the general visited Tsz’ki, l)Ht

    the troops and the authorities had decani])eth The rice found in

    CHINESE ATTEMPT TO RECAPTURE NINGPO. 581

    Hie granaries was distributed to the townsmen, and the detachment

    returned to Ningpo December 31st. On u simiUir visit to

    Fimghwa it was found that the authorities and troops liad fled,

    so that to destroy the government stores and distribute the rice

    to the people was all that remained to be done. These two

    expeditions so terrified tlie ” majesty-bearing genei-alissimo,”

    Yihking, and his colleagues, that they fled to Suchau, in

    Kiano-su. With such leaders it is not strano;e that the villagers

    near Ningpo wished to enrol themselves under British rule;

    and the effect of the moderation of the English troops was seen

    in the people giving them little or no molestation after the first

    alarm was over, and supplying their wants as far as possible.

    The force had fairly settled in its quarters at Kingpo, when

    the Chinese opened the campaign, March 10th, by a well-concerted

    night attack on the city. During the preceding day,

    many troops entered the city in citizen’s clothes, and stationed

    themselves near the gates ; and about three o’clock in the morning

    the western and southern gates were attacked and driven

    in. Colonel Morris ordered a party to retake the south gate,

    which was done, wnth considerable loss to the enemy ; as usually

    happened, the moment the Chinese were opposed their main

    object was forgotten, and every man sought his own safety,

    thereby exposing himself more fully to destruction. On the

    approach of daylight the garrison assembled at the western

    gate, and dragging two or three howitzers through it, came

    upon the main force of the enemy drawn up in compact form,

    headed by an officer on horseback. The volleys poured into

    this dense mass mowed them down so that the street was choked

    with dead bodies, and the horse of the leader actually covered

    with corpses, from which he was seen vainly endeavoring to

    release himself. Those who escaped the fire in front were

    attacked in rear ; at last about six hundred were killed, and the

    whole force of five thousand scattered by less than two hundred

    Europeans, with the loss of one man killed and six wounded.

    The British then prepared to attack an intrenched camp of

    eight thousand troops near Tsz’ki, and about twelve hundred

    w^ere embarked in the steamers. The Chinese had chosen their

    ground vs^ell, on the acclivity of two hills behind the town, and ill Older to confound and dispei’se their enenij completely, tlia attacking force was divided so as to fall upon them on three

    sides siniultane(»usly, which was done with great slaughter. The Chinese did not run until they began to close in with their opponents, when they soon found that their intimidating gesticulations and cheers, their tiger-faced shields and two-edged swords, were of no avail in terrifying the barlnirians or resisting their pistols, bayonets, and furious onset. In these cases,

    emulation among the different parties of English troops to

    distinguish themselves occasionally degenerated into unmanly

    slaughter of their flying enemy, who were looked u})(>n i-ather

    as good game than fellow-men, and pursued in some instances

    several miles. INIost of the Chinese troops in this engagement

    and in the attack on Ningbo were from the western proviriCes, and

    superior in size and bodily strength to those hitherto met. They

    had been encouraged to attack Ningbo by a bounty to each man

    of four or five dollars, and pieces of sycee were found on their

    bodies. The Chinese lost a thousand slain on the field, many by

    their own act ; the English casualties were six killed and thirty seven wounded.

    The conquerors set fire to the Chinese camp in the morning,

    consuming all the houses used as arsenals, with arms and amnninition

    of ever}’ kind. The force then proceeded to the Changki

    pass, a defile in the mountains, but the imperialists had abandoned

    their camp, leaving only ” a considerable (juantity of

    good bread.” In his despatch Sir Hugh speaks of the forbearance

    shown by his men toward the inhabitants ; and efforts

    were taken by the English, throughout the war, to spare the

    people and respect their property. The English thus dispersed

    that part of the Grand Army which had been called out by the

    Emperor and his ” majesty-beariiig generalissimo” to annihilate

    tlie rebels. The fugitives spread such dismay among their

    comrades near Ilangchau that the troops began to desert and

    exhibit symptoms of disbanding altogether; the spirit of dissatisfaction

    was, moreover, increased by the people, who very

    naturally grumbled at being obliged to support their unsuccessful

    defenders, as well as submit to their tyrannous exactions.

    The Chinese near Isingpo and Chinhai had so nmch confi

    CAPTUKE OF TSZ’kI AXD CIIAPl’, , 533

    deuce in the Englitli, luid were so greatly profited by tlieir

    presence, that no disturbances took place. The rewards offered

    by the Cliinese generals for prisoners induced the people to lay

    in wait for stragglers. One, Sergeant Campbell, was seized

    near Tinghai, put into a bag to be carried to the coast, where he

    was shipped in a junk and landed at Chapu, before being relieved

    of his hood. One of his ears was cut off with a pair of

    scissors, but after reaching ilaugchau he was well treated.

    During his captivity there he was often questioned by the Chinese

    ofiicers as to the movements, forces, and arms of his countrymen,

    and received a high idea of their intelligence from the

    character of their inquiries.

    The entire strength with Sir Hugh Gough, in May, consisted

    of parts of four English regiments, a naval brigade of two hundred

    and fifty, and a few Indian troops, in all about two

    thousand five hundred men ; the fleet comprised seven ships of

    war and four steamers. On the ITth the whole anchored in

    the harbor of Chapu, about forty miles above Chinhai. About

    six thousand three hundred Chinese troops and one thousand

    seven hundred Manchus were posted herein forts and intrenched

    camps. The English landed in three columns, as usual without

    opposition, and promptly turned the orderly arranged army and

    garrisons of their opponents into a mass of fugitives, each man

    throwing away his arms and uniform and flying upas de geant.

    A body of three hundred Manchus, seeing their retreat cut

    off, retired into an enclosed temple, whose entrance was both

    narrow and dark. Every one who attempted to enter it was

    either killed or wounded, one of whom was Lieutenant-Colonel

    Tomlinson. At length a part of the wall was blown in, which

    exposed the inmates to the rifles of tlieir foes, and a rocket or

    two set the building on fire, by which the inmates were driven

    from their position to the rooms below ; when resistance ceased

    only fifty were taken prisoners, the others having been burned

    to death or suffocated. The total loss of the invaders was thirteen

    killed and fifty-two wounded.

    The defences of Chapu being carried, with a loss to the

    enemy of about one thousand five hundred, the English moved

    on the city. This was the first time the Manchus had really come in contact with the English ; and either fearing that indiscriminate slaughter would ensue on defeat, as it would have

    done had they been the victors, or else unable to brook their

    disgrace, tliej destroyed themselves in great numbers, first immolating

    their wives and children, and then cutting their own

    throats. Scores of bodies were found in their quarters, some

    not entirely dead ; others were prevented from self-destruction,

    and in many instances, young children were found attending

    upon their aged or infirm parents, awaiting in dread suspense

    the visit of the conquerors, from whom they expected little less

    than instant destruction. The English sui-geons endeavoi-ed to

    bind up the wounds of such Chinese as fell in their waj-, and

    these attentions had a good effect upon the high Chinese officers,

    Ilipu himself sending a letter in which he thanked the

    general and admiral for their kindness in giving the hungry

    rice to eat and caring for the wounded. The old man endeavored

    to requite it by making the condition of his prisoners as

    easy as he could, and paid them money on their release. When

    the English generals, having destroyed all the government

    stores, re-embarked, the prisoners were released with a small

    present, and on their retui-n to Hangchau loudly proclaimed

    their praises of the foreigners.

    The expedition proceeded northward to the mouth of the

    Yangtsz’ kiang, and reached the embouchure of the AVusung,

    where the ships took their allotted positions, June 16th, before

    the well-built stone batteries, extending full three miles along

    the western banks of the river. One of these works enclosed

    the town of Paushan and mounted one hundred and thirty-four

    guns ; the others counted altogether one hundred and sevent}’–

    five guns, forty-two of which were brass. These defences wei-e

    manned by a Avell-selected force, under the command of Chin

    Hw^a-ching. The ships had scarcely taken their stations when

    the battei-ies opened, and both sides kept up a caimonading for

    about two hours, the Chinese w^orking their guns with nnich

    skill and effect. When the marines landed and entered, they

    bravely nieasui-ed weapons with them, and died at their posts.

    Among the war junks were several new wheel-boats, having two

    wooden paddle-wheels turned by a capstan, which interlocked

    FALL OF THE WUSUNG BATTERIES. 535

    its cogs into those upon the shaft, and was worked by men on

    the gun-deck. These were paddling out of danger, when the

    steamers overtook and silenced them. The number of Chinese

    killed was about one hundred, out of not less than live thousand

    men composing the garrison and army. The governor-general,

    Kiu Kien. who was present, in reporting the loss of the forts

    and dispersion of the troops, says he braved the hottest of the

    light, ” where cannon-balls innumerable, ilying in awful confusion

    through the expanse of heaven, fell before, behind, and

    on either side of him ; while in the distance he saw the ships

    of the rebels standing erect, lofty as the mountains. The fierce

    daring of the rebels was inconceivable ; officers and men fell at

    their posts. Every efPort to resist and check the onset was in

    vain, and a retreat became inevitable.”

    Among the killed was General Chin, who had taken unwearied

    pains to drill his troops, appoint them to their places, and

    inspirit them with his own courageous self-devotion. In a

    memoir of him, it is said that on the mcyningof the attack “he

    arrayed himself in his robes of state, and having prayed to

    heaven and earth, ordered all his ofiicers and soldiers to get

    their arms and ammunition ready.” JS^iii Kien^s conduct was

    not such as to cheer them on, and most of the officers ” came

    forward and begged to retire ” when they saw the dilapidated

    state of the batteries. Chin’s second suggested a retreat when

    the marines entered the battery, but he drew his sword upon

    him, saying, ” My confidence in you has been misplaced.” He

    again inspirited his men, himself loading and firing the ginjals,

    and fell pierced with wounds on the walls of the fort, bowing

    his head as he died in the direction of the Emperor’s palace.

    His Majesty paid him high honors, by erecting shrines to him

    in his native village and at the place where he fell ; in the

    Ching-hwang miao at Shanghai there is a sitting image of him

    in his robes of state, before which incense is burned. A reward

    of a thousand taels was given his family, and his son was made

    a k’d-jin by special patent. In this notice it is stated as a current

    rumor in Shanghai, that about a fortnight after his death

    Chin sent down the news through the divining altar at Sungkiang,

    that he had been promoted by the Supreme Kuler of

    536 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    Heaven to the rank of second general-in-eliief of the Board of

    Thunder, so tliat although he coukl not, while alive, repay the

    imperial favor by exterminating the rebels, he could still afford

    some aid to his country.

    The stores of every kind ‘.vere destroyed, except the brass

    pieces, among which were one Spanish gun of old date, and

    a Chinese piece more than three centuries old, both of them

    of singular shape, the latter being like a small-mouthed jar.

    The British landed on the 19th, two thousand in all, and proceeded

    to Shanghai by land. After the capture of “Wusung,

    Mr. Gutzlaff, who accompanied the admiral as interpreter, succeeded

    in reassuring the people and inducing them to stay in

    their dwellings ; he was also employed in procuring provisions.

    The ships silenced two small batteries near the city with a

    single broadside, and the troops entered it without resistance.

    The good effects of previous kindness shown the people in

    respecting their property were here seen. Captain Loch says

    that on the march along the banks he passed through two villages

    where the shops were open, with their owners in them,

    and that groups of people Avere assembled on the right and left

    to see them pass. The troops occupied the arsenals, the pawnbrokers’

    shops, and the temples, destroying all the government

    stores and distributin<; the rice in the granaries among the

    people. The total number of caimon taken was three lumdred

    and eighty-eight, of which seventy-six M’ere of brass ; some of

    the latter were named ” tamer and subduer of the barbarians ;”

    others, “the robbers’ judgment,” and one piece twelve feet long

    was called the ” Barbarian.” The citizens voluntarily came

    forward to supply provisions, and stated that there had been a

    serious affray in the city a few days befoi’c between them and

    their officers, who wished to levy a subsidy for the defence of

    the city, which even then they w’ere on the point of abandoning.

    The boats before the walls were crowded with inhabitants ffying

    with their property, many of whom returned in a few days.

    The troops retired from Shanghai June 23d, leaving it less

    injured than any city yet taken, owing chiefly to tlie efforts

    made by the people themselves to protect their property. The

    eight hundred junks and upward lying off the town were unSHANGHAI

    TAKEN. 631

    lianiied, but their owners no doubt were made to contribute

    toward the 8300,000 exacted as a ransom. Sir Henry Pottiiiger

    now rejoined the expedition, accompanied by Lord Saltoun,

    with hii-ge reinforcements for both arras, and immediate preparations

    were made for proceeding up the Yangtsz’, to interrupt

    the con^nnmication by the Grand Canal across tliat river.

    Tiie Chinese officers, unable to read any European language,

    learned the designs of their enemy chiefly by rumors, which

    natives in the employ of the English brought them, and consequently

    not unfrequently misled his Majesty—unwittingly, in

    mentioning the wrong places likely to be attacked, but wilfully

    as to their numbers and conduct in the hour of victory. The

    fall of Shanghai and the probable march upon Sungkiang and

    Suchau greatly alarmed him, and he now began to think that

    the rebels really intended to proceed up to Kanking and the

    Grand Canal, which he had been assured was not their purpose.

    He accordingly concentrated his troops at Chinkiang, Nanking,

    Suchau, and Tientsin, four places which he feared were

    in danger, and associated Kiying and llipu as commissioners

    M-ith the governor-general, Xiu Ivien, to superintend civil affairs;

    military matters were still left under the management of the

    imbecile Yihking. Only a few places on the Yangtsz’ kiang

    offered eligible positions for forts, and Xiu Kien wisely declined

    to stake the Great River at Chinkiang, lest it should alarm the

    inhabitants. Fire-rafts and boats were, however, ordered for

    the defence of that city, and reinforcements of troops collected

    there and at XaiAing, some of whom were encamped witliuot

    the city, and part incorporated with the garrison. The

    tone of the documents which fell into the hands of the English

    showed the anxiety felt at court regarding the result of this

    movement up the river.

    The British plenipotentiary published and circulated a manifesto

    at this date for ” the information of the people of the

    country.” In this paper he enumerated, in much the same

    manner as Captain Elliot had done, the grievances the English

    l)ad suffered at Canton from the spoliations, insults, and imprisonment

    inflicted upon them by Lin in order to extort opium,

    which was given up by the English superintendent to rescue

    538 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    himself and Ins countiTnien from deatli. . The tluplicity of the

    Chinese government in sending down Kislien as a commissioner

    to Canton to arrange matters, and then, while he was negotiating,

    to break off the treaty and treacherously resort to war, was

    another “gi-and instance of oifence against England.” The bad

    treatment of kidnapped prisoners, tlie mendacious reports of

    victories gained over the English, wliicli misled the Emperor

    and retarded the settlement of the war, was another cause of

    offence. The restriction of the trade to Canton, establishment

    of the monopoly of tlie hong merchants, the oppressive and unjust

    exactions imposed upon it tlirongh their scheming, and

    many other minor grievances which need not be enumerated,

    formed the last count in this indictment. Three things must

    be granted before peace could be made, viz., tlie cession of an

    island for commerce and the residence of merchants ; compensation

    for losses and expenses ; and allowing a friendly and

    becoming intercourse between the officers of the two countries

    on terms of equality. This proclamation, however, nnide no

    mention of the real cause of the war, the opium trade, and in

    that respect was far from being an ingenuous, fair statement of

    the question. It was much more like one of Xapoleon’s bulletins

    in the Moniteur, and considering the moral and intellectual

    condition of Great Britain and China, failed to uphold the high

    standing of the former.

    While Sir Henry Pottinger knew that the use of this drug

    was one of the greatest evils which afflicted the people, he

    should have, in a document of this natui’e, left no room for the

    supposition, on the part of either ruler or subject, that the war

    was undertaken to uphold and countenance the opium trade.

    He could not have been ignorant that the Emperor and his

    ministers supposed the unequal contest they were waging was

    caused b\’ their unsuccessful efforts to supjiress the traffic ; and

    that if they were defeated the opium trade must goon unchecked.

    The question of supremacy was set at rest in this proclamation ;

    it must be given up ; but no encouragement was held out to

    reassure the (vhinese government in their lawful desire to restrain

    the tremendous scourge. Wh}^ should he ? If he encouraged

    any action against the trade, he could expect little promotion or

    PROCLAMATIONS ISSUED BY BOTH PARTIES. 539

    .•eward from liis superiors in Indiii or England, who looked to

    it for all the revenue it could be made to bring ; or consideration

    from the merchants, who would not thank him for telling

    the Chinese they might attack the opium clippers wherever the}’

    found them, and seize all the opium they could, and English

    •power would not interfere.

    The Emperor issued a proclamation about the same time,

    recapitulating his conduct and efforts to put a stop to the war,

    stating what he had done to ward off calamity and repress the

    rebels. The opium ti-ade, and his efforts for a long time to

    repress it, and especially the measures of Lin, are in this papei

    regarded as the causes of the war, which concludes by expressing

    his regrets for the sufferings and losses occasioned his subjectl

    by the attacks of the English at Amoy, Chusan, Xingpo, and

    elsewhere, and exhorting them to renewed efforts. It is a mat

    ter of lasting regret that the impression has been left upon the

    minds of the Chinese people that the war was an opium war,

    and waged chiefly to uphold it. But nations, like individuals,

    must usually trust to might more than right to maintain their

    standing ; and when conscious weakness leads them to adopt

    underhand measures to regain their rights, the temptation which

    led to these acts is rarely thought of in the da}’ of retribution.

    The money demands of England were not deemed at the tijiie

    to be exacting, but she should, and could at this time in an

    effectual manner, through her plenipotentiary, have cleared herself

    from all sanction of this traffic. If Lord jVIelbourne could

    wish it were a less objectionable traffic. Sir Henry Pottinger

    might surely have intimated, in as public a manner, his regret at

    its existence. He probably did not deem the use of opium very

    deleterious.

    The number of ships, steamers, transports, and all in the

    expedition, when it left Wusung, July Otli, was seventy-two,

    most of them large vessels. They were arranged in five divisions,

    with an advance squadron of five small steamers and tenders to

    survey the river, each division having a frigate or seventy-four

    at its head. The woild has seldom seen a more conspicuous

    instance of the superiority of a small body possessing science,

    skill, and discipline, over immense nmltitudes of undisciplined.

    540 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    ignorant, and distrustful soldiers, than was exhibited in this bold

    manoeuvre. ]^ot to speak alone of the great disparity in numbers,

    the distant quarters of the globe whence the ships were

    collected, the many languages and tribes found in the invading

    force, the magnitude of their ships, abundance of their supplies,

    and superiority of their weapons of war, the moral energy and

    confidence of power in this small troop over its ineffective adversary

    was not less conspicuous. The sight of such a fleet sailing

    up their Great River struck the inhabitants with mingled astonishment

    and dread.

    Chinkiang lies half a mile from the southern bank of tha

    Yangtsz’, surrounded by a high wall four miles in circuit, and

    liaving hills of considerable elevation in its rear. The canal

    conies in from the south, close to the walls on its western side,

    and along the shores of both river and canal are extensive suburbs—

    at this time completely under the command of the guns

    of the ships, which could also bombard the city itself from some

    positions. A bluff hill on the north partly concealed the town

    from the ships, and it was not till this hill- top had been gained

    that the three Chinese encampments behind the city could be

    seen. The general divided his small foi-co of seven thousand

    men into three brigades, under the connnand of ]\rajor-Generals

    Lord Saltoun, Schoedde, and Bartlcy, besides an artillery brigade

    of live hundred and seventy rank and file, under Lieutenant-

    Colonel Montgomerie. The Chinese encampments contaiiR'(l

    moi-e than three thousand men, most of them soldiers from

    IJupeh and Chehkiang provinces. The Manchu garrison within

    the city consisted of one thousand tw^o hundred regular troops

    and eight hundred Mongols from Ivoko-nor, together/ with eight

    hundred and thirty -five Chinese troops, making altogether from

    two thousand six hundred to two thousand eiglit hundred fighting

    men ; the entire force was under the command of Hailing,

    who had made such a disposition of his troops and strengthened

    his means of defence as well as the time allowed. lie closes his

    last communication to the Emperor with the assurance that “he

    cannot do otherwise than exert his whole heart and sti-ength in

    endeavors to repay a small fraction of the favors he has enjoyed

    from his ijcovernment.”

    ATTACK UPON CHINKIANG. 541

    The right brigade, under Lord Saltoun, .sdou drove tlie imperialists

    out of their camp, who did not Avait for his near

    approach, but brolve and dispersed after firing tliree or four distant

    volleys. Captain Loch says that while the i)arty of volunteers

    were approaching the camp, they passed through a small

    hamlet on the liills; “the village had not been deserted; some

    of the houses were closed, while the iidiabitants of others were

    standing in the streets staring at us in stu})id wonder ; and

    although they were viewing a contest Ijetween foreigners and

    their fellow-countrymen, and in danger themselves of being

    shot, were coolly eating their meals.”‘

    The centre brigade, under ]\Lijor-General Schoedde, landed

    on the northern corner of the city, to escalade the walls on that

    side and prevent the troops from the camp entering the gates.

    He was received by a w^ell-sustained iii-e, his men placing their

    ladders and mounting in the face of a determined resistance ; as

    soon as they gained the parapet they drove the Tartars before

    them, though their passage was bravely disputed. While they

    were mounting the walls a fire was kept up on the city on the

    northern and eastern sides, under cover of which, after clearing

    the ramparts, they proceeded to the western gate, conquering

    fill opposition in the northern part (tf the city, and driving the

    Tartars to the southern quarter.

    The left brigade, under Major-Genei-al Bartley, did not i-each

    the western side as soon as was expected, being delayed by the

    canal, here between seventy and eighty feet broad, which formed

    a deep ditch on this side. The western gate was blown in, the

    blast carrying before it a high pile of sand-l)ags heaped against

    the inside to strengthen the bars. While this work was going

    on, seven boats carrying artillerymen entered the canal to proceed

    up to the gate ; but when nearly opposite they were repulsed

    by a severe lire from the walls, and the men compelled to abandon

    the three leading boats and take refuge in the houses along

    the banks ; the others halted under cover of some houses until

    their comrades rejoined them, when all j-eturned to the ships.

    Two hundred marines now landed, and with three iiundred

    sepoys soon recovered the boats and carried back the M^ounded

    men. The party then planted their ladders in the face of a

    f)42 THK MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    spirited fire from the walls, and succeeded in carrying them

    against all opj)Ositioii.

    All resistance at the three gateways having been overcome, it

    was supposed that the city was nearly subdued. Sir Hugh consequently

    ordered a halt for his men on account of the heat, and

    despatched a small force to proceed along the western ramparts

    to occupy the southern gate. This squad had proceeded about

    half a mile when it met a body of eight hundred or one tliousand

    Taitars regularly drawn up in an open space. They fired

    with steadiness and regularity, but their bi-avery was of no

    avail, for the party, giving them one volley, charged down the

    bank and scattered them immediately, though not without some

    resistance. The dispersed Tartars, however, kept up a scattering

    fire along the streets and from the houses, wliicli served

    chiefly to irritate their enemies and increase their own loss.

    The heat of the day having passed, the commander-in-chief,

    guided by Mr. Gutzlaff and some Chinese, marched with two

    regiments into the southern quarter of the city. The scenes of

    desolation and woe which he met seem to have sickened the

    gray-haired warrior, for lie says in his despatches, “finding dead

    bodies of Tartars in every house we entoi-ed, principally women

    and children, thrown into M’ells or otherwise murdered by their

    own peo]>le, I was glud to withdraw the ti’oops from this frightful

    scene of destruction, and place them in the northern quarter.”

    It was indeed a terrific scene. Captain Loch, who accompanied

    Sir Hugh, says they went to a large building thought to be the

    prefect’s house, which was forced open and found entirely

    deserted, thougli completely furnished and of great extent

    ;

    ” we set fire to it and marched on.” What the object or advantage

    of this barbarous act was he does not say. Leaving the

    general, he turned down a street and burst open tlie door of a

    large mansion ; the objects which met his view were shocking.

    After we had forced our way over piles of furniture placed to barricade

    the door, we entered an open court strewed with rich stuffs and covered with

    clotted blood; and upon the steps leading to the hall of ancestors there were

    two bodies of youthful Tartars, cold and stiff, who seemed to be brothers.

    Having gained the threshold of their abode, they had died where they had

    fallen from loss of blood. Stepping over those bodies we entered the hall, and

    TRAGIC SCENES IN THE CITY. 5-J3

    met face to face three women seated, a motlier and two daughters, and at their

    feet lay two hodies of elderly men, with their tliroats cut from car to ear, their

    senseless heads resting upon the feet of their relations. To the right were two

    young girls, heautiful and delicate, crouching over and endeavoring to conceal

    a living soldier. In the heat of action, when the blood is up and the struggle

    is for life between man and man, the anguish of the wounded and the .sight of

    misery and pain is unheeded ; humanity is partially obscured by danger ; hut

    when excitement subsides with victory, a heart would be hardly human that

    could feel unaffected by the retrospection. And the hardest heart of the oldest

    man who ever lived a life of rapine and slaughter could not have gazed on

    this scene of woe unmoved. I stopped, horror-stricken at what I saw. The

    expression of cold, unutterable despair depicted on the mother’s face changed

    to the violent workings of scorn and hate, which at last burst forth in a paroxysm

    of invective, afterward in floods of tears, which apparently, if anything

    could, relieved her. She came close to me and seized me by the arm, and

    with clenched teeth and deadly frown pointed to the bodies, to her daughters,

    to her yet splendid house, and to herself ; then stepped back a pace, and with

    firmly closed hands and in a husky voice, I could see by her gestures, spoke of

    lier misery, her hate, and, I doubt not, her revenge. I attempted by signs to

    explain, offered her my services, but was spurned. I endeavored to make her

    comprehend that, however great her present misery, it might be in her unprotected

    state a hundredfold increased ; that if she would place herself under

    my guidance, I would pass her through the city gates in safety into the open

    country ; but the poor woman would not listen to me, and the whole family

    was by this time in loud lamentation. All that remained for me to do was to

    prevent the soldiers bayoneting the man, who, since our entrance, had attempted

    to escape.’

    The destruction of life was appalling. Some of tlie Manchus

    slmt the doors of their houses, while through the crevices persons

    could be seen deliberately cutting the throats of their

    women, and destroying their children by throwing them into

    wells. In one house a man was shot while sawing his wife’s

    throat as he held her over a well into which he had already

    thrown his children ; her wound was sewed up and the lives of

    the children saved. In another house no less than fourteen

    dead bodies, principally women, were discovered ; while such

    was their terror and hatred of the invadei’s, that every JManchu

    preferred resistance, death, suicide, or flight, to surrender. Out

    of a Manchu population of foui thousand, it was estimated that

    not more than five hundred survived, the greater part having

    perished by their own hands.

    ‘ Capt. G. G. Loch, Narrative of Events in China, p. 109.

    544 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    The public offices were ransacked and all anus and stores

    destroyed ; oulj §60,000 iu sjcee were fouud iu the treasury

    The populace began to pillage, and in one instance, fearing a

    stop might be put to their rapacity, tliey set fire to the buildings

    at each end of a street in order to plunder a pawnbroker’s

    shop without interference. The streets and lanes were strewed

    with silken, fur, and other rich dresses Avhich the robbers had

    thrown awa}^ when they saw something more valuable, and the

    sepoys and camp-followers took what they could find. Parties

    were accordingly stationed at the gates to take everything

    from the natives as they went out, or which they threw over the

    walls, and in this way the thieves M’ere in tlieir turn stripped.

    Within twenty-four hours after the troops landed, the city and

    suburbs of Chinkiang were a mass of ruin and destruction;

    part of the eastern wall was subsequently blown iu and all the

    gates dismantled to prevent any treachery. The total loss of

    the English was thirty-seven killed and one hundred and thirtyone

    wounded.

    A cui’ious contrast to the terrible scenes i-‘oin*:; on at Chinkiang

    was seen at Iching hien, on the northei’u side of the river.

    Four days before, the approach of the steamer Nemesis had

    caused no little consternation, and iu the evening a Chinese

    gentleman came off to her with a few presents to learn if thei-e

    was any intention of attacking the town, lie was told that if he

    would send supplies of meat and provisions no huiin would be

    done, and all he brought should be paid for. In the morning

    ])rovisi(>ns were furnished, and he remained on board to see the

    steamer chase and bring junks to; being nnich amazed at these

    novel operations, which gave him a new idea of the energy of

    the invaders. In the evening connnands were given him to

    bi-ing provisions in larger quantities, and three boats went up to

    the town to procure them. The people showed no hostility,

    and through his assistance the English opened a market in the

    courtyard of a temple, at which supplies were purchased, put

    aboard snudl junks, and conveyed to the fleet. On the 21st the

    same person came, according to agi’cement, to accompany a large

    ])arty of English from the ships to his house, where he had

    prepared an entertaimnent for them. Through the medium of

    RECEPTION OF THE ENGLISH AT ICHING. 545

    a Chinese boj commniiicatiou was easily carried on, and tlie

    alarms of the townspeople quieted ; a proclamation was also

    issued stating that every peaceable person would be unharmed.

    This gentleman had invited a large company of his relatives and

    friends, and served up a collation for his guests ; all this time

    the firing was heard from Chinkiang, where the countrymen of

    those so agreeably occupied were engaged in hostile encounter.

    On returning to their boats an additional mark of I’espect was

    shown by placing a M’ell-dressed man each side of every officer

    to fan him as he walked. At the market-temple another entertainment

    was also served up. Xo injury was done by either

    side, and the forbearance of the English was not without good

    effect. Such queer contrasts as this have frequently characterized

    the contests between the Chinese and British,

    Some of the large ships were towed up to Nanking, and the

    whole fleet reached it August 9th, at which time preparation

    had been made for the assault ; but desirous of avoiding a repetition

    of the sad scenes of Chinkiang, the British leaders had

    also sent a communication to Kiu Kien, oifering to ransom the

    city for iB3,00(»,000.

    This celebrated city lies about three miles south of the river,

    but the north-east corner of an outer wall reaches within seven

    hundred paces of the water ; the western face runs along the

    base of w^ooded hills for part of its distance, and is then continued

    through flat grounds around the southern side, both being

    defended b}- a deep ditch. The suburbs are on this low ground,

    M-here Sir Hugh Gough intended to bombard the place and

    make an entrance on the eastern side, M’liile diversions at other

    points perplexed the garrison. Ills force consisted of only four

    thousand five hundred effective men ; there were, as nearly as

    could be learned, six thousand Manchu and nine thousand Chinese

    troops within the city. On the 11th Lord Saltoun’s brigade

    landed at a village from whence a j)aved road led to one of the

    eastern gates, and other detachments were stationed in the

    neighborhood. Everything was in readiness for the assault by

    daylight of August loth, and the governor-general was told

    that it would assuredly be made unless the commissioners produced

    their authority for treating.

    546 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    In the interval between the downfall of Chinkian”; and in^

    vestment of Nanking, several eonnnnnications were received

    from the Chinese officers, and one from Kiying, couched in

    conciliatory language, and evincing a desire for peace. Sir

    Henry Pottinger replied in the same strain, deploi’ing tlie war

    and calamities caused by its continuance, but stating that he

    could have no interview with any individual, however exalted,

    M’ho was not properly connnissioned to treat for peace. It is

    probable that the Emperor did not receive any suggestion from

    his ministers in regard to making peace until after the fall of

    Chinkiang, and it was a matter of some importance, therefore,

    for Ilipu and his colleague to delay the attack on Nanking until

    an answer could be received from the capital. The usual doubts

    in the minds of the English as to their sincerity led them to

    look npon the whole as a scheme to perfect the defences, and

    gain time for the people to retire ; consequently the pi-eparations

    for taking the city went on, in order to deepen the conviction

    that if one party was practising any deception, the other

    certainly was in earnest.

    On the night of the l-4th, scarcely three hours before the

    artillery was to open, Ilipu, Kiying, and Niu Ivien addressed a

    joint letter to Sir Henry Pottinger requesting an interview in

    the morning, Mhen they M’ould produce their credentials and

    arrange for furtlier proceedings. This request was granted with

    some reluctance, for the day before the jyuehing .sz’ and Tartar

    commandant had behaved very unsatisfactorih’, refusing to exhibit

    the credentials or discuss the terms of peace or ransom.

    The distress ensuent upon the blockade was becoming greater

    and greater ; more than seven hundred vessels coming from the

    south had been stopped at Chiidciang, and a large fleet lay in

    the northern branch of the canal, so that some possibility

    existed of the whole province falling into anarchy if the pressure

    were not removed. The authorities of the city of Yangchau,

    on the canal, had already sent half a million dollars as

    the )-ansom of that place, while Niu Kien would only offer a

    third of a million to ransom the capital.

    The Eni])eror*’s authority to treat with the English was, however,

    exhibited at this meeting, and in return Sir Henry’s was

    ARRANGEMENTS EOIl CESSATION OF HOSTILITIES. 547

    fully explained to them. The delegates on the part of the

    conmiistiioners were Hwang ^S’gun-tiing, secretary to Kiying,

    and Chin, the Manchii commandant, while Major Malconi,

    secretary of legation, and Mr. J. 11. Morrison acted on the part

    of the plenipotentiary. Captain Loch, who was present, humorously

    describes the solemn manner in which the Emperor’s

    commission was brought out from the box in wdiich it was deposited,

    and the dismay of the lower attendants at seeing the

    foreigners irreverently handle it and examine its authenticity

    with so little awe. The skeleton of the treaty was immediately

    drafted for Hwang to take to his superiors. General Chin

    laughingly remarked that though the conditions were hard,

    they were no more so than the Chinese would have demanded

    if they had been the victors. The bearing of these officers

    was courteous, and Hwang especially found favor with all who

    were thrown into his company.

    The utmost care being requisite in drawing up the articles,

    most of the work falling upon Mr. Morrison, it was not till late

    at night on the 17th that the final draft was sent to the

    Chinese. The plenipotentiary, on the 18th, desired the general

    and admiral to suspend hostilities, at which time arrangements

    were also made for an interview the next day between the representatives

    on both sides. The English officers meantime explored

    the vicinity of the city, and the demand for provisions

    to supply the force caused a brisk trade highlj’ beneficial to the

    Chinese, and well calculated to please them.

    On the 19th Kiying, tlipu, and jS^iu Kien, accompanied by a

    large suite, paid their first visit to the English. The steamer

    Medusa brought them alongside the Cornwallis, and Sir Henry

    Pottinger, supported by the admiral and general, received them

    on the quarter-deck. The ship was decked with flags, and the

    crowd of gayly dressed officers in blue and scarlet contrasted

    well with the bright crapes and robes of the Chinese. This

    visit was one of ceremon\’, and after partaking of refreshments

    and examining the ship the commissioners retired, expressing

    their gratification at what they saw. They conducted themselves

    with decorum in their novel position, and Kiying and

    llipu, though both brought up in the full persuasion of the

    54:8 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    Bupremacj of their sovereign over the rulers of all other nations,

    and particularly over the English, manifested no ill-concealed

    chagrin. They liad previously sent up a report of the prugj’uss

    of the expedition after the capture of Chinkiang, rec[uesting

    in it that the demands of the invaders might be conceded ; the

    inefficiency of their troops is acknowledged, and a candid statement

    of the impossibility of effectual resistance laid before his

    Majesty, with cogent reasons for acceding to the demands of the

    Englisli as the wisest course of procedure. The further disasters

    which will ensue if the war is not brought to a close

    are hinted at, and the concession of the points at issue considered

    in a manner least humbling to imperial vanity. The sum

    of $21,000,000 to be paid is regarded by them as a present

    to the soldiers and sailors before sending them home

    ;

    partly as the liquidation of just debts due from the hong merchants,

    whose insolvency made them chargeable to the government,

    and partly as indemnification for the opium. Trade at

    the five ports was to be allowed, because fonr of them had already

    been seized, and this was the only w’ay to induce the

    invaders to withdraw, while Hongkong could be ceded inasnnich

    as they had already built houses there. The memorial is a

    curious effort to render the bitter pill somewhat palatable to

    themselves and their master.

    The English plenipotentiary, accompanied by a large concourse

    of officers, returned the visit on shore in a few days, and were

    met at the entrance of a temple by the commissioners, who led

    them through a guard of newly uniformed and unarmed soldiers

    into the building, the bands of both nations striking up their

    music at the same time. This visit continued tlie good understanding

    which prevailed ; the room had been carpeted and ornamented

    with lanterns and sci-olls for the occasion, while the

    adjacent grounds accommodated a crowd of natives. On the 20tli

    Sir Henry Pottinger and his suite, consisting of his secretary,

    ]\[ajor Malcom, Messi-s. Morrison, Thorn, and Gutzlaff, the three

    interpreters, and three other gentlemen, proceeded about four

    miles to the landing-place on the canal, where they were met by

    a brigadier and two colonels; the banks of the canal wei’c lined

    with troops. The party then took their horses, and, preceded

    AKTICLES OF THE TIJEATY OF NANKING. 549

    by a mounted escort, were received at tlie city gate by the secretaries

    of llipu ; the procession advanced to the place of meeting,

    guarded by a detachment of Manchu cavahy, whose shaggy

    ponies and llowing dresses presented a singular contiast to the

    envoy’s escort and their beautiful Arabs, lie himself was conducted

    through the outer gate, up the court and through the

    second gateway, ascending the steps into the third entrance,

    where he dismounted and entered the building with the commissioners

    and governor-general. The room had been elegantly

    fitted up, and a crowd of official attendants dressed in their ceremonial

    robes stood around. Sir Henry occupied the chief seat

    between Kiying and Ili’pu, their respective attendants being

    seated in proper oi’der, with small tables between every two

    persons, while dinner was served up in usual Chinese style.

    These formalities being over, the thirteen articles of this most

    important treaty were discussed :

    I.—Lasting peace between the two nations.

    II.—The ports of Canton, Amoy, Fuhchau, Kingpo, and

    Shanghai to be opened to British trade and residence, and trade

    conducted according to a well-understood tariff.

    III.—” It being obviously necessary and desirable that British

    subjects should have some port whereat they may careen and

    refit their ships when required,” the island of Hongkong to be

    ceded to her Majesty.

    lY.—Six millions of dollars to be paid as the value of the

    opium which was delivered up ” as a ransom for the lives of

    II. B. M. Superintendent and subjects,” in March, 1839.

    Y.—Three millions of dollars to be paid for the debts due to

    British merchants.

    YI.—Twelve millions to be paid for the expenses incurred in

    the expedition sent out ” to obtain redress for the violent and

    unjust proceedings of the Chinese high authorities.”

    YIL—The entire amount of $21,000,000 to be paid before

    December 31, 1845.

    YIII.—All prisoners of war to be immediately released by

    the Chinese.

    IX.—The Emperor to grant full and entire amnesty to those

    of his subjects who had aided the British.

    J^O THE MIDDLE KINGDOM

    X. —A regular and fair tariff of export and import customs

    and other dues to be established at the open ports, and a transit

    duty to be levied in addition whicli will give goods a free conveyance

    to all places in China.

    XI.—Official correspondence to be hereafter conducted on

    terms of equality according to the standing of the parties.

    XIl.—Conditions for restoring the places held by British

    troops to be according to the payments of money.

    XIII.—Time of exchanging ratifications and carrying the

    treaty into effect.

    The official English and Chinese texts of this compact and a

    literal translation of the Chinese text are given in the (JJunese

    Repodtoi’ij^ Vols. XIII. and XIV.; in that serial is also to be

    found a full account of the struggle which was thus brought to

    a close. Looked at in any point of view, political, commercial,

    moral, or intellectual, it will always be considered as one of the

    turning points in the history of mankind, involving the welfare

    of all nations in its wide-reaching consequences.

    When matters connected with the treaty had been arranged,

    Sir Henry proposed to say a few words upon ” the great cause

    that produced the disturbances which led to the war, viz., the

    trade in opium.” But upon hearing this (Captain Loch says)

    they unanimously declined entering upon the subject, until they

    were assured that he had introduced it merely as a topic for

    private conversation.

    The}’ then evinced much interest, and eagerly requested to know why wB

    would not act fairly toward them by prohi1)iting the growth of tlie poppy in

    our dominions, and thus effectually stop a traffic so pernicious to the human

    race. This, he said, in consistency with our constitutional laws could not he

    done ; and he added that even if England chose to exercise so arbitrary a

    power over her tillers of the soil, it would not check the evil, so far as the

    Chinese were concerned, while the cancer remained uneradicated among themselves,

    but that it would merely throw the market into other hands. It, in

    fact, he said, rests entirely with yourselves. If your people are virtuous, they

    will desist from the evil practice ; and if your officers are incorruptible and

    obey your orders, no opium can enter your country. The discouragement of

    the growth of the poppy in our territories rests principally with you, for nearly

    the entire produce cultivated in India travels east to China ; if, however, the

    habit has become a confirmed vice, and you feel that your power is at present

    inadequate to stay its indulgence, you may rest assured your people will pro*

    DISCUSSION OF THE OPIUM t^UESTION. 551

    cure the drug in spite of every enactment. Would it not, therefore, he better at

    once to legalize its importation, and by thus securing the co-operation of the

    rich and of your authorities, from whom it would thus be no longer debarred,

    thereby greatly limit tlie facilities which now exist for smuggling ? They

    owned the plausibility of the argument, but expressed tliemselves persuaded

    that their imperial master would never listen to a word upon the subject.

    To convince them that what he said was not introduced from any sinister

    wish to gain an end more advantageous for ourselves, he drew a rapid sketch

    of England’s rise and progress from a barbarous state to a degree of wealth and

    civilization unpai’alleled in the history of the world ; which rajiid rise was

    principally attributable to benign and liberal laws, aided by commerce, which

    conferred power and consequence. He then casually mentioned instances of

    governments having failed to attain their ends by endeavoring to exclude any

    particular objects of popular desire ; tobacco was one of those he alluded to,

    and now that it was legalized, not only did it produce a large revenue to the

    crown, but it was more moderately indulged in in Britain than elsewhere.’

    To the well-wisher of his fellow-iueu this narrative suggests

    many melancholy reflections. On the one hand were fonr or

    five high Chinese officers, who, although pagans and unacquainted

    with the prhiciples of true virtue, had evidently sympathized with

    and upheld their sovereign in his fruitless, misdirected endeavors

    to save his people from a vicious habit. ” Why will you not

    act fairly toward us by prohibiting the growth of the poppy ?

    is their anxious inquiry ; for they knew that there was no moi’al

    principle among themselves strong enough to resist the opium

    pipe. ” Your people must become virtuous and your officers

    incorruptible, and then you can stop the opium coming into your

    borders,” is the reply ; precisely the words that the callous

    rumseller gives the broken-hearted wife of the besotted drunkard

    when she beseeches him not to sell liquor to her enslaved

    husband. ” Other people will bring it to you if Ave should stop

    the cultivation of the poppy ; if England chose to exercise so

    arbitrary a power over her tillers of the soil, it would not check

    the evil,” adds the envoy; “you cannot do better than legalize

    it.” Although nations are somewhat different from individuals

    in respect to their power of resisting and suppressing a vice,

    ‘ Loch’s Events in China, p. 173, London, 1843. This same point is slightly

    referred to by Lieutenant Ouchterlony, on page 448 of his Chinese War, where

    he states that Sir Henry had prepared a paper for the information of the Chinese

    officials, proposing to them to permit the traffic in opium to be by barter

    552 Tin-: MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    and Sir Henry did riglit to speak of the legal difficnlty in the

    way of restraining labor, yet how heartless was the excnse,” if we

    do not bring it to you others will.”” Xo suggestion was made

    to them as to the most judicious mode of restraining what they

    were told they could not prohibit; no hint of the farming

    system, which would have held out to them a medinm path between

    absolute freedom and prohibition, and probably been

    seriously considered by the court ; no frank explanation as to

    the real position the English government itself held in respect

    to the forced growth of this pernicious article in its Indian territories.

    How much nobler would that govermnent have stood

    in the eyes of mankind if its head and ministers had instructed

    their plenipotentiary, that when their other demands were all

    paid and conceded no indemnity should have been asked for

    smuggled opium entirely destroyed by those who had seized it

    within their borders under threats of worse consequences. That

    government and ministry which had paid a liundred millions for

    the emancipation of slaves could surely aiford to release a pagan

    nation from such an imposed obligation, instead of sending their

    armies to exact a few millions which the revenue of one year,

    derived from this very article alone, M’ould amply discliarge to

    their ONvn subjects. For this pitiful sum nnist the great moral

    lesson to the Emperor of China and his subjects, which could

    have been taught them at this time, be lost.

    Sir Henry inquired if an envoy would be received at Peking,

    should one be sent from England, which Kiying assured him

    Mould no doubt be a gratification to his master, though what

    ideas the latter connected with such a suggestion can only be

    inferred. The conference lasted thi-ee or four hours, and when

    the procession returned to the barges, through an immense

    crowd of people, nothing was heard from them to indicate dislike

    or dread ; all other tlioughts were merged in overpowering

    curiosity. It was remarkable that this was the anniversary of

    the day when English subjects, among Avhom were the three

    interpreters here present, left Macao in 1831), by order of Lin;

    on August 26, 1840, the plenipotentiaries entered the Pei ho to

    seek an interview with Kishen ; that day, the next year, Amoy

    and its extensive batteries fell ; and now the three years’ game

    THE TREATY SIGNED AND RATIFIED. 653

    is won and China is obliged to bend, her magnates come down

    from tlieir eminences, and her wall of supremacy, isolation, and

    conceit is shattered beyond the possibility of restoration. Iler

    rulers apparently submitted with good grace to the hard lesson,

    which seemed to be the only effectual means of compelling

    them to abandon their ridiculous pretensions ; though it cannot

    be too often repeated that the effect of kindness, honorable

    dealing, and peaceful missions had not been fairly tried. ‘

    Arrangements were made on the 29tli to sign the treaty on

    board the Corn wall is. After it was signed all sat down to

    table, and the admiral, as the host in his flagship, gave the

    healths of their Majesties, the Queen of England and the Emperor

    of China, which was announced to the fleet and army by

    a salute of twenty-one guns and hoisting the Union Jack and a

    yellow flag at the main and mizzen. The treaty was forwarded

    to Peking that evening. The embargo on the rivers and ports

    was at once taken off, the troops re-embarked, and preparations

    made to return to Wusung. The six millions were paid without

    much delay, and on September 15th the Emperor’s ratification

    was received. The secretary of legation, Major Malcom,

    immediately left to obtain the Queen’s ratification, going by

    steam the entire distance (except eighty miles in Egypt) from

    Kanking to London—an extraordinary feat in those days.

    The imperial assent was also published in a rescript addressed

    to Kiying, in reply to his account of the settlement of affairs, in

    which he gives directions for disbanding the troops, rebuilding

    such forts as had been destroyed, and cultivating peace as Avell

    as providing for the fulfilment of the articles. It is, on the

    whole, a dignified approval of the treaty, and breathes nothing

    of a spirit of revenge or intention to prepare for future resistance.

    The fleet of ships and transports returned down the river and

    reassembled at Tinghai, at the end of October, not a vessel

    having been lost. Even before leaving Xanking, and in the passage

    down the river, the troops and sailors, especially the Indian

    regiments, were reduced by cholera, fever, and other diseases,

    some of the transports being nearly disabled ; the deaths

    amounted to more than a thousand before reachini; Ilono-kons.

    554 THE .MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    On arriving at Anioy tlio plenipotentiary was highly ineented

    on hearing of the melancholy fate of the captive crews of the

    Xerbudda and Ann, wrecked on Formosa. The first, a transport,

    contained two hundred and seventy-four souls, and when she

    went ashore all the Europeans abandoned two hundred and

    forty Hindus to their fate, most of whom fell into the liands of

    the Chinese. The Ann was an opium vessel, and lier crew of

    fifty-seven souls were taken prisoners and carried to Taiwan fu.

    The prisoners were divided into small parties and had little

    conmumieation with each other during their captivity, M’hich

    was aggravated by Mant of food and clothing, filthy lodgings,

    and other hardships of a Chinese jail, so that many of the Indians

    died. The survivors, on August loth, with the exception

    of ten persons, were carried out to a plain near the city, one of

    whom, ]Mr. Xewman, a seacunnie on board the Ann and the

    last in the procession, gave the following account

    :

    On being taken ont of his sedcan, to have his hands shackled beliind his back,

    he saw two of the prisoners with their irons otf and refusing to have them

    put on. They had both been drinking and were making a great noise, crying

    out to him that tliey were all to have their heads cut off. He advised them to

    submit quietly, but they still refusing, he first wrenched off his own and then

    j)ut them into theirs, to the great pleasure of the soldiers, but when the soldiers

    wished to replace liis he declined. As they were on the point of securing

    him he accidentally saw the chief officer seated close to him. Going befoi’e

    him he threw himself on his head and commenced singing a few Chinese

    words which he had fretjiiently hoard repeated in a temple. The officer was

    HO pleased with this procedure that he turned round to the soldiers and ordered

    them to carry him back to the city. All the rest, one hundred and ninetyseven

    in number, were i)laced at small distances from each other on their

    knees, their feet in irons and hands manacled behind their backs, thus waiting

    for the executioners, who went round and with a kind of two-handed

    sword cut off their heads without being laid on a block. .Afterward their

    bodies were thrown into one grave and their heads stuck up in cages on the

    seashore.’

    A journal was kept by Mr. Gully to within tliree days of his

    death, and another by Captain Denham of the Ann, one of the

    prisoners saved to send to Peking.* Both contain full accounts

    Chinese Reponit^yry, Vol. XII., p. 248.

    ” Journah of Mr. GvUi/ and CapUiin Denlutni during a Cajdivity in China in

    1842. London : Chapman & Hall, 1844.

    MASSACRE OF SIIIIMV P.ECKIJD CREWS ON FORMOSA. 555

    of the treatment of the luihuppy captives, and diminish the

    synipathy felt for tlie defeat of the government whicli allowed

    such shuighter. It was said to have been done by orders from

    court, grounded on a lying report sent up by the Mancliu commandant,

    Tahuiigah. When their sad fate was learned Sir

    Henry l*ottinger published two proclamations in Chinese, in

    which the principal facts were detailed, so that all might know

    the truth of the matter; a demand nuide fur the degradation and

    punishment of the lying officers who had superintended it, and

    the confiscation of their property for the use of the families of the

    sufferers, lliang, the governor-general, expressed his sincere regret

    to the English envoy at what had taken place, and examined

    into the facts himself, which led to the degradation and

    banishment of the conmuuidant and intendant. While the prisoners

    were still at Taiwan fu, II. M. S. Serpent was sent over

    from Anioy to reclaim them, by which expedition the truth of

    the barbarous execution was first learned ; this vessel afterward

    went tiiere to receive the shipwrecked crew of the Ilerculaneum

    transport.

    The citizens of Amoy, jSiingpo, and Shanghai hailed the cessation

    of the war and the opening of their ports to foreign

    trade ; but not so at Canton. The discharged volunteers still

    remained about the city, notwithstanding orders to return home

    and resume their usual employments, most of whom probably

    had neither. Scheming demagogues took advantage of a rumor

    that the English army intended to form a settlement opposite

    the city, and issued a paper in the name of the gentry, calling

    upon all to combine and resist the aggression. The enthusiasm

    it caused was worked up to a higher pitch b}^ an inflannnatory

    manifesto, in which desperate measures were plainly intinuited ;

    but the district magistrates took no steps against them. An

    invitation was circulated for the citizens and gentlemen from

    other provinces to meet at the public assembly hall to consult

    upon public affairs. A counter but less spirited manifesto was

    pasted up in the hall, which had the effect of inducing about

    half the people to disperse. The writers of this paper dissuaded

    their countrymen from hasty measures, by telling them’ that no

    556 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    land could be taken or dwellings occupied without periuission

    from the provincial authorities, and urged upon them to live at

    peace with tlie English, in accordance Avith the injunctions of

    their wise sovereign.

    A brawl occurred in Hog Lane on December Gth, between

    some hucksters and lascars, who -were pursued into the Square,

    where the mob rapidly increased, and about two o’clock began

    pulling down a brick wall around the Company’s garden and

    forcing open one of the factories, which was speedily pillaged,

    the inmates escaping through the back doors. The British flagstaff

    was fired by a party which kept guard around it, and the

    flames connnunicating to the verandah, other parts soon caught,

    and by midnight the three hongs east of Ilog Lane were burning

    furiously. The ringleaders, satisfied with firing the British

    consulate, endeavored to prevent thieves carrying away the

    plunder ; but they were forced to escape about midnight. These

    wretches soon began to quan-el among themsch’es for the dollars

    found in the ruins, and it was not till noon that the police

    and soldiers ventured to attack the knotted groups of struggling

    despei’adoes and arrest the most conspicuous, and with the aid

    of boats’ crews from the shipping recapture some of the specie.

    Full compensation was subsequently made to the foreigners for

    the losses sustained, amounting to $67,397, and some of the

    ringleaders were executed.

    A. large part of the officers in the army and navy engaged in

    the war received promotion or honorary titles. Sir Hugh was

    made a baronet, and, after more service in India, elevated to

    the peerage, with the title of Lord Gough, Baron of Chinkiang

    fu ; the plenipotentiary and the admiral obtained Grand Crosses

    of the liath. The three interpreters, Messrs. Morrison, Thorn,

    and Gutzlaff, whose services had been arduous and important,

    received no distinctive reward from their government. The

    amount of prize money distributed among the soldiers and

    sailors was small. The losses of the English from shipwreck,

    sickness, and casualties dm-ing tlie war amounted to more than

    three thousand ; the mortality was greatest among the Indian

    regiments and the European recruits, especially after the opei”

    ations behind Canton and the capture of Chinkiang.

    SETTLEMENT OF COMMERCIAL REGULATIONS. 557

    While the English goveniiiieiit lewarded its officers, the Emperor

    expressed his displeasure at the conduct of the major

    part of his surviving generals, but distributed posthumous

    honors to those who had died at their posts. Hailing, with liis

    wife and grandson, were honored with a fane, and his sons promoted.

    Kiying was appointed governor-general at ]^anking.

    Tliougli many civil and military officers were condemned to

    death, none actually lost their lives, except Yu Pu-yun, the

    governor of Chehkiang, who fled from JS^ingpo in October,

    1841.

    The settlement of the duties and regulations for carrying

    on foreign commerce immediately engaged the attention of the

    plenipotentiary. He called on the British mei’chants for information,

    but so utterly desultory was the manner in which the

    duties had been formerly levied, that they could give him little

    or no reliable information as to what was really done with the

    money. The whole matter was placed by both parties in the

    hands of Mr. Tliom, who had been engaged in business at Canton,

    and Hwang Ngan-tung, secretary to Kiying. To settle these

    multifarious affairs and restore quiet, Ilipu was sent to Canton

    as commissioner. On his arrival, he set about allaying the popular

    discontent at the treaty, and his edict ‘ is a good instance of

    the mixture of flattery and instruction, coaxing and connnanding,

    which Chinese officers frequently adopt when they are not

    sure of gaining their end by power alone, and do not wish to irritate.

    In this instance it did much to remove misapprehension

    and allay excitement, but its author had not long been engaged

    in these arduous duties before he ” made a vacancy,”

    aged seventy-two, having been more than half his life engaged

    in high employments in his country’s service ; his conduct and

    foresight in the last two years did credit to himself and elevated

    his nation. Ilis associate, Kiying, took his place and exchanged

    the ratifications of the treaty of Nanking at Hongkong with Sir

    Henry Pottinger, ten months after it had been signed by the

    same persons. The island was then taken possession of on behalf

    • Chinese Repository, Vol. XXL, p. lOG.

    of the Queen by proclamation, and the warrant read appointing Sir Henry governor of the colony. Its influence on +he well-being of China since that period has been less than was anticipated by those who looked to the higher welfare and progress of a British colony so near to it as likely to be an example for good. A free port has encouraged smuggling to a degree that constantly irritates and baffles the native authorities on the mainland, and leads to armed resistance to their efforts toward collecting lawful revenue, especially on opium ; while the influx of Chinese traders, attracted by its greater security, is gradually converting the island into a Chinese settlement protected by British rule. The peninsula of Kowhmg, on the north side of the harbor, was added in 1860, to furnish ground for the

    commissary departments of the forces. The influence of a wellordered

    Christian government exercising a beneficent rule over

    a less civilized race under its sway, is soon neutralized by licensing

    the opium farms and gambling saloons and lending its moral

    sanction to smuggling.

    The tariff and commercial regulations were published July 22d.

    In this tariff, all emoluments and illegal exactions superimposed

    upon the imperial duties were prohibited, and a fixed duty

    put on each article, which seldom exceeded five per cent, on

    the cost ; all kinds of breadstuffs were free. ( ‘ommercial dealings

    were placed on a well -understood basis, instead of the

    former loose way of conducting business ; the monopoly of the

    hong merchants was ended, the fees exacted on ships were abolished,

    and a tonnage duty of five mace per ton substituted ; the

    charge for pilotage was reduced so much that the pilots were

    nearly stripped of all they received after paying the usual fees

    to the tidewaiters along the river. Disputes between English

    and Chinese were to be settled by the consuls, and in serious

    cases by a mixed court, when, upon conviction, each party was

    to punish its own criminals.

    The proclamation giving effect to these i-egulations was one

    of the most important documents ever issued by the Chinese

    government ; as an initiation of the new order of things, it

    was creditable to the people whose rulers were of themselves

    and could utter such words to them. After referring to the war

    and treaty of peace, Kiying goes on to say, respecting the tariff,

    THE NEW TARIFF PROCLAIMED. 559

    that as soon as replies shall be received from tlie Buai-d of Tlev^

    enue, “it will then take effect witli refei-ence to the commerce

    with China of all countries, as well as of England. Henceforth,

    then, the weapons of war shall forever be laid aside,

    and joy and profit shall be the perpetual lot of all ; neither sli<i;ht

    nor few will be the advantages reaped by the merchants alike

    of China and of foreign countries. From this time foi-ward,

    all must free themselves frou] prejudice and suspicions, pursuing

    each his proper avocation, and careful always to retain no inimical

    feelings from the recollection of the hostilities that have

    before taken place. For such feelings and i-ecollections can luive

    no other effect than to hinder the growth of a good understanding

    between the two peoples.” It should be moreover added, as

    due praise to the imperial government, that none of the many

    liundreds who served the English on ship and shore against

    their country were afterward molested in any way for so doing.

    Many were apprehended, but the commissioner says he ” has

    obtained from the good favor of his august sovereign, vast and

    boundless as that of heaven itself, the remission of their punishment

    for all past deeds ; » . . they need entertain no appi-

    ehension of being hereafter dragged forward, nor yield in

    consequence to any fears or suspicions.”

    ‘These new arrangements pleased the leading Chinese merchants

    better than they did the hoppo and others who had lined

    their pockets and fed their friends with illegal exactions. The

    never-failing sponge of the co hong could no longer be sucked,

    but for a last squeeze the authorities called upon the merchants

    for five millions of dollars, which they refused to pay, and

    withdrew from business with so much determination and union

    that the hoppo and his friends were foiled ; they finally contributed

    among themselves about one million seven hundred

    thousand dollars, which was nearly or quite their last benevolence

    to their rulers. Ilowqua, the leading member of the body during

    thirty years, died about this time, aged seventy-five ; he was,

    altogether, the most remarkable native known to foreigners, and

    while he filled the difficult station of senior merchant, exhibited

    ‘ Chinese Repository, Vol. XII., p. 443.

    great shrewdness and ability in jiumaging the deHcate and difficult

    affairs constantly thrown upon him. lie came fi-oni Amoy

    when a voung man, and his property, probably over estimated

    at four millions sterling, passed quietly into the hands of his

    children.’

    Tlie foreign community also suffered a great loss at this time

    in the death of John Ilobert Morrison, at the age of twentynine,

    lie was born in China, and had identified himself with

    the best interests of her people and their advancement in

    knowledjre and Christianity. At the age of twenty, on his

    father’s decease, he was appointed Chinese secretary to the

    British superintendents, and filled that responsible situation

    with credit and efficiency during all the disputes with the proyincial

    authorities and commissioner Lin, and of the war, until

    peace was declared. His intimate acquaintance with the policy

    of the Chinese government and the habits of thought of its officers

    eminently fitted him for successfully treating with them,

    and enlightening them upon the intentions and wishes of foreign

    powers ; while his unaffected kindness to all natives assured

    them of the sincerity of his professions. The successful conduct

    of the negotiations at Xanking depended very much upon him,

    and the manner in which he performed the many translations

    to and from Chinese, connected with that event, was such as to

    secure the confidence of the imperial connnissioners, in their

    ignorance of all foreign languages, that they were fairly dealt

    with.

    He was eminently a Christian man, and whenever opportunity

    allowed, failed not to speak of the doctrines of the Bible to his

    native friends. The projected revision of the Chinese version

    of the Scriptures by the Protestant missionaries engaged his

    attention, and it was expected would receive his assistance.

    With his influence, his pen, his property, and his prayers, he

    contributed to the welfare of the people, and the confidence felt

    in him by natives who knew him was often strikingly exhibited

    ‘ Compare The Fan Kwae at Canton before Treaty Days, by an Old Residejit

    (Mr. W. C. Hunter), London, 1882; a little volume which, besides many personal

    reminiscences of the characters mentioned in this narrative, furnishes an interesting picture of life in Canton a half century ago.

    DEATH OF JOHN K. MOKKISON. 561

    at Canton durin*^ tlio coniinotions of 1841 and the negotiations

    of 1843. lie died at Macao August 29th, a jear after the treaty

    of i^anking was signed, and was l)nried by the side of liis

    parents in the Pi’otestant burying-gronnd. Sir lleiny Pottinger

    announced his death as a “positive national calamity,” and it was so received ‘by the government at home, he also justly added that ” Mr. Morrison was so well known to every one, and so beloved, respected, and esteemed by all wdio had the pleasure and happiness of his acquaintance or friendship, that to attempt to pass any panegyric upon his private character would be a mere waste of words ;” while his own sorrow was but a type of the universal feeling in which his memory and merit are embalmed. As a testimony of their sense of his worth, the foreign community, learning that he had died poor,

    leaving a maiden sister who had been dependent upon him, and

    that his official accounts were in some confusion, immediately

    came forward and contributed nearlj’ fourteen thousand dollars

    to relieve his estate and relatives from all embarrassment.

    The negotiations were concluded by the English and Chinese

    plenipotentiaries signing a supplementary treaty on October 8th

    (the day was a lucky one in the Chinese calendar), at the Bogue.

    This treaty provided, among other things, for the admission of

    all foreigners to the iive open ports on the same terms as English

    subjects ; it was inserted at the request of Kiying, that all

    might appreciate the intentions of his government ; for neither

    he nor his master knew anything of that favorite phrase, ” the

    most favored nation,” and expected and wished to avoid all controversy by putting every ship and flag on the same footing.

    It might have been expected that the Chinese government

    would have now taken some action upon the opium trade, which

    was still going on unchecked and unlicensed. Opium schooners

    were passing in and out of Hongkong liarbor, though the drug

    sold by the Indian government at Calcutta was not allowed by

    the colonial British government at Hongkong to be stored on

    shore. Yet no edicts wei-e issued, few or no seizui-es made, no

    notice taken of it ; no proposition to repress, legalize, or inanage

    it came from the imperial commissioner. The old laws denouncing

    its use, purchase, or sale under the penalty of deati* still remained on the statute book, but no one feared or cared for them. This conduct is fully explained by the supposition that, having undergone so much, the Emperor and his ministers thought safety from future trouble with the British lay in enduring what was past curing ; they had already suffered greatly

    in attempting to suppress it, and another war might be caused

    by meddling with the dangerous subject, since too it M^as now

    guarded by well-armed British vessels. Public opinion was still

    too strong against it, or else consistency obliged the monarch to

    forbid legalization.’

    Sir Henry Pottingcr, hearing that persons were about sending

    opium to Canton under the pretense that unenumerated articles

    were admissible by the new tariff at a duty of five per

    cent., issued a proclamation in English and Chinese, to the intent

    that such proceedings were illegal. lie also forbade British

    vessels going bej-ond lat. 32° X., and intimated to the Chinese

    that they might seize all persons and confiscate all vessels found

    above that line, or anywhei*e else on the coast besides the five

    ports ; and, moreover, published an order in council wdiich

    restricted, under penalty of $500 for each offence, all British

    vessels violating the stipulations of the treaty in this respect.

    All this was done chiefly to throw dust in their eyes, and put

    the onus of the contraband traffic on the Chinese government

    and the violation of law on those who came off to the smuggling

    vessels, and these proclamations and orders, like their edicts,

    were to be put ” on record.” This was shoAvn when Captain

    Hope, of II.M.S. Thalia, for stopping two or three of the opium

    vessels proceeding above Shanghai, was recalled from his station

    and ordered to India, where he could not “interfere in such a manner

    with the undertakings of British subjects “—to quote Lord

    Palmerston’s despatch to Captain Elliot. This effectually deterred

    other British officers from meddling with it.

    Yet the commercial bearings of this trade were clearly seen

    in England, and a memorial to Sir Bobert Peel, signed by two

    hundred and thirty-five merchants and manufacturers, was drawn

    ‘ Montgomery Martin, China ; Political, Commercial, and Social, Vol. II.,

    Chap. IV. (London, 1847)—a chapter containing some most suggestive reflections

    on this subject by a member of her Majesty’s government at Hongkong.

    RENEWAL OF THE OPIUM DISCUSSION. 563

    np, in which they proved that tlie ” commerce with China cannot^r

    be conducted on a permanently safe and satisfactory basis so long

    as the contraband trade in opium is permitted. Even if legalized,

    the trade would inevitably undermine the commerce of Great

    Britain with China, and prevent its being, as it otherwise might

    be, an advantageous market for our manufactures. It would operate

    for evil in a double way: first, by enervating and impoverishing

    the consumers of the drug, it would disable them from becoming

    purchasers of our productions ; and second, as the Chinese

    would then be paid for their produce chiefly as now in opium, the

    quantity of that article imported by them having of late years

    exceeded in value the tea and silk we receive from them, our

    own manufactures would consequently be to a great extent precluded.”

    The memorial shows that between 1803-08 the annual

    demand for M’oollens alone was nearly $750,000 more than

    it was for «Z^ products of British industry between 1834—39 ; while

    in that interval the opium trade had risen from three thousand to

    thirty thousand chests annually. Nothing in the annals of commerce

    ever showed more conclusively how heartless a thing trade

    is when it comes in contact with morality or humanity, than

    the discussions respecting the opium traffic. These memorialists

    plead for their manufactures, but the East India Company

    would have been soi-ry to have had their market spoiled : what

    could Sir Robert Peel, or even Wilberforce, if he had been

    premier, do against them in this matter ? The question was

    which party of manufacturers should be patronized. But none

    of these “merchants and manufacturers of the highest standing

    and respectability ” refer to the destruction of life, distress of

    families, waste of mind, body, and property, and the many other

    evils connected with the growth and use of opium, except as connected

    with the sale of their goods. One paper, in order

    to compound the matter, recommended the manufacture of

    morphine to tempt the Chinese, in order that, if they would

    smoke it, they might have a delicate preparation for fashionable

    smokers.

    The conduct of the ministry in remunerating the merchants

    who had surrendered their property to Captain Elliot was appropriate

    to the character of the trade. The $6,000,000, instead of being divided in Cliina aiijOiig those m’Iio were to receive it —as could have been done without expense—was cariied to England to be coined, which, with the freight, reduced it considerably. Then by the manner of ascertaining the market value at the time it was given up, and the holders of the opium script got their pay, they received scarcely one-half of what was originally paid to the East India Company, either directly or indirectly, thereby reducing it nearly a million sterling. Furthermore, by the form of payment they lost nearly one-fifth even of the promised sum, or about one million two hundred thousand dollars. Then they lost four years” interest on their whole capital, or about four million dollars more. What the merchants lost, the government profited. The Company gained during these four years at least a million sterling by the increased price of the drug, while Sir Eobert Peel also transferred that amount from the pockets of the merchants to the public treasury. It was an imdignified and pitiful haggling with the merchants and owners of the opium, whom that ministry had encouraged for many years in their trade along the Chinese coast, and then forced to take wdiat was doled out.

    Public opinion will ever characterize the contest thus brought

    to an end as an oj/ium war, entered into and cai’ried on to

    obtain indemnity for opium seized, and—setting aside the niceties

    of western international law, M’liich the Chinese government

    knew nothing of—most justly seized. The British and American

    merchants who voluntarily subscribed one thousand and

    thirty-seven chests to Commissioner Lin, acknowledged themselves

    to be transgressors by tliis very act. Yet war seemed to

    be the only way to break down the intolerable assumptions of

    the court of Peking ; that a Avar M’ould do it was quite plain

    to every one acquainted with the character of that court and the

    genius of the j^eople, and the result has shown the expectation

    to have been M’cU based. Members of Parliament expi’cssed

    their gratification at being at last out of a bad busines^s ; their

    desire, frequently nttered, that the light of the gos])(‘l and the

    blessings of C’hristian civilization might now be introduced

    among the millions of China, was a cheap peace-offering of good

    wishes, some^\llat in tin- manner t)f the old Hebrews sacrificing

    treatip:.s mith otiieu powers. 565

    a kid when tbej liad eoniniitted a trespass. Tlie short but pithy

    digest of the whole war by Justin McCarthy, in Chapter X. of

    the Ilisturij of Our Ocn Times, brings out its leading features

    in a fairly candid manner.

    The announcement of the treaty of Xanking caused considerable

    sensation in Europe and America, cliictly in commercial

    circles. M. Augusto Moxhet, the Belgian consul at kSingapore,

    was sent on to China to make such inquiries for transmission to

    his government as would direct it in its efforts to open a trade.

    The Xetherlands government sent orders to the authorities at

    Batavia, who despatched M. Tonco Modderman for the same

    purpose. The king of Prussia appointed ]\I. Grube to proceed

    to China to prosecute researches as to the prospect of finding

    a market for German mamifactnres. The Spanish ministry,

    through the authorities at Manila, designated Don Sinibaldo de

    Mas in this new sphere. The governor of Macao, M. Pinto,

    before returning home, was appointed commissioner on behalf

    of II. M. F. Majesty, to treat respecting the rights and privileges

    of Macao under the new order of things, and succeeded in

    obtaining some stipulations favorable to the trade of the place,

    but could not get the Chinese to cede it to Portugal. These

    gentlemen arrived in China during the latter part of 1S43, and

    most of them had interviews or communication with Kiying before

    he returned to court in December.

    The governments of the United States and France early appointed

    ministers extraordinary to the court of Peking. Caleb Cushing, commissioner on behalf of the United States, brought a letter from the President to the Emperor, which is inserted in full as an instance of the singular mixture of patronizing and deprecatory address then deemed suitable for the Grand Khan by western nations :

    LETTER TO THE EMPEROR OF CHINA FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

    I, John Tyler. President of the United States of America -which States are: Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Vermont, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, ^Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio, Louisiana, Indiana, Mississippi, Illinois, Alabama, Missouri, Arkansas, and Michigan—send you this letter of peace and friendship, signed by my own hand.

    I hope your healtli is good. China is a great Empire, extending over a great

    part of the world. The Chinese are numerous. You have millions and millions

    of subjects. The twenty-six United States are as large as China, though

    our people are not so numerous. The rising sun looks upon the great mountains

    and great rivers of China. When lie sets, he looks iipon rivers and

    mountains equally large in the United States. Our territories extend from

    one great ocean to the other ; and on the west we are divided from your dominions

    only by the sea. Leaving the mouth of one of our great rivers, and

    going constantly toward tlie setting sun, we sail to Japan and to the Yellow

    Pea.

    Now, my words are that the governments of two such great countries should

    be at peace. It is proper, and according to tlie will of lieaven, that they should

    respect each other, and act wisely. 1 therefore send to your court Caleb Cushing,

    one of tlie wise and learned men of this country. On his first arrival in

    China, he will iiujuire for your health. He has strict orders to go to your

    great city of Peking, and there to deliver this letter. He will have with him

    secretaries <tnd interpreters.

    The Chinese love to trade with our jteople, and to sell them tea and silk, for

    which our people pay silver, and sometimes other articles. But if the Chinese

    and the Americans will trade, tliere shall be rules, so that they shall not break

    your laws or our laws. Our minister, Caleb Gushing, is authorized to make a

    treaty to regulate trade. Let it be just. Let there be no unfair advantage on

    either side. Let the people trade not only at Canton, but also at Anioy, Ningpo,

    Shanghai, Fuhchau, and all such other places as may o.Ter profitable exchanges

    both to China and the United States, provided they do not break your

    laws nor our laws. We shall not take the part of evil-doers. We shall not

    uphold them that break your laws. Therefore, we doubt not that you will be

    pleased that our messenger of peace, with this letter in his hand, shall come

    to Peking, and there deliver it ; and that your great officers will, by your order,

    make a treaty with liim to regulate a.fairs of trade—so that nothing may

    happen to disturb the pea(;e between China and America. Let the treaty be

    signed by your own imperial hand. It shall be signed by mine, by the authority

    of our great council, the Senate.

    And so may your health be good, and may peace reign.

    Written at Washington, this twelfth day of July, in the. year of our Lord

    one thousand eight hundred and forty-three. Your good friend.

    Mr. Gushing arrived in Cliiiia in the frigate Brandy wine,

    Commodore Parker, February 24^, 1844. The announcement

    of tlie general objects of lii.s mission, and the directions he had

    to proceed to Peking, was made to Governor Cliing, who instantly

    informed the com-t of his arrival ; and with a promptitude

    indicative of the desii-e of the Emperor to give no cause

    of offence, Kiying was reappointed commissioner, with highei

    EMBASSY FROM THE UNITED STATES TO CHINA. 567

    powers than before. The frigate had brought out a flagstaff

    and vane for the consulate at Canton ; the vane was in the

    form of an arrow, and as it turned its barb to tlie four points of

    the compass, the superstitious people tliought it conveyed destructive

    influences around, transfixing all the benign operations

    of heaven and earth, and thereby causing disease and calamitv

    among them. An unusual degree of sickness prevailed at tliis

    time in the city and its environs, which the geomancers and

    doctors declared would not cease until the deadly arrow was removed.

    The people accordingly w^aited on the consul, Mr. Forbes, to request the removal of the arrow, which he acceded to, and substituted a vane of another shape. The gentry issued a placard the next day, connuending its removal, and requesting the people to harbor no ill-will toward the Americans as the cause of the sickness.

    Kiying having announced his appointment and jxnvers to the

    people, proceeded to the Bogue to meet Sir Henry Pottinger,

    and be introduced to Governor Davis, from whence he went to

    Macao and took up his residence in the village of Wanghia, in

    the suburl)S of that city. lie had associated three assistants

    with himself, viz., Hwang Ngan-tung, Pwan Sz’-shing, one of

    the late hong merchants, and Chau Chang-ling, a prefect. II.

    E. Hon. Caleb Cushing was sole commissioner and envoy extraordinary; Fletcher AVebster, Esq., was secretary ; Rev. E.

    C. Bridgman, D.D., and Pev. Peter Parker, M.D., were joint

    Chinese secretaries, and Dr. Bridgman, chaplain ; Messrs. J. H.

    O’Donnell, R. Mcintosh, S. Hernisz, T. R. AVest, and John R.

    Peters, Jr., were attached to the legation.

    Mr. Cushing had already prepared the general outline of the

    treaty, which greatly abridged the negotiations, and the few

    disputed or doubtful points in the draft having been modified

    and settled, it was signed at AVanghia on July 3, 1844, by the

    two plenipotentiaries, Commodore Parker, and a few other

    Americans, a large company of Chinese being present. Its fulness

    of details and clear exhibition of the rights conceded by

    the Chinese government to foreigners dwelling within its borders,

    made it the leading authority in settling disputes among

    them until 1860.

    Soon after Ki’ying left Canton the populace began to show

    signs of disturbance. A party of gentlenieu wei’e walking in

    the Company’s garden, when the gate was burst open by a mob

    and they were obliged to escape by boats. On the next evening

    the mob again collected, with the intention of getting possession

    of the large garden, but were driven out of the passage without

    much opposition. Two or three Americans, in escorting one of

    their countrymen to his house, were attacked by missiles on

    their return ; whereupon one of them fired low to drive the

    people back, but unhappily killed a native, named Sil A-mun.

    The case was investigated by the district magistrate, and a

    report made by the governor to Kiying; but Cliing took no

    pains to send a sufficient force to repress the populace. In a

    communication to the American consul he says, after ordering

    him to deliver up the murderer : ” It has been ascertained that

    the man who was killed was from the district of Tsingyuen,

    having no relatives in Canton. But if he had been a citizen, it

    would have become at the moment an occasion for attack, for it

    would have been told to the populace, and they would have revenged

    it by again setting fire to the factories and plundering

    their contents, or something of that sort. The people are highly

    irritated against the offender, and it is impossible but that they

    have constant debates among themselves until they are revenged.”

    A party of marines from the corvette St. Louis came up to

    Canton the next day, and qiiiet was restored. Kiying brought

    the case before Mr. Cushing, stating it to be his conviction that

    “the murderer ought to forfeit his life,” and begging him to

    give orders for a speedy examination of the ease. In his reply

    Mr. Cushing expressed his regret at what had occurred, his

    willingness to institute an inquiry, and added a few remarks

    upon the necessity of better protecting foreigners at Canton,

    in order to prevent the recurrence of such scenes, and embroiling

    the two counti’ics. Kiying replied in a considerate maimer,

    still upholding the authority of his government and laws: “It

    seems from this that, regarding our nations and their subjects,

    the people of our land may be peaceful, and the citizens of the

    United States may be peaceful, and yet, after their governments

    CASES OF RIOT AND HOMICIDE IN CANTON. 569

    luive become amicable, that tlien tlieir people may become inim

    ical ; and albeit the authorities of the two governments may

    day after day deliberate upon friendship, it is all nothing but

    empty M-ords. Thus, while we are deliberating and settling a

    treaty of peace, all at once the people of our two countries are

    at odds and taking lives.” lie also speaks of the overbearing

    and violent character of the people of Canton :

    Since the period when the English brought in sohiiers, these ladrones have been banding together and forming societies ; and while some, taking advantage of their strength, have plundered and robbed, others have called upon the able-bodied and valiant to get their living. Therefore, employing troop&, which is the endangering of the authorities and [peaceable] people, is the profit of these miscreants ; peace and good order which traders, both native and foreign, desire, is what these bad men do not at all wish. … I have heard that usually the citizens of Canton have respected and liked the officers and people of the United States, as they were peaceable and reasonable ; that they would, even when there was a cause of difference, endeavor to settle it, which is very unlike the English. But unexpectedly, on the 16th instant, a cause for animosity was given in the shooting of Sii A-mun. I have heard different accounts of this affair ; I judge reasonably in thinking that the merchants oi your country causelessly and rashly took life. But the populace are determined to seek a quarrel, and I very much fear lest they will avail of this to raise commotion, perhaps under the pretence of avenging his death, but doubtless with other ideas too.

    The American minister referred in a subsequent commnnication

    to the death of the boy Sherry, in May, 1841, when the

    boat’s crew from the ship Morrison was captured. This affair

    had been already bronght to the notice of the Chinese government

    by Commodore Kearny, and a sum of $7,800 paid for

    losses and damages sustained ; but the present was a fitting

    opportunity for reviving it, since it and the case of Sii A-mun

    furnished a mutual commentary npon the necessity of securing

    better protection for foreigners. Kiying made an investigation

    of the case, and reported the successive actions of his predecessor,

    Ki Knng ; so thoroughly indeed was his reply divested of all

    the rhodomontade usnally seen in Chinese state papers, that one

    could hardly believe it was written by a governor-general of

    Canton. The exciting circumstances of the first casualty did

    indeed go far to extenuate it; though now both Kiying and his

    superiors could not but see that the time for demanding life foi life had passed away. The commissioner was, however, in a

    dilemma. He could only appease the populace by stating in his

    proclamations that he was making every effort to ascertain who

    was the murderer and bring him to justice, and they must leave

    the management of the case in the hands of the regular authorities.

    On the other hand, the arguments of Mr. Cushing and

    the stipulations in the English treaty, both convinced him that

    foreign nations would not give up their treaty right of judging

    their own countrymen. He finally escaped the trouble by deferring

    the petitioners and relatives of the deceased awhile, and

    then appeasing them by a small donation.

    In conducting these negotiations, and settling this treaty “between

    the youngest and oldest empires in the world,” Mr. Cushing

    exhibited both ability and knowledge of his subject. In his

    instructions he was directed to deliv^er the President’s letter to

    the Emperor in person, or to an officer of rank in his presence; and, therefore, on his arrival he informed the governor that he had been sent to the imperial court, and being under the necessity of remaining a few weeks at Macao, he improved the first opportunity to inquire after the health of his Majesty. Whether

    he regarded the mere going to court as important camiot be inferred

    from his correspondence, but if so, he should have gone

    directly to the mouth of the Pei ho and waited there for a commissioner to be sent to meet him. Vet the real advantages of

    such a proceeding at this time would have been trifiing, and its

    risks and contingencies very serious; as the Emperor was not

    dis])osed to forego that homage required of all who appeared

    before him, however willing he might be to grant commercial privileges, it was undesirable to excite discussions on this point.

    ^Moreover, the appointment of Kiying with such unusual powers

    indicated a favorable disposition toward the Americans. It was

    fortunate that the two plenipotentiaries wei-e at hand when the

    riot and homicide occurred, while the discussion which grew out

    of those events was no snuill benefit to the local government.

    The secret of nmch of the ])ower of the Emperor of China consists

    in the acknowledgment by his subjects of his sacred character

    as the Son of Heaven ; and although that lofty assumption

    uuist come down before the advance of western civilization, and

    CONCLUSION OF THE FKKNCIl TKEATV. 571

    will ere long criiinble of itself, to have asked for an audience

    when tliis formalitj was known to be inadmissible would have

    irritated him, and put the foreign minister in an indefensible

    position. The subsequent discussions proved how deeply rooted

    in the Chinese mind was this attribute ; the peaceful settlement

    of the question in 1873 could not have been anticipated

    hi 1844.

    The French ambassador, II. E. Th. de Lagrene, arrived in

    China August 14th. In addition to the two secretaries, MM. le

    Marquis de Ferriere le Yoyer and le Comte d’liarcourt, five

    other gentlemen were sent out to make investio-ations into the

    commerce, arts, and industrial resources of the Chinese. M. de

    Lagrene took possession of the lodgings prepared for him at

    Macao, in the same building which Mr. Gushing had occupied.

    Kiying immediately made arrangements for opening the negotiations

    by sending his three associates to congratulate the French minister on his arrival; he himself reached Macao September 29th. The gratification of the Chinese statesmen at finding that the missions from the American and French governments were not sent, like the English expedition, to demand indemnity and the cession of an island, was great. Their arrival had been foreshadowed among the people of Canton, the number of ships of war had been exaggerated, and the design of the

    ambassadors strangely misrepresented as including the seizure

    of an island. These reports could hardly fail to reach and have

    some effect upon the highest officers in the land. The time,

    therefore, was favorable, not merely to obtain the same political

    and commercial advantages which had been granted to England,

    but further to explain to the Chinese officers something of the

    relations their nation should enter into with the other powers of

    the earth. The first interviews between Kiying and M. de Lagrene

    were held in October, and the treaty of Wanghia taken as

    the basis of agreement. The negotiations were amicably settled

    by the signing of the treaty at Whampoa on October 23d.

    This act may be said to have concluded the opening of China,

    so far as its government was prepared for the extension of this

    intercourse.

    The instalments due according to the treaty of NanJing were not yet all paid, but the Chinese had shown their desire to fulfil their engagements, and the $.21,000,000 were received by the English within a short period of the specified time. This was a minor consideration, however, in comparison with the great

    advantages gained by England for herself and all Christendom

    over the seclusive and exclusive system of former days, which

    had now received such a shock that it could not only never

    recover from it, but was not likely even to maintain itself where

    the treaties had defined it. The intercourse begun by these

    treaties went on as fast as the two parties found it for tlieir

    benefit. The war, though eminently nnjust in its cause as an

    opium war—and even English officers and authors do not try to

    disguise that the seizure of the opium was tlie real reason for an

    appeal to arms, though the imprisonment of Captain Elliot and

    other acts was the pretext—was still, so far as human sagacity

    can perceive, a wholesome infliction upon a government which haughtily refused all equal intercourse with other nations, or explanations regarding its conduct, and forbade its subjects having free dealings with their fellow-men.

    ‘ If in entering upon the conflict England had published to the

    world her declaration of the reasons for engaging in it, the

    merits of the case would have been better understood. If she

    had said at the outset that she commenced the struggle with the

    Emperor because he would not treat her subjects resorting to

    his shores by his permission with common humanity, allowing

    them no intercourse with his subjects, nor access to his officers;

    because he contemptuously discarded her ambassadors and consular agents, sent with friendly design ; because he made foolish

    regulations (which his own subjects did not observe) an occasion

    of offence against others when it suited him, and had despoiled

    them of their property by strange and arbitrary pi-occcdings,

    weakening all confidence in his equity ; lastly, because he kept

    liimself aloof from other sovereigns, and shut out his people

    from that intercourse with their fellow-men which was their

    privilege and right ; her character in this war would have appeared

    far better. But it is the prerogative of the Governor of

    nations to educe good out of evil, and make the wrath, the

    avarice, and the ambition of men to serve his purposes and advanco his own designs, although their intentions may be far otherwise.

    CONDITION OF CIIIXA AFTER THE WAR. 573

    The external and internal relations of the Chinese Empire at

    the close of the year 1844 were in a far better state than one

    M’onld have snpposed they conld have become in so short a time

    after such a convulsion. The cities and provinces where the

    storm of war had beat most violently were i-eviving, the authority

    of the officers was becoming re-established, the bands of

    lawless desperadoes were gradually dispei’sing, and the people

    resuming their peaceful pursuits. No ill-will was manifested in

    Amoy on account of the losses its citizens had sustained, nor at

    Ningpo or Shanghai for their occupation by Englisli troops.

    The English consuls at the five ports had all been received, and

    trade was connnencing under favorable auspices. The opium

    trade—for this dark feature everywhere forces itself into the

    prospect—was also extending, and opium schooners plying up

    and down the coast, and anchoring on the outside limits of

    eveiy port to deliver the drug.

    The citizens of Canton, however, maintained their hereditary

    ill-will toward foreigners, and proceeded to such lengths that

    the local government became powerless to carry the stipulation

    of the British treaty, to enter its city gates, into effect. Governor

    Davis proceeded to Canton in May, 1847, with several

    vessels of war, capturing all the guns at the Bogue in his progress

    up the river, and compelled the authorities to grant a

    larger space for residences and wai-ehouses on the south side of

    the Pearl River, to be occupied as soon as arrangements could

    be made. It was also agreed that the gates should be unconditionally

    opened within two years, so that foreigners might have

    the same access to this city as to the other four ports. When

    the time came for this to be carried out, the Emperor ordered

    Governor-General Sli to mind the voice of the people and disregard

    this engagement, which had probably never received his

    sanction. A careful examination of the Chinese text of all the

    treaties showed that an explicit permission to enter the citadel

    {c/iin(/), or walled portion of the marts opened to foreign commerce,

    was not given. In consequence of this vagueness the

    Hongkong authorities, acting under instructions from London,

    did not press the point, and the gates of Canton remained inviolate

    till January, 1858.”

    • C/iinese Repositoiy, Vols. XVIII. , pp. 216,275; XV., p. 40 ff. Davis,Cfiina durinff the War (tiul mice the Peace, 1852. Vol. II., Chaps. V. and VI ,passim. Among other authorities on the war may be mentioned Lord Jocelyin,Six Months with ilte Chinese Expedition, London, 1841 ; K. Stewart Mackenzie,Narrative of the Second Campaign in China, London, 1842; Col. Aithur Cunynghame,liecoUections of Service in China, 1853 ; Lieut. John Ouchterlony,The Chinese War, 1844 ; The Last Tear in China to the Peace of Xaiding, by a Field Officer, London and Philadelphia, 1848 ; Auguste Haussmann, L<iChine, resume historiqiie, etc., Paris, 1858 • Ad. Barrot in the Revue des DeuxMondes for February 15, March 1, June 1, and July 1, 1842.

  • WELLS WILLIAMS《The Middle Kingdom》15-18

    CHAPTER XV.  INDUSTRIAL ARTS OF THE CHINESE

    The superiority of the Chinese over their immediate neighbors in the enjoyments of life and in the degree of security for which individuals can look under the protection of law have their bases chiefly in the industiy of the people. Agriculture holds the first place among the branches of labor, and the honors paid to it by the annual ploughing ceremony are given from a deep sense of its importance to the public welfare ; not alone to provide a regular supply of food and labor for the population, but also to meet the wants of government by moderate taxes, and long experience of the greater ease of governing an agricultural than a mercantile or warlike community. Notwithstanding the encouragement given to tillage, many tracts of land still lie waste, some of it the most fertile in the country; partly because the people have not the skill and capital to drain and lender it productive, partly because they have not sufficient prospect of remuneration to encourage them to make the necessary outlay, and sometimes from the outrages of local banditti making it unsafe to live in secluded districts.

    Landed property is held in clans or families as much as possible, and is not entailed, nor are overgrown estates frequent.

    The land is all held directly from the crown, no allodial property being acknowledged ; if mesne lords existed in feudal times they are now unknown. The conditions of common tenure are the payment of an annual tax, the fee for alienation, with a money composition for personal service to the government, a charge generally incorporated into the direct tax as a kind of scutage. The proprietors of land record their names in the district and take out a hung ki, or ‘ red deed,’ which secures them in possession as long as the ground tax is paid. This sum varies according to the fertility, location, and use of the land, from $1.50 per acre for the best, down to twenty or thirty cents for unproductive or hilly fields. As the exactions for alienation oi sale of lands are high, amounting to as much as one-third of the sale price sometimes, the people accept white deeds from each other as proofs of ownership and responsibility for taxes. As many as twenty or thirty such deeds of sale occasionally accompany the original hung Ai, without which they are suspicious if not valueless. In order to keep the knowledge of the alienations of land in government offices, so that the taxes can be assured, it is customary to furnish a kl-wei, or ‘ deed-end,’ containing a note of the terms of sale and amount of tax liable on the property.

    There is no other proof of ownership required ; and the simplicity and efficiency of this mode of transfer offer a striking contrast to the cumbrous rules enforced in western kingdoms. Revised codes of land laws are issued by the provincial authorities when necessary, as was done in 1846 at Canton.’

    The paternal estate and houses thereon descend to the eldest son, but his brothers can remain upon it with their families, and devise their portion inperpetuo to their children, or an amicable composition can be made ; daughters never inherit, nor can an adopted son of another clan succeed. A mortgagee must enter into possession of the property and make himself responsible for the payment of the taxes ; unless explicitly stated, the land can be redeemed any time within thirty years on payment of the original sum. Sections XC. to C. of the Code contain the laws relating to this subject, some of which bear a resemblance to those established among the Hebrews, and intended to secure a similar result of retaining the land in the same clan or tribe.

    » T. T. Meadows in N. C. Br. R. A. S. Transactions, Hongkong, 1848, Vol. 1

    TENURE AND CULTIVATION OF THE SOIL. 3

    The enclosure of recent alluvial deposits cainiot be made without the cognizance of the authorities, but the terms are not onerous; for waste hillsides and poor spots ample time is allowed for a return of the capital expended in reclaiming them before assessment is made.

    The Chinese are rather gardeners than farmers, if regard be had to the small size of their grounds. They are ignorant, too, of many of those operations whereby soils naturally unfruitful are made fertile and the natural fertility sustained at the cheapest rate by proper manuring and rotation of crops ; but they make up for the disadvantages of poor implements by hard work. Their agricultural utensils are few and simple, and are probably now made similar to those used centuries ago. The broad hoe is used in soft land more than any other tool ; the weight of its large wooden blade, which is edged with iron, adds impetus to the blow. Spades, rakes, and mattocks are employed in kitchen gardening, and the plough and harrow in rice cultivation. The plough is made of wood, except the iron-edged share, which lies flat and penetrates the soil about five inches. The whole implement is so simple and rude that one would think the inventor of it was a laborer, mIio, tired of the toil of spading, called the ox to his aid and tied his shovel to a rail ;—fastening the animal at one end and guiding the other, he was so pleased with the relief that he never thought of improving it much further than to sharpen the spade to a coulter and bend the rail to a beam and handle. The harrow is a heavy stick armed with a single row of stout wooden teeth, and furnished with a framework to guide it ; or a triangular machine, with rows of iron teeth, on which the driver rides to sink it in the ooze.

    The buffalo is used in rice cultivation, and the ox and ass in dry ploughing ; horses, mules, cows, and goats likewise render service to the farmer in various ways, and are often yoked in most ludicrous combinations. The team which Nieuhoff depicts of a man driving his wiie and his ass yoked to the same plough is too bad for CluTia often to present, though it has been so frequently repeated and used to point a comparison that one almost expects on landing to see half the women in the harness. It may be doubted, however, if this country can vie with some portions of Germany and Holland in the matter of mongrel teams employed on farms.

    The arrangements of farriers’ shops in China are very similar to those of European countries, saving that the tools are of the simplest character. The manner of trussing up the poor beast which is to be shod would seem, however, an unnecessary exercise of caution in the case of a majority of the over-worked horses and nuiles. The animal is fastened to a frame and lifted almost entirely off the ground, while a rope twisted al>out his nose and tightened at will with a turn-stick controls the least attempt at unruliness. Iron shoes are employed in the north: in the south, where horses are little used, they are usually left nnsliod^ though the fore feet are often covered with leather shoes which lit the lioof.

    METHOD OF PLANTING RICE. 5

    An early rain is necessary to the preparation of rice-fields, except where water can be turned upon them. The grain is first soaked, and when it begins to swell is sown very thickly in a small plat containing licpiid manure. “When about six inches high the shoots are planted into the fields, which, from being an unsightly marsh, are in a few days transformed to fields clothed with living green. Holding the seedlings in one hand, the laborer wades through the nnid, at every step sticking into it five or six sprouts, which take root without further care ; six men can transplant two acres a day, one or two of whom are engaged in supplying the others with shoots. The amount of grahir£(j|IU2£d to sow a Chinese mao in this way is thirty-seven and one-half catties, or three hundred and thirty pounds-Wbout^two and one-halTUushels to an Jiinglish acre. The produce is on an average tenfokh Rent ofTaiid is usually paid according to the amount of the crop, the landlord paying the taxes and the tenant stocking the farm ; leases are for three, four, or seven years ; the terms vary according to the position and goodness of the soil.’

    Grain is not sown broadcast, and this facilitates hoeing and weeding the fields as they require. Two crops are planted, one of which ripens after the other; maize and pulse, millet and sesamnm, or sorghum and squash are thus grown together. The plough is an efficient tool in soft soil, but a wide hoe, the blade set almost at a right angle, is the common implement in the north. Barrow describes a drill-plough in common use in the north which remarkably economizes time and seed. ” It con-Eisted of two parallel poles of wood shod at the lower extremity

    ‘ The amount of tribute rice sent to Peking from Kiangsu Province is 01)0,000 tons of 640 catties, or 974,400 peculs Chelikiang ” 44r),000 ” ” ” 633,000 ” Kiangsi ” 80,000 ” ” ” 112,000 ” Hupeh ” 50,000 ” ” ” 70,000 “1,789,400 “Of this the Chinese Company carried in 1875 to Tientsin. . 626,900 “Went by junks 1,162,500 «

    with iron to open the furrows ; these poles were placed upon wheels; a small hopper was attached to each pole to drop the seeds into the furrow, which were covered with earth by a transverse piece of wood fixed behind, that just swept the face of the ground.”‘

    The extent to which terrace cultivation has been described as common is a good instance of the way in which erroneous impressions concerning China obtain currency from accounts not exactly incorrect, perhaps, but made to convey- wrong notions by the mode of their description. The hills are terraced chiefly for rice cultivation or to retain soil which would otherwise be washed away ; and this restricts their gradation, generally speaking, to the southern and eastern provinces. Most of the hills in Kwangtung and Fuhkien are unfit for the plough except near their bases, while in the north it is unnecessary to go to great expense in terracing for a crop of cotton, wheat, or millet. Much labor has been expended in terracing, and many hillsides other -M’ise useless are thus rendered productive; but this does not mean that every hill is cut into plats, nor that the entire face of the country is one vast garden. Terracing was probably a more important feature of agriculture in Palestine in former days than it is in China. The natural terraces of the loess districts, and their extraordinary convenience as well as fertility, have already been noticed in a former chapter. These, it should however be remembered, do not occur south of the Yangzi River.

    The ingenuity of the farmer is well exhiluted in the various modes he employs to insure a supply of water for his rice. In some places pools are made in level fields as reservoirs of rain, from which the water is lifted as occasion requires by well sweeps.

    ‘ Travels in China, London, 1804.

    TERRACE CULTIVATION AND IRRIGATION. 7

    It is also expeditiously raised by two men holding a pail between them by ropes, and with a swinging motion rapidly dipping the water out of the tank into little furrows. A favorite plan is to use a natural brooklet and conduct it from one plat to another till it has irrigated the whole hillside. It is where such water privileges offer that the terrace cultivation is best developed, especially in the neighborhood of large cities, where the demand for provisions promises the cultivator a sure reward for his labor. The appearance of the slopes thus graduated into small ledges is beautiful; each plat is divided by a bank serving the triple purpose of fence, path, and dyke, and near which the • rills glide with refreshing lapse, turning whithersoever the master willeth. This primitive method of upland irrigation is carried out far more perfectly in China than in Switzerland, where it is better known to the generality of travelers. Water is not often wasted upon grass meadows in the former country. The food these marshy plats furnish to insects, mollusks, snakes, and birds is surprising to one who examines them for the first time.

    Wheels of various sorts are also contrived to assist in this labor, some worked by cattle, some by human toil, and others carried round by the stream whose waters they elevate.j The last are very common on the banks of the rivers Siang, Ivan, Min, and their affluents, wherever the banks are convenient for this purpose.

    High wheels of bamboo, firmly fixed on an axle in the bank, or on pillars driven into the bed, and furnished with buckets, pursue their stately round, and pour their earnings of two hundred and fifty or three hundred tons a day into troughs fixed at an elevation of twenty or thirty feet above the stream. The box-trough, containing an axle to be turned by two men treading the pedals, is rather a more clumsy contrivance, used for slight elevations ; the chain of paddles runs around two axles and in the trough as closely as possible, and raises the water ten or twelve feet in an equable current.

    Few carts or wagons are used with animals in the southern and eastern provinces where boats are at all available, human strength supplying the means of transportation ; the implements of husbandry and the grain taken from the fields both being carried on the back of the laborer. It is not an uncommon sight about Canton to see a ploughman, when he has done his work, turn his buffalo loose and shoulder his plough, harrow, and hoe, with the harness, and carry them all home. It is when one crosses the Yangtsz’ on his way north that pack animals are met transporting goods and food in great droves ; here, too, people on carts and wheelbarrows fill the roads. On the Great Flain a sail is raised on the latter when a fair wind will heln the man to trundle it over a level way.

    The Chinese manure the plant rather than the ground, both

    in the seed and growing grain. The preparation of manure

    from night soil, by mixing it with earth and drying it into cakes,

    furnishes employment to multitudes who transport at all hours

    their noisome loads through the narrow city streets. Tanks

    are dug by the wayside, paila are placed in the streets and retiring

    stalls opened among the dwellings, whose contents are

    carried away in boats and buckets ; but it is a small compensation

    for this constant pollution of the sweet breath of heaven

    to know that the avails are to be by and by brought to market.

    Science may yet ascertain how the benefits of this necessai-y

    work can be obtained without its disgusting exposure among

    the Chinese. Besides this principal ingredient of manure vats,

    MANUFACTURE AND USE OF MANURES. 9

    other substances are diligently collected, as liair from the bar ber’s shop, exploded tire-ci”ackers and sweepings from the streets, lime and plaster from kitchens and old buildings, soot, bones, tish and animal remains, the mud from the bottom of canals and tanks, and dung of every kind. In Kiangsu a small leaf clover {^Medleago satlva) is grown through the winter upon ridges raised in the rice-fields, and the plants pulled up in the spring and scattered over the fields to be ploughed and harrowed into the wet soil with the stubble, their decomposition furnishing large quantities of ammonia to the seedlings. Vegetable rubbish is also collected and covered with turf, and then slowly burned; the residue is a rich black earth, which is laid upon the seeds themselves when planted. The refuse left after expressing the oil from ground-nuts, beans, vegetable tallow, tea, and cabbage seeds, etc., is mixed with earth and made into cakes, to be sold to farmers. The bean-cake made in Liautung thus aids the cotton and sugar planter in Swatow with a rich compost.

    The ripe grain is cut with bill-hooks and sickles, or pulled up by the roots; scythes, mowing-machines, and cradles are unknown where human arms are so plenty. Rice-straw is made into brooms and besoms; the rice is thrashed out against the side of a tub having a curtain on one side, or bound into sheaves and carried away to be stacked. The thrashing-floors about Canton are made of a mixture of sand and lime, well pounded upon an inclined surface enclosed by a curb; a little cement added in the last coat makes it impervious to the rain; with proper care it lasts many years, and is used by all the villagers for thrashing rice, peas, mustard, turnips, and other seeds, either with unshod oxen or flails. Where frost and snow come the ground requires to be repaired every season ; and each farmer usually has his own.

    The cultivation of food plants forms so large a proportion of those demanding the attention of the Chinese, that excepting hemp, indigo, cotton, silk, and tea, those raised for manufacture are quite unimportant. The great cotton region is the basin of the Yangzi Jiang, where the white and yellow varieties grow side hy side. The manure used is nnul taken from the canals and spread with ashes over the ploughed fields, in which seeds are sown about the 20th of April. The seeds are planted, after sprouting, five or six in a hole, being rubbed with ashes as they are put in, and weeded out if necessary. After the winter crops have been gathered cotton-fields are easily made ready for the shoots, which, while growing, are carefully tended, thinned, hoed,

    and weeded, until the flowers begin to appear about August. As

    the pods begin to ripen and burst the cultivator collects them

    before they fall, to clean the cotton of seeds and husks. The

    weather is carefully watched, for a dry summer or a wet autumn

    are alike unpropitious, and as the pods are ripening from August

    to October, it is not uncommon for the crop to be partially lost.

    The seeds are separated by a wheel turning two rollers, and the

    cotton sold by each farmer to merchants in the towns. Some

    he keeps for weaving at home ; spinning-wheels and looms

    being common articles of furniture in the houses of the peasantry.

    Cotton is cultivated in every province, and most of it is used where it grows. Around Peking the plant is hardly a foot high ; the bolls are cleaned for wadding to a great extent, while the woody stalks supply fuel to the poor. Minute directions are given in Sii’s EneyelojKedia of Agriculture respecting the cultivation of this plant, whose total crop clothes the millions of the Empire without depending on any other land.’

    ‘Fortune’s Wanderings, Cliap. XIV.; Chinese Itejjository, Vol. XVIIT., pp. 449-409.

    COTTOX, HEMP, MULBEKKY, AND SUGAR. 11

    Hemp is largely cultivated north of the Mei ling, and also grows in Fuhkien ; grass-cloth made from the iJulicltos htilhosus is used for sunuuer dresses. There are four plants which produce a fibre made into cloth known under this name, viz.: the Cannahis sativa, or connnon hemp, at Canton; the Bn’Jnncfia nivea, a species of nettle ; the S’ula tillarfoHay or abutilon hemp, in Chihli ; and the Hibiscus cannahinus. The coloring matter used for dyeing blue is derived from two plants, the Pohjgonuin tinctoriurii at the south, and the tlen tshig {Isatls indujotlcci) cultivated at Shanghai and Chusan. The mulberry is raised as a sluide and fruit tree in the northern provinces, where it forms a beautiful plant fifty feet high ; elsewhere the consumption of the leaves renders its culture an important branch of labor in the silk-pr(xliicing provinces. Some growers allow it to attain its natural height, others cut it down to increase the branched

    and the produce of leaves. In Chelikiang it is cut in January

    and deprived of its useless brandies, leaving only the outer ones,

    which are trinnned into two or three points in order to force

    the plant to extend itself. The trees are set out in rows twelve

    feet or more apart, each tree being half that distance from its

    neighbor and opposite the intervals in the parallel rows; the

    interspaces are occupied with legumes or greens. The trees are

    propagated by seed and by suckers, but soon losing their vigor

    from being constantly sti’ipped of leaves, are then rooted up

    and replaced by fresh nurslings.

    Sugar is only a southern and southeastern crop. The name che^ by which it is known, is an original character, which favors the opinion that the plant is indigenous in China, and the same argument is applicable to wheat, hemp, mulberry, tea, and some of the common fruits, as the plum, pear, and orange. The canes are pressed in machines, and the juice boiled to sugar or boiled and hawked about the streets for consumption by the people. The sugar-mill consists merely of two upright cylinders, between which the cane is introduced as they turn, and the juice received into reservoirs; it is then boiled down and sent to the refiners to inidergo the necessary processes to fit it for market ; much is lost by this slovenly manufacture.

    Many plants are cultivated for their oil, used in the arts or in

    cooking. The seeds of two or three species of Elcococea belonging

    to the Euphorbiaceous family, and the Cu/raspu/yans,

    are gathered, and by pressure furnish an oil to mix with lacker

    and paints, or to smear boats as a preservative against teredoes

    and other insects. It is deleterious when taken into the system,

    but does not appear to injure those who use or express it.

    The tallow-tree {StlUiiKjia schtfera) grows over the eastern provinces ; it is a beautiful tree, resembling the aspen in its shape and foliage, and would form a valuable addition to the list of shade-trees in any country. Mr. Denny, the United States Consul at Shanghai, has recently sent a quantity of these seeds to California, where efforts are being made to grow them.

    The tree has been introduced into India for its timber. The seeds grow in clusters like ivy berries, and are collected in November; when ripe the capsule divides, and falling off discovers two or three kernels covered with the pure, hard white tallow. When the tallow is to be prepared, these are picked from the stalks and put into an open wooden cylinder with a perforated bottom, in which they are well steamed over boiling water. In ten or fifteen minutes the tallow covering; the seeds becomes soft, and they are thrown into a stone mortar and gently beaten with mallets to detach it. The whole is then

    sifted on a hot sieve, by which the tallow is separated from the

    kernels, though containing the brown skin which envelops the

    latter and presenting a dirty appearance. The tallow in this

    state is enclosed in a straw cylindei”, or laid upon layers of straw

    held together by iron hoops, and subjected to pressure in a rude

    press, from which it runs clear in a semifluid state and soon

    hardens into cakes. The candles made from it become soft in

    liot weather, and are sometimes coated by dipping them in colored

    wax.’ From one hundred and thirty-three pounds of nuts

    is obtained some forty or fifty pounds of tallow.

    The departments of floriculture and arboriculture have received

    great attention, but the efforts of their promoters are directed

    to producing something curious or bizarre, rather than

    improving the quality of their fruits or enlarging the number

    of their flowers. A common mode of multiplying specimens is

    to slit the stem and insert half of it in damp earth tied around

    the stalk until it has rooted, and then cutting off the whole.

    Dwarfing trees or forcing them to grow in grotesque shapes

    employs much time and patience. The juniper, cypress, pine,

    elm, bamboo, peach, plum, and flowering-almond are selected

    for this purpose ; the former is trained into the shapes of deer

    or other animals, pagodas, etc., with extraordinary fidelit}’, the

    eyes, tongue, or other parts being added to complete the resemblance.

    ‘ Fortune’ii ]\'(iii(k’ri’ii(j.s, ^. 78.

    CEKKMONY OF PLOUGHING AND SPUING FESTIVAL. 13

    The principle of the operation depends upon retarding the circulation of the sap by stinting the supply of water, confinino; the roots, and bendino; the branches into the desired form when young and pliable, afterwards retaining them in clieir forced position in pots, and clipping off all the vigorous shoots, until, as is the case of the cramped fee.t of women, nature gives up the contest and yields to art. Thesq^Uike the similar exhibitions in sculpture and painting, indicate the uncultivated taste of the people, who admire the fantastic and monstrous more than the natural. Some of the clumps placed in large earthen vases, consisting of bamboos, Howers, and

    dwarf trees growing closely together upon a piece of rock-work,

    and overshadowing the water in the vase, in which gold-fish

    swim through the crevices of the stone, are beautiful specimens

    of Chinese art. Without understanding the principles of an

    aquarium, the people have succeeded in combining animal and

    vegetable life in these elegant ornaments of their houses.

    The annual ceremony of ploughing is of very ancient origin. At Peking it consists in ploughing the sacred field in the Temple of Agriculture with a highly ornamented plough kept for the purpose, the Emperor holding it while turning over three furrows, the princes five, and the high ministers nine. These furrows were, however, so short that the monarchs of the present dynasty altered the ancient rule, ploughing four furrows and returning again over the ground. The ceremony finished, the Emperor and his ministers repair to the terrace adjoining the plat, and remain till it has all been ploughed. The crop of wheat is used in idolatrous services. The rank of the actors renders the ceremony more imposing at Peking, but the people of the capital oidy know that such a performance takes place, as they are not admitted inside of the enclosure when it is observed by the Emperor and his suite. This ceremony is also required of all high officers throughout the Empire, and is attended with more or less parade in April.

    In the provinces its celebration varies, and as there are two festivals coming near together connected with agriculture, one or the other of them is apt to predominate. The annual ploughing ritual is one, and the //// chan, or ‘ Eirst day of spring,’ is the other and prior in date. The prefect of every city and his subordinates on that day repair to the appointed spot outside of the walls, accompanied by music and a great procession of the citizens, carrying through the streets a paper image of the buffalo or ox, which, with the idol image worshipped at the same time, are at some places taken into his yamun. Here the whole is placed on an altar, and the officials present walk around and whip the effigy with rods before it is set on fire

    and scrambled for by the people present. Besides the paper

    ox, a clay one is also made and taken beyond the eastern gate,

    sometimes accompanied by or holding hundreds of little images

    inside ; after the ceremonies are over it is broken up, and

    the pieces and small images are carried off by the crowd to

    scatter the powder on their own fields, in the hope of thereby

    insuring a good crop.

    In Ningbo the principal features of the ceremony consist of

    a solemn worship by all the local officers of a clay image of a

    buffalo and an idol of a cow-herd. The prefect then ploughs a

    small piece of ground, and he and his associates disperse till the

    morrow, when they come together in another temple at dawn.

    Here a series of prostrations and recitals of pra^’ers are performed

    by the “fathers of the people” in their presence, some

    of whom have no respect for the worship, Mhile others, perhaps,

    evince deep reverence. As soon as it is over the clay ox is

    brought out, and a procession consisting of all the officers pass

    around it repeatedly, striking the body at a given signal, and

    concluding the ceremony by a heavy blow on the head. The

    crowd then rush in and tear the effigy to pieces, each one carrying

    off a portion to strew on his fields.’

    The various modes of catching and rearing fish exhibit the contrivance and skill of the Chinese quite as much as their agricultural operations. Some persons reckon that at least one tenth of the population in the prefecture of Kwangehau derive their food from the water, and necessity leads them to invent and try many ingenious ways of securing the finny tribes.

    ‘ PereCibot in Mem. cone, les Chinois, Tome III., p. 499. Penal Code, pp.94-106, 520. Chinese nepository, Vol. II., p. :}50 ; Vol. III., pp. 121, 231; Vol. v., p. 485. La Chine Ouverte, p 340. Foreign Mixnionari/ Chronide, Vol. XIII., p. 290. Gray’s China, Vol. II., pp. 115-117. Doolittle’s Social Life, Vol. TI., pp. 18-23. Revue de V Orient, Tome V. (1844), p. 297. Baron d’Hervey Saint-Denys, Recherchea stir VAc/ricnUure et VHorticuUitre des Ohi mis, Paris, 1850. Journal iV: C Br. R. A. Soc, No. IV., pp. 209 fif.

    FISHING ANL> FISHERMEN ALONG THE COAST. 15

    Xets woven of hempen thread are boiled hi a solution of gambier to preserve them from i-otting. The smacks which swarm along the coast go out in pairs, partly that the crews may afford mutual relief and protection, but chiefly to join in dragging the net. In the sliallows of rivers rows of heavy posts are driven down and nets secured to them, which are examined and changed at every tide. Those who attend these nets, more-over, attach scoops or drag-nets to their boats, so loaded that they will sink and gather the sole, ray, and other fish feeding near the bottom. Lifting-nets, twenty feet square, are suspended from poles elevated and depressed by a hawser worked by a windlass on shore ; the nets are baited with the whites of eggs spread on the meshes.

    Group and Residence of Fishermen near Canton.

    ‘ The fishermen along the coast form an industrious, though rather turbulent community, by no means confining their enterprises to their professed business when piraty, dakoity, or marauding on shore hold out greater prospects of gain. When their boats become unseaworthy they are still considered landworthy, and are transformed into houses by setting them bodily upon a stone foundation above the reach of the tide, or breaking them up to construct rude huts.

    The Fishing Cormorant.

    Cormorants are trained in great numbers to capture fish in the rivers and lakes ; they will disperse at a given signal and return with their prey, but not often without the precaution of a neck-ring. A single boatman can easily oversee twelve or fifteen of these birds, and although hundreds may be out upon the water each one knows its own nuister. If one seize a fish too heavy for him alone, another comes to his assistance, and the two carry it aboard ; but such cases are very rare compared with others where the w^eak or young bird is unceremonioaisly robl)ed of its capture. When several hundreds of them fish together the scene becomes animated and noisy in the extreme. The birds themselves are fed on bean-curd and eels or fish. They lay eggs when three years old, which are often hatched under barnyard liens, and the chickens fed with eel’s blood and hash. They do not fish during the summer months. The price of a pair varies from five to eight dollars.

    METHODS OF CATCHING FIRII. 17

    Mussels are caught in cylindrical basket-traps attached to a single rope and drifted with the tide near the bottom. Similar traps fur catching laiul-crabs are laid along the edges of rice fields, baited with dried fish. When the receding tide leaves the river banks dry the boat peo^Tje get overboard and wade in the mud, or push themselves along on a board with one foot, in search of such things as harbor in the ooze.

    In moonlight nights low, narrow shallops, provided with a wide white board fastened to the wale and floating upon the water, are anchored in still water; as the moon shines on the board the deceived fish leap out upon it or into the boat; twenty or thirty of these decoy boats can . be seen near Macao engaged in this fishery on moonlight evenings. Sometimes a boat furnished with a treadle goes up and down near the shores striking boards against its bottom and sides ; the startled fish are caught in the net dragging astern. The crews of many small boats combine to drive the fish into their nets by splashing and striking the water, or into a pool on the margin of the river at high tide, in which they are easily retained by wattles, and scooped out when the water has fallen. Divers clap sticks together under water to drive their prey into the nets set for

    them, or catch them with their toes when, terrified at the noise,

    they hide in the mud. Xeither fly-fishing nor angling with hook

    and line is much practised ; its tedium and small returns would

    be poor amends to a Chinese for the elegance of the tackle or

    the science displayed in adapting the fly to the fish’s taste.

    By these and other contrivances the Chinese capture the

    finny tribes, and it is no surprise to hear that China contains as

    many millions of people as there are days in the 3’ear when one

    sees upon what a large proportion of them feed and how they

    live. Their expenditure of human labor appears enormous to

    those who are accustomed to the manufactories and engines of

    western lands, but perhaps nothing would cause so much distress

    in China as the prematui’o and inconsiderate introduction of labor-saving machines. Population is so close upon the means of production, not seldom overpassing them, that those who would be thrown out of employment would, owing to their ignorance as to the best resources and want of means to do anything by themselves, suffer and cause incalculable distress before relief and labor could be furnished them. Therere, for instance, six or seven 3’ards near Canton where logs are sawed by hand, but all of them together hardly turn out as many feet of boards as one water-wheel turning three or four saws would do. Yet the two hundred men employed in these yards would perhaps be half-starved if turned off in their present condition, even if they did not destroy their competitor; though there is every reason for believing that improvements will be introduced as soon as those wdio see their superiority are assured they can be made profitable.

    The mechanical arts and implements of the Chinese partake of the same simplicity which has been remarked in their agricultural,—as if the faculty of invention or the notion of altering a thing had died with the discoverer, and he had had the best guarantee for the patent of his contrivance in the deprivation of all desire in his successors to alter it. This servility of imitation marks them in many things, but in machinery and metallurgy is chiefly owing to ignorance of the real nature of the ma*”erials they use, a knowledge which has only recently become familiar to ourselves. In the absence of superior models, it produces a degree of apathy to all improvement which strangely contrasts with their general industry and literary tastes. Simplicity of design pervades all operations, and when a machine directs in the best known manner the power of the hand which M’ields it, or aids in executing tiresome operations, its purpose is considered to be fully answered, for it was intended to assist and not to supplant human labor. Yet with all their simplicity some of them are both effectual and ingenious, and not a few are made to answer two or three ends. For example, the bellows, an oblong’ box divided into two compartments, and worked by a piston and two valves in the upper, which forces the wind into the lower part and out of the nozzle, is used by the travelling tinker as a seat when at work and a chest for his tools when his work is done ; though it does not, indeed, serve all these purposes with efliciency.

    CONDITION OF THE MECHANICAL ARTS. 19

    In the arts of metallurgy the Chinese have attained only to mediocrity, and on the whole do not equal the Japanese. To this deficiency may perhaps be ascribed their little progress in some other branchet^ which could not be executed without tools of peculiar size or nicety. Mines of iron, lead, copper, and zinc are worked, though the modes employed in digging the ore, preparing and smelting it, and purifying the metals have not yet been fully examined. Gold is used sparingly for ornaments, but is consumed in vast quantities for gilding; gold thread is commonly imported, and the ingots are known only as bullion. Mr. Gordon found the people in the country parts of Fuhkien quite ignorant of its value, for he could only pass doubloons for a dollar apiece, the natives having never seen them before.

    The Chinese workmanship in chased, repousse, and carved work of gold and silver—baskets, card-cases, teapots, combs, etc.—is almost unequalled. Their jewelry, too, admirably exhibits the delicate filigree work which agrees so well with their genius. Flower-baskets wnth chased flowers and figures of various sorts enamelled on the outside of the open work of wire, and set with precious stones, may perhaps be regarded as the masterpiece of native art in the working of metals.

    • Davis’ Chinese, Vol. II. , p. 235. Penny Cydopcedia, Art. Coppeb. Natalia Rondot, Commerce de la Chine, 1849, p. 142.

    Steel is everywhere manufactured in a rude way, but the foreign importation is gradually supplying a better article. The quality of this metal made is best shown by the carvings in the hardest stones for ornaments, which have never been exceeded elsewhere. Iron is cast into thin plates and various machines of considerable size, but the largest pieces they make, viz., bells and cannon, are small compared with the shafts and steamhammers turned out abroad. Wrought iron is chiefly worked up into nails, screws, hinges, and small articles needed in daily life, though its quality is remarkably good. The jWi tung, argentan or ‘ white copper’ of the Chinese, is an alloy of copper 40.4, zinc 25.4, nickel 81.6, and iron 2.6, and occasionally a little silver; these proportions are nearly the same as German-silver. ” When in a state of ore, it is said to be powdered, mixed with charcoal dust, and placed in jars over a slow fire, the metal rising in the form of vapor in a distilling apparatus, and afterward condensed in water.” ‘ When new, this alloy appears as lustrous as silver, and is uuiTiufactured into incensejars, flower-stands for temple service, boxes, a vast variety of fancy articles, and a few household utensils not intended to be used near the fire. Puzzling specimens of work are made of it, such as teapots enclosed in chinaware and ornamented with a handle and a spout of stone, and having characters on the sides. The white copper varies a good deal in its appearance and malleability, owing probably to mixtures added after distillation.

    Copper is less used than iron for culinary vessels, but will

    probably increase as rapid importation diminishes the cost, for

    iron rusts quickly in the southern parts. The manufactures of

    gongs, cymbals and trumpets, lamps, brass-leaf for working

    into the hin kwa, or tinsel-flowers used in worship, and the

    copper coin of the country, consume probably four fifths of all

    the copper used. The gong is employed on all occasions,

    and its piercing clamor can be heard at any time of day and

    night, especially if one lives near the water. It is an alloy of

    twenty parts of tin with eighty of copper, and is made b}””

    melting one hundred catties of hung tung, or ‘ red copper,’

    with twenty-five catties of tin. The alloy is run into thin plates,

    and the gongs are made by long and expert hammering until

    the requisite sonorousness is obtained.

    Bells and tripods are frequently cast of a large size. The

    bells at Peking (mentioned in Volume I., p. 79) are peculiarly

    rich in quality of tone ; they are almost invariably made without

    tongues, being sounded with a mallet. The tripods for

    receiving the ashes of papers consumed in worship also bear

    inscriptions of a religious character ; the priests of temples containing

    them take great pride in showing their ancient bells,

    tripods, and other like rarities. The pieces of bronze formerly

    produced under the patronage of the Emperor Ivienlung, as

    incense tripods, lions, astronomical instruments, and the infinite

    variety of ornaments, probably represent their highest attainments

    in this branch of metallurgy for beauty and excellence.

    CHINESE ATTAINMENTS IN METALLURGY. 21

    The metallic mirrors, once the oidy reflectors the Chinese manufactured, are now nearly supei-seded by glass ; the alloy is like that of gongs with a little silver added. These mirrors have long been remarkable for a singular property which some of them possess of reflecting the raised characters or device on the back when held in the sun ; this is caused by their outline being traced upon the polished surface in very shallow lines, the whole plate being afterward rubbed until the lines are equally

    bi;ight with the other parts, and only rendered visible by the

    strongest sunlight.’ Besides the metallic articles already mentioned,

    the ornamental and antique bronze and copper figures,

    noticeable fur their curious forms and fine polishing and tracery,

    afford the best specimens of Chinese art in imitating the human

    figure. They are mostly statuettes, representing men,

    gods, birds, monsters, etc., in grotesque shapes and attitudes ;

    some of them are beautifully ornamented with delicate scrolls

    and flowers in niello work of silver or gold wire inserted into

    grooves cut in the metal.

    The manufacture of glass is carried on chiefly at Canton, and its increasing use for windows, tumblers, lamps, mirrors, and other articles of household furniture, shows that the Chinese are quite ready to adopt such things from foreign countries as they find to be advantageous. The importation of broken glass for remelting has entirely ceased, but flints are carried from England for the use of glass-blowers. The furnaces are small, and from the ignorance, on the part of the workmen, of the constituents of good glass, their products are not uniform.

    ‘ Other and perhaps more correct explanations of this peculiarity have been given.

    Foreign window glass is now brought so cheaply that the native inferior article, which distorts objects seen through it, is disappearing; colored articles and chandeliers are still made. The most finished articles which the Chinese have yet produced are ground shades for Argand lamps. Beautiful ornaments are made of the liao-ll, the old native name for a vitreous composition like strass, between glass and porcelain. Ear-rings, wristlets, snuff-bottles, jars, cups, etc., are made of it, plain, colored, and variegated, in vast variety. Some of these articles exhibit different tints in layers, each layer being ground away where it is not wanted, as in cameo carving; blue, red, and yellow are the prevailing colors. The art of producing it has been known longer than glass-making, but was invented later than that of porcelain.

    The cutting and setting of hard and precious stones is carried on to some extent. Spectacles are cut and ground in lathes from crystal, smoky quartz, and a variety of rose quartz resembling the cairngorm-stone, which the Chinese call cha-tsing^ or ‘tea-stone,’ from its color. Their spectacles are not always true, and the wearer is obliged to have tliem ground away until his eyes are suited. The pebble is cut in a lathe, by a wire-saw working in its own dust, into a round shape Avitli plane edges.

    When worn, the rim rests upon the cheek-bones; the frame has a hinge between the glasses, and the machine is sometimes kept on the ears by loops or weights. Foreign-shaped spectacles are supplanting these primitive optics, but the prejudice is still in favor of crystal. The cutting of diamonds is sometimes attempted, but it is not a favorite gem among the Chinese.

    Diamonds and corundums are both employed to drill holes in clamping and mending broken glass and porcelain ; tumblers, jars, etc., are joined so securely in this way without cement as to hold fluids. Both these gems are used to cut glass, but another mode, not unconnnon, is to grease the place to be fractured, and slowly follow the line along by a lighted jossstick until it breaks.

    Sir John Davis condensed all the important information known half a century ago concerning the materials and manufacture of porcelain in his valuable work, but great advance has since been made in a better understanding of this branch of Chinese industry. The wordj)o?’ccla/’}i is derived h’on\ p<»\’ellana, which was given to the ware by the Portuguese under the belief that it was made from the fusion of egg-shells and fish’s glue and scales to resemble the nacre of sea-shells (Cypr?ea) or porcellana. This instance of oft-hand nomenclature is like that of the Chinese calling ca,outchouc elephmifs skin horn its appearance.

    MATERIALS AXD M ANrKACTUIlE OF I’OIICKLAIX. 23

    M. Julien’s translation of the Klmj-teh chin Tun Luh (Paris, 1856) furnishes the native accounts of the porcelain manufactures at Kingteh chin, in Kiangsi, and adds so nmch from other sources that his work is a veritable classic in its special branch. He places the invention of porcelain between b.c. 185 and A.D, 85, and opening the first kiln, at Sinping (not far from the present centre of llonan province), under the reign of Changti of the Eastern Han dynasty. From this the manufacture gradually extended as raw materials were found in other localities, especially in Fauliang, on the eastern shores of the Poyang Lake, where the best ware is still made. A second

    preface to this work, written by M. Salvetat, of the manufactory

    at Sevres, gives the details of the introduction of the art

    into Europe about 1722, and the subsequent improvement to

    the time when European Avares far exceeded the Chinese or

    Japanese for beauty. During the dreadful ravages of the Taiping

    rebellion the manufactories at Kingteh were all stopped.

    A very brief epitome of M. Salvetat’s paper will indicate the

    ingredients of porcelain and their manipulation : Two substances

    enter into all kinds of this ware ; one a strong, infusible

    material which endures great heat, and the other, fusible at a

    low temperature, which communicates its transparency to the

    other as they together pass through the furnace. The first

    of these is called Ixiolin, fi-om the name of a range of hills east

    of Kingteh chin, known as Kao Lituj or ‘ High Ridge,’ a word that has been adopted in Europe as a term for all varieties of the argillaceous or feldspathic components of porcelain. The other is known as jx’h-tun-tss”, a Chinese term properly applied to the bricks of prepared silex, called tun, but now generally adopted to denote the fusible element. The discovery near Taochau fu of both of these in great purity led to the establishment of the kilns there in a.d. 583 ; and Chinese artists discriminate many varieties of each. It is apparently only since A.D. 1000, or thereabouts, that these kilns have produced the choice pieces now so highly prized.

    The kaolin comes from decomposed granite, and is reduced by trituration and several washings to an impalpable powder; this last precipitate is put on cloths, one above another, and dried under slight pressure to a uniform paste ready for the furnace. The a^ka?- oi j>eh-Ui n-Uz’ are prepared in a similar manner; other workmen mix the clay and the quartz—the bones and the flesh, as they are aptly called bv the Chinese — in such proportions as the ware requires. In general, Chinese porcelain is more silicious than European, containing 70 parts of silex, 22 of alumine, G of potash and soda, with traces of lime, manganese, magnesia, and iron. Sevres ware has 58 silex, 34^ alumine, 3 alkali, and 4^ lime ; as the feldspar decreases the beauty of the ware diminishes, but its durability and usefulness increase.

    To make ready the paste for the furnace, the Ijricks of both

    ingredients are trodden in a large basin by buffaloes or men till

    they are well mixed into a watery mass, which is then worked

    and kneaded again on slate slabs in small pieces till it is delivered

    into the hands of workmen to be fashioned on lathes and

    frames into the desired forms and sizes. These craftsmen work

    with very simple machinery, as is apparent from the rude drawings

    of their operations. M. Salvetat gives high praise to their

    skill in producing large jars without the aid of the machinery

    used in Europe, and indicates the great use they make of their

    feet in these operations — a feature of all Asiatic artisans which

    attracts the traveller’s notice wherever he goes. Some of their

    procedures are inferior and ruder than the Japanese potters exhibit,

    but space does not allow them to be described in this

    sketch.

    The glazing on Chinese ware contains silex mixed with lime

    and the ashes of burnt ferns, in such proportions as are found

    suitable for the diiferent varieties. During the mixing of these

    ingredients the ashes are mostly eliminated, and the glazing

    really consists of quartz flexed by carbonate of lime. The liquid

    glaze is applied to the biscuit by dipping, by aspersion, and by

    washing, according to the nature of the ware ; sometimes it is

    blown through a tube in a dewy shower oft repeated.

    STYLES AND MATERIALS OF PORCELAIN DECORATION. 2.1

    When ready for the furnace, the pieces are carried to work, men specially skilled in properly firing them, where the different sizes are placed in ovens particularly fitted to bake each kind. Large jars require a separate oven so as to adapt the fire to their size and thickness, continuing it at a uniform blast for several days. Cups and small pieces are baked one on top of another in smaller ovens, some of which are open and others closed. Coal and wood are both used for fuel. The pieces are taken from the furnaces when successfully baked, to be decorated and colored in all the various hues and pictures which have made Chinese porcelain so much sought after. Some of their ground colors of red, yellow, and green have not been equaled elsewhere ; a careful analysis indicates the presence of the

    oxides of copper, cobalt, iron, lead, antimony, and manganese.

    Some of the rarest and most beautiful tints seem to have been

    the result of happy experiment, the knowledge of which died

    with its manufacture. It is not often that the Chinese artist

    adorns his plaque or jar with mythological or religious characters,

    preferring to let his fancy run riot in grotesque combinations

    of natural scenes, amid which, however, the unerring

    instinct or tlie accumulated experience of many successive generations

    seldom permit him to wander from a truly artistic

    conception. The amount of labor devoted to some minute

    treasure of porcelain decoration is little short of fabulous. Mr.

    Matthew x\rnold”s picture of the “cunning workman” who

    Pricks with vermilion some clear porcelain vase,
    An emperor’s gift—at early morn lie paints,
    And all day long, and when night comes, the lamp
    Lights up his studious forehead and thin hands, could probably be seen scores of times in the humbler quarters of great cities in China.

    Their ignorance of analytical chemistry compels them to follow a rule of thumb in the composition of their colors ; but generally they use oxide of copper for green and bluish greens, gold for reds, oxide of cobalt for blues, of antimony for yellows, and of arsenic and tin for whites. The preparation and application of these materials admit of less scope and beauty than are found on the finest European ware, and their result is more like enamelling than painting. M. Salvetat admits that the Chinese potter has excelled in producing craqii^ele ware, and certain hues, as sea-green, deep rosedon reds, and brilliant blues, which have not been equalled in Europe.

    One elegant mode of ornament peculiar to them is seen in the tao-mhi(j ts3′-Vi, lit., ‘clear, bright porcelain,’ called eyelet-hole ware or grains of rice, made in the reign Kienlung. The paste is cut through by a kind of stamp which takes out enough to form the figure, in which the glaze is inserted before the piece is finally joined and ready for the kihi. When tired the glaze becomes transparent ; different patterns are frequently painted on the two surfaces, in which advantage is taken of the eyeletholes to adapt them to two sets of figures. An instance of mechanical skill is occasionally seen in their articulated vases, in which one jar is baked inside of another, the outer one being perforated so as to show off the object within; the baking of such pieces must be very difficult and uncertain.

    The ware sold at Canton for foreign use is painted in that city to suit the caprice of purchasers, and during the present century has become identified abroad with Chinese art, wdiile it is really a combination of two or three styles. Its peculiarity consists in covering the dish with medallions and vignettes in bright colors, containing figures of heroes, arms, birds, etc., or scenes oti a colored or white ground. Such ware is not commonly used by the Chinese, but its manufacture is unhappily beginning to affect their national taste. This style is quite different from the well-known blue willow pattern which has long been regarded as the real CdeHtlal ware. This color does mark the common pottery and stoneware used all over the Empire by the poor, but the pattern is not so common.

    It is not possible to enter here into all the niceties of this

    subject, which is now attracting great attention, and has been

    examined by Jacqnemart, Prime, Young, and many others.

    Further researches into native and foreign books and collections

    will bring out new facts, legends, and specimens, while we may

    look for rare old pieces, as has been the case with the discovery

    of the small perfume bottles in Egypt, as soon as full liberty is

    given over all Asia to seek and dig.

    Besides table furniture, porcelain statuettes and idols are common, and vases often bring extravagant prices, owing to some quality of fineness, coloring, antiquity, or shape, which native connoisseurs can only appreciate. The god of porcelain himself is usually made of this material. D’Entrecolles, in his account of the manufacture of the ware, says that this deity owes his divinity to his self-innnolation in one of the furnaces.

    CHINESE BOTTLES DISCOV EKED IN EGYPT. 27

    in utter despair at being able to accomplish the Emperor’s orders for the production of some vases of peculiar fineness ; the pieces which came out of the furnace after the wretch was burned pleased his Majesty so much that he deified him. Cheap stoneware is made at Shaukinii;, in Kwangtung, and many other places, some of it very pure and white.

    The exportation of })orcelain has formed a very ancient branch of commerce westward, and it is not strange that specimens should occasionally be met with even at a great distance from China. The discovery of Chinese bottles in Egypt and Asia Minor, containing quotations from Chinese poets, shows that intercourse existed between the extremes of Asia in the tenth or eleventh centuries. Rosellini seems to have been the earliest to notice these relics of an ancient trade, during his researches in Egypt in 1828, when he obtained two or three. In a letter written in reply to one from Sir J. F. Davis, he states that he found one of these little bottles in a ” petit panier tissn de feuilles de palmier,” with other objects of Egyptian manufacture, in a tomb, whose date he places between b.c. 1800 and 1100. His words are, ” Ayant penetre dans un de ces trois tombeaux j’y ai trouve,” etc., which is as explicit as possible. He also adds, that many fragments of similar bottles had been offered to him by the peasants, which he had looked upon as quite modern till this discovery showed that they were real antiques.

    Since then, several more have been picked up ; Dr. Abbott’s Egyptian collection in Kew York contains seventeen, all of which came from Egypt, but none, besides llosellini’s, out of a tomb directly into the hands of an Egyptologist. Layard and Cesnola bought similar bottles in Cyprus and Arban. However, one well-authenticated fact, like that of llosellini’s discovery, gives some evidence of a similar ancient origin to others precisely like it in shape, coloring, and inscriptions, for the trade between Arabia and Egypt to China has long since ceased ; but as fifty years have passed without another bottle occurring in any of the numerous tombs opened by careful and competent persons, one is inclined to think that Ttosellini’s tomb may have been twice used to bury mummies in, or that he mistook its age.

    The inscriptions ;inJ style of writing of five different kinds have been engraved, and Sir Walter H. Medhnrst gives a translation of each, tracing the lines to their original authors. One of them is from AV’ ang Wai (a.d. 702-745), and reads, JSLlng

    yueh sung chung chao, ‘ The bright moon shines amidst the

    firs.’ A second i-eads, Chlh isai Uz’ shan chung, ‘ Only in the

    midst of these mountains,’ and it dates a.d. 831-837. A third

    is contracted from a line by Wei Ying-wuh (a.d. 702-795),

    being part of a stanza of eight lines, as follows: IIivo lal ijta

    yih nien, ‘ The flowers open, and lo, another year !

    ‘ A fourth

    dates from a.d. 1068-1085, and is from the famous poet Su

    Tung-po : Hang hioa hung sJiih 11, ‘The apricot flowers bloom

    for miles around ;

    ‘ this is abridged from a distich in pentameter as follows:

    One mass of color, the apricot flowers bloom for miles around ;

    The successful graduate urges on his steed as if flying. .

    Sir John Davis ascribes this inscription to a Chinese song written prior to the Christian eia, but gives no proof of so early a date, and he is probably in error. The fifth inscription is of the same date as the last ; it forms part of a quatrain by Chao Yung, and reads, Liao teh shaojhi eld, ‘ Which few, I ween, can comprehend.’

    In Prime’s work on pottery he has given fac-similes of five bottles whose inscriptions are the same as those explained by Medhnrst ; his No. 142 and No. 14G is the second in this list ; his No. 143 is the first ; his 144 is the third ; and his 145 is the fifth and is different in shape from the others. The characters on the one found at Arban by Layard are written in a very cursive style.’

    ‘ Davis’ Sketches, Vol. II., pp. 72-84. Medhurst’s Ohinn, p. 135. Julien’s Histoire de la Porcelain Ohinow’, pp. xi-xxii. Prime’s Pottery and Porcelain^ p. 232. N. G. Br. R. A. S. Tranmctions, 1852, pp. 34-40 ; 1854, p. 93.

    INSCRIPTIONS UPON THE BOTTLES. 2l3

    The age and origin of these bottles has excited much inquiry, but the weight of evidence points to their having been taken to Egypt and Arabia by the Arabs who traded at Canton and Hang Zhou down to the end of the Sung dynasty in 1278. They were, as AVilkinson suggests in his Ancient Kgijpthin^, probably used by the purchasers to hold Void, to paint the eyes and eyelids of women ; their original use was probably to liokl peppermint and other oils, bandoline and tooth-powders, though

    snuff is now generally carried in them, as glass bottles contain

    the essences and oils seen in shops. The uniformity in size, shape,

    coloring, and decoration in these bottles indicates that the

    trade was rather confined to one port in China, for at present a

    vast variety in all these particulars would be seen, as I ascertained

    some years ago at Canton when unsuccessfully looking

    in the shops for some having inscriptions like those discovered

    in Egypt. Mr. Fortune found one having the same inscription

    as Xo. 2, and Sir Harry Pai-kes came across three others, but

    their rarity now proves the change ; and these were probably

    real antiques. The latter found two other inscriptions on similar

    bottles in China, whose authors lived a.d. 584 and later; and

    argues against their high antiquity from the metre having been

    introduced in later times. The strongest proof of their modern

    origin is the material and the date of the style of writing, neither

    of which could have been prior to the Han dynasty if Chinese

    records are Avorth anything ; such simple lines as these five

    could indeed have been handed down and adopted by later poets from lost authors, but this possibility weighs nothing against the others. The more antiquarian researches extend in Asia, however, the more shall we find that the books and inscriptions now extant do not contain the earliest dates of inventions and travels.

    The cheap pottery of the Chinese resembles the Egyptian

    ware in color and brittleness, but is less porous when unglazed.

    Tea-kettles, pans, plates, teapots, and articles of household use,

    bathing-tubs, immense jars, comparable to hogsheads, for liolding

    water, fancy images, statuettes, figurines, toys, flower-pot >,

    and a thousand other articles are everywhere burned from clay

    and sold at extremely low prices. The jars are used in shops

    to contain liquids, powders, etc. ; in gardens to keep fish, collect

    rain, and receive manure and offal ; and in boats and houses for

    the same purposes that barrels, ])ails, and pans are put to elsewhere.

    “Water will boil sooner and a dish of vegetables be

    cooked more expeditiously in one of these earthen pots than in

    metal ; the caloric seems to permeate the clay almost as soon as

    it is over the fire. Druni-shaped stools and garden seats, vitruvian

    ornaments for balustrades, fanciful llower-pots in the shape

    of buffaloes, representing the animal feeding under the shade of

    a tree growing out of its body, lishes, dragons, phoinixes, and

    other objects for decorating the ridges and for gargoyles are

    manufactured of this ware. Flat ligures of the human form

    are set into frames to represent groups of persons, or elegantly

    shaped characters are arranged into sentences, both of them to

    put on the walls of rooms, making altogether a great variety of

    purposes to which this material is applied.

    The lacquered-ware peculiar to China and Japan owes its

    histre to the prepared sap of a kind of sumach {IlJius vernieifera)

    cultivated in both countries for this purpose. AVood oils

    are obtained from other plants, such as the C’urcas, Augia,

    J^Jleococcus, and lihus semi-alatus^ and the different qualities of

    lacquered-ware are owing to the use of these inferior ingredients.

    The real varnish-tree is described bv De Guiiiiies as resemblini»;

    the ash in its foliage and bark ; it is about tifteen feet in height,

    and when seven j-ears old furnishes the sap, which is carefully

    collected in the summer nights from incisions cut in the truidv.

    It comes to market in tubs holding the cakes, and those who

    collect it are careful to cover their faces and hands from contact

    with this irritating juice as they prepare it for market. A good

    yield of a thousand ti-ees in one night would be twenty pounds

    avoirdupois weight of sap. The best sort is tawny rather than

    white in its inspissated state, and is kept well protected from the

    air by tarred paper. The body of lacquered-ware is usually seasoned

    pine, well smoothed, and the grooves covered with hempen lint

    or paper. A sizing of pig’s gall, often mixed with very fine

    sand, makes a priming. The prepared lacquer is composed of the

    sap dissolved in spring-water, adding ground-nut oil, pig’s gall,

    and rice vinegar in the sunshine with broad flat brushes till it

    is thoroughly mixed.

    The principal object in preparing the wood is to cover it with a priming that wall receive the lac(]uer and remain impervious to changes in temperature. This preparation varies a good deal according to the quality of the ware ; it is laid on evenly, coat after coat, allowing each to dry before the next is spread.

    UlANUFACTUKE OF LACQUEKED-WARE. 81

    The last coating is rubbed with puiuice or the finest sandstone, finishing this priming with ;i .smooth piece of slate. When ready the piece is taken into a close room having paper lattices and shut out from any air, where it receives a coating of clear lacquer. It is then put into a dark room to dry. The operation is repeated ten or fifteen times for the best kinds. Some workmen are so sensitive to the liquid lacquer that they cannot safely do this part of the manufacture ; others go through all the processes without annoyance. Coloring matter to give the lacquer a brown hue, or to make an imitation of venturuia(or aventui’lne^ a brownish glass spangled throughout with copper filings) by mixing gold leaf, is added during these operations.

    The gilding is performed by another set of workmen in a

    large workshop. The figures of the design are drawn on thick

    paper, which is then pricked all over to allow the powdered

    chalk to fall on the table and form the outline. Anotlier

    workman completes the picture by cutting the lines with a burin

    or needle, and filling them with vermilion mixed in lacquer, as

    tliick as needed. This afterward is covered by means of a hairpencil

    with gold in leaf, or in powder laid on with a dossil ; the

    gold is often mixed with fine lampblack. The proper lacquer

    is seldom used otherwise than in making this ware. The Chinese

    term for UiU includes this and all kinds of oils and paints,

    so that some confusion arises in describing their materials.’ A beautiful fabric of lacquered-ware is made by inlaying the nacre of fresh and salt-water shells in a rough mosaic of fiowers, animals, etc., into the composition, and then varnishing it. Another highly prized kind is made by covering the wood with a coating of fine powdered cinnabar and varnish three or four lines in thickness, and then carving figures upon it in relief. The great labor necessary to produce this ware renders it expensive, and it is not now produced.

    ‘ N. Rondot, Commerce (le la Chine, p. 120 ; Journal Asuttique, IV. Series,Tome XI., 184y, pp. 34-05 ; Clduene Commercial Cruidc, 5th Ed., p. 134.

    The oils obtained from the nuts of other trees by simple pressure and by refining them afterward are quite numerous. The details of their manufacture and application may yet furnish many new hints and processes to western arts. The oil of the Eleococcus, after pressing (according to De Guignes), is boiled with Spanish white in the proportion of one ounce to half

    a pound of oil ; as it begins to thicken it is taken off and poured

    into close vessels. It dissolves in turpentine and is used as a

    varnish, either clear or mixed with different colors ; it defends

    woodwork from injury for a long time, and forms a good painter’s

    oil. Boiled with iron rust it forms a reddish brown varnish.

    In order to prevent its penetrating into the wood when

    used clear, and to increase the lustre, a priming of lime and

    hog’s blood simmered together into a paste is previously laid on.

    The manufacture of silk is original among the Chinese, as

    well as those of porcelain and lacquered-ware, and in none of

    these have foreigners yet succeeded in fully equalling the native

    products. The notices of the cultivation of the nmlberry

    and the rearing of silk-worms found in Chinese works have

    been industriously collected and published by M. Julien by

    order of the French government—another instance of the

    intelligent care of this nation to aid one of its great industries.

    The introduction by M. Beauvais indicates certain })oints

    worthy of the notice of cultivators ; it has been remarked that

    the hints thus obtained from Julien’s translation have been of

    more value to the peoj)le employed in silk culture in France

    than all that has been paid by the govei-nment for the promotion

    of Chinese literature from their first outlay in tlie last century.

    The earliest notice in the SJuo Kimj of silk culture occurs in the Yu Kiing. It is said the mulberry grounds were made fit for silk-worms, when speaking of the draining of Yen Chau (parts of Shantung and Cliihli), as if it was an usual culture ; other references to silk in the same book show it to have been a well-known fabric at that date (b.c. 2204). The allusion, therefore, in the Book of Odes to silks of many sorts also strengthen the notice in the Wei li’i^ which says :

    Slling shi, the Empress of Hwangtl, began to rear silk-worms:

    At this period Hwangti invented the art of making clotliing.

    ORIGIN AND IMPOUTANCE OP^ THE SILK INDUSTRY. 33

    This legend carries tlie art back to u.r. 2600, or perhaps five

    centuries after the Deluge. Siling is said to have been her

    birthplace, and Lui Tsu her right name ; she was deified and is

    still worshipped as the goddess of silk under the name of Yuenfi.

    In this act, as De Guignes observes, the Chinese resemble other

    ancient nations in ascribing the invention of spinning to women,

    and deifying them ; thus the Egyptian Isis, the Ljdian Arachne,

    and the Gi-ecian Athene also handled the distaff. A temple

    called the Sten-tsaii Tao exists in the palace grounds dedicated

    to Yuenfi, wherein she is worshipped annually in April by the

    Empress. The altar, grounds, sacrifices, ritual, and buildings

    are all in imitation of those in the Temple of Agriculture, of

    which they are a counterpart. The Book of Rites contains a

    notice of the festival held in honor of weaving, which corresponds

    to that of ploughing by the Emperor. ” In the last month

    of spring the young Empress purified herself and offered a sacrifice to the o:oddess of silk-worms. She went into the eastern fields and collected mulberry leaves. She forbade noble dames and the ladies of statesmen adorning themselves, and excused her attendants from their sewing and embroidery, in order that they might give all their care to the rearing of silkworms.”

    The present enclosure was put up by Yungching in 17-12, but its buildings are now much dilapidated. The attention of the Chinese government to this important branch of industry has been unremitted, and at this day it supplies perhaps one-half of all the gai’tnents worn by the people. In the paraphrase to the fourth maxim of the Shing Yu, it is remarked : ” In ancient times emperors ploughed the lands and empresses cultivated the mulberiy. Though the most honorable, they did not disdain to toil and labor, as examples to the whole Empire, in order to induce all the people to seek these essential supports.” One-half of the lllastrations of Agriculture and Weaving are devoted to delineating the various processes attending this manufacture ; and Julien quotes more than twenty works and authors on this subject. Among other uses to which this material is put, may be remembered, in the second chapter of this work, the burning of many thousand pieces of plain, coarse silk as part of the offerings to the gods at Peking, and in the annual sacrifices before the tablets of Confucius.

    ‘While the worms are growing, care is taken to keep them

    undisturbed bj either noise or bright light; they are often

    changed from one hurdle to another that they may have roomy

    and cleanly places ; the utmost attention is paid to their condition

    and feeding, and noting the right time for preparing them for

    spinning cocoons. Three days are required for this, and in six

    it is time to stifle the larvae and reel the silk from the cocoons; but this being usually done by other workmen, those who rear the worms enclose the cocoons in a jar buried in the ground and

    lined with mats and leaves, interlaying them with salt, which

    kills the pnpfe but keeps the silk supple, strong, and lustrous ;

    preserved in this manner, they can be transported to any distance,

    or the reeling of the silk can be delayed until convenient.

    Another mode of destroying the cocoons is to spread them on

    trays and expose them by twos to the steam of boiling water,

    putting the upper in the place of the lower one according to

    the degree of heat they are in, taking care that the chrysalides

    are killed and the silk not injured. After exposure to steam the

    silk can be reeled off immediately, but if placed in the jars they

    must be put into warm water to dissolve the glue before the

    floss can be unwound.

    ‘ Julien, Culturer des Muriers, 1837 ; Pauthier, Chine Moderne, p. 21; Hedde, Cat(tlo(pu’ (JcH Prodvits Serigenes, 1848, pp. 100-287; Chinese Fepos/ton/, Vol.XVIII,, pp. :K)8-;314 ; Commercial Guide, 5th Ed., p. 136 ; Mailla, Ilistoire de la Chine, Tome I., p. 24 ; Biot, Tcheon-li, passim, 1851.

    REARING AND TltKATMENT OF SILK- WORMS. 85

    The commission sent from France to China in 1844 to make inquiries into its industries consisted of skilled men, and their reports embody a great amount of details nowhere else to be found. The digested catalogue of the exhibits of M. Iledde at St. Etienne in 1848 contains four hundred and fifty-three articles relating to silk and mulberry alone. The amount of silk goods exported has never regained its value previous to 1854, in consequence of the destruction of skilled workmen and manufactories during the Tai-ping rebellion, and raw silk still forms the bulk of the export. The finest silk comes from Chehkiang province, and is known as tsatli,, tay-saam, and yuenhwa in commerce ; the centre of the culture is at Ilii-chau, a prefecture in the northwest of that province. The mulberry grows everywhere, and none of the provinces are without some silk, but Kwangtung, Sz’chuen, and Chehkiang furnish the best and most.

    Great attention is paid in Shantung, Sz’chuen, and Kweichau

    to collecting wild silk from the cocoons of worms which

    feed on the ailantus, oak, and xanthoxylum. The insect is the

    Attacus ei/nthia, and its food the tender leaves of the ailantus

    and Quercus mongholica in Shantung, where great quantities of

    durable silk is woven. It is not so lustrous as that produced by

    the bombyx-worm, which feeds on the mulberry leaf, and comparatively

    little is exported. The proportion of manufactured

    silks sent abroad is less now than it was fifty years ago, but the

    home consumption is so enormous that an annual export to

    the value of nearly ninety millions of dollars has little effect

    on the prices. In 1854 the price of the best raw silk was

    about $330 a bale, and the expoi-t over fifty-one thousand bales ;

    in 1860, the sanie sort was $550, and the export nearly eighty

    thousand bales ; this increase in price was owing chiefly to disease

    in the trees in Europe, though the ravages of war in both

    Chehkiang and Kwangtung had destroyed much property in

    this branch.

    The loom in China is worked by two hands, one of whom sits on the top of the frame, where he pulls the treadles and assists in changing the various parts of the machine. The workmen imitate almost any pattern, excelling particularly in crapes, and flowered satins and damasks for oflficial dresses.

    The common people wear pongee and senshaw, which they frequently dye in gambler to a dust or black color ; these fabrics

    constitute most durable garments. Many of the delicate silk

    tissues known in Europe are not manufactured by the Chinese,

    most of their fabrics being heavy. The lo, or law, is a beautiful

    article like grenadine and seldom sent abroad ; it is used

    for summer robes, muscpiito curtains, festoons, and other purposes.

    The English words .satin, .senshaw, and sill’ are probably

    derived from the Chinese terms sz’-twan, sien-sha, and sz\

    intermediately through other languages.

    The skill of the Chinese in embroidery is well known, and

    the demand for such work to adorn the dresses of officers

    and ladies of every rank, for ornamenting purses, shoes, caps,

    fans, and other appendages of the dress of both sexes, and in

    working shawls, table covers, etc., for exportation, furnishes

    employment to myriads of men and women. The fj’ame is

    placed on pivots and the pattern marked out upon the plain

    surface. There are many styles, with thread, braid, or floss,

    and an infinite variety in the quality, pattern, and beauty of the

    work ; it is the art of Chinese women, and every young lady is

    expected to know how to do it. (3n fire screens the design appears

    the same on both sides, the ends of the threads being

    neatly concealed. This mode of embroidery seems also to have

    been known among the Hebrews, from the expression in Deborah’s

    song (Judges V. 30), “Of divers colors of needle-work

    on both sides,” which Sisera’s mother vainly looked for him to

    bring home as spoil for her. Books are prepared for emljroiderers

    containing patterns for their imitation or combination.

    The silk used is of the finest kind and colqr, gold and silver

    thread being introduced to impart a lusti’e to the figures on

    caps, purses, and shoes. Tassels and twisted cords for sedans

    or lanterns, knobs or buttons worn on the winter caps, and elegant

    fan and pipe-cases, purses or fobs, constitute only a few

    of the products of their needles. Spangles are made from

    brass leaves by cutting out a small ring by means of a doubleedged

    stamp, which at one drive detaches from the sheet a

    wheel-shaped circle ; these are flattened by a single stroke of

    the hammer upon an anvil, leaving a minute hole in the centre.

    Another way of making them is to bend a copper wire into a

    circle and flatten it. Their own needles are very slender, and

    are rapidl}’ giving way to the foreign article ; in sewing the

    tailor holds it between the forefinger and thumb, pressing

    against the thimble on the thumb as he pushes it into the cloth.

    Our ascertaining the date of the introdnctioii of cotton as a

    textile plant into China depends very nmch on the meaning of

    certain words rendered eofton. by some amiotators in the Slia

    King. The weight of proof is, however, strongly adverse to

    this view ; but a historical notice dated about a.d. 500 plainly

    COTTON-GROWING AND MANUFACTURE. 37

    refers to cotton robes ; in a.d. G70 it was called by a foreign

    name kih-pei, a contracted foi”m of the Sanscrit name harjya-n.

    The present name of nuen-hwa^ or ‘ cotton Hower,’ was naturally

    given to it from the resemblance of its seed envelope to

    the silky covering of the seeds of the muh-iriien shu^ or tree

    cotton {Boniba.i’), common in Southern China. It was, however,

    one thing to admire cotton cloth brought as tribute, and

    quite another to introduce cotton-growing into China, which

    does not seem to have been attempted until the Sung dynasty.

    Early in the eleventh century the plant was brought over and

    cultivated in the northwestern provinces by persons from

    Khoten, where it M’as grown. If this tardy adoption seems

    difficult to explain, the still slower introduction of silk-growing

    (in A.D. 550) into Asia Minor from Cliina, twelve centuries

    after her fabrics had been seen there, is more surprising. The

    opposition to cotton cultivation on the part of silk and hemp

    growers was so persistent that the plant had not fairly won its

    way into favor until the Yuen dynasty ; and this was owing to

    a public-spirited woman, Lady Hwang, who distributed seeds

    throughout Kiangnan, now the great cotton region.

    The duvable cotton cloth made in the central provinces, called nankeen by foreigners, because Kanking is famous for its manufacture, is the chief produce of Chinese looms. It is now seldom sent out of the country, and the natives are even taking to the foreign fabric in its stead. Cotton seed in that part of China is sown early in June, about eighty pounds to an acre ; in a good year the produce is about two thousand pounds, diminishing to one-half in poor seasons. It is manured with liquid bean-cake, often hoed, and the bolls gathered in October, usually by each family in its own plot. The seeds are separated by passing the pods between an iron and wooden roller on a frame, which presses out the seeds and does not break them. The cleaned cotton is then bowed ready for spinning,

    and the cloth is woven in sinq^le looms by the people who are

    to wear it after it is dyed blue. The looms used in weaving

    cotton vary from twelve to sixteen inches in M’idth ; they are simple

    in their construction ; no figures are woven in cotton fabrics,

    nor have the Chinese learned to print them as chintz or calico. Whether the varied articles from the west now brought into close competition with this primitive Chinese manufacture will finally captivate the consumer’s choice, and neutralize its production, depends chiefly on what can be substituted therefor. At present, such is the extent of the native crop that prices would not probably advance ten per cent, if the whole foreign importation of raw and manufactured cotton should suddenly stop. The only attempt to estimate the product has been in Kiangnan, at The Cobbler and his Movable Workshop.

    twenty-eight thousand five hundred tons, a figure below rather

    than above the truth.”

    Leather is used to protect the felt soles of shoes and make saddles, bridles, quivers, harness, etc., but the entire consumption is small, and the leather extremely poor. Buffalo and horse-hides are tanned for sole leather, and calf-skin for upper leather to supply shoes for foreigners at the ports. Alum, saltpetre, gandjicr, and urine are the tanning materials employed, and the rapid manner in which the process is completed renders the leather both porous and tender.

    ‘ Journal N. G. Dr. li. A. 8. (1859); Ghinese Repository, XVIII., pp. 449-469; N. Rondot, Counnnre de In Oliiiie, 1849, p. 72; Fortune, WanderiiKja,Chap. XIV. (18.47) ; Grosier, Ilidolrc dc la Chine, Toiiiu 111., pp. 193-204.

    LKATIIEK AND WOOLLEN FABRICS. 39

    Cobblers go about the streets plying their trade, provided with a few bits of nankeen, silk, and yellowish sole leather with which to patch their customers’ shoes. It is no small convenience to a man, as he passes along the street, to give his old shoe to a cobbler and his ragged jacket to a seamstress, while he calls the barber to shave him as he waits for them ; and such a trio at work for a man is not an unconnnon sight.

    The chief woollen fabrics produced are felts of different qualities

    and rngs or carpets woven from coarse camel’s-hair yarn.

    Tanned sheep-skins furnish the laboring poor in the northern

    provinces with clothing, and elsewhere felt supplies them with

    material for shoes, hats, and carpets. The fulling process is

    not very thoroughly done, and the fabric soon disintegrates

    unless protected by matting or cotton. The consumption of the

    good qualities for hats is large among out-door workmen, who

    prefer the doubled kind made in the shape of a hollow cycloid,

    so that it can be turned inside out. Camel’s-hair rugs supply

    a durable and cheap covering for the brick divans and tiled

    floors in the colder districts, but the thick soles of Chinese shoes

    obviate the need of additional protection to the feet. Some of

    these rugs are fine specimens of art in their arrangement of patterns

    and figures in colored woollen yarns, though far inferior

    to the Persian. Pretty rugs are also made of dog, deer, and foxskins

    sewed together in a kind of mosaic. Knitting and ornamental

    works in wool are unknown, since the far more elegant

    and durable embroidery in silk takes the place of these as fancy

    work amoneo; dames of hioC*-h and low deiOiiee.

    The subject of tea culture and the preparation of its leaf

    have engaged the attention of writers among the Chinese and

    Japanese ; while its effects on the human system as a beverage

    have been discussed most carefully by eminent western chemists

    and pathologists. Its virtue in restoring the energies of the

    body and furnishing a drink of the gentlest and most salubrious

    nature has been fully tested in its native land for many centuries,

    and is rapidly becoming known the world over. The

    following are some of the leading facts relating to the plant and

    the preparation and nature of the leaf, derived from pei’sonal

    observation in the country or from the writings of competent

    observers.

    Tea does not grow in the northern provinces of China and Japan ; its range lies between the twenty-third and thirty-fifth degrees of latitude, and reaching in longitude from Yedo to Assam. No accounts have come to us of the tea shrub being cultivated for its infusion till a.d. 350. The people in different

    parts of China gave different names to the successive pickings

    of the leaves, which have now become disused. Our word tea

    is derived from the common sound of the character for the

    pla!it at the city of Anioy, where it is tay ; at Canton and Peking

    it is clta, at Shanghai dzo, at Fuhchau ta. The Russians and

    Portuguese have retained the word cha, the Spanish is te or tay,

    and the Italians have both te and cha. Tea is so nearly akin to

    the various species of camellia that the Chinese have only one

    name for alL The principal difference to the common observer

    is in the thin leaf of the tea and the leathery glabrous leaf of

    the beautiful Camellia Japonica. When allowed to grow they

    both become high trees. The tea flower is small, single, and

    y white, has no smell, and soon falls; its petals are less erect than

    the camellia. The seeds are three small nuts, like filberts in

    color, enclosed in a triangular shell which splits open when ripe,

    with valves between the seeds. Its taste is oily and bitter. Two

    species of camellia are cultivated for their oily seeds, the oil

    being known as tea-oil among the natives ; it is used for lamps

    and cooking. There is probably only one species of the tea

    plant, and all the varieties have resulted from culture ; but the

    Thea vh’idls is most cultivated. The nuts are ripe in October.

    They are put in a mixture of sand and earth, dampened to keep

    them fresh till spring ; they generate heat and spoil if not thus

    separated. In March they are sown in a nursery, and the

    thrifty shoots transplanted the next year in rows about four feet

    apart. Leaves are collected when the plant is three years old,

    and this process is continued annually to a greater or less extent,

    according to the demand and strength, until the whole

    bush becomes so weak and diseased that it is j)ulled up for firewood

    to give place to a new shoot. On the average this is about

    the eighth year. The plants seldom exceed three feet; most

    of them ai’C half that height, straggling and full of twigs, often

    covered with lichens, but well hoed and clean around their roots.

    TEA CULTURE. 4J

    All tea plantations are merely patches of the shrnbs cared for by small fanners, who cultivate the plants and sell the leaves to middle-men, or more often pick the crop themselves if they can afford to do so. The great plantation or farm, with its landlord and the needy laborer, each class trying to get as nmch as possible out of the other, are unknown in China ; the farmer has not there learned to employ skill, machinery, and capital all for his own advantage, but each farmstead is worked by the family, who rather emulate each other in the reputation of their tea. Tea is cultivated on the slopes or bases of hills, where the drainage is quick and the moisture unfailing. This

    is of more consequence than the ingredients of the soil, but

    plants so continually depauperated and stripped require rich

    manure to supply their waste. In Japan the tea shrubs are

    sometimes grown as a hedge around a garden lot, but such

    plants are not stripped in this way. In gathering the earliest

    leaves, the pickers are careful to leave enough foliage at the end

    of the twigs ; and the spring rains are depended on to stimulate

    the second and full crop of leaves. When these are scant or

    fail the tea harvest diminishes, and the regularity of the rains

    is so essential to a profitable cultivation that it will be one of

    the causes of failure whei-e everything else in soil, climate, manuring,

    and manufacture may be favorable.

    The first gathering is the most carefully done, for it goes to make the best sorts of black and green tea ; and as the greatest part of the leaves are still undeveloped, the price must necessarily be very much higher. Such tea has a whitish down, like that on young birch leaves, and is called ijecoe, or ‘ white hair,’ and is most of it sent to England and Russia. In the last century, the green tea known as Young Ilyson was made of these

    half-opened leaves picked in April and named from two words

    meaning ‘ rains before.’ The second gathering varies somewhat

    according to the latitude—May 15th to June, when the foliage

    is fullest. This season is looked forward to by women and

    children in the tea districts as their working time ; they run in

    crowds to the middle-men, who have bargained for the leaves on

    the plants, or apply to farmers who have not hands. The average

    produce is from sixteen to twenty-two ounces of green leaves for the healthiest plants, down to ten and eight ounces. The tea when cured is about one-fifth of its first weight, and one thousand square yards will contain about three hundred and fifty plants, each two feet across. They strip the twigs in the most summary manner, and fill their baskets with healthy leaves as they pick out the sticks and yellow leaves, for they are paid

    in this manner. Fifteen pounds is a good day’s work, and six to

    eight cents is a day’s wages. The time for picking lasts only

    ten or twelve days. There are curing houses, where families

    who grow and pick their own leaves bring them for sale at the

    market rate. The sorting emploj’S many hands, for it is an important

    point in connection with the purity of the various descriptions,

    and much care is taken by dealers, in maintaining the

    quality of their lots, to have them cured carefully as well as

    sorted properly.

    The management of this great branch of industry exhibits some of the best features of Chinese country life. It is only over a portion of each farm that the plant is grown, and its cultivation requires but little attention compared with rice and vegetables. The most delicate kinds are looked after and cnred by priests in their secluded temples among the hills; these often have many acolytes who aid in preparing small lots to be sold at a high price.

    When the leaves are brought in to the curers they are thinly spread on shallow trays to dry off all moisture by two or three hours’ exposure. Meanwhile the roasting pans are heating, and W’hen properly warmed some handfuls of leaves are thrown on them, and rapidly moved and shaken up for four or five minutes.

    The leaves make a slight crackling noise, become moist and flaccid as the juice is expelled, and give off even a sensible vapor. The whole is then poured out upon the rolling table, where each workman takes up a handful and makes it into a manageable ball, which he rolls back and forth on the rattan table to get rid of the sap and moisture as the leaves are twisted. This operation chafes the hands even with great precaution.

    THE MANUFACTUKE OF TEA. 43

    The balls are opened and shaken out and then passed on to other workmen, who go through the same operation till they reach the headnum, who examines the leaves to see if they have become curled. When properly done, and cooled, they are returned to the iron pans, under which a low cliarcoal fire is burning in the brickwork which supports them, and there kept in motion by the hand. If they need another rolling on the table it is now given them ; an hour or more is spent in this manipung Tea.

    lation, when they are dried to a dull green color, and can be

    put away for sifting and sorting. This color becomes brighter

    after the exposure in sifting the cured leaves through sieves of

    various sizes ; they are also winnowed to separate the dust,

    and afterward sorted into the various descriptions of green tea.

    Finally, the finer kinds are again fired three or four times, and the coarse kinds, as Twankay, Hyson, and Hj’son Skin, once. The others furnish the Young Hyson, Gunpowder, Imperial, etc. Tea cured in this way is called luh cha^ or ‘green tea,’ by the Chinese, while the other, or black tea, is termed hung cha, or ‘red tea,’ each name being taken from the tint of the infusion.

    After the fresh leaves are allowed to lie exposed to the air

    on the bamboo trays over night or several hours, they are

    thrown into the air and tossed about and patted till they become

    soft ; a heap is made of these wilted leaves and left to

    lie for an hour or more, when they have become moist and

    dark in color. They are then thrown on the hot pans for

    five minutes and rolled on the i-attan table, previous to exposure

    out-of-doors for three or four hours on sieves, during which

    time they are turned over and opened out. After this they get

    a second roasting and rolling to give them their final curl. When

    the charcoal fire is ready, a basket shaped something like an

    hour-glass is placed endwise over it, having a sieve in the

    middle on which the leaves are thinly spread. AYlien dried

    five minutes in this way they undergo another rolling, and are

    then thrown into a heap, nntil all the lot has passed over the

    fire. When this firing is finished, the leaves are opened out

    and are again tliinly spread on the sieve in the basket for a few

    minutes, which finishes the drying and rolling for most of the

    heap, and nuxkes the leaves a uniform black. They are now

    replaced in the basket in greater mass, and pushed against its

    sides by the hands in order to allow the heat to come up

    through the sieve and the vapor to escape ; a basket over all

    retains the heat, but the contents are turned over until perfectly

    dry and the leaves become uniformly dark.

    GREEN AND BLACK TEAS. 45

    It will be seen frojn this that green tea retains far more of the peculiar oil and sap in tlie leaves than the black, which undergo a partial fermentation and emit a sensibly warm vapor as they lie in heaps after the first roasting. They thus become oxidized by longer contact in a warm moist state with the atmosphere, and a delicate analysis will detect lants, as hemlock, belladonna, etc., for the

    apothecary’s shop.

    Green teas are mostly produced in the region south of the

    Yangtsz’ River and west of Kingpo among the hills as one goes

    toward the Poyang Lake in Chehkiang and Xganhwui. The

    black tea comes from Fuhkien in the southeast and llupeh and

    Hunan in the central region ; Kwangtung and Sz’chuen provinces

    produce black, green, and brick teas. While the leaves of each

    species of the shrub can be cured into either green or black tea,

    the workmen in one district are able, by practice, to produce

    one kind in a superior style and quality ; those in another region

    will do better with another kind. Soil, too, has a great influence,

    as it has in grape culture, in modifying the produce. Though

    the natives distinguish onl}^ these three kinds, their varieties are

    far too numerous to remember, and the names are mostly unknown

    in commerce.

    Of black teas, the great mass is called Congou^ or the ‘ wellworked,’

    a name which took the place of the Bohea of one hundred

    and fifty years ago, and is now itself giving way to the term

    English Breakfast tea. The finest sorts are either named from

    the place of their growth, or jnore frequently have fancy appellations

    in allusion to their color or form. Orange Pekoe is

    named ” superior perfume ;” pure Pekoe is ” Lau-tsz’ eyebrows ;”

    “carnation hair,” “red plum blossom,”” “lotus kernel,” “sparrow’s

    tongue,” ” dragon’s pellet,” ” dragon’s whiskei-s,” ” autumn

    dew,” ” pearl flower,” or Chilian, are other names ; Souchong

    and Pouidiong refer to the modes of packing.

    In the trade, teas are more commonly classified by their locality

    than their names, as it is found that well-marked differences in

    the style of the produce continue year after year, all ecpially

    well-cured tea. These arise from diversities in soil, climate,

    age, and manufacturing, and furnish materials for still further

    nuiltiplying the sorts by skilfully mixing them. Thus in black

    teas we have Ilunan and llupeh from two provinces, just as

    Georgia uplands and Sea Island indicate two sorts of cotton ;

    Ningyong, Kai-sau, Ho-hau, Sing-chune-ki, etc., and many

    others, which are unknown out of Ohina, are all names of places.

    One gentleman has given a list of localities, each furnishing its quota and peculiar product, amounting in all to forty-five for black and nine for green. The area of these regions is about four hundred and seventy thousand square miles.

    It will have been seen already that the color of green tea, as

    well as its quality, depends very much on rapid and expert drying.

    When this kind is intended for home consumption soon

    after it is made, the color is of little consequence ; but when the

    hue influences the sale, then it is not to be overlooked by the

    manufactui’er or the broker. The first tea brought to Europe

    was from Fuhkien and all black ; but as the trade extended probably

    some of the delicate Hyson sorts were now and then seen

    at Canton, and their appearance in England and Holland appreciated

    as more and more was sent. It was found, however,

    to be very difficult to maintain a uniform tint. If cured too

    slightly, the leaf was liable to fermentation during the voyage ;

    if cured too much, it was unmarketable, which for the manufacturer

    was worse yet. Chinese ingenuity was equal to the call.

    Though no patent office was at hand to register the date when

    coloring green tea commenced, it is probably more than one

    hundred j-ears since. The three hundred and forty-two chests and

    half chests wdiich were so summarily opened on board the Dartmouth,

    the Eleanor, and the Beavei”, when their contents were

    thrown overboard in Boston harbor, on December 16, 1773,

    furnishes probably no index of the consumption of tea in New

    England at that time. It was all called Bohea by John Adams,

    who speaks of three cargoes, as if the vessels had nothing

    else of note in their holds.

    Dr. Holmes, in his ballad on the Boston Tea Party at its

    centennial celebration, says in the last verse:
    The waters in the rebel bay
    Have kept the tea-leaf savor—
    Our old North Enders in their spray
    Still taste a Hyson flavor ;
    And Freedom’s teacup still o’erflows
    With ever fresh libations,
    To cheat of slumber all her foes
    And cheer the wakening nations.

    COLORING GREEN TEAS, 47

    It has been noticed that emigrants to Au^^tralia, who had seldom tasted green tea before leaving England, usually prefer it in their new homes, as new settlers do in tins country. The prevailing notion that green tea is cured on copper arose, no doubt, from the conclusion that real verdigris was the only source of a verdigris color, and the astringent taste confirmed the wrong idea. A more difficult question to answer is the inquiry, Why is it still believed ?

    The operation of giving green tea its color is a simple one.

    A quantity of Prussian blue is pulverized to a very fine powder,

    and kept ready at the last roasting. Pure gypsum is

    burned in the charcoal fire till it is soft and fit foi easily triturating.

    Four parts are then thoroughly mixed with three parts

    of Prussian blue, making a light blue powder. About five

    minutes before finally taking off the dried leaves this powder

    is sprinkled on them, and instantly the whole panful of two or

    three pounds is turned over by the workman’s hands till a

    uniform color is obtained, llis hands come out quite blue, but

    the compound gives the green leaves a brighter green hue. The

    quantity is not great, say about half a pound in a hundred of

    tea ; and as gypsum is not a dangerous or irritating substance,,

    being constantly. eaten by the Chinese, the other ingredient remains

    in an almost infinitesimal degree. If foreigners preferred

    yellow teas no doubt they coiild be favored, for the Chinese

    are much perplexed to account for this strange predilection, as

    they never drink this colored or faced tea. Turmeric root has

    been detected, too, in a very few analj’ses, but probably these

    were lots that needed to be refined at Canton to cover up mildew

    or supply a demand. The reasons for not drinking this

    tea are, however, owing more to the nature than the color of

    the leaf. The kinds of green tea are fewer than the black, and

    the regions producing it are less in area. Gunpowder and Imperial

    are foreign-made terms ; the teas are known as siau elm

    and ta chu by native dealers. The first is rolled to resemble shot

    or coarse gunpowder; the other is named “sore crab’s eyes,”

    “sesamura seeds,” and “pearls.” Ilyson is a corruption of yutsieny

    ‘ before the rains,’ and of Ili-chun, meaning ‘ flourishing

    spring.’ The last is alleged to be the name of a maiden who suggested

    to her father as long ago as 1700, or thereabouts, a better

    mode of sorting tea, and his business increased so much as his fine Hyson became known that he gave it her name. Members of this same family are still engaged in making this same tea, and the chop, known as the Ut Yih-hing, or ‘ Li’s Extra Perfume,’ is now in market, and has maintained its reputation for nearly two hundred years. Oolong is obtained in Fuhkien—a black tea

    with a green tea flavor, named Black Dragon from a story

    tliat Su was struck with the fragrance of the leaf from a plant

    Mdiere a black snake was found coiled. The great mart for

    green tea is Twankay, in Chehkiang province.

    A chop is a well-known term in the tea trade ; it is derived

    from the Chinese word ehoj), or ‘ stamp’, such as an ofiicial uses,

    and in the tea trade denotes a certain number of packages from

    the same place, and all of the same quality. In the course of years

    the uniform excellence of a certain chop, like that of a certain

    vineyard, gives it a marketable value. A laAvsuit arose in 1873

    between two American houses at Canton in regard to the right to

    a certain chop of tea, among two brokers, each of whom claimed

    to sell the genuine lot. Such chops range from fifty to one thousand

    two hundred chests, averaging six hundred. English teatasters

    have learned that an admixture of scented teas in common

    sorts of Congou adds much to the flavor and sale. This is

    not often done for native-drank tea, and is chiefly practised at

    Canton. The flowers used are roses, Olea fragrans, tuberose,

    orange, jasmine, gardenia, and azalea. The stems, calyx, and

    other parts are carefully sorted out, so that only the petals remain.

    When the tea is ready for packing, dry and warm, tlie

    fresh flowers are mixed with it (forty pounds to one liundred

    pounds for the orange), and left thus in a mass for twenty-four

    hours ; it is then sifted and winnowed in a fanning mill till

    the petals are separated. If the odor is insuflicient, the operation

    may be repeated with the jasmine or orange. The proportion

    of jasmine is a little more than orange ; of the azalea,

    nearly half and half. The length of time required to obtain

    the proper smell from these flowei-s difi’ers, and among them all

    tea scented with the azalea is said to keep its perfume the longest.

    The mode of scenting tea diifei-s somewhat according to the

    flower itself, for the small blossom of the Qloa cannot be

    separated by sifting as rose or jasmine leaves can. Tea thus

    SCENTED AND ADULTERATED TEAS. 49

    perfumed is sent to England as Orange Pekoe and Scented Caper.

    It is mixed witli fiiu; teas ; and there is much to commend

    in thus increasing tlie aroma and taste of this healthy beverage.

    The Scented Caper comes in the form of round pellets, which

    are made of black tea softened by sprinkling water on it until

    it is pliable ; it is then tied in canvas bags and rolled with the

    feet by treading on it for a good while till most of the quantity

    takes this form ; as soon as perfumed it is packed for shipment.

    When rolled and dried, such tea needs only a facing to make it

    into Impei-ial and Gunpowder among the green teas.

    The Chinese have been charo;ed with adulteratino; their tea

    by mixing in other leaves with the true tea-leaf, and adding

    other ingredients far vvoi-se than rose, jujube, and fern leaves,

    and the cases which have been proved of lie-tea being sent off

    have been applied to the entire export. The stimulus for some

    of this adulteration has come from the foreigner, who desires

    to get good pure tea at half its cost of manufacture. The foregoing

    details will plainly show that an article which has to go

    through so many hands before its infusion is poured out of the

    teapot on the other side of the world, and where the only machinery

    used is a fanning mill and a roasting pan, cannot be furnished

    at much under twenty-five cents a pound for the common

    sorts. The villanous mixture known at Shanghai as ma-hi cha^

    or ‘ race-course tea,’ was the answer on the part of the native

    manufacturer to the demand for cheap tea, mitil the consumers

    in Great Britain protested at the deception put on them, and

    its importation was prohibited. Which of the parties was most

    blameworthy may be left for them to settle, but in our own

    papers, of course, most of the blame rested on the tempted party.

    It is not to be inferred, however, that all cheap tea is adulterated.

    The process of manufacture leaves a large percentage of broken

    material, which can be worked into passable tea ; the produce

    of many regions has not the flavor of the finest sorts, and, as it

    is with wines, will not bear so much cost in curing. The tea

    brokers know this, and things equalize themselves. The dust,

    the leaf ribs, and the siftings are all consumed by the poor natives,

    who mix other leaves, too, with the real leaf. Tea can perhaps bear comparison with any other great staple of food in this respect ; and when we can fairly estimate the consumption of tea sent out of China and Japan at more than three hundred millions of pounds, it must be conceded that it is a very pure article—not as much, probably, as even five per cent, of false leaf.

    One mode of using tea known among Tibetans and Mongols

    remains to be noticed. The rich province of Sz’chuen, in the

    w-estern part of China, furnishes an abundance of good tea’; much

    of which is exported to Ilussia by way of Si-ngan fu and Kansuh,

    to supply the inhabitants of Siberia. This brick tea is cured

    by pressing the damp leaves into the form of a brick or tile,

    varj’ing in size and weight, eight to twelve inches long and one

    thick ; in this form it is far more easily carried than in the leaf.

    In Tibet, as we have seen, it appears more as a soup than an infusion.

    The brick tea is composed of coarse leaves, or of stalks moistened

    by steaming over boiling water, and then pressed till dry

    and hard. When used, a piece is broken off and simmered with

    milk and butter and water, with a touch of vinegar or pepper.

    The dish is not inviting at first, but Abbe Hue endorses its

    refreshing qualities in restoring the failing energies. The pressing

    and drying is assisted by sprinkling the mass with ricewater

    as it is forced into the moulds. The Chinese mix other

    leaves with real tea to eke it out, in districts where it is not

    commonly grown, but they do not regard this as adulteration.

    Willow leaves are common in such mixtures. Large caravans

    cross the plateau laden with brick tea.

    Packing tea is mostly done in the interior, where it is cured.

    The large dry leaves frequently found inside are usually furnished

    by a peculiar species of bamboo ; the lead is made into

    thin sheets by pouring the melted metal on to a large square

    brick, covered with several thicknesses of paper, and letting

    another brick drop down instantly on it. In order to test the

    honesty of the packing, the foreign merchant often walks over

    the three hundred to six hundred chests which make a chop,

    and selects any foui* or five he may choose for examination. If

    they stand the inspection the whole is taken on their guaranty,

    and are then -weighed, papered, labelled, and mottoed ready for

    shipping. In all these matters the Chinese are very expert. It

    INTRODUCTION OF TEA INTO EUROPE. 61

    is impossible to calculate the number of persons to whom the

    tea trade furnishes employment ; nor could machinery well

    come into use to displace human labor.

    The introduction of tea among western nations was slow at

    first. Marco Polo has no notice of its use. The Dutch brought

    it to Europe in 1591 according to some accounts ; but a sample

    or two did not make a trade, and there would have been reference

    to it if it had been used. In 1G60 Samuel Pepys writes,

    September 28th : “I did send for a cup of tea (a China drink),

    of which I had never drank before.” Nearly seven ^-ears after

    he says : ” Home, and thei-e find my wife making of tea, a drink

    which Mr. Pellin, the pothicai-y, tells her is good for her cold

    and defluxions.” In 1670 the importation into England was 79

    pounds ; in 1685 it was 12,070 pounds ; most of it came from

    Batavia and sold for a long time between £10 and £5 a pound

    weight. In 1657 Mr. Garney opened a shop in London to sell

    the infusion, and paid an excise of 8d. per gallon ; the present

    duty is 2s. Id. per pound, or 4^ pounds to each person in a year,

    nearly all of which, as it is in Europe and elsewhere, is black

    tea. In 1725 only 375,000 pounds were consumed in Great

    Britain. The actual quantity now in the United Kingdom is

    126,000,000 pounds, besides much on the way. The importation

    into the United States is worth $18,000,000 to $19,000,000,

    say 60,000,000 pounds. Russia takes more good tea than any

    other nation and pays more for it, because the former overland

    trade to Siberia could not afford to transport pooi- tea. The export

    from Assam is now 20,000,000 pounds, but those sorts are

    too strong for the public taste when used alone, and are consumed

    in mixtures. Tea is a native of Assam, but its discovery

    only dates from 1836 or thereabouts. It is cultivated in Java

    and Brazil, but there is not much to encoui’age the manufacturer

    in any country where coffee supplies a similar beverage,

    and the price of labor makes it equal to the imported article.

    The remarkable work on agriculture of Paul Sii, a convert to

    Christianity in 1620, contains a brief account and directions for

    cultivating tea. In concluding the chapter he urges the greater

    use of tea as against spirits. ” Tea is of a cooling nature, and if

    drunk too freely will produce exhaustion and lassitude. Country people before drinking it add ginger and salt to eoiniteract this cooling property. It is an exceedingly useful plant ; cultivate it and the benefit will be widely spread ; drink it and the animal spirits will be lively and clean. The chief rulers, lords, and

    great men esteem it ; the lower people, the poor and beggarly,

    will not be destitute of it ; all use it daily and like it.”

    The chemical analyses which have made known to us the

    components of the four or five substances used as warm beverages,

    viz., tea, coffee, mate, cocoa, guarana, and kola, indicate

    three constituents found in them, to which, no doubt, their virtues

    are owing.

    A volatile oil is observed when tea is distilled with water; about one pound conies from one hundred pounds of dried tea, possessing its peculiar aroma and flavor to a high degree. Much of it is pressed from the leaves when rolled and cured, but little as still remains, its effects upon the human system are noticeable

    and sometimes powerful. Tea-tasters who continually taste the

    rpiality of the various lots submitted by sample for their approval,

    do so by breathing upon a handful of leaves and instantly

    covering the nose, so as to get this volatile aroma as one important

    test. They also examine the infusion in several diffei’ent

    ways, by its taste, color, and strength. Long practice in this

    business is alleged to have deleterious influence upon their nervous

    systems. The other beverages we drink, as well as tea,

    derive their peculiar and esteemed flavor and aroma from

    chemical substances produced in them during the process of

    drying and roasting; at least nothing of them can be perceived

    in their natural state. Another substance in tea regarded as

    the chief inducement and reward in its effect on the system is

    the peculiar pi’inciple called theine. If a few finely powdered

    leaves are placed on a watch-glass, covered with a paper cap

    and placed on a hot plate, a white vapor slowly rises and

    condenses in the cap in the form of colorless crystals. They

    exist in different proportions in the different kinds of tea, from

    one and one-half to five or six per cent, in green tea. Theine

    lias no smell and a slightly bitter taste, and does not therefore

    attract us to drink the infusion ; but the chemists tell us that

    it contains nearly thirty per cent, of nitrogen. The salts in

    CONSTITUENTS AM) EFFECTS OF TEA. 53

    other beverages, as coffee and cocoa, likewise contain nnicli nitrogen,

    and all tend to repair the waste going on in the human

    system, reduce the amount of solid food necessary, diminish too

    the wear and tear of the body and consequent lassitude of the

    mind, and maintain the vigor of both upon a smaller amount

    of food. Tea does this more pleasantly, perhaps, than any of

    the others ; but it does more than they do for old people in

    supplementing the impaired powers of digestion, and helping

    them to maintain their flesh and uphold the system in health

    longer than they otherwise would. It is no wonder, therefore,

    that tea has become one of the necessaries of life ; and the

    sexagenarian invalid, too poor to buy a bit of meat for her

    meal, takes her pot of tea with M’liat she has, and knows that

    she feels lighter, happier, and better fitted for her toil, and enjoys

    life more than if she had no tea. Unconsciously she

    echoes what the Chinese said centuries ago, ” Drink it, and the

    animal spirits will be lively and clear.”

    The third substance (which is contained in tea more than in the

    other beverages mentioned) forms also an important ingredient

    in l)etel-nut and gaml)ier, so extensively chewed in Southern

    Asia, viz., tannin or tannic acid. This gives the astringent

    taste to tea-leaves and their infusion, and is found to amount

    to seventeen per cent, in well-dried l)lack tea, and much more

    than that in green tea, especially the Japan leaf. The effects

    of taimin are not clearly ascertained as apart from the oil

    and the tlieine, but Johnston considei-s them as conducing

    to the exhilarating, satisfying, and narcotic action of the beverage.

    A remaining ingredient worthy of notice in tea, in common

    with other food-plants, is gluten. This fornjs one-fourth of the

    weight of the leaves, but in oi’der to derive the greatest good

    from it which proper methods of cooking might bring out, we

    must contrive a mode (»f eating the leaves. The nutritious

    property of the gluten accounts for the general use of brick tea

    throughout the Asiatic plateau. Hue says he drank the dish

    in default of something better, for he was unaccustomed to

    it, but his cameleers would often take twenty to forty cups

    a day.

    If the sanitary effects of tea upon the system are so great and

    wholesome, its inliuence since its general introduction among

    occidentals cannot be overlooked. The domestic, quiet life and

    habits of the Chinese owe much of their strength to the constant

    use of this beverage, for the weak infusion which they sip

    allows them to spend all the time they choose at the tea-table.

    If they were in the habit of sipping even their weak whiskey

    in the same way, misery, poverty, quarrels, and sickness would

    take the place of thrift, quiet, and industry. The general temperance

    seen among them is owing to the tea nmch more than any

    other cause. It has, moreover, won its way with us, till in the

    present generation the associations that cluster around the teatable

    form an integral part of the social life among Englishspeaking

    peoples. One of the most likely means to restrict the

    use of spirits among them is to substitute the use of warm

    beverages of all kinds by those whose s^-stem has not become

    vitiated. Tea is one of the greatest benefits to the Chinese,

    Japanese, and Mongols, and its universal use, for at least fifteen

    centuries, throughout their territories has proven its satisfaction

    as a nervine, a stimulant, and a beverage. If one passing

    through the streets of Peking, Canton, or Ohosaka, and seeing

    the good-natured hilarity of the groups of laborers and loiterers

    around the cha-hwan and the cha-ya of those cities, doubts

    the value of tea as a harmonizer and satisfier of hmnan wants

    and passions, it must be taken as a proof of his own unsatisfied

    cravings.

    It is a necessary of life to all classes of natives, and that its

    use is not injurious is abundant!}^ evident from its general acceptance

    and increasing adoption ; the pi-ejudice against the

    beverage out of China may be attributed chiefly to the use of

    strong green tea, which is no doubt prejudicial. If those who

    have given it up on this account will adopt a weaker infusion

    of black tea, general experience is proof that it will do them no

    harm, and they may be sure that they will not be so likely to

    be deceived by a colored article. iS’either the Chinese nor

    Japanese use milk or sugar in their tea, and the peculiar taste

    and aroma of the infusion is much better perceived without

    those additions. Tea, when clear, cannot be drunk so strong

    PREPARATION OF CASSIA AND CAMPHOR. 55

    without tasting an unpleasant bitterness, which tliese diluents

    partly hide.’

    Among other vegetable productions whose preparation affords

    employment are cassia and camphor. The cassia ti-ee

    {Cinnamomuvi cassia) grows connnonly in Ivwangsi, Yunnan,

    and further south ; the leading mart for all the varieties of this

    spice in China is Ping-nan, in the former of tliese provinces.

    The kind known as l”wei-jA, or ‘ skhiny cassia,’ affords the principal

    part of that spice nsed at the west. The bark is stripped

    from the twigs by running a knife along the branch and gradually

    loosening it ; after it is taken off it lies a day in the sun,

    when the epidermis is easily scraped off, and it is dried into the

    quilled shape in which it comes to market. The immatm-e

    flowers of this and two other species of Cinnamonnnn are

    also collected and dried nnder the name of cassia IjiuIk^ and often

    packed with the bark ; they re<|uire little or no other preparation

    than simple drying. The leaves and bark of the tree

    are also distilled, and furnish oil of cassia, a powerful and

    pleasant oil employed by perfumers and cooks. • Few genera of

    plants are more useful to man than those included under the

    old name of Laurus, to which these fragrant spices of cassia

    and cinnamon belong; their wood, bark, buds, seeds, flowers,

    leaves, and oil are all used by the Chinese in carpentry, medicine,

    perfumery, and cookery. The confusion arising from

    using the term cassia for the spice instead of confining it to the

    medicine {Cassia senna) has been a constant source of error.

    The camphor tree {Cam])1ioi’a ojjicinarum) is another species

    of Laurus, found along the southern maritime regions and Formosa,

    and affords both timber and gum for exportation and domestic

    use. The tree itself is large, and furnishes excellent

    planks, beams, and boards. The gum is procui’ed from the

    branches, roots, leaves, and chips by soaking them in water until

    the liquid becomes saturated ; a gentle heat is then applied

    to this solution, and the sublimed camphor received in inverted

    cones made of rice-straw, from which it is detached in impure

    ‘Fortune’s Tea DistricU (1852); Chinme Ticpositwy, Vol. VIII., pp. 182-164, Vol. XVIII., pp. 13-18; Davis’ ChiiicHC, Vol. II., pp. 336-449; Chineim Cominercial Guide (1863), pp. 141-148 ; Ball’s Tea Vulture and Manufacture.

    grains, resembling unrefined sugar in colore Grosier describes

    another mode of getting it by Taking out the coagulum inspissated

    from the solution into an iron dish and covering M’ith

    powdered earth ; two or three layers are thus placed in the dish,

    when a cover is luted on, and by a slow heat the camphor sublimes

    into it in a cake. It comes to market in a crude state,

    and is refined after reaching Europe. The preparation of the

    gum, sawing the timber for trunks, articles of furniture, and

    vessels in whole or in part, occupies great numbers of carpenters,

    Bhipwrights, and boat-buildci*s. The increasing demand for

    the gum and boards has caused the rapid destruction of so

    many trees in Formosa that there is some ground for fear lest

    they ere long be all cut off.

    Many of the common ni;uii])ulations of Chinese ^vorkmen afford

    good examples of their ingenious modes of attaining th©

    same end which is elsewhere reached by complex machinery.

    For instance, the l)aker places his fire on’ a large iron plate

    worked by a crane, and swings it over a shallow pan embedded

    in masonry, in* which the cakes and pastry are laid and

    soon baked. The price of fuel compels its economical use

    wherever it is em}>loyed ; in the forge, the kitchen, the kiln, or

    the dwelling, no waste of wood or coal is seen. As an instance

    in point, the mode of burning shells to lime affords a good example.

    A low wall encloses a space ten or twelve feet across,

    in the middle of which a hole connnunicates underneath the

    wall through a passage to the pit, where the fire is urged by a fan

    turned by the feet. The wood is loosely laid over tlie bottom

    of the area, and the fire kindled at the orifice in the centre and

    fanned into a blaze as the shells are rapidly thrown in until the

    wall is filled up ; in twelve hours the shells are calcined.

    Toward evening scores of villagers collect around the burning

    pile, bringing their kettles of rice or vegetables to cook. The

    good-humor manifested by these gi’oups of old and young is a

    pleasing instance of the sociability and equality witnessed

    among the lower classes of Chinese. The lime is taken out

    next morning and sifted for the mason.

    Handicraftsmen of every name are content with coarse-looking

    tools compared with those turned out at Sheflield, but the

    APPLIANCES OF CHINESK WORKMEN. 67

    work prodnced by some of tliem is far from conteiriptible.

    The bench of a carpenter is a low, narrow, inclined form, like a

    urawing-knife fi’ame, upon which he sits to plane, groove, and

    work his boards, using his feet and toes to steady them. His

    augurs, bits, and gimlets are worked with a bow, but most of

    the edge-tools employed by him and the blacksmith, though

    similar in shape, are less convenient than our own. They are

    sharpened with hones or grindstones, and also with a cold steel

    like a spoke-shave, with which the edge is scraped thin. The

    aptitude of Chinese workmen has often been noticed, and

    Travelling Blacksmith and Equipment.

    among tliem all the travelling blacksmith takes the palm for his

    compendious establishment. ” T saw- a blacksmith a few days

    since,” writes one observer, ” mending a pan, the arrangement

    of w’hose tools was singularly compact. His fire was held in an

    iron basin not unlike a coal-scuttle in shape, in the back corner

    of which the mouthpiece of the bellows entered. The anvil

    was a small scpiare mass of iron, not very unlike our own, placed

    on a block, and a partition basket close by held the charcoal

    and tools, with the old iron and other rubbish he carried. The

    water to temper his iron was in an earthen pot, which just at

    this time was most usefully employed iii boiling his dinner

    over the forge fire After he had done the job he took off his dinner, threw the water on the fire, picked out the coals and put

    them back into the basket, threw away the ashes, set the anvil

    astride of the bellows, and laying the tire-pan on the basket,

    slung tlie bellows on one end of his pole and the basket on the

    other, and walked off.” ‘ The mode of mending holes in castiron

    pans here noticed is a peculiar operation. The smith first

    files the lips of the hole clean, and after heating the dish firmly

    * C,

    I 11 111

    Itinerant Dish-nnender

    places it on a tile covered with wet felt. He then pours the

    liquid iron, fused in a crucible by the assistance of a flux, upon

    the hole, and immediately patters it down with a dossil of felt

    until it covers the edges of the pan above and below, and is

    then, while cooling, hannnered until firndy fixed in its ]>lace.

    Another ingenious and effectual method of mending porcelain

    and all manner of crockery ware is performed by itinerant

    workmen, who travel about with their workshop on their

    * Chinese Repository, Vol. X., j). 473.

    WOOD AND IVORY CARVING. 59

    shoulders, as seen in tlio cut. By means of minute copper

    clamps, even the most delicate article of China-ware may be repaired

    and made to answer the purpose of a new piece ; since

    no cement is used in this style of mending, it has the additional

    advantage of standing innnei’sioiv in water.

    The great number of craftsmen who ply their vocations in

    the street, as well as the more mmierous class of hucksters

    who supply food as they go from house to house, furnish mucli

    to annise and interest. Each of them has a peculiar call. The

    barber twangs a sort of tweezers like a long tuning-fork, the

    peddler twirls a hand-drum with clappers strung on each side,

    the refuse-buyer strikes a little gong, the fruiterer claps two bamboo

    sticks, and the fortune-teller tinkles a gong-bell ; these, with

    the varied calls and cries of beggars, cadgers, chapmen, etc., fill

    the streets with a concert of strange sounds.

    The delicate carving of Chinese workmen has often been described; many specimens of it are annually sent abroad. Few products of their skill are more rcnuxrkable than the balls containing ten or twelve separate spheres one within another. The manner of cutting them is ingenious. A piece of ivory or wood is first made perfectly globular, and then several conical holes are bored into it in such a manner that their apices all meet at the centre, which becomes hollow as the holes are bored into it. The sides of each having been marked with

    lines to indicate the number of globes to be cut out, the w^orkman

    inserts a chisel or burin with a semicircular blade, bent so

    that the edge cuts the ivory, as the shaft is worked on the

    pivot, at the same depth in each hole. By successively cutting

    a little on the inside of each conical hole, the incisures meet,

    and a sphericle is at last detached, which is now turned over

    and its faces one after another brought opposite the largest

    hole, and firmly secured by wedges in the other a})ertures, while

    its surfaces are smoothed and carved. When the central sphere

    is done, a similar tool, somewhat larger, is again introduced

    into the holes, and another sphere detached and smoothed in

    the same way, and then another, until the whole is completed,

    each being polished and carved before the next outer one is

    connnenced. It takes three or four months to complete a ball with fifteen inner globes, the price of which ranges from twenty to thirty dollars, according to the delicacy of the carving. Some writers have asserted that these curious toys were made of semi spheres nicely luted together, and they have been boiled in oil for hours in order to separate them and solve the mystery of their construction.

    Fans and card-cases are carved of wood, ivory, and mother-of-pearl in alto-relievo, with an elaborateness which shows the great skill and patience of the workman, and at the same time his crude conception of drawing, the figures, houses, trees, and other objects being grouped in violation of all propriety and perspective. Beautiful ornaments are made by carving roots of plants, branches, gnarled knots, etc., into fantastic groups of birds or animals, the artist taking advantage of the natural form of his material in the arrangement of his figures. Models of pagodas, boats, and houses are entirely constructed of ivory, even to representing the ornamental roofs, the men working at the oar, and women looking from the balconies. Baskets of elegant shape are woven from ivoiy splinths; and the shopmen at Canton exhibit a variety of seals, paper-knives, chessmen, counters, combs, etc., exceeding in finish and delicacy the same kind of work found anywhere else in the world. The most

    elaborate coat of arms, or complicated cypher, will also be imitated

    by these skilful carvers. The national taste prefers this

    style of carving on plane surfaces ; it is seen on the walls of

    houses and granite slabs of fences, the woodwork of boats and

    shops, and on articles of furniture. Most of it is pretty, but the

    disproportion and cramped position of the figures detract from

    its beauty when judged by strict rules of western art.

    The manufacture of enamels and cloisonne wares has lately

    received a great stimulus from their foi’eign demand. A copper

    vase is formed of the desired shape by hammering and soldering,

    on whose clean surface the figures to be enamelled are

    etched to show where the strips of copper are to be soldered

    before their interspaces are enamelled. This solder is made of

    borax and silver, and melts at a higher temperature than the

    enamel, which is reduced to a paste and filled into each cell of

    the pattern by brushes and styles, until the whole design is

    MANUFACTURE OF CLOlSONNfi, MATS, ETC. 61

    gone over. Tlie various colored liao, or ingredients, are prepared

    in cakes by artists who keep their composition secret, but

    all the substances occur in China. The (piality of the ware

    depends on the skill in mixing these cakes and fusing the colors

    in a charcoal fire, into which the piece is placed ; imperfection^

    and holes are covered and tilled up when it is cooled, and the

    piece is again and again exposed to the fire. After the third ordeal it is ground smooth and polished on a lathe, and the brass work gilt. The specimens now made show very fine work, but their coloring hardly equals those of Kienlungs reign or still earlier in the Ming dynasty.

    Fancy Carved Work.

    Much inferior work has also been palmed off for that of the golden period of this art. The manufacture of mats for sails of junks and boats, floors, bedding, etc., employs thousands. A sail containing nearly four hundred square feet can be obtained for ten dollars. The rolls are largely exported, and still more extensively used in the country for covering packages for shipment. A stouter kind made of bamboo splinths serves as a material for huts, and fulfils many other purposes that are elsewhere attained by boards or canvas. Rattans are largely worked into mats, chairs, baskets, and other articles of domestic service. Several branches of manufacture have entirely grown up, or been much encouraged by the foreign trade, among which the preparation of vermilion, beating gold-leaf, cutting pearl buttons, dyeing and trimming pith-paper for artificial flowers, weaving and painting fancy window-blinds, and the preparation of sweetmeats are the principal. The beautiful vermilion exported from Canton is prepared by triturating one part of quicksilver with two of sulphur until they form a blackish powder, which is put into a crucible having an iron lid closely luted down. When the fire acts on the mixture the lid is cooled to effect the sublimation ; the deposit on the top is cinnabar and that on the sides is vermilion, according

    to the Chinese ; all of them are powdered, levigated, decanted,

    and dried on tiles for use in painting and pharmacy, coloring

    candles and paper, and making red ink. The excellence of Chinese vermilion depends on the thoroughness of the grinding.’

    ‘ Compare an article by Julien in the Nouv. Journ. Asiatique, Tome V., 1830,pp. 208 ff.

    PHASES OF CHINESE INDUSTRIAL LIFE. 63

    It has often been said that the Chinese are so averse to change and improvement that they will obstinately adhere to their own modes, but, though slow to alter well-tried methods, such is not the case. Three new manufactures have been introduced during the present century, viz., that of glass, bronze-work, and Prussian blue. A Chinese sailor brought home the manufacture of the latter, which he had learned thoroughly in London, and the people now supply themselves. Works in bronze and brass have of late been set up, and watches and clocks are both extensively manufactured, with the exception of the springs. Fire-engines in imitation of foreign hand-engines are gradually eomino; into use. Brass cannon were made durins; the war with England in imitation of pieces taken from a wreck, and the frames of one or two vessels to be worked with wheels by men at a crank, in imitation of steamers, were found on the stocks at Ningpo Mdien the English took the place. Since then the establishment of government arsenals at Fuhchau, Shanghai, Xanking, and Tientsin has stimulated and suggested as well as taught the people many applications of machinery. Yet until they can see their Avay clear to be remunerated for their outlay, it is unwise to urge or start doubtful experiments. This was shown at Canton ten years ago when a native company was formed to spin cotton yarn by steam machinery, and when the apparatus was all ready for work the cotton flowers were quite unwilling to trust their raw cotton out of their hands. Moreover, it should be observed that few have taken the trouble to explain or show them the improvements they are supposed to be so disinclined to adopt. Ploughs have been given the farmers near Shanghai, but they would not use them, which, however, may have been as much owing to the want of a proper harness, or a little instruction regarding their use, as to a dislike to take a new article.

    The general aspect of Chinese society, in an industrial point

    of view, is one of its most pleasing features. The great body of

    the people are obliged to engage in manual labor in order to

    subsist, yet only a trifling proportion of them can be called

    beggars, while still fewer possess such a degree of wealth that

    they can live on its income. Property is safe enough to afford

    assurance to honest toil that it shall generally reap the reward

    of its labors, but if that toil prosper beyond the usual limits,

    the avarice of officials and the envy of neighbors easily find a

    multitude of contrivances to harass and impoverish the fortunate

    man, and the laws are not executed with such strictness as to

    deter them. The mechanical arts supply their wants, but having

    no better models before them, nor any scientific acquaintance

    with elementary principles and powers applicable to a great

    number of purposes, these arts have remained stationary. The

    abundance of labor must be employed, and its cheapness obviates

    the necessity of finding substitutes in machinery. The adoption

    of even a few things from abroad might involve so many

    changes, that even those intelligent natives who saw their

    advantages would hesitate in view of the momentous contingencies

    of a failure. The conflict between capital and labor in its various phases and struggles is becoming more and more marked the world over as civilization advances, and the Chinese polity is destined to endure its greatest strain in adjusting their forces among its industrious millions.

    Imitation is a remarkable trait in the Chinese mind, though invention is not altogether wanting; the former leads the people to rest content with what they can get along with, even at some expense of time and waste of labor, where, too, an exhibition of ingenuity and science would perhaps be accompanied with suspicion, expense, or hindrances from both neighbors and rulers.

    The existence of the germ of arts and discoveries, whose development would liave brought witli them so many advantages

    and pointed to still further discoveries, leads one to inquire the

    reason why they were not carried out. Setting aside the view,

    which may properly be taken, that the wonderful discoveries

    now made in the arts by Europeans form part of God’s great

    plan for the redemption of the race, the want of mutual confidence,

    insecurity of property, and debasing effects of heathenism

    upon the intellect will explain much of the apathy shown

    toward improvement. Invention among them has rather lacked

    encouragement than ceased to exist :—more than that, it has

    been checked by a suspicious, despotic sway, while no stimulus

    of necessity has existed to counterbalance and urge it forward,

    and has been stunted by the mode and materials of education.

    It was not till religious liberty and discussion arose in Europe that the inhabitants began to improve in science and arts as well as morals and good government ; and when the ennobling and expanding principles of an enlarged civilization find their way into Chinese society and mind, it may reasonably be expected that rapid advances will be made in the comforts of this life, as well as in adopting the principles and exhibiting the conduct which prove a fitness for the enjoyments of the next.

    CHAPTER XVI. SCIENCE AMONG THE CHINESE

    That enlargement of the mind which results from the collection and investigation of facts, or from extensive reading of books on whose statements reliance can be placed, and which leads to the cultivation of knowledge for its own sake, has no existence in China. Sir John Davis justly observes that the Chinese ” set no value on abstract science, apart from some obvious and immediate end of utility;” and he properly compares the actual state of the sciences among them with their condition in Europe previous to the adoption of the inductive mode of investigation. Even their few theories in explanation of the mysteries of nature are devoid of all fancy to make amends for want of fact and experiment, so that in reading them we are neither amused by their imagination nor instructed by their research. Perhaps the rapid advances made by Europeans, during the two past centuries, in the investigation of nature in all her departments and powers, has made us somewhat impatient of such a parade of nonsense as Chinese books exhibit.

    In addition to the general inferiority of Chinese mind to European in genius and imagination, it has moreover been hampered by a language the most tedious and meagre of all tongues, and wearied with a literature abounding in tiresome repetitions and unsatisfactory theories. Under these conditions, science, whether mathematical, physical, or natural, has made few advances during the last few centuries, and is now awaiting a new impulse from abroad in all its departments.

    Murray’s China (Vol. III., Chap. IV.) contains a fair account of the attainments of the Chinese in mathematics and astronomy.

    The notation of the Chinese is based on the decimal principle, but as their figures are not changed in vahie by position, it is difficult to write out clearly the several steps in solving a problem.

    Experiments have shown that it is easy encmgh to perform them with Chinese figures used in our way, omitting the characters for 100, 1,000, and 10,000 {2)ch, tslcn, and wan) ; but it will be long before the change will become general, even if it be desirable. Arithmetical calculations are performed with the assistance of an abacus, called a stranjxin, or ‘counting board’, which is simply a shallow case divided longitudinally by a bar and crossed by several wires ; on one side of this bar the wires bear five balls, on the other two. The five balls stand for nnits, the two balls behig each worth five units. When the

    balls on any wire are taken for nnits, those next to the right

    stand for tens, the thii’d for hundreds, and so on ; while those

    on the left denote tenths, hundredths, etc. Simple calculations

    are done on this machine with accuracy and rapidity, but as it

    is only a convenient index for the progress and result of a calculation

    performed in the head, if an error be made the whole

    must be performed again, since the result only appears when

    the sura is finished. There are three sorts of figures, partly answering

    to the English, Itoman, and Arabic forms—as Seven,

    VII., and T—the most connnon of which are given on page 619

    of Yol. I. ; the complicated form is used for securit}- in drafts

    and bills, and the abbreviated in common operations, accounts,

    etc., and in setting down large amounts in a more compact form

    than can be done by the other characters. This mode of notation

    is employed by the Japanese and Cochinchinese, and possesses

    some advantages over the method of using letters practised

    by the Greeks and Romans, as well as over the counters

    once employed in England, but falls far behind the Arabic system

    now in general use in the west.

    CHINESE MATHEMATICS. G7

    Treatises on arithmetic are common, in which the simple rules are explained and illustrated by examples and questions. One of the best is the Sinan-fdh Tung T,Httng, or ‘ General Gomprehensive Arithmetic,’ in five volumes, octavo, the author of which, Cliing Yu-sz’, lived in the Ming dynasty. The Tsu-wei-shan Fang Sho ITioh, or ‘Mathematics of the Lagerstra’mia Hill Institution,’ in thirty-eight books, octavo, 182S, contains a complete course of mathematical instruction in geometry, trigonometry, mensuration, etc., together with a table of natural sines and tangents, and one of logarithmic sines, tangents, secants, etc., for every degree and minute. Both these compilations derive most of their value from the mathematical writings of the Roman Catholic missionaries ; it is stated in the latter work that “• the western scholar, John Kapier, made logarithms.”

    The study of arithmetic has attracted attention among the Chinese from very early times, and the notices found in historical works indicate some treatises even extant in the Han dynasty, followed by a great number of general and particular works down to the Sung dynasty. One author of the Tang dynasty, in his problems on solid mensuration, offered one thousand taels of silver to whoever found a single word of error in the book. The Hindu processes in algebra were known to Chinese mathematicians, and are still studied, though all intellectual intercourse between the countries has long ceased. Down to the end of the Ming dynasty, these branches made slow progress.

    Since foreigners have begun to apply western science, the development has been rapid. Mr. Wylie has given, in his Notes 0)1 Chinese Literature (pp. 86-104), a digested account of the most valuable native works on astronomy and mathematics. One very comprehensive work on them is the Thesaurus of Mathematics and Chronology, published by imperial order about 1750.

    The knowledge of mathematics, even among learned men, is

    very small, and the common people study it only as far as their

    business requires ; the cumbersome notation and the little aid

    such studies giv^e in the examinations doubtless discourage men

    from pursuing what they seem to have no taste for as a people.’

    A curious fact regarding the existence of six errors in these

    tables, discovered by Bal)bage to have been perpetuated in most

    of the European logarithmic tables since the publication of the

    Trigonometria Artijicialis of Vlacq in 1633, proves the source

    whence the Chinese derived them, and their imitative fidelity

    in copying them. Chinese authors readily acknowledge the superiority of western inatlieinaticians, and generally ascribe their advances in the exact sciences to them.

    ‘ See Notes and Queries on C. and /., Vol. I., p. 166, and Vol. III., p. 153.

    The attaiinnents made by the ancient Chinese in astronomy

    are not easily understood from their scanty records, for the

    mere notice of an eclipse is a very different thing from its calculation

    or description. They have been examined recently

    with renewed interest and care in view of the discoveries at

    ]S”ineveh, which have furnished so many reliable notices in

    “Western Asia of early days, and may lend some rays of light

    to illustrate the history and condition of Eastern Asia when

    more fully studied. The Booh of liecords contains some notices

    of instructions given by Yao to his astronomers Hi and IIo to

    ascertain the solstices and e(|uinoxcs, to employ intercalary

    months, and to tix the four seasons, in order that the husbandman might know when to commit his seed to the ground. If the time of the deluge be reckoned, according to Hales, at b.c.3155, there will be an interval of about eight centuries to the days of Yao, ];.<•. 2357 ; this would be ample time for the observation that the primitive sacred year of three hundred and sixty days in Noah’s time was wrong; also that the lunar year of about three hundred and fifty-four days was (piite as incorrect, and required additional correction, which this ancient monarch is said to have made by an intercalation of seven lunar months in nineteen years. It is remarkable, too, that the time given as the date of the commencement of the astronomical observations sent to Aristotle from Babylon by command of Alexander should be b.c. 2233, or only a few years after the death of Yao ; at that time the five additional days to complete the solar year were intercalated by the Chaldeans, and celebrated as days of festivity. Dr. Hales, who mentions this, says that many ancient nations, and also the Mexicans, had the same custom, but there are no traces of any particular observance of them by the Chinese, who, indeed, could not notice them in a lunar year.

    DIVISIONS OF THE YEAR. 60

    The intercalation made by Yao has continued with little variation to this day. The Romish missionaries rectified the calendar during; the i-eio;n of Kan2;hi, and have contimied its preparation since that time. The adoption of the Julian solar year of three hundred and sixty-five and one-fourth days at this remote period is far fioni certain, though the fact of its existence among nations in the west is’ mentioned hy the commentator upon the Iloolx of liecordH, who tlonrislied a.d. 1200. The attention the Chinese paid to the hniar year, and the very small difference their seven intercahitions left between the true haimonizing of the lunar and solar years (only Ih. 27m. 32s.), would not derange the calculations to a degree to attract their notice. The period of the adoption of the cycle of sixty years, called In/i-sJiiJt hwa hiah-tsz\ cannot be ascertained even with any close approach to probability. Though negative evidence is always the poorest basis on which to found a theory in any branch of knowledge, it still bears great influence in early Chinese history and science, and in no department more than astronomy. This sexagenary cycle, the Chinese assert, was contrived nearly three centuries before the time of Yao (b.c. 2637), and seems to have been perfectly arbitrary, for no explanation now exists of the reasons which induced its inventor, HuangDi, or his minister, Kao the Great, to select this number. The years have each of them a separate name, formed by taking ten characters, called shih Jicuu or ‘ ten stems,’ and joining to them twelve other characters, called the shih-‘ih c7ii, or ‘twelve branches,’ five times repeated.

    These two sets of horary characters are also applied to

    minutes and seconds, honrs, days, and months, signs of the

    zodiac, points of the compass, etc. By giving the twelve

    branches the names of as many animals and apportioning the

    ten stems in couplets among the five elements, they are also

    made to play an important part in divination and astrology.

    The present year (1882) is the eighteenth year of the seventysixth

    cycle, or the four thousand five hundred and eighteenth

    since its institution ; but no trace of a serial nnmbering of the

    sexagenary periods has yet been found in Chinese writings. The

    application of the characters to hours and days dates from about

    B.C. 1752, according to the Shu Klmj, pei’haps even before they

    were combined in a cyclic arrangement. This sexagenary division

    existed in India in early times, too, and is still followed

    there, where it is named the Cycle of Jupiter, ” because the length of its years is measured by the passage of that phiiict, by its mean motion, through one sign of the zodiac.” liev. E. Ihirgess, in his translation of “the Surija jSuld/ianta, says that the length of Jupiter’s years is reckoned in that book at 361d.

    Oh. 38m., and adds : ” It was doubtless on account of the near

    coincidence of this period with the true solar year that it was

    adopted as a measure of time ; but it has not been satisfactorily

    ascertained, as far as we are aware, “where the cycle originated,

    or what is its age, or why it was made to consist of sixty

    years, including five whole revolutions of the planet.” It is

    not improbable, therefore, that the cycle, the two sets of characters,

    the twenty-four solar terms, witli the twelve and twentyeight

    lunar mansions or zodiacal asterisms, all of which play

    such an important part in Chinese astrology and astronomy,

    will be found to have been derived from the Chaldeans, and not

    from the Hindus, as has been confidently asserted. Though

    confessedly ancient in both India and China, their adoption was

    slow in its growth, while some striking similarities indicate a

    common origin, and so remote that its genesis is all a mystery.

    The year is lunar, but its commencement is regulated by the sun. New Year falls on the first new moon after the sun enters Aquarius, which makes it come not before January 21st nor after February lOtli. Besides the division into lunar months, the year is apportioned into twenty-four jieqi, or ‘ terms,’ of about fifteen days each, depending upon the position of the sun; these are continued on from year to year, irrespective of the intercalations, the first one commencing about February 6th, when the sun is 15° in Aquarius. Their names have reference to the season of the year and obvious changes in nature at the time they come round, as rain-vxtter, vernal-eqitifiox, spikedgrain, little-heat, etc.

    The Chinese divide the zodiac(huang dao, or ‘yellow road’) into twenty-eight siu or I’ung, ‘ constellations’ or ‘lunar mansions’, but instead of an equable allotment, the signs occupy from 1° up to 31°; the Hindus arrange them nearly in spaces of 13° each. Their names and corresponding animals, with the principal stars answering to each asterism, are given in the table.

    DIVISIONS OF THE ZODIAC. 71

    •of one of the twenty-eight lunar mansions is given to every day in the year in perpetual rotation, consequently the same day of our week in every fourth week has the same character applied ro it. The days are numbered from the first to the last day of the month, and the months from one to twelve through the year, except the intercalaiy month, called jun yueJi y and there is also a trine division of the month into decades.’

    The astronomical ideas of the common Chinese are vague and

    inaccurate. Tlie knowledge contained in their own scientific

    hooks has not been taught, and they still believe the earth to be

    a plain surface, measuring each way about one tliousand five

    hundred miles; around it the sun, moon, and stars revolve, the

    first at a distance of four tliousand miles. This figure comes so

    near the earth’s radius that it is reasonable to infer, with Chalmers,

    that it was calculated from the different elevation of the sun

    in dift’erent latitudes. The distance of the heavens from the earth

    was ascertained by one observer to be 81,304 //’, and by another

    subsequent to him to be 216,781 li, or about 73,000 miles; all of which indicates the lack of careful observation. The constellation of the Peh Tao, or Dipper, plays an important part in popular astronomy; the common saying is:

    ‘ When the handle of the Northern Peck points east at nightfall, it is spring over the land ; when it points south, it is summer ; and when west or north, it is respectively autumn and winter.’ The Dipper

    has become a kind of natm-al clock from this circumstance, and

    as its handle always points to the bright stars in Scorpio, these

    two constellations are among the most familiar. These popular

    notions must not, however, be taken as a test of what was known

    in early times; it is quite as just to their scientific attainments

    in this branch to give them credit (as Wjdie does) for having

    known more than has come down to our days; as to deny belief

    in the little that remains, because it presents some insoluble

    difificulties, as Chalmers is disposed to do.

    ‘ Chinese Eepositorii, Vol. IX., pp. 573-584. De Giiignes’ V»i/iif/rs, Vol. II., p. 414. Chinese ChrcHtoriutthy. Legge’s Shoo Kinn, passim. Chalmers, On the Astronomy of the Ancient Chinese. Journal of the Am. Oriental Society, Vol. VI., Art. III., and Vol. VIII., Arts. I. and VII. Whitney’s Orientaland Linfjuisiie Studies, Art. XII. North China Br. R. A. S. Journal, Nos. III. and IV.

    CHINESE NOTIONS OF ASTRONOMY. 73

    Astronomy has been studied by the Chinese for astrological

    and state pur{)oses, and their recordetl oI)servatioMS of eclipses,

    comets, etc., have no small value to European astronomers and

    chronologists. Mailla has collected the notices of 460 solar

    eclipses, extending from n.c. 2151) to a.d. 1699, and Wylie furnishes

    a careful list of 925 solar and 574 lunar eclipses, extracted

    from Chinese works, observed between 2150 and a.d. 1785.

    Comets have been carefully noted whenever their brilliancy has enabled them to be seen, for they are regarded as portents by the people, and their course among the stars somewhat determines their influence. A list of 373 comets mentioned in Chinese records has been published by John Williams,’ mostly extracted from Ma Twan-lin’s Antiquarian Researches, and the Shi K’i. They extend from b.c. 611 to a.d. 1621 ; the general value of these records is estimated by the learned author as entitling them to credence. The curious and intimate connection between geomancy, horoscopy, and astrology, which the Chinese suppose exists, has a powerful influence in maintaining their errors, because of its bearing on every man’s luck. Even with all the aid they have derived from Europeans, the Chinese

    seem to be unable to advance in the science of astronomy, when

    left to themselves, and to cling to their superstitions against

    every evidence. Some clouds having on one occasion covered

    the sky, so that an eclipse could not be seen, the courtiers joyfully

    repaired to the Emperor to felicitate him, that Heaven,

    touched by his virtues, had spared him the pain of witnessing

    the “eating of the sun.” A native writer on astronomy, called

    Tsinglai, who published several works under the patronage of

    Yuen Yuen, the liberal-minded governor of Kwangtungin 1820,

    even at that late day, ” makes the heavens to consist of ten concentric hollow spheres or envelopes; the first contains the moon’s orbit ; the second that of Mercury ; those of Venus, the Sun, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and the twenty-eight constellations, follow; the ninth envelops and binds together the eight interior ones, and revolves daily ; while the tenth is the abode of the Observations of Comef.,% from b.c. Gil to a.d. 1640. Extracted from the Chinese Annuls. Loudon, 1871.

    Celestial tSovereit’n, the Great Ruler, with all the ii^ods and sao’es where they enjoy eternal tranquility.” lie further says, “there are two north and two south poles, those of the equator and those of the ecliptic. The poles of the ecliptic regulate the varied machinery of the heavenly revolutions, and turn round unceasingly. The poles of the equator are the pivots of the primitive celestial body, and remain permanently unmoved.

    What are called the two poles, therefore, are really not stars, but two immovable points in the north and in the south.*’ ‘ The author of this astute cosmogony studied under Europeans, and published these remarks as the fruit of his researches.

    The action and reaction of the elements furnish a satisfactory

    explanation to Chinese philosophers of the changes going on in

    the visible universe, for no possible contingencj’ can arise which

    they are not prepared to solve by their analysis of the evolution

    of its powers. Through their speculations by this curious system

    they have been led away from carefully recording facts and

    processes, and have gone on, like a squirrel in a cage, making

    no progress tow^ard the real knowledge of the elements they

    treat of. The following table contains the leading elementary

    correspondences which they use, but a full explanation would be out of place here.

    This fanciful system is more or less received by their most intelligent mcTi ; and forms a sort of abracadabra in the hands of geomancers and future-tellers, by which, with a show of great learning, they impose on the people. The sun, moon, and planets influence sublunary events, especially the life and death of human beings, and changes in their color menace approaching calamities. Alterations in the appearance of the sun announce misfortunes to the state or its head, as revolts, famines, or the death of the Emperor; when the moon waxes red, or turns pale, men should be in awe at the unlucky times thus fore-omened.

    Chinese ChrcHtoiiuitlii/, p. 391

    ACTION AND UEACTIOX OF THE ELEMENTS. 75

    O 5H I-:; < H P3 O a: o I— (HO !^ P P^ Q ;?;

    The sun is symbolized by the figure of a raven in a circle, and the moon by a rabbit on his hind legs pounding rice in a mortar, or by a three-legged toad. The last refers to the

    legend of an ancient beauty, Cliang-ngo, who drank the liquor

    of imniortality and straightway ascended to the moon, where

    she was transformed into a toad, still to be traced in its face.

    It is a special object of worship in autumn, and moon-cakes

    dedicated to it are sold at this season. All the stars are i-anged

    into constellations, and an emperor is installed over them, who

    resides at the north pole ; five monarchs, also, Yivc in the five

    stars in Leo, where is a palace, called Wu Tl tao^ or ‘Throne of

    the Five Emperors.’ In this celestial government there is also

    an heir-apparent, empresses, sons and daughters, tribunals, and

    the constellations receive the names of men, animals, and other

    terrestrial objects. The Dipper is worshipped as the residence

    of the fates, where the duration of life, and other events relating

    to mankind, are measured and meted out. Doolittle’s Social

    Life contains other popular notions connected with the stars,

    showing the ignorance still existing, and the fears excited by

    unusual phenomena among the heavenly bodies. Both heaven

    and the sun are worshipped by the government in appropriate

    temples on the west and east sides of Peking. The rainbow is

    the product of the impure vapors ascending from the earth

    meetino; those descendino; from the sun.

    If their knowledge of astronomy can be criticised as being

    anything but an exact science, the Chinese should not be denied

    credit for a certain amount of beauty in what may be called the

    romantic side of this study. In the myths and legends which

    have clustered about and doubtless in many cases perverted

    their observations of the stars, there are the sources of fetes

    and subjects for pictorial illustration Mithout number. One of

    these stories, forming the motive of a bowl decoration given

    upon the opposite page, is the fable of Aquila (;^/’i’/.) and Vega,

    known in Chinese and Japanese mytliX)logy as the Herdsman

    and Weaver-girl. The latter, the daughter of the sun-god, was

    so continually busied with her loom that her father became wor-

    I’ied at her close habits and thought that by marrying her to a

    neighbor, who herded cattle on the banks of the Silver Stream

    of Heaven (the Milky Way), she might awake to a brighter

    manner of living.

    FABLE OF THE HERDSMAN AND WKAVEIt-GIRL. 77

    ” No sooner did the maiden become wife than her habits and character utterly changed for the worse. She became not only very merry and lively, but quite forsook loom and needle, giving up her nights and days to play and idleness; no silly lover could have been more foolish than she. The sun-king, in great wrath at all this, concluded that the husband was the cause of it and determined to separate the couple. So he ordered him to remove to the other side of the river of stars, and told him that hereafter they should meet only once a year, on the seventh night of the seventh month. To make a brids-e over the flood of stars, the sun-king called myriads of magpies, which thereupon flew together, and, making a bridge, supported the poor lover on their wnngs and backs as if it were a roadway of solid land. So bidding his weeping wife farewell, the lover husband sorrowfully crossed the River of Heaven, and all the magpies instantly flew away. But the two were separated, the one to lead his ox, the other to ply her shuttle during the long hours of the day wdth diligent toil, and the sun-king again rejoiced in his daughter’s industry.

    “At last the time for their reunion drew near, and only one

    fear possessed the loving wife. AVhat if it should rain ? For

    the River of Heaven is always full to the brim, and one extra

    di’op causes a flood which sweeps away even the bird l)ridge.

    But not a drop fell ; all the heavens were clear. The magpies

    flew joyfully in myriads, making a way for the tiny feet of the

    httle lady. Trembling with joy, and with heart fluttering more

    than the bridge of wings, she crossed the River of Heaven and

    was in the arms of her husband. This she did every year.

    The husband staid on his side of the river, and the wife came

    to him on the magpie bridge, save on the sad occasion when it

    rained. So every year the people hope for clear weather, and

    the happy festival is celebrated alike by old and young.” ‘

    ‘ Somewhat abridged from Mr. W. E. Griffis’ Japdneae Fairy Worhl, a book which has given us the cream of a great variety of stories from Eastern won’ der-lore.

    DIVISIONS OF THE DAY—THE ALMANAC. 79

    These two constellations are worshipped principally by women, that they may gain cumiing in the arts of needlework and making of fancy flowers. Watermelons, fruits, vegetables, cakes, etc., are placed with incense in the reception-room, and before these offerings are performed the kneelings and knoekings in the usual wav.

    The entire day is divided into twelve two-hour periods called shin., coumiencing at eleven o’clock, p.m.; each hour is further subdivided into kik, or eighths, equal to fifteen of our minutes, and receives the same characters. There are various means employed to measure time, but the people are rapidly learning to reckon its progress by watches and clocks, and follow our divisions in preference to their own. A common substitute for watches are tl/ne-sticks, long round pieces of a composition of clay and sawdust, well mixed and wound in a spiral manner; the lapse of time is indicated by its equable slow combustion from one hour mark to another, until the whole is consumed, which in the longest is not less than a week. Dials are in

    common use, and frequently attached to the mariner’s compass,

    by making the string which retains the cover in its place cast a

    shadow on the face of it. This lesson in dialing, Davis supposes

    they learned from the Jesuits. Clepsydras of various forms

    were anciently employed, some of which, from their description,

    were so disproportionately elegant and costly for such a

    clumsy mode of noting time, that their beauty more than their

    use was perhaps the principal object in preparing them.

    The almanac holds an important place, its preparation having

    been early taken under the special cal-e of the government,

    which looks upon a present of this important publication as one

    of the highest favors which it can confer on tributary vassals

    or friendly nations. It is annually prepared at Peking, under

    the direction of a bureau attached to the Board of Rites, and,

    by making it a penal offence to issue a counterfeit or pirated

    edition the governmental astrologers have monopolized the

    management of the superstitions of the people in regard to the

    fortunate or unlucky conjunctions of each day and hour. Besides

    the cabalistic part of it, the ephemeris also contains tables

    of the rising of the sun according to the latitudes of the principal

    places, times of the new and full moon, the beginning

    and length of the twenty -four terms, eclipses, application of the

    horary characters, conjunction of the planets, etc. Two or three editions are published for the convenience of the people, the prices of which vary from three to ten cents a copy. No one ventures to be without an ahuanac, lest he be liable to the greatest misfortunes, and run the imminent hazard of undertaking important events on black-balled days. The Europeans who were employed for many years in compiling the calendar were not allowed to interfere in the astrological part ; it is to the discredit of the Chinese to aid thus in perpetuating folly and ignorance among the people, when they know that the whole system is false and absurd. Such governments as that of China, however, deem it necessary to uphold ancient superstitions, if they can thereby influence their security, or strengthen the reverence due them.

    If their astronomical notions are vague, their geographical

    knowledge is ridiculous. The maps of their own territories are

    tolerably good, being originally drawn from actual survej’s by

    nine of the Jesuits, between the years 1708-1718, and since

    that time have been filled up and changed to conform to the

    alterations and divisions. Their full survey’s were engraved on

    copper at Paris, by order of Louis XIV., on sheets, measuring

    in all over a hundred square feet, and have formed the basis of

    all subsequent maps. The Chinese do not teach geography in

    their schools, even of their own empire. The conimon people

    have no knowledge, therefore, of the form and divisions of the

    globe, and the size and position of the kingdoms of the earth.

    Their common maps delineate them very erroneously, not even

    excepting their own possessions in Mongolia and tli—scattering

    islands, kingdoms, and continents, as they have heard of their

    existence, at haphazard in various corners beyond the frontiers.

    The two Americas and Africa are entirely omitted on most of

    them, and England, Holland, Portugal, Goa, Lugonia, Bokhara,

    Germany, France, and India, are arranged along the western

    side, from north to south, in a series of islands and headlands.

    The southern and eastern sides are similarly garnished by islands, as Japan, Lewchew, Formosa, Siam, Pirmah, Java, the Sulu Islands, and others, while Russia occupies the whole of the northern frontier of their Middle Kingdom.

    GE0(4KAnTICAL KNOWLEDGK OF THE CHINESE. 8\

    The geographical works of Tsinglai are not (juite so erroneous as his astronomical, but the uneducated peoj^lc, notwithstanding Ills efforts to teach them better, still generally suppose the earth to be an inniiense extended stationary plain. Their notions of its inhabitants are equally whimsical, and would grace the pages of Sir fJohn Mandeville. In some parts of its surface they imagine the inhabitants to he all dwarfs, who tie themselves together in bunches for fear of being carried away by the eagles; in others they are all women, who conceive by looking at their shadows ; and in a third kingdom, all the people have holes in their breasts, through which they thrust a pole, when carrying one another from place to place. Charts for the guidance of the navigator, or instruments to aid him in determining his position at sea, the Chinese are nearly or quite destitute of; they have retrograded rather than advanced in navigation, judging from the accounts of Fa-hian, Ibn Batuta, and other travellers, when their vessels frequented the ports in the Persian Gulf and on the Malabar coast, and carried on a large trade with the Archipelago. Itineraries are published, containing the distances between places on the principal thoroughfares throughout the provinces, and also lists of the ports, harbors, and islands on the coast, but nothing like sailing directions accompany the latter, nor do maps of the routes illustrate the former. Such knowledge as they have on these points is hidden away in their libraries, as the Latin and Greek classics were in European convents and castles a thousand years ago.

    In the various branches of mensuration and formulae used to describe the dimensions and weight of bodies, they have reached only a practical medioci’ity. With a partial knowledge of trigonometry, and no instruments for ascertaining the heights of

    objects or their distances fi’om the observer, still their lands are

    well measured, and the area of lots in towns and cities accurately

    ascertained. The cht/i or foot is the integer of length, but its

    standard value cannot be easily ascertained. In the Chinese

    Commercial Ouide^ p. 285, is a table of eighty-four observations

    on this point, taken at different times and places in China, whose

    extremes differ more than six inches. It is fixed by the Board

    of Works at 13^ in. English, but tradesmen at Canton employ

    foot measures varying from 14.625 to 14.81 in. ; according

    to the tariff, it is reckoned at 14.1 in. English, and the ehang of ten chih at Z\\ yds. During the past thirty years, the tariff weights and measures have gradually obtained acceptance as the standards, and this will probably result in securing uniformity in course of time. The chih is subdivided into ten tsun or puntos, and each tsun into teny^n. The I’l is used for distances, and is usually reckoned at 1,825.55 ft. English, which gives 2.89 I’l to an English mile ; this is based on the estimate of 200 I’l to a degree, but there were only 180 li to a degree before Europeans came, which increases its length to 2,028.39 ft. or 2.6 Vi to a mile, which is nearer the common estimate. The French missionaries divided the degree into 250 li (each being then exactly 1,460.44 ft. English, or one-tenth of a French astronomical league), and also into sixty minutes and sixty seconds, to make it correspond to western notation ; this measure has not been adopted in common use. The present rulers have established

    post-houses very generally, at intervals of ten li^ or about a

    league. The land measures are the mao and l:’in<j ; the former

    measures 6,000 square <?/«’A, or 808.6 square yaixls, and a hundred

    of them make a king. Taxes are collected, land is leased,

    and crops are estimated by the mao and its decimal parts ; but

    examination has shown that the actual area of a inao grows less

    as one goes north ; in Canton, it is about 4.76 ‘tnao to an acre,

    and at Peking it is six, and even smaller.

    The weights and measures of the Chinese are twenty-four in

    all, and vary in their value even more than those of long measure.

    The common weights are called tael^ catty^ 2i\\^^ecul by

    foreigners ; their values are respectively \\ oz. av., 1|^ lb. av.,

    and 1331^ lbs. av., and thus roughly correspond to the English

    ounce, pound, and hundredweight. The Chinese deal in many

    articles l)y weight which among western nations are sold according

    to their quality—such as M’ood, silk, oil, whiskey, cloth, grain,

    poultry, etc.—so that it has been humorously observed that the

    Chinese sell everything by -weight, except eggs and children.

    Their common measures correspond nearly to our gill, half-pint,

    pint, and peck, and are used to retail rice, beans, etc. The smaller

    ones are not very accurately constructed from bamboo-joints,

    but the peck measure, or tec, shaped like tlie frustum of a

    pyramid, must be olRcially examined and sealed before it can

    MONEY, WEIGHTS, AND MEASURES. SIl

    be used; at Canton it contains 6^ catties weiglit, or about 1.13

    gallon. The decimals of the tael, called riiace^ eamlareen, and

    cash {tsitn, /an, and li), are employed in reckoning bullion,

    pearls, gems, drugs, etc.; ten cash making one candareen, ten

    candareens one mace, etc. The proportions between the Chinese

    and American moneys and weights is such that so many

    taels per pecul, or candareens per catty, is the same as so many

    dollars per hundredweight, or cents per pound.’

    The monetary system is arranged on the principle of weight,

    and the divisions have the same names, fael, mace, candareen,

    and cash. The only native coin is a copper piece called tsien,

    because it originally weighed a mace ; it is thin and circular,

    rather more than an inch in diameter, with a square hole in the

    middle for the convenience of stringing. The obverse bears

    the word ])ao, or ‘ current,’ and the name of the province in

    Manchu, on each side of the square hole ; the reverse has four

    words, Taulnran’j, tun’j^pno, i.e., ‘money current [during the

    reign of] Taukwang.’ Mints for casting cash are established

    in each provincial capital under the direction of the Board of

    lievenue. The coin should consist of an alloy of copper, 50 ;

    zinc, ^\\ ; lead, 6^ ; and tin, 2 ; or of equal parts of copper

    and zinc ; but it has been so debased by iron and reduced in

    size during the last fifty years that it does not pay to counterfeit

    it. Each piece should weigh 58 grains troy, or 3.78

    grammes, but most of those now in circulation are under 30

    grains, and the rate of exchange varies in different parts of the

    land from 900 to 1,800 for a silver dollar.

    The workmen in the mint are required to remain within the

    building except wdien leave of absence is obtained, but in spite

    of all the efforts of government, private coinage is issued to a

    great amount, and sometimes with the connivance of the mintmaster.

    ^ Chinese Repository, Vol. X.,p. 050; Chinese Chrestomathy ; Chinese Commercml Guide, Fifth Ed., pp. 2G5-288 ; Rondot, Commerce de la Chine, 1819.

    Neither silver nor gold has ever been coined to any extent in China. In seeking for the cause of this difference from all other Asiatic nations, it seems to lie in the commercial freedom which has done so much to elevate them. The government on the one hand is not strone; enono;]i to restrain counterfeiters, and not honest enough, on the other hand, to issue pieces of uniform standard for a series of years till it has obtained the (ioniidence of its subjects. It will not receive base metal for taxes, and cannot force merchants to accept adulterated coins. As its foreign relations extend it will no doubt be

    obliged to issue a better national currency in the three metals.

    Attempts have been made to introduce a silver piece of the size

    of a tael, and specimens were made at Shanghai in 1856. A

    large coinage of native dollars was attempted in Fuhkien and

    Formosa, about 1835, to pay the troops on that island. One of

    them indicated that the piece was ” pure silver for current use

    from the Chang-chau Commissariat ; [weight] seven mace two

    candareeiis^” The other was of the same weight and purity

    (417.4 grains troy), and besides the inscription in Chinese on

    the obverse, and in Mancliu on the reverse, it had an etfigy of

    the god of Longevity on the head and a tripod on the tail, to

    authenticate its official origin. These pieces were either melted

    or counterfeited to such an extent on their appearance, that they

    soon disappeared.

    Foreign dollars are imported in great quantities from Mexico

    and San Francisco, and form the medium of trade at the open

    ports. They are often stamped by the person who pays them

    out, which soon destroys thein as a coin, and they are then

    melted and refined to be cast into ingots of bullion, called shoes

    of sijcee, from sl-s.z’ or ‘fine floss’ ; these weigh from five mace

    to fifty taels, the larger pieces being stamped with the district

    magistrate’s title and the date, to verify them. They are from

    ninety-seven to ninety-nine per cent, pure silver, but small ingots

    of ten or fifteen taels weight are less pure than the large

    shoes, as they are called from their shape. Gold bullion is cast

    into “bars like cakes of India-ink in shape, weighing about ten

    taels, or hammered into thick leaves which can be examined but

    not separated by di-iving a punch through a pile of a hundred

    or more—a precaution against cheating. Large quantities are

    sent abroad in this shape.

    Taxes and duties are paid in sycee of ninety-eight per cent,

    fineness, and licensed bankers are connected with the revenue

    BANKING SYSTEM AND TAPER MONEY. 85

    department to wlioni tlie proceeds are paid, and who are allowed

    a small percentage for relining and becoming resjjonsible for its

    purity. Dollars and ingots are counterfeited, and all classes

    have them inspected by shrofs, who, by practice, are able to

    decide by the sight alone npon tiie degree of alloy in a piece of

    silver, though usually they employ touchstone needles to assist

    them, different degrees of fineness imparting a different color to

    the needle. Books are prepared as aids to the detection of counterfeit

    dollars ; in these the process of manufacture is carefully

    described ; some of the pieces are marvels of skill in forgery.

    Chartered banking companies are unknown, for a government

    warrant or charter would carry no weight with it, but

    private bankers are found in all large towns. Paper money

    was issued in immense quantities under the Mongol dynasty,

    and its convenience is highly praised by Marco Polo, who

    looked upon its emission by the Grand Khan as the highest

    secret of alchemy. Polo’s ideas of this operation would please

    the ‘* greenbackers ” in the United States. He says, when describing

    Kublai’s purchases : ” So he buys such a quantity of

    those precious things every year that his treasure is endless,

    while all the while the money he pays away costs him nothing

    at all. If any of those pieces of paper are spoilt the

    owner cariies them to the mint, and by paying three per cent,

    on the value he gets new pieces in exchange.” The total issues

    of this highest secret of alchemy during Kublai’s reign of tliirtyfour

    years are reckoned by Pauthier, the Yueji Annals, at equal

    to $624,135,500. The Khan’s successors, however, overdid the

    mamifacture, and when the people found out that they had

    nothing but paper to show for all the valuables they had parted

    with to the Mongols, it added strength to the rebellion of Ilungwu

    (a.d. 1359), which ended in their expulsion nine years afterward.

    The new dynasty was, nevertheless, obliged to issue its

    notes at tirst, but the mercantile instincts of the people soon

    asserted their power, and as industry revived they were superseded

    about 1455. The Manchus did not issue any Governmental

    paper till 1S5S, during the Tai-ping rebellion, and its circulation

    was limited to the capital from the first ; seeing that even then it was known to have no basis of credit or funds.

    A bank can be opened by any person or company, subject to certain laws and payments to Government, on reporting its organization. The number of these offices of deposit and emission is large in proportion to the business of a town, but their capital averages only two or three thousand taels; the number in Tientsin is stated at three hundred, at Peking it is less than four hundred, of which scores in each are mere branches. The check on over-issue of notes lies in the

    control exercised by the cleai’ing-house of every city, where the

    standing of each bank is known by its operations. The circulation

    of the notes is limited in some cases to the street or neighborhood

    wherein the establishment is situated ; often the

    payee has a claim on the payer of a bill for a full day if it be

    found to be counterfeit or worthless—a custom which involves

    a good deal of scribbling on the back of the bill to certify the

    names. Proportionally few counterfeit notes are met with, owing

    nioi’e to the limited range of the bills, making it easy to ask

    the bank, which recognizes its own paper by the check-tallies,

    of which the register contains two or three halves printed across

    the check-book. When silver is presented for exchange, the

    bills are usually, in Peking, iilled up and dated as the customer

    wishes while he waits for them. Their face value ranges from

    one to a hundred tiao, or strings of cash, but their worth depends

    on the exchange between silver and cash, and as this

    fluctuates daily, the bills soon And their way home. These

    notes are unknown in the southern provinces, where dollars

    have long circulated; but their convenience is so great that

    people are willing to run slight risks on this account. Hongkong

    bills circulate on the mainland to very remote districts.

    PAWNSHOPS AND POPULAR ASSOCIATIONS. 87

    Banks issue circular letters of credit to travel through the Empire, and the system of remittance by drafts is as complete as in Europe ; the rates charged are high, however, and vast sums of silver are constantly on the move. The habit of pawning goods is very general, and carries its disastrous results among all classes. There are three kinds of pawnshops, and the laws regulating them are strict and equitable ; the chief evil arising from their number is the facility they give to thieves. Pawn tickets are exposed for sale in the streets, and form a curious branch of traffic. These establishments are generally very extensive, and the vast amount of goods stored in them, especially garments and jewelry, shows their universal patronage.

    One pawnbroker’s warehouse at Tinghai was used by the English forces as a hospital, and accommodated between two and three hundred patients. The insecurity of commercial operations involves, of course, a high rate of interest, sometimes up to three per cent, a month, lowering according to circumstances to twelve or ten per cent, per annum. The legal pawnshops(tang ])iC) are allowed three years to redeem, and give three years’ notice of dissolution. The restrictions on selling pawned articles works injuriously to the shops, in consequence of rapid depreciation or risks to the articles. If a fire occurs on the premises the pawner claims the full amount of his pledge ; only one-half is paid if it communicates from a neighbors house.’

    One characteristic feature of Chinese society cannot be omitted

    in this connection, namely, its tendency to associate. It

    is a fertile principle ap[)lied to every branch of life, but especially

    conspicuous in all industrial operations. The people

    crystallize into associations ; in the town and in the country, in

    buying and in selling, in studies, in tights, and in politics, everybody

    must co-operate with somebody else—women as well as

    men. To belong to one or more hioui, and be identified with

    its fortunes, and enlisted in its struggles, seems to be the

    stimulus to activity, resulting from the democratic element in

    the Chinese polity, to M’hicli we are to refer the continuity as

    well as many singular features of the national character. In

    trade capitalists associate to found great banks, to sell favorite

    medicines, or engross leading staples ; little farmers club together

    to buy an ox, pedlers to get the custom of a street, porters

    to monopolize the loads in a ward, or chair-bearers to furnish

    all the sedans for a town. Beggars are allotted to one or two streets by their hicul, and driven off another’s beat if they encroach. Each guild of carpenters, silknien, masons, or even of physicians and teachers, works to advance its own interests, keep its own nienibei’S in order, and defend itself against its opponents. Villagers form themselves into organizations against the wiles of powerful clans ; and unscrupulous officials are met and balked by popular unions when they least expect it. Women and mothers get up a couipany to procure a trousseau, to buy an article of dress or furniture, to pay for a son’s wedding.

    ‘ Ed. Biot in Journcd Asiatiqw, 1837, Tome III., p. 422, and Tome IV., pp.97, 209; Cfatime CommercM Gnklf, 1863, pp. 264-275; N. C As. Journal,No. VI , pp. 52-71 ; Yule’s Marco Polo, 1871, Vol. I., p. 378-^85; Pauthier Le Litre de M. Polo, Cap. XCV., p. 319 ; Vissering On Chinese Currency, 1877,-Chinese Reipository, Vol. XX., p. 289 ; Doolittle’s Social Life, Vol. II., pp. 138-247; Notes and Queries on C- and J., Vol. II., p. 108.

    Associations are limited to a year, to a month, to a decade, according to their design. These various forms of co-operation teach the people to know each other, while they also furnish agencies for unscrupulous men to oppress and crush out their enemies, gratify their revenge, and intimidate enterprise. Nevertheless, until the people learn higher principles of morality, these habits of combining themselves bring more benefits to the whole body than evils, at the same time quickening the vitality of the mass, without which it would die out in brigandage and despair.’

    ‘ For an account of the money hwiii and details of their system, see M. Eug. Simon, Les Petites Societes d’Argent en Chine, N. C. Br. B. As. Soe. Journal No. v., Art. I. (1868).

    MILITARY SCIENCE AND IMPLEMENTS OF WAR. 89

    The theory of war has received more attention among the Chinese than its practice, and their reputation as an unwarlike people is as ancient and general among their neighbors as that of their seclusion and ingenuity. The Mongols and Manchus, Huns and Tartars, all despised the effeminate braggadocio of Chinese troops, and easily overcame them in war, but were themselves in turn conquered in times of peace. Minute directions are given in books with regard to the drilling of troops, which are seldom reduced to practice. The puerile nature of the examinations which candidates for promotion in the army pass through, proves the remains of the ancient hand-to-hand encounter, and evinces the low standard still entertained of what an officer should be. Personal courage and brawn are highly esteemed, and the prowess of ancient heroes in the battle-field is lauded in songs, and embellished in novels. The arms of the Chinese still consist of bows and arrows.

    spears, matchlocks, swords, and cannon of various sizes and

    lengths. The bow is used more for show in the military examinations,

    than for service in battle. Rattan shields, painted

    with tigers’ heads, are used on board the revenue cutters to turn

    the thrust of spears, and on ceremonial occasions, when the

    companies are paraded in full uniforms and equipments. The

    imiform of the difterent regiments of the luh-tjin<j or ‘ native

    army,’ consists of a jacket of brown, yellow, or blue, bordered

    with a wide edging of another color ; the trowsers are usually

    blue. The cuirass is made of quilted and doubled cotton cloth,

    and covered with iron plates or brass knobs connected by copper

    bands ; the helmet is iron or polished steel, sometimes inlaid,

    weighing two and one-fourth pounds, and has neck and ear lappets

    to protect those parts. The back of the jacket bears the

    word yung, ‘ courage,’ and on the breast is painted the service

    to which the corps is attached, whether to the governor, commandant,

    or Emperor. The exhibition of courage among Chinese

    troops is not, however, always deferred to the time when

    they run away, spite of the disparaging reputation they have

    obtained in this i-espect from their British conquerors—who

    have, nevertheless, on more than one occasion, been led to adujire

    the cool pluck of the same men when led by competent

    officers.

    The matchlock is of wrought iron and plain bore ; it has a

    longer barrel than a musket, so long that a rest is sometimes

    attached to the stock for greater ease in firing ; the match is

    a cord of hemp or coir, and the pan must be uncovered with the

    hand before it can be fired, which necessarily interferes with,

    and almosts prevents its use in wet or windy weather. The

    cannon are cast, and although not of very uniform calibre from

    the mode of manufacture, are serviceable for salutes. The

    ginjal ic a kind of swivel from six to fourteen feet long, resting

    on a tripod ; being less liable to burst than the cannon, it is the

    most effective gun the Chinese possess.

    Gunpowder was probably known to the Chinese in the latter

    part of the II an dynasty (a.d. 250), but its application in firearms

    at that time is not so plain. The exploits of Kung-ming

    in that period owe their interest to his use of gunpowder in modes like the Greek fire of the Byzantines, though the animated narratives of Lo Kwan-chung (a.d. 1300) in his History of the Three States, are not reliable history in this particular.

    Grosier (Vol. VIL, pp. 176-200) has adduced the evidences proving the use of powder at or before the Christian era. The inferences that Europe obtained it from India rather than China have, however, a good deal of weight. Early Arab historians refer to it as Chinese snow and Chinese salt—a fact which only shows its eastern origin—while the Chinese comx^und term of hioo-yioh, or ‘ fire drug,’ rather indicates a foreign source than otherwise.

    Mr. W. F. Mayers has searched out and collated a considerable

    mass of evidence from Chinese sources bearing upon the

    introduction of explosives in native warfare and ordinary life.

    The conclusions of this writer point both to a foreign origin of

    gunpowder in China, and a nnicli later use of the compound

    among their warriors than has generally been supposed. Coming,

    probably, from India or Central Asia about the fifth century

    A.D. the invention, he says, ” perhaps found its way into

    China in connection with the manufacture of fireworks for purposes

    of diversion ; and supplanting at some unascertained

    period the jiractice of producing a crepitating noise by burning

    bamboos as a charm against evil spirits.” No evidence exists

    of the use of gunpowder as an agent of warfare until the middle

    of the twelfth century, nor did a knowledge of its propulsive

    effects come to the Chinese until the reign of Yungloh, in the

    fifteenth century—a thousand years after its first employment

    in fire-crackers.’

    Fire-arms of large size were introduced toward the end of the

    Ming dynasty by foreign instructors ; ginjals and matchlocks

    were known four centuries earlier in all the eastern and central

    regions of Asia, but none of those people could forge or cast

    large artillery, owing to their imperfect machinery. The gunpowder

    is badly mixed and ti’itui-ated, though the proportions

    are nearly the sauje as our own. The native arms are now

    ‘ JVm’th CJiina Br. Royal Aniutic iSoc. JouriMl, 1870, No. VI., Art. V. Com

    pare Notes and Queries on G. and J.

    INVENTION AND USE OF GUNP0\YDER. 91

    rapidly giving place to foreign in the imperial army, and the

    establishment of four or live arsenals under the numagement of

    competent instructors, where implements of warfare of every

    kind are manufactured, will, ere long, make an entire change in

    Chinese weapons and tactics. Some of their brass guns were of

    • enormous size and great strength, but were of little use for

    practical warfare, owing to the bad carriages and rude means of

    working them.

    The uniforms of Chinese troops are not even calculated to

    give them a iine appearance when drawn up for parade, and

    no one, looking at them, can believe that men dressed in loose

    jackets and trousers, with heavy shoes and bamboo caps, could

    be trained to cope with western soldiers. Fans or umbrellas

    are often made use of on parade to assuage the heat or protect

    from the i-ain, while the chief object of these reviews is to

    salute and knock head before some high officer. In order to

    repress insurrection, the government has been frequently compelled

    to buy off turbulent leaders with office and rewards, and

    thus disorganize and scatter the enemy it could not vanquish.

    But however ridiculous the army and navy of the Chinese

    were half a century ago, in the isolation and ignorance which

    then held them, it cannot be alleged of what has been attempted

    within twenty 3’ears, and the promise of wdiat may be

    done in as numy more. The following resume of the qualities

    of the Chinese soldier, from experience with Col. Gordon^s

    “Ever Victorious Force” during the Tai-ping insurrection will

    be a, 2}roj)os of this subject to which this work cannot devote

    further space. ” The old notion is pretty well got rid of, that

    they are at all a cowardly people when properly paid and efticiently

    led ; while the regularity and order of their habits,

    whicli dispose them to peace in ordinary times, give place to a

    daring bordering upon recklessness in time of war. Their intelligence

    and capacity for remembering facts make them well

    fitted for use in modern warfare, as do also the coolness and

    calmness of their disposition. Physically they are on the

    average not so strong as Europeans, but considerably more

    30 than most of the other races of the East ; and on a cheap

    diet of rice, vegetables, salt fish, and pork, they can go through a vast amount of fatigue, whether in a temperate climate or a tropical one, where Europeans are ill-fitted for exertion. Their wants are few; they have no caste prejudices, and hardly any appetite for intoxicating liquors. Being of a lymphatic or lymphatic-bilious temperament, they enjoy a remarkable immunity from inflannnatory disease, and the tubercular diathesis is little known amongst them.””

    Their progress in real civilization is not to be fairly measured

    by their attainments in war, although it has been said that the

    two best general criteria of civilization among any people are

    superior skill in destroying their fellow men, and the degree of

    respect they pay to women. China falls far behind her place

    among the nations if judged by these tests alone, and in reality

    owes her present advance in numbers, industry, and wealth

    mainly to her peaceful character and policy. She would have

    probably presented a spectacle similar to the disunited hoi’des

    of Central Asia, had her people been actuated by a warlike

    spirit, for when divided into fifty or more feudal states, as was

    the case in the days of Confucius, she made no progress in the

    arts of life. The Manchu Emperors have endeavored to conquer

    their neighbors, the Birmans and Coreans, but in both

    cases had to be satisfied with the outward homage of a ]votou\

    and a few articles of tribute, when a formal embassy presented

    itself in Peking. The Siamese, Cochinchinese, Coreans, Tibetans,

    Lewchewans, and some of the tribes of Turkestan, are

    nominally vassals of the Son of Heaven, and their names remain

    on the roll of feifs. The first two have ceased to tsin

    hung, or send tribute, since about 1860 ; and the Lewchewans

    are not likely to revisit their old quarters at Peking in any capacity

    ; while the others derive advantage from the facilities of

    traffic which they are unwilling to give up.

    ‘Andrew Wilson, The ”Ever Victorious Army.” A RiHtory of the Chinese Vu»ip(.ii(/n under Lieut. -Vol.- (Jordou. London, lb08, p. 2G9.

    CHINESE POLICY AND PKACTICE IN WARFARE. 93

    The precepts of Confucius taught the rulers of China to conquer their neighbors by showing the excellence of a good government, for then their enemies would come and voluntarily range themselves vmder their sway; and although the kindness of the rulers of China to those fully in their power is as hypocritical as their rule is unjust, those nations who pay them this homage do it voluntarily, and experience no interference in their internal affairs. The maxims of Confucian polity, aided by the temper of the people, have had some effect, in the lapse of years, upon the nature of this quasi feudality. The weaker nations looked up to China, since they could look no higher, and their advances in just government, industry, and arts, is not a

    little owing to their political intercourse during past centuries.

    The Chinese Empire is a notable example of the admirable

    results of a peaceful policy ; and the sincere desire of every

    well-wnsher of his race doubtless is that this mighty mass of

    human beings may be Christianized and elevated from their

    present ignorance and weakness by a like peaceful infusion of

    the true principles of good order and liberty.

    Many treatises upon the art and practice of war exist, one of

    which, called the Soldier’s Manual^ in eighteen chaptei’s, contains

    some good directions. The lirst chapter treats of the

    mode of marching, necessity of having plans of the country

    through which the army is to pass, and cautions the troops

    against harassing tlie people unnecessarily—not a useless admonition,

    fur a body of Chinese soldiers is too often like a

    swarm of locusts upon the land. The second chaj)ter teaches

    the mode of buildino- bridges, the need there is of cautious explorations

    in marching, and of sending out scouts ; this subject

    is also continued in the next section, and directions given about

    castrametation, placing sentries, and keeping the troops on the

    alert, as well as under strict discipline in camp. The rest of

    the book is chiefly devoted to directions for the management of

    an actual battle, sending out spies beforehand, choosing positions,

    and bringing the various parts of the army into action at

    the best time. The hope of reward is held out to induce the

    soldier to be brave, and the threats of punishment and death if

    he desert or turn his back in time of battle.

    ‘ Chinese Eepositoi-y, Vol. XI., p. 487.

    The utility of music in encouraging the soldiers and exciting them to the charge is fully appreciated, but to our notions it no more deserves the name of music tliaii the collection ol half-drilled louts in petticoats does that of an arnn’, when compared with a European force. Still, its antiquity, if nothing else, renders it a subject of great interest to the musical student, while its power over the people seems to be none the less because it is unscientific. However small their attainments in the theory and practice of music, no nation gives to this art a higher place. It was regarded by Confucius as an essential part in the government of a state, harmonizing and softening the relations between the different ranks of society, and causing them all to move on in consentaneous accord. It is remarked of the sage himself that having heard a tune in one of his ramblings, he did not know the taste of food for three weeks after—but, with all deference to the feelings of so distinguished a man, we cannot help thinking his food might have been quite as palatable without music, if it was no better then than it is at the present day. The Chinese never had anything like the musical contests among the Greeks, and their efforts have been directed to develop instrumental rather than vocal music.

    The names and characters used for notes in vocal music are here given, though their real tone cannot be accurately represented by our staff. The second octave is denoted by affixing the sign jin, ‘a man,’ to the simple notes, or as shown in the second c7te, by a peculiar hooked bottom.

    -^ ng Tj j: K i fL 7*; ^ fL ji: J^i^h

    CHINESE MUSICAL NOTATION. 93

    Barrow says that the Chinese learned this mode of writing music from Pereira, a llomaii Catholic missionary, in 1670, but its existence in Japan and Corea invalidates this statement.

    There are two kinds of nmsic, known as the Southern and Northern, which differ in their character, and are readily recognized by the people. The octave in the former seems to have had only six notes, and the songs of the Miaotu and rural people in that portion of China are referable to such a gamut, while the eight-tone scale generally prevails in all theatres and more cultivated circles. Further examination by competent observers who can jot down on such a gamut the airs they hear in various regions of China, is necessary to ascertain these interesting points, which now seem to carry us back to remote antiquity, and have been noticed in other countries than China.

    In writing instrumental music, marks, meaning io jmsh^Jilli^p, hool; etc., are added to denote the mode of playing the string; the two are united into very complicated combinations. For instance, in writing a tune for the lute or kin, ” each note is a chister of characters ; one denotes the string, another the stud, a third informs you in what manner the lingers of the right hand are to be used, a fourth does the same in reference to the left, a fifth tells the performer in what way he must slide the hand before or after the appropriate sound has been given, and a sixth says, perhaps, that two notes are to be struck at the same time.” These complex notes are difficult to learn and remember, therefore the Chinese usually play by the ear. This mode of notation, in addition to its complexity, must be varied by nearly every kind of instrument, inasmuch as the combinations fitted for one instrument are inapplicable to another; but music is written for only a few instruments, such as the lute and the guitar.

    These notes, when simply written without directions condiined with them as described above, indicate only their pitch in a certain scale, and do not denote either the length or the absolute pitch ; they are written perpendicularly, and various marks of direction are given on the side of the column regarding the proportionate length of time in which certain notes are to be played, others to be trilled or repeated once, twice, or more times, and when the performer is to pause. Beats occur at regular intervals in some of the written tunes ; all muisic is in common time and no triple measures are used, yet time is pretty well observed in orchestras. Of harmony and counterpoint they know nothing ; the swell, diminish, flat, sharp, appogiatura, tie, and other marks which assist in giving expression to our written music, are for the most part unknown, nor are tunes set to any key. The neatness and adaptation of the European notation is better appreciated after studying the clumsy, imperfect mode which is here briefly described.’

    No description can convey a true idea of Chinese vocal music, and few persons are able to imitate it when they have heard it. De Guignes says, ” It is possible to sing a Chinese song, but I think it would be very difficult to give it the proper tone without having heard it by a native, and I rather believe that no one can perfectly imitate their notes.” They seem, in some cases, to issue from the larynx and nose, the tongue, teeth, and lips having little to do with them, the modulation being made mostly with the muscles of the bronchia ; at other times, the

    enunciation of the words requires a little more use of the lips

    and teeth. Singing is generall}’ on a falsetto key ; and this

    feature prevails throughout. Whether in the theatre or in the

    street, about the house or holding the guitar or lute, both men

    and women sing in this artificial tone somewhere between a

    squeal and a scream, and which no western musical instrument

    is able to imitate. Its character is plaintive and soft, not full

    or exhibiting much compass, though when two or three females

    sing together in recitative, not destitute of sweetness. Bass and

    tenor are not sung by men, nor a second treble by females, and

    the two performers are seldom heard together among the thousands

    of street musicians who get a precarious living by their

    skill in this line, as they accompany the guitar or rebeck. The

    chanting in Buddhist services resembles the Ambrosian and early

    Gregorian tones, and is accompanied only by striking a block

    ‘ Compare Dr. Jenkins in the Jmimal N. C. Br. R. A. S., Vol. V., 1868, pp.30 ff., and Rev. E. W. Syle in ib. Vol. II., 1859, p. 17G ; Pere Amiot in Mem.mnc. les CMnois, Vol. VI., pp. 1 ff.; Notes <ind Queries on C. and «/., Vol. IV.,Arts. 2 and ;}. Pt-rny Did., app. No. XIV., p. 443.

    CHINESE TUNES. 97

    and marking the time; the tenor voices of boys make a strong contrast to the gruff bass voices of the men in this service; some of the latter will carry their part as low as an octave below C or D in the bass, sounding most sepulchrally, like a trombone.

    Three of the tunes insei’ted in Barrow’s Travels are here quoted as specimens of Chinese airs The first is the most popular, the second, conmion at Shanghai, is called Liih ixvn^ or ‘ Six Boards,’ it has a strain at the beginning and end additional to the usual form.

    MOH-Ll HWA ; OR, THE JASMINE FLOWER.

    ^^^^xjimt^-

    Hao ye to sien hva, Yu chao yu jih

    How sweet this branch of fresh flower?, On the morn of the day

    I W=^

    e.^EiE^EfeiEi^^±^2

    loh tsai ICO kia,

    ’twas dropped in my house ;

    IVo pun tai puh chu mun,

    I’ll wear it myself, yet not out of doors,

    ^ ^^^P 3^ W

    Tui choh sien hira, ^rh loh.

    But will match it with others, and make myself glad.

    Hao ye to Moh-l’i hica,

    Miran yuen hwa kai sho puh kwei la,

    Wo pun tai tsz^ ye ta,

    Tai yu kung kan hira jin ma.

    How sweet this sprig of the jasmine flower!

    Through the whole plat there’s none to equal it;

    I myself will wear this new plucked sprig,

    Though I fear all who sec it will envy me.

    LUH PAN ; OK, THE SIX BOAKDS.

    ^

    ^^^^m^

    ^^^i^S^^^^^

    ^^^^^

    -^-

    aij=a- ^^^^^^^^

    ^=^ ^^^^^^s

    ^^^^^^^1^

    STRINGED INSTRUMENTS OF MUSIC. 99

    The literature on the art of music is large. One treatise on heating drums scientilically dates from ahom tne year 860 A D , and contains a list of about one hundred and twenty-nine symphonies, nuxny of which are of Indian origin Among the seventy-two instruments hriefly described in the C7unese Chrestoraathj, there are seventeen kinds of drums, from the large ones suspended in temples to assist in worship to others of lesser size and diverse shape used in war, in theatres, and in bands.

    Gongs, cjnibak, tambourines, and musical vases are also described

    in considerable variety ; the last consisting of a curious

    arrangement of twelve cups, more or less filled with water, and

    struck with rods. The Chinese are fond of the tinkling of

    small pieces of sonorous glass, caused by the wind striking them

    against each other as they are suspended from a frame or lamp.

    The simple succession of sounds arising from striking upon a

    liarmonicon, jingling these glasses together, or touching different

    sized cymbals suspended in a frame, is a favorite species of

    music.

    The stringed instruments to be played by thrumming are not as numerous as those of percussion, but they display more science. Nothing resembling the harp or Apollo’s lyre has been observed among them. The Z///, or ‘scholar’s lute,’ is considered as the most finished, and has received more attention than any other orchestral implement ; to excel in playing it is regarded as a scholarly accomplishment. A work entitled The Lute-l*laijcr”s Easy Lesmns, in two volumes, contains explanations of one hundred and nine terms and is illustrated by twenty nine pictures of the position of the hands to aid in a full understanding of the twenty-three sets of tunes given in the second volume. This lute, it may be added, is of very ancient origin and derives its name from the word Jcin, ‘ to prohibit,’ ” because it restrains and checks evil passions and corrects the human heart.” It is a board about four feet in length and eighteen inches wide, convex above and flat beneath, where are

    two holes opening into hollows. There are seven strings of silk,

    which pass over a bridge near the wide end through the board,

    and are tightened by nuts beneath ; they are secured on two

    pegs at the smaller end. The sounding-board is divided by

    thirteen studs, ” so placed that the length of the strings is

    divided first into two equal parts, then into three, etc., up to

    eight, with the omission of the seventh. The seven sti-ings inclose

    the compass of a ninth or two-fifths, the middle one being

    treated like A upon the violin, viz., as a middle string, and each

    of the outer ones is tuned a fifth from it. This interval is treated like our octave in the violin, for the compass of the Idn is made up of fifths. Each of the outer strings is tuned a fourth from the alternate string within the system, so that there is a major tone, an interval tone less than a minor third, and a major tone in the fifth. The Chinese leave the interval entire, and skip the half tone, while we divide it into two unequal parts. It will therefore readily appear that the mood or character of the music of the hln must be very different from that of western instruments, so that none of them can exactly do justice to the Chinese airs. One of the peculiarities in performing on the lute is sliding the left hand fingers along the string, and the trilling and other evolutions they are made to execute.”

    There are other instruments similar to the hin^ one with thirty, and another with thirteen strings, played with plectrums. The number of instruments resembling the guitar, lute, cithern, spinet, etc., is cousiderable, some with silken, others with wire strings, but none of catgut. The balloon-shaped guitar, or 2nj>c(-, has four strings arranged and secured like those of a violin; it is about three feet lung, and the unvarnished upper table has twelve frets to guide the performer. The strings are tuned at the intervals of a fourth, a major tone, and a fourth, so that the outer strings are octaves to each other; but the player generally avoids the semitones. The j’U”^ frequently accompanies the songs of strolling musicians and ballad singers. The san hlen, or ‘three-stringed guitar’, resembles a rebeck in its contour, but the neck and head is three feet long, and the body is cylindrical and hollow, usually covered with snake’s skin, upon

    which the bridjire is set. The strini:;s are tuned as fourths to

    each othei’, and in this respect it seems to be the counterpart of

    the Grecian mercurian ; their sound is low and dull, and the

    instrument is sometimes played in company with the 2n2>a.

    Another kind of guitar, called yueh kin, or ‘ full moon guitar,’

    has a large round belly and short neck, resembling the theorbo

    or arch lute of Europe, but with only four strings, while that

    had ten or more. These four strings stand in pairs that are

    unisons with each other, having an interval of a fifth interposed

    between the pairs. Tiie sound is smarter than that from the

    pij[)a or Jiin, and it is used in lively tunes, the strings being

    WIND INSTRUMENTS. 101

    struck briskly witli the iniil or .a plectriiin. Similar in its construction

    to the san hien is the rebeck, or two-stringed fiddle,

    tlie rude appearance of which corresponds to the thin grating

    sounds which issue from it. This instrument is merely a

    bamboo stick thrust into a cylinder of the same material, and

    having two strings fastened at one end of the stick on pegs, and

    passing over a bridge on the cylinder to the other end ; they

    are tuned at intervals of a fifth. The bow passes between the

    two sti-ings, and as they are near each other, much of the skill

    required to play it is exhibited in wielding the bow so as not to

    make discord by scraping it against the wrong string while tvying

    to produce a given sound. Europeans wonder how the Chinese

    can be delighted with the harsh gratings of this wretched

    machine, but none of their musical instruments are more popular,

    and the skill they exhibit in playing it deserves a better

    reward in the melody of the notes. A modification of it, called

    ti kin, or ‘crowing lute,’ is made by employing a cocoanut for

    the belly ; its sounds are, if anything, more dissonant.

    The 1/ang hin is a kind of dulcimer, consisting of a greater or

    less number of brass wires of different lengths, tuned at proper

    intervals, and fastened upon a sounding-board ; it is played with

    light hammers, and forms a rudimentary piano-forte, but the

    sounds are very attenuated. The samj is in like manner the

    embryo of the organ ; it is a hollow conical-shaped box, which

    corresponds to a wind -chest, having a mouthpiece on one side,

    and communicating with thirteen reeds of different lengths inserted

    in the top ; some of the tubes are provided with valves,

    part of them opening upward and part downward, so that some

    of them sound when the breath fills the wind-box, and others

    are only heard when it is sucked out and the air rushes down

    the tubes to refill it. The tubes stand in groups of four, four,

    three, two, around the top, and those having ventiges are placed

    so that the performer can open or close them at pleasure as he

    holds it. By covering the first set of holes and gently breathing

    in the mouthpiece, a sweet concert of sounds is produced,

    augmented to the octave and twelfth as the force of the breath

    is increased. By stopping certain groups, other notes, shriller

    and louder, are emitted ; and any single tube can be sounded by inhaling the wind from the wind-box and stopping the other holes. It is a simple thing and no doubt among the most ancient of musical instruments, but it possesses no scope nor means of varying the tone of the tubes. Mr. Lay thinks it to be identical in principle and form with the organ invented by Jubal ; the Chinese regard it more as a curious instrument than one possessing claims to adnuration or attention.

    Their wind instruments are numerous, but most of them are

    remarkable rather for clamor than sweetness or compass. The’

    h icang tih^ or flute, is about twice the length of our fife, and made

    of a bamboo tube neatly prepared and pierced with ten holes,

    two of which ai’e placed near the end and unused, and one midway

    between the enibouchuro and the six equidistant ones for the

    fingers. This additional hole is covered with a thin film ; the

    mouth-hole is bored about one-third of the way from the top.

    Tliei’e are no keys, and the performers generally blow upon the

    embouchure so violently that the sounds are shrill and harsh, but

    when several of them play together the concert is more agreeable.

    The congener of the flute is the iiliii tlh, or clarinet, which takes

    the lead in all musical performances, as it does in western bands.

    It has seven effective lioles, one of which is stopped by the thumb,

    but no kej-s; the bell is of coppor and sits loose upon the end,

    and the copper mouthpiece is ornamented Mith rings, and blown

    through a reed. The tones produced by it are shrill and deafening,

    and none of their instruments better characterize Chinese

    musical taste. A smaller one, of a sweeter tone, like a flageolet,

    is sometimes fitted with a singular shaped reed, so that it can be

    played upon by the nose. Street musicians sometimes endeavor

    to transform themselves into a travelling orchestra. One of

    these peripatetic Orpheuses will fit a flageolet to his nose, sling

    a small drum under one shoulder, and suspend a framework of

    four small cymbals upon the breast; the man, thus accoutred,

    aided by a couple of monkeys running after him, or sitting on

    his head and shoulders, goes from street to street singing a ])liiintive

    ditty, and accompanying his voice with his instruments,

    and drawing a crowd with his moidceys.

    The horn i-csenibles a trombone in principle, for the shaft is

    retractible within the cylindrical copper bell, and can be lengthtup:

    horn, gong, etc. 103

    ened at pleasure. The sound is very grave, and in processions

    its hollow booming forms a great contrast to the shrill clarinets

    and cymbals. Another kind of horn, less grave, is made of a

    crooked stem expanding into a small l)ell at tlie end ; the shaft

    is of two parts, one drawing into the other, so that the depth of

    tone can be modified. A long straight horn, resembling the

    funeral pipe of the Jews, is sometimes heard on funeral occasions,

    but this and the clarion, ti-umpet, and other kinds of pipes of

    ancient and modern make are not common.

    The Zo, or gong, is the type of Chinese music : a crashing harangue of rapid blows upon this sonorous plate, with a rattling accompaniment on small drums, and a crackling symphony of shrill notes from the clarinet and cymbal, constitute the chief features of their musical performances. The Emperor Kanghi endeavored to introduce foreign tunes and instruments among his courtiers, and the natives at Macao have heard good music from the Portuguese bands and choirs in that city from childhood, but not an instrument or a tune has been adopted by them.

    It seems to be a rule in Chinese music that the gong should only vary in rapidity of strokes, while the alternations of time into agreeable intervals are left to the drums. ” This want of perception as to what is pleasing in i-hythmical succession of sounds,” Lay well observes, ” is connected with another fact—the total absence of metrical effect in national poetry. The verses contain a particular number of words and set pauses in each line, but there is nothing like an interchange of long and short sounds. Among the Greeks the fall of the smith’s hammer, the stroke of the oar, and the tread of the soldier in armor suggested some poetic measure, and their music exhibits a world of curious metres. But nothing of the sort can be heard in China, amid all the sounds and noises that salute the ear in a noisy country.” It is probable that the impracticable, monosyllabic nature of the language has contributed to this result; though the genius and temperament of the people are the chief reasons.

    A Chinese orchestra or band, when in full note, strikes upon the ear of a European as a collection of the most discordant sounds, and he immediately thinks of Hogarth’s picture of the Enraged Musician, as the best likeness of its dissonance. It seems, when hearing them, as if each performer had his own tune, and was trying to distinguish himself above his competitors by his zeal and force ; but on listening carefully he will observe, amid the clangoi’, that they keep good time, one taking the octave, and the different instruments striking in with some regaj’d to parts, only, however, to confound the confusion still more because they are not tuned on the same key. Bands and orchestras are employed on occasions of marriages and funerals, theatrical exhibitions, religions or civic processions, and reception of officers, but not to a very great extent in temples or ancestral worship ; no nation makes more use of such music as they have than the Chinese. The people have an ear for music, and young men form clubs to learn and practise on various instruments and fit themselves for playing at weddings or birthday festivals. In respect to adopting foreign harmonies, which youths soon learn to appreciate when taught in mission schools, there is likely to be no competition, owing to the great differences between them. ‘

    From this account of Chinese mnsic, it may be readily inferred

    that it is not of such a character as to start the hearers off in a

    lively dance. A sort of nnimmer or posture-making is practised

    by persons attached to theatrical companies, and pantomimic

    art seems to have been understood in ancient times, but the

    exhibitions of it were probably as jejune as the caperings of

    puppets. As acrobats the Chinese are equal to any nation, and

    companies have performed in many western capitals within a

    few years past. Some of their performances are highly exciting,

    as throwing sharp cleavers at a man fastened to a post, till he

    cannot stir without cuttinji; himself afirainst their blades, is a

    common exhibition. To go through the tragedy of trying, con-

    ‘ Chinese as Ihey Are, Chap. VIII. Chinese Repository, Vol. VIII., pp. 30-54. Chinese Chrestouyithy, pp. 85G–3G5. Journal N. C. Br. R. A. Soc, No. II., 1859,p. 176 ; No. v., 1808, p. 30. Journal of the Asiatic Soc. of Japan, 1877, Vol.v., pp. 170-179. German Asiatic Soc. of Japan, 1876. Grosier, Description fjenerale (U la Chine, Tome VI., p. 258. Doolittle, Soricd TAfe, Vol. II., p. 216. Barrow’s Travels, pp. 313-323. Memoires cone, les Chinois, Tomes I., III.,VI., etc.; for ancient musical knowledge, the last still furnishes the best analysis yet made.

    DANCING AND THE FINK ARTS. 105

    delnning, and killing a boy by stabbing him in the belly is not

    so connnon ; the imitation of the gasping chest and pallid death

    hue are wotiderfnlly natural. Ventriloquism, writing answers

    to questions asked of the spirits by means of rods moving over

    a dusted table, and other black art or magical tricks have long

    been known. In dancing and other forms of graceful motion

    they are entirely wanting, and one would almost as soon think

    of associating music and medicine as that Chinese music should

    be accompanied by quadrilles and cotillons, or that men witli

    shoes like pattens could lead off women with feet like hoofs

    through the turns and mazes of a waltz or fandango.

    Their deficiencies in music will not lead us to expect much from them in painting or sculpture, for all flow so much from the same general perception of the beautiful in sound, form, and color, that where one is deficient all are likely to be unappreciated.

    This want in Chinese mind (for we are hardly at liberty to call it a defect) is, to a greater or less degree, observable in all the races of Eastern Asia, none of whom exhibit a high appreciation of the beautiful or sublime in nature or art, or have produced much which proves that their true principles were ever understood. Painting is rather behind sculpture, but neither can be said to have advanced beyond rude imitations of nature.

    Even the best painters have no proper idea of perspective or

    of blending light and shade, but the objects are exhibited as

    much as possible on a flat surface, as if the painter drew his

    picture from a balloon, and looked at the country with a vertical

    sun shining above him. As might be inferred from their

    deficiencies in linear drawing and landscapes, they eminently

    fail in delineating the human figui-e in its right proportions,

    position, and expressions, and of grouping the persons introduced

    into a piece in natural attitudes. The study of the human

    figure in all its proportions lias not been attended to by

    painters any more than its anatomy has by surgeons. Shadows

    upon portraits are considered a great defect, and in order to

    avoid them a front view is usually taken. Landscapes are also

    painted without shading, the remote objects being as minutely

    depicted as those in the foreground, and the point of view in pieces of any size is changed for the nearer and remote pavts. There is no vanishing point to their pictures, as might be inferred from their ignorance of perspective and the true elements of art.

    Representation of a Man Dreaming.

    Outline drawing is a favorite style of the art, and the wealthy adorn their houses with rough sketches in ink of figures and landscapes; but the humblest of such compositions as are common in the galleries and studios of western countries have never been produced by Chinese artists. Some of their representations of abstract ideas are at least singular to us, and, like many other things brought from their country, attract notice from their oddity.

    ATTAINMENTS IN DRAWING AND COLORING. 107

    Their coloring is executed with great skill and accuracy—too much, indeed, in many cases, so that the painting loses something of the effect it would otherwise have from the scrupulous minuteness of the detail, though it looks well in paintings of flowers, animals, costumes, ornaments, and other single objects where this filling up is necessary to a true idea of the original. The tints of the Innnan countenance are no better done, however.

    than its liueaiiieiits, aiul the lifeless opacity suggests the idea

    that the artist was not called in until his patron was about to

    be entombed from the sight of his soi-rowing family. The

    paintings obtained at Canton may, some of them, seem to disprove

    these opinions of the mediocrity attained by the artists

    in that country, but the productions of the copyists in that city

    are not the proper criteria of native uneducated art. Some of

    them have had so nnich practice in copying foreign productions

    that it has begun to cori-ect their own notions of designing.

    These constitute, however, a very small proportion of

    the whole, and have had no effect on national taste. The designs

    to 1)0 seen on plates and bowls are, although not the best,

    fairer specimens of art than the pieces sometimes procured at

    Canton. The beautiful fidelity with which engravings are

    copied at Canton is well seen in the paintings on ivory, especially

    miniatures and figures, some of which fully equal similar

    productions made elsewhere.’

    As samples of Chinese illustrative art, the two adjoining

    wood-cuts may be considered as quite up to the average of

    their fairest achievements. The story of the first in bi-ief is as

    follows: In the district of Tsungngan lived a crafty plebeian,

    who, envying the good fortune of all about him, became especially

    covetous of the burial ground of his district magistrate

    Chu. Hoping to gain a surreptitious benefit from the

    felicitous luck of the plat, he secretly buried his own tombstone

    there, and at the end of several years brought suit for its

    recovery. Unable to comprehend the affair, Chu repaired to

    the burial spot, where indeed the geomancy of the grave was

    found to be entirely in accord with the rules, but upon removing

    the earth the stone of his enemy’s remote ancestry was disclosed.

    ‘ Compare Owen Jones, Grammnr of Ornament, Chap. XIV. , and Examples of CMiieHe Ornament (London, 18()7). Gazette des Beaux-Artu for October and November, 187:5, and January, 1874.

    The Vengeance of Heaven upon the False Grave.

    EXAMPLES OF CHINESE ILLUSTRATIVE ART. 109

    The suit was in consequence declared against him, Chu removed his residence to the black tea country, and his envious neighbor entered in triumph upon possession of the graveyard. Not so readily, however, did the powers above condone this iniquity. One night there arose a tempest of unheard-of violence, when the thunder iuul lightning were indescribable, the hideons roar and Hash of which terrified the countiy far and near, boding no good to its wretched inhabitants. The following morning the grave was discovered in ruins, stone and epitaph uprooted, even the corpse and coffin missing. The vengeance of liea\eu had repaired tlu; injustice of man.

    The illustration which depicts the tempest personified in its

    full terror shows us the Lai Kttiuj, or God of Thunder, almost

    the only Chinese mythological deity who is drawn with wings.

    The cock’s head and claws, the hammer and chisel, representing

    the splitting peal attending a flash, the circlet of fire encompassing

    a number of drums to typify the reverberating thunder

    and the ravages of the irresistible lightning, present a grotesque

    ensemble which is quite unique even among the Vizarrerie of

    oriental figures ; the somewhat juvenile attempts of the artist

    to sketch the destruction and rifling of the grave are much less

    notable.

    Concerning the subject of the second illustration (taken, with the other, from the Sacred Edict of Kangxi), we are told that one Yuen, having conceived a violent hatred against an acquaintance, set out one morning, knife in hand, with the purpose of killing him. A venerable man sitting in a convent saw him pass, and was amazed to observe several scores of spirits closely following him, some of whom clutched his weapon, while others seemed endeavoring to delay his progress. “About A would-be Assassin followed by Spirits.

    SYMBOLISM OF THE CHINESE. Ill

    the space of a meal-time” the patriarch noticed Yueirs return, accompanied this time by more than a hundred spirits wearing golden caps and bearing banners raised on high. Yuen himself appeared with so happy a face, in place of his gloomy countenance of the early morning, that the old man sadly concluded that his enemy must be dead and his revenge gratified. ” When you passed this way at daybreak,” he asked, ” where were you going, and how do you return so soon ? ” ” It was owing to my quarrel with Miu,” said Y^ien, ” that made me wish to kill him. But in passing this convent door better thoughts came to me as I pondered upon the stress his wife and children would come to, and of his aged mother, none of whom had done me wrong. I determined then not to kill him, and return thus promptly

    from my evil purpose.” It hardly needed the sage’s commendations

    to increase the reformed murderer’s inner contentment,

    imparted by the train of ghostly helpers ; he continued on his

    way rejoicing. The reader may notice a pictoi-ial idea as well

    as a moral not unlike those of more western countries.

    The syml)olisni of the Chinese has not attracted the notice of

    foreign writers as much as it deserves. It meets us everywhere—

    on plates and crockery, on carpets, rugs, vases, wall

    pictures, shop signs, and visiting cards. Certain animals stand

    for well-understood characters in the language, and convey

    their sense to the native without any confusion. Owing to the

    similarity of sound, fuh denotes hat and ha_i>p\nem, and luh

    stands for deer and official emolument. The cliaracter shao,

    mtaning ‘longevit}’,’ is represented in many ways—an old man

    leaning on his staff; a pine tree cut into the form of the character;

    a tortoise, which is among the longest-lived reptiles; a

    stork, supposed to be a bird which attains a great age, and a

    fabulous peach which is a thousand years ripening. A dragon

    and a phoenix, c^x fung-iokang, are emblems of a newly wedded

    pail*, and various modes of combination are adopted to represent

    marriage relations.

    A rug w’ill sometimes tell a story very neatly to the eye. In the centre is the Raxtstica, or ‘hammer of Thor,’ which denotes all., and symbolizes all happiness that humanity desires. On the right is the luh, or ‘deer,’ which denotes honor and success in study, carrying the yii-‘i, or Buddhist scepter, in its mouth, meaning success in literary labors. On the left is pictured a goose, indicating domestic felicity, and two bats complete the rug, with its good wishes.

    In the plate represented in the picture the central figure is clad in the ancient costume of officials bearing the insignia or baton of a minister of State. The old man, with his gourd and peach, indicates an extreme and happy old age; and the figure with the basket corresponds to the cornucopia of western emblems. The five bats symbolize the wufu, or ‘five happinesses,’ which all mankind desires— riches, longevity, sound body, love of virtue, and a peaceful end.

    Symbols of Happiness and Old Age. (From a plaque.)

    The visiting card and note paper often indicate in their adornments a good wish and a motto which does credit to the taste and heart of the designer. A most graceful and not nncommon way of wishing a guest good luck is to depict some happy emblem or a sentence of the language with a fortunate meaning on the bottom of his tea-cup. The characters ” May your happiness know no bounds ” frequently occur in this position, and the oft-recurring five bats or three peaches can be employed with like signification. The mandarin duck is a well understood emblem for conjugal affection ; again, a cock and hen standing on an artificial i”ock-work symbolize the pleasures of a country life. Sometimes the eight symbols peculiar to the Buddhist sect, or the pah s/’en (‘ eight genii’) indicative of their protection, are seen in the border of a plaque amid a device of running arabesques. The favorite dragon, in an infinite diversity of shapes, adorns the fiiici- qualities of cups, plates, bowls, and vases, to represent imperial grandeur, but common people are not wont to use such patterns.

    PAINTING ON PITir-I’ArER AND LEAVES. 113

    The brilliant paintings on pith-paper, or rice-paper as it is commonly but incorrectly called, deserve special mention for their singular delicacy and spirit. This substance, whose velvety surface contrasts so admirably with bright colors, is a delicate vegetable film, consisting of long hexagonal cells, whose length is parallel to the surface of the film, and which are filled with air when the film is in its usual state ; the peculiar softness

    which so well adapts it for receiving colors is owing to tliis

    structure. It is obtained from the pith of a species of Fatsia, a

    plant allied to the Aralia, growing in Formosa and Yunnan, in

    nuirshy districts. It is cultivated to some extent, but mostly

    gathered \i\ cutting the branches of the wild plants, which resemble

    the elder. This pitli forms a large item in the internal

    trade of China, and is worked up into toys as well as cut into

    sheets. The fragments are used to stuff pillows or fill up the

    soles of shoes, or wherever a light, dry material is needed. The

    largest and best sheets (ten l)y fifteen inches) are selected for

    the painters at Hongkong and Canton, where many hundreds

    of workmen are employed in making them. Under the direction

    of foreign ladies at Amoy and elsewhere, most accurate

    imitations of flowers and bouquets are now made I)y natives out

    of pith-paper. The pieces are cut nearly a foot long, and the

    pith is forced out by driving a stick into one end ; it is then wet

    and put into bamboos, where it swells and dries straight. If

    too short to furnish the i-equired breadth, several bits are pressed

    together until they adhere and make one long straight piece.

    The paring knife reseml)lcs a butcher’s cleaver, a thin find

    sharp l)]ade, which is touched u]) on a block of iron-wood at the

    last moment. The pith is pared on a square tile, having its

    ends guarded by a thin strip of ])rass, on which the knife rests.

    The pith is rolled over against its edge with the left hand ; the

    right firmly holds it, slowly moving it leftward, as the workman

    pulls and rolls the pith in the same direction, as far as the tile

    allows. The pared sheet runs under the knife, and the paring

    goes on until only a center three or four lines thick is left ; and this remnant the thirifty workmen use or sell for an aperient The paring resembles the operation of cutting out corks, and

    produces a smooth slieet about four feet long, the first half foot

    being too much grooved to be of use. The fresh sheets are

    pressed in a pile, smoothed by ironing and their fractures

    mended with mica. Most of the paper is trimmed into square

    sheets for the makers of artificial fiowers, and sold in Formosa

    at about eight cents for five hundred sheets. An India-ink outline

    is first transferred l)y dampening and pressing it upon the

    paper, when the ink strikes off sufliciently to enable the workman

    to fill up the sketch ; one outline will serve for limning

    several copies, and in large establishments the separate colors

    are laid on by different workmen. The manufacture of these

    paintings at Canton employs between two and three thousand

    hands.

    Another tissue sometimes used by the Chinese for painting,

    more remarkable for its singularity than elegance, is the reticulated

    nerve-work of leaves, the parenchyma of the leaf having

    been removed by maceration, and the membrane filled with

    isinglass. The appearance of a painting on this transparent

    substance is pretty, but the colors do not retain their brilliancy.

    The Chinese admire paintings on glass, and some of the moonlight

    scenes or thunderstorms are good specimens of their art.

    The clouds and dark parts are done with India-ink, and a dark

    shade well befitting the subject is imparted to the whole scene

    by underlaying it with a piece of blackish paper. Portraits and

    other subjects are also done on glass, but the indifferent execution

    is rendered still more conspicuous by the transparency of

    the ground ; the Hindus purchase large quantities of such glass

    pictures of their gods and goddesses. Looking-glasses are also

    painted on the back with singular eifect by removing the quicksilver

    with a steel point according to a design previously sketched, and then painting the denuded portion.

    CHINESE SCULPTURE AND CARICATURE. 115

    Statuary is confined (thiefiy to molding idols out of clay or cutting them from wood, and carving animals to adorn balus’ trades and temples. Idols are generally made in a sitting posture and dressed, the face and hands being the only parts of the body seen, so that no opportunity is afforded for imitating the muscles and contour of tlie figure. The hideous monsters which

    guard the entrance of temples often exhibit more artistic skill

    than the unmeaning images enshrined within, and some even

    display much knowledge of character and proportion. Among

    their best performances in statuettes are the accurate baked and

    painted models of different classes of people ; Canton and Tientsin

    artists excel in this branch.

    Animals are sculptured in granite and cast in bronze, showing

    great skill and patience in the detail work ; deformity in the

    model has resulted in the production of such animals, indeed, as

    were probably never beheld in any world. Images of lions,

    tigers, tortoises, elephants, rams, and other animals ornament

    bridges, temples, and tombs. The elephants in the long avenue

    of warriors, horses, lions, etc., leading up to the tomb of the

    Emperor Ilungwu at Xanking are the only tolerable representations

    of their originals ; the gigantic images guarding the

    tomb of Yungloh, his son, at Changping, near Peking, are

    noticeable for size alone. The united effect of the elaborate

    carving and grotesque ornaments seen upon the roofs, woodwork,

    and pillars of buildings is not devoid of beauty, though in their

    details there is a great violation of the true principles of art,

    just as the expression of a face may please which still has not a

    handsome feature in it. Short columns of stone or wood, surmounted by a lion, and a dragon twining around the shaft, the whole cut out of one block ; or a lion sejant with half a dozen cubs crawling over his body, are among the ornaments of temples and graves which show the taste of the people.

    The Chinese have a sense of the ridiculous, and exhibit it

    both in their sculpture and drawing in many ways. Lampoons,

    pasquinades, and caricatures are common, nor is any pei’son

    below the dragon’s throne spared by their pens or pencils, though

    they prefer subjects not likely to involve the authors—as in the

    one here selected from the many elicited during the war of 1840.

    By far the best specimens of sculpture are their imitations of

    fruits, flowers, animals, etc., cut out of many kinds of stone,

    from gnarled roots of bamboo, wood, and other materials ; but

    in these we admire the unwearied patience and cunning of the

    workmen in making gi’otesque combinations and figures out of apparently intractable materials, and do not seek for any indications of a pni’e taste or embodiment of an exalted conception.

    Inscriptions of a religions or geomantic cliai’acter are often cntnpon the faces of rocks, as was tlie case in India and Arabia,* and tlie pictnrescpie characters of the language make a pretty appearance in such situations.

    Caricature of an English Foraging Party.

    The small advances made in architecture have already been noticed in Chapter XIII.—a deficiency exhibited in the Iluns and other nations of the Mongolian stock long after they had settled in Europe and Western Asia ; nor was it imtil their amalgamation with the imaginative nations of Southern Europe

    had changed their original character that grand performances

    in architecture appeared among the latter. If the Chinese had

    a model of the Parthenon or the Pantheon in their own

    country, belike they would measurably imitate it in every part,

    but they would erect dozens in the same fashion. Perhaps

    an infusion of elegance and taste would liave been imparted to

    them if the people had had frequent intercourse witii more im-

    ‘ Compare Job XXX., 24.

    LIMITATIONS OF TIIKIll AlinilTKOTURE. 117

    ainiiative nations, 1)ut wlicn tlici’c wei-c no models of this superior

    kind to follow there was no likelihood of their originatihg

    them. In lightei’ edifices, as ])avilions, rest-houses, kiosks,

    and arbors, there is, however, a degree of taste and adaptation

    that is umisual in other buildings, and (juite in keeping with

    their fondness for tinsel and gilding rather than solidity and

    grandeur. On this point Lay’s remark on the characteristics of

    the Attic, Egyptian, Gothic, and Chinese styles is apposite.

    ” If we would see beauty, size, and proportion in all their excellence,

    we should look for it among the models of Greece ; if

    we desire something that was wild and stupendous, we should

    find it in Egypt ; if grandeur with a never-sated minuteness of

    decoration please us, we need look no further than to a cathedral

    ; and lastly, if the romantic and the old-fashioned attract

    our fancy, the Chinese can point us to an exhaustless store in

    the recesses of their vast Empire. A lack of science and of conception

    is seen in all their luiildings, but fancy seems to have

    had free license to gambol at pleasure ; and wdiat the architect

    wanted in developing a scheme he made up in a redundancy of

    imagination.”

    The Chinese have made but little progress in investigating the principles and forces of mechanics, but have practically understood most of the common powers in the various applications of which they are capable. The lever, wheel and axle, wedge and pinion, are all known in some form or other, but the modification of the wedge in the screw is not frequent. The sheave blocks on board their vessels have only one pulley, but they understand the advantages of the windlass, and have adopted the capstain in working vessels, driving piles, raising timber, etc. They have long understood the mode of raising weights by a hooked pulley running on a rope, attached at each end to a cylinder of unequal diameters; by this contrivance, as the rope wound around the larger diameter it ran off the snuiller one, raising the weight to the amount of the difference between the circumference of the two cylinders at a very small expense of strength. The graduations of the weighing-beam indicate their acquaintance with the relations between the balance and the weight on the long and short arm of the lever, and this mode of weighing is preferred for gold, pearls, and other valuable things. The overshot water-wheel is used to turn stones for grinding wheat and set in motion pestles to hull rice and press oil from seeds, i’,nd the undershot power for raising water.

    There is a great expenditure of human strength in most of their contrivances; in many, indeed, the object seems to have been rather to give a direction to this strength than to abridge it. For instance, they put a number of slings under a heavy stone and carry it off bodily on poles, in preference to making a low car to roll it away at half the expense of human power.

    In other departments of science the attainments of the people are few and imperfect. Chemistry and metallui’gy are unknown as sciences, but many operations in them are performed with a considerable degree of success. Sir J, Davis gives the detail of some experiments in oxidizing quicksilver and preparation of mercurial medicines which were performed by a native in the presence and at the request of Dr. Pearson at Canton, and ” afforded a curious proof of similar results obtained by the most different and distant nations possessing very unequal scientific attainments, and bore no unfavorable testimony to Chinese shrewdness and ingenuity in the existing state of their knowledge.” ‘ The same opinion might be safely predicated of their metallurgic manipulations; the character of the work is the only index of the efficacy of the process. In bronzes they take a high place, and the delicacy of their niello work in gold and silver, upon wood as well as metal, caimot be surpassed.

    ‘ The Chinese, Vol. II., pp. 260-270, 28G.

    IDEAS ON Till-: STKUt’TUIlE OF TIIK IIFMAN HODY. 119

    This compendious review of the science of the Chinese can be brought to a close by a brief account of their theory and practice of medicine and surgery. Although they are almost as superstitious as the Hindus or North American Indians, they do not depend upon inc^antations and charms for relief in case of sickness, but resort to the prescriptions of the physician as the most reasonable and likely way to recover; mixed up, indeed, with many strange practices to assist the efficacy of the doses. These vary in every part of the Empire, and show the power of ignorance to perpetuate and strengthen the strangest superstitions where health and life are involved. Doolittle has collected many instances, and the experience of medical missionaries is uniform in this matter.

    The dissection of the human hody is never attempted, though

    some notions of its internal structure are taught in medical

    works, which are published in many forms. Mr. Wylie notices

    fifty-nine treatises of a medical and physiological character in

    his Notes on Chinese Literature. They contain references to

    a far greater number of authors, some of whom flourished in

    the earliest days of China, and many of whose writings exhibit

    good sense and sound advice amid the strangest theories. Dr.

    Harland has deseril)ed the Chinese ideas of the organization of

    the body and the functions of the chief viscera in a lucid manner,

    and the diagram shown on p. 120 presents the popular

    opinions on this subject, for whatever foreigners may have imparted

    to them has not yet become generally known.

    The Chinese seem to have no idea of the distinction between venous and arterial blood, nor between muscles and nerves, applying the word hin to both tendons and nerves. According to these physiologists, the brain (A) is the abode of the yln principle in its perfection, and at its base (B), where there is a reservoir of the marrow, communicates through the spine with the whole body. The larynx (C) goes through the lungs directly to the heart, expanding a little in its course, while the pharynx(D) passes over them to the stomach. The lungs («, «, r/, a^ a, a) are white, and placed in the thorax; they consist of six lobes or leaves suspended from the spine, four on one side and two on the other; sound proceeds from holes in them, and they rule the various parts of the body. The centre of the thorax (or pit of the stomach) is the seat of the breath; joy and delight emanate from it, and it cannot be injured without danger. The heart {h) lies underneath the lungs, and is the prince of the body ; thoughts proceed from it. The pericardium {<) comes from and envelops the heart and extends to the kidneys.

    There are three tubes communicating from the heart to the spleen, liver, and kidneys, but no clear ideas are held as to their office. Like the pharynx, they pass through the diaphragm, which is itself connected with the spine, ribs, and bowels. The Chinese Notions of the Internal Structure of the Human Body.

    /I,/?—The brain. C—Larynx. D—Pharynx. a,a,«,«,rt,

    a—Lungs. 6—Heart, c—Pericardium. U—Bond of connection

    with tho spleen, e—The (Esophagus. /—Boiidnf

    connection with the liver, (j—Bond of connection with

    the kidneys, h—The diaphragm, i—Cardiac extremity.

    ;—The spleen, i—The stomach. /—Omentum. »«—The

    pylorus. n,n,n,n,n.v—The liver, o—The gall-blndder.

    ;>—The kidneys, q—The small intestines, r—The largo

    intestines, s—Caput coli. i—Thc navel, m—The blad

    tier. ?’—The “gate of life.”‘ sometimes iiUu-ed in the

    right kidney, zo—The rectum, x, y—The urinal and

    foecal passages.

    liver (??, ;?, ??, 71, v, 71) io

    on the right side and has

    seven lobes ; the soul resides

    in it, and schemes

    emanate from it ; tlie

    gall-bladder (0) is below

    and projects npward into

    it, and when the person

    is angry it ascends ; courage

    dwells in it ; hence

    the Chinese sometimes

    procure the gall-bladder

    of animals, as tigers and

    bears, and even of men,

    especially notorious bandits

    executed for their

    crimes, and eat the bile

    contained in them, under

    the idea that it will impart

    courage. The spleen

    {J) lies between the stomach

    and diaphragm and

    assists in digestion, and

    the food passes from it

    into the stomach {k), aud

    hence through the pylorus

    {m) into the large intestines.

    The omentum [l) overlies the stomach, but its office is unknown, and the mesentery and pancreas are entirely omitted.

    TIIEOKIES REGARDING OSTEOLOGY AND CIRCULATION. 121

    The small intestines {(j) are connected with the heart, and the urine passes through them into the bladder, separating from the food or fseces at the caput coli iV), where they divide from the larger intestines.

    The large intestines (/) are connected with the lungs and

    lie in the loins, having sixteen convolutions. The kidneys {j))

    are attached to the spinal marrow, and resemble an egg in shape,

    and the subtle genei-ative fluid is eliminated by them above to the

    brain and belo\v to the spermatic cord and sacral extremity ; the

    testes, called wal shin, or ‘outside kidneys,’ communicate with

    them. The right kidney, or the passage from it (v), is called

    the ” gate of life,” and sends forth the subtle fluid to the spermatic

    vessels. The bladder (u) lies below the kidneys, and receives

    the urine from the small intestines at the iliac valve.

    The osteology of the frame is briefly despatched : the pelvis, skull, forearm, and leg are considered as single bones, the processes of the joints being quite dispensed with, and the whole considered merely as a kind of internal framework, on and in which the necessary fleshy parts are upheld, but with which they have not much more connection by muscles and ligaments than the post has with the pile of mud it upholds. The TaiYiYuan, or Medical College at Peking, contains a copper model of a man, about six feet high, on which are given the names of the pulses in different places ; it is pierced with many small holes. In a.d. 1027 the Emperor had two anatomical figures made to illustrate the art of acupuncture, which is still practised. The irrigation of the body with blood is rather complicated, and authors vary greatly as to the manner in which it is accomplished. Some pictures represent tubes issuing from the fingers and toes, and running up the limbs into the trunk, where the}’ are lost, or reach the heart, lungs, or some other organ as well as they can, wandering over most parts of the body in their course.

    Theories are furnished in great variety to account for the nourishment of the body and the functions of the viscera, and upon their harmonious connection with each other and the five metals, colors, tastes, and planets is founded the well-being of the system; with all they hold an intimate relation, and their actions are alike built on the all-pervading functions of the yin and yang—those universal solvents in Chinese philosophy. The pulse is very carefully studied, and its condition regarded as the

    Bar,

    mp:dical puactice of the Chinese. 123

    The practice of the Chinese is far in advance of their theory, and some of their treatises on dietetics and medical practice contain good advice, the result of experience. Dr. W. Lockhart has translated n native treatise on midwifery, in which the author, conlining himself principally to the best modes of treatment in all the stages of parturition, and dwelling brieii}’ on the reasons of things, has greatly improved upon the physiologists.

    This branch of the profession is almost entirely in the hands of

    women. Sui-gical operations are chietly confined to removing a

    tooth, puncturing sores and tumors with needles, or trying to

    reduce dislocations and reunite fractures by pressure or bandaging.

    Sometimes they successfully execute more difficult

    cases, as the amputation of a finger, operation for a harelip,

    and insertion of false teeth. In one case of dentistry four incisor

    teeth made of ivory were strung upon a piece of catgut

    and secured in their place b}- tying the string to the eye-teeth ;

    they were renewed quarterly, and served their purpose tolerably

    M’ell. The practice of acupuncture has some good results among

    the bad ones.* That of applying cauteries and caustics of various

    degrees of power is more general, and sometiuies entails

    shocking distress upon the patient. Cases have presented themselves

    at the hosj)itals, where small sores, by the application of

    escharotics, have extended until a large part of the tissue, and

    even important organs, have been destroyed, the charlatan

    amusing his suffering patient by promises of ultimate cure.

    The moxa, or burning the fiovvers of the amaranthus upon the

    skin, is attended with less injury.

    ‘Compare Ri’mnsat {Xoiiveau.r Melangen Asiatiqves, Tome I., pp. 358-380),

    Tui-ning in of the eyelashes is a common ailment, and native practitioners attempt to cure it by everting the lid and fastening it in its place by two slips of bamboo tightly bound on, or by a pair of tweezers, until the loose fold on the edge sloughs off: the eye is, however, more frequently disfigured by this clumsy process than is the trouble remedied. Poultices made of many strange or disgusting substances are applied to injured parts, who says that the first notion of acupuncture as practised in China was brought into Europe by one Ten-Rhyue, a Dutch surgeon, at the end of the seventeenth century.

    Dr. Parker mentions the case of a man who, having injured

    tlie iris by a fall, was ordered by his native physician to cut a

    chicken in halves, laying one portion on the eye as a cataplasm

    and eating the other as an internal cure. Venesection is rarely

    attempted, but leeches and cupping are employed to remove the

    blood from a particular spot. Blood-letting is disapproved in

    fevers, ” for,” says the Chinese reasoner, ” a fever is like a pot

    boiling ; it is requisite to reduce the fire and not diminish the

    liquid in the vessel if we wish to cure the patient.”

    Many of the operations in cases of fracture present a strange

    mixture of folly and sense, proceeding from their ideas of the

    internal structure of the human body conliicting with those

    which common sense and experience teach. Pere Ripa’s description

    of the treatment he underwent to prevent the ill effects

    of a fall will serve as an illustration. Having been thrown

    from his horse and left fainting in the street, he was carried

    into a house, wdiere a surgeon soon visited him. ” He made

    me sit up in bed, placing near me a large basin filled with

    water, in which he put a thick piece of ice to i-educe it to a

    freezing point. Then stripping me to the waist, he made me

    stretch my neck over the basin, while he continued for a good

    while to pour the water on my neck with a cup. The pain

    caused by this operation upon those nerves which take their

    rise from the pia mater was so great and insufferable that it seemed to me unequalled, but he said it would stanch the blood and restore me to my senses, which was actually the case, for in a short time my sight became clear and my mind resumed its powers. He next bound my head with a band drawn tight by two men who held the ends, while he struck the intermediate parts vigorously with a piece of wood, which shook my head violently, and gave me dreadful pain. This, he said, was to set the brain, which he supposed had been displaced, and it is true that after the second operation my head felt more free.

    THE PKACTICK OF CHINESE PHYSICIANS. 125

    A third operation was now performed, during which he made me, still stripped to the waist, walk in the open air supported by two persons; and while thus walking he unexpectedly threw a basin of freezing cold water over my breast. As this caused me to draw my breath with great vehemence, and as my chest had been injured b)- the fall, it may easily be imagined what were my sufteriiigs under this inlliction ; but I was eonsoled by the information that if any i-ib had been dislocated,

    this sudden and hard breathing would restoie it to its natui-al

    position. The next ])roceeding was not less painful and extravagant.

    The operator made me sit on the ground, and, assisted

    by two men, held a cloth upon my mouth and nose till I was

    almost suffocated. ‘ This,’ said the Chinese Esculapius, ‘ by

    causing a violent heaving of the chest, will force back any rib

    that may have been dislocated.’ The wound in my head not

    being deep, he healed it by stuffing it with burnt cotton. He

    then ordered that I should continue to walk much, supported

    by two persons ; that I should not sit long, nor be allowed to

    sleep till ten o’clock at night, at which time I should eat a little

    thin rice soup, lie assured me that these walks in the open

    air while fasting would prevent the blood from settling upon

    the chest, where it might corrupt. These remedies, though

    barbarous and excruciating, cured me so completely that in

    seven days I was able to resume my journey.” ‘

    The active daily practice of a popular Chinese doctor may be

    very well illustrated from Dr. Ilobson’s description of one Ta

    wang siensang, or ‘ Dr. Hhubarb,’ a medical practitioner in

    Canton. This man, after prescribing for the sick at his office

    until the hour of ten in the morning, would commence his rounds

    ” in the sedan chair carried in great haste by three or four men.

    Those patients were visited first who had their names and

    residences first placed in the entry book, and as the streets were

    narrow and crowded, to avoid trouble in finding the house, a

    copy of the doctor’s sign-board would be posted up outside the

    patient’s door, so that the chairmen should be able at once to

    recognize the house without delay.”

    ‘ Pere Ripa, Memoirs and Residence ai Peking^ translated by F. Prandi, Loudon,1844, p. G7.

    The doctor being ushered into the hall, or principal room, is met with bows and salutations by the father or elder brother of the family. Tea and pipes are offered in due form, and he is requested to feel his patient’s pulse’; if a male, he sits opposite to him; if a female, afcreeii of bamboo intervenes, which is only removed in case it is requisite to see the tongue. The right hand is placed upon a book t»^ steady it, and the doctor, with much gravity and a learned look, places his three fingers upon the pulsating vessel, pressing it alternately with each finger on the inner and outer side, and then making with three fingers a steady pressure for several minutes, not with watch in hand, to note the frequency of its beats, but with a thoughtful and calculating mind, to diagnose the disease and prognosticate its issue. The fingers being removed the patient immediately stretches out the other hand, which is felt in the same manner.

    Perhaps certain cpiestions are asked of the father or mother concerning the sick person, but these are usually few, as it is presumed the pulse reveals everything needful to know. Ink and paper are produced and a prescription is written out, which consists of numerous ingredients, but there are one or two of only prime importance —the rest are servants or adjuvants. They are all taken from the vegetable kingdom, and are mostly simples of little efficacy. The prescription is taken to a di-nggist to be dispensed; the prescriber seldom makes up the medicine himself, and as large doses are popular (a quid j»;yv’ J^^^), so the decoction made from the whole amounts to pints or even quarts, which are swallowed in large portions with the greatest ease; powders, boluses, pills, and electuaries are also use(). If the patient is an officer of the government or a wealthy person, the nature of the disease, prognosis, and treatment are written down for the inspection of the family ; for this the doctor’s fee is a dollar. But generally speaking, both the doctor and the patient’s friends are quite satisfied with a verbal communication; and if the man has a gift for speaking and has brass enough to use it to his advantage (both of which are seldom wanting in timeserving men), he will describe with a learned, self-satisfied air the ailment of the patient, and the number of days it will take to cure him. The fee is wrapped up in red paper, and called “golden thanks,” varying, in amount from fifteen to seventy cents or more, according to the means of the patient; the chair bearers being paid extra. The doctor returns to make another visit if invited, but not otherwise. It is more common, if the patient is not at once benefited by the prescription, to pall in another, then a third, then a fourth, and even more, until tired of physicians (for the Chinese patience is soon exhausted, and their faith by no means strong in all their doctors’ asseverations) they have, as a last resort, application made to one of the genii, or a god possessing wonderful healing powers. The result is that the patient dies or lives, not according to the treatment received, for that must be generally inefficacious, but according as his natural strength is equal to surmount the difficulties by which he is surrounded.’

    ‘ Dr. James Henderson in Journal of the N. C. Br. of Royal Asiatic Society,1864, No. r, p. 54.

    Dr. Hobson has given an analysis of 442 medicinal agents enumerated in one of the popular dispensatories; of the whole number, 314 are vegetable, 50 mineral, and 78 animal. The author gives the name of each one, the organ it affects, its properties, and lastly the mode of its exhibition. Medicines are arranged under six heads—tonics, astringents, resolvents, purgatives, alteratives of poisonous humors, and of the blood. Among the agents employed are many strange and repulsive substances, as snake-skins, fossil bones, rhinoceros or hart’s horn shavings, silk-worm and liuinan secretions, asbestos, moths, oyster-shells, etc. Calomel, vermilion, red precipitate, minium, arsenic, plumbago, and sulphate of copper are among the metallic medicines used by physicians ; Dr. Henderson enumerates thirty three distitu’t mineral medicines. The number of apothecary shops in towns indicates the great consumption of medicine; their arrangement is like the druggist shops in the west, though instead of huge glass jars at the windows filled with bright colored liquids, and long rows of vials and decanters in glass cases, three or four branching deer’s horns are suspended from the walls, and lines of white and black gallipots cover the shelv’es. Hartshorn is reduced to a dust by filing, for exhibition in consumption. Many roots, as rhubarb, gentian, etc., are prepared by paring them into thin laminae; others are powdered in a mortar with a pestle, or triturated in a narrow iron trough in which a close-fitting wheel is worked. The use of acids and reagents is unknown, for they imply more knowledge of ciiemistry than the Chinese possess. Vegetable substances, as camphor, myrrh, ginseng, rhubarb, gentian, and a great variety of roots, leaves, seeds, and barks, are generally taken as pills or decoctions. Many valuable I’ecipes will probably be discovered in their books as soon as the terms used are accurately ascertained, and a better acquaintance with the botany and mineralogy enables the foreign student to test them intelligently.

    The people sometimes cast lots as to which one of a dozen doctors they shall employ, and then scrupulously follow his directions, whatever they may be, as a departure therefrom would vitiate the sortilege. Sometimes an invalid will go to a doctor and ask for how much he will cure him, and how soon the cure can be performed. He states the diagnosis of his case, the pulse is examined, and every other symptom investigated, when the bargain is struck and a portion of the price paid. The patient then receives the suitable medicines, in quantity and variety better fitted for a horse than a man, for the doctor reasons that out of a great number it is more likely that some will prove efficacious, and the more he gets paid for the more he ought to administer. A decoction of a kettleful of simples is drunk down by the sick man, and he gives up both working and eating; if, however, at the expiration of the time specified he is not cured, he scolds his physician for an ignorant charlatan who cheats him out of his money, and seeks another, with whom he makes a similar bargain, and probably with similar results. Sagacious observance of cause and effect, symptoms and pains, gradually give a shrewd physician great power over his ignorant patients, and some of them become both rich and influential; a skillful physician is termed the “nation’s hand.”

    DISEASES PREVALENT IN CHINA. 129

    A regular system of fees exists among the profession, but the remuneration is as often left to tiie generosity of the patient. New medicines, pills, powders, and salves are advertised and pufPed by flaunting placards on the walls of the streets, some of them most disgustingly obscene; but the Chinese do not puff new nostrums by publishing a long list of recommendations from patients. The various ways devised by persons to dispose of their inediciiies exhibit much ingenuity. Sometimes a man, having spread a mat at the side of the street, and marshalled his gallipots and salves, will commence a hai-angne npf>n the goodness and efficacy of his preparations in loud and eloquent tones, until he has collected a crowd of hearers, some of whom he manages to persuade will he the better for taking some of his potions. He will exhibit their efficacy by first pounding his naked breast with a brick till it is livid, and then immediately healing the contusion by a lotion, having previously fortified the inner parts with a remedy; or he will cut open his tiesh and heal the wound in a few moments by a wonderful elixir, which he alone can sell. Others, more learned or more professional, erect a pavilion or awning, fluttering with signs and streamers, and quietly seat themselves under it to wait for customers; or content themselves with a flag perched on a pole setting forth the potency of their pills. Dentists make a necklace of the rotten teeth they have obtained from the jaws of their customers, and perambulate the streets with these trophies of their skill hanging around their necks like a rosary. In general, however, the Chinese enjoy good health, and when ill from colds or fevers, lie abed and suspend working and eating, which in most cases allows nature to work her own cure, whatever doses they may take. They are perhaps as long-lived as most nations, though sanatory statistics are wanting to enable us to form any indisputable conclusions t)n this head.

    The classes of diseases which most prevail in China are ophthalmic,

    cutaneous, and digestive ; intermittent fevers are also

    connnon. The great disproportion of affections of the eye has

    often attracted observation. Dr. Lockhart ascribes it partly to

    the inflammation which often comes on at the commencement

    of winter, and which is allowed to run its course, leaving the

    organ in an ujiliealthy condition and very obnoxious to other

    diseases. This inflammation is beyond the skill of the native

    practitioners, and sometimes destroys the sight in a few days.

    Another fruitful source of disease is the practice of the barbers

    of turning the lids over and clearing their surfaces of the mucus

    which may be lodged there, lie adds: ”If the person’s eyes be

    examined after this process, they will be found to be very red

    and irritated, and in process of time chronic conjunctivitis supervenes,

    wliicli being considered proof of insutiicient cleansing,

    the practice is persisted in, and the inner surface of the lid becomes

    covered with granulations. In other cases it becomes

    indurated like thin parchment, and the tarsal cartilages contract

    and induce entropium.” Dense opacity of the cornea itself is

    frequently caused by this harherous practice, or constant pain

    and weeping ensues, both of which materially injure the sight,

    if the patient does not lose it. The practice of cleansing the

    ears in a similar way frequently results in their serious injury,

    and sometimes destruction. When the ill effects of such treatment

    of these delicate organs must be plain to eveiy obser\ing

    person in his own case, it is strange that he should still allow the

    operation to be repeated.

    The physicians in charge of the missionary hospitals successfully

    established at so many cities in Eastern China have

    attended more to tumors, dislocations, wounds, and surgical

    cases, ophthalmic and cutaneous diseases, than to common clinical

    ailments. The hospitals here spoken of are little more than

    dispensaries, with a room or two for extreme or peculiarly interesting

    cases ; there is little visiting the natives at their own houses.

    Asthma, even in boys, is common at Amoy, and consumption

    at Canton and Chusan. Intermittent fevers prevail more

    or less wlierever the cultivation of rice is carried on near villages

    and towns. Elephantiasis is known between Shanghai and

    Canton, but in the southern provinces leprosy seems to exist as

    its equivalent. This loathsoma disease is regarded by the

    Chinese as incurable and contagious. Lazar-houses are provided

    for the residence of the infected, but as the allowance of poor

    patients is insuthcient for their support, they go from street to

    street soliciting alms, to the great annoyance of every one. As

    soon as it appears in an individual, he is immediately separated

    from liis family and driven forth an outcast, to herd with others

    similarly afPected, and get his living from precarious charity.

    The institution of lazarettoes is ])raisewortliy, hut they fail of

    affording relief on account of the mismaiiagonient and peculation

    of those who have their supervision ; and those who cannot get

    DISEASES PREVALENT IN CHINA. 131

    in are obliged to live in a village set apart for tliein north of

    the city. Lepers can intermarry among themselves, but on

    account of })overty and other causes they do not often do so,

    and the hardships of their lot soon end their days. This disease

    will probably exist among the Chinese until houses are

    built more above the ground, better ventilation of cities and

    improvement in diet are adopted, when it will disappear as it

    has in Southern Europe.

    Diseases of an inilammatoiy nature are not so fatal or rapid

    among the Chinese as Europeans, nor do consumptions carry

    off so large a proportion of the inhabitants as in the United

    States. Dyspepsia has been frequently treated ; it is ascribed

    by Dr. Hepburn to the abundant use of salt provisions, pickled

    vegetables, and fish, irregularity in eating, opium smoking, and

    immoderate use of tea ; though it nuiy be questioned whether

    the two last reasons are more general and powerful at Amoy

    than Canton, where dyspepsia is comparatively rare. The surgeons

    at the latter place have successfully treated hundreds of

    cases of stone, losing less than fifteen per cent, of all. Some of

    the patients were under ten years, and a few of the calculi

    weighed nearly half a pound. This malady is almost md^nown

    in Xorthern China. The diseases which result from intemperate

    and licentious habits are not as violent in their effects as

    in countries where a greater use of animal food and higher living

    render the system more susceptible to the noxious consequences

    of the virus.

    The existence of tumors and unnatural growths in great abundance and variety is satisfactorily accounted for by the inability of the native practitioners to remove them. Those which had a healthy growth increased until a moi-bid action supervened, and consequently sometimes grew to an enormous size. A peasant named IIu Lu went to England in 1831 to have an abdominal tumor extirpated weighing about seventy pounds; he died under the operation. No patients bear operations with more fortitude than the Chinese, and, owing to their hnnphatic temperament, they are followed with less inflammation than Is usual in European practice. CToitre is very common in the mountainous regions of the northern provinces ; Dr. Gillan estiniatcd that nearly one-sixth of the inhahitants met In the villages on the high land between Peking and Jeh ho were atflicted witli this deformity, which, however, is said not to be so considered by the vilLigers themselves.

    The Asiatic cholera has been a great scourge in China, but does not often become an epidemic anywhere, though sporadic cases constantly occur. It raged at Ningpo in May, 1S20, and an intelligent native doctor informed Mr. Milne ‘ that it was computed that ten thousand persons were carried off by it in the city and department of Kingpo during the summers of 1820-23. In 1842 it prevailed at Amoy and Changchau and their vicinity ; more than a hundred deaths daily occun-ed at the former place for six or seven weeks. It raged violently at Hangchau in Chehkiang during the years 1821 and 1 822, persons dropping down dead in the streets, or dying within an hour or two after the attack ; many myriads were computed to have

    fallen victims, and the native doctoi’s, finding their remedies

    useless, gave up all treatment. It carried off multitudes in

    Shantung and Iviangsu during the same years, and was as titful

    in its progress in China as in Europe, going from one city to

    another, passing by towns apparently as obnoxious as those

    visited. The plague is said to have existed in KSouthern China

    about the beginning of the sixteenth centui-y, but it has not

    been heard of lately.

    ‘ Chinese llepository, Vol. XII., p. 487.

    XATIVE TREATISES 0\ MKDICINE. 133

    Small-pox is a terrible scath, and although the practice and utility of vaccination have been known for fifty years past at Canton, its adoption is still limited even in that city. It was introduced in 1820 by Dr. Pearson, of the East India Company’s establishment, and native assistants were fully instructed by him in the practice. Vaccination has now extended over all the Eighteen Provinces, and the government has given its sanction and assistance; it is chiefly owing to the heedlessness of the people in not availing themselves of it in time that it has, done no more to lessen the ravages of the disease. Where children were gratuitously vaccinated it was found almost impossible to induce parents to bring them ; and Mdien the children had been va(!cinated it was increasingly difficult to get them to return to allow the physician to see the result of the operation. Inoculation has long been practised by inserting a pledget in the nostrils containing the virjs; this mode is occasionally adopted in vaccination. The slovenly habits of the people, as well as insufficient protection and unwholesome food, give rise to many diseases of the skin, some of them incurable.

    The science of medicine attracted very early attention, and there are numerous treatises on its various branches. But the search for the liquor of immortality and the philosopher’s stone, with careful observations on the pulse as the leading tests of diseases, have led them astray from accurate diagnosis age after affe. The common classification of diseases is under nine heads, viz., those which affect the pulse violently or feebly, those arising from cold, female and cutaneous diseases, those needing acupunetui-e, and diseases of the eyes, the mouth and its parts, and the bones. A professor of each of these classes is attached to the imperial family, who is taken from the Medical College at Peking; but he has no. greater advantages there than he could get in his own reading and practice. Xo museums of morbid or comparative anatomy exist in the country, nor are there any lectures or dissections ; and the routine which old custom has sanctioned will go on until modern practice, now rapidly taking its place, wins its way. Section CCXCYII. of the code orders that ” whenever an unskillful practitioner, in administering medicine or using the puncturing needle, proceeds contrary to the established forms, and thereby causes the death of a patient, the magistrate shall call in oilier practitioners to examine the medicine or the wound, and if it appear that the injury done was unintentional, the practitioner shall then be treated according to the statute for accidental homicides, and shall not be any longer allowed to practise medicine.

    But if designedly he depart from the established forms, and deceives in his attempt to cure the malady in order to obtain property, then, according to its amount, he shall be treated as a thief; and if death ensue fmiu his malpractice, then, for having thus used medicine with intent to kill, he shall be beheaded.” ‘ This statute is seldom carried into execution, however, and the doctors are allowed to kill and cure, secundum, artem., as their patients give them the opportunity, Natural history, in its various branches of geologj, botany, zoology, etc., has received some attention, because the objects which come under it could not escape the notice of all the writers in Chinese literature. As sciences, however, none of them have an existence, and they are studied chiefly for their assistance in furnishing articles for the materia medica of the native physician. To these persons nothing comes amiss, and, like the ingredients of the bubbling, bubbling caldron of Macbetli’s witches, the stranger it is the more potent they think a dose will be ; in this particular they now act very much as the faculty did in England two centuries ago. It is to be regretted that their investigation should have taken such a direction, but the man of commanding influence has not yet arisen to direct their researches into nature and divert them from the marvelous and theoretical. On the whole, it may be said that in all departments of learning the Chinese are unscientific ; and that while they have collected a great variety of facts, invented many arts, and brought a few to a high degree of excellence, they have never pursued a single subject in a way calculated to lead them to a right understanding of it, or reached a proper classification of the information they possessed relating to it.
    ‘ Chinese CJirestomnthy, Chap. XVI., pp. 497-532. Asiatic Soc. Transactions, Hongkong, Art. III., 1847; No. III., 1852, Art. III. Jour. iV. C Br. R. A. Soc, No. I., 1864, and No. VI., 1809. W. Lockhart, Medical Missionary in China, 1861. Chinese Repository, passim. Porter Smitli’s Contributions to Chinese Materia Medira, Shanghai, 1871. Fliickiger & Hanbnry,Pharmacofiraphia, London, 1874. China Retieir, Vol. I., p. 176; Vol. III.,p. 224. J. Dudgoon, The Diseases of China, Glasgow, 1877; id. iu the Chinese Recorder, Vols. U., III., and IV., passim.

    CHAPTER XVII. HISTORY AND CHRONOLOGY OF CHINA

    The history of the Chinese people has excited less attention among western scholars than it deserves, though in some respects no nation offers more claims to have its chronicles carefully and fairly examined. The belief is generally entertained that their pretensions to antiquity are extravagant and ridiculous, and incompatible with the Mosaic chronology ; that they not only make the world to have existed myriads of years, but reckon the succession of their monarchs far beyond the creation, and ascribe to them a longevity that carries its own confutation on its face. In consequence of this opinion, some have denied the credibility of native historians altogether, and the whole subject of the settlement and early progress of this ancient race has been considered beyond the reach, and almost unworthy the attempt, of sober investigation. This erroneous and hasty conclusion is gradually giving way to a careful inquiry into those histories which show that the early records of the sons of Han contain much which is worthy of credence, and much more that is highly probable. A wide field is here opened for the researches of a Gibbon or a Kiebuhr; for as long as we are destitute of a good history of China and its connections with other Asiatic nations, we shall not only be unable to form a correct opinion respecting the people, but shall lack many important data for a full illustration of the early history of the human race. It is easy to laud the early records of the Chinese to the skies, as French writers have done ; and it is quite as easy to cry them down as worthless—manufactured in after ages to please the variety of their writers. The reputation both people and records have received is owing, in some measure, to this wulue laudation and depreciation, as well as to the intrinsic merits and defects of their histories. These, however, still mostly remain in their originals, and will require the united labors of many scholars to be full}’ brought to light and made a part of the world’s library.

    The enormous difficulties arising from the extent and tedious minuteness of native historians, coupled with the scarcity of translators competent or willing to undertake the labor of even such a resume of these works as will satisfy rational curiosity, are now being slowly overcome, both by Chinese and foreign students. These researches, it is to be earnestly hoped, will be rewarded by promoting a juster estimate in the minds of both classes of their relative positions among the nations of the earth.

    China, like other countries, has her mythological history, and it should be separated from the more recent and received, as her own historians regard it, as the fabrication of subsequent times. She also has her ancient history, whose earliest dates and events blend confusedly with the mythological, but gradually grow more credible and distinct as they come down the stream of time to the beginning of modern history. The early accounts of every nation whose founding was anterior to the practice of making and preserving authentic records nnist necessarily be obscure and doubtful. What is applicable to the Chinese has been true of other ancient people : ” national vanity and a love of the marvelous have intiuenced them all, and furnished materials for many tales, as soon as the spirit of investigation has supplanted that appetite for wonders which marks the infancy of nations as well as of individuals.”‘ The ignorance of the ” art preservative of all arts ” will greatly explain the subsequent record of the wonderful, without supposing that the infancy of nations partook of the same traits of weakness and credulity as that of individuals. There is neither space nor time in this work to give the details concerning the history and succession of dynasties that have swayed the Middle Kingdom, for to one not specially engaged in their examination their recital is proverbially dry ; the array of uncouth names destitute of lasting interest, and the absence of the charm of association with western nations render them nnin\ iting to the general reader. Some account of the leading events and changes is all that is necessary to explain what has been elsewhere incidentally referred to.’

    THE STUDY OF EARLY CHINESE HISTORY. 137

    Chinese historians have endeavored to explain the creation and origin of the world around them ; but, ignorant of the sublime fact that there is one C^reator who upholds his works by the word of his power, they have invented various modes to account for it, and wearied themselves in theorizing and disputing with each other. One of them, Yangtsz’, remarks, in view of these conflicting suppositions: “Who knows the affairs of remote antiquity, since no authentic records have come down to us? He who examines these stories will find it difficult to believe them, and careful scrutiny will convince him that they are without foundation. In the primeval ages no historical records were kept. Why then, since the ancient books that described those times were burnt by Tsin, should we misrepresent those remote ages, and satisfy ourselves with vague fables? However, as everything except heaven and earth must have a cause, it is clear that they have always existed, and that cause produced all sorts of men and beings, and endowed them with their various qualities. But it must have been man who in the beginning produced all things on earth, and who may therefore be viewed as the lord, and from whom rulers derive their dignities.”

    This extract is not a bad example of Chinese writers and historians ; a mixture of sense and nonsense, partially laying the foundation of a just argument, and ending with a tremendous non-se(putur, apparently satisfactory to themselves, but showing pretty conclusisely how little pains they take to gather facts and discuss their bearings. Some of these writers imagine that the world owes its existence to the retroactive agency of the dual powers yhi and yang, which first formed the outline of the universe, and were themselves influenced by

    ‘ Among the works which will repay perusal on this topic are Mailla’s //?’.’»’tfdre (le l<i Chwe and Pauthier’s Cliinr, in Frendi, and Du Halde’s Jl/sfnry.

    translated into English ; besides the briefer compilations of Murray, (irosier,Chitzluff, Davis, and more recently of Boulger and llichthofeii, Band I.

    their own creations. One of the most sensible of their aatliors says: Heaven was formless, an utter chaos ; the whole mass was nothing but confusion. Order was first produced in the pure ether, and out of it the universe came forth ; the universe produced air, and air the milky-way. When the pure male principle yang had been diluted, it formed the heavens ; the heavy and thick parts coagulated, and formed the earth. The refined particles united very soon, but the union of the thick and heavy went on slowly; therefore the heavens came into existence first, and the earth afterward.

    From the subtle essence of heaven and earth, the dual principles yia and yang were formed ; from their joint operation came the four seasons, and these putting forth their energies gave birth to all the products of the earth. The warm effluence of the yang being condensed, produced fire ; and the finest parts of fire formed the sun. The cold exhalations of the yin being likewise condensed, produced water ; and the finest parts of the watery substance formed the moon. By the seminal influence of the sun and moon, came the stars.

    Thus heaven was adorned with the sun, moon, and stars ; the earth also received rain, rivers, and dust.’ But this acute explanation, like the notions of Ilesiod among the Greeks, was too subtle for the common people ; they also

    wanted to personify and deify these powers and operations, but

    lacking the imaginative genius and fine taste of the Greeks,

    their divine personages are outrageous and their ideal beings

    shapeless monsters. No creator is known or imagined who,

    like Brahm, lives in space, ineffable, formless ; but the first

    being, Pwanku, had the herculean task to mould the chaos

    which produced him and chisel out the earth that was to contain

    him. One legend is that ” the dual powers were fi.xed

    when the primeval chaos separated. C’haos is bubbling turbia

    water, which enclosed and mingled with the dual powers, like

    a chick in ovo, but when their offspring Pwanku appeared their

    distinctiveness and operations were apparent. Pwdn means a

    ‘ basin,’ referring to the shell of the egg ; lu means ‘ solid,’ ‘ to

    secure,’ intending to show how the first man Pwanku was

    hatched from the chaos by the dual powers, and then settled

    and exhibited the arrangement of the causes which produced

    him.”

    Chinese Repositoin/, Vol. III., p. 55.

    CHINESE COSMOGONY. 139

    The Pationalists have penetrated furthest into the Daedalian mystery of this cosniogoiiy,’ and they go on to show what Pvvanku did and how he did it. They picture him holding a chisel and niahet in his hands, splitting and fashioning vast Pwanku Chiselling Out the Universe.

    ‘ For the Buddhist notions of cosmography and creation, see Remusat,Melattges PoHthmneii, pp. G5-131.

    masses of gvanite lioating confusedly in space. Behind the openings his powerful hand has made are seen the sun, moon, and stars, monuments of his stupendous labors; at his right hand, inseparable companions of his toils, but whose generation is left in obscurity, stand the dragon, the phoenix, and the tortoise, and sometimes the unicorn, divine types and progenitors with himself of the animal creation. His efforts were continued eighteen thousand years, and by small degrees he and his work

    increased ; the heavens rose, the earth spread out and thickened,

    and Pwanku grew in stature, six feet evevy day, till, his labors

    done, he died for the benefit of his handiwork. His head

    became mountains, his breath wind and clouds, and his voice

    thunder ; his limbs were changed into the four poles, his veins

    into rivers, his sinews into the undulations of the earth’s surface,

    and his flesh into fields ; his beard, like Berenice’s hair,

    was turned into stars, his skin and hair into herbs and trees,

    and his teeth, bones, and marrow into metal?, rocks, and precious stones ; his dropping sweat increased to rain, and lastly (nascltur ridiculus mus) the insects which stuck to his body were transformed into people!

    Such was Pwanku, and these Mere his works. But these grotesque myths afford none of the pleasing images and personifications of Greek fable or Egyptian symbols ; they fatigue without entertaining, and only illustrate the children imagination of their authors. Pwanku was succeeded by three rulers of monstrous forms called the Celestial, Terrestrial, and Human sovereigns, impersonations of a trinity of powers, whose traces and influences run through Chinese philosophy, religion, and politics ; their acts and characters are detailed with the utmost gravity, and more than Methusalean longevity allowed them to complete their plans. Their reigns continued eighteen thousand years (more or less according to the author quoted), during which time good government commenced, men learned to eat and drink, the sexes united, sleep was invented, and other improvements adopted. One would think, if the subjects of these wonderful beings were as long-lived, great perfection might have been attained in these and other useful arts; but the mysterious tortoise, conq)anion of Pangu, on whose carapace was written, in ta<l])olo-headed characters, the history of the anterior world, did not survive, and their record has not come doM’u. After them flourished two other niouai’chs, one of them called

    MYTHS OF THE CREATION. Hi

    Youchao, which means ‘having a nest’, and the other Suiren, or ‘match-man’. Whether the former invented nests for the abodes of his subjects, such as the Indians on the ()i’iuo(;o have, is not stated ; but the hitter brought down tire from heaven for them to cook with, and became a second, or rather the first, Prometheus.

    These fancies are gathered from a popuhir summary of knowledge, called the Coral Forest of Ancient Matters and from the opening chapters of history Made Easy. A higher style of philosophizing is found in C’liu Ill’s disquisition, from which an extract has been given in Chapter XII. Another on Cosmogony will show that he comes no nearer to the great fact of creation than ancient western writers.

    In the beginning heaven and earth were just the light and dark air. This one air revolved, grinding round and round. When it ground quickly much sediment was compressed, which, having no means of exit, coagulated and formed the earth in the center. The subtle portion of the air then became heaven and the sun, moon, and stars, which unceasingly revolve on the outside. The earth is in the center and motionless ; it is not below the center.

    Heaven revolving without ceasing, day and night also revolve, and hence the earth is exactly in the centre. If heaven should stand still for one moment, then the earth must fall down ; but heaven revolves quickly, and hence much sediment is coagulated in the centre. The earth is the sediment of the air; and hence it is said, the light, piu-e air became heaven, the heavy, muddy air became earth.

    At the beginning of heaven and earth, before chaos was divided, I think there were only two things—fire and water; and the sediment of the water formed the earth. When one ascends a height and looks down, the crowd of hills resemble the waves of the sea in appearance : the water just flowed like this. I know not at what period it coagulated. At first it was very soft, but afterward it coagulated and became hard. One asked whether it resembled sand thrown up by the tide ? He replied. Just so ; the coarsest sediment of the water became earth, and the purest portion of the fire became wind, thunder, lightning, sun, and stars.

    Before chaos was divided, the Yin-Yang, or light-dark air, was mixed up and dark, and when it divided the centre formed an enormous and most brilliant opening, and the two ‘c or principles were established. Shao Kang-tsieh considers one hundred and twenty-nine thousand six hundred years to be a yyn, or kalpa; then, before this period of one hundred and twenty-nine thousand six hundred years there was another opening and spreading out of the world ; and before that again, there was another like the present ; so that motion and rest, light and darkness, have no beginning. As little things sha<l”>w forth great things, this may be illustrated by the revohitions of day and night.

    Kang-tsieh says, Heaven rests upon form, and earth reclines upon air.

    The reason why he repeats this frequently, and does not deviate from the idea, is lest people should seek some other place beyond heaven and earth. There is nothing outside heaven and earth, and hence their form has limits, while their air has no limit. Because the air is extremely condensed, therefore it can support the earth ; if it were not so the earth would fall down.’

    A third belief respecting the position of the earth in the centre of the universe derives great strength in the opinion of intelligent natives from these speculations of Chn III. His theory considers the world to be a plane surface, straight, square, and large, measuring each way about 1500 miles (5600 Li), and bounded on the four sides by the four seas. The sun is estimated to be about 4,000 miles from the earth. Another calculation made it 81,394 Zi, and a third 216,T81| li.

    One thing is observable in these fictions, characteristic of the Chinese at the present day : there is no hierarchy of gods brought in to rule and inhabit the world they made, no conclave on Mt. Olympus, nor judgment of the mortal soul by Osiris ; no transfer of human love and hate, passions and hopes, to the powers above ; all here is ascribed to disembodied agencies or principles, and their works are represented as moving on in quiet order. There is no religion, no imagination ; all is impassible, passionless, uninteresting. It may perhaps, be considered of itself as sensible as the Greek or Egyptian mythology, if one looks for nense in such figments ; but it has not, as in the latter countries, been explained in sublime poetry, shadowed forth in gorgeous ritual and magnificent festivals, represented in exquisite sculptures, nor preserved in faultless, inqjosing fanes and temples, filled with ideal creations. P^or this reason it appears more in its true colors, and, when compared with theirs, ” loses discountenanced and like folly shows “—at least to us, who can examine both and compare them with the truth.

    Canon McClatchie’s Confucian CoKiumjoiiy, pp. 5:5-59.

    CHINESE AND WESTERN CHRONOLOGY. 143

    Their pure mythological history ends with the appearance of Fuh-hi, and their chronology has nothing to do with the long periods antecedent, varying from forty-five to five hundred thousand years. These periods are, however, a mere twinkling compared with the kulpas of the Hindus, whose highest era, called the Unspeakably Inexpressible, requires four million four hundred and fifty-six thousand four hundred and forty-eight cyphers following a unit to represent it. If the epoch of Fuh-hi could be ascertained with any probability by comparison with the history of other nations, or with existing remains, it would tend not a little to settle some disputed chronological points in other countries ; but the isolation of the Chinese throughout their whole existence makes it nearly impossible to weave in the events of their history with those of other nations, by comparing and verifying them with biblical, Egyptian, or Persian annals. Perhaps further investigations in the vast regions of Eastern and Central Asia may bring to light corroborative testimony as striking and unexpected as the explorations in Mosul, Persepolis, and Thebes.

    The accession of Fuh- hi is placed in the Chinese annals b.c.2852,’ and with him commences the period known among them as the ” highest antiquity.” The weight of evidence which the later chronological examinations of Hales and Jackson have brought to bear against the common period of four thousand and four years prior to the Advent, is such as to cast great doubt over its authenticity, and lead to the adoption of a longer period in order to afford time for many occurrences, which otherwise would be crowded into too narrow a space. Chinese chronology, if it be allowed the least credit, strongly corroborates the results of Dr. Hales’ researches, and particularly so in the date of Fuh-hi’s accession. This is not the place to discuss the respective claims of the two eras, but by reckoning, as he does, the creation to be live thousand four hundred and eleven years, and the deluge three thousand one hundred and fifty-five years, before the Advent, we bring the commencement of ancient Chinese history three hundred and three years subsequent to the deluge, forty seven before the death of Xoah, and about three centuries before the confusion of tongues. If we suppose that the ante-

    ‘ Or 3322, according to Dr. Legge, whose date has been used elsewhere in this work, and has probably quite as much authority as the one above.

    diliivians possessed a knowledge of the geography of the world,

    and that ^’oah, regarding himself as the monarch of the whole,

    divided it among his descendants before his death, there is

    nothing improbable in the further supposition that the progenitors

    of the black-haired race, and t)thers of the house and

    lineage of Sliem, found their way from the valley of the

    Euphrates across the defiles and steppes of Central Asia, to the

    fertile plains of China before the end of the third diluvian century.

    Whether the surface of the world was the same after the cataclysm as before does not aifect this point ; there was ample time for the multiplication of the species with the blessing promised by God, sufficient to form colonies, if there was time enough to increase to such a multitude as conspired to build the tower of Babel.

    The views of Dr. Legge, that the present Chinese descend from settlers who came through Central Asia along the Tarim Valley and across the Desert into Kansuh, about b.c. 2200, and settled around the elbow of the Yellow River, under the leadership of Yao, Shun, Yu, and others, are very reasonable.

    These settlers found the land at that time occupied with tribes, whom they partly merged with themselves or drove into mountain recesses in Kweichau, where some of their descendants perhaps still remain. These earlier tribes may have furnished the names and reigns prior to Yao, and the later Chinese annalists incorporated them into their own histories, taking everything in early times as of course belonging to the U imn, or ‘ ])lackliaired race.’ The lapse of a millennium between the Deluge and Yao allows plenty of time for several successive emigrations from Western and Central Asia into the inviting plains of China, which, through the want of a written language o>* the destruction of records, have come down to us in misty, doubtful legends.

    THE EIGHT EARLY MONARCHS. 145

    Fuli-hi and his seven successors are stated to have reigned seven hundred and forty-seven years, averaging ninety-three each. Those who follow Usher consider these monarchs to be Chinese travesties of the eight antediluvian patriarchs; and Marquis d’TTrban has gone so far as to write what he calls the Antediluvian History ^y CV/Y’/ic/, collecting all the notices history affords of their acts. The common chronology brings the delude about thirteen years after the accession of Yao and the death of Shmi (the last of the eight), b.c. 2205, or twenty-live years after the confusion of tongues. According to Hales, the last epoch is one hundred and twelve years before the call of Abraham, and these eight Chinese monarchs are therefore contemporaries of the patriai’chs who lived between Shem and Abraham, commencing with Salah and ending with Xahor.

    The duration of their reigns, moreover, is such as would bear the same proportion to ages of five hundred years, which their contemporaries lived, as the present average of twenty and twenty -five years does to a life of sixty. The Assyrian tablets, deciphered by George Smith, contain a reference to the twenty eighth century b.c, as the founding of that monarchy ; which is a notice of more value as a chronological epoch than anything in Chinese annals, indeed, and may help to countenance a date that had before been regarded as mythological.

    Supposing that the descendants of Shem, Ham, and Japheth, knowing from their fathers and grandfather, that the void world was before them, began to colonize almost as soon as they began to form families, three centuries would not be too long a time for some of them to settle in China, perhaps offsetting from Elam and Asshur, and other descendants of Shem in Persia. The capital of Fuh-hi slightly indicates, it may be thought, their route through Central Asia across the Desert to Kiayli kwan in Kansuh, and then down the Yellow River to the Great Plain near Kaifung. But these suppositions are only by the way, as is also the suggestion that teaching of fishing and grazing, the regulation of times and seasons, cultivation of music, and establishment of government, etc., compare well enough with the duties that might reasonably be supposed to belong to the founder of a colony and his successors, and subsequently ascribed to them as their own inventions. The long period allotted to human life at that date would allow these arts and sciences to take root and their memory to remain in popular legends until subsequent historians incorporated them into their writings. The Chinese annalists fill up the reigns of these chief?, down to the time of Yao, with a series of inventions and improvements in the arts of life and good government, sufficient to bring society to that degree of comfort and order they suppose consonant with the character of the monarchs. The earliest records of the Chinese correspond much too closely with their present character to receive full belief ; but they present an appearance of probability and naturalness not possessed by the early annals of Greece. No one contends for their credibility as history, but they are better than the Arabian Nights.

    The commencement of the sexagenary cycle’ in the sixty first year of Ilwangtfs reign (or b.c. 2037), five hundred and eighteen years after the deluge, eighty-two years after the death of Arphaxad, and about that time before the confusion of tongues, is worthy of notice. The use of the ten horary characters applied to days in order to denote their chronological sequence dates from the reign of Yu in the twentieth century b.c, and there are other passages in the Shu KIikj showing similar application.

    Sz’ma Tsien’s history now contains the first attempt to arrange the years in cycles of sixty; but he cannot fairly be claimed as the inventor of this system. he might almost as well be regarded as the inventor of his whole annals, for all the materials out of which he compiled them have now perished except the canonical books. The mention of the individual Xao the Great, who invented it, and the odd date of its adoption in the middle of a reign, do not weaken the alleged date of its origin in the minds of those who are inclined to take a statement of this kind on its own basis.

    Three reigns, averaging eighty years’ duration, intervened between that of Huangdi and Yao, whose occupants were elected by the people, much as were Shemgar, Jephthah, and cttlier judges in Israel, and probably exercised a similar sway. The reigns and characters of Yao and Shun have been immortalized by Confucius and Mencius; whatever was their real history, those sages showed g]-eat sagacity in going back to those remote times for models and fixing upon a period neither fabulous nor certain, one which preventel alike the cavils of scepticism and the appearance of complete fabrication,

    ^ Journal Asiatique, Avril, 183G, p. 394.

    THE DELUGE OF YAO. 147

    A tremendous deluge occurred during the reign of Yao, b.c. 2293, caused, it is said, by the overflowing of the rivers in the north of China. Those who place the Xoachic dehige b.c.2348 regard this as only a different version of that event; Klaproth, who favors the Septuagint chronology, says that it is nearly synchronous with the deluge of Xisutlirus, b.c. 2297, a name derived, as is reasonably inferred by George Smith, from the Assyrian name Ilasisadra, the ancient hero who survived the deluge. The record of this catastrophe in the Shu King is hardly applicable to an overwhelming flood : ” The Emperor said. Oh! chief of the four mountains, destructive in their overthrow are the waters of the inundation. In their vast extent they embrace the mountains and overtop the hills, threatening the heavens with their floods, so that the inferior people groan and murmur. Is there a capable man to whom I can assign the correction of this calamity? ” ‘ They presented Kwan as a proper man, but he showed his inefficiency in laboring nine years without success to drain off the waters. Yao was then advised to employ Shun, who called in Yu, a son of Kwan, to his aid, and the floods were assuaged by deepening the beds of the rivers and opening new channels. These slight notices hardly comport with a flood like the Xoachic deluge, and are with much greater probability referred to an overflow or a change in the bed of the Yellow River from its present course into the Gulf of Pechele through Chihli northeast, to its recent one along the lowlands of Kiangsu. The weight of topographical evidence, combined with the strong chronological argument, the discussions in council said to have taken place regarding the disaster, and the time which elapsed before the region was drained, all pre-suppose and indicate a partial inundation, and strengthen the assumption that no traces of the Deluge exist in the histories of the Chinese. In our view of the chronology of the Bible, as compared with the Chinese, it requires a far greater constraint upon these records to bring them to refer to that event, than to suppose they allude to a local disaster not beyond the power of remedy.

    ‘ Legge’s Shu King^ p. 24, Hongkong, 1867.

    THE RECORDS OF YAO AXD YU. 149

    The series of chieftains down to the accession of Yu may here be recapitulated. The entirely fabulous period ends with Sui-jin, and legendary history commences with Fuh-ln’, who with four of his successors (Nos. 2, 3, 7, and 8) are commonly known as the Five Sovereigns, follows:

    Their names and reigns are as Buflficient to have deepened the channel of a river or raised dikes to restrain it. The glorious reigns and spotless characters of these three sovereigns are looked upon by the Chinese with much the same feelings of veneration that the Jews regard their three patriarchs ; and to have had, or to have imagined, such progenitors and heroes is, to say the least, as much to their credit as the Achilles, Ulysses, and llomulus of the Greeks and Romans, A curious analogy can also be traced between the scheming Ulysses, warlike liomulus, and methodical Yao, and the

    subsequent character of the three great nations they represent.

    Chinese historians supply many details regarding the conduct

    of Yu and Kieh Kwei, the first and last princes of the house of

    Ilia, all the credible particulars of which are taken from the

    Book of Records and the Bauihoo Annah. Dr. Legge candidly

    weighs the arguments in respect to the eclipse mentioned in the

    Y^uli C/ilng, and gives his opinion as to its authenticity, even

    if it cannot yet be certainly referred to the year b.c. 2154. One

    such authentic notice lends strer.gth to the reception of many

    vague statements, which are more likely to be the relics of fuller

    documents long since lost than the fabrications of later writers,

    such as were the Decretals of Isidore in the Middle Ages. In

    giving a full translation of the Bamhoo Books in the prolegomena

    of the Sh u Klng^ Dr. Legge has shown one of the sources

    of ancient Chinese liistory outside of that work. There were

    many other works accessible to Sz’ma Tsien, nearly four centuries

    before they were discovered (a.d. 279), when he wrote

    his Annals. Pan Ku gives a list of the various books recovered

    after the death of Tsin Chi Ilwangti, amounting in all to thirteen

    thousand two hundred and nineteen volumes or chapters

    contained in six huudi-ed and twenty different works. Well

    does Pauthier speak of the inestimable value which a similar

    catalogue of the extant literature of Greece and Pome at that

    epoch (b.(\ 100) would now be.

    One of the alleged records of the reign of Yu is an inscription traced on the rocks of Ivau-lau shaii, one of the peaks of Mount llano; in Ilunan, relatinjij to the inundation. It contfiins seventy-seven characters only, and Amiot, who regarded it as genuine, has given its sense as follows: The venerable Emperor said, Oli I aid and councillor! Who will help me in administiM-ing my affairs V The great and little islets (the inhabited places) even to their summits, the abodes of the beasts and birds, and all beings are widely inundated. Advise, send back the waters, and raise the dikes. For a long time, J have quite forgotten my family ; I repose on the top of the mountain Yoh-lu. By prudence and my labors, I have moved the spirits ; I know not the hours, but repose myself only in my incessant labors. The mountains Hwa, Yoh, Tai, and Ilang, have been the beginning and end of my enterprise; when my labors were completed, I offered a thanksgiving sacrifice at the solstice. My affliction has ceased ; the confusion in nature has disappeared; the deep currents coming from the south flow into the sea ; clothes can now be made, food can be prepared, all kingdoms will be at peace, and we can give ourselves to continual joy.’

    Since Amiot’s time, however, further opportunities have offered

    for more tliorongh inquiry into this relic by foreigners,

    and the results of their researches throw much doubt upon its

    authenticity, though they do not altogether destroy it. In the

    Introduction to the S/iu King, Dr. Legge discusses the value

    of this tablet among other early records of that reign, and

    comes to the conclusipn that it is a fabrication of the Han

    dynasty, if not later. The poet Han Yu (a.d. 800) gave it

    wide notoriety by his verses about its location and nature ; but

    when he was there he could not iind it on the peak, and cited

    only a Taoist priest as having seen it. More than three centuries

    afterward Chu Hi M^as equally unsuccessful, and his opinion

    that it was made by the priests of that sect has had nnich

    weight with his countrymen. It was not till one Ho Chi wont

    to Mount Hang, about a.d. 1210, and took a copy of the inscription

    from the stone then in a Taoist temple, that it was

    actually seen ; and not till about 1510, that Chang Ki-wrm,

    another antiquary of Hunan province, published his copy in

    the form now generally accepted. In 1660 one Mao Tsangkien

    again found the tablet on the summit of Kau-lau, but

    reached it with nnich difficulty by the help of ladders and

    hooks, and found it so broken that the inscription could not

    be made out. A reduced fae-siitnle of Mao’s copy is given by

    ‘ Pauthier, Lit Chine, p. 53; J. Hager’s Inscription of Yv, Paris, 1802;

    Legge’s Sim Kinr/, pp. G7-74 ; TrdiisdctimiH of flic X. C. Br: Ji. A. Soc, No.

    v., 1809, pp. 78-84; Journal Aniaiiqiu’, 18G7, Tome X., jjp. 197-337.

    THE TABLET OF YU. 161

    Dr. Legge, whose translation differs from Amiot’s in some particulars.

    I received the irords of i\\9 Emperor, saying, ” Ah \ Associate helper, aiding noble! The islands and islets ma/ now be aseended, thut were doors for the birds and beasts. Tou devoted your person to the great overflowings, and with the daybreak yon rose up. Long were you abroad, forgetting your family ; you lodged at the mountain’s foot as in a hall ; your wisdom schemed; your body was broken ; your heart was all in a tremble. You went and sought to produce order and settlement. At Hwa, Yoh, Tai, and Hang, by adopting the principle of dividing the tcaters, your undertakings were completed.

    With the remains of a taper, you offered your pure sacrifice. There were entanglement and obstruction, being swamped, and removals. The southern river flows on its course ; for ever is the provision of food made sure ; the myriad States enjoy repose ; the beasts and birds are for ever fled away.”

    The characters in which this tablet is written are of an ancient tadpole form, and so difficult to read that grave doubts exist as to their proper meaning—^and even as to which of two or three forms is the correct one. Since the copy of Mao was taken, the Manchu scholar Ivwan-wan, when Governor-General of Liang Hu in 1868, erected a stone tablet at Wu-chang, in the Pavilion of the Yellow Stork, upon the eminence overlooking the Yangtsz’. This he regarded as a true copy of the authentic Yu Pal, or ‘ Tablet of Yu.’ A fac-slmile of this tablet, and of another rubbing from a stone now existing at the foot of Mount Hang (which is alleged to be an exact reproduction of the original on its top), was published by W. H. Medhurst in the A^. C. Asiatic Society Journal for 1869. A comparison of these three will give the reader an idea of the difficulties and doubts attending the settlement of the credibility of this inscription. A living native writer quoted by Mr. Medhurst says that the earliest notice of the tablet is by Tsin Yung of the Tang dynasty, about a.d. TOO, from which he infers that the people of the time of Tung must have seen the rock and its inscription. lie regards the latter as consisting of fairy characters, utterly unreadable, and therefore all attempts to decipher them as valueless and misleading.

    Amid so many conflicting opinions among native scholars, the verdict of foreigners may safely await further discoveries. and the day when competent observers can examine these localities and tablets for themselves. Without exaggerating the importance and credibility of the S/tu, K’nvj and other ancient Chinese records, they can be received as the writings of a very remote period ; and while their claims to trustworthiness would be fortified if more intimations had been given of the manner in which they were kept dniing the long period antecedent to the era of Confucius, they still deserve a more respectful consideration than some modern writers are disposed to allow them.

    For instance, Davis remarks: ” Yu is described as nine cubits in height, and it is stated that the skies rained gold in those days, which certainly (as Dr. Morrison observes) lessens the credit of the history of this period.” Now, without laying too much stress upon the record, or the objections against it, this height is but little more than that of Og of Bashan, even if we adopt the present length of the cubit fourteen and one-tenth inches, English ; and if Zv’w, here called <j<)ld, be translated metal (which it can just as well be), it may be a notice of a meteoric shower of extraordinary duration. Let these venerable ‘writings be investigated in a candid, cautious manner, weighing their internal evidence, and comparing their notices of those remote periods as much as they can be with those of other nations, and they will illustrate ancient history and customs in no slight degree.

    Mr. Murray has given a synopsis from Mailla of what is recorded of the Ilia dynasty, which will fairly exhibit the matter of Chinese history. It is here introduced somewhat abridged, with dates inserted.

    The accession of Yu (B.C. 2205) forms a romarkable era in Chinese history.

    EARLY HISTORY OF TUi: TIIA DYNASTY. 153

    The throne, which hitherto liad been more or less ek’ctive, became from this period hereditary in the eldest son, with only those occasional and violent interrujitions to which every despotic government is liable. The national annals, too, assume a more regular and authentic shape, the reigns of the sovereigns being at the same time reduced to a probable duration. Yu justly acquired a lasting veneration, but it was chiefly by his labors under his two predecessors. When he himself ascended the throne, age had already overtaken him ; still the lustre of his government was supported by able councillors, till it closed with bis life at the end of seven years. Many of the grandees wished, according to former practice, to raise to the throne Pi-yih, his first minister, and a person of distinguished merit; but regard for the father, in this case, was strengthened by the excellent ijualities of his son Ki, or Ti Kf (/.<?., the Emperor Ki), and even Pi-yih insisted that the prince should be preferred (2197). Hi.s reign of nine years was only disturbed by the rebellion of a turbulent subject, and he was succeeded (2188) by his son, Tai Kang. But this youth was devoted to pleasure; music, wine, and hunting entirely engrossed his attention. The Chinese, after enduring him for twenty nine years, dethroned him (2159), and his brother, Chung Kaug, was nominated to succeed, and lield th:> reins of government for thirteen years with a vigorous liand. He was followed l / his son, Siang (2140), who, destitute of the energy his situation required, gave himself up to the advice of his minister Yeh, and was by him, in connection with his accomplice, Ilantsu, declared incapable of reigning. The usurper ruled for seven years, when he was Idlled ; and the rightful monarch collected his adherents and gave battle to Ilantsu and the son of Yeh in the endeavor to regain his throne. Siang was completely defeated, and lost both his crown and life ; the victors immediately marched to the capital, and made so general a massacre of the family that they believed the name and race of Yu to be for ever extinguished.

    ‘J’he Empress Min, however, managed to escape, and tied to a remote city, where she brought forth a son, called Shau Kang ; and th better to conceal his origin, she employed him as a shepherd boy to tend flocks. Reports of the existence of such a youth, and his occupation, at length reached the ears of Hantsu, who sent orders to bring him, dead or alive. The royal widow then

    placed her son as under-cook in the liousehold of a neighboring governor,

    where the lad soon distinguished himself by a spirit and temper so superior to

    this humble station, that the master’s suspicions were roused, and obliged him

    to disclose his name and birth. The officer, being devotedly attached to the

    house of Yu, not only kept the secret, but watched for an opportunity to reinstate

    him, and meanwhile gave him a small government in a secluded situation,

    which he prudently administered. Yet he was more than thirty years

    old before the governor, by engaging other chiefs in his interest, could assemble

    such a force as might justify the attempt to make head against tlie usurper.

    The latter hastily assembled his troops and led them to the attack, but was defeated and taken prisoner by the young prince Chu himself ; and Shau Kang, with his mother, returned with acclamations to the capital. His reign is reckoned to have been sixty-one years’ duration in the chronology of the time, which includes the usurpation of forty years of Hantsu.

    The country was ably governed by Shau Kang, and also by his son, Chu(2057), who ruled for seventeen yearr: ; but the succeeding sovereigns, in many instances, abandoned themselves to indolence and pleasure, and brought the kingly name into contempt. From Hwai to Kieh Kwei, a space of two hundred and twenty-two years, between B.C. 2040 and 1818, few records remain of the nine sovereigns, whose bare names succeed each other in the annals. At length the throne was occupied by Kieh Kwei (1G18), .. prince who is represented as having, in connexion with his consort, Mei-hi, practised ‘,’very kind of violence and extortion, in order to accumulate treasure, which they spent in unbridled voluptuousness. They formed a large pond of wine, deep enough to float a boat, at which three thousand men drank at once. It was surrounded, too, by pyramids of delicate viands, which no one, however, was allowed to taste, till he had first intoxicated himself out of the lake. The drunken quarrels which ensued wer« their favorite amusempiit. In the intrrior o” the jialaci’ Die vilest orgies were celebrated, and the venerable ministers, wlio attempted to remonstrate against these excesses, were either put to deatlx or exiled. The people were at once indignant and grieved at such crimes, which threatened the downfall of the dynasty ; and the discarded statesmen put themselves under the direction of the wise I Yin, and advised Chingtang, the ablest of their number, and a descendant of Huangdi, to assume the reins of government, assuring him of their support. He with reluctance yielded to their solicitations, and assembling a force marched against Kieh Kwei, who came out to meet him at the head of a numerous army, but fled from the contest on seeing the defection of his troops, and ended his days in despicable obscurity, after occupying the throne fifty two years.’

    Chinese annals are generally occupied in this way ; the Emperor and his ministers fill the whole field of historic vision; little is recorded of the condition, habits, arts, or occupations of the people, who are merely considered as attendants of the monarch, which is, in truth, a feature of the ancient records of nearly all countries and people, Monarchs controlled the chronicles of their reigns, and their own vanity, as well as their ideas of government and authority led them to represent the people as a mere background to their own stately dignity and acts.

    The Shang dynasty began b.c. 1760, or about one hundred and

    twenty years before the Exodus, and maintained an unequal sway

    over the feudal States composing the Empire for a period of six

    hundred and forty-four years. Its first monarch, Chingtang, or

    Tang the Successful, is described as having paid religious worship

    to Shangti, under which name, perhaps, the true God was

    intended. On account of a severe drought of seven years’

    duration, this monarch is reported to have prayed, saying,

    ” 1 the child Li presume to use a dark colored victim, and

    announce to thee, O Shang-tien Ilao (‘High Heaven’s Ruler’).

    I«[ow there is a great drought, and it is right I should be held

    responsible for it. I do not know but that I have offended

    the powers above and below.” AVith regard to his own conduct,

    he blamed himself in six particulars, and his words

    were not ended when the rain descended copiously.

    The fragmentary records of this dynasty contained in the

    Shu King are not so valuable to the student who wishes merely

    ‘Hugh Murray, China, Vol. I., pp. 51-55 (edition of 1843),

    TIIK SIIAXa DYNASTY. 155

    to learn the succession of luoiiarclis in tliose (l:ijs, as to one who

    inquires what were the principles on which they ruled, wliat

    were the polity, the religion, the jurisdiction, and the checks of

    the Chinese government in those remote times. The regular

    records of those days will never he recovered, hut the preservation

    of the hist two parts of the Shic Kiiuj indicates their

    existence by fair inference, and encourages those who try to reconstruct

    the early annals of China to give full value even to

    slight fragments. But these parts have been of great service to

    the people since they were written, in teaching them by precept

    and example on what the prosperity of a State was founded, and

    how theii- rnlers could bring it to ruin. In these respects there

    are no ancient works outside of the Bible w^ith which they can

    at all be compared. The later system of examination has given

    them an unparalleled intluonce in molding the national character

    of the Chinese. Of the eleven chapters now remaining all are

    occupied more or less with the relative duties of the prince and

    rulers, enforcing on each that the w-elfare of all was bound up

    with their faithfulness. One quotation will give an idea of

    their instructions. ” Order your affairs by righteousness, order

    your heart by propriety, so shall you transmit a grand example

    to posterit3\ I have heard the saying. He who finds instructors

    for himself comes to the supreme dominion ; he wlft> says that

    others are not equal to himself comes to ruin. He who likes to

    ask becomes enlarged ; he who uses only himself becomes small.

    Oh ! he who would take care for his end must be attentive to

    his beginning. There is establishment for the observers of propriety,

    and overthrow for the blinded and wantonly indifPerent.

    To revere and honor the way of Heaven is the way ever to

    preserve the favoring regard of Heaven.” ‘

    ‘Part IV., Book II., Chap. IV., 8-9. •

    The chronicles of the Shang dynasty, as gathered from the Bamboo Books and other later records, resemble those of the Hia in being little more than a mere succession of the names of the sovereigns, interspersed here and there with notices of some remarkable events in the natural and political world. Luxurious and despised princes alternate with vigorous and warlike ones who coiiiinaiuled respect, :uul the coiiditiunof the State measura.’ bly C’ori’espoiid.s with the character of the monarchs, the feudal barons soinetiines increasing in power and territory by encroacliiug on their neighbors, and then snitering a reduction from some new State. The names of twenty-eight princes are given, the accounts of whose reigns are indeed fuller than those of the dukes of Edom in Genesis, but their slight notices would be more interesting if the same confidence could be reposed in them.

    The bad sovereigns occupy more room in these^fasti than the

    good ones, the palm of wickedness being given to Chau-sin, with

    whom the dynasty ended. The wars which broke out during

    this dynasty were numerous, but other events also find a place,

    though hardly anything which throws light on society or civilization.

    Droughts, famines, and other calamities were frequent

    and attended by dreadful omens and fearful sights ; this fancied

    correlation between natural casualties and political convulsions

    is a feature running through Chinese history, and grows out of

    the peculiar position of the monarch as the vicegerent of heaven.

    The people seem to have looked for control and protection

    more to their local masters than to their lord paramount,

    ranging themselves under their separate banners as they weve

    bidden. The History Made Easy speaks of the twenty-fifth

    monarch, Wu-yih (e.g. 1198), as the most wicked of them all.

    ” Having made his images of clay in the shape of human beings,

    dignified them with the name of gods, overcome them at gambling,

    and set them aside in disgrace, he then, in order to complete

    his folly, made leathern bags and filled them with blood,

    and sent them up into the air, exclaiming, when his arrows hit

    them and the blood poured down, ‘ I have shot heaven,’ meaning,

    I have killed the gods.”

    The names of Chau-sin and Tan-ki are coupled w’ith those

    of Kieh and Mi-hi of the Ilia dynasty, all of them synonymous

    in the Chinese annals for tlie acme of cruelty and licentiousness

    —as are those of Xero and Messalina in Koman history. Chausin

    is said one winter’s morning to have seen a few women

    walking barelegged on the banks of a stream collecting shellfish,

    and ordered their legs to be cut off, that he might see the

    CHAU-SIN—RISE OF TIFE ClIAU DYNASTY. 157

    marrow of persons who could resist cold so fearlessly. The

    heart of one of his reprovers was also hrought him, in order to

    see wherein it differed from that of cowardly ministers. The

    last Booh of Shang contains the vain i-emonstrance of another

    of them, who tells his sovereign that his dynasty is in the condition

    of one crossing a large stream who can iind neither ford

    nor bank. Many acts of this natnre alienated the hearts of the

    people, nntil Wan wang, the leader of a State in the northwest

    of China, nnited the principal men against his misrule ; hut

    dying, bequeathed his crown and power to his son, Wu wang.

    He gradually gathered his forces and met Chau-sin at the head

    of a great army at Muli, near the junction of the rivers Ki and

    Wei, north of the Yellow River in llonan, where the defeat of

    the tyrant was complete. Feeling the contempt he was held in,

    and the hopeless struggle before him, he lied to his palace and

    burned himself with all his treasures, like another Sardanapalus,

    though his immolation (in b.o. 1122) preceded the Assyrian’s by

    five centuries.

    Wu wang, the martial king, the founder of the Chan dynasty,

    his father. Wan wang, and his brother, Duke Chan, are among

    the most distinguished men of antiquity- for their erudition,

    integrity, patriotism, and inventions. AViln wang. Prince of

    Chan, was prime minister to Tai-ting, the grandfather of Chausin,

    but was imprisoned for his fidelity. His son obtained his

    liberation, and the sayings and acts of both occupy al)()ut twenty

    books in Part V. of the Shu King. Duke Chan survived his

    brother to become the director and support of his nephew ; his

    counsels, occupying a large part of the history, are full of wisdom

    and equity. Book X. contains his warning advice about drunkenness,

    which has been remarkably influential among his counti-vmen

    ever since. Ko period of ancient Chinese history is mora

    celebrated than that of the founding of this dynastv, chieflv

    because of the high chai’acter of its leading men, who Avere

    regarded by Confucius as the impersonations of everything wise

    and noble. Wu wang is represented as having invoked the

    assistance of Shangti in his designs, and, when he was successful,

    returned thanks and offered prayers and sacrifices. He

    removed the capital from the province of Honan to the present Si-ngan, in Shensi, where it remained for a long period. This prince committed a great political blnnder in dividing the Empire

    into petty states, thus destroying the ancient pure monarchy,

    and leaving himself only a small portion of territory and power,

    which were (piite insufficient, in the hands of a weak prince, to

    maintain either the state or authority due the ruling sovereign.

    The number of States at one time was one hundred and twentyfive,

    at another forty-one, and, in the time of Confucius, about

    six hundred years after the establishment of the dynasty, fiftytwo,

    some of them large kingdoms. From about b.c. 7U0 the

    imperial name and power lost the allegiance and respect of the

    feudal princes, and gradually became contemptible. Its nominal

    sway extended over the country lying north of the ITangtsz

    kiang, the regions on the south being occupied by tribes of whonj

    no intelligible record has been preserved.

    The duration of the three dynasties, the Ilia, Shang, and

    Chau, comprises a long and obscure period in the history of the

    world, extending from b.c. 2205 to 249, from the time when

    Terah dwelt in (Jharran, and the sixteenth dynasty of Theban

    kings ruled in Egypt, down to the reigns of Antiochus Soter

    and Ptolemy Philadelphus and the ti-anslation of the Septuagint.

    I.—The IliA dynasty, founded by Yu the Great, existed four

    Inmdred and thirty-nine years, down to n.o. lT<!r>, under seventeen

    monarchs, the records of whose reigns are veiy brief.

    Among contemporary events of importance are the call of

    Abraham, in the year b.c. 2003, Jacob’s flight to Mesopotamia

    in 1016, Joseph’s elevation in Egypt in 1885, and his father’s

    arrival in 1863.

    II.—The SuANG dynasty began with Tang the Successful, and continued six hundred and forty-four years, under twenty eight sovereigns, down to b.c. 1122. This period was characterized by wars among I’ival princes, and the power of the sovereign depended chiefly upon his personal character. The principal contemporary events were the Exodus of the Israelites in 1648, their settlement in Palestine in 1608, judgeship of Othniel, 1564 ; of Deborah, 1406 ; of Gideon, 1350 ; of Sam son, 1202 ; and death of Samuel in 1122.

    CREDIBILITY OF THESE EAULV RECORDS. 159

    III.—The CuAU dynasty began with Wu wang, and continued for eight hundred and seventy-three years, under thirty five monarchs, down to b.c. 249, the longest of any recorded in history. The sway of many of these was little more than nominal, and the feudal States increased or diminished, according to the vigor of the monarch or the ambition of the princes.

    In B.C. 770 the capital was removed from Kao, near the River Wei in Shensi, to Luoyang, in the western part of Honan; this divides the house into the Western and Eastern Chan. The contemporary events of these eight centuries are too numerous to particularize. The accession of Saul in 1110; of David, 1070 ; of Rehoboam, 990 ; taking of Troy, 1084; of Samaria, 719 ; of Jerusalem, 586 ; death of Nebuchadnezzar, 501 ; accession of Cyrus and return of the Jews, 551 ; battle of Marathon, 490 ; accession of Alexander, 235 ; etc. The conquest of Egypt by Alexander in 322 brought the thirty-first and last dynasty of her native kings to an end, the first of which had begun under Menes about b.c. 2715, or twenty-two years after the supposed accession of Shinnung.

    The absence of any great remains of human labor or art

    previous to the Great Wall, like the Pj’i-amids, the Temple of

    Solomon, or the ruins and mounds in Syria, has led many to

    doubt the credibility of these early Chinese records. They ascribe

    them to the invention of the historians of the llan dynasty,

    working up the scattered relics of their ancient books into a

    readable nari-ative, and therefore try to bring every statement

    to a critical test for which there are few facts. The analogies

    between the records in the Shu King and the Aryan myths

    are skilfully explained by Mr. Kingsmill by reference to the

    meanings of the names of persons and places and titles, and a

    connection shown which has the merit at least of ingenuity and

    beauty. Almost the only actual known relic of these three

    dynasties is the series of ten stone drums [sMh ktt) now in the

    Confucian temple at Peking. They were discovered about a.d.

    600, in the environs of the ancient capital of the Chau dynasty,

    and have been kept in Peking since the year 1126. They are

    irregularly shaped pillars, from eighteen to thirty-five inches

    high and about twentj^-eight inches across ; the inscriptions are

    much worn, but enough remains to show that they commemo rate a great hunt of Siien wang (b.c. 827) in the region where they were found.’

    AmohiT the feudal States under the house of Chau, that of

    Tsin, on the northwest, had long been the most powerful, occupying

    nearly a iifth of the country, and its inhabitants forming

    a tenth of the whole population. One of the princes, called

    Chausiang wang, carried his encroachments into the acknowledged

    imperial possessions, and compelled its master, Tungchau

    kiun, the last monarch, to humble himself at his feet. Although,

    in fact, master of the whole Empire, he did not take the title,

    but left it to his son, Chwangsiang wang, who exterminated the

    blood royal and ended the Chau dynasty, yet lived only three

    years in possession of the supreme power.

    The son carried on his father’s successes until he had reduced

    all the petty States to his sway. lie then took the name of Chi

    Hwangti (‘ Emperor First’) of the Tsin dynasty, and set himself

    to regulate his conquests and establish his authority by securing

    to his subjects a better government than had been experienced

    during the feudal times. He divided the country into

    thirty-six provinces, over which he placed governors, and went

    throughout them all to see that no injustice was practised.

    This monarch, who has been called the Napoleon of China,

    was one of those extraordinary men who turn the course of

    events and give an impress to subsequent ages; Ivlaproth gives

    him a high ciuiracter as a prince of energy and skill, but native

    historians detest his name and acts. It is recorded that at his

    new capital, Ilienyang, on the banks of the Ilwai, he constructed

    a palace exactly like those of all the kings who had submitted

    to him, and ordered that all the precious furniture of each and

    those persons who had inhabited them should be transported to it, and everything rearranged. The whole occupied an immense space, and the various parts communicated with each other by a magnificent colonnade and gallery. He made progresses through his dominions with a splendor hitherto unknown, accompanied by officials and troops from all parts, thus making

    ‘ Journrd of the N. C. Branch of II. A. Society, Vols. VII., p. 137 ; VIII., pp.23, 133. In the last paper, by Dr. Bnshell, translations and fac-similes of the inscriptions are givoii, with many historical uotictjs.

    TSIX nil IIWANGTI, THE ‘ EMPEROK FIRST.’ IGl

    the people interested in each otlier and consenting to liis sway.

    He also built public edifices, opened roads and canals to facilitate

    intercourse and trade between the various provinces, and

    repressed the incursions of the Iluns, driving them into the wilds

    of Mongolia. In order to keep them out effectually, he conceived

    the idea of extending and uniting the short walls which

    the princes of some of the Xortherii States had erected on their

    frontier into one grand wall, stretching across the Empire from

    the sea to the Desert. This gigantic undertaking was completed

    in ten years (b.c. 20-i), at a vast expense in men and material,

    and not until the family of its builder had been destroyed.

    This mode of protecting the country, when once well begun,

    probably commended itself to the nation. It is impossible, indeed,

    to imagine otherwise how it could have been done, for

    the people were required to supply a quota of men from each

    place, feed and clothe them while at work, and continue this

    expense until their portion was built. Xo monarch could have

    maintained an army which could force his sul)jects against their

    \vill to do such a work or carry it on to completion after his

    death. It is one of the incidental proofs of a great population

    that so many laborers were found. However ineffectual it was

    to preserve his frontiers, it has made his name celebrated

    throughout the world, and his dynasty Tsin has given its name

    to China for all ages and nations.’

    The vanity of the new monarch led him to endeavor to destroy

    all records written anterior to his own reign, that he might

    be by posterity regarded as the first Emperor of the Chinese

    race. Orders were issued that every book should be burned,

    and especially the writings of Confucius and Mencius, explanatory

    of the /Shu King upon the feudal States of Chau, whose

    remembrance he wished to blot out. This strange command

    was executed to such an extent that many of the Chinese literati

    believe that not a perfect copy of the classical works escaped

    destruction, and the texts were only recovered by rewriting

    them from the memories of old scholars, a mode of reproduction

    ‘ Pautliier, La Chine, pp. 30, 221 ; Mem. cone, les Chinois, Tome III., p.183.

    that does not appear so singular to a Chinese as it does to ua

    If the same literary tragedy should be re-enacted to-day, thousands

    of persons might easily be found in China M’ho could rewrite

    from memory the text and commentary of their nine

    classical works. ” Nevertheless,” as Ivlaproth remarks, ” they

    were not in fact all lost : for in a country where writin”: is so

    connnon it was almost impossible that all the copies of works

    universally respected should be destroyed, especially at a time

    when the material on which they were written was very durable,

    being engraved with a stylet on bamboo tablets, or traced upon

    them with dark-colored varnish.” The destruction was no doubt

    as neai’ly complete as possible, and not only were many works

    entirely destroyed, but a shade of doubt thereby thrown over

    the accuracy of others, and the records of the ancient dynasties

    rendered suspicious as well as incomplete. Not only were books

    sought after to be destroyed, but nearly live hundred literati

    were buried alive, in order that no one might remain to reproach,

    in their writings, the Emperor First with having committed

    so barbarous and insane an act.

    The dynasty of Qin, set up in such cruelty and blood, did not long survive the death of its founder; his son was unable to maintain his rule over the half-subdued feudal chieftains, ftnd after a nominal reign of seven years he was overcome by Liu Bang, a soldier of fortune, who, having been employed by one of the chiefs as commander of his forces, used them to support his own authority when he had taken possession of the capital. Under the name of Kautsu he became the founder of the Han dynasty, and his accession is regarded as the commencement of modern Chinese history. The number and character of its heroes and literati are superior to most other periods, and to this day the term IIa)i-ts2\ or ‘ Sons of Han,’ is one of the favorite names by which the Chinese call themselves.

    THE HOUSE OF TTAN. 163

    The first fourteen princes of this dynasty reigned in Shensi, but Jvwangwu removed the capital from (^hang-an to Lohyang, as was done in the Chau dynasty seven centuries b f :re, the old one being ruined. During the reign of Ping i {or ‘he ‘Emperor ]*eacc’) the Prince of Peace, our Lord Jesus Christ, was boiii in Judea, a renuirkable coincidence which has often attracted notice. During the reign of Ming ti, a.d. 65, a deputation was sent to India to obtain the sacred books and authorized teachers of Buddhism, which the Emperor intended to publicly introduce into China. This faith had already widely spread among his subjects, but henceforth it became the popular belief of the Chinese and extended eastward into Japan. This

    monarch and his successor, Chang ti, penetrated with their armies

    as far westward as the Caspian Sea, dividing and overcoming the

    various tribes on the confines of the Desert and at the foot of the

    Tien shan, and extending the limits of the monarchy in that direction

    farther than they are at present. The Chinese sway was

    maintained with varied success until toward the third century,

    and seems to have had a mollifying effect upon the nomads of

    those regions. In these distant expeditions the Chinese heard of

    the Romans, of whom their authors speak in the highest terms :

    ” Everything precious and adnnrable in all other countries,” say

    they, “comes from this land. Gold and silver money is coined

    there; ten of silver are worth one of gold. Their merchants

    trade by sea with. Persia and India, and gain ten for one in their

    traffic. They are simple and upright, and never have two prices

    for their goods ; grain is sold among them very cheap, and large

    sums are embarked in trade. Whenever ambassadors come to the

    frontiers they are provided with carriages to travel to the capital,

    and after their arrival a certain number of pieces of gold are furnished

    them for their expenses.” This description, so characteristic

    of the shop-keeping Chinese, may be compared to many

    accounts given of the Chinese themselves by western authors.

    Continuing the resume of dynasties in order

    lY.—The TsiN dynasty is computed to end with Chwangsiang by the authors of the Illstonj Made Easy, and to have existed only three years, from b.c. 249 to 246.

    Y.—The After Tsin dynasty is sometimes joined to the preceding, but Chi riwangti regarded himself as the first monarch, and began a new house, which, however, lasted only forty-four years, from b.c. 246 to 202. The connnotions in the farthest East during this period were not less destructive of life than the wars in Europe between the Carthaginians and Romans, andthe Syrians, Greeks, and Egyptians.

    VL, YII. The Han and Eastern Han dynasties.—Liu Bang took the title of Han for his dynasty, after the name of his principality, and his family swayed the Middle Kingdom from B.C. 2U2 to A.D. 221, under twenty-six monarchs. The Han dynasty was the formative period of Chinese polity and institutions, and an instructive parallel can be drawn between the character and acts of the Emperors who reigned four hundred years in China, and the numerous consuls, dictators, and emperors

    who governed the Roman Empire for the same period

    from the time of Scipio Africanus to Ileliogabalus. The founder

    of the Han is honored for having begun the system of competitive

    examinations for office, and his successors. Wan ti,

    Wu ti, and Ivwang-wu, developed literature, commerce, arts,

    and good government to a degree unknown before anywhere in

    Asia. In the West the Ilomans became tlie great vrorld power,

    and the advent of Christ and establishment of His church within

    its borders only, render this period the turning epoch of progress

    among niankind.

    The period between the overthrow of the Han dynasty, a.d.

    190, and the establishment of the Eastei-n Tsin, a.d. 317, is

    one of the most interesting in Chinese historj^, from the variety

    of characters which the troubles of the times developed. The

    distractions of this period are described in the Histori/ of the

    Tliree States, but this entertaining work cannot be regarded as

    much better than a historical novel. It has, however, like

    Scott’s stories, impressed the events and actors of those days

    upon the popular mind more than any history in the language.

    VIII.—The Aftkk IIan dynasty began a.d. 211, and continned

    forty-four years, under two princes, to a.d. 205. The

    country was divided into three principalities, called Wei, Wu,

    and Shuh. The first, under the son of Tsao Tsao, ruled the

    whole northern counti’y at Lohyang. and was the most powerful

    of them for about forty years. The second, under Sinn Kien,

    occupied the eastern provinces, from Shantung and the Yellow River down to the mountains of Fuhkien, holding his court at Nanking. The third, under Liu Pi, is regarded as the legitimate dynasty from his affinity with the Han ; he had his capital at Chingtu fii, in Sz’chuen.

    r:6sume of the dynasties. 165

    IX.—The TsiN dynasty was foimded by Sz’ma Chao, a general

    in the employ of llau of tlie last house, who seated himself on

    the throne of his master a.d. 265, the year of the latter’s death.

    His son, Sz’ma Yen, took his place and extended his power over

    the whole Empire by 280. The inroads of the Huns and internal

    commotions were fast ]-educing the people to barbai’ism. Four

    Emperors of this house held their sway at Lohyang during iiftytwo

    years, till a.d. 317. The Iluns maintained their sway in

    Shensi until a.d. 352, under the designations of the Ilan and

    Chau dynasties. It is related of Liu Tsung, one of this barbaric

    race, that he built a great palace at Chang-an, where he gathered

    a myriad of the lirst subjects of his kingdom and lived in

    luxury and magnificence quite unknown before in China. Among

    his attendants was a body-guard of elegantly dressed women, many of whom were good musicians, which accompanied liirn on his progresses.

    X.—The Eastern Tsin is the same house as the last, but Yuen ti having moved his capital in 317 from Luoyang to Xanking, his successors are distinguished as the Eastern Tsin. Eleven princes reigned during a period of one hundred and three years, down to a.d. 420. Buddhism was the chief religion at this time, and the doctrines of Confucius were highly esteemed; “children of concubines, priests, old women, and nurses administered the government,” says the indignant annalist. At this period twelve independent and opposing kings struggled for the ascendency in China, and held their ephemeral courts in the north and west. It was at this time that Constantino moved the capital of the Roman Empire in 328, and the nations of northern Europe under Attila invaded Italy in 410.

    XL—The ScNG, or Northern Song dynasty, as it is often called to distinguish it from the XXIId dynasty (a.d. 970), is the first of the four dynasties known as the JVan-peh C/iao, or ‘ South-north dynasties,’ which preceded the Sui. It was founded by Liu Yu, who commanded the armies of Tsin, and gradually subdued all the opposing States. Displeased at the weakness of his master, Xgan ti, he caused him to be strangled, and placed his brother, Kung ti, upon the throne, who, fearing a like fate, abdicated the empty crown, and Liu Yu became monarch under the name of Kaiitsu, A.n. 420. Eight princes held the throne till a.d. 479, many of them monsters of ernelty, and soon cut off, when Sian Tau-cliing, Duke of Tsi, the prime minister, recompensed them as their ancestor had those of Tsin.

    XII. Qi dynasty.—The new monarch took the name of Kan ti, or ‘ High Emperor,’ bnt enjoyed his dignity only four years. Four princes succeeded him at iS’anking, the last of wdiom, Ilo ti, was besieged in his capital by a faithless minister, assisted by the pi’ince of Liang, who overthrew the dynasty a.d. 502, after a duration of twenty-three years.

    XIII. Liang dynasty.—The first Emperor, Wu ti, reigned forty-eight years, and reduced most of his opponents ; his dominions are described as being mostly south of the Yangtsz’ River, the Wei ruling the regions north of it. Wu ti did much to restore literature and the study of Confucius ; envoys from India and Persia also came to his court, and his just sway allowed the land to recruit. In his latter days he was so great a devotee of Buddhism that he retired to a monastery, like Charles Y., but being persuaded to resume his crown, employed his time in teaching those doctrines to his assembled courtiers. Three successors occupied the throne, the last of whom, King ti, was killed A.D. 557, after surrendering himself, by the general of the troops, wdio then seized the crown.

    XIY. Chen dynasty.—Three brothers reigned most of the time this house held its sway. During this period and that of the three preceding families, the Ilunnish kingdom of Wei ruled the northern parts of China from a.d. 380 to 534, under eleven monarchs, when it was violently separated into the Eastern and Western Wei, and a third one called Chau, which ere long destro\’ed the last AVci at (‘hang-an and occupied northwest China. It is probable that the intercoui-se between China and

    other parts of Asia was more extensive and complete during

    the Wei dynasty than at any other period. Its sovereigns had

    preserved peaceful rehitions with their ancestral seats, and with

    tlie ti-ibes beyond Lake Baikal and the Obi River to the North

    Sea. Trade seems to have flourished throughout the regions

    lying between the Caspian Sea and Corea, and tlie records of

    this period present accounts of the State in this vast tract to be

    found nowhere else. One of these works referred to by Rcnriiisat is the report of officers sent by Tai-wii during his reign to travel through his dominions (424-451) and give full accounts of them.

    One of the sovereigns of Chan, Wu ti (a.d. 561-572), had given his daughter in marriage to Yang Kien, the Prince of Sui, one of his ministers, who, gradually extending his influence, took possession of the throne of his master Tsiiig ti in 580. In a few years he restored order to a distracted land by bringing the several States under his sway and reuniting all China under his hand a.d. 589, after it had been divided nearly four centuries.

    THE SUI AND TANO DYNASTIES. I67

    XV. Sui dynasty.—The founder of this house has left an enduring name in Chinese annals by a survey of his dominions and division of them into interdependent vhau^ klun, and hleii^ with corresponding officers, an arrangement which has ever since existed. lie patronized letters and commerce, and tried to introduce the system of caste from India. After a vigorous reign of twenty-four years he was killed by his son Yang ti, who carried on his father’s plans, and during the fourteen years of his reign extended the frontiers through the Tarim Yalley and down to the Southern Ocean. His murder by one of his generals was the signal for several ambitious men to rise, but the Prince of Tang aided the son to rule for a year or two till he was removed, thus bringing the Sui dynasty to an end after thirty-nine years, but not before its two sovereigns had taught their subjects the benefits of an undivided sway.

    XYI. Tang dynasty.—This celebrated line of princes began

    its sway in peace, and during the two hundred and eightj’-sevcn

    years (018 to 90S) they held the throne China was probably the

    most civilized country on earth ; the darkest days of the West,

    when Europe was wrapped in the ignorance and degradation of

    the Middle Ages, formed the brightest era of the East. They

    exercised a humanizing effect on all the surrounding countries,

    and led their inhabitants to see the benefits and understand the

    management of a government where the laws were above the

    officers. The people along the southern coast were completely

    civilized and incorporated into the Chinese race, and mark the change by always calling themselves Tang Jin, or ‘ Men of

    Tang/ An interesting work on the trade and condition of

    China at this time is the AMihar-al-Syn oual-Hind, or ‘ Observations

    on China and India,’ by two Arab travellers to those

    lands in the years 851 and 878, compiled by Abu Zaid and

    translated by lieinaud in 1845.’ Li Shi-mii], the son of Li Ynen

    the founder of this dynasty, may be regarded as the most accomplished monarch in the Chinese annals—famed alike for his

    wisdom and nobleness, his conquests and good government, his

    temperance, cultivated tastes, and patronage of literary inen.

    AVhile still Prince of Tang he contributed greatly to his father’s

    elevation and to the extension of his sway over the regions of

    Central Asia. When the house of Tang was fully acknowledged,

    and the eleven rival States which had started up on the

    close of the house of Sui had been overcome, the capital was

    removed from Lohyang back to Chang-an, and everything done

    to compose the disordered country and reunite the distracted

    State under a reo-ular and vigorous administration. Feeline:

    himself unequal to all the cares of his great office, Li Yuen,

    known as Kau-tsu Shin Yao ti (lit. ‘ High Progenitor, the Divine Yao Emperor ‘), resigned the j^ellow in favor of his son, who took the style of Chlng hioan {‘ Pure Observer ‘) for his reign, though his posthumous title is Tai-tsung Wan-w^i ti (‘ Our Exalted Ancestor, the Literary-Martial Emperor ‘), a.d. 627, and still further extended his victorious arms. One of his first acts was to establish schools and institute a s^’^stem of literary examinations ; he ordered a complete and accurate edition of all the classics to be published under the supervision of the most learned men in the Empire, and honored the memory of Confucius with special ceremonies of respect. Extraordinary pains were taken to prepare and preserve the historical records of former days and draw up full annals of the recent dynasties; these still await the examination of western scholars.

    ‘ Chinese Repository, Vol. I., p. 6; Reinaud, Relations des Voyages, 2 Vols..Paris, 1845. Yule, CatJiay and the Way Thithtr, Introd., p. cii.

    TAI-TSLTN(J, FOUNDER OF THE HOUSE OF TAXG. 169

    lie constructed a code of laws for the direction of his high officers in their judicial functions, and made progresses through

    lii.s doiniiiions to inspect the condition of the people. During

    liis reign the limits of the Enipii-e were extended over all the

    Turkisli tribes lying west of Kiinsuh and south of the Tien

    shan as far as the Caspian Sea, which were placed nnder four

    satrapies or residences, those of Kuche, Pisha or Khoten, Ilarashar,

    and Kashgar, as their names are at present. West of the

    last many smaller tribes submitted and rendered a partial subjection

    to the Emperor, who arranged them into sixteen governments

    under the management of a governor-general over theiiown

    chieftains. His frontiers reached from the borders of

    Persia, the Caspian Sea, and the Altai of the Kirghis steppe,

    along those mountains to the north side of Gobi eastward to

    the Inner Iling-an. Sogdiana and part of Khorassan, and the

    regions around the llindu-kush, also obeyed him. The rulers

    of Xipal and Magadha or Bahar in India sent their salutations

    by their ambassadors, and the Greek Emperor Theodosius sent

    an envoy to Si-ngan in 643 carrying presents of rubies and

    emeralds, as did also the Persians. The IS^estorian missionaries

    also presented themselves at court. Tai-tsung received them

    with respect, and heard them rehearse the leading tenets of

    their doctrine ; he ordered a temple to be erected at his capital,

    and had some of their sacred books translated for his examination,

    though there is no evidence now remaining that any portion

    of the Bible was done into Chinese at this time.

    Near the close of his life Tai-tsung undertook an expedition against Corea, but the conquest of that country was completed by his son after his death. A sentiment has been preserved at this time of his life which he uttered to his sons while sailing t)n the River Wei :

    “‘ See, my children, the waves which lloat our fragile bark are able to submerge it in an instant ; know assuredly that the people are like the waves, and the Emperor like this fragile bark.” During his reign his life was attempted several times, once by his own son, but he was preserved from these attacks, and died after a reign of twenty-three years, deeply lamented by a grateful people. The Chinese accounts state that the foreign envoys resident at his court cut off their hair, some of them disfigured their faces, bled themselves, and sprinkled the blood around the bier in testimony of their grief.

    Whatever may have been the truth in this respect, many proofs exist of the distinguished character of this monarch, and that the high reputation he enjoyed during his lifetime was a just tribute to his excellences, he will favorably compare with Akbar, Marcus Aurelius, and Kanghi, or with Charlemagne and llarun Al Ilaschid, who came to their thrones in the next century.^

    Tai-tsung was succeeded by his son Kau-tsung, whose indolent imbecility appeared the more despicable after his father’s vigor, but his reign fills a large place in Chinese history, from the extraordinary career of his Empress, Wu Tsih-tien, or Wu hao(‘ Empress “Wu ‘) as she is called, who by her blandishments obtained entire control over him. The character of this woman has, no doubt, suifered much from the bad reputation native historians have given her, but enough can be gathered from their accounts to show that with all her cruelty she understood how to maintain the authority of the crown, repress foreign invasions, quell domestic sedition, and provide for the wants of the people. Introduced to the harem of Tai-tsung at the age of

    fourteen, she was sent at his death to the retreat where all his

    women were condemned for the rest of their days to honorable

    imprisonment. While a member of the palace Kau-tsung had

    been charmed with her appearance, and, having seen her atone

    of the state ceremonies connected with the ancestral worship,

    bi’ought her back to the palace. His queen, Wang-shi, also

    favored his attentions in order to draw them off from another

    rival, but Wu Tsih-tien soon (obtaining entire sway over the

    moiuirch, united both women against her ; she managed to

    fill the principal offices with her friends, and by a series of

    manonivres supplanted each in turn and became Empress. One

    means she took to excite suspicion against Wang-shi was, on

    occasion of the birth of her first child, after the Empress had

    visited it and before Kau-tsung came in to see his offspring, to

    strangle it and charge the crime upon her Majesty, which led

    to her trial, degradation, and impi-isonment, and ere long to her

    death.

    THE EMPRESS WU TSIH-TIEN. 171

    As soon as she became Empress (in O,”),”)), Wu began gradually to assume more and more authority, until, long before the Emperor’s death in 684, she engrossed the whole management of affairs, and at his demise opeidy assumed the reins of government, which she wielded for twenty-one years with no weak hand. Her generals extended the limits of the Empire, and her officers carried into effect her orders to alleviate the miseries of the people. Her cruelty vented itself in the nnirder of all who opposed her will, even to her own sons and relatives; and her pride was rather exhibited than gratified by her assuming the titles of Queen of Heaven, Holy and Divine Ttuler, Holy Mother, and Divine Sovereign. When she was disabled by age her son, Chung-sung, supported by some of the first men of the land, asserted his claim to the throne, and by a palace conspiracy succeeded in removing her to her own apartments, where she died aged eighty-one years. Her character has been blackened in native histories and popular tales, and her conduct held up as an additional evidence of the evil of allowing women to meddle with governments.’

    A race of twenty monarchs swayed the sceptre of the house

    of Tang, but after the demise of the Empress Wu Tsih-tien

    none of them equalled Tai-tsung, and the Tang dynasty at last

    succumbed to ambitious ministers lording over its imbecile

    sovereigns. In the reign of IHuen-tsung, about the year 722,

    the population of the Fifteen Provinces is said to have been

    52,884,818. The last three or four Em])erors exhibited the usual

    marks of a declining house—eunuchs or favorites promoted by

    them swayed the realm and dissipated its resources. At last,

    Li TsQen-chung, a general of Chau-tsung, whom he had aided

    in quelling the eunuchs in 904, rose against his master, destroyed

    him, and compelled his son, Chau-siuen ti, to abdicate, a.d. 907.

    XYH. After Liang dynasty.—The destruction of the famous

    dynasty loosened the bonds of all government, and nine separate

    kings struggled for its provinces, some of whom, as Apki

    over the Kitan in the north-east, succeeded in founding kingdoms.

    ‘ Chinese Repository, Vol. III., p. 543 ; Canton MisceUany, No. 4, 1831, pp24Gfif.

    The Prince of Liang, the new Emperor, was unable to extend his sway beyond the provinces of Honan and Shantung. After a short reign of six years lie was killed by his brother, Liang Chn-tien, who, on his part, fell under the attack of a Turkish general, and ended this dynasty, a.d. 923, after a duration of sixteen years.

    XVIII. Aftek Tang dynasty.—The conqueror called himself

    (Jhwang-tsung, and his dynasty Tang, as if in continuation of

    that line of princes, but this mode of securing popularity was

    unsuccessful. Like Pertinax, Aurelian, and others of the Roman

    emperors, he was killed by his troops, who chose a successor,

    and his grandson, unable to resist his enemies, burned himself

    in his palace, a.d. 930, thus ending the weak dynasty after

    thirteen years of struggle.

    XIX. After Tsin dynasty.—The Kitan or Tartars of Liautimg, who had assisted in the overthrow of the hist dynasty, compelled the new monarch to subsidize them at his accession, A.D. 93G, by ceding to them sixteen cities in Chihli, and promising an annual tiibute of three hundred thousand pieces of silk. This disgraceful submission has ever since stigmatized Tien-fuh(‘ Heavenly Happiness’) in the eyes of native historians. IBs nephew who succeeded him is known as Chuh ti (the ‘Carried away Emperor’), and was removed in 9J:7 by those who put him on the throne, thus ending the meanest house which ever swayed the black-haired people.

    XX. AFrKu Hax dynasty.—The Tartars now endeavored to subdne the whole country, but were repulsed by Liu Clii-yuen, a loyal general who assumed the yellow in 947, and called his dynasty after the renowned house of Han; he and his son held sway four years, till a.d. 951, and then were cut olf.

    THE WU TAI, on FIVE DYNASTIES. 173

    XXI. Afti:u Chau dynasty.—Ko Wei, the successful aspirant to the throne, maintained his seat, but died in three years, leaving his power to an adopted son, Shi-tsung, whose vigorous rule consolidated his still unsettled sway. His early death and the youth of his son decided his generals to bestow the sceptic upon the lately appointed tutor to the monarch, which closed the After Chau dynasty a.d. 900, after a brief duiation of nine years. He was honored with a title, and, like Richard ( h’omwell, allowed to live in quiet till his death in 973, a fact creditable to the new monarch. These short-lived houses between a.d. 907-9G0 are known in Chinese history as the WuDai, or ‘ Five Dynasties.’ While they stiiiggled for supremacy in the valley of the Yellow River, the regions south and west were portioned among seven houses, who ruled them in a good degree of security.

    Fuhkien was held l)y the King of Min, and Kiaiignan by the King of Wu ; the regions of Sz’chuen, Xganhwui, and Kansuh were held by generals of note in the service of Tang ; another general held Kwangtung at Canton through two or three reigns; and another exercised sway at Kingchau on the Yangzi River. It is needless to mention them all. During this period Europe was distracted by the wars of the Normans and Saracens, and learning there was at a low ebb.

    XXIL—SrxG dynasty began A.D. 9TU, and maintained its power

    over the whole Empire for one hundred and fifty-seven years, till

    A.D. 1127. The mode in which its founder, Chan Kwang-yun, was

    made head of the State, reminds one of the way in which the

    Pmetorian guards sometimes elevated their chiefs to the throne of

    the Caisars. After the military leaders had decided upon their

    future sovereign they sent messengers to announce to him his new

    honor, who found him drunk, and “before he had time to reply

    the yellow robe was already thrown over his person.” At the

    close of his reign of seventeen years the provinces had mostly submitted to his power at Kaifnng, but the two Tartar kingdoms of

    Liau and Jlia remained independent. This return to a centralized government proves the unity of the Chinese people at this time in their own limits, as well as their inability to induce their

    neighbors to adopt the same system of government. The successors

    of Tai-tsu of Sling had a constant struggle for existence

    with their adversaries on the north and west, the Liau and Ilia,

    whose recent taste of power under the last two dynasties had

    shown them their opportunity. On the return of prosperity under

    his brother’s reign of twenty-two years, the former institutions

    and political divisions were restored throughout the southern half

    of the Empire ; good government was secured, aided by able

    generals and loyal ministers, and the rebels everywhere quelled.

    Chin-tsung was the third sovereign, and his reign of forty-one

    years is the brightest portion of the house of Sung. The kings

    of Ilia in Kansuh acknowledged themselves to be his tributaries, but he bought a cowardly peace with the Liau on the north-east.

    During his reign and that of his son, Tin-tsung, a violent controversy arose among the literati and officials as to the best mode of conducting the government. Some of them, as Sz’ma Kwang the historian, contended for the maintenance of the old principles of the sages. Others, of whom Wang i^gan-shi was the distinguished leader, advocated reform and change to the entire overthrow of existing institutions. For the first time in the history of China, two political parties peacefully struggled for supremacy, each content to depend on argument and truth for the victory. The contest soon grew too bitter, however, and the accession of a new monarch, Shin-tsung, enabled AVang to dispossess his opponents and manage State affairs as he pleased.

    After a trial of eight or ten years the voice of the nation restored the conservatives to power, and the radicals were banished beyond the frontier. A discussion like this, involving all the cherished ideas of the Chinese, brought out deep and acute inquiry into the nature and uses of things generally, and the Avriters of this dynasty, at the head of Avhom was Cliu Hi, made a lasting impression on the national mind.

    The two sons of Shin-tsung were unable to oppose the northern

    hordes of Liau and Ilia, except by setting a third aspirant against

    both. These were the Niu-chih or Kin,’ the ancestors of the

    present Man’chus, who carried away llwui-tsung as a captive in

    1125, and his son too the next year, pillaging Lohyang and

    possessing themselves of the region north of the Yellow Kiver.

    This closed the Northern Sung. The Kin established themselves

    at Peking in 1118, whence they were driven in 1235 by Genghis

    Khan, and fled back to the ancestral haunts on the Songari and

    Liau Itivers,

    XXIII.

    Southern Song dynasty forms part of the preceding, for Kao-tsung, the brother of the last and ninth monarch of the weakened house of Northern Song, seeing his capital in ruins, fled to Nanking, and soon after to the beautiful city of Hangzhou on the eastern coast at the mouth of the Qiantang River.

    ‘ Two graves of the Kin monarchs exist on a hill west of Fangshan hien, fifty miles south-west of Peking; they were repaired by Kanghi. Dr. Busliell visited them in 1870.

    THE NORTHERN AND SOUTHERN SUNG. 175

    Nanking was pillaged by the Kin, but Ilangeliau was too far for

    tliem. It gradually grew in size and strength, and became a

    famous capital. Kao-tsung resigned in liG2, after a reign of

    tliirty-SiX years, and survived his abdication twenty-four years.

    The next Emperor was Iliao-tsung, who also resigned the yellow

    to Kwang-tsung, his son, and he again yielded it to his son Ningtsung.

    This last, in his distress, called the rising Mongols into his

    service in 1228 to help against the Kin. The distance from the

    northern frontier, wdiere the Mongols were flushed with their

    successes over the Tangouth of Ilia at Kinghia in 1226, was too

    far for them to aid Xing-tsung at this time. He was, however,

    relieved from danger to himself, and the Mongols deferred their

    intentions for a few years. From this date for about fifty years

    the Sung grew weaker and weaker under the next five sovereigns,

    until the last scion, Ti Ping, was drowned with some of

    his courtiers, one of whom, clasping him in his arms, jumped

    from the vessel, and ended their life, dignity, and dynasty together.

    It had lasted one hundred and fifty-two years under nine monarchs, who showed less ability than those of Northern Song, and were all much inferior as a whole to the house of Tang. Their patronage of letters and the arts of peace was unaccompanied by the vigor of their predecessors, for they were unwilling to leave the capital and risk all at the head of their troops. It is the genius and philosophy of its scholars that has made the Sung one of the great dynasties of the Middle Kingdom.

    XXIV.—The Yuan dynasty was the first foreign sway to which the Sons of IJan had submitted; their resistance to the army, which gradually overran the country, was weakened, however, by treachery and desultory tactics until the national spirit was frittered away. During the interval between the capture of Peking by Genghis and the final extinction of the Sung dynasty, the whole population had become somewhat accustomed to Mongol rule. Having no organized government of their own, these khans were content to allow the Chinese the full exercise of their own laws, if peace and taxation were duly upheld.

    Kublai had had ample opportunity to learn the character of his new subjects, and after the death of Mangu khan in 1260 and his own establishment at Peking in 1261, he in fifteen years brought his vast dominions under a nietliodical sway and developed their resources more than ever. Though faihng in his attempt to eon(pier Japan, ho enlarged elsewhere his vanishing frontiei’S (hiring his life till they could neither be dehned nor governed. His patronage of merit and scholarship proves the good results of his tu*:elage in China, while the short-lived glory of his administration in other hands chielly proved what good material he

    had to work with in China in comparison with his own race.’

    He was a vigorous and magnificent prince, and had, moreover,

    the advantage of having his acts and splendor related by Marco

    Polo—a chronicler worthy of his subject. The Grand Canal,

    which was deepened and lengthened during his reign, is a lasting

    token of his sagacity and eidightened policy. An interesting

    monument of this dynasty, erected in 1315, is the gat^

    way in the Kii-yung kwan (pass) of the Great Wall north of

    Peking. Upon the interior of this arch is cnt a Buddhist charm

    in six different kinds of character—Mongolian, Chinese, Oigour,

    antifjue Devanagari, Niu-chih, and Tibet m.”

    After the Grand Khan’s death the ]^[ongols retained their power under the reign of Ching-tsung, or T’imur khan, a grandson of Kublai, and Wu-tsung, or Genesek khan,’ a nephew of the former, but their successors met with opj^osition, or were destroyed by treachery. The offices were also filled with Mongols, without any regard to the former mode of conferring rank according to literary qualifications, and the native Chinese began to be thoroughly dissatisfied with a sway in which they had no part.

    The last and eleventh, named Ching-tsung, or Tohan-Timur, came to the throne at the age of thirteen, iind gave himself up to pleasure, his eunuchs and ministers dividing the possessions and offices of the Chinese among themselves and their adherents.

    ‘See ‘Remusa.t,’ JVbuvemix Melanges, Tomes I., p. 437; TI., pp. 64, 88, and SOOT, for a series of notices concerning the Mongol generalii and history.

    ‘Compare Wylie in the R. A. Sor. Join;, Vol. V. (N.S ), i>. 14; Fergusson, Hint. Ind. iind Kitxt. Airhittrtiirc, p. 708 ; YuU^^’s Polo, I., pp. ’28, 400.

    ^ This should be Kaishaii-kuUuk klian, caUed Kdi-mnrj in (Jhinese. Remusat, Nouveaux MelanycH, Tome II., pp. 1-4.

    <iATEWAY OF THE YUEN UYNASTV, KL-YUNti KWAN, OKEAT WALL THE Sin’REMACY OF THE MONGOLS. 177

    This conduct aroused his subjects, and Chu Vuen-cluing, a plebeian by birth, and formerly a i)riest, raised the standard of revolt, and finally expelled the Mongols, a.d. 136S, after a duration of eighty-nine years.’

    Like most of the preceding dynasties, the new one established

    itself on’ the misrule, luxury, and weakness of its predecessors;

    the people submitted to a vigorous rule, as one which exhibited

    the true exposition of the decrees of Heaven, and npheld its

    laws and the harmony of the universe ; while a weak sovereign

    plainly evinced his usurpation of the ” divine utensil ” and unfitness

    for the post by tlie disorders, famines, piracies, and

    insurrections which afflicted the mismanaged State, and which

    were all taken by ambitious leaders as evidences of a change in

    the choice of Heaven, and reasons for their carrying out the new

    selection which had fallen on them. Amid all the revolutions

    in China, none have been founded on principle ; they were mere

    mutations of masters, attended with more or less destruction of

    life, and no better appreciation of the rights of the subject or

    the powers of the rulers, Xor without some knowledge of the

    high obligations man owes his Maker and himself is it easy to

    see whence the sustaining motive of free religious and political

    institutions can be derived.

    XXY. The Ming, i.e., ‘ Bright dynasty.’—The character of Hongwu, as Zhu Yuan-zhang called his reign on his accession, has been well drawn by Remusat, who accords him a high rank for the vigor and talents manifested in overcoming his enemies and cementing his power. He established his capital at banking, or the ‘ Southern Capital,’ and after a reign of thirty years transmitted the sceptre to his grandson, Kienwtin, a youth of sixteen. Yungloh, his son, dissatisfied with this arrangement, overcame his nephew and seized the crown after five years, and moved the capital back to Peking in 1403. This prince is distinguished for the code of laws framed under his auspices, which has, with some modifications and additions,

    ever since remained as the basis of the administi-ation. During

    the reign of Kiahtsing the Portuguese came to China, and in that

    of Wanleih, about 1580, the Jesuits gai-ned an entrance into the

    ‘ One of the causes of their easy overthrow is stated to have been the enormous robbery of the people by the lavish issue of paper money, which at last became worthless.

    country. In his time, too, the Niu-cliih, or Kin, whom Gen*

    ghis liad driven away in 1235, again became numerous and

    troublesome, and took possession of the northern frontiers.

    The first chieftain of the Manchus who attained celebrity was

    Tienming, who in 1618 published a manifesto of his designs

    against the house of Ming, in which he announced to Heaven

    the seven things he was bound to revenge. These consisted of

    petty oppressions upon persons passing the frontiers, assisting

    his enemies, violating the oath and treaty of peace entered intc

    between the two rulers, and killing his envoys. The fierce nomad

    had already assumed the title of Emperor, and ” vowed to celebrate the funeral of his father with the slaughter of two hundred thousand Chinese.” Tienming overran the north-eastern parts of China, and committed unsparing cruelties upon the

    people of Liautung, but died in 1627, before he had satisfied

    his revenge, leaving it and his army to his son Tientsung.

    The Chinese army fought bravely, though unsuccessfully,

    against the warlike Manchus, whose chief not only strove to

    subdue, but endeavored, by promises and largesses, to win the

    troops from their allegiance. The apparently audacious attempt

    of this small force to subdue the Chinese was assisted by numerous

    bodies of rebels, who, like wasps, sprung up in various

    parts of the country, the leaders of each asserting his claims to

    the throne, and all of them i-endering their common country an

    easier prey to the invader. One of them, called Li Zhi-cheng, attacked Peking, and the last Emperor Hwai-tsung, feeling that he had little to hope for after the loss of his capital, and had already estranged the affections of his subjects by his ill conduct, first stabbed his daughter and then hung himself, in 1643, and ended the house of Ming, after two hundred and seventy six years. The usurper received the submission of most of the eastern provinces, but the Chinese general. Wu San-gui, in command of the army on the north, refused to acknowledge him, and, making peace with the Manchus, invoked the aid of Tsungteh in asserting the cause of the rightful claimant to the throne. This was willingly agreed to, and the united army marched to Peking and speedily entei-cd the capital, which the rebel chief had left a heap of ruins when he took away his booty. The Manchus now declared themselves the rulers of the Empire, but their chief dying, his son Shunzhi, who at the age of six succeeded his father in 16-1-t, is regarded as the Urst Emperor; his uncle, Aina-wang, ruled and reorganized the administration in his name.

    TTIE :\IINrr DYNASTY. ^79

    XXVI. The Qing,’ i.e. ‘ Pure dynasty.’—During the eighteen

    years he sat upon the throne Shunchi and his officers subdued

    most of the northern and central provinces, but the maritime

    regions of the south held out against the invaders, and

    one of the leaders, by means of his fleets, carried devastation

    along the whole coast. The spirit of resistance was in some

    parts crushed, and in others exasperated by an order for all

    Chinese to adopt as a sign of submission the Tartar mode of

    shaving the front of the head and braiding the hair in a long

    queue. Those M’ho gave this order, as Davis remarks, must

    have felt themselves very strong before venturing so far upon

    the spirit of the conquered, and imposing an outward universal

    badge of surrender upon all classes of the people. ” Mar.y are

    the changes which may be made in despotic countries, without

    the notice or even the knowledge of the larger portion of the

    community ; but an entire alteration in the national costume

    affects every individual equally, from the highest to the lowest,

    and is perhaps of all others the most open and degrading mark

    of conquest.” This order M’as resisted by many, who chose to

    lose their heads rather than part with their hair, but the mandate

    was gradually enforced, aud has now for about two centuries

    been one of the distinguishing marks of a Chinese, though

    to this day the natives of Fuhkien near the seaboard wear a

    kerchief around their head to conceal it. The inhabitants of

    this province and of Kwangtung held out the longest against

    the invaders, and a vivid account of their capture of Canton,

    Kovember 20, 1650, where the adherents of the late dynasty had

    intrenched themselves, has been left us by Martini, an eyewitness.

    Some time after its subjugation a brave man, Ching Chi-hmg, harassed them by his fleet ; and his son, Ching

    ‘ For the origin of the Manchus see Klaproth, Memoires sur VAsie, Tome I.,p. 441.

    (“]iirio:-kniiir, or Koxiiiiia, molested the coast to fiicli a dcijiee

    that the Emperor Kanghi, in 1665, ordered all the people to retire

    three leagues inland, in order to prevent this heroic man

    from reaching them. This command was generally obeyed,

    and affords an instance of the singular nnxture of power and

    weakness seen in many parts of Chinese legislation ; for it

    might be supposed that a government which could compel its

    maritime subjects to leave their houses and towns and go into

    the country at great loss, might have easily armed and equipped

    a fleet to have defended those towns and homes. Koxinga,

    finding himself unable to make any serious impression upon

    the stability of the new government, went to Formosa, drove

    the Dutch out of Zealandia, and made himself master of tho

    island.’

    Shunchi died in 1661 and was succeeded by his son Kanghi/

    who was eight years old at his accession, and remained under

    guardians till he was fourteen, when he assumed the reins of

    government, and swayed the power vested in his liands with a

    prudence, vigor, and success that have rendered him more celebrated

    than almost any other Asiatic monarch. It was in 1661

    that Louis XIY. had assumed the sovereignty of France at al)out

    the same age, and for fifty -four years the reigns of these two

    monarchs ran paralleL During Kanghi’s unusually long reign

    of sixty-one years (the longest in Chinese annals, except Taimao

    of the Shang dynasty, b.c. 1637-1562), he extended his dominions

    to the borders of Kokand and Badakshan on the west, and to the confines of Tibet on the south-west, simplifying the administration and consolidating his power in every part of his vast dominions. To his regulations, perhaps, are mainly owing the unity and peace which the Empire has exhibited for more than a century, and which has produced the impression abroad of the unchangeableness of Chinese institutions and character.

    ‘ Compare tho interesting translation from a Chinese record of the capture of Fort Zealandia, by H. E. Ilobson, Journal of JV. C. Br. /?. A. Society, Xo. XL, Art. L, 1876.

    – Rimusat, Nouveaiu Mehinges, Tome II., pp. 21-44 : Bouvet, FAfe of Kany hi; Gutzlaff, Life of Kanghi.

    THE MANCIIUS—THE EMPEROP. KAXOIlf. 181

    This may be ascribed, chiefly, to his indefatigable application to all affairs of State, to his judgment and penetration in the choice of officers, his economy in regard to himself and liberal magnificence in everything that tended to the good of his dominions, and his sincere desire to promote the happiness of his people by a steady and vigorous execution of the laws and a continual watchfulness over the conduct of his hiirh officers. These qualities have perhaps been unduly extolled hy his foreign friends and biographers, the liomish missionaries, and if their expressions arc taken in their strictest sense, as we understand them, they do elevate him too high. lie is to be

    compared not with Alfred or AVilliam III. of England, Louis IX.

    or Henry TV. of France, and other European kings, hut with

    other Chinese and Asiatic princes, few of whom equal him.

    The principal events of his long reign are the conquest of the

    Eleuths. and subjugation of several tribes lying on the north and

    south of the Tien shan ; an embassy across the Kussian Possessions

    in 1713 to the khan of the Tourgouth Tartars, preparatory

    to their return to the Chinese territory ; the settlement of

    the northern frontier between himself and the czar, of which

    Gerbillon has given a full account ; the survey of the Empire by

    the Romish missionaries ; and the publication of a great thesaurus

    of the language. In many things he showed himself liberal toward foreigners, and the country was thrown open to their commerce for many years.

    His son Yungching succeeded in 1T22, and is regarded by many natives as superior to his father. He endeavored to suppress Christianity and restore the ancient usages, which had somewhat fallen into desuetude during his father’s sway, ami generally seems to have held the sceptre to the benefit of his subjects. Yungching is regarded as an usurper, and is sr.id to have changed the figure four to fourteen on the billet of nomination, himself being the fourteenth son, and the fourth being absent in Mongolia, where he was soon after arrested and imprisoned, and subsequently died in a palace near Peking; whether he was put to death or not is uncertain. Kienlung succeeded Yungching in 1736, and proved himself no unworthy descendant of his grandfather Ivanghi ; like him he had the singular fortune to reign sixty years, and for most of that period in peace’ Some local insurrections disturbed the general trauquilliry, principally among the al)(»rigiiies in I-‘ormosa and Tvweiclian, and in an nnprovolved attack upon IJirmali his armies sustained a signal defeat and were obliged to retreat. The incursions of the Xipalese into Tibet induced the Dalai Lama to apply to him for assistance, and in doing so he contrived to establish a guardianship over the whole country, and place bodies of troops in all the important positions, so that in effect lie annexed that vast region to his Empire, but continued the lamas in the internal administration.

    During his long reign Xieidnng exhausted the resources of

    his Empire by building useless edifices and keeping up large

    armies. lie received embassies from the liussians, Dutch, and

    English, bv which the character of the (“hinese and the nature of

    their country became better known to western nations. These

    end)assies greatly strengthened the im|)ression on the side of the

    Chinese of their superiority to all other nations, for they looked

    upon them as a(;knowledgments on the })art of the governments

    Avho sent them of their allegiance to the court of Peking. The

    presents were regarded as tribute, the ambassadors as deputies

    from their masters to acknowledge the su]’)reniacy of the Emperor,

    and the requests they made for trade as rather another form

    of receiving presents in return than a mutual arrangement for a

    trade equally beneficial to both. Ivienlung abdicated the throne

    in favor of his fifth son and retired with the title of S’fjwe/Jie

    Km/peroi\ while liis son, Kiaking, had that of Enq)eror.

    The character of this prince was dissolute and superstitious, and his reign of twenty- five years was much disturbed by secret combinations against the government and by insurrections* and

    ‘ His character and enthusiasm for literary pursuits merit, on the whole, the lines inscribed by the Roman Catholic missionaries beneath his portrait in the Memoircs cone, leu Ghinois:

    Occup sans relache a touts les soins divers

    D’lin gouvcrncment qu’on admire,

    Le i)lus gran<l potentat qui soit dans I’univors

    Et le mcillcur l(>ttr6 qui soit dans son Empire.

    ‘ Among the most serious of these was the revolt oP the Peh lien kiao. Zr<-tres EfHpirdcx, Tome III., pp. 201-29S, ;55;5, 879, etc. In 1789 the ladronea infested the southern coasts. //>., Tome II., p. 493.

    THE llEIGNS OF KIEXLUNG AND TAUKWANG. ]83

    pirates in and about the Empire. A conspiracy’ against him

    broke out in tlie pahice in 1813, where he was for a time in

    some danger, but was rescued by the courage of his guard and

    family ; one of liis sons, Mien-ning, was designated as his successor

    for liis bravery on this occasion. A fleet of about sixhundred

    piratical junks, under Ching Yih and Chang Pan, infested

    the coasts of Kwangtung for several years, and were at

    last put down in ISIO by the provincial government taking

    advantage of internal dissensions between the leaders. The

    principal scene of the exploits of this fleet was the estuary of

    the Pearl lliver, whose numerous harbors and chaimels afforded

    shelter and escape to their vessels when pursued by the imperialists,

    while the towns upon the islands were plundered and

    the inhabitants killed if they resisted. The internal government

    of this audacious band was ascertained by two Englishmen,

    Mr. Turner and Mr. Glasspoole, who at different times fell into

    their hands and were obliged to accompany them in their marauding

    expeditions. To so great a height did they proceed

    that the governor of Canton went to Macao to reside, and entered

    into some arrangements with the Portuguese for assistance

    in suppressing them. The piratical fleet was attacked and blockaded

    for ten days by the combined forces, but without much

    damage ; there was little prospect of overcoming them had not

    rivalry between the two leaders gone so far as to result in a

    severe engagement and loss on both sides. The conquered pirate

    soon after made his peace with the government, and the

    victor shortly afterward followed the same course. The story

    of those disturbed times to this day affords a fj-equent subject

    for the tales of old people in that region, and the same waters

    are still infested by the ” foam of the sea,” as the Chinese term

    these freebooters.

    The reign of Kiaking ended in 1820; by the Emperor’s will his second son was appointed to succeed him, and took the style Taukwang. lie exhibited more energy and justice than his father, and his efl^orts purified the administration by the personal supervision taken of their leading members. His reign was marked by many local insurrections and disasters in one quarter or another of his vast dominions. A rebellion in Turkestan in 1S28 was attended with great cruelty and treachery on the part of the Chinese, and its leader, Jehangir, was murdered, in v^iolation of the most solenm promises. An insurrection in Formosa and a rising among the mountaineers of Kwangtung, in 1830-32, were put down more by money than by force, but as peace is both the end and evidence of good government in China, the authorities are not very particular how it is brought about.

    The rapid increase of opium-smoking among his people led

    to many efforts to restrain this vice by prohibitions, penalties,

    executions, and other means, but all in vain. The Emperors

    earnestness was stimulated by the death of his three eldest sons

    from its use, and the falling off of the revenue by smuggling

    the pernicious drug. In 1837-38 the collective opinion of the

    highest officials was taken after hearing their arguments for

    legalizing its importation ; it was resolved to seize the dealers in

    it. The acts of Commissioner Lin resulted in the war with

    Great Britain and the opening of China to an extended intercourse

    with other nations. Defeated in his honest efforts to

    protect his people against their bane, the Emperor still fulfilled

    Ids treaty obligations, and died in 1850, just as the Tai-ping rebellion

    broke out.

    His fourth son succeeded him under the style of Hienfung,

    but without his father’s earnestness or vigor when the State

    required the highest qualities in its leader. The devastations

    of the rebels laid waste the southern half of the Empire, and

    their approach to Peking in 1853 was paralyzed by tioods and

    want of supplies more than by the imperial troops. A second

    war with Great Britain, in 1858-60, completely broke down the

    seclusion of China, and at its conclusion an inglorious reign of

    eleven years ended at Jeh-ho in August, 1860. His only son

    succeeded to the throne at the age of five years, under the style

    of Tungchi ; the government being under the control of two

    Empress-regents and Prince Kung, his uncle. During his reign

    of twelve years the vigor of the new authoi’ities succeeded in

    completely quelling the Tai-ping rebellion, destroying the Mohammedan

    rising in Yunnan and Kansidi, and opening up

    diplomatic intercourse with the Treaty Powers. Just as the

    IIEIGNS AND EVENTS OF RECENT YEARS. 185

    Emperor l)e<;un to exercise his authoi’ity, lie died in JamuuT,

    1875, without issue. The vacant “utensil” has been filled by

    the appointment of his cousin, a boy of four yeai’s, whose reii^n

    was styled Kwangsii. Affairs continue to be conducted by

    the same regency as before, now still more conversant with the

    new relations opening up with other lands. The real Enipressilowager, or Tioig Kung^ died April IS, 1881.

    So far as can be judged from the imperfect data of native

    historians of former days, compai’ed with the observations of

    foreigners at present, there is little doubt that this enormous

    population has been better governed by the Manchus than under

    the princes of the Ming dynasty; there has been more vigor in

    the administration of government and less palace favoritism

    and intrigue in the appointment of officers, more security of

    life and property from the exactions of local authorities, bands

    of robbers, or processes of law ; in a word, the Manchu sway

    has well developed the industry and resources of the country,

    of which the population, loyalty, and content of the people are

    the best evidences.

    The sovereigns of the Ming and Tsing dynasties, being more

    frequently mentioned in history than those of former princes,

    are here given, with the length of their reigns. For convenience

    of reference a table of the dynasties is appended, taken

    from the author’s SijllabiG Dlctionanj of the Chinese Language.

    In this list, compiled from a Chinese work (the Digest of the

    Reigns of Emperors and Kings\ the Tsin and After Tsin dynasties

    are joined in one (No. 4), making a total of twenty-six dynasties.’

    The whole number of acknowledged sovereigns in the twentysix

    dynasties, according to the recei\ned Chinese chronology,

    from Yu the Great to Kwangsii, is 238, or 246 commencing with

    Fuh-hi ; by including the names of some ursurpers and moribund

    claimants, the first number is increased to 250. From Yu

    the Great lo th-^ accession of Kwangsii (b.c. 2205 to a.d. 1875)

    is 4,080 years, which gives to each dynasty a duration of 157

    ‘ Compare the Chinese Chronological Tables by W. P. Mayers in N. C Br. R. A. S. Journal, No. IV., Art. VIII. , 1867.

    Kwoh Hiao, or Reigiiing Title.

    Miao Hiao, or Temple Title.

    Began ‘Length

    I

    to I of

    I

    Reign. Reign.

    Contemporary Monarchs.

    1. Hungwu

    2. Kieiiwan. . ..

    3. Yungloh . . ..

    4. Hunglii

    5. Siuentih

    6. Chingtung .

    7. Kingtai

    8. Chinghwa. ..
    9. Hungchi
    10. Chingtih….
    11. Kiahtsing. .
    12. Lungking…
    13. Wanleih ….
    14. Taichang ..
    15. Tienki
    16. Tsungching
    1. Shunchi’ …

    .’. Kanghi

    “. Yimgching .

    . Kienlung . .

    i. Kiaking

    6. Taukwaiig..

    7. Hienfuiig . .

    S. Tungchi

    .). Kwangsii – .

    Taitsu

    Kienwan ti . .

    ,

    Taitsnng

    Jintsung

    Siuentsung. . .

    .

    Yingtsung . . .

    ,

    Kingti ,

    Hientsung . . .

    ,

    Hiaut.suiig . . .

    VVutsung

    Shi’tsung

    Muhtsung. …

    Shintsung

    Kwangtsung .

    Hitsung ,

    Hwaitsung. .

    .

    Chang hwaiigti.

    Jin hwangti . .

    Hien hwangti .

    .

    8hun hwangti.

    Jui hwangti . . .

    Ching hwangti .

    Hien hwangti .

    1368

    1398

    1403

    1425

    1426

    1436

    1457

    1465

    1488

    1506

    1522

    1567

    1573

    1620

    1621

    1638

    1644

    1()62

    1723

    1736

    1796

    1821

    1851

    1862

    1875

    30

    5

    22

    1

    10

    21

    8

    23

    18

    16

    45

    6

    47

    1

    7

    16

    18

    61

    13

    60

    25

    30

    11

    12

    Tamerlane, Richard II., Robert II.

    Manuel-Paleologus, Henrj’ IV. of Eng.

    Jame.s I., Henry V., Martin V.

    \ Amuratli II., Henry VI., Charles VII.

    ‘( Albert II., Cosmo de Medicis.

    James II., Fred. III. of Aus., Nich. V.

    Mahomet II , Edward IV., SixtuslV.

    JamesIII. ,Ferd. and Isabella, Lonis XI.

    Bajazet II., James IV., Henry VII.

    James V., Henry VIII., Charles V.

    Solyman II.,^lary, Philip II., Henry IL

    yelim II., Klizabeth, Cregory 111.

    James I., Henry IV., Louis XIII.

    Othman II., Philip IV., Gregory XV.

    Amurath IV., Charles I., Urban VIII

    Innocent X., Frederick the Great.

    Mahomet IV., Cromwell. Louis XIV.

    Charles II., Clement IX.. Sobioskv.

    Mahomet V., George II.. Lonis XV.

    Osman III., George III., Clement XIV

    Seiim III., Napoleon, Fred. Wm. II.

    Mahmoud, George IV., Louis XVIII.

    Mahmond, Victoria, Louis XVIII.

    I Napoleon III., Alexander II.

    Dynasty.

    1. Hla

    2. Shang

    3. Chau

    4. Tsin

    r). Han

    6. East Han . .,

    7. After Han.

    8. T.sin ,

    9. East Tsin .

    10. Sung

    11. Tsi

    12. Liang

    13 Chin

    14. Sui

    15. Tang

    16. After Liang

    17. After Tang

    18. After T.sin.

    19. After Han.

    20. After Chau

    21. Sung

    22. South Sung

    23. Yuen

    24. Ming

    25. Tsing

    Number of Sovereigns. Began. Ended. Duration

    Seventeen, averaging 26 years to each monarch’s reign

    Twenty-eight, averaging 23 years

    Thirtj’- four, averaging 253.j years

    Two, one reigning 37 years, the second 3 years.

    Fourteen, averaging 163,., years

    Twelve, averaging 16’^ years

    Two, one reigning 2, the other 41 years

    Four, averaging 1 4}{ years

    Eleven, averaging about 9J^ years

    Eight, averaging 7}£ years

    Five, averaging 4% years

    Four, one 48 years, and thiee together 7 years.

    Five, averaging about 6 ‘ ., years

    Three, one reigning 16, another 12, and another 2 years . . . :

    Twenty, averaging 1 43^ years

    Two. one 8 and one 7 years

    Four, averaging 33^ years

    Two, one 7 ami one 3 years

    Two, one 3 years, another 1 year

    Three, averaging 3 years

    Nine, averaging 183^2 years

    Nine, averaging 17 years

    Nine, averaging \)% years

    Sixteen, averaging 1 7 years

    Eight up to 1875, averaging nearly 30 years .

    .B.C.;3205 1766 1122 255 206 221 265 323 420 4791 5021 557 589 I

    620 i 907 923 936 947

    951 960

    1127

    1280

    1368

    1644

    n.c.

    1766

    1122

    255

    206

    .D. 25

    231

    264

    322

    419

    478

    502

    556

    589

    619

    907

    923

    936

    946

    951

    960

    1127

    1280

    1368

    1644

    439

    644

    807

    40

    231

    196

    43

    57

    106

    58

    23

    54

    32

    30

    287 16 13 10 4 9 167 153 88 276

    ‘ ShuiK^hi and the four fiiUowinpr monarchs are namwd in Manchu, Chidzuoldimbiikh6, Elkhetaitin, ivhowaligiisDMii tob, Abkai wekhiyekhu, and Siiichunga fungchuii, respectively.
    ‘^ Kwangsu was born August 14, 1871.

    TABLES OF M0NARCTI3 AND DYNASTIES. ]y7

    years, and to eacli moiiarcli an average of 17] years. From Wu wang’s accession to Kwangsii is 2,1>UT years, giving an avei-age of 125 years to a dynasty and 151 toeacli sovereign. From the days of Menes in Egypt, n.c. 2710 to 331, Manetlio reckons 31 dynasties and 378 kings, which is about 77 years to each family and G^ to each reign. In England the 34 sovereigns from William I. to Victoria (a.d. lOGO to 1837) averaged 22| years each; in Israel, the 23 kings from Saul to Zedekiah averaged 22 years during a monarchy of 50 7 years.

    CHAPTER XVIII.  RELIGION OF THE CHINESE

    As results must have their proportionate causes, one wishes to know what are the reasons for the remarkable duration of the Chinese people. Why have not their institutions fallen into decrepitude, and this race given place to others during the forty centuries it claims to have existed? Is it owing to the geographical isolation of the land, which has prevented other nations easily reaching it? Or have the language and literature unified and upheld the people whom they have taught? Or, lastly, is it a religious belief and the power of a ruling class working together which has brought about the security and freedom now seen in this thrifty, industi-ions, and practical people? Probably all these causes have conduced to this end, and our present object is to outline what seems to have been their mode of operation.

    The position of their country has tended to separate them from other Asiatic races, even from very early times. It compelled them to work out their own institutions without any hints or modifying interference from abroad. They seem, in fact, to have had no neighbors of any importance until about the Christian era, up to which time they occupied chiefly the basin of the Yellow River, or the nine northern provinces as the Empire is now divided. Till about b.c.220 feudal States covered this region, and their quarrels only ended by their subjection to Tsin Chi Ilwangti, or the ‘Emperor First,’ whose strong hand molded the people as he led them to value security and yield to just laws. He thus prepared the way for the Emperors Wan ti (B.C. 179-1.50) and Wu ti (b.c. 140-86), of the Han dynasty, to consolidate, during their long reigns of twenty-nine and fifty four years, their schemes of good government.

    ISOLATION OF THE CHINESE EMPIRE. 189

    The four northern provinces all lie on the south-eastern slope of the vast plateau of Central Asia, the ascent to which is confined to a few passes, leading nj) live or six thousand feet through mountain defiles to the sterile, bleak plains of Gobi. This desolate region has always given subsistence to wandering nomads, and enough to enable traders to cross its o;i’assv M’astes. When their numbers increased they burst their borders in periodical raids, ravaging and weakening those M’hom they were too few to conquer and too ignorant to govern. The Chinese were too unwarlike to keep these tribes in subjection for long, and never themselves colonized the region, though the attempt to ward off its perpetual menace to their safety, by building the Great Wall to bar out their enemies, proves how they had learned to dread them. Yet this desert waste has proved a better defense for China against armies coming from the basin of the Tarini River than the lofty mountains on its west did to ancient Persia and modern Russia. It was easier and more inviting for the Scythians, Iluns, Mongols, and Turks successively to push their arms westward, and China thereby remained intact, even when driven within her own borders.

    The western frontiers, between the Kiayil Pass in Kansuh, at the extreme end of the Great Wall, leading across the country south to the island of Hainan, are too wild and rough to be densely inhabited or easily crossed, so that the Chinese have always been unmolested in that direction. To invade the eastern sides, now so exposed, the ancients had no fleets powerful enough to attack the Middle Kingdom ; and it is only within the present century that armies carried by steam have threatened her seaboard.

    The Chinese have, therefore, been shut out by their natural defenses from both the assaults and the trade of the dwellers in India, Tibet, and Central Asia, to that degree which would have materially modified their civilization. The external influences which have molded them have^ been wholly religious, acting through the persistent labors of Buddhist missionaries from India. These zealous men came and went in a ceaseless stream for ten centuries, joining the caravans entering the northwestern marts and ships trading at southern ports.

    In addition to this geographical isolation, the language of the Chinese has tended still more to separate them intellectually from their fellow-men. It is not strange, indeed, that a symbolic form of writing should have arisen among them, for the Egyptians and Mexicans exhibit other fashions of ideographic writing, as well as its caprices and the difficulty of extending it. But its long-continued use by the Chinese is hardly less remarkablethan the proof it gives of their independence of other people in mental and political relations. Outside nations did not care to study Chinese books through such a medium, and its possessors had, without intending it, shut themselves out of easy interchange of thought. This shows that they could not have had much acquaintance in early times with any alphabetic writing like Sanscrit or Assyrian, for it is almost certain that, in that case, they would soon have begun to alter their ideographs into syllables and letters as the Egyptians did ; while the manifest advantages of the phonetic over the symbolic principle would have gradually insured it:j triumph. In that case, howevei”, the rivah’ies of feudal States would have resulted, as in Europe, in the formation of different languages, and perhaps prevented the growth of a great Chinese race. In Jajmi: and Corea the struggle between symbols and sounds has long existed, and two written languages, the Chinese and a derivel demotic, are now used side by side in each of those kingdoms.

    Tills isolation has had its disadvantageous effects on the people thus cut off from their fellows, but the results now seen could not otherwise have been attained. Their literary teiulencies could never have attained the strength of an institution if they had been surrounded by more intelligent nations ; nor would they have tilled the land to such a degree if they had been forced to constantly defend themselves, or had imbibed the lust of conquest. Either of these conditions would probably have brought their own national life to a premature close.

    ITS PEOPLE UNAFFECTED BY FOREIGN THOUGHT. 101

    Isolation, however, is merely a potential factor in this question. It does not by itself account for that life nor furnish the reasons for its uniformity and endurance. These must be sought for in the moral and social teachino:s of their sages and great rulers, who have been leaders and counsellors, and in the character of the political institutions which have grown out of those teachings. A comparison of their national characteristics with those of other ancient and modern people shows four striking contrasts and deductions. The Chinese may be regarded “^ “^Xj as the only pagan nation which has maintained democratic “•^’^ -‘^- habits under a purely despotic theoiy of government. This government has respected the rights of its subjects by placing

    them under the protection of law, with its sanctions and tribu- ~”-^-^-a,^;_

    iials, and nuxking the sovereign amenable in the popular mind -^i-^T-,^.,.^

    for the continuance of his sway to the approval of a higher ^^

    Power able to punish him. Lastly, it has prevented the doniina- ^f*

    tion of all feudal, hereditary, and priestly classes and interests by

    making the tenure of officers of government below the throne

    chiefly depend on their literary attainments. Kot a trace of

    Judaistic, Assyrian, or Persian customs or dogmas appears in

    Chinese books in such definite form as to suggest a western

    origin. All is the indio-enous outcome of native ideas and habits.

    The real religious belief and practices of a heathen people are

    hard to describe intelligibly to those who have not lived among

    them. Men naturally exercise much freedom of thought in such

    matters, and feel the authority of their fellow-men over their

    minds irksome to bear ; and though it is comparatively easy to

    depict their religious ceremonies and festivals, their real belief

    —that which constitutes their religion, their trust in danger and

    guide in doubt, their support in sorrow and hope for future I’c

    ward—is not rpiickly examined nor easily described. The want

    of a well understood and acknowledged standard of doctrine,

    and the degree of latitude each one allows himself in his observance

    of rites or belief in dogmas, tends to confuse the inquirer

    ; while his own diverse views, liis imperfect knowledge,

    and misapprehension of the eifect which this tenet or that ceremony

    has upon the heart of the worshipper, contribute still

    further to embarrass the subject. This, at least, is the case with

    the Chinese, and notwithstanding what has been -written upon

    their religion, no one has very satisfactorily elucidated the true

    nature of their belief and the intent of their ritual. The reason

    is owing partly to the indefinite ideas of the people themselves

    upon the character of their ceremonies, and their consequent inability to give a clear notion of them ; partly also to the

    variety of observances found in distant parts of the country, and

    the discordant opinions entertained by those belonging to the

    same sect ; so that what is seen in one district is sometimes

    utterly unknown in the next province, and the opinions of one

    man are laughed at by another.

    Before proceeding with the present outline two negative featni’es of Chinese religion deserve to be noticed, which distinguish it from the faith of most other heathen nations. These are the absence of human sacrifices and the non- deification of vice. The prevalence of human offerings in almost all ages of the world, and among nations of different degrees of civilization, not only widely separated in respect of situation and power, but flourishing in ages remote from each other, and having little or no mutual influence, has often been noticed. Human sacrifices are offered to this day in some parts of Asia, Africa, and Polynesia, which the extension of Christian instruction and power has, it is to be hoped, greatly reduced and almost accomplished the extinction of; but no clear record of the sacrificial innnolation of man by his fellow, “offering the fruit of his body for the sin of his soul,” has been found in Chinese annals in such a shape as to carry the conviction that it formed part of the belief or practice of the people—although the Scythian custom of burying the servants and horses of a deceased prince or chieftain

    with him was perhaps observed before the days of Confucius,

    and may have been occasionally done since his time. This feature,

    negative though it be, stands in strong contrast with the

    appalling destruction of human life for religious reasons, still

    existing among the tribes of Western and Central Africa, and

    recorded as having been sanctioned among Aztecs and Egyptians,

    Hindus and Carthaginians, and other ancient nations, not

    excepting Syrians and Jews, Greeks and Romans.

    The other, and still more remarkable trait of Chinese idolatry,

    is that there is no deification of sensuality, which, in the name

    of religion, could shield and countenance those licentious rites

    and orgies that enervated the minds of worshippers and polluted

    their hearts in so many other pagan countries. No Aphrodite

    or Lakshmi occurs in the list of Chinese goddesses ; no weeping

    VICE NEYEE SAXCTIFTED. 193

    for Thaiiinmz, no exposure in the temple of Mylitta or obscene rites of tlie Durga-puja, have ever been required or sanctioned by Chinese priests ; no nautch girls as in Indian temples, or courtesans as at Corinth, are kept in their sacred buildings. Their speculations upon the dual powers of the yln and yang have never degenerated into the vile worship of the linya and yonl of the Hindus, or of Amun-kem, as pictured on the ruins of Thebes.

    Although they are a licentious people in word and deed, the

    Chinese have not endeavored to lead the votaries of pleasure,

    falsely so called, further down the road of ruin, by making its

    path lie through a temple and trying to sanctify its acts by pntting

    them under the protection of a goddess. Nor does their

    mythology teem with disgusting relations of the amours of

    their deities ; on the contrary, like the Romanists, they exalt and

    deify chastity and seclusion as a means of bringing the soul and

    body nearer to the highest excellence. Vice is, in a great

    degree, kept out of sight, as well as out of religion, and it may

    be safely said tluit no such significant sign as has been uncovered

    at Pompeii, with the inscription IIlc habitat felioitas, was ever

    exhibited in a Chinese city.

    To these traits of Cliinese character may be added the preservative features of their regard for parents and superiors and their general peaceful industry. If there be any connection between the former of these virtues and the promise attached to the fifth commandment, ” That thy days may be long in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee,” then the long duration of the Chinese people and Empire is a stupendous monument of the good effects of even a partial obedience to the law of God, by those who only had it inscribed on their hearts and not written in their hands.

    The last point in the Chinese polity which has had great nifluence in preserving it is the religious beliefs recognized by the people and rulers. There are three sects (san jiao), which are usually called Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism, or Rationalism; the first is a foreign term, and vaguely denotes the belief of the literati generally, including the State religion. These three sects do not interfere with each other, however, and a man may worship at a Buddhist shrine or join in a Taoist festival while he accepts all the tenets of Confucius and worships him on State occasions ; much as a lawyer in England may attend a Quaker meeting or the Governor of a State in America may be a Methodist minister. In China there is no generic term for

    religion in its usual sense. The word I’kio, which means ‘ to

    teach,’ or ‘doctrines taught,’ is applied to all sects and associations

    having a creed or ritual ; the ancestral worship is never

    called a Mao, for everybody observes that at home just as much

    as he obeys his parents ; it is a duty, not a sect.

    Xo religious system has been found among the Chinese which

    taught the doctrine of atonement by the shedding of blood ; an

    argument in favor of their antiquity. The State religion of

    China has had a remarkable history and antiquity, and, though

    modified somewhat during successive dynasties, has retained its

    main features during the past three thousand years. The simplicity’

    and purity of this w^orship have attracted the notice of

    irjany foreigners, who have disagreed on various points as to its

    nature and origin. Their discussions have brought out sundry

    most interesting details respecting it ; and whoever has visited

    the great Altar and Temple of Heaven at Peking, where the

    Emperor and his courtiers worship, must have been impressed

    with its simple grandeur. What \vas the precise idea connected

    svith the words tien, ‘heaven,’ and hirang tien, ‘imperial

    heaven,’ as they were used in ancient times, is a very difficult

    point to determine ; the worship rendered to them was probably

    of a mixed sort, the material heavens being taken as the most

    sublime manifestation of the power of their Maker, whose

    character was then less obscured and unknown than in after

    times, when it degenerated to Sabianism.

    These discussions are not material to the present subject, and

    it is only needful to indicate the main results. The prime idea

    in this worship is that the Emperor is Tien-tsz\ or ‘ Son of

    Heaven,’ the coordinate with Heaven and Earth, from whom he

    directly derives his right and power to rule on earth among\

    mankind, the One Man who is their vicegerent and the third of

    the trinity {san tsai) of Heaven, Earth, and Man. With these

    ideas of his exalted position, he claims the homage of all his

    fellow-men. He cannot properly devolve on any other mortal

    THE 8TATK KKLKilOX OF CIIIXA. 195

    his functions of their high priest to offer the oblations on the

    altars of Heaven and Earth at Peking at the two solstices, lie

    is not, therefore, a despot bj mere power, as other rulers are,

    but is so in the ordinance of nature, and the basis of his authority

    is divine. lie is accountable personally to his two superordinate

    powers for its record and result. If the people suffer from

    pestilence or famine he is at fault, and must atone by prayer, sacrifice, and reformation as a disobedient son. One defect in all human governments—a sense of responsibility on the part of rulers to the God who ordains the powers that be—has thus been partly met and supplied in China. It has really been a check, too, on their tyranny and extortion; for the very books which contain this State ritual intimate the amenability of the sovereign to the Powers who appointed him to rule, and hint that the people will rise to vindicate themselves. The officials, too, all springing from the people, and knowing their feelings, hesitate to provoke a wrath which has swept away thousands of their number.

    The objects of State worship are chiefly things, although persons

    are also included. There are three grades of sacrifices, the

    great, medlinn, and inferior, the last collectively called klun sz\

    or ‘ the crowd of sacrifices.’ The objects to which the great

    sacrifices are offered are only four, viz.: t’ten, the heavens or sky,

    called the imperial concave expanse ; t’l, the earth, likewise

    dignified with the appellation imperial ; tai Triiao, or the great

    temple of ancestors, wherein the tablets of deceased monarchs

    of this dynasty are placed ; and, lastly, the t^hii t-n/i, or gods of

    the land and grain, the special patrons of each dynasty. The

    tablets representing these four great objects are placed on an

    equality by the present monarchs, which is strong presumptive

    proof that by tien is now meant the material heavens.

    The medium sacrifices are offered to nine objects: The sun,

    or ” great light,” the moon, or ” night light,” the manes of the

    emperors and kings of former dynasties, Confucius, the ancient

    patrons of agriculture and silk, the gods of heaven, earth, and

    the cyclic year. The first six have separate temples erected for

    their worship in Peking. The inferior herd of sacrifices are

    offered to the ancient patron of the healing art and the innumerable spirits of deceased pliilanthropists, eminent statesmen, martyrs to virtue, etc.; clouds, rain, wind, and tlnnider; the five celebrated mountains, four seas, and four rivers; famous hills, great watercourses, flags, triviaj, gods of cannon, gates, queen goddess of earth, the north pole, and many other things.

    The State religion has been so far corrupted from its ancient simplicity, as given in the Shic King and Li K’i, as to include gods terrestrial and stellar, ghosts infernal, flags, and cannon, as well as idols and tablets, the efiigies and mementoes of deified persons.

    The personages who assist the Emperor in his worship of the four superior objects, and perform most of the ceremonies, belong to the Imperial Clan and the Board of Rites; but while they go through with the ceremony, he, as pontifex maxinnis^ refuses to pay the same homage that he demands of all who approach him, and puts off these superior Powers with three kneelings and nine profound bows. When he is ill, or in his minority, these services are all forborne, for they cannot properly be done by a substitute. When he worships Heaven he wears robes of a blue color, in allusion to the sky; and when he worships earth he puts on yellow to represent the clay of this earthly clod ; so, likewise, he wears red for the sun and pale

    white for the moon. The princes, nobles, and officers who assist

    are clad in their usual court dresses, but no priests or women

    are admitted. The worship of Yuenfi, the goddess of silk, is

    alone, as we have seen, conducted by the Empress and her court.

    The temple of the sun is east, and that of the moon west of the

    city, and at the eqninoxes a regulus, or prince of the Impei’ial

    Clan, is commissioned to perform the requisite ceremonies and

    oft’er the appointed sacrifices.

    The winter solstice is the great day of this State worship.

    The Emperoi- goes from his palace the evening before, draM-n

    by an elephant in his state car and escorted by about two thousand

    grandees, princes, musicians, and attendants, down to the

    Tem})le of Tlcaveii. The cortege passes out by the southern

    road, reaching the Ching Yang Gate, opened only for his Majesty’s

    use, and through it goes on two miles to the Tien Tan.

    ile first repairs to the Chai Ktmg, or ‘ Palace of Fasting,’

    WORSHIP OF IIKAVEX BY THE KMFEKOR. 197

    where he prepares himself by lonely meditation for his duty;” for the idea is that if there be not pious thoughts in his mind the spirits of the unseen will not come to the sacrifice.”

    To assist him he looks at a copper statue, arraj-ed like a Taoist priest, whose mouth is covered by three fingers, denoting silence, while the other hand bears a tablet inscribed with ‘ Fast three days.’ When the worship commences, and all the officiating attendants are in their places, the animals are killed, and as the odor of their burning flesh ascends to convey the sacrifice to the gods, the Emperor begins the rite, and is directed at every step by the masters of ceremonies. The worship to Heaven is at midnight, and the numerous poles around the great altar, and the fires in the furnaces shedding their glare over the marble terraces and richly dressed assembly, render this solemnity most striking.’

    The hierophants in this worship of nature, so lauded by some

    infidels, are required to prepare themselves for the occasion by

    fasting, ablutions, change of garments, separation from their

    wives and pleasurable scenes, and from the dead ; “for sickness

    and death defile, while banqueting dissipates the mind and unfits

    it for holding communion with the gods.” The sacrifices

    consist of calves, hares, deer, sheep, or pigs, and the offerings

    of silks, grain, jade, etc. Xo garlands are placed on the victim

    when its life is taken, nor is the blood sprinkled on any particular

    spot or article. ” The idea is that of a banquet ; and when

    a sacrifice is performed to the supreme spirit of Heaven, the

    honor paid is believed by the Chinese to be increased by inviting

    other guests. The Emperors invite their ancestors to sit at

    the banquet with Shangti. A father is to be honored as heaven,

    and a mother as earth. In no way could more perfect revei’-

    ence be shown than in placing a father’s tablet on the altar with

    that of Shangti.” To these remarks of Dr. Edkins explanatory

    of this union of the objects worshipped, it may be added that the

    Emperors regard their predecessors of every dynasty as still invested

    with power in Hades, and therefore invoke their blessing

    and presence by sacrifice and prayers.

    ‘ Compare the frontispiece of Volume I. ; also ibid. , p. 76.

    The statutes annex penalties of fines or blows in various degrees of punishment in case of informality or neglect, but “in these penalties there is not the least allusion to any displeasure of the things or beings worshipped ; there is nothing to be feared but man’s wrath—nothing but a forfeiture or a fine.”

    Heavier chastisement, however, awaits any of the common people or the unauthorized who should presume to state their wants to high Heaven or worship these objects of imperial adoration; strangulation or banishment, according to the demerits of the case, would be their retribution. The ignob’de vulyus may worship stocks and stones in almost any form they please, but death awaits them if they attempt to join the Son of Heaven, the Vicegerent of Heaven and Earth, in his adorations to the supposed sources of his power.’

    In his capacity of Vicegerent, High Priest, and Mediator between his subjects and the higher Powers, there are many points of similarity between the assumptions of the Emperor and of the Pope at Rome. The idea the Chinese have of heaven seems to be pantheistic, and in worshipping heaven, earth, and terrestrial gods they mean to include and propitiate all superior powers. If, as seems probable, the original idea of Shangti, as it can be imperfectly gleaned from early records, was that of a supreme Intelligence, it has since been lost. Of this worship, the effects in China upon the nation have been both positive and negative. One of the nearative influences has been to dwarf the State hierarchy to a complete nullity—to prevent the growth of a class which could or did use the power of the monarchy to strengthen its own hold upon the people as their religious advisers, and on the government as a necessary aid to its efiiciency.

    ^ Chinese ‘Repomtory, Vol. III., pp. 49-5:?. Dr. J. Edkins, Rcl/’r/innfi of China, Chap. II. ; this chapter, on Imperial Worship, gives a good account of these ceremonies.

    NO STATE IIIEKARCIIY IN CHINA. 199

    The High Priests of China love power and adulation too well to share this worship with their subjects, and in engrossing it entirely they have escaped the political evils of a powerful hierarchy and the people the combined oppressions of a church

    Legge’s NotioriH of the Chinese concerning God and Spirits, pp. 23-36»41-43, for the forms of pra_)er used

    and State. We have seen that the popular rights which are so plainly taught in the classics have been inculcated and perpetuated by the common school education ; we shall soon see, moreover, that the ancestral worship could not admit the interference of priest, altar, or sacrifice outside of the door-posts. Yet it is probable that all combined would have been too weak to resist

    the seductive influence of a hierarchy in some form, if it had not

    been that the Emperor himself would yield his own unapproachable

    grandeur to no man. Being everything in his own person,

    it is too much to expect that he is going to vacate or reduce his

    prerogative, surrender his right to make or degrade gods of every

    kind for his subjects to M’orship, weaken his own prestige, or mortify

    the pride of his fellow-worshippers, the high ministers of

    State. The chains of caste woven in India, the fetters of the Inquisition

    forged in Spain, the silly rites practised by the augurs

    in old Rome, or the horrid cruelties and vile worship once seen

    in Egypt and Syria—in each case done under the sanction of the

    State—have all been wanting along the Yellow River, and

    spread none of their evils to hamper the rule of law in China.

    This State religion is, therefore, a splendid and wonderful

    pageant ; but it can no more be called the religion of the Chinese

    than the teachings of Socrates could be termed the faith

    of the Greeks. It is, however, intimately connected with the

    Ju klao, or ‘ Sect of the Learned,’ commonly called Confucianists

    by foreigners, because all its members and priests are

    learned men who venerate the classical writings. It is somewhat

    inappropriate to designate the Ju Mao a religious sect, or

    regard it otherwise than as a comprehensive term for those who

    adopt the writings of Confucius and Chu Hi and their disciples.

    The word jtt denotes one of the literati, and was first adopted a.d. 1150, as an appellation for those who followed the speculations of Chu Hi regarding the tal I’ih, or ‘ Great Extreme.’ This author’s comments on the classics and his metaphysical writings have had greater influence on his countrymen than those of any other person except Confucius and Mencius; whose works, indeed, are received according to his explanations.

    The remarks of Confucius upon religious subjects were very few ; he never taught the duty of man to any higher power than the head of the State or family, though he supposed himself commissioned by heaven to restore the doctrine and usages of the ancient kings. lie admitted that he did not understand much about the gods ; that they were beyond and above the comprehension of man ; and that the obligations of man lay I’ather in doing his duty to his relatives and society than in worshipping spirits unknown, “Not knowing even life,” said he, “how can we know death ? ” and when his disciples asked him in his last illness whom he would sacrifice to, he said he had already worshipped. Chu Hi resolved the few and obscure references to Shangti in the S/m Ivlng into pure materialism; making nature to begin with the tal I’lh, cidlcd pre7)iierjjrlnci2)e v/afe/’ui by the French, which operating upon itself resolved itself into the dual powers, the i/ln. and yM>(/.

    Sir John Davis compares this production of the yin and yan^ to the masculo-feminine principle in the development of the mundane egg in the Egyptian cosmogony, and quotes an extract showing that the idea was entertained among the Hindus, and that the androgyn of Plato was only another form of this myth. The Chinese have also the notion of an egg, and that the iai k’lh was evolved from it, or acted like the process of hatching going on in it, though it may be that with them the introduction of the egg is more for the sake of illustration than as the form of the cause. Some of Chu Hi’s philosophical notions have already been quoted in Volume I.’ His system of materialism captivates his countrymen, for it is far nioi’c thoroughly worked out than any other, and allows scope for the vagaries of every individual who thinks he understands and can apply it to explain whatever phenomena come in his M-ay. Heat and cold, light and darkness, fire and water, mind and matter, every agent, power, and substance, known or supposed, are regarded as endued with these principles, which thus form a simple solution for every question.

    ‘ Pp. 68? ff. CaiioD McClatrhic lias made a careful iraiif^lation of Chapter XLIX. of his works, giving hi^ views on cosmogony.

    THE JU KIAO, OR SECT OF THE LEARNED. 201

    The infinite changes in the universe, the multiform actions and reactions in nature, and all the varied consequences seen and unseen are alike easily explained by this form of cause and effect, this ingenious theory of evolution. With regard to the existence of gods and spirits, Chu Hi affirmed that sufficient knowledge was not jiossessed to say positively that they existed, and he saw no difficulty in omitting the subject altogether—a species of agnosticism or indifferentism, therefore, which has become the creed of nearly the entire body of educated men in the Empire.

    His system is also silent respecting the immortality of the soul, as well as future rewards and punishments. Virtue is rewarded and vice is punished in the individual or in his posterity on earth ; but of a separate state of existence he or his disciples do not speak.

    Tn thus disposing of the existence of superior powers, the philosophers do not shut out all intelligent agencies, but have instituted a class of sages or pure-minded men of exalted intellects and simple hearts, wdio have been raised up from time to time by Heaven, Shangti, or some other power, as instructors and examples to mankind, and who therefore deserve the reverence of their fellows. The office of these shing jin, ‘perfect men’ or saints, is to expound the will of heaven and earth ; they did not so much speak their own thoughts as illustrate and settle the principles on which the world should be governed ; they were men intuitively wise without instruction, while common people must learn to be wise. Of all the saints in the calendar of the f/w Jciao Confucius is the chief ; with him are reckoned the early kings, Yao and Shun, with King Wan and his two sons Kuig AVu and Duke Chau; but China has produced no one since the “most holy teacher of ancient times” whom his proud

    disciples are willing to regard his equal—Mencius being only a “number two saint.” The deceased Emperors of the reigning dynasty are canonized as its efficient and divine patrons, but a new line of monarchs would serve them as they did their predecessors, by reducing them to mere spirits. The demonolatry of the learned has gradually become so incorporated with popular superstitions that there is now little practical distinction; every one is willing to worship whatever can promise relief or afford assistance.

    A student of the classical works naturally adopts theit views on these points, without supposing that they militate against worshipping his ancestors, joining the villagers in adoring the goddess of Mercy or any other Buddhistic idol, or calling in a Rationalist to write a charm. He also, on coming into office, expects to perform all the ex-officio religious ceremonies required of him, and add the worship of the Emperor to the rest.

    Every magistrate is officially required to perform various idolatrous

    ceremonies at the temples. The objects of worship arc

    numerous, including many others besides those forming tlio

    ” herd of inferior sacrifices/’ and new deities are frequently made

    by the Emperor, on the same principle that new saints are canonized

    by the Pope. The worship of certain hills and rivers, and

    of spirits supposed to preside over particular cities and districts,

    has prevailed among the Chinese from ancient times, long before

    the rise of Rationalism or introduction of Buddhism, and is no

    doubt the origin of this official worship. In every city the

    Chiny-hivcmg miao, i.e., ‘ City and Moat Temple,’ contains the

    tutelar divinity of the city called Ching-hwang, with other gods,

    and here on the solstices, equinoxes, new and full moons, etc.,

    officers repair to sacrifice to it and to the gods of the land and

    grain. Over the door of the one in Canton is written, “Right*

    and wrong, truth and falsehood are blended on eai’th, but all are

    most clearly distiiiguished in heaven.” C^apt. Loch thus describes

    the Ching-hwang miao at Shanghai, as it stood in’ 1842: In the centre of a serpentine sheet of water there is a rocky island, and on it a large temple of two stories, litted up for the accommodation of the wealthy puhlic Pillars of carved wood support the roof, fretted groups of uncouth figures fill up the narrow spaces, while movable lattices screen the occupants from the warmth of the noonday sun. Nothing can surpass the beauty and truth to nature of the most minutely carved flowers and insects prodigally scattered over every screen and cornice. This is the central and largest temple. A number of other light aerial-looking structures of the same form are perched upon the corners of artificial rocky precipices and upon odd little islands. Light and fanciful wooden bridges connect most of these islands, and are thrown across the arms of the serpentine water, so that each secjuestered spot can be visited in turn. At a certain passage of the sun the main temple is shaded in front by a rocky eminence, tht^ large masses of which are connected with great art and propriety of taste, but in shape and adjustment most studiously grotesque.

    RELKilors DCTIKS OF MAGISTRATES. 203

    Trees and flowers and tufts of grass are planted where art must have been taxed to the utmost to procure them a lodgment. In another part of the garden there is a miniature wood of dwarf trees, with a dell and waterfall; the leaves, fruit, and blo.ssoms of the trees are proportionate to their size. Tortuous pathways lead to tlu> toj) of tlic artificial mountain, each turn formed with studied art to surprise and charm by offering at every point fresh views and objects. Flowers and creepers sprout out from crevices, trees hang over the jutting crags, small pavilions are seen I’roni almost every vista, while grottoes and rocky recesses, shady bowers and labyrinths, are placed to entrap the unwary, each with an appropriate motto, one inviting the wanderer to repose, another offering a secluded retreat to the philosopher.’

    Official Chinese records euunierate 1560 temples dedicated to Confucius attached to the examination halls, the offerings presented in which are all eaten or used by the worshippers; there are, it is said, 02,006 pigs, rabbits, sheep, and deer, and 27,000 pieces of silk, annually offered upon their altars.^ The municipal temple is not the only one where officers worship, but, like the connnon people, they bow before whatever they think can aid them in their business or estates. It has already been stated that the duty of Chinese officers extends to the securing of genial seasons by their good administration, and consequently if bad harvests ensue or epidemics rage the fault and removal of the calamity belong to them. The expedients they resort to are both ludicrous and melancholy. In 1835 the prefect of Canton, on occasion of a distressing drousi-ht of eio;ht months, issued the following invitation, which would have better befitted a chieftain of the Sechuanas:

    Pan, acting prefect of Kwangchau, issues this inviting summons. Since for a long time there has been no rain, and the prospects of drought continue, and supplications are unanswered, my heart is scorched with grief. In the whole province of Kwangtung, are there no extraordinary persons who can force the dragon to send rain V Be it known to you, all ye soldiers and people, that if there be any one, whether of this or any other province, priest or such like, who can by any craft or arts bring down abundance of rain, I respectfully request him to ascend the altar [of the dragon], and sincerely and reverently pray. And after the rain has fallen, I will liberally reward him with money and tablets to make known his merits.

    ‘ Events in China, p. 47. London, 1843.

    – During the Han dynasty (a.d. 59) wine was drunk and sacrifices made to Confucius in the study halls. The victim offered was a dog. Biot, Eumi»ur VTmtructiou eii Chine, p. 168.

    This invitation called forth a Buddhist priest as a “rain maker,” and the prefect erected an altar for him before his own office, upon which the man, armed with cymbal and wand, for three days vainly repeated his incantations from morning to night, exposed bareheaded to the hot sun, the butt of the jeering crowd. The prefect himself was lampooned by the people for his folly, the following quatrain being pasted under a copy of his invitation :

    Kwangchaii’s grecat protector, the magnate Pan,
    Always acting without regard to reason ;
    Now prays for rain, and getting no reply,
    Forthwith seeks for aid to force the dragon.

    The unsuccessful eiforts of the priest did not render the calamity less grievous, and their urgent necessities led the people to resort to every expedient to force their gods to send rain. The authorities forbade the slaughter of animals, or in other words a fast was proclaimed, to keep the hot winds out of the city, the southern gate was shut, and all classes flocked to the temples. It was estimated that on one day twenty thousand persons went to a celebrated shrine of the goddess of Mercy, among whom were the Governor and Prefect and their suites, who all left their sedans and walked with the multitude. The Governor, as a last expedient, the day before rain came, intimated his intention of liberating all prisoners not charged with capital offences. As soon as the rain fell the people presented thank-offerings, and the southern gate of the city was opened, accompanied by an odd ceremony of burning off the tail of a live sow^ while the animal was held in a basket.

    The officers and literati, though acknowledging the folly of

    these observances, and even ridiculing the worship of senseless

    blocks, still join in it. As an example of this : In 18G7 a

    severe drought near Peking called forth a suggestion from a

    censor that if a white tiger were sacrificed by the Emperor to

    the dragon the rain would be libei-ated ; for ” it was his powerful

    enemies which kept the rain-god fi’oni acting.’” Wrmsiang

    was deputed to perform the rite ; rain came not many days

    later. The offieci- laughed, indeed, at the fancy, yet could not

    disenthrall himself from some degi-ee of belief in its efficacy.

    Devotees sometimes become ii-ritated against theii- gods, and

    resort to sunnnary means to force them to hear their petitions.

    STATE KELIGION AND THE CLASSICS. 205

    It is said that the Governor in Canton, having I’epeatedly ascended

    in a time of drouglit to the temple of the god of Ilaia

    dressed in his burdensome robes, through the heat of a tropical

    sun, on one of his visits said : ” The god supposes I am

    lying when I beseech his aid ; for how can he know, seated in

    his cool niche in the temple, that the ground is parched and the

    sky hot V Whereupon he ordered his attendants to put a rope

    around his neck and haul his godship out of doors, that he

    might see and feel the state of the weather for himself. After

    his excellency had become cooled in the temple the idol was

    reinstated in its shrine, and the good effects of this treatment

    were deemed to be fully proved by the copious showers which

    soon after fell. The Emperor himself on such occasions resorts

    to unusual sacrifices, and sends his relatives and courtiers almost

    daily to various temples to pray and burn incense. Imperial

    patronage of the popular superstitions is sought after by the

    officers in one way and another to please the people, but it does

    not involve much outlay of funds.’ One connnon mode is to

    solicit his Majesty for an inscription to be placed over the doorway

    of a temple, or memorialize him to confer a higher title upon the god. On occasion of a victory over the rebels in Kwangtung in 1822, the shrine of a neighboring deity, supposed to have assisted in obtaining it, received a new title commemorative of the event, and a temple was built for him at the expense of government.

    The combined effect of the State religion and classical writings, notwithstanding their atheism and coldness, has had some effect in keeping the people out of the swinish ditch of pollution. It is one of their prime tenets that human nature is originally virtuous, and becomes corrupt entirely by bad precept and example.

    ‘Klaproth cites (among many) an instance of the manner in which favorable angnries are regarded and made use of by officials. Memoiren siir l*Asu’, Tome T., p. 459.

    This is taught children from their earliest years, and officers refer repeatedly to it in their exhortations to obedience; its necessary results of happiness, if carried out, are illustrated by trite comparisons drawn from common life and general experience. The Chinese seldom refer to the vengeance of tha gods or future punishment as motives for reform, but to the well-being of individuals and good order of society in this world.

    Examples of this type of human perfection, fully developed, are constantly set before the people in Confucius and the ancient kings he delineates. The classical tenets require duties that carry their own arguments in their obedience, as well as afford matter of thought, while the standard books of Buddhists and Rationalists, where they do not reiterate the same obligations, are mostly filled with unprofitable speculations or solemn nonsense.

    Consequently the priests of those sects had only the superstitious fear of the people to work wpon where reason was at fault, and so could not take the whole man captive ; for his reason accorded with the teaching of the classics as far as they went, and only took up with divination and supplication of higher powers where their instructions ceased. The government, therefore, being composed chiefly of such people, educated to venerate pure reason, could not be induced to take the initiatory step of patronizing a religion of such an uncertain character, and confessedly inferior in its moral sanctions to what they already possessed. The current has, more or less, always set this way, and the two other sects have been tolerated when they did not interfere with government. It is too true that the instructions of Confucius and his school are imperfect and erroneous when measured by the standard of revelation, and the people can never emerge from selfish atheism and silly superstition as long as they have nothing better; but the vagaries of the Buddhists neither satisfy the reason nor reprove vice, nor does their celibate idleness benefit society. If the former be bad, the latter is worse.

    SECT OF RATIONALISTS, OR TAO KIA. 207

    The sect of the nationalists, or Tao I’la^ is derived from Lautsz’, or Lau-kiun. According to the legends he was born bTc.004, in Ku, a hamlet in the kingdom of Tsu, supposed to lie in Luh-yeh hien, in the provin(!e of Ilonan. His birth was fiftyfour years before Confucius. The story is that he had white hair and eyebrows at his birth, and was carried in the womb eighty years, whence he was called Lau-tsz\ the “old boy,’ and Lau-kiun, the ‘venerable prince.’ Nothing reliable about hia early life has come down to us, but, as was the case with Hesiod, his disciples have enveloped his actions and cliaracter in a nimbus of wonders. M. Julien has given a translation of their history, dated about a.d. 350, in liis version of the Tao Teh King.

    Pauthier says he was appointed librarian by the Emperor, and diligently applied himself to the study of the ancient books, becoming acquainted with all the rites and histories of former times. During his life he is repoi’ted to have journeyed west-ward, but the extent and duration of his travel are not recorded, and even its occurrence is reasonably doubted. De Guignes says he went to Ta Tsin, a country under the rule of the Romans, but he forgets that the Romans had not then even concpiered Italy ; some suppose Ta Tsin to be Judea. His only extant work, the Tao Teh King, or ‘ Canons of Reason and Virtue,’ ‘ was written in Ling-pao, in Honan, before his travels, but whether the teachings contained in it are entirely his own or were derived from hints imported from India or Persia cannot be decided. It contains only five thousand three hundred and twenty characters, divided into eighty one short chapters; the text of one edition is said to have been found in a tomb A.D. 574. It has been translated by Julien, Chalmei’s, and von Strauss. A parallel has been suggested between the sects of the Rationalists of China, the Zoroastrians of Persia, Essenes of Judea, Gnostics of the primitive church, and the eremites of the Thebaid, but a common source for their similarity—the desire of their members, after the sect had become recognized, to live without labor on the credulity of their fellowmen—explains most of the likeness, without supposing thafc their tenets were derived from each other.

    ‘ Perhaps this may be rendered as the Logos of Plato, as near as any dogma can be compared to it.

    The teachings of Lao-zi are not unlike those of Zeno; botji recommend retirement and contemplation as the most effectual means of purifying the spiritual part of our nature, annihilating the passions, and finally returning to the bosom of Dao. His teachings on the highest subjects of human thought have furnished his countrymen ample materials for the most diverse views on these same themes according to their various fancies.

    In his striving after the infinite he can only describe Dao by what it is not and delineate 71A as an ideal virtue which no man can attain to. In Chapter XXI. they are thus blended: “The visible forms of the highest Teh only proceed from Tao^ and Tao is a thing impalpable, indefinite. How indefinite! How impalpable ! And [yet] therein are forms indefinite, impalpable! and [yet] therein are things (or entities). Profound and indistinct too, and [yet] therein are essences. These essence; are profoundly real, and therein faith is found. From of old till now its name has never passed away. It gives issue to all existences at their beginnings. How [then] can I know the manner of the beginning of all existences ? I know it by this

    lTa6\P

    Such teachings are susceptible of almost any explanation, and Julien’s extracts from the commentaries give one some idea of their diversity, though probably much well worth reading still lies buried in their pages. The names of sixty-four commentators are known, of whom three were reigning emperors ; and their explanations have given their countrymen veiy doubtful guidance through this mystic book. To those who can compare its aspirations and dogmas with the speculations of Greek and Roman writers, the teachings of the Zendavesta, and the declarations of the Bible, the work of Lao-Zi becomes of immense interest.

    His countrymen, however, to whom these great writers were all unknown, have looked upon this system of philosophy rather as the reveries of a wise man than the instructions of a practical thinker.

    In Wiapter I. he tries to define tao. It is reaching after the

    imknown. ” The too which can be expressed is not the eternal

    tao- the name which can be named is not the etei’nal name. The

    Nameless [being] is before heaven and earth ; when named it

    is the mother of all things. Therefore, to be constantly passionless

    is to be able to see its spiritual essence; and to be constantly

    passionate is to see the forms (or limits) [of tao’\. These two

    conditions are alike but have different names ; they can both be

    called a mystery. The more it is examined into the moi’O

    mysterious it is seen to be. It is the gate of all spiritual

    things.” By the phrases “constantly passionless” and “constantly passionate ‘ are denoted non-existence and existence, according to the commentators.

    THE TAO-TKir KING OF LAU-TSZ’. 209

    In Chapter LXV. there is a similar striving to describe teh.

    ” In olden times those who practised tdo did not do so to enlighten

    the people, but rather to render them simple-minded.

    When the people have too mnch worldly wisdom it makes them

    hard to govern. lie who encourages this worldly wisdom in

    the government of a State is its misfortune ; as he who governs

    without it is its blessino-. To know ario;lit these two things is to have a model State; and the constant exhibition of this ideal is what I call sublime tc/t. This sublime virtue [teh] is profound, is incommensurable, is opposed to time-serving plans. If followed it will bring about a state of general accord.”

    In Chapter XX. the lonely cynic seems to utter his sad cry at

    the little progress of his teachings. “All men are full of ambitious

    desires, like those greedy for the stalled ox, or the high

    delights of spring time. 1 alone am calm ; my affections have

    not yet germinated ; I am as a new-born babe which has not yet

    smiled on its mother. I am forlorn as one who has no home.

    All others have and to spare, I alone am like one who has lost

    all. In mind I am like a fool ; I am all in a maze. Common

    people are bright enough ; I am enveloped in darkness. Common

    people are sagacious enough ; I am in gloom and confusion.

    I toss about as if on the sea ; I float to and fro as if I was never

    to rest. Others have something they can do ; I alone am good

    for nothing, and just like a lout. I am entirely solitary, differing from other men in that I glory in my Mother who nurses [all beings].”

    The main object kept in view throughout this work is the inculcation of personal virtue, and Lao-zi founds his argument for its practice in the fitness of things, as he tries to prove by referring all the manifestations and laws of mind and matter to the unknown factor Dao. In Chapter IV. he attempts to embody lus struggling thoughts in these few words describing Dao:

    ” Tao is a void ; still if one uses it, it seems to be inexhaustible.

    How profound it is ! It seems like the patriarch of all things.

    It softens sharp things, loosens tangled things, harmonizes bril

    liant things, and assimilates itself to worldly things of the dust.

    How tranquil it is ! It seems to endure perpetually. I know

    not whose son it is. It seems so have existed before T’l [or

    Shangti].”

    Such utterances as these carry neither comfort nor repentance to the sorrowing, sinful heart of man ; he cannot go to such an abnegation for guidance or relief in his troubles, and therefore the maxims of Lau-tsz’ have fallen on callous hearts. Another extract. Chapter XLIX., is, however, more practical ; it is not the only one which furnishes instruction of the highest character.

    ” The perfect man [.s/iui(/Ju)’] has no immutable sentiments of

    his own, [for] he makes the mind of mankind his own. He who

    is good, I would meet with goodness ; and he who is not good,

    I would still also meet with goodness ; [for] teh is goodness.

    He who is sincere I would meet with sincerity ; and he who is

    insincere, I would still also meet with sincerity ; [for] teh is

    sincerity. The perfect man dwells in the world calm and reserved,

    his soul preserving the same I’cgard for all mankind.

    The people all turn their eyes and ears toward him, and he regards them alike as his children.”

    In order to better understand these aphorisms, they need to be read with the help of the various commentaries ; these furnish us with a better estimate of their value than any other guides. Foreign writers necessarily judge such a work by their own higher standard; as does M. Pauthier when he remarks upon the last extract : ” La sagesse humaine ne pent ctre jamais exprime des paroles plus saintes et plus profondes.” He compares Lau-tsz’ to his own countryman Rousseau—and these two had a good deal in common in their sad reflections upon the evils of the times. In another place the French author goes

    even farther, and regards the vague expressions in Chapter XLH.,

    “which show their derivation from the Yi/i K’in<i—viz. : ” Tao

    produced one, one produced two, two produced thiee, and three

    produced all things “—as the Asiatic form of the docti-ine and

    procession of the Holy Trinity and the biblical idea of the reunion

    of good men with their Maker I

    ITS SPECULATIONS AND APHORISMS. 211

    One more extract from the Tao teh K’ukj will till the space at command ; but sententious apothegms like these in Chapter XXXIII. are scattered throughout the book : ” He who knows men is wise ; [while] he who knows himself is perspicacious. He who conquers men is strong ; [while] he who conquers himself is mighty. lie who knows when he has enough is rich. He who acts energetically has a fixed purpose in view. He who does not miss his nature endures ; [while] he who deceases and still is not extinct has immortality “—referring, as the commentators agree, to the life of the soul after it leaves the body.

    Such a work can hardly be accurately translated into a European language ; a perusal of all the translations enables one to appreciate this point. Some translators have missed the point of Lau-tsz’s teachings by not attending to the parallelisms running through them, where one limb of the couplet illustrates and defines the other. In conclusion, it is still true that the absence of clear exposition on the duties of men in their marital, parental, and fraternal relations ; the want of all instruction upon their obligations and rights as members of the family, the village, and the State ; and lastly, his silence upon the voice of conscience and the effects of sin upon the soul of man, show that Lau-tsz’ was more an ascetic than a philanthropist, more of a metaphysician than a humanitarian.

    Mr. Samuel Johnson has indicated the high position this ancient relic holds in his examination of its tenets. ” Nothing like this book exists in Chinese literature ; nothing, so far as yet known, so lofty, so vital, so restful at the roots of strength; in structure as wonderful as in spirit ; the fixed syllabic characters, formed for visible and definite meaning, here compacted into terse aphorisms of a mystical and universal wisdom, so subtly translated out of their ordinary spheres to meet a demand for spiritual expression that it is confessedly almost impossible to render them with certainty into another tongue. … It is a book of wonderful ethical and spiritual simplicity, and deals neither in speculative cosmogony nor in popular superstitions.

    It is not the speculations of an old philosopher, as Chalmers calls it. It is in practical earnest, and speaks from the heart and to the heart. Its religion resembles that of Fenelon or Thomas a ICeinpis, combined with a perceptive rationalism of which they were iu)t masters.” ‘

    The historian Sima Qian relates an interview which Confucius had with LaoZi when, at the age of thirty-four (u.c. 517), he visited the capital to study the ritual of ^tate worship, at which time the latter would be eighty-seven years old. Dr. Legge gives an account of this meeting, which it is to be wished could be better known, for the account is not very certain. The legendary history amplifies it largely, but in no extravagant style, and quite consonant to their diiferent characters. Si’ma Qian makes the elder lecture the younger philosopher in the following style: “Those whom you talk about are dead, and their bones mouldered to dust ; only their words remain. When the superior man gets his time, he mounts aloft; but when the

    time is against him, he moves as if his feet were entangled. I

    have heard that a good merchant, though he has rich treasures

    deeply stored, appears as if he were poor ; and that the superior

    man whose virtue is complete is yet to outward seeming stupid.

    Put away your proud air and many desires, your insinuating

    habit and wild will. They are of no advantage to you. This

    is all which I have to tell you.” To the reply of Confucius,

    that he liad sought to get tao for twenty years, and had sought

    in vain, Lau-tsz’ rejoined in a strain worthy of Diogenes, which

    Chwang-tsz’ thus reports : ” If tao could be offered to men,

    thei’e is no one who would not willingly offer it to his prince;

    if it could be presented to men, everybody would like to present

    it to his parents; if it could be announced to men, each man

    woul^l gladly announce it to his brothers; if it could be handed

    down to men, who would not wish to transmit it to his children ? Why theii can you not obtain it ? This is the reason. You are incapable of giving it an asyhnn in your heart.”‘

    ‘ Johnson, Oriental Relujions : China, pp. 862-8G5. Pautliier, La Chine, pp. 110-120. Chahuers, Speculations of the Old Plnkisopher. Julien, J^a, JAvrcde la Vote et de la Vertu, Paris, 1859 ; this last is the most scholarly work on tliia classic which has yet appeared. R. von Reinhold, Dcr TlVr/ zur Tagend, Leipzig, 1870. Victor von Strauss, Lao-TsVs Tao Te King, Ans deni ChineS’ imhen ins Deutsche ilhersetzt, Leipzig, 1870. See also Doolittle’s Vocalndanj, Vol. II., Part III. T. Watters, Lao-Tzu, A Study in Chinese Philosophy, Hongkong, 1870. Dr. Edkins in Transactions of N. C. Br. R A. S. for 1H.’)5, Art. IV. F. H. Balfour, Chiianfj 7’sze’s Divine Cktssic of Nan-hi/ d, i^ha.uii\ia.\, 1881.

    INTEP.VIEW 75ETAVKEN LAU-TSZ’ AND CONFUCIUS. 213

    Such speculative teachings and waiting till the times were

    good were not adapted to entertain or benefit, and Confucius

    understood his countrymen and his own duty nmch better than

    Lau-tsz\ in doing all he could by precept and practice to show

    them the excellence of what he believed to be right. The divergence

    of these two great men sprung from the diiferences in

    human minds in all climes and ages. The teachings of the

    Tao-teh King, however, are no more responsible for the subsequent

    organization and vagaries of the sect of Taoists down to

    the present time than the New Testament is for the legends of

    monkery or the absurdities of mystics. M. Bazin has endeavored

    to show that in China there has been, from early times,

    a progression from magic to mythology, from mythology to

    philosophy ; and when philosophy began to crystallize into parties

    and take on an organized discipline of sects, during and

    after the Ilan dynasty down to the Tang, they took up the old

    native mj’thology against the newly arrived Buddhists, and imitated

    them by adopting Lau-tsz’ as their god and his book as the

    foundation of their tenets. Previous to this period he was one

    among the philosophers of the Flowery Land ; in time he has

    been taken as the founder of a system of religion. If the Gnostics

    had deified Lucretius and taken his poem as their text-book

    the cases would have been similar.

    The earliest writers on Taoism are Chwang-tsz’ and Lih-tsz’ in

    the fourth century, Avho have been amplified by their followers.

    It is, as Wylie well observes, diflficult to educe a well-ordered

    system out of the motley chaos of modern Taoism, Mdiere the

    pursuit of immortality, the conquest of the passions, a search

    after the philosopher’s stone, the use of amulets, and the observance

    of fasts and sacrifices before gods, are mixed with the

    profound speculations of recluses upon abstruse questions of

    theology and philosophy. Some of the later writers of the

    Taoists discourse upon Reason in a way that would please

    Brownson and befit the pages of the Dial. The teachings of

    the ancient and modern transcendentalists are alike destitute of common sense and unproductive of good to their fellow-men.

    ‘ Legge, CMnese Classics, I. Proleg., p. C5. Julieii, Tno-te King, Int., p. xxvii.

    Dr. Medlmrst quotes one of the Chinese nationalists, who praises reason in a marvelous rhapsody :
    What is there superior to heaven, and from which heaven and earth sprang ? Nay, what is there superior to space and which moves in space ?

    The great Tao is the parent of space, and space is the parent of heaven and

    earth, and heaven and earth produced men and things. . . . The venerable

    prince -(Reason) arose prior to the great original, standing at the commencement

    of the mighty wonderful, and floating in the ocean of deep obscurity.

    He is spontaneous and self-existing, produced before the beginning of emptiness,

    commencing prior to uncaused existences, pervading all heaven and

    earth, whose beginning and end no years can circumscribe.

    The sectarians suppose their founder was merely an impersonation

    of this power, and that he whom they call ” the venerable

    prince, the origin of primary matter, the root of heaven

    and earth, the occupier of infinite space, the commencement of

    all things, farther back than the utmost stretch of numbers can

    reach,” created the universe. They notice three incarnations

    of him during the present epoch, one during the Shang dynasty,

    B.C. 1407, one at the time of Confucius, and a third about A.n.

    623, when a man of Shansi reported having seen an old man

    who called himself Lau-kiun. Only the priests of this sect are

    regarded as its members; they live in temples and small communities

    with their families, cultivating the grotmd attached to the

    establishment, and thus perpetuate their body ; many lead a

    wandering life, and derive a pi-ecarious livelihood from the sale

    of chariris and medical nostrums. They shave the sides of the

    head and coil the rest of the hair in a tuft upon the crown,

    thrusting a pin through it, and are I’cadily recognized by their

    slate-colored robes. They study astrology and profess to have

    dealhigs with spirits, their books containing a gi-eat variety of

    stories of priests who have done wonderful acts by their help.

    The Pastimes of the Study^ already noticed, is one of these books,

    and Davis introduces a pleasant story of (^hwang and his wife

    from another work.’ They long endeavored to find a beverage

    ‘ The Chinese, Vol. II., pp. 118-128. Wylie, Notes on Chinese Literature, p173. Giles, Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio, 1880.

    RITES AND MYTHOLOGY OF THE TAOISTS. 210

    which would insure immortality, and during the Tang dynasty

    the Emperor and highest officers were carried away with their

    delusions. The title of ‘ Heavenly Doctors ‘ was conferred on

    them, and a superb temple erected to Lau-tsz’ in Chang-an, containing his statue ; examinations were ordered in a.d. 674, to

    be held in the Tao-teh JClng, and some of the priests reached

    the highest honors in the State, Since that time they have

    degenerated, and are now looked upon as ignorant cheats and

    designing jugglers, who are quite as willing to use their magical

    powers to injure their enemies as to help those who seek their aid.

    In some places the votaries of Tao, on the third day of the third month, go barefoot over ignited charcoal ; and on the anniversary of the birthday of the High Emperor of the Sombre Heavens, ” they assemble together before the temple of this imaginary being, and having made a great fire, about fifteen or twenty feet in diameter, go over it barefoot, preceded by the

    priests, and bearing the gods in their arms. The previous ceremonies

    consist in chanting prayers, ringing bells, sprinkling holy

    water, blowing horns, and brandishing swords in and over the

    flames in order to subdue the demon, after which they dart

    through the devouring element. They firmly assert that if they

    possess a sincere mind they will not be injured by the fire, but

    both priests and people get miserably burnt on these occasions.’

    Yet such is the delusion, and the idea the people entertain of

    the benefit of these services, that they willingly contribute large

    sums to provide the sacrifices and pay the performers.” “^

    This ceremony is practised in Fuhkien and at Batavia, but

    is not very general, for the Chinese are the antipodes of the

    Hindus in their endurance and relish for sufferingsand austerities

    in the hope of obtaining future happiness. The Rationalists

    worship a great variety of idols, among which ITuh-liioang

    Shangtl is one of the highest ; their pantheon also includes

    genii, devils, inferior spirits, and numberless other objects of worship. The Siu. Shin JTi, or ‘ Records of Researches concerning the Gods,’ contains an account of the birth of the deitj whose anniversary is celebrated as above described.

    ‘ Compare Escayrac de Lauture, Memoire sur la Chine, Religion, pp. 87, 102.Yule’s Mdiro Polo, Vol. I., p. 286. Also Bode’s Bokhara, p. 271, for a similai practice among the Moslems.
    “^ Medliurst’s China, its Shite and Prospects, p. 168.

    There was once a childless emperor called Tsingtili (‘ Pure Virtue’), who snmmoiied a large company of Tao priests to perform their rites in his behalf, and continued their worship half a year. The Empress Pao Yueh-kwang(‘ Gemmeous Moonlight’) on a night dreamed that she saw the great and eminent Lau-kiun, together with a large number of superior deities, riding in parti-colored carriages with vast resplendent banners and shaded by bright variegated umbrellas. Here was the great founder Lau-kiun sitting in a dragon carriage, and holding in his arms a young infant, whose body was entirely covered with pores, from which unbounded splendors issued, illuminating the hall of the palace with ever}’ precious color. Banners and canopies preceded Lau-kiun as he came floating along. Then was the heart of the Empress elated with joy, and reverently kneeling before him, said: “At present our monarch has no male descendants, and I wishfully beseech you for this child that he may become the sovereign of our hearts and altars. Prostrate I look up to your merciful kindness, earnestly imploring thee to commiserate and grant my request.”

    He at once ausw(n’ed, ” It is my special desire to present the boy to

    you ; ” whereupon she thankfully received him, and immediately returned from

    the pursuit of the dream, and found herself advanced a year in pregnancy. ,

    When the birth took place a resplendent light poured forth from the child’s

    body, which filled the whole country with brilliant glares His entire countenance

    was super-eminently beautiful, so that none became weary in beholding

    him. When in childhood he possessed the clearest intelligence and compassion,

    and taking the possessions of the country and the funds of the treasury,

    he distributed them to the poor and afflicted, the widowers and widows, orphans

    and childless, the houseless and sick, halt, deaf, blind, and lame.

    Not long after this the demise of his father took place, and he succeeded to the

    government ; but reflecting on the instability of life, he resigned his throne

    and its cares to his ministers, and repaired to the hills of Fuming, where he gave

    himself up to meditation, and being perfected in merit ascended to heaven to

    enjoy eternal life. He however descended to earth again eight hundred times,

    and became the companion of the common people to instruct them in his doctrines.

    After that he made eight hundred more journeys, ejigaging in medical

    practice and successfully curing the people ; and then another similar series,

    in which he exercised universal benevolence in hades and earth, expounded

    all aljstract doctrines, elucidated the spiritual literature, magnanimously promulged

    tlie renovating ethics, gave glory to the widely spread merits of the

    gods, assisted the nation, and saved the people. During another eight hundred

    descents he exhibited ])atient suffering; though men took his life, yet he parted with his fU^sh and blood. After this he became the first of the verified golden genii, and was denominated the pure and immaculate one, self-existing, of highest intelligence.’

    ‘ Chinese Repository, Vol. X., p. 306.

    THE SECT OF FUII, OR BUDDHISTS. 217

    These figments are evidently a reprotl notion of the vagaries

    of llindn theosophists, and not the teachings of Ldu-tsz’, bnt they

    annise his followers, to whom his own abstruse utterances are

    (juite unintelligible. The learned Confucianists laugh at their

    fables, but are still so much the prey of fears as to be often

    duped by them, and follow even when sure of being deceived.

    The organization of the Rationalists is a regular hierarchy. It

    is under the supervision of the government, which holds the

    chiefs responsible for the general conduct and teachings of the

    members. The head resides at Lung-hu Shan in Kiangsi, where

    is a large establishment, resorted to by many votaries, and

    gathering in a large ]-evenue from their offerings. When he

    dies a piece of iron is cast into a well near by, and when it floats

    the name of his successor is found to be written on it. By their

    extravagant professions and pretences the priests of this sect

    maintain their influence over a laity as ignorant and credulous

    as themselves ; their power to delude will only wane with the progress of truth and Christianity. The full history of the authors, divinities, vagaries, and varied fortunes of the Nationalists has yet to be written ; when this is done it will illustrate the question King David asked six centuries before Lau-tsz’ lived: Who will show us any good ? And when his followers are able to say. Lord, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us, they will know why he failed to find La Yoie et la Yertu.’^

    The most popular religious sect is that of the followers of

    Full, Fo, Fat, Hwut, or Fuh-tu, as it is called in different dialects

    in imitation of the Hindu word Bodh, or Truth ;” this name is

    sometimes confounded with that of Fuh-hi, one of the early

    rulers in Chinese history. Their tenets had been promulged in

    ( ‘entral Asia for centuries, and were known in Western China,

    but during the long period of disorders previous to the Han dynasty they found little favor. In a.d. 65 the Emperor Mingti sent an embassy to India, in consequence—as the Chinese historians say—of having dreamed that he saw the image of a foreign god. The embassy returned in a.d. 67, bringing with it some teachers of the faith to Lohyang. One cannot tell whether it was sent at first at the suggestion of the nationalists, to seek for a wise man said to liave appeared there^ or whether, according to others, it arose from the i-emarkable expression of Confucius, already quoted, ” The people of the west have sages[or a sage].” It may have been that this mission was excited by some indistinct tidings of the advent and death of Christ, though there is no trace of such a rumor havino- reached the land of Sinim. At that epoch they might have heard of or met the Apostles in their first tours through the Roman Empire and Syria.

    ‘ Douglas, Taouism, London, 1879 ; this is by far the most readable account of it. Edkius, Journal of Shaiif/hai Scien. and Lit. Sor. , No. III. , 1859, pp. 309-314. Slayers, No. Ch. Br. Roij. As. Soc.,\o\. VI., 1870, pp. 31-44. Bazin, Recherrhes stir Vorifjinr, Vhistoire, et la conditutioii des ordres reli(jieu.v dans Vemjnre Chinots, Paris, 1856, p. 70. Johnson, Oriental Eelirjions : China, Part V-, pp.859-904. Nevius, C’?iina and tlie Chinese, Chap. IX., New York, 1869. Dr. W. A. P. Martin, The Chinese, p. 97, etc.
    ‘ Hardy enumerates fifty-six modes of writing the name. Manual, p. 354

    The incidents in the life of Buddha have been enveloped in so much legendary narrative by his followers in India that the Chinese have placed his birth much too early—b.v. 1027—while the true date is n.o. 623 according to the best authorities; but when his actual mortal life is regarded as one in a series of incarnations, no surprise need be felt at these discre})ancies. He was the son of Suddhodana, king of Ivapilavastu, a city and country near Nipal, subject to the king of Magadha, now a part of Bahar. His mother, TMaj’a, or Maha-maya deva, died ten days after his birth, which, according to the legends, was accomplished without pain and acconq^anied by amazing wonders. His name was ISiddhai’ta, or the ‘ Establisher,’ until he became a Buddha, i.e.,h’nn In’ whom truth is known. The name Gotama, or Samona-Godam, is a patronymic better known in Siam than China, where another family or clan name, Sakya-muni, is more common. At the age of fifteen he was nuide heir-apparent ; at seventeen he was married to Yashodara, a Brahmin maiden of the Sakya clan, and his son Bahula was born the next year. At twenty-five he determined to become a recluse, and left his prospects and his father’s court for an abode in the forest beyond Kapilavastu, in solitary spots ” trying various methods to attain mental satisfaction, but in vain.” After five years of this ascetic life ” he came to the perception of the true condition and wants of mankind,” and began his ministry of forty-nine years. He was now a Buddha^ which is described as ” entering into a state of reverie, emitting a bright light and retieeting on the four modes of truth.”

    LIFE OF GOTAMA BUDDHA. ^19

    He began his preaching at Benares by discourses on the four truths, which was termed the revolving of the wheel of the law. He formed his first disciples into a connnunity, to whom he gave their rules, and when the number increased to fifty-six be sent them over the land to give instruction in \\\qfour miseries^ and carry out the system by which all his disciples were taught they could attain final happiness in nirvana. This system, which exists in full strength to this day, is founded on

    monastic vows for the individual, living in spiritual communities

    for the disciples, voluntary poverty and universal preaching,

    Sakya-numi infused such energy into his followers that in a

    few years India was covered with their communities ; and he

    developed rules for instruction, employment, punishment, and

    promotion, which have served ever since. His own life, after

    his visit to his father in the year 586, when thirty-seven years

    old, was passed mostly in delivering the sidras, or laws, thirtyfive

    discourses in all ; these are reverenced by all Buddhists, and

    copies are held to have moral and hygienic effects on those who

    do so, and bring good luck to the family and the State. As

    Sakya-muni lived long enough to see and correct the dangers of

    his system, at his death, in the year 543, he was able to confer

    much of his authority on his two chief disciples, Ananda and

    Kashiapa, and thus hand down the organization to posterity.

    The few facts here stated respecting this remarkable man are

    selected from Hardy’s Manual of Buddhistn, where is given a

    good digest of the Hindu writers respecting their sage. One

    thing impresses the readei- of this work as a peculiarity of Sakyamuni’s

    teaching, and standing in strong contrast to the Brahminic

    system that followed it: it is the manner in which he has

    weakened and almost destroyed the power of the unseen world

    and of spiritual beings as agencies of restraint upon the heart

    of man, and of assistance in seeking after good. By his system of

    good works and self-denials, his followers are brought into such

    close relationship with the whole creation of invisible beings, into whose presence and fellowship they can enter by their own efforts and mediation, that the moral sanctions of a Supreme Ruler and God over all are neutralized, and the sense of sin in the human conscience done away with. Its removal is put under

    the control of the soul, and the degree of happiness and power

    attained in the future world depends on the individual—so

    many prayers, alms, austerities, and obediences result in so much

    honor, power, and enjoyment in the coming infinite. The past

    infinite is also made part of the conscious present, and moral

    fate worked like physical attraction, innumerable causes producing

    retributive results for rewards or for punishments. In such

    a theology, salvation by faith is rendered impossible, and sacrifice

    for sin by way of atonement useless. In this feature the

    ancient worship of China and the teachings of Confucius rise

    superior to Buddhism, and leave the soul of man more open to

    rnoral law.

    The personal life and character of Buddha presents a wonderful

    exhibition of virtues, and one is not disposed to weigh the testimony

    of their reality as di’awn out in Hardy’s 2LtnH((l so carefully

    as to neutralize the effect; but the glowing picture oi his

    good actions for his fellow-nicn given in the fervid lines of

    Arnold’s JJyJd ofAsia, takes one quite into the realm of fable,

    engendering the wish that the ( onfiician Analects and their matter-

    of-fact details could have been imitated by the disciples of

    Siddharta. In regard to both these great teachers, Confucius

    and Buddha, however, one may gladly adopt Dean Stanley’s remark,

    ” that it is difficult for those who believe the permanent

    elements of the Jewish and Christian religion to be universal

    and divine, not to hail these corresponding forms of truth or

    goodness elsewhere, or to recognize that the mere appearance of

    such saintlike or godlike characters in other parts of the earth,

    if not preparing the way for a greater manifestation, illustrates

    that manifestation by showing how mighty has been the witness

    borne to it even mider circumstances of such discouragement,

    and even with effects inadequate to their grandeur.”‘

    INFLUENCE OF BUDDHISM AMONG THE PEOPLE. 221

    Buddhist priests are more numerous in China than the Tao sz’, and they obtained influence more rapidly over the people. Their demonolatry allows the incorporation of the deities and spirits of

    Other religions, and goes even further, in permitting the priests

    to worship the gods of other pantheons, so that they could adapt

    themselves to the popular superstitions of the countries they went

    to, and ingraft all the foreign divinities into their calendar they

    safw fit. The Emperors at various times have, moreover, shown

    great devotion to their ceremonies and doctrines, and have built

    costly temples, and supported more priests than ever Jezebel

    did ; but the teachings of Confucius and Mencius were too well

    understood among the people to be uprooted or overridden. The

    complete separation of the State religion from the worship of the

    common people accounts for the remarkable freedom of belief

    on religious topics. Mohammedanism and Buddhism, Taoist

    ceremonies and Lama temples, are all tolerated in a certain way,

    but none of them have in the least interfered with the State religion

    and the autocraay of the monarch as the Son of Heaven.

    They are, as every one knows, all essentially idolatrous, and the

    coming struggle between these various manifestations of error

    and the revealed truths and requirements of the Bible has only

    begun to cast its shadow over the land. The more subtile conflict,

    too, between the preaching of the Cross and faith alone in

    its sacrifice for salvation, and reliance on good works, and pi-iestly

    interference in every fonn, has not yet begun at all.

    The power of Buddhism in China has been owing chieily to

    its ability and offer to supply the lack of certainty in the popular

    notions respecting a future state, and the nature of the gods

    who govern man and creation. Confucius uttered no speculations

    about those unseen things, and ancestral worship confined

    itself to a belief in the presence of the loved ones, who were

    ready to accept the homage of their children. That longing of

    the soul to know something of the life beyond the grave was

    measurably supplied by the teachings of Sakya-muni and his

    disciples, and, as was the case with Confucius, was illustrated

    and enforced by the earnest, virtuous life of their founder.

    Though the sect did not receive the imperial sanction till about

    A.D. 65, these teachings must have gradually grown familiar

    during the previous age. The conflict of opinions which ere long

    arose between the definite practical maxims of the Confucian

    moralists, and the vague speculations, well-defined good works and hopeful tliongli unproved promises of future well-being, set

    forth by the Hindu missionaries, has continued ever since. It

    is an instructive chapter in human experience, and affords another

    illustration of the impossibility of man’s answering Job’s

    great question, ” But how shall num be just with God?” The

    early sages opened no outlook into the blank future, offered no

    hopes of life, love, happiness, or reunion of the friends gone before,

    and their disciples necessarily fell back into helpless fatalism.

    Buddhism said. Keep my ten connnandnients, live a life

    of celibacy and contem{)lation, pray, fast, and give alms, and according

    to your works you will become pure, and be rewarded

    in the serene nirvana to which all life tends. But the Buddhist

    priesthood had no system of schools to teach their peculiar tenets,

    and, as there is only one set of books taught in the common

    schools, the elevating precepts of the sages brought forth their

    proper fruit in the tender mind. Poverty, idleness, and vows

    made by parents in the day of adversity to dedicate a son or a

    daughter to the life-long service of Buddha, still supply that

    priesthood with most of its members. The majority are unable

    to nnderstand their own theological literature, and far more is

    known about its jieculiar tenets in Europe than among the mass

    of the Chinese. Tiie CVjufucianist, in his pride of office and learning, may lidicule their mummeries, but in his hour of weakness, pain, and death he turns to them for help, for he has nowhere else to o;o. Both are ii»;norant of the life and liojht revealed in the gospels, and cry out, ” Who will show us any good ?”

    If the mythology of Buddhism M’as trivial and jejune, as we

    judge it after comparing it with the beautiful imagerj- and art

    of Greece and Egypt, it brought in nothing that was licentious in

    its rites or cruel in its sacrifices. Coming from India, where

    M’orship of the gods involved the prostitution of Avomen, the

    adoration of the lingam, and the sacrifice of human beings.

    Buddhism was remarkably free from all revolting features. If

    it had nothing to offer the Chinese higher in morals or more

    exalted or true in its conception of the universe or its Maker, it

    did not sanction impurity or murder, or elevate such atrocities

    above the reach of law by making them sacred to the gods.

    IT ENTERS INTO THEIR RELIGHOUS LIFE. 223

    This last outrage of the Prince of Darkness on tlie soul of man,

    so common in Western Asia, has never been known or accepted

    to any great extent in the Middle Kingdom.

    But, while it is true that Buddhism gave them a system of

    precepts and observances that set before them just laws and high

    motives for right actions, and proportionate rewards for the good

    works it enjoined, it could not furnish the highest standards,

    sanctions, and inducements for holy living. On becoming a

    part of the people, the Buddhists soon entered into their religious

    life as acknowledged teachers. They adapted their own

    tenets to the national mythology, took its gods and gave it theirs,

    acted as mediators and interpreters between men and gods, the

    living and the dead, and shaped popular belief on all these

    mysteries. The well-organized hierarchy numbered its members

    by myriads, and yet history records no successful attempts on its

    part to usurp political power, or place the priest above the laws.

    This tendency was always checked by the literati, who really

    had in the classics a higher standard of ethical philosophy than

    the Buddhists, and would not be driven from their position

    by imperial orders, nor coaxed by specious arguments to yield

    their ground. Constant discussions on these points have served

    to keep alive a spirit of inquiry and rivalry, and preserve butli

    from stagnation. Though Buddhism, in its vagaries and willworship,

    gave them nothing better than husks, put hypocrisy

    in place of devotion, taught its own dogmas instead of truth,

    and left its devotees with no sense of sin against any law, yet

    its salutary inJiuence on the national life of China cannot be

    denied.

    The worship of ancestors and of good and bad spirits supposed

    to pervade and rule this world was perfectly compatible with

    the reception of Buddhism ; thus its priests gradually became the

    high priests of the popular superstition, and have since remained

    so. They first ingratiated themselves by making their services

    useful in the indigenous ritual, and were afterwards looked upon

    as necessary for its execution. They propagated their doctrines

    principally by books and tracts, rather than by collecting schools

    or disciples in their temples ; the quiet, indolent life they led,

    apparently absorbed in books and worship, and yet not altogether estranged from the world, likewise held out charms to some people.

    China is full of temples, in most of which Buddhist priests are found, hut it is not quite the true inference to suppose that all the buildings were erected or the priests hired, because the people wish to do reverence to Buddha. It is impossible to state the proportion in which Buddhist temples are found ; there are one hundred and twenty-four in Canton alone, containing idols of every name and attribute, in most of which they live and act as the assistants of whoever comes to worship.

    The tenets of Buddhism require a renunciation of the world

    and the observance of austerities to overcome evil passions and

    fit its disciples for future happiness.’ A vow of celibacy is

    taken, the priests dwelling together for mutual assistance in

    attaining perfection by worship of Buddha and calling upon his

    name. They shave the entire head as a token of purity, but not

    the whole body, as the ancient Egyptian priests did ; they profess

    to eat no animal food, wear no skin or woollen garments,

    and get their living by begging, by the alms of worshippers, and

    the cultivation of the grounds of the temple. Much of their

    supj)ort is derived from the sale of incense sticks, gilt paper, and

    candles, and from fees for services at funerals. In the great

    monasteries, like the ilai-chwang sz’ at Canton, the priests perform

    the whole service ; but in other temples they contrive to

    gain a livelihood, and many of those better situated derive a large

    })ortion of their income from entertaining strangers of wealth

    and disthiction. The sale of charms, the profits of theatrical

    exhibitions, the fees paid by neighborhoods for feeding hungry

    ghosts on All-Souls’ day, and other incidental services performed

    for the living or the dead, also furnish resources. Their largest

    monasteries contain extensive libraries, and a portion of the

    fraternity are well acquainted with letters, though most of them

    are ignorant even of their own books. Their moral character,

    as a class, is on a par with their countrymen, and nuiny of them

    are respectable, intelligent, and sober-minded persons, who seem

    ‘ Remusat terms these tenets not inaptly “a mixture of pantheism, rationalism, and idolatry.” In Hardy {Mitinud, p. 212) we find that the Wh-Uikj xz^ to five hundred Lo-h;in is to honor five hundred rahats. In India this number seems to stand for all.

    TENETS AND LITURGY OF THE BUDDHISTS. 225

    to be sincerely desirous of making themselves better, if possible, by their religious observances.

    The liturgy is in Sanscrit transliterated in Chinese characters with which priest and people are alike unacquainted, nor are there now any bilingual glossaries or dictionaries to explain the words. Dr. Milne, speaking of the use of unknown tongues in liturgies, remarks : ” There is something to be said in favor of those Christians who believe in the magic powers of foreign words, and who think a prayer either more acceptable to the Deity, or more suited to common edification, because the people do not generally understand it. They are not singular in this belief. Some of the Jom’s had the same opinion ; the followers of Buddha and Mohammed all cherish the same sentiment. From the chair of his holiness at Rome, and eastward through all Asia to the mountain retreats of the Yama-bus in Japan, this opinion is espoused. The bloody Druids of ancient Europe, the gymnosophists of India, the Mohammedan hatib, the Buddhists of China, the talapoins of Siam, and the bonzes of Japan, the Tlomish clerg}’, the vartabeds of the Armenian church, and the

    priests of the Abyssinian and Greek communions, all entertain

    the notion that the mysteries of religion will be the more revered

    the less they are understood, and the devotions of the

    people (performed by proxy) the more welcome in heaven for

    being dressed in the garb of a foreign tongue. Thus the synagogue

    and mosque, the pagan temple and Christian church, seem all to agree in ascribing marvellous efiicacy to the sounds of an unknown language ; and, as they have Jews and Mohammedans,

    Abyssinians and pagans, on their side, those Christians

    who plead for the use of an unknown tongue in the services of

    religion have certainly the majority. That Scripture, reason,

    and common sense should happen to be on the other side is indeed

    a misfortune for them, but there is no help for it.”

    The following canon for exterminating misfortune is extracted

    from the Buddhist liturgy, but it is as unintelligible to the Chinese

    as it will be to the English reader. While repeating it

    ‘ Encyclopcedin Britannim, Art. Buddhism. TndocMnese Gleaner, Vol. III., p. 141. Chinese Repository, Vol. IX., p. 640. Yule’s Marco Polo, Vol. II., p200, and passim.

    the priest strikes upon a sounding board called mu yu, or ‘wooden fish,’ sliaped somewhat like a skull, in order to mark the time of his monotonous chant: Nan-mo O-mi’-to po-ye, to-ta-kia to-ye, to-ti-ye-ta 0-mi-li-to po-kwilii, 0-mili-to, sieli-tan-po-kwaii, O-iiii-li-to, kwan-kia-lan-ti 0-mi-li-to, kwan-kia-lan-ti; kia-mi-ni kia-kia-na, chih-to-kia-li i)o-po-ho.

    Similar invocations, with the name O-iivi-to’^ Full (Amida Baddha), are repeated thousands and myriads of times to attain perfection, affording a good illustration of the propriety of our Saviour’s direction, ” When ye pray, use not vain repetitions as the heathen do; for they think they shall be heard for their much speaking.” A plate in one Buddhistic work contains five thousand and forty-eight open dots, arranged in the shape of a pear ; each dot to be filled up when the name of Buddha has been repeated a hundred or a thousand times, and then the paper to be burned to pass into the other world to the credit of the devotee.

    The Buddhists have a system of merits and demerits, of which Sir John Davis remarks that ” this method of Ixeejumj a score with heaven is as foolish and dangerous a system of morality as that of penances and indulgences in the Romish church.”

    ‘ 0-im-to is derived from aniiiitr, or ‘deathless.’ Hardy, Manual, p. 355.

    OrPOSITIOX OF THE LITEPvATI TO BUDDHISM. 227

    In this Buddhist scale of actions, to repair a road, make a bridge, or dig a well, ranks as ten ; to cure a disease, or give enough ground for a grave, as thirty ; to set on foot some useful scheme ranks still higher. On the other hand, to reprove another unjustly counts as three on the debtor side ; to level a tomb, as fifty ; to dig up a corpse, as one hundred ; to cut off a man’s male heirs, as two hundred, and so on. This notion of keeping accounts with heaven prevails among all classes of the Chinese, and the score is usually settled about the end of the year by fasting and doing chai”ital)l(‘ acts, such as making a piece of road, repairing a temple, or distributing food, to prove their repentance and benefit tlie world. Festival days are chosen by devout people to distribute alms to the poor, and on such occasions troops of beggars cluster about their doors, holding clap-dishes in their outstretched hands, while the donor stands behind the luilf-opened door dealing out rice to the chunorous crowd which he dares not trust inside.

    Considerhig how few restraints this religion imposes on the

    evil propensities of tlie human lieart, and how easily it provides

    for the expiation of crimes, it is surprising that it has not had

    as great success among the Chinese as among the Tibetans, Birmese,

    and Siamese. The thorough education in the reasonable

    teachings of the classics, and the want of filial duty shown by

    celibates to their parents in leaving them to take care of themselves,

    have had their effects in maintaining the purer but

    heartless moralities of the Confucianists. The priests have

    always had the better judgment of the people against them,

    and being shut out by their profession from entering into society

    as companions or equals, and regarded as servants to be sent for

    when their services were M’anted, they can neither get nor maintain

    that influence over their countrymen which would enable

    them to form a party or a powerful sect. One of the officers

    in the reign of Chingtih of the Ming dynasty, Wang Yang-ning,

    who addressed a remonstrance to his sovereign against sending

    an embassy to India to fetch thence Buddhist books and priests,

    relies for his chief argument on a comparison between the precepts

    and tendency of that faith and the higher doctrines of the

    classics, proving to his own satisfaction that the latter contained

    all the good there was in the former, without its nonsense and

    evil. The opposition to Buddhism on the part of the literati has

    been in fact a controversy between common sense (imperfectly

    enlightened indeed) and superstitious fear; the first inclines the

    person to look at the subject with reference to the principles

    and practical results of the system, as exhibited in the writings

    and lives of its followers, while, not having themselves anything

    to look forward to beyond the grave, they are still led to entertain

    some of its dogmas, because there may be something in

    them after all, and they have themselves nothing better. The

    result is, as Dr. Morrison has observed, ” Buddhism in China is

    decried by the learned, laughed at by the profligate, yet followed

    by all.”

    The paraphrase and commentary on the seventh of Kanghi’s maxims against strange religions present a singular anomaly; for while the Emperor Yungching in the paraphrase decries Buddhism and Rationalism, and exalts the “orthodox doctrine,” as he terms the teachings of the classics, he was himself a daily worshipper of Buddhist idols served by the lamas.

    He inveighs against selling poor children to the priests in no

    measured terms, and shows the inutility and folly of repeating

    the books or reciting the unintelligible charms written by the

    priests, where the person never thought of performing what

    was good. lie speaks against the promiscuous assemblage of

    men and women at the temples, which leads to unseemly acts,

    and joins in with another of his own class, who remarked, in

    reference to a festival, that ” most of the worshippers are women,

    who like these worshipping days, because it gives them an opportunity

    to see and l)e seen in their fine clothes; and most of

    the men who go there, go to amuse themselves and look at the

    M’omen.’” “The sum of the whole is, these dissolute priests of

    Buddha are lazy ; they will neither labor in the fields nor traffic

    in the markets, and being without food and clothing, they set

    to work and invent means of deceiving people.” But though

    this upholder of the good old way well exhibits the follies of

    these idolatrous sects, he has nothing better to present his countrymen

    than ” the two living divinities placed in the family,*’

    nothing to lead their thoughts beyond this world. His best

    advice and consolation for their troubled and wearied souls is,

    ” Seek not for happiness beyond your own sphere ; perfoi-m not

    an action beyond the bounds of reason ; attend solely to your

    own duty ; then you will receive the protection of the gods.”

    The instructions of Sakya-muni himself have noM^ become so

    interwoven in the additions, ritualism, and errors of his followers

    during the ages since he died, that he is charged with many

    things which he probably never taught. T^nlike the founders

    of Islamism and Zoroastrianism, his personlil influence and identity

    have been lost amid the fables which have enveloped his

    acts, and the diversities of worship and doctrine baffle all explanation.

    “When the patriarchs and missionaries of the sect

    ‘ Milne’s Sacred Edict, pp. 133-143. Chinese Bepository, Vol. I. , p. 207 ; Vol.II., p. 265.

    LIMITATIONS TO ITS POWEll IN CHINA. 220

    began to increase in Central Asia and Cliina after the embassy

    of Ming tt, they were obliged to defend, exphiin, and develop

    their tenets against the Chinese literati, and also commend them

    to the observance of the i)eople. In the former region their

    coiupiests were complete, and the Alotigols stdl hold to the Bnddhist

    faith as completely as the Knropean nations did to popery

    until the Reformation. The histoiy of Chinese Buddhism down

    to the present day has not yet been folly examined, but much

    has been done within the past few years by Julien, Beal, Edkins,

    Watters, Neumann, Koeppen, and others to make it known.

    Translations from Chinese Buddhistic travellers and moralists

    liave brought out nuiny obscure opinions and unexpected events

    in this branch of religious thought and missionary work, during

    a period of the world’s history hitherto quite unknown to Europeans.’

    The mutual forbearance exhibited by the different sects in

    China is owing a good deal to apathy, for where there is nothing

    to reach thei’e is little to stimulate to effort. The government

    tolerates no denomination suspected of interfering with its

    own inlluence, and as none of the sects have any State patronage,

    none of them liokl any power to wield for persecution, and the

    people soon tire of petty annoyances and unavailing invectives.

    The Buddhist priesthood is perpetuated mostly by the children

    given by parents who have vowed to do so in their distress, and

    by others purchased for serving in large monasteries. Persons

    occasionally enter late in life, weary with the vexations of thi3

    world ; Mr. Milne was accpuiinted with one who had two sons

    when he took the vows upon him, but gave himself no care as

    to what had become of them. The only education which most

    of the acolytes receive consists in memorizing the prayers in the

    liturgy and reading the canonical works. A few fraternities

    have tutors from whom they receive instruction.

    ‘See Alabaster’s Wheel of the Lair, pp. 228-241, for a well-digested Life of Buddha, from the Siamese. Beal’s Romantic History of Buddha, and Caten(( (f Buddhist Scriptures. Edkins, Chinese Buddhism, Chaps. I to VI., gives a good resume of the early progress of the faith. G. Biihler, Three Neic Edicts of A’ioka, London (Triibner).

    Nunneries also exist, most of them under the patronage of the IIolj Mother, Queen of Heaven. The priests advocate their establishment as a good means of working upon the feelings of the more susceptible part of society, to whom they themselves cannot get admittance. The succession among the “sisters “is kept up by purchase and by self-consecration ; the feet of children bought young are not bandaged. The novice is not admitted to full orders till she is sixteen, though previous to this she adopts the garb of the sisterhood ; the only difference consists in the front part of the head being shaved and the hair plaited in a queue, while nuns shave the whole. It is not easy to distinguish monks from nuns as they walk the streets, for both have natural feet, wear clumsy shoes, long stockings drawn over full trousers, short jackets, and bald pates. Like her sister

    in Romish countries, the Chinese nun, when her head has been

    shaved—the opposite of taking the veil, though the hair of both

    is sacrificed—is required to live a life of devotion and mortification,

    eat vegetables, care nothing for the world, and think only

    of her eternal canonization, keeping herself busy with the service

    of the temple. ” Daily exercises are to be conducted by her ;

    the furniture of the small sanctuary that forms a part of the

    convent must be looked after and kept clean and orderly ; those

    women or men who come to worship at the altars, and seek

    guidance and comfort, must be cared for and assisted. “When

    there is leisure the sick and the poor are to be visited ; and all

    who have placed themselves nnder her special direction and

    spiritual instruction have a strong claim upon her regard. That

    she may live the life of seclusion and self-denial, she must vow

    perpetual virginity. The thought of marriage should never

    enter her head, and the society of men must be shunned. On

    her death she will be swallowed up in nihility ! ” In Fuhchau

    the nunneries were all summarily abolished nearly fifty years

    ago by an officer who learned the dissolute lives of their inmates.

    They have not since been reopened for their residence, though

    this official provided husbands for most of their nuns. Such a

    proceeding would have been impossible in almost any other

    country, and shows the functions of Chinese officials for the

    welfare of society.

    BUDDHIST NUNS AND NUNNERIES. 231

    Most of them are tauo-ht to read the classics as well as their

    own liturgies, and a few of the sisterhood are said to be well

    read in the loi*e of the country. Each nun has her own disciples

    among the laity, and cultivates and extends her acquaintances as

    much as she can, inasmuch as upon them her support principally

    depends. Each of her patrons, whether male or female,

    receives a new name from her, as she herself also did when her

    head was shaven. Contributors’ names are written or engraved

    in conspicuous places in the building ; casual fees or donations

    go to the general expenses. Each nun also receives ten cents

    when public masses are recited for those who have engaged

    them. Their moral character is uniformly represented as dissolute,

    but while despised for their profligacy they are dreaded for the supposed power they can exert by means of their connection with spirits. The number of nunneries in the department of Ningbo is stated to be thirty, and the sisterhood in them all to amount to upward of three hundred persons.”

    The numerous points of similarity between the rites of the Buddhists and those of the Romish church early attracted attention. Abbe Hue enumerates many of them : ” The cross, the mitre, the dalmatica, the cope which the lamas wear on their journeys, or when performing some ceremony out of the temple; the service with double choirs, the psalmody, the exorcisms, the censer suspended from five chains, which you can open or close at pleasure ; the benedictions given by extending the right hand over the heads of the faithful ; the rosary, ecclesiastical celibacy, spiritual retirement, worship of the saints; the fasts, processions, litanies, and holy water—all these are analogies

    between ourselves and the Buddhists.” In addition to these, the

    institution of nuns, worship of relics, masses for the dead, and

    burning of candles and incense, with ringing of bells during

    worship, are prominent usages common to both. Their priests

    alike teach a purgatory from which the soul can be released by

    their prayers ; they also conduct service in a dead language, and

    pretend to miracles. Lastly, the doctrine of the perpetual virginity

    of Maya, the mother of Sakya-nmni, is an article taught

    ‘ Chinese Repository^ Vol. XIII., pp. 93-98. Doolittle’s Social Life, I., p. 253 WAn^^i Life in Chimi, pp. 134-146. Gray’s China, I., pp. 105, 131-135.

    by the Mongol Buddhists, who also practise a form of infant

    baptism, in which the lama dips the child three times imder the

    water as he pronounces its name and j^ives it a blessing.

    These mimerous and striking resemblances led the Roman

    Catholic missionaries to conclude that some of them had been

    derived from the papal or Syrian priests who entered China

    before Xublai khan. M. Hue brings forward his hypotliesis

    that Tseng Kaba, the teacher of the Buddhist reformer in Mongolia

    about that time, had adopted them from some of the J2uropeans

    who taught him the Christian doctrines.’ Others refer

    them to St. Thomas, but Premare ascribes them to the devil,

    who had thus imitated holy mother church in order to scandalize

    and oppose its rites. But as Davis observes, ” To those

    who admit that most of the Romish ceremonies are borrowed

    directly from paganism, there is less difficulty in accounting for

    the resemblance.”’ On this point it will be impossible to reach

    certainty. There have probably been some tilings borrowed by

    each from the other at various ages, without either knowing

    from whence they came or what were their tendencies. Fergusson

    shows the great probability that the monastic S3-stem,

    celibacy, and ascetic good works wei’e adopted in the Eastern

    church from India ; but the want of reliable records on either

    side hitherto has left much to inference and conjecture.

    Tlie worship is similar and equally imposing. One eye-witness

    describes the scene he saw in a Buddhist temple: “There

    stood foui’teen priests, seven on each side of the altar, erect,

    motionless, witii clasped hands and downcast eyes, their shaven

    heads and flowing gray robes adding to their solemn appearance.

    The low and measured tones of the slowdy moving chant they

    ‘ Hue’s Trarels in Tartnry, II., p. 50. Hardy’s Mantial, p. 142. Missionary Recorder, III., pp. 142, 181. Eitel, Lectures on BnMlmm, and HnvrVmok for the Btmleut of Chinese Buddhism, Hongkong, 1870. James Fergusson, Hist. Indian and Eastern Arc7iit£ci>ire, Introduction. Remusat, Melamjei Posthumes, p. 44. Klaproth in Journal Asiatique, Tome VII. (18:51), p. 190; also Tome XT. (IV– Ser.), 1848, p. 535. Prof. E. E. Salisbiu-y in Jonrnal Am. Or. ,S<jc., Vol. I., No. II., 1844. Jour, of tlie R. As. Soc, passim. Yule’s Marco Polo, Vol. I., p. 406; also CatJuty and the Way Thithrr, II., p. 551. W. Wordsworth, The Church of Thibet and the Historical Analoyies of Buddhism and Christianity, London, 1877.

    THE ROMANIST AND BUDDHIST RITUALS. 233

    were singing might have awakened solemn emotions, too, and

    called away the thonghts from worldly objects. Three priests

    kept time with the mnsic, one beating an immense drum, another

    a large iron vessel, and a thiid a wooden ball. After chanting,

    they kneeled upon low stools and bowed before the colossal

    image of Buddha, at the same time striking their heads upon the

    ground. Then rising and facing each other, they began slowly

    chanting some sentences, and rapidly increasing the music and

    their utterance until both were at the climax of rapidity, they

    diminished in the same way imtil they had returned to the

    original measure. In the meantime, some of the number could

    not restrain their curiosity, and, even M’hile chanting and counting

    their beads, left their places to ask for books. The whole

    service forcibly renunded me of scenes in Romish chapels ; the

    shaven heads of the priests, their long robes, mock solemnity,

    frequent prostrations, chantings, beads—yea, and their idol, too,

    all suggested their types, or their antitypes, in the apostate

    church.”‘

    The expulsion of Buddhism from India, after its triumphs in the reign of Asoka, King of Majadha, was so complete that it hence forth divided into the northern and southern schools, the first taking Sanscrit and the other Pali as its sacred language. In the course of time the divergencies became fixed, and thus, without any actual schism, the Buddhists of Ceylon and Ultra Gane-es have come to differ from those of Central Asia and China. The form of Buddhism prev-ailing among the Mongols and Tibetans differs more in its state and powder than in its doctrines; it is called Shamanism, or IhiMng Jiao (‘Yellow Sect’) in Chinese, from the color of the priestly robes—a Shaman being one who has overcome all his passions ; it is a Hindu word.

    ‘ Foreifjn Missionary Clironide, Vol. XIV., p. 300.

    – I’or his origin see Klaprotli, Memoircs stir PAsie, Tome II., p. 90. Also Remusat, 3fel((/iges Posfhi/i/irs, pp. 1-04, for some observations on this faith in a review of De Guigues’ Huns. E. Schhigintweit. BudiUiiint in Tlbi’i, with folio atlas of plates, Leipzig, 180:3. J. Summers in llie Phceniv, I., 1870, pp 9-11,

    The Dalai-Lama at Il’lassa, in the great monastery of the Butala, is the pope of the religion, the abode of deity.* Mongolia swarms with lamas, and the government at Peking aids in supporting them in order to maintain its sway more easily over the tribes, though the Manclius have endeavored to supplant* the civil authority of the Dalai-Lama and banehin-erdeni, by partially aiding and gradually subdividing their power. The ritual of the Shamans, in which the leading tenets taught by the lamas are exhibited, contains their ten principal precepts, or decalogue, viz. : 1. Do not kill. 2. Do not steal. 3. Do not connnit fornication. 4. Speak not falsely. 5. Drink no wine nor eat tlesh. 6. Look not on gay silks or necklaces, use no perfumed ointment, and paint not the body. 7. Neither sing nor dance, and do no sleight of hand tricks or gymnastic acts, and go not to see or

    hear them. 8. Sit not on a high large couch. 9. Do not eat out

    of time. 10. Do not grasp hold of living images, gold, silver,

    money, or any valuable thing.’ The book contains also twentyfour

    sections of directions as to the conduct to be observed in

    various places, and before different persons. When using the

    sacred books the devotee must consider himself to be in the

    presence of Buddha, and he is forbidden to study books of

    divination, physiognomy, medicine, drawing lots, astronomy,

    geography, alchemy, charms, magic, or poetry. Xo wonder the

    priests are ignorant when almost every source of instruction is

    thus debarred them. The number of temples scattered over

    Mongolia and Tibet and the proportion of priests are far greater

    than in China, and the literature is not less enormous for bulk

    than are the contents of the volumes tedious and uninstructive.’

    A good device for a religion of formality to economize time and

    accommodate ignoi-ance is adopted by the lamas, which is to

    write the pi-ayers on a piece of ])aper and fasten them to a wheel

    carried round by the wind or twirled by tlie liand ; chests are

    also set up in temples having prayers engraved on the outside

    in large letters, and the prayer is repeated as often as the wind or the hand revolves the wheel or ohest.

    ‘ Annnles He la Foi, Tome IX., p. 400.

    ^”The dreariest literature, perhaps,” says Professor Whitney, “that was ever painfully scored down, and patiently studied, and religiously preserved “(Oriental and lyhujuixtir Stiidifn, Second Series, p. i)8). For foreign bibliographies of Buddhism the reader may be referred to L^Il/’ntoire de (Jakya-Mount, par Foucaux (ad fin ), and Otto Kistner, Buddha and Ids Doctrines : A Bdjliographical Emuiy, London, 18G’J. See also Triibuer’s Record for 1869, p513.

    SHAMANISM, THE BUDDHISM OF TIBET. 235

    The Buddhist temples present nuich nniformity in their arrant »-enient, and some of the monastic establishments are amono; the finest buildings in China. No cave temples are known, but caves have been turned into temples in many places, and miserable places they are for worship. On entering a Buddhist temple, one sees four colossal statnes of the Four Great Kings who are supposed to govern the continents on each side of Mount Sumeru and guard or reward the devotees who honor their Lord ; they have black, blue, red, and white faces, and usually hold a sword, guitar, nmbrella, and snake in their hands. Opposite the door is a shrine containing an image of Maitreya Buddha, or the Merciful One, a very fat, jolly personage, who is to have an avatar three thousand years hence ; images of Kwanti, the God of War, and of Wei-to, a general nnder the Four Kings, clad in armor, are often seen near the shrine. Going behind a screen, the next great hall contains a high gilded image of Sakya-muni sitting on a lotns flower, with smaller statues of Ananda and

    Kashiapa on his sides ; their shrine often has standing images

    of attendants. In this hall are other images or pictures of the

    Eighteen Arhans, deified missionaries who propagated their

    faith early in China. In the rear of these is represented some

    form of Kwanyiu, the Goddess of Mercy, the popular idol of the

    sects. In large temples the live hundred Arhans, placed on as

    many seats, each having some distinguishing attribute, fill a large

    hall. Besides these occur the disciples of Buddha listening to

    his teachings, the horrible punishments of hell, and various

    honored deities, sages, or local gods, so that few temples are

    alike in all respects. In all of them are guest-chambers of

    various sizes, refectories, study rooms, and cloisters, according to

    the wants and resources of the fraternity.

    The hold of the Buddhist priesthood upon the mass of Chinese

    consists far more in the position they occupy in relation to the

    rites performed in honor of the dead than in their tenets. This

    brings us to the consideration of the real relio-ion of the Chinese,

    that in which more than anything else they trust, and to which

    they look for consolation and reward— the worship of deceased ancestors. The doctrines of Confucius and the ceremonial of the State religion, exhibit the speculative, intellectual dogmas of the educated literati and thinkers, who have early been taught the high ideal of tlie Princely Man set forth by their sages.

    The tenets of Lau-tsz’ and the sorcery and incantations of his

    followers show the mystic and marvellous part of the popular

    belief. Buddhism takes hold of the connnon life of man, offers

    relief in times of distress, escape from a future hell at a cheap

    rate, and employment in a round of prayers, study, or work,

    ending in the nirvana. But the heart of the nation reposes

    more upon the rites offered at the family shiine to the two

    “living divinities” who preside in the hall of ancestors than to

    all the rest. This sort of family worship has been popular in

    other countries, but in no part of the world has it reached the

    consequence it has received in Eastern Asia ; every natural

    feeling serves, indeed, to strengthen its simple cultus.

    In the Shh King, whose existence, as we have already pointed

    out, is coeval with Samuel or earlier, are many references to this

    worship, and to certain rites connected with its royal observance.

    At some festivals the dead were personated by a younger relative,

    who was supposed to be taken possession of by their spirits,

    and thereby became their visible image. He was placed on

    higli, and the sacrificer, on appearing in the temple, asked him

    to be seated at his ease, and urged him to eat, thereby to prepare

    himself to receive the liomage given to the dead. When he had

    done so he gave the response in their name ; the defied spirits

    returned to heaven, and their personator came down from his

    seat. \\\ one ode the response of the ancestors through their

    personator is thus given:

    What said the message from your sires ?
    *’ VoGKols r.nd gifts are cleans
    And all your friends, assisting you,
    Bchav) with reverent mien.
    ‘ Most reverently you did your part,
    And reverent by your side
    Your son appeared. On you henceforth
    Shall ceaseless blessings bide.
    ” What shall the ceaseless blessings be ?
    That in your palace high,
    For myriad years you dwell in peace,
    Rich in posterity.” ‘

    ANCESTRAL WORSHIP THE RELIGION OF THE FAMILY. 237

    The teachings of this ancient book intimate that the protecting favor of the departed could be lost by the vile, cruel, or unjust conduct of their descendants—thus connecting ancestral worship and reward with personal character. Another ode sums up this idea in the expression, ” The mysterious empyrean is able to strengthen anything ; do not disgrace your imperial ancestors,

    and it will save your posterity.” Many stories occur in

    the native literature exemplifying this idea by actual experiences

    of blessing and cursing, all flowing from the observance or

    neglect of the required duties.

    The great sages Confucius and Mencius, with the earlier rulers,

    King Wan and Duke Chan, and their millions of followers, have

    all upheld these sentiments, and those teachings and examples

    are still as powerful as ever. In every household, a shrine, a

    tablet, an oratory, or a domestic temple, according to the position

    of the family, contains the simple legend of the two ancestral

    names written on a slip of paper or carved on a board. Incense

    is burned before it, daily or on the new and full moons ; and in

    April the people everywhere gather at the family graves to

    sweep them, and worship the departed around a festive sacrifice.

    To the children it has all the pleasant associations of our Christmas

    or Thanksgiving; and all the elder members of the family

    who can do so come toorether around the tomb or in the ancestral

    hall at the annual rite. Parents and children meet and bow before

    the tablet, and in their simple cheer contract no associations

    with temples or idols, monasteries or priests, processions, or flags

    and nuisic. It is the family, and a stranger intermeddleth not

    with it ; he has his own tablet to look to, and can get no good

    by worshipping before that bearing the names of another family.

    As the children grow up the worship of the ancestors, whom

    they never saw, is exchanged for that of nearer ones who bore

    and nurtured, clothed, taught, and cheered them in helpless

    ‘ Legge’s She Kiruj, p. 309, London, 1876.

    childhood and hopeful youth, and the whole is thus rendered more

    personal, vivid, and endearing. There is nothing revolting or

    cruel connected with it, but everything is orderly, kind, and

    simple, calculated to strengthen the family relationship, cement

    the affection between brothers and sisters, and uphold habits of

    filial reverence and obedience. Though the strongest motive

    for this worship arises out of the belief that success in worldly

    affairs depends on the support given to parental spirits in hades,

    who will resent continued neglect by withholding their blessing,

    yet, in the course of ages, it has intluenced Chinese character, in

    promoting industry and cultivating habits of domestic care and

    thrift, beyond all estimation.

    It has, moreover, done much to preserve that feature of the government which grows out of the oversight of heaven as manifested to the people through their Emperor, the Son of Heaven, whom they regard as its vicegerent. The parental authority is also itself honored by that peculiar position of the monarch, and the child grows up with the habit of yielding to its injunctions, for to him the family tablet is a reality, the abode of a personal Being who exerts an influence over him that cannot be evaded, and is far more to him as an individual than any of the popular gods. Those gods are to be feared and their wrath deprecated, but the ” illustrious ones who have completed their probation ” represent love, care, and interest to the worshippers if they do not fail in their duties.

    Another indirect result has been to define and elevate the position of the wife and mother. All the laws which could be framed for the protection of women would lack their force if she were not honored in the household. As there can be only one ” illustrious consort ” {liien p’l) named on the tablet, there is of course only one wife {Ul) acknowledged in the family.

    There are concubines (tsieh), whose legal rights are defined and secured, and who form an integral part of the family ; but they are not admitted into the ancestral hall, and their children are reckoned with the others as Dan and Asher were in Jacob’s household.

    ITS EFFECTS UPON CHINESE SOCIETY. 239

    Polygamous families in China form a small proportion of the whole; and this acknowledged parity of the mother with the father, in the most sacred position she can be placed, has done much to maintain the purity and right influence of woman amid all the degradations, pollutions, and moral weakness of heathenism. It is one of the most powerful supports of good order. It may even be confidently stated that woman’s legal, social, and domestic position is as high in China as it has ever been outside of Christian culture, and as safe as it can be without the restraints of Christianity. Another benefit to the people, that of early marriages, deriv^es much of its prevalence and obligation from the fear that, if neglected, there may be no heirs left to carry on the worship at the family tomb.

    The three leading results here noticed, viz., the prevention of

    a priestly caste, the confirmation of parental authority in its own

    sphere, and the elevation of the woman and wife to a parity

    with the man and husband, do much to explain the perpetuity

    of Chinese institutions. The fact that filial piety in this system

    has overpassed the limit set by God in his Word, and that deceased

    parents are worshipped as gods by their children, is both

    true and sad. That the worship rendered to their ancestors by

    the Chinese is idolatrous cannot be doubted ; and it forms one

    of the subtlest phases of idolatry—essentially evil with the guisf

    of goodness—ever established among men.

    The prevalence of infanticide and the indifference with which

    the crime is regarded may seem to militate against this view of

    Chinese social character, and throw discredit on the degree of

    respect and reverence paid to parents ; for how, some will ask,

    can a man thus worship and venerate parents who once imbrued

    their hands in his sister’s blood ? Such anomalies may be found

    in the distorted minds and depraved hearts educated under the

    superstitions of heathenism in every country, and the Chinese

    are no exception. It is exceedingly difiicult, however, to ascertain

    the extent of infanticide in China, and all the reasons which

    prompt to the horrid act. Investigations have been made about

    Canton, and evidence obtained to show tiiat it is comparatively

    rare, and strongly discountenanced by public opinion ; though by

    no means unknown, nor punished by law when done. Similar

    investigations at Amoy have disclosed a fearful extent of murders

    of this nature ; yet while the latter are believed, the assertions

    of the former are regarded as evasions of the truth from the fear of being reproached for it or a sense of shame. The whole nation has been branded as systematic murderers of their children from the practice of the inhabitants of a portion of two provinces, who are generally regarded by their countrymen as among the most violent and poorest fraction of the whole. Sir John Barrow heard that the carts went about the streets of Peking daily to pick up dead and dying infants thrown out by their unnatural parents, but he does not mention ever having seen a single corpse in all his walks or rides about the capital.

    It has now been ascertained tliat this cart contains so many dead

    bodies of both sexes, that the inference by Dr. Dudgeon that

    not one in a hundred was killed seems to be sustained. The

    bodies of children are not as often seen in the lanes and creeks

    of Canton as those of adults, and’the former are as likely to have

    died natural deaths as the latter.

    In Fuhkien province, especially in the departments of Tsiuenchau

    and Changchau, infanticide prevails to a greater extent

    than in any other part of the Empire yet examined. Mr. Abeel

    extended his inquiries to forty different towns and villages lying

    in the first, and found that the percentage was between seventy

    and eighty down to ten, giving an average of about forty per

    cent, of all girls born in those places as being murdered. In

    Changchau, out of seventeen towns, the proportion lies between

    one-fourth and three-tenths in some places, occasionally rising

    to one-third, and in others sinking to one-fifth, making an average

    of one-fourth put to death. In other departments of the

    province the practice is confessed, but the pi-oportion tliought

    by intelligent natives to be less, since there is less poverty and

    fewer people than formerly. The examination was conducted

    in as fair a inanner as ]K>ssiblo, and {K’rsoiis of all classes were

    questioned as to the number of children they had killed themselves,

    or knew had been killed by their relatives or neighbors.

    One of eight brothers told him that only three girls were left’

    among all their children, sixteen having been killed. On one

    occasion he visited a small village on Anioy Island, called Bo-au,

    where the whole population turned out to see him and Dr. Cnmming, the latter of whom had recently cut out a large tumor from a fellow villager, he says:

    PKEVALENOE -OF INFATs’q’lCIDE IN CHINA. 241

    From till’ immljor of women in tlic crowd which turned out to greet; is. we were pretty well persuaded that they were under as little restraint as the men Irom indulging their curiosity ; and upon inquiry, found it to be so. We were conducted to a small temple, when 1 had the opportunity of conversing with many who came around us. On a second visit, while addressing them, one man held up a child, and publicly acknowledged that he bad killed five c,2 the helpless beings, having pre.served but two. I thought he was jesting, but as no surprise or dissent was expressed by his neighbors, and as there was an air of simplicity and regret in the individual, there was no reason to doubt its truth. After repeating his confession he added with affecting simplicity, “It was before I heard you speak on this subject ; I did not know it was wrong; I would not do so now.” Wishing to obtain the testimony of the assembled

    villagers, I put the question publicly, ” What number of female infants in this

    village are destroyed at birth V ” The reply was, “More than one-half.” As

    there was no discussion among them, which is not tlie case when they differ in

    opinion, and as we were fully convinced from our own observation of the numerical

    inequality of tlie sexes, the proportion of deatlis they gave did not

    strike us as extravagant.

    The reasons assigned for committing the unnatural deed are

    various. Poverty is the leading cause ; the alternative being, as

    the parents think, a life of infamy or slaverj”, since if they cannot

    rear their offspring themselves they must sell them. The

    fact of the great numbers of men who emigrate to the Archipelago

    from the coast districts has no doubt also had its effect in

    inducing parents to destroy daughters for v/hom they had little

    expectation of finding husbands if they did rear thein. Many

    who are able to support their daughters prefer to destroy them

    rather than incur the expenses of their marriage, but the investigation

    showed that the crime was rather less among the educated

    than the ignorant, and that they had done something to dissuade

    their poor neighbors from putting their girls to death. In the

    adjoining departments of Chauchau and Kiaying in Kwangtung,

    the people admit the practice, and, as their circumstances are

    similar, it is probable that it is not much less than around Amoj’

    Dr. Dudgeon, of Peking, has had very favorable opportunities

    for prosecuting inquiries in that region, and has shown that the

    stories formerly credited are wrong, and that most of the children

    thus disposed of are born of nuns. Inquiries instituted at

    Hankow by Dr. F. P. Smith, of the hospital, showed a wide

    prevalence of the crime among the poor and rural population, for which he ascribes several reasons ; the proportion of the sexes is ten men to seven women.

    While one of the worst features of the crime is the little degree of detestation everywhere expressed at it, vet the actual proportion is an important inquiry, and this, taking the whole nation, has been much exaggerated, chiefly from applying such facts and estimates as the preceding to the whole country. The governor of Canton once issued a dissuasive exhortation on this subject to the people, telling them that if they destroyed all their daughters they would soon have no mothers. Until investigations have been made elsewhere, it is not fair to charge all the Chinese with the atrocities of a small portion, nor to disbelieve the affirmations of the inhabitants of Canton, Ningbo, and Shanghai, and elsewhere, that they do not usually put their daughters to death, until we have overwhelming testimony that they deny and conceal what they are ashamed to confess.’

    Comparing their lamentable practice with those of other and

    European nations, we find, according to Hume, that “the exposure

    of new-born infants was an allowed practice in almost all

    the States of Greece and Rome ; even among the polite and civilized

    xVthenians, the abandoning of one’s child to hunger or wild

    beasts was regarded M-ithout blame or censure. This practice

    was very common ; and it is not spoken of by any author of

    those times with the horror it deserves, or scarcely even with

    disapprobation. Plutarch, the humane, good-natured Plutarch,

    mentions it as a merit in Attains, king of Pergannis, that he

    murdered, or, if you will, exposed all his own children, in order

    to leave his crown to the son of his brother Eumenes. It was

    Solon, the most celebrated of the sages of Greece, that gave

    parents permission by law to kill their children.” Aristotle

    ‘ Chinese Repository, Vol. XVII., p. 11, for a native essay against it; Vol.XVI., p. 513; Vol. XII., pp. 540-548.; Vol. XL, p. 508 ; Vol. VII., p. 54.

    Bishop Smith’s China, p. 443. Report of Pekiny Ilospital, 1865. Dr. F. P.

    Smith’s Fire Annual Reports of ITankow Hoapit/d, 1870, pp. 45-52. Doolittle,

    Social Life, 11. , pp. 203-209. Notes and Queries on C. amlJ., Vol. III., pp.

    156, 172. Ij infanticAde et VOeuvre de la Ste.-Enfance en Chine, par Pere G.

    Palatre, Changhai. Autof/raphie. de la Mission Catholique a Vorphelinat de Tou^

    se-tce, 1878. M. E. Martin, Etade Medico-Legale sur I’Infanticide et VAtorte’

    ment dans VEmpire Chinois, Paris, 1872.

    COMPARISON^ WITH GREECE AND ROME. 243

    thought it should be encouraged by the magistrates, and Plato maintained the same inhuman doctrine. It was complained of as a great singularity that the laws of Thebes forbade the practice. In all the provinces, and especially in Italy, the crime was daily perpetrated.’

    The ceremonies attendant upon the decease of a person vary

    in different parts of the country, though they are not necessarily

    elaborate or expensive anywhere, and all the important ones can

    be performed by the poorest mourner. The inhabitants of

    Fuhkien put a piece of silver in the mouth of the dying person,

    and carefully cover his nose and ears. Scarcely is he dead when

    they make a hole in the roof to facilitate the exit of the spirits

    proceeding from his body, of which they imagine each person possesses

    seven animal senses which die with him, and three souls,

    one of which enters elysium and receives judgment, another abides

    M’ith the tablet, and a third dwells in the tomb. In some places,

    as a man approaches his last hour, the relatives come into the

    room to array him in his best garments and carry him into the

    main hall to breathe his life away while dressed in the costume

    with which he is to appear in Hades. The popular ideas regarding

    their fate vary so much that it is difficult to describe the national

    faith in this respect; transmigration is more or less believed

    in, but the detail of the changes the good or evil spirit undergoes

    before it is absorbed in Buddha varies almost according to the

    fancy of the worshipper. Those who are sent to hell pass through

    every form of suffering inflicted upon them by hideous monsters,

    and are at last released to wander about as houseless demons to

    torment mankind, or vex themselves in the bodies of animals

    and reptiles.

    When the priests come the corpse is laid out upon the floor

    in the principal room, and a tablet set up by its side ; a table is

    near, on which are placed meats, lamps, and incense. While

    the priests are reciting prayers to deliver the soul from purgatory

    and hell, they occasionally call on all present to weep and

    lament, and on these occasions the females of the household are

    particularly clamorous in their grief, alternately uttering the

    ‘ Mcllvaine, Evidences of Christianity, p. 291.

    most dolefiii accents, nnd then tittei’injx with some of the new

    coiners. Papers having figni-es on tliein and Peter’s pence in

    the form of paper money are hnrned ; white lanterns, instead of

    tlie common red ones, and a slip of paper containing the name,

    titles, age, etc., of the dead arc lumg at the door; a mat [)orch

    is pnt np for tlie musicians and the priests.” The sonl, liaving

    crossed the l)ridge leading out of hell with the aid of the priests,

    gets a letter of recommendation from them to he admitted into

    the western heavens.

    Previous to burial a lucky place for interment, if the family

    have moved away from its paternal sepulchre, must be found.

    The body is coffined soon after death, arrayed in the most splendid

    habiliments the family can afford ; a fan is put in one liand

    and a prayer on a piece of paper in the other. The form of a

    Chinese coffin resembles the trunk of a tree ; the boards are

    three or four inches thick and rounded on top (from Avhence a

    coffin is called ” longevity boards “), making a very substantial

    case. When the corpse is put in it is laid in a bed of lime or

    cotton, or covered with quicklime, and the edges of the lid are

    closed with mortar in the groove so that no smell escapes; the

    coffin is varnished if it is to remain in the house before burial.

    The Chinese often expend large sums in the purchase and preparation of a coffin during their lifetime; the cheapest are from five to ten dollars, and upward to five hundred and even two thousand dollars, according to the materials and ornamenting. Bodies are sometimes kept in or about the house for many years and incense burned morning and evening. They are placed either on trestles near the doorway and protected by a covering in the principal hall, or in the ancestral chamber, where they remain until the fortunes of the family improve so as to enable them to bury the remains, or a lucky place is found, or until opportunity and means allow the survivors to lay them in their patrimonial sepulchre.

    The lineal relatives of the deceased are informed of his death,

    ‘ Ball says that money is put into the month of the dead by rich people to buy favor and passage into heaven ; others affirm that the money is to make the spirit ready o? speech. The phrase “no silver to hit the mouth ” has r^ference to this custom.

    FUXKIiAL CUSTO^rs AXI) (^EMEMONIES. 245

    and as many as can do so repair to the liouse to condole with

    and assist tlie family. The eldest son or the nearest descendant

    repairs to an adjoining river or well with a bowl in his hand, and

    accompanied by two relatives, to ” buy water ” with money

    M’hich he carries and throws into it. Upon the way to the well

    it is customary to carry lanterns—even at noon—and to make a

    great wailing: with the water thus obtained he washes the

    corpse before it is dressed. After the body is laid in the coffin

    and before interment the sons of the deceased among the poor

    are frequently sent around to the relatives and friends of the

    family to solicit subscriptions to buy a grave, hire mourners, or

    provide a suitable sacrifice, and it is considered a good act to

    assist in such cases ; perhaps fear of the ill-will of the displeased

    spirit prompts to the charity. The coffin is sometimes seized

    or attached by creditors to compel the relatives to collect a sum

    to release it, and instances of filial sons are mentioned who have

    sold themselves into temporary or perpetual slavery in order to

    raise money to bury their parents. In other cases a defaulting

    tenant will retain a cofiin in the house to forestall an ejectment

    for the back rent. On the day of burial an offering of cooked

    provisions is laid out near the coffin. The chief mourners,

    clothed in coarse white sackcloth, then approach and kneel

    before it, knocking their heads up.on the ground and going

    through with the full kotow ; two persons dressed in mourning

    hand them incense-sticks, w^liieh are placed in jars. After the

    male mourners have made their parting prostrations the females

    perform the same ceremonies, and then such friends and relations

    as are present ; during these observances a band of nuisic

    plays. The funeral procession is formed of all these persons

    the band, the tablets, priests, etc. In Peking, where religious

    processions are prohibited, great display is made in funerals

    according to the means and raidc of the deceased. The coffin

    is borne on an nnwieldy bier carried by sixty-four men or moi-e

    and covered by a richly embroidered catafalque, attended by

    musicians, mourners, priests, etc. Sometimes the carts are covered

    with white cloth and the mules wear white harness.

    Burial-places are selected by geomancers, and their location

    has important results on the prosperity of the living. The supposed connection between these two things has influenced the science, religion, and cnstoms of the Chinese from very early days, and nnder the name oi feng-shui, or ‘ wind and water’ rules, still contains most of their science and explains most of their superstitions. As true science extends this travestie of natural philosophy will fade away and form a subject of fascination among the people as it now does a source of terror. Every strange event is interpreted hy fung-shid, and its professors employ the doctrines of Buddhists and Taoists to enforce their

    dicta, as they do their little knowledge of astronomy, medicine,

    and natural science to explain them. The whole has gradually

    grown into a system of geomancy, involving, however, their cosmogony,

    natural philosophy, spiritualism, and biology so far as

    they have these sciences. It was in the twelfth century that it

    became systematized, and its influence has spread ever since.

    Were it only a picturesque kaleidoscope of facts and fancies it

    would be a harndess pastime ; but it now enters into every act

    of life, since the human soul and body, Mdiether in this M’orld

    or the next, are regarded as constantly influenced by their actions,

    their relatives, and their locations. Thus the choice of a

    burial-place is supposed to affect the past, present, and future,

    and the fung-shui sicnsdng^ or ‘ wind and water doctors,’ know

    therein how to benefit their customers and themselves.

    Hcgarding all nature as a living organism and each person surrounded

    by invisible beings, the Chinese try to propitiate these

    essences through their departed relatives. They consider them

    as restrained by their animal nature to the tomb where their

    bodies lie, while the spiritual nature seeks to hover about its

    old scenes and children. If a tomb is placed so that the spirit

    dwelling therein is comfortable, the inference is that the deceased

    will grant those who supply its wants all that the spirit

    world can grant. A tomb located where no star on high or

    dragon below, no breath of nature oi- malign configuration of

    hills, can disturb the repose of the dead, must therefore be

    lucky, and M’orth great effoi-t to secure.

    The principles of geonuuicy depend nuich on two supposed

    currents running through the earth, known as the dragon and

    the tiger ; a propitious site has these on its left and right. A

    INFLUENCE OF FUN(i-SIIUI. 247

    skilful observer can detect and describe them, with the help of

    the compass, direction of the watercourses, shapes of the male

    and female ground, and their proportions, color of the soil, and

    the permutations of the elements. The common people know

    nothing of the basis on which tliis conclusion is founded, but

    give their money as their faith in the priest or charlatan increases.’

    At the south, uncultivated liills are selected because they are

    dry and the white ants will not attack the coffin ; and a hillside

    in view of water, a copse, or a ravine near a hill-top, arc all

    lucky spots. At the north, where ants are unknown, the dead are

    buried in fields ; but nowhere collected in graveyards in cities or

    temples. The form of the grave is sometimes a simple tumulus

    with a tonibstone at the head ; in the southern provinces oftener

    in the shape of the Greek letter fi, or that of a huge arm-chair.

    Tiie back of the supposed chair is the place for the tombstone,

    while the body is interred in the seat, the sides of which are

    built around with masonry and approach each other in front.

    A tomb is occasionally built of stone in a substantial manner,

    and carved pillars are placed at the corners, the whole often

    costing thousands of dollars. The case of one necromancer

    is recorded, who, after having selected a grave for a family, was

    attacked with ophthalmia, and in revenge for their giving him

    poisonous food which he supposed had caused the malad^^, hired

    men to remove a large mass of rock near the grave, whereby its

    efficacy was completely spoiled. The position is thought to be

    the better if it command a good view. Some of the graves occupy

    many hundred square feet, the corners being defined by

    low stones bearing two characters, importing whose chih, or

    ‘ house,’ it is. The shapes of graves vary more at the north ;

    some are conical mounds planted with shrubs or flowers, others

    made of mason-work shaped like little houses, others mere

    square tombs or earthly tunuili ; not a few coffins are simply left

    upon the ground. It is seldom the Chinese hew graves out of

    ‘ Compare Dr. Edkins in the Chineie Recorder, Vol. IV., 1871-72. Fengshui; or the Rudiments of Natural Science in China, by Ernest J. Eitel, London, 1878. The CornhiU Magazine for March, 1874 Notes and Queries on C. and J., Vol. II., p. 69.

    the rock or dig large vaults; their care is to make a showv

    grave, and at the same time a convenient one for performing

    the prescribed rites. The mausolea of emperors and grandees

    occnpv vast enclosures laid out as parks and adorned with ornamental

    buildings to which lead avenues of stone guardians.”

    The tomb of Yungloh (a.d, 1403-1425) is reached through a

    dwmos of gigantic statues nearly a mile long—two pairs each of

    lions, unicoi’ns, elephants, camels, and horses, one erect, the

    other couchant, and six pairs of civil and military officers; each

    fio;ure is a monolith. The orii2;in of this custom can be traced

    back nearly to the tenth century, but was probably known in the

    Tang dynasty. Officials are allowed to erect a few statues to

    become their guardians.’

    AYhen the day of interment arrives, which is usually the

    nearest lucky day to the third seventh after death, the friends

    assemble at the house. A band of musicians accompanies the

    procession, in which is also carried the ancestral tablet of the

    deceased in a separate sedan, accompanied sometimes by a sacrifice

    and the red tablets of the offices held by the family. The

    mourners are dressed entirely in white, or wear a white fillet

    ai’ound the head ; the sons of the deceased nnist put on the expression

    and habiliments of woe, and the eldest one is at times

    supported along the street to the grave in all the eloquence and

    attitude of grief, although it may have been years since liis

    father went to ” wander among the genii.” The women and

    children of the family follow, and at intervals cry and wail. A

    man goes ahead and scatters paper money to purchase the goodwill

    of such stray spirits as are prowling about. Diiferent

    figures and banners are carried according to the means and rank

    of the family, which, M’ith the friends and crowd attracted by

    the show, sometimes swell the train to a great length. The

    grave is deep, and lime is freely mixed with the earth thrown

    ‘ In the Yih cliin the custodian n>i)orte(i in the Peking Oazette of January

    3, 1871, that there were !)’J, (>!)() trees, mostly lir, pine, elm, etc. The people in

    chart,’e of such grounds are used to girdling the timber, in order afterward to

    get tlie dead trees as firewood for themselves.

    -‘ Mayens in North (Jltina Jh’. Royal Asiatic Society Journal, No. XII., 1878

    Doolittle, Social Life, II., p. 3;37.

    CUSTOMS OF INTERMENT AND MOURNING. 249

    in ; a body is never pnt into an old grave while anything remains

    of the former occupant ; crackers are fired, libations

    poured out, prayers recited, and finally paper models of houses,

    clothes, horses, money, and everything he can possibly want in

    the land of shadows (which Davis calls a loise economy) are

    burned. The tablet and sacrifice are then carried back ; the

    family feast on the latter or distribute it among the poor around

    the door, while the former is placed in the ancestral hall. The

    married daughters of the dead are not considered part of the

    famil}’, and wear no mourning ; nor are they invited to their

    father’s funeral.

    The period of mourning for a father is nominally three years,

    but actually reduced to twenty-seven months ; the persons required

    to observe this are enumerated in the Code, and Sections

    CLXXIX.-CLXXXI. contain the penalties for concealing

    the death of a parent, or misrepresenting it, and of omitting the

    proper formalities. Burning the corpse, or casting it into the

    water, unfeelingly exposing it in the house longer than a year,

    and making the funeral ceremony and feast an occasion of

    merrymaking and indecorous meeting of males and females,

    are also prohibited. For thirty days after the demise the

    nearest kindred must not shave their heads nor change their

    dress, but rather exhibit a slovenly, slipshod appearance, as if

    grief had taken away both appetite and decorum. In the

    southern districts half-mourning is bine, usually exhibited in a

    pair of blue shoes and a blue silken cord woven in the queue,

    instead of a red one ; grass shoes neatly made are now and then

    worn. In the northern provinces white is the only mourning

    color seen. The visiting cards also indicate that the time of

    mourning has not passed. The expenses incurred by the rich

    are great, and the priests receive large sums for masses, ten

    thousand dollars being often spent. In the north still greater

    expenses are incurred in buying a piece of land for a burial plot

    and its glebe. Here they erect a lodge, where the keeper of the

    grave lives, cultivating the land and keeping the tomb in order.’

    When the Empress dies ofiicers put on mourning, take the

    » Chinese Repository, Vol. IV., p. 352; Vol. II., p. 499.

    buttons and fringes from their caps, stamp their seals with bhie

    ink, and go through a prescribed set of ceremonies ; they must

    not shave their lieads for a hundred days, nor the people for a

    month. Full details of the ceremonies ordered on the occasion

    of the decease of the Empress, or ” interior assistant, who for

    thirteen years had held the situation of earth to lieaven,” were

    published in 1833, in both Manchu and Chinese. When the

    Emperor dies all his subjects let their hair grow for a hundred

    days, marriages are postponed, theatres and sports disallowed,

    and a ceremonial gloom and dishabille pervades the Empire.

    On the morning after the death of the Emperor Tungchi, January

    12, 1875, the streets of Peking presented a surprising contrast

    to their usual gaiety in the removal of everything red. In

    early times human beings were immolated at the obsequies of

    rulers, and voluntary deaths of their attendants and women are

    occasionally mentioned. De Guignes says that the Emperor

    Shunchi ordered thirty persons to be immolated at the funeral

    of his consort ; but Kanghi, his son, forbade four women from

    sacrificing themselves on the death of his Empress.’

    The hall of ancestors is found in the house of almost every

    member of the family, but always in that of the eldest son. In

    rich families it is a separate building ; in others a room set apart

    for the purpose, and in many a mere shelf or shrine. The tablet,

    or shlii chu, is a boai’d about twelve inches long and three wide,

    placed upright in a block. The inscriptions on two are like the

    following: “The tablet of Hwang Yung-fuh (late (1iiiig-teh),

    the head of the family, who finished his probation with honor

    during the Imperial Tsing dynasty, reaching a sub-magistracy.”

    His wife’s reads : ” The tablet of Madame, originally of the

    noble family Chin, who would have received the title of lady,

    and in the Imperial Tsing dynasty became his illustrious consort.”

    A receptacle is often cut in the back, containing pieces

    of paper bearing the names of the higher ancestors, or other

    members of the family. Incense and papers are daily burned

    before them, accompanied by a bow or act of homage, forming

    ‘iV. C. Br. R. As. Soc. Journal, No. II., 18C5, pp. 173 ff. De Guignes’Voyages, Tome II., p. 304. ^fe)lloires cone, les Cliinois, Tome \^., pp. 346 ff Chinese and Japanese llepository for May, 1864.

    THE WORSHIP OF ANCESTRAL TABLETS. 251

    in fact a sort of family prayer. The tablets are ranged in

    chronological order, those of the same generation being placed

    in a line. When the hall is large, and the family rich, no pains

    are spared to adorn it with banners and insignia of wealth and

    rank, and on festival days it serves as. a convenient place for

    friends to meet, or for any extraordinary famil}^ occasion. A

    person residing near Macao spent aljout one thousand live hnn-

    Ancestral Hall and Mode of worshipping the Tablets.

    dred dollars in the erection of a hall, and on the dedication day

    the female members of his family assembled with his sons and

    descendants to assist in the ceremonies. The portraits of the

    deceased are also suspended in the hall, but effigies or images

    are not now made.

    In the wood-cut adjoining, the tablets are arranged on the same level, and the sacrifice laid uu the altar before them ; the character shao, ‘longevity,’ is drawn on the wall behind. During the ceremonies fire-crackers are let off and papers burned; after it the feast is spread.

    In the first part of April, one hundred and six days after the

    winter solstice, during the term called Uing-ming, a general

    worship of ancestors is observed. In Kwangtung this is commonly

    called j?a?^’ shan, or ‘ worshipping on the hills,’ but the

    general term is slu fan ti, or ‘ sweeping the tombs.’ The whole

    population, men, women, and children, repair to their family

    tombs, carrying a tray containing the sacrifice, libations for

    offering, and candles, paper, and incense for burning, and there

    go through a variety of ceremonies and prayers. The grave is

    at this season repaired and swept, and at the close of the service

    three pieces of turf are placed at the back and front of the

    grave to retain long strips of red and white paper ; this indicates

    that the accustomed rites have been performed, and these fugitive

    testimonials remain fluttering in the wind long enough to

    announce it to all the friends as well as enemies of the family ;

    for when a grave has been neglected three 3’ears it is sometimes

    dug over and the land resold. The enormous amount of litio’ation

    connected with sepulchral boundaries, transfer of grave

    glebes or sale of the ancient plats, injury, robberj^ and repairs

    of tombs, all indicate the high importance of this kind of

    property.

    ” Such are the harmless, if not meritorious, forms of respect

    for the dead,” says Davis, ” which the Jesuits wisely tolerated

    in their converts, knowing the consequences of outraging their

    most cherished prejudices ; but the crowds of ignorant monks

    who flocked to the breach which those scientific and able men

    had opened, jealous, perhaps, of their success, brought this as a

    charge against them until the point became one of sei-ious controversy

    and reference to the Pope. His Holiness espoused the

    bigoted and unwiser part, which led to the expulsion of the

    monks of all varieties.” And elseAvhere he says the worship

    paid to ancestoi-s is ” not exactly idolatrous, for they sacrifice

    to the invisible spirit and not to any representation of it in the

    fijijure of an idol.” This distinction is much the same as that

    IDOLATRY OF THE RITES. 253

    alleged by the Greek clmrcli, mIucIi disallows images but permits

    gold and silver pictures having the face and hands only painted,

    for Sir John Davis, himself being a Protestant, probably admits

    that worship paid to any other object besides the true God is

    idolatry ; and that the Chinese do trnly worship their ancestors

    is evident from a prayer, such as the following, offered at the

    tombs: Taukwang, 12th year, 8d moon, 1st day. I, Lin Kwang, the second son of the third generation, presnme to come before the grave of my ancestor, Lin

    Kung. Revolving years have brouglit again the season of spring. Clierisliing

    sentiments of veneration, I look up and sweep your tomb. Prostrate I pray

    that you will come and be present, and that you will grant to your posterity

    that they may be prosperous and illustrious. At this season of genial sliowers

    and gentle breezes I desire to recompense the root of my existence and exert

    myself sincerely. Alwaj-s grant your safe protection. My trust is in your

    divine spirit. Reverently I present the five-fold sacrifice of a pig, a fowl, a

    duck, a goose, and a fish ; also an offering of five plates of fruit, with libatnns

    of spirituous liquors, earnestly entreating that you will come and view them.

    With the most attentive respect this annunciation is presented on higli.

    It is not easy to perceive, perhaps, why the Pope and the

    Dominicans were so much opposed to the worship of ancestral

    penates among the Chinese when they pei-formed much the

    same services themselves before the images of Mary, Joseph,

    Cecilia, Ignatius, and hundreds of other deified mortals; but it

    is somewhat surprising that a Protestant should describe this

    worship as consisting of ” harmless, if not meritorious, forms of

    respect for the dead.” Mr. Fortune, too, thinlcs ” a considerable

    portion of this worship springs from a higher and purer source

    than a mere matter of form, and that when the Chinese periodically

    visit the tombs of their fathers to worship and pay respect

    to their memory, they indulge in the pleasing reflection that

    when they themselves are no more their graves will not be neglected

    or forgotten,” This feeling does actuate them, but there

    can be no dispute, one would think, about its idolatrous character.

    The Chinese who have embraced the doctrines of the Xew

    Testament, and who may be supposed qualified to judge of their

    own acts and feelings, regard the rites as superstitious and sinful.

    It is a form of worship, indeed, which presents fewer revolting features than most systems of false religion—consisting merely of pouring out libations and burning paper and candles at the grave, and tlien a family meeting at a social feast, with a few simple prostrations and petitions. No bacchanalian companies of men and women run riot over the hills, as in the Eleusinian mysteries, nor are obscene rites practised in the house ; all is pleasant, decorous, and harmonious. The junior members of the family come from a distance, sometimes two or three hundred miles, to observe it, and the family meeting on this occasion is looked forward to by all with much the same feelings that Christmas is in Old England or Thanksgiving in New England.

    Brothers and sisters, cousins and other relatives join in the worship and feast, and it is this pleasant reunion of dear ones, perhaps the most favorable to the cementing of family affection to be found in heathen society, which constitutes nnich of its power and will present such an obstacle to the reception of the Gospel and removal of the “two divinities” from the house.

    The funeral ceremonies here described are performed by sons

    for their parents, especially for the father ; but there are few or

    no ceremonies aiul little expense for infants, unmarried children,

    concubines, or slaves. These are coffined and buried without

    parade in the family sepulchre ; the poor sometimes tie them up

    in mats and boards and lay them in the fields to shock the eyes

    and noses of all who pass. The nnmici{)al authorities of Canton

    issued orders to the people in 1S82 to bring such bodies as had

    no place of burial to the potter’s field, where they M’ould l)e

    interred at public expense; societies, moreover, exist in all the

    large cities whose object is to bury poor people. In some pai’ts

    the body is wrapped in cloth or coffined and laid in graveyards

    on the surface of the ground. When one dies far away from

    home the coffin is often lodged in lamrmnis, or public depositories

    maintained by societies, where they remain many years.

    Few acts during the war of 1841 irritated the people about

    Canton against the English more than forcing open the coffins

    found in these mausolea and mutilating the corpses. One building

    contained hundreds of coffins ffom which, when ojiened, a

    pimgent aromatic smell was perceptible, while the features of

    the corpses presented a dried appearance. One traveller tells a

    story of his guide, when he was condncthig him over the hills

    DISPOSAL OF THE DEAD. 255

    in Hupeb, ordering him to conceal his blue e^^es by putting on

    green spectacles as they were approaching some houses, and

    describes his surprise at finding them all filled with coflins

    arranged in an orderly manner. Graves are not enclosed ; cattle

    pasture among them and paths lead over and through them.

    Tombstones are usually made of granite and their inscriptions

    soon become defaced. Epitaphs are short, giving the name of

    the dynasty, his place of birth, number of his generation in the

    family, and his temple name. Laudatory expressions are rare,

    and quotations from the classics or stanzas of poetry to convey

    a sentiment entirely unknown. The corpses of ofiiceis who die

    at their stations are carried to their paternal tombs, sometimes

    at public expense. Tlie Emperor, in some instances, orders the

    funeral rites of distinguished statesmen to be defi-ayed. This

    was done during the war with England in the cases of Commissioner

    Yukien and General Hailing, who burned himself at

    Chinkiang fu.’

    Besides these funeral rites and religious ceremonies to their

    departed ancestors the Chinese have an almost infinite variety

    of superstitious practices, most of which are of a deprecatorv

    character, growing out of their belief in demons and genii who

    trouble or help people. It may be said that most of their religious

    acts performed in temples are intended to avert misfortune

    i-ather than supplicate blessings. In oi-der to ward off malignant

    influences amulets are worn and charms hung up, such as moneyswords

    made of coins of different monarchs strung together in

    the form of a dagger; leaves of the sweet-flag {Aco/-us) and Artemisia

    tied in a bundle, or a sprig of peach-blossoms ; the first

    is placed near beds, the latter over the lintel, to drive aM’ay demons.

    A man also collects a cash or two from each of his

    friends and gets a lock made which he hangs to his son’s neck

    in order to lock him to life and make the subscribers surety for

    ‘ Chinese Repository, Vol. XVIII., pp. 363-384. Doolittle, Socinl Life, II., pp. 45-48. M. T. Yates, Ancestral Worship, Mism»ini-y Conference (of 1867), p. 367 Johnson, Oi-ienUd Bclif/ions : China, pp. 693-708. Gray’s China, I.,pp. 320-328. China Reiiew,Yo\. IV., p. 296. P. D. de Thiersant, La Piete Filiule en ChinCf Paris, 1877. E. Faber in the Chinese Recorder, Vol. IX., pp.’J29, 401.

    his safety ; adult females also wear a neck lock for the same

    purpose. Charms are common. One bears the inscription,

    ” May you get the three viamjs and the nine Jik’es; ” another,

    ” To obtain long eyebrowed longevity.” The three manijn are

    man}’^ years of happiness and life and many sons. Old brass

    mirrors to cure mad people are hung up by the rich in their

    halls, and figures or representations of the unicorn, of gourds,

    Buddhist Priests.

    tigers’ claws, or the eight diagrams, are worn to insure good

    fortune or ward off sickness, fire, or fright. Stones or pieces

    of metal with short sentences cut upon them are almost always

    found suspended or tied al)out the persons of children and

    M’omen, which are supposed to have great efficacy in preventing

    evil. The rich pay large sums for rare objects to promote thifl

    end.

    CHARMS AND AMULETS. 257

    In addition to their employment in tlic worship and burial of

    the dead and cultivation of glebe lands (some of which are very

    extensive’), priests resort to many expedients to increase their

    incomes, few of which have the improvement of their countrymen

    as a ruling motive. Some go around the streets collecting

    printed or written paper in baskets, to burn them lest the venerable

    names of Confucius or Buddha be defiled ; others obtain a

    few pennies by writing inscriptions and charms on doors ; and

    many in rural places get a good living off the lands owned by

    their temples. The priests of both sects are under the control

    of officials recognized by and amenable to the authorities, so that

    the vicious and unprincipled among them are soon restrained.

    The Buddhists issue small books, called Girdle Classics, containing

    prayers addressed to the deity under whose protection

    the person has phiced himself. Spells are made in great variety,

    some of them to be worn or pasted up in the house, while others

    are written on leaves, paper, or cloth, and burned, and their

    ashes thrown into a liquid for the patient or child to drink.

    These spells are sold by Rationalists, and consist of characters,

    like /^/A (‘ happiness ”) or shao (‘ longevity ‘), fancifully combined.

    The god of doors, of the North Pole, Pwanku, the heavenly astronomer,

    the god of thunder and lightning, or typhoons, the god

    of medicine, demigods and genii of almost every name and

    power, are all invoked, and some of them by all persons. In

    shops the word shin is put up in a shrine and incense placed

    before it, all objects of fear and worship being included under

    this general term. The threshold is peculiarly sacred, and incense-

    sticks are lighted morning and evening at its side.”*

    The Chinese dread wandering and hungry ghosts of wicked

    men, and the priests are hired to celebrate a mass called ta tsiao,

    to appease these disturbers of human happiness, which, in its

    general purport, corresponds to All Souls’ Day, and from its

    splendor and the general interest taken in its success is very popular.

    The streets at Canton are covered with awnings, and

    ^Lettres EclififinUs, Tome ITT., p. 33.

    ‘^LettreH E’l/fmiti’s, Tome IV., p. 310—where other ceremonies of the TaoistS; to ward o’H pestilence, are described.

    festoons of cheap silk, of brilliant colors, are hung across and

    along the streets. Chandeliers of glass are suspended at short

    intervals, alternating with small trays, on which j^aper figures in

    various attitudes, intended to illustrate some well-known scene

    in history, amuse the spectators. At night the glare of a thousand

    lamps shining through niyriads of lustres lights up the

    whole scene in a gorgeous manner. The priests erect a staging

    somewhere in the vicinit}’^, for the rehearsal of prayers to Yen

    iiHouj (Yama or Pluto), and display tables covered with eatables

    for the hungry ghosts to feed on. Their acolytes mark the time

    when the half-starved ghosts, who have no childi-en or friends

    to care for them, rush in and shoulder the viands, which they

    carry off for their year’s supply. Bands of music chime in from

    tiuie to time, to refresh these hungry spirits with the dulcet

    tones they once heard ; for the Chinese, judging their gods by

    themselves, provide what is pleasing to those who pay for the

    entertainment, as well as to those who are supposed to be benefited

    by it. After the services are performed the crowd carry

    off what is left, but when this is permitted the priests sometimes

    cheat them with merely a cover of food on the tops of the

    baskets, the bottoms being filled with shavings.

    Another festival in August is connected with this, called .shau

    i, or ‘ burning clothes,’ at which pieces of paper folded in the

    form of garments are burned for the use of the suffering ghosts,

    with a large quantity of what maybe properly caWcdJiat money,

    paper ingots which become valuable chiefly when they are

    burned. Paper houses with proper furniture, and puppets to

    represent household servants, are likewise made. IMedhurst adds

    that ” writings are drawn up and signed in the presence of witnesses

    to certify the conveyance of the property, stipulating

    that on its arrival in hades it sliall be duly made over to the individuals

    specified in the bond ; the houses, servants, clothes,

    money and all are then burned with the bond, the worshippers

    feeling confident that their friends obtain the benefit of what

    they have sent them.” Thus ” they make a covenant with the

    grave, and with hell they are at agreement.” This festival, like

    all others, is attended with feasting and nmsic. In order still

    further to provide for childless ghosts, their ancestral tablets are

    FESTIVALS FOR WANDERING GHOSTS. 259

    collected in temples and placed together in a room set apart for

    the purpose, called irio sz’ tan, or ‘orbate temple,’ and a man

    hired to attend and burn incense before them. The sensationa

    which arise on going into a room of this sort, and seeing one or

    two hundred small wooden tablets standing in regular array, and

    knowing that each one, or each pair, is like the silent tombstone

    of an extinct family, are such as no hall full of staring idols can

    ever inspire. The tablets look old, discolored, and broken, covered

    with dust and black with smoke, so that the gilded characters

    are obscured, and one cannot behold them long in their

    silence and forgetfulness without almost feeling as if spirits still

    hovered around them. All these ghosts are supposed to be propitiated by the sacrifices on All Souls’ Day.

    The patronage given to idolatry and superstition is constant

    and general among all classes, and thousands of persons get their

    livelihood by shrewdly availing themselves of the fears of their

    countrymen. The peepul, j)^^-^’^ {Fimi.s rdigiosa) at the south

    and the Sophora at the north, w’itli perhaps other aged trees,

    are worshipped for long life.’ Special efforts are made from

    time to time to build or repair a temple or pagoda, in order to

    insure or recall prosperity to a place, and large sums are subscribed

    by the devout. A case occurred in 1843, which illustrates

    this spirit. One of the English officers brought an image

    of Wa-kvxing, the god of fire, from Chinkiang fu, which he

    presented as a curiosity to a lady in Macao. It remained in her

    house several months, and on the breaking up of the establishment,

    previous to a return to India, it was exposed for sale at

    auction with the furniturb. A large crowd collected, and the

    attention of the Chinese was attracted to this image, wdiich they

    examined carefully to see if it had the genuine marks of its ordination

    upon it ; for no image is supposed to be properly an

    object of worship until the spirit has been inaugurated into it

    by the prescribed ceremonies. Having satisfied themselves, the

    idol was purchased for thirty dollars by two or three zealous

    ‘ Compare C. F. Koeppen, Die Relujwn des Buddha, Berlin, 1857, who describes the peepul (Bodhi) tree—the “symbol of the spread and growth of the Buddhist church “—in India. E. Bernouf, Introduction a Vhistoire du Buddhisme Indien, Paris, 1844. Notes and Queries on C. and J., Vol. III., p. 100.

    persons, and carried off in trininpli to a shop and respectfully

    installed in a room cleared for the purpose. A public meeting

    was shortly after called, and resolutions passed to improve the

    propitious opportunity to obtain and preserve the protecting

    power of so potent a deity, by erecting a pavilion where he

    would have a respectable lodgment and receive due worship.

    A subsci’iption was thereupon started, some of its advocates putting

    down fifty and others thirty dollars, until about one thousand

    two hundred dollars were raised, with which a small lot was

    purchased on the island west of Macao, and a pavilion or tenr

    pie erected where Wa-hwang was enshrined with pompous

    parade amid theatrical exhibitions, and a man hired to keep

    him and his domicile in good order.

    No people are more enslaved by fear of the unknown than the Chinese, and none resort more frequently to sortilege to ascertain whether an enterprise will be successful or a proposed remedy avail to cure. This desire actuates all classes, and thousands and myriads of persons take advantage of it to their own profit. The tables of fortune-tellers and the shops of geomancers are met at street corners, and a strong inducement to repair to the temples is to cast lots as to the success of the prayers offered. One way of divining is to hold a bamboo root cut in

    halves, resembling in size and color a common potato, and let it

    drop as the petition is put up. Sometimes the worshipper drops

    it many times, in order to see if a majority of trials will not be

    favorable, and when disappointed the first time not unfrequently

    tries again, if mayhap he can force the gods to be more propitious.

    The devotee may determine himself what position of the blocks

    shall be deemed auspicious, but usually one face up and one doAvn

    is regarded as pi-omising. The countenances of worshippers as

    they leave the shrines, some beaming with hope and resolutioii

    to succeed, and others, notwithstanding their repeated knocking^

    and divinings, going away Avith vexation and gloom written on

    their faces at the ol)duracy of the gods and sadness of tlieir prospects,

    offer a study not less melancholy than instructive. ” Such

    is the weakness of mortals : they dread, even aftei- mature reflection,

    to undertake a project, and then entei- blindly upon it

    at a chance after consultin<r chance itself as blind.”’

    SORTILEGE AND FOHTrXK-TELLING, 2G1

    The fortune-tellers also consult fate by means of bamboo slips bearing certain characters, as the sixty-four diagrams, titles of poetical responses, or lists of names, etc. The applicant* comes up to the table and states his desire ; he wishes to know whether it will be fair weather, which of a dozen doctors shall be selected to cure his child, what sex an unborn infant will be, where his stolen property is, or any other matter. Selecting a slip, the diviner dissects the character into its component parts, or in some other way, and writes the parts upon a board lying before him, joining to them the time, the names of the person, live planets, colors, viscera, and other heterogeneous things, and from them all, putting on a most cabalistic, sapient look, educes a sentence which contains the required answer.

    Consulting a Fortune-teller.

    The man receives it as confidently as if he had entered the

    sybil’s cave and heard her voice, pays his fee, and goes away.

    Others, less shrewd, refer to books in which the required answ^er

    is contained in a sort of equivocal delphian distich. The Chinese

    method of sortilege is not far different from that practised by the

    ancient Romans. ” The lots preserved at Preneste were slips

    of oak with ancient characters engraved on them. They were

    shaken up together by a boy, and one of them was drawn for the

    person who consulted the oracle. They remind us of the Runic

    staves. Similar divining lots Avere found in other places.” *

    ‘ Niebuhr, History of Rome, Vol. I., p. 246. See, further, Doolitlle’s Sncia).

    Life, Vol. II., Chap. IV. Gray’s China, Chap. XII. Prof. Douglas, China,

    Chap. XV.

    The purchase of a building lot, and especially the selection

    of a grave, involve much expense, sortilege, and inquiry.

    When a succession of misfortunes comes upon a family, they

    will sometimes disinter all their relatives and bury them in a

    new place to remov’e the ill luck. I’efore a house is built a

    written prayer is tied to a pole stuck in the ground, petitioning

    for good luck, that no evil spirits may arise from beneath ;

    when the ridge-pole is laid another prayer is pasted on and

    charms hunc; to it to insure the building against fire ; and

    lastly, when the house is done it is dedicated to some patron,

    and petitions offered for its safety. Prayers are sometimes offered

    according to forms, at others the suppliant himself speaks.

    Two middle-aged women, attended by a maid-servant, were once

    found opposite (^anton in the fields among the graves. They

    had placed a small paper shrine upon a tomb near the pathway,

    and one of them was kneeling before it, her lips moving in

    prayer ; there was nothing in the shrine, but over it M’as written

    the most common petition known in China, “Ask and ye

    shall receive.”

    Answers are looked for in various \vays. A man was once

    met at dusk repairing a lonely grave before which candles were

    burning and plates of rice and cups of spirits arranged. lie

    knelt, and knocking his head began to repeat some words in a

    half audible manner, when he M-as asked if the spirits of his

    ancestors heard his supplications. At the instant a slight puff

    of air blew the candles, when he replied, ” Yes; see, they have

    come; don’t interrupt me.” Contingent vows are often made,

    and useful acts performed in case the answer be favorable. A

    sick man in Macao once made a vow that if he recovered he

    would repave a bad piece of road—which he actually performed,

    aided a little by his neighboi-s ; but it Mas deemed eminently

    unlucky that a toper who was somewhat flustered, passing soon

    after, should fall into the public well. Persons sometimes insult

    the gods, spit at them or whip them, or even break the

    ancestral tablets, in their vexation at having been deluded

    into foolish deeds or misled by divination. Legends are told

    of the vengeance which has followed such impiety, as well r$

    the rewards attending a different course; and tlio Kanyinc

    WORSHIPPEIJS AT W AYSIDK SIIlilNKS, 263

    Pien^ or ‘ Tlook of Rewards and Punishments,’ has strengtliened

    tliese :«entiinents by its stories of the results of human

    acts.

    The worship of street divinities is not altogether municipal

    ;

    some of the shrines in Canton are resorted to so much by

    women as to obstruct the patli. The unsocial character of

    heathenism is observable at such places and in temples ; however

    great the crowd may be, each one worships b}’ himself as

    much as if no one else were present. Altars are erected in

    fields, on which a smooth stone is placed, where offerings are

    presented and libations poured out to secure a good crop. Few

    farmers omit all worship in the spring to the gods of the land

    and grain ; and some go further and present a thanksgiving

    after harvest. Temples are open night and da}’, and in towns

    are the resort of crowds of idle fellows. Worshippers go on

    with their devotions amid all the hubbub, strike the druin

    and bell to arouse the god, burn paper prayers, and knock their

    heads upon the ground to implore his blessing, and then retire.

    The Chinese collectively spend enormous sums in their idolatry,

    though they are more economical of time and money than

    the Hindus. Rich families give much for the services of

    priests, papers, candles, etc., at the interment of their friends,

    but when a large sacrifice is provided none goes to the priests,

    who are prohibited meat. The aggregate outlay to the whole

    people is very large, made up of repairs of temples, purchasing

    idols, petty costs, such as incense-sticks, candles, paper, etc.,

    charms and larger sacrifices prepared from time to time. The

    sum cannot of course be ascertained, but if the daily expenditure

    of each person be estimated at one-third of a cent, or four

    cash, the total will exceed four hundred millions of dollars per

    annum, and this estimate is more likely to be under than over

    the mark, owing to the universality and constancy of the daily

    service,

    This brief sketch of Chinese religious character will be incomplete without some notice of the benevolent institutions found among them. Good acts are required as proofs of sincerity; the classics teach benevolence, and the religious books

    of the Buddhists JTiculcate coiiipassioii to the poor and relief of

    tlie sick. I’rivate alms of rice or clothes are fre(|uently given,

    and tlie modes of collecting the poor-tax are very direct and

    economical, bringing the lionseholders into some intercourse

    with the beggars in their neighborhoods, but offering no rewards

    to tramps and idlers. A retreat for poor aged and infirni

    or blind people is situated near the east side of Canton, the expenses

    of which are stated at about seven thousand dollars, but

    the number of persons relieved is not mentioned. The pecuhition

    and bad faith of the managci-s vitiate many of these institutions,

    and indispose the charitable to ]iatronize them. La.-

    zarettos are established in all large towns in Southern China,

    where a large entrance fee will secure a comfortable living for

    these outcasts to the end of their days ; the prevalence of the

    disease leads everybody to aid the measures taken to restrict its

    ravages. A full account of the report issued by the directors

    of a long-established foundling hospital in Shanghai is given

    in the Ckinese Repository (Vol. XIY.), and shows the methodical

    character of the people, and that no pi-iests ai-e joined in

    its management. In the report full credit is given to the benefactors,

    and an appeal made for funds to cany it on, as it is

    nearly out of supplies. A^arious modes of raising money are

    proposed, and arguments are brought forward to induce people

    to give, all in the same manner as is common with charitable

    institutions in western lands, as its closing paragraph shows: If, for the extension of kindness to our fellow creatures, and to those poor .ind destitute who have no father and mother, all the good and benevolent would daily give one cash (n^rn of a<l()llai), it would V)e sufficient for the maintenance of the foundlings one day. Let no one consider a.small good unmeritorious, nor a small subscription as of no avail. Either you may induce others to subscribe by the vernal breeze from your month, or you may nourish the blade of benevolence in the field of happiness, or cherish the already sprouting bud. Thus by taking advantage of opportunities as they present tliemfielves, and using your endeavors to accomplish your object, you may immeas’ urably benefit and extend the institution.

    The deaths are reported as being nearly one-half of the admissions,

    and the number of inmates about one hmidred and thirty

    in all. The details of the receipts and expenditures are given

    BENEVOLENT INSTITUTIONS IN CHINA. 265

    at the end of the report in a business-like manner. The annual

    disbursement was about one thousand live hundred and fifty dollar:^,

    and the receipts from all sources more than that, so that a

    balance of five thousand dollars is reported on hand, four-fifths

    of whicli was derived fi-om interest on subscriptions invested

    and on wares from pawnbrokers.

    Similar establishments are found in all large towns, some of

    them partly supported by the government. That in Canton

    was founded in 1698, and contains accommodations for three

    liundred children, wliose annual support was reckoned at three

    thousand five hundred dollars in 1833, at which date the money

    was filched from foreigners by a tax on their ships. These hospitals

    seem to be of modei’u origin, less than two centuries old,

    and may have been imitated from or suggested by the Roman

    Catholics. Candida, a distinguished convert about 1710, did

    much to establish them and show the excellence of the religion

    she professed. Mr. Milne, who visited one at IS^ingpo, says,

    after entering the court : ” A number of coarse-looking women

    were peeping through the lattice at us, with squallababies at

    their breasts and squalid boys and girls at their heels ; these

    Nvomen are the nurses, and these children are the foundlings,

    each woman having two or three to look after. But I have

    rarely beheld such a collection of filthy, nnwashen, ragged

    brats. There are at present between sixty and seventy children,

    the boys on one side, the girls on the other. Boys remain here

    till the age of fourteen, when they are hired out or adopted ;

    girls stay till sixteen, when they are betrothed as wives or taken

    as concubines or servants. It is supported by the rental of lands

    and houses, and by an annual tax of thirty-six stone or shiJi

    (about five hundred pounds) of rice from each district in the department.”

    In large towns other voluntary societies are found, having

    for their object the relief of suffering, which ought to be mentioned,

    as the Chinese have not been fairly credited with what

    they do in this line. Humane societies for restoring life to persons

    rescued from the water, and providing coflins if they are

    dead, exist along the riverine towns. Associations to give decent

    interment to the poor in a public potter’s field are found in large cities, where gi-atiiitons vaccination is often given to all who apply. Soup-kitchens are constantly opened as cold weather comes on, and houses prepared for vagrants and outcasts who have been suddenly reduced. Societies for the relief of indigent and virtuous widows are of long standing, and a kind of savings bank for the purpose of aiding a man to get married or to bury his parent exists among the people.’

    Charity is a virtue which thrives poorly in the selfish soil of

    heathenism, but even badly managed establishments like these

    are praiseworthy, and promise something better when higher

    teachings shall have been engrafted into the public mind. The

    government is obliged to expend large sums almost every year

    for relieving the necessities of the starving and the distressed,

    and strong calls are made on the rich to give to these objects.

    During the great famine in 1877-78 in the north-eastern provinces,

    the common hal)its of industry, thrift, and order were

    united with these practices of voluntary benevolence among the

    people, and aided greatly in enabling those who distributed

    food and money to reach the greatest number possible with the

    means. The sufferers had already learned that violence and

    robbery would only increase their miseries and liasten their

    end.

    The general condition of religion among the Chinese is effete;

    and the stately formalities of im])eri:d worship, the doctrines of

    Confucius, the ceremonies of the Buddhists, the sorceries of the

    Rationalists, alike fail to comfort and instruct. But the fear of

    evil spirits and the worship of ancestoi’s, the two beliefs which

    hold all ranks and abilities in their thrall, are still strong ; and

    the principal sway the two sects exert is owing to the connection

    of their priests M’ith the ceremonies of burial. Each

    has exerted its greatest possible power over the })eople, but

    all have failed to impart present happiness or assure future

    joy to their votaries. Confucianism is cold and unsatisfactoiy

    to the affectionate, the anguished, or the in(]uiring mind, and

    the transcendentalism of Rationalism or the vagaries of Bud’

    ^Chineae Reponitary, Vol. XTV., pp. 177-195. Lockhart, Medical Missionary

    in China, Cliapter II., Lundoii, 18()1.

    SECRET SOCIETIES. 267

    dhisin are a little worse. All classes are the prey of unfounded

    fears and superstitions, and dwell in a mist of ignorance and

    error which the light of true religion and knowledge alone can

    dissipate.

    Besides the two leading idolatrous sects, there are also many

    comhinations existing among the people, partly religious and

    partly political, one of which, the Plh-lien Mao, or the Triad

    Society, has already been mentioned in Chapter VIII. The

    Wan klang, or ‘ Incense-burning sect,’ is also denounced in the

    Sacred Commands, but has not been mentioned in late times.

    The Triad Society is comparativelj’ peaceful throughout China

    Proper in overt acts, the members of the auxiliai’y societies contenting

    themselves with keeping alive the spirit of resistance to

    the Manchus, getting new members, and countenancing one

    another in their opposition ; but in Siam, Singapore, Malacca,

    and the Archipelago, it has become a powerful body, and great

    cruelties are committed on those who refuse to join. The members

    are admitted with formalities bearing strong resemblance to

    those of the Freemasons, and the professed objects of the society

    are the same. The novice swears before an idol to maintain

    inviolate secrecy, and stands under naked swords while

    taking the oath, which is then read to him ; he afterward cuts

    off a cock’s head, the usual form of swearing among all Chinese,

    intimating that a like fate awaits him if treacherous. There

    are countersigns known among the members, consisting of grips

    and motions of the fingers. Such is the secrecy of their operations

    in Cliina, however, that very little is known of their numbers,

    internal organization, or character ; the dislike of their

    machinations is the best security against their ultimate success.

    Local delusions, caused by some sharp-witted fellow, now and

    then arise in one part and another of the country, but they are

    speedily put down or dissipate of themselves. There has transpired

    not an item of news concerning any of these seditious

    organizations since the suppression of the Tai-ping rebellion in

    1868. None of them are allowed to erect temples or make a

    public exhibition or procession, and exhortations are from time

    to time issued by the magistrates against them ; while the penalties

    annexed to the statute against all illegal associations give the rulers great power to crush whatever they may deem suspicious or treasonable.’

    The introduction of Islamism into China was so gradual that

    it is not easy to state the date or manner. The trade between

    China and ports lying on the Arabian Sea early attracted its

    adherents (called Ilwai-hwul I’lao) to the Middle Kingdom,

    and as long ago as the Tang dynasty its missionaries came to

    the seaports, especially of Canton and Hangchau. They likewise

    formed a large portion of the caravans which went to and

    fro through Central Asia, and seem to have been received without

    resistance, if not with favor, until they grew by natural

    increase to be a large and an integral })art of the population.

    Mosques were built, schools taught, pilgi’iuuiges made, books

    printed, and converts allowed to exercise their rites without

    serious hindrance almost from the first. The two great features

    of the faith—the existence of one only true God and the M-ickedness

    of idolatry—have not been kept hidden ; but, though

    promulgated, the}’ have not been accepted outside of the sect

    and have not made the least impression upon the State religion.

    The reasons for this are not far to seek. The jigid rule that

    the Koran must not be translated has kept this book out of

    reach of the literati, and the faithful could not even appeal to

    it in support of their belief, for not one in thousands know how

    to read it. The Chinese naturally neither could nor would

    learn Arabic, and there was no sword hanging over them, as

    was the case in Persia, to force them into Moslem ranks. The

    simplicity of the State religion and ancestral worship gave very

    little handle to icronoclasts to declaim against polytheism and

    idolatry. The })rohibition of pork to all true believers seemed

    a senseless injunction among a frugal people which depended

    largely on swine for meat and had never felt any the worse,

    bodily or mentall}’, from its use. The inhibition of wine, moreover,

    was needless among so temperate a race as the Chinese.

    Those who liked to keep Fridays or other days as fasts, ])ractisG

    circumcision as a symbol of faith, and worship in a temple with<

    ‘ Compare the Chinese ‘Repository, Vol. XVIII., p. 281.

    MOHAMMEDANISM IN CHINA. 269

    out images, could do so if tliey chose ; but they must obey the

    laws of the laud and honor the Eni})ei-or as good subjects. They

    luive done so, and, generally speaking, have never been molested

    on account of their beliefs. Their chief strength lies in the

    northern part. The recent struggle in the north-western provinces,

    which cost so many lives, began almost wholly at the instigation

    of Turk or Tartar sectaries, and was a simple trial of

    strength as to who should rule. While cities and towns in

    Kansuh occupied by them were destroyed (in lSGO-73), the two

    liundred thousand Moslems in Peking remained perfectly quiet

    and were unmolested by the authorities.

    Some hold office, and pass through the examinations to obtain

    it, most of them being military men. In their mosques they exliibit

    a tablet with the customary ascription of reverence to the

    Emperor, but place the Prophet’s name behind. They have no

    images or other tablets in the mosques, but suspend scrolls referring

    to the tenets of the faith. The Plain Pagoda in Canton

    was built during the Tang dynasty and called ‘ Remember-the-

    Iloly Temple ; ‘ it is one hundred and sixty-five cubits high ; it

    was built by foreigners, who used to go to the top during the

    fifth and sixth moons at dawn and pray to a golden weathercock

    there, crying out in a loud voice. These notices are taken from

    the native Tojxxjraphij, where also is reference to the tomb of

    a maternal uncle of IMohammed buried north of the city. The

    mosques throughout China are similar in their arrangement and

    resemble temples in many respects, the large arches and inscriptions

    in Arabic on the walls forming the chief peculiarities.

    Arabic is studied under great difficulties by the mollahs, and

    few of the faithful can read or speak it, contenting themselves

    with observing its ritual relating to circumcision, abstinence

    from pork, and idolatry. So fai- as can be seen, their worship

    of the true God under the name of Chu^ or Lord, has not had

    the least influence on the polytheism of the nation or in elevating

    the tone of morals. A well-digested summaiy of their

    tenets has been published at Canton by an unknown author

    under the title of True Coinineids on the Correct Doctrine, in

    two volumes, pp. 240, 1801. Ko restrictions have been laid on

    this sect by the government during the present dynasty; the struggle which continued during the last twenty years between them was simply a question of dominion, not of religion.

    Mr. Milne visited the mosque in Ningbo and made the acquaintance

    of the mollah. “lie is a man about forty-five years

    of age, of a remarkably benign and intelligent countenance and

    {gentlemanly bearing. His native place is Shantung, but his

    ancestors came from Medina, lie readily reads the Arabic

    scriptures and talks that language fluently, but can neither read

    nor write Chinese, which is somewhat surprising considering he

    can talk it well, was liorn in China, and is a minister of religion

    among the Chinese. His supporters number between twenty

    and thirty families, and one or two of his adherents are officers.

    He took me into the place of worship which adjoins his apartments.

    A flight of steps leads into a room, covered with a plain

    roof, on either side of which lay a mass of dusty furniture and

    agricultural implements ; the pillars are ornamented with sentences

    out of the Koran. Facing you is an ornamented pair of

    small doors hung upon the wall, within which the sacred seat is

    supposed to lie, and on one side is a convenient bookcase containing

    their scriptures. He showed me his usual officiating

    dress—a white robe with a painted tui-ban—but he never wears

    this costume except at service, appearing hi the Chinese habit at

    other times. They have a weekly day of rest, which falls on

    our Thursday. On asking if I might be permitted to attend any

    of their services, he replied that if their adherents had business

    on that day they did not trouble themselves to attend. The

    stronghold of his religion is in Ilangchau fu, where are several

    mosques, but the low state of Moluunmedanism seemed to

    dampen liis spirits. Happening to see near the entrance a

    tablet similar to that found in every other temple, with the

    inscription, ‘The Enq)eror, ever-living, maybe live forever!’

    I asked him how he could allow such a blasphemous monument

    to stand in a spot which he regarded as consecrated to the worship

    of Aloha, as he styles the true God. He protested he did

    not and never could worship it, and pointed to the low })lace

    given it as evidence of this, and added that it was only for the

    sake of expediency it was allowed lodgment in the building, for

    if they wei-e ever charged with disloyalty by the enemies of

    JEWS IN CHINA. 271

    their faith they could appeal to it ! His reigning desire was to

    make a pilgrimage to Mecca, and he inquired particularly respecting

    the price of a passage.” ‘

    Since the introduction of steamers great numbers of pilgrims

    visit Mecca, who cannot fail to extend the knowledge of western

    lands as they return among their people. The Mohammedan

    inhabitants of Turkestan and 111 are distinguished into three

    classes by the color and shape of their turbans ; one has red and

    another white sugar-loaf, tlie third the common iirab turban.

    The number throughout the region north of the Yangtsz’ liiver

    cannot be stated, but it probably exceeds ten millions. In

    some places they form a third of the population ; a missionary

    in Sz’chuen reckons eighty thousand living in one of its

    cities.”

    The existence of Jews in China has long been known, but

    the information possessed relative to their past number, condition,

    and residences is very imperfect. They were once numbered

    by thousands, and are supposed by Mr. Finn to have

    belonged to the restoration from Chaldea, as they had portions

    of Malachi and Zechariah, adopted the era of Seleucus, and

    had many rabbinical customs. They probably entered China

    through the north-western route, and there is no good reason

    for rejecting their own date, during the llan dynasty. Witliin

    the last three centuries all have lived in Kaifung, the capital

    of Honan, wherever they may have lived in earlier days. Marco

    Polo just mentions their existence at (^and)aluc, as do John of

    Montecorvino and Marignolli about the same time, and Ibn

    Batuta at an earlier date. In the Chinese annals of the Mongol

    dynasty the Jews are first referred to in 1329, and again

    in 135-1, when they were invited to Peking in the decline of

    its power to join the army of the Imperialists, They are styled

    Shic-htvuh, or Jehudi, and must have been numerous enough

    ‘ Compare Milne’s Life in China, p. 96, London, 1857.

    ‘ Chtnem Repository, Vols. XIII., p. ;i’2 ; XX., pp. 77-84; II., p. 250. De

    Guignes, Voyar/ex d Pekinf/, Tome II., p. 08. Gray, China, I., pp. 137-142.

    Edkins, IMirjion.H in China, Chap. XV. Annules de la Foi, II., p. 245. Ret

    uaud, Relation des Voyages d la Chine.«

    to make them worth noticing with Aloluunmedans, and their help in men and means implored ; hut no hint is given of their places of ahode. Further research into Chinese histories may disclose other notices of their existence.

    The Jews were early known hy the term of Tiao-Jcin hiaOj

    or the ‘ sect which pulls out the sinew.’ Do Guignes says they

    are also called Laa-niao Iltoul-tsz\ or ‘ Mohammedans with

    Blue Caps,’ because they wore a blue cap in the synagogue ; but

    this latter must be a local name. The first description of this

    colony was written by the Jesuit Gozani, about the year 1700,

    and shows that the Tsing-cMn sz\ or ‘ Pure and True Temple,’

    Avas then a large establisliment consisting of four separate

    courts, various buildings enclosed for residence, worship, and

    work. The Li-jpai ss\ or Synagogue, measured about sixty

    by forty feet, having a portico with a double row of four columns

    before it. In the centre of the room, between the I’ows of pillars,

    is the throne of Moses, a magnificent and elevated chair

    with an embroidered cushion, upon which they place the book

    of the law while it is read.

    This account of Gozani remained as the latest information

    until Bishop Smith sent two native Christians from Shanghai

    to Kaifung to learn the present condition of the Jews. They

    were ignorant of llebi-ew, but had been instructed hoM^ to copy

    the letters, and did their work very creditably, bringing away

    with them some portions of the Old Testament wi-itten on

    vellum-like paper of an old date. The synagogue had suffered

    during the great inundation of 18-fi>, and the colony of two

    hundred individuals was found in abject poverty, ignorance, and

    dejection. Not on6 of them knew a word of Hebrew, and

    many of their buildings had been sold for the matei’ials to support

    their lives.

    In February, ISGG, Rev. W. A. P. Mai’tin, President of the

    Tung-wun Kwan at Peking, visited Kaifung, and learned that

    during the interval of fifteen years they had become still more

    imj)overished. Having learned from the mollah of a mosque

    where they lived, he ” passed through streets crowded Mith curious

    spectators to an open square, in the centre of wliich there

    stood a solitary stone. On one side was an inscription connnemTHEIR

    MISEUAHLK CONDITION. 273

    orating the erection of the synagogue in a.d. 11S3, and on the

    other of its rebuilding in 14SS. . . . ‘Are there among

    you any of tlie family of Israel ‘(‘ J inquired. ‘ I am one,’ responded

    a young man, whose face corroborated his assertion ; and

    then another and another stepped forth, until I saw before me

    representatives of six of the seven families into which the

    colony is divided. There, on that melancholy spot where

    the very foundations of the synagogue had been torn from

    tlie ground, and there no longer I’emained one stone upon

    another, they confessed, with shame and grief, that their lioly

    and beautiful house had been demolished by their own hands.

    It had long been, they said, in a ruinous condition ; they had

    no money to make repairs. They liad lost all knowledge of

    the sacred tongue ; the traditions of the fathers were no longer

    handed down, and their ritual worship had ceased to be observed.

    They had at last yielded to the pressure of necessity,

    and disposed of the timbers and stones of the venerable edifice

    to obtain relief for their bodily wants.”

    They estimated their number at between thi-ee hundred

    and four hundred persons, all of them poor, and, now that

    the centre of attraction had disappeared, likely to become dispersed

    and lost. The entrance tablet in gilt characters, stating

    that the building was “Israel’s Possession,” had been

    placed in a mosque, and some of the colony had entered its

    worship.

    Since that date one of their own race, now Bishop Schereschewsky,

    of Shanghai, has also visited them, but the literati

    of the city refused to allow him to remain among them. A

    company of the colony came up to Peking about twelve

    years ago, but, finding that no money was to be obtained

    for their support, ere long went back. It is probable that in

    a few years their unity will be so desti-oyed in the removal

    of their synagogue that they will be quite mingled with their

    countrymen. One or two are now Buddhist priests, others

    are literary graduates, and all of them are ignorant of their

    peculiar rites and festivals. Like the Mohammedans, they

    have never translated their sacred books into Chinese ; but

    during their long existence in China they have remained indeed, as Dr. Martin says, like “a rock rent from the sidea of Mount Zion by some great national catastrophe, and projected into the central Plain of China, which has stood there while the centm-ies rolled by, sublime in its antiquity and solitude.”

    ‘> CUnese liepository, Vol. XX., pp. 4:^6-466. Yule’s Marco Polo, 1871, Vol.I., p. 809. Cathay, pp. 225, 341, 497. James Finn, Jews in Cliina, 1843. Bp.Smith, Mission of Inquiry to Jeics at Kai-funy, 1851. Dr. Martin, The Chinese,N. Y., 1881. Journal of Royal Geog. Soc, London, Vol. XXVII., p. 297.Versuch einer Geschkhtc der JiuJen in Sina, nelisf P. J. Kof/ler^s Rschreibung ihrer ?ieiligen Bucher, herausg. von C. G. von Murr, Halle, 180G. Milne,Life in China, p. 403.

  • WELLS WILLIAMS《The Middle Kingdom》10-14

    CHAPTER X. STRUCTURE OF THE CHINESE LANGUAGE

    It might reasonably be inferred, judging from the attention paid to learning, and the honors conferred upon its successful votaries, that the literature of the Chinese would contain much to repay investigation. Such is not the case, however, to one already acquainted with the treasures of Western science, and, in fairness, such a comparison is not quite just. Yet it has claims to the regard of the general student, from its being the literature of so vast a portion of the human species, and the result of the labors of its wisest and worthiest minds during many successive ages. The fact that it has been developed under a peculiar civilization, and breathes a spirit so totally different from the writings of Western sages and philosophers, perhaps increases the curiosity to learn what are its excellences and defects, and obtain some criteria by which to compare it with the’ literature of other Asiatic or even European nations. The language in which it is written—one peculiarly mystical and diverse from all other media of thought—has also added to its singular reputation, for it has been surmised that what is ” wrapped up ” in such complex characters must be pre-eminently valuable for matter or elegant for manner, and not less curious than profound. Although a candid examination of this literature will disclose its real mediocrity in points of research, learning, and genius, there yet remains enough to render it worthy the attention of the oriental or general student.

    Some of its peculiarities are owing to the nature of the language, and the mode of instruction, both of which have affected the style and thoughts of writers : for, having, when young, been taught to fonii their sentences upon the models of anti(juity, their efforts to do so have nioiikled their thoughts in the same channoL Imitation, from beiiii;- a chity, soon became a necessity.

    INFLUEXCJ’; OF THE LANGUAGE UPON LITERATURE. 579

    The Chinese scholar, forsaking the leadings of his own genius, soon learned to regard his models as not only being all truth themselves, but as containing the sum total of all things valuable. The intractable nature of the language, making it impossible to study other tongues through the medium of his own, moreover tended to repress all desire in the scholar to become acquainted with foreign books ; and as he knew nothing of them or their authors, it was easy to conclude that there was nothing worth knowing in them, nothing to repay the toil of study, or make amends for the condescension of ascertaining.

    The neighbors of the Chinese have unquestionably been their inferiors in civilization, good government, learning, and wealth; and this fact has nourished their conceit, and repressed the wish to travel, and ascertain what there was in remoter regions. In judging of the character of Chinese literature, therefore, these circumstances among others under which it has risen to its present bulk, must not be overlooked; we shall conclude that the uniformity running through it is perhaps owing as much to the isolation of the people and servile imitation of their models, as to their genius: each has, in fact, mutually acted upon and influenced the other.

    The ” homoglot ” character of the Chinese people has arisen more from the high standard of their literature, and the political institutions growing out of its canonical books (which have impelled and rewarded the efforts of students to master the language), than from any one other cause. This feature offers a great contrast to the polyglot character which the Romans possessed even to the last, and suggests the cause and results as interesting topics of inquiry. The Egyptian, Jewish, Syriac, Greek, and Latin languages had each its own national literature, and its power was enough to retain these several nations attached to their own mother tongue, while the Clauls, Iberians, and other subject peoples, having no books, took the language and literature of their rulers and conquerors. Thus the kingdom, “part iron and part clay,” fell apart as soon as the grasp of Rome was weakened ; while the tendency in China always has been to reunite and homologate.

    In this short account of the Chinese tongue, it will be sufficient to give such notices of the origin and construction of the characters, and of the idioms and soimds of the written and spoken language, as shall convey a general notion of all its pai’ts, and to show the distinction between the spoken and written media, and their mutual action. They are both archaic, because the symbols prevented all inHexion and agglutination in the sounds, and all signs to indicate what part of speech each belonged to. They are like the ten digits, containing no vocable and imparting their meaning more to the eye than the ear.

    Chinese writers, unable to trace the gradual formation of their characters (for, of course, there could be no intelligible historical data until long after their formation), have ascribed them to llwangti, one of their primeval monarchs, or even earlier, to Fuli-hi, some thirty centuries before Christ ; as if they deemed writing to be as needful to man as clothes or marriage, all of which came from Fuli-hi. A mythical personage, Tsangkieh, who flourished about b.c. 2700, is credited with the invention of symbols to represent ideas, from noticing the marking on tortoise shell, and thence imitating common objects in nature.

    The Japanese have tried to attach their Txana to the Chinese characters to indicate the qase or tense, but the combination looks incongruous to an educated Chinese. We might express, though somewhat crudely, analogous combinations in English by endeavoring to wa*ite l-^5y, l-;^(“6′-s’, \-ted^ for unity, oneness, united, or 3-1 God for triune God.

    ORIGIN OF THE LANGUAGE. 581

    At this crisis, when a medium for conveying and giving permanency to ideas was formed, Chinese historians say : ” The heavens, the earth, and the gods, were all agitated. The inhabitants of hades wept at night ; and the heavens, as an expression of joy, rained down ripe grain. From the invention of writing, the machinations of the human heart began to operate; stories false and erroneous daily increased, litigations and imprisonments sprang up ; hence, also, specious and artful language, which causes so much confusion in the world. It was for these reasons that the shades of the departed wept at iiiglit.

    But from the invention of writing, polite intercourse and music proceeded; reason and insticc were made manifest; the rehations of social life were ilhistiated. and laws became fixed.

    Governors had laws to which they might refer; scholars had authorities to venerate; and hence, the heavens, delighted, rained down ripe grain. The classical scholar, the historian, the mathematician, and the astronomer can none of them do without wn-iting ; were there no written language to afford proof of passing events, the shades might weep at noonday, and the heavens rain down blood.” ‘ This singular myth may, perhaps, cover a genuine fact worthy of more than passing notice—indicatiuii; a consentaneous effort of the early settlers on the Yellow River to substitute for the purpose of recording laws and events something more intelligible than the knotted cords previously in use. Its form presents a curious contrast to the personality of the fable of Cadmus and his invention of the Greek letters.

    The date of the origin of this language, like that of the letters of western alphabets, is lost in the earliest periods of postdihivian history, but there can be no doubt that it is the most ancient language now spoken, and along with the Egyptian and cuneiform, among the oldest written languages used by man. The Ethiopic and Coptic, the Sanscrit and Pali, the Syriac, Aramaic, and Pehlvic, have all become dead languages; and the Greek, Latin, and Persian, now spoken, differ so much

    ‘ Professor H. A. Sayce, o: Oxford, in reference to a suggested possible connection between the Chinese and primitive Accadian population of Chaldea, says in a letter to the London Timcts : ” I would mention one fact which niay certainly be considered to favor it. The cuneiform characters o. Eabylonia and Assyria are, as is well known, degenerated hieroglyphics, Hive the modern Chinese characters. The original hieroglyphics were invented by the Accadians before they descended into Babylonia from the mountains of Elam, and I have long been convinced that they were originally written in vertical columns. In no other way can I explain the fact that most of the pictures to which the cuneiform characters can be traced back stand upon their sides.

    There is evidence to show that the inventors of the liieroslyphics iised papyrus, or some similar vegetable substance, for writing purposes before the alluvial plain of Babylonia furnished them with clay, and the use of such a writing material will easily account for the vertical direction in which the characters were made to run.” from the ancient style, as to require special study to understand the books in them: while during successive eras, the written and spoken language of the Chinese has undergone few alterations, and done nnieh to deepen the broad line of demarkation between them and other branches of the hunuin race. The fact, then, that this is the only living language which has survived the lapse of ages is, doubtless, owing to its ideographic character and its entire absence of sound as an integral factor of any symbol. Their form and meaning were, therefore, only the more strongly united because each reader was at liberty to sound them as he pleased or had been taught by local instructors, lie was not hindered, on account of his local Itrogue^

    from counmmicating ideas with those who employed the same

    signs in writing. Upon the subsequent rise t)f a great and valuable

    literature, the maintenance of the written language was

    the chief element of national life and integrity among those

    peoples who read and admired the books. Nor has this language,

    like those of the Hebrews, the Assyrians, and others

    already mentioned, ever fallen into disuse and been supplanted

    by the sudden rise and physical or intellectual vigor of some

    neighboring community speaking a jKitois. For we find that

    alphabetic languages, whose words represent at once meaning

    and sound, are as dependent upon local dialects as is the

    Chinese tongue upon its symbols ; consequently, when in the

    former case the sounds had so altered that the meanings were

    obscured, the mode of writing was likely to be changed. The

    extent of its literature and uses made of it were then the only

    safeguard of the written forms ; while as men learned to read

    books they became more and more prone to associate sense and

    form, regarding the sound as traditionary. AVe have, in illustration

    of this, to look no further than to our own language,

    whose cumbersome spelling is in a great measure resulting from

    a dislike of changing old associations of sense and form which

    would be involved in the adoption of a phonetic sj’stem.

    The Chinese have had no inducement, at any stage of their

    existence, to alter the forms of their symbols, inasmuch as no

    nation in Asia contiguous to their own has ever achieved a literature

    which could rival theirs ; no conqueror came to impose

    IDEOGRAPHIC NATURE OF THE SYMBOLS. 583

    his tongue upon them ; tlieir language completely isolated them

    from intellectual intercourse with others. This isolation, fraught

    with many disadvantages in the contracted nature of their literature,

    and the reflux, narrowing influence on their minds, has

    not been without its compensations. A national life of a

    unique sort has resulted, and to this self- nurtured language

    may be traced the origin of much of the peace, industry, population,

    and healthy pride of the Chinese people.

    The Chinese have paid great and praiseworthy attention to their language, and furnished us with all needed books to its study. Premising that the original symbols were ideographic, the necessities of the case compelled their contraction as much as possible, and soon resulted in arbitrary signs for all common uses. Their symbols varied, indeed, at different times and in different States ; it was not until a genuine literature appeared and its readers multiplied that the varients were dropped and uniformity sought. The original characters of this language are derived from natural or artificial objects, of which they were at first the rude outlines. Most of the forms are preserved in the treatises of native philologists, where the changes they have gradually undergone are shown. The number of objects chosen at first was not great ; among them were symbols for the sun, moon, hills, animals, parts of the body, etc. ; and in drawing them the limners seem to have proposed nothing further than an outline sketch, which, by the aid of a little explanation, would be intelligible. Thus the picture ^ would probably be recognized by all who saw it as representing the moon ; that of ^ as a fish / and so of others. It is apparent that the number of pictures which could be made in this manner would beai” no proportion to the w’ants and uses of a language, and therefore recourse must soon be had to more complicated symbols, to combining those already understood, or to the adoption of arbitrary or phonetic signs. All these modes have been more or less employed.

    Chinese philologists arrange all the characters in their language into six classes, called Liushu, or ‘six writings’. The first, called slang king, morphographs. or ‘ imitative symbols,’ are those in which a plain resemblance can be traced between the original form and the object represented ; they are among the first characters invented, although the six hundred and eight placed in this class do not include all the original symbols, These pristine forms have since been nioditied so much that the resemblance has disappeared in most of them, caused chiefly by the use of paper, ink, and pencils, instead of the iron style

    and bamboo tablets formerly in use for writing ; circular strokes

    being more distinctlj^ made with an iron point upon the hard

    wood than with a hair ])encil upon thin paper ; angular strokes

    and square forms, therefore, gradually took the place of round

    or curved ones, and contracted characters came into use in place

    of the oi’iginal imitative symbols. In this class such characters

    as the followin<r are ijiven :

    ^^A^-^t^^ tortoise,

    altered to chariot. child, elephant, deer, vase, hill, eye.

    kwei, chi,

    The second class, only one hundred and seven in number, is

    called chi S3\ i.e., ‘ symbols indicating thought.’ They differ

    from the preceding chiefly in that the characters are formed by

    combining previously formed symbols in such a way as to indi«

    cate some idea easily deducible from their position or combination,

    and pointing out some property or relative circumstance

    belonging to them. Chinese philologists consider these two

    classes as comprising all the symbols in the language, which

    depict objects either in whole or in part, and whose meaning is

    apparent from the resemblance to the object, or from the posi-

    Moii of the ])ai’ts. Among those; placed in this class are,

    ^ moon half appearing, signili(;s e\ening ; now written ^

    O sun above the horizon, denotes nn)rning ; now written J9.

    y something in the mouth, meaning sweet ; now written ^

    SIX CLASSES OF CHARACTERS. 585

    The third class, amounting to seven Iiundred and forty characters,

    is called hioid i, i.e., ‘ combined ideas,” or ideographs, and

    comprises characters made up of two or three symbols to foi-m a

    single idea, whose meanings are dcdiieible either from their position,

    or supposed relative intiuence upon each other. Thus the

    union of the sun and moon, ^ luuttj, expresses brightness; ^

    lien, a piece of wood in a doorway, denotes obstruction ; two

    trees stand for a forest, as ^^ lin ; and three for a thicket, as ^^-^

    mil ; two men upon the ground conveys the idea of sitting ; a

    ‘mouth in a doof signifies to ask ; man and words means truth

    and to believe ; heart and death imports forgetfulness ; dog and iiioidh means to bark ; woman and hfoom denotes a wife, referring to her household duties ; i)encil and to speah is a book, or to write. But in none of these compounded characters is there anything like that perfection of picture writing stated by some writers to belong to the language, which will enable one unacquainted with the meaning of the separate symbols to decide upon the signification of the combined group. On the contrary

    it is in most cases certain that the third idea made by combining

    two already known symbols, usually required more or less

    explanation to fix its precise meaning, and remove the doubt

    which would otherwise arise. For instance, the combination of

    the sun and moon might as readily mean a solar or lunar eclipse,

    or denote the idea of time, as brightness. A piece of wood in a doorway would almost as naturally suggest a thre-shold as an ohstr actioIt / and so of others, A straight line in a doorway would more readily suggest a closed or bolted door, which is the signification of p^ shan, anciently written f\^ ; but the idea intended to be conveyed by these combinations would need prior explanation as much as the primitive symbol, though it would thenceforth readily recur to mind when noticing the construction.

    It is somewhat singular that the opinion should have obtained so much credence, that their meanings were easily deducible from their shape and construction. It might almost be said, that not a single character can be accurately defined from a mere inspection of its parts ; and the meanings now given of some of those which come under this class are so arbitrary and far-fetclied, as to show that Chinese characters have not been formed by rule and plummet more than words in other languages. The mistake which Du Ponceau so learnedly combats arose, probably, from confounding sound with construction and inferring that, because persons of different nations, who used this as their written language, could understand it when written, though mutually unintelligible when speaking, that it addressed itself so entirely to the eye, as to need no previous explanation.

    The fourth class, called chuen chu, ‘ inverted significations,’

    includes three hundi-ed and seventy-two characters, being such

    as b}^ some inversion, contraction, or alteration of their parts,

    acquire different meanings. This class is not large, but these

    and other modifications of the original symbols to express abstract

    and new ideas show that those who used the language

    either saw at once how cumbrous it would become if they went

    on forming imitative signs, or else that their invention failed,

    and they resorted to changes more or less arbitrary in characters

    already known to furnish distinctive signs for different

    ideas. Thus yu j^ the hand, turning toward the right means

    the right; inclined in the other direction, as tso ‘\ it means

    the left. The heart placed beneath slave, i^ signifies anger;

    threads obstructed, as || , means to sunder ; but turned the

    other way, as H , signifies continuous.

    The fifth class, called hml shing, i.e., ‘ uniting sound symbols,’

    or phonogram, contains twenty-one thousand eight hundred

    and ten characters, or nearly all in the language. They

    are formed of an imitative symbol united to one which merely

    imparts its sound to the compound ; the former usually partakes

    more or less of the new idea, while the latter loses its

    own meaning, and gives only its name. In this respect, Chinese

    cliaracters are superior to the Arabic numerals, inasmuch

    as combinations like 25, 101, etc., although conveying the same

    meaning to all nations using them, can neiier indicate sound.

    This plan of forming new conjbinations by the union of symbols

    expressing idea and sound, enables the Chinese to increase

    the mnnber of charactei’s without multiplying the original symbolcj;

    but these compoundfe, or lcx’i<jraj_>hs^ us \j\\. I’ouceau callji

    METHOD OF FORMING PHONETIC CHARACTERS. 587

    tlieni, do nut increase very rapidly. In Annum they liave become

    so numerous in the course of years that the Chinese

    books made in that country are hard to i-ead. The probable

    mode in wliich this arose can best be explained by a case which

    occurred at Canton in 1832. Innnature locusts were to be described

    in a proclamation, l)ut the word nan, by which they

    were called, was not contained in any dictionary. It would be

    sufficient to designate this insect to all persons living where it

    was found by selecting a well-understood character, like ^

    south, having the exact sound nan, by which the insect itself

    was called, and joining it to the determinative symbol clmnfj

    ^ insect. It woidd then signify, to every one who knew the

    sound and meaning of the component parts, the insect nan ^

    and be read nan, ^ meaning this very insect to the people in

    Kwangtung. If this new combination was carried to a distant

    part of the country, where the insect itself was unknown, it

    would convey no more information to the Chinese who sav:) the

    united symbol, than the sounds insect nan would to an Englishman

    who heard them ; to both persons a meaning must be

    given by describing the insect. If, however, the people living

    in this distant region called the phonetic part of the new character

    by another sound, as oiam, nein, or lam, they would attach

    another name to the new compound, but the people on the

    spot would, perhaps, not understand them when they spoke it

    by tliat name. If they wrote it, however, both would give it

    the same signification, but a different sound.

    In this way, the thousands of characters under this class have probably originated. But this rule of sounding them according to the phonetic part is not in all cases certain; for in the lapse of time, the sounds of many characters have changed, while those of the parts themselves have not altered ; in other cases, the parts have altered, and the sounds remained ; so that now only a great degree of probability as to the correct sound can be obtained by inspecting the component parts. The similarity in sound between most of the characters having the same phonetic part is a great assistance in reading Chinese, though very little in understanding it, and has had much influence in keeping the sounds unchanged.

    There are a few instances of an almost inadvertent arrival at a true syllabic system, Ijy which the initial consonant of one part, Avhen joined to the final vowel of the other, gives the sound of the character; as ina andy?’, in the character j|l, when united in this way, make ml. The meanings of the components are hemp and not, that of the compound is extradayant, ‘wasteful, etc., showing no relation to the primary signification.

    The number of such characters is veiy small, and the syllabic composition here noticed is probably fortuitous, and not intentional. The sixth class, called hla tsle, i.e., ‘borrowed uses’, includes metaphoric symbols and combinations, m which the meaning is deduced by a somewhat fanciful accommodation ; their number is five hundred and ninety-eight. They differ but little from the second class of indicative symbols. For instance, the symbol ‘”f^ or j^, meaning a written character, is composed of a child under a shelter—characters being considered as the well-nurtured offspring of hieroglyphics. The character for hall means also mother, because she constantly abides there. The word for ‘//dnd or heart is sin ^, originally intended to represent that organ, but now used chiefly in a metaphorical sense. Chinese grammarians find abundant scope for the display of their fancy in explaining the etymology and origin of the characters, but the aid which their researches give toward understanding the language as at present used is small. This classification under six lieads is modern, and was devised as a means of arranging what existed already, for they confess that their characters were not formed according to fixed rules, and have gradually undergone many changes.

    MODES OF AKHANGING CIIAKACTERS. 589

    The total number in the six classes is twenty-four thousand two hundred and thirty-five, being many less than are found in KangXi’s Dictionary, which amount to forty-four thousand four hundred and forty-nine ; but in the larger sum are included the obsolete and synonymous characters, which, if deducted, would reduce it to nearly the same number. It is probable that the total of really different characters in tlie language sanctioned by good usage, does not vary greatly from twenty-five thousand, though luithors have stated them at from fifty-four thousand four hundred and nine, as Magaillaus does, up to two hundred and sixty thousand eight hundred and ninety-nine, as Montueci.

    The Chinese editor of the hirge lexicon on which Dr. Morrison founded his Dictionary, gives it as his opinion that there are fifty thousand characters, including synonyms and different forms; and taking in every variety of tones given to the words, and sounds for which no characters exist, that there are five thousand different words. But even the sum of twenty-five thousand different characters contains thousands of miusual ones which are seldom met with, and which, as is the case with old words in English, are not often learned.

    The burden of remembering so many complicated symbols,

    whose form, sound, and meanings are all necessary to enable the

    student to read and write intelligibly, is so great that the result

    has been to diminish those in connnon nse, and increase their

    meanings. This course of procedure really occurs in most languages,

    and in the Chinese greatly reduces the labor of acquiring

    it. It may be safely said, that a good knowledge of ten

    thousand characters will enable one to read any work in Chinese,

    and write intelligibly on any subject ; and Premare says a

    good knowledi2;e of four or five thousand characters is sulficient

    for all connnon purposes, while two-thirds of that number might

    in fact suffice. The troublesome ones are either proper names

    or technics peculiar to a particular science. The nine canonical

    works coi^.tain altogether oidy four thousand six hundred and

    one dljfevent characters, while in the Five Classics alone there

    are over two hundred thousand words. The entire number of

    different characters in the code of laws ti-anslated by Staunton is

    under two thousand.

    The invention of printing and the compilation of dictionaries

    have given to the form of modern characters a greater degree

    of certainty than they had in ancient times. The vai-iants of

    some of the most common ones were exceedingly numerous before

    this period ; Callery gives forty-two different modes of

    writing pao^ ‘ precious ; ‘ and forty-one for writing tsun, ‘honorable

    ; ‘ showing the absence of an acknowledged standard, and the

    slii»:ht intercourse between learned men. The best mode of arranging: the characters so as to find them easily, has been a subject of considerable trouble to Chinese lexicographers, and the various methods they have adopted renders it difficult to consult their dictionaries without considerable previous knowledge of the language. In some, those having the same sound are grouped together, so that it is necessary to know what a character is called before it can be found ; and this arrangement has been followed in vocabularies designed principally for the use of the common people. One well-known vocabulary used at Canton, called the Fan Yan^ or ‘ Divider of Sounds,’ is arranged on this plan, the words being placed under thirty-three orders, according to their terminations. Each order is subdivided into three or four classes according to the tones, and all the characters having the same tone and termination are placed together, as kam^ lam^ tarn, nam, etc. As might be supposed, it requires considerable time to find a character whose tone is not exactly known ; and even with the tone once mastered, the uncertainty is equally troublesome if the termination is not familiar: for singular as it may seem to those who are acquainted only with phonetic languages, a Chinese can, if anything, more readily distinguish between two words %ning and fining, whose tones are unlike, than he can between *^mmg and ^nieng, fining or thing, where the initial or final differs a little, and the tones are the same.

    An improvement on this plan of arrangement was made by adopting a mode of expressing the sounds of Chinese characters introduced by the Buddhists, in the Yah Plen, published a.d. 5-43, and ever since used in all dictionaries. This takes the initial of the sound of one character and the final of another, and combines them to indicate the sound of the given character ; as from U-qw and y-ing to form ling. There are thirty-six characters chosen for the initial consonants, and thirty-eight for the final sounds, but the student is perplexed by the different characters chosen in different works to represent them.’ The inhabitants of Amoy use a small lexicon called the Shih-‘wu

    Yin, or ‘ Fifteen Sounds,’ in which the characters are classified

    ‘ Biot has a brief note upon the metliods emplo^’ed by native scholars fd

    studying pronunciation. Esaai sur Vinstruction en Chine, p. 597.

    CLASSIFICATION ACCORDING TO COMPOSITION. 591

    on this principle, by first arranging them all nnder fifty finals,

    and then placing all those having the same termination in a

    regular series under fifteen initials. Su])posing a new character,

    chien, is seen, whose sound is given, or the word is heard in

    conversation and its meanings are wanted, the person turns to

    the part of the hook containing the final ien, which is designated

    perhaps by the character I’un, and looks along the initials

    until he comes to cA, which is indicated by the character chany.

    In this column, all the words in the book I’ead or spoken chien^

    OS whatever tone they may be, are placed together according to

    their tones ; and a little practice readily enables a person speaking

    the dialect to use this manual. It is, however, of little or no

    avail to persons speaking other dialects, or to those whose vernacular

    differs much from that of the compiler, whose own ear

    was his only guide. Complete dictionaries have been published

    on the phonetic plan, the largest of which, the ^Vu Che Tun

    Fu^ is arranged with so much minuteness of intonation as to

    puzzle even the best educated natives, and consequently abridge

    its usefulness as an expounder of words.

    The unfitness of either of these modes of arrangement to find an unkno\\Ti character, led to another classification according to their composition, by selecting the most prominent parts of each character as its key, or radical, and grouping those together in which the same key occurred. This plan was adopted subsequently to that of arranging the characters according to the sounds, about a.d. S-IS, when their number was put at

    five hundred and forty-two ; they were afterward reduced to

    tlii-ee hundred and sixty, and toward the close of the Ming dynasty

    finally fixed at two hundred and fourteen in the Tsz* Lui.

    It is now in general use from the adoption of the abridged dictionary, the Kanghi Ts^ Tien / though this number could have been advantageously reduced, as has been shown by Gon^alves, its universal adoption, more than anything else, renders it the best system. All characters found under the same radical are placed consecutively, according to the number of strokes necessary to write them, but no regularity is observed in placing those having the same number of strokes. The term j)rrmitiv6 has been technically applied to the remaining part of the character, which, though perhaps no older than the radical, is conveniently denoted by this word. The characters selected for the radicals are all common ones, and among the most ancient in the language ; they are here grouped according to their meanings in order to show something of the leading ideas followed in combination.

    Corporal.—Body, corpse, head, hair, down, whiskers, face, eye, ear, nose, mouth, teeth, tusk, tongue, hand, heart, foot, hide, leather, skin, wings, feathers, blood, flesh, talons, horn, bones.

    Biological.—Man, woman, child ; horse, sheep, tiger, dog, ox, hog, liog’a head, deer ; tortoise, dragon, reptile, mouse, toad ; bird, gallinaceous fowls; fish ; insect.

    Botanicul. — Herb, grain, rice, wheat, millet, hemp, leeks, melon, pulse, bamboo, sacrificial herb ; wood, branch, sprout, petal.

    Mineral.—Metal, stone, gems, salt, earth.

    Meteorological.—Rain, wind, fire, water, icicle, vapor, sound ; sun, moon, evening •, time.

    Utewtils.—A chest, a measure, a mortar, spoon, knife, bench, couch, crockery, clothes, tiles, dishes, napkin, net, plough, vase, tripod, boat, carriage, pencil ; bow, halberd, arrow, dart, ax, musical reed, drum, seal.

    Descriptives.—Black, white, yellow, azure, carnation, sombre ; color ; high, long, sweet, square, large, small, strong, lame, slender, old, fragrant, acrid, perverse, base, opposed.

    Actions.—To enter, to follow, to walk slowly, to arrive at, to stride, to walk, to run, to reach to, to touch, to stop, to fly, to overspread, to envelop, to encircle, to establish, to overshadow, to adjust, to distinguish, to divine, to see, to eat, to speak, to kill, to fight, to oppose, to stop, to embroider, to owe, to compare, to imitate, to bring forth, to use, to promulge.

    Miscellaneous.—A desert, cave, field, den, mound, hill, valley, rivulet, cliff, retreat. A city ; roof, gate, door, portico. One, two, eight, ten. Demon ; an inch, mile ; without, not, false ; a scholar, statesman, letters ; art, wealth; motion ; self, myself, father ; a point ; again ; wine ; silk ; joined hands ; a long journey ; print of a bear’s foot ; a surname ; classifier of cloth.

    The number of characters found under each of these radicals

    in Kanghi’s Dictionary varies from five up to one thousand three

    hundred and fifty-four. The radical is not uniformly placed,

    but its usual position is on the left of the primitive. Some occur

    on the top, others on the bottom ; son)e inclose the primitive,

    and many have no fixed place, making it evident that no uniform

    plan was adopted in the original construction. They must be

    thoroughly learned before the dictionary can be readily used.

    RADICALS AND PRIMITIVES. 593

    and some practice had before a cliaracter can be qnickly found.’

    Tlie groups occurring under a niajoi-ity of tlie radicals are more

    or less natural in their general meaning, a feature of the language

    wbich has already been noticed (page 375), Some of

    the radicals are interchanged, and characters having the same

    meaning sometimes occur under two or three different ones—

    variations which seem to have arisen from the little importance

    of a choice out of two or three similar radicals. Thus the same

    word tsien. ‘a small cup,’ is written under the three radicals

    gein^ jmreelain^ and liorn^ originally, no doubt, referring to the

    material for making it. This interchange of radicals adds

    greatly to the number of duplicate forms, which are still further

    increased by a similar interchange of primitives having the

    same sound. These two changes very seldom occur in the same

    character, but there are numerous instances of synonymous

    forms under almost every radical, arising from an intei”change

    of primitives, and also under analogous radicals caused by their

    reciprocal use. Thus, from both these causes, there are, under

    the radical riia^ ‘ a horse,’ one hundred and eighteen duplicate

    forms, leaving two hundred and ninety-three different words ;

    of the two hundred and four characters under nm, ‘an ox,’

    thirty-nine are synonymous forms ; and so under other radicals.

    These characters do not difFer in meaning more thanfavor and

    favour, or lady and larhje ; they are mere variations in the

    form of writing, and though apparently adding greatly to the

    number of characters, do not seriously increase the difficulty of

    learning; the language.

    Variants of other descriptions frequently occur in books,

    which needlessly add to the labor of learning the language.

    Ancient forms are sometimes adopted by pedantic writers to

    show their learning, while ignorant and careless writers use

    abridged or vulgar forms, because they either do not know the

    correct form, or are heedless in using it. AVhen such is the

    case, and the character cannot be found in the dictionary, the

    reader is entirely at fault, especially if he be a foreigner^

    though in China itself he would not experience much difficulty

    ‘ Easy Lessons in Chinese, pp. 8-29 ; Chinese Repository, Vol. III. , pp. 1-37Vol. I.—38

    where the natives were at liaiid to refer to. Vulgar forms are

    very commori in cheap books and letters, which are as unsanctioned

    by the dictionaries and good nsage, as cockney

    Dhrases or miner’s slang are in pure English. They arise,

    either from a desire on the part of the writer to save time by

    makinsr a contracted form of few strokes instead of the correct

    character of many strokes ; or he uses common words to express

    an energetic vulgar phrase, for which there are no authorized

    characters, but which will be easily understood phonetically by

    his readers. These characters would perchance not be understood

    at all outside of the range of the author’s dialect, because

    the phrase itself was new ; their individual meaning, indeed,

    has nothing to do with the interpretation of the sentence, for in

    this case they are merely signs of sound, like words in other languages, and lose their lexigraphic character. For instance,

    the words Ma-fi for coffee, hajMan for captain, ml-sz” for Mr ,

    etc., however they were written, would be intelligible to a

    native of Canton if they expressed those sounds, because he was

    familiar with the words themselves ; but a native of Shensi

    would not understood them, because, not knowing the things

    intended, he would naturally refer to the characters themselves

    for the meaning of the phrase, and thus be wholly misled.

    In such cases, the characters become mere syllables of a phonetic

    word. Foreign names are often transliterated by writers

    on geography or history, and their recognition is no easy task

    to their readers.’

    In addition to the variations in the forms of characters, there

    are six different styles of writing them, which correspond to

    black-letter, script, italic, roman, etc., in English. The first is

    called Chuen shu (from the name of the person who invented it),

    which foreigners have styled the seal cliaractet^ from its use in

    seals and ornamental inscriptions. It is next to the picture hieroglyphics,

    the most ancient fashion of writing, and has undergone

    many changes in the course of ages. It is studied by those who

    cut seals or inscriptions, but no books are ever printed in it.

    ‘ One may gain some idea of this difficulty by referring to the geographical names contained in the Russo-Chinese Treaty, quoted on page 215.

    EI Bm 13 HI EJ 5t EI J3H 5? Q Q B a nB[$1

    SIX STYLES OF ClIINESK CIIAIJACTEKS. 597

    The second is the 11 shi, or style of official attendants, which

    was introduced about the (-hristian era, as an elegant style to be

    employed in engrossing docuinonts. It is now seen in prefaces

    and formal inscriptions, and re(|uires no special study to read it,

    as it differs but sliglitly from the following.

    The third is the Jiial ^s/^ //, or pattern style, and has been gradually

    formed by the improvements in good writing. It is the

    usual form of Chinese characters, and no man can claim a literary

    name among his countrymen if he cannot write neatly and

    correctly in this style.

    The fourth is called king shu, or running hand, and is the common hand of a neat writer. It is frequently used in prefaces and inscriptions, scrolls and tablets, and there are books prepared in parallel columns having this and the pattern style arranged for school-boys to learn to write both at the same time. The running hand cannot be read without a special study ; and although this labor is not very serious when the language of books is familiar, still to become well acquainted with l^oth of them withdraws many days and months of the pupil from progress in acquiring knowledge to learning two modes of writing the same word.

    The fifth style is called t.’^ao tsz\ or plant character, and is a

    fi-eer description of running hand than the preceding, being full

    of abbreviations, and the pencil runs from character to character,

    without taking it from the paper, almost at the writer’s fancy.

    It is more difficult to read than the preceding, but as the abbreviations

    are somewhat optional, the tsao tsz’ varies considerably,

    and more or less resembles the running hand according to the

    will of the writer. The fancy of the Chinese for a ” flowing

    pencil,’” and a mode of writing where the elegance and freedom of

    the caligraphy can be admired as much or more than the style or

    sentiment of the writing, as well as the desire to contract their

    nuiltangular characters as much as possible, has contributed to introduce

    and perpetuate these two styles of writing. How much

    all these varieties of form superadd to the difficulty of learning

    the mere apparatus of knowledge need hardly be stated.

    The sixth style is called Sung shu, and was introduced under

    the Sung dynasty in the tenth century, soon after printing on wooden blocks was invented. It differs from the third style, merely in a certain squareness and angularity of stroke, which transcribers for the press only are obliged to learn. Of these six forms of writing, the pattern style and running hand are the only two which the people learn to any great extent, although many acquire the knowledge of some words in the seal character, and the running hand of every person, especially those engaged in business, approaches more or less to the plant character. But foreigners will seldom find time or inclination to learn to write more than one form, to be able to read and communicate on all occasions.

    Besides these styles, there are fanciful ones, called * tadpole charactei’s,’ in imitation of various objects ; ‘ the Emperor Kienhmg brought together thirty-two of them in an edition of his poem, the Elegy ujwn the City of Mukden.^

    All the strokes in the characters are reduced to eight elementarv

    ones, which are contained in the single character ^yung, ‘eternal.’

    A dot, a line, a perpendicular, u hook, a siiikc, ;i sweep, ii sroke, a dash-line.

    Each of these is subdivided into many forms in copy-books,

    having particular names, with directions how to write them,

    and numerous examples introduced under each stroke/

    ‘ The writer has an edition of the Thouftdnd Chnradcv Clitsxtr, containing each couplet or eight words in a different form of character, making one hundred and twenty-five styles of type—too grotesque to be imitated, and probably never actually in use.

    •’ See page TJ3. In order that the Manchu portion of this famous poem might not appear inferior to the Chinese, the Emperor ordered thirty-two varieties of Manchu characters to be invented and published in like manner with the others. Remusat, Melanges, Tome II., p. 59. Pere Amiot, El/)ge de la ViUe de Moiikden. Trad, eii frant^oin. Paris, 1770.

    • Chinese Chrestomatlii/, Chap. I., Sees. 5 and 6, where the rules for writing

    Chinese are given in full with numerous examples; Easy Lessons in Chinese,

    ‘a 59; Chinese liepositvrj/, Vol. III., p. 37.

    ELEMENTARY STROKES OF THE CHARACTERS, 599

    The Chinese regard their characters as highly elegant, and

    take unwearied pains to learn to write them in a beautiful,

    uniform, well-proportioned manner. Students are provided

    with a painted board upon which to practise with a brush

    dipped in blackened water. The articles used in writing, collectively

    called wan fang sz’ jpao^ or ‘ four precious things of

    the library,’ are the pencil, ink, paper, and ink stone. The

    best pencils ai’e made of the bristly hair of the sable and fox,

    and cheaper ones from the deer, cat, wolf and rabbit ; camel’s

    hair is not used. K combination of softness and elasticity is

    required, and those who are skilled in their use discern a difference

    and an excellence altogether imperceptible to a novice.

    The hairs are laid in a regular manner, and when tied up are

    brought to a delicate tip ; the handle is made of the twigs of

    a bamboo cultivated for the purpose. The ink, nsually known

    as India ink, is made fi-om the soot of burning oil, pine, fir,

    and other substances, mixed with glue or isinglass, and scented.

    It is formed into oblong cakes or cylinders, inscribed with the

    maker’s name, the best kinds being put up in a very tasteful

    manner. A singular error formerlv obtained credence”regarding

    this Ink, that it was inspissated from the fluid found in the

    cuttle-fish. When used, the ink is rubbed with water upon

    argillite, marble, or other stones, some of which are cut and

    ground in a beautiful manner. Chinese paper is made from

    bamboo, by triturating the woody fibre to a pulp in mortars

    after the pieces have been soaked in ooze, and then taking it

    up in moulds ; the pulp is sometimes mixed with a little cotton fiber. Inferior sorts are made entirely from cotton refuse; and in the North, where the bamboo does not grow, the bark of the Brotissonetia, or paper mulberry, furnishes material for a tough paper used for windows, wrappings, and account

    books, etc. Bamboo paper has no sizing in it, and is a frail

    material for preserving valuable writings, as it is easily destroyed

    by insects, mildew, or handling.’

    ‘ Journal Asiatic Soc. Bengal, Vol. III. (Sept., 1834), p. 477. S. Julien in the Revue de I’ Orient et de VAlyerie, XX., p. 74, 1856.

    In the days of Confucius, pieces of bamboo pared thin, palm leaves, and reeds, were all used for writing upon with a sharp stick or stile. About the third century before Christ, silk and cloth were employed, and hair pencils made for writing. Paper was invented about the first century, and cotton-paper may have been brought from India, where it was in use more than a hundred years before. India ink was manufactured by the seventh century ; and the present mode of printing upon blocks was adopted from the discovery of Fungtau in the tenth century, of taking impressions from engraved stones. In the style of their notes and letters, the Chinese show both neatness and elegance; narrow slips of tinted paper are employed, on which various eml)leniatic designs are stamped in water lines, and enclosed in fanciful envelopes. It is common to affix a cipher instead of the name, or to close with a periphrasis or sentence well understood by the parties, and thereby avoid any signature; this, which originated, no doubt, in a fear of interception and unpleasant consequences, has gradually become a common mode of subscribing friendly epistles.

    The mode of printing is so well litted for the language that

    few improvements have been made in its manipulations, while

    the cheapness of books brings them within reach of tfie poorest.

    Cutting the blocks, and writing the characters, form two distinct

    branches of the business : printing the sheets, binding the

    volumes, and publishing the books, also furnish employment to

    other craftsmen. The first step is to write the characters upon

    thin paper, properly ruled with lines, two pages being cut upon

    one block, and a heavy double line surrounding them. The

    title of the work, chapter, and paging are all cut in a central

    column, and wdien the leaf is printed it is folded through this

    column so as to bring the characters on the edge and partly on

    both pages. Marginal notes are placed on the top of the page ;

    comments, when greatly extended, occupy the upper part, separated

    from the text by a heavy line, or when mci-e scholia, are

    interlined in the same column in characters of half the size.

    Sometimes two works are printed togethei-, one running through

    the volume on the upper half of the leaves, and separated from

    that occupying the lower half by a heavy line. Illustrations

    usually occupy separate pages at the connnencement of the

    PAPER AND PRINTING. 60l

    Look, but there are a few works with woodcuts of a wretched

    description, inserted in tlie body of the page. In books printed

    by government, each page is sometimes surrounded with dragons,

    or the title page is adorned in red by this emblem of imperial

    authority.

    When the leaf has been written out as it is to be printed, it

    is turned over and pasted upon the block, face downward.

    The wood usually used by blockcutters is pear or plum ; the

    boards are half or three-fourths of an inch thick, and planed

    fur cutting on both sides. The paper, when dried upon the

    board, is carefully rubbed off with the wetted finger, leaving

    every character and stroke plainly delineated. The cutter then,

    with his chisels, cuts away all the blank spots in and around

    the characters, to the depth of a line or more, after which the

    block is ready for the printer, whose machinery is very simple.

    Seated before a bench, he lays the block on a bed of paper so

    that it will not move nor chafe. The pile of paper lies on

    one side, the pot of ink before him, and the pressing brush on

    the other. Taking the ink brush, he slightly rubs it across the

    block twice in such a way as to lay the ink e(juably over the

    surface ; he then places a sheet of paper upon it, and over that

    another, which serves as a tympanum. The impi-ession is

    taken with the fibrous bark of the gonuiti palm ; one or two

    sweeps across the block complete the impression, for only one

    side of the paper is printed. Another and cheaper method in

    common use for publishing slips of news, court circulars, etc.,

    consists in cutting the characters in blocks of hard wax, from

    which as many as two hundred impi-essions can often be taken

    before they become entirely illegible. The ink is manufactured

    from lampblack mixed with vegetable oil ; the printers

    grind it for themselves.

    The sheets are taken by the binder, who folds them through

    the middle by the line around the pages, so that the columns

    shall register with each other, he then collates them into volumes,

    placing the leaves evenly by their folded edge, when the

    whole are arranged, and the covers ])asted on each side. Two

    pieces of paper stitch it through the back, the book is triinmed,

    and sent to the bookseller. If required, it is stitched firmly with thread, but this part, as well as writing the title on the bottom edges of the volume, and making the pasteboard wrapper, are usually deferred till the taste of a purchaser is ascertained.

    Books made of such materials are not as dm-able as European

    volumes, and those who can afford the expense frequent!}’ have

    valuable works inclosed in wooden boxes. They are printed of

    all sizes between small sleeve editions (as the Chinese call 2-i

    and 32 mos) up to quartos, twelve or fourteen inches square,

    larger than which it is difficult to get blocks.

    The price varies from one cent—for a brochure of twentyfive

    or thirty pages—to a dollar and a half a volume. It is

    seldom higher save for illustrated works. A volume rarely

    contains more than a hundred leaves, and in fine books their

    thickness is increased by inserting an extra sheet inside of each

    leaf. At Canton or Fuhchau, the ITlstopy of the Three States^

    bound in twenty-one volumes 12mo, printed on white paper, is

    usually sold for seventy-five cents or a dollar per set.

    Kanghfs Dictionary, in twenty-one volumes 8vo, on yellow

    paper, sells for four dollars ; and all the nine classics can be

    purchased for less than two. Books are hawked about the

    streets, circulating libraries are carried from house to house

    upon movable stands, and booksellers’ shops are frequent in

    large towns. No censorship, other than a prohibition to write

    about the present dynasty, is exercised upon the pi-ess ; nor are

    authors protected by a copyright law. Men of wealth sometimes

    show their literary taste by defraying the expense of getting

    the blocks of extensive works cut, and publishing them

    Pwan Sz’-ching, a wealthy merchant at Canton, published, in

    1846, an edition of the Pei Wan Yun Fu, in one hundred and

    thirty thick octavo volumes, the blocks for which nnist have

    cost him more than ten thousand dollars. The number of good

    impressions which can be obtained from a set of blocks is about

    sixteen thousand, and by retouching the characters, ten thousand

    more can be struck off.

    The disadvantages of this mode of printing are that other

    languages cannot easily be introduced into the page with the

    Chinese characters; tlie blocks occupy mudi room, are easily

    spoiled (jr lost ; and are incapable of correction without much

    THE MANUFACTUKE OF CHINESE BOOKS. 603

    expense. It possesses some compensatory adv^antages peculiar

    to the Chinese and its cognate languages, Manchu, Corean, Japanese, etc., all of which are written with a brush and have few or no circular strokes. Its convenience and cheapness, coupled with the low rate of wages, will no doubt make it the common mode of printing Chinese among the people for a long time.

    The honor of being the first inventor of movable tj^pes undoubtedly

    belongs to a Chinese blacksmith named Pi Shing, who

    lived about a.d. 1000, and printed books with them nearly five

    hundred years before Gutenberg cut his matrices at Mainz.

    They were made of plastic clay, hardened by fire after the

    characters had been cut on the soft surface of a plate of clay in

    which they were moulded. The porcelain types were then set

    up in a frame of iron partitioned off l)y strips, and inserted in a

    cement of wax, resin, and lime to fasten them down. The printing

    was done by rubbing, and when completed the types were

    loosened by melting the cement, and made clean for another impression.

    This invention seems never to have been developed to any

    practical application in superseding block-printing. The Emperor

    Kanghi ordered about two hundi-ed and fifty thousand

    copper types to be engraved for pi-inting publications of the government,

    and these works are now highly prized for their beauty.

    The cupidity of his successors led to melting these types into

    cash, but his grandson Kienlung directed the casting of a large

    font of lead types for government use.

    The attention of foreigners was early called to the preparation

    of Chinese movable types, especially for the rapid manufacture

    of religious books, in connection with missionary work. The

    first fonts were made by P. P. Thoms, for the E, I. Company’s

    office at Macao in 1S15, for the purpose of printing Morrison’s

    Dictionary. The characters were cut with chisels on blocks of

    type metal or tin, and though it was slow work to cut a full

    font, they gradually grew in numbers and variety till they served

    to print over twenty dictionaries and other works, designed

    to aid in learning Chinese, befoi-e they were destroyed by fire

    in 1856. A small font had been cast at Serampore in 1815, and in 1838, the Rojal Printing Office at Paris had obtained a set of blocks engraved in China, fi-om which thick castings were made and the separate types obtained by sawing the plates.

    M. Le Grand, a type-founder in Paris, about the year 1836, prepared an extensive font of type with comparatively few matrices, by casting the radical and primitive on separate bodies; and the plan has been found, within certain limits, to save so much expense and room that it has been adopted in other fonts.

    These experiments in Europe showed the feasibility of making

    and using Chinese type to any extent, but their results as to elegance

    and accuracy of form were not satisfactory^, and proved

    that native workmen alone could meet the native taste. Pev.

    Samuel Dyer of the London Mission at Singapore began in

    1838, under serious disadvantages, for he was not a practical

    printer, to cut the matrices for tM’O complete fonts. He continued

    at his self-appointed task until his death in 18-±4r, having

    completed only one thousand eight hundred and forty-five

    punches. His work was continued by P. Cole, of the American

    Presbyterian Missions, a skilful mechanic in his line, and in

    1851 he was able to furnish fonts of two sizes with four thousand

    seven hundred characters each. Their form and style met every

    requirement of the most fastidious taste, and they are now in

    constant use.

    While Mr. Dyer’s fonts were suspended by his death, an attempt

    was made by a benevolent printer, Ilerr Peyerhaus of

    Berlin, to make one of an intermediate size on the Le Grand

    principle of divisible types ; his proposal was taken up by the

    Presbyterian Board of Missions in New York, and after many

    delays a beautiful font was completed and in use about 1859.

    At this time, Mr. W. Gamble of that Mission in Shanghai, carried

    out his plan of making matrices by the electrotype process,

    and completed a large font of small pica type in about as many

    months as Dyer and Beyerhaus had taken years. By means of

    these various fonts books are now printed in many parts of

    China, in almost any style, and type foundries cast in whatever

    quantities are needed. The government has opened an extensive

    printing office in Peking, and its example will encourage

    native booksellers to unite typography with xylographic print*

    MOVABLE CHINESE TYPES MADE BY FOREIGNERS. 6(>R

    ing. More than this as conducing to the diffusion of knowledge

    among the people is the stimulus these cheap fonts of type have

    given to the circulation of newspapers in all the ports ; but for

    their convenient and economical use (Hiinese newsjia}»ers could

    not have been printed at all. It will be quite within the reach

    of native workmen, who are skilled in electrotjping, stereotjp

    ing, and casting type, to make types of all sizes and styles for

    their own books, as the growing intelligence of the people creates

    a demand for illustrated and scientific publications, as well as cheap ones.’

    Nothing has conduced more to a misapprehension of the nature of the Chinese language than the way in which its phonetic character has been spoken of by different authors. Some, describing the primitive symbols, and the modifications they have undergone, have conveyed the impression that the whole language consisted of hieroglyphic or ideographic signs, which depicted ideas, and conveyed their meaning entirely to the eye, irrespective of the sound. For instance, Ilemusat says, ” The character is not the delineation of the sound, nor the sound the expression of the character ; ” forgetting to ask himself how or when a character in any language ever delineated a sound. Yet every Chinese character is sounded as much ;is the words in alphabetic languages, and some have more than one to express their different meanings ; so that, although the character could not delineate the sound of the thing it denoted, the sound is the expression of the character. Others, as Mr. Lay,* have dissected the characters, and endeavored to trace back some analogy in the meanings of all those in which the same primitive is found, and by a sort of analysis, to find out how much of the signification of the radical w^as infused into the primitive to form the present meaning. His plan, in general terms, is to take all the characters containing a certain primitive, and find out how much of the meaning of that primitive is contained in each one ; then he reconstructs the series by defining the primitive, incidentally showing the intention of the fraaners of the characters in choosing tliat particular one, and apportioning so much of its aggregate meaning to each character as is needed, and adding the meaning of the radical to form its whole signification. If we understand his plan, he wishes to construct a formula for each group containing the same primitive, in which the signification of the primitive is a certain function in that of all the characters containing it ; to add up the total of their meanings, and divide the amount among the characters, allotting a quotient to each one. Languages are not so formed, however, and the Chinese is no exception. Some of Mr. Lay’s statements are correct, but his theory is fanciful. It is impossible to decide what proportion was made by combining a radical and a primitive with any reference to their meanings, according to IVIr. Lay’s theory, and how many of them Mere simply phonetic combinations ; probably nine-tenths of the compound characters have been constructed on the latter principle.

    1 Chinese RepoHilorij, Vol. III., pp. 246-253, 528 ; Vol. XIV., p. 124; Mi*sionary Rerarder, Jamiiiry, 1875.•^ Cidnetie an They .l;-, ,”ciiap. XXXIV.

    The fifth class of syllabic symbols were formed by combining

    the symbolic and syllabic systems, so as to represent sound

    chiefly, but bearing in the construction of each one some reference

    to its general signification. The original hieroglyphics contained

    no sound, i.e., were not formed of phonetic constituents;

    the object depicted had a name, but there was no clue to it. It

    was impossible to do both—depict the object, and give its name

    in the same chai-acter. At first, the number of people using

    these ideographic symbols being probably small, every one

    called them by the same name, as soon as he knew what they

    represented, and began to read them. But when the ideas attempted

    to be \vritten far exceeded in number the symbols, or,

    what is more likely, the invention of the limmers, recourse was

    had to the combination of the symbols already understood to express

    the new idea. This was done in several modes, as noticed

    above, but the syllabic system needs further explanation, from

    the extent to which it has been carried. The character ^^ nan,

    to denote the young of the locust, has been adduced. The

    same principle would be applied in reading every new character,

    of which the phonetic primitive merely was recognized, although

    its mtaniny; mioht not 1)0 known. Probablv all the characters

    in the fifth class were sounded in strict accordance with their

    PHONETIC CHARACTER OF THE LANGUAGE. 607

    phonetic primitives when constructed, but usage has changed

    some of their sounds, and many characters belonging to other

    classes, apparently containing the same primitive, are sounded

    quite differentl}- ; this tends to mislead those who infer the

    sound from the primitive. This mode of constructing and

    naming the characters also explains the reason why there are S6

    few sounds compared with the number of characters ; the phonetic

    primitive perpetuated its name in all its progeny.

    More than seven-eighths of the characters have been formed from less than two thousand symbols, and it is ditScult to imagine how it could have been used so long and widely without some such method to relieve the memory of the burden of retaining thousands of arbitrary marks. But, until the names and meanings of the original symbols are learned, neither the sound nor sense of the compound characters will be more apparent to a Chinese than they are to any one else ; until those are known, their combinations cannot be understood, nor even then the meaning wholly deduced ; each character must be learned by itself, just as words in other languages. The sounds given the original symbols doubtless began to vary early after coming into use. Intercommunication between different parts of the country was not so frequent as to prevent local dialects from arising ; but however strong the tendency of the spoken monosyllables to coalesce into polysyllables, the intractable symbols

    kept them apart. It is surprising, too, what a tendency the

    mind has to trust to the eye rather than to the ear, in getting

    and retaining the sense of a book ; it is shown in many ways,

    and arises from habit more than any real difficulty in catching

    the idea viva voce. If the characters could have coalesced,

    their names would soon have run together, and been modified

    as they are in other languages. The classics, dictionaries, and

    unlimited uses of a written language, maintained the same meaning; but as their sounds must be learned traditionally, endless variations and patois arose. Moreover, as new circumstances and increasing knowledge give rise to new words in all countries, so in China, new scenes and expressions arise requiring to be incorporated into the written language. Originally they were unwritten though well understood sounds ; and when first writ;-ten must be explained, as is the case with foreign words like tahu, ukdse, visie?’, etc., ad injin., when introduced into English. Different writers might, however, employ different primitives to express the sound, not aware that it had already been written, and hence woidd arise synonyms ; the\’ might use dissimilar radicals, and this as well would increase the modes of writing the sound. But the inconvenience of thus nndtiplyhig characters would be soon perceived in the obscurity of the sentence, for if the new character was not in the dictionary, its sound and composition were not enough to explain the meaning. When the language had attained a certain copiousness, the mode of education and the style of literary works compelled scholars to employ such characters only as were sanctioned by good use, or else run the risk of not being understood.

    The unwritten sounds, however, could not wait for this slow mode of adoption, but the risk of being misunderstood by using characters phonetically led to descriptive terms, conveying the idea and not the sound. Where alphabetic languages adopt a technic for a new thing, the Chinese make a new phrase. This is illustrated by the terms Iluny-rnao jin, or ‘ lied Bristled men,’ for Englishmen ; llwa-Vi^ or ‘ Flowery Flag,’ for Americans; Sl-yany^ or ‘ Western Ocean,’ for Portuguese, etc., used at Canton, instead of the proper names of those countries. Cause and effect act reciprocally upon each other in this instance ; the effect of using unsanctioned characters to express unwritten sounds, is to render a composition obscure, while the restriction to a set of characters compels their meaning to be sufficiently comprehensive to include all occasions. Local, unwritten phrases, and unauthorized characters, are so common, however, owing to the partial communication between distant parts of so great a country and mass of people, that it is evident, if this bond of union were removed by the substitution of an alphabetical language, the Chinese would soon be split into many small nations. However desirable, therefore, might be the introduction of a written language less difficult of acquisition, and more flexible, there are some reasons for w-ishing it to be dela^’ed until more intelligence is diffused and juster principles of government obtain. When the people themselves feel the need of it, they M’ill contriv^e some better mediuni for the promotion of knowledge.

    MODES OF INCORPORATING NEW WORDS. 609

    The nionosjllabic sound of the primitive once imparted to the ideophonous compound, explains the existence of so many characters having the same sound. When these various characters were presented to the eye of the scholar, no trouble wf s felt in recognizing their sense and sound, but confusion was experienced in speaking. This has been obviated in two wavs.

    One is by repeating a word, or joining two of similar meanings

    but of different sounds, to convey a single idea ; or else by adding

    a classifying word to express its nature. Both these modes

    do in fact form a real dissyllable, and it would appear so in an

    alphabetical language. The first sort of these Jden-hioh sz\ or

    ‘ clam-shell words,’ as they are called, are not unfrequent in books,

    far more common in conversation and render the spoken more

    diffuse than tlie written language—more so, perhaps, than is the

    case in other tongues. Similar combinations of three, four, and

    more characters occur, especially where a foreign article or term

    is translated, but the genius of the language is against the use

    of polysyllables. Such combinations in English as household^

    house- tcarinin’j, JiouseirJfe, house-room, houseleeks, hot-house,

    icood-house, household-stuff, etc., illustrate these dissyllables in

    Chinese ; but they are not so easily understood. Such terms as

    uiulerstand, eourtshij), withdraw, iqyright, etc., present better

    analogies to the Chinese compounds. In some the real meaning

    is totally unlike either of the terms, as tunghia (lit. ‘ east liouse’),

    for master; tungsl {\\t. ‘east wesf), for thing; Txungchu (lit. ‘ lord ruler ‘), for princess, etc. The classifiers partake of the nature of adjectives, and serve not only to sort different words, but the same word when nsed in different senses. They correspond to such words in English as herd, feet, troop, etc. To say a fleet of cows, a troop of ships, or a herd of soldiers, would be ridiculous only in English, but a similar misapplication would confuse the sense in Chinese.

    The other M-ay of avoiding the confusion of homophonons monosyllables, which, notwithstanding the “clam-shell words,” and the extensive use of classifiei’s, are still liable to misapprehension, is by accurately marking its right shing or tone, but as nothing analogous to them is found in European languages, it is rather difficult to describe them. At Canton there are eight arranged in an upper and lower series of four each ; at Peking there are only four, at Nanking five, and at Swatow seven. The Chinese printers sometimes mark the shing on certain ambiguous characters, by a semicircle put on one corner; but this is rarely done, as every one who can read is supposed to know how to speak, and consequently to be familiar with the right tone.

    These four tones are called 2^’^^”J-> ^^””*^? ^’h ^n<3 j’^h meaning, respectively, the even^ asccnduiy, dejyarthuj^ and cnterhig tone. They are applied to every word, and have nothing to do either with accent or emphasis; in asking or answering, entreating or refusing, railing or flattering, soothing or recriminating, they remain ever the same. The unlettered natives, ev^en children and females, who know almost nothing of the distinctions into four, five, seven, or eight shiny, observe them closely in their speech, and detect a mispronunciation as soon as the learned man. A single illustration of them will suffice. The i:ven tone is the natural expression of the voice, and native writers consider it the most important. In the sentence, ” When I asked him, ‘ Will you let me see it ? ‘ he said, ‘ No, I’ll do no such thing, ‘” the different cadence of the question and reply illustrate the upper and lower even tone. The ascending tone is heard in exclamatory words as ah! indeed ! It is a little like the crescendo in music, while the departing tone corresponds in the same degree to the diminuendo. The drawling tone of repressed discontent, grumbling and eking out a reply, is not uidike the departing tone. The entering tone is nearly eliminated in the northern provinces, but gives a marked feature to speech in the southern ; it is an abrupt ending, in the same modulation that the even tone is, but as if broken off ; a man about to say hc1i\ and taken with a hiccup in the middle so that he leaves off the last two letters, or the final consonant, pronounces ihejuh shing.

    A few characters have two tones, which give them different meanings; the ^>/yi//.s’A7’r?^ often denotes the substantive, and the hil shing, the verb, but there is no regularity in this respect.

    “clam-shell words” and tones. 611

    The tones are observed by natives of all ranks, speaking all patois and dialects, and on all occasions. They present a serious difficulty to the adult foreigner of preaching or speaking acceptably to the natives, for although by a proper use of classifiers, observance of idioms, and multiplication of synonyms, he may be understood, his speech will be rude and his words distasteful, if he does not learn the tones accurate!}’. In Amoy and Fuhchau, he will also run a risk of being misunderstood. If the reader, in perusing the following sentence, will accent the italicized syllables, he will have an imperfect illustration of the confusion a wrong intonation produces : ” The ipresent of that object occasioned such a tvunsjwrt as to rtJstract my mind from all around.” In Chinese, however, it is not accent upon one of two syllables which must be learned, but the integral tone of a single sound, as much as in the musical octave.

    It is unnecessary here to enter into any detailed description or enumeration of the words in the Chinese language. One remarkable feature is the frequency of the termination mj preceded by all the vowels, which imparts a peculiar singing character to Chinese speech, as Kwangtung^ Yangtsz’ kiang^ etc. In a list of sounds in the court dialect, about one-sixth of the syllables have this termination, but a larger proportion of characters are found under those syllables, than the mere list indicates.

    In Morrison’s Dictionary the number of separate words in the court dialect is 411, but if the aspirated syllables be distinguished, there are 533. In the author’s Sgllahic Dictionary the number is 532 ; Wade reduces the Peking dialect to 397 syllables in one list, and increases it to 420 in another. In the Cantonese there are 707 ; in the dialect of Swatow, 674 ; at Amoy, about 900 ; at Fuhchau, 928 ; and 660 at Shanghai. All these lists distinguish between aspirated and unaspirated words, as ting and tHng^ jm and p’a, which to an English ear are nearly identical. The largest part of the sounds ai-e common to the dialects, but the distinctions are such as to render it easy to detect each when spoken ; the court dialect is the most mellifluous of the whole and easiest to acquire. All the consonants in English are found in one or another of the dialects, besides many not occurring in that language, as hii\ chit\ gw^ jw, Iw, mw^ nw, etc. There are also several imperfect vowel sounds not known in any European language, as hni or ‘in, hn or ‘/c, “^’a high nasal sound), s.i’, ‘/7^, cJi\ etc. The phrase ‘m ”ng tdk in the Canton dialect, meaning cannot hejmshed, or cliah^^ mai” lany^’ a blind man,’ in the x\moy, cannot be so accurately expressed by these or any other letters that one can learn the sound from them. If it is difficult for us to express their sounds by Roman letters, it is still stranger for the Chinese to write English words.

    For instance, ha2)tlze in the Canton dialect hecou\QB jKi-j/i-tai-sz’; flannel becomesfat-Ian-j/in ^’ stairs hecomes, sz’-ta-sz’ / imjypegnable becomes iin-pi-lak-na-jpu-Vi / etc. Such words as AVasliington, nihlslirpnian, tongue, etc., can be written nearer their true sound, but the indivisible Chinese monosyllables offer a serious obstacle in the way of introducing foreign words and knowledge into the language.

    The preceding observations explain how the numerous local variations from the general language found in all parts of China have arisen. Difficult as the spoken language is for a foreigner to acquire, from the brevity of the words and nicety of their tones, the variety of the local pronunciations given to the same character adds not a little to the labor, especially if he be situated where he is likely to come in contact with persons from different places. Amid such a diversity of pronunciation, and where one sound is really as correct as another, it is not easy to define what should constitute a dialect, a patois, or a corruption.

    COURT, OR MANDARIN DIALECT. 613

    A dialect in other languages is usually described as a local variation in pronunciation, or the use of peculiar words and expressions, not affecting the idiom or grammar of the tongue; but in the Chinese, where the written character unites the mass of people in one language, a dialect has been usually regarded by those who have written on the subject, as extending to variations in the idiom, and not restricted to differences in pronunciation and local expressions. According to this definition, there are only four or five dialects (which would in fact be as many languages if they were not united by the written character), but an endless variety of patois or local pronunciations. The Chinese have published books to illustrate the court, Changchau or Amoy, the Canton and Fuhchau dialects. The differences in the idiTHE oms and proiinnciatioii tire such as to render persons speaking them nnitnally nnintelligible, but do not affect the style of writing, wliose idioms are founded upon tlie usage of the best writers, and remain unchanged.

    The court language, the kivan hira, or mandarin dialect, is rather the proper language of the country—the Chinese language—than a dialect. It is studied and spoken by all educated men, and no one can make any pretence to learning or accomplishments who cannot converse in it in whatever part of the Empire he may be boni. It is the common language throughout the northeastern provinces, especially Honan, Shantung, and Xganhwui, though presetiting more or less variations even in them from the standard of the court and capital.

    This speech is characterized by its soft and mellifluous tones, the absence of all harsh, consonantal endings, and the prevalence of li(j[uids and labials. In parts of the provinces where it is spoken, as the eastern portions of Chehkiang and Kiangsu, gutturals are common, and the initials softened or changed.

    This tongue is the most ancient speech now spoken, for

    stanzas of poetry written twenty-five centuries ago, in the times

    previous to Confucius, are now i-ead with the same rhymes as

    when peimed. The expressions of the kwan hica, although resembling

    the written language more than the other dialects, are

    still unlike it, being moi’e diffuse, and containing many synonyms

    and particles not required to make the sense clear when

    it is addressed to the eye. The difference is such in this respect

    that two well-educated Chinese speaking in the terse style

    of books would hardly understand each other, and be ol)liged

    to use more words to convey their meaning when speaking than

    they would consider elegant or necessary in an essay. This is.

    to be sure, more or less the case in all languages, but from the

    small variety of sounds and their monosyllabic brevity, it is unavoidable in Chinese, though it must not be inferred that the

    language cannot be written so as to he understood when read

    off ; it call be written as diffusely as it is spoken, but such a

    style is not considered very elegant. There are books written

    in the colloquial, however, from which it is not difficult to learn the style of conversation, and such books are amons: the best to put into the hands of a foreigner when beginning the study.

    The local patois of a place is called tu tan, or hiang tan, i.e..,

    local or village brogue, and there is an interpreter of it attached

    to almost every officer’s court for the purpose of translating the

    peculiar phrases of witnesses and others brought before him.

    The term dialect cannot, strictly, in its previous definition, be

    applied to the tu tan, though it is usually so called; it is a

    patois or brogue. The Canton dialect is called by its citizens

    pak vm, ‘the plain speech,’ because it is more intelligible

    than the court dialect. It is comparatively easy of acquisition,

    and differs less from the kwan /tuca, in its pronunciation and

    idioms, than that of Amoy and its vicinity ; but the diversity

    is still enough to render it unintelligible to people from the

    north. A very few books have been written in it, but none

    which can afford assistance in learning it. A native scholar

    would consider his character for literary attainments almost degraded if he should write books in the provincial dialects, and

    forsake the style of the immortal classics. The principal feature

    in the pronunciation of the Canton dialect which distinguishes

    it from the general language, is the change of the abrupt

    vowel terminations, as lok, kiah, pih, into the well-defined

    consonants l;p, and t, as lok, kaj>, pit, a change that considerably

    facilitates the discrimination of the syllables. The idioms

    of the two cannot well be illustrated without the help of the

    written character, but the differences between the sounds of

    two or three sentences may be exhibited : The phrase, / do not

    understand what he says, is in the

    Court dialect : Wo minjmh tung teh ta kiang shim mo.

    Canton dialect : Ngo -m km k’d kong mat ye.

    The rice contains sand in it.

    Court dialect : JSTa, ko mi yu sha ts2\

    Canton dialect : Ko tlk mai yau sha tsoi noi.

    Kone of the provincial patois differ so much from the kwan

    hwa, and affoi-d so many pcculiai’ities, as those spoken in the

    province of Fuhkicn and eastern portions of Kwangtung. All

    of them are nasal, and, compared with those spoken elsewhere,

    harsh and rougli. They have a large number of unwritten

    DIALECTS OF CAT^TOTST ATVD AMOY. G15

    sounds, and so supply the lack ; the same cliaructcr often has

    one sound when read and another when spoken ; all of them

    are in common use. This cni’ioiis feature obli<ji;es the foreiirner

    to learn two parallel languages when studying this dialect, so

    intimate and yet so distinct are the two. The difference between

    them will be more apparent by quoting a sentence : ” He

    first performed that which was difficult, and afterward imitated

    what was easier.” The corresponding words of the colloquial

    are placed underneath the reading sounds.

    Sien kH su chi se Ian, ji ho fc’i hau chi se te.k.

    Tai seng cho i e su e se oh, ji tui ate k’w”ai e hau (jiciii e se iit lioh.

    The changes from one into the other are exceedingly various

    both in sound and idiom. Thus, Men chien, ‘ before one’s face,’

    becomes hm chan when spoken ; while in the phrase eheng jit,

    ‘ a former day,’ the same word chien becomes cheng and not

    chan ; hoe chu^ ‘ pupil of the eye,’ becomes ang a ; sit hioan.,

    ‘ to eat rice,’ becomes ehiah j>ui^. Their dialect, not less than

    their trafficking spirit, point out the Amoy people wherever

    they are met, and as they are usually found along the whole

    coast and in the Archipelago, and are not understood except by

    their provincial compatriots, they everywhere clan together and

    form separate communities. Dr. Medhurst published a dictionary

    of the Changchau dialect, in which the sounds of the characters

    are given as they are read. Dr. C. Douglas has gathered a

    great vocabulary of words and phrases used in the Amoy colloquial,

    in which he has attempted to reduce everything to the

    liomanized system of writing, and omitted all the characters.

    The dialects of Fuhchau, Swatow, and Canton have been similarly

    investigated by Protestant missionaries. Messrs. Mac! ay

    and Baldwin have taken the former in hand, and their work

    leaves very little to be desired for the elucidation of that speech.

    Goddard’s vocabulary of the Swatow has no examples ; and

    Williams’ Tonic Dictionary of the Canton dialect gave no characters

    with the examples. This deficiency was made up in

    Lobscheid’s rearrangement of it under the radicals.

    The extent to which the dialects are used has not been ascertained, nor the degree of modification each undergoes in those parts where it is spoken ; for villagers within a few miles, althono’h able to understand each other perfectly, still give different sounds to a few characters, and have a few local phrases, enough to distinguish their several inhabitants, while towns one or two hundred miles apart are still more unlike. For instance, the citizen of Canton always says shut for water, and tss’ for child, but the native of Macao says sal and cJd for these two words ; and if his life depended upon his utterhig them as they are spoken in Canton, they would prove a shibboleth which he could not possibly enunciate. Strong peculiarities of speech also exist in the villages between Canton and Macao which are found in neither of those places. Yet whatever sound they give to a character it has the same tone, and a Chinese would be much less surprised to hear water called ttchiimi^ than he would to hear it called \yshui in the lower even tone, instead of its proper ascending tone. The tones really approach vowels in their nature more than mere musical inflections ; and it is by their nice discrimination, that the people are able to understand each other with less difficulty than we might suppose amidst such a jargon of vocables.

    This accurate discrimination in the vowel sounds, and comparative

    indifference to consonants, which characterize the Chinese

    spoken languages, has arisen, no doubt, from the monosyllabic

    nature, and the constant though slight variations the names of

    characters undergo from the traditionary mode in which they

    must be learned. There being no integral sound in any character,

    each and all of them are, of course, equally coi-rect, ^<;^r se /

    but the various general and local dictionaries have each tended

    somewhat to fix the pronunciation, just as books and education

    have fixed the spelling of English words. Nor do the Chinese

    more than other people learn to pronounce their mother tongue

    from dictionaries, and the variations are consequently but partially

    restrained by them. It may truly be said, that no two

    Chinese speak all words alike, while yet, through means of the

    universally understood character, the greatest mass of human

    beings ever collected under one government are enabled to express

    themselves without difficulty, and carry on all the business

    and concerns of life.

    PRONUNCIATION AND GRAMMAR. 617

    The grammar of the Chinese language is unique, but those

    writers who say it has no grammar at all must have overlooked

    the prime signification of the word. There are in all languages words which denote things, and others which signify (jualities; words which express actions done by one or many, already done, doing or to be done ; actions absolute, conditional, or ordered.

    The circumstances of the doer and the subject of the action,

    make prepositions necessary, as well as other connecting words.

    Thus the principles of grammar exist in all intelligible speech,

    though each may require different rules. These rules the Chinese

    language possesses, and their right application, the proper

    collocation of words, and use of particles, which supply the

    place of inflection, constitute a difficult part in its acquisition.

    It has no etymology, properly speaking, for neither the characters

    nor their names undergo any change ; whether used as

    verbs or nouns, adjectives or particles, they remain the same.

    The same word may be a noun, a verb, an adverb, or any part

    of speech, nor can its character be certainly known till it is

    placed in a sentence, when its meaning becomes definite. Its

    grammar, therefore, is confined chiefly to its syntax and prosody.

    This feature of the Chinese language is paralleled in English by

    such words as lights used as a noun, adjective, and verb ; I’lke^

    used as a verb, adjective, and adverb ; she^jj and deei\ used both

    in the singular and plural ; /v«//, used in the past, present, and

    future tenses ; and in all cases without undergoing any change.

    But what is occasional and the exception in that tongue, becomes

    the rule in Chinese ; nor is there any more confusion in the last than in the first.

    A good summary of the principles of Chinese grammar is given by Kemusat, who says that generally, ” In every Chinese sentence, in which nothing is understood, the elements of which it is composed are arranged in the following order : the subject, the verb, the complement direct, and the complement indirect.

    ” Modifying expressions precede those to which they belong : thus, the adjective is placed before the substantive, sub’ect, or complement ; the substantive governed before the verb that governs it ; the adverb before the verb, the proposition incidental, circumstantial, or liypothctical, before the principal proposition, to which it attaches itself by a conjunction expressed or understood.

    ” The relative position of words and phrases thus determined, supplies the place often of every other mark intended to denote their mutual dependence! their character whether adjective or adverhial, positive, conditional, or circumstantial.

    “If the subject be understood, it is because it is a personal pronoun, or that it is expressed above, and that the same substantive that is omitted is found in the preceding sentence, and in the same quality of subject, and not in any other.’

    ‘ If the verb be wanting, it is because it is the substantive verb, or some other easily supplied, or one which has already found place in the preceding sentences, with a subject or complement not the same.’

    ‘ If several substantives follow each other, either they are in construction with each other, or they form an enumeration, or they are synonyms which explain and determine each other.

    ” If several verbs succeed each other, which are not synonyms and are not employed as auxiliaries, the first ones should be taken as adverbs or verbal nouns, the subjects of those which follow; or these latter as verbal nouns, the complements of those which precede.”

    Chinese grammarians divide all words into sMh iss’ and hie tsz\ i.e., essential words and particles. The former are subdivided into 83^ tsz^ and hwoh tsz\ i.e., nouns and verbs; the latter into initials or introductory words, conjunctions, exclamations, finals, transitive particles, etc. They furnish examples under each, and assist the student, with model books, in which the principles of tlie language and all rhetorical terms are explained.

    The number and variety of grammatical and philological works prove that they have not neglected the elucidation and arrangement of their mother tongue. The rules above cited are applicable to the written language, and these treatises refer entirely to that ; the changes in the phraseology of the colloquial do not affect its grammar, however, which is formed upon the same rules.

    PARTS OF SPEECH. 619

    Although the characters are, when isolated, somewhat indefinite, there are many ways of limiting their meaning in sentences. Nouns are often made by suflixing formative particles, diBmtJci, ‘ angry spirit,’ merely means anger ; i M, ‘ righteous spirit,’ is rectitude ; chin ”rh, ‘ needle child,’ is a needle, etc. ; the suffix, in these cases, simply materializing the word. Gender is formed by distinctive particles, prefixed or suffixed by appropriate words for each gender, or by denoting one gender always by a dissyllabic compound ; as inalehem^ji, for the masculine ; \\OY&e-sire, or \iov&Q-‘niother, foi- stallion or dam ; hero, heroine; emperor, empress, etc. ; and lastly as wany-Jatu, /’.c, ]<.mg-quee)t, for queen, while icany alone means Mikj. Xuniher is formed by prefixing a numeral, as ITiduj, Tsin, tioo men ; by suffixing a formative, rnun, tdtuj, and others, us Jt/)-td/uj, man-.w/’/, or men; tamun, he-.s’or they ; by repeating the word, •Asjin-jln, man-man or inen y ehu-cha, place-place, or places, i.e., everywhere ; and jastly, by the scope of the passage. The nominative, accusative, and vocative cases are commonly known by their position; the genitive, dative, and ablative are formed by appropriate prepositions, expressed or understood. The vocative is common in liii’ht reading and historical studies.

    Adjectives precede nouns, by which position they are usually determined. Comparisons are nuide iu many ways. JIau is good, Txdng hau is better, and chl Imu is best / sJiihfun hau lian is very good ; hau hau tih \s j^rettij good, eta. The position of an adjective determines its comparison, as chang yih chlh means

    longer by one cuhit • yih chih chang is a caJjit long. The comparison

    of ideas is made by placing the two sentences parallel to

    each other ; for instance, ” Entering the hills and seizing a tiger

    is easy, opening the mouth and getting men to lean to is difficult,”

    is the way of expressing the comparison, ” It is easier to

    seize a tiger in the hills, than to obtain the good offices of men.”

    The proper use of antithesis and parallelism is considered one of

    the highest attainments in composition. The numerals are thirteen

    in number, with the additioii of the character ^ ling to

    denote a cipher. All amounts are written just as they are to

    be read, as yih, pelt, sz’ nhih. mn, ~^ ^ IJI)-)-‘^ i.e., *one hundred

    four tens three.’ They are here introduced, with their

    pronunciation in three dialects.

    12 3 4 .5 6 7 8 9 10 100 1,000 10,000

    Dialect, y^^^ ‘*’^^ •”^” -^-‘ ‘^’^ ^”^i ^^^^^ l^(ih kill siiih peh tsien ivan.

    Dialect. .V«^ * -sa^i •’52’ ‘ng luk tsat pal kaii. i>hap pa/c Mn man.

    Dialect” *^ P ^um sii Hgou liok chif pat kill sip pek chien ban.

    The Chinese, like the ancient Greeks, enumerate only up to

    a myriad, expressing sums higher than that by stating how many

    myriads there are ; the notation of 362,447,180 is three myriads,

    six thousand, two hundred and forty -four myj’iads, seven tliousand,

    one hundred, and eighty. Pronouns are few in number,

    and their use is avoided wlienever the sense is clear witliout

    them. The personal pronoims are three, wo^ lu, and ta, but

    other pronouns can all be readily expressed by adjectives, by

    collocation, and by participial phrases. The classifiers sometimes

    partake of the nature of adjective pronouns, but usually are mere

    distributive or numerical adjectives.

    Verbs, or “living characters,” constitute the most important part of speech in the estimation of Chinese grannnarians, and the shun tu/t, or easy flow of expression, in their use, is carefully studied. The dissyllabic compounds, called dam-sliell words, are usually verbs, and are made in many ways ; by uniting two similar ^Yords, as kwei-Men (lit. peep-look), ‘to spy ;’ by doubling the verb, as h’ten-hien, meaning to look earnestly ; by prefixing a formative denoting action, as ta shioui (lit. strike sleep), ‘ to sleep ;’ by suffixing a modifying word, as grasp-halt, to grasp firmly; tJdnh-arise, to cogitate, etc. Xo part of the study requires more attention tban the right selection of these formatives in both nouns and verbs ; perfection in the shun tnh and use of antitheses is the result oidy of years of study.

    The various accidents of voice, mood, tense, number, and person,

    can all be expressed by corresponding particles, but the

    genius of the language disfavors their frequent use. The passive

    voice is formed by prefixing particles indicative of agency

    before the active verb, as “The villain ‘received my sword’s

    cutting^” for ” The villain was wounded by my sword.” The imperative,

    potential, and subjvmctive moods are formed by particles

    or adjuncts, but the indicative and infinitive are not designated,

    nor are the number and person of verbs usually distinguished.

    The number of auxiliaries, particles, adjuncts, and

    suffixes of various kinds, employed to express what in other

    languages is denoted by inflections, is really very moderate ; and

    a nice discrimination exhibited in their use indicates the finished

    scholar.’Chinese Tiepoaitory, Vol. VIII., p. Wil.

    DEFECTS IN THE CHINESE LANGUAGE. 621

    The greatest defect in the Chinese language is the indistinct manner in which time is expressed ; not that there is any want of terms to denote its varieties, but the terseness of expression admired by Chinese writers leads them to discard every unessential word, and especially those relating to time. This defect is more noticed by the foreigner than the native, who has no knowledge of the precision of time expressed by inflection in other languages. Adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections are not distinguished by native grammarians ; the former are classed with adjectives, and the others are collectively called hu tss’—’empty words.’

    No distinction is made between proper and common names, and as every word can be employed as a name it becomes a source of confusion to the translator ; in some books a single line drawn on the side of characters denotes the names of persons, and a double line the names of places ; important words are denoted by commencing a new line with them, raised one or two characters above the other columns, which answers to capitalizing them. In most books an entire absence of all marks of punctuation, and divisions into sentences and paragraphs, causes needless doubt in the mind of the reader. The great convenience experienced in European languages from the use of capital letters, marks of punctuation, separation into sentences and paragraphs, and the distinction of time, is more plainly seen when a translation is to be made from languages like the Chinese and Japanese, in which they are disregarded. A false taste prevents them from using them ; they admire a page of plain characters so much that a student who should punctuate his essay would I’un a risk of l>einof ridiculed.

    It is not easy 3’et to decide on the best way to adapt the

    technical words in western science to the genius of this language.

    The vast terminology in natural history, with the still greater

    arraj’of scientific names, need not be introduced into it, but can

    remain in their original Latin and Greek, where Chinese scientists

    can consult them. Xew compounds have already been

    proposed for gases, metals, earths, acids, and other elementary

    substances, in which the radical and primitive ai’e chosen with

    reference to their meanings, the latter being more complicated than usual for this purpose. These will gradually get into use as the sciences are studied, and their number will not be troublesomely large.

    There are several distinct styles of composition recognized.

    The hu wdn^ or the terse antithetic style of the ancient classics,

    is considered as inimitable and unimprovable, and really possesses

    the qualities of energy, vivacity, and brevity in a superior degree

    ; the wan. chamj, or style of elevated composition, adopted

    in essays, histories, and grave works ; and the siao shwoh, or

    colloquial style, used in stories.

    If there are serious defects, this language also possesses some

    striking beauties. The expressive nature of the characters, after

    their component parts have become familiar, causes nuich of the

    meaning of a sentence to pass instantly before the eye, while

    the energy arising from the brevity attainable by the absence of

    all inflections and partial use of particles, add a vigor to the

    style that is hardly reached by any alphabetic language. Dr.

    Morrison observes that ” Chinese fine writing darts upon the

    mind with a vivid flash, a force and a beauty, of which alphabetic

    language is incapable.” It is also better fitted than any

    other for becoming a universal medium of comnnmication, and

    has actually become so to a much greater extent than any other ;

    but the history of its diffusion, and the modifications it has undergone among the five nations who use it, though presenting a curious topic for philological inquiry, is one far too extensive to

    be discussed here. So general a use of one wi-itten language,

    however, affords some peculiar facilities for the diffusion of

    knowledge by means of books as introductory to the general

    elevation of the people using it, and their preparation for substituting an alphabetic language for so laborious and unwieldy a vehicle of thought, which it seems impossible to avoid as Christian civilization and knowledge extend.

    METHOD OF STUDYIXG CHINESE. 0:23

    It is often asked, is the Chinese language hard to learn? The preceding account of it shows that to become familiar with its numerous characters, to be able to speak the delicately marked tones of its short monosyllables, and to compose in it with perspicuity and elegance, is the labor of years of close application.

    To do so in Greek, Latin, English, or any settled tongue, is also a toilsome task, and excepting the barren labor of renienibering so many different characters, it is not more so in Chinese than in others. But knowledge sufficient to talk intelligibly, to write perspicuously, and read with considerable ease, is not so herculean a task as some suppose, though this degree is not to be attained without much hard study. Moreover, dictionaries, manuals, and translations are now available which materially diminish the labor, and their number is constantly increasing.

    The rules for studying it cannot be laid down so that they

    will answer equally well for all persons. Some readily catch

    the most delicate inflections of the voice, and imitate and remember

    the words they hear ; such persons soon learn to speak,

    and can make themselves understood on common subjects with

    merely the help of a vocabulary. Others prefer to sit down

    with a teacher and learn to read, and for most persons this is

    the best way to begin. At first, the principal labor should be

    directed to the characters, reading them over with a teacher and

    learning: their form. Commence with the two hundred and

    fourteen radicals, and commit them to memory, so that they

    can be repeated and written in their order ; then learn the primitives,

    or at least become familiar with the names and meaning

    of all the common ones. The aid this preliminary study gives

    in remembering the formation of characters is worth all the

    time it takes. Students make a mistake if they begin with the

    Testament or a tract ; they can learn more characters in the

    same period, and lay a better foundation for acquiring others,

    by conunencing with the i-adicals and primitives. Meanwhile,

    they will also be learning sounds and becoming familiar with

    the tones, which should be carefully attended to as a particular

    study from the living voice.

    When these characters are learned, short sentences or reading lessons selected from good Chinese authors, with a translation attached, should be taken up and committed to memory. Phrases may also be learned at the same time, for use in conversation; an excellent way is to memorize one or two hundred common words, and then practise putting them together in sentences. The study of reading lessons and phrases, with practice in speaking and writing them, will prepare the way for commencing the study of the classics or other native authors. By the time the student has readied this point he needs no further directions; the path he wishes thenceforth to pursue can easily be marked out by himself. It is not amiss here to remark that many persons ardently desirous of fitting themselves soon for preaching or talking to the people, weary their minds and hinder their ultimate progress by too hard study at first upon the dry characters; others come to look upon the written language as less important so long as they can talk rapidly and well, but in the end find that in this, as in every other living tongue, there is no royal road which does not lead them through the grammar and literature.’

    PIGEOX-ENGLISII. 625

    This sketch of the Chinese language would be incomplete without a notice of the singular jargon which has grown up between the natives and foreigners along the coast, called j/Z^^o^i-J^nyUsh. It has been so long in use as the medium of traffic and household talk that it now bids fair to become an unwritten patois, of which neither the Chinese nor the English will own the parentage. The term jngeon^ a corruption from business, shows, in its transformation, some of the influences “which our words must undergo as they pass through the Chinese characters. The foreigners who first settled at Canton had no time nor facilities for learning the dialect, and the traders with whom they bargained soon picked up more foreign words than the former did native. The shopmen ere longformed vocabularies of foreign words obtained from their customers, and wrote the sounds as nearly as possible ; these were committed to memory and formed into sentences according to the idioms of their own language, and disregarding all our inflections, in which they had no instruction. Thus the two parties gradually came to understand each other enough for all practical ends ; the foreigners were rather pleased to talk’ Many aids in learning the general language and all the leading dialects have been prepared in English, French, German, and Portuguese, but several of the early ones, as Morrison, Gon(;alves, Medhurst, and Bridgman, are already out of print. The names of all of these may be found most easily in the first volume of M. Cordier’s exhaustive Diction uaire Bihlioijrnpldque den ouvrujjet relatifn d VEmpire chiiioiK, pp. 725-804. Paris, 1881.

    “broken China,”‘ as it was not iiia})tly called, and habit soon made it natural to a new-comer to talk it to the natives, and it obviated all necessity for studying Chinese. The body of the jargon is English, the few Chinese, Portuguese, and Malay words therein imparting a raciness which, with the novelty of the expressions, has of late attracted much attention to this new language. Though apparently without any rules, the natives are very liable to misapprehend what is said to them by their masters or customers, because these rules are not followed, and constant difficulty arises fi-om mutual misunderstanding of this sort. The widening study of Chinese is not likely to do away with this droll lingo at the trade ports, and several attempts have been made to render English pieces into it. On the other hand, in California and elsewhere, the Chinese generally succeed in learning the languages of their adopted countries better than in talking jngeon-English, or the similar mongrel vernacular spoken at Macao by the native-born Chinese.

    A knowledge of the Chinese language is a passport to the

    confidence of the people, and when foreigners generally learn it

    the natives \\\\\ begin to divest themselves of their prejndices

    and contempt. As an inducement to study, the scholar and

    the philanthropist have the prospect of benefiting and informing

    through it vast numbers of their fellow-men, of imparting

    to them what will elevate their minds, purify their hearts, instruct

    their understandings, and strengthen their desire for

    more knowledge ; the\’ have an opportunity of doing much to

    counteract the tremendous evils of the opium trade by teaching

    the Chinese the only sure grounds on which they can be restrained,

    and at the same time of making them acquainted with the discoveries in science, medicine, and arts among western nations.

    CHAPTER XI.  CLASSICAL LITERATURE OF THE CHINESE

    The literature contained in the language now briefly described

    is very ample and discursive, but wanting in accuracy

    and unenlivened by much variety or humor. The books of the

    Chinese have formed and coiiiirmed their national taste, which

    consequently exhibits a tedious uniformity. The unbounded

    admii’ation felt for the classics and their immaculate authors,

    fostered by the examinations, has further tended to this result,

    and caused these writings to become still more famous from

    the unequalled influence they have exerted. It may be veiy

    readily seen, then, with what especial interest the student of Chinese sociology turns to an investigation of their letters, the immense accumulation of forty centuries. AVere its amount

    and prominence the only features of their literature, these would suffice to make necessary some study thereof ; but in addition,

    continued research may reveal some further qualities of

    ” eloquence and poetry, enriched by the beauty of a picturesque

    language, preserving to imagination all its colors,” which will

    substantiate the hearty expressions used by Rdmusat when first

    he entered upon a critical examination of its treasures.

    THE YITI KTXC, OK BOOK OF CTIAXGES. 027

    In taking a survey of this literature, the -6V ITu Tsiuen Shu Tsumj-muh^ or ‘ Catalogue of all Books in the Four Libraries,’ will be the best guide, since it embraces the wdiole range of letters, and affords a complete and succinct synopsis of the contents of the best books in the language. It is comprised in one hundred and twelve octavo volumes, and is of itself a valuable work, especially to the foreigner. The books are arranged into four divisions, viz., Classical, Historical, and Professional writings, and Belles-lettres. This Catalogue contains about 3440 separate titles, comprising upward of 78000 books; besides these, G,T64 other works, rminl)ering 93242 books, have been described in other catalogues of the imperial collections. These lists comprise the bulk of Chinese literature, except novels, Buddhist translations, and recent publications.

    The works in the first division are ranged under nine sections; one is devoted to each of the five Classics (with a subsidiary section upon these as a whole), one to the memoir on Filial Duty, one to the P^our Books, one to musical works, and the ninth to treatises on education, dictionaries, etc.

    At the head of the ‘ Five Classics ‘

    ( Wu Kin(j) is placed the

    Yih King, or ‘ Book of Changes,’ a work which if not—as it

    has been repeatedly called—

    Antiquisshnus Sinaruin libey\ can

    be traced with tolerable accuracy to an origin three thousand

    years ago. It ranks, according to Dr. Legge, third in aiitiquity

    among the Chinese classics, or after the Shu and portions of

    the SKi King ; but if an unbounded veneration for enigmatical

    wisdom supposed to lie concealed under mystic lines be any

    just claim for importance, to this wondrous monument of literature

    may easily be conceded the first place in the estimation of

    Chinese scholars.

    While following Dr. Legge in his recent exposition of this

    classic,” a clearer idea of its subject-matter can hardly be given

    than by quoting his words stating that ” the text may be briefly

    represented as consisting of sixty -four short essays, enigmatically

    and symbolically expressed, on important themes, mostly

    of a moral, social, and political character, and based on the

    same number of lineal figures, each made up of six lines, some

    of which are whole and the others divided.” The evolution of

    the eight diagrams from two original principles is ascribed to

    Fuh-hi (B.C. 3322), who is regarded as the founder of the nation,

    though his history is, naturally enough, largely fabulous. From

    the Liang T, or ‘Two Principles’ (—) (- -), were fashioned the

    /&’ Siaruj, or ‘ Four Figures,’ by placing these over themselves

    and each of them over the other, thus :

    ‘ The Saered Books of China. The Texts of Confucianism. Translated by James Legge. Part II. The Ti King. Oxford, 1882.

    The same pairs placed in succession under the original lines formed eight trigranis called the PAH KWA of FUH-HI.

    ITS PIIILOSOl’IIICAL SYSTE:\r. 629

    is derived and on wliose changes it is founded.. This substance

    M answers sufticiently ch)sely to tlic animated air of the Grecian

    pliilosopher Anaximenes ; its divisions are a subtle and a coarse

    principle which, acting and reacting upon each other, produce

    four slang^ or ‘forms,’ and these again combine into eight Jiica^

    or trigrams. Fuh-hi is thus said to have arranged the iirst four

    of the Pah Kica under the Yaiuj (strong or hard) principle,

    and the last four under the Yhi (weak or soft) principle ; the

    former indicate vigor or authority, and it is their part to command,

    while of the latter, representing feebleness or submission,

    it is the part to obey.

    It was probably AVan Wang, King Wan, chief of the principality

    of Chan in 11S5 b.c, who when thro^vn into prison by his

    jealous suzerain Shau, the tyrant of Sliang, arranged and multiplied

    the trigrams—long before his time used for purposes

    of divination—into the sixty-four hexagrams as they now occur

    in tlie T7A King. His was a wholly different disposition, both

    of names, attributes, and the compass points, from the original

    trigrams of Fuh-hi ; again, he added to them certain social relations

    of father, mother, three sons, and three daughters, which

    has ever since been found a convenient addition to the conjuring

    apparatus of the M^ork. ” I like to think,” says Dr. Legge,

    ” of the lord of Chau, when incarcerated in Yii-li, with the

    sixty-four figures arranged befoi-e him. Each hexagram assumed

    a mystic meaning and glowed with a deep significance.

    He made it to tell him of the qualities of various objects of

    nature, or of the principles of human society, or of the condition,

    actual and possible, of the kingdom. He named the

    figures each by a term descriptive of the idea with which he

    had connected it in his mind, and then he proceeded to set that

    idea forth, now with a note of exhortation, now Avith a note of

    warning. It was an attempt to restrict the follies of divination

    within the l)ounds of reason. . . . But all the work of

    King Wan in the Ylli thus amounts to no more than sixty-four

    short paragraphs. We do not know what led his son Tan to

    ei\ter into his \vork and complete it as he did. Tan was a

    patriot, a hero, a legisla-tor, and a philosopher. Perhaps he

    took the lineal figures in hand as a tribute of filial duty. What liad been done for the whole hexagram he M-oiild do for each line, and make it clear that all the six lines ‘ bent oneway their precious inflnence,’ and blended their ravs in the globe of light

    which his father had made each figure give forth. 13ut his

    method strikes us as singular. Each line seemed to become

    living, and suggested some ])henomenon in nature, or some case

    of human experience, from which the wisdom or folly, the

    luckiness or unluckiness, indicated by it could be inferred. It

    cannot be said that the duke carried out his plan in a way likely

    to interest any one but a Men shung who is a votary of divination

    and admires the style of its oracles. According to our

    notions, a framer of emblems should be a good deal of a poet;

    but those of the Yih only make us think of a dryasdust. Out of more than three hundi-ed and fifty, the greater mmiber are only grotesque. We do not recover from the feeling of disappointment

    till M’C remember that both father and son had to

    M’rite ‘ according to the trick,’ after the uianner of diviners, as

    if this lineal augury had been their profession.”

    Such is the text of the Yih. The \vords of King Wan and

    his son are followed by commentaries called the SJtih Yi/t, or

    ‘ Ten Wings.’ These are of a much later period than the text,

    and are commonly ascribed to Confucius, though it is extremely doubtful if the sage was author of more than the sentences introduced by the oft-repeated formula, “The Master said,” occurring

    in or concluding many chapters of the ‘Wings.’ Without

    lingering over the varied contents of these appendices,

    more than to point out that the fifth and sixth Wings (‘Appended

    Sentences ‘), known as the ‘ Great Treatise,’ contains for

    the first time the character Y!//, or ‘Change,’ it will be necessary,

    before leaving this classic, to illustrate its curious nature by means of a single quotation.

    EXTKACT.S FUOM ‘I’HK YIII KIXG. 031

    Ilien indicates that [on the i’lillilniont of the conditions implied in it] there will he free course and success. Its advantageousness will depend on the being firm and correct, [as] in marrying a young lady. There will hi good fortune.
    1. The first line, divided, shows one moving his great toes.
    2. The second line, divided, shows one moving the calves of his leg. There will be evil. If he abide [quiet in his place] there will be good fortune.
    3. The third line, undivided, shows one moving his thighs, and keeping close hold of those whom he follows. Going forward [in this way] will cause regret.
    4. The fourth line, undivided, shows that firm correctness which will lead to good fortune and prevent all occasion for repentance. If its subject be unsettled in his movements, [only] his friends will follow his purpose.
    5. The fifth line, undivided, shows one moving the flesh along the spine above the heart. There will be no occasion for repentance.
    6. The sixth line, divided, shows one moving his jaws and tongue.

    An idea of the several commentaries, or ‘ Wings,’ upon sueli a

    passage may be gained from the following e.xcerpts. First

    comes the ‘ Treatise on the Twan,’ or King Wan’s paragraphs ;

    then the ‘ Treatise on the Symbols,’ consisting of observations

    on Duke Chan’s exposition.

    From the Second Wi»g.—
    1. Ilk’ii is here used in the sense of Kan, meaning [mutually] influencing.
    2. The weak [trigram] above, and the strong one below; their two influences moving and responding to each other, and thereby forming a union; the repression [of the one] and the satisfaction [of the other] ; [with their relative position] where the male is placed below the female — all these things convey the notion of ‘ a free and successful course [on t e fulfilment of the conditions], while the advantage will depend on being firm and correct, as in marrying a young lady, and there will be good fortune.’ . . . etc., etc.

    Fourth Wuiij.—[The trigram representing] a mountain and above it that for [the waters of] a marsh form Ilu’ii. The superior man, in accordance with this, keeps his mind free from preoccupation, and open to receive [the influences of] others.

    1. ‘ He moves his great toe ‘—his mind is set on what is beyond [himself].
    2. Though ‘ there would be evil, yet if he abide [quiet] in his place there will be good fortune ‘—through compliance [with the circumstances of his condition and place] there will be no injury.

    3. ‘He moves his thighs’—he still does not [want to] rest in his place. His will is .set on ‘ following others ;’ what he holds in his grasp is low.

    4. ‘ Firm correctness will lead to good fortune, and prevent all occasion for repentance ‘—there has not yet been any harm from [a selfish wish to] influence. ‘He is unsettled in his movements’—[his power to influence] is not yet either brilliant or great.

    5. ‘ He [tries to] move the flesh along the spine above the heart ‘—his aim is trivial.

    6. ‘ He moves his jaws and tongue ‘—he [only] talks with loquacious mouth.

    Sixth Wing (‘Appended Sentences’). —Chapter I.—
    1. The eight trigrams having been completed in their proper order, there were in each the [three] emblematic lines. They were then multiplied by a process of addition till the [six] component lines appeared.

    2. The strong line and the weak push themselves each into the place of the other, and hence the changes [of the diagrams] take place. The appended explanations attach to every form of them its character [of good or ill], and hence the movements [suggested by divination] are determined accordingly.

    3. Good fortune and ill, occasion for repentance or regret, all arise from these movements . . . etc., etc.

    The hundreds of fortune-tellers seen in the streets of Chinese

    towns, whose answers to their perplexed customers are

    more or less founded on these cabala, indicate their influence

    among the illiterate ; while among scholars, who have long

    since conceded all divination to be vain, it is surprising to remark

    the profound estimation in which these inane lines are

    held as the consummation of all w-isdom—the germ, even, of

    all the truths which western science has brought to light!

    Each hexagram is supposed to i-epresent, at any given time, six

    different phases of the primordial V>. ” As all the good and

    evil in the world,^’ observes McClatchie, ” is attributed by the

    Chinese philosophers to the purity or impurity of the animated

    air from which the two-fold soul in man is formed, a certain

    moral value attaches to each stroke, and the diviner prognosticates

    accordingly that good or evil luck, as the case may be,

    will result to the consulter of the oracle with reo-ard to the matter

    on which he seeks it. Xine is the number of Heaven, or

    the undivided stroke, and six is the number of Earth, or the

    divided stroke, and hence each stroke has a double designatiovi.

    The first stroke, if undivided, is designated ‘ First-T\ ine,’ but if

    divided it is designated ‘ First-Six,’ and so on. The second

    and fifth strokes in each diagram are important, being the centre

    or medium strokes of their respective lesser diagrams. The

    fifth stroke, however, is the most important in divination, as it

    represents that portion of the air which is the especial throne

    of the imperial power, and is the ‘ undeflected due medium.’

    Nothing but good luck can follow if the person divining with

    the straws obtains this stroke. Tao, or the Divine Heason,

    ITS CIIAKACTElt AND INFLUENCE. 633

    which is the supreme soul of tlie wliole Kosnios, animates the

    air, pervading its six phases, and thus giving power to the diagrams

    to make known future events to mankind.”

    Of course anything and everything could be deduced from

    such a fanciful groundwork, but the Chinese have taken up the

    discussion in the most serious manner, and endeavored to find

    the hidden meanino; and evolutions of the universe from this

    curious system. The diagrams have, moreover, supplied the

    basis for many species of divination by shells, letters, etc., by

    which means the mass of the people are deluded into the belief

    of penetrating futurity, and still more wedded to their superstitions.

    The continued influence of such a work as the Yih illustrates

    the national jjenchant for law^s and method, while

    equally indicating the general indifPerence to empiiical research

    and the facts deduced from study of natural history. If, from

    a philosophical standpoint, we consider the barrenness of its results,

    there is little, indeed, to say for tlie Yih King, save concurrence

    in Dr. Gustave Schlegel’s epithet, ” a mechanical play

    (jf idle abstractions ; ” nevertheless, this classic contains in its

    whimsical dress of inscrutable strokes nnich of practical wisdom,

    giving heed to which it is not hard to agree with Dr.

    Leo-oe in concludino; that ” the inculcation of such lessons cannot

    have been without good effect in China during the long

    course of its history.” ‘

    The second section of the Imperial Catalogue contains treatises

    upon the SJiio King, or ‘ Book of Records.’ This classic,

    ‘ Some fourteen hundred and fifty treatises on the I7A— consisting of memoirs,

    digests, expositions, etc. —are enumerated in the Catalogue. The foreign

    literature upon it has heretofore been scant. The only other translations of

    the classic in extenso, besides Dr. Legge’s, already quoted, are the Y-Kiiuj;

    Antiquissimus Sinarum liber quern e.v hiUn/i iiih’rpn’tadoiie ; P. Regis, (dicrrumqueex

    Soc. Jesu P.P., edidit SnWws Mohl, 2 vols., Stuttgart, 1834-39; and

    A Iranslation of the Confrman Yih King, or the Chissic of Chuncje, by the

    Rev. Canon McClatchie, Shanghai, 1876 (with Chinese text). Compare further

    Notice du livre chinois nomme Y-kiiu/, aver des notes, pdr M Claude Visdelou,

    contained in Pere Gaubil’s Clwn kinq, Paris, 1843 ; Die verbogenen Alterthumerder

    Chiiieser ana deni undfen Burlte Yeking iinterfiHchet, von M. Joh. Heinrich

    Schuhmacher, Wolfenbiittel, 1763 ; Joseph Haas, in Notes and Queries on Vhinu and Japitn, Vol. III., 1869; China Revieip, Vols. I., p. 151; IV., p.257; and v., p. 132.

    first ill importance as it is in age among the live King, consists

    of a series of documents relating to the history of China from

    the times of Yao down to King Iliang, of the Chan dynasty

    (b.c. 2357-627). Its earlier chapters were composed at periods

    following the events of which they relate, but after the twentysecond

    century b.c. the SJiu comes to us, though in a mutilated

    condition, as the contemporary chronicle of proclamations, addresses,

    and principles of the early sovereigns. Internal evidence

    leads to the conclusion that Confucius acted chielly as

    editor of documents existing in his day ; he probably wrote the

    preface, but what alterations it received at his hand cannot now

    be ascertained. A¥hen it left his care it contained eighty -one

    documents in one hundred books, arranged under the five

    dynasties of Yao, Shun, Ilia, Shang, and Chan, the last one

    coming down to within two hundred and twenty-one years of

    his own birth. . Most of these are lost, and others are doubted

    by Chinese critics, so that now only forty-eight documents remain,

    thirty of them belonging to tlie CUiau, with the preface

    ascribed to Confucius. lie showed his estimate of their value

    by calling the whole Shang Shu, or the ‘ Highest Book,’ and we

    may class their loss witli that of other ancient works in Hebrew

    or Greek literature. The Shu King now contains six different

    kinds of state papers, viz., imperial ordinances, plans drawn up

    by statesmen as guides for their sovereign, instructions prepared

    for the guidance of the prince, imperial proclamations

    and charges to the people, vows taken before Sliangtl by the

    monarch when going out to battle, and, lastly, mandates, announcements, speeches, and canons issued to the ministers of state.’

    ‘ Several translations have been made by missionaries. One by P. Gaubil was edited by De Guignes in 1770; a second by Rov. W. H. Medhurst, in 1846; but the most complete by J. Legge, D.D., in 18G5, with its notes and text, has brought this lieconl better than ever before to the knowledge of western scholars.

    THE SIIU KING, OK HOOK OF UECORDS. 635

    The morality of the Shu King-, for a pagan work, is extremely good ; the principles of administration laid down in it, founded on a regard to the welfare of the people, would, if carried out, insure universal prosperity. The answer of Kaoyao to the monarch Yu is expressive of a mild spirit : ” Your virtue, O Emperor, is faultless. You condescend to your ministers with

    a liberal ease ; you rule the multitude with a generous forbearance.

    Your punishments do not extend to the criminal’s heirs,

    but your rewards reach to after-generations. Y’ou pardon inadvertent

    faults, however great, and punish deliberate crime,

    however small. In cases of doubtful crimes you deal with them

    lightly ; of doubtful merit, you prefer the highest estimate.

    Ilather than put to death the guiltless, you will run the risk of

    irregularity and laxity. This life-loving virtue has penetrated

    tlie minds of the people, and this is why they do not render

    themselves liable to be punished by your officers.” ‘

    In the counsels of Yu to Shun are many of the best maxims

    of good government, both for rulers and ruled, which antiquity

    has handed down in any country. The following are among

    them : ” Y’ih said, Alas ! Be cautious. Admonish yourself to

    caution when there seems to be no reason for anxiety. Do

    not fail in due attention to laws and ordinances. Do not find

    enjoyment in indulgent ease. Do not go to excess in pleasure.

    Employ men of worth without intermediaries. Put away evil

    advisers, nor try to carry out doubtful plans. Study that all

    your purposes may be according to reas(jn. Do not seek the

    people’s praises by going against reason, nor oppose the people

    to follow your own desires. Be neither idle nor wayward, and

    even foreign tribes will come nnder your sway.”

    The Shu King contains the seeds of all things that are valuable

    in the estimation of the Chinese ; it is at once the foundation

    of their political system, their history, and their religious

    rites, the basis of their tactics, music, and astronomy. Some

    have thought that the knowledge of the true God under the

    appellation of Shangti is not obscurely intimated in it, and the

    precepts for governing a country, scattered through its dialogues

    and proclamations, do their writers credit, however little they

    may have been followed in practice. Its astronomy has attracted

    much investigation, but whether the remarks of the

    commentators are to be ascribed to the times in which they

    ‘ Legge, The Chinese Claasks, Vol. III. Slioo King, p. 59.

    themselves iiourished, or to the knowledge they had of the ancient

    state of tlie science, is douhtfuL The careful and candid

    discussions by Legge in the introduction to his translation furnish

    most satisfactory conclusions as to the origin, value, and

    condition of this venerable relic of ancient China. For his

    scholarly edition of the Classics he has already earned the

    hearty thanks of every student of Chinese literature.’

    The third of the classics, the Shi King, or ‘ Book of Odes,’

    is ranked together with the two preceding, while its influence

    upon the national mind has been equally great ; a list of commentators

    upon this work fills the third section of the Catalogue.

    These poetical relics are arranged into four parts : The Ktvoh

    Fimy, or ‘ National Airs,’ numbering one hundred and fifty-nine,

    from fifteen feudal States ; the Siao Ya, or ‘ Lesser Eulogiums,’

    numbering eighty, and arranged under eight decades ; the Ta

    Ya, or ‘ Greater Eulogiums,’ numbering thirty-one, under three

    decades (both of these were designed to be sung on solemn occasions

    at the royal court) ; and the Sung, or ‘ Sacrificial Odes,’

    numbering foi’ty-one chants connected with the ancestral worship

    of the rulers of Chan, Lu, and Sliang. Out of a total number

    of three hundred and eleven now extant, six have only their

    titles preserved, while to a major part of the others native

    scholars give many various readings.

    In the preface to his careful translation Dr. Legge has collected

    all the important information concerning the age, origin,

    and purpose of these odes, as furnished by native connnentators,

    whose theory is that ” it was the duty of the kings to make

    themselves acquainted with all the odes and songs current in

    ‘ Chinese Bepository, Vol. VIII., p. 385 ; Vol. IX., p. 573. Le Clum-king,

    un des Livres Sarrh (frs Olilixm, qui renfcrme leu Fondementsde leur ancienne

    Ilistoirey etc. Traduit par Feu le P. Gaubil. Paris, 1770, in-4. La Morale

    du Chou-kiiKj on le Livre Sacredela Chine. (The same), Paris, 1851. Ancient

    China. The Shoo King, or tlie Ilistariced Cla.mr. : being the vnM ancient authentic

    Record of the AnnaU of the Chinese Empire, translated by W. H. Medliurst.

    Sen., Shanghae, 184G. Nouveem Journal Asiatique, Tomes V. (1830), p.

    401; VI., p. 401, and XIV. (1842), p. 153. China Beoiew, Vol. IV., p. 13.

    Dr. Legge’s translation has recently (1879) appeared, without the Chinese text,

    in Max Miiller’s series of Sacred Rwks of tlie East, Vol. III. Richthofen,

    China, Bd. I., ])p. 277-305, an exhaustive treatise on the early geography of

    ULiua, with valuable historical maps.

    THE SlII KING, OU BOOK OF ODES. 0:37

    the different States, and to judge from them of the cliaracter of

    the rule exercised by tlieir several princes, so that they might

    minister praise or blame, reward or punishment accordingly.”

    These odes and songs seem to hav^e been gathered by Wan

    Wang and Duke Chau at the beginning of the Chau dynasty

    (b.c. 1120), some of them at the capital, others from the feudal

    rulers in the course of royal progresses through the land, the

    royal music-master getting copies from the music-masters of the

    princes. The whole were then arranged, set to nnisic, too, it

    may be, and deposited for use and reference in the national

    archives, as well as distributed among the feudatories. Their

    ages are uncertain, but probably do not antedate b.c. 1719

    nor come after 585, or about thirty years before Confucius.

    Their number was not improbably at first fully up to the thi-ee

    thousand mentioned by the biographers of Confucius, but long

    before the sage appeared disasters of one kind and another had

    reduced them to nearly their present condition. What we have

    is, therefore, but a fragment of various collections made in the

    early reigns of the Chau sovereigns, which received, perhaps,

    larger subsequent additions than were preserved to the time of

    Confucius. He probably took them as they existed in his day,

    and feeling, possibly, like George Herbert, that

    ” A verse may finde liim, who a sermon flies,

    And turn delight into a sacrifice,”

    did everything he could to extend their adoption among his

    countrymen. It is difficult to estimate the power they have

    exerted over the subsequent generations of Chinese scholars

    nor has their influence ever tended to debase their morals, if it

    has not exalted their imagination. They have escaped the

    looseness of Moschus, Ovid, or Juvenal, if they have not attained

    the grandeur of Homer or the sweetness of Yirgil and

    Pindar. There is nothing of an epic character in them—nor

    even a lengthened narrative—and little of human passions in

    their strong development. The metaphors and illustrations are

    often quaint, sometimes puerile, and occasionally ridiculous.

    Their ackjiowledged antiquity, their religious character, and

    their illustration of early Chinese customs and feelings form

    638 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    their priiicipal claiius to our notice and appreciative study.

    M. Ed. JJiot, of Paris, was the first European scholar who studied

    them carefully in this aspect, and his articles in the Joarnal

    Asiatlque for 1S43 are models of analytic criticism and synthetic

    compilation, enabling one, as he says, ” to contemplate

    at his ease the spectacle of the primitive manners of society in

    the early age of China, so different from what was then found

    in Europe and “Western Asia.”

    An ode referred to the time of Wan Wang (a contemporary

    of Saul) contains a sentiment reminding us of Morris’ lines

    beginning ” Woodman, spare that tree. ” It is in Part I., Book

    II., and is called Kan-tawj, or the ‘ Sweet pear-tree.’

    1. O fell not that sweet pear-tree!

    See how its branches spread.

    Spoil not its shade,

    For Shao’s chief laid ^

    Beneath it his weary head.

    2. O clip not that sweet i)ear-tree I

    Each twig and leaflet spare

    ‘Tis sacred now,

    Since the lord of Shao,

    When weary, rested him there.

    3. O touch not that sweet pear-tree I

    Bend not a twig of it now ;

    There long ago,

    As the stories show,

    Oft halted tlie chief of Shao.’

    The eighth ode in Book III., called IRung CJu^ or ‘ Cock

    Pheasant,’ contains a wife’s lament on her husband’s absence.

    1. Away the startled pheasant flies.

    With lazy movement of his wings ;

    Borne was my heart’s lord from my eyes

    What pain the separation brings !

    2. The pheasant, though no more in view,

    Ilis cry below, above, forth sends.

    Alas! my princely lord, ’tis yon,

    Your absence, that my bosom rends.

    Dr. Legge, The She King, trduddted into Enylinh verse, p. 70. London, 1876.

    ii:xamplks of its lykic poetry. 63tJ

    3. At sun uiul moon I sit and gaze,

    In converse with my troubled heart.

    Far, far from me my husband stays !

    When will he come to heal its smart ?

    4, Ye princely men, who with him mate,

    Say, mark ye not his virtuous way ?

    His rule is, covet nought, none hate :

    How can Ins steps from goodness stray ? ‘

    From tlie same book we translate somewliat freely an example

    (Xo. IT) of love-song, or serenade, not uncommon among

    these odes.

    Maiden fair, so sweet, retiring,

    At tlie tryst I wait for thee ;

    Still I pause in doubt, inquiring

    Why thou triflest thus with me.

    Ah ! the maid so coy, so handsome,

    Pledged she with a rosy reed ;

    Than the reed is she more winsome.

    Love with beauty liard must plead

    !

    In the meadows sought we flowers.

    These she gave me—beauteous, rare

    :

    Far above the gift there towers

    The dear giver— lovelier, fair !

    Among the ‘ Lesser Eulogiums ‘ (Book IV., Ode 5) is one

    more ambitions in its scope, relating to the completion of a

    palace of King Sinen, about b.c. 800.

    1. On yonder banks a palace, lo ! upshoots.

    The tender blue of southern hill behind,

    Time-founded, like the bamboo’s clasping roots

    ;

    Its roof, made pine-like, to a point defined.

    Fraternal love here bears its precious fruits,

    And unfraternal schemes be ne’er designed 1

    2. Ancestral sway is his. The walls they rear

    Five thousand cubits long, and south and west

    The doors are placed. Here will the king appear,

    Here laugh, here talk, here sit him down and rest.

    <«”- — ——

    ‘/6.,p. 83.

    G40 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    3. To mould the walls, the frames they firmly tie ;

    The toiling builders beat the earth and lime

    ;

    The walls shall vermin, storm, and bird defy

    Fit dwelling is it for his lordly prime.

    4. Grand is the hall the noble lord ascends ;

    In height, like human form, most reverent, grand ;

    And straight, as flies the shaft when bow unbends

    ;

    Its tints like hiaes when pheasant’s wings expand.

    5. High pillars rise the level court around ;

    The pleasant light the open chamber steeps,

    And deep recesses, wide alcoves are found,

    Where our good king in perfect quiet sleeps.

    6. Laid is the bamboo mat on rush mat square ;

    Here shall he sleep ; and waking say, ‘

    ‘ Divine

    What dreams are good ? For bear and piebald bear,

    And snakes and cobras haunt this couch of mine.”

    7. Then shall the chief diviner glad reply,

    *’ The bears foreshow their signs of promised sons.

    The snakes and cobras daughters prophesy

    :

    These auguries are all auspicious ones.”

    8. Sons shall be liis— on couches lulled to rest

    ;

    The little ones enrobed, with sceptres play

    ;

    Their infant cries are loud as stern behest,

    Their knees the vermeil covers shall display.

    As king liereafter one shall be addressed ;

    The rest, our princes, all the States shall sway.

    9. And daughters also to him shall be born.

    They shall be placed upon the ground to sleep

    ;

    Their playthings tiles, their dress the simplest worn;

    Their part alike from good and ill to keep,

    And ne’er their parents’ hearts to cause to mourn

    ;

    To cook the food, and spirit-malt to steep.

    The last two stanzas indicate tlie comparative estimate, in

    ancient days, of boys and girls born into a family ; and this estimate,

    still maintained, has been in a great degree upheld by

    this authority.. Another ode in the ‘ Greater Eulogies ‘ (Book

    III., Ode 10) deplores the misery that prevailed about b.c. 780,

    owing to the interference of women and eunuchs in the govern-

    >/(/., Tlie She KliKj, p. 332.

    VERSIFICATION OF THE Sill KIN(i. 641

    nieiit. Two stanzas only are quoted, which are supposed to

    have been specially directed against Pao Sz’, a mischief-maker

    in the court of King Yu, like Agrippina and Pulcheria in

    Koman and Byzantine annals.

    8. A wise man builds the city wall,

    But a wise woman throws it down.

    Wise is she ? Good you may her call

    ;

    She is an owl we should disown !

    To woman’s tongue let scope be given

    And step by step to harm it leads.

    Disorder does not come from Heaven ;

    ‘Tis woman’s tongue disorder breeds.

    Women and eunuchs 1 Never came

    Lesson or warning words from them !

    4. Hurtful and false, their spite they wreak

    ;

    And when exposed their falsehood lies—

    The wrong they do not own, but sneak

    And say, ” Xo harm did we devise.”

    *’ Thrice cent, per cent. ! ” Why, that is trade!

    Yet ‘twould the princely man disgrace.

    So public things to wife and maid

    Must not silkworms and looms displace.

    There are, however, numerous stanzas among the odes in tho

    ‘ National Airs ‘ which show their fairer side and go far to neutralize

    these, giving the same contrasts in female character

    which were portrayed by King Solomon during the same age.

    The versification in a monosyllabic language appears very

    tame to those who are only familiar with the lively and varied

    rhythms of western tongues ; but the Chinese express more

    vivacity and cadence in their ballads and ditties when sung than

    one would infer from these ancient relics when transliterated

    in our letters. As the young lad has usually committed all the

    three hundred and five odes to memory before he enters the

    Examination Hall, their influence on the matter and manner of

    his own future poetical attempts can hardly be exaggerated. It

    is shown throughout the thousands of volumes enumerated in

    the fourth division of the Imperial Catalogue. Most of the

    ‘ Id., The She King, p. 347.

    Vol. I.—41

    ^42 THE 3IIDDLE KINGDOM.

    >S/u King is written in tetrametres, and nothing can be more

    simple. They have been most unfortunately likened to the

    Hebrew Psalms by some of the early missionaries, but neither

    in manner nor matter is the comparison a happy one. One point

    of verbal resemblance is noticed by Dr. Legge between the first

    ode in Part III. and the one hundred and twenty-first psalm,

    where the last line of a stanza is generally repeated in the first

    line of the next, a feature something like the repetitions in Hiawatha.

    The rhymes and tones both form an essential part of

    Chinese poetry, one which can only be imperfectly represented

    in our language. The following furnishes an example of the

    general style, to which a literal rendering is subjoined

    :

    1. Nan yin kUw muh,

    Puh Wo Mu sill

    ;

    Han yin yin nu,

    Puh Wo kiu sz\

    Han clii kii^ang i,

    Puh Wo y11,11(1 sz’;

    Kianrj chi yung i

    Puh Wofang sz\

    2. Kiao kia,o Uo sin,

    Yen i ki chii,

    ;

    Chi tsz’ yii kwei

    Yen moh kl ma ;

    Han chi kwang i, etc.

    8. Kiao kiao tso sin,

    Yen i ki lao ;

    Chi tsz^ yiX kwei

    Yen moh ki kii.

    Han ch’i kwang i, etc.

    South has stately trees,

    Not can shelter indeed ;

    Han has rambling women,

    Not can solicit indeed.

    Han’s breadth l)e sure,

    Not can be dived indeed

    ;

    Kiang’s length be sure.

    Not can be rafted indeed.

    Many many mixed faggots,

    Willingly I cut the brambles ;

    Those girls going home.

    Willingly I would feed their horses

    ;

    Han’s breadth be sure, etc.

    Many many mixed faggots,

    Willingly I cut the artemisia

    ;

    Those girls going home,

    Willingly I would feed their colts

    ;

    Han’s breadth be sure, etc.

    The highest range of thought in the odes is contained in

    Part TY., but the whole collection is worthy of perusal, and

    thi-ough the labors of Dr. Legge has been made more accessible

    than it was ever before. The amount of native literature extant,

    illustrative, critical, and philological, referring to the

    Book of Odes ‘ is not so large as that on the Tik King ; but the

    ‘ A recent German translation of these odes has combined, with mucli accuracy

    and a smooth versification, the peculiar adaptability of that tongue to the

    THE THREE IIITUALS. 643

    fifty-five works quoted in his preface ‘ contain enough to indicate

    their industry and acumen. Tliese works will elevate the

    character of Chinese scholarsliip in the opinion of those foreigners

    who remember the disadvantaijces of its isolation from

    the literature of other lands, and the difficulties of a language

    which rendered that literature inaccessible.”

    The fourth section in the Catalogue contains the Tlituals and

    a list of their editions and commentators, but only one of the

    three is numbered among the Jvlng and used as a text-l»ook at

    the public examinations. Tliis is the lA Ki, or ‘ Book of Rites,’

    the Memorial des Jiitct^, as M. Callery calls it in his translation,^

    and one of the works which has done so much to mold

    and maintain Chinese character and institutions. It is not superior

    in any respect to the Chau Li and the /Z/’, but owes its

    influence to its position. They were all the particular objects

    of Tsin Chi IIwangti\s ire in his efforts to destroy every ancient

    literary production in his kingdom; the present texts

    were recovered from their hiding-places about b.c. 135. The

    Chmt LI, or ‘Ttitual of Chan,’ is regarded as the work of Duke

    Chau (b.c. 1130), who gives the detail of the various offices established

    under the new dynasty, in which he bore so prominent

    a part. The sections containing the divisions of the administrative

    part of the Chinese government of that day have

    furnished the types for the six boards of the present day and

    their subdivisions. So far as we now know, no nation then existing

    could show so methodical and effective a system of national

    polity.

    reproduction (in some degree) of sounds so foreign to tlie language as Chinese.

    Shi KiiKj. JJiiH iMuonisclis Liederbuch tier Gldiunen. Uehersctzt voii Victor

    von Strauss. Heidelberg, 1880.

    ‘ Ih” GJiiiifx:’. Glassies, Vol. IV., pp. 172-180. Hongkong, 1871.

    – Compare Confucii Ghi-l’ing site TAher Gartninum, ex latina P. Lacharme

    iiiU’vpretatiom edicUt J. Mohl, Stuttgart, 1830 ; Essai sur le GM-kiny, it sur

    Pancieiine poesir rlunoise, p(ir M. Brosset jeune, Paris, 1828 ; BihUotlteque oricnt(

    de, Vol.11., p. 247 (1872). Ghi-khni, on. TArre des Vns, Traduction de M. G.

    Pauthier; Gkina Rfvi>ir,Vo\. VI., pp. 1 ff. and Ififi ff. .Innud X. G. Br. R.

    As. &r., Vol. XII., pp. 97 ff.

    •” Li-ki on Memorial des BiU’s, tntduit pour la premiere fois du cJiinois, et (u>

    compagne de notes, de commentuires et du texte orifjinal, par J. M. Callery.

    Turin et Paris, 1853.

    644 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    The / L’l is a smaller work, treating of family affairs, and

    as its name, ‘Decorum Hitual,”‘ indicates, contains di)-ections

    for domestic life, as the other does for state matters. That is

    in forty-four sections and this is in seven, and both are now

    accepted as among the most ancient works extant. The former

    was translated by Ed. Biot,’ and remains a monument of his

    scholarship and research.

    The Li K’% owes its posititai among the classics to the belief

    that Confucius here gives his views on government and manners,

    although these chapters are not regarded as the same in

    their integrity as those said to have been found in the M-alls of his

    house, and brought to light in the second century p..r. by Ivao

    Tang of Lu, under the name of ^^^ L’l, or the ‘ Scholar’s Ritual.’

    In the next century Tai Teh collected all the existing

    docimients relating to the ancient rituals in two hundred and

    fourteen sections, oidy a portion of which M-ere then held to

    have emanated from the sage and recorded by his pupils. His

    work, in eighty-five sections, is called Ta Tai Li, or the

    ‘Senior Tai’s Hitual,’ to distinguish it from the Siiao Tai

    Ij^ or the ‘Junior Tai’s Tiitual,’ a work in forty-nine sections,

    by his nephew, Tai Sliing. This is the work now known as

    the Li Ki, M. Gallery’s translation of which contains the

    authorized text of Ivanghi according to Fan Tsz’-tang, in

    thirty-six sections, with many notes. His translation is wearisome

    reading from the multitude of parentheses interjected

    into the text, distracting the attention and Aveakening its contiruiity.

    Those who have read iVbbc Hue’s entertaining remarks on

    the Rites in China will find in these three works the reason and

    application of their details. In explanation of their importance,

    M. Callery shows in a few words what a wide field they

    cover : ” Ceremony epitomizes the entire Chinese mind ; and,

    in my opinion, the Li L\^l i&jyer se the most exact and complete

    monograph that China lias been able to give of itself to other

    nations. Its affections, if it has anv, are satisfied bv cere-

    ‘ Le TcJw/ni-Li on. Ritfs d^n Tcheou, trndvit pour la premiere foia du chinot8»

    par Feu fidouard Biot. 2 Tomes. Paris, 1851.

    THE Li Kl, OR 1500K OF IJITES. 645

    monj ; its duties are fulfilled by ceremony ; its virtues and

    vices are refen-ed to ceremony ; the natural relations of created

    beings essentially link themselves in ceremonial—in a word,

    to that people ceremonial is man as a moral, political, and religious

    being in his multiplied relations with family, country,

    society, morality, and religion.” This explanation shows, too,

    how meagre a rendering eereiiiony is for the Chinese idea of li,

    for it includes not only the extcriud conduct, but involves the

    right principles from which all true etiquette and politeness

    spring. The state religion, the government of a family, and

    the rules of society are all founded on the true li, or relations

    of things. Reference has already been made to this profoundly

    esteemed work (p. 520), and one or two more extracts will suffice

    to exhibit its spirit and style, singular in its object and

    scope among all the bequests of antiquity.

    Affection bet ipceii father and son.

    In the Domestic Rules it is said, “Men in serving their parents, at the first

    cock-crowing, must all wash their hands ; rinse their mouth ; comb their

    hair ; bind it together with a net ; fasten it with a bodkin, forming it into a

    tuft ; brush off the dust ; put on the hat, tying the strings, ornamented with

    tassels ; also the waistcoat, frock, and girdle, with the note-sticks placed in it,

    and the indispensables attached on the right and lelt ; bind on the greaves;

    and put on the shoes, tying up the strings. Wives must serve their husband’s

    father and mother as their own; at the first cock-crowing, they must wash

    their hands ; rinse their mouth ; comb their hair ; bind it together with a net

    ;

    fasten it with a bodkin, forming it into a tu-t ; put on their frocks and girdles,

    with the indispensables attached on the right and left; fasten on their bags of

    perfumery ; put on and tie up their shoes. Then go to the chamber of their

    father and mother, and father-in-law and mother-in-law, and having entered,

    in a low and placid tone they must in(pure wliether their dress is too warm or

    too cool ; if the parents have pain or itching, themselves must respect ully

    press or rub [the part aTected] ; and i: they enter or leave the room, themselves

    either going before or following, must respect “nlly support them. In

    bringing the apparatus for washing, the younger must present the bowl ; tlie

    elder the water, begging them to pour it and wash ; and alter they have

    washed, hand them the towel. In asking and respectl’uUy jjresenting what

    they wish to eat, they must cheer them by their mild manner ; and must wait

    till their father and mother, and father-in-law and mother-in-law have eaten,

    and then retire. Boys and girls, who have not arrived at the age of manhood

    and womanhood, at the first cock-crowing must wash their hands; rinse their

    mouth ; comb their hair ; bind it together with a net ; and form it into a tuft

    0’46 TIIK MIDDLK KINGDOM.

    I)rusli oPF the dust ; tie on their hags, having them well snpplied with perfumery

    ; then hasten at early dawn to see their parents, and inquire if they have

    eaten and drunk ; if they have, they must immediately retire ; but if not,

    they must assist their superiors in seeing that everything is duly made ready.”

    Of rejirociiKj jMreiits.

    ” When his parents are in error, the son with a liumble spirit, pleasing

    countenance, and gentle tone, must point it out to them. If they do not receive

    liis reproof, he must strive more <ind more to be dutiful and respectful

    toward them till they <ire pleased, and then he must again point out their

    error. But if lie does not succeed in pleasing them, it is better that he should

    continue to reiterate reproof, than permit them to do injury to the whole

    department, district, village, or neighborhood. And if the parents, irritated

    and displeased, chastise their son till the blood flows from him, even then he

    must not dare to harbor the least resentment ; hut, on the contrary, should

    treat them with increased respect and dutifulness.

    Respect to be paid jxirents in one^s conduct.

    ‘• Although your father and mother are dead, if you propose to yourself any

    good work, only reflect how it will make their names illustrious, and your

    purpose will be fixed. So if you propose to do Avhat is not good, only consider

    how it will disgrace the names of your father and mother, and you will desist

    from your purpose.” ‘

    These extracts sliow soinetlniig of tlie molding principles

    which operate on Chinese yontli from earliest years, and the

    scope given in his education to filial piety. From conning such

    precepts the lad is imbued with a respect for his parents that

    finally becomes intensified into a religious sentiment, and forms,

    as he increases in age, his only creed—the worship of ancestors.

    His seniors, on the other hand, have but to point to the textbooks

    before him as authority for all things they e.xact, and as

    being the only possible source of those virtues that conduct to

    happiness. The position of females, too, has remained, under

    these dogmas, much the same for hundreds of years. ISTor is it

    difticult to account for the influence whieli they have had.

    Those who were most aware of their excellence, and had had

    some experience in the tortuous dealings of the human heart,

    as husbands, fathers, mothers, officers, and seniors, were those

    who had the power to enforce obedience upon wives, children,

    ‘ Chinese Repository, Vol. V., pp. 306-312.

    THE CHUX TSIU, OR SPRI^STG AND AUTUMX KECOKD. 647

    daughters, subjects, and juniors, as well as teach it to them.

    These must wait till increasing years brought about their turn

    to fill the upper rank in the social system, by wliich time habit

    would lead them to exercise their sway over the rising generation

    in the same manner. Thus it would be perpetuated, for

    the man could not depart from the way his childhood was

    trained ; had the results been more disastrous, it would have

    been easy for us to explain why, amid the ignorance, craft, ambition,

    and discontent found in a populous, nneducated, pagan

    country, such formal rules had failed of benefiting societ}^ to

    any lasting extent. We must look higher for this result, and

    acknowledge the degree of wholesome restraint upon the passions

    of the Chinese which the Author of whatever is good in

    these tenets has seen fit to confer upon them in order to the preservation

    of society.

    The fifth section contains the Chan Tslu, or ‘ Spring and

    Autumn Record,’ and its literature. This is the only one of

    the King attributed to Confucius, though whether we have in

    the Becord, as it now exists, a genuine compilation of the sage,

    does not appear to be beyond doubt. His object being to construct

    a narrative of events in continuation of the Shu King,

    he, with assistance from his pupils, drew np a history of his

    own country, extending from the reign of Ping AVang to about

    the period of his bii-th (b.c. T22 to 480). Inasmuch as the

    author of this chronicle confined himself to the relation of such

    facts as he deemed Avorthy to be recorded, and was not al)t)ve

    altering or concealing such details as in his private judgment

    appeared unworthy of the princes of his dynasty, this history

    cannot be regarded as exactly in conformity with modern notions

    of what is desirable in -works of this class. That Confucius

    wished to leave behind him a lasting monument to his own

    name, as well as a narration of events, we gather from mor.*

    than one of his utterances : ” The superior man is distressed

    lest his name slioulil not be honorably mentioned after death

    My principles do not make way in the world ; how shall T make

    myself known to future ages ? ” In order, therefore, to insure

    the preservation of his chef cVoeuvre to all time, he combines

    with the annals certain censures and rig-hteous decisions which

    648 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    should render it at once a liistoiy and a text-book of moral lessons

    ; and in giving tiie book to bis disciples, “It is bj the

    Chan. Tsiu,’” be said, ”that after-ages will know me, and also

    by it that thej will condemn me.”

    The title, ” Spring and Autumn,” is understood by many Chinese

    scholars to be a term for chronological annals ; in this case

    the name being explained “because their commendations are

    life-giving like spring, and their censures life-withering like

    autumn,”‘ or, as we find in the Trlnietricul Classic, ” which by

    praise and blame separates the good and bad.” ‘ A closer inspection

    of the CJiaii Tsin is sure to prove disappointing; spite

    of the glowing accounts of Mencius and its great reputation,

    this history is simply a bald record of incidents whose entire

    contents afford barely an hour’s reading. “Instead of a history

    of events,” writes Dr. Legge, ” woven artistically together,

    we find a congeries of the briefest possible intimations of matters

    in which the court and State of Lu were more or less concerned,

    extending over two hundred and forty-two years, without

    the slightest tincture of literary ability in the composition,

    or the slightest indication of judicial opinion on the part of the

    writer. The paragraphs are always brief. Each one is designed

    to conmiemorate a fact ; l>nt whether that fact be a display of

    virtue calculated to command our admiration, or a deed of

    atrocity fitted to awaken our disgust, it can hardly be said that

    there is anything in the language to convey to us the shadow of

    an idea of the author’s feelings about it. The notices—for we

    cannot call them narratives—are absolutely unimpassioned. A

    base murder and a shining act of heroism are chronicled just

    as the eclipses of the sun are chronicled. So and so took

    ‘ This somewhat fanciful explanation of. the title is from the Han commentators.

    Dr. Legge {(Jlassim, Vol. V., Prolegomena, p. 7) observes that “not

    even in the work do we find such ‘ censures ‘ and ‘ commendations ; ‘ and much

    less are they trumpeted in the title of it.” His interpretation that Spring and

    Autumn are put by synechdoche for all four seasons, i.e., the entire record of

    the year, appears to he a more natiu’al account. The same writer declines that

    ” the whole hook is a collection of riddles, to which there are as many answers

    as there are gnessers ” Tlie interesting chapters of his pmlejioniena to this

    translation, and his judicious criticisms on these early records, should tempt all

    sinologues to read them throughout.

    place; that is all. Xo details are given; no judgment is expressed.”

    So imperturbable a recital could hardly have been saved from

    extinction even by the great reputation of the sage, had it not

    been for the amplification of Tso, a younger contemporary or

    follower of Confucius, who lillel up the meagre sentences and

    added both flesh and life to the skeleton. It ‘n possible that

    the enthusiastic praises of Mencius are due to the fact that he

    associated the text and commentary as one work. The Chuen

    of Tso has indeed always been regarded as foremost among the

    secondary classics ; uor is it too much, considering his terse yet

    vivid and pictorial style, to call its author, as does Dr. Legge,

    ” the Froissart of China.” ‘ In addition to his purpose of explaining

    the text of the Chun Tuia, Tso’s secondary object was

    to give a general view of the history of China during the period

    embraced by that record ; unless he had put his living tableaiix

    into the framework of his uuister, there is grave reason to fear

    that many most important details relating to the sixth and seventh

    centuries b.c. would have been forever lost. Two other

    early commentaries, those of Kung Yang and Kidi Liang, dating

    from about the second century b.c, occupy a high position

    in the estimation of Chinese scholars as illustrative of the original

    chronicle. They do not compare with the Tf<o Chuen

    either in interest or in authority, though it may be said that a

    study of the Chun T^’iu can hardly be made unless attended

    with a careful perusal of their contents. It will not be without

    interest to give an example of the Record^ followed with elucidations

    of the text by these three aimotators. The second year

    of Duke Hi of Lu (b.c. G57) runs as follows

    :

    1. In thvi [duke’s] second year, in spring, in the king’s first month, we

    [aided in the] walling of Tsu-kin.

    2. In summer, in the fifth month, on Sin-sz’, we buried our duchess, Gai

    Kiang.

    3. An army of Yu and an army of Tsin extinguished Kia-yang.

    ‘ The same writer adds, in summing up the merits of tlie T,^o (lliuen : ” It

    is, in my opinion, tlie most precious literary treasure which has come down to

    posterity from the Chow dynasty.”

    (Jlaam’s, Vol. V., Proleg., p. 35.

    650 THE 3IIDDLE KIXGDO:\r.

    4. Ill autuiun, in the ninth month, the Marquis of Tsz’, tlie Duke of Sung

    an officer of Kiang, and an officer of Hwang, made a covenant in Kwan.

    5. Ill winter, in the tenth month, there was no rain.

    G. A body of men from Tsu made an incursion into Ching.

    Upon the tliird entry for tliis year tlie T.so Chuen enlarges

    :

    Seiin Seih, of Tsin, requested leave from the marquis to take his team of

    Kiuh horses and his J5e«7t of Chui-keih jade, and with tlieni borrow a way from

    Yu to march through it and attack Kwoh. “Tliey are the things I hold most

    precious,” said the marquis. Seih replied, “But if you get a way through

    Yu, it is but like placing them in a treasury outside the State for a time.”

    ” There is Kung Che-kl in Yu,” objected the duke. ” Kuug Clie-kl,” returned

    the other, ” is a weak man, and incapable of remonstrating vigorously. And,

    moreover, from his youth up he has always been with the Duke of Yu. who is

    so familiar with him that though he should remonstrate the duke will not

    listen to him.” The marquis accordingly sent Seun Seih to borrow a way

    through Yu with this message: “Formerly Ki, against right and reason, entered

    your State from Tien-ling, and attacked the three gates of Ming. It

    suffered for so doing, all through your grace. Now Kwoh, against right and

    reason, has been keeping guards about the travellers’ lodges, to make incursions

    from them into my southern l)orders, and I venture to beg a right of way

    from you to ask an account of its offence.” The Duke of Yu granted the request,

    and even asked to take the lead in invading Kwoh. Kung Clie-ki

    remonstrated with him, but in vain ; and he raised his army for the enterprise.

    In summer, Li Kill and Seun Seih brought on the army of Tsin, made

    a junction with that of Yu, and invaded Kwoh, when they extinguished Hiayang.

    The army of Yu is mentioned first, because of the bribes which the

    duke accepted.

    The coniiuentar}^ of Knng Yang says on tlie same paragraph :

    Yu was a small State ; why is it that it is here made to take precedence of

    a great one ‘? To make Yu take tlie lead in the wickedness.

    Why is Yu made to take the lead in the wickedness V Yu received the

    bribes with whicli those [wlio were going to] extinguish the State [of Kwoh]

    borrowed a way through it, and thus brought on its own ruin.

    IIow did it receive [those] bribes ‘i Duke Hieii [of Tsin] gave audience to

    his great officers, and asked them why it was that he had lain all night without

    sleeping One of them advanced and said, “Was it because you did not feel

    at ease [in your mind] ? or was it because your [proper] bedfellow was not by

    your side “‘. ” The duke gave no answer, and then Seun Seih came forward

    and said, “Was it because Yu and Kwoh were appearing to you ? ” The duke

    motioned to him to come [more] forward, and then went with him into an inner

    apartment to take counsel. ” I wish,” said he, ” to attack Kwoh, but Yu

    will go to its velief. and if I attack Yu Kwoh will succor it ; what is to be

    done ? I wish to consider the case with you.” Seun Seih replied, “If you

    will use my counsel, you shall take Kwoh to-day and Yu to-morrow ; why

    EXTRACTS FROM IJIK i’UUN TSIU. ‘ 651

    should your lordship he trouhled y ” ” IIow is this to he accomplished’:”‘

    asked the duke. ” Please let [me go toj Yu,” said the other, ‘” with your team

    01 Kiuh horses and your white peth or Chui-keih, and you are sure to get

    [what you wautj. It will only be taking your valuable {jai/t] Ironi your inner

    treasury and depositing it in an outer one ; your lor(l^^hip will lose nothing

    by it.” The duke said, “Yes; but Kung Che-ki is there. What are

    we to do with him ? ” Seun Seih replied, ” Kung Che-ki is indeed knowing ;

    but the Duke of Yu is covetous, and fond of valuable curios ; he is sure

    not to follow his minister’s advice. I beg you, considering everything, to let

    nie go.” . . . etc., etc.

    The following, as a l)rief sample of the Kiih Liang conmientaiy,

    takes up the narrative M’here we have broken off. There

    is so ninch that is similar in these two latter exegeses as to lead

    to the belief that they “were composed with reference to each

    other.

    On this Duke Hien soirght [in the way proposed] for a passage [through

    Yu] to invade Kwoh. Kung Che-ki remonstrated, saying, “The words of the

    envoy of Tsin are humble, but his oSFerings are great ; the matter is sure not

    to be advantageous to Yu.” The Duke of Yu, however, would not listen to

    him, but received the offerings and granted the passage through the State.

    Kung Che-ki remonstrated [again], suggesting that the case was like that in

    the saying about the lips being gone and the teeth becoming cold ; alter wliicli

    he fled with his wi^e and children to Tsao.

    Duke Hien then destroyed Kwoh, and in the fifth year [of our Duke Hi] he

    dealt in the same way with Yu. Seun Seih then had the horses led forward,

    while he carried the peih in his hand, and said : “The peih is just as it was,

    but the horses’ teeth are grown longer ! ” ‘

    Meagre as are the items <»f the text, they sliow, together with

    its copious commentaries, the methodical care of the early Chinese

    in preserving their ancient records. The hints which these

    and other books give of their intellectual activity during the

    eight centuries before C/hrist, naturally compel a higher estimate

    of their culture than we have hitherto allowed them.”

    The sixth section of the Catalogue has already been noticed

    as comprising the literature of the JTiao King.

    ‘ To this the Kung Yang commentator adds: “This he said in joke.”

    * Compare Tchun Tsieov, Jje Prinfemps cf- PAutomne, mi Anri/iles de la Pnneipaute

    (Je Loii, depuis 122 jusqu” en 481, etc. Traduites en fran^ow, purLQ

    Roux Deshauterayes. 1750. Dr. E. Bretschneider, in the Chinese BecordeVf

    Vol. IV., pp. 51-52, 1871.

    652 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    Tlie seventh section contains a list of works written to eluci^

    date tlie Five Classics as a whole, and if their character for

    orio-inality of thought, variety of research, extent of illustration,

    and explanation of obscurities was comparable to their size and

    numbers, no books in any language could boast of the aids possessed

    by the Wu Khvj for their right comprehension. Of

    these commentators, Chu Hi of Kiangsi, M’ho lived during the

    Sun<‘- dvnasty, has so greatly exceeded all others in illustrating

    and expounding them, that his explanations are now considered

    of almost equal authority with the text, and are always given

    to the beginner to assist him in ascertaining its true meaning.

    The eighth section of the Catalogue comprises memoirs and

    comments upon the &’ Shu^ or ‘ Four Books,’ which have been

    nearly as influential in forming Chinese mind as the Wu King.

    They are by different authors, and since their publication have

    perhaps undergone a few alterations and interpolations, but the

    changes either in these or the Five Classics cannot be very

    numerous or great, since the large body of disciples who followed

    Confucius, and had copies of his writings, would carefully

    preserve uncorrupt those which he edited, and hand do\\’n

    unimpaired those which contained his sayings. Xone of the

    Four Books were actually written by Confucius himself, but

    three of them are considered to be a digest of his sentiments ;

    they were arranged in their present form by the brothers Ching,

    who flourished about eight centuries ago.

    The first of the Four Books is the Ta Illoh, i.e., ‘ Superior’

    or ‘ Great Learning,’ which originally formed one chapter of

    the Book of Rites. It is now divided into eleven chapters,

    only the first of which is ascribed to the sage, the remainder

    forming the comment upon them ; the whole does not contain

    two thousand words. The argument of the Ta Ilioh is briefly

    summed up in four heads, ” the improvement of one’s self, the

    regulation of a family, the government of a state, and the rule

    of an empire.” In the first chapter this idea is thus developed in a circle peculiarly Chinese:

    The ancients, who wished to illustrate renovating virtue throughout the

    Empire, first ordered well their own states. Wishing to order well their

    states, they first regulated their lamilies. Wishing to regulate their families,

    THE GREAT LEARNING AND JUST MEDIUM. 653

    they first cultivated tlieir persons. Wishing to cultivate their person!’, they

    first rectified their hearts. Wishing to rectify their hearts, they first sought to

    be sincere in their thoughts. Wishing to be sincere in their tlioughts, they

    first extended their knowledge to the utmost. Such extension oi.’ knowledge

    lay in the investigation of things. Things being investigated, knowledge became-

    complete : knowledge being comi)lete, their thoughts were sincere : their

    thoughts being sincere, their hearts were then rectified : their hearts being

    rectified, their persons were cultivated : their persons being cultivated, their

    families were regulated : families being regulated, states were rightly governed

    ; and states being rightly governed, the Empire was made tran(iuil.

    From the Son of Heaven to the man of the people, all must consider the

    cultivation of the person to be the foundation.

    The subsequent c]i;q)ters mainly consist of the terse sayings

    of ancient kings and authors gathered and arranged by Tsang

    and aftei’ward hy CJliu Hi, designed to ilhistrate and enforce

    the teachings of Confucius contained in the first. One quotation

    only can be given from Chapter X.

    In the Declaration of [tlio Duke of] Tsin, it is said : ” Let me have but one

    minister plain and sincere, not pretending to other abilities, but with a simple

    upright mind ; and possessed of generosity, regarding the talents of others as

    though he possessed them himself, and where he fintls accomplished and perspicacious

    men, loving them in his lieart more than his mouth expresses, and

    really sliowing himself able to avail himself of them ; such a minister will be

    able to preserve my descendants and the Black-haired people, and benefits to

    the kingdom might well be looked for. But if it be, when lie finds men of

    ability, he is jealous and hateful to them ; and when he meets accomplished

    and perspicacious men, he opposes theni and will not allow their advancement,

    showing that he is really not able to avail liimself of them ; such a

    minister will not be able to protect my descendants and the Black-haired

    people. May he not even be pronounced dangerous V

    Tt will be willingly allowed, ^^hen reading these extracts,

    that, destitute as they were of the higli sanctions and animating

    hopes and promises of the Word of God, these Chinese

    moralists began at the right place in tlieir endeavors to reform

    and benefit their countrymen, and that they did not fnlly succeed

    was owing to causes beyond their reforming power.

    The second of the Four Books is called CJnin’j Ynny, or the

    ‘ Just Medium,’ and is, in some respects, the most elaborate

    treatise in the series. Tt was composed by Kung Kih, the

    grandson of Confucius (better known hy his style Tsz’-sz’),

    about ninety years after tlie sage’s death. It once also formed part of the Vi Ki., from wliicli it, as well as the Ta Hioh.,

    Avere taken out by Chii Hi to make two of the Sz’ Shu. It

    lias thirty-three chapters, and has been the subject of numei’ous

    comments. The great purpose of the author is to illustrate the

    nature of human virtue, and to exhibit its conduct in the

    actions of an ideal Jiiun fs2\ or ‘princely man ‘ of immaculate

    propriety, who always demeans himself correctly, without going

    to extremes. He carries out the advice of Hesiod

    :

    ” Let every action prove a mean confess’d;

    A moderation is, in all, the best.”

    True virtue consists in never going to extremes, though it does

    not appear that by this the sage meant to repress acti\e benevolence

    on the one hand, or encourage selfish stolidity on the

    other. C/d/Kj, or uprightness, is said to be the basis of all

    things; and /to, harmony, the all-pervading principle of the

    universe ; ” extend uprightness and harmony to the utmost,

    and heaven and earth will be at rest, and all things be produced

    and nourished according to their nature.” The general character

    of the work is monotonous, but relieved with some animated

    passages, among which the description of the Mun tsz\ or

    princely man, is one. ” The princely man, in dealing with others, does not descend to anything low or improper. How unbending his valor ! He stands in the middle, and leans not to either side. The princely man enters into no situation where he is not himself. If he holds a high situation, he does not treat with contempt those below him ; if he occupies an inferior station, he uses no mean arts to gain the favor of his superiors. He corrects himself and blames not othei’S ; he feels no dissatisfaction.

    On the one hand, he nun-miirs not at Heaven ; nor, on the other, does he feel resentment toward man. Hence, the superior man dwells at ease, entirely waiting the will of Heaven.”‘

    ‘ Collie’s Foicr linakx, pp. 0-10.

    THE SAGE, OR PRINCELY MAN. 655

    Chinese moralists divide maidcind into three classes, on these principles : ” Men of the highest order, as sages, worthies, philanthropists, and lieroes, are good without instruction ; men of the middling classes are so after instruction, such as x^usbandnien, pliysicians, astrologers, soldiers, etc., while those of the lowest are bad in spite of instruction, as play-actors, pettifoggers, slaves, swindlers, etc.” The first are shing^ or sages; the second are Men, or worthies ; the last are yu, or worthless. Sir John Davis notices the similarity of this triplicate classification with that of Ilesiod. The Just Med’turii thus describes the first character:

    It is only the sage who is possessed of that clear discrimination and profound intelligence which fit him for filling a high station ; who possesses that enlarged liberality and mild benignity which lit him for bearing with others; who manifests that firmness and magnanimity that enable him to hold fast good principles ; who is actuated by that benevolence, justice, propriety, and

    knowledge which command reverence ; and who is so deeply learned in

    polite learning and good principles as to qualify him rightly to discriminate.

    Vast and extensive are the effects of his virtue ; it is like the deep and living

    stream which flows unceasingly ; it is substantial and extensive as Heaven,

    and profound as the great abyss. Wlierever ships sail or chariots run ; wherever

    the heavens overshadow and the earth sustains ; wherever the sun and

    moon shine, or frosts and dews fall, among all who have blood and breath,

    there is not one who does not honor and love him.

    Sincerity or conscientiousness holds a high place among the

    attributes of the superior or princely man ; but in translating

    the Chinese terms into English, it is sometimes puzzling enough

    to find those which will exhibit the exact idea of the original.

    For instance, sincerity is described as “the origin or consummation

    of all things ; without it, there would be nothing. It is

    benevolence by which a man’s self is perfected, and knowledge

    by which he perfects others.” In another place we read that

    ” one sincere w^ish would move heaven and earth.” The Ixlun tsz’

    is supposed to possess these qualities. The standard of excellence

    is placed so high as to be absolutely unattainable by unaided

    human nature ; and though Kih probably intended to

    elevate the character of his grandfather to this height, and thus

    hand him down to future ages as a sMng Jin, or ‘ perfect and

    holy man,’ he has, in the providence of God, done his countrymen

    great service in setting before them such a character as is

    ‘lb., p. 28.

    here given in the Chung Yung. Bj being made a text-book in the schools it has been constantly studied and memorized by generations of students, to their great benefit.

    The third of the Four Books, called the Lun Yu, or ‘ Analects of Confucius,’ is divided into twenty chapters, in which the collective body of his disciples recorded his woi’ds and actions, much in the same way that Boswell did those of Johnson.

    It has not, however, the merit of chronological arrangement,

    and parts of it are so sententious as to be obscure, if not

    almost unintelligible. This work discloses the sage’s shrewd

    insight into the character of his conntiymen, and knowledge of

    the manner in which they could best be approached and influenced.

    Upon the commencement of his career as reformer and

    teacher, he contented himself with reviving the doctrines of

    the ” Ancients ; ” but finding his influence increasing as he

    continued these instructions, he then—yet always as under their

    authority—engrafted original ideas and tenets upon the minds

    of his generation. Had even his loftiest sentiments been propounded

    as his own, they would hardly have been received in

    his day, and, perhaps, through the contempt felt for him by

    his contemporaries, have been lost entirely.

    Among the most remarkable passages of the Four Books are

    the following : Replying to the question of Tsz’-kung, ” Is there

    one word wliicli may serve as a rule of practice for all of one’s

    life?” Confucius said: “Is not .^ihu (‘reciprocity’) such a

    word ? What you do not want done to youi-self, do not do to

    others.” In a previous place Tsz’-kung had said : ” What I do

    not wish men to do to me, I also wish not to do to men.” Confucius

    replied : ” Tsz’, you have not attained to that.” The

    same principle is repeated in the C/t ung Yung, where it is said

    that the man who does so is not far from the path. Another

    is quoted in the Imperial Dictionary, under the word Fuh: ” The people of the west have sages,” or ” There is a sage (or holy man) among the people of the west,” where the object is to show that he did not mean Buddha. As Confucius was contemporary M’ith Ezra, it is not impossible that he had heard something of the history of the Israelites scattered throughout

    the one hundred and twenty-seven provinces of the Persian

    THE ANALECTS OF CONFUCIUS, 657

    monarchy, or of the writings of their prophets, though there is not the least historical evidence that he knew anything of the countries in Western Asia, or of the books extant in their languages. Some idea of the character of the Lun Yu may be gathered from a few detached sentences, selected from Marshman’s translation.’

    Grieve uot that men know jou not, but be grieved that you are ignorant of men.

    Governing with equity resembles the north star, which is fixed, and all the stars surround it.

    Have no friends unlike yourself.

    Learning without reflection will profit nothing ; reflection without learningwill leave the mind uneasy and miserable.

    Knowledge produces pleasure clear as water ; complete virtue brings happiness solid as a mountain ; knowledge pervades all things ; virtue is tranquil and happy ; knowledge is delight ; virtue is long life.

    Without virtue, both riches and honor seem to me like the passing cloud.

    The sage’s conduct is affection and benevolence in operation.

    The man who possesses complete virtue wishes to fix his own mind therein, and also to fix the minds of others ; he wishes to be wise himself, and would fain render others equally wise.

    Those who, searching for virtue, refuse to stay among the virtuous, how can they obtain knowledge ? The rich and honorable are those with whom men desire to associate ; not obtaining their company in the paths of virtue, however, do not remain in it.

    In your appearance, to fall below decency would be to resemble a savage rustic, to exceed it would be to resemble a fop ; let your appearance be decent and moderate, then you will resemble the honorable man.

    When I first began with men, I heard words and gave credit for conduct; now I hear words and observe conduct.

    I have found no man who esteems virtue as men esteem pleasure.

    The perfect man loves all men ; he is not governed by private affection or interest, but only regards the public good or right reason. The wicked man, on the contrary, loves if you give, and likes if you commend him.

    The perfect man is never satisfied with himself. He that is satisfied with himself is not perfect.

    He that is sedulous and desires to improve in his studies is not ashamed to stoop to ask of others.

    Sin in a virtuous man is like an eclipse of the sun and moon ; all men

    gaze at it, and it passes away ; the virtuous man mends, and the world standsin admiration of his fall.

    ‘ The TFbrA’.* of Confucius ; containing the oi’i(jiiud text, %cith a Translation,by J. Marshman. Vol. I. Serampore, 1807.Vol. I.–43

    Patience is the most necessary thing to have in this world. A few facts respecting the life, and observations on the character, of the great sage of Chinese letters, may here be added, though the extracts already made from his writings are sufficient to show his style. Confucius was born b.c.551, in the twentieth year of the Emperor Ling (about the date at which Cyrus became king of Persia), in the kingdom of Lu, now included in Yenchau, in the south of IShantung. His father was a district magistrate, and dying when lie was only three years old, left his care and education to his mother, who, although not so celebrated as the mother of Mencius, seems to have nurtured in hiui a respect for morality, and directed his studies. During his youth he was remarkable fuj- a grave demeanor and knowledge

    of ancient learning, which gained him the respect and admiration

    of his townsmen, so that at the age of twenty, the year

    after his marriage, he was entrusted M’itli the duties of a subordinate

    office in the revenue department, and afterward appointed

    a supervisor of fields and herds. In his twenty-fourth

    year his mother deceased, and in conformity with the ancient

    usage, which had then fallen into disuse, he immediately resigned

    all his employments to mourn for her three years, during M’hicli

    time he devoted himself to study. This practice has continued

    to the present day.

    His examination of the ancient writings led him to resolve

    upon instructing his countrymen in them, and to revive the

    usages of former kings, especially in whatever related to the

    rites. His position gave him an entry to court in Lu, where

    he met educated and influential men, and by the time he was

    thirty he was already in repute among them as a teacher. His

    own king, Siang, gave him the means of visiting the imperial

    t’ourt at Lohyang. Here, together Avith his disciples, he examined

    everything, past and present, with close scrutiny, and returned

    home with renewed regard for the ancieiit founders of

    the House of Chau. His scholars and admirers increased in

    numbers, and a corresponding extension of fame followed, so

    that ere long he had an invitation to the court of the prince of

    Tsi, but on arrival there was mortified to learn that curiosity

    had been the prevailing cause of the invitation, and not a desire

    to adopt his principles. He accordingly left him and went

    LIFE OF CONFUCIUS. 659

    home, where the struggles between three rival families carried disorder and misery throughout the kingdom ; it was with the greatest difficulty that he remained neutral between these factions.

    His disciples were from all parts of the land, and public opinion began to be influenced by his example. At length an opportunity offered to put his tenets into practice. The civil strife had resulted in the flight of the rebels, and Lu was settling down into better government, when in b.c. 500 Confucius was made the magistrate of the town of Chung-tu by his sovereign, Duke Ting. He was now fifty years old, and began to carry out the best rule he could in his position as minister of crime. For three years he administered the affairs of State with such a mixture of zeal, prudence, severity, and

    regard for the rights and wants of all classes, that Lu soon

    became the envy and dread of all other States. He even

    succeeded in destroying two or three baronial castles M’hose

    chiefs had set all lawful authority at defiance. His precepts

    had been fairly put in practice, and, like Solomon, his influence

    in after-ages was increased by the fact of acknoM’ledged

    success.

    It was but little more than an experiment, however ; for Duke

    King of Tsi, becoming envious of the growing power of his

    neighbor, sent Ting a tempting present, consisting of thirty

    horses beautifully caparisoned, and a number of curious rai’ities,

    with a score of the most accomplished courtesans he could

    procure in his territories. This scheme of gaining the favor of

    the youthful monarch, and driving the obnoxious cynic from

    his counj3ils, succeeded, and Confucius soon after retired by

    compulsion into private life. He moved into the dominions of

    the prince of Wei, accompanied by such of his disciples as chose

    to follow him, where he employed himself in extending liis

    doctrines and travelling into the adjoining States.

    He Mas at times applauded and pati’onized, but quite as often

    the object of persecution and contumely ; more than once his

    life was endangered. He compared himself to a dog driven

    from his home : ” I have the fidelity of that animal, and I am

    treated like it. But what matters the ingratitude of men ?

    They cannot hinder me from doing all the good that has been appointed me. If my precepts are disregarded, I have the consolation of knowing in my own breast that I have faithfully performed my duty.” lie sometimes spoke in a manner that showed his own impression to be that heaven had conferred on him a special commission to instruct the world. On one or two occasions, when he was in jeopardy, he said : ” If IJeaven means not to obliterate this doctrine from the earth, the men of Kwang can do nothing to me.” And ” as Heaven has produced whatever virtue is in nie, what can Ilwan Tui do to me 5f ” In his instructions he improved passing events to afford useful lessons, and some of those recorded are at least ingenious. Observing a fowler one day soi’tinghis birds into different cages, he said, ” I do not see any old birds here ; Where have you put them ? ” ” The old birds,” replied the fowler, ” are too wary to be caught ; they are on the lookout, and if they see a net or cage, far from falling into the snare they escape and never return.

    Those young ones which are in company with them likewise escape, but only such as separate into a flock by themselves and rashly approach are the birds I take. If perchance I catch an old bird it is because he follows the young ones.”

    ” You have heard him,” observed the sage, turning to his disciples; “the words of this fowler afford us matter for instruction.

    LIFE OF CONFUCIUS. G61

    The young birds escape the snare oidy when they keep with the old ones, the old ones are taken when they follow the young ; it is thus with maidvind. Presumption, hardihood, want of forethought, and inattention are the principal reasons why young people are led astray. Inflated with their small attainments they have scarcely made a commencement in learning before they think they know everything; they have scarcely performed a few common virtuous acts, and straight they fancy themselves at the height of wisdom. Under this false impression they doubt nothing, hesitate at nothing, pay attention to nothing ; they rashly undertake acts without consulting the aged and experienced, and thus securely following their own notions, they are misled and fall into the flrst snare laid for ihem. If you see an old man of sober years so badly advised as to be taken with the sprightliness of a youth, attached tq him, and thinking and acting with him, he is led astray by him and soon taken in the same snare. Do not forget the answer of the fowler.””

    Once, when looking at a stream, he compared its ceaseless

    current to the transmission of good doctrine through succeeding

    generations, and as one race had received it they should liand

    it down to others. ” Do not imitate those isolated men [the

    Rationalists] who are wise only for themselves ; to communicate

    the modicum of knowledge and virtue we possess to others will

    never impoverish ourselves.” lie seems to have entertained

    only faint hopes of the general reception of his doctrine, though

    toward the latter end of his life he had as much encouragement

    in the respect paid him personally and the increase of his

    scholars as he could reasonably have wished.

    Confucius returned to his native country at the age of sixtyeight,

    and devoted his time to completing his edition of the

    classics and in teaching his now large band of disciples. He

    was consulted by his sovereign, who had invited him to return,

    and one of his last acts was to go to court to urge an attack on

    Tsi and punish the nnu’der of its duke. Many legends have

    gathered around him, so that he now stands before his countrymen

    as a sage and a demigod ; yet there is a remarkable

    absence of the prophetic and the miraculous in every event connected

    with these later writings. One story is that when he

    had finished his writings he collected his friends around him

    and made a solenm dedication of his literary labors to heaven

    as the concluding act of his life. ” he assembled all his disciples and led them out of the town to one of the hills where sacrifices had usually been offered for many years. Here he erected a table or altar, upon which he placed the books ; and then turning his face to the north, adored Heaven, and returned thanks upon his knees in a humble manner for having had life and strength granted him to enable him to accomplish this laborious undertaking ; he implored Heaven to grant that the benefit to his countrymen from so arduous a labor might not be small. He had prepared himself for this ceremony by privacy, fasting, and prayer. Chinese pictures represent the sage in the attitude of supplication, and a beam of light or a rainbow desceiiding from the sky upon the books, Avhile his scholars stand around in admiring wonder.” ‘

    A few davs before his death lie tottered about the house, sighing,

    Tai shan, ki tui Jiu!—Liang miih. hi liwai hit,

    !—Ch’ijin, ki wei hu!

    The great mountain is broken

    !The strong beam is thrown down !

    The wise man withers like a plant

    !lie died soon after, b.c. 478, aged seventy-three, leaving a

    single descendant, his grandson Tsz’-sz, thi-ougli whom the succession

    has been transmitted to the pi-esent day. During his

    life the return of the Jews from Bal)ylon, the invasion of

    Greece by Xerxes, and concjucst of Egypt l)y the Persians took

    place. Posthumous honors in great variety, amounting to idolatrous

    worship, have been conferred upon him. His title is the

    ‘Most Holy Ancient Teacher’ Kung tsz’, and the ‘Holy Duke.’

    In the reign of Kanghi, two thousand one hundred and fifty

    years after his death, there were eleven thousand males alive

    bearing his name, and most of them of the seventy-fourth generation,

    being undoubtedly one of the oldest families in the

    world. In the Sacrificial llitual a short account of his life is

    given, which closes M’ith the following pa^an :

    Confucius ! Confucius ! How great is Confucius !

    Before Confucius there never was a Confucius !

    Since Confucius there never has been a Confucius !

    Confucius ! Confucius ! How great is Confucius !

    The leading features of the })hilosophy of CVjnfucius are subordination

    to superiors and kind, upright dealing with our fellow-

    nien ; destitute of all reference to an iniseen Power to whom

    all men are accountable, they look only to this world for their

    sanctions, and make the monarch himself only partially amenable

    to a higher tribunal. It would indeed be hard to overestimate

    the influence of Confucius in his \^q,^ princelij scholar,

    and the power for good over his race this conception ever since

    has e.xerted. It might be compared to the glorious work of the

    ‘ Chinese Repository, Vol. XI., p. 421. Pauthier, La Chine, Paris, 1839,pp. 121-184.

    ClIAKACTEK OF THE CONFUCIAN SYSTEM. 663

    sculptor on tlie Acropolis of Athens—that matchless statue

    more than seventy feet in height, whose casque and spear of

    burnished brass glittered above all the temples and high places

    of the city, and engaged the constant gaze of the mariner on

    the near ^Egean ; guiding his onward course, it was still ever

    beyond his reach. Like the Athena Promachos to the ancient

    Attic voyager, so stands the klun-tsz” of Confucius among the

    ideal men of pagan moralists. The immeasurable influence

    in after-ages of the character thus portrayed proves how lofty

    was his own standard, and the national conscience has ever

    since assented to the justice of the portrait.

    From the duty, honor, and obedience owed by a child to his

    parents, he proceeds to inculcate the obligations of wives to their

    husbands, subjects to their prince, and ministers to their king,

    together with all the obligations arising from the various social

    relations. Political morality must be founded on private rectitude,

    and the beginning of all real advance was, in his opinion,

    comprised in nosce tei]_)Hiu)i. It cannot be denied that among

    much that is commendable there are a few exceptionable dogmas

    among his tenets, and Dr. Legge, as has already been seen,

    reflects severely on his disregard of truth in the Chun Tain

    and in his lifetime. Yet compared wdth the precepts of Grecian

    and Poman sages, the general tendency of his writings is good,

    while in adaptation to the society in which he lived, and their

    eminently practical character, they exceed those of western

    philosophers. lie did not deal much in sublime and unattainable

    descriptions of virtue, but rather taught how the common

    intercourse of life was to be maintained—how children should

    conduct themselves toward their parents, when a man should

    enter on office, when to marry, etc., etc., which, although they

    may seem somewhat trifling to us, were probably well calculated

    for the times and people among whom he lived.’

    ‘ Compare Dr. Legge’s lielirjions of Clnmi ; Prof. R. K. Douglas, Confucianism and Tuouism, London, 1879 ; S. Johnson, Orkntdl IMigions : China, Boston, 1877 ; A Systematical Digest of tfis Doctrines of Confiidus, according to the Analects, Great Learning, and Doctrine of the Mean, etc., by Ernst Faber. Translated from the German by MollendorfF, Hongkong, 1875 ; Histoire de Confucius, par J. Senamaud, Bordeaux et Paris, 1878.

    Had Confucius transmitted to posterity such works as the

    Iliad, the De Officiis, or the Dialogues of Plato, he would no

    doubt liave taken a higher rank among the commanding intellects

    of the world, but it may be well doubted whether his influence

    among his own countrymen would have been as good or

    as lasting. The variety and minuteness of liis instructions for

    the nurture and education of children, the stress he lays upon

    filial duty, the detail of etiquette and conduct he gives for the

    intercourse of all classes and ranks in society, characterize his

    writings from those of all philosophers in other countries, who,

    comparatively speaking, gave small thought to the education of

    the young. The Four Books and the Five Classics woukl not,

    80 far as regards their intrinsic character in comparison with

    other productions, be considered as anything more than curiosities

    in literature for their antiquity and language, were it not

    for the incomparable influence they have exerted over so many

    millions of minds ; in this view they are invested with an interest

    which no book, besides tlie Bible, can claim. The source

    and explanation of this influence is to be found in their use as

    text-books in the schools and competitive examinations, and

    well would it be for Christian lands if their youth had the same

    knowledge of the writings of Solomon and the Evangelists.

    Their freedom from descriptions of impurity and licentiousness,

    and alhisions to whatever debases and vitiates the heart, is a

    redeeming quality of the Chinese classics which should not be

    overlooked. Chinese literature contains enough, indeed, to pollute

    even the mind of a heathen, but its scum has become the

    sediment ; and little or nothing can be found in the writings

    that are most highly prized which will not bear perusal by any

    person in any country. Every one acquainted with the writings

    of Hindu, Greek, and Koman poets knows the glowing descriptions

    of the amours of gods and goddesses which fill their

    pages, and the purity of the Chinese canonical books in this

    respect must be considered as remarkable.

    For the most part the Chinese, in worshipping Confucius, content

    themselves with erecting a simple tablet in his honor ; to

    carve imaiires for the cult of the sage is uncommon. The incident

    represented in the adjoining wood-cut illustrates, however,

    WORSHIP OF CONFUCIUS. 665

    Worship of Confucius and his Disciples.

    an exception to the prevailing severity of this worship. A certain

    “Wei Ki, a scholar living in the Tang dynasty (a.d. 657), not

    content, it is said, with giving instruction in the classics, set np

    the life-size statues of Confucius and his seventy-two disciples

    in order to incite the enthusiasm of his own pupils. Into this

    sanctuary of the divinities of learning were wont to come the

    savant AYei and his scholars—among whom were numhered

    hoth his grandfather and several of his grandchildren—to prostrate

    themselves before the ancient worthies. ” But of his descendants,”

    concludes the chronicler, ” there were many who

    arose to positions of eminence in the State.”

    The last of the Fonr Books is nearly as large as the other

    three nnited, and consists entirely of the writings of Mencius,

    Mang tsz’, or Mang fu-tsz’, as he is called by the Chinese.’

    This sage flourished npward of a century after the death of his

    master, and although, in estimating his character, it must not

    be forgotten that he had the advantages of his example and

    stimulus of his fame and teachings, in most respects he displayed

    an oi-iginality of thought, inflexibility of purpose, and

    extensive views superior to Confucius, and must be regarded

    as one of the greatest men Asiatic nations have ever produced.

    Mencius was born b.c. 371,^ in the city of Tsau, now in the

    province of Shantung, not far from his master’s native district.

    He was twenty-three years t)ld when Plato died, and many

    other great men of Greece were his contemporaries. His

    father died earlj’^, and left the guardianship of the boy to his

    widow, Changshi. “The care -of this prudent and attentive

    mother,” to quote from Bemusat, ” has been cited as a model

    for all virtuous parents. The house she occupied was near that

    ‘ It may liere be remarked that the terms tsz’ or fu-tsz’ do not properly form a part of the name, but are titles, meaning rabhi or eminent teacher, and are added to the surnames of some of the most distinguished writers, by way of peculiar distinction ; and in the words Mencius and Confucius have been Latinized with Mang and Kung, names of the persons themselves, into one word. The names of other distinguished scholars, as Chu fu-tsz’, Ching fu-tsz’, etc., have not undergone this change into Chufucius, Chingfucius ; but usage has now brought the compellation for these two men into universal use as a distinctive title, somewhat like the term reneraUe applied to Bede.

    llemusat, Nouveuux MekuKjex, Tome II., pp. 115-129.

    LIFE OF MENCIUS. 667

    of a butcher ; she observed that at the first crj of the animals

    that were being slaughtered the little Mang ran to be present

    at the sight, and that on his return he sought to imitate what

    he had seen. Fearful that his heart might become hardened,

    and be accustomed to the sight of blood, she removed to another

    house wdiicli Avas in the neighborhood of a cemetery.

    The relations of those who were buried there came often to

    weep upon their graves and make the customaiy libations ; the

    lad soon took pleasure in their ceremonies, and amused himself

    in imitating them. This was a new subject of uneasiness to

    Changshi ; she feared her son might come to consider as a jest

    what is of all things the most serious, and that he would acquire

    a habit of performing with levity, and as a matter of

    routine merely, ceremonies which demand the most exact attention

    and respect. Again, therefore, she anxiously changed her

    dwelling, and went to live in the city, opposite to a school,

    where her son found examples the most worthy of imitation,

    and soon began to profit by them. I should not have spoken

    of this trifling anecdote but for the allusion which the Chinese

    constantly make to it in the common proverb, ‘ Formerly the

    mother of Mencius chose out a neighborhood.” ” On another

    occasion her son, seeing persons slaughtering pigs, asked her

    why they did it. ” To feed you,” she replied ; but reflecting

    that this was teaching her son to lightly regard tlie truth, went

    and bought some pork and gave him.

    Mencius devoted himself early to the classics, and probably attended the instructions of noted teachers of the school of Confucius and his grandson Ivih. After his studies were completed, at the age of forty, he came forth as a public teacher, and offered his services to the feudal princes of the country. Among others, he was received by Ilwui, king of Wei, but, though much respected by this ruler, his instructions were not regarded ; and he soon perceived that among the numerous petty rulers and intriguing statesmen of the day there was no prospect of restoring tranquillity to the Empire, and that discourses upon the mild government and peaceful virtues of Yao and Shun, King Wan and Chingtang, offered little to interest persons whose ininds were engrossed with schemes of conquest or pleasure, lie thereupon accepted an invitation to go to Tsi, the adjoining State, and spent most of his public life there; the records show that he was often called on for his advice by statesmen of many governments. As he went from one State to another his influence extended as his experience showed him the difficulties of gcwd government amidst the general disregard of justice, mercy, and frugality. His own unyielding character and stern regard for etiquette and probity chilled the loose,

    luiscrupulous men of those lawless times. At length he retired

    to his home to spend the last twenty years of his life in the

    society of his disciples, there completing the Mork which bears

    liis name and has made him such a power among his countrymen.

    He has always been an incentive and guide to popular

    efforts to assert the rights of the subject against the injustice

    of riders, and an encourager to rulers who have governed with

    justice. His assertion of the proper duties and prerogatives

    belonging to both parties in the State was prior to that of any

    M’estern writer; some of his principles of liberal govermnent

    were taught before their enunciation in Holy Writ. He died

    when eighty-four years old (b.c. 288), shortly before the death

    of Ptolemy Soter at the same age.

    After his demise Mencius was honored, by public act, with

    the title of ‘ Holy Prince of the country of Tsau,’ and in the

    temple of the sages he I’eceives the same honors as Confucius

    his descendants bear the title of ‘ Masters of the Traditions

    concerning the Classics,’ and he himself is called A-sMn//, or

    the ‘ Secondary Sage,’ Confucius being regarded as the first.

    His writings are in the form of dialogues held with the great

    personages of his tinae, and abound with irony and ridicule

    directed against vice and oppression, which only make his

    praises of virtue and integrity more weighty. After the manner

    of Socrates, he contests nothing with his adversaries, but,

    while granting their premises, he seeks to draw from them consequences

    the most absurd, which cover his opponents with confusion.

    The king of Wei, one of the turbulent princes of the time,

    was conq)laining to Mencius how ill he succeeded in his endeavors

    to make Ids people happy and his kingdom flourishing.

    PERSONAL CHARACTER OF HIS TEACHINGS. 669

    “Prince,” said the philosopher, “you love war; permit me to draw a comparison from thence : two armies are in presence; the chaige is sounded, the battle begins, one of the parties is conquered; half its soldiers have Hed a hundjed paces, the other half has stopped at fifty. Will the last have any right to mock at those mIio have fled further than themselves?*’

    “No,” said the king; “they have equally taken flight, and the same disgrace must attend them both.”

    ” Prince,” says Mencius quickly, ” cease then to boast of your efforts as greater than your neighbors’. You have all deserved the same reproach, and not one has a right to take credit to himself over another.” Pursuing then his bitter interrogations, he asked, “Is there a difference, O king! between killing a man with a chip or with a sword? ” ” No,” said the prince.

    “Between him who kills with the sword, or destroys by an inhuman tyranny?” “No,” again replied the prince.

    “Well,” said Mencius, “your kitchens are encumbered with food, your sheds are full of horses, while yonr subjects, with emaciated conntenances, are worn down with misery, or found dead of hunger in the middle of the fields or the deserts. What is this but to breed animals to prey on men ‘i And what is the difference between destroying them by the sword or by nnfeeling conduct ? If we detest those savage animals which mutually tear and devour eaclr other, how much more should we abhor a prince who, instead of being a father to his people, does not hesitate to lear animals to destroy them. What kind of father to his people is he who treats his children so nnfeelingly, and has less care of them than of the wild beasts he provides for ?”

    On one occasion, addressing the prince of Tsi, Mencius renuirked: ” It is not the ancient forests of a country which do it honor, but its families devoted for many generations to the duties of the magistracy. Oh, king ! in all your service there are none such ; those whom you yesterday raised to honor, what are they to-day ?”

    ” In what way,” replied the king, ” can I know beforehand that they are without virtue, and remove them ?”

    “In raising a sage to the highest dignities of the State,” replied the philosoplier, “ii king acts only as lie is of necessity bound to do. But to put a man of obscure condition over the nobles of his kingdom, or one of his remote kindred over princes more nearly connected with him, demands most careful deliberation. Do his courtiers imite in speaking of a man as wise, let him distrust them. If all the magistrates of his kingdom concur in the same assurance, let him not rest satisfied with their testimony, but if his subjects confirm the story, then let him convince himself; and if he finds that the individual is indeed a sage, let him ]-aise him to office and honor. So, also, if all his courtiers would f)ppose his placing confidence in a minister, let him not give heed to them; and if all the magistrates are of this opinion, let him be deaf to their solicitations; but if the people unite in the same request, then let him examine the object of their ill-will, and, if guilty, remove him. In short, if all the courtiers think that a minister should sufPer death, the prince must not content himself with their opinion merely. If all the high officers entertain the same sentiment, still he must not yield to their convictions ; but if the people declare that such a num is unfit to live, then the prince, inquiring himself and being satisfied that the charge is true, must condemn the guilty to death ; in such a case, we may say that the people are his judges. In acting thus a prince becomes the parent of his subjects.”

    The will of the people is always referred to as the supreme

    power in the State, and Mencius warns princes that they nnist

    both please and benefit their people, observing that ” if the

    country is not subdued in heart there will be no such thing as

    governing it; ” and also, ” He who gains the hearts of the people

    secures the throne, and he who loses the people’s hearts

    loses the throne.” A prince should ” give and take what is

    })leasing to them, and not do that wdiich they hate.” ” Good

    laws,” he further remarks, ” are not equal to winning the people

    by good instruction.” Being consulted by a sovereign, wdiether

    he ought to attempt the conquest of a neighboring territory, he

    answered : ” If the people of Yen are delighted, then take it ;

    but if otherwise, not.” lie also countenances the dethroning of

    a king who does not rule his people with a regard to their hap

    HIS ESTIMATE OF HUMAN NATURE. 671

    piness, and adduces the example of tije founders of the Shang

    and Chan dynasties in proof of its propriety. “Wlien the

    prince is gnilty of great errors,” is liis doctrine, “the minister

    should reprove him ; if, after doing so again and again, he does

    not listen, he ought to dethrone him and put another in his

    place.”

    His estimate of human nature, like many of the Chinese

    sages, is high, believing it to be originally good, and that ” all

    men are naturally virtuous, as all water flows downward. All

    men have compassionate hearts, all feel ashamed of vice.” But

    he says also, ” Shame is of great moment to men ; it is only the

    desig-nino; and artful that find no use for shame.” Yet human

    nature must be tried by suffering, and to form an energetic and

    virtuous character a man nnist endure much ; ” when Heaven

    was about to place Shun and others in important trusts, it first

    generally tried their minds, inured them to abstinence, exposed

    them to poverty and adversity ; thus it moved their hearts and

    taught them patience.” His own character presents traits

    widely differing from the servility and baseness usually ascribed

    to Asiatics, and especially to the Chinese ; and he seems to

    have been ready to sacrifice everything to his principles. ” I

    love life, and I love justice,” he observes, “‘ but if I cannot preserve

    both, I would give up life and hold fast justice. Although

    I love life, there is that which I love more than life; although

    I hate death, there is that which I hate more than death.” And

    as if referring to his own integrity, he elsewhere says: “The

    nature of the superior man is such that, although in a high and

    prosperous situation, it adds nothing to his virtue ; and although

    in low and distressed circumstances, it impairs it in nothing.”

    In many points, especially in the importance he gives to filial

    duty, his reverence for the ancient books and princes, and his

    adherence to old usages, Mencius imitated and upheld Confucius

    ; in native vigor and carelessness of the reproaches of his

    compatriots he exceeded him. Many translations of his work

    have appeared in European languages, but Legge’s ‘ is in most

    respects the best for its comments, and the notices of Men-CMnese Classics, Vol II. Hongkong, 1863. ciiis’ life and times, and a fair estimate of his character and in fiuence.

    KeLurning to the Imperial Catalogue, its ninth section contains a list of musical works, and a few on dancing or posture making; they hold this distinguished place in the list from the importance attached to music as employed in the State worship and domestic ceremonies.

    The tenth section gives the names of philological treatises and lexicons, most of them confined to the Chinese language, though a few are in Mancliu. The Chinese government has excelled in the attention it has given to the compilation of lexicons and encyclopaedias. The number of works of this sort here catalogued is two hundred and eighteen, the major part issued during this dynasty, and including only works on the general language, none on the dialects. For their extent of quotation, the variety of separate disquisitions upon the form, origin, and composition of characters, and treatises upon subjects connected with the language, they indicate the careful labor native scholars have bestowed upon the elucidation of their own tongue.

    One of them, the Pel Wan Yiin Fa, or ‘ Treasury of compared

    Characters and Sounds,’ is so extensive and profound as

    to deserve a short notice, which cannot be bettei’ made than by

    an extract from the preface of M. Callery to his prospectus to

    its translation, of which he only issued one livi-aison. He says

    the Emperor Kanglii, who planned its preparation, ” assembled

    in his palace the most distinguished literati of the Empire, and

    laying befoi-e them all the works that could be got, whether

    ancient or modern, commanded them carefully to collect all the

    words, allusions, forms and figures of speech of every style, of

    which examples might be found in the Chinese language ; to

    class the principal articles according to the pronunciation of the

    words ; to devote a distinct paragraph to each expression ; and

    to give in suppoi-t of every paragraph several quotations from

    the original works. Stimulated by the nuinificence, as well as

    the example, of the Emperor, who reviewed the performances

    of every day, seventy-six literati assembled at Peking, labored

    with such assiduity, and kept up such an active correspondence

    KANGIlfs DICTIONARY. 673

    \v »th the learned in all parts of the Empire, that at the end of

    eight years the work was completed (1711), and printed at the

    public expense, in one hundred and thirty thick volumes.” The

    peculiar natui-e of the Chinese language, in the formation of

    many dissyllabic compounds of two or more characters to express

    a third and new idea, renders such a work as this thesaurus

    more necessary and useful, perhaps, than it would be in any

    other lano;naoi;e. Under some of the common characters as

    many as three hundred, four hundred, and even six hundred

    combinations are noticed, all of which modify its sense more or

    less, and form a complete monograph of the character, of the

    highest utility to the scholar in composing idiomatic Chinese.

    This magnificent monument of literary labor reflects great

    credit on the monarch who took so much interest in its compilation

    (as he remarks in his preface), as to devote the leisure hours of every day, notwithstanding his manifold occupations, for eight years, to overlooking the labors of the scholars engaged upon it.Vol. L—43

    CHAPTER XII.  POLITE LITERATURE OP THE CHUSTESE

    The three remaining divisions of the Imperial Catalogue

    comprise lists of Historical, Professional, and Poetical works.

    The estimate made of their value will depend somewhat on the

    peculiar line of research of the student, and to give him the

    means of doing this would re([uire copious extracts from poetical,

    religious, topographical or moral writings. Those who

    have studied them the longest, as Remusat, Julien, Staunton,

    Pauthier, the two Morrisons, Legge, etc., speak of them with

    the most respect, whether it arose from a higher appreciation

    of their worth as they learned more, or that the zealousness of

    their studies imparted a tinge of enthusiasm to their descriptions.

    A writer in the Quarterly Hemeto gives good reasons

    for placing the polite literature of the Chinese first for the insight

    it is likely to give Europeans into their habits of thought.

    ” The Chinese stand eminently distinguished from other

    Asiatics by their early possession and extensive use of the important

    art of printing—of printing, too, in that particular shape,

    the stereotype, which is best calculated, by multiplying the

    copies and cheapening the price, to promote the circulation of

    eV’Cry species of their literature. Hence they are, as might be

    expected, a reading people ; a certain degree of education is

    connnon amono; even the lower classes, and amono- the hisfher it

    is superfluous to insist on the great estimation in which letters

    must be held under a system where learning forms the very

    threshold of the gate that conducts to fame, honors, and civil

    employment. Amid the vast mass of printed books which is

    the natural offspring of such a state of things, we make no

    CHINESE WORKS ON HISTORY. 675

    scruple to avow that the circle of their helles-lettres, comprised

    under the heads of drama, poetrv, and novels, has always possessed

    the highest place in our esteem ; and we must say that

    there appears no readier or more agreeable mode of becoming

    intimately acquainted with a people from whom Europe can

    have so little to learn on the score of either moral or physical

    science than by drawing largely on the inexhaustible stores of

    their ornamental literature.”

    The second division in the Catalogue, &’ Pu, or ‘ Historical

    Writings,’ is subdivided into fifteen sections. These writings

    are very extensive ; even their mere list conveys a high idea of

    the vast amount of labor expended upon them ; and it is impossible

    to withhold respect, at least, to the industry displayed in

    compilations like the Seventeen Histories^ in two hundred and

    seventeen volumes, and its continuation, the Twenty-two Histories^

    a still larger work. Though the entertaining episodes

    and sketches of character found in Herodotus and other ancient

    European historians are wanting, there is plenty of incident in

    court, camp, and social life, as well as public acts and royal

    biography. The dynastic records became the duty of special

    officers, and the headings adopted from the Sui, a.d. 590, have

    since been followed in arranging the historic materials under

    twelve heads. From the mass of materials digested by careful

    scholars have been compiled the records now known ; they

    form, with all their imperfections, the best continuous history

    of any Asiatic people. Popular abridgments are common,

    among which the Tung Klen Kang-muh, or ‘ General Mirror

    of History,’ and a compiled abridgment of it, the Kang Klen I

    Chi, or ‘ History made Easy,’ are the most useful.

    The earliest historian among the Chinese is Sz’maTsien,’ who

    flourished about b.c. 104, in which year he commenced the &’

    Kt, or ‘ Historical Memoirs,’ in one hundred and thirty chapters.

    . In this great work, which, like the Muses of Herodotus

    in Greek, forms the commencement of credible modern history

    with the Chinese, the author relates the actions of the Emperors

    ‘ Compare Remusat, Nouveaiix Mehinriefi, Tome II., pp. IBO ff., where there

    are excellent biographical notices of Sz’ma Tsieu and other native historians.

    676 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    in regular succession and the principal events which happened

    during their reigns, together with details and essays respecting

    mus’c, astronomy, religious ceremonies, weights, public works,

    etc., and the changes they had nndei-gone during the twentytwo

    centuries embraced in his Memoirs. It is stated by liemusat

    that there are in the whole work five hundred and twentysix

    thousand five hundred characters, for the Chinese, like the

    ancient Hebrews, number the words in their standard authors.

    The aSs’ Kl is in five parts, and its arrangement has served as

    a model for subsequent historians, few of whom have equalled

    its author in the vivacity of their style or carefulness of their

    research.

    The General Mh’ror to Aid in Governin/j, by Sz’ma Kwang,

    of the Sung dynasty, in two hundred and ninety-four chapters,

    is one of the best digested and most lucid amials that Chinese

    scholars have produced, embracing the period between the end

    of the Tsin to the beginning of the Sung dynasty (a.d. 313 to

    960). Both the historians Sz’ma Tsien and Sz’ma Ivwang filled

    high offices in the State, were both alternately disgraced and

    honored, and were mixed up with all the political movements

    of the day. Kemusat speaks in terms of deserved connnendation

    of their writings, and to a notice of their works adds some

    account of their lives. One or two incidents in the career of

    Sz’ma Kw^ang exhibit a readiness of action and freedom in expressing

    his sentiments which are more common among the

    Chinese than is usually supposed. In his youth he was standing

    with some companions near a large vase used to rear gold

    fish, when one of them fell in. Too terrified themselves to do

    anything, all but young Kwang ran to seek succor ; he looked

    around for a stone with which to break the vase and let the

    water flow out, and thus saved the life of his companion. In

    subsequent life the same common sense was joined with a boldness

    which led him to declare his sentiments on all occasions.

    Some southern people once sent a present to the Emperor of a

    strange quadruped, which his flatterers said was the mythological

    Jxi-lin of happy omen. Sz’ma Ivwang, being consulted on

    the matter, replied : ” I have never seen the ki-len, therefore I

    cannot tell wdiether this be one or not. What I do know is that

    THE HISTORIANS Sz’mA TSIEN AND SZ’mA KWANG. G77

    tlie i-eal JA-Un conkl iievei- ])e In-ought liitliei hy foi’eignors ; he

    appears of liiniself wlieii the State is well governed.” ‘ An extension

    of this great work hj Li Tao, of the Sung (Ivnasty, in

    five Imndrod and twenty books, gave their countrymen a fair

    account of the thirty-six centuries of their national fortunes ;

    and the digest under C’hu Ui’s direction has made them still

    more accessible and famous to succeed in<r a^es.

    Few works in Chinese literatui-e are more popular than a

    historical novel by Chin Shan, about a.d. 350, called the San

    Kiroh C/n, or ‘ History of the Three States ;’ its scenes are laid

    in the northern parts of China, and include the period between

    A.I). 170 and ‘j\7, when several ambitious chieftains conspii’ed

    against the indjecile ju-inces of the once famous Ilan dynasty,

    and, after that was overtlirown, fought among themselves until

    the Empire Avas again reconsolidated under the Tsin dynasty.

    This pei’formance, from its donl)le character and the long period

    over which it extends, necessarily lacks that unity which a novel

    should have. Its charms, to a Chinese, consist in the animated

    descriptions of plots and counterplots, in the relations of battles,

    sieges, and retreats, and the admirable manner in M-hicli the

    characters are delineated and their acts intermixed with entertaining

    episodes. The work opens with desci-ibing the -distracted

    state of the Empire under the misrule of Ling ti and

    Ilwan ti, the last two monarchs of the ILjuse of Ilan (147 to

    184), who were entirely swayed l)y eunuchs, and left the administration

    of government to reckless oppressors, until aml»itious

    men, taking advantage of the general <liscontent, raised

    the standard of rebellion. The leaders ordered their partisans

    to wear yellow head-dresses, whence the rebellion Avas called

    that of the Yellow Caj^s, and Avas suppressed only after several

    years of hard struggle by a few distinguished generals who upheld

    the throne. Among these was Tung Choh, who, gradually

    drawing to himself all the power in the State, therel)y arrayed

    against himself others equally ambitious and unscrupulous.

    Disorganization had not yet proceeded so far that all hope of

    supporting the rightful throne had left the minds of its adher

    ‘ Chinese Repository, Vol. IX., pp. 210, 274.

    078 THE middlj: kingdom.

    ents, among wlioiu was Wang Yun, a chancellor of the Empire,

    who, seeing the danger of the State, devised a scheme ta

    inveigle Tung Choh to his ruin, which is thus narrated

    :

    One day Timg Cholx gave a great entertainment to the officers of government.

    When the wine had circulated several times, Lii Pu (his adopted son)

    whispered something in his ear, whereupon he ordered the attendants to take

    Chang Wan from the table into the hall below, and presently one of them returned,

    handing up his head in a charger. The spirits of all present left their

    bodies, but Tung, laughing, said, ” Pra}’, sirs, do not be alarmed. Chang

    Wan has been leaguing with Yuen 8huh how to destroy me ; a messenger just

    now brought a letter for him, and inadvertently gave it to my son ; for which

    he has lost his life. You, gentlemen, have no cause for dread.” All the

    officers replied, ” Yes ! Yes ! ” and immediately separated.

    Chancellor Wang Yun returned home in deep thought : ” The proceedings of this day’s feast are enough to make my seat an uneasy one ;” and taking his cane late at night he walked out in the moonlight into his rear garden, when standing near a rose arbor and weeping as he looked up, he heard a person sighing and groaning within the peony pavillion. Carefully stepping and watching, he saw it was Tiau Chen, a singing-girl belonging to the house, who had been taken into his family in early youth and taught to sing and dance ; she was now sixteen, and both beautiful and accomplished, and Wang treated her as if she had been his own daughter.

    Listening some time, he spoke out, ” What underhand plot are you at now, insignificant menial ‘? ” Tiau Chen, much alarmed, kneeling, said, ” What treachery can your slave dare to devise ? ” “If you have nothing secret, why then are you here late at night sighing in this manner V ” Tiau replied, “Permit your handmaid to declare her inmost thoughts. I am very grateful for your excellency’s kind nurture, for teaching me singing and dancing, and for the treatment I have received. If my body should be crushed to powder [in your service], I could not requite a myriad to one [for these favors]. But lately I have seen your eyebrows anxiously knit, doubtless from some State affairs, though I presumed not to ask ; this evening, too, I saw you restless in your seat. On this account I sighed, not imagining your honor was overlooking me. If I can be of the least use, I would not decline the sacrifice of a thousand lives.” Wang, striking his cane on the ground, exclaimed, “Who would have thought the rule of Han was lodged in your hands ! Come with me into the picture-gallery.” Tiau Chen following in, he ordered his females all to retire, and placing her in a seat, turned himself around and did her obeisance. She, much surprised, prostrated herself before him, and asked the reason of such conduct, to which he replied, ” You are able to compassionate all the people in the dominions of Han.” His words ended, the tears gushed like a fountain. She added, ” I just now said, if I can be of any service I will not decline, though I should lose my life.”

    Wang, kneeling, rejoined, “The people are in most imminent danger, and

    the nobility in a hazard like that of eggs piled up ; neither can be rescued

    Without your assistance. The traitor Tung Choh wishes soon to seize the

    EXTRACT FROM THE HISTORY OF THE THREE STATES. 679

    throne, and none of the civil or military officers have any practicable means

    of defence. He has an adopted son, Lii Pu, a remarkably daring and brave

    man, wlio, like himself, is the slave of lust. Now I wish to contrive a scheme

    to inveigle them both, by first promising to wed you to Lii, and then offering

    you to Tung, while you must seize the opportunity to raise suspicions in them,

    and slander one to the other so as to sever them, and cause Lii to kill Tung,

    whereby the present great evils will be terminated, the throne upheld, and

    the government re-established. All this is in your power, but I do not know how the plan strikes you.” Tiau answered, “I have promised your excellency my utmost service, and you may trust me that I will devise some good scheme when I am offered to them.”

    ” You must be aware that if this design leaks out, we shall all be utterly exterminated.” “Your excellency need not be anxious, and if I do not aid in accomplishing your patriotic designs, let me die a thousand deaths.”

    Wang, bowing, thanked her. The next day, taking several of the brilliant pearls preserved in the family, he ordered a skillful workman to inlay there into a golden coronet, which he secretly sent as a present to Lii Pu. Highly gratified, Lti himself went to Wang’s house to thank him, where ar well-prepared feast of viands and wine awaited his arrival. Wang went out to meet him, and waiting upon him into the rear hall, invited him to sit at the top of the table, but Lii objected : “I am only a general in the prime minister’s department, while your excellency is a high minister in his Majesty’s court—why this mistaken re.spect V”

    Wang rejoined, “There is no hero in the country now besides you; I do not pay this honor to your office, but to your talents.” Lii was excessively pleased. Wang ceased not in engaging him to drink, the while speaking of Tung Choh’s high qualities, and praising his guest’s virtues, who, on his side, wildly laughed for joy. Most of the attendants were ordered to retire, a few waiting-maids stopping to serve out wine, when, being half drunk, he ordered them to tell the young child to come in. Shortly after, two pages led in Tiau Chen, gorgeously dressed, and Lii, much astonished, asked, “Who is this ?”

    ” It is my little daughter, Tiau Chen, whom I have ordered to come in and see you, for I am very grateful for your honor’s misapplied kindness to me, which has been like that to near relatives. ” He then bade her present a goblet of wine to him, and, as she did so, their eyes glanced to and from each other.

    Wang, feigning to be drunk, said : ” The child strongly requests your honor

    to drink many cups ; my house entirely depends upon your excellency.” Lii

    requested her to be seated, but she acting as if about to retire, Wang remarked,

    “The general is my intimate friend; be seated, my child; what are

    you afraid of V ” She then sat down at his side, while Lii’s eyes never strayed

    from their gaze upon her, drinking and looking.

    Wang, pointing to Tiau, said to Lii, ” I wish to give this girl to you as a concubine, but know not whether you will receive her ? ” Lii, leaving the table to thank him, said, ” If I could obtain such a girl as this, I would emulate the requital dogs and horses give for the care taken of them-“

    Wang rejoined, ” I will immediatcly select a lucky day, and send her to your house” Lii was delighted beyond measure, and never took his eyes off her, while Tiau herself, with ogling glances, intimated her passion. The feast shortly alter broke up, and Lii departed.

    The scheme here devised was successful, and Tung Choli was assassinated by his son when he was on his war to depose the monarch. His death, however, brought no peace to the country, and three chieftains, Tsau Tsau, Lin Pi, and Sun Iviuen, soon distinguished themselves in their struggles for power, and afterward divided the Empire into the three States of AVu, Shuh, and Wei, from which the work derives its name. Many of the personages who figure in this work have since been deified, among whom are Liu Pi’s sworn brother Kwan Yli, who is now the Mars (Kioan ti), and Ilwa To, the Esculapius, of Chinese mythology. Its scenes and characters have all been fruitful subjects for the pencil and the pen of artists and poetasters.

    One commentator has gone so far as to incorporate his reflections in the body of the text itself, in the shape of such expressions as ” Wonderful speech ! What rhodomontade ! This man was a fool before, and shows himself one now ! ” Davis likens this M’ork to the Iliad for its general arrangement and blustering character of the heroes ; it was composed when the scenes described and their leading actors existed chiefly in personal recollection, and the remembrances of both were fading away in the twilight of popular legends.

    Among the numerous historians of China, only a few would repay the labor of an entire translation, but many would furnish good materials for extended epitomes. Among these are the Tso Chtieriy already noticed ; the Anterior Ilan Dynasty by Pan Ivu and his sister ; the Wei /Shu, by Wei Shau (a.d.3SG-55C) ; and the works of Sz’ma Ivwang. In addition to the dynastic histories, numerous similar works classified under the heads of amials and complete I’ecords in two sections of this division would furnish nnich authentic material for the foreign archaeologist. The most valuable relic after the Chun Tsiu, of a historic character, is the ” Bamboo Books,” reported to have been found in a tomb in Ilonan, .\.d. 279 ; it gives a chronological list down to b.c. 299, with incidents interspersed, and bears many internal evidences of genuineness. Legge and Biot have each translated it.’

    BIOGPAPHIES A:SI) STATISTICS. 681

    Biographies of distinguished men and women are numerous, and their preparation forms a favorite branch of literary labor. It is noticeable to observe the consideration paid to literary women in these memoirs, and the praises bestowed upon discreet mothers whose talented children are considered to be the criteria of their careful training. One work of this class is in one hundred and twenty volumes, called Sifuj J^i/, but it does not possess the incident and animation which are found in some less formal biographical dictionaries. The Ziek Wil Chuen, or ‘Memoirs of Distinguished Ladies’ of ancient times, by Liu Iliang, B.C. 125, is often cited by writers on female education who wish to show how women were anciently trained to the practice of every virtue and accomplishment. If a Chinese author cannot quote a case to illustrate his position at least eight or ten centuries old, he thinks half its force abated by its

    youth. Biographical works are almost as numerous as statistical,

    and afford one of the best sources for studying the national

    character; some of them, like the lives of Washington or

    Cromwell in our own literature, combine both history and

    biography.

    Some of the statistical and geographical works mentioned in

    this division are noticed on p. 49. Among those on the Constitution

    is the ‘ Complete Antiquarian Besearches’ of Ma

    Twan-lin (a.d. 1275), in three hundred and forty-eight chapters.

    It forms a most extensive and profound work, containing i-esearches

    upon every matter relating to government, and extending

    through a series of dynasties which held the throne nearly

    forty centuries. Benmsat goes so far as to say : ” This excellent

    work is a library by itself, and if Chinese literature possessed

    no other, the language would l)e worth learning foi- the

    sake of reading this alone.” ]^o book has been more drawn

    upon by Europeans for information concerning matters relating

    to Eastern Asia than this ; Yisdelou and De Guignes took from

    ‘ Legge’s CMnese Classics, Vol. III. ; Proleqomenn, Chap. TV. E. Biot in

    the Jourtud Aaiatigrte, 2e Series, Tome? XII., p. 537, and XIII., pp. 203

    381.

    it much of their information relating to the Tartars and Huns; and Pingsc extracted his account of the comets and aerolites from its pages, besides some geographical and ethnographical papers. Remusat often made use of its stores, and remarks that many parts merit an entire translation, which can be said, indeed, of few Chinese authors. A supplement prepared and published in 1586 by AVang Ki brings it down to that date. A further revision was issued under imperial patronage in 1TT2, and a iinal one not long afterward, continuing the narrative to the reign of Kanghi.’ It elevates our opinion of a nation whose literature can boast of a work like this, exhibiting such patient investigation and candid comparison of authorities, such varied research and just discrimination of what is truly important, and so extensive a mass of facts and opinions upon every subject of historic interest. Although there be no quotations

    in it from Homan or Greek classic authors, and the ignorance

    of the compiler of what was known upon the same subjects in

    other countries disqualified him from giving his remarks the

    completeness they would otherwise have had, 3’et when the

    stores of knowledge from western lands are made known to a

    people whose scholars can produce such works as this, the Memoirs

    of Sz’ma Tsien, and others equally good, it may reasonably

    be expected that they will not lack in industry or ability to

    carry on their researches.

    The third division of Tsz* I^u, ‘ Scholastic ‘ or ‘ Professional Writings,” is arranged under fourteen sections, viz. : Philosophical, Military, Legal, Agricultural, Medical, Mathematical, and Magical writings, works on the Liberal Arts, Collections, Miscellanies, Encyclopedias, Novels, and treatises on the tenets of the Buddhists and Rationalists. The first section is called Jil Khi Lid, meaning the ‘ Works of the Literary Family,’ under which name is included those who maintain, discuss, and teach the tenets of the sages, although they may not accept all that Confucius taught. This class of books is worthy of far more examination than foreigners have hitherto given to it, and they will find that Chinese philosophers have discussed morals, government, cosmogony, and like subjects, with a freedom and acuteness that has not been credited to them.

    ‘ Compare Remusat, Melanges Asiatiques, Tome II., p. 166; Chinese Beposi'(ory. Vol. IX., p. 143 ; Wylie’s Notea, p. 55 ; Mayer’s Chinese Seader^s Manual,p. 149.

    CHINESE rJIILOSOPHICAL WKITINGS. 683

    It was during the Sung dynasty, when Eui’ope was utterly

    lethargic and unprogressive, that China showed a marvellous

    mental activity, and received from Ching, Chu, Chau, and their

    disciples a molding and conservative influence which has remained

    to this day. An extract from a discussion by Chu Hi

    will show the way in which he reasons on the i>ruiimn mohile.

    Under the whole heaven there is no primary matter (//) without the immaterial

    principle {kl), and no immaterial principle apart from the primary matter.

    Subsequent to the existence of the immaterial principle is produced

    primary matter, which is deducible from the axiom that the one male and the

    one female principle of nature may be dominated iao or logos (the active principle

    from which all things emanate) ; thus nature is sj^ontaneously possessed

    of benevolence and righteousness (which are included in the idea of tao).

    First of all existed ticn II (the celestial principle or soul of the universe), and then came primary matter ; primary matter accumulated constituted ridj,(body, substance, or the accidents and qualities of matter), and nature was arranged.

    Should any ask whether the immaterial principle or primary matter existed

    first, I should say that the immaterial principle on assuming a figure ascended,

    and primary matter on assuming form descended ; when we come to speak of

    assuming form and ascending or descending, how can we divest ourselves of

    tlie idea of priority and subsequence V When the immaterial 2:)rinciple does

    not assume a form, primary matter then becomes coarse, and forms a sediment.

    Originally, however, no priority or subsequence can be predicated of the

    immaterial principle and primary matter, and yet if you insist on carrying out

    the reasoning to the question of their origin, then you must say that the immaterial

    principle has the priority ; but it is not a separate and distinct thing ;

    it is just contained in the centre of the priniary nuitter, so that were there no

    primary matter, then this immaterial principle would have no place of attachment.

    Primary matter consists, in fact, of the four elements of metal, wood,

    water, and fire, while the immaterial principle is no other than the four cardinal

    virtues of benevolence, righteousness, propriety, and wisdom.

    Should any one ask for an explanation of the assertion that the immaterial

    principle has first existence, and after that comes primary matter, I say, it is

    not necessary to speak thus : but when we know that they are combined, is it

    that the immaterial principle holds the precedence, and the primary matter

    the subsequence, or is it that the immaterial principle is subsequent to the

    primary matter V We cannot thus carry our reasoning ; but should we endeavor

    to form some idea of it, then we may suppose that the primary matter

    relies on the immaterial principle to come into action, and wherever the primary matter is coagulated, there the immaterial principle is present. For the primary matter can concrete and coagulate, act and do, but the immaterial principle has neither will nor wish, plan nor operation : but only where the primary matter is collected and coagulated, then the immaterial principle is in

    the midst of it. Just as in nature, men and things, grass and trees, birds and

    beasts, in their propagation invariably require seed, and certainly cannot without

    seed from nothingness produce anything ; all this, then, is the primary

    matter, but the immaterial principle is merely a pure, empty, wide-stretched

    void, without form or footstep, and incapable of action or creation ; but the

    primary matter can ferment and coagulate, collect and produce things. . . .

    Should any one ask, with regard to those expressions, ” The Supreme Ruler

    confers the due medium on the people, and when Heaven is about to send

    down a great trust upon men, out of regard to the people it sets up princes

    over them ;

    ” and, ” Heaven in producing things treats them according to their

    attainments : on those who do good, it sends down a hundred blessings, and

    on those who do evil, a hundred calamities;” and, “When Heaven is about

    to send down some uncommon calamity upon a generation, it first produces

    some uncommon genius to determine it ;” do these and such like expressions

    imply that above the azure sky there is a Lord and Ruler who acts thus, or is

    it still true that Heaven has no mind, and men only carry out their reasonings

    in this style ? I reply, these three things are but one idea ; it is that the immaterial

    principle of order is thus. The primary matter in its evolutions

    hitherto, after one season of fulness has experienced one of decay ; and after a period of decline it again flourishes ; just as if things were going on in a circle. There never was a decay without a revival.

    When men blow out their breath their bellies puff out, and when they inhale their bellies sink in, while we should have thought that at each expiration the stomach would fall in, and swell up at each inspiration ; but the reason of it is that when men expire, though the mouthful of breath goes out, the second mouthful is again produced, therefore the belly is puffed up ; and when men inspire, the breath which is introduced from within drives the other out, so that the belly sinks in. LaoZi said nature is like an open pipe or bag ; it moves, and yet is not compelled to stop, it is empty, and still more comes out ; just like a fan-case open at both ends.

    The great extreme (Taiji) is merely the immaterial principle. It is not an independent separate existence ; it is found in the male and female principles of nature, in the five elements, in all things ; it is merely an immaterial principle, and because of its extending to the extreme limit, is therefore called the (jredt extreme. If it were not for it, heaven and earth would not have been set afloat. . . . From the time when the great extreme came into operation, all things were produced by transformation. This one doctrine includes the whole ; it was not because this was first in existence and then that, but altogether there is only one great origin, which from the substance extends to the use, and from the subtle reaches to that which is manifest. Should one ask, because all things jiartake of it, is the great extreme split up and divided ?

    I should reply, that originally there is only one great extreme {(inima mimdi), of which all things partake, so that each mw is provided with a great extreme;

    CIIU HI ON THE GREAT EXTREME. 68o

    just as the moon in the heavens is only one, and ^-et is dispersed over the hills and Lakes, being seen from every place in succession ; still you cannot say that the moon is divided.

    The great extreme has neither residence, nor form, nor place which you can assign to it. If you speak of it before its development, then previous to that emanation it was perfect stillness ; motion and rest, with the male and female principles of nature, are only the embodiment and descent of this principle.

    Motion is the motion of the great extreme, and rest is its rest, but these same motion and rest are not to be considered the great extreme itself. Should any one ask, what is the great extreme ‘i I should say, it is simply the principle of extreme goodness and extreme perfection. Every man has a great extreme, everything has one ; that which Chao-tsz’ called the great extreme is the exemplified virtue of everything that is extremely good and perfect in heaven and earth, men and things.

    The great extreme is simply the extreme point, beyond which one cannot go ; that which is most elevated, most mysterious, most subtle, and most divine, beyond which there is no passing. Lienki was a’^raid lest people should think that the great extreme possessed form, and therefore called it the boundless extreme, a principle centred in nothing, and having an infinite extent.

    . It is the immaterial principle of the two powers, the four forms, and the eight changes of nature ; we cannot say that it does not exist, and yet no form or corporeity can be ascribed to it. From this point is produced the one male and the one female principle of nature, which are called the dual powers ; the four forms and eight changes also proceed from this, all according to a certain natural order, irrespective of human strength in its arrangement.

    But from the time of Confucius no one has been able to get hold of this idea.’

    And, it miglit be added, no one ever will be able to ” get hold ” thereof. Such discnssions as this have ocenpied the minds and pens of Chinese metaphysicians for centuries, and in their endeavors to explain the half-digested notions of the Bool’ of Ohaiujes^ they have wandered far away from the road which would have led them in the path of true knowledge, namely, the observation and record of the works and operations of nature around them ; and one after another they have continued to roll this stone of Sisyphns until fatigne and bewilderment have come over them all. Some works on female education are found in this section, which seems designed as much to include whatever philosophers wrote as all they wrote on philosophy.

    ‘ Translated by Rev. W. H. Medhurst, iu the OJiinese Hi’potiiUjvy, Vol. XIII.,pp. 552, 001) et seq.

    The second and third sections, on military and legal subjects, contain no writings of any eminence. The isolation of the Chinese prevented them from studying the various forms of government and jurisprudence observed in other countries and ages ; it is this feature of originality which renders their legislation so interesting to western students. Among the fourth, on agricultural treatises, is the Kdng Chili Tu Shi, or ‘ Plates and Odes on Tillage and Weaving,’ a thin quarlo, which was written a.d. 1210, and has been widely circulated by the present government in order ” to evince its regard for the people’s support.” The first half contains twenty-three plates on the various processes to be followed in raising rice, the last of which represents the husbandmen and their families returning thanks to the gods of the land for a good harvest, and offering a portion of the fruits of the earth ; the last plate in the second part of the work also represents a similar scene of returning thanks for a good crop of silk, and presenting an offering to the gods.

    The drawings in this work are among the best for perspective and general composition which Chinese art has produced; probably their merit was the chief inducement to publish the work at governmental expense, for the odes are too brief to contain much information, and too difficult to be generally understood.

    The Encydopedia of Agriculture, by Sii Kwang-ki, a high officer in 1600, better known as Paul Su, gives a most elaborate detail of farming operations and utensils existing in the Ming. Other treatises on special topics and crops have been written, but it is the untiring industry of the people which secures to them the best returns from the soil, for they o^ve very little to science or machinery.

    Among the numerous writings published for the iuiprovement

    and instruction of the people by their rulers, none have

    been more influential than the ShlngYu, or ‘ Sacred Commands,’

    a politico-moral treatise, which has been made known to English

    readers by the translation of Dr. Milne.’ The groundwork

    ‘ The Sacred Edict, London, 1817; a second edition of this translation appeared in Shanghai in 1870, and another in 1878. Compare Wylie’s JVotes, p.71 ; Sir G. T. Staunton’s MureUdneous Notm’n, etc., pp. 1-56 (1812); Le Saint Edit, Etude de JAUerature chinoixc, i)reparee par A. Tlieophile Piry, Shanghai, 1879.

    THE SACRED COMMANDS OF KANGHI, 687

    consists of sixteen apothegms, written bj the Emperor Kano-hi,

    containing general rules for the peace, prosperity, and wealth

    of all classes of his subjects. In order that none should })lead

    ignorance in excuse for not knowing the Sacred Commands, it

    is by law required that they be proclaimed throughout the Empire

    by tlie local officers on the first and fifteenth day of every

    month, in a public hall set apart for the purpose, where the

    people are not only permitted, but requested and encouraged,

    to attend. In point of fact, however, this political preaching,

    as it has been called, is neglected except in large towns, though

    the design is not the less commendable. It is highly praise-

    \vorthy to monarchs, secure in their thrones as Kanglii and

    Yungching were, to take upon themselves the teaching of

    morality to their subjects, and institute a special service every

    fortnight to have their precepts communicated to them. If,

    too, it should soon be seen that their designs had utterly failed

    of all real good results from the mendacity of their officers and

    the ignorance or opposition of the people, still the merit due

    them is not diminished. The sixteen apothegms, each consisting

    of seven characters, are as follows:
    1. Pay just regard to filial and fraternal duties, in order to give due importance to the relations of life.
    2. Respect kindred in order to display the excellence of harmony.
    3. Let concord abound among those who dwell in the same neighborhood, thereby preventing litigations.
    4. Give the chief place to husbandry and the culture of the mulberry, that adequate supplies of food and raiment be secured.
    5. Esteem economy, that money be not lavishly wasted.
    6. Magnify academical learning, in order to direct the scholar’s progress.
    7. Degrade strange religions, in order to exalt the orthodox doctrines.
    8. Explain the laws, in order to warn the ignorant and obstinate.
    9. Illustrate the principles of a polite and yielding carriage, in order to improve manners.
    10. Attend to the essential employments, in order to give unvarying determination to the will of the people.
    11. Instruct the youth, in order to restrain them from evil.
    12. Suppress all false accusing, in order to secure protection to the innocent.
    13. Warn those who hide deserters, that they may not be involved in their downfall.
    14. Complete the payment of taxes, in order to prevent frequent urging.
    15. Unite the pao and km, in order to extirpate robbery and theft.
    16. Settle animosities, that lives may be duly valued.

    The aniplilications of these maxims by Yungchiiig contain much information respecting the tlieoiy of his government, and the position of the writer entitles him to speak from knowledge; his amplification of the fourteenth maxim shows their character. From of old the country was divided into districts, and a tribute paid proportioned to the produce of the land. From hence arose revenues, upon which the expense of the five I’l and the whole charges of government depended.

    These expenses a prince must receive from the people, and they are what inferiors should offer to superiors. Both in ancient and modern times this principle has been the same and cannot be changed. Again, the expenses of the salaries of magistrates that they may rule our people ; o” pay to the army that they may protect them ; O- preparing for years o!; scarcity that they may be fed ; as all these are collected from the Empire, so they are all employed for its use. How then can it be supposed that the granaries and treasury of the sovereign are intended to injure the people that he may nourish himself ? Since the establishment of our dynasty till now, the proportions of the revenue have been fixed by an universally approved statute, and all unjust items completely cancelled ; not a thread or hair too much has been demanded from the people. In the days of our sacred Father, the Emperor Pious, his abounding benevolence and liberal favor fed this people upward of sixty years. Daily desirous to promote their abundance and happiness, he greatly diminished the revenue, not limiting the reduction to hundreds, thousands, myriads, or lacs of taels. The mean and the remote have experienced his favor ; even now it enters the muscles, and penetrates to the marrow.

    To exact with moderation, diminish the revenue, and confer favors on the multitude, are the virtues of a prince : to serve superiors, and to give the first place to public service and second to their own, are the duties of a people.

    Soldiers and people should all understand this. Become not lazy and trifling, nor prodigally throw away your property. Linger not to pay in the revenue, looking and hoping for some unusual occurrence to avoid it, nor entrust your imposts to others, lest bad men appropriate them to their own use.

    Pay in at the terms, and wait not to be urged. Then with the overplus you can nourish your parents, complete the marriages of your children, satisfy your daily wants, and provide for the annual feasts and sacrifices. District officers may then sleep at ease in their public halls, and villagers will no longer be vexed in the night by calls from the tax-gatherers ; on neither hand will any be involved. Your wives and children will be easy and at rest, than which you have no greater joy. If unaware of the importance of the revenue to government, and that the laws must be enforced, perhaps you will positively refuse or deliberately put off the payment, when the magistrates, obliged to balance their accounts, and give in their reports at stated times, must be rigorously severe. The assessors, suffering the pain of the whip, cannot help indulging their rapacious dtunands on you ; knocking and pecking at your doors like hungry luiwks, they will devise numerous methods of getting their wants supplied. These nameless ways o^ spending will probably amount to more than the sum which ought to have been paid, and that sum, after all, cannot be dispensed with.

    THEIR AMPLIFICATION BY YUNGCIIING. GSO

    We know not what benefit can accrue from this. Rather than give presents to satisfy the rapacity of policemen, how much better to clear off the just assessments ! Rather than prove an obstinate race and refuse the payment of the revenue, would it not be better to keep the law ? Every one, even the most stupid, knows this. Furthermore, when superiors display benevolence, inferiors should manifest justice ; this belongs to the idea of their being one body. Reflect that the constant labors and cares of the palace are all to serve the people. When freshes occur, dikes must be raised to restrain them ; ij! the demon of drought appear, prayer must be oTered for rain ; when the locusts come, they must be destroyed. If the calamities be averted, you reaji the advantage ; but if they overwhelm you, your taxes are forborne, and alms liberally expended for yon. If it be thus, and the people still can suffer themselves to evade the payment of taxes and hinder the supply of government, how, I ask, can you be easy ? Such conduct is like that o” an undutiful son. We use these repeated admonitions, only wishing you, soldiers and people, to think of the army and nation, and also of your persons and families.

    Then abroad you will have tlie fame of faithfulness, .and at home

    peacefully enjoy its fruits. Officers will not trouble yon, nor their clerks vex

    you—what joy equal to this ! O soldiers and people, meditate on these things

    in the silent night, and let all accord with our wishes. ^

    Wang Yu-pi, a liigh officer under Yiingching, paraphrased

    the anipliiications in a colloquial manner. His remarks on the

    doctrines of the Buddhists and nationalists will serve as an

    illustration ; the (juotation liere given is found under the seventh

    maxim.

    You simple people know not how to discriminate ; for even according to

    what the books of Buddha say, he was the first-born son of the king Fan ; but,

    retiring from the world, he fled away alone to the top of the Snowy Mountains,

    in order to cultivate virtue. If he regarded not his own father, mother, wi^’e,

    and children, are you such fools as to suppose that he regards the multitude

    of the living, or would deliver his laws and doctrines to you ? The imperial

    residence, the queen’s palace, the dragon’s chamber, and halls of state – if he

    rejected these, is it not marvellous to suppose that he should delight in the

    nunneries, monasteries, temples, and religious houses which you can build for

    .’lim ? As to the Gemmeous Emperor, the most honorable in heaven, if there

    ^if- indeed such a god, it is strange to think he should not enjoy himself at his

    own ease in the high heavens, but must have you to give him a body of molten

    gold, and build him a house to dwell in !

    All these nonsensical tales about keeping fasts, collecting assemblies,

    building temples, and fashioning images, are feigned by those sauntering,

    • Sacred Edict, pp. 254-259.

    Vol. I.—44

    690 THE MIDDLE KINGDOlVr.

    worthless priests and monks to deceive you. Still you believe them, and not

    only go yourselves to worship and burn incense in the temples, but also suffer

    your wives and daughters to go. With their hair oiled and faces painted,

    dressed in scarlet and trimmed with green, they go to burn incense in the

    temples, associating with the priests of Buddha, doctors of Reason and barestick

    attorneys, touching slioulders, rubbing arms, and pressed in the moving

    crowd. I see not where the good tliey talk of doing is ; on the contrary,

    tliey do many shameful things that create vexation, and give people occasion

    for laughter and ridicule.

    Further, there are some persons who, fearing that their good boys and

    girls may not attain to maturity, take and give them to the temples to become

    priests and priestesses of Buddha and Reason, supposing that after having removed

    them from their own houses and placed them at the foot of grandfather

    Fuh (Buddha), they are then sure of prolonging life ! Now, I would ask you

    if those who in this age are priests of these sects, all reach the .age of seventy

    or eighty, and if there is not a short-lived person among them y

    Again, there is anotlier very stupid class of persons who, because their

    parents are sick, pledge their own persons by a vow before the gods that if

    their parents be restored to health, they will worship and burn incense

    on the hills, prostrating themselves at every step till they arrive at the summit,

    whence they will dash themselves down ! If they do not lose their lives,

    they are sure to break a leg or an arm. They sa}’ to themselves, “To give

    up our own lives to save our parents is the highest display of liliahduty.”

    Bystanders also praise them as dutiful children, but they do not consider that

    to slight the bodies received from their parents in this manner discovers an

    extreme want of filial duty.

    Moreover, you say that serving Fiih is a profitable service ; that if you

    burn paper money, present offerings, and keep fasts before the face of your

    god Fuh, he will dissii^ate calamities, blot out your sins, increase your happiness,

    and prolong your age ! Now reflect : from of old it has been said, ” The

    gods are intelligent and just.” Were Buddha a god of this description, how

    could he avariciously desire your gilt paper, and your offerings to engage him

    to afford you protection ? If you do not burn gilt paper to him, and spread

    offerings on his altar, the god Fuh will be displeased with you, and send down

    judgments on you ! Then your god Fuh is a scoundrel ! Take, for example,

    the district magistrate. Should you never go to compliment and flatter him,

    yet, if you are good people and attend to your duty, he will pay marked attention

    to you. But transgress the law, commit violence, or usurp the rights

    of others, and though you should use a thousand ways and means to flatter

    him, he will still be displeased with you, and will, without fail, remove such

    pests from society.

    You say that worshipping Fuh atones for your sins. Suppose you have

    violated the law, and are hauled to the judgment-seat to be punished ; if you

    should bawl out several thousand times, ” O your excellency ! O your excellency

    ! ” do you think the magistrate would spare you ? Yoii will, however,

    at all risks, invite several Buddhist and Rationalist priests to your houses to recite

    their canonical books and make confession, siipposing that to chant their

    WANG YU-Pf S RIDICULE OF BUDDHISM. 691

    mummery drives away misery, secures peace, and prolongs happiness and life.

    But suppose you rest satisfied with merely reading over the sections of these

    Sacred Commands several thousands or myriads of times without acting conformably

    thereto ; would it not be vain to suppose that his Imperial Majestj’

    should delight in you, reward you with money, and promote you to office ?

    This ridicule of the popular superstitions has, no doubt, had

    some effect, repeated as it is in all parts of the country’ ; but

    since the literati merely tear down and build up nothing, giving

    the people no substitute for what thej take away, but rather,

    in their times of trouble, doing the things they decry, such

    homilies do not destroy the general respect for such ceremonies.

    The Shlng Yic has also been versitied for the benefit of children,

    and collo<piial explanations added, which has further

    tended to enforce and inculcate its admonitions. The praise

    bestowed on this work by Johnson, in his Oriental Ecllgmis^

    has a good degree of actual usefulness among the people to

    confirm his observations ; yet they are quite used to hearing

    the highest moral platitudes from their rulers, to whom they

    would not lend a dollar on their word.

    In the fifth section, on medical writings, separate works are

    mentioned on the treatment of all domestic animals; among

    them is one on veterinary surgery, whose writers have versified

    most of their observations and prescriptions. The Ilerhal of

    Li Shi-chin, noticed on p. 370, and monographs on special diseases,

    all show the industry of Chinese physicians to much better

    advantage than their science. Works on medicine and

    surgery are numerous, in which the surface of the body is

    minutely represented in pictures, together with drawings of

    the mode of performing various operations. Works on judicial

    astrology, chiromancy, and other .modes of divination, on the

    rules for finding lucky spots for houses, graves, and temples,

    are exceedingly numerous, a large number of them written by

    Rationalists.

    The eighth section, on art, contains writings on painting,

    music, engraving, writing, posturing, and archery, and they will

    doubtless furnish many new points to western artists on the

    > ^red Edict, p. 146.

    692 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    principles and attainments o£ the Chinese in these Inanchea

    wlien the works have been made better known.

    Tlie ninth section, entitled ‘Collections’ or ‘ llepertories,’ is

    divided into memoirs on antiques, swords, coins, and bronzes,

    and presents a field of interesting research to a foreign archaeologist

    likely to reward him. Another division, containing the

    monographs on tea, bamboo, floriculture, etc., is not so promising.

    The tenth section, on philosophical writings, having a tinge of

    heterodoxy, is a very large one, and offers a i-are opportunity of

    research to those curious to know what China can contribute to

    moral science. The writings of Roman Catholics and Moslems

    are included in this long catalogue.

    Under the head of encyclopa>dias, a list of sunnnaries, compends,

    and treasuries of knowledge is given, which for extent

    and bulkiness cannot be equalled in any language. Among

    them is the Tal Tlen^ or’ Great Record ‘ of the Euqjeror Yungloh

    (a.d. 1403), in twenty-two thousand eight hundred and

    sev^enty-seven chapters, and containing the substance of all classical,

    historical, philosophical, and scientific writings in the language.

    Parts of this compilation were lost, and on the accession

    of the Manchus one-tenth of it was missing ; but by means

    of the unequalled interest on the part of Yungloh in his

    national literature, three hundred and eighty-five ancient and

    rare works were rescued from destruction. The San Tsai Tu,

    or ‘ Plates [illustrative of the] Three Powers ‘ (?!.«?., heaven,

    earth, and man, by which is meant the entire universe), in one

    hundred and thirty volumes, is one of the most valuable compilations,

    by reason of the great number of plates it contains,

    which exhibit the ideas of the compilers much better than their

    descriptions.

    The twelfth section, containing novels and tales, called Sia/)

    Shinoh., or ‘Trifling Talk,’ gives the titles of but few of the

    thousands of productions of this class in the language. Works

    of fiction are among the most popular and exceptionable books

    the Chinese have, and those which are not demoralizing are,

    with some notable exceptions, like the Ten Talented Authors,

    generally slighted. The books sold in the streets are chiefly

    of this class of writings, consisting of tales and stories generally

    CYCLOPiEDIAS, NOVELS, ETC. 693

    destitute of all iutricaey of ])lot, fertility of illustration, or elevation

    of sentiment. They form the common mental aliment

    of the lower classes, being read by those who are able, and

    talked about by all ; their influence is consequently immense.

    Many of them are written in the purest style, among which a

    callection called L’lao Chat, or ‘Pastimes of the Study,’ in sixteen

    volumes, is pre-eminent for its variety and force of expression,

    and its perusal can be recommended to every one who

    wishes to study the copiousness of the Chinese language. The

    preface is dated in 1079 ; most of the tales are shoi’t, and few

    have any ostensible moi-al to them, while those which are objectionable

    for their immorality, or ridiculous from their magic

    whimsies, form a large proportion. A quotation or two will

    illustrate the author’s invention:

    A villager was once selling pinms in the market, which were rather delicions

    and fragrant, and high in price ; and there was a Tao priest, clad in

    ragged garments of coarse cotton, begging before his wagon. The villager

    scolded him, but he would not goolf ; whereupon, becoming angry, he reviled

    and hooted at him. The priest said, “The wagon contains manj hundred

    plums, and I have only begged one of them, which, for you, respected sir,

    would certainly be no great loss ; wh}^ then are yon so angry ‘i ” The spectators

    advised to give him a poor plum and send him away, but the villager

    would not consent. The workmen in the market disliking the noise and

    clamor, furnished a few coppers and bought a plum, which they gave the

    priest. He bowing thanked them, and turning to the crowd said, ” I do not

    wish to be stingy, and reqiiest you, my friends, to partake with me of this

    delicious plum.” One of them replied, ” Now you have it, why do you not eat

    it yourself V” “I want only the stone to plant,” said he, eating it up at a

    munch. When eaten, he held the stone in his hand, and taking a spade off

    his shoulder, dug a hole in the ground several Indies deep, into which he put

    it and covered it with earth. Then turning to the market people, he procured

    some broth with which he watered and fertilized it; and others, wishing to

    see what would turn up, brought him boiling dregs from shops near by, which

    he poured upon the hole just dug. Every one’s eyes being fixed upon the

    spot, they saw a crooked shoot issuing forth, which gradually increased till it

    became a tree, having branches and leaves ; flowers and then fruit succeeded,

    large and very fragrant, which covered the tree. The priest then approached

    the tree, plucked the fruit and gave the beholders ; and when all were consumed,

    he felled the tree with a colter— chopping, chopping for a good while,

    until at last, having cut it off, lie shouldered the foliage in an easy manner,

    and leisurely walked away.

    When first the priest began to perform his magic arts, the villager was

    also among the crowd, with outstretched neck and gazing eyes, and completely

    694 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    forgot his own business. When the priest had gone, he hegan to look int«

    liis wagon, and lo ! it was empty of plums ; and for the first time he perceived

    that wliat liad just been distributed were all his own goods. Moreover, looking

    narrowly about his wagon, he saw that the dashboard was gone, having

    just been cut ojE with a chisel. Much excited and incensed he ran after him,

    and as he turned the corner of the wall, he saw the board thrown down beneath

    the hedge, it being that with which the plum-tree was felled. Nobody

    knew where the priest had gone, and all the market folks laughed heartily.

    The Rationalists are considered as the chief magicians among

    the Chinese, and they figure in most of tlie tales in this work,

    whose object probably was to exalt their craft, and add to their

    reputation. Like the foregoing against liardheartedness, the

    following contains a little sidewise admonition against theft

    :

    On the west of the city in the hamlet of the White family lived a rustic

    who stole his neighbor’s duck and cooked it. At night he felt his skin itch,

    and on looking at it in the morning saw a thick growth of duck’s feathers,

    which, when irritated, pained him. He was much alarmed, for he had no

    remedy to cure it; but, in a dream ox the night, a man informed him, ” Your

    disease is a judgment from heaven ; you must get the loser to reprimand you,

    and the feathers will fall off.” Now this gentleman, his neighbor, was always

    liberal and courteous, nor during his whole life, whenever he lost anything,

    had he even manifested any displeasure in his countenance. The thief

    craftily told him, ” The fellow who stole your duck is exceedingly afraid of a

    reprimand; but reprove him, and he will no doubt then fear in future.” He,

    laughing, replied, “Who has the time or disposition to scold wicked men ?” and

    altogther refused to do so ; so the man, being hardly bestead, was obliged to

    tell the truth, upon which the gentleman gave him a scolding, and his disorder

    was removed.

    Remusat compares the construction of Chinese novels to those

    of Itichardson, in which the ” authors render their characters

    interesting and natural by reiterated strokes of the pencil, which

    finally produce a high degree of illusion. The interest in their

    pages arose precisely in proportion to the stage of my progress

    ;

    and in approaching to the termination, I found myself about to

    part with some agreeable people, just as I had duly learned to

    relish their society.” lie briefly describes the defects in Chinese

    romances as principally consisting in long descriptions of trifling

    particulars and delineations of localities, and the characters and

    circumstances of the interlocutors, while the thread of the narrative

    is carried on mostly in a conversational way, which, fronj

    CHARACTER OF CHINESE FICTION. 695

    its minuteness, soon becomes tedious. The length of their

    poetic descriptions and prolix display of the wonders of art or

    the beauties of nature, thrown in at the least hint in the narrative,

    or moral reflections introduced in the most serious manner

    in the midst of diverting incidents, like a long-metre psalm in

    a comedy, tend to confuse the main story and dislocate the unity

    requisite to produce an effect.

    Chinese novels, however, generally depend on something of

    a plot, and the characters are sometimes well sustained. ” Visits

    and the formalities of polished statesmen ; assemblies, and above

    all, the conversations which make them agreeable ; repasts, and

    the social amusements which prolong them ; M^alks of the admirers

    of beautiful nature ; journeys ; the manoeuvres of adventurers;

    lawsuits; the literary examinations; and, in the

    sequel, marriage, form their most fi-equent episodes and ordinary

    conclusions.” The hero of these plots is usually a young academician,

    endowed with an amiable disposition and devotedly

    attached to the study of classic authors, who meets with every

    kind of obstacle and ill luck in the way of attaining the literary

    honors he has set his heart on. The heroine is also well acquainted

    with letters ; her own inclinations and her father’s

    desires are that she may find a man of suitable accomplishments,

    but after having heard of one, every sort of difficulty is

    thrown in the way of getting him ; which, of course, on the

    part of both are at last happily surmounted.

    The adventures which distinguished persons meet in wandering

    over the countiy incognito, and the happy denouement of

    their interviews with some whom they have been able to elevate

    when their real characters have been let out, form the plan of

    other tales. There is little or nothing of high wrought description

    of passion, nor acts of atrocious vengeance introduced to

    remove a troublesome person, but everything is kept within the

    bounds of jirobability ; and at the end the vicious are punished

    by seeing their bad designs fail of their end in the rewards and

    success given those who have done well. In most of the stories

    whose length and style are such as to entitle them to the name

    of novel, and which have attained any reputation, the story is

    not disgraced by anything offensive ; it is rather in the shorter

    G96 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM,

    tales that decency is violated. Among tlieiu the Ilung La(s

    Jlfwyt^, or ‘ Dreams of the Red Chamber,’ is one of the most

    popular stories, and open not a little to this objection.

    The historical novels, of which there are many, would, if

    translated, prove more interesting to foreign readers than those

    merely describing manners, because they interweave much information

    in the story. The SJiui Hu Chnen, or ‘Narrative

    of the “Water Marshes,’ and ‘ The Annals of the Contending

    States,’ are two of the best written ; the latter is more credible

    as a history than any other work in this class.

    The fourth division of the Catalogue is called TkUi Pu, or

    ‘ Miscellanies,’ and the works mentioned in it are chieily poems

    or collections of songs, occupying nearly one-third of the whole

    collection. They arc arranged in five sections, namely : Poetry

    of Tsu, Complete Works of Individuals, and General Collections,

    On the Art of Poetry, and Odes and Songs. The most

    ancient poet in the language is Yuh Yuen, a talented Minister

    of State who flourished previous to the time of Mencius, and

    wrote the Li Sao, or ‘Dissipation of Sorrows.’ It has been

    translated into German and French. Ilis name and misfortunes

    are still commemorated by the Festival of Dragon-boats

    on the fifth day of the fifth moon. More celebrated in Chinese

    estimation are the poets Li Tai-peh and Tu Fu of the Tang

    djTiasty, and Su Tung-po of the Sung, who combined the three

    leading traits of a bard, being lovers of flowers, wine, and song,

    and attaining distinction in the service of government.’ The

    incidents in the life of the former of these bards were so varied,

    and his reckless love of drink brought him into so many scrapes,

    that he is no less famed for his adventures than for his sonnets.

    The following stoi-y is told of him in the ‘ Remarkable Facts

    of all Times,’ which is here abridged from the translation of

    T. Pavie :

    Li, called Tai-peli, or ‘Great-white,’ from the planet Venns, was endowed

    with a beautiful countenance and a well-made person, exhibiting in all liis

    ‘ The second of these, Tu Fu, is a poet of some distinction noticed by Eemusat

    {Koiivcdiix MeUoicicx, Tome II., p. 174). He lived in the eighth century

    A.I)., dying of hunger in the year 768. His writings are usually edited wit);

    those of Li Tai-peh.

    STORY OF LI TAI-PEII, THE POET. 697

    movements a gentle nobility which indicated a man destined to rise above his

    age. When only ten years old, he could read the classics and histories, and

    liis conversation sliowed the brilliancy of liis thoughts, as Avell as the purity

    ol his diction. He was, in consequence oi’ his precocity, called the Exiled

    Immortal, but named himself the Retired Scholar of the Blue Lotus. Some

    one having extolled the quality of the wine of Niauching, he straightway

    went there, although more than three hundred miles distant, and abandoned

    lumself to his appetite for liquor. While singing and carousing in a tavern,

    a military commandant passed, who, hearing his song, sent in to inquire who

    it was, and carried the poet off to his own house. Cn departing, he urged Li

    to go to the capital and compete for literary honors, which, he doubted not,

    couid be easily attained, and at last induced him to bend his steps to the capital.

    On his arrival there, he luckily met the academician Ho near the palace,

    who invited him to an alehouse, and laying aside his robes, drank wine with

    him till night, and then carried him home. The two were soon well acquainted,

    and discussed the merits of poetry and wine till they were much charmed with

    each other.

    As the day of examination approached. Ho gave the poet some advice.

    ” Ihe examiners for this spring are Yang and Kao, one a brother of the Empress,

    the other commander of his Majesty’s body-guard ; both of them love

    those who make them presents, and if you have no means to buy their favor,

    the road of promotion will be shut to you. I know them both very well, and

    will write a note to each of them, which may, perhaps, obtain you some

    favor.” In spite of his merit and high reputation, Li found himself in such

    circumstances as to make it desirable to avail of the good-will of his friend

    Ho ; but on perusing the notes he brought, the examiners disdainfully exclaimed,

    ” After having fingered his pi’oieije^a money, the academician contents

    himself with sending us a billet which merely rings its sound, and bespeaks

    our attention and favors toward an upstart without degree or title. On the

    day of decision we will remember the name of Li, and any composition signed

    by him shall be thrown aside without further notice.” The day of examination

    came, and the distinguished scholars of the Empire assembled, eager to

    hand in their compositions. Li, fully capable to go through the trial, wrote

    off his essay on a sheet without effort, and handed it in first. As soon as he

    saw the name of Li, the examiner Yang did not even give himself time to

    glance over the page, but with long strokes of his pencil erased the composition,

    saying, “Such a scrawler as this is good for nothing but to grind my ink !

    ” To grind your ink ! ” interrupted the other examiner Kao ; ” say rather he is

    only fit to put on my stockings, and lace up my buskins.”

    With these pleasantries, the essay of Li was rejected ; but he, transported

    with anger at such a contemptuous refusal at the public examination, returned

    liome and exclaimed, “I swear that if ever my wishes for promotion are accomplished,

    I will order Yang to grind my ink, and Kao to put on my stockings

    and lace up my buskins; then my vows will be accomplished.” Ho

    endeavored to calm the indignation of the poet: ” Stay here with me till a

    new examination is ordered in three years, and live in plenty ; the examiners

    will not be the same then, and you will surely succeed.” They therefore

    continued to live as they had done, drinking and making verses.

    69S THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    After many months had elapsed, some foreign ambassadors came to the

    capital charged with a letter from their sovereign, whom he was ordered to

    receive and entertain in the hall of ambassadors. Ihe next day the officers

    handed in their letter to his Majesty’s council, who ordered the doctors to opei»

    and read it, but they could none of them decipher a single word, humbly declaring

    it contained nothing but fly-tracks; “your subjects,” they added,

    “have only a limited knowledge, a shallow acquaintance with things ; they are

    unable to read a word.” On hearing this, the Emperor turned to the examiner

    Yang and ordered him to read the letter, but his eyes wandered over the

    characters as if he had been blind, and he knew nothing of them. In vain

    did his Maje.’ity addi’ess himself to the civil and military officers who filled the

    court ; not one among them could say whether the letter contained words of

    good or evil import. Highly incensed, he broke out in reproaches against the

    grandees of his palace : ” What ! among so many magistrates, so many scholars

    and warriors, cannot there be found a single one who knows enough to relieve

    us of the vexation of this affair ? If this letter cannot be read, how can it be

    answered ? If the ambassadors are dismissed in this style, we shall be the

    ridicule of the barbarians, and foreign kings will mock the court of Nanking,

    and doubtless follow it up by seizing their lance and buckler and join to invade

    our frontiers. What then ? If in three days no one is able to decipher this

    letter, every one of your appointments shall be suspended ; if in six days you

    do not tell me what it means, your offices shall every one be taken away ; and

    death shall execute justice on such ignorant men if I wait nine days in vain

    for its explanation, and others of our subjects shall be elevated to power whose

    virtue and talents will render some service to their country.”

    Terrified by these words, the grandees kept a mournful silence, and no one

    ventured a single reply, which only irritated the monarch the more. On hia

    return home. Ho related to his friend Li everything that had transpired at

    court, who, hearing him with a mournful smile, replied, ” How to be regretted,

    how unlucky it is that I could not obtain a degree at the examination last

    year, which would have given mo a magistracy ; for now, alas ! it is impossible

    for me to relieve his Majesty of the chagrin which troubles him.” “But

    truly,” said Ho, suddenly, ” I think you are versed in more than one science,

    and will be able to read this unlucky letter. I shall go to his Majesty and

    propose you on my own responsibility.” The next day he went to the

    palace, and passing through the crowd of courtiers, approached the throne,

    saying, ” Your subject presumes to announce to your Majesty that there is a

    scliolar of great merit called Li, at his house, who is profoundly acquainted

    with more than one science ; command him to read this letter, for there is

    notliing of which he is not capable.”

    This advice pleased the Emperor, who presently sent a messenger to the

    house of the academician, ordering him to present himself at court. But Li

    offered some objections : “I am a man still without degree or title; I have

    neither talents nor information, while the court abounds in civil and military

    officers, all equally famous for their profound learning. How then can you

    have recourse to sucli a contemptible and useless man as IV If I presume to

    accept this behest, I fear that I shall deeply offend the nobles of the palace”—

    referring especially to the premier Yang and the general Kao. When hisreplj^

    STOliY OF Li TAI-PEII, THE POET. 699

    was announced to the Emperor, lie demanded of IIo why his guest did not

    come when ordered. Ho replied, ” I can assure your Majesty that Li is a man

    of parts beyond all those of the age, one whose compositions astonish all who

    read them. At the trial of last year, his essay was marked out and thrown

    aside by the examiners, and lie himself shamefully put out of the hall. Your

    Majesty now calling him to court, and he having neitlier title nor rank, liis

    self-love is touched ; but if your Majesty would hear your minister’s prayer

    and shed your favors upon his friend, and send a high officer to him, I am

    sure he will hasten to obey the imperial will.” ” Let it be so,” rejoined the

    Lmperor ; ” at the instance of our academician, we confer on Li Peh the title

    of doctor of the first rank, with the purple robe, yellow girdle, and silken

    bonnet ; and herewith also issue an order for him to present himself at court.

    Our academician Ho will charge himself with carrying this order, and bring

    Li Peh to our presence without fail.”

    Ho returned home to Li, and begged him to go to court to read the letter,

    adding how his Majesty depended on his help to relieve him from his present

    embarrassment. As soon as he had put on his new robes, which were those

    of a high examiner, he made his obeisance toward the palace, and hastened to

    mount his horse and enter it, following after the academician. Seated on his

    throne, Hwantsung impatiently awaited the arrival of the poet, who, prostrating

    himself before its steps, went through the ceremony of salutation and

    acknowledgment for the favors he had received, and then stood in his place.

    The Emperor, as soon as he saw Li, rejoiced as poor men do on finding a treasure,

    or starvelings on sitting at a loaded table ; his heart was like dark clouds

    suddenly illuminated, or parched and arid soil on the approach of rain. “Fome

    foreign ambassadors have brought us a letter wliieli no one can read, and we

    have sent for you, doctor, to relieve our anxiety.” ” Your minister’s knowledge

    is very limited,” politely replied Li, with a bow, ” for his essay was rejected by

    the judges at the examination, and lord Kao turned him out of doors. Now

    that he is called upon to read this letter from a foreign prince, how is it that

    the examiners are not charged with the answer, since, too, the ambassadors

    liave already been kept so long waiting ? Since I, a student turned off from

    the trial, could not satisfy the wishes of the examiners, how can I hope to

    meet the expectation of your Majesty V ” ” We know what you are good for,”

    said the Emperor ; ” a truce to your excuses,” putting the letter into his hands.

    Running his eyes over it, he disdainfully smiled, and standing before the

    throne, read off in Cliinese the mysterious letter, as follows

    :

    “Letter from the mighty Ko To of the kingdom of Po Hai to the prince

    of the dynasty of Tang : Since your usurpation of Corea, and carrying your

    conquests to the frontiers of our States, your soldiers have violated our territory

    in frequent raids. We trust yon can fully explain to us this matter, and as we

    cannot patiently bear such a state of things, we have sent our ambassadors to

    announce to you that you must give up the hundred and sixty-six towns of

    Corea into our hands. We have some precious things to ofer you in compensation,

    namely, the medicinal plants from the mountains of Tai Peh, and the

    byssus from the southern sea, gongs of Tsiching, stags from Fuyu, and hor.ses

    from Sopin, silk of Wucliau, black fish from the river Mcito, prunes from

    700 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    Kiutu, and building materials from Loyu ; some of all these articles shall be

    sent you. If you do not accept these propositions, we shall raise troops and

    carry war and destruction into your borders, and then see on whose side victory

    will remain.”

    After its perusal, to which they had given an attentive ear, the grandees

    were stupefied and looked at each other, knowing how improbable it was that

    the Emperor would accept the propositions of Ko To. iMor was the mind of

    his Majesty by any means satisfied, and after remaining silent for some time,

    he turned himself to the civil and military officers about him, and asked what

    means were available to repulse the attacks of the barbarians in case their

    forces invaded Corea. Scholars and generals remained mute as idols of clay

    or statues of wood ; no one said a word, until Ho ventured to observe, *’ Your

    venerable grandfather Taitsung, in three expeditions against Corea, lost an untold

    number of soldiers, without succeeding in his enterprise, and impoverished

    his treasury. Thanks to Heaven Kai-su-wSn died, and profiting by the

    dissensions between the usurper’s sons, the glorious Emperor Taitsung confided

    the direction of a million of veterans to the old generals Li Sie and Pi Jinkwei,

    who, after a hundred engagements, more or less important, finally conquered

    the kingdom. But now having been at peace for a long time, we have

    neither generals nor soldiers ; if we seize the buckler and lance, it will not be

    easy to resist, and our defeat will be certain. I await the wise determination

    of your Majesty.”

    ” Since such is the case, what answer shall we make to the ambassadors ?

    said Hwantsung. ” Deign to ask Li,” said the doctor; ” he will speak to the

    purpose.” On being interrogated by his sovereign, LI replied, “Let not this

    matter trouble your clear mind. Give orders for an audience to the ambassadors,

    and I will speak to them face to face in their own language. The terms

    of the answer will make the barbarians blush, and their Ko To will be obliged

    to make his respects at the foot of your throne.” “And who is this Ko To ?

    demanded Hwantsung. “It is the name the people of Po Hai give to their

    king after the usage of their country ; just as the Hwui Hwui call theirs Kokan ;

    the Tibetans, T.sangpo ; the Lochau, Chau ; the Holing, Si-mo-wei ; each one

    according to the custom of his nation.”

    At this rapid flood of explanations, the mind of the wise Hwantsung experienced

    a lively joy, and the same day he honored Li with the title of an

    academician; a lodging was prepared for him in the palace of the Golden

    Bell ; musicians made the place re-echo with their harmony ; women poured

    out the wine, and young girls handed him the goblets, and celebrated the

    glory of Li with the same voic(?s that lauded the Emperor. What a delicious,

    ravishing banquet ! He could hardly keep witliin tlie limits of propriety, but

    ate and drank until he was unconscious of anything, when the Emperor ordered

    the attendants to carry him into the palace and lay him on a bed.

    The next morning, when the gong announced the fifth watch, the Emperor

    repaired to the hall of audience ; but Li’s faculties, on awaking, were

    not very clear, though the officers hastened to bring him. When all had gone

    through their pro.strations, Hwantsung called the poet near liim, but perceiv

    ing that the visage of the new-made doctor still bore the marks of his debaucli,

    STORY OF LI TAI-PEH, THE POET, 701

    and discovering the discomposure of Lis mind, he sent into the kitcVien for a little wine and some well-spiced fish broth, to arouse the sleepy bard. The servants presently sent it up on a golden tray, and the Emperor seeing the cup was fuming, condescended to stir and cool the broth a long time with the ivory chopsticks, and served it out himself to Li, who, receiving it on his knees, ate and drank, while a pleasing joy illumined his countenance. While this was going on, some among the courtiers were much provoked and displeased at the strange familiarity, while others rejoiced to see how well the Emperor knew to conciliate the good will of men. Ihe two examiners, Yang and Kao, betrayed in their features the dislike they felt.

    At the command of the Emperor, the ambassadors were introduced, and

    saluted his Majesty by acclamation, whilst Li Tai-peh, clad in a purple robe

    and silken bonnet, easy and gracious as an immortal, stood in the historiographer’s

    place before the left of the throne, holding the letter in his hand, and

    read it ol in a clear tone, without mistaking a word. Then tinning toward

    the frightened envoys, he said, ” Your little province has failed in its etiquette,

    but our wise ruler, whose power is comparable to the heavens for vastness, disdains

    to take advantage of it. This is the answer which he grants you : hear

    and be silent.” The terrified amljassadors fell trembling at the foot of the

    throne. The Emperor had already prepared near him an ornamented cushion,

    and taking a jade stone with which to rub the ink, a pencil of leveret’s hair

    bound in an ivory tube, a cake of perfumed ink, and a sheet of flowery paper,

    gave them to Li, and seated liim on the cushion ready to draw up the answer.

    ” May it please your Majesty,” objected Li, ” my boots are not at all suitable, for they were soiled at the banquet last evening, and I trust your Majesty in your generosity will grant me some new buskins and stockings fit for ascending the platform.” The Emperor acceded to his request, and. ordered a servant to procure them ; when Li resumed, “Your minister has still a word to add, and begs beforehand that his untoward conduct may be excused ; then he will prefer his request.” “Your notions are misplaced and useless, but I will not be ofended at them ; go on, speak,” said Hwantsung ; to which LI, nothing daunted, said, “At the last examination, your minister was turned off by Yang, and put out of doors by Kao. The sight of these persons here to-day at the head of the courtiers casts a certain discomposure over his spirits; let your voice deign to command Yang to rub my ink, whilst Kao puts on my stockings and laces iip my buskins ; then will my mind and wits begin to recover their energies, and my pencil can trace your answer in the language of the foreigners. In transmitting the reply in the name of the Son of Heaven, he will then not disappoint the confidence with which he is honored.” Afraid to displease Li when he had need of him, the Emperor gave the strange order ; and while Yang rubbed the ink and Kao put on the buskins of the poet, they could not help reflecting, that this student, so badly received and treated by them, only fit at the best to render such services to them, availed himself now of the sudden favors of the Emperor to take their own words pronounced against him as a text, and revenge himself upon them for past injuries. Rut what could they do ? They could not oppose the sovereign will, and if they did feel chagrined, they did not dare at least to express it. The proverb hath it true: Do not draw upon you a person’s enmity, for enmity is never appeased; injury returns upon him who injures, and sharp words recoil against him who says them.”

    The poet triumphed, and his oath was accomplished. Buskiued as he desired, he mounted the platform on the carpet and. seated himself on the cushion, while Yang stood at his side and rubbed the ink. Of a truth, the disparity was great between an ink-grinder and the magnate who counselled the Emperor.

    But why did the poet sit while the premier stood like a servant at his side ‘i It was because Li was the organ of the monarch’s words, while Yang, reduced to act the part o: an ink-rubber, could not request permission to sit.

    With one hand Li stroked his beard, and seizing his pencil in the other, applied it to the paper, which was soon covered with strange chai-acters, well turned and even without a fault or rasure, and then laid it lapon the dragon’s table. The Emperor gazed at it in amaze, for it was identical with that of the barbarians ; not a character in it resembled the Chinese ; and as he handed it about among the nobles, their surprise was great. When requested to read it, Li, placed before the throne, read in a clear loud tone the answer to the strangers:” The mighty Emperor of the Tang dynasty, whose reign is called Kiayuen, sends his instructions to Ko To of the Po Hai.

    “From ancient times the rock and the egg have not hit each other, nor the serpent and dragon made war. Our dynasty, favored by fate, extends its power, and reigns even to the four seas ; it has under its orders brave generals and tried soldiers, solid bucklers and glittering swords. Your neighbor, King Hiehli, who refused our alliance, was taken prisoner ; but the people of Putsau, after offering a present of a metal bird, took an oath of obedience.

    ” The Sinlo, at the southern end of Corea, have sent us praises written on the finest tissues of silk ; Persia, serpents which can catch rats ; India, birds that can speak ; and Rome, dogs which lead horses, holding a lantern in their month; the white parrot is a present from the kingdom of Koling, the carbuncle which illumines the night comes from Cambodia, and famous horses are sent by the tribe of Koli, while precious vases are brought from Nial : in short, there is not a nation which does not respect our imposing power, and does not testify their regard for the virtue which distinguishes us. Corea alone resisted the will of Heaven, but the divine vengeance has fallen heavily upon it, and a kingdom which reckoned nine centuries of duration was overthrown as in a morning. Why, then, do you not profit by the terrible prognostics Heaven vouchsafes yon as examples ‘? Would it not evince your sagacity ?

    “Moreover, your little country, situated beyond the peninsula, is little more than as a province of Corea, or as a principality to the Celestial Empire ; your resources in men and horses are not a millionth part those of China. You are like a cha’”ed locust trying to stop a chariot, like a stiff-necked goose which will not submit. Under the arms of our warriors your blood will run a thousand J’l. You, prince, resemble that audacious one who re”used our alliance, and whose kingdom became annexed to Corea. The designs of our Bage Emperor are vast as the ocean, and he now bears with your culpable anJ unreasonable conduct ; but hasten to prevent misfortune by repentance, and cheerfully pay the tribute of each year, and you will prevent the shame and opprobrium which will cover you and expose you to the ridicule of your neighbors. Reflect thrice on these instructions.”

    STORY OF Li TAI-PEH, THE POET. 703

    The reading of this answer filled the Emperor with joy, who ordered Li to make known its contents to the ambassadors ; he then sealed it with the imperial seal. The poet called Kao to put on the boots which he had taken off. and he then returned to the palace of Golden Bells to inform the envoys concerning his sovereign’s orders, reading the letter to them in a loud tone, while they heard tremblingly. The academician Ho reconducted them to the gates of the capital, and there the ambassadors asked who it was who had read the imperial instructions. ” He is called Li, and has the title of Doctor of the Hanlin.” ” But among so many dignitaries, M^hy did the first Minister of State rub his ink, and the general of the guards lace up his buskins ‘? ” ” Hear,” added Ho ; ” those two personages are indeed intimate ministers of his Majesty, but they are only noble courtiers who do not transcend common humanity, while Doctor Li, on the contrary, is an immortal descended from heaven on the earth to aid the sovereign of the Celestial Empire. How can any one equal him ? ” The ambassadors bowed the head and departed, and on their return rendered an account of their mission to their sovereign. On reading the answer of Li, the Ko To was terrified, and deliberated with his counsellors: “The Celestial Empire is upheld by an immortal descended from the .skies! Is it possible to attack it ‘/ ” He thereupon wrote a letter of submission, testifying his desire to .send tribute each year, which was thenceforth allowed. Li Tai-peh afterward drowned himself from fear of the machinations of his enemies, exclaiming, as he leaped into the water, ” I’m going to catch the moon in the midst of the sea !”

    The poetry of the Chinese has been investigated hy Sir Jolni

    Davis, and tlie republication of liis first paper in an enhirged

    fonn in 1870, with the versification of Legge’s translations of

    the Shi King by his nephew, and two volumes of ^’arious pieces

    by Stent, have altogether given a good variety/ Davis explains

    the principles of Chinese rhythm, touches upon the tones, notices

    the parallelisms, and distinguishes the various kinds of

    verse, all in a scholarly manner. The Avhole subject, however,

    stOl awaits more thorough treatment. Artificial poetry, where

    ‘ Davis, Poetry of (he Chinese, London, 1870 ; G. C. Stent, The Jade Chaplet,

    London, 1874; Entmnhed Alive, and other Verses, 1878; Le Marquis

    D’Hervey-Saint-Denys, Poesies de VEpoqne des Thanr/, Paris, 18G2. A number

    of extracts of classical and modern literature will be found in Confucius and

    the Chinese Classics, compiled by Rev. A. W. Loomis, San Francisco, 1867

    China Peview, Yols. I., p. 248, IV., p. 4G, and passim the sound and jingle is regarded more than the sense, is not uncommon; the great number of characters having the same sound enables versifiers to do this with greater facility than is possible in other languages, and to the serious degradation of all high sentiment. The absence of inflections in the words Clippies the easy flow of sounds to which our ears are familiar, but renders such lines as the following more spirited to the eye which sees the characters than to the ear which hears them: Liang kinuij, ming nuvrifi, yanr] hiang tsiang, Ki n’t, jn eJti, I’l M mi, etc.

    Lines consisting of characters all containing the same radical are also constructed in this manner, in which the sounds are subservient to the meaning. This bizarre fashion of writing is, however, considered fit only for pedants.

    The Augustan age of poetry and letters was in the ninth and

    tenth centui’ies, during the Tang dynasty, when the brightest

    day of Chinese civilization was the darkest one of European.

    Xo complete collection of poems has yet been translated into any

    Eui’opean language, and perhaps none would bear an entire version.

    The poems of Li Tai-peh form thirty volumes, and those

    of Su Tung-po are contained in one hundred and fifteen volumes,

    while the collected poems of the times of the Tang dynasty

    have been published by imperial authority in nine hundred

    volumes. The proportion of descriptive poetry in it is small

    compared with the sentimental. The longest poem yet turned

    into English is the Jlwa Tsien Ki, or ‘ The Flower’s Petal,’ by

    P. P. Thoms, nnder the title of Cldneae CouHsld]) ; it is in heptameter,

    and his version is quite prosaic. Another of much

    greater repute among native scholars, called Li Sao, or ‘ Dissipation

    of Sorrows,’ dating from about b.c. 314, has been rendered

    into French by D’llervey-Saint-Denys.’

    It is a common pastime for literary gentlemen to try their’ Chinese Courtship. In Verse. To wJiieJi is added an Appendix treating of the Jievenue of China, etc., etc., by Peter Perring Thorns, London, 1S24. Compare the Quarterly Review for 1827, pp. 49G ff. Lc Li-Sao, Poeme da III’ Siedeuvant noire ere. Traduit da Chinois, par le Marquis d’Hervey de Saiut<Denys, Paris, 1870.

    CHINESE SONGS AND BALLADS. 705

    skill in versification ; epigrams and pasquinades ai-e usually put into metre, and at the examinations every candidate must hand in his poetical exercise. Consequently, much more attention is paid by such rhymesters to the jingle of the words and artificial structure of the lines than to the elevation of sentiment or copiousness of illustrations ; it is as easy for them to write a sonnet on shipping a cargo of tea as to indite a love-epistle to their mistress. Extemporaneous verses are made on every subject, and to illustrate occurrences -that are elsewhere regarded as too prosaic to disturb the mnse.

    Still, human emotions have been the stimulus to their expression in verse among the Chinese as well as other people ; and all classes have found an ntterance to them. Ribald and impure ditties are sung by street-singers to their own low classes, but such subjects do not characterize the best poets, as they did in old Rome. A piece called ‘ Chang Liang’s Flute ‘ is a fair instance of the better style of songs:

    ‘Twas niglit—the tired soldiers were peacefully sleeping,
    The low hum of voices was hushed in repose ;
    The sentries, in silence, a strict watch were keeping
    ‘Gainst surprise or a sudden attack of their foes ;
    When a low mellow note on the night air came stealing,
    So soothingly over the senses it fell—
    So touchingh- sweet—so soft and appealing,
    Like the musical tones of an aerial bell.
    Now rising, now falling — now fuller and clearer—
    Now liquidly solt — now a low wailing cry,

    Now the cadences seem floating nearer and nearer—
    Now dying away in a whispering sigh.
    Then a burst of sweet music, so plaintively thrilling.
    Was caught up by the echoes which sang the refrains
    In their many-toned voices—the atmosphere filling
    With a chorus of dulcet mysterious strains.

    The sleepers arous(», and with beating hearts listen;
    In their dreams they had heard that weird music before ‘,
    It touches each heart—with tears their eyes glisten.
    For it tells them of those they may never see more.
    In fancy those notes to their childhood’s days brought them,
    To those far-away scenes they had not seen for years ;
    To those who had loved them, had reared them, and taught them,
    And the eyes of those stern men were wetted with tears.
    Bright visions of home through their mem’ries came thronging,
    Panorama-like passing in front of their view;
    They were lunne-mk—no power could withstand that strange yearning;
    The longer they listened the more home-sick they grew.

    Whence came those sweet sounds ‘?— who the unseen musician
    That breathes out his soul, which floats on the night breeze
    In melodious sighs—in strains so elysian
    As to soften the hearts of rude soldiers like these ?
    Each looked at the other, but no word was spoken.
    The music insensibly tempting them on :
    They must return home. Ere the daylight had broken
    The enemy looked, and behold ! they were gone.
    There’s a magic in music—a witchery in it,
    Indescribable either with tongue or with pen ;
    The tlute of Chang Liang, in one little minute,
    Had stolen the courage of eight thousand men I’

    The following verses were presented to Dr. Parker at Canton by a Chinese gentleman of some literary attainments, upon the occasion of a successful operation for cataract. The original may be considered as a very creditable example of extempore sonnet:

    A fluid, darksome and opaque, long time had dimmed my sight,
    For seven revolving, weary years one eye was lost to light;
    The other, darkened by a film, during three years saw no day,
    High heaven’s bright and gladdening light could not pierce it with its ray.

    Long, long I sought the hoped relief, but still I sought in vain,
    My treasures lavished in the search, brought no relief from pain;
    Till, at length, I thought my garments I must either pawn or sell,
    And plenty in my house, I feared, was never more to dwell.

    Th<m loudly did I ask, for what cause such pain I bore—
    For transgressions in a former life unatoned for before ?
    But again’ came the reflection how, of yore, oft men of worth.
    For slight errors, had borne sutf’ ring great as drew my sorrow forth.
    Stent’s Jiule Cluiplet.

    SPECIMEN OF AN EXTEMPORE SONNET. 707

    ” And shall not one,” said I then, ” whose worth is but as naught, Bear patiently, as heaven’s gift, what it ordains ‘i ” The thought Was scarce completely formed, when of a friend the footstep fell

    On my threshold, and I breathed a hope he had words of joy to tell.
    ‘* I’ve heard,” the friend who enter’d said, ” there’s come to us of late
    A native of the ‘ Flowery Flag’s ‘ far-ofi and foreign State ;
    O’er tens of thousand miles of sea to the Inner Land he’s come—
    His hope and aim to heal men’s pain, he leaves his native home.”

    I quick went forth, this man I sought, this gen’rous doctor found;
    He gained my heart, he’s kind and good ; for, high up from the ground,
    He gave a room, to which he came, at morn, at eve, at night—
    Words were but vain were I to try his kindness to recite.
    With needle argentine he pierced the cradle of the tear.
    What fears I felt ! Su Dong-po’s words rung threatening in my ear:
    ” Glass hung in mist,” the poet says, “take heed you do not shake ;
    “(The words of fear rung in my ear), “how if it chance to break I” The fragile lens his needle pierced : the dread, the sting, the pain, I thought on these, and that the cup of sorrow I must drain ; But then my mem’ry faithful showed the work of fell disease.

    How long the orbs of sight were dark, and I deprived of ease.

    And thus I thought : ” If now, indeed, I were to find relief,

    ‘Twere not too much to bear the pain, to bear the present grief.”

    Then the words of kindness which I heard sunk deep into my soul,

    And free from fear I gave myself to the foreigner’s control.

    His silver needle sought the lens, and quickly from it drew
    The opaque and darksome fluid, whose effect so well I knew;
    His golden probe soon clear’d the lens, and then my eyes he bound,
    And laved with water sweet as is the dew to thirsty ground.

    Three days thus lay I, prostrate, still ; no food then could I eat ;

    My limbs relax’d were stretched as though th’ approach of death to meet

    With thoughts astray—mind ill at ease —away from home and wife,

    I often thought that by a thread was hung my precious life.

    Three days I lay, no food had I, and nothing did I feel;

    Nor hunger, sorrow, pain, nor hope, nor thought of woe or weal;

    My vigor fled, my life seemed gone, when, sudden, in my pain,

    There came one ray—one glimm’ring ray,—I see,—^I live again !

    As starts from visions of the night he who dreams a fearful dream,

    As from the tomb uprushing comes one restored to day’s bright beam,

    Thus I, with gladness and surprise, with joy, with keen delight,

    See friends and kindred crowd around ; I hail the blessed light.

    With grateful hfart, with heaving breast, with feelings flowing o’er,

    I cried, ” O lead nie quick to him who can the sight restore !”

    To kneel I tried, but he forbade ; and, forcing me to rise,

    ” To mortal man bend not the knee ;

    ” then pointing to the skies:—

    ” I’m but,” said he, ” the workman’s tool ; another’s is the hand ;

    Before Jiis might, and in Im sight, men, feeble, helpless, stand :

    Go, virtue learn to cultivate, and never thou forget

    That for some work of future good thj life is spared thee yet !”

    The off’ring, token of my tlianks, he refused ; nor would he take

    Silver or gold—they seemed as dust ; ’tis but for virtue’s sake

    His works are done. His skill divine I ever must adore,

    Nor lose remembrance ox his name till life’s last day is o’er.

    Thus liave I told, in these brief words, this learned doctor’s praise:

    Well does his worth deserve tliat I should tablets to liim raise.

    In this facility of versification lies one of the reasons for the

    mediocrity of common Chinese poetry, but that does not prevent

    its power over the popular mind being very great. Men

    and women of all classes take great delight in recitation and

    singing, hearing street musicians or strolling play-actors ; and

    these results, whatever we may judge by our standards, prove

    its power and suitableness to infiuence them. One or two

    additional specimens on different subjects may be quoted, inasnnich

    as they also illustrate some of the better shades of feeling

    and sentiment. A more finished piece of poetry is one

    written about a.d. 370, by Su-IIwui, whose husband was banished.

    Its talented authoress is said to have written more than

    five thousand lines, and among them a curious anagram of

    about eight hundred characters, which was so disposed that it

    would make sense equally well when i-ead up or down, crosswise,

    backward, or forward.’ Nothing from her pen remains except this ode, interesting for its antiquity as well as sentiment.

    ‘ A translation is given in the Chinese lieposztori/ (Vol, IX., p. 508) of a supposed complaint made by a cow of her sad lot in being obliged to work hard and fare poorly during life, and then be cut up and eaten when dead; the ballad is arranged in the form of the animal herself, and a herdboy leading her, who in his own form praises the happiness of a rural life. This ballad is a Buddhist tractate, and that fraternity print many such on broad-.sheets; one common collection ol’ prayers is arranged like a pagoda, with images of Buddlia sitting in the windows of each story.

    LAMENT OF TUV: POETESS SIT-IIWUI. 709

    ODE OF RU-HWUI.

    When thou receiv’dst the king’s command to quiet tlie frontier,
    Together to the bridge we went, striving our liearts to cheer-

    Hiding our grief. These words I gasped upon that mournful day :

    ” Forget not, love, my fond embrace, nor tarry long away !”

    Ah ! Is it true that since tliat time no message glads my sight V

    Think you that 7io?p your lone wi’e’s heart even in bright spring delights ?

    Our pearly stairs and pleasant yard the foul weeds have o’ergrown ;

    Our nuptial room—and couch—and walls—are now with dust o’erstrown.

    Whene’er I think of our farewell, my soul with fear grows cold;

    My mind resolves what shape I’d take to see thee as of old.

    Now as I watch the deep-sea moon, I long her form to be;

    Again, the mountain cloud has filled my dull heart with envy.

    For deep-sea moon shines year by year upon the land abroad ;

    And ye, O mountain clouds, may meet the form of my adored!

    Aye, flying here and flying there, seek my beloved’s place.

    And at ten thousand thousand miles—speed !—gaze on his fair face.

    Alas ! for iiie the road is long, steep mountain peaks now sever

    Our loving souls. I can but weep—O ! may’t not be forever !

    The long reed’s leaves had yellow grown when we our farewell said ;

    Who then had thought the plum-tree’s bough so oft would turn to red ?

    The fairy flowers spreading their leaves have met the early spring—
    All, genial months, what time for love !—But who can ease my sting ?
    The pendant willows strew the court, for thee I pull them down ;
    The falling flowers enrich the earth, none pick these from the ground
    And scatter vernal growth, as once, before the ancestral tomb !
    Taking the lute o? Tsun I strive to chase away the gloom
    By thrumming, as I muse o? thee, songs of departed friends.

    Sending my inmost thoughts away, they reach the northern ends—

    Those northern bounds! —how far they seem, o’erpassed the hills and streams

    No news, no word from those confines to lighten e’en my dreams !

    My dress, my pillow, once so white, are deeply stained with tears ;

    My broidered coat with gilded flowers, all spotted now appears.

    The very geese and storks to me, when in their passage north.

    Seemed by their cries, my distant love, to tear my heartstrings forth.

    No more my lute —though thou wert strong, with passion was I wrung;
    My grief was its utmost bent—my song was still unsung.

    Ah ! husband, lord, thy love I feel is stable as the liills ;

    ‘Tis joy to think each hour of this—a balm for countless ills!

    I had but woven half my task—I gave it to his Grace :

    O grant my husband quick release, I pine for his embrace!

    Auioiig tlie best of Chinese ballads, if regard be had to the

    character of the sentiment and metaphors, is one on Picking

    Tea, wliich the girls and women sing as they collect the leaves.

    BALLAD OF THE TEA-PICKER.

    I.

    A\Tiere thousand hills the vale enclose, our little lu;t is there,
    And on the sloping sides around the tea grows everywhere ;
    And I must rise at early dawn, as busy as can be.
    To get my daily labor done, and pluck the leafy tea.

    II.

    At early dawn I seize my crate, and sighing. Oh, for rest!
    Thro’ the thick mist I pass the door, with sloven hair half drest;
    The dames and maidens call to me, as hand in hand they go,
    ” What steep do you, miss, climb to-day—what steep of high Sunglo?*

    III.
    Dark is the sky, the twilight dim still on the hills is set;
    The dewy leaves and cloudy buds may not be gathered yet:
    Oh, who are they, the thirsty ones, for whom this work we do,
    For whom we spend our daily toil in bands of two and two ?

    IV.
    Like fellows we each other aid, and to each other say,
    As down we pull the yielding twigs, ” Sweet sister, don’t delay ;
    E’en now the buds are growing old, all on the boughs atop.
    And then to-morrow—who can tell ?—the drizzling rain may drop.”

    V.
    We’ve picked enow ; the topmost bough is bare of leaves ; and so
    We lift our brimming loads, and by the homeward path we go;
    In merry laughter by the pool, the lotus pool, we hie.
    When hark ! tiprise a mallard pair, and hence affrighted Hy.

    VI.
    Limpid and clear the pool, and there how rich the lotus grows.
    And only lialf its opening leaves, round as the coins, it shows—
    I bend me o’er the jutting brink, and to myself I say,
    ” I marvel in the glassy stream, how looks my face to-day ?”

    VII.

    My face is dirty; out of trim my hair is, and awry;
    Oh, tell me, where’s the little girl so ugly now as I ?
    ‘Tis all because whole weary hours I’m forced to pick the tea.
    And driving winds and soaking showers have made me what von seet

    VIII.
    With morn again come wind and rain, and though so fierce and strong,
    With basket big, and little hat, I wend my way along;
    At home again, when all is picked, and everybody sees
    How muddy all our dresses are, and drabbled to the knees.

    IX.

    I saw this morning through the door a pleasant day set in;
    Be sure I quickly dressed my hair and neatly fixed my pin,
    And fleetly sped I down the path to gain the wonted spot,
    But, never thinking of the mire, my working shoes forgot!

    X.
    The garden reached, my bow-shaped shoes are soaking through and through;
    The sky is changed—the thunder rolls—and I don’t know what to do;
    I’ll call my comrades on the hill to pass the word with speed
    And fetch my green umbrella-hat to help me in my need.

    XI.

    But my little hat does little good ; my plight is very sad !
    I stand with clothes all dripping wet, like some poor fisher-lad;
    Like him I have a basket, too, of meshes woven fine—
    A fisher-lad, if I only had his fishing-rod and line.

    XII.
    The rain is o’er ; the outer leaves their branching fibres show;
    Shake down the branch, the fragrant scent about us ‘gins to blow;
    Gather the yellow golden threads that high and low are found—
    Oh, what a precious odor now is wafted all around !

    XIII.
    N^o sweeter perfume does the wild and fair Aglaia shed,
    Throughout Wu-yuen’s bounds my tea the choicest will be said;
    When all are picked we’ll leave the shoots to bud again in spring,
    But for this morning we have done the third, last gathering.

    XIV.

    Oh, weary is our picking, yet do I my toil withhold ?
    My maiden locks are all askew, my pearly fingers cold;
    I only wish our tea to be superior over all.
    O’er this one’s “sparrow-tongue,” and o’er the other’s “dragon-ball.”

    XV.

    Oh, for a month I weary strive to find a leisure day ;
    I go to pick at early dawn, and until dusk I stay ;
    Till midnight at the firing-pan I hold ray irksome place:
    But will not labor hard as this impair my pretty face ?

    XVI.

    But if my face be pomewhat lank, more firm shall be my mind;
    I’ll fire my tea that all else shall be my golden buds behind ;
    But yet the thought arises who the pretty maid shall be
    To put the leaves in jewelled cup, from thence to sip my tea.

    XVII.
    Her griefs all flee as she makes her tea, and she is glad ; but oh,
    Where shall she learn the toils of us who labor for her so ”.
    And shall she know of the winds that blow, and the rains that jiour their wrath,
    And drench and soak us thro’ and thro’, as plunged into a bath ?

    XVIII.
    In driving rains and howling winds the birds forsake the nest,
    Yet many a loving pair are seen still on the boughs to rest;
    Oh, wherefore, loved one, with light look, didst thou send me away?
    I cannot, grieving as I grieve, go through my work to-day.

    XIX.
    But though my bosom rise and fall, like T)ucket in a well.
    Patient and toiling as I am, ‘gainst work I’ll ne’er rebel;
    My care shall be to have my tea fired to a tender brown,
    And let the Jla(/ and aid, well rolled, display their whitish down.’

    XX.
    Ho ‘ for my toil ! Ho I for m\’ steps ! Aweary though I be.
    In our poor house, for working folk, there’s lots of work, I see ;
    When the firing and the drying’s done, off at the call I go,
    And once again, this very morn, I climb the high Sunglo.

    XXI.
    My wicker basket slung on arm, and hair entwined with flowers,
    To the slopes I go of high Sunglo, and pick the tea for hours;
    How laugh we, sisters, on the road ; what a merry turn we’ve got;
    I giggle and say, as I point down the way, There, look, there lies our cot!

    XXII.
    Your handmaid ‘neath the sweet green shade in sheltered cot abides.
    Where the pendant willow’s sweeping bough the thatchy dwelling hides;
    To-morrow, if you wish it so, my guests I pray you’ll be !
    The door you’ll know by the fragrant scent, the .scent of the firing tea.
    ‘ The ki, or ‘ flag,’ is the term by which the leaflets are called when they just begin to unroll ; the tfiiang, or ‘ awl,’ designates those lijaves which are still wrapped u]^ and which are somewhat sharp.

    XXIII.
    While ’tis cold, and then ’tis warm, when I want to fire iny tea,
    The sky is sure to shift and change— and all to worry me;
    When the sun goes down on the western hills, on the eastern there is rain I
    And however fair lie promises, he promises in vain.

    XXIV.
    To-day the tint of the western hills is looking bright and fair,
    And I bear my crate to the stile,’ and wait my fellow toiler there ;
    A little tender lass is she—she leans upon the rail
    And sleeps, and though I hail her she answers not my hail.

    XXV.
    And when at length to my loudest call she murmurs a reply,
    ‘Tis as if bard to conquer sleep, and with half-opened eye;
    Up starts she, and with straggling steps along the path she’s gone,
    She brings her basket, but forgets to put the cover on !

    XXVI.
    Together trudge we, and we pass the lodge of the southern bowers,
    Where the beautiful sea-pomegranate waves all its yellow Howers ;
    Fain would we stop and pluck a few to deck our tresses gay,
    But the tree is high, and ’tis vain to try and reach the tempting spray.

    XXVII.
    The pretty birds upon the boughs sing songs so sweet to hear.
    And the sky is so delicious now, half cloudy and half clear ;
    While bending o’er her work, each maid will prattle of her woe.
    And we talk till our hearts are sorely hurt, and tears unstinted flow.

    XXVIII.
    Our time is up, and yet not full our baskets to the mouth—
    The twigs anorth are fully searched, let’s seek them in the south;
    Just then by chance I snapped a twig whose leaves were all apair;
    See, with my taper fingers now I fix it in my hair.

    XXIX.
    Of all the various kinds of tea, the bitter beats the sweet,
    But for whomever either seeks, for him I’ll find a treat;
    Though who it is shall drink them, as bitter or sweet they be,
    I know not, my friend—but the pearly end of my finger only see!
    ‘ The ting is not exactly a stile, being a kind of shed, or four posts supporting
    a roof, which is often erected by villagers for the convenience of wayfarers,
    who can stop there and rest. It sometimes contains a bench or seat, and is usually over or near a spring of water.

    XXX.
    Ye twittering swallows, rise and fall in your flight around the hill,
    But when next I go to the high Sunglo, I’ll change my gown—I will;
    And I’ll roll up the cuff and show arm enough, for my arm is fair to see:
    Oh, if ever there were a fair round arm, that arm belongs to me 1

    CHINESE DRAMAS AND BUKLETTAS. 715

    In the department of plays and dramas, Chinese literature shows a long list of names, few or none of which have ever been heard of away from their native soil. Some of their pieces have been translated by Julien, Bazin, Davis, and others, most of which were selected from the Hundred Plays of Yuan. The origin of the present Chinese drama does not date back, according to M. Bazin, beyond the Tang dynasty, though many performances designed to be played and sung in pantomime had been written before that epoch. He cites the names of eighty-one persons, besides mentioning other plays of unknown authors, whose combined writings amount to five hundred and sixty-four separate plays ; all of whom flourished during the Mongol dynasty. The plays that have been translated from this collection give a tolerably good idea of Chinese talent in this difficult department; and, generally speaking, whatever strictures may be nuide upon the management of the plot, exhibition of character, unity of action, or illustration of manners, the tendency of the play is on the side of justice and morality. Pere Preraare first translated a play in 1731, under the title of the Orphan of Chau,^ which was taken by Voltaire as the groundwork of one of his plays. The Heir in Old Aye and the Sorrows of Han are the names of two translated by Sir J. F. Davis. The Oircle of CJialk was translated and published in 1832 by Julien, and a volume of Bazin, aine, containing the Tidrtgaes of an Ahiyail, the Coupared Tunic, the So)i(jstrcss, and Ilesentnierd of Tau JS^go, appeared in 1838, at Paris, None of these pieces exhibit much intricacy of plot, nor would the simple arrangements of Chinese theatres allow much increase to the dramatis personoi without confusion. M. Bazin, moreover, translated the Pi-pa Ki, or History of a Lide^ ‘ Tehiio-cM-cou-eulh, ou VOrphdin de la Maison de Telmo, tragedie chinoise, tradnile par le R. P. de Pr>’mare, Miss, de la Chine, 1755. Julien published a translation o2 the same, I’aris, iy34.

    a drama in twenty-four acts, of more pretensions, partaking of the novel as well as the drama; the play is said to have been represented at Peking in 1404, under the Ming dynasty.’

    Besides plays in the higher walks of the drama, which form the principal part of the performances at theatres, there are by-plays or farces, which, being confined to two or three interlocutors, depend for their attractiveness upon the droll gesticulations, impi’omptu allusions to passing occurrences, and excellent pantomimic action of the performers. They are usually brought on at the conclusion of the bill, and from the freedom given in them to an exhibition of the humor or wit of the players, are much liked by the people. A single illustration will exhibit the simple range and character of these burlettas.

    THE MENDER OF CRACKED CHINAWARE.

    DKAMATis PERSONS. \ ^f” ^^’^]’ ^ wandering tinker.

    ( narif/ jyutng A joung girl.

    Scene—A Street.

    Niu Chau enters—across his shoulder is a bamboo, to each end of which are

    suspended boxes containing the various tools and impleynenls of his trade,

    and a small stool. He is dressed meanly ; his face and head are painted

    and decorated in a fantastic manner.

    (Sings) Seeking a livelihood by the work of my hands,

    Daily do I traverse the streets of the city.

    {Speaks) Well, here I am, a mender of broken jars,

    An unfortunate victim of ever changing plans.

    To repair old fractured jars

    Is my sole occupation and support.

    ‘Tis even so. I have no other employment.

    (7’akes his bo.rcs from his shoulder, places tJiem on the ground^ sits

    beside them, and drawing out his fan, continues sjoeaking)—

    A disconsolate old man—I am a slave to inconveniences.

    For several days past I have been unable to go abroad,

    •Since the appearance of M. Bazin’s Theatre Chinois (Paris, 18B8) and Davis’ Sorroirs of Han (London, 1829), there has been astonishingly little done

    In the study of Chinese plays. Compare, for the rest, an article on this subject by J. J. AmpJre, in the Eevue des Deux Mondes, September, 1838 ; The Far East, Vol. I. (1876), pp. 57 and 90 ; Chinese Repository, Vol. VI., p. 575 ; China Review, Vol. I., p. 2G ; also Lay’s Chinese as They Are, and Dr. Gray’s China, passim. Lieut. Kreitner gives an interesting picture of the Chinese theatre in a country town, together with a few pages upon the drama, of which his party were spectators. Lnfernen Osten, pp. 595-599.

    But, observing this morning a clear sky and fine air,
    I was induced to recommence my street wanderings.

    (Sings) At dawn I left my home,
    But as yet have had no job.
    Hither and yon, and on all sides,
    From the east gate to the west.
    From the south gate to the north,
    And all over within the walls,
    Have I been, but no one has called
    For the mender of cracked jars. Unfortunate man 1

    But this being my first visit to the city of Nanking,

    Some extra exertion is necessary ;

    Time is lost sitting idle here, and so to roam again I go.

    {8Jionlders Ids boxes and stuol, and walks about, ct^ying)-‘

    Plates mended ! Bowls mended !

    Jars and pots neatly repair’d !

    Lady Wang (fieard ‘mthin). Did I not hear the cry of the mender ot cracked jars ?

    I’ll open the door and look. {She enters, looking around.)

    Yes, there comes the repairer of jars.

    Niu Chau. Pray, have you a jar to mend ?

    I have long been seeking a job.

    Did you not call ?

    TMdy W. What is your charge for a large jar—

    And how much for a small one ?

    Kiu Chau. For large jars, one mace five.

    Lady W. And for small ones ‘?

    JV^iu Chau. Fifty pair of cash.

    Lady W. To one mace five, and fifty pair of cash.

    Add nine candareens, and a new jar may be had.

    liiu Chau. What, then, will you give ?

    Ljidy W. I will give one caudareen for either size.

    Niu Chau. Well, lady, how many cash can I get for this caudareen ?

    fjody W. Why, if the price be high, you will get eight cash.

    Niu Chau. And if low V

    Lady W. You will get but seven cash and a half.

    Niu Chau. Oh, you wicked, tantalizing thing!
    (Sings) Since leaving home this morning,

    I have met but with a trifler.

    Who, in the shape of an old wife.

    Tortures and gives me no job ;

    I’ll shoulder again my boxes, and continue my walk.

    And never again will I return to tli(* house of Wang.

    (Iffi moves off slowly.}

    Lady W. Jar-mender ! return, quickly return ; with a loud voice, I entreat

    you; for I have something on which I wish to consult with

    you.

    THE MENDER OF CHINAWARE—A FARCE. 717

    Hiu Chav. What is it on wliicli you wish to consult me ?

    Lady M’. I will give you a hundred cash to mend a large jar.

    Niu Chau. And for mending a small one V

    Lady W. And for mending a small one, thirty pair of cash.

    Niu Chau. One hundred, and thirty pair !—truly, lady, this is worth consulting about.

    Lady Wang, where shall I mend them ?

    Lady W. Follow me. {.They move toward tJie door of the house.)

    {Sings) Before walks the Lady Wang.

    Niti Chdu. And behind comes the jni-kany (or jar-mender).

    Lady W. Here, then, is the place.

    JVtu Chau. Lady Wang, permit me to pay my respects.

    {Bows reiwatedly in a ridiculotis manner.)

    We can exchange civilities.

    I congratulate 3’ou ; may you prosper—before and behind.

    Lady W. Here is the jar ; now go to work and mend it.

    {Takes the jar in his hand and tosses it about, examining it.)

    Niu Chan. This jar lias certainly a very appalling fracture.

    Lady W. Therefore, it requires the more care in mending.

    Niu Clmu. That is self-evident.

    ha^y W. Now, Lady Wang will retire again to her dressing room,

    And, after closing the door, will resume her toilet.

    Her appearance she will beautify ;

    On the left, her hair she will comb into a dragon’s head tuft,

    On the right, she will arrange it tastefully with flowers ;

    Her lips she will color with blood-red vermilion.

    And a gem of chrysoprase will she place in the dragon’s head tuft.

    Then, liaving completed her toilet, she will return to the door,

    And sit down to look at the jar-mender. {E.iit.)

    (Niu Ghausits dotcn, straps the jar on his knee, and arranges his tools before him, and as he drills holes for the clamps, sings)—

    Every hole drilled requires a pin.

    And every two holes drilled require pins a pair.

    As I raise my head and look around,

    (At this moment Lady Wang re-enters, beautifully dressed, and sits down by the door.)

    There sits, I see, a delicate young lady ;

    Before she had the appearance of an old wife,

    Now she is transformed into a handsome young girL

    On the left, her hair is comb’d into a dragon’s head tuft;

    On the right it is adorn’d tastel’ully with flowers.

    Her lips are like plums, her mouth is all smiles,

    Her eyes are as brilliant as the phamix’s ; and

    She stands on golden lilies, but two inches long.

    I look again, another look,—down drops the jar.

    {Tliejar at this moment falls, and is broken to pieces.]

    {Speaks) Heigh-ya ! Here then is a dreadful smash !

    Lady \V. You have but to replace it with another, and do so quickly.

    iVm Chau. For one that was broken, a good one must be given.

    Had two been broken, then were a pair to be supplied ;

    An old one being smashed, a new one must replace it.

    Lady W. You have destroyed the jar, and return me nothing but words.

    Give me a new one, then you may return home,—not before.

    Niu CJutu. Here upon my knees upon the hard ground, I beg Lady Wang,

    while she sits above, to listen to a few words. Let me receive

    pardon for the accident her beauty has occasioned, and I will-^’

    at once make her my wife.

    lAidy W. Impudent old man ! How presume to think

    That I ever can become your wife !

    Niu Cluiu. Yes, it is true, I am somewhat older than Lady Wang,

    Yet would I make her my wife.

    Lady W. No matter then for the accident, but leave me now at once.

    Niu Chau. Since you have forgiven me, I again shoulder my boxes,

    And I will go elsewhere in search of a wife.

    And here, before high heaven, I swear never again to come near the house of Wang.

    You a great lady ! Yon are but a vile ragged girl.

    And will yet be glad to take up with a much worse companion.

    (Going away, Tw suddenly thToimoffJds upper dress, and appears as a handsome young man.)

    Lady W. Henceforth, give up your wandering profession,

    And marrying me, quit the trade of a jar-mender.

    With the Lady Wang pass happily the remainder of your life.

    {They eiithrace, and exeunt.]

    DEFICIENCIES AND LIMITS OF CHINESE LITERATURE. 719

    Such is the general range and survey of Chinese literature, according to the Catalogue of the Imperial Libraries. It is, take it in a mass, a stupendous monument of human toil, fitly compared, so far as it is calculated to instruct its readers in useful knowledge, to their Great Wall, which can neither protect from its enemies, nor be of any real’ use to its makers. Its deficiencies are glaring. Ko treatises on the geography of foreign countries nor truthful narratives of travels abroad are contained in it, nor any account of the languages of their inhabitants, their history, or their governments. Philological works in other languages than those spoken within the Empire are unknown, and must, owing to the nature of the language, remain .so until foreigners prepare them. Works on natural history, medicine, and physiology are few and useless, while

    those on inatheiiiatics and the exact sciences are much less

    popular and useful than they might be ; and in the great range

    of theology, founded on the true basis of the Bible, there is

    almost nothing. The character of the people has been mostly

    formed by their ancient books, and this correlate influence has

    tended to repress independent investigation in the pursuit of

    truth, though not to destroy it. A. new infusion of science,

    religion, and descriptive geography and history will lead to

    comparison with other countries, and bring out whatever in it

    is good.

    A survey of this body of literature shows the effect of governmental

    patronage, in maintaining its character for what

    appears to ns to be a wearisome uniformity. Xew ideas, facts,

    and motives must now come from the outer world, which will

    gradually elevate the minds of the people above the same unvarying

    channel. If the scholar knows that the goal he strives

    for is to be attained by proficiency in the single channel of

    classicvJ knowledge, he cannot be expected to attend to other

    studies until he has secured the prize. A knowledge of mediciiiC,

    mathematics, geography, or foreign languages, might, indeed,

    do the candidate much more good than all he gets out

    of the classics, but knowledge is not his object ; and where all run the same race, all must study the same works. But let there be a different programme of themes and essays, and a wider range of subjects required of the students, and the present system of governmental examinations in China, with all its imperfections, can be made of great benefit to the people, if it is not put to a strain too great for the end in view.

    The Chinese are fond of proverbs and aphorisms. They employ them in their writings and conversation as much as any people, and adorn their houses by copying them upon elegant scrolls, carving them upon pillars, and embroidering them upon banners. A complete collection of the proverbs of the Chinese has never been made, even among the people themselves any more than among those of other lands. Davis published, in 1828, a volume called Moral Maxims, containing two hundred aphorisms ; P. Perny issued an assortment of four hundred and forty-one in 1869 ; and J. Duolittle collected several hundred proverbs, signs, couplets, and scrolls in his Vocahulaiy.

    CHINESE PROVERBS. 721

    Besides these, a collection of two thousand seven hundred and twenty proverbs was published in 1875 by W. 8carboi-ough, furnished with a good index, and, like the others noted here, with the original text. Davis mentions the 3I’h(/ Shi Pao Kien, or ‘Jewelled Mirror for Illumining the Mind,’ as containing a large number of proverbs. The Ku Ss* Kimig Lhi^ or ‘Coral Forest of Ancient Matters,’ is a similar collection; but if that be compared to a dictionary of quotations, this is better likened to a classical dictionary, the notes which follow the sentences leaving the reader in no doubt as to their meaning.

    Manuscript lists of sentences suitable for hanging upon doors or in parlors are collected by persons who write them at New Year’s, and whose success depends upon their facility in quoting elegant couplets. The following selection will exhibit to some extent this branch of Chinese wisdom and wit:
    Not to distinguish properly between the beautiful and ugly, is like attaching a dog’s tail to a squirrel’s body.
    An avaricious man, who can never have enough, is as a serpent wishing to swallow an elephant.
    While one misfortune is going, to have another coming, is like driving a tiger out of the front door, while a wolf is entering the back.
    The tiger’s cub cannot be caught without going into his den.
    To paint a snake and add legs. (Exaggeration.)
    To sketch a tiger and make it a dog, is to iniitatt’ a work of genius and spoil it.
    To ride a fierce dog to vaXx-\\ a huut^ rabbit. (Useless power over a contcni])- tible enemy.)
    To attack a thousand tigers with ten men. (To atteniiit a ditliculty with incommensurate means.)
    To cut off a hen’s head with a battle-axe. (Unnecessary valor.)
    To cherish a bad man is like nourishing a tiger ; if not well fed he will devour you: or like rearing a hawk ; if hungry he will stay by you, but lly away when fed.
    To instigate a villain to do wrong is like teaching a monkey to climb trees.
    To catch a fish and throw away the net ;—not to requite benefits.
    To take a locust’s shank for the shaft of a carriage;—an inefficient person doing important work.
    A pigeon sneering at a roc ;— a mean man despising a prince.
    To climb a tree to catch a fish, is to talk much and get nothing.
    To test one good horse by judging the portrait of another.
    A fish sports in the kettle, but his life will not be long.
    Like a swallow building her nest on a hut is an anxious statesman.
    Like a crane among hens is a man of parts among fools.
    Like a sheep dressed in a tiger’s skin is a superficial scholar.
    Like a cuckoo in a magpie’s nest is one who enjoy’s another’s labor.
    To hang on the tail of a beautiful horse. (To seek promotion.)
    Do not pull up your stockings in a melon field, or arrange your hat under a peach tree, lest people think you are stealing.
    An old man marrying a young wife is like a withered willow sprouting.
    Let us get drunk to-day while we have wine ; the sorrows of to-morrow may be borne to-morrow.
    If the blind lead the blind, they will both go to the pit.
    Good iron is not used for nails, nor are soldiers made of good men.
    A fair wind raises no storm.
    A little impatience subverts great undertakings.
    Vast chasms can be filled, but the heart of man is never satisfied.
    The body may be healed, but the mind is incurable.
    When the tree falls the monkeys flee.
    Trouble neglected becomes still more troublesome.
    Wood is not sold in tlie forest, nor fish at the pool.
    He who looks at the sun is dazzled, he who hears the thunder is deafened.(Do not come too near the powerful.)
    He desires to hide his tracks, and walks on the snow.
    He seeks the ass, and lo! he sits upon him.
    Speak not of others, but convict yourself.
    A man is not always known by his looks, nor the sea measured by a bushel.
    Ivory does not come from a rat’s mouth.
    If a chattering bird be not placed in the mouth, vexation will not sit between the eyebrows.
    Prevention is better than cure.
    For the Emperor to break the laws is one with the people’s doing so.
    Douiit and distraction are on earth, the brightness of truth in heaven.
    Punishment can oppose a barrier to open crime, laws cannot reach to secret offences.
    Wine and good dinners make abundance of friends, but in time of adversity not one is to be found.
    Let every man sweep the snow from before his own doors, and not trouble himself about the hoarfrost on his neighbor’s tiles.
    Better be upright with poverty than depraved with abundance. He whos’) virtue exceeds his talents is the good man; he whose talents exceed his virtues is the fool.
    Though a man may be utterly stupid, he is very perspicuous when reprehending the bad actions of others; though he may be very intelligent, he is dull enough when excusing his own faults: do you only correct yourselves on the same principle that you correct others, and excuse others on the same principles you excuse yourselves.
    ‘If I do not debauch other men’s wives, my own will not be polluted.
    Better not be than be nothing.
    The egg fights with the rock—hopeless resistance.
    One thread does not make a rope ; one swallow does not make a summer.
    To be fully fed and warmly clothed, and dwell at ease without learning, is little better than a bestial state.
    A woman in one house cannot eat the rice of two. (A wise woman does not marry again.)
    Though the sword be sharp, it will not wound the innocent.
    Sensuality is the chief of sins, filial duty the best of acts.
    Prosperity is a blessing to the good, but to the evil it is a curse.
    Instruction pervades the heart of the wise, but cannot penetrate the ears of a fool.
    The straightest trees are first felled ; the cleanest wells first drunk up.
    The yielding tongue endures ; the stubborn teeth perish.
    The life of the aged is like a candle placed between two doors—easily blown out.
    The blind have the best ears, and the deaf the sharpest eyes.
    The horse’s back is not so safe as the buffalo’s. (The politician is not so secure as the husbandman.)
    A wife should excel in four things : virtue, speech, deportment, and needlework.
    He who is willing to inquire will excel, but the self-sufficient man will fail.
    Anger is like a little fire, which if not timely checked may burn down flofty pile.
    Every day cannot be a feast of lanterns.
    Too much lenity multiplies crime.
    If you love your son, give him plenty of the cudgel; if you hate him, cram him with dainties.
    When the mirror is highly polished, the dust will not defile it; when the heart is enlightened with wisdom, impure thoughts will not arise in it.
    A stubborn wife and stiff necked son no laws can govern.
    He is my teacher who tells me my faults, my enemy who speaks my virtues.
    He has little courage who knows the right and does it not.
    To sue a flea, and catch a bite—the results of litigation.
    Would you understand the character of a prince, look at his ministers; or the disposition of a man, observe his companions; or that of a father, first mark his son.
    The fame of good deeds does not leave a man’s door, but his evil acts are known a thousand miles off.
    A virtuous woman is a source of honor to her husband, a vicious one disgraces him.
    The original tendency of man’s heart is to do right, and if well ordered will not of itself be mistaken.
    They who respect themselves will be honored, but disesteeming ourselves we shall be despised.
    The load a beggar cannot carry he himself begged.
    The happy-hearted man carries joy for all the household.
    The more mouths to eat so much the more meat.
    The higher the rat creeps up the cow’s horn the narrower he finds it.

    ‘ The commendation by Lord Brougham of this “admirable precept,” as he called it, is cited by Sir J. Davis.

    CHAPTER XIII.  ARCHITECTURE, DRESS, AND DIET OF THE CHINESE

    It is a sensible remark of De Guigues,’ that ” the habit we

    fall into of conceiving things according to the words which express

    them, often leads ns into error when reading the relations

    of travellers. Such writers have seen objects altogether new,

    but they are compelled, when describing them, to employ equivalent

    terms in their own language in order to be understood; while these same terms tend to deceive the reader, who imagines

    that he sees such palaces, colonnades, peristyles, etc., under

    these designations as he has been used to, when, in fact, they

    are (piite another thing.” The same observation is true of other

    things than architecture, and of other nations than the Chinese,

    and this confusion of terms and meanings proves a fruitful

    source of error in regard to an accurate knowledge of foreign

    nations, and a just perception of their condition. For instance,

    the terms a court of justice^ a common school^ jiolltenesa^^ leariiing^

    navy, houses, etc., as well as the names of things, like razor,

    shoe, cap’, hed, jj<3;?6’//, jxijjer, etc., ai’e inapplicable to the same

    things in England and China; M’hile it is plainly hnpossible to

    coin a new word in English to describe the Chinese article, and

    equally inexpedient to introduce the native term. If, for example,

    the utensil used by the Chinese to shave with were

    picked up in Portsmouth by some English navvy who had never

    seen or heard of it, he would be more likely to call it an oysterknife,

    or a wedge, than a razor ; while the use to which it is

    ‘ Voyage a Peking, Vol. II., p. 173.

    POPULAR EKRORS KEiiAUDING FOREIGN COUNTRIES. 725

    applied must of course give it that name, and would, if it were

    still more unlike the western article. So with other things.

    The ideas a Chinese gives to the terms htcangtl, kwanfa, jxio^

    2jih, and shu^ are very different from those conveyed to an

    American by the words envperor, inag1strate, cannon, jpoicil,

    and IjooJ^:. Since a person can only judge of what he hears or

    reads by what he knows, it is desirable that when he meets with

    western names ap])lied to their equivalents in eastern countries,

    the function of a different civilization, habits, and notions should

    not be overlooked in the opinion he forms. These remarks are

    peculiarly applicable to the domestic life of the Chinese, to their

    houses, diet, dress, and social customs; although careful descriptions

    may go a good way in conveying just ideas, it cannot be

    hoped that they will do what the most cursory examination of

    the ol)ject or trait would instantly accomplish.

    The notions entertained abroad on tliese particulars ai-e, it need

    hardly i)e remarked, rather more accurate than those the Chinese

    have of distant countries, and it is scarcely possible that

    they can lose their conceit in their own civilization and position

    among the nations so long as such ideas are entertained as the

    following extract exhibits. Tien Ivi-shih, a popular essayist of

    the last century, thus congratulates himself and his readers: ” I

    felicitate myself that I was born in China, and constantly think

    how very different it would have been with me if I had been

    born beyond the seas in some remote part of the earth, M’liere

    the people, far remov^ed from the converting maxims of the

    ancient kings, and ignorant of the domestic relations, are clothed

    with the leaves of plants, eat wood, dwell in the wilderness, and

    live in the holes of the earth ; though born in the world, in

    such a condition I should not have been different from the

    beasts of the field. But now, happily, I have been born in the

    Middle Kingdom. I have a house to live in ; have food and

    drink, and elegant furniture ; have clothing and caps, and infinite

    blessings : truly, the highest felicity is mine.” This extract

    well indicates the isolation of the writer and his race from their

    fellow-men ; among the neighboring nations even the Japanese

    would have shoAvn him his erroneous view. The seclusion which

    had been forced upon both these peoples, who closed their doors as the surest possible defence against aggression from foreign traders and sought in this fashion to remove all cause of quarrel, brought with it in time the almost equal dangers of ignorance and inability to understand their true position among the nations of the world.

    Diagram of Chinese Roof Construction. (From Fergusson.)

    ABSENCE OF GREAT ARCHITECTURAL MONUMENTS. 727

    The architecture of the Chinese suggests, in its general outline and the peculiar concave roof, a canvas tent as its primary motive, though there is no further proof than this likeness of its origin. From the palace to the hovel, in temples and in private dwellings, this type everywhere stands confessed,’ and almost nothing like a dome or cupola, a spire or a turret, is anywhere found. Few instances occur of an attempt to develop even this simple model into a grand or imposing building. While the Mogul princes in India reared costly mausolea and palaces to perpetuate their memory and the splendor of their reigns, the monarchs of China, with equal or greater resources at command, seldom indulged in this princely pastime, or even attempted the erection of any enduring monument to commemorate their taste or their splendor. Whether it was owing to the absence of the beautiful and majestic models seen in western countries, or to ignorance of the mechanical principles of the art, the fact is not the less observable, and the inference as to the advance made by them in knowledge and taste not less just.

    ‘ It is said that when Ghoimis in Lis invasion of Hiina took a city, his soldiers immediately set about pulling down the four walls of the houses, leaving the overhanging roofs supported by the wooden columns—by which process they converted them into excellent tents for themselves and their horses.—Encyclopedia Britannica : Art. China.

    Fergiisson has no doubt assigned one good reason for this fact, in that ” the Chinese never had either a dominant priesthood or a hereditary nobiHty. The absence of the former class is important, because it is to sacred art that architecture has owed its highest inspiration, and sacred art is never so strongly developed as under the influence of a powerful and splendid hierarchy. In the same manner the want of a hereditary nobility is equally unfavorable to domestic architecture of a durable description.

    Private feuds and private wars were till lately unknown, and hence there are no fortalices or fortified mansions, which by their mass and solidity giv^e such a marked character to a certain class of domestic edifices in the west.” ‘ These reasons have their weight, but they hardly cover the whole question, whose solution reaches into the well-known inertness of the imaginative faculty in the Chinese mind. It is nevertheless true that there is nothing in the whole Empire worthy to be called an architectural ruin, nothing which can inform us whether previous generations constructed edifices more splendid or more mean than the present.^

    Dwelling-houses are generally of one story, having neither

    cellars nor baseuients, and lighted by lattices opening into a

    court; they must not equal adjacent temples in height, nor

    possess the ornaments appropriated to palaces and religious establishments.

    ‘ James Fergusson, History of Indian and Eastern Architecture, p. 687; compare also Minwires Concernant les Chinois, where Chinese architecture is treated of in almost every volume.

    ‘ The foreign literature upon this subject is as yet scant and unimportant. Compare the rare and costly Designs of Chinese Buildings, Furniture, Dresses, etc., from Originals draicn in China by Mr. Chambers, London, 1757, folio; J. M. Callery, De VArchitecture Chinoise, in the Recue d*Architecture ; Wm. Simpson, in Transactions of the Royal Institute of British Architects, 1873-74,p. 33 , Notes and Queries on China arid Japan.

    The common building materials are bricks, adobie or matting for the walls, stone for the foundation, brick tiling for the roof, and wood only for the inner work ; stone and wooden houses are not unknown, but are so rare as to attract attention. The high prices of tinil)er and the very partial use of window-glass have both tended to modify and restrict the

    construction of dwelHngs. The id chuen, or sifted earth, is a

    compound of decomposed granite or gravel and lime mixed with

    water, and sometimes a little oil, of which durable walls are

    made by pounding it into a solid mass between planks secured

    at the sides and elevated as the wall rises, or by beating it into

    large blocks ; when stuccoed and protected from the rain this

    material gradually hardens into stone. In houses of the better

    sort the stone M’ork of the foundation rises three or four feet

    above the ground, and sometimes the finished surfaces, great

    size of the stones and the i-egularity of their arrangement make

    one regret that the same skill had nut been expended on large

    edifices. In towns their fronts present no opening except the

    door, and when the outer walls of sevei’al houses join those of

    gardens and enclosures, the sti-eet presents an uninteresting

    sameness, unrelieved by steps, windows, balconies, porticoes,

    or front yards. The walls are twenty -five or thirty feet high,

    usually hollow, or too thin to safely support the roof unaided.

    In the common buildings a framework of wood is erected on

    the foundation, which has large stones so arranged as to receive

    the posts, and on these rests the entire weight of the roof. The

    brick nogging fills up the intervals, but supports nothing ; it is

    sometimes solid, more frequently merely a face-work, and if the

    roof becomes leaky or broken a heavy rain will destroy the

    wall, as it soaks through the courses and washes out the mud

    within. In the central provinces common walls are often made

    of small bricks four inches square and one thick, which are laid

    on their edges in a series of hollows ; between the courses a

    plank sometimes adds greater strength to the wall. These cellular

    constructions are more durable than would be imagined provided

    the stucco remains uninjured.

    CONSTRUCTION OF CHINESE BUILDINGS. 729

    The bricks are the same size as our own, and usually burned to a grayish slate coloi- ; they are made by hand, and sell at a price varying from three dollars to eight dollars a thousand. In the sea-coast districts lime is cheaply obtained from shells, but in the interior from limestone calcined by anthracite coal; the people use it pure, only occasionally mixing sand with it for either mortar or stucco. The walls are often stuccoed, and when not thus covered the bricks are occasionally rubbed smooth and pointed with tine cement. In place of a broad coi-nice the top is frequently relieved by a pretty ornament of moulded work of painted clay figures in alto relievo, representing a battle scene, a landscape, clusters of flowers, or some other design, defended from the weather by the projecting eaves. A black painted baud, relieved by cornei-s and designs of flowers and scrolls, is a cheap substitute for the carved figures.

    The roofs are hipped in some provinces, but rarely in the north. They are steep, and if kept tight will last several years; the grass which is apt to spring up on them is a source of injury, and its growth or removal alike endangers the soundness

    of the construction. The yellow and green glazed tiles of public

    buildings add to their beauty, as do the dragon’s heads and

    globes on their ridge-poles ; these features, together with the

    earthen dogs at the corners of temples or official houses, make

    the structures exceedingly picturesque. In Peking the framework

    under the wide eaves of palaces is tastefully painted in

    green and gold, and protected by a netting of copper wire.

    Hoofs are made of earthen tiles laid on coarse clapboarding

    that rests on the purlines in alternate ridges and furrows. The

    under layer consists of square thin pieces, laid side by side in

    ascending rows with the lower edges overlapping ; the sides are

    covered by the serai-cylindrical tiles, which are further protected

    by a covering of mortar. In the northern provinces the tiles

    are laid in a course of mud resting on straw over the clapboarding.

    The workmen begin the tiling at the ridge-pole and finish as they come down to the eaves, so as not to walk over the tiles and crack them ; but such roofs easily leak in driving storms. No chimneys are seen ; the slope is steep, for quick discharge of rain and snow. Terraces are erected on shops, but balustrades or flat roofs are seldom seen. Occasionally the gable w^alls rise above the roof in degrees, imparting a singular, bow-like aspect to the edifice. The purlines and ridge-pole extend from wall to wall, and the i-afters are slender strips. In all roofs the principal weight rests on the two rows of pillars; it the sides, tliut iiphold the plates, and the aiitefixoe which support the broad eaves far beyond the walh A series of beams and posts above the phites and tie-beams make the roof very heavy but also secure; curb and mansard roofs are unknown.

    The pillars of stone or timber in Chinese temples are often

    noticeable, owing to their size or length as single pieces. They

    are, however, unadorned with either capital or carved base,

    though the shaft may be finely carved and painted, the color

    decoration being often upon a thick coating of ]_>aj)iei’-mac1iey

    laid on to protect the wood. In two-story houses the sleepers

    of the rioor are supported on tie-beams attached to the main

    posts if they do not rest on the wall. Posts form an element

    of all Chinese buildings, either to support the roof or the

    veranda. The entrance is on the sides, and the wall is set back

    from the outer line of the eaves so as to afford a shelter or porch.

    Hipped roofs enable the architect to encompass the entire

    building with a veranda, this being a common arrangement in

    the southern provinces. A slight ceiling usually conceals the

    tiling, but the apartment appears lofty owing to the cavity of

    the roof.

    The pavilion is a prominent feature of Chinese architecture,

    and its ornamentation calls out the best talent of the builder in

    making his edifice acceptable. One charming specimen of this

    style at the Emperor’s sunnner palace of Yuen-ming Yuen is

    already famous, its material being of pure copper ; it is about

    fourteen feet square and twenty high.

    Another beautiful structure which well exhibits the pavilion is shown in the adjoining cut. It is the Pih-yung Rang, or ‘Classic Hall,’ built by Kienlung adjacent to the Confucian Temple at Peking Tpage 74), and devoted to expounding the classics. This loftj^ building, which may be here seen through

    an ornamental arch across the court, is perfectly square, covered

    with a four-sided double roof, whose bright 3’ellow tiles and

    gilded ball at the apex produce a most brilliant effect in the

    sindight. The deep veranda, completely encircling the structure-

    and supported by a score of colored wooden pillars, very

    al)ly relieves the dead mass and heavy upper roof of the pavilion

    P1H-YU>G KUNG, OK ‘CLASSIC HALL,’ PEKING.

    ORNAMENTAL EDIFICES AND DWELLINGS. 731

    proper. Around flow the waters of a circular tank, edged witli

    marble balustrades and spanned by four bridges which form

    the approaches to each of the sides.

    The general disposition of a Chinese dwelling of the better

    sort is that of a series of rooms separated and lighted by intervening

    courts, and accessible along a covered corridor communicating

    with each, or by side passages leading through the courts.

    In cities, where the houses are cramped and the lots irregular

    in shape, there is more diversity in the arrangement and size

    of rooms ; and in the country establishments of wealthy families,

    where the gradual increase of the members calls for additional

    space, the succession of courts and buildings, interspersed

    with gardens and pools, sometimes renders the whole not a little

    complicated. The great expense of timber for floors, posts, and

    sleepers has been the chief reason for retaining the single

    story, rather than tlie awkwardness caused by cramping women’s

    feet. Xo contrivance for warming the rooms by means of

    chimneys or flues exists, except that found in the I’dng, or brick

    bed, on which the inmates lie and sit.

    The entrance into large mansions in the country is by a triple

    gate leading through a lawn or garden up to the hall ; in towns,

    a single door, usually elevated a step or two above the street,

    introduces the visitor into a porch or court. A wall or movable

    screen is placed inside of the doorway, and the intervening

    space is occupied by the porter ; upon the wall on the left is

    often seen a shrine dedicated to the gods of the threshold. In

    the liouses of oSicials, upon this wall is inscribed a list of dignities

    and offices which the master has held during his life. The

    door is solidly constructed, and moves upon pivots turning in

    sockets. Under the projecting eaves hang paper lanterns informing

    the passer-by of the name and title of the householder,

    and when lighted at night serving to illumine the street and

    designate his hal)itation ; for door-plates and numbers are unknown.

    The roughness of the gate is somewhat concealed by

    the names or grotesque representations of two tutelar gods,

    Shintu and Yuhlui, to whom the guardianship of the house is

    entrusted ; wliile the sides and lintel are embellished with felicitous

    quotations written upon red paper, or with sign-boards of official rank. The doorkeeper and other servants lodge in small rooms within the gateway, and above the porch is an attic containing one or two apartments, to be reached by a rude stairway.

    On passing behind the screen a court, occasionally adorned

    with flowers or a fancy fish-pool, is crossed before reaching the

    principal hall. Tlie upper end of the hall is furnished with a

    high table, on which incense vases, idolatrous utensils, and offerings

    are placed in honor of the divinities and lares worshipped

    there, whose tablets and names are on the wall. Sometimes the

    table merely contains flowers in jars, fancy pieces of white

    quartz, limestone or jade, or ornaments of various kinds. Before

    the table is a large couch, with a low stand in its centi’e,

    and a pillow for reclining upon. In front of it the chairs are

    arranged down the room in two I’ows facing each other, each

    pair having a small table between them. Tlie floors are made of

    thick, lai’ge tiles of brick or marble, or of hard cement. Even

    in a bright day the room is dim, and the absence of carpets and

    fireplaces, and of windows to afford a prospect abroad, renders

    it cheerless to a foreigner accustomed to his own glazed and

    loftier houses.

    A rear door near the side wall opens either into a kitchen or

    court, across which are the female apartments, or directly into

    the latter and the rooms for domestics. Instead of being always

    rectangular the doors are sometimes made round, leaf-shaped,

    or semi-circular, and it is thought desirable that they should not

    open opposite each other, lest evil spirits find their way in from

    tlie street. The rear rooms are lighted by skylights when

    other modes are unavailable, and along the southern sea-coasts

    the thin laminae of a species of oyster (Placuna) cut into small

    squares supply the place of window-glass. Commerce is gradually

    bringing this material into greater use all over the land,

    though the fear of thieves still limits it. (^orean paper is the

    chief substitute for glass in the north. The kitchen is a small

    affair, for the universal use of portable furnaces enables the

    imnates to cook M’herever the smoke will be least troulilesome.

    Warming the house, even as far north’as i^ingpo, is not frequent,

    as the inmates lely on their quilted and fur garments foi

    AHRAXGEMEXT OF COUNTRY HOUSES. 733

    protection. Tlie flue of tlio tiled-brick divan, or hoig^ is connected

    with a pit lined with brick dug in the floor in front; when the pot of coal is well lighted and placed near the opening, the draft carries the heat into the passages running under the surface, and soon warms the room without much smoke.

    The pot of burning coal furnishes all the cooking-fire the poor

    liave, and at night the inmates sleep on the warm bricks.

    The country establishments of wealthy men furnish the best

    expression of Chinese ideas of elegance and comfort. In these

    enclosures the hall of ancestors, library, school-room, and summer-

    houses are detached and erected upon low plinths, surrounded

    by a veranda, and frecpiently decorated with tracery

    and ornamental carving, l^ear the rear court are the female

    apartments and offices, many of the former and the sleeping

    apartments being in attics. Considerable space is occupied by

    the quadrangles, which are paved and embellished by fish-pools,

    flowering shrubs, and other plants. Mr. Fortune describes ‘ the

    house and garden of a gentleman at Kingpo as being connected

    by rude-looking caverns of rock-work, ” and what at first sight

    appears to be a subterranean passage leading from room to room,

    tln-ough which the visitor passes to the garden. The small

    courts, of which a gliinpse is caught in passing along, are fitted

    up with rock-work ; dwarf trees are planted here and there in

    various places, and graceful creepers hang down into the pools

    in front. These being passed, another cavernous passage leads

    into the garden, with its dwarf trees, vases, ornamented lattices,

    and beautiful shrubs suddenly opening to the view. By

    windings and glimpses along the rocky passages into other

    courts, and hiding the real boundary by masses of shrubs and

    trees, the grounds are made to appear much larger than they

    really are.”

    * Wanderings in China, p. 98.

    The houses of the poor are dark, dirty, low, and narrow tenements, where the floor is of earth covered with mats or tiled, and the doorway the only opening, on which a swinging mat conceals the interior. The whole family often sleep, eat, and live in a single room. Pigs, dogs, and hens dispute the space with cliiklron and fiiruitui-c—if a tublc and a few trestles and

    stools, pots and plates, deserve that name. The filthy street

    without is a counterpart to the gloomy, smoky abode within,

    and a single walk through the streets and lanes of such a neighborhood

    is sufficient to reconcile a person to any ordinary condition

    of life. On the outskirts of the town a still poorer class

    take up with huts made of mats and thatch npon the ground,

    through which the rain and wind find free course. It is surprising

    that people can live and enjoy liealth, and even be

    cheeriul, as the Chinese are, in such circumstances. Between

    these hovels and the abodes of the rich is a class of middle

    houses, consisting of three or four small rooms surrounding a

    court, each one lodging a family, which uses its portion of the

    quadrangle.

    The best furniture is made of a heavy w^ood stained to resemble,

    ebony ; camphor, elm, pine, aspen, and melia woods furnish

    cheaper nuiterial. Ornamental articles, porcelain vases, copper

    tripods or pots, stone screens, book-shelves, flowers in pots, etc.,

    show the national taste. Ink sketches of landscapes, gay scrolls

    inscribed with sentences suspended from the walls, and pretty

    lanterns relieve the baldness of the room; their combined effect

    is not destitute of vai’iety and elegance, though there is a lack of

    ‘:oriifort. l*artitions are sometimes fancifully made of latticework,

    with openings neatly arranged for the reception of boxes

    containing books. The bedrooms are small, poorly ventilated,

    and seldom visited except at night. A massive bedstead of

    costly woods, elaborately carved, and supporting a tester for

    the silk curtains and mosquito-bars, is often shown as the family

    ])ride and heirloom ; a scroll of fine writing adorns its fringe or

    valance. Mattresses or feather beds are not used, and the pillow

    is a liollow square frame of rattan or bamboo. The bed, wardrobe,

    and toilet usually complete the furniture of the sleeping

    apartments of the Chinese ; but if this is also the sitting room,

    the bed is rolled up so as often to furnish seats on its boards.

    The grounds of the rich are laid out in good style, and were

    not the tasteful arrangements aiul diversified shrubbery which

    would render them charming resorts almost always spoiled by

    geiieial bad keeping—neglect and ruin, if not nastiness and

    STYLE OF GAKDEXS. To.”)

    offals, being often visible—tliej would please the most fastidi

    ons. The necessity of having a place for the women and children

    to recreate themselves is one reason for having an open

    enclosure, even if it be only a plat of flo\vei-s or a bed of

    vegetables. In the imperial gardens the attempt to make an

    epitome of nature has been highly successful. De Guignes

    describes their art of gardening as ” imitating the beauties and

    producing the inequalities of nature. Instead of alleys planted

    symmetrically or uniform grounds, there are winding footpaths,

    trees here and there as if by chance, woody or sterile hillocks,

    and deep gulleys with narrow passages, whose sides are steep

    or rough with rocks, and presenting only a few miserable

    shrubs. They like to bring together in gardening, in the same

    view, cultivated grounds and arid plains ; to make the field

    uneven and cover it with artificial rock-work ; to dig caverns in

    mountains, on whose tops are arbors half overthrown, and around

    which tortuous footpaths run and return into themselves, prolonging, as it were, the extent of the grounds and increasing the pleasure of the w^alk.”

    A fish-pond, supplied by a rivulet running wildly through

    the grounds, forms a pretty feature of such gardens, in which,

    if there be room, a summer-house is erected on a rocky islet, or

    on piles over the water, accessible by a rugged causey of rockwork.

    The nelumbium lily, with its plate-like leaves and magnificent

    flowers, is a general favorite in such places ; carp and

    other fish are reared in their waters, and gold-fish in small

    tanks. AA^henever it is possible a gallery runs along the sides

    of the pond for the pleasure and use of the females in the household.

    A tasteful device in some gardens, which beguiles the

    visitor”s ramble, is a rude kind of shell or pebble mosaic iidaid

    in the g^’avelly paths, representing birds, animals, or other

    figures ; the time required to decipher them prolongs the walk,

    and apparently increases the size of the grounds. The pieces of

    rock-work are cemented and bound w-ith wire ; and in fish-pools,

    grottos, or causeways this unique ornament has a charming

    effect, the moss and plants which grow upon it adding rather to

    its appropriateness.

    The wood and mason work is unsubstantial, requiring con736

    THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    staiit repairs ; when new they present a pi-etty appearance, but

    both gardens and lionses, when neglected, soon fall into a ruinous

    condition. Some of the princi})al merchants at Canton, in

    the former days of the hong monopoly, had cultivated grounds

    of greater or less extent attached to their establishments. One

    of them, by way of variety, constructed a summer-house entirely

    of glass, this wonderful structure being made so that it

    could be closed and protected with shutters.

    The arrangement of shops and warehouses is modified by the

    uses to which they are applied, but they still i-esemble dwellinghouses

    more than is the case with stores in western cities. The

    rear room of the shop is a small apartment, used for a dormitory,

    store-room, or workshop, and sometimes for all these purposes

    together ; it is in most cases on an upper floor. Small

    ones are lighted from the street, but the lai-gest by a skylight,

    in whicli cases there is a latticed screen reaching across the

    room, to secure the inside from the street. The whole shopfront

    is thrown open by day and closed at uight by shutters

    running in grooves, and secured by heavy cross-bars to a row of

    posts whicli fit in sockets in the threshold and lintel. The doorway

    recedes a foot or two, and the projecting roof serves to protect

    customers, and such goods as are exposed, fi-om the rain and

    sun. In small shops there are two counters, a long one running

    back from the door, and another at right angles to it, reaching

    partly across the front. The shopman sits within the angle

    formed by these, and as they are low he can easily serve a customer

    in the street as well as in the shop. At night the smaller

    one often forms a lodging place for homeless beggars. The

    facing of the outer counter is of granite, and in Canton a niche

    containing a tablet inscribed to the god of wealth is cut in the

    end, where incense is burned. Another shrine is placed on

    liigh within the apartment,- dedicated to the deity of the place,

    whoever he may be.

    The loft is much contracted ; and that it may not intercept

    the skylight, it is usually a small chamber reached by a gallery,

    and lighted in front. Chinese tradesmen do not make nnich

    display in exhibiting their goods, and the partial use of glass

    renders it somewhat unsafe for them to do so. The want of a

    SHOPS AND THOROUGHFARES. 7H7

    yard compels theni to cook and wash either beliind or on top of

    tlie building ; clerks and workmen usually eat and sleep under

    the shop roof. In the densest parts of Canton the roofs are

    covered with a loose framework, on which firewood is piled,

    clothes washed and dried, and meals cooked ; it also affords a

    sleeping place in summer. In case of fire, however, these lumbered

    roofs become like so many tinder-boxes, and aid not a

    little to spread the flames.

    The narrowness of the streets in Chinese cities is a source of

    many inconveniences ; few exceed ten or twelve feet in width,

    and most of those in Canton are less than eight. No large

    squares having fountains and shrubbery, nor any open spaces

    except the areas in front of temples relieve the closeness of

    these lanes. The absence of horses and carriages in southern

    cities, and a custom of liuddling together, a desire to screen the

    thoroughfare from the sun, and ignoi-ance of the advantages

    of another mode, are among the leading reasons for making

    them so contracted ; while the difficulty of collecting a mob in

    them shoidd be mentioned as one point in their favor. In case

    of fire it is difficult to get access to the burning buildings, and

    dangerous for the inmates to move or save their property. At

    all times porters carrying burdens are impeded by the crowd

    of passengers, who likewise must pass Indian file lest they tilt

    against the porters. Ventilation is imperfect where the

    buildings are packed so closely, and the public necessaries and

    their olfal carried through the streets by the scavengers pollute

    the air. Drainage is very superficial and incomplete ; the sewers

    easily choke up or get broken and exude their contents over

    the pathway. The ammoniacal and other gases which are generated

    aggravate the ophthalmic diseases so prevalent ; and

    it is a matter of surprise that the cholera, plague, or yellow

    fever does not visit the inhabitants of such confined abodes,

    who breathe so tainted an atmosphere. The peculiar government

    of cities by means of wards and neighborhoods, each

    responsible to the officials, combined with the ignorance

    among all ranks of the principles of hygiene, will account for

    the evils so patent to one accustomed to the energetic sway o^

    a mayor and board of health in most European cities, whc

    Vol. I. -47

    738 THE CUDDLE KIX<,;l)OM.

    can bring knowledge and power to cooperate for tlie well-being

    of all.

    The streets are usnally paved with slabs of stone laid crosswise,

    and except near markets and wells are comparatively

    clean. They are not laid out straight, and some present a singularl}^

    irregular appearance from the slight angle which each

    house makes with its neighbors ; it being considered rather unlucky

    to have them exactly even. The names of the streets are

    written on the gateways crossing them, whenever they are

    marked at all ; occasionally, as at Canton, each division njakes

    a separate neighborhood and has its own name ; a single long

    street will thus have live, six, or more names. The general arrangement

    of a Chinese city presents a labyrinth of streets,

    alleys, and byways very perplexing to a stranger who has

    neither plan nor directory to guide him, nor numbers upon

    the houses and shops to direct him. The sign-boards are

    hung each side of the door, or securely inserted in stone sockets

    ; some of them are ten or fifteen feet high, and being gaily

    painted and gilded on both sides with picturesque characters, a

    succession of them as seen down a street produces a gay effect.

    The inscriptions simply mention the kind of goods sold, and

    “without half the puffing seen in western cities ; accounts sometimes

    given of the inscriptions on sign-boards in Chinese cities,

    as ” Ko cheating here,” and others, describe the exception and

    not the rule. The edicts of government, handbills of medicines

    and the famous doctors who make them, notices offering rewards

    for children who are lost or slaves escaped, new shops opened,

    houses to let, or other events, cover blank walls in great vaiiety,

    printed on red, black, white, or yellow paper ; the absence of

    newspapers leads shopmen to depend more for patronage upon

    a circle of customers and the distribution of cards than to spend

    much money in handbills. The shrines of the street gods occur

    in southern cities, located in niches in the wall, with altars

    before them.

    The temples and assembly-halls are the only public buildings

    in C’liinese cities belonging to the people. Their courts and

    cloisters, with such gardens, tea-houses, and pools as may be

    accessible, attract constant crowds, and furnish the only places

    CLUB-HOUSES AND TAVERNS. 739

    of common resort. The priests derive no small portion of their

    income from travellers, and their establishments are consequently

    made more commodious and extensive than the number

    of priests or the throng of worshippers require.

    The assembly-halls or club-houses form a peculiar feature of

    Chinese society. There are more than a hundred in Canton

    and many hundreds in Peking. They are built sometimes by a

    particular craft as its guildhall, or more commonly erected by

    persons resorting to the place for trade, study, or amusement,

    who subscribe to fit up a commodious establishment to accommodate

    persons coming from the same town. In this w^ay their

    convenience, assistance, oversight, and general safety are all increased.”

    All buildings pay a ground rent to the government,

    but no data are available for comparing this tax with that levied

    in western cities. The government furnishes the owner of the

    ground with ^ hung Vi, or ‘red deed,’ in testimony of his right

    to occupancj’, which puts him in possession as long as he pays

    the taxes. There is a record office in the local magistracy of

    such documents.

    Houses are rented on short leases, and the rent collected quarterly in advance ; the annual income from real estate is between nine and twelve per cent. The yearly rent of the best shops in Canton is from $150 to $400 ; there is no system of insuring against fire, which, with the municipal taxes and the difficulty of collecting bad rents, enhances their price. Such kind of property in China is liable to many risks.

    Compare pp. 76 and 167.

    The taverns are numerous and adapted for every calling. Though they will not bear comparison with western hotels, they are far in advance of the cheerless khans and caravansaries found in Western Asia. The traveller brings his own bedding, sometimes also his own provision, and when night comes spreads his mat upon the floor or divan and lies down in his clothes. The better sort of travellers order a room for themselves, but officials or rich men go to temples, or hire a boat in which to travel and sleep ; this usage takes off the best class of customers. One considerable source of income to innkeepers is the preparation of dinners for parties of men, who either come to the house or send to it for so many covers ; for when a gentleman

    invites his fi-iends to an entertainment it is common to serve it

    up at liis warehouse, or at an inn. In towns and cities thousands

    of men eat in the streets ; the number of eating and cooking-

    stalls produces a most lively impression upon a stranger.

    This custom has had a good effect in promoting the general

    courtesy so conspicuous among the people, and is increased by

    y-reat numbers of street story-tellers. The noisy hilaritv of

    the customers, as they ply their ” nimble lads,” or chopsticks,

    and the vociferous cries of the cooks recommending their cakes

    and dishes, with the steaming savor from the frying-pan and

    kettles, form only one of the many objects to attract the notice

    of the foreign observer. Their ap23earauce and the variety of

    bustling scenes and j)icturesque novelties presented to him afford

    constant instruction and entertainment. Those at Canton have been thus described by an eye-witness. The iiuinlMT of itinerant workmen of one kind or another which line the sides of the streets or occupy the areas before public buildings in Chinese towns is a remarkable feature. Fruiterers, pastrymen, cooks, venders of gimcracks, and wayside sho^nnen are found in other countries as well as China; but to see a travelling blacksmith or tinker, an itinerant glass-mender, a peripatetic repairer of umbrellas, a locomotive seal-cutter, an ambulatory barber, a migratory banker, a peregrinatory apothecary or druggist, or a walking shoemaker and cobbler, one must travel hitherward. These movable establishments, together with fortune-tellers, herb and booksellers, chiromancers, etc., pretty well fill up the space, so that one often sees both sides of the streets literally lined with the stalls, wares, or tools of persons selling or making something to eat or to wear. The money-changer sits behind a small table, on which his strings of cash are chained, and where he weighs the silver he is to change ; his neighbor, the seal-cutter, sits next him near a like fashioned table.

    The barber has his chest of drawers made to serve for a seat, and if he has not a furnace of his own he heats his water at the cook’s or the blacksmith’s fire near by, perhaps shaving his friend gratis by way of recompense.

    STREET SCENES IN CANTON AND PEKING. 741

    The herbseller chooses an open place where he will not be trampled on, and there displays his simples and his plasters, while the denti.st, with a ghastly string of fangs and grinders around his neck, testimonials of his skill, sits over against him, each with his infallible remedy. The book-peddler and chooser of lucky days, and he who searches for stolen goods by divination, arrange themselves on either side, with their tables and stalls, and array of sticks, l)en.:-ils, signs, and pictures, all trying to “catch a little jngeon.” The spectacle-mender and razor-grinder, the cutler and seller of bangles and bracelets, and tho uiakfi- <»’.’ clay jjiippcts or mender of old shoes, are not far off, all plying their callings as l)usily as it’ tln^y were in their own shops. Then, besides the hundreds of stalls for selling articles of food, dress, or ornament, there are innumerable hucksters going up and down with baskets and trays slung on

    their shoulders, each bawling or making his own peculiar note, which, with

    coolies transporting burdens, chair-bearers carrying sedans, and passengers following

    one another lik(! a stream, with here and there a woman among them,

    so till up the stre(4s that it is no easy matter to navigate one’s way. Notwitlistanding

    all these obstructions, it is worthy of note and highly praiseworthy

    to see these crowds jjass and repass with the greatest rapidity in the narrow

    streets without altercation or disturbance, and seldom with accident.

    Streets at the north present a somewhat different, and on the

    whole a less inviting becanse less entertaining and pictnresqne

    aspect. Their greater width allows carts to pass, and it also

    offers more room for the garbage, the rubbish, and the noisome

    sights that are most disgusting, all of which are made worse in

    rainy weather by the mud through which one liounders. Barrow

    thus delineates those in Peking: “The midtitude of movable

    workshops of tinkers and barbers, cobblers and blacksmiths,

    the tents and booths where tea and fruit, i-ice and other eatables

    were exposed for sale, with the wares and merchandise arrayed

    befoi-e the doors, had contracted this spacious street to a narrow

    road in the middle, just wide enough for two little vehicles to

    pass each other. The processions of men in office attended by

    their numerous retinues, bearing umbrellas and Hags, painted

    lanterns and a variety of strange insignia of their rank and

    station, different trains that were accompanying, with lamentable

    cries, corpses to their graves, and with squalling nmsic, brides

    to their husbands ; the troops of dromedaries laden with coals

    from Tartary ; the wbeel-barrows and hand-carts stuffed with

    vegetables, occupied nearly the whole of this middle space in

    one continued line. All was in motion. The sides of the streets

    were filled with an immense concourse of people, buj’ing and

    sellino; and bartering; their different connnodities. The buzz

    and confused noises of this mixed multitude, proceeding fi’om

    the loud bawling of those who were crying their wares, the

    wrangling of others, with every now and then a strange twanging

    ‘ Chinese Repository^ Vol. X. , p. 473.

    sound like the jarring of a cracked jewsharp (the barber’s »io-nal), the mirth and laughter that prevailed in every group,

    could scarcely be exceeded. Peddlers with their packs, jugglers

    and conjurers, fortune-tellers, mountebanks and quack doctors,

    comedians and musicians, left no space unoccupied.” ‘

    Shops are closed at nightfall, and persons going abroad carry

    a lantern or torch. Over the thoroughfares slender towers are

    erected, where notice of a fire is given and the watches of the

    night announced by striking a gong. Few persons are met in

    the streets at night, and the private watch kept by all who are

    able greatly assists the regular police in preserving order and

    apprehending thiev^es. These watchers go up and down their

    wards beating large bamboos, to let ” thieves know they are on

    the lookout.” Considering all things, large Chinese cities are

    remarkably quiet at night. Beggars find their lodgings in the

    porches and squares of temples, or sides of the streets, and

    nestle toorether for mutual warmth. This class is under the care

    of a headman, who, in order to collect the poor-tax allowed by

    law, apportions them in the neighborhoods with tiie advice of

    the elders and constables. During the day they go from one

    door to another and receive their allotted stipend, which cannot

    be less than one cash to each person. They sit in the doorway

    and sing a ditty or beat their clap- dishes and sticks to attract

    attention, and if the shopkeeper has no customers he lets them

    keep up their cries, for he knows that the longer they are detained

    so much the more time will elapse before they come

    again to his shop. Many are blind and all present a sickly

    appearance, their countenances begrimed with dirt and furi’owed

    by sorrow and suffering. The very difficult question how to

    assist, restrain, and employ the poor has been usually left to the

    mercy and wisdom of the municipal officers in the cities ; and

    the results are not on the whole discreditable to their humanity

    and benevolence. Many persons give the headman a dollar or

    more per month to purchase exemption from the daily importunity

    of the beggars, and families about to have a house-warming,

    marriage, or funeral, as also jiewly arrived junks, are obliged

    to fee him t<» get rid of the clamorous and loathsome crowd.

    ^Travels in China, p. 96.

    OONTROL OF BEGGARS AND FIRES IN CITIES. 743

    When fires occur the officers of goveniinent are held responsible

    ; the law being that if ten houses are burned vntlmi

    the walls, tlie higliest officer in it shall l)e fined nine months’

    pay ; if more than thirtj-, a year’s sahiry ; and if three hundred

    are consumed, lie shall be degraded one degree. The governor

    and other high officers, attended by a few troops, are frequently

    seen at fires in Canton, as much to prevent thievery as

    to direct in extinguishing the flames. The engines ai’e hurried

    through tlie narrow streets at a fearful rate ; those who carry

    away property are armed with swords to defend it, and usually

    add to the crash of the burning houses by loud cries. The police

    do not hesitate to pull down houses if the fire can thereby

    be sooner extinguished, but there is no organized body of firemen,

    nor any well-arranged system of operations in such cases,

    thoufch conflagrations are ordinarilv soon under control. Cruel

    men often take the opportunity at such times to steal and carry

    off defenceless persons, especially young girls.

    At Canton the usage is general of levying a bonus on the

    owners of the houses adjacent to the burnt district, whose

    dwellings were saved by the exertions of the firemen, the appraisement

    decreasing as the distance increases ; the sum is divided

    among the firemen. The householders thus saved also

    employ priests to erect an altar near by, whereon to perform a

    service, and “return thanks for Heaven’s mercy.” On the

    whole, the fire control in China is superior to that in Turkey,

    where the firemen pay themselves for their efforts by extortions

    practised upon house-owners.

    The pagoda is a building considered as so peculiar to the

    Chinese that a landscape or painting relating to China without a

    pagoda perched on a hill—like one of Egyptian scenerj’ destitute

    of a pyramid—would be considered deficient. The ioxm. pagoda

    is used in its proper sense by most of the French and Portuguese

    writers to denote a temple for idols, but in English books it has

    always been appropriated to the polygonal towers seen throughout

    the country. Some confusion has arisen in consequence of applying

    the account of an immense temple full of idols to these

    towers. The English use is the most definite in China, although

    its misapplication is indefensible if we regard its derivation.

    The form of the (“liinesc tult is probably derived from the epire on the top of the Hindu dagoha, as its name is doubtless taken from the first syllable; but their purpose has so long been identitied with the geomantie inihK^nces which determine the hit’k of a place that the people do not associate them with Buddhism. Mr. Milne explains this in his remark that “the presence of such an edifice not only secures to the site the protection of heaven, if it already bears evidence of enjoying it, but represses any evil influences that may be native to the spot, and imparts to it the most salutary and felicitous omens.” ‘

    Those in the southern and central provinces seldom contain

    idols of any pretensions. They are ascended by stairways built

    in the thick walls on alternate sides of the stories. In the

    north there is another kind, designed to contain a she-li, or

    relic of Buddha, having a large room near the base for worshipping

    the -idol placed in it, but otherwise entirely solid and

    nearly uniform in size to the top ; the stories are merely numerous

    narrow projections, like eaves or string courses, on which

    hundreds of small images are sometimes placed. These structlu’es

    more nearly resemble the Indian dagoha than the other

    kind, and are always connected with a monastery, while those

    are not uniformly so placed, though under a priestly oversight.

    Xo town is considered complete without a pagoda, and many

    large cities have several ; there ]nust be nearly two thousand in

    the Empire, some of which are quite celebrated. It is rare to

    see a new one, and the ruinous condition of most of them indicates

    the weakness of the faith which erected them. They vary

    in height from five to thirteen stories, and are mostly built in

    so solid a manner that they are likely to remain for centuries.

    One at Ilangchau is octagonal, each face twenty-eight feet

    wide and the wall at the base eighteen feet thick ; the top is

    reached by a spiral stairway between the M’alls ; a covei-ed gallery

    on the outside of each story affords resting-places and everchanging

    views to the visitor; it is one hundred and seventy

    feet high, and Avas built during the Sung dynasty, in the twelfth

    ‘ Life in China, p. 453.

    century. The prospect from its summit is superb ; the picturescjiie coiubinatiou of sen aiul shore, land and water, city aiul country, wilderness, gardens, andliills, with many historical and religious associations interesting to a Jiativi;, make it one of the most charming landscapes in China.

    PAGODAS, THEIR PURPOSE AXD COXSTRUCTION. 74.J

    Sir John Davis visited one near Lintsing chau iu Shantung,

    in very good repair, inhabited hy Buddhist ])riests, and containing

    two idols ; each of its nine stories was inscribed with Otneto

    Fuh, in large characters. It was erected since the completion

    of the Grand Canal. A M’iuding stairway of near two hundred

    steps conducted to the top, about one hundred and fifty feet

    from the ground, from whence an extensive view was obtained

    of the surrounding counti’v. The basement was excellently

    built of granite, and all the rest of glazed brick, beautifully

    joined and cemented.

    The objects in building these structures being of a mixed nature,

    sometimes geomantic and sometimes religious, their materials,

    size, and structure vary considerably. There are two inside

    of Canton, and three near the Pearl Hiver, below the city ;

    fifteen others occur in the prefecture. Suchau has two, Xingpo

    one, Fuhchau two, and Peking six in and out of the Avails.

    One of those at Canton was built by the Moslems about a thousand

    years ago, a plain brick tower nearly two hundred feet

    high, from which the faithful were probably called to prayers in

    the adjacent mosque. Fergusson’s remarks upon Chinese architecture

    wcndd probably have been modified had the writer enjoyed

    a wider range of observation and a fuller knowledge of

    the designs of native builders. They are, however, the conclusions

    of a competent observer, and the position he gives to

    the pagoda among the tower-like buildings of the woi-ld, arising

    from its peculiar form, its divisions, and its apparent uselessness,

    will be genei-ally accepted as just.

    Mr. Milne, in his interesting work, has a good account of pagodas; he shows that while their model is of Hindu origin, and has been carefully followed since the first one was erected(about A.D. 250) at Nanking, the popular geomantic ideas connected with their octawnal form and great heii>:ht have “”radually increased and influenced their location. The Buddhists seem themselves to have lost their ancient confidence in the protection of the sJie-ll (or salna) supposed to be built in them. The number of Indian words transliterated in Chinese accounts of these edifices further proves their foreign origin. For convenience and accuracy in describing them, it would be best to restrict the term 2)a(joda to the hollow octagonal towers, the word dagoha to the solid ones covering the relics, and toj)e to the erections over priests when buried.

    Pagodas are sometimes made of cast iron ; those hitherto observed

    are in the central provinces. One exists in Chehkiang

    province, nearly fifty feet high and of nine stories. The octagonal

    pieces forming the walls are each single castings, as are also the

    plates forming the roof. The whole structure, including the

    base and spire, was made of twenty pieces of iron. Its interior

    is filled with brick, probably Mith the design to strengthen it

    ao;ainst storms. The ignorance of the Cliinese of later davs of

    the Hindu origin of pagodas has led to their regarding those

    now in existence as of native design, and appropi-iated by the

    Buddhists for their own ends. Most of them are falling to

    ruins ; and the assurances held out by the geomancers that the

    pagoda will act like an electric tractor to draw doAvn every

    felicitous omen from above, so that fire, water, wood, earth, and

    metal will be at the service of the people, the soil productive,

    trade prosperous, and the natives submissive and happy, all fail

    to call out funds for repairing them,’

    ^Voyages d Peking, Tome II., p. 79 ; Davis’ Sketclies, Vol. I., p. 213 ; PergiLsson, Indian and Eastern Architecture, 187G, p. ()!)5 ; Milne’s Life in China p. 429 seq.; Chinese Repositoi-y, Vol. XIX., pp. 535-540.

    MODES OF TRAVELLING, 747

    The dull appearance of a Chinese city when seen from a distance is unlike that of European cities, in which spires, domes, and towers of churches and cathedrals, halls, palaces, and other public buildings relieve the uniformity of rows of dwellings. In China, temples, houses, and palaces are nearly of one height ; their sameness being only partially relieved by trees mingled with pairs of tall flag-staffs with frames near their tops, which at a distance rather suggest the idea of dismantled gallows. Nature, however, charms and delights, and few countries present more beautiful landscapes ; even the tameness of the works of man serves as a foil for the diversified beauties of the cultivated landscape,

    A Chinese usually prefers to travel by water, and in the southeastern provinces it may be said that vehicles solely designed for carrying travelers or goods do not exist, for the carts and wheel l)arrows which are met with are few and miserably made. Ihit north of the Yangzi River, all over the Great Plain carts and wheelbarrows form the chief means of travel and transportation. The high cost of timber and the bad roads compel the people to make these vehicles very rude and strong, having axles and wheels able to bear the strains or upsets which befall them. Carts for goods are drawn by three or four horses

    Wheelbarrows Used for Travelling.

    usually driven tandem, and fastened Ijy long traces to the axletree,

    one remaining within the thills. The common carts,

    drawn by one or two mules, are oblong boxes fastened to an

    axle, covered -with cotton cloth, and cushioned to alleviate the

    jolting; the passengers get in and out at the front, where the

    driver sits close to the horse. In Peking the members of

    the imperial clan and family are allowed to use carts having the

    wheel behind the body ; their ranks are further indicated by a

    red or yellow covering, and a greater or less number of outriders

    to escort them. The wheelbarrow is in great use for short

    distances throughout the same region. The position of the wheel in the center enables the man to 2)rupel a heavy load readily. When on a good road, and aided by a donkey, the larger \arieties of barrow carry easily a burden of a ton’s weight ; two men are necessary to maintain the balance and guide the rather top-heavy vehicle.

    Where travelling by water is impossible, sedan chairs are used to carry passengers, and coolies with poles and slings transport their luggage and goods There are two kinds of sedan, neither of them designed for reclining like the Indian ^^(dl’ij.

    The light one is made of bamboo, and so narrow that the sitter is obliged to lean forward as he is carried ; the large one, called hiao^ is, whether viewed in regard to lightness^ comfort, or any other quality associated with such a mode of carriage, one of the most convenient articles found in any country. Its use is subject to sumptuary laws, and forbidden to the common people unless possessing some kind of rank. In Peking only the highest officials ride in them, with four bearers. In other cities two chairmen manage easily enough to maintain a gait of four miles an hour with a sedan upon their shoulders. Goods are carried upon poles, and however large or heavy the package may be, the porters contrive to subdivide its weight between them by means of their sticks and slings. The number of persons who thus gain a livelihood is great, and in cities they are employed by headmen, who contract for work just as carmen do elsewhere ; when unengaged by overseers, parties station themselves at corners and other public places, ready to start at a beck, after the manner of Dlenstuianner in German cities. In the

    streets of Canton groups of brawny fellows are often seen idling

    awa\’ their time in smoking, gambling, sleeping, or jeering at

    the wayfarers ; and, like the husbandmen mentioned in the

    parable, if one ask them why they stand there all the day idle?

    the answer will be, ” Because no man hath hired us.”

    SEDAX ClfAHIS AND KIVKll CHAFT. 740

    The chair-bearers form a distinct guild in cities, and the establishments where sedans and their bearers are to be hired suggest a comparison with the livery stables of western cities; the men, in fact, are nicknamed at Canton mo ml ma, ‘tailless horses.’ A vehicle used sometimes by the Emperor and high officers consists of an open chair set upon poles, so made that the inciinibeiit can 1×3 .sccii as avcU as si-e around him. It undergoes many changes in different parts of the country, as it is both cheap and iiglit and M’ell litted for traversing mountainous regions.

    In the construction and management of their river craft the Chinese exceh ^Vs boats are intended to be the residences of those who navigate them, regard is had to this in their arrangement.

    ^)uly a part of the fleets of boats seen on the river at (^anton ai’C intended for transportation, a large nundier being designed for fixed residences, and per]ia|>s half of them are pernianently moored. They are not t)bligcd to remain where they station themselves, but the boats and their inmates are both under the supervision of a M^ater police, who I’egister them and point out the position they may occupy. Barges for families, those in which oil, salt, fuel, or other articles are sold, lighters, passage-boats, flower-boats, and other kinds, are by this means grouped together, and more easily found. It was once ascertained that there were eighty-four thousand boats

    registered as belonging to the city of Canton, but whether all

    remained near the city and did not go to other parts of the district,

    or whether old ones were erased from Ihe register when

    broken up, was not determined. It is not likely, however, that

    at one time this luimber of boats ever lay opposite the citv.

    Ko (lueMdio has been at Canton can forget the noisy, animating

    sight the river offers, nor failed to have noticed the good humored carefulness with which boats of every size pass each other without collision.

    It is difficult to describe the many kinds of craft found t>n Chinese waters without the assistance of drawings. They are furnished with stern sculls moving upon a pivot, and easily propelling the boat. Large boats are furnished with two or three of these, which, when not in use, are conveniently haided in upon the side. They are provided with oars, the loom and blade of which are fastened by withs, and “work through a band attached to a stake ; the rower stands up and pushes his oar with the same motion as that employed by the A’enetian gondolier. Occasionally an oarsman is seen rowing with his feet.

    The mast in some large cargo boats consists of two sticks, resting Oil the gunwales, joined at top, and so arranged as to be hoisted from the boAv ; in those designed for residences no provision is made for a mast. Fishing boats, ligliters, and seagoing craft have one or two permanent masts. In all, except the smallest, a wale or frame projects from the side, on which the boatmen Avalk when poling the vessel. The sails in the south are “woven of strips of matting, sewed into a single sheet, and provided with yards at the top and bottom ; the bamboo ribs crossing it serve to retain the hoops that run on the mast, and enable the boatmen to haul them close on the wind. A driver is sometimes placed on the taifrail, and a small foresail near the bow, but the mainsail is the chief dependence. No Chinese boat has a bowsprit, and very few are coppered, or have two decks, further than an orlop in the stern quarter in which to stow provisions; no dead-lights give even a glimmer to these recesses, which are necessarily small.

    The internal arrangement of dwelling-boats is simple. The

    better sort are from sixty to eighty feet long, and about fifteen

    wide, divided into three rooms ; the stem is sharp, and upholds

    a platform on which, when they are moored alongside, it is

    easy to pass from one boat to another. Each one is secured by

    ropes to large hawsers which run along the whole line at the

    bow and stern. The room nearest the bow serves for a lobby

    to tlie pi’incipal apartment, which occupies about half the body

    of the boat ; the two are separated by trellis bulkheads, but the

    sternmost room, or sleeping apartment, is carefully screened.

    Cooking and wasliiug are performed on a high stern framework,

    wliicli is a(]miral)ly contrived, by means of furnaces and other

    conveniences above and hatches and partitions below deck, to

    serve all these purposes, contain all the fuel and water necessary,

    and answer for a sleeping place as well. By means of

    awnings and frameworks the top of the l)oat also subser\’es

    many objects of work or pleasure. The window-shutters are

    movable, fitted for all kinds of weather and for fiexibility of

    arrangement, meeting all the demands of a family and the particular

    service of a vessel ; nothing can be more ingenious.

    Tiie lumdsomest of these craft are called hica ting, or flowerboats,

    and are let to parties for pleasure excursions on tlie river,-

    d\vp:lleiis on the water. 751

    a large proportion of them are also the abodes of public women.

    The smaller sorts at Canton are generally known as tait.kia

    boats ; they are about tweuty-live feet long, coutain only one

    room, and are fitted with moveable mats to cover the whole

    vessel ; they are usually rowed by women. In these ” egghouses

    ” whole families are reared, live, and die ; the room which

    serves for passengers by day is a bedroom by night ; a kitchen

    at one time, a washroom at another, and a nursery always.

    As to this custom of living upon the water, we have an interesting testimony of its practice so far back as the fourteenth century, from the letter of a Dominican Friar in 1330. ” The realm of Cathay,” writes the missionary, ” is peopled passing well And there be many great rivers and great sheets of water throughout the Empire; insomuch that a good half of the realm and its territory is under water. And on these waters dwell great multitudes of people because of the vast population that there is in the said realm. They build wooden houses upon boats, and so their houses go up and down upon the waters; and the people go trafficking in their houses from one province to another, whilst they dwell in these houses with all their families, with their wives and children, and all their household utensils and necessaries. And so they live upon the waters all the days of their life. And there the women be brought to bed, and do everything else just as people do who dwell upon diy land.” ‘

    ‘ Yule, Cat/iay and t/ie Way TMthn\ Vol. I., p. 243.

    It is unnecessary to particularize the various sorts of lighters or c7toj)-hoats found along the southern coast, the passenger boats plying from town to town along the hundreds of streams, and the smacks, revenue cutters, and fishing craft to be seen in all waters, except to call attention to their remarkable adaptation for the ends in view. The best sorts are made in the southern provinces; those seen at Tientsin or Niuchwang suffer by comparison for cleanliness, safety, and speed, owing partly to the high price of wood and the less use made of them for dwellings. On the head waters of the River Ivan the boats are of a peculiarly light construction, with upper works entirely of matting, and the liull like a crescent, well fitted to encounter the rapids and rocks which beset their course.

    Besides these various kinds the revenue service employs a narrow, sharp-built boat, j^ropelled by forty or fifty I’owers, armed with swivels, spears, boarding-hooks, and pikes, and lined on the sides with a menacing array of rattan shields painted with tigers’ heads. Smugglers have simihirly made boats, and now and then imitate the government boats in their appearance, which, on their part, often compete with them in smuggling. In 1S<!3 the imperial government was induced to adopt a national flag for all its own vessels, which will no doubt gradually extend to merchant craft. It is triangular in shape, and has a dragon with the head looking upward. It is usual for naval officers to exhibit long yellow flags with their official titles at full length ; the vessels under them are distinguished by various pennons. Junks carry a great assortment of flags, triangular and square, of white, red, and other colors, most of them bearing inscriptions. The number of governmental boats and war junks, and those used for transporting the revenue and salt, is proportionately very snuill ; but if all the craft found on the rivers and coasts of China be included, their united tonnage perhaps equals that of all other nations put together. The dwellers on the water near Canton are not, as has been sometimes said, debaiTed from living ashore. A boat can be built cheaper than a brick house, and is equally comfortable; it is kept clean easier, pays no ground-rent, ainl is not so (ibnoxious to fire and thieves. Most of them are constructed c^f fir or jtine and smeared with wood oil; the seams are caulked with i-attan shavings and paid over with a cement (»f oil and gvpsum. The sailing craft are usually flat-bottomed, shai-i)foi-wai'(l, and guided by an enormous i-udder which can be hoisted through the open stern sheets when in shallow waters. The teak-Mood anchors have iron-bound flukes, held bycoii’or bamboo hawsers— now often replaced by iron chain and giapnel.’

    ‘Compare an article by W. F. Mayers in Notes and Queries on C. and J.,Vol. I., pp. 170-173 (with illustrations) ; Mrs. Gray, Fourteen Months in Canton, passim ; Dr. Edkins in Journal JV! H. Br. R. A. Soc, Vol. XT., p. 12:5; Doolittl.?, VoMihvliry, Part ITT., No. LXVTTT ; Enirin.-.M- J. W. Kiuir in The United Service, Vol. IT., p. 383 (Phila., 1880).

    RKVENUK BOATS AND J UN Kb. 753

    The ()1<1 picturesque junk, with its bulging Inill, high steni, and great eyes on tlu; Itow, is rapidly disappearing before steamers. Its original model is said to he a huge sea monster; the teeth at the cutwater and top of the bow detine its mouth, the long boards on each side of the bow form the armature of the head, the eyes being painted on them, the masts and sails are ^he tins, and the high stern is the tail frisking aloft. The cabins look more like niches in a sepulchre than the accommodations for a live passenger. The crew live upon deck most of the time, and are usually interested in the trade of the vessel or an adventure of their own. The hold is divided into watertight compartments, a contrivance that has its advantages when the vessel strikes a rock, but prevents her carrying a cargo comparable to her size. The great number of passengers which have been stowed in these vessels entailed a frightful loss of life when they Mere wrecked. In February, 1822, Capt. Pearl, of the English ship Indiana, coming through Gaspar Straits, fell in with the cargo and crew of a wrecked junk, and saved one hundred and ninety-eight persons (out of one thousand six hundred with whom she had left Amoy), whom he landed at Pontianak ; this humane act cost him $55,000.”

    Among secondary architectural works deserving notice are bridges and honoraiy jiortals. There is good reason for supposing that the Chinese have been acquainted with the arch from very early times, though they make comparatively little use of it. Certain bridges have pointed arches, others have semicircular, and others approach the form of a horse-shoe, the transverse section of an ellipse, or even like the Greek /2, the space being widest at the top. In some the arch is high for the accommodation of boats passing beneath; and where no heavy wains or carriages cross and jar the fabric, it can safely be made light. A graceful specimen of this class is the structure seen in the illustration on page T54. This bridge, though serving no practical purpose, is one of the greatest ornaments about the Emperor’s summer palace of Yuan-ming Yuan. The material is marble; its summit is reached by forty steps rising abruptly from the causeway, and impracticable, of course, for any but pedestrians.

    ‘ Chinese Repository, Vol. VI., p. 149. Vol. I.—48

    BRIDGES IN CHINA. 755

    The balustrades and paving of the long marble bridges near Peking and Hangzhou, some of them adorned with statues of elephants, lions, and other animals, present a pleasing effect, while their solidity and endurance of freshes running over the top at times attest the skill of the architects. Wooden bridges furnish means for crossing small streams in all parts of the land; when the river is powerful, or the rise and fall of the tide great, it is crossed on boats fastened together, with contrivances for drawing out two or three in the centre when the passing craft demand a passage. At Tientsin, Ningbo, and other cities, this means of crossing entails little delay in comparison to its cheapness.

    Some of the bridges in and about Peking are beautiful structures; their erection, however, presented no difficult problem, while that at Fuhchau was a greater feat of engineering.

    It is about four hundred yards long and five wide, consisting of nearly forty solid buttresses of hewn stone placed at unequal distances and joined by slabs of granite; some of these slabs arc three feet square and forty-five feet long. They support a granite pavement. The bridge was formerly lined with shops, which the increased traffic has caused to be removed. Another similar bridge lies seven miles north of it on the River Min, and a third of equal importance at the city of Chinchew, north of Amoy. Some of the mountain streams and passes in the west and north are crossed by rope bridges of ingenious construction, and by chain suspension bridges.

    Mr. Lowrie describes a bridge at Changchau, near Amoy, and these structures are more numerous in the eastern provinces than elsewhere. ” It is built on twenty-live piles of stone about thirty feet apart, and perhaps twenty feet each in height. Large round beams are laid from pile to pile, and smaller ones across in the simplest and rudest manner; earth is then placed above these and the top paved with brick and stone. One would suppose that the work had been assigned to a number of different persons, and that each one had executed his part in such manner as best suited his own fancy, there being no regularity whatever in the paving. Bricks and stone were intermingled in the most confused manner, and the railing was here wood and there stone. We were particularly struck Math the length of some of the granite stones used in paving the bridge; one was eight, another eleven, and three others eighteen paces, or about forty-five feet long, and two broad. The bridge averaged eight or ten feet in width, and about half its length on both sides was occupied by shops.”‘

    ‘ Chinese Repository^ Vol. XII., p. 528 ; Medhurst’s HohJceen Dictionary, Introduction pp. XXII, XXIII.

    A causeway of ninety arches crosses a feeder of the Grand Canal near Hangchau. The stones for the arch in one bridge noticed by Barrow were cut so as to form a segment of the arch, and at each end were mortised into transverse blocks of stone stretching across the bridge ; they decreased in length from ten feet at the spring of the arch to three at the vertex, and the summit stone was mortised, like the rest, into two transverse blocks lying next to it.* (* Barrow’s Travels, p. 338.)The tenons were short, and the disposition of tlio principal pieces such that a bridge built in tliit^ way “would not support great weights or endure many ages.

    The mode oi” placing the pieces can be seen in the cut. In other instances the stones are laid in the same manner as in Europe; many small bridges over creeks and canals have cambered or straight arches. When one of these structures falls into ruins or becomes dangerous, the people seldom bestir themselves to repair the damage, preferring to wait for the government ; they thereby lose the benefit of self-dependence and action.

    Bridge showing the mode of Moitising the Arch.

    TAI-LAU, OR irOXOKAUY rOlJTALS. 7o7

    It is singular how the term triumphal arch came to be applied to tha j)al-fan<j und jxii-lau, or honorary portals or tablets, of the Chinese; for a triumph was perhaps never heard of in that country, and these structures are never arched. They consist merely of a broad gateway flanked with two smaller ones, and suggest a turnpike gate Mitli side-ways for foot passengers rather than a triumphal monument. They are scattered in great numbers over the provinces, and are erected in honor of distinguished persons, or by officers to commemorate their parents, by special favor from the Emperor. Some are put up in honor of women who liiive distinguished thoiiiHclves for their cliastity and filial duty, or to widows who have refused a second marriage. Permission to erect them is considered a high honor, and perhaps the term tflant_p/ud was given them from this circumstance.

    The economical and peaceful nature of such honors conferred upon distinguished men in China is most characteristic; a man is allowed to build a stone gateway to himself or his parents, and the Emperor furnishes the inscription, or perhaps sends with it a patent of nobility. Their general arrangement is exhibited in the title page of this work; the two characters, f<Jiin(j c/ii, at the top, meaning ‘ sacred will,’ intimate that it was erected by his Majesty’s permission.

    Some of the J>al-l(( (6 are elaborately ornamented with carved work and inscriptions; and as a protection to the frieze a ponderous covering of tiles projects over the top, which, however, exposes the structure to injury from tempests. They are placed in conspicuous places in the outskirts of towns, and in the streets before temples or near government edifices. Travellers looking for what they had read about have sometimes strangely mistaken the gateways at the heads of streets or the entrance to temples for the honorary portals.’ Those built of stone are fastened by mortises and tenons in the same manner as the wooden ones ; they seldom exceed twenty or twenty-five feet in height. The skill and taste displayed in the symmetry and carving upon some of them are creditable ; but as the man in wdiose honor it is erected is, generally speaking, “the architect of his own fame,” he prudently considers the worth of that commodity, and makes an inferior structure to what would have been done if his fellow-subjects, ” deeply sensible of the honor,” had come together to appoint a committee and open a subscription list for the purpose. Among the numerous ^>^//-Zc^?^, in and near Peking, two or three deserve mention for their beauty.

    One lies in the Confucian Temple in front of the Plh-yung Kung, and is designed to enhance the splendor, of its approach by presenting, as it were, a frame before its facade. It is built of stone and overlaid with square encaustic tiles of many hues.

    ‘ Encyclopedia Americana, Art. Canton.

    The arrangement of the colors, the carving on the marble, and the fine proportions of the structrue render it altogether one of the most artistic objects in China. Another like it is built in the Imperial Park, but the position is not so advantageous.

    Fergusson points out the similarity between tho&e pai-lau and certain Hindu gateways, and claims that India furnished the model. The question of priority isliardly susceptible of proof; but his fancy that a \iirge pai-lau in a street of Amoy presented a simulated coffin on it above the principal cornice, leads us to suspect that he was looking for what was never in the builder’s mind.

    The construction of forts and towers presents little worthy of

    observation, since there is no other evidence of science than what

    the erection of lines of massive stone Avail displays. The portholes

    are too large for protection and the parapet too slight to

    resist modern missiles. The Chinese idea of a fortification is

    a wall along the water s edge, with embrasures and battlements,

    and a plain wall landwai’d without port-holes or. parapets, enclosing

    an area in which a few houses accommodate the garrison

    and ammunition. Some erected at the junction of streams are

    pierced on all sides ; others are so unscientifically jilanned that

    the walls can be scaled at angles where not a single gun can be

    brought to bear. The towers are rectangular edifices of brick

    on a stone foundation, forty feet square and fifty or sixty high,

    to be entered by ladders through a door half way up the side.

    The forts in the neighborhood of Canton, probably among the best in the Empire, are all constructed without fosse, bastion, glacis, or counter-defence of any kind. Both arrangement and placement are alike faulty : some are square and approachable without danger; others circular on the outer face but with flank or rear exposed; others again built on a hillside like a pound, so that the garrison, if dislodged from the battlements, are forced to fly up the slope in full range of their enemy’s fire. The gate is on the side, unprotected by ditch, drawbridge, or portcullis, and poorly defended by guns upon the walls or in the area behind. In general the points chosen for their forts display a misapprehension of the true principles of defence, though Bome may be noted as occupying commanding positions.

    MILITAKY Ar.dllTKCTUUE—DRKSS. 759

    111 recent times mud defences and batteries of sand-bags have proved a much safer defence than such buildings against ships and artillery, and show the aptitude of the people to adopt practical things. Though not particularly resolute on the held, the Chinese soldier stands well to his guns when behind a fortification of whose strength he is assured. The forts which have recently been constructed under supervision of European engineers are rapidly taking the place of native works in all parts of the country.

    Dress, like other things, undergoes its changes in China, and fashions alter there as well as elsewhere, but they are not as rapid or as strikhig as among European nations. The full costume of both sexes is, in general terms, commodious and graceful, combining all the purposes of warmth, beauty, and ease which could be desired, excepting always the shaven crown and braided queue of the men and the crippled feet of the women, in both of which fashions they have not less outraged nature than deformed themselves. On this point different tastes exist, and some prefer the close-fitting dress of Europeans to the loose robes of Asiatics ; but when one has become in a measure habituated to the latter, one is willing to allow the force of the criticism that the European male costume is ‘* a mysterious combination of the inconvenient and the unpicturesque : hot in summer and cold in winter, useless for either keeping off rain or

    sun, stiif but not plain, bare without being simple, not durable,

    not becoming, and not cheap.” The Chinese dress has remained,

    in its general style, the same for centuries ; and garments of fur

    or silk are handed down from parent to child without fear of

    attracting attention by their antique shapes. The fabrics most

    worn are silk, cotton, and grass-cloth for summer, with the addition

    of furs and skins in winter ; woollen is used sparingly, and

    ahiiost wholly of foreign manufacture.

    Barber’s Establishment Dress of the Common People.

    VARIETY AND MATERIAL OP APPAREL. 761

    The principal articles of dress are inner and outer tunics of various lengths made of cotton or silk, reaching below the loins or to the feet ; the lapel on the right side folds over the breast and fits close about the neck, which is left uncovered. The sleeves are much wider and longer than the arms, have no cuffs or facings, and in common cases serve for pockets. A Chinese, instead of saying ” he pocketed the book,” would say ” he sleeved it.” In robes of ceremony the end of the sleeve resembles a horse’s hoof, and good breeding requires the hand to be kept in a position to exhibit the cuff when sitting. In warm weather one upper garment is deemed sufficient; in winter a dozen can be put on without discommodity, and this number is sometimes actually seen upon persons engaged in sedentary employments, or on those who sit in the air. Latterly, underwear of flannel has become common among the better dressed, who like the knitted fabric so close-fitting and warm. The lower limbs are comparatively slightly protected ; a pair of loose trousers, covered;o the knee by cloth stockings, is the usual summer garment; tight leggings are pulled over both in winter and attached to the girdle by loops ; and as the trousers are rather vohiiriiiions and the tunic short, the excess shows behind from luider these leggings in a rather unpleasant manner. Gentlemen and officers always wear a robe with the skirt opened at the sides, which conceals this intermission of the imder apparel. The colors preferred for outer garments are various hues of buff, purple, oi blue.

    The shoes are made of silk or cotton, usually embroidered for women’s wear in red and other colors. The soles are of felt, sometimes of paper inside a rim of felt, and defended on the bottom by hide. These shoes keep the feet dry and unchilled on the tiles or ground, so that a Chinese nuiy be said really to carry the floor of his house under his feet instead of laying it on the ground. The thick soles render it necessary for ease in walking to round up their ends, which constrains the toes into an elevated position so irksome that all go slipshod who conveniently can do so. The cost of a cotton suit need not exceed five dollars, and a complete silken one, of the gayest colors and best materials, can easily be procured for twenty-five or thirty. Quilted cotton garments are exceedingly common, and are so made as to protect the whole person from the cold and obviate the need of fires. In the north dressed sheepskin i-()l)os furnish bedding as well as garments, and their durability will long make them more desirable than woven fabrics.

    The ancient Chinese wore the hair long, bound upon the top of the head, somewhat after the style of the Lewchewans; and taking pride in its glossy black, called themselves the black-haired race. But in 1627 the Manchus, then in possession of only Liautung, issued an order that all Chinese under them should adopt their coiffure as a sign of allegiance, on penalty of death; the fashion thus begun by compulsion is now followed from choice. The fore part of the head is shaved to the crown and the hair braided in a single plait behind. Laborers often wind it about the head or knot it into a ball out of the way when barebacked or at work. The size of the queue can be enlarged by permitting an additional line of hair to grow; the appearance it gives the M-earer is thus described by Mr. Downing, and the quotation is not an unfair specimen of the remarks of travelers upon China : ” At the hotel one of the waiters was dressed in a pecuhar manner about the head. Instead of the hair being shaved in front, he had it cut round the top of the forehead about an inch and a half in length. All the other part was tiu-ned as usual and plaited down the back. This thin semi-circular ridge of hair was then made to stand bolt upright, and as each hair was separate and stiff as a bristle, the whole looked like a very fine-toothed comb turned upward. This I imagined to be the usual way of dressing the head by single unengaged youths, and of course must be very attractive.”” Thus what the wearer regarded as ill-looking, and intended to braid in as soon as it was long enough, is here taken as a device for beautifying himself in the eyes of those he never saw or cared to see.

    Tricks Played with the Queue.

    OFFICIAL COSTUMES. 763

    The people are vain of a long thick queue, and now and then play each other tricks with it, as well as use it as a ready means for correction ; but nothing irritates them more than to cut it off. Men and women oftener go bareheaded than covered, warding off the sun by means of a fan ; in winter felt or silk skull-caps, hoods, and fur protect them from cold. Laborers shelter themselves from rain under an umbrella hat and a grotesque thatchwork of leaves neatly sewn upon a coarse network—very effectual for the purpose. In illustration of the remailv at the beginning of this chapter, it might be added that if they were not worn on the head such hats woukl be called ti-ays, so unlike are they to the English article of that name. The formal head-dress is the conical straw or felt hat so peculiar to this nation, usually covered with a red fringe of silk or hair.

    The various forms, fabrics, colors, and ornaments of the dresses

    worn by grades of officers are regulated by sumptuary laws.

    Citron-yellow distinguishes the imperial family, but his Majesty’s

    apparel is less showy than many of his courtiers, and in all

    that belongs to his own personal use there is an appearance of

    disregard of ornament. The five-clawed dragon is figured upon

    the dress and whatever pertains to the Emperor, and in certain

    things to members of his family. Tlie nionarchs of China formerly

    wore a sort of flat-topped crown, shaped somewhat like

    a Cantab’s cap, and having a row of jewels pendent from each

    side. The sunnner bonnet of officers is made of finely woven

    straw covered with a red fringe ; in winter it is trimmed with

    fur. A string of beads hanging over an embroidei’ed robe, a

    round knob on the cap, thick-soled satin boots, two or three

    pouches for fans or chopsticks, and occasionally a watch or two

    hanging from the girdle, constitute the principal points of difference

    between the official and plebeian costume. No company

    of men can appeal- more splendid tlian a large pai’ty of officers

    in their winter robes made of fine, lustrous crapes, trimmed

    with rich furs and brilliant with gay embroidery. In winter a silk or fur spencer is worn over the robe, and forms a handsome and warm garment. Lambskins are much used, and the downy coats of unyeaned lambs, which, with the finer furs and the skins of hares, wild cats, rabbits, foxes, wolves, otter, squirrels, etc., are worn by all I’anks. Some years ago a lad used to parade the streets of Canton, who presented an odd appearance in a long spencer made of a tiger’s skin. The Chinese like strong contrasts in the colors of their garments, sometimes wearing yellow leggings underneath a light blue robe, itself set off by a purple spencer.

    The dress of women is likewise liable to few fluctuations, and all ranks can be sure that the fashion will last as long as the gown. The garments of both sexes among the common people resemble each other more than in Western Asia. The tunic oi short gown is open in front, buttoning around the neck and under the arm, reaching to the knee, like a smock-frock in its general shape. The trousers among the lower orders are usually worn over the stockings, both being covered, on ceremonial occasions, by a petticoat reaching to the feet. Laboring women, whose feet are left their natural size, go barefoot or slipshod in the M-arni latitudes, but cover their feet carefully farther north. Both sexes have a paucity of linen in their habiliments—if not a shiftless, the Chinese certainly are a shirtless race, and such undergarments as they have are not too often washed.

    The head-dress of married fenuiles is becoming and even elegant.

    The copious black hair is bound upon the head in an

    oval-formed knot, which is secured in its place and shape by a

    broad pin placed lengthwise on it, and fastened by a shorter ona

    thrust across and under the bow. The hair is drawn back from

    the forehead into the knot, and elevated a little in front by combino;

    it over the fiuo’er ; in order to make it lie smooth the locks

    are drawn through resinous shavings moistened in warm M^ater,

    which also adds an exti-a gloss, at the cost, however, of injury

    to the hair. In front of the knot a tube is often inserted, in

    which flowers can be placed. The custom of wearing them is

    nearly universal, fresh blossoms being preferred wdien obtainable,

    and artificial at other times. Having no covering on the head

    there is more opportunity than in the west to display pretty

    devices in arranging the hair. A widow is known by her white

    flowers, a maiden by one or two plaits instead of a knot, and so on; in their endless variety of form and ornament, Chinese women’s head-dresses furnish a source of constant study. Mr. Stevens tells us that the animated appearance of the dense crowd which assembled on the bridge and banks of the river at Fuhchau when he passed in 1835, was still more enlivened by the flowers worn by the women.

    COSTUMES OF CHINESE WOMEN. 765

    Matrons wear an embroidered fillet on the forehead, an inch or more wide, pointed between the eyebrows, and covering the front of the hair though not concealing the baldness which often comes on early from the resinous l)and()line used. This fillet is embroidered, or adorned with pearls, a favorite ornament with Chinese ladies. The women along the Yangzi River wear a band of fur around the head, which relieves their colorless complexions.

    A substitute for l)onnets is common in summer, consisting of a flat piece of straw trimmed with a fringe of blue cloth. The hair of children is unbound, but girls more advanced allow^ the side locks to reach to the waist and plait a tress down the neck ; their coarse hair does not curl, and the beautiful luxuriance of curls and ringlets seen in Europe is entirely unknown.

    False hair is made use of by both sexes, the men being particularly fond of eking out their queues to the fullest length. Gloves are not worn, the long sleeves being adequate for warmth; in the north the ears are protected from freezing by ear-tabs lined with fur, and often furnished with a tiny looking-glass on the outside.

    The dress of gentlewomen, like that of their husbands, is

    regulated by sumptuary laws, but none of these prevent their

    costumes from being as splendid as rich silks, gay colors, and

    beautiful embroidery can make them. The neck of the robe is

    protected by a stiff band, and the sleeves are large and long,

    just the contrary of the common style, which being short allows

    the free use and display of a well-turned arm. The official embroidery

    allowed to the husband is changed to another kind on

    his wife’s robe indicative of the same rank. No belt or girdle

    is seen, nor do stays compress the waist to its lasthig injury.

    One of the prettiest parts of a lady’s dress is the petticoat, which appears about a foot below the upper robe covering the feet. Each side of the skirt is plaited about six times, and in front and rear are two pieces of buckram to which they are attached; the plaits and front pieces are stiffened with wire and lining. Embroidery is worked upon these two pieces and the plaits in such a way that as the wearer steps the action of the feet alternately opens and shuts them on each side, disclosing a part or the whole of two different colored figures, as may be seen in the illustration. The plaits are so contrived that they are the same when seen in front or from behind, and the effect is more elegant when the colors are well contrasted. In order to produce this the plaits close around the feet, unlike the wider skirt of western ladies.

    Ornaments are less worn by the Chinese than other Asiatic

    nations. The men suspend a string of fragrant beads together

    with the tobacco-pouch from the jacket lapel, or occasionally

    wear seal-rings, linger- rings, and armlets of strass, stone, oi

    glass. They are by law prohibited from carrying weapons of

    any sort. The women wear bangles, bracelets, and ear-rings of

    glass, stone, and metal ; most of these appendages are regarded

    more as amulets to ward off evil influences than mere orna*

    raents. Felicitous charms, such as aromatic bags, old coins,

    and rings, are attached to the persons of children, and few

    adults venture to go through life without some preservative of

    this kind ; no sacred thread or daub of clay, as in India, is

    known, however, nor any image of a saint or other figurine, as

    in Ttomish countries. The queer custom of wearing long nails

    is practised by comparatively few ; and although a man or

    woman with these appendages would not be deemed singular, it

    is not regarded as in good taste by well-bred persons. Pedantic

    scholars wear them more than other professions, in order to

    show that they are above manual labor ; but the longest set the

    writer ever saw was, oddly enough, o’n a carpenter’s fingers, who

    thereby showed that he was not obliged to use his tools. Fine

    ladies protect theirs with silver sheaths.

    The practice of compressing the feet, so far as investigation has gone, is more an inconvenient than a dangerous custom, for among the many thousands of patients who have received aid in the missionary hospitals, few have presented themselves with ailments chargeable to this source. A difference of opinion exists respecting its origin. Some accounts state that it arose from a desire thereby to remove the reproach of the club feet of a popular empress, others that it gradually came into use from the great admiration of and attempt to imitate delicate feet, and others that it was imposed by husbands to keep their wives from gadding.’ Its adoption was gradual, however it may have commenced, and not without resistance. It is practised

    ‘ It is recorded that Hau-Chu, of the Chin dynasty, in the year a.d. 583 ordered Lady Yao to bind hor feet so as to make them looli like the new moon; and Uiat the evil fashion has since prevaili’d against all subsequent prohibitions.—^o/^^s «//(/ Q’lcr/cs on Ghina and Jajxtn, Vol. II., pp. 37 and 43.

    MANNER OF COMPRESSING THE FEET. 767

    by all classes of society except the Manchus and Tartars, poor as

    well as rich (for none are so poor as not to wish to be fashionable)

    ; and so habituated does one become to it after a residence

    in the country, that a well-dressed lady with large feet seems

    to be denationalized. There is no certain age at which the

    operation nnist be commenced, but in families of easy circumstances

    the bandages are put on before five; otherwise not until

    betrothment, or till seven or eight years old. The whole operation

    is performed, and the shape maintained, by bandages,

    which are never permanently removed or covered by stockings;

    iron or wooden shoes are not used, the object being rather to

    prevent the feet growing than to make them smaller.

    A good account of the effects of this practice is given in a paper contained in the Transactions of the Royal Society of London, written by Dr. Cooper, detailing the appearances presented on dissection.

    The foot belonged to a person in low life ; it was five and one-fourth inches long, which is full eighteen lines over the most fashionable size. The big toe was bent upward and backward on the foot, and the second twisted under it and across, so that the extremity reached the inner edge of the foot. The third toe somewhat overlapped the second, but lying less obliquely, and reaching to the first joint of the great toe. The ball of the great toe, much flattened, separated these two from the fourth and fifth toes. The fourth toe stretched obliquely inward under the foot, but less so than the little toe, which passed under and nearly across the foot, and had been bound down so strongly as to bend the tarsal bone. The dorsum of the foot was much curved, and a deep fissure crossed the sole and separated the heel and little toe, as if the two ends of the foot had been forced too-ether ; this was filled for three Appearance of the Bones of a

    Foot when Compressed.

    inches with a very condensed cellular tissue; the instep waa

    three and one-half inches high. The heel-bone, which naturally

    forms a considerable angle with the ankle, was in a direct Ihie

    with the leg-bones ; and the heel itself was large and flat,

    covered with a peculiarly dense integument, and forming, with

    the end of the metatarsal bone of the great toe and the two

    smallest toes bent under the sole, the three points of taction in

    walkino-. When the operation is begun earlier, and the bones

    are more flexible, four of the toes are bent under the foot and

    only the big toe laid upon the top. The development of the

    nniscles of the calf being checked, the leg tapers from the knee

    downward, though there is no particular w^eakness in the limb.

    The appearance of the deformed member when uncovered is shocking, crushed out of all proportion and beauty, and covered with a wrinkled and lifeless skin like that of a washerwoman’s hand. It is surprising how the circulation is kept up in the member without any pain or wasting away ; the natural supposition would be that if any nutriment M’as conveyed to it, there would be a disposition to grow until maturity was attained, and consequently constant pain ensue, or else that it would be destroyed or mortify for want of nourishment.

    Feet of Chinese Ladies.

    PllEVALENCP] OF THE FASTnON”.—LADIES SHOES. im

    The gait of these victims of fashion can be imitated by a l)erson walking on the heels. Women walking alone swing their arms and step quick and short, elderly women availing themselves, when practicable, of an umbrella, or leaning upon the shoulder of a lad or maid for support—literally making a walking-stick of them. The })ain is said to be severe at first, and a recurrence now and then is felt in the sole ; but the evident freedom fiom distress exhibited in the little girls who are seen walking or playing in the streets, proves that the amount of suffering and injm-ious effects upon life and health are perhaps not so great as has been imagined. The case is different when the girl is not victimized until ten or more years old. The toes are then bent under and the foot forced into the smallest compass ; the agony arising from the constrained nniscles and excoriated ilesli is dreadful, while, too, the shape of the member is, even in Chinese eyes, a burlesque upon the beautiful little ness so nnich desired.

    Shape of a Lady’s Shoe.

    The opinion prevails abroad that only the daughters of the rich or learned pay this price to Dame Fashion. A greater proportion is indeed found among the well-to-do classes, and in the southern provinces near the rivers the unfashionable form perhaps half of the whole ; for those who dwell in boats, and all who in early life may have lived on the water or among the farmsteads, and slave girls sold in infancy for domestics, are usually left in the happy though low-life freedom of nature. Close observation in the northern provinces show general adoption of the usage among the poor, whose feet are not, however, usually so small as in the south. Foreigners, on their arrival at Canton or Fuhchau, seeing so many women with natural feet on the boats and about the streets, wonder where the ” little-footed Celestials” they had heard of were, the only specimens they see being a few crones by the wayside mending clothes. Across the Mei ling range the proportion increases. All the women who came to the hospital at Chusan in 1841, to the number of eight hundred or one thousand, had their feet more or less cramped ; and some of them walked several miles to the hospital and home again the same day. Although the operation may be less painful than has been represented, the people are so much accustomed to it that most men would refuse to M^ed a woman whose feet were of the natural size ; and a man who should find out that his bride had large feet when he expected small ones would be exonerated if he instantly sent her back to her parents. The kin lien, or ‘golden lilies,’ are desired as the mark of gentility ; the hope of rising to be one of the upper ten, and escaping the roughness and hard work attached to the lower class, goes far to strengthen even children to endure the pain and loss of free d(tin consequent on the practice. The secret of the prevalence of the cruel custom is the love of ease and praise; and not till the principles of Christianity extend will it cease. In Peking, where the Manchus have shown the advantages nature has over fashion, the example of their women for two hundred and fifty years, aided by the earnest efforts of the great Emperor Kanghi, has not had the least effect in inducing Chinese ladies to give it up. The shoes are made of red silk and prettily embroidered; hut no one acquainted with Chinese society would say that “if a lady ever breaks through the prohibition against displaying her person’, she presents her feet as the surest darts with which a lovers heart can be assailed ! ” ‘

    Cosmetics are used by females to the serious injury of the

    skin. On grand occasions the face is entirely bedaubed Nvitli

    white paint, aiul rouge is added to the lips and clieeks, giving a

    singular starched appearance to the physiognomy. A girl thus

    l)eautified has no need of a fan to hide her blushes, for they

    cannot be seen through the paint, her eye being the only index

    of emotion. The eyebrows are blackened with charred sticks,

    and arched or narrowed to resemble a nascent willow leaf, or the moon when first seen—as in the ballad translated by Mr. Stent, which pictures the beauty as possessing

    Eyebrows shaped likt^ loaves of willows
    Drooping over “autumn billows;”
    Almond shaped, oi’ liciiiid brightness,
    Were the eyes of Yang-gui-fei.

    ‘ Murray’s OJiiiirt, Vol. II., p. 266. Compare the Chinese Repository, Vol. III., p. r)37; Hee. dc Mem. tic Meleriiic iinlil. (Paris), 1802-63 -04 passim; Clihirse Il/ror(f<r, Vols. I., II., and III. passim (mostly a series of articles on this subject by Dr. I)udg<M)n) ; T/ir Far Eaxl, February, 1877, p 27.

    ‘ The Jade Chiipht, p. 121.

    TOILET PRAOTICES. 771

    A belle is described as having cheeks like the almond llower, lips like a peach’s bloom, waist as the willow leaf, eyes bright as dancing ripples in the sun, and footsteps like the lotus flower. Much time and care is bestowed, or said to be, by females upon their toilet, but if those; in the upper classes have anything like the variety of domestic duties which their sisters in common life perform, they have little leisure left for superfluous adorning. If dramas give an index of Chinese manners and occupations, they do not convey the idea that most of the time of well-bred ladies is spent in idleness or dressing.

    At his toilet a Chinese uses a basin of tepid water and a cloth,

    and it has been aptly remarked that he never appears so dirty

    as when trying to clean himself. Shaving is done by the barber,

    for no man can shave the top of his head. Whiskers are never

    worn, even by the very few who have them, and mustaches are

    not considered proper for a man under forty. Snuff bottles and

    tobacco pipes ai”e carried and nsed by both sexes, but the practice

    of chewing betel-nut is confined to the men, M-ho, however,

    take nmch pains to keep their teeth white. Among ornamental

    articles of dress, in none do they go to so nmch expense and

    style as in the snuff bottle, which is often carved fi-om stone,

    amber, agate, and other rare miuerals with most exquisite taste.

    Snuff is put on the thumb-nail with a spoon fastened to the

    stopper—a more cleanly way than the European mode of ” pinching.”‘

    The articles of food which the Chinese eat, and the mode and

    ceremonies attending their feasts, have aided much in giving

    them the odd character they bear abroad, though uncouth or

    unsavory viands form an infinitesimal portion of tlieir food,

    and ceremonious feasts not one in a thousand of their repasts.

    Travellers have so often spoken of birdsnest soup, canine hams,

    and grimalkin fricassees, rats, snakes, worms, and other culinary

    novelties, served up in equally strange ways, that their readers

    get the idea that these articles form as large a proportion of

    the food as their description does of the narrative. In general,

    the diet of the Chinese is sufficient in variety, wholesome, and

    ‘ On Chinese costume, see Wm. Alexander, Tim Costume of China, illustrated, London, 1805; Mnnirs et Containes des CMnois et leurs costumes en couleur, j)’ii’ J. G. Grohmann, Leipzig; Breton, China: Its Costume, Arts, etr.,4 vols., translated from the French, London, 1813; another translation is from Auguste Borget, Sketches of China and ths Chinese, London, 1843 ; Illvstrations of China and, its People. A series of two hundred photorjrajths, with letterpress descriptive of the places and people represented, by J. Thompson, London, 1874, 4 vols. q.uarto.

    well cooked, tliongli many of the dishes arc unpalatable to a

    European from the vegetahlc oils used in their preparation, and

    the alliaceous plants introduced to savor them. In the assortment

    of dishes, Barrow has truly said that ” there is a wider

    diiference, perhaps, between the rich and the poor of China than

    in any other country. That wealth, which if permitted would

    be expended in flattering the vanity of its possessors, is now

    applied to the purchase of dainties to pamper the appetite.”

    The proportion of animal food is probably smaller among the

    Chinese than other nations on the same latitude, one platter of

    fish or flesh, and sometimes both, being the usual allowance on

    the tables of the poor, llice, maize, Italian millet, and wheat

    furnish most of the cereal food ; the first is emphatically the

    staff of life, and considered indispensable all over the land. Its

    louf use is indicated in the number of terms emr)loved to describe it and the variety of allusions to it in common expressions.

    To tale a meal is chifan, ‘eat rice;’ and the salutation equivalent to hoio cVije ? is cJuh l-wofan ? ‘ have you eaten rice?’ The grain is deprived of its skin by wooden pestles M’orked in a mortar by levers, either by a water-wheel or more conunonly by oxen or men. It is cleaned by rubbing it in an earthen dish scored on the inside, and steamed in a shallow iron bc>iler partly filled with water, over which a basket or sieve containing the rice is supported on a framework ; a M’ooden dish fits over the whole and confines the steam. By this process the kernels are thoroughly cooked without forming a pasty mass, as is too often the result when boiled by cooks in Christian countries.

    Bread, vegetables, and other articles are cooked in a

    similar manner; four or five sieves, each of them full and

    nicely fitting into each other, are placed upon the boiler and

    covered with a cowl ; in the water beneath, which supplies the

    steam, meats or other things are boiled at the same time. Wheat

    flour is boiled into cakes, dumplings, and other articles, but not

    baked into bread. Maize, buckwheatj oats, and barley are not

    ground, but the grain is cooked in various ways, alone or mixed

    with other dishes. Italian millet, or canary-seed {Setaria), furnishes

    a large amoimt of nutritious cereal food in tlic north ; the

    flour is yellow and sweet, and boiled or baked for eating, often

    VEGETABLES EATEN BY THE CHINESE. 773

    seasoned witli jujube plums in tlie cakes. Its cultivation is easy,

    and its proliiic crop makes up in a measure for the small seeds; ten thousand kernels have been counted on one spike in a good season.

    The Chinese have a long list of culinary vegetables, and much

    of their agriculture consists in rearing them. Leguminous and

    cruciferous plants occupy the largest part of the kitchen garden ;

    more than twenty sorts of peas and beans are cultivated, some

    for camels and horses, but mostly for men. Soij is njade by boiling

    the beans and mixing \vater, salt, and wheat, and producing

    fermentation by yeast ; its quality is inferior to the foreign.

    Another more common condiment, called bean curd or bean jam,

    is prepared by boiling and grinding black beans and mixing the

    flour with water, gypsum, and turmeric. The consumption of

    cabbage, broccoli, kale, cauliflower, cress, colewort, and other

    cruciferous plants is enormous ; a great variety of modes are

    adopted for cooking, preserving, and improving them. The

    leaves and stems of many plants besides these ai-e included in

    the variety of greens, and a complete enumeration of them

    would form a curious list. Lettuce, sow thistle [Sonchus),

    spinach, celery, dandelion, succory, sweet basil, ginger, mustard,

    radishes, artemisia, amaranthus, tacca, pig weed {Chenopod’tum),

    burslane, shepherd’s purse, clover, ailantus, and others having

    no English names, all furnish green leaves for Chinese tables.

    Garlics, leeks, scallions, onions, and chives are eaten by all

    classes, detected upon all persons, and smelt in all rooms where

    they are eating or cooking. CVirrots, gourds, squashes, cucumbers,

    watermelons, tomatoes, turnips, radishes, brinjals, pumpkins,

    okers, etc., are among the list of garden vegetables; the

    variety of cucurbitaceous plants extends to nearly twenty. Most

    of these vegetables are inferior to the same articles in the markets

    of western cities, where science has improved their size or

    flavor. Several aquatic plants increase the list, among which

    the nelumbium covers extensive mai*shes in the eastern and

    northern provinces, otherwise unsightly and ban-en. The root

    is two or three feet lonp-, and piei-ced longitudinally with several

    holes ; when boiled it is of a yellowish color and sweetish taste,

    not unlike a turnip. Taro is used less than the nelumbium, and SO arc the water-caltrops {Trajxi) and water-cliestnuts. The taste of water-caltrops when boiled resembles that of new cheese; water-c’hostniits are the round roots of a kind of sedge, and resemble that fruit in color more than in taste, which is mealy and crisp. The sweet potato is the most common tuber ; although the Irish potato has been cultivated for scores of years it has not become a common vegetable among the people, except on the borders of Mongolia.

    The catalogue of fruits comprises most of those occurring elsewhere in the tropic and temperate zones, and China is probably the earliest home of the peach, plum, and pear. The pears arc large and juicy, sometimes weighing eight or ten pounds; the white and strawberry }>ear are equal to any western variety. The apples are rather dry and insipid. The peaches, plums, quinces, and apricots are better, and offer many good varieties. Cherries are almost unknown. The orange is the common fruit at the south, and the baskets, stalls, and piles of this golden fruit, mixed with and heightened by contrast with other sorts and with vegetables, which line the streets of Canton and Amoy in winter, present a beautiful sight. Many distinct species of Citrus, as the lemon, kumquot, pumelo, citron, and orange, are extensively cultivated.

    The most delicious is the vhu-sha I’ih, or ‘mandarin orange;’ the skin, when ripe, ,is of a cinnabar red color, and adheres to the pulp by a few loose fibres. The citron is more prized for its fragrance than taste, and the thick rind is now and then made more abundant by cutting it into strips when growing, each of which becomes a roundish end like a finger, whence the name of Fushou, or ‘Buddha’s hand,’ given it. It will remain uncorrupt for two or three mouths, diffusing an agreeable perfume.

    COMMON TABLE FRUITS. 775

    Chapter YI. contains brief notices of other fruits. The banana and persimmon are common, and several varieties are enumerated of each; the plantain is eaten raw and cooked, and forms a large item in the subsistence of the poor. The pomegranate, carambola or tree gooseberry, mango, custard-apple, pine-apple, rose-apple, bread-fruit, fig, guava, and olive, some of them as good and others inferior to what are found in other countries, increase the list. The ir/i,n/ij>e, lic/i’t, l/nuja/i, or ‘dragon’s eyes,’ and loquat, are the native names of four indigenous fruits at Canton. The whampe(Cookla) resembles a grape in size and a gooseberry in taste; the loquat or 2)cho (Eriobotryct) is a kind of medlar. The liclii looks like a strawberry in size and shape; the tough, rough red skin encloses a sweet watery pulp of a whitish color surrounding a hard seed. Grapes are plenty and cheap ; in the northern cities they are preserved during the winter, and even till May, by constant care in regulating the temperature.

    Chestnuts, walnuts, ground-nuts, filberts {Torreya), almonds,

    and the seeds of the salisburia and nelumbium, are the most

    common nuts. The Chinese date {Itkanmus) has a sweetish,

    acidulous flesh ; the olive is salted or pickled ; the names of

    both these fruits are given them because of a resemblance to the

    western sorts, for neither the proper date nor olive growls in

    China. A pleasant sweetmeat, like cranberry, is made from

    the seeds of the arbutus (M(//’lea), and another still more acid

    from a sort of haw, both of them put up for exportation.

    Preserved fruits are common, and the list of sweetmeats and

    delicacies is increased by the addition of many roots, some of

    which are preserved in syrup and others as comfits. Ginger,

    nelumbium roots, bamboo shoots, the common potato, and

    other vegetables are thus prepared for export as well as domestic

    consumption. The natives consume enormous quantities of

    pickles of an inferior quality, especially cabbages and onions,

    but foreigners consider them detestable. The Chinese eat but

    few spices ; black pepper is used medicinally as a tea, and

    cayenne pepper when the pod is green.

    Oils and fats are in universal use for cooking ; crude lard or

    pork fat, castor oil, sesamum oil, and that expressed from two

    species of Camellia and the ground-nut, are all employed for

    domestic and culinary purposes. The Chinese use little or no

    milk, butter, or cheese ; the comparatively small number of

    cattle raised and the consequent dearness of these articles may

    liave caused them to fall into disuse, for they are all common

    among the Manchus and Mongols. A Chinese table seems ill

    furnished to a foreigner when he sees neither bread, butter, nof

    milk upon it, and if he express his disrelish of the oily dishes or alliaceous stews before liliii, the Chinese thinks that he delivers a

    sufficient retort to his want of taste when he answers, ” You eat

    cheese, and sometimes when it can almost walk.” Milk is used

    a little, and no one who has lived in Canton can forget the prolonged

    mournful cry of n<jao nal ! of the men hawking it about

    the streets late at night. “Women’s milk is sold for the sustenance

    of infants and superannuated people, the idea being prevalent

    that it is peculiarly nourishing to aged persons.’

    Sugar is grown only in Formosa and the three southern provinces,

    which supply the others; neither molasses nor rum are

    manufactured from it. No sugar is expressed from sorghum

    stalks, nor do the Chinese know that it contains syrup. The

    tobacco is milder than the American plant; it is smoked and

    not chewed or made into cigars, though these are being imported

    from Manila in steadily increasing quantities, and find favor

    among many of the wealthier Chinese ; snuff is largely usoil.

    The betel-nut is a common masticatory, made up of a slice of

    the nut and the fresh leaf of the betel-pepper with a little lime

    rubbed on it. The common beverages are tea and arrack, both

    of which arc taken warm ; cold water is not often drunk, cold

    liquids of any kind being considered unwholesome. The constant

    practice of boiling Avater before drinking, in preparing tea,

    doubtless tends to make it less noxious, when the people are not

    particular as to its sources. Coffee, chocolate, and cocoa are unknown, as are also beer, cider, porter, Avine, and brandy.

    ‘ Dr. Hobson mentions a case at Shanghai where he was called upon to examine a child well-iiigli dead with spurious hydrocephalus. Upon investigation he found that the nurse, “a young healthy-looking woman, with breasts full of milk to overflowing,” had “been in the habit of selling her milk in small cupfuls to old persons, under the idea of its highly nutritive properties, and was actually poisoning the child dependent on it.” The nurse being promptly changed, the infant recovered almost immediately.

    —Journal N. C. Br. R. A. Soc. ?sew Series, Vol. I., p. 51.

    KINDS OF ANIMAL FOOD USED. 777

    The meats consumed by the Chinese comprise, perhaps, a greater variety than are used in other countries; while, at the same time, very little land is appropriated to rearing animals for food. Beef is not a common meat, chiefly from a Buddhistic prejudice against killing so useful an animal. Mutton in the southern provinces is poor and dear compared with its excellence and cheapness north of the Yangzi River, where the greater numbers of Mohanunedans cause a larger demand for it. The beef of the buffalo and the mutton of the jjroat are still less used; pork is consumed more -than all other kinds, and no meat can be raised so economically. Hardly a family so poor

    that it cannot possess a pig ; the animals are kept even on the

    boats and rafts, to consume and fatten upon what others leave.

    Fresh pork probably constitutes more than half of the meat

    eaten by the Chinese ; hauis are tolerably plenty, and a dish

    called “golden hams,” from the amber appearance of the joint,

    makes a conspicuous object in feasts. Ilgrseilesh, venison, wild

    boar, and antelope are now and then seen, but in passing through

    the markets mutton, pork, fowls, and fish are the viands which

    everywhere meet the eye.

    A few kittens and puppies are sold alive in cages, mewing and yelping as if in anticipation of their fate, or from pain caused by the pinching and handling they receive at the hands of dissatisfied customers. Those intended for the table are usually fed upon rice, so that if the nature of their food be considered, their flesh is far more cleanly than that of the omnivorous hog ; few articles of food have, however, been so identified abroad with the tastes of the people as kittens, puppies, and rats have M’ith the Chinese. American school geograpliies often contain pictures of a nuxrket-man cariying baskets holding these unfortunate victims of a perverse taste (as we think), or

    else a string of rats and mice hanging by their tails to a stick

    across his shoulders, which almost necessarily convey the idea

    that such things form the usual food of the people. Travellers

    hear beforehand that the Chinese devour everything, and when

    they arrive in the country straightway inquire if these animals

    are eaten, and hearing that such is the case, perpetuate the idea

    that they form the common articles of food. However commonly

    live kittens and puppies or dressed dogs may be exposed

    for sale, one may live in a city like Canton or Fuhchau for

    many years and never see rats offered for food, unless he hunts

    up the people who sell them for medicine or aphrodisiacs ; in

    fact, they are not so easily caught as to be either common or

    cheap. A peculiar prejudice in favor of black dogs and cats exists among natives of the south ; these animals invariably command a higher price than others, and are eaten at midsmnmer in the belief that the meat ensures health and strength during the ensuing year.

    Rats and mice are, no doubt, eaten now and then, and so are many other undesirable things, by those whom want compels to take what they can get; but to put these and other strange eatables in the front of the list gives a distorted idea of the everyday food of the people. There are perhaps half a dozen restaurants in Canton city where dog’s-meat appears upon the menu ‘, it is, however, by no means an inexpensive delicacy.’ The flesh of rats is eaten by old women as a hair restorative. The blood of ducks, pigs, and sheep is used as food, or prepared for medicine and as a paste; it forms an ingredient in priming and some kind of varnish. It is coagulated into cakes for sale, and in cooking is mixed with the meats and sauces. The blood of all animals is eaten without repugnance so far as concerns religious scruples, except in the case of Buddhist priests.

    Frogs are caught in a curious manner by tying a young jumper lately emerged from tadpole life to a line and bobbing him up and down in the grass and grain of a rice field, where the old croakers are wont to harbor. As soon as one of them sees the young frog sprawling and squirming he makes a ])hmge at him and swallows him whole, whereupon he is immediately conveyed to the frog-fisher’s basket, losing his life, liberty, and lunch together, for the bait is rescued from his maw and used again as long as life lasts.

    Poultry, including chickens, geese, and ducks, are everywhere

    raised ; of the three the geese are the best flavored, but all of

    them are reared cheaply and supply a large portion of the poor

    with the principal meat they eat. The eggs of fowls and ducks

    are hatched artificially, and every visitor to Canton remembers

    the duck-boats in which those birds are hatched and reared

    and carried up and down the river seeking for pasture along

    its muddy banks. Sheds are erected for hatching, in which are

    ‘ Archdeacou Gray, China, Vol. II., p. 7G.

    HATCHING ducks’ EGGS. 779

    a number of higli baskets well lined to retain the heat. Each

    one is placed over a fireplace, so that the heat shall be conveyed

    to the eggs through the tile in its bottom and retained

    in the basket by a close cover. When the eggs are brought a

    layer is put into the bottom of each basket, and a tire kept in

    the room at a uniform heat of about SU° F. After four or five

    days they are examined in a strong light, to separate the addled

    ones ; the others are put back in the baskets and the heat kept

    up for ten days longer, when they are all placed upon shelves in

    the centre of the shed and covered with cotton and felt for

    fourteen days. At the end of the twenty-eighth day the shells

    are broken to release the inmates, which are sold to those who

    rear them. Pigeons are raised to a great extent ; their eggs

    form an ingredient in soups. Wild and water fowl are caught in

    nets or shot ; the wild duck, teal, grebe, wild goose, plover, snipe,

    heron, egret, partridge, pheasant, and ortolan or rice bird are all

    procurable at Canton, and the list could be increased elsewhere.

    If the Chinese eat many things which are rejected by other peoples, they are perfectly omnivorous with respect to aquatic productions ; here nothing comes amiss ; all waters are vexed with their fisheries. Their nets and other contrivances for capturing fish display great ingenuity, and most of them are admirably adapted to the purpose. Elvers, creeks, and stagnant pools, the great ocean and the little tank, mountain lakes and garden ponds, tubs and rice fields, all furnish their quota to the sustenance of man, and tend to explain, in a great degree, the dense population. The right to fish in running streams and natural waters is open to all, while artificial reservoirs, as ponds, pools, tanks, tubs, etc., are brought hito available use; near tidewater the rice grounds are turned into fish-ponds in winter if they will thereby afford a more profitable return. The inhabitants of the water are killed with the spear, caught with the hook, scraped up by the dredge, ensnai-ed by traps, and captured by nets ; they are decoyed to jump into boats by painted boards, and frightened into nets by noisy ones, taken out of the water by lifting nets and dived for by birds—for the cormorant seizes what his owner could not easily reach. In short, every possible way of catching or rearing fish is practiced in one part of the country or another. Tanks are placed in the streets, with water running through them, where carp or perch are reared until they become so large they can hardly turn lound in their pens ; eels and water-snakes of every color and size are fed in tubs and jars until customers carry them off.

    King-crabs, cuttle-fish, sharks, sting-rays, gobies, tortoises, tuitles, crabs, prawns, crawlish, and shrimps add to the variety. The best lish in the Canton market are the garoupa or rock cod, pomfret, sole, mackerel, bynni carp or mango fish, and the polynemns, erroneously called salmon. Carp and tench of many kinds, herring, shad, perch, mullet, and bream, with others less connnon at the west, are found in great abundance. They are usually eaten fresh, or merely opened and dried in the sun, as stock-fish. Both salt and fresh-water shell-fish are abundant.

    The oysters are not so well flavored as those on the Atlantic coast of America ; the crabs and prawns are excellent, but the clams, mussels, and other fresh-water species are less palatable. Insect food is confined to locusts and grasshoppers, grubs and silk-worms; the latter are fried to a crisp when cooked. These and water-snakes are decidedly the most repulsive things the Chinese eat. Many articles of food are sought after by this sensual people for their supposed aphrodisiac qualities, and most of the singular productions brought from abroad for food are of this nature.

    COOKING AMOTS’G THE CHINESE. 781

    The famous birds nest soup is prepared from the nest of a swallow (Collocah’a esrulenfa) found in caves and damp places in some islands of the Indian Archipelago ; the bird macerates the material of the nest from seaweed (Gelidiwn chiefly) in the crop, and constructs it by drawing the food out in fibres, which are attached to the damp stone with the bill. The nest has the same shape as those which chimney swallows Ituild, and holds the young against the cliffs; they rarely exceed three or four inches in the longest diameter. The operation of cleaning is performed by picking away each morsel of dirt or feathers from the nest, and involves considerable labor. After they come forth perfectly free from impui’ities they are stewed with pigeons’ eggs, spicery, and other ingredients into a soup ; when cooked they resemble isinglass, and the dish depends upon sauces and seasoning for most of its taste. The biche-de-mer, tripang, oi

    sea-slug, is a marine substance procui-ed from the Polynesian

    Islands ; it is souglit aftei- under the same idea of its invigorating

    qualities, and being cheaper than the birdsnest is a more common

    dish ; when cooked it resembles pork-rind in appearance and

    taste. Sharks’ fins and fish-maws are imported and boiled into

    gelatinous soups that are nourishing and palatable ; and the

    sinews, tongues, palates, udders, and other parts of different

    animals are sought after as delicacies. A large proportion of

    the numerous made dishes seen at great feasts consists of such

    odd articles, most of which are supposed to possess some peculiar

    strengthening quality.

    The art of cooking has not reached any high degree of perfection. Like the French, it is very economical, and consists of stews and fried dishes more than of baked or roasted. Salt is proportionately dear from its preparation being a government monopoly, and this has led to a large use of onions for seasoning.

    The articles of kitchen furniture are few and simple ; an iron

    boiler, shaped like the segment of a sphere, for stewing or frying,

    a portable earthen furnace, and two or three dift’erent shaped

    earthenware pots for boiling water or vegetables constitute the

    whole establishment of thousands of families. A few other

    utensils, as tongs, ladles, forks, sieves, mills, etc., are used to a

    greater or less extent, though the variety is quite commensurate

    witli the simple cookery. Both meats and vegetables, previously

    hashed into mouthfuls, are stewed or fried in oil or fat ; they

    are not cooked in large joints or steaks for the table of a household.

    Hoy;s are baked whole for sacrifices and for sale in cookshops,

    but before being eaten are hashed and fI’ied again. Chitting

    the food into small pieces secures its thorough cooking with less

    fuel than it would otherwise re(|uire, and is moreover indispensable

    for eating with chopsticks. Two or three vegetables are boiled together, but meat soups are seldom seen ; and the immense variety of puddings, pastry, cakes, pies, custards, ragouts, creams, etc., made in western lands is almost unknown in China.’
    ‘ Memoires cone. les Ohinols, Tome XL, pp. 78 ff. C. C. Coffin in the Atlantic Monthly, 18G9, p. 747. Doolittle’s Vocnhul(try, Part III., No. XVIIl. M.Henri Cordier in the Journal des Debats, Nov. 19, 1879. Notes and Queries on C. and J., Vol. II., pp. 11 and 2(5.

    CHAPTER XIV. SOCIAL LIFE AMONG THE CHINESE

    The preceding chapter, in a measure, exhibits the attainnienta the Chinese have reached in the comforts and elegances of li\”-ing. These terms, as tests of civilization, however, are so comparative that it is rather difficult to define them ; for the notions which an Englishman, an Egyptian, and a Chinese severally might have of comfort and elegance in the furniture and arrangement of their houses are almost as unlike as their languages.

    If Fisher’s Views of China he taken as a guide, one can easily believe that the Chinese need little from abroad to better their condition in these particulars; while if one listen to the descriptions of some persons who have resided among them, it will be concluded that they possess neither comfort in their houses, civility in their manners, nor cleanliness in their persons. In passing to an account of their social life, this variety of tastes should not be overlooked; and if some points appear objectionable when taken alone, a little further examination will, perhaps, show that they form part of a system which requires complete reconstruction before it could be happily and safely altered.

    FACTORS IN CHINESE SOCIAL LIFE. 783

    The observations of a foreigner upon Chinese society are likely to be modified by his own feelings, and the way in which he has been treated by natives there ; but their behavior to him might be very unlike what would be deemed good breeding among themselves. If a Chinese feared or expected something from a foreigner, he would act toward him more politely than if the contrary were the case ; on the one hand better, on the other worse, than he would toward one of his own countrymen in like circumstances. In doing so, it may be remarked with

    regret that lie would only imitate the conduct of a host of

    foreigners who visit China, and whose coarse remarks, rude

    actions, and general supercilious conduct toward the natives ill

    comport with their superior civilization and assumed advantages.

    One who looked at the matter reasonably would not expect

    much true politeness among a people whose conceit and ignorance,

    selfishness and hauteur, were nearly equal ; nor be surprised to find the intercourse between the extremes of society present a strange mixture of brutality and commiseration, formality and disdain. The separation of the sexes modifies and debases the amusements, even of the most moral, leads the men to spend their time in gambling, devote it to the pleasures of the table, or dawdle it away when the demands of business, study, or labor do not arouse them. Political parties, which

    exert so powerful an influence upon the conduct of men in

    Christian countries, leading them to unite and connnunicate

    with each other for the purpose of watching or resisting the

    acts of government, do not exist ; and where there is a general

    want of confidence, such institutions as insurance companies,

    savings or deposit banks, corporate bodies to Iniild a railroad

    or factory, and associations of any kind in which persons unite

    their funds and efforts to accomplish an object, are not to be

    expected ; they do not exist in China, nor did they in Home or

    ancient Europe. Xor will any one expect to hear that literary

    societies or voluntary philanthropic associations are common.

    These, as they are now found in the west, are the products of Christianity alone, and we must wait for the planting of the tree before looking for its fruit. The legal profession, as distinct from the possession of office, is not an occupation in which learned men can obtain an honorable livelihood; the priesthood is confined to monasteries and temples, and its members do not enter into society ; while the practice of medicine is so entirely empirical and strange that the few experienced practitioners are not enough to redeem the class. These three professions, which elsewhere do so much to elevate society and guide public opinion, being wanting, educated men have no stimulus to draw them out into independent action. The competition for literary degrees and official rank, the eager pursuit of trade, or the duU routine of mechanical and agricultural lal)*»i-, form the leading avocations of the Chinese people. Unacquainted with the intellectual enjoyments found in books and the conversation of learned men, and having no educated taste, as we understand that term (while, too, he cannot iind such a thing as virtuous female society), the Chinese resorts to the dice-box, the opium pipe, or the brothel for his pleasures, though even there with a loss of character among his peers.

    The separation of the sexes has many bad results, only partially compensated by some conservative ones. Woman owes her present elevation at the west to Christianity, not only in the degree of respect, support, freedom from servile labor, and education which she receives, but also in the retlex influences she exerts of a purifying, harmonizing, and elevating character.

    Where the requirements of the Gospel exert no force, her rights are more or less disregarded, and if she become as debased as the men, she can exert little good influence even upon her own family, still less upon the community. General mixed society can never be maintained with pleasure unless the better parts of human nature have the acknowledged preeminence, and where she, who impaits to it all its gracefulness and purity, is herself uneducated, nnpolished, and immodest, the common sense of mankind sees its impropriety. By advocating the partition of the sexes, legislators and moralists in China have acted as they best could in the circumstances of the case, and by preventing the evils beyond their remedy, provided the best

    safeguards they could against general coiruption. In her own

    domestic circle a Chinese female, in the character and duties of

    daughter, wife, or mother, flnds as nnich em])loyment, and probably

    as many enjoyments, as the nature of her training has litted

    her for. She does not hold her proper place in society simply

    because she has nev’cr been taught its duties or exercised its

    privileges.

    RESULTS UPON SOOIKTY OF SEPAIIATINO THK SKXKS. 785

    In ordinary cases the male and female branches of a household are strictly kept apart; not only the servants, but even brothers and sisters do not freely associate after the boys commence their studies. At this period of life, or even earlier, an anxious task devolves upon parents, which is to And suitable partners for their children. Uetrothmeiit is entirely in their hands, and is conducted through the medium of a class of persons called inel-jin, or go-betweens, who are expected to be well acquainted with the character and circumstances of the parties. Mothers sometimes contract their unborn progeny on the sole contingency of a difference of sex, but the usual age of forming these engagements is ten, twelve, or older, experience having shown that the casualties attending it render an earlier period undesirable.

    There are six ceremonies which constitute a regular marriage, though their details vary much in different parts of the Empire: 1. The father and elder brother of the young man send a go-between to the father and brother of the girl, to inquire her name and the moment of her birth, that the lioroscope of the two may be examined, in order to ascertain whether the proposed alliance will be a happy one. 2. If the eight characters’ seem to augur aright, the boy’s friends send the mei-jin back to make an offer of marriage. 3. If that be accepted, the second party is again requested to return an assent in writing. 4. Presents are then sent to the girl’s parents according to the means of the parties. 5. The go-between requests them to choose a lucky day for the wedding. 6. The preliminaries are concluded by the bridegroom going or sending a party of friends with music to bring his bride to his own house. The match-makers contrive to multiply their visits and prolong the negotiations, when the parties are rich, to serve their own ends.

    In Fuhkien parents often send pledges to each other when their children are mere infants, and registers containing their names and particulars of nativity are exchanged in testimony of the contract. After this has been done it is impossible to retract the engagement, unless one of the parties becomes a leper or is disabled. When the children are espoused older, the boy sometimes accompanies the go-between and the party carrying the presents to the house of his future mother-in-law, and receives from her some trifling articles, as melon-seeds, fruits, etc., which he distributes to those around. Among the presents sent to the fijirl are fruits, money, vermicelli, and a ham, of which she gives a morsel to each one of the party, and sends its foot back. These articles are neatly arranged, and the party bringing them is received with a salute of fire-crackers.

    ‘ Compare p. 628.

    From the time of engagement until marriage a young lady is required to maintain the strictest seclusion. Whenever friends call upon her parents she is expected to retire to the inner apartments, and in all her actions and words guard her conduct with careful solicitude. She must use a close sedan whenever she visits her relations, and in her intercourse with her brothers and the domestics in the household nniintain great reserve. Instead of having any opportunity to form those friendships and acquaintances with her own sex which among ourselves become a source of so much pleasure at the time and advantage in after life, the Chinese maiden is confined to the circle of her relations and her immediate neighbors. She has few of the pleasing remembrances and associations that are usually connected with school day life, nor has she often the ability or opportunity to correspond by letter with girls of her own age. Seclusion at this time of life, and the custom of crippling the feet, combine to confine women in the house almost as much as the strictest laws against their appearing abroad ; for in girlhood, as they know only a few persons except relatives, and can make very few acquaintances

    after marriage, their circle of friends contracts rather

    than enlarges as life goes on. This privacy impels girls to learn

    as much of the world as they can, and among the rich their

    curiosity is gratified through maid-servants, match-makers, pedlers,

    visitors, and others. Curiosity also stimulates young ladies

    to learn something of the character and appearance of their intended

    husbands, but the rules of society arc too strict for young

    persons to endeavor to form a personal attachment, though it is

    not impossible for them to see each other if they wish, and there

    are, no doubt, many contracts suggested to parents by their

    children.

    BETROTHMENT AND PRELI^MINARIES OF MARRIAGE. 787

    The office of match-maker is considered honorable, and both men and women are employed to conduct nuptial negotiations. Great confidence is reposed in their judgment and veracity, and as their employment depends somewhat upon their tact and character, they have every inducement to act with strict propriety in their intercourse with families. The father of the girl employs their services in collecting the sum agreed upon in the contract, which, in ordinary circumstances, varies from twenty-five to forty dollars, increasing to a hundred and over according to the condition of the bridegroom ; until that is paid the marriage does not take place. The presents sent at betrothment are sometimes costly, consisting of silks, rice, cloths, fruits, etc. ; the bride brings no dower, but both parents frequently go to expenses they can ill afford when celebrating the nuptials of their children, as the pride of family stimulates each party to make undue display.

    The principal formalities of a marriage are everywhere the same, but local customs are observed in some regions which are quite unknown and appear singular elsewhere. In Fuhkien, when the lucky day for the wedding comes, the guests assemble in the bridegroom’s house to celebrate it, where also sedans, a band of music, and porters are in readiness. The courier, who acts as guide to the chair-bearers, takes the lead, and in order to prevent the onset of malicious demons lurking by the road, a baked hog or large piece of pork is carried in front, that the procession may safely pass while these hungry souls are devouring the meat. Meanwhile the bride arrays herself in her best dress and richest jewels. Her girlish tresses have already been bound up, and her hair arranged by a matron, with due formality; an ornamental and complicated head-dress made of rich materials, not unlike a helmet or corona, often forms part of her coiffure. Her person is nearly covered by a large mantle, over

    which is an enormous hat like an umbrella, that descends to the

    shoulders and shades the whole figure. Thus attired she takes

    her seat in the red gilt marriage sedan, called hwa Jdao, borne

    by four men, in which she is completely concealed. This is

    locked by her mother or some other relative, and the key given

    to one of the bridemen, who hands it to the bridegroom or his

    representative on reaching his house.

    The procession is now rearranged, with the addition of as many red boxes and trays to contain the wardrobe, kitchen utensils, luul the feast, as the means (.»f the family or the extent of her parapliei’ualia require. As the procession approaches the bridegroom’s house the courier iiastens forward to announce its coming, whereupon the music strikes up, and fire-crackers salute her until she enters the gate. As she approaches the door the bridegroom conceals himself, but the go-between brings forward a young child to salute her, while going to seek the closeted bridegroom, lie approaches with becoming gravity and opens the sedan to hand out his bride, she still retaining the hat and mantle ; they approach the ancestral tablet, which they reverence with three bows, and then seat themselves at a table upon which are two cups of spirits. The go-between serves them, though the bride can only make the motions of drinking, as the large hat completely covers her face. They soon retire into a

    chamber, where the husband takes the hat and mantle from his

    wife, and sees her, perhaps, for the first time in his life. After he

    has considered her for some time, the guests and friends enter

    the room to sui-vey her, when each one is allowed to express an

    opinion ; the criticisms of the M’omen are severest, perhaps because

    thej remember the time they stood in her unpleasant

    position. This cruel examination being over, she is introduced

    to her husband’s parents, and then salutes her own. Such are

    some of the customs among the Fuhkienese. Other usages followed

    in marriages and betrothals have been carefully described

    by Doolittle, with parti(;nlar reference to the same people, and

    by Archdeacon John II. Gray, alluding to other parts of the

    Empire.’

    The bridegroom, previous to the wedding, receives a new

    name or ” style,” and is formally capped by his father in presence

    of his friends, as an introduction to manhood. He invites

    the guests, sending two red cakes with each invitation, and to

    liim each guest, a few days before the marriage, returns a

    present or a sum of money worth about ten or fifteen cents,

    nominally equal to the expenses he will be considered as occasioning.

    ‘ Social Life of the CldneM, Chapters II. and III.; China, Chap. VII.; also

    Fourteen Months in Canton, by Mrs Gray.

    MARRIAGE CEREMONIES AND CUSTOMS. 789

    Another invitation is sent the day after to a feast, and the bride also calls on the ladies who attended her wedding,

    from whom slie receiv^es a ring or some other article of small

    value. The gentlemen also make the bridegroom a present of

    a pair of lanterns to hang at his gateway. On the night of the

    wedding they sometimes endeavor to get into the house when

    the pair is supposed to be asleep, in order to carry off some article, which the bridegroom must ransom at their price.

    Among the poor the expenses of a wedding are much lessened by purchasing a young girl, whom the parents bring up as a daughter until she is marriageable, and in this way secure her services in. the household. A girl already affianced is for a like reason sometimes sent to the boy’s parents, that they may support her. In small villages the people call upon a newly married couple near the next full moon, when they are received standing near the bedside. The men enter first and pay their respects to the bride, while her husband calls the attention of his visitors to her charms, praises her little feet, her beautiful hands, and other features, and then accompanies them into the hall, where they are regaled with refreshments. After the men have retired the women enter and make their remarks upon the lady, whose future character depends a good deal upon the manner in which she conducts herself. If she shows good temper, her reputation is made. Many a prudent woman on this occasion says not a word, but suffers herself to be examined in silence in order that she may I’un no risk of offending.’ Far different is this introduction to married life from the bridal tour and cordial greetings of friends which ladies receive in western lands during the honeymoon !

    ‘ Chinese Repository^ Vols. IV., p. 568, and X., pp. 65-70; Annalea de la Foi, No. XL., 1885.

    The bridal procession is a peculiar feature of Chinese social life. It varies in its style, nature of the ornaments, and the wdiole get-up in all parts of the land, but is always as showy as the means of the parties will allow. It is composed of bearers of lanterns and official tablets, musicians, relatives of the bride and groom and their personal friends, framed stands with roofs carried on thills to hold the bride’s effects, all centering around her sedan. In Peking such a procession will sometimes be stretched out half a mile, and the sedan borne by a dozen or more bearers. The coolies are dressed hi red. and tlicy and their burdens are nsiially provided by special sli()|>iiieii, who purvey on such occasions. The tablets of literary rank held by members of the family, wooden dragons’ heads, titular lanterns, and other official insignia are l)orne in state, an evidence of its high standing. In some places an old man, elegantly dressed,

    heads the procession, bearing a large umbrella to hold over the

    bride when she enters and leaves her sedan ; behind him come

    bearers with lanterns, one of which carries the inscription, “The

    phoenixes sing harmoniously.” To these succeed the music and

    the honorary tablets, titular flags, state umbrella, etc., and two

    stout men as executioners dressed in a fantastic manner, wearing

    long feathers in their caps, and lictors, chain-bearers, and other

    emblems of office. Parties of young lads, prettily dressed

    and playing on drums, gongs, and flutes, or carrying lanterns

    and banners, occasionally form a pleasing variety in the train,

    which is continued by the trays and covered tables containing

    the bride’s trousseau, and ended with the sedan containing

    herself.

    The ceremonies attending her reception at her husband’s

    house are not uniform. In some parts she is lifted out of the

    sedan, over a pan of charcojd placed in the court, and carried

    into the bed-chandjer ; in other places she enters and leaves her

    sedan on rugs spread for her use, and walks into the chamber.

    After a brief interval she returns into the hall, bearing a tray

    of betel-nut for the guests, and then worships a pair of geese brought in the train with her husband, this bird being an emblem of conjugal afl^ection. On returning to her chamber the bridegroom follows her and takes off the I’ed veil, after which they pledge each other in wine, the cups being joined by a thread. While there a matron who has borne several children to one husband comes in to pronounce a blessing upon them and make up the nn])tial l)ed. The assembled guests then sit down to the feast and ])ly the sni l(ing^ ‘new man’ or bridegroom, pretty well with liquor; the Chinese on such occasions do not, however, often overpass the rules of sobriet\-. The sin fitjiii, ‘new lady’ or bride, and her mother-in-law also attend to those of her own sex who are present in other apartments, but among the poor a pleasanter sight is now and then seen in all the o-nests sittino; at one table.

    NUPTIAL PROCESSION AND FESTIVITIES. 791

    In the morning the pair worship the ancestral tablets and salute all the members of the family ; among the poor this important ceremony occurs very soon after the pair have exchanged their wine-cups. The pledging of the bride and groom in a cup of wine, and their worship of the ancestral tablets and of heaven

    and earth, are the important ceremonies of a wedding after the

    procession has reached the house. Marriages are celebrated at

    all liom-s, though twilight and evening are preferred ; the spring

    season, or the last month in the year, are regarded as the most

    felicitous nuptial periods. From the way in which the whole

    matter is conducted there is some room for deception by sending

    another person in the sedan than the one betrothed, or the

    man may mistake the name of the girl he wishes to marry.

    Mr. Smith mentions one of his acquaintances, who, having been

    captivated with a girl he saw in the street, sent a go-between

    with proposals to her parents, which were accepted ; but he was

    deeply mortified on receiving his bride to find that he had mistaken

    the number of his charmer, and had received the fifth

    daughter instead of the fourth.

    The Chinese do not marry another woman wdth these observances

    while the first one is living, but they may bring home

    concubines with no other formality than a contract with her

    parents, though it is considered somewhat discreditable for a

    man to take another bedfellow if his wife have borne him sons,

    unless he can afford each of them a separate establishment. It is

    not unfrequent for a man to secure a maid-servant in the family

    with the consent of his wife by purchasing her for a concubine,

    especially if his occupation frequently call him away from home,

    in which case he takes her as his travelling companion and leaves

    his wife in charge of the household. The fact that the sons of a

    concubine are considered as legally belonging to the wife induces

    parents to betroth their daughters early, and thus prevent their

    entering a man’s family in this inferior capacity. The Chinese

    are sensible of the evils of a divided household, and the laws

    place its control in the hands of the wife. If she have no sons

    of her own, she looks out for a likely boy among her clansmen to adopt, knowing that otherwise her husband will probably bring a concubine into the family. It is difficult even to guess at the extent of polygamy, for no statistics have been or can be easily taken. Among the laboring classes it is rare to find more than one woman to one man, but tradesmen, official persons, landholders, and those in easy circumstances frequently take one or more concubines : perhaps two-fifths of such families have them. Show and fashion lead some to increase the number of their women, though aware of the discord likely to arise, for they fully believe their own proverb, that ” nine women out of ten are jealous.” Yet it is probably true that polygamy finds its greatest support from the women themselves. The wife seeks to increase her own position by getting more women into the

    house to relieve her own work and humor her fancies. The

    Chinese illustrate the relation by comparing the wife to the

    moon and the concubines to the stars, both of which in their

    appropriate spheres wait upon and I’cvolve around the sun.

    If regard be had to the civilization of the Chinese and their

    opportunities for moral training, the legal provisions of the code

    to protect females in their acknowledged rights and pnnish

    crimes against the peace and purity of the family relation reflect

    credit upon their legislators. In these laws the obligation of

    children to fulfil the contract made by their parents is enforced,

    even to the annulling of an agreement made by a son himself

    in ignorance of the arrangements of his parents. The position

    of the tsi, or wife taken by the prescribed formalities, and that

    of the tneh, or women purchased as concubines, are accurately

    defined, and the degradation of the former or elevation of

    the latter so as to interchange their places, or the taking of a

    second ts’i, are all illegal and void. The relation between the

    two is more like that which existed between Sarah and 1 1 agar in

    Abraham’s household, or Zilpah and Bilhah and their mistresses

    in Jacob’s, than that indicated by our terms first and second

    wife, of which idea the Chinese words contain no trace. The

    degrees of unlawful marriages are comprehensive, extending even

    to the prohibition of persons having the same fthuj^ or family

    name, and to two brothers marrying sisters. The hnvs forbid

    the marriage of a brother’s widow, of a father’s or grandfather’s

    LAWS KEGULATING MARRIAGES. 793

    wife, or a father’s sister, under the penalty of death ; and the

    like punishment is inflicted upon whoever seizes the wife or

    daughter of a freeman and carries them away to marry them.

    These regulations not only put honor upon marriage, but render it more common among the Chinese than almost any other people, thereby preventing a vast train of evils. The tendency of unrestrained desire to throw down the barriers to the gratiiication of lust must not be lost sight of ; and as no laws on this subject can be effectual unless the common sense of a people approve of them, the Chinese, by separating the sexes in general society, have removed a principal provocation to sin, and by compelling young men to fulfil the marriage contracts of their parents have also provided a safeguard against debauchery at the age when youth is most tempted to indulge, and when indulgence would most strongly disincline them to marry at all. They have, moreover, provided for the undoubted succession of the inheritance by disallowing more than one loife^ and yet have granted men the liberty they would otherwise take, and which immemorial usage in Asiatic countries has sanctioned. They have done as well as they could in regulating a difficult matter, and better, on the whole, perhaps, than in most other unchristianized countries. If any one supposes, however, that because these laws exist sins against the seventh commandment are uncommon in China, he will be as mistaken as those who infer that because the Chinese are pagans nothing like modesty, purity, or affection exists between the sexes.

    When a girl ” spills the tea”—that is, loses her betrothed by death—public opinion honors her if she refuse a second engagement; and instances are cited of young ladies committing suicide rather than contract a second marriage. They sometimes leave their father’s house and live with the parents of their affianced husband as if they had been really widows. It is considered derogatory for widows to marry ; though it may be that the instances quoted in books with so much praise only indicate how rare the practice is in reality. The widow is occasionally sold for a concubine by her father-in-law, and the grief and contumely of her degradation is enhanced by separation from her children, whom she can no longer retain. Such cases are, however, not common, for the impulses of maternal affection are too strong to be thus trifled with, and widows usually look to their friends for support, or to their own exertions if their children he still young; they are assisted, too, by their relatives in this laudable industry and care. It is a lasting stigma to a son to neglect the comfort and support of his widowed mother. A widower is not restrained by any laws, and weds one of his concubines or whomsoever he chooses ; nor is he expected to defer the nuptials for any period of mourning for his first wife.

    The seven legal reasons for divorce, viz., barrenness, lasciviousness,

    jealousy, talkativeness, thievery, disobedience to her

    husband’s parents, or leprosy, are almost nullified by the single

    provision that a woman cannot be put away whose parents are

    not living to receive her back again. Parties can separate on

    nmtual disagreement, but the code does not regulate the alimony

    ; and a husband is liable to punishment if he retain a

    wife convicted of adultery. If a wife merely elopes she can

    be sold by her husband, but if she marry while absent she is

    to be sti’angled ; if the husband be absent three years a woman

    must state her case to the magistrates before presuming to remarry.

    In regard to the o-eneral condition of females in China the

    remark of De Guignes is applicable, that ” though their lot is

    less happy than that of their sisters in Europe, their ignorance

    of a better state renders their present or jji-ospective one more

    supportable ; happiness does not always consist in absolute

    enjoyment, but in the idea which we have formed of it.” ‘ She

    does not feel that any injustice is done her by depriving her of

    the right of assent as to whom her partner sliall be ; her wishes

    and her knowledge go no farther than her domestic circle, and

    where she has been trained in her mother’s apartments to the

    various duties and accomplishments of her sex, her removal to

    a husband’s house brings to her no great change.

    ‘ Yoyages a Peking^ Tome II. , jj. 383.

    PRIVILEGES AND I USlTlOK OF WIVES AND WIDOWS. 795

    This, however, is not always the case, and the power accorded to the husband over his wife and family is often used with great tyranny. The young wife finds in her new home little of the sympathy and love her sisters in Christian lands receive. Her mother-in-law is not unfrequently the source of her greatest trials, and demands from her both the submission of a child and the labor of a slave, which is not seldom returned by disobedience and bitter revilings. If the husband interfere she has less likelihood of escaping his exactions; though in the lower walks of life his cruelty is restrained by fear of losing her and her services, and in the upper diverted by indifference as to what

    she does, in the pursuit of other objects. If the wife behave

    well till she lierself becomes a mother and a mother-in-law, then

    the tables are turned ; from being a menial she becomes almost

    a goddess. Luhchau, a writer on female culture, jnentions the

    following indirect mode of reproving a mother-in-law : ” Loh

    Yang travelled seven years to improve himself, during which

    time his wife diligently served her mother-in-law and supported

    her son at schooL The poultry from a neighbor’s house once

    wandered into her garden, and her mother-in-law stole and killed

    them for eating. When she sat down to table and saw the

    fowls she would not dine, but burst into tears, at which the old

    lady was much surprised and asked the reason. ‘ I am much

    distressed that I am so poor and cannot aftord lo su|)|)]y you

    with all I wish I could, and that I should have caused you to

    eat flesh belonging to another.’ Her parent was affected by

    this, and threw away the dish.”

    The evils attending early betrothment induce many parents

    to defer engaging their daughters until they are grown, and a

    Imsband of similar tastes can be found ; for even if the condition

    of the families in the interval of betrothment and marriage

    unsuitably change, or the lad grows up to be a dissipated, worthless,

    or cruel man, totally unworthy of the gii’l, still the contract

    must be fulfilled, and the worst party genei-ally is most anxious

    for it. The unhappy bride in such cases often escapes from her

    present sufferings and dismal prospects by suicide. A case occured

    in Canton in 1833 where a young wife, visiting her parents

    shortly after marriage, so feelingly desciibed her sufferings at

    the hands of a cruel husband to her sisters and friends that she

    and three of her auditors joined their hands together and drowned

    themselves in a pond, she to escape present misery and they to avoid its future possibility. Another young lady, having heard of the worthless character of her intended, carried a bag of money with her in the sedan, and when they retired after the ceremonies were over thus addressed him : ” Touch me not ; I am resolved to abandon the world and become a nun. I shall this night cut off my hair. I have saved 8200, which I give you ; with the half you can purchase a concubine, and with the rest enter on some trade. Be not lazy and thriftless. Hereafter, remember me.” Saying this, she cut off her hair, and her husband and his kindred, fearing suicide if they opposed her, acquiesced, and she returned to her father’s house.’

    Such cases are common enough to show the dark side of family life, and young ladies implore their parents to rescue them in this or some other way from the sad fate which awaits them. Sometimes girls become skilled in female accomplishments to recommend themselves to their husbands, and their disappointment is the greater when they find him to be a brutal, depraved tyrant. A melancholy instance of this occurred in Canton in 1840, which ended in the wife committing suicide. Her brother had been a scholar of one of the American missionaries, and took a commendable pride in showing specimens of his sister’s exquisite embroidery, and not a few of her attainments in writing, which indicated their reciprocal attachment. The contrary happens too, sometimes, where the husband finds himself compelled to wed a woman totally unable to appreciate or share his pursuits, but he has means of alleviatinor or avoidino; such misalliances which the weaker vessel has not. On the whole, as we have said, one must admit that woman holds a fairly high position in China. If she suffers from the brutality of her husband, the tyraimy of her mother-in-law, or the overwork of household, field, or loom, she is as often herself blameworthy for indolence, shiftlessness, gadding, and bad temper. The instances which are given by Gray” in his account of marital atrocities prove the length to which a man will wreak his rage on the helpless ; but they are the exception to the general testimony of the people themselves. So far as general purity of society goes, one may well doubt whether such aboininahle conduct as is legalized among IVIornions in Utah is any improvement on the hardships of woman among the Chinese.

    ‘ Chinese JRepository, Vol. I., p. 293. * China, Chap. VII.

    UNHAPPY BKTKOTHMENTS. 797

    Pursuing this brief account of the social life of the Chinese, the right of parents in managing their children comes into notice. It is great, though not unlimited, and in allowing them very extensive power, legislators have supposed that natural affection of the parents, a desire to continue the honorable succession of the family, together with the influence of proper education, were as good securities against paternal cruelty and neglect as any laws which could be made. Fathers give their sons the ru ming, or ‘milk name,’ about a month after birth.

    The mother, on the day appointed for this ceremony, worships

    and thanks the goddess of Mercy, and the boy, dressed and

    having his head shaved, is brought into the circle of assembled

    friends, where the father confers the name and celebrates the

    occasion by a feast. The milk name is kept until the lad enters

    school, at which time the sJiit ming, or ‘school name,’ is conferred

    upon him, as already mentioned. The fiJiu ruing generally

    consists of two characters, selected with reference to the

    boy’s condition, prospects, studies, or some other event connected

    with him ; sometimes the milk name is continued, as the

    family have become accustomed to it. Such names as InJi–

    gi’lnder. Promising-study, Opening-oli’ve, Entering-virtue, Rising-

    advancement, etc., are given to young students at this time.

    Though endearing or fanciful names are often conferred, it is

    quite as common to vilify very young children by calling them

    dog, hog, pujypy, fiea, etc., under the idea that such epithets

    will w^ard off the evil eye. Girls have only their milk and

    marriage names ; the former may be a flower, a sister, a gem,

    or such like ; the latter are terms like Emulating the Moon,

    Orchis 1^ lower, the Jasmine, Delicate Perfume, etc. A mere

    number at Canton, as A-yat, A-sam, A-luk (No. 1, No. 3, No. G),

    often designates the boys till they get their book names.’

    ‘ Doolittle’s Handbook, Vol. III., p. 660, gives a list of names collected at Fulicliau, which are applicable to other provinces.

    The personal names of the Chinese are written contrariwise to our own, the xing or surname, coming first, then the ming, or given name, and then the complimentary title ; as Liang Wantai siensang, where Liang, or ‘ Millet,’ is the family name, Wantai, or ‘ Tei’race of Letters,’ the given name, and siensdng, Mr. {i.e., Master), or ‘ Teacher.’ A few of the surnames are double, as Si’ma Qian, where Si’ma is the family name and Qian the official title. A curious idea prevails among the people of Canton, that foreigners have no surname, which, as Pliny thought of the inhabitants of Mt. Atlas, they regard as one of the proofs of their barbarism ; perhaps tin’s notion came by inference from the fact that the Manchus write only their given name, as Kishen, Kiying, Ilipu, etc. When writing Chinese names in

    translations and elsewhere, some attention should be paid to

    these particulars ; the names of Chinese persons and places are

    constantly appearing in print nnder forms as singular as would

    be Williamhcnryhdrrison, Rich-Ard- Ox-Ford, or Phila Delphia-

    city in English. The name being in a different language,

    and its true nature unknown to most of those who write it, accounts

    for the misarrangement.

    NUMBER AND CHANGES OF PERSONAL NAMES. 799

    Li Canton and its vicinity the names of people are abbreviated in conversation to one character, and an A prefixed to it; —as TslnteJi, called A-teh or A-tsin. In Amoy the A is placed after, as China in the northern provinces no such usage is known. Some families, perhaps in imitation of the imperial precedent, distinguish their members from others in the clan by adopting a constant character for the first one in the niing,OY given name ; thus a family of brothers will be named Lin Tung-pei, Lin Tung-fung, Lin Tung-peh, where the word Tung distinguishes this sept of the clan Lin from all others. There are no characters exclusively appropriated to proper names or different sexes, as George, Agnes, etc., all being chosen out of the language with reference to their meanings. Consequently, a name is sometimes felt to be incongruous, as Xaomi, when saluted on her return to Bethlehem, felt its inappropriateness to her altered condition, and suggested a change to Mara. Puns on names and sobriquets are common, from the constant contrast of the sounds of the characters with circumstances suggesting a comparison or a play upon their meanings ; sly jokes are also played when writing the names of foreigners, by choosing such characters as will make a ridiculous meaning when read according to their sense and not their sound.

    “When a man marries he adopts a third name, called zi, or ‘style’, by which he is usually known through life ; this is either entirely new or combined from previous names. When a girl is married her family name becomes her given name, and the given name is disused, her husband’s name becoming her family name. Thus Wa Salah married to ^Vei San-wei drops the Salah, and is called ^Vei Wa shl, i.e., Mrs. Wei [born of the clan] Wa, though her husband or near relatives sometimes retain it as a trivial address. A man is frequently known by another compellation, called jrieh tsz\ or ‘second style,’ which the public do not presume to employ. When a young man is successful in attaining a degree, or enters an office, he takes a title called I’lixm ming, or ‘ official name,’ by which he is known to government. The members or heads of licensed mercantile companies each have an official name, which is entered in their permit, from whence it is called among foreigners their choj) name. Each of the heads of the co-hong formerly licensed to trade with foreigners at Canton had such an official name. Besides these various names, old men of fifty, shopkeepers, and others take a ?mo, or ‘ designation; ‘ tradesmen use it on their signboards as the name of their shop, and not unfrequently receive it as their personal appellation. Of this nature are the appellations of the tradesmen who deal with foreigners, as Catshing, Chanlung, Linchong, etc., which are none of them the names of the shopmen, but the designation of the shop. It is the usual M’ay in Canton for foreigners to go into a shop and ask ” Is Mr. Wanglik in ? ” which would be almost like one in New York inquiring if Mr. Alhambra or Mr, Atlantic-House was at home, though it does not sound quite so ridiculous to a Chinese. The names taken by shopkeepers allude to trade or its prospects, such as Mutual Advantage, Obedient Profit, EHcns’ive Ilarniony, liising Goodness, Great Completeness, etc. ; the names of the partners as such are not employed to form the firm. Besides this use of the hao, it is also employed as a brand upon goods; the terms Hoyuen^ K’mghing, YiienVi, meaning ‘ Harmonious Springs,’ ‘ Cheering Prospects,’ ‘ Fountain’s Memorial,’ etc., are applied to particular parcels of tea, silk, or other goods, just as brands are placed on lots of wine, flour, or pork. This is called zi-hao, or ‘ marked signation,’ but foreigners call both it and the goods it denotes a choj).

    When a man dies he receives another and last, though not

    necessarily a new name in the hall of ancestors ; upon emperors

    and empresses are bestowed new ones, as Benevolent, Pious,

    Discreet, etc., by which they are worshipped and referred to in

    history, as that designation which is most likely to be permanent.

    In their common intercourse the Chinese are not more formal

    than is considered to be well-bred in Europe ; it is on extraordinary

    or official occasions that they observe the precise etiquette

    for which they are famous. The proper mode of behavior toward

    all classes is pei’haps more carefully inculcated upon youth

    than it is in the west, and habit renders easy what custom demands.

    The ceremonial obeisance of a court or a levee, or the salutations proper for a festival, are not carried into the everyday intercourse of life; for as one chief end of the formalities prescribed for such times is to teach due subordination among persons of different rank, they are in a measure laid aside with the robes which suggested them. True politeness, exhibited in an unaffected regard for the feelings of others, cannot, we know, be taught by rules ; but a great degree of urbanity and kindness is everywhere shown, whether owing to the naturally placable disposition of the people or to the effects of their early instruction in the forms of politeness. Whether in the crowded and narrow thoroughfares, the village green, the market, the jostling ferry, or the thronged procession—wherever the people are assembled promiscuously, good humor and courtesy are observable; and when altercations do arise wounds or serious injuries seldom ensue, although from the furious clamor one would imagine that half the crowd were in danger of their lives.

    CEREMONIAL OBEISANCE AT COURT. 801

    Chinese ceremonial requires superiors to be honored according to their station and age, anci equals to depreciate themselves while lauding those they address. The Emperor, considering himself as the representative of divine power, exacts the same prostration which is paid the gods; and the ceremonies which are performed in his presence partake, therefore, of a religious character, and are not merely particular forms of etiquette, which may be altered according to circumstances. There are eight gradations of obeisance, commencing with “the lowest form of respect, called hung shao, which is merely joining the hands and raising them before the breast. The next is tso yih, bowing low with the hands thus joined. The third is ta tsieoi^ bending the knee as if about to kneel ; and hinei^ an actual kneeling, is the fourth. The fifth is Jco tao (ketou), kneeling and striking the head on the ground, which when thrice repeated makes the sixth, called m/i hao, or ‘thrice knocking’.

    The seventh is the In/i hfo, or kneeling and knocking the head thrice upon the ground, then standing upright and again kneeling and knocking the head three times more. The climax is closed by the san. kwcl liu I’ao, or thrice kneeling and nine times knocking the head. Some of the gods of China are entitled to the san hio, others to the Ink Ji’ao, while the Emperor and Heaven are worshipped by the last. The family now on the throne consider this last form as expressing in the strongest manner the submission and homage of one state to another.”‘

    The extreme submission which the Emperor demands is partaken by and tratisferred to his officers of every grade in a greater or less degree ; the observance of these forms is deemed, therefore, of great importance, and a refusal to render them is considered to be nearly equivalent to a rejection of their authority.

    Minute regulations for the times and modes of official intercourse

    are made and promulgated by the Board of Rites, and to

    learn and practise them is one indispensable part of official duty.

    In court the master of ceremonies stands in a conspicuous place,

    and with a loud voice commands the courtiers to rise and kneel,

    stand or march, just as an orderly sergeant directs the drill of

    ‘ Memoir of Dr. Morrison, “Vol. II. , p. 143.

    recruits. The same attention to the ritual is observed in their mutual intercourse, for however much an inferior may desire to dispense with the ceremony, his superior will not fail to exact it. In the salutations of entree and exit among officers these forms are particularly conspicuous, but when well acquainted with each other, and in moments of conviviality, they are in a great measure laid aside; but the juxtaposition of art and nature among them, at one moment laughing and joking, and the next bowing and kneeling to each other as if they had never met, sometimes produces amusing scenes to a foreigner. The entire ignorance and disregard of these forms by foreigners unacquainted with the code leaves a worse impression upon the natives at times, who ascribe such rudeness to hauteur and contempt.

    Without particularizing the tedious forms of official etiquette,

    it will be sufficient to describe what is generally required in

    good society. Military men pay visits on horseback ; civilians

    and others go in sedans or carts ; to walk is not common. Visiting

    cards are made of vermilioned paper cut into slips about

    eight inches long and three wide, and are single or folded four,

    six, eight, or more times, according to the position of the visitor.

    If he is in recent mourning, the paper is white and the

    name written in blue ink, but after a stated time this is indicated

    by an additional character. The simple name is stamped

    on the upper right corner, or if written on the lower corner, with an addition thus, ‘* Your humble servant {lit., ‘stupid younger brother ‘) Pi Chi-wan bows his head in salutation.” On approaching the house his attendant hands a card to the doorkeeper, and if he cannot be received, instead of saying ” not a^ home,” the host sends out to ” stay the gentleman’s approach,” and the card is left. If contrariwise the sedan is carried through the doorway into the court, wdiere he comes forth to receive his guest ; as the latter steps out each one advances just so far, bowing just so many times, and going through the ceremonies which they mutually understand and expect, until both have taken their seats at the head of the hall, the guest sitting on the left of the host, and his companions, if he have any, in the chairs on each side.

    ETIQUETTj: OF FORMAL VIRITINCt. 803

    The inquiries made after ihe mutual welfare of friends and each other are eonched in a form of studied laudation and depreciation, which when literally translated seem somewhat affected, but to them convey no more than similar civilities do among ourselves—in truth, perhaps not so much of sincere good-will.

    For instance, to the remark, ” It is a long time since we have met, sir,” the host replies (literally), ” IIow presume to receive the trouble of your honorable footsteps ; is the person in the chariot well ? “—which is simply equivalent to, ” I am much obliged for your visit, and hope you enjoy good health.”

    Tea and pipes are always presented, together with betel-nut or sweetmeats on some occasions, but it is not, as among the Turks, considered disrespectful to refuse them, though it would be looked upon as singular. If the guest inquire after the health of relatives he should commence with the oldest living, and then ask how many sons the host has; but it is not considered good bi’eeding for a formal acquaintance to make any remarks respecting the mistress of the house. If the sons of the host are at home they are generally sent for, and make their obeisance to their father’s friend by coming up l)eft>re him and performing the kototn as rapidly as possible, each one making haste, as if he did not wish to delay him. The guest raises them with a slight bow, and the lads stand facing him at a respectful distance. He will then remark, perhaps, if one of them happen to be at his studies, that ” the boy will perpetuate the literary reputation of his family ” {lit., ‘ he will fully carry on the fragrance of the books’); to which his father rejoins, “The reputation of our family is not great {lit., ‘ hills and fields’ happiness is thin ‘) ; high expectations are not to be entertained of him ; if he can only gain a livelihood it will be enough.” After a few such compliments the boys say shao j)ei, ‘slightly waiting on you,’ i.e., pray excuse us, and retire. Girls are seldom brought in, and young ladies never.

    The periphrases employed to denote persons and thus avoid speaking their names in a measure indicate the estimation in which they are held. For instance, ” Does the honorable great man enjoy happiness?” means “Is your father well?” “Distinguished and aged one what honorable age ? ” is the mode of asking how old he is; for among the Chinese, as it seems to have been among the Egyptians, it is polite to ask the names and ages of all ranks and sexes. ” The old man of the house,” “excellent honorable one,” and ” venerable great prince,” are terms used by a visitor to designate the father of his host. A child terms his father ” family’s majesty,” ” old man of the family,” ” prince of the family,” or ” venerable father.” When dead a father is called ” former prince,” and a mother ” venerable

    great one in repose ; ” and there are particular characters to

    distinguish deceased parents from living. The request, ” Make

    my respects to your mother”—for no Chinese gentleman ever

    asks to see the ladies—is literally, ” Excellent-longevity hall place

    in my behalf wish repose,” the first two words denoting she who

    remains there. Care should be taken not to use the same expressions

    when speaking of the relatives of the guest and one’s

    own; thus, in asking, ” IIow many worthy young gentlemen

    [sons] have you ? ” the host replies, ” I am unfortunate in having

    had but one l)oy,” literally, ” My fate is niggardly ; I have only

    one little bug.” This runs through their whole Chesterlieldian

    code. A man calls his wife Uleii mti, i.e., ‘ the mean one of the

    inner apartments,’ or ‘ the foolish one of the family ; ‘ while another speaking of her calls her ” the honorable lady,” ” worthy lady,” ” your favored one,” etc.

    ‘ This is repeated by both at the\

    FORMALITIE:^ OF ADDRESS AND GREETING. 80.”)

    Something of this is found in all oriental languages ; to become familiar with the right application of these terms in Chinese, as elsewhere in the east, is no easy lesson for a foreigner. In their salutations of ceremony they do not, however, quite equal the Arabs, with their kissing, bowing, touching foreheads, stroking beards, and repeated motions of obeisance. The Chinese seldom embrace or touch each other, except on unusual occasions of joy or among family friends; in fact, they have hardly a common word for a kiss. When the visitor rises to depart he remarks, ” Another day I will come to receive your instructions; ” to which his friend replies, ” You do me too much honor; I rather ought to wait on you tomorrow.” The common form of salutation among equals is for each to clasp his own hands before his breast and make a slight bow, saying, Tsing ! Tsimj ! i.e., ^l\\x\\\ ITail !

    .same time, on meeting as well as separating.’ The formalities of leave-taking correspond to those of receiving, but if the parties are equal, or nearly so, the host sees his friend quite to the door and into his sedan.

    Officers avoid meeting each other, especially in public, except when etiquette requires them. An officer of low rank is obliged to stop his chair or horse, and on his feet to salute his superior, who receives and returns the civility without moving. Those of equal grades leave their places and go through a mock struo-gle of deference to sret each first to return to it. The common people never presume to salute an officer in the streets, nor even to look at him very carefully. In his presence, they speak to him on their knees, but an old man, or one of consideration, is usually requested to rise when speaking, and even criminals with gray hairs are treated with respect. Officers do not allow their inferiors to sit in their presence, and have always been unwilling to concede this to foreigners ; those of the lowest rank consider themselves far above the best of such visitors, but this affectation of rank is already passing away. The converse, of not paying them proper respect, is more common among a certain class of foreigners.

    Children are early taught the forms of politeness toward all

    ranks. The duties owed by younger to elder brothers are peculiar,

    the firstborn havino; a sort of birthrio-ht in the ancestral

    Avorship, in the division of property, and in the direction of the

    family after the father’s decease. The degree of formality in

    the domestic circle inculcated in the ancient Book of Rites is

    never observed to its full extent, and would perhaps chill the

    affection which should exist among its members, did not habit

    render it easy and proper ; and the extent to which it is actually

    carried depends a good deal upon the education (jf the family.

    In forwarding presents it is customary to send a list with the

    note, and if the person deems it proper to decline some of them,

    he marks on the list those he takes and returns the i-est ; a douceur

    is always expected by the bearer, and needy fellows sometimes pretend to have been sent with some insignificant present

    ‘ Chinese Chrestomathy, Chap. V., Sec. 12, p. 182. This phrase is the origin of the word chinchin, so often heard among the Chinese.

    from a grandee in hopes of receiving more than its equivalent as a cumshavv from the person thus honored. De Guignes mentioned one donor who waited until the list came back, and then sent out and purchased the articles which had been marked and sent them to his friend.

    Travellers have so often described the Chinese formal dinners,

    that theJ have almost become one of their national traits in the

    view of foreigners ; so many of these banquets, however, were

    given by or in the name of the sovereign, that they are hardly

    a fair criterion of usual private feasts. The Chinese are both a

    social and a sensual people, and the pleasures of the table form

    a principal item in the list of their enjoyments ; nor are the

    higher delights of mental recreation altogether wanting, though

    this part of the entertainment is according to their taste and not

    ours. Private meals and public feasts among the higher classes

    are both dull and long to us, because ladies do not participate; but perhaps we judge more what our own tables would be without their cheerful presence, Avhile in China each sex is of the opinion that the meal is more enjoyable without interference from the other.

    An invitation to dinner is written on a slip of red paper like a visiting-card, and sent some days before. It reads, ” On the —day a trifling entertainment will await the light of your countenance. Tsau San-wei’s compliments.” Another card is sent on the day itself, stating the hour of dinner, or a servant comes to call the guests. The host, dressed in his cap and robes, awaits their arrival, and after they are all assembled, requests them to follow his example and lay aside their dresses of ceremony.

    CUSTOMS AT DINNER. 807

    The usual way of arranging guests is by twos on each side of small uncovered tables, placed in lines; an arrangement as convenient for serving the numerous courses which compose the feast, and removing the dishes, as Avas the Roman fashion of reclining around a hollow table; it also allows a fair view of the musical or theatrical performances. On some occasions, in the sunny south, however, a single long or round table is laid out in a tasteful manner, having pyramids of cakes alternating with piles of fruits and dishes of preserves, all covered more or less with flowers, while the table itself is partly hidden from view by nosegaj’s and leaves. If the party be large, ten minutes or more are consumed by the host and guests going through a tedious repetition of requests and refusals to take the highest seats, for not a man will sit down until he sees the host occupying his chair.

    On commencing, the host, standing up, salutes his guests, in

    a cup, apologizing for the frugal board before them, his only

    desire being to show his respects to them. At a certain period

    in the entertainment, they reply by simultaneously rising and

    drinking his health. The Western custom of giving a sentiment

    is not known ; and politeness requires a person when drinking

    healths to turn the bottom of the tiny wine-cup upward to

    show that it is drained. Glass dishes are gradually becoming

    cheap and common among the middle class, but the table furniture

    still mainly consists of porcelain cups, bowls, and saucers

    of various sizes and quality, porcelain spoons shaped like a

    child’s pap-boat, and two smooth sticks made of bamboo, ivory,

    or wood, of the size of quills, well known as the chojp-sticks^

    from the native name hwai tsz\ i.e., ‘ nimble lads.’ Grasping

    these implements on each side of the forefinger, the eater

    pinches up from the dishes meat, fish, oi- vegetables, already

    cut into mouthfuls, and conveys one to his mouth. The bowl

    of rice or millet is brought to the lips, and the contents shovelled

    into the mouth in an expeditious manner, quite suitable to the

    name of the tools employed. Less convenient than forks, chopsticks

    are a great improvement on fingers, as every one will

    acknowledge who has seen the Hindus throw the balls of curried

    rice into their mouths.

    The succession of dishes is not uniform ; soups, meats, stews, fruits, and preserves are introduced somewhat at the discretion of the major-domo, but the end is announced by a bowl of plain rice and a cup of tea. The fruit is often brought in after a recess, during which the guests rise and refresh themselves by walking and chatting, for three or four hours are not unfrequently required even to taste all the dishes. It is not deemed impolite for a guest to express his satisfaction with the good fare before him, and exhibit evidences of having stuffed himself to repletion ; nor is it a breach of manners to retire before the dinner is ended. The guests relieve its tedium by playing the game of ehal mel, or morra (the niicare digitls of the old Romans), which consists in showing the fingers to each other across the table, and mentioning a number at the same moment; as, if one opens out two fingers and mentions the number four, the other instantly shows six fingers, and repeats that number.

    If he mistake in giving the complement of ten, he pays a forfeit

    by drinking a cup. This convivial game is common among

    all ranks, and the boisterous merriment of workmen or friends

    at their meals is frecjuently heard as one passes through the

    streets in the afternoon.’ The Chinese generally have but two

    meals a day, breakfast at nine and dinner at four, or thereabouts.

    The Chinese are comparatively a temperate people. This is owing principally to the universal use of tea, but also to taking their arrack very warm and at their meals, rather than to any notions of sobriety or dislike of spirits. A little of it fiushes their faces, mounts into their heads, and induces them when flustered to remain in the house to conceal the suffusion, although they may not be really drunk. This liquor is known as toddy, arrack, saki, tsiu, and other names in Eastern Asia, and is distilled from the yeasty liquor in which boiled rice has fermented under pressure many days. Only one distillation is made for common liquor, but when more strength is wanted, it is distilled two or three times, and it is this strong spirit alone which is rightly called samshu, a word meaning ‘ thrice fired.’ Chinese moralists have always inveighed against the use of spirits, and the name of I-tih, the reputed inventor of the deleterious drink, more than two thousand years before Christ, has been handed down with opprobrium, as he was himself banished by the great Yu for his discovery.

    ‘ Compare the- China Review, Vol. IV., p. 400.

    TEMPERANCE OF THE CHINESE. 809

    The Shu King contains a discourse by the Duke of Chan on the abuse of spirits. His speech to his brother Fung, b.c. 1120, is the oldest temperance address on record, even earlier than the words of Solomon in the Proverbs. ” When your reverend father, King AVaii, founded our kingdom in the western region, ho delivered announcements and cautions to the princes of the

    various states, their officers, assistants, and managers of affairs,

    morning and evening, saying, ‘ For sacrifices spirits should be

    employed. When Heaven was sending down its [favoring]

    commands and laying the foundations of our people’s sway,

    spirits were used only in the great sacrifices. [But] when

    Heaven has sent down its terrors, and our people have therel)y

    been greatly disorganized, and lost their [sense of] virtue, this

    too can be ascribed to nothing else than their unlimited use of

    spirits; yea, further, the ruin of the feudal states, small and

    great, may be traced to this one sin, the free use of spirits.’

    King Wan admonished and instructed the young and those in

    office managing public affairs, that they should not habitually

    drink spirits. In all the states he enjoined that their use be

    confined to times of sacrifices ; and even then with such limitations

    that virtue should prevent drunkenness.” ‘

    The general and local festivals of the Chinese are numerous, among which the first three days of the year, one or two about the middle of April to worship at the tombs, the two solstices, and the festival of dragon-boats, are common days of relaxation and merry-making, only on the first, however, are the shops shut and business suspended. Some persons have expressed their surprise that the unceasing round of toil which the Chinese laborer pursues has not rendered him more degraded. It is usually said that a weekly rest is necessary for the continuance of the powers of body and mind in man in their full activity,

    and that decrepitude and insanity would oftener result

    were it not for this relaxation. The arguments in favor of this

    observation seem to be deduced from undoubted facts in countries

    where the obligations of the Sabbath are acknowledged,

    though where the vast majority cease from business and labor,

    it is not easy for a few to work all the time even if they wish,

    owing to the various ways in which their occupations are involved

    ‘ C/dnese Repository, Vol. XV., p. 433. Book of Records, Part V., Book X., Legge’s translation ; also Medliurst’s and Caubil’s translations.

    with those of others ; yet, in China, people who apparently tax themselves uninterruptedly to the utmost stretch of

    body and mind, live in health to old age. A few facts of this

    sort incline one to suppose that the Sabbath was designed by

    its Lord as a day of rest for man from a constant routine of relaxation

    and mental and physical labor, in order that he might

    have leisure for attending to the paramount duties of religion,

    and not alone as a day of relaxation and rest, without which

    they could not live out all their days. Nothing like a seventh

    day of rest, or religious respect to that interval of time, is

    known among the Chinese, but they do not, as a people, exercise

    their minds to the intensity, or upon the high subjects

    common among Western nations, and this perhaps is one reason

    why their yearly toil produces no disastrous effects. The countless blessings which flow from an observance of the fourth commandment can be better appreciated by witnessing the wearied

    condition of the society where it is not acknowledged, and whoever

    sees such a society can hardly fail to wish for its introduction.

    Converts to Christianity in China, who are instructed in its

    strict observance, soon learn to prize it as a high privilege ; and

    its general neglect among the native Roman Catholics has removed

    the only apparent difference between them and the pagans. The former prime minister of China once remarked that among the few really valuable things which foreigners had brought to China, the rest of the Sabbath day was one of the most desirable; he often longed for a quiet day.”

    Nevius, China and the Chinese, pp. 399-408.

    NEW year’s customs AND CEREMONIES. 811

    The return of the year is an occasion of unbounded festivity and hilarity, as if the whole population threw oft” the old year with a shout, and clothed themselves in the new with their change of garments. The evidences of the approach of this chief festival appear some weeks previous. The principal streets are lined with tables, upon which articles of dress, furniture, and fancy are disposed for sale in the most attractive manner. Necessity compels many to dispose of certain of their treasures or superfluous things at this season, and sometimes exceedingly curious bits of bric-a-brac, long laid up in families, can be procured at a cheap rate. It is customary for superiors to give their dependents and employees a present, and for shopmen to send an’ acknowledgment of favors to their customers; one of the most common gifts among the lower classes is a pair of new shoes. Among the tables spread in the streets are many provided with pencils and red paper of various sizes, on which persons write sentences appropriate to the season in various styles,

    to be pasted upon the doorposts and lintels of dwellings and

    shops,’ or suspended from their walls. The shops also put on a

    most brilliant appearance, arrayed in these papers interspei’sed

    among the I’hi hwa^ or ‘golden flowers,’ which are sprigs of artificial

    leaves and flowers made in the southern cities of brass tinsel

    and fastened upon wires ; the latter are designed for an annual offering in temples, or to place before the household tablet. Small strips of red and gilt paper, some bearing the word fah, or ‘happiness,’ large and small vermilion candles, gaily painted, and other things used in idolatry, are likewise sold in great quantities, and with the increased throng impart an unusually lively appearance to the streets. Another evident sign of the approaching change is the use of water upon the doors, shutters, and other woodwork of houses and shops, washing chairs, utensils, clothes, etc., as if cleanliness had not a little to do wath joy, and a well-washed person and tenement were indispensable to the proper celebration of the festival. Throughout the southern rivers all small craft, tankia-boats, and lighters are beached and turned inside out for a scrubbing.

    ‘ A like custom existed among the Hebrews, now continued in the modern mezuzmc. Deut. vi. 9. Jahu’s Arduvoloyy, p. 88.

    A still more praiseworthy custom attending this season is that of settling accounts and paying debts; shopkeepers are kept busy waiting upon their customers, and creditors urge their debtors to arrange these important matters. No debt is allowed to overpass new year without a settlement or satisfactory arrangement, if it can be avoided ; and those whose liabilities altogether exceed their means are generally at this season obliged to wind up their concerns and give all their available property into the hands of their creditors. The consequences of this general pay-day are a high rate of money, great resort to the pawnbrokers, and a general fall in the price of most kinds of produce and commodities. Manj- good results flow from the practice, and the conscious sense of the difficulty and expense of resorting to legal proceedings to recover debts induces all to observe and maintain it, so that the dishonest, the unsuccessful, and the wild speculator may be sifted out from amongst the honest traders.

    De Guignes mentions one expedient to oblige a man to pay

    his debts at this season, which is to carry off the door of his

    shop or house, for then his premises and person will be exposed

    to the entrance and anger of all hungry and malicious demons

    prowling around the streets, and happiness no more revisit his

    abode ; to avoid this he is fain to arrange his accounts. It

    is a common practice among devout persons to settle with the

    gods, and during a few days before the new yeai”, the temples

    are nnusually thronged by devotees, both male and female, rich

    and poor. Some persons fast and engage the priests to intercede

    for them that their sins may be pardoned, while they prostrate

    themselves before the images amidst the din of gongs, drums,

    and bells, and thus clear off the old score. On new year’s eve

    the streets are full of people hun-ying to and fro to conclude the

    many matters which press upon them. At Canton, some are

    busy pasting the five slips upon their lintels, signifying their

    desire tliat the five blessings which constitute the sum of all

    human felicity (namely, longevity, riches, health, love of virtue,

    and a natural death) may be their favored portion. Such sentences

    as ” May the five blessings visit this door,” ” May heaven

    send down happiness,” ” May rich customers ever enter this

    door,” are placed above them ; and the dooi-posts are adorned

    with others on plain or gold sprinkled red paper, making tlie

    entrance quite picturesque. In the hall are suspended scrolls

    more or less costly, containing antithetical sentences carefully

    chosen. A literary man would have, for instance, a distich like

    the following:

    May I be so learned as to secrete in my raind three myriads of volumes:

    May I know the affairs of the world for six tiiousand years.

    SETTLING ACCOUNTS AND DECORATING HOUSES. 813

    A. shopkeeper adorns his door with those relating to trade:
    May prolits ho lik(> tlio morning sun lising on tho clouds.
    May wealth increase like the morning tidt; which brings the rain.
    Manage your occupation according to truth and loyalty.
    Hold ou to benevolence and rectitude in all your trading.

    The influence of these mottoes, and countless others like them which are constantly seen in the streets, shops, and dwellings throughout the land, is inestimable. Generally it is for good, and as a large proportion are in the form of petition or wish, they show the moral feeling of the people.

    Boat-people in Kwaiigtmig and Fuhkien provinces are peculiarly

    liberal of their paper prayers, pasting them on every board

    and oar in the boat, and suspending them from the stern in scores,

    making the vessel flutter with gaiety. Farmers stick theirs

    upon barns, trees, wattles, baskets, and implements, as if nothing

    was too insignificant to receive a blessing. The house is arranged

    in the most oi’derly and cleanly manner, and purified

    with religious ceremonies and lustrations, firing of ei-ackers, etc.,

    and as the necessary preparations occupy a considerable portion

    of the night, the streets are not quiet till dawn. In addition

    to the bustle arising from business and religious observances,

    which marks this passage of time, the constant explosion of firecrackers,

    and the clamor of gongs, make it still more noisy.

    Strings of these crackling fireworks are burned at the doorposts,

    before the outgoing and incoming of the year, designed to expel

    and deter evil spirits from the house. The consumption is

    so great as to cover the sti-eets with the fragments, and farmers

    come the week after into Canton city and sweep up hundreds of

    bushels for manure.

    The first day of the year is also regarded as the birthday of the entire population, for the practice among the Hebrews of dating the age from the beginning of the year, prevails also in China; so that a child born only a week before new year, is considered as entering its second year on the first day of the first month. This does not, however, entirely supersede the observance of the real anniversary, and parents frequently make asolenmity of their son’s birthday. A missionary thus describes the celebration of a son’s sixth birthday at Ningpo. ” The little fellow was dressed in his best clothes, and his father had brought gilt paper, printed praj^ers, and a large number of bowls of meats,

    rice, vegetables, spirits, nuts, etc., as an offering to be spread

    out before the idols. The ceremonies were performed in the

    apartment of the Tao 2£u, or ‘ Bushel Mother,’ who has special

    charge of infants before and after birth. The old abbot

    was dressed in a scarlet robe, with a gilt image of a serpent

    fastened in his hair ; one of the monks wore a purple, another

    a gray robe. A multitude of prayers, seemingly a round of

    repetitions, were read by the abbot, occasionally chanting a little,

    when the attendants joined in the chorus, and a deafening

    clamor of bells, cymbals, and wooden blocks, added force to

    their cry ; genuflexions and prostrations were repeatedlj’ made.

    One pai’t of the ceremony was to pass a live cock through a barrel,

    which the assistants performed many times, shouting some

    strange words at each repetition ; this act symbolized the dangers

    through which the child was to pass in his future life, and

    the priests had prayed that he might as safely come out of them

    all, as the cock had passed through the barrel. In conclusion,

    some of the prayers were burned and a libation poured out, and

    a grand symphony of bell, gong, drum, and block, closed the

    scene.”‘

    ‘ Presbyterian Missionary Chronide, 1846.

    CALLS AND COMPLLMKNTS AT NEW YEAR’S. 815

    A great diversity of local usages are observed at this period in different parts of the country. In iVmoy, the custom of ‘•’ surrounding the furnace” is generally practised. The members of the family sit down to a substantial supper on new year’s eve, with a pan of charcoal under the table, as a supposed preservative against fires. After the supper is ended, the wooden lamp-stands are brought out and spread upon the pavement with a heap of gold and silver paper, and set on fire after all demons have been warned off by a volley of fire-crackers. The embers are then divided into twelve heaps, and their manner of going out carefully watched as a prognostic of the kind of weather to be expected the ensuing year. Many persons wash their bodies in warm water, made aromatic by the infusion of leaves, as a security against disease; this ceremony, and ornamenting the ancestral shrine, and garnishing the whole house with inscriptions, pictures, flowers, and fruit, in the gayest manner the means of the family will allow, occupy most of the night.

    The stillness of the streets and the gay inscriptions on the

    closed shops on new year’s morning present a wonderful contrast

    to the usual bustle and crowd, resembling the Christian

    Sabbath. The red papers of the doors are here and there interspersed with the blue ones, announcing that during the past

    year death has come among the inmates of the house ; a silent

    but expressive intimation to passers that some who saw the last

    new year have passed away. In certain places, white, yellow,

    and carnation colored papers are employed, as well as blue, to

    distinguish the degree of the deceased kindred. Etiquette requires that those who mourn remain at home at this period.

    By noontide the streets begin to be filled with well-dressed persons, hastening in sedans or afoot to make their calls; those who cannot afford to buy a new suit hire one for this purpose, so that a man hardly knows his own domestics in their finery and robes. The meeting of friends in the streets, both bound on the same errand, is attended with particular demonstrations of respect, each politely struggling who shall be most affectedly humble. On this day parents receive the prostrations of their children, teachers expect the salutations of their pupils, magistrates

    look for the calls of their inferiors, and ancestors of every

    generation, and gods of various powers are presented with the

    offerings of devotees in the family hall or public temple. Much

    of the visiting is done by cards, on which is stamped an emblematic

    device representing the three happy wishes—of children,

    rank, and longevity ; a common card suffices for distant

    acquaintances and customers. It might be a subject of speculation

    whether the custom of visiting and renewing one’s acquaintances

    on new year’s day, so generally practised among

    the Dutch and in America, was not originally imitated from

    the Chinese ; but as in many other things, so in this, the

    westerns have improved upon the easterns, in calling upon

    the ladies. Persons, as they meet, salute each other with Kung-hi I Kung-ld ! ‘ I respectfully wish yon joy ! ‘—or Sviihi! 8in-hi ! ‘ May the new joy be yours,’ either of which, from its use at this season, is quite like the Ilayj^ij JVew Year ! of Englishmen.

    Toward evening, the merry sounds proceeding from the closed

    doors announce that the sacrifice provided for presentation before

    the shrines of departed parents is cheering the M’orshippers ;

    while the great numbers who resort to gambling-shops show full

    M’ell that the routine of ceremony soon becomes tiresome, and a

    more exciting stimulus is needed. The extent to which play is

    now carried is almost indescribable. Jugglers, mountebanks,

    and actors also endeavor to collect a few coppers by amusing

    the crowds. Generally speaking, however, the three days devoted

    to this festival pass by without turmoil, and business and

    work then gradually resume their usual course for another

    twelvemonth.

    The festival of the dragon-boats, on the fifth day of the fifth month, presents a very different scene wherever there is a serviceable stream for its celebration. At Canton, long, narrow boats, holding sixty or more rowers, race up and down the river in pairs with huge clamor, as if searching for some one wdio had been drowned. This festival was instituted in memory of the statesman Kiih Yuen, about 450 b.c, who drowned himself in the river Miii-lo, an affluent of Tungting Lake, after having been falsely accused by one of the petty princes of the state. The people, who loved the unfortunate courtier for his

    fidelity and virtues, sent out boats in search of the body, but to

    no purpose. They then made a peculiar sort of rice-cake called

    tsung, and setting out across the river in boats with flags and

    gongs, each strove to be fii’st on the spot of the tragedy and sacrifice

    to the spirit of Kiih Yuen. This mode of commemoi-ating

    the event has been since continued as an annual holiday.

    The bow of the boat is ornamented or cai’ved into the head of

    a dragon, and men beating gongs and drums, and waving flags,

    inspirit the rowers to renewed exertions. The exhilarating exercise

    of racing leads the people to prolong the festival two or

    three days, and geiuM’ally with commendable good humor, but

    their eagerness to beat t»ften breaks the boats, or leads them

    DKAGON-BOAT FESTIVAL XnD FEAST OF JvANTEKNS. 817

    into 80 iiiudi danger that the magistrates souietiiues forbid the

    races in order to save tlie people from drowning.’

    •The first full moon of the year is the feast of lanterns, a

    childish and dull festival compared with the two preceding. Its

    origin is not certainly known, but it was obse^. ^d as early as

    A.D. 700. Its celebration consists in suspending lantei-ns of different

    forms and materials before each door, and illuminating

    those in the hall, but their united brilliancy is dimness itself

    compared with the light of the moon. At Peking, an exhibition

    of transparencies and pictures in the Loard of War on this

    evening attracts great crowds of both sexes if the weather be

    good. Magaillans describes a firework he saw, which was an

    arbor covered with a vine, the woodwork of which seemed to

    burn, while the trunk, leaves, and clusters of the plant gradually

    consumed, yet so that the redness of the grapes, the greenness

    of the leaves, and natural brown of the stem were all

    maintained until the whole was burned. The feast of lanterns

    coming so soon after new year, and being somewhat expensive,

    is not so enthusiastically observed in the southern cities. At

    the capital this leisure time, when public offices are closed, is

    availed of by the jewellers, bric-a-brac dealers, and others to

    hold a fair in the courts of a temple in the Wai Ching, where

    they exhibit as beautiful a collection of carvings in stone and

    gems, bronzes, toys, etc., as is to be seen anywhere in Asia.

    ‘ Compare Morrison’s Dictionary under Tsunrj ; Doolittle, &>ntil Life, Vol II., pp. 55-60; JVot^s and Qaeries on China ami Japan, Vol. II., p. 157.Vol. J. —53

    The respect with which the crowds of women and children are treated on these occasions reflects much credit on the people. In the manufacture of lanterns the Chinese surely excel all other people ; the variety of their forms, their elegant carving, gilding, and coloring, and the laborious ingenuity and taste displayed in their construction, render them among the prettiest ornaments of their dwellings. They are made of paper, silk, cloth, glass, horn, basket-work, and bamboo, exhibiting an infinite variety of shapes and decorations, vary ingin size from a small hand-light, costing two or three cents, up to a magnificent chandelier, or a complicated lantern fifteen feet in diameter, containing several lamps within it, and worth three or four hundred dollars. The uses to which they are applied are not less various than the pains and skill bestowed upon their construction are remarkable. One curious kind is called the tsao-ma-tdng^ or ‘ horse-racing lantern,’ which consists of one, two, or more wire

    frames, one within the other, and arranged on the same principle

    as the smoke-jack, by w^iich the current of air caused by

    the flame sets them revolving. The wire framework is covered

    with paper figures of men and animals placed in the midst of

    appropriate scenery, and represented in various attitudes ; or,

    as Magaillans describes them, ” You shall see horses run, draw

    chariots and till the earth ; vessels sailing, kings and princes go

    in and out with large trains, and great numbers of people, both

    afoot and a horseback, armies marching, comedies, dances, and

    a thousand other divertissements and motions represented.”

    One of the prettiest shows of lanterns is seen in a festival observed

    in the spring or autumn by fisherman on the southern

    coasts to propitiate the gods of the waters. An indispensable

    part of the procession is a dragon fifty feet or more long, made

    of light bamboo frames of the size and shape of a barrel, connected

    and covered with strips of colored cotton or silk ; the extremities

    represent the gaping head and frisking talk This

    monster symbolizes the ruler of the watery deep, and is carried

    through the streets by men holding the head and each joint

    upon poles, to which are suspended lanterns ; as they follow each

    other their steps give the body a wriggling, waving motion.

    Huge models of fish, similarly lighted, precede the dragon, while

    music and fireworks—the never-failing warning to lurking

    demons to keep out of the way—accompany the procession,

    which presents a very brilliant sight as it winds in its course

    through the dark streets. These sports and processions give

    idolatry its hold upon a people ; and although none of them are

    required or patronized by government in China as in other

    heathen countries, most of the scenes and games which please

    the people are recommended by connecting with them the observances

    or hopes of religion and the merrymaking of the

    festive board.

    ARRANGElvrENT AND STYLE OF PROCESSIONS. 819

    In the middle of the sixth moon lanterns are hung from the top of a pole placed on the highest part of the house. A single small lantern is deemed sufficient, but if the night be calm, a greater display is made by some householders, and especially in boats, by exhibiting colored glass lamps arranged in various ways. The illumination of a city like Canton when seen from a high spot is made still more brilliant by the moving boats on the river. On one of these festivals at Canton, an almost total eclipse of the moon called out the entire .population, each one carrying something with which to make a noise, kettles, pans, sticks, drums, gongs, guns, crackers, and what not to frighten away the dragon of the sky from his liideous feast. The advancing shadow gradually caused the mj-riads of lanterns to show more and more distinctly and started a still increasing clamor,

    till the darkness and the noise were both at their climax ; silence

    gradually resumed its sway as the moon recovered her fulness.

    The Chinese are fond of processions, and if marriages and

    funerals be included, have them more frequently than any other

    people. Livery establishments are opened in every city and town

    where processions are arranged and supplied with everything

    necessary for bi’idal and funeral occasions as well as religious

    festivals. Not only are sedans, bands of music, biers, framed

    and gilded stands for carrjdng idols, shrines, and sacrificial

    feasts, red boxes for holding the bride’s trousseau, etc., supplied,

    but also banners, tables, stands, curiosities, and uniforms in

    great variety. The men and boys required to carry them and

    perform the various parts of the ceremony are hired, a uniform

    hiding their ragged garments and dirty limbs. Guilds often go

    to a heavy expense in getting up a procession in honor of their

    patron saint, whose image is carried through the streets attended

    by the members of the corporation dressed in holiday robes and

    boots. The variety and participators of these shows are exceedingly

    curious and characteristic of the people’s taste. Here are

    seen splendid silken banners worked with rich embroidery,

    alternating with young girls bedizened with paint and flowers,

    and perched on high seats under an artificial tree or apparently

    almost in the air, resting upon frames on men’s shoulders ; bands

    of music ; sacrificial meats and fruits adorned with flowers ; shrines, images, and curious rarities laid out upon red pavilions; boys gaily dressed in official robes and riding upon ponies, oi harnessed up in a covered framework to represent horses, all so contri\’ed and painted that the spectator can hardly believe they are not riding Lilliputian ponies no bigger than dogs. A child standing in a car and carrying a branch on its shoulder, on one twi”; of which stands another child on one foot or a girl

    holding a plate of cakes in her hand, on the top of which stands

    another miss on tiptoe, the whole borne by coolies, sometimes

    add to the diversion of the spectacle and illustrate the mechanical

    skill of the exhibitors. Small companies dressed in a great

    variety of military uniforms, carrying spears, shields, halberds,

    etc., iio\v and then volunteer for the occasion, and give it a more

    martial appearance. The carpenters at Canton are famous for

    their splendid processions in honor of their hero, Lu Pan, in

    which also other craftsmen join ; for this demi-god corresponds

    to the Tubal-cain of Chinese legends, and is now regarded as

    the patron of all workmen, thougli he flourished no longer ago

    than the time of Confucius. Besides these festivities and processions,

    there are several more strictly religious, such as the

    annual mass of the Buddhists, the supplicatory sacrifice of

    farmers for a good crop, and others of more or less importance,

    which add to the number of days of recreation.

    Theatrical representations constitute a common amusement,

    and are generally connected with the religious celebration of

    the festival of the god before whose temple they are exhibited.

    They are got up by the priests, who send their neophytes around

    with a subscription paper, and then engage as large and skilful

    a band of performers as the funds will allow. There are few

    permanent buildings erected for theatres, for the Thespian band

    still retains its original strolling character, and stands ready to

    pack up its trappings at the first call. The erection of sheds

    for playing constitutes a separate l)ranch of the carpenter’s

    trade ; one large enough to accommodate two thousand persons

    can be put up in the southern cities in a day, and almost the

    only part of the materials which is wasted is the rattan which

    binds the posts and mats together. One large shed contahis

    the stage, and three smaller ones before it enclose an area, and

    are furnished with rude seats for the paying spectators. The

    THEATRICAL RKPKESEXTATIOXS AND PLAV-ACTOIIS. 821

    subscribers’ bounty is acknowledged by pasting^rcd siieets containing

    their names and amounts upon the walls of tlie temple.

    The purlieus are let as stands for the sale of refreshments, for

    gambling fables, or for worse purposes, and by all these means

    the ]>riests generally contrive to make gain of their devotion.’

    Parties of actoi-s and acrobats can be hired cheaply, and their

    performances form part of the festivities of rich families in

    their houses to entertain the women and relativ^es who cannot

    go abroad to see them. They are constituted into separate corporations or’ guilds, and each takes a distinguishing name, as the ‘ Happy and Blessed company,’ the ‘ Glorious Appearing company,’ etc.

    The performances usually extend through three entire days,

    with brief recesses for sleeping and eating, and in villages

    where they are comparatively rare, the people act as if they

    were bewitched, neglecting everything to attend them. The

    female parts are performed by lads, who not only paint and

    dress like women, but even squeeze their toes into the “golden

    lilies,” and imitate, upon the stage, a mincing, wriggling gait.

    These fellows personate the voice, tones, and motions of the

    sex with wonderful exactness, taking every opportunity, indeed,

    that the play will allow to relieve their feet by sitting when on

    the boards, or retiring into the green-room when out of the acts.

    The acting is chiefly pantomine, and its fidelity shows the excellent

    ti-aining of the players. This development of their imitative

    faculties is probably still more encouraged by the difficulty

    the audience find to understand what is said ; for owing to

    the differences in the dialects, the open construction of the

    theatre, the high falsetto or recitative key in which many of the

    parts are spoken, and the din of the orchestra intervening between

    every few sentences, not one cpiarter of the people hear

    or understand a word.

    ‘ Gray’s China (Vol. II., p. 273) contains a cut of a mat theatre from a native drawing. See also Doolittle, Social Life, Vol. II., pp. 292-299,

    The scenery is very simple, consisting merely of rudely painted mats arranged on the back and sides of the stage, a few tables, chairs, or beds, which successively serve for many uses, and are bfonglit in and out from the robing-room. The orchestra sits on the side of the stage, and not only fill up the intervals with their interludes, but strike a crashing noise by way of emphasis, or to add energy to the rush of opi30sing warriors.

    ]S’o falling curtain divides the acts or scenes, and the play is carried to its conclusion without intermission. The dresses are made of gorgeous silks, and present the best specimens of ancient Chinese costume of former dynasties now to be seen. The imperfections of the scenery require much to be suggested by the spectator’s imagination, though the actors themselves supply the defect in a measure by each man stating what part he performs, and what the person he represents has been doing: while absent. If a courier is to be sent to a distant city, away he strides across the boards, or perhaps gets a whip and cocks up his leg as if mounting a horse, and on reaching the end of the stao;e cries out that he has arrived, and there delivers his message. Passing a bridge or crossing a river are indicated by stepping up and then down, or by the rolling motion of a boat. If a city is to be impersonated, two or three men lie down upon each other, when warriors rush on them furiously, overthrow the wall which they formed, and take the place by assault. Ghosts or supernatural beings are introduced through a wide trap-door in the stage, and, if he thinks it necessary, the impersonator cries out from underneath that he is ready, or for assistance to help him up through the hole.

    Mr. Lay describes a play he saw, in which a medley of celestial

    and terrestrial personages were introduced. “The first

    scene was intended to represent the happiness and splendor of

    beings who inhabit the upper regions, with the sun and moon

    and the elements curiously personified playing around them.

    The man who personated the sun held a round image of the

    sun’s disk, while the female who acted the part of the moon

    liad a crescent in her hand. The actors took care to move so’

    as to mimic the conjunction and opposition of these heavenly

    bodies as they revolve round in their apparent orbs. The

    Thunderer wielded an axe, and lea})ed and dashed about in a

    variety of extraordinary somersaults. After a few turns the

    monarch, who had been so highly honored as to find a place.

    DESCRIPTION OF A PLAY. 823

    throngh the partiality of a mountain nynipli, in the ahocles of

    the happy, begins to feel that no height of good fortune can

    secure a mortal against the common calamities of this frail life.

    A wicked courtier disguises himself in a tiger’s skin, and in this

    garb imitates the animal itself. He rushes into the retired

    apartments of the ladies, frightens them out of their wits, and

    throws the heir-apparent into a moat. The sisters hurry into

    the royal presence, and casting themselves on the ground divulge

    the sad intelligence that a tiger has borne off the young

    prince, who it appears was the son of the mountain nymph

    aforesaid. The loss the bereaved monarch takes so much to

    heart, that he renounces the world and deliberates about the

    nomination of a successor. By the influence of a crafty woman

    he selects a young man who has just sense enough to know that

    he is a fool. The settlement of the crown is scarcely finished

    when the unhappy king dies, and the Ijlockhead is presently invested

    with the crown, but instead of excelling in his new preferment

    the lout bemoans his lot in the most awkward strains

    of lamentation, and cries, ‘ O dear ! what shall I do ? ‘ with such

    piteous action, and yet withal so truly ludicrous, that the spectator

    is at a loss to know whether to laugh or to weep. The courtier who had taken off the heir and broken the father’s heart finds the new king an easy tool fur prosecuting his traitorous purposes, and the state is plunged into the depths of civil discord at home and dangerous wars abroad.

    ” In the sequel a scene occurred in which the reconciliation of this court and some foreign prince depends upon the surrender of a certain obnoxious person. The son-in-law of the victim is charged with the letter containing this proposal, and returns to his house and disguises himself for the sake of concealment. When he reaches the court of the foreign prince he discovers that he has dropped the letter in changing his clothes, and narrowly escapes being taken for a spy without his credentials.

    He hurries back, calls for his garments, and shakes them one by one in an agony of self-reproach, but no letter appears. He sits down, throwing himself with great violence upon the chair, Avith a countenance inexpressibly full of torture and despair:

    reality could have added nothing to the imitation. But while every eye was riveted upon him, he called the servant maid and inquired if she knew anything about the letter ; she replied she overheard her mistress reading a letter whose contents

    were so and so. The mistress had taken her seat at a

    distance from him and was nursing her baby ; and the instant

    he ascertained the letter was in her possession, he looked toward

    her with such a smile upon his cheek, and with a flood of

    light in his eye, that the whole assembly heaved a loud sigh

    of admiration ; for the Chinese do not applaud by clapping and

    stamping, but express their feelings by an ejaculation that is

    between a sigh and a groan. The aim of the husband was to

    wheedle his wife out of the letter, and this smile and look of

    aifection were merely the prelude ; for he takes his chair, places

    it beside her, lays one hand softly on her shoulder, and fondles

    the child with the other in a style so exquisitely natural and so

    completely English, that in this dramatic picture it was seen

    that nature fashioneth men’s hearts alike. His addresses were,

    however, ineffectual, and her father’s life was not sacrificed.” ‘

    The morals of tlie Chinese stage, so far as the sentiments of

    the pieces are concerned, are better than the acting, which

    sometimes panders to depraved tastes, but no indecent exposure,

    as of the persons of dancers, is ever seen in China. The audience

    stand in the area fronting the stage, or sit in the sheds

    around it ; the women present are usually seated in the galleries.

    The police are at hand to maintain order, but the crowd, although in an irksome position, and sometimes exposed to a fierce sun, is remarkably peaceable. Accidents seldom occur on these occasions, but whenever the people are alarmed by a crash, or the stage takes fire, loss of life or limb generally ensues. A dreadful destruction took place at Canton in May, 1845, by the conflagration of a stage during the performances, by which more than two thousand lives were sacrificed ; the survivors had occasion to remember that fifty persons had been killed many years before in the same place, and while a play was going on, by the falling of a wall.^

    ‘ Chinese as They Are, p. 114. ^ Chinese Repository, Vol. XIV., p. 335,

    POPULAR AMUSEMENTS. 825

    j^ctive, manly plays are not popular in the south, and instead

    of engaging in a ball-game or i-egatta, going to a bowling alley

    or fives’ court, to exhibit their strength and skill, jouug men

    lift beams iieaded with heavy stones, like huge dumb-bells,

    to prove their muscle, or kick up their lieels in a game of

    shuttlecock. The out-door amusements of gentlemen consist in

    flying kites, carrying birds on perches and throwing seeds high

    in the air for them to catch, sauntering through the fields, or

    lazily boating on the water. Pitching coppers, fighting crickets

    ()!• quails, tossing up several balls at once, kicking large leaden

    balls against each other, snapping sticks, chncking stones, or

    guessing the number of seeds in an orange, are plays for

    lads.

    Gambling is universal. Hucksters at the roadside are provided

    with a cup and saucer, and the clicking of their dice is

    heard at every corner. A boy with but two cash prefers to risk

    their loss on the throw of a die to simply buying a cake without

    trying the chance of getting it for nothing. Gaminghouses

    are opened by scores, their keepers paying a bribe to the

    local officers, who can hardly be expected to be very severe

    against what they were brought up in and daily practise ; and

    women, in the privacy of their apartments, while away their

    time at cards and dominoes. Porters play by the wayside

    when waiting for employment, and hardly have the retinue of

    an officer seen their superiors enter the house, than they pull

    out their cards or dice and squat down to a game. The most

    common game of luck played at Canton is called fan tan^ or

    ‘ quadrating cash.’ The keeper of the table is provided with

    a pile of bright large cash, of which he takes a double handful,

    and lays them on the table, covering the pile with a bowl. The

    persons standing outside the rail guess the remainder there will

    be left after the pile has been divided by four, whether one, two,

    three, or nothing, the guess and stake of each person being first

    recorded by a clerk ; the keeper then carefully picks out the coins

    four by four, all narrowly watching his movements. Cheating

    is almost impossible in this game, and twenty people can play

    at it as easily as two. Chinese ciirds are smaller and more

    numerous than our own ; but the dominoes are the same.

    Combats between crickets are oftenest seen in the south, where the small field sort is common. Two well-chosen combatants are put into a basin and irritated with a straw until they rush upon each other with the utmost fury, chirruping as they make the onset, and the battle seldom ends without a tragical result in loss of life or limb. Quails are also trained to mortal combat ; two are placed on a railed table, on which a handful of millet has been strewn, and as soon as one picks up a kernel the other flies at him with beak, claws, and wings, and the struggle is kept up till one retreats by hopping into the Boys Gambling with Crickets.

    hand of his disappointed owner. Hundreds of dollars are occasionally betted upon these cricket or quail fights, which, if not as sublime or exciting, are certainly less inhuman than the pugilistic fights and bull-baits of Christian countries, while both show the same brutal love of sport at the expense of life.

    METHODS AXD POPULARITY OB’ GAMBLING. 827

    A favorite amusement is the flying of kites. They are made of paper and silk, in imitation of birds, butterflies, lizards, spectacles, fish, men, and other objects ; but the skill shown in flying them is more remarkable than the ingenuity displayed in their construction. The ninth day of the ninth moon is a festival devoted to this amusement all over the land. Doolittle describes them as sometimes resembling a great bird, or a serpent thirty feet long ; at other times the spectator sees a group of hawks hovering around a centre, all being suspended by one strong cord, and each hawk-kite controlled and moved by a separate line. On this day he estimates that as many as thirty thousand people assemble on the hills around Fuhchau to join in this amusement if the weather be propitious. Many of the kites are cut adrift under the belief that, as they float off, they carry away with them all impending disasters.

    Chinese Chess-board.

    The Chinese game of chess is very ancient, for Wu Wang (b.c. 1120) is the reputed inventor, and its rules of playing are so unlike the Indian game as to suggest an independent origin, which is confirmed by the peculiar feature of the kiai ho, or river, running across the board. There are seventy-two squares of which eight are run together to form the river, leaving thirty-two on each side ; but as the men stand on the intersection of the lines, there are ninety positions for the sixteen pieces used by each player, or twenty-six more than in the European game. The pieces are arranged for playing as in the diagram above.

    The pieces are like chequer-men in shape, each of the seven kinds on each side having its name cut on the top, and distinguished by its red or black colors. The four squares near each edge form the headquarters of the tsimig, or ‘ general,’ out of which he and his two «.*’, or ‘ secretaries,’ cannot move. On each side of the headquarters are two elephants, two horses, and two chariots, whose powers are less than our bishop, knight, and castle, though similar ; the chariot is the most powerful piece. In front of the horses stand two cannoniers, which capture like our knight but move like our castle. Five pao, soldiers or pawns, guard the river banks, but cannot return when

    once across it in pursuit of the enemy, and get no higher value

    when they reach the last row. Each piece is put down in the

    point where it captured its man, except the cannoniers ; as the

    general cannot be taken, the object of each player is to checkniate

    him in his headquarters, therefore, by preventing his

    moving except into check. The want of a queen and the limited

    moves of the men restrict the combinations in the Chinese

    game more than in western chess, but it has its own elements

    of skill. Literary men and women play it much, and usually

    for small stakes. There is another game played less frequently but one of the most ancient in the Empire. It is called loei-ki, which may be rendered ‘blockade chess,’ and was common in the days of the sages, perhaps even earlier than chess. The board contains three hundred and twenty four squares, eighteen each way, and the number of pieces is three hundred, though both the number of points and of pieces may be less than this size of the full game. The pieces are black and white and stand on the crossings of the lines, three hundred and sixty-one in number. The object of the opponents is to surround each other’s men and take up the crossings they occupy, or neutralize their power over those near them. Each player puts down a piece anywhere on the board, and continues to do so alternately, capturing his adversary’s positions until all the crossings are occupied and the game is ended.’

    CHINESE CHESS. 829

    If this sketch of the customs and annisemcnts of the Chinese

    in their social intercourse and public entertainments is necessarily

    brief, it is perhaps enough to exhibit their character.

    Dr. Johnson has well remarked that no man is a hypocrite in

    his amusements. The absence of some of the violent and gladiatorial

    sports of other countries, and of the adjudication of

    doubtful questions by ordeals or duels ; the general dislike of a

    resort to force, their inability to cope with enemies of vastly

    less resources and numbers, and the comparative disesteem of

    warlike achievements, all indicate the peaceful traits of Chinese character. Duels are unknown, assassinations are infrequent, betting on horse-races is still to begin, and running amuck a la Malay is unheard of. When two persons fall out upon a matter, after a vast variety of gesture and huge vociferation of opprobrium, they will blow oft their wrath and separate almost without touching each other. Some contrarieties in their ideas and customs from those practised among ourselves have frequently been noticed by travellers, a few of which are grouped in the following sketch :

    On asking the boatman in which direction the harbor hxy, I was answered west-north, and the wind, he said, was west-south ; lie still further perplexed my ideas as to our course by getting out his compass and showing me that the needle pointed south. It was really a needle as to size, weight, and length, about an inch and a half long, the south end of it painted red, and all the time quivering on the pivot. His boat differed from our vessels, too, in many ways: the cooking was done in the stern and the passengers were all accommodated in the bow, while the sailors slept on deck and had their kits stowed in lockers amidships.

    ‘ Temple Bur, Vol. XLIX., p. 45.

    On lauding, the first object that attracted my attention was a military officer wearing an embroidered petticoat, who had a string of beads around his neck and a fan in his hand. His insignia of rank was a peacock’s feather pointing downward instead of a plume turning upward ; he had a round knob or button on the apex of his sugar-loaf cap, instead of a star on his breast or epaulettes on his shoulders; and it was with some dismay that I saw him mount his horse on the right side. Several scabbards hung from his belt, which I naturally supposed must be dress swords or dirks; but on venturing near through the crowd 1 was undeceived by seeing a pair of chopsticks and a knife-handle sticking out of one, and soon his fan was folded up and put in the other. I therefore concluded that he was going to a dinner instead of a review. The natives around me shaved the hair from the front half of their heads and let it grow long behind: many of them did not shave their faces, and others employed their leisure in diligently pulling the straggling hairs down over their mouths. We arrange our toilets differently, thought I ; but could easily see the happy device of chopsticks, which enabled these gentlemen to put their food into the mouth endwise under this natural fringe. A group of hungry fellows, around the stall of a travelling cook, further exhibited the utility of these ktrai-fsz\ or ‘ nimble lads ‘ (as I afterward learned chopsticks were called), for each had put his bowl of rice to his lips, and was shovelling in the contents till the mouth would hold no more. “We keep our bowls on the table, ” said I, “do our cooking in the house, and wait for customers to come there instead of travelling around after them;” but these chopsticks serve for knife, fork, and spoon in one.

    On my way to the hotel I saw a group of old people and graybeards. A few were chirruping and chuckling to larks or thrushes, which they carried perched on a stick or in cages; others were catching flies or hunting for crickets to feed them, while the remainder of the party seemed to be delightfully employed in flying fantastic paper kites. A group of boys were gravely looking on and regarding these innocent occupations of their seniors with the most serious and gratified attention. A few of the most sprightly were kicking a shuttlecock back and forth with great energy, instead of playing rounders with bat and ball as boys would do.

    As I had come to the country to reside for some time, I made inquiries respecting a teacher, and happily found one who understood English. On entering he stood at the door, and instead of coming forward and shaking my hands, he politely bowed and shook his own, clasping them before his breast.

    I looked upon this mode as an improvement on our custom, especially when the condition of the hands might be doubtful, and requested him to be seated.

    I knew that I was to study a language without an alphabet, but was not prepared to see him begin at what I had always considered to be the end of the book. He read the date of its publication, ” the fifth year, tenth month, and first day.” ” We arrange our dates differently,” I observed, and begged him to read—which he did, from top to bottom, and proceeding from right to left.

    CONTRARIETIES IN CHINESE AND WESTERN USAGE. 831

    “You have an odd book here,” remarked I, taking it up; “what is the price?” “A dollar and eight-thirds,” said he, upon which I counted out three dollars and two-thirds and went on looking at it. The paper was printed only on one side; the running title was on the edge of the leaves instead of the top of the page, the paging was near the bottom, the number and contents of the chapters were at their ends, the marginal notes on the top, where the blank was double the size at the foot, and a broad black line across the middle of each page, like that seen in some French newspapers, separated the two works composing the volume, instead of one being printed after the other. The back was open and the sewing outside, and the name neatly written on the bottom edge. ” You have given me loo much,” said he, as h« handed me back two dollars and one-third, and then explained that eight thirds meant eight divided by three, or only three-eighths. A small native vocabulary which lu? carried with him had the characters arranged according to the termination of their sounds, iidny, dint/, kiiifj, being all in a row, and the first word in it being necii. “Ah! my friend,” said I, “English won’t help me to find a word in that book ; please give me your address.” He accordingly took out a red card, big as a sheet of paper, on which was written Ying San-yuen in large characters, and pointed out the place of his residence, written on the other side. “I thought your name was Mr. Ying; why do you write your name wrong end first ‘? ” ” It is you who are in the wrong,” replied he ; “look in your yearly directory, where alone you write names as they should be written, putting the honored family name first.”

    I could only say, ” Customs differ; ” and begged him to speak of ceremony, as I gave him back the book. He commenced, ” When you receive a distinguished guest, do not fail to place him on your left, for that is the seat of honor ; and be careful not to uncover the head, as that would be an unbecoming act of familiarity.” This was a little opposed to my established notions ; but when lie reopened the volume and read, ” The most learned men are decidedly of the opinion that the seat of the human understanding is in the belly,” I cried out, ” Better say it is in the feet ! ” and straightway shut up the book, dismissing him for another day ; for this shocked all my principles of correct philosophy, even if King Solomon was against me.

    On going abroad I met so many things contrary to my early notions of propriety that I readily assented to a friend’s observation, that the Chinese were our antipodes in many things besides geographical position. ” Indeed,” said T, ‘ ‘ they are so ; I shall expect shortly to see a man walking on his head. Look ! there’s a woman in trousers and a party of gentlemen in petticoats ; she is smoking and they are fanning themselves.” However, on passing them I saw that the latter had on tight leggings. We soon met the steward of the house dressed in white, and I asked him what merry-making he was invited to ; with a look of concern lie told me he was returning from his father’s funeral.

    Instead of having crape on his head he wore white shoes, and his dress was slovenly and neglected. My companion informed me that in the north of China it was common for rich people at funerals to put a white harness on the mules and .shroud the carts in coarse cotton ; while the chief mourners walked next to the bier, making loud cryings and showing their grief by leaning on the attendants. The friends rode behind and the musicians preceded the coffin—all being unlike our sable plumes and black crapes.

    We next went through a retired street, where we heard sobbing and crying inside a court, and I inquired who was dead or ill. The man, suppressing a smile, said, ” It is a girl about to be married, who is lamenting with her relatives and fellows as she bids adieu to the family penates and lares and her paternal home. She has enough to cry about, though, in the prospect of going to her mother-in-law’s house”

    I thought, after these unlucky essays, I would ask no more questions, but use my eyes instead. Looking into a shop, I saw a stout fellow sewing lace on a bonnet for a foreign lady; and going on to the landing-place, behold, all the ferry-boats were rowed by women, and from a passage-boat at the wharf I saw all the women get out ol! the bow to go ashore. “What are we coming to next ? ” said I ; and just then saw a carpenter take his foot-rule oiit of his stocking to measure some timber which an apprentice was cutting with a saw whose blade was set nearly at right angles with the frame. Before the door sat a man busily engaged in whitening the thick soles of a pair of cloth shoes.

    ” That’s a shoewhite, I suppose,” said I ; ” and he answers to the shoeblacks in New York, who cry ‘Shine ! shine !’ ” “Just so,” said my friend ; ” and beyond him see the poor wretch in chokey, with a board or cangue around his neck for a shirt-collar ; an article of his toilet which answers to the cuffs with which the lads in the Tombs there are garnished instead of bracelets. In the prisons in this land, instead of cropping the hair of a criminal, as with us, no man is allowed to have his head shaved.”

    In the alleys called streets, few of them ten feet wide, the signs stood on their ends or hung from the eaves ; the counters of the shops were next the street, the fronts were all open, and I saw the holes for the upright bars which secured the shop at night. Everything was done or sold in the streets or markets, which presented a strange medley. The hogs were transported in hampers on the shoulders of coolies, to the evident satisfaction of the inmates, and small pigs were put into baskets carried in slings, while the fish were frisking and jumping in shallow tubs as they were hawked from door to door.

    A loud din led us to look in at an open door to see what was going on, and there a dozen boys were learning their tasks, all crying like auctioneers ; one lad reciting his lesson out of Confucius turned his back to the master instead of looking him in the face, and another who was learning to write put the copyslip under the paper to imitate it, instead of looking at it as our boys would do.

    We next passed a fashionable lady stepping out of her sedan chair. Her head was adorned with flowers instead of a bonnet, her hands gloveless, and her neck quite bare. Her feet were encased in red silk pictured shoes not quite four inches long ; her plaited, embroidered petticoat was a foot longer than her gown, and her waist was not to be seen. As she entered the courtyard, leaning on the shoulder of her maid to help her walk on those cramped feet, my friend observed, “There you see a good example of a live walking stick.”

    A little after we met one of his acquaintances accompanying a prettily carved coffin, and he asked who was dead.

    ” No man hab catchee die,” replied the Celestial ; “this one piecy coffin I just now gib my olo fader. He likee too much counta my numba one ploper; s’pose he someteem catchee die, can usee he.”

    ” So fashion, eh?” rejoined n\v friend ; “how muchee plice can catchee one alia same same for that ?”

    ” I tinky can get one alia same so fashion one tousaia dollar, so ; this hab first chop hansom, lo.”

    ” Do you call that gibberish English or Chinese ? ” I asked ; for the language sounded no less strange than the custom of presenting a coffin to a living father differed from my preconceived notions of filial duty.

    “That’s the purest pigeon-English,” replied he; “and you must be the Jack Downing of Canton to immortalize it.”

    COMMENDABLE TIIAITS OF CHINESE CHAIIACTER. 833

    “Comi’, rather let lis go home, for soon I shall hardly be able to tell where or who I am in this strange land.” ‘

    In suinining up the moral traits of Chinese character—a far more difficult task than the enumeration of its oddities—we must necessarily compare them with that perfect standard given us from above. While their contrarieties indicate a different external civilization, a slight acquaintance with their morals proves tneir similarity to their fellow-men in the lineaments of a fallen and depraved nature. Some of the better traits of their character have been marvellously developed. They have attained, by the observance of peace and good order, to a high degree of security for life and property ; the various classes of society are linked together in a remarkably homogeneous manner by the diffusion of education in the most moral bookb in their language and a general regard for the legal rights of property. Equality of competition for office removes the main incentive to violence in order to obtain posts of power and dignity, and industry receives its just reward of food, raiment, and shelter with a uniformity which encourages its constant exertion. If any one asks how they have reached this point, we would primarily ascribe it to the blessing of the Governor of the nations, who has for

    His own purposes continued one people down to the present time from remote antiquity. The roots of society among them have never been broken up by emigration or the overflowing conquest of a superior race, but have been fully settled in a great regard for the family compact and deep reverence for parents and superiors. Education has strengthened and disseminated the morality they had, and God has blessed their filial piety by fulfilling the first commandment with promise and making their days long in the land which He has given them. Davis lays rather too much stress upon geographical and climatic causes in accounting for their advancement in these particulars, though their isolation has no doubt had much to do with their security and progress.

    Chinese Repository, Vol. X., p. 106 ; New York Christian Weekly, 1878. Vol. I. -53

    When, however, these traits have been mentioned, the Chinese are still more left without excuse for their wickedness, since being without law, they are a law unto themselves; they have always known better than they have done. With a general regard for outward decency, they are vile and polluted in a shocking degree; their conversation is full of filthy expressions and their lives of impure acts. They are somewhat restrained in the latter by the fences put around the family circle, so that seduction and adultery are comparatively infrequent, the former may even be said to be rare; but brothels and their inmates occur everywhere on land and on water. One danger attending young girls going abroad alone is that they will be stolen for incarceration in these gates of hell. By pictures, songs, and aphrodisiacs they excite their sensuality, and, as the Apostle says, “receive in themselves that recompense of their error which is meet.”

    MENDACITY OF THE CHINESE. 835

    More uneradicable than the sins of the flesh is the falsity of the Chinese, and its attendant sin of base ingratitude; their disregard of truth has perhaps done more to lower their character than any other fault. They feel no shame at being detected in a He (though they have not gone quite so far as not to know when they do lie), nor do they fear any punishment from their gods for it. On the other hand, the necessity of the case compels them, in their daily intercourse with each other, to pay some regard to truth, and each man, from his own consciousness, knows just about how much to expect. Ambassadors and merchants have not been in the best position to ascertain their real character in this respect; for on the one side the courtiers of Peking thought themselves called upon by the mere presence of an embassy to put on some fictitious appearances, and on the other, the integrity and fair dealing of the Hang merchants and great traders at Canton is in advance of the usual mercantile honesty of their countrymen. A Chinese requires but little motive to falsify, and he is constantly sharpening his wits to cozen his customer—wheedle him by promises and cheat him in goods or work. There is nothing which tries one so much when living among them as their disregard of truth, and renders him m indifferent as to what calamities may befall so mendacious a race ; an abiding impression of suspicion toward everybody rests upon the mind, which chills the warmest wishes for their welfare and thwarts many a plan to benefit them. Their better traits diminish in the distance, and patience is exhausted in its daily proximity and friction with this ancestor of all sins. Mr. Abeel mentions a case of deceit which may serve as a specimen.

    Soon after we arrived at Kulang sii, a man came to us who professed to be the near relation and guardian of the owners of the house in which we live, and presented a little boy as the joint proprietor with his widowed mother.

    From the appearance of the house and the testimony of others we could easily credit his story that the family were now in reduced circumstances, having not only lost the house when the English attacked the place, but a thousand dollars besides by native robbers; we therefore allowed him a small rent, and gave the dollars to the man, who put them into the hands of the child. The next month he made his appearance, but our servant, whom we had taken to be peculiarly honest for a heathen, suggested the propriety of inquiring whether the money was ever given to those for whom it was professedly received ; and soon returned with the information that the mother had heard nothing of the money, the man who received it not living in the family, but had now sent a lad to us who would receive it for her, and who our servants assured us would give it to the proper person. A day or two afterward our cook whispered to me that our honest servant, who had taken so much pains to prevent all fraud in the matter, had made the lad give him one-half of the money for his disinterestedness in preventing it from falling into improper hands; and further examination showed us that this very cook had himself received a good share to keep silent.

    Thieving is exceedingly common, and the illegal exactions of the rulers, as has already been sufficiently pointed out, are most burdensome. This vice, too, is somewhat restrained by the punishments inflicted on criminals, though the root of the evil is not touched. While the licentiousness of the Chinese may be in part ascribed to their ignorance of pure intellectual pleasures and the want of virtuous female society, so may their lying be attributed partly to their truckling fear of officers, and their thievery to the want of sufficient food or work. Hospitality is not a trait of their character; on the contrary, the number and wretched condition of the beggars show that public and private charity is ahuOi^t extinct ; yet here too the sweeping charge must be mouifled when we remember the efforts they make to sustain their relatives and families in so densely peopled a country.

    Their avarice is not so distinguishing a feature as their love of money, but the industry which this desire induces or presupposes is th source of most of their superiority to their neighbors.

    The politeness which they exhibit seldom has its motive in goodwill, and consequently, when the varnish is off, the rudeness, brutality, and coarseness of the material is seen; still, among themselves this exterior polish is not without some good results in preventing quarrels, where both parties, fully understanding each other, are careful not to overpass the bounds of etiquette.

    On the whole, the Chinese present a singular mixture: if there is something to commend, there is more to blame; if they have some glaring vices, they have more virtues than most pagan nations. Ostentatious kindness and inbred suspicion, ceremonious civility and real rudeness, partial invention and servile imitation, industry and waste, sycojjhancy and self-dependence, are, with other dark and bright qualities, strangely blended. In trying to remedy the faults of their character by the restraints of law and the diffusion of education, they have no doubt hit upon the right mode; and their shortcomings show how ineffectual both must be until the Gospel comes to the aid of ruler and subject in elevating the moral sense of the whole nation. Female infanticide in some parts openly confessed, and divested of all disgrace and penalties everywhere ; the dreadful prevalence of all the vices charged by the Apostle Paul upon the ancient heathen world ; the alarming extent of the use of opium(furnished, too, under the patronage, and supplied in purity by the power and skill of Great Britain from India), destroying the productions and natural resources of the people ; the universal practice of lying and dishonest dealings; the unblushing lewdness of old and young ; harsh cruelty toward prisoners by officers, and tyranny over slaves by masters—all form a full unchecked torrent of human depravity, and prove the existence of a kind and degree of moral degradation of which an excessive statement can scarcely be made, or an adequate conception hardly be formed.

  • 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.

  • WELLS WILLIAMS《The Middle Kingdom》1-5

    The Middle Kingdom: A SURVEY OP THE GEOGRAPHY, GOVERNMENT. LITERATURE, SOCIAL LIFE, ARTS, AND HISTORY of THE CHINESE EMPIRE ITS INHABITANTS
    S. WELLS WILLIAMS, LL.D.
    Professor of the Chinese language and literature at tale college; author or TONIC AND STLLABIO DICTIONARIES OF THE CHINESE LANOUAOE
    1913

    PREFACE
    During the thirty-five years which have elapsed since the first edition of this work was issued, a greater advance has probably been made in the political and intellectual development of China than within any previous century of her history. While neither the social habits nor principles of government have so far altered as to necessitate a complete rewriting of these pages, it will be found, nevertheless, that the present volumes treat of a reformed and in many respects modern nation. Under the new regime the central administration has radically increased its authority among the provincial rulers, and more than ever in former years has managed to maintain control over their pretentions. The Empire has, moreover, established its foreign relations on a well-understood basis by accredited envoys; this will soon affect the mass of the people by the greater facilities of trade, the presence of travelers, diffusion of education, and other agencies which are awaking the people from their lethargy. Already the influences which will gradually transform the face of society are mightily operating.
    The changes which have been made in the book comprise such alterations and additions as were necessary to describe the country under its new aspects. In the constant desire to preserve a convenient size, every doubtful or superfluous sentence has been erased, while the new matter incorporated has increased the bulk of the present edition about one-third. The arrangement of chapters is the same. The first four, treating of the geography, combine as many and accurate details of recent explorers or residents as the proportions of this section will permit. The extra-provincial regions are described from the researches of Russian, English, and Indian travelers of the last twenty years. It is a waste, mountainous territory for the most part and can never support a large population. Great pains have been taken by the cartographer, Jacob Wells, to consult the most authentic charts in the construction of the map of the Empire. By collating and reducing to scale the surveys and route charts of reliable travelers throughout the colonies, he has produced in all respects as accurate a map of Central Asia as is at this date possible. The Eighteen Provinces are in the main the same as in my former map.
    The chapter on the census remains for the most part without alteration, for until there has been a methodical inspection of the Empire, important questions concerning its population must be held in abeyance. It is worth noticing how generally the estimates in this chapter—or much larger figures—have since its first publication been accepted for the population of China. Foreign students of natural history in China have. by their researches in every department, furnished material for more extensive and precise descriptions under this subject than could possibly have been gathered twoscore years ago. The sixth chapter has, therefore, been almost wholly rewritten, and embraces as complete a summary of this wide field as space would allow or the general reader tolerate. The specialist will, however, speedily recognize the fact that this rapid glance serves rather to indicate how immense and imperfectly explored is this subject than to describe whatever is known.

    That portion of the first volume treating of the laws and their administration does not admit of more than a few minor changes. However good their theory of jurisprudence, the people have many things to bear from the injustice of their rulers, but more from their own vices. The Peking Gazette is now regularly translated in the Shanghai papers, and gives a coup devil of the administration of the highest value.

    The chapters on the languages and literature are considerably improved. The translations and text-books which the diligence of foreign scholars has recently furnished could be only partially enumerated, though here, as elsewhere in the work, references in the foot-notes are intended to direct the more interested student to the bibliography of the subject, and present him with the materials for an exhaustive study. The native literature is extensive, and all branches have contributed somewhat to form the resume which is contained in this section, giving a preponderance to the Confucian classics. The four succeeding chapters contain notices of the arts, industries, domestic life, and science of the Chinese—a necessarily rapid survey, since these features of Chinese life are already well understood by foreigners. Nothing, however, that is either original or peculiar has been omitted in the endeavor to portray their social and economic characteristics. The emigration of many thousands of the people of Kwangtung within the last thirty years has made that province a representative among foreign nations of the others; it may be added that its inhabitants are well fitted, by their enterprise, thrift, and maritime habits, to become types of the whole.

    The history and chronology are made fuller by the addition of several facts and tables(An alphabetical arrangement of all the tables scattered throughout the work may be found, under this word in the Index.) ; but the field of research in this direction has as yet scarcely been defined, and few certain dates have been determined prior to the Confucian era. The entire continent of Asia must be thoroughly investigated in its geography, antiquities, and literature in order to throw light on the eastern portion. The history of China offers an interesting topic for a scholar who would devote his life to its elucidation from the mass of native literature.
    The two chapters on the religions, and what has been done within the past half century to promote Christian missions, are somewhat enlarged and brought down to the present time. The study of modern scholars in the examination of Chinese religious beliefs has enabled them to make comparisons with other systems of Asiatics, as well as discuss the native creeds with more certainty.
    The chapter on the commerce of China has an importance commensurate with its growing amount. Within the past ten years the opium trade has been attacked in its moral and commercial bearings between China, India, and England. There are grounds for hope that the British Government will free itself from any connection with it, which will be a triumph of justice and Christianity. The remainder of Volume II. Describes events in the intercourse of China with the outer world, including a brief account of the Tai-ping Rebellion, which proximately grew out of foreign ideas. No connected or satisfactory narrative of the events which have forced one of the greatest nations of the world into her proper position, so far as I am aware, has as yet been prepared. A succinct recital of one of the most extraordinary developments of modern times should nut be without interest to all.
    The work of condensing the vast increase of reliable information upon China into these two volumes has been attended with considerable labor. Future writers will, I am convinced, after the manner of Richthofen, Yule, Legge, and others, confine themselves to single or cognate subjects rather than attempt such a comprehensive synopsis as is here presented. The number of illustrations in this edition is nearly doubled, the added ones being selected with particular reference to the subject-matter. I have availed myself of whatever sources of information I could command, due acknowledgment of which is made in the foot-notes, and ample references in the Index.
    The revision of this book has been the slow though constant occupation of several years. When at last I had completed the revised copy and made arrangements as to its publication, in March, 1882, my health failed, and under a partial paralysis I was rendered incapable of further labor. My son, Frederick Wells Williams, who had already looked over the copy, now assumed entire charge of the publication. I had the more confidence that he would perform the duties of editor, for he had already a general acquaintance with China and the books which are the best authority. The work has been well done, the last three chapters particularly having been improved under his careful revision and especial study of the recent political history of China. The Index is his work, and throughout the book I am indebted to his careful supervision, especially on the chapters treating of geography and literature. By the opening of this year I had so far recovered as to be able to superintend the printing and look over the proofs of the second volume.
    My experiences in the forty-three years of my life in China were coeval with the changes which gradually culminated in the opening of the country. Among the most important of these may be mentioned the cessation of the East India Company in 1834, the war with England in 1841-42, the removal of the monopoly of the hong merchants(特许商行), the opening of five ports to trade, the untoward attack on the city of Canton which grew out of the lorcha Arrow, the operations in the vicinity of Peking, the establishment of foreign legations in that city, and finally, in 1873, the peaceful settlement of the kotow, which rendered possible the approach of foreign ministers to the Emperor’s presence. Those who trace the hand of God in history will gather from such rapid and great changes in this Empire the foreshadowing of the fulfilment of his purposes ; for while these political events were in progress the Bible was circulating, and the preaching and educational labors of missionaries were silently and with little opposition accomplishing their leavening work among the people.

    On my arrival at Canton in 1833 I was officially reported, with two other Americans, to the hong merchant Kingqua as fan-kwai, or ‘foreign devils,’ who had come to live under his tutelage. In 1874, as Secretary of the American Embassy at Peking, I accompanied the Hon. B. P. Avery to the presence of the Emperor Tungchi, when the Minister of the United States presented his letters of credence on a footing of perfect equality with the ‘Son of Heaven.’ With two such experiences in a lifetime, and mindful of the immense intellectual and moral development which is needed to bring an independent government from the position of forcing one of them to that of yielding the other, it is not strange that I am assured of a great future for the sons of Han; but the progress of pure Christianity will be the only adequate means to save the conflicting elements involved in such a growth from destroying each other. Whatever is in store for them, it is certain that the country has passed its period of passivity. There is no more for China the repose of indolence and seclusion—when she looked down on the nations in her overweening pride like the stars with which she could have no concern.

    In this revision the same object has been kept in view that is stated in the Preface to the first edition—to divest the Chinese people and civilization of that peculiar and indefinable impression of ridicule which has been so generally given them by foreign authors. I have endeavored to show the better traits of their national character, and that they have had up to this time no opportunity of learning man}’ things with which they are now rapidly becoming acquainted. The time is speedily passing away when the people of the Flowery Land can fairly be classed among uncivilized nations. The stimulus which in this labor of my earlier and later years has been ever present to my mind is the hope that the cause of missions may be promoted. In the success of this cause lies the salvation of China as a people, both in its moral and political aspects. This success bids fair to keep pace with the needs of the people. They will become fitted for taking up the work themselves and joining in the multiform operations of foreign civilizations. Soon railroads, telegraphs, and manufactures will be introduced, and these must be followed by whatsoever may conduce to enlightening the millions of the people of China in every department of religious, political, and domestic life.
    The descent of the Holy Spirit is promised in the latter times, and the preparatory work for that descent has been accomplishing in a vastly greater ratio than ever before, and with increased facilities toward its final completion. The promise of that Spirit will fulfil the prophecy of Isaiah, delivered before the era of Confucius, and God’s people will come from the land of Sinim and join in the anthem of praise with every tribe under the sun.
    S. w. w. New Haven, July, 1883.

    CONTENTS OF VOLUME I & VOLUME II

    CHAPTER I. General Divisions and Features of the Empire
    Unusual interest involved in the study of China ; The name China probably a corruption of Tsin; Other Asiatic names for the country; Ancient and modern native designations; Dimensions of the Empire; Its three Grand Divisions :The Eighteen Provinces, Manchuria, and Colonies; China Proper, its names and limits; Four large mountain chains; The Tien shan. ibid.: The Kwanlun; The Hing-an and Himalaya systems; Pumpelly’s ” Sinian System” of mountains; The Desert of Gobi and Sha-moh; Its character and various names; Rivers of China : The Yellow River; The Yangtsz’ River; The Chu or Pearl River;Lakes of China; Boundaries of China Proper; Character of its coast; The Great Plain; The Great Wall of China, its course; Its construction and aspect; The Grand Canal,; Its history and present condition; Minor canals; Public roads, De Guignes’ description, ibid.; General aspects of a landscape; Physical characteristics of the Chinese; The women; Aborigines: Miaotsz’, Lolos, Limus, and others; Manchus and Mongols; Attainments and limits of Chinese civilization
    CHAPTER II. Geographical Description of the Eastern Provinces
    Limited knowledge of foreign countries; Topographies of China numerous and minute; Climate of the Eighteen Provinces; Of Peking and the Great Plain; Of the southern coast towns; Contrast in rain-fall between Chinese and American coasts; Tyfoons; Topographical divisions into Fu, Ting, Chan, and Hien; Position and boundary of Chihli Province; Table of the Eighteen Provinces, their subdivisions and government; Situation, size, and history of Peking; Its walls and divisions; The prohibited city (Tsz’ Kin Ching) and imperial residence; The imperial city (Huang Ching) and its public buildings; The so-called “Tartar City”; The Temples of Heaven and of Agriculture; Environs of Peking; Tientsin and the Pei ho; Dolon-nor or Lama-miao; Water-courses and productions of the province; The Province of Shantung; Tai shan, the ‘Great Mount’; Cities, productions, and people of Shantung; Shansi, its natural features and resources; Taiyuen, the capital; Roads and mountain passes of Shansi; Position and aspect of Honan Province, ibid.; Kaifung, its capital; Kiangsu Province, ibid.; Its fertility and abundant water-ways; Nanking, or Kiangning, the capital; Porcelain Tower of Nanking; Suchau, “the Paris of China”; Chinkiang and Golden Island; Shanghai; The Province of Nganhwui; Nganking, Wuhu, and Hwuichau; Kiangsi Province; Nanchang, its capital, and the River Kan; Porcelain vvorks at Kingteh in Jauchau; Chehkiang Province, its rivers; Hangchau, the capital; Ningpo; Chinhai ano the Chusan Archipelago; Chapu, Canfu, and the “Gates of China,”; Fuhkien Province, ibid. : The River Min, Fuhchau; Amoy and its environs; Chinchau (Tsiuenchau), the ancient Zayton; Position, inhabitants, and productions of Formosa; The Pescadore Islands
    CHAPTER III. Geographical Description of the Western Provinces
    The Province of Hupeh; The three towns, Wuchang, Hanyang, and Hankow; Scenery on the Yangtsz’ kiang; Hunan Province, its rivers and capital city; Shensi Province; The city of Si-ngan; Topography and climate of Kansuli Province; Sz’chuen Province and its four streams; Chingtu fu and the Min Valley; The Province of Kwangtung; Position of Canton, or Kwangchau; Its population, walls, general appearance; Its streets and two pagodas; Temple of Longevity and Honam Josshouse; Other shrines and the Examination Hall; The foreign factories, or ‘Thirteen Hongs’; Sights in the suburbs of Canton; Whanipoa and Macao; The colony of Hongkong; Places of interest in Kwangtiing; The Island of Hainan; Kwangsi Province; Kweichau Province; The Miaotsz’; The Province of Yunnan; Its topography and native tribes; Its mineral wealth
    CHAPTER IV. Geographical Description of Manchuria, Mongolia, Ili, and Tibet
    Foreign and Chinese notions of the land of Tartary; Table of the Colonies, their subdivisions and governments; Extent of Manchuria; Its mountain ranges; The Amur and its affluents, the Ingoda, Argun, Usuri, and Songari; Natural resources of Manchuria; The Province of Shingking, ibid.; Its capital, Mukden, and other towns; Climate of Manchuria; The Province of Kirin; The Province of Tsi-tsi-har; Administration of government in Manchuria; Extent of Mongolia; Its climate and divisions; Inner Mongolia; Outer Mongolia; Urga, its capital, ibid. ; Civilization and trade of the Mongols; Kiakhta and Maimai chin; The Province of Cobdo; The Province of Koko-nor, or Tsing hai; Its topography and productions; Towns between Great Wall and Ili; Position and topography of ill; Tien-shan Peh Lu, or Northern Circuit; Kuldja, its capital; Tien-shan Nan Lu, or Southern Circuit; The Tarim Basin, ibid. ; Cities of the Southern Circuit; Kashgar, town and government; Yarkand; The District of Khoten; Administration of government in Ili; History and conquest of the country; Tibet, its boundaries and names; Topography of the province; Its climate and productions; The yak and wild animals, ibid. ; Divisions: Anterior and Ulterior Tibet; Il’lassa, the capital city; Manning’s visit to the Dalai-lama; Shigatsi’, capital of Ulterior Tibet; Om mani padmi hum; Manners and customs in Tibet; Language; History; Government
    CHAPTER V. Population and Statistics
    Interest and difficulties of this subject; Ma Twan-lin’s study of the censuses; Tables of various censuses; These estimates considered in detail; Four of these are reliable; Evidence in their favor; Comparative population-density of Europe and China; Proportion of arable and unproductive land; Sources and kinds of food in China; Tendencies toward increase of population; Obstacles to emigration; Government care of the people; Density of population near Canton, ibid; Mode of taking the census under Kublai khan; Present method; Reasons for admitting the Chinese census; Two objections to its acceptance; Unsatisfactory statistics of revenue in China; Revenue of Kwangtung Province; Estimates of Medhurst, De Guignes, and others; Principal items of expenditure; Pay of military and civil officers; The land tax
    CHAPTER VI. Natural History of China
    Foreign scientists and explorers in China; Interesting geological features; Loess formation of Northern China, ibid. : Its wonderful usefulness and fertility; Baron Richthofen’s theory as to its origin; Minerals of China Proper : Coal; Building stones, salts, jade, etc.; The precious metals and their production; Animals of the Empire; Monkeys; Various carnivorous animals; Cattle, sheep, deer, etc.; Horses, pigs, camels, etc.; Smaller animals and rodents; Cetacea in Chinese waters; Birds of prey; Passerinse, song-birds, pies, etc.; Pigeons and grouse; Varieties of pheasants; Peacocks and ducks; An aviary in Canton; Four fabulous animals : The ki-Un; The fung-huang, or phoenix; The lung, or dragon, and kuei, or tortoise; Alligators and serpents; Ichthyology of China; Gold-fish and methods of rearing them; Shell-fish of the Southern coast; Insects : Silk-worms and beetles; Wax-worm : Native notions of insects; Students of botany in China; Flora of Hongkong, coniferae, grasses; The bamboo; Varieties of palms, lilies, tubers, etc.; Forest and timber growth; Rhubarb, the Chinese ‘ date ‘ and ‘ olive’; Fruit-trees; Flowering and ornamental plants; The Pun tsito, or Chinese herbal; Its medicine and botany; Its zoology; Its observations on the horse; State of the natural sciences in China
    CHAPTER VII. Laws of China, and Plan of its Government
    Theory of the Chinese Government patriarchal; The principles of surveillance and mutual responsibility; The Penal Code of China; Preface by the Emperor Shunchi; Its General, Civil, and Fiscal Divisions; Ritual, Military, and Criminal Laws; The Code compares favorably with other Asiatic Laws; Defects in the Chinese Code; General survey of the Chinese Government; 1, The Emperor, his position and titles, ibid. ; Proclamation of Hungwu, first Manchu Emperor; Peculiarities in the names of Emperors; The Kicoh Imo, or National, and Miiio hao, or Ancestral Names; Style of an Imperial Inaugural Proclamation; Programme of Coronation Ceremonies; Dignity and Sacredness of the Emperor’s Person; Control of the Right of Succession; The Imperial Clan and Titular Nobles; 2, The Court, its internal arrangements; The Imperial Harem; Position of the Empress-dowager; Guard and Escort of the Palace; 3, Classes of society in China; Eight privileged classes; The nine honorary “Buttons,” or Rank; 4, The central administration; The Nui Koh, or Cabinet; The Kinn-ki Chu, or General Council; The King Pao, or Peking Gazette; The Six Boards(a), of Civil Office—Li Pu; (b), of Revenue—Hu PU; (c), of Rites— Li Pu; {d), of War—Ping Pu; {e), of Punishments—Hing Pu; (f), of War—Ping Pu; The Colonial Office; The Censorate; Frankness and honesty of certain censors; Courts of Transmission and Judicature; The Hanlin Yuen, or Imperial Academy; Minor courts and colleges of the capital; 5, Provincial Governments; Governors-general (tsungtuh) and Governors (futai); Subordinate provincial authorities; Literary, Revenue, and Salt Departments; Tabular Resume of Provincial Magistrates; Military and Naval control; Special messengers, or commissioners
    CHAPTER VIII. Administration of the Laws
    6, Execution of laws, checks upon ambitious officers; Triennial Catalogue and its uses; Character and position of Chinese officials; The lied Book, or status of office-holders; Types of Chinese high officers : Duke Ho; Career of Commissioner Sung; Public lives of Commissioners Lin and Kiying; Popularity of upright officers. Governor Chu’s valedictory; Official confessions and petitions for punishment; Imperial responsibility for public disasters; A prayer for rain of the Emperor Taukwang; Imperial edicts, their publication and phraseology; Contrast between the theory and practice of Chinese legislation; Extortions practised by officials of all ranks; Evils of an ill-paid police; Fear and selfishness of the people; Extent of clan systems among them; Village elders and clan rivalries; Dakoits and thieves throughout the country; Popular associations—character of their manifestoes; Secret societies. The Triad, or Water-Lily Sect; A Memorial upon the Evils of Mal-Administration; Efforts of the authorities against brigandage; Difficulties in collecting the taxes; Character of proceedings in the Law Courts; Establishments of high magistrates; Conduct of a criminal trial; Torture employed to elicit confessions; The five kinds of punishments; Modes of executing criminals; Public prisons, their miserable condition; The influence of public opinion in checking oppression
    CHAPTER IX. Education and Literary Examinations
    Stimulus of literary pursuits in China; Foundation of the present system of competition; Precepts controlling early education; Arrangements and curriculum of boys’ schools; Six text-books employed : 1, The ‘Trimetrical Classic’; 2, The ‘Century of Surnames,’ and 3, ‘ Thousand-Character Classic’; 4, The ‘ Odes for Children’; 5, The Hiao King, or ‘ Canons of Filial Duty,’; 6, The Siao Hioh, or ‘Juvenile Instructor,’; High schools and colleges; Proportion of readers throughout China; Private schools and higher education; System of examinations for degrees and public offices; Preliminary trials; Examination for the First Degree, Siu-tsai,; For the Second Degree, Kil-jin,; Example of a competing essay,; Final honors conferred at Peking; A like system applied to the military; Workings and results of the system of examinations,; Its abuses and corruption; Social distinction and influence enjoyed by graduates; Female education in China; Authors and school-books employed
    CHAPTER X Structure of the Chinese Language
    Influence of the Chinese language upon its literature; Native accounts of the origin of their characters; Growth and development of the language; Characters arranged into six classes; Development from hieroglyphics; Phonetic and descriptive properties of a character; Arrangement of the characters in lexicons; Classification according to radicals; Mass of characters in the language; Six styles of written characters; Their elementary strokes; Ink, paper, and printing; Manufacture and price of books; Native and foreign movable types; Phonetic character of the Chinese language; Manner of distinguishing words of like sound; The Shing, or tones of the language; Number of sounds or words in Chinese; The local dialects and patois; Court or Mandarin dialect; Other dialects and variations in pronunciation; Grammar of the language; Its defects and omissions; Hints for its study; Pigeon English
    CHAPTER XI. Classical Literature of the Chinese
    The Imperial Catalogue as an index to Chinese literature; The Five Classics : I. The Yih King, or ‘Book of Changes’; II. The Shu King, or ‘ Book of Records’; III. The Shi King, or ‘ Book of Odes’; IV. The Li Ki, or ‘ Book of Rites,’ and other Rituals; V. The Chun Tsui, or ‘ Spring and Autumn Record’; The Four Books : 1, The ‘Great Learning’ 2, The ‘Just Medium’; 3, The Lun Yu, or ‘ Analects ‘ of Confucius; Life of Confucius; Character of the Confucian System of Ethics; 4, The Works of Mencius; His Life, and personal character of his Teachings; Dictionary of the Emperor Kanghi
    CHAPTER XII. Polite Literature of the Chinese
    Character of Chinese Ornamental Literature; Works on Chinese History; Historical Novels; The ‘ Antiquarian Researches ‘ of Ma Twan-lin; Philosophical Works : Chu Hi on the Primum Mobile; Military, Legal, and Agricultural Writings; The Shing Yu, or ‘Sacred Commands’ of Kanghi; Works on Art, Science, and Encyclopedias; Character and Examples of Chinese Fiction; Poetry: The Story of Li Tai-peh; Modern Songs and Extempore Verses; Dramatic Literature, burlettas; ‘The Mender of Cracked Chinaware ‘—a Farce; Deficiencies and limits of Chinese literature; Collection of Chinese Proverbs
    CHAPTER XIII. Architecture, Dress, and Diet of the Chinese
    Notions entertained by foreigners upon Chinese customs; Architecture of the Chinese; Building materials and private houses; Their public and ornamental structures; Arrangement of country houses and gardens; Chinese cities: shops and streets; Temples, club-houses, and taverns; Street scenes in Canton and Peking; Pagodas, their origin and construction; Modes of travelling; Various kinds of boats; Living on the water in China; Chop-boats and junks; Bridges, ornamental and practical; Honorary Portals, or Pai-lan; Construction of forts and batteries; Permanence of fashion in Chinese dress; Arrangement of hair, the Queue; Imperial and official costumes; Dress of Chinese women; Compressed feet : origin and results of the fashion; Toilet practices of men and women; Food of the Chinese, mostly vegetable; Kinds and preparation of their meats; Method of hatching and rearing ducks’ eggs; Enormous consumption of fish; The art of cooking in China
    CHAPTER XIV. Social Life among the Chinese
    Features and professions in Chinese society; Social relations between the sexes; Customs of betrothment and marriage; Laws regulating marriages; General condition of females in China; Personal names of the Chinese; Familiar and ceremonial intercourse : The Kotow; Forms and etiquette of visiting; A Chinese banquet; Temperance of the Chinese; Festivals ; Absence of a-Sabbath in China; Customs and ceremonies attending New-Year’s Day; The dragon-boat festival and feast of lanterns; Brilliance and popularity of processions in China; Play-houses and theatrical shows; Amusements and sports : Gambling, chess; Contrarieties in Chinese and Western usage Strength and weakness of Chinese character; Their mendacity and deceit
    CHAPTER XV.  INDUSTRIAL ARTS OF THE CHINESE
    Tenure of land in China; Agricultural utensils; Horse-shoeing; Cultivation of rice; Terraces and methods of irrigation; Manner of using manure; Hemp, the mulberry sugar, and the tallow-tree; Efforts in arboriculture; Celebration of the annual ploughing ceremony; Modes of catching and rearing fish; Mechanical arts, metallurgy; Glass and precious stones; Ingredients and manufacture of porcelain; Its decoration; Chinese snuff-bottles discovered in Egyptian tombs; The preparation of lacquered-ware; Silk culture and manufacture in China; Chinese skill in embroidery; Growth and manufacture of cotton; Leather, felt, etc.; Tea culture, 39 ; Method of curing and preparing, 42 ; Green and black teas, 44 ; Historical notice; Constituents and effects of tea; Preparation of cassia (cinnamomum) and camphor; Ingenious methods of Chinese craftsmen; The blacksmith and dish-mender; Carving in wood and ivory, 59 ; Manufacture of cloisonne, matting, etc.• General aspect of Chinese industrial society.
    CHAPTER XVI.  Science Among the Chinese
    Attainments of the Chinese in the exact sciences : Arithmetic; Astronomy, 68 ; Arrangement of the calendar, 69 ; Divisions of the zodiac, 71 ; Chinese observations of comets and eclipses; Their notions concerning the “Action and Reaction of the Elements,”; Astronomical myths: Story of the herdsman and weaver-girl; Divisions of the day : arrangement of the almanac, 79 ; Geographical knowledge, 80 ; Measures of length, money, and weight, 81 ; System of banks and use of paper money, 85 ; Pawnshops, 8G ; Popular associations, or huni; The theory and practice of war, arms in use, 89 ; Introduction and employment of gunpowder, 90 ; Chinese policy in warfare; Their regard for music, 94; Examples of Chinese tunes; Musical instruments, 99 ; Dancing and posture-making; Drawing and painting, 105 ; Samples of Chinese illustrative art, 107 ; Their symbolism. 111 ; Paintings on pith-paper and leaves, 113; Sculpture and architecture, 115; Notions on the internal structure of the human body, 119; Functions of the viscera and their connection with the yin and yang; Surgical operations, 123 ; A Chinese doctor, 125 ; Drugs and medicines employed, 127 ; The common diseases of China, 129 ; Native treatises on medicine.
    CHAPTER XVII.  History and Chronology of China
    General doubts and ignorance concerning the subject, 136 ; The mythological period, 137 ; Chinese notions of cosmogony, 138 ; The god Pwanku; Chu Hi’s cosmogony; The legendary period, Fuh-hi, 143 ; The eight monarchs, 145 ; Hwangti and the sexagenary cycle, 146 ; The deluge of Yao, 147 ; The historical period : The Hia dynasty, 148 ; Yu the Great, his inscription on the rocks of Kau-lan shan; Records of the Hia, 152 ; The Shang dynasty; Chau-sin; Rise of the house of Chau, 157 ; Credibility of these early annals, 159 ; The Tsin dynasties, Tsin Chi Hwangti; The dynasty of Han; From the Han to the Sui, 165 ; The great Tang dynasty; Taitsung and the Empress Wu, 169 ; The Five Dynasties, 172; Tlie Sung dynasty; The Mongol conquest, Kublai Khan, 175; The Mings, 177; The Manchus, or Tsing dynasty, 179; Kanghi, 180; Yungching and Kienlung, 181; Kiaking and Taukwang, 183; Tables of the monarchs and dynasties.
    CHAPTER XVIII. REHGION OF THE CHINESE
    Causes of the perpetuity of Chinese institutions, 188 ; Isolation of the people, 189; The slight influence upon them of foreign thought and customs, 191 ; Their religious belief’s, two negative features; Three sects: the State religion, called Confucianism; Objects and methods of State worship, The Emperor as High Priest, 198 ; The Ju kino, or Sect of Literati, 15)9 ; Religious functions of government officers, 202 ; Purity and coldness of this religious system, 205 ; Rationalism (Tao kia), Lau-tsz’ its founder, 207 ; His classic, the Tao-the King, 208 ; Visit of Confucius to the philosopher Lau-tsz’, 212; Rites and mythology of the Taoists, 214; Their degeneracy into fetich worshippers, 215 ; Their organization, 217 ; The Sect of Fuh, or Buddhism, 218 ; Life of Buddha, 219 ; Influence of the creed among the people, 221 ; Checks to its power; Its tenets and liturgy, 224 ; Opposition to this sect by the literati, 227 ; Perpetuated in monasteries and nunneries; Similarity between the, Buddhist and Roman Catholic rites; Shamanism, its form in Tibet and Mongolia, 233 ; Buddhist temples, 235 ; Ancestral worship, its ancient origin; Its influence upon the family and society, 237 ; Infanticide in China, its prevalence, 239 ; Comparison with Greece and Rome; Customs and ceremonies attending a decease, 243 ; Funerals and burial-places, 245 ; Funtj-slnit, 240 ; Interment and mourning; Family worship of ancestors, 250 ; Character of the rites, 253 ; Popular superstitions, 255 ; Dread of wandering ghosts, 257 ; Methods of divination, 200 ; Worship at graves and shrines, 262 ; Chinese benevolent institutions and the practice of charity, 263 ; General condition of religion among them; Secret societies, 267 ; Mohammedanism in China; Jews in Kaifung, 271 ; Their miserable condition.
    CHAPTER XIX. RISTIAN Missions Among the Chinese
    Arrival of the Nestorians in China; The tablet of Si-ngan; Prester John and traces of Nestorian labors, 286 ; First epoch of Roman Catholic missions in Eastern Asia; John of Montecorvino, ibid.; Other priests of the fourteenth century; Second period : Xavier’s attempt, 289 ; Landing of Ricci; His life and character, 292 ; The Jesuits in Peking; Faber, 295 ; Adam Schaal; Verbiest; Discussion concerning the rites, 299 ; The Pope and the Emperor Kanghi; Quarrels between the missionaries, 302; Third period: The edict of Yungching expels the Catholics; Statistics of their numbers, 307 ; Their methods : the baptism of dying infants; Collisions between converts and magistrates; Pagan and Christian superstitions: casting out devils; Character of Catholic missionary work, 317; Protestantism in China : The arrival of Morrison in Canton, 318 ; His missionary and literary work, 320 ; Comparison with that of Ricci; Protestant missions among the Chinese of the Archipelago Early efforts, tract distribution, 328 ; Gutzlaff’s voyages along the coast; Foundation of the Medical Missionary Society; Success of hospital work among the natives; Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge in China; The Morrison Education Society, 341 ; Protestant mission work at Canton; At Amoy and Fuhchan, 348 ; In Chehkiang province; At Shanghai, 352 ; Toleration of Christianity in China obtained through Kiying; Policy of the government toward missionaries, 359 ; Articles of toleration in the treaties of 1858; Bible translation and the Term Question among missionaries; Female missionaries, 364 ; Statistics of Protestant missions in China, 366 ; Notices of deceased missionaries; Facilities and difficulties attending the work.
    CHAPTER XX. Commerce of the Chinese
    Ancient notices of foreign trade; The principal import, opium; Peculiarities of its cultivation in India, ibid.; Its preparation and sale in Calcutta, 376 ; Early efforts at introduction into China; Rise of the smuggling trade, 378 ; Manipulation of the drug in smoking, 380 ; The pipe and its use, 382 ; Effects of the practice, 383 ; Quantity and value of the import, 3S7 ; Coasting and inland navigation in China, 389 ; Detail of the principal exports from China, 391 ; Of the imports, 396 ; An example of pigeon-English, 402 ; Present management of the maritime customs; Trade tables.
    CHAPTER XXI. Foreign Intercourse with China
    Limited conception of the Chinese as to embassies; Earliest mention of China or Cathay, 408 ; Acquaintance between Rome and Seres, or Sinae; Knowledge of China under the Greek Empire; Narratives of Buddhist pilgrims, 413 ; Notices of Arab travellers, 414 ; Piano Carpini’s mission from the Pope to Kuyuk Klian, 415; Rubruquin sent by Louis XL to Mangu Khan, 418 • Travels of Marco Polo and King Ilayton of Armenia ; Of the Moor, Ibn Batuta; Of Friar Odoric, 422 ; Of Benedict Goes, 424 ; Of Ibn Waliab, 425 ; The Manchus confine foreign trade to Canton, 42G ; Character of early Portuguese traders; Their settlement at Macao and embassies to Peking; Relations of Spain with China, 431 ; The Dutch come to China, 438 ; They occupy Formosa, 434 ; Koxinga expels them from the island, 437 ; Van Hoorn’s embassy to Peking; Van Braam’s mission to Kienlung, 439 ; France and China; Russian embassies to the court at Peking, 441 ; Intercourse of the English with China, 443 ; Attempts of the East India Company to establish trade, 445 ; The Co-hong; Treatment of Mr. Flint; Anomalous position of foreigners in China during the eighteenth century, 450 ; Chinese action in sundry cases of homicide among foreigners, 451 ; Lord Macartney’s embassy to Peking, 454 ; Attitude of the Chinese regarding Macao; Regarding English and American “squabbles,”; Embassy of Lord Amherst, 458 ; Close of the East India Company monopoly; American trade with China; Chinese terms for foreigners.
    CHAPTER XXII.  Origin Of THE First War with England
    Features of the war with England; Lord Napier appointed superintendent of British trade, 404 •, He goes to Canton; His contest with the governor, 468 ; Chinese notions of supremacy; Lord Napier retires from Canton, his sudden death; Petition of the British merchants to the king, 47() ; Trade continued as before, 478 ; Sir B. G. Robinson the superintendent at Lintin; Is succeeded by Captain Elliot; Hu Nai-tsi proposes to legalize the opium trade, 482 ; Counter-memorials to the Emperor, 483 ; Discussion of the matter among foreigners, 487 ; Canton officers enforce the prohibitory laws; Elliot ordered to drive the opium ships from Lintin; Arrival of Admiral Sir F. Maitland; Smuggling increases; A mob before the factories, 495 ; Captain Elliot’s papers and actions regarding the opium traffic, 496 ; Commissioner Lin sent to Canton, 497; He demands a surrender of opium held by foreigners, 499 ; Imprisons them in the factories; The opium given up and destroyed, 502 ; Homicide of Lin Wei-hi at Hongkong, 505 ; Motives and position of Governor Lin; The war an opium war; Debate in Parliament upon the question.
    CHAPTER XXIII. Progress and Results of the First War between England AND China
    Arrival of the British fleet and commencement of hostilities; Fall of Tinghai, 515; Lin recalled to Peking, 510; Kishen sent to Canton, negotiates’ a treaty with Captain Elliot at the Bogue, 517 ; The negotiations fail, 519 ; Capture of the Canton River defences; The city ransomed; Amoy and Tinghai taken; Fall of Chinhai and Ningpo, 527 ; The Emperor determines to resist, 529 ; Attempt to recapture Ningpo; The British reduce the neighboring towns, 533 ; The fleet enters the Yangtsz’, capture of Wusung; Shanghai taken; Proclamations issued by both parties respecting the war; Storming of Chinkiang, 540 ; Terrible carnage among its Manchu inhabitants, 542 ; Singular contrast at Iching; Kiying communicates with Sir H. Pottinger; The envoy and commissioners meet, 547 ; A treaty drawn up, 549 ; Conversation on the opium question, 550 ; The Treaty of Nanking signed; Massacre of shipwrecked crews on Formosa; Losses and rewards on both sides alter the war, 556 ; Settlement of a tariff and commercial relations, 557 ; Deaths of Howqua and John R. Morrison; A supplementary treaty signed; Renewal of opium vexations, 562 ; Treaties arranged with other foreign powers, 565 ; The ambassador and letter from the United States to China, 566 ; Caleb Cushing negotiates a treaty with Kiying, 567 ; Homicide by an American at Canton, and subsequent correspondence, 568 ; A French treaty concluded by M. de Lagreno at Whampoa; Position of England and China after the war.
    CHAPTER XXIV.  THE Tai-ping Rebellion
    Attitude of the ruling classes in China toward foreigners; Governor Sir J. Davis and Commissioner Kiying; Killing of six Englishmen at Canton; Chinese notions of treaties ibid; Causes of the Tai-ping Rebellion; Life of Hung Siutsuen, its leader; This wonderful vision; He interprets it by Christian ideas, 585 ; Early phases of the movement; Commencement of the insurrection, 590 ; Political and religious tenets of the rebels, 592 ; Rapid advance to the Yangtsz’ and occupation of Nanking, 596 ; The expedition against Peking; Its failure; Dissensions among the rebel wangs, or leaders; Rebel sortie from Nanking; Assistance of foreigners sought by imperialists; Achievements of the Chung Wang; Colonel Gordon assumes control of the “Ever-Victorious force,”; His successful campaigns; Environment of Suchan; The city surrenders; Execution of its wangs by Governor Li; Gordon’s responsibility in the matter, GIG ; Further operations against the insurgents, 617 ; The Ever-Victorious force disbanded, 618 ; Fall of Nanking and dispersion of the rebels; Subsequent efforts of the Shi and Kau wangs; Disastrous character of the rebellion.
    CHAPTER XXV. The Second War between Great Britain and China Relations between the Cantonese and foreigners after the first war; Collecting of customs duties at Shanghai entrusted to foreigners; Common measures of defence against the rebels there; The insurrection in Kwangtung; Frightful destruction of life, 632 ; Governor Yeh’s policy of seclusion; Smuggling lorchas at Hongkong and Macao; The lorcha Arrow affair; The initial acts of the war; Collision with Americans at the Barrier forts, 639 ; View of the war in England, 641 ; Arrival of Lord Elgin and Baron Gros in China; Bombardment and capture of Canton, ibid.; Problem of governing the city; The allies repair to the Pei ho; Capture of the Taku forts, 651 ; Negotiations with Kweiliang and Hwashana at Tientsin; Unexpected appearance of Kiying; Difficulties of Lord Elgin’s position at Tientsin; The treaties signed and ratified, 656 ; Revision of the tariff undertaken at Shanghai; Effect of treaty stipulations and foreign trade on the people of China; Lord Egin visits the Tai-ping rebels at Hankow, 659 ; Sentiment of officials and people in China regarding foreigners, 660 ; Coolie trade outrages, 663 ; The foreign ministers repair to Taku, 664 ; Repulse at the Taku forts, 66G ; The American minister conducted to Peking; Discussion concerning the formalities of an audience, 669 ; He retires and ratifies the treaty at Pehtang; Lord Elgin and Baron Gros sent back to China, 671 ; War resumed, the allies at Pehtang; Capture of villages about Taku, 674 ; Fall of the Taku forts, 676 ; Lord Elgin declines to remain at Tientsin; Interpreters Wade and Parkes sent to Tungchau, 678 ; Capture of Parkes and Loch, 680 ; Skirmish of Pa-li-kiau, 682 ; Pillage of Yuen-ming Yuen, G83 ; Its destruction upon the return of the prisoners, 684 ; Entry into Peking and signing of the treaties, 686 ; Permanent settlement of foreign embassies at the capital.
    CHAPTER XXVI. Narrative of Recent Events in China
    Palace conspiracy upon the death of Hienfung; The regency established at Peking, 691 ; The Lay-Osborne flotilla, 693 ; Collapse of the scheme and dismissal of Lay, 695 ; The Burlingame mission to foreign countries, 696 ; Its treaty with the United States, 698 ; Outbreak at Tientsin, 700 ; Investigation into the riot, 703 ; Bitter feeling among foreigners, 705 ; Memorandum from the Tsung-ii Yamun on the missionary question; Conclusion of the Kansuh insurrection; Marriage of the Emperor Tungchi; The foreign ministers demand an audience; Reception of the ambassadors by Tungchi; Stopping of the coolie trade, 715 ; Japanese descent upon Formosa; English expedition to Yunnan, 719 ; Second mission, murder of Margary; The Grosvenor mission of inquiry; The Chifu Convention between Li Hung-chang and Sir T. Wade, 725 ; Death of Tungchi and accession of Kwangsii; The rebellion of Yakub Beg in Turkestan; He overthrows the Dungani Confederation, 730 ; His forces conquered by Tso Tsung-tang, 731 ; Negotiations as to the cession of Kuldja, 732 ; The great famine of 1878, 734 ; Efforts of foreigners for its relief, 736 ; Chinese boys sent to America for education, 739 ; Grounds of hope for the future of China.

    LIST OF ILLUSTEATIONS IN VOLUME I & VOLUME II
    Worship of the Emperor at the Temple of Heaven, Title-page, representing an honorary portal, or PAI-LAU. (The two characters, Shing chi, upon the top, indicate that the structure has been erected by imperial command. In the panel upon the lintel the four characters, Chung Kwoh Tsung-Um, ‘ A General Account of the Middle Kingdom,’ express in Chinese the title of this work. On the right the inscription reads, Jin che ngai jin yu tsin kih so, ‘ He who is benevolent loves those near, and then those who are remote ; ‘ the other side contains an expression attributed to Confucius, ‘ Si fang chi jin yu shing che ye,” ‘The people of the West have their sages.’)—Compare p. 757. A Road-Cut IN the Loess,  An-ting Gate, Wall of Peking,  Plan op Peking, Portal op Confucian Temple, Peking,  Monument, or Tope, op a Lama, Hwang sz’, Peking,  View over the Loess-clefts in Shansi, Temple of the Goddess Ma Tsu-pu, Ningpo,  Lukan Gorge, Yangtsz’ River. (From Blakiston.), View of a Street in Canton,  Miaotsz’ Types,  Domesticated Yak,  FACADE OF Dwellings in Loess Cliffs, Ling-shi hien,  Coal Gorge on the Yangtsz’. (From Blakiston.),  Fl-Fl Ami HAI-TUJI. (From a Chinese cut.),  The Chinese Pig,  Mode of Carrying Pigs,  The Kl-LIJV, or Unicorn,  The FUNG-HWANG, or Phoenix,  Different Styles op Official Caps,  Mode of Carrying High Officers in Sedan,  Prisoner Condemned to the Cangue in Court,  Mode of Exposure in the Cangue,  Publicly Whipping a Thief through the Streets,  Interior of KUNO YUEN, or ‘Examination Hall,’ Peking,  Chinese Hieroglyphics and their Modern Equivalents,  Six Styles op Chinese Characters,  Worship of Confucius and his Disciples,  Diagram of Chinese Roof Construction,  The PIH-TUNO KUNO, or ‘Classic Hall,’ Peking, Wheelbarrow used for Travelling,  Bridge in Wan-shao Shan Gardens, near Peking,  Bridge, showing the Mode of Mortising the Arch,  Barber’s Establishment,  Tricks Played with the Queue,  Procession op Ladies to an Ancestral Temple,  Appearance of the Bones op a Foot when Compressed,  Feet of Chinese Ladies,  Shape of a Lady’s Shoe,  Boys Gambling with Crickets,  Chinese Chess-board
    Signing of the Treaty of Peking, Manner of Shoeing Horses, Pedler’s Barrow, Group and Residence of Fishermen near Canton, The Fishing Cormorant, The Cobbler and his Movable Workshop, Mode op Firing Tea, Travelling Blacksmith and Equipment, Itinerant Dish-mender, Fancy Carved Work, Fable of the Herdsman and Weaver-girl. (From a bowl.), Representation of a Man Dreaming, The Vengeance op Heaven upon the False Grave, A would-be Assassin Followed by Spirits, Symbols of Happiness and Old Age. (From a plaque.), Caricature of an English Foraging Party, Chinese Notions of the Internal Structure of the Human Body, Pwanku Chiselling Out the Universe, Gateway of the Yuen Dynasty, Ku-yung Kwan, Great Wall, Ancestral Hall and Mode of Worshipping the Tablets, Buddhist Priests, Consulting a Fortune-teller, Head of Nestorian Tablet at Si-ngan, Roman Catholic Altar near Shanghai, Manner of Smoking Opium, Wall of Canton City. (From Fisher.), Plan of Canton and Vicinity, Portrait of Commissioner KiYing, Plan of the Pei ho and Forts. (From Fisher.), Portrait of Prince Kung, Portrait of Wanslang

    NOTE RESPECTING THE SYSTEM OF PRONUNCL ATION ADOPTED IN THIS WORK
    In this the values of the vowels are as follows :
    1. a as the italicized letters in father, far (never like a in hat) ;e.g., chang, hang—sounded almost as if written chahng, hahng, not flat as in the English words sang, hang, man, etc.
    2. a like the short u in hut, or as any of the italicized vowels in American, summer, mother ; the German o approaches this sound, while Wade writes it e ; e.g., pan, tang, to be pronounced as pun, tongue.
    3. e as in men, dead, saw! ; as teh, shen, yen.
    4. e, the French e, as in they, neigh, pray ; as che, ye, pronouneed chaij, yay.
    5. i as in pm, f/ntsh ; as dug, lin, Chihl’i.
    6. ‘t as in machine, believe, feel, me ; as I’l, Ktshen, Kanghi.
    7. o as in long. Yawn ; never like no, cro^u ; as to, soh, j)o.
    8. u as in rule, too, fool ; as 7\i7-k, Belur, ku, sung ; pronounced Toork, Beloor, koo, soong. This sound is heard less full in fuh, fsun, and a few other words ; this and the next may be considered as equivalent to the two ii-sounds found in German.
    9. u nearly as in I’une (French), or wnion, rheum ; as hii, tsil.
    10. ai as in aisle, high, or longer than i in pine ; as Shanghai, Hainan. The combination ei is more slender than ai, though the difference is slight ; e.g., Kivei chau.
    11. au and ao as in round, our, hoio ; as Fuhchau, Macao, Taukwang.
    12. eu as in the colloquial phrase say ’em ; e.g., cheung. This diphthong is heard in the Canton dialect.
    13. ia as in yard ; e.g., Ma, Hang ; not to be sounded as if written Jdgh-a, kigh-ang, but like hed, keiing.
    14. iau is made b}” joining Nos. 5 and 11 ; hiau, Liautung.
    15. ie as in sierra (SjDanisli), Ki’enzi; e.g., Men, kien.
    16. iu as in peu;, pure, lengthened to a dij)hthong ; km, siun.
    17. iue is made by adding a short e to the preceding ; kiuen, Muen,
    18. ui as in Louisiana, suicide ; e.g., sui, cMii.

    SYSTEM OF PRONUNCIATION
    The consonants are sounded generally as they are in the English alphabet. Ch as in church ; hw as in when. ; j soft, as s in pleasure; kw as in awkward ; ng, as an initial, as in singing, leaving off the first two letters ; sz’ and tsz’ are to be sounded full with one breathing, but none of the English vowels are heard in it ; the sound stops at the z ; Dr. Morrison wrote these sounds tsze and sze, while Sir Thomas Wade, whose system bids fair to become the most widely employed, turns them into ssu and fzii. The hs of the latter, made by omitting the first vowel of hissing, is written simply as h by the author. Urh, or’rh, is pronounced as the three last letters of purr.
    All these, except No. 12, are heard in the court dialect, which has now become the most common mode of writing the names of places and persons in China. Though foreign authors have employed different letters, they have all intended to write the same sound ; thus chan, shan, and xan, are only different ways of writing閂; and tsse, tsze, tsz’, zh, tzu`, and tzu, of 字. Such is not the case, however, with such names as Macao, Hongkong, Amoy, Whampoa, and others along the coast, which are sounded according to the local patois, and not the court pronunciation-Ma-ngau, Hiangkiang, Hiamun, Hwangpu, etc. Many of the discrepancies seen in the works of travellers and writers are owing to the fact that each is prone to follow his own fancy in transliterating foreign names ; uniformity is almost unattainable in this matter. Even, too, in what is called the court dialect there is a great diversity among educated Chinese, owing to the traditional way all learn the sounds of the characters. In this work, and on the map, the sounds are written uniformly according to the pronunciation given in Morrison’s Dictionary, but not according to his orthography. Almost every writer upon the Chinese language seems disposed to propose a new system, and the result is a great confusion in writing the same name ; for example, eull, olr, id, ulli, Ih, urh, ‘rh, ‘i, e, lur, nge, ngi, je, ji, are different ways of writing the sounds given to a single character. Amid these discrepancies, both among the Chinese themselves and those who endeavor to catch their pronunciation, it is almost impossible to settle upon one mode of writing the names of places. That which seems to offer the easiest pronunciation has been adopted in this work. It may, perhaps, be regarded as an unimportant matter, so long as the place is known, but to one living abroad, and unacquainted with the language, the discrepancy is a source of great confusion. He is unable to decide, for instance, whether Tang-ngan, Tangon hien, Tang-oune, and Tangao, refer to the same place or not.
    In writing Chinese proper names, authors differ greatly as to the style of placing them ; thus, Fuhchaufu, Fiih-chau fu, Fuh Chau Fu, Fuh-Chau fu, etc., are all seen. Analogy affords little guide here, for New York, Philadelphia, and Cambridge are severally unlike in the principle of writing them : the first, being really formed of an adjective and a noun, is not in this case united to the latter, as it is in Newport, Newtown, etc. ; the second is like the generality of Chinese towns, and while it is now written as one word, it would be written as two if the name were translated-as ‘Brotherly Love ;’ but the third, Cambridge, despite its derivation, is never written in two words, and many Chinese names are like this in origin. Thus applying these rules, properly enough, to Chinese places, they have been written here as single words, Suchau, Peking, Hongkong ; a hyphen has been inserted in some places only to avoid mispronunciation, as Hiau-‘i, St-ngan, etc. It is hardly supposed that this system will alter such names as are commonly written otherwise, nor, indeed, that it will be adhered to with absolute consistency in the following pages ; but the principle of the arrangement is perhaps the simplest possible. The additions fu, chau, ting, and hien, being classifying terms, should form a separate word. Li conclusion, it may be stated that this system could only be carried out approximately as regards the proper names in the colonies and outside of the Empire.

    CHAPTER I GENERAL DIVISIONS AND FEATURES OF THE EMPIRE

    The possessions of the ruling dynasty of China,—that portion of the Asiatic continent which is usually called by geographers the Chinese Empire,—form one of the most extensive dominions ever swayed by a single power in any age, or any part of the world. Comprising within its limits every variety of soil and climate, and watered by large rivers, which serve not only to irrigate and drain it, but, by means of their size and the course of their tributaries, affording unusual facilities for intercommunication, it produces within its own borders everything necessary for the comfort, support, and delight of its occupants, who have depended very slightly upon the assistance of other climes and nations for satisfying their own wants. Its civilization has been developed under its own institutions; its government has been modelled without knowledge or reference to that of any other kingdom ; its literature has borrowed nothing from the genius or research of the scholars of other lands ; its language is unique in its symbols, its structure, and its antiquity ; its inhabitants are remarkable for their industry, peacefulness, numbers, and peculiar habits. The examination of such a people, and so extensive a country, can hardly fail of being both instructive and entertaining, and if rightly pursued, lead to a stronger conviction of the need of the precepts and sanctions of the Bible to the highest development of every nation in its personal, social, and political relations in this world, as well as to individual happiness in another. It is to be hoped, too, that at this date in the world’s history, there are many more than formerly, who desire to learn the condition and wants of others, not entirely for their own amusement and congratulation at their superior knowledge and advantages, but also to promote the well-being of their fellow-men, and impart liberally of the gifts they themselves enjoy. Those who desire to do this, will find that few families of mankind are more worthy of their greatest efforts than those comprised within the limits of the Chinese Empire ; while none stand in more need of the purifying, ennobling, and invigorating principles of our holy religion to develop and enforce their own theories of social improvement.

    ORIGIN OF THE NAME CHINA

    The origin of the name China has not yet been fully settled. The people themselves have now no such name for their country, nor is there good evidence that they ever did apply it to the whole land. The occurrence in the Laws of Manu and in the Mahaharata of the name China, applied to a land or people with whom the Hindus had intercourse in the twelfth century B.C., and who were probably the Chinese, throws the origin far back into the remotest times, where probability must take the place of evidence. The most credible account ascribes its origin to the family of Tsin, whose chief first obtained complete sway, about b.c. 250, over all the other feudal principalities in the land, and whose exploits rendered him famous in India, Persia, and other Asiatic states. His sept had, however, long been renowned in Chinese history, and previous to this conquest had made itself widely known, not only in China, but in other countries. The kingdom lay in the northwestern parts of the empire, near the Yellow River, and according to Visdelon, who has examined the subject, the family was illustrious by its nobility and power. ” Its founder was Taye, son of the emperor Chuen-hu. It existed in great splendor for more than a thousand years, and was only inferior to the royal dignity. Feitsz’, a prince of this family, had the superintendence of the stud of the emperor Hiao, b.c. 909, and as a mark of favor his majesty conferred on him the sovereignty of the city of Tsinchau in mesne tenure with the title of sub-tributary king. One hundred and twenty-two years afterwards, b.c. 770, Siangkwan, jh’t’it vol of Tsinchau (having by his bravery revenged the insults offered to the emperor Ping by the Tartars, who slew his father Yu), was created king in full tenure, and without limitation or exception. The same monarch, abandoning Si-ngan (then called Hao-king, the capital of his empire) to transport his seat to Lohyang, Siangkwan was able to make himself master of the large province of Sliensi, which had composed the proper kingdom of the emperor. The king of Tsin thus became very powerful, but though his fortune changed, he did not alter his title, retaining always that of the city of Tsinchau, which had been the foundation of his elevation. The kingdom of Tsin soon became celebrated, and being the place of the first arrival by land of people from western countries, it seems probable that those who saw no more of China than the realm of Tsin, extended this name to all the rest, and called the whole empire Tsin or Chin.”(D’Herbelot, Bibliotheqne Orientale, quarto edition, 1779, Tome IV., p. 8.Yule, Cathay and the Way Thither, Vol. I., pp. xxxiv., Ixviii. Edkiius, Chinese Buddhism, p. 93.)

    This extract refers to periods long before the dethronement of the house of Chan by princes of Tsin ; the position of this latter principality, contiguous to the desert, and holding the passes leading from the valley of the Tarim across the desert eastward to China, renders the supposition of the learned Jesuit highly probable. The possession of the old imperial capital would strengthen this idea in the minds of the traders resorting to China from the West ; and when the same family did obtain paramount sway over the whole empire, and its head render himself celebrated by his conquests, and by building the Great Wall, the name Tsin was still more widely diffused, and regarded as the name of the country. The Malays and Arabians, whose vessels were early found between Aden and Canton, knew it as China, and probably introduced the name into Europe before 1500. The Hindus contracted it into Machin, from Maha-china, i.e., ‘Great China;’ and the first of these was sometiuies confounded with Manj’i^ a term used for the tribes in Yunnan. Tlius it appears that these and other nations of Asia have known the country or its people by no other terms than Jin., Chin, Sin, Since, or Tziniske. The Persian name Cathay, and its Russian form of Kitai, is of modern orio-in ; it is altered from Ki-tah, the race Avhieh ruled northern China in the tenth century, and is quite unknown to the people it designates. The Latin word Seres is derived from the Chinese word sz’ (silk), and doubtless first came into use to denote the people during the Ilan dynasty.

    VARIOUS DESIGNATIONS

    The Chinese have many names to designate themselves and the land they inhabit. One of the most ancient is Tien Ilia, meaning ‘ Beneath the Skj^,’ and denoting the AVorld ; another, almost as ancient, is /&’ Ilai, i.e., ‘ [all within] the Four Seas,’ while a third is (Vtunr/ Kivoh, oy ‘Middle Kingdom.’ This dates from the establishment of the Chan dynasty, about b.c.1150, when the imperial family so called its own special state in Honan because it was surrounded by all the others. The name was retained as the empire grew, and thus has strengthened the popular belief that it is really situated in the centre of the earth; Chn,)i<j Kioohjln, or ‘men of the Middle Kingdom,’ denotes the Chinese. All these names indicate the vanity and ignorance of the people respecting their geographical position and their rank among the nations ; they have not been alone in this foible, for the Egyptians, Greeks and Romans all had terms for their possessions which intimated their own ideas of their superiority ; while, too, the area of none of those monarchies, in their widest extent, ecpialled that of China Proper. The family of Tsin also established the custom, since continued, of calling the country by the luimc of the dynasty then reigning; but, wliilc the brief duration of that house of forty-four years was not long enough to give it much currency among the people, snccueeding dynasties, by their talents and prowess, imparted their own as permanent appellations to the people and country. The terms Ilan-jhi and JLoi-tsz’ {i.e., men of Ilan or sons of llan) are now in use by the people to denote themselves : the last also means a ”brave man.” Tangjin, or ‘Men of Tang,’ is quite as frequently heard iu the southern provinces, where the phrase Tang Shan, or ‘ Hills of Tang,’ denotes the whole country. The Buddhists of India called the land Chin-tan, or the ‘ Dawn,’ and this appellation has been used in Chinese writings of that sect.

    The present dynasty calls the empire Ta Tsing Kivoh, or * Great Pure Kingdom;’ but the people themselves have refused the corresponding term of Tsing-jin, or ‘ Men of Tsing.’ The empire is also sometimes termed Tsing Chau, i.e., ‘ [land of the] Pure Dynasty,’ by metonymy for the family that rules it. The term now frequently heard in western countries—the Celestial Empire^is derived from Tien Chan, i.e., ‘ Heavenly Dynasty,’ meaning the kingdom which the dynasty appointed by heaven rules over ; but the term Celestials, for the people of that kingdom, is entirely of foreign manufacture, and their language could with difficulty be made to express such a patronymic.

    The phrase Li Jlin, or ‘ Black-haired Pace,’ is a common appellation ; the expressions Ilira Yen, the ‘ Flowery Language,’ and Chung lima Kiooh, the ‘ Middle Flowery Kingdom,’ are also frequently used for the written language of the country, because the Chinese consider themselves to be among the most polished and civilized of all nations—which is the sense of hwa in these phrases. The phrase I^ui T”i, or ‘ Inner Land,’ is often employed to distinguish it from countries beyond their borders, regarded as the desolate and barbarous regions of the earth. lima Ilia (the Glorious Hia) is an ancient term for China, the Hia dynasty being the first of the series; Tung Tu, or ” Land of the East,” is a name used in Mohammedan writings alone.

    The present ruling dynasty has extended the limits of the empire far beyond what they were under the Ming princes, and nearly to their extent in the reign of Kublai, a.d. 1290. In 1840, its borders were well defined, reaching fi*om Sagalien I. on the north-east, in lat. 48° 10′ jS”. and long. 144° 50′ E., to Hainan I. in the China Sea, on the south, in lat. 18° 10′ X., and westward to the Belur-tag, in long. T4° E., inclosing a continuous area, estimated, after the most careful valuation by McCullcjch, at 5,300,000 square miles. The longest line which could be drawn in this vast region, from the south-western part of tli, bordering on Kokand, north-easterly to the sea of Okhotsk, is 3350 miles ; its greatest breadth is 2,100 miles, from the Outer Hing-an or Stanovoi Mountains to the peninsula of Luichau in Kwangtung :—the first measuring 71 degrees of longitude, and the last over 34 of latitude.

    Since that year the process of disintegration has been going on, and the cession of Hongkong to the British has been followed by greater partitions to Russia, which have altogether reduced it more than half a million of square miles on the north-east and west. Its limits on the western frontiers are still somewhat undefined. The greatest breadth is from Albazin on the Amur, nearly south to Hainan, 2150 miles ; and the longest line which can be drawn in it runs from Sartokh in Tibet, north-east to the junction of the Usuri River with the Amur.

    GENERAL DIVISIONS

    The form of the empire approaches a rectangle. It is

    bounded on the east and south-east by various arms and portions

    of the Pacific Ocean, beginning at the frontier of Corea,

    and called on European maps the gulfs of Liautung and Pechele,

    the Yellow Sea, channel of Formosa, China Sea, and Gulf

    of Tonquin. Cochinchina and Burmali border on the provinces

    of Kwangtung, Kwangsi, and Yunnan, in the south-west;

    but most of the region near that frontier is inhabited by halfindependent tribes of Laos, Ivakyens, Singphos, and others.

    The southern ranges of the Himalaya separate Assam, Butan,

    Sikkim, Nipal and states in India from Tibet, whose western

    border is bounded by the nominally dependent country of

    Ladak, or if that be excluded, by the Kara-kormn Mountains.

    The kingdoms or states of Cashmere, Badakshan, Kokand, and

    the Kirghls steppe, lie upon the western frontiers of Little

    Tibet, Ladak, and 111′, as far north as the Russian border ; the

    high range of the Belur-tag or Tsung-ling separates the former

    countries from the Cliiiiese territory in this quarter. Russia is

    conterminous with China from the Kirghis steppe along the

    Altai chain and Kenteh range to the junction of the Argun

    and the Amur, from whence the latter river and its tributary,

    the Usuri, form the dividing line to the border of Corea, a

    total stretch of 5,300 miles. The circuit of tiie whole empire

    is 14,000 miles, or considerably over half the circumference of

    the globe. These measurements, it must be remembered, are

    of the roughest character. The coast line froiri the mouth of

    the river Yaluh in Corea to that of the Annam in Cochinchina

    is not far from 4,400 miles. This immense country comprises

    about one-third of the continent, and nearly one-tenth of the

    habitable part of the globe ; and, next to Russia, is the largest

    empire which has existed on the earth.

    It will, perhaps, contribute to a better comprehension of the

    area of the Chinese Empire to compare it with some other countries.

    Russia is nearly 6,500 miles in its greatest length, about 1,500 in its average breadth, and measures 8,369,144(Or 21,759,974 sq. km.—Gotha Almanack.) square miles, or one-seventh of the land on the globe. The United States of America extends about 3,000 miles from Monterey on the Pacific in a north-easterly direction to Maine, and

    about 1700 from Lake of the Woods to Florida. The area of

    this territory is now estimated at 2,936,166 square miles, with

    a coast line of 5,120 miles. The area of the British Empire

    is not far from 7,647,000 square miles, but the boundaries of

    some of the colonies in Hindostan and South Africa are not

    definitely laid down ; the superficies of the two colonies of

    Australia and Kew Zealand is nearly equal to that of all the

    other possessions of the British crown.

    The Chinese themselves divide the empire into three principal

    parts, rather by the different form of government in each,

    than by any geographical arrangement.

    I. The Eighteen Provinces^ including, with trivial additions, the country conquered by the Manchus in 1664.
    II. 3fmichuria, or the native country of the Manchus, lying north of the Gulf of Liautung as far as the Amur and west of the Usuri River.
    III. Colonial Possessions, including Mongolia, 111 (comprising Sungaria and Eastern Turkestan), Koko-uor, and Tibet.

    The first of these divisions alone is that to which other nations have given the name of China, and is the only part which is entirely settled by the Chinese. It lies on the eastern slope of the high table-land of Central Asia, in the south-east ern angle of the continent ; and for beauty of scenery, fertility of- soil, salubrity of climate, magnificent and navigable rivers, and variety and abundance of its productions, M’ill compare with any portion of the globe. The native name for this portion, as distinguished from the rest, is Shih-jxih Sang or the ‘ Eighteen Provinces,’ but the people themselves usually mean this part

    alone by the term Chung Juvoh. The area of the Eighteen

    Provinces is estimated by ‘McCulloch at 1,348,870 square miles,

    but if the full area of the provinces of Kansuh and Chihli be

    included, this figure is not large enough ; the usual computation

    is 1,297,999 square miles ; Mahe Brun reckons it at

    1,482,091 square miles ; but the entire dimensions of the Eighteen

    Provinces, as the Chinese define them, cannot be much

    under 2,000,000 square miles, the excess lying in the extension

    of the two provinces mentioned above. This part, consequently,

    is rather more than two-fifths of the area of tlie whole empire.

    MOUNTAIN CHAINS

    The old limits are, however, more natural, and being better known may still be retained. They give nearly a square form to the provinces, the length from north to south being 1,474

    miles, and the breadth 1,355 miles ; but the diagonal line from

    the north-east corner to Yunnan is 1,009 miles, and tliat from

    Amoy to the north-western part of Kansuh is 1,557 miles.

    China Proper, therefore, measures about seven times the size of

    France, and fifteen times that of the United Kingdom ; it is

    nearly half as large as all Europe, which is 3,050,000 square

    miles. Its area is, however, nearer that of all the States of the

    American Union lying east of the Mississippi Piver, with Texas,

    Arkansas, Missouri and Iowa added ; these all cover 1,355,309

    square miles. The position of the two countries facing the

    western borders of great oceans is another point of likeness,

    which involves considerable similarity in climate ; there is

    moreover a further reseml)lance between tlie size of the provinces

    in China and those of the newer States.

    Before proceeding to define the three great basins into which

    China may be divided, it will give a better idea of the whole

    subject to speak of the mountain ranges which lie within and

    near or along the limits of the country. The latter in them

    selves form almost an entire wall inclosing and defining the old

    empire ; the principal exceptions being the western boundaries

    of Yunnan, the border between Hi and the Kirghis steppe, and

    the trans-Anmr region.

    Commencing at the north-eastern corner of the basin of the

    Amur above its mouth, near lat. 56° N., are the first sunmiits

    of the Altai range, which during its long course of 2,000 miles

    takes several names ; this range forms the northern limit of the

    table-land of Central Asia. At its eastern part, the range is

    called Stanovoi by the Russians, and Wai Jling-an by the Chinese

    ; the first name is applied as far west as the confluence of

    the Songari with the Amur, beyond which, north-west as far

    as lake Baikal, the Russians call it the Daourian Mountains.

    The distance from the lake to the ocean is about 600 miles, and

    all within Russian limits. Beyond lake Baikal, westward, the

    chain is called the Altai, i.e.^ Golden Mountains, and sometimes

    Kinshan, having a similar meaning. Near the head-waters of

    the river Selenga this range separates into two nearly parallel

    systems running east and west. The southern one, which lies

    mostly in Mongolia, is called the Tangnu, and rises to a much

    liigher elevation than the northern spur. The Tangnu Mountains

    continue under that name on the Chinese maps in a southwesterly

    direction, but this chain properly joins the Tien shan,

    or Celestial Mountains, in the province of Cobdo, and continues

    until it again unites with the Altai further west, near the

    junction of the Kirghis steppe with China and Russia. The

    length of the whole chain is not far from 2,500 miles, and

    except near the Tshulyshman River, does not, so far as is

    known, rise to the snow line, save in detached peaks. The

    average elevation is supposed to be in the neighborhood of

    7,000 feet ; most of it lies between latitudes 47° and 52° X.,

    largely covered with forests and susceptible of cultivation.

    The next chain is the Belur-tag, Tartash ling, in Chinese

    Tsungling, Onion Mountains, or better. Blue Mountains, so called from their distant hue. (Klaproth (MemoireH sur VAsie, Tome II., p. 295) observes that the name is derived from the abundance of onions found upon tliese mountains. M. Abel-Remusat prefers to attribute it to the “bluish tint of onions.”) This range lies in the south-west of Songaria, separating that territory from Badakshan ; it commences about lat. 50° N., nearly at right angles with the Tien shan, and extends south, rising to a great height, though little is known of it. It may be considered as the connecting link between the Tien shan and the Kwanlun ; or rather, both this and the latter

    may be considered as proceeding from a mountain knot, detached

    from the llindu-kush, in the south-western part of Turkestan

    called Pushtikhur, the Belur-tag coming from its northern

    side, while the Kwanlun issues from its eastern side, and extends

    across the middle of the table-land to Koko-nor, there diverging

    into two branches. This mountain knot lies between latitudes

    36° and 37° Is., and longitudes 70° and 74° E. The Himalaya

    range proceeds from it south-easterly, along the southern frontier

    of Tibet, till it bi-eaks up near the head-waters of the

    Yangtsz’, Salween, and other rivers between Tibet, Burmali,

    and Yunnan, thus nearlj’ completing the inland fi’ontier of the

    empire. A small spur from the Yun ling, in the west of Yunnan,

    in the country of the Singphos and borders of Assam,

    may also be regarded as forming part of the boundary line.

    The C/ian(/-j)eh shan lies between the head-waters of the Yaluh

    and Toumen rivers, along the Corean frontier, forming a

    spur of the lower range of the Siliota or SUi-hlh-teh Mountains,

    east of the Usuri.

    Within the confines of the empire are four large chains,

    some of the peaks in their course rising to stupendous elevations,

    but the ridges generally falling below the snow line.

    The first is the Tien shan or Celestial Mountains, called Tengkiri

    b}’ the Mong(jls, and sometimes erroneously Alak Mountains.

    This chain begins at the northern extremity of the

    Belur-tag in lat. 40° N., or more properly comes in from the

    west, and extends from west to east between longitudes 76° and

    90° E., and generally along the 22° of north latitude, dividing

    Ili into the Northern and Southern Circuits. Its western portion

    is called Muz-tag ; the Muz-daban, about long. 79° E., between

    Kuldja and Aksu, is where the road from north to south

    runs across, leadino; over a hi”;h glacier above the snow line.

    East of this occurs a mass of peaks anK)ng the highest in Central

    Asia, called Bogdoula; and at the eastern end, near Ur

    THE TIEN SHAN AND KWANLUX RANGES. 11

    Qiiitsi, as it declines to the desert, are traces of volcanic action

    seen in solfataras and spaces covered with ashes, but no active

    volcanoes ai’C now known. The doubtful volcano of Pi shan,

    between the glacier and the Bogdo-ula, is the only one reported

    in continental China. The Tien shan end abruptly at their

    eastern point, w-here the ridge meets the desert, not far from

    the meridian of Barknl in Kansuh, though Humboldt considers

    the hills in l^Iongolia a continuation of the range eastward,

    as far as the Kui Iling-an. The space between the

    Altai and Tien shan is very nuich broken up by mountainous

    spurs, which may be considered as connecting links of them

    both, though no regular chain exists. The western prolongation

    of the Tien shan, under the name of tlie Muz-tag, extends

    from the high pass only as far as the junction of the Belurtag,

    beyond which, and out of the Chinese Empire, it continues

    nearly west, south of the river Sihon toward Kodjend, under

    the names of Ak-tag and Asferah-tag ; this part is covered with

    perpetual snow.

    Nearly parallel with the Tien shan in part of its course is

    the Kan shan, Ivwanlun or Koulkun range of mountains, also

    called Tien Chu or ‘ Celestial Pillar ‘ by Chinese geographers.

    The Ivwanlun starts from the Pushtikhur knot in lat. 3G° X.,

    and runs along easterly in nearly that parallel through the

    whole breadth of the tabledand, dividing Tibet from the desert

    of Gobi in part of its course. About the middle of its extent,

    not far from long. 00° E., it divides into several ranges,

    wliich decline to the south-east through Ivoko-nor and Sz’cliuen,

    under the names of the Bayan-kara, the Burklian-buddha,

    the Shuga and the Tanghi Mountains,—each more or less

    parallel in their general south-east course till they merge

    with the Yun ling {i.e., Cloudy Mountains), about lat. 33° !N.

    Another group bends northerly, beyond the sources of the Yellow

    Piver, and under the names of Altyn-tag, Xan shan, In

    shan, and Ala shan, passes through Ivansuh and Shensi to join

    the Xui IIino;-an, not far fi-om the o-reat bend of the Yellow

    River. Some portion of the country between the extremities

    of these two ranges is less elevated, but no plains occur, though

    the parts north of Kansuh, where the Great Wall runs, are rugged and unfertile. The large tract between the basins of the Tarini River and that of the Yaru-tsano . i, including the Kwanlun range, is mostly occupied by the desert of Gobi, and is now one of the least known parts of the globe. The mineral treasures of the Kwanlun are probably great, judging from the many precious stones ascribed to it ; this desolate region is the favorite arena for the monsters, fairies, genii, and other beings of Chinese legendary lore, and is the Olympus where the Buddhist and Taoist divinities hold their mystic

    sway, strange voices are lieard, and marvels accomplished.*

    From near the head-waters of the Yellow Iliver, the four ridges

    run south-easterly, and converge hard by the confines of Burmth

    and Yunnan, within an area about one hundred miles in breadth.

    The Yun ling range constitutes the western frontier of Sz’chuen,

    and going south-east into Yunnan, thence turns eastward, under

    the names of Kan ling, Mei ling, “Wu-i shan, and other local

    terms, passing through Kweichau, Hunan, and dividing Kwangtunoj

    and Fuhkien from Iviano-si and Chehkiano;, bends northeast

    till it reaches the sea opposite Chusan. One or two spurs

    branch off north from this range through Hunan and Iviangsi,

    as far as the Yangtsz’, but they are all of moderate elevation,

    covered with forests, and susceptible of cultivation. The descent

    from the Siueh ling or Bayan-kara Mountains, and the

    western part of the Yun ling, to the Pacific, is ^’ery gradual.

    The Chinese give a list of fifty peaks lying in the provinces

    w^hich are covered with snow for the whole ur part of the

    year, and describe glaciers on several of them.

    Another less extensive ridge branches off nearly due east

    from the Bayan-kara Mountains in Koko-nor, and forms a moderately

    high range of mountains between the Yellow Iliver and

    Yangtsz’ kiang as far as long. 112° E., on the western borders

    of Kganhwui ; this range is called Ivo-tsing shan, and Peh

    ling {i.e., Xorthern Mountains), on European maps. These two

    chains, viz., the Yun ling—with its continuation of the Mei

    ling—and the Peh ling, with their numerous offsets, render the

    whole of the western })art of C’hina very imeven.

    ‘ Compare Reimisiit, Ilistaire de la VUle de KJiotan, p. (ir), ff.

    HING-AN AND HIMALAYA KANGES. IB

    On the east of Mongolia, and cominencini!; near the hend of

    the Yellow Ilivei”, or i-ather forming a contiiniation of the

    range in Shansi, is the Nui lling-an ling or Sialkoi, called also

    kSoyorti range, which runs north-east on the west side of the

    basin of the Amur, till it reaches the Wai lling-an, in lat.

    56° N. The sides of the ridge toward the desert are nearly

    naked, but the eastern acclivities are AV’ell wooded and fertile.

    On the confines of Corea a spur strikes off westward through

    Shingking, called Kolmin-shanguin alin bj the Manchus, and

    Chang-pell shan {i.e., Long White Mountains) by the Chinese.

    Between the Sialkoi and Siliota are two smaller ridges defining

    the basin of the Nonni River on the east and west. Little is

    known of the elevation of these chains except that they are

    low in comparison with the great \vestern ranges, and under the

    snow line.

    The fourth system of mountains is the Himalaya, which

    bounds Tibet on the south, while the Kwanlun and Burkhan

    Buddha range defines it on the north. A small range runs

    through it from west to east, connected with the Himalaya by

    a high table-land, which surrounds the lakes Manasa-rowa and

    Ravan-hrad, and near or in which are the sources of the Indus,

    Ganges, and Yaru-tsangbu. This range is called Gang-dis-ri

    and Zang, and also Kailasa in Dr. Buchanan’s map, and its

    eastern end is separated from the Y^un ling b}’ the narrow valley

    of the Y’angtsz’, which here flows from north to south. The

    countr}’ north of the Gang-dis-ri is divided into two portions by a

    spur which extends in a north-west direction as far as the Kwanhm,’

    called the Kara-korum Mountains. On the western side

    of this range lies Ladak, di-ained by one of the largest branches

    of the Indus, and although included in the imperial domains

    on Chinese maps, has long been separated from imperial cognizance.

    The Kara-korum Mountains may therefore be taken

    as composing part of the boundary of the empire ; Chinese

    geographers regard them as forming a continuation of the Tsung ling.

    ‘ One among many native names given to tlie Kwanlun, or Koulkun Mountains, is Tien chv. ^ .^^ ‘Heaven’s Pillar,’ wliieli corresponds precise!)’ with the Atlas of China.

    This hasty sketch of the mountain chains in and around China needs to be further illustrated by Punipelly’s outlines of their general course and elevation in what he suitably terms the Sinian System^ applied ” to that extensive northeast-southwest system of upheaval which is traceable through nearly all Eastern Asia, and to which this portion of the continent owes its most salient features.” lie has developed this system in the liesearches in China, Moncfolla and Ja^Kin, issued by the Smithsonian Institution in 186G. The mountains of China correspond in many respects to the Appalachian system in America, and its revolution probably terminated soon after the deposition of

    the Chinese coal measures. Mr. Pumpelly describes the principal

    anticlinal axes of elevation in China Proper, beginning with the Barrier Range, extending through the northern part of Cliihli and Shansi, where it trends AV.S.W., prolonging across the Yellow River at Pao-teh, and hence S.W. through Shansi and Kansuh, coinciding with the watershed between the bend of that river, which traverses it through an immense gorge.

    The next axis east begins at the Tushih Gate, and goes S.W. to the Xankau Pass, both of them in the Great Wall, and thence across Shansi to the elbow of the Yellow River, and onward to Western Sz’chuen, forming the watershed within the bend of the Yangtsz’. In the regions between these two axes are found coal deposits. A central axis succeeds this in Shansi, crossing the Yangtsz’ near Ichang, and passing on S.W. through Kweichau to the Kan ling ; going X.E., it )-uns through IIonaTi and subsides as it gets over the Yellow River, till in Shantung and the Regent’s Sword it rises higher and higher as it stretches on to the Chang-peh shan in Manchuria, and the ridge between the Songai-i and Usuri rivers. Between the last

    two ranges lie the great coal, iron, and salt deposits in the

    provinces, and each side of the central axis huge troughs and

    basins occur, such as the valley of the Yangtsz’ in Yunnan, the

    Great Plain in Nganhwui and Chihli, the Gulf of Pechele, and

    the basins of the Liao and Songari rivers.

    The coast axis of elevation is indicated by ranges of granitic mountains between Kiangsi and Kiangsu on the north, and Chehkiang and Fuhkien on the south, extending S.W. through pumpelly’s sinian system.

    15 Kwangtung into the Yuii ling, and N.E. into the Chusan Arcliipelago, thence across to Corea and the Sihota Mountains east of the Usuri River. An outlying granitic range, reaching from Hongkong north-easterly to Wanchau, and IS.W. to Hainan Island, marks a fifth axis of elevation.

    Crossing these anticlinal axes are three ranges, coming into China Proper from the west in such a manner as to prove highly beneficial to its structure. The northern is apparently a continuation of the Bayan-kara Mountains in a S.E. direction into Kansuh, and south of the river Wei into Honan, inider the name of the Hiung slian or ‘ Bear Mountains.’ The centre is an offset from this, going across the north of Hupeh. The southern appears to be a prolongation of the IHmalaya into Yunnan and Kwangsi, making the watershed between the Yangtsz’ and Pearl river basins.

    Between the Tien slian and the Kwanlun range on the southwest,

    and reaching to the Sialkoi on the north-east, in an oblique

    direction, lies the great desert of Gobi or Sha-moh, both words

    signifying a ivaterless j)laln^ or sandy floats.’ The entire length

    of this waste is more than 1,800 miles, but if its limits are

    extended to the Belnr-tag and the Sialkoi, at its western and

    eastern extremity, it will reach 2,200 miles ; the avei-age breadth

    is between 350 and 400 miles, subject, however, to great variations.

    The area within the mountain ranges which define it is

    over a million square miles, and few of the streams occurring

    in it find their way to the ocean. The whole of this tract is not

    a barren desert, though no part of it can lay claim to more than

    comparative fertility ; and the great altitude of most portions

    seems to be as much the cause of its stei-ility as the nature of

    the soil. Some portions have relapsed into a waste because of

    the destruction of the inhabitants.

    The M^estern portion of Gobi, lying east of the Tsung ling

    and north of the Kwanlun, between long. 76° and 94° E., and

    in lat. 36° and 41° N., is about 1,000 miles in length, and

    between 300 and 400 wide. Along the southern side of the

    ‘ Another interpretation makes Gobi (Kopi) to apply to the stony, while Sha-moh denotes the sandy tracks of this desert, in which case the name would more correctly read, ” Great Desert of Gobi and Sha-moh.”

    Tien shan extends a strip of arable land from 50 to SO miles in width, producing grain, pastni’age, cotton, and other things, and in which lie nearly all the Mohammedan cities and forts of the JVcui Lu. The Tarim and its branches flow eastward into Lob-nor, through the best part of this ti-act, from 76° to 89° E. : and along; the banks of the Khoten River a road runs from Yarkand to that city, and thence to Il’lassa. Here the desert is comparatively narrow. This part is called Ilan ha I, or ‘ Mirao;e Sea,’ by the Chinese, and is sometimes known as the desert of Lob nor. The remainder of this region is an almost unnntigated waste, and north of Koko-nor assumes its most terrific appearance, being covered with dazzling stones, and rendered insufferably hot by the reflection of the sun’s rays from these and numerous movable mountains of sand. Kor in winter is the climate milder or more endurable. ” The icy winds of Siberia, the almost constantly unclouded sky, the bare saline soil, and its great altitude above the sea, combine to make the Gobi, or desert of Mongolia, one of the coldest countries in the whole of Asia.” *

    The sandhills —kmi/^jchi, as the Mongols call them—appear north of the Ala Shan and along the Yellow River, and when the wind sets them in motion they, gradually travel before it, and form a great danger to travelers who try to cross them.

    One Chinese author says, ” There is neither watei-, herb, man,

    nor smoke ;—if there is no smoke, there is absolutely nothing.”

    The limits of the actual desert are not easily defined, for near

    the base of the mountain ranges, streams and vegetation are

    usually found.

    Near the meridian of Hami, long. 9-1° E., the desert is narrowed to about 150 miles. The road from Kiayii kwan to Hami runs across this narrow part, and travellers find water at various places in their route. It divides Gobi into two parts—the desert of Lob-nor and the Great Gobi—the former being about 4,500 feet elevation, and the latter or eastern not higher than 4,000 feet. The borders of Kansuh now extend across this tract to the foot of the Tien shan. ‘Col. Prejevalskj, Travelis in Mongolia, i’U-. Vul. II., p. 22. London, 187(5.

    THE DESERT OF GOBI. 17

    The eastern part, or Great Gobi, stretches from the eastern declivity of the Tien shan, in long. 94° to 120° E., and about lat. 40° iS^., as far as the Inner Iling-aii. Its width between the Altai and the In shan range varies from 500 to 700 miles. Through the middle of this tract extends the depressed valley properly called Sha-moh, from 150 to 200 miles across, and whose lowest depression is from 2,000 to 2,000 feet above the sea. Sand almost covers the surface of this valley, generally level, but sometimes rising into low hills. The road from Urga to Kalgan, crossing this tract, is watered during certain seasons of the year, and clothed with grass. It is 660 miles, and forty-seven posts are placed along the route. The crow, lai-k, and sand-«:;rouse are abundant on this road, the first beins a real pest, from its pilfering habits. Such vegetation as occurs is scanty and stunted, affording indiiferent pasture, and the M-ater in the small streams and lakes is brackish and unpotable. North and south of the Sha-moh the surface is gravelly and sometimes rocky, the vegetation more vigorous, and in many places affords good pasturages for the herds of the Kalkas tribes. In those portions bordering on or included in Chihli province, among the Tsakhars, agricultural labors are repaid, and millet, oats,

    and barley are produced, though not to a great extent. Trees

    are met with on the water-courses, but not to form forests.

    This region is called tsaii-ti, or Grassland, and maintains large

    herds of sheep and cattle. It extends more or less northward

    towards Siberia. The Etsina is the largest inland stream in

    this division of Gobi, but on its north-eastern borders are some

    large tributaries of the Annir. On the south of the Sialkoi

    range the desert-lands reach nearly to the Chang-peh shan,

    about five degrees beyond those mountains. The general features

    of this portion of the earth’s surface are less forbidding

    than Sahara, but more so than the steppes of Siberia or the

    pampas of Buenos Ayres. The whole of Gobi is regarded by

    Pumpelly as having formed a portion of a great ocean, which,

    in comparatively recent geological times, extended south to the

    Caspian and Black Seas, and between the Ural and Inner Hing an

    Mountains, and was drained off by an upheaval whose traces

    and effects can be detected in many parts. ” It appears to me,”

    Vol. I.—2

    he adds, ” that the ancient physical geography of this region,

    and the effects of its elevation, present one of the most important

    fields of exploration.” It will no doubt soon be more fully

    explored. Baron Richthofen describes Central Asia as properly

    a shallow trough, 1,800 miles long and about 400 miles wude,

    whose bottom is about 1,800 feet above the ocean ; its ancient

    shore-line extended between the Kwanlun and Tien slian ranges

    on the west, from 5,000 to 10,000 feet high, and gradually falling

    to 3,600 feet in its eastern shore. This is the Ilan-ha’i •

    eastward is Sha-nioh.^ and outside of both these wildernesses

    are the peripheral regions, where the waters flow to the ocean,

    carrying their silt, the erosions from the mountains. Inside of

    the shore-line nothing reaches the oceans, and these results of

    degradation are washed or blown into the valleys, and the

    country is buried in its own dust.’

    The rivers of China are her glory, and no country can

    compare with her for natural facilities of inland navigation.

    The people themselves consider that portion of geography relating

    to their rivers as the most interesting, and give it the

    greatest attention. The four largest rivers in the empire are the

    Yellow River, the Yangtsz’, the Amur, and the Tarim ; the

    Yaru-tsangbu also runs more than a thousand miles within its

    borders.

    The Hwang ho, or ‘ Yellow River,’ rises in the plain of Odontala,

    called in Chinese Shuj-suh Juil, or ‘ Starry Sea,’ from the

    numerous springs or lakelets found there between the Shuga

    and Bayan-kara Mountains, in lat. 35^°, and about long. 96° E.,

    and Tiot a hundred miles from the Yangtsz’. The Chinese popularly

    believe that the Yellow River runs underground from

    Lob-nor to Sing-suh liai. In this region are two lakes—the

    Dzaring and Oling, which are its fountains ; and its course is

    very crooked after it leaves them. It turns first south 30 miles,

    then east 160, then nearly west about 120, winding through

    gorges of the Kwanlun; the river then flows north-east and

    east to Lanchau in Ivansuh, having gone about 700 miles in its

    devious line. From Lanchau it turns northward along the

    ‘ Von Richthofen, China. Ergebnisse eigener Heisen, Band I. Berlin, ISTt,

    THE YELLOW RIVEE. 19

    Great Wall for 430 miles, till deflected eastward by the fn shan,

    on the edge of the plateau, and incloses the country of the

    Ortous Mongols within this great bend. A spur of the Peh

    ling forces it south, about long. 110° E., between Shansi and

    Shensi, for some 500 miles, till it enters the Great Plain,

    having run 1,130 miles from Lanchau. Through this loess region

    it becomes tinged with the soil which imparts both color

    and name to it. At the northern bend it separates in several

    small lakes and branches, and during this part of its course,

    for more than 500 miles, receives not a single stream of any

    size, while it is still so rapid, in descending from the plateau,

    as to demand much care when crossing it by boats. At the

    south-western corner of Shansi this river meets its largest

    tributary, the Wei, which comes in from the westward after

    a course of 400 miles, and is more available as a navigable

    stream than any other of the aflHuents. The area of the whole

    basin is less than that of the Yangtsz’, and may be estimated

    at about 475,000 square miles ; though the source of this

    stream is only 1,290 miles in a direct line from its mouth,

    its numerous windings prolong its course to nearly double that

    distance.

    The great differences of level in winter and summer have

    always made this river nearly useless, except as a drain ; while

    the effect of the long-continued deposit of silt along its lower

    level course has finally choked the mouth altogether. This

    remarkable result has been hastened, no doubt, by the dikes

    built along the banks to the east of Kaifung, which thus forced

    the floods to fill up the channel, and pushed the waters back

    over 500 miles to Honan-fu. Here the land is low, and the

    refluent waters gradually worked their way through marshes

    and creeks into the river Wei on the north bank, and thus

    found a north-east ‘ channel into the Canal and the Ta-tsing

    River, till they reached the Gulf of Pechele. A small part of

    these floods have perhaps gone south into the head waters of

    the river Hwai, and thence into Hung-tsih Lake ; but that lake

    has shrivelled, like its great feeder, and all its waters flow into

    the Yangtsz’. The history of the Yellow River furnishes a conclusive

    argument against diking a river’s banks to restrain its floods. It lias now reverted to the channel it occupied about fourteen centuries ago.’

    Far more tranquil and useful is its rival, the Yangtsz’ kiang,

    called also simply Kiaivj or Ta kiang, the ‘ River,’ or ‘ Great

    River.’ It is often erroneously named on western maps, Kyang

    Ku, which merely means ‘ mouth of the river.’ The sources

    of the Kiang ai’e in the Tangla Mountains and the Kwanlun

    range, and are placed on native maps in three streams flowing

    from the southern side of the Bayan-kara, This has been

    partly confirmed by Col. Prejevalsky. In January, 1873, he

    reached the Murui-ussu (Tortuous River) in lat. 35°, long. 94°,

    at its junction with the Ts^apchitai, the northern of the three

    branches, and found it 750 feet wide at that season. In spring,

    the river’s bed there is filled up a mile wide. Its course thence

    is south-east, receiving three other streams, all of which may be

    considered as its head-waters. All their channels are over ten

    thousand feet above the sea, but the ranges near them are under

    the snow-line. There is no authentic account of its course from

    this union till it joins the Yalung kiang in Sz’chuen, a distance

    of nearly 1,300 miles ; but Chinese maps indicate a southeasterly

    direction through the gorges of the Yun ling, till it

    bursts out from the mountains in lat. 20° IST., where it turns

    north-east. During nmcli of this distance it bears the name of

    the Po-lai-tsz’. The Yalung River rises very near the Yellow

    River, and runs parallel with the Kiang in a valley further east,

    flowing upwards of 600 miles before they join. Great rafts

    of timber are floated down both these streams, for sale at

    the towns furtlier east, but no large boats are seen on them

    before they leave the mountains. The town of Batang, in

    Sz’chuen, on the road from Il’lassa, is the first large place on

    the river. The main trunk is called Kin sha kiang {I.e., Goldensand

    River), until it receives the Yalung in the southern part

    of Sz’chuen, which the Chinese there regard as the principal

    stream of the two. Beyond the junction, the united river is

    called Ta kiang as far as Wuchang, in Ilupeh, beyond which

    ‘ Report by Dr. W. A. P. Martin in Journal of N. C. Branch of R A.

    Society, Vol. III., pp. 33-38 ; 1860. Same journal, Vol. IV., pp. 80-86 ; 1867,-

    Notes by Ney Elias. Pumpelly’s Researches, 1866, chap, v., pp. 41-51

    THE YANGTSZ’ KIANG. 21

    the people know it also as the Cliang kiang, or ‘Long Tliver.’

    They do not often call it Yangtsz’, which is properly applied

    only to the reach from Xanking ont to sea, which lay within

    the old region of Yangchan. This name has been erroneously

    written in Chinese, and thence translated ‘ Son of the Ocean,’

    The French often call it the Fleuve Bleu, but the Chinese have

    no such name. Its general course from AYuchang is easterly,

    receiving various tributaries on both shores, until it discharges

    its waters at Tsungming Island, by two mouths, in hit, 32° N,,

    more than 1,850 miles from its mouth in a direct line, but flowing

    nearly 3,000 miles in all its windings.’

    One of the largest and most useful of its tributaries in its

    lower course is the Ivan kiang in Kiangsi, which empties

    through the Poyang lake, and continues the transverse communication

    from north to south, connecting with the Grand

    Canal. The Tungting lake receives the Siang and Yuen, which

    drain the northern sides of the Xan ling in Ilunan ; and west

    of them is the Kungtan or Wu, which comes in with its

    surplus waters from Kweichau. These are on the south ; the

    Ilan in Ilupeh, and the Kialing, Min, and Loh in Sz’chuen, are

    the main aifluents on the north, contributing the drainage

    south of the Peli ling. The Grand Canal comes in opposite

    Chinkiang, and from thence the deep channel, able to carry the

    largest men-of-war on its bosom, finds its way to the Pacific.

    No two rivers can be more unlike in their general features than

    these two mighty streams. While the Yellow Piver is unsteady,

    the Yangtsz’ is uniform and deep in its lower course,

    and available for rafts from Batang in the western confines of

    Sz’chuen, and for boats from beyond Tungchuen in Yunnan,

    more than 1,700 miles from its mouth. Its great body and

    depth afford ample I’oom for ocean steam-ships 200 miles, as far

    as Xanking, where in some places no bottom could be found at

    twenty fathoms, while the banks are not so low^ as to be often

    injured by the freshets, even when the flood is over thirty feet.

    ‘ See the account of Pere Laribe’s voyage on this river in 1843, Annates de

    la Propagation de la Foi, Tome XVII., pp. 207, 286, ff. Five Months on the

    Tang-tsze, by Capt. Thos.W. Blakiston ; London, 1862. Pumpelly’s Researches^chap. ii. , pp. 4-10. Capt. Gill, The River of Golden Sand.

    At Pingslian above Siicliau in Sz’chnen, 1,550 miles from its month, Blakiston reckons the river to be 1,500 feet above tidewater, which gives an average fall of 13 inches to a geographical mile ; the inclination is increased to 19 inches in some portions, and it is this force which carries the silt of this stream ont to sea, bnt which is wanting in the Yellow River. The fall of the Yangtsz’ is nearly donble that of the Nile and Amazon, and half that of the Mississippi. The amount of water discharged is estimated at 500,000 cubic feet a second at Ichang, about 700 miles up, and it may reasonably be concluded that at Tsungming it discharges in times of flood a million cubic feet per second. Barrow calculated the discharge of the Yellow River in 1798 to be 11,610 cubic feet per second, when the current ran seven miles an hour. Xo river in the world exceeds the Yangtsz’ for arrangement of subsidiary streams, which render the whole basin accessible as far as the Yalung. “When a ship-canal has been dug around the gorges and rapids between Ichang and Kwei, steam-vessels can ascend nearly two thousand miles. The area of its basin is estimated at 548,000 square miles ; and from its central course, and the number of provinces through which it 2:)asses, it has been termed the Girdle of China ; while for its size, perennial and ample supply of water, and accessibility for navigation, it ranks with the great rivers of the world.’

    Besides these two notable rivers, numerous others empty

    into the ocean along the coast from Hainan to the Amur, three

    of which drain large tracts of country, and afford access to

    many populous cities and districts. The third basin is that

    south of the I^an ling to the ocean ; it is drained chiefly by the

    Chu kiang, and its form is much less regular than those of the

    Yellow River and Yangtsz’. The Chu kiang or Pearl River,

    like most of the rivers in China, has many names during its

    course, and is formed by three principal branches, respectively

    called East, North, and West rivers, according to the quarter

    from whence they come. The last is by far the largest, and all

    ‘ Staunton’s Emhnssy, Vol. III., p. 233. Blakiston’s Yang-tsze, p. 294, etc

    Chinese Repodtoru^ Vol. II., p. 316,

    LAKES OF CHINA. 2^\

    of them are navigal)le most of their length. They disembogue

    togetlier at Canton, and drain a region of not nuich less than

    130,000 S(jiiare miles, being all the conntr}- east of the Ynn ling

    and south of the Nan ling ranges. The rivers in Yunnan, for

    the most part, empty into the Salween, Saigon, Meikon, and

    other streams in Coehinehina. The Min, which flows by Fnhchau,

    the Tsili, upon which Xingpo lies, the Tsientang, leading

    up to Hangchau, and the Pei ho, or White River, emptying into

    the Gulf of Pechele, are the most considerable among these

    lesser outlets in the provinces ; while the Liau ho and Yaliluh

    kiang, discharging into the Gulf of Liautung, are the only two

    that deserve mention in Southern Manchuria. The difference

    between the number of river-mouths cutting the Chinese coast

    and that of the United States is very striking, resulting from

    the diiferent direction of the mountain chains in the interior.

    The lah’s of China are comparatively few and small ; all

    those in the provinces of any size lie within the Plain, and are

    connected with the two.great rivers. The largest is tlie Tungting

    in Ilunan, about 220 miles in circumference, tlirough

    Avliich the waters of the Siang and Yuen rivers flow, and fill

    its channels and beds according to the season ; it is now the silted-

    up bed of a former inland sea in Ilupeh, lying on both sides

    of the Yangtsz’, and through which countless lakes, creeks, and

    canals form a navigable network between that river and the

    Han. The lake receives the silt as the tributaries flow on

    through it, and discharge themselves along the deep outlet

    near Yohchau ; this depression altogether is about 200 miles

    long and 80 broad. About 320 miles eastward lies the Poyang

    Lake in Kiangsi, which also discharges the surplus waters of

    the Kan into the Yangtsz’. It is nearly 90 miles long, and

    about 20 in breadth, inclosing within its bosom many beautiful

    and populous islets. The scenery around this lake is highly

    picturesque, and its trade and flsheries are inore important

    than those of the Tungting. The Yangtsz’ receives the waters

    of several other lakes as it approaches the ocean, the largest

    of which are the Ta liu or ‘ Great Lake ‘ near Suchau, and the Tsau hu, lying on the northern bank, between Nganking and Nanking ; both these lakes join the river by navigable streams and the former is connected with the ocean by more than one channel.

    The only considerahle lake connected with the Yellow River

    is the llungtsih in Iviangsu, situated near the junction of that

    river and the Grand Canal, into which it discharges the drainings

    of the Ilwai River ; it is more remarkable for the fleets of

    boats upon it than for scenery in the vicinity. The larger part

    of the country between the mouths of the two rivers is so

    marshy and full of lakes, as to suggest the idea that the

    whole was once an enormous estuary where their waters joined,

    or else that their deposits have filled up a huge lake which

    once occupied this tract, leaving only a number of lesser sheets.

    Besides these, there are small lakes in Chihli and Shantung; also the Tien, the /Sien, and the Tali, of moderate extent, in Yunnan ; all of them support an aquatic population upon the fish taken from their waters.

    The largest lake in Manchuria is the Hinkai-nor in Kirin,

    near the source of the Usuri ; the two.lakes Hurun and Puyur,

    or Pir, in the basin of the Nonni River, give their name to

    Hurun-pir, the western district of Tsitsihar ; but of the extent

    and productions of these sheets of water little is known.

    Tl”3 regions lying north and south of Gobi contain many

    salt lakes, none of them individually comparing with the Aral

    Sea, but collectively covering a much larger extent, and most

    of them receiving the waters of the streams which drain their

    own isolated basins. The peculiarities of these little known

    parts, especially the depression on each side of the Tien shan,

    are such as to render them among the most interesting fields

    for geographical and geological research in the world. The

    largest one in Turkestan is Lob-nor, stated to be a great marsh

    overgrown with tall reeds and having a length of 75 miles and

    width of 15 miles(Prejevalsky, Froni Kulja Across the Tien shnii to Lob-nor, p. 99.). Bostang-nor, said to connect with this

    lake, is placed on Chinese maps some 30 miles north of it.

    Korth of the Tien shan the lakes are larger and more numerous

    ; the Dzaisang, Kisil-bash and Issik-kul are the most important.

    All these lakes are salt.

    BOUNDARIES OF THE PROVINCES. 25

    The M’liole region of Koko-nor is a country of lakes. The

    Oling and Dzaring are among tlie sources of the Yellow Rivei”; and the Tsing Ixti^ or Azure Sea, better known as Koko-nor,

    gives its name to the province. The Tengkiri-nor in Tibet lies

    to the north of H’lassa, and is the largest sheet of water within

    the frontiers of the empire. In its neighborhood are numerous

    small lakes extending northward into Koko-nor. The

    Palti or Yamorouk is shaped like a ring, an island in its centre

    occupying nearly the whole surface. Ulterior Tibet possesses

    many lakes on both sides of the Gang-dis-ri range ; the Yik

    and Paha, near Gobi, are the largest, being only two of a long

    row of them south of the Kwanlun range.

    The Eighteen Provinces are bounded on the north-east by the

    colony of Shingking, from which they are separated by the

    line of a former palisade marking the boundary from the town

    of Shan-hai kwan to the Hwang ho. Following this stream to

    its sources in the In shan, the boundary then crosses these

    mountains and pursues a west and south-west course, through

    the territories of roving Mongol tribes, until it finds the Yellow

    River at the settlement of Hokiuli in Shensi. West of this

    the Great “Wall divides the provinces of Shensi and Ivansuh

    from the Mongolian deserts as far as the Kiayli Pass, beyond

    which lies the desert of Gobi, called Pch ha I (Xorth Sea) and Hah

    fiai (Black Sea). On the east are the Gulf of Pechele and the

    Yellow Sea or Hwang hai, also called Tang hai (Eastern Sea)

    as far south as the Channel of Formosa. This channel and

    the China Sea lie on the south-east and south, as far as the Gulf

    of Tongking and the confines of Annam. Kwangsi and Yunnan border on Annam and Siam on their south sides, while Burmali marks the western frontier, but nearly the whole southwest and western frontiers beyond Yunnan and Sz’chuen are possessed by small tribes of uncivilized people, over whom neither the Chinese nor Burmese have much real control.

    Koko-nor bounds Sz’chuen and Kansuh on their western and southwestern sides.

    The coast of China, from Hainan to the mouth of the Yangtsz’, is bordered with multitudes of islands and rocky islets; from that point northward to Liautung, the shores are low, and, except in Sliantuiiii’, the coast is rendered dangerous by shoals.

    South of the Pei ho, along to the end of Shantung Promontory, the coast is bolder, increasing in height after passing the Miautau Islands, though neither side of the promontory presents any point of remarkable elevation ; Cape Macartney, at the eastern end, is a conspicuous bluff when approaching it from sea. From this cape to the mouth of the Tsientang River, near Chapu, a distance of about 400 miles, the coast is

    low, especially between the mouths of the Yangtsz’ and Yellow

    rivers, and has but few good harbors. Quicksands in the

    regions near these rivers and the Bay of Ilangchau render the

    navigation dangerous to native junks. From Kitto Point, near

    Ningpo, down to Hongkong, the shores assume a bolder aspect,

    and numerous small bays and coves occur among the islands,

    affording safe refuge for vessels. The aspect along this part is

    uninviting in the extreme, consisting principally of a succession

    of yellowish cliffs and naked headlands, giving little promise

    of the highly cultivated country beyond them. This bleak appearance

    is caused by the rains washing the decomposed soil

    off the surface ; the rock being granite in a state of partial

    and progressive disintegration, the loose soil is easily carried

    down into the intervals. Another reason for its treeless sin–

    face is owing to the practice of annually cutting the coarse

    grass for fuel, and after the crop is gathered setting the stubble

    on fire, in order to manure the ground for the coming year; the fire and thinness of the soil together effectually prevent any large growth of trees or shrubbery upon the hills.

    The estuary of the Pearl Iliver from the Bocca Tigris down to the Grand Ladrones, a distance of TO miles, and from Hongkong westerly to the Island of Tungku, about 100 miles, is interspersed with islands. The strait which separates Hainan from the Peninsula of Luichau has been supposed to be the place called by Arabian travelers in the ninth century the Gates of China, but that channel was probably near the Chusan Archi})elago. That group of fertile islands is regarded as the l)rokeii termination of the continental range of mountains running throui^h Chehkiang.

    CHARACTER OF THE COAST.

    The Island of Formosa, or Taiwan, cmmects tlie islands of Japan and Lewchew with Lu9onia. Between Formosa and the coast lie the Pescadores or Panghu Islands, a group much less in extent and number than the Chusan Islands. The Chinese have itineraries of all the places, headlands, islands, etc., along the entire coast, but they do not afford much information respecting the names of positions.(CJiinese Repository, Vol. V., p. 337; Vol. X., pp. 351, 371. Williams’ Chinese Commerced Guide, fifth edition, second part, 1863.)

    The first objects that invite attention in the general aspect of China Proper are the Great Plain in the north-east, and the three longitudinal basins into which the country is divided by mountain chains running east and west(Remusat (Nouvennx Melanges, Tome I., p. 9) adds a fourth basin, that of the Sagalien. The latter, however, scarcely deserves the name, having so many interrupting cross-chains.). The three great rivers which drain these basins How through them very irregularly, but by means of their main trunks and the tributaries, water communication is easily kept up, not only from west to east along the great courses, but also across the country. These natural facilities for inland navigation have been greatly” improved by the people, but they still, in most cases, await the introduction of steam to assist them in stemming the rapid currents of some of their rivers, and bringing distant places into more frequent communication.

    The whole surface of China may be conveniently divided into the mountainous and hilly country and the Great Plain. The mountainous country comprehends more than luilf of the whole, lying west of the meridian of 112^ or 114° (nearly that of Canton), quite to the borders of Tibet. The hilly portion is that south of the Yangtsz’ kiang and east of this meridian, comprising the provinces of Fuhkien, Kiangsi, Kwangtung, and sections of Hunan and Ilupeh. The Great Plain lies in the northeast, and forms the richest part of the empire.

    This Plain extends in length 700 miles from the Great Wall and Barrier Range north of Peking to the confluence of Poyang Lake with the Yangtsz’ in Kiangsi, lat. 30° X. The latter river is considered as its southern boundary as far down as Nganking in Ngankwui, wlience to the sea it is formed by a line drawn nearly east throng] i llangchau. The western boundary may be marked by a line drawn from Kingchau in Ilupeh(lat. 30° 36′), nearly north to llwaiking, on the Yellow River, and thence due north to the Great Wall, 50 miles north-west of

    Peking. The breadth varies. North of lat. 35°, where it

    partly extends to the Yellow Sea, and partly borders on the

    western side of Shantung, thence across to tlie ]jear Mountains

    and Shansi, its measure is between 150 and 250 miles ; stating

    the average at 200 miles, this portion has an area of 70,000

    square miles. Between 3-i° and 35° the Plain enlarges, and in

    the parallel of the Yellow Piver has a breadth of some 300

    miles from east to west ; while further south, along the course

    of the Yangtsz’, it reaches nearly 400 miles inland. Estimating

    the mean breadth of this portion at 400 miles, there are

    140,000 square miles, which, watli the northern part, make an

    area of about 210,000 square miles—a surface seven times as

    large as that of Lombardy, and about the same area as the

    plain of Bengal drained by the Ganges. The northern portion

    in Chihli up to the edge of the Plateau is mostly a deposit

    of the yellow loess and alluvial on the river bottoms;

    that lying near the coast in Kiangsu is low and swampy, covered

    by lakes and intersected by water-courses. This portion

    is extremely fertile, and furnishes large quantities of silk, tea,

    cotton, grain, and tobacco. The most interesting feature of this

    Plain is tlie enormous population it supports, which is, according

    to the census of 1812, not less than 177 millions of human

    beings, if the whole number of inhabitants contained in the six

    provinces lying wholly or partly in it be included ; making it

    by far the most densely settled of any part of the world of the

    same size, and amounting to nearly two-thirds of the whole

    population of Europe.(Penny Cydojwidia, Vol. VII., p. 74. McCulloch’s Oeographicul Dictionary, Vol. I., p. 596.)

    THE GREAT WALL 29

    The public works of China are probably unequalled in any land or by any people, for the amount of human labor bestowed upon them; the natural aspect of the country has been materially changed by them, and it has been remarked that the Great Wall is the only artificial structure which would arrest attention in a hasty survey of the surface of the globe. But their usefulness, or the science exhibited in their construction, is far inferior to their extent. The Great Wall, called Wan-li Chang Cheng (i.e., Myriad-mile Wall), was built by Qin Shi-huangdi, in order to protect his dominions from

    the incursions of the northern tribes. Some portions of it

    were already in existence, and he formed the plan of joining

    and extending them along the whole northern frontier to

    guard it. It was finished b.c. 204, having been ten years in

    building, seven of which were done after the Emperor’s death.

    This gigantic work was probably a popular one in the main,

    and still remains as its own chief evidence of the energy,

    industry, and perseverance of its builders, as well as their

    unwisdom and waste. Its construction probably cost less than

    the usual sums spent by Eui-opean States for their standing

    armies. It commences at Shanhai wei or Shanhai kwan (lat.

    40°, long. 119° 50′), a coast town of some importance as on

    the boundary between Child i and Shingking, and a place of

    considerable trade. Lord Jocelyu describes the wall, when

    observed from the ships, as ” scaling the precipices and topping

    the craggy hills of the country, which have along this

    coast a most desolate appearance.”

    It runs along the shore for several miles, and terminates on

    the beach near a long reef. Its course from this point is

    west, a little northerly, along the old frontiers of the province

    of Chihli, and then in Shansi, till it strikes the Yellow River,

    in lat. 394° and long. 111^°. This is the best built part, and

    contains the most important gates, where garrisons and trading

    marts are established. Within the province of Chihli there

    are two walls, inclosing a good part of the basin of the Sangkan

    ho west of Peking ; the inner one was built by an emperor of the Ming dynasty. From the point where it strikes the Yellow River, near Pau-teh, it forms the northern boundary of Shensf, till it tonches that stream again in lat. 37°, inclosing the country of the Ortous Mongols. Its direction from this point is north-west along the northern frontier of Kansnh to its termination near Kiavii kwan, through which the road passes leading to llami.

    From Tiear the eastern extremity of tlio AVall in the province of Ciiihh’, extending in a north-easterly direction, there was once a wooden stockade or palisade, forming the boundary between Liautung and Ivirin, which has been often taken from its representation on maps as a continuation of the Great Wall. It was erected by the Manchus, but has long since become decayed and disused.

    The entire length of the Great Wall between its extremities is 22^ degrees of latitude, or 1,255 miles in a straight line; but its turnings and doublings increase it to fully 1,500 miles.

    It would stretch from Philadelphia to Topeka, or from Portugal to Naples, on nearly the same latitude. The construction of this gigantic work is somewhat adapted to the nature of the country it traverses, and the material was taken or made on the spot where it was used. In the western part of its course, it is in some places merely a mud or gravel wall, and in others earth cased with brick.

    The eastern part is generally composed of earth and pebbles faced with large bricks, weighing from 10 to GO lbs, each, supported on a coping of stone. The whole is about 25 feet thick at the base, and 15 feet at the top, and varying from 15 to 30 feet high; the top is protected with bricks, and defended by a slight parapet, the thinness of which has been taken as proof that cannon were unknown at the time it was erected.

    There are brick towers at different intei’vals, some of them more than 40 feet high, but not built upon the Wall. These are independent structures, usually about 40 feet square at the base, diminishing to 30 at the top; at particular spots the towers are of two stories.

    The impression left upon the mind of a foreigner, on seeing this monument of human toil and unremunerative outlay, is respect for a people that could in any manner build it. Standing on the jK-ak at Kn-jxh Knu (Old North (late), one sees the cloud-<-a[)ped towers extending away over the declivities in single tiles both east and west, until dwarfed by miles and miles of sk}’-w:ird jiei-sj)e(‘ti\(> as they dwindle inf(» niiiinte piles, yet stand

    THE GRAND CANAL. 31

    with solemn stillness where they were stationed twenty centuries ago, as though condemned to wait the march of time till their builders returned. The crumbling dike at their feet may be followed, winding, leaping across gorges, defiles, and steeps, now buried in sonie chasm, now scaling the cliffs and slopes, in very exuberance of power and M’antonness, as it vanishes in a thin, shadowy line, at the horizon. Once seen, the Great Wall of China can never be forgotten.

    At present this remarkable structure is simply a geographical boundary, and except at the Gates nothing is done to keep it in repair. Beyond the Yellow River to its western extremity, the Great Wall, according to Gerbillon, is mostly a mound of earth or gravel, about fifteen feet in height, with only occasional towers of brick, or gateways made of stone.

    At Kalgan portions of it are made of porphyry and other stones piled up in a pyramidal form between the brick towers, difficult to cross but easy enough to pull down. The appearance of this rampart at Ivu-peh kau is more imposing; the entire extent of the main and cross walls in sight from one of the towers there is over twenty miles. In one place it runs over a peak 5,225 feet high, where it is so steep as to make one wonder as much at the labor of erecting it on such a cliff as on the folly of supposing it could be of any use there as a defence. The wall is most visited at Xan-kau (South Gate), in the Ku-yung Pass, a remarkable Thermopyla fifteen miles in length, which leads from the Plain at Peking up to the first terrace above it, and at one time was guarded by five additional walls and gates, now all in ruins. From this spot, the wall reaches across Shansi, and was built at a later period.

    The other great public work is the Grand Canal, or Chah ho (i.e., river of Flood-gates), called also Yim ho or ‘ Transit River,’ an enterprise which reflects far more credit upon the monarchs who devised and executed it, than does the Great Wall, and if the time in which it was dug, and the character of the princes who planned it, be considered, few works can be mentioned in the history of any country more admirable and useful. When it was in order, before the inflow of the Yellow River failed, by means of its connection with its feeders, an uninterrupted water communication across the country from Peking to Canton existed, and goods and passengers passed from the capital to nearly every hirge town in the basins of the two great rivers. The canal was designed by Kublai to reach from his own capital as far as HangZhou, the former capital of the Sung dynasty, and cannot be better described than in Marco Polo’s language : ” You must understand that the Emperor has caused a water communication to be made from this city [Kwa-chau] to Cambaluc, in the shape of a wide and deep channel dug between stream and stream, between lake and lake, forming as it were a great river on which large vessels can ply.” ‘ The northern end is a channel fourteen miles long, from Tung-chau up to Peking, which, passing under the city walls, finishes its course of some 600 miles at the palace wall, close by the British Legation ; here it is called Jl^ Ao, or ‘ Imperial River,’ but all boats now unlade at the eastern gate. An abridged account of Davis’s observations ” will afford a good idea of its construction and appearance.

    “Early on the 23d September, we entered the canal through

    two stone piers and between very high banks. The mounds

    of earth in the immediate vicinity were evidently for the purpose

    of effecting repairs, which, to judge from the vestiges of

    inundation on either side, could not be infrequent. The canal

    joins the Yu ho, which we had just quitted, on its eastern

    bank, as that river flows towards the Pei ho. One of the

    most striking features of the canal is the comparative clearness

    of its waters, when contrasted with that of the two rivers

    on which we had hitherto travelled ; a circumstance reasonably

    attributable to the depositions occasioned by the greater stillness

    of its contents. The course of the canal at this point

    was evidently in the bed of a natural river, as might be perceived

    from its winding course, and the irregularity and inartificial

    appearance of its banks. The stone abutments and

    flood-gates are for the purpose of regulating its waters, which

    at present were in excess and flowing out of it. As we proceeded

    on the canal, the stone flood-gates or sluices occurred at the rate of three or four a day, sometimes oftener, according as the inequalities in the surface of the country rendered them necessary

    • Yuk-‘s Marco Polo, Vol. II., p. KJG. ” Sketches of China, Vol. I., p. 245

    THE GRAND CANAL. 33

    ” As we advanced, the canal in some parts became narrower,

    and the banks had rather more of an artificial appearance than

    where we first entered it, being occasionally pretty high ; but

    still the winding course led to the inference, that as yet the

    canal was for the most part only a natural river, modified and

    regulated by sluices and embankments. The distance between

    the stone piers in some of the flood-gates was apparently so

    narrow as only just to admit the passage of our largest boats.

    The contrivance for arresting the course of the water through

    them was extremely simple ; stout boards, with ropes fastened

    to each end, were let down edgewise over each other through

    grooves in the stone piers. A number of soldiers and workmen

    alwaj’s attended at the sluices, and the danger to the boats

    was diminished by coils of rope being hung down at the sides

    to break tha force of l)lows. The slowness of our progress,

    which for the last week averaged only twenty miles a day,

    gave us abundant leisure to observe the country

    ” “We now began to make better progress on the canal than

    we had hitherto done. The stream, though against us, was

    not strong, except near the sluices, where it was confined. In

    the afternoon we stopped at Kai-ho chin (i.e., River-opening mart), so called, perhaps, because the canal was commenced near here. On the 28th we arrived at the influx of the Yun ho, where the stream turned in our favor, and flowed to the southward, being the highest point of the canal, and a place of some note. The Yun ho flows into the canal on its eastern side nearly at right angles, and a part of its waters flow north and part south, while a strong facing of stone on the western bank sustains the force of the influx. At this point is the temple of the Dragon King, or genius of the watery element, who is supposed to have the canal in his special keeping. This enterprise of leading in this river seems to have been the work of Sung Li, who lived under Hungwu, the first emperor of the Ming dynasty, about 1375. In his time, a part of the canal in Shantung became so impassable that the coasting passage by sea began to be most used. Tins was the very thing the canal had been intended to prevent ; Sung accordingly adopted the plan of an old man named Piying, to concentrate the waters of the Yun ho and neighboring streams, and bring them down upon the canal as they are at present. History states that Sung employed 300,000 men to carry the plan into operation, and that the work was completed in seven months.

    On both sides of ns, nearly level with the canal, were extensive swamps with a shallow covering of water, planted with the Keluml)ium ; they were occasionally separated by narrow banks, along which the trackers walked, and the width of the canal sometimes did not exceed twenty-five yards. On reaching the part which skirts the Tu-shan Lake, the left bank was entirely submertred, and the canal confounded with the lake. All within sight was swamp, coldness, and desolation—in fact, a vast iidand sea, as many of the large boats at a distance were hull down. The swamps on the following day were kept out of sight by some decent villages on the high banks, which from perpetual accunnilation assumed in some places the aspect of hills.

    ” A part of our journey on the first of October lay along a portion of the canal where the banks, particularly to the right, were elaborately and thoroughly faced with stone ; a precaution which seemed to imply a greater than ordinary danger from inundations. In fact, the lakes, or rather floods, seemed to extend at present nearly to the feet of the mountains which lay at a distance on our left. We were now approaching that part of China which is exposed to the disastrous overflowings of the Yellow River, a perpetual source of wasteful expenditure to the government, and of peril and calamity to the people ; it well deserves the name of China’s Sorrow. We observed the repairs of the banks diligently proceeding under the superintendence of the proper officer. For this purpose they use the natural soil in combination with the thick stalks of the gigantic millet.”

    THE GRAND CANAL. 35

    The canal reaches the Yellow River about TO miles from its mouth ; but before leaving the lakes in the southern part of Shantung, it used to run nearly parallel with that stream for more than a hundred miles, and between it and the New Salt River during a good part of this distance. It is hard to understand how, by natural causes, so powerful a river, as it is described to be by the historians of both the British enil^assies less than one hundred years ago, should have become so completely choked up. The difference of level near Kaifung is found to be so very little that the siltage there has been enough to turn the current into the river “Wei and elsewhere. When Amherst’s

    embassy passed, the boats struck right across the stream,

    and gained the opposite bank, about three-fourths of a mile

    distant, in less than an hour. They drifted about two miles

    down, and then slowly brought up against the current to the

    spot Avhere the canal entered. This opening was a sluice nearly

    a hundred yards across, and through it the waters rushed into

    the river like a mill-race ; the banks were constructed of earth,

    strengthened with sorghum stalks, and strongly bound with cordage.

    Sir John Davis remarks, with the instinct of a tradesman,

    as he commends the perseverance and industry which had

    overcome these obstacles, that if the science of a Brunei could

    be allowed to operate on the Yellow River and Grand Canal,” a

    benefit mio-ht be conferred on the Chinese that M^ould more

    than compensate for all the evil that M-e have inflicted with our

    opium and our guns.” The boats were dragged through and

    up the sluice close to the bank by ropes communicating with

    large windlasses worked on the bank, wdiich safely, though

    slowly, brought them into still water.

    The distance between the Yellow and Yangtsz’ rivers is about

    ninety miles, and the canal here is carried largely upon a raised

    w^ork of earth, kept together by retaining walls of stone, and

    not less that twenty feet above the surrounding country in

    some parts. This sheet of water is about two hundred feet wide,

    and its current nearly three miles an hour. South of the II%vang

    ho several large towns stand near the levees, below their level,

    whose safety wholly depends upon the care taken of the baidvs

    of the canal. Ilwai-ngan and Pauying lie thus under and near

    them, in such a position as to cause an involuntary shudder at

    the thought of the destruction which would take place if they

    should give way. The level descends from these towns to the Yangtsz’, and at ‘i’angeliau the canal is much below the houses on its sides. It also connects with every stream or lake whose waters can be led into it. There are two or three inlets into the Yangtsz’ where the canal reaches the northern bank, but Chinkiang, on the southern shore, is regarded as the principal defence and post of its crossing. The canal leaves the river east of that city, proceeds south-east to

    Sucliau, and thence southerly on the eastern side of lake Tai,

    with which it communicates, to Ilangchau in Chehkiang. This

    portion is by far the most interesting and picturesque of the

    whole line, owing to its rich and populous cities, the fertility

    and high cultivation of the banks, and the lively aspect imparted

    by the multitude of boats. Though Kublai has had the credit

    of this useful work, it existed in parts of its com-se long before his day. The reach between the two great rivers was opened in the 11 an dynasty, and repaired by the wise founder of the SuiChao dynasty (a.d. (500). The princes of the TangChao dynasty kept it (tpen, and when the Sung emperors lived at Ilangchau they made the extension up to Chinkiang the great highway which it is to this day. The work from Peking to the Yellow River Mas opened by the Mongols about 1289, in which they merely joined the rivers and lakes to each other as they now exist. The Ming and Tsing emperors have done all they could to keep it open throughout, and lately an attempt has been made to reopen the passage from Ilungtsih Lake north into the old bed, so that boats can reach Tientsin from Kwachau. Its entire length is about 650 miles, or not quite twice that of the Erie Canal, but it varies in its breadth and depth more than any important canal either of America or Europe.

    As a work of art, compared with canals now existing in western countries, the Transit river does not rank high ; but even at this day there is no work of the kind in Asia which can compare with it, and there was none in the world equal to it when first put in full operation. It passes through alluvial soil in every part of its course, and the chief labor was expended in constructing embankments, and not in digging a deep channel.

    CANALS. 37

    The junction of the Yun ho, about lat. 3(5° N., was probably taken as the summit level. From this point northward the trench was dug through to Liiitsing to join the Yu ho, and embankments thrown up from the same place southward to the Yellow River, the whole being a line of two hundred miles. In some places the bed is cut down thirty, forty, and even seventy feet, but it encountered no material obstacle. The sluices which keep the necessary level are of rude construction, and thick planks, sliding in grooves hewn in stone buttresses, form the only locks. Still, the objects intended are all fully gained, and the simplicity of the means certainly does not derogate from the merit and execution of the plan.’

    There are some other inferior canals in the empire. Kienlung

    constructed a waste-weir for carrying off the surplus waters

    of the Yellow River of about a hundred miles in length, by

    cutting a canal from Ifimg liien in llonan, to one of the principal

    affluents of lake Hungtsih. It also answered as a drain for

    the marshy land in that part, and has probably recently served

    to convey the Hoods from the main stream into the lake. In

    the vicinity of Canton and Sucliau are many channels cut

    through the plains, which serve both for irrigation and navigation,

    but they are not worthy the name of canals. Similar conveniences

    are more or less frequently met with in all parts of

    the provinces, notably those on the Plain and low coast-lands.

    The public roads, in a country so well provided with navigable

    streams, are of minor consequence, but these media of travel

    are not neglected. ” I have travelled near 600 leagues by land

    in China,” observes De Guignes, ^ and have found many good

    roads, most of them wide and planted with trees. They are

    not usually paved, and consequently in rainy weather are either

    channelled by the water or covered with nnid, and in dry weather

    so dusty that travellers are obliged to wear spectacles to protect

    their eyes. In Kwangtung transportation is perfornied almost

    wholly by water, the only roads being across the lines of navigation.

    ‘ Klaproth, Memoires, Tome III., p. 312 sqq. De Guignes’ Voyages a Peking. Tome II., p. 195. Davis’s Sketchets, Vol. I., passim.H8 almost nortlnv

    The pass across the Mei ling is paved or filled up with stones; at Kihngan, in Kiangsi, are paved roads in good condition, but beyond the Yangtsz’, in xSganhwui, they were impracticable, but became better as we proceeded ard, and in many places had trees on both sides. Beyond-the Hwang ho they were broader, and we saw crowds of travelers, carts, nudes, and horses.

    In Shantung and Chihli they were generally broad and shady, and very dusty. This is, no doubt, disagreeable, but we went smoothly over these places, while in the villages and towns we were miserably jolted on the pavements. I hope, for the sake of those who may come after me, that the Chinese will not pave their roads before they improve their carriages.

    Some of the thoroughfares leading to Peking are paved with thick slabs of stone. One feature of the roads through the northern provinces which attracts attention is the great miiiilxT that lie below the level of the country. It is caused by the wind sweeping along them, and carrying over

    A Rf ., I-Cut in thf Loess. runLic JioADS. 39

    the fields the dust made and raised by the carts. As soon as the pools left by the rains dry enough to let the carts pass, the earth is reduced to powder ; as the winds sweep through the passage and clear it out, the process in a few years cuts a defile through the loani often fifteen feet deep, which impedes travel by its narrow gauge, hindering the carts as they meet. The banks are protected by revetment Myalls or turf, if necessary. Those near I langchau, and the great road leading from Chehkiang into Kiangsi, are all in good condition. Generally speaking, however, as is the case with most things in China, the roads are not well repaired, and large holes are frequently allowed to remain unfilled in the path, to the great danger of those who travel by night.” ‘

    Mountain passes have been cut for facilitating the transit of goods and people over the high ranges in many parts of the empire. The great road leading from Peking south-west through Sliansi and Shensi, and thence to Sz’chuen, is carried across the Peli ling and the valley of the river Ilwai by a mountain road, ” which, for the difficulties it presents and the art and labor with which they have been overcome, does not appear to be inferior to the road over the Simplon.” * At one place on this route, called Li-nai, a passage has been cut through the rock, and steps hewn on both sides of the mountain from its base to the summit. The passage across the peak being only wide enough for one sedan, the guards are perched in little houses placed on poles over the pass. This road was in ancient times the path to the metropolis, and these immense excavations were made from time to time by different monarchs. The pass over the Mei ling, at Kan-ngan, is a work of later date, and so are most of the other roads across this range in Fuhkien and Ivwangtung.

    ^ Voyages a Peking, Vol. II., p. 214. Compare the letter of a Jesuit missionary (Annales de la Foi, Tome VII., p. 377), who describes houses of rest on the wayside. These singular road-gullies of the loess region have been very thoroughly examined by Baron von Richthofen, from whose work the cut above is taken.^ Penny Cyclopaedia, Vol. XXVIL, p. 656.

    The general aspect of the country is perhaps as much modified by labor of man in China as in England, but the appearance of a landscape in the two kingdoms is unlike. Whenever water is a\aihil)le, streams are led upon the rice fields, and this kind of cultivation allows few or no trees to grow in the plats.

    Such fields are divided by i-aised banks, which serve for pathways across the marshy enclosui-e, and assist in confining the water when let in upon the growing crop. The bounds of other fields are denoted by stones or other landmarks, and the entire absence of walls, fences, or hedgerows, makes a cultivated plain appear like a vast garden.

    The iireatest sameness exists in all the cities. A wall encloses all towns above a .s-^’ or township, and the suburbs are not unfrequently larger than their enceinte. The streets in large towns south of the Hwang ho are paved, and the sewers run under the cross slabs. What filth is not in them is generally in the street, as these drains easily become choked. The roadways arc not usually over ten feet wide, but the low houses on each side make them appear less like alleys than would be the case in western cities. Villages have a pleasant appearance at a distance, usually embowered among trees, between which the whitewashed houses look prettily ; but on entering them one is disappointed at their irregularit}’, dirtiness, and generally decayed look. The gardens and best houses are mostly walled in from sight, while the precincts of temples are the resort of idlers, beggars, and children, with a proportion of pigs and dogs.

    Elegance or ornament, orderly arrangement and grandeur of design, cleanliness, or comfort, as these terms are applied in Europe, are almost unknown in Chinese houses, cities, or gardens.

    GENERAL ASPECT AND RACE TYPES. 41

    Commanding or agreeable situations are chosen for temples and monasteries, which are not only the abode of priests but serve for inns, theatres, and other purposes. The terrace cultivation sometimes renders the acclivities of hills beautiful in the highest degree, but it does not often impart a distinguishing feature to the landscape. A lofty solitary pagoda, an extensive temple shaded by trees in the opening of a vale, a commemorative ^x«’-Z«i*, or boats inoving in every direction through narrow creeks or on broad streams, are some of the peculiar lin eanients of Chinese scenery. No imposing mansions with beautiful grounds are found on the skirts of a town, for the people huddle together in luunlets and villages for mutiuil aid and security.

    No tapering spires pointing out the rural chureli, nor towers, pillars, domes, or steeples in the cities, indicating buildings of public utility, rise upon the low level of dun-tiled roofs.

    No meadows or pastures, containing herds and tlocks, are visible from tlie hill-tops in China ; nor are coaches or railroad cars observed hurrying across its landscapes. Steamers have just begun to course through some of its rivers, and disturb, by theii whistles and wheels, the drowsy silence of past ages and the slow progress of unwieldy junks—the other changes have yet to come.

    The condition and characteristics of the various families of man inhabiting this great empire, render its study far more interesting than anything relating to its physical geography or public works. The Chinese forms the leading family, but the Miaotsz’, the Li-mu, the Kakyens, and other aborigines in the southern provinces, the Manchus, the Mongols, and various

    Tartar tribes, the Tibetans, and certain wild races in Kirin and

    Formosa, must not be overlooked. The sons of Ilan are indeed

    a remarkable race, whether regard be had to their antiquity,

    their numbers, their government, or their literature, and on

    these accounts deserve the study and respect of every intelligent

    student of mankind ; while their unwearied industry, their general

    peaceableness and good humor, and their attainments in

    domestic order and mechanical arts, connnend them to the notice

    of every one who sees in these points of character an earnest

    of their future position amid the great family of civilized

    nations when once they shall have attained the same.

    The physical traits of the Chinese may be described as being between the light and agile Hindu, and the muscular, fleshy European. Their form is well built and symmetrical ; their color is a brunette or sickly white, rather approaching to a yellowish than to a florid tint, but this yellow hue has been much exaggerated ; in the south they are swarthy but not black, ne\er becoming as dark even as the Portuguese, whose fifth or sixth ancestors dwelt near the Tagus. The shades of complexion differ much according to the latitude and degree of exposure to the -u-eather, especially in the females. The hair of the head is lank, black, coarse, and glossy; beard always black, thin, and deficient ; scanty or no whiskers ; and very little hair on the body. Eyes invariably black, and apparently oblique, owing to the slight degree in which the inner angles of the eyelids open, the internal canthi being more acute than in western races, and not allowing the whole iris to be seen ; this peculiarity in the eye distinguishes the eastern races of Asia from all other families of man. There is a marked difference between the features of the mixed race living south of the Mei ling, and the inhabitants of the Great Plain and in Shansi or further west ; the latter are the finer appearing. The hair and eyes being always black, a European with blue eyes and light hair appears strange to them; one reason given by the people of Canton for calling foreigners ‘yangguizi’ or ‘foreign devils,’ is, that they have sunken blue eyes, and red hair like demons.

    The cheek-bones are high, and the outline of the face remark ably round. The nose is rather small, much depressed, nearly even with the face at the root, and wide at the extremity ; there is, however, considerable difference in this respect, but no aquiline noses are seen. Lips thicker than among Europeans, but not at all approaching those of the negro. The hands are small, and the lower limbs better proportioned than among any other Asiatics. The height of those living north of the Yangtsz’ is about the same as that of Europeans. A thousand men taken as they come in the streets of Canton, will hardly equal in stature and weight the same number in Rome or New Orleans, while they would, perhaps, exceed these, if gathered in Peking;

    their nuiscular powers, however, would probably be less in

    either Chinese city than in those of Europe or America.

    In size, the women are smaller than European females ; antf

    in the eyes of those accustomed to the European style of beauty,

    the Chinese women possess little ; the broad upper face, low

    nose, and linear eyes, being quite the contrary of handsome.

    Nevertheless, the Chinese face is not destitute of beauty,

    and when animated with good humor and an expressive eye,

    and lighted by the glow of youth and health, the features lose

    much of their repulsiveness. Nor do they fade so soon and

    ABORIGINAL TRIBES. 43

    look as ugly and witliered wlien old as some travellers say, but

    are in respect to bearing children and keeping their vigor, more

    like Europeans than the Hindus or Persians.

    The mountainous regions in Yunnan, Kwangsi, and Ivweichau,

    give lodgement to many elans of the Miaotsz’ or ” children

    of the soil,” as the words may be rendered. It is singular that

    any of these people should have maintained their independence

    so long, when so lai’ge a portion of them have partially submitted

    to Chinese rule. Those who will not are called sang

    Miaots2\ i.e., wild or ‘ unsubdued,’ while the others are termed

    sh}ih or ‘ subdued.’ They present so many physical points of

    difference as to lead one to infer that they are a more ancient

    race than the Chinese around them, and the aborigines of

    Southern China. They are rather smaller in size and stature,

    have shorter necks, and their features are somewhat more

    angular. They are divided into many tribes, and have been

    described by Chinese travellers, who have illustrated their habits

    by paintings and sketches, from which a good idea can be

    obtained of their condition. Dr. Bridgman has translated such

    an account, written by a Chinese native traveller, in which he

    sketches the manners of eighty-two clans, especially those customs

    relating to worship and marriage, showing how little they

    have learned from their i-ulei’s or impi-oved from the savage

    state. An examination of their languages shows that those of

    the Miaotsz’ proper have strong affinities with the Siamese and

    Annamese, and those known as Lolo exhibit a decided likeness

    to the Burmese. The former of these are mentioned in Chinese

    histoi-y during 4,000 years ; the latter about a.d. 250, when a

    Shan nation came under Cliinese influence in Yunnan, and was

    the object of a warlike expedition. The same race still remain

    on the Upper Irrawadi and in Assam as Shans and Ivhamti, ami

    in the basins of the IMeinam and Mei-lung, all of them akin to

    the Tibetans and Burmese. They form together an interesting

    relic of the ancient peoples of the land, and further inquiries

    will doubtless develop something of their history and origin.’

    ‘ Chinese Repository, Vol. XIV., p. 105. Shanghai Journal, No. III., 1859.Journal of Indian Archipelago, 1852. Missionary Recorder, Vol. III., pp. 33,02, 149, etc. T. T. Cooper, Travels of a Pioneer of Commerce, jiassim.

    An aboriginal race—the Li-mu—exists in the center of Hainan, an offset from the Miaotsz’, judging by the little that is known of their language. The natives of Formosa seem to have more affinity with their neighbors in Luzon and southwai-d than with the Chinese.

    The Mongol and Manchu races have been considered as springing from the same stock, but during centuries of separation under different ‘ circumstances they have altered much.

    The Mongols are essentially a nonuadic race, while the Manchus are an agricultural or a hunting people, according to the part of their country they inhabit. The Manchus are of a lighter complexion and somewhat larger than the Chinese, have the same conformation of the eyelids, but leather more beard, while their countenances indicate greater intellectual capacity. They seem to partake of both the Mongol and Chinese character, possessing more determination and largeness of plan than the latter, with much of the rudeness and haughtiness of the former.

    They have fair, if not florid, complexions, straight noses, and, in a few cases, brown hair and heavy beards. They are more allied to the Chinese, and when they ruled the northern provinces as the Kin dynasty, amalgamated with them. They may be regarded as the most improvable race in Central Asia, if not on the continent; and the skill with which they have governed the Chinese empire, and adopted a civilization higher than their own, gives promise of still further advances when they become familiar with the civilization of Christian lands.

    Under the term Mongols or Moguls a great number of tribes occupying the steppes of Central Asia are comprised. They extend from the borders of the Ivhirgis steppe and Kokand eastward to the Sialkoi Mountains, and it is particularly to this race that the name Tartars or Tatars is applicable. ‘ No such word is now known among the people, except as an ignominious epithet, by the Chinese, who usually write it with two characters—tah-tsz’—meaning ‘ trodden-down people.’ Klaproth confines the appellation of Tartars to the Mongols, Kalmucks, Kalkas, Eleuths, and Buriats, while the Kirghis, Usbecks, Cossacks, and Turks are of Kurdish and Ttirhrman origin.

    MANCIIUS AND MONGOLS. 46

    The Mongol tribes generally arc a stout, squat, swarthy, ill favored race of men, having high and broad shoulders, short, broad noses, pointed and prominent chins, long teeth distant from each other, eyes black, elliptical, and imsteady, thick, short necks, extremities bony and nervous, muscular thighs, but short legs, with a stature nearly or quite equal to the European.

    They have a written language, but their literature is limited and mostly religious. The same language is spoken by all the tribes, with slight variations and only a small admixture of foreign words. Most of the accounts of their origin, their wars, and their habits, were written by foreigners living or travelling among them ; but they themselves, as McCulloch remarks, know as little of these things as rats or marmots do of their descent.

    Yet it is not so easy to find the typical Mongol among the medley of nationalities in their towns. A crowd in a town like Yarkand exhibits all the varieties of the human race. The gaunt, almost beardless Manchu, with sunken eyes, high cheekbones, and projecting jowl, contrasts with the smooth face, pinky yellow, oblique eye, flat cheeks, and rounded jowl of the Chinese. The bearded, sallow Toork, the angular, rosy Kirghis, the coarse, hard Dungani, and thick-lipped, square-faced Eleuth, all show poorly with the tall, handsome Cashmerian, the swarthy liadakshi, and robust, intelligent Uzbek. The fate of the vast swarms of this race which have descended from the tal)le-land of Central Asia and overrun, in different ages, the plains of India, China, Syria, Egypt, and Eastern Europe, and the rise and fall of the gigantic empire they themselves erected under Genghis in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, are among the most remarkable episodes in the world’s history. They have always maintained the same character in their native wilds, their conquests have been exterminations rather than subjugations, their history a record of continual quarrels between clans.

    The last of the five races is the Tibetan, who partake of the physical characteristics of the Mongols and Hindus. They are short, squat, and broad-shouldered in body, with angular faces, wide, high cheek-bones, small black eyes, and scant beard. They are^ mild in disposition, have a stronger religious feeling than the Chinese, and have never left their own highlands either for emigration or conquest. Their civilization is fullj’ equal to that of tlie Siamese and Burmese, and life and property are more secure with them than among their turbulent neighbors in Butan, Lahore, or Cabul.

    It will be seen from this short survey that a full account of the geography, government, manners, literature, and civilization of so large a part of the world and its inhabitants requires the combined labors of many observers, all of them well acquainted with the languages and institutions of the people whom they describe. No one will look, therefore, for more than a brief outline of these subjects in the present work, minute enough, however, to enable readers to form a fair opinion of the people.

    It is the industry of the Chinese which has given them their high place among the nations of the earth. Not only has the indigenous vegetation been superseded wherever culture M-ould remunerate toil, but lofty hills have been tilled and terraced almost to their tops, cities have been built upon them, and extensive ranges of wall erected alone; their summits. They practise all the industrial arts whose objects are to feed, clothe, educate or adorn mankind, and maintain the largest population ever united under one system of rule. Ten centuries ago they were the most civilized nation on earth, and the incredulity manifested in Europe, five hundred years ago, at the recitals of Marco Polo regarding their condition, is the counterpart of the sentiments now expressed by the Chinese when they hear of the power and grandeur of western nations.

    Isolated by natural boundaries from other peoples, their civilization, developed under peculiar influences, must be compared to, ratlier than judged of, by European. A people from whom some of the most distinguishing inventions of modern Europe came (such as the compass, porcelain, gunpowder, and printing), and were known and practised many centuries earlier; who probably amount to more tlian three huTidred millions, united in one system of manners, letters, and polity; whose cities and capitals rival in numbers the greatest metropoles of any age; who have not only covered the earth, but the waters, with towns and streets—such a nation must occupy a conspicuous place in the history of mankind, and the study of their character and condition commend itself to every well-v/islier of his race.

    CIVILIZATION PAST AND FUTURK

    It lias been too much the custom of writers to overlook the influence of the Bible upon modern civilization ; but when a comparison is to be drawn between European and Asiatic civilization, this element forces itself upon the attention as the main cause of the superiority of the former. It is not the civilization of luxury or of letters, of arts or of priestcraft ; it is not the spirit of war, the passion for money, nor its exhibitions in trade and the application of machinery, that render a nation permanently great and prosperous. ” Christianity is the summary of all civilization,” says Chenevix ; ” it contains every argument which could be urged in its support, and every precept which explains its nature. Former systems of religion were in conformity with luxury, but this alone seems to have been conceived for the region of civilization. It has flourished in Europe, while it has decayed in Asia, and the most civilized nations are the most purely Christian.” Christianity is essentially the religion of the people, and when it is covered over with forms and contracted into a priesthood, its vitality goes out; this is one reason why it has declined in Asia. The attainments of the Chinese in the arts of life are perhaps as great as they can be without this spring of action, without any other motives to industry, obedience, and morality, than the commands or demands of the present life.

    A survey of the world and its various races in successive ages leads one to infer that God has some plan of national character, and that one nation exhibits the development of one trait, while another race gives prominence to another, and subordinates the first. Thus the Egyptian people were eminently a priestly race, devoted to science and occult lore ; the Greeks developed the imaginative powers, excelling in the fine arts ; the Romans were warlike, and the embodiment of force and law ; the Babylonians and Persians magnificent, like the head of gold in Daniel’s vision ; the Arabs predacious, volatile, and imaginative ; the Turks stolid, bigoted, and impassible ; the Hindus are contemplative, religious, and metaphysical ; the (yhinese industrious, peaceful, literary, atlieistic, and self-contained.’ The same religion, and constant intercommunication among European nations, has assimilated

    them more than these other races ever could have become ; but every one knows the national peculiarities of the Spaniards,

    Italians, French, English, etc., and how they are maintained,

    notwithstanding the motives to imitation and coalescence. The

    compai’ison of national character and civilization, M’ith the

    view of ascertaining such a plan, is a subject worthy the profound

    study of any scholar, and one which would orter new

    views of the human race. The Chinese would be found to

    iiave attained, it is believed, a higher position in general security

    of life and property, and in the arts of domestic life and

    comfort among the mass, and a greater degree of general literary

    intelligence, than any other heathen or Mohammedan nation

    that ever existed—or indeed than some now calling: themselves

    Christian, as Abyssinia. They have, however, probably done all they can do, reached as high a point as they can without the Gospel ; and its introduction, with its attendant intluences, will erelong change their political and social system. The rise and progress of this revolution among so mighty a mass of liuman beings will form one of the most interesting parts of the history of the world during the nineteenth century, and solve the problem whether it be possible to elevate a race without the intermediate steps of disorganization and reconstruction. ‘ For ol)Sprvations on the Chinese as compared witli other nations, see Sclilef^el’s Philoaifphy of llistuiy, p. 1 18, Bohu’s edition.

    CHAPTER II. GEOGRAPHICAL DESCRIPTION OF THE EASTERN PROVINCES

    The provinces of China Proper are poll tloally subdivided in a scientific manner, but in the regions beyond them, these divisions are considerably modified. Manchuria is regarded as belonging to the reigning family, somewhat as Hanover once pertained to the kings of England, and its scanty population is ruled by a simple military organization, the higliev officials being appointed by his majesty himself. The khans ot the Mongols in Mongolia and 111, the Mohammedan begs in Turkestan, and the lamas in Tibet, are assisted in their rule by Chinese residents and generals who direct and uphold the government.

    The geography of foreign countries has not been studied by the Chinese ; and so few educated men have travelled even into the islands of the Indian Archipelago, or the kingdoms of Siam, Corea, or Burmah, that the people have had no opportunity to become acquainted with the countries lying on their borders, much less with those in remoter parts, whose names, even, they hardly know. A few native works exist on foreign geography, among which four may be here noticed. ”

    1. Researches in the East and West^ 6 vols. Svo. It was written about two centuries ago ; the first volume contains some rude charts intendea to show the situation and form of foreign countries.
    2. Notices of the Seas, 1 vol. Its author, Yang Ping-nan, obtained his information from a townsman, who, being wrecked at sea, wss picked up by a foreign ship, and travelled abroad for fourteen years; on his return to China he became blind, and was engaged as an interpreter in Macao.
    3. JVotiees of Things heard and seen in Foreign Countries^ 2 vols. 12mo ; written about a century ago, containing among other things a chart of the wholb Vol. I.—4 Chinese coast,
    4. The Memoranda of Foreign Tribes, 4 vols.Svo, published in the reign of Kienlung.”‘ A more methodical

    work is that of Li Tsing-lai, called ‘Plates Illustrative of tJie

    Ileavens^ being an astronomical and geographical work, mucl^

    of whose contents were obtained from Europeans residing iiv

    the country. But even if the Chinese had better treatises on

    these subjects, the information contained in them would be

    of little use until it was taught in their schools. The high officers

    in the government begin now to see the importance of a

    better acquaintance with general geography. Commissioner

    Lin, in 1841, published a partial translation of Murray’s Cydol)(

    jidia of Geogrcfjjhy, in 20 volumes ; Gov. Seu Ki-yu, in 1850,

    issued a compend of geographical notices with maps, and many

    others, more accurate and extensive, are now extant.

    However scarce their geographical works upon foreign countries

    may be, those delineating the topography of their own are

    hardly equalled in number and minuteness in any language :

    every district and town of importance in the empire, as well as

    every department and province, has a local geography of its

    own. It may be said that the topographical and statistical

    works form, after the ethical, the most valuable portion of

    Chinese literature. It would not be difficult to collect a library

    of 10,000 volumes of such treatises alone ; the topography of the

    city of Suchau, and of the province of Chehkiang, are each in

    40 vols., while the Kwamjtuncj Tung Chi, an ‘ Historical and

    Statistical Account of Kwangtung,’ is in 182 volumes. Xone

    of these works, however, would bear to be translated entii’c,

    such is the amount of legendary and unimportant matter contained

    in them ; but they contain many data not to be overlooked

    by one who undertakes to write a geography of China.

    The Climate of the Eighteen Provinces has been represented

    in meteorological tables sufficiently well to ascertain its general

    salubrity. Pestilences do not frequently visit the land, nor, as

    in Southern India, is it deluged with rain during one monsoon,

    and parched with drought during the other. The average temperature

    of the whole empire is lower than that of any other

    ‘ Bridgman’s Chinese Chrestomathy, p. 420. Macao, 1841.

    CLIMATE OF THE PROVINCES. ol

    country on the same latitude, and the coast is subject to the

    same extremes as that of the Atlantic States in America. The

    isothermal line of 70° F. as the average for the year, which

    passes south of Canton, runs hy Cairo and Xew Orleans, eight

    degrees north of it ; the line of 60° F. average passes from

    Shanghai to Marseilles, Raleigh, St. Louis, and north of San

    Francisco ; and the line of 50° F. average goes near Peking,

    thence on to Vienna, Dublin, Philadelphia, and Puget’s Sound,

    in lat. 52°. These various lines show that while Shanghai and

    Peking liave temperatures similar to Paleigh and Philadelphia,

    nearly on their own parallels, Canton is the coldest place on the

    globe in its latitude, and the only place within the tropics

    where snow falls near the sea-shore. One result of this projection

    of the temperate zone into the tropical is seen in the

    greater vigor and size of the people of the three southern pi-ovinces

    over any races on the same parallel elsewhere ; and the

    productions are not so strictly tropical. The isothermal lines

    for the year, as given above, are not so irregular as those for

    winter. The line of 00° F. runs by the south of Formosa and

    Hongkong, to Cairo and St. Augustine, a range of nine degrees

    ;

    but the winter line of 40° F. passes from Shanghai to Constantinople,

    Milan, Dublin, and Ealeigh, ending at Puget’s

    Sound, a range of twenty degrees. A third line of 32° for

    winter passes through Shantnng to X. Tibet and the Black

    Sea, Norway, Xew York, and Sitka—a range of twenty-five

    degrees.

    Peking (lat. 39° 55′ N.) exhibits a fair average of the climate

    in that part of the Plain. The extremes range from 104° to

    zero F., but the mean annual temperature is 52.3° F., or more

    than 9° lower than Kaples ; the mean winter range is 12° below

    freezing, or about 18° lower than that of Paris (lat. 48° 50′),

    and 15° lower than Copenhagen. The rainfall seldom reaches

    sixteen inches in a year, most of it coming in July and August

    the little snow that descends remains only two or three days on

    the ground, and is blown away rather than melted ; no one associates

    white with winter, but snow is earnestly prayed for as

    a purifier of the air against diphtheria and fevers. The winds

    from the Plateau cause the barouieter and thermometer to fall, r])ut the sky is clear. In the spring, as the heat increases, the winds raise the dust and sand over the country ; some of these sand-storms extend even to Shanghai, carrying millions of tons of soil from its original place. The dryness of the region has apparently increased during the last century, and constant droughts destroy the trees, which by their absence increase the desiccation now going on. Frost closes the rivers for three months, and ice is cheap. After the second crops fully start in August, the autumns become mild, and till the lOtli of December are calm and genial.’

    The climate of the Plain is generally good, but near the rivers and marshy grounds along the Grand Canal, agues and bowel complaints prevail. A resident speaks of the temperature of banking and the region around it : ” This vast Plain being only a marsh half drained, the moisture is excessive, giving rise to many strange diseases, all of them serious, and not unfrequently mortal. The climate affects the natives from

    other provinces, and Europeans. I have not known one of the

    latter who was not sick for six months or a year after his arrival.

    Every one who comes here must prepare himself for a

    tertian or quotidian. For myself, after suffering two months

    fi’om a malignant fever, I had ten attacks of a maladv the Chinese

    here call the sand^ from the skin being covered with little

    blackish pimples, resembling grains of dust. It is prompt and

    \iolent in its progi’ess, and corrupts the blood so rapidly that in

    a few minutes it staijnates and coae-ulates in the veins. The

    best remedy the people have is to cicatrize the least fleshy j^arts

    of the body with a copper cash. The first attack I experienced

    rendered all my limbs insensible in two minutes, and I expected

    to die before I could receive extreme unction. After recovering

    a little, great lassitude succeeded.” ^ The monsoons

    form an important element in the seaside climate as far north

    as latitude 31°. The dry and wet seasons correspond to the

    north-east and south-west monsoons, assuaging the heats of

    summer by their cooling showers, and making the winters

    ^Comijare an article in the China Review for September-October, 1881, byII. Fritsche : The Amount of Baiii and Snow in Pekinf/.Annates de la Foi, Tome XVI., p. 29^3.

    CLIMATE OF THE COAST TOWNS. 53

    bracing- and healthy. Above the Formosa Channel they are

    less regular in the summer than in winter.

    The inhabitants of Shanghai suffer from rapid changes in

    the autumn and spring months, and pulmonaiy and rheumatic

    complaints are connnon. The maximum of heat is 100° F.,

    and the minimum 2-i°, but ice is not common, nor does snow

    remain long on the ground. The average temperature of the

    sunnner is from 80° to 93° by day, and from G0° to 75.° by

    .night , the thermometer in winter ranges from 45° to 60° by

    day, and from 36° to 45° by night.

    Owing in some degree to the hills, the extremes are rather greater at Ningbo than Shanghai. The thermometer ranges from 24° to 107° during the twelvemonth, and changes of 20° in the course of two hours are not unusual, rendering it the most uidiealtliy station along the coast. There is a hot and cold season of three months each at this place. The cold is very piercing when the north-east winds set in, and fires are needed, but natives content themselves with additional clothing.

    The large brick beds {hang) common in Chihli are not often

    seen. Ice forms in pools, and is gathered to preserve fish.

    Snow frequently falls, but does not remain long. Occasionally

    it covers the hills in Chehkiang for several weeks to the depth

    of six inches. Fuhchau and Canton lie at the base of hills,

    Avithin a hundred miles of the sea-coast, and their climates exhibit

    greater extremes than Amoy and Hongkong. Frost and

    ice are common every winter at each of the former, and fires

    are therefore pleasant in the house. The extremes at Fuhchau

    are from 38° to 95°, with an average of 56° during December

    and 82° for August. Along this whole coast the most refreshing

    monsoon makes the summers very agreeable. The climate of

    Amoy is delightful, but its insular position renders a residetice

    somewhat less agreeable than on the main. Here the thermometer

    ranges from 40° to 96° during the year, without the

    rapid changes of Xingpo. The heat continues longer, though

    assuaged by breezes from the sea.

    Meteorology at Canton and its vicinity has been carefully studied ; on the whole, its climate, and especially that of Macao, may be considered more salubrious than in most other places situated between the tropics. The thermometer at Canton in July and August stands on an average at S0° to 88°, and in January and February at 50° to 60°. The highest recorded observation in 1831 was 94°, in July; and the lowest, 29° in January. Ice sometimes forms in shallow vessels a line or two in thickness, but no use is made of it. A fall of snow nearly two inches deep occurred there in February, 1835, which remained on the ground three hours. Having never seen any before, the citizens hardly knew what was its proper name, some calling \t falling cotton, and every one endeavoring to preserve a little for a febrifuge. Another similar fall occurred in the winter of 1861. Fogs are common during February and March, and the heat sometimes renders them very

    disagreeable, it being necessary to keep up a little fire to dry

    the house. Most of the rain falls in May and June, but there

    is nothing like the rainy season at Calcutta and Manilla in July,

    August, and September. The regular monsoon comes from

    the south-west, with frequent showers to allay the heat. In

    the succeeding months, northerly winds connnence, but from

    October to January the temperature is agreeable, the sky clear,

    and the air invigorating. Few large cities are more healthy

    than Canton ; no epidemics nor malaria prevail, notwithstanding

    the fact that much of the town is built upon piles.

    The climate of Macao and Hongkong has not so great a range

    as Canton, from their proximity to the sea. Few cities in Asia

    are more salntiferous than Macao, though it has been remarked

    that few of the natives there attain a great age. Themaxinnnn

    is 90°, with an average summer heat of 84°. The minimum is

    50°, and average winter weather 68°, with almost uninterrupted

    sunshine. Fogs are not often seen here, but on the river they

    prevail, being frequent at Whampoa. Korth-easterly gales

    are conmion in the spring and autumn, and have a noticeable

    periodicity of three days. The vegetation does not change its

    general aspect during the winter, the trees cease to grow, and the

    grass becomes brownish ; but the stimulus of the warm moisture

    in March soon makes a sinisilJe diffei’ence in the appearance of

    the landscape, and bright green leaves ra])idly replace the old.

    The reputed insalubrity of Hongkong, in early days, was owing

    RAIN-FALL ON CHINESE AND AMERICAN COASTS. 55

    to other causes than climate, and when it became a well-built and

    well-drained town, its unwholesomeness disappeared. The rainfall

    is greater than in Macao, owing to the attraction of the high

    peaks. During the rainy weather the walls of houses become

    damp, and if newlj plastered, drip with moisture.

    The Chinese consider the provinces of Kwangtung, Kwangsi,

    and Yunnan to be the most unhealthy of the eighteen, and for

    this reason employ them as places of banishment for criminals

    from the north-eastern districts. The central portions of the

    country are on some accounts the most bracing, not so liable to

    sudden changes as the coast, nor so cold as the western and

    northern districts. Sz’chuen and tweichau are cooler than

    Fuhkien and Chehkiang, owing to the mountains in and upon

    their borders.

    The marked contrast between the Chinese and American coasts in regard to rain is doubtless owing, in a great degree, to the outlying islands from Formosa to Sagalien on the former, whose high mountains arrest the clouds in their progress inland.

    The iLuro-siwo, being outside of them, allows a far greater mass of cold water between it and the shore on the Chinese, than is the case on the Atlantic coast, and renders it the colder of the two by nearly eight degrees of latitude, if isothermal lines alone are regarded. This mass of cold water, having less evaporation, deprives the maritime provinces of rain in diminishing supply as one goes north along the skirts of the Plain, until the Chang-peh shan are reached. The rains which fall in the western provinces and the slopes of the Bayan kara Mountains, coming up from the Indian Ocean during the south-west

    monsoon, fall in decreasing quantities as the clouds are driven

    north-east across the basins of the Yangtsz’ and Yellow rivers.

    In the western part of Kansuh the humidity covers the mountains

    with more vegetation than further east, toward the ocean.

    Snow falls as late as June, and frosts occur in every month of the

    year. The enormous elevation of the western side of China near

    Tibet, the absence of an expanse of water like the great lakes,

    and the bareness of the mountains north of the Mei ling, account

    for much of this difference between the United States and China f

    but more extended data are needed for accurate deductions.

    The fall of rain at Canton is 70 inches annually, which is the mean of sixteen years’ observation. JS^inety inches was registered during one of these years. Kearly one-half of the whole falls during May, June, and September. The average at Shanghai for four years was 36 inches. Ko observations are recorded for the valley of the Yangtsz Near the edge of the Plateau the rainfall averages 10 inches in the province of Chihli, and rather more in Shansi and Shantung, where moisture is attracted by the mountains. More than three fourths of the rain falls during the ten weeks ending August 31st. Snow seldom remains on the level over a fortnight.

    The increased temperature on the southern coast during the months of June and July operates, with other causes, to produce violent storms along the seaboard, called typhoons, a word derived from the Chinese taifeng, or ‘great wind.’ These destructive tornadoes occur from Hainan to Chusan, between July and October, gradually progressing northward as the season advances, and diminishing in fury in the higher latitudes. They annually occasion great losses to the native and foreign shipping in Chinese waters, more than half the sailing ships lost on that coast having suffered in them. Happily, their fury is oftenest spent at sea, but when they occur inland, the loss of life is fearful.

    In August, 18G2, and September 21, 1ST4-, the deaths reported in two such storms near Canton, Hongkong, and their vicinity, were upward of 30,000 each. In the latter instance the American steamer Alaska, of 3,500 tons, M’as lifted from her anchorage and quietly put down in five feet of water near the shore, from whence she was safely floated some months afterward.

    TYFOONS. 57

    Typhoons exhaust their force within a narrow track, which, in such cases as have been registered, lies in no uniform direction, other than from south to north, at a greater or less angle, along the coast. The principal i)heni)iiiena indicating their approach are the direction of the wind, which commences to blow in soft zephyj-s from the north, without, however, assuaging the heat or disturbing the stifling calm, and the falling barometer. The glass usually begins to fall several hours before the storm commences, and the rarefaction of the air is further shown by the heavy swell rolling in upon the beach, though the sea remains unrutfled. The wind increases as it veers to the north-east, and from that point to south-east blows with the greatest force in iitful gusts. The rain falls heaviest toward the close of the gale, when the glass begins to rise. The barometer not unfrequently falls below 28 in. Capt. Krusenstern in 1804 records his surprise at seeing the mercury sink out of sight.

    The Chinese have erected temples in Hainan to the Tjfoon

    Mother, a goddess whom they supplicate for protection against

    these hurricanes. They say “that a few days before a tyfoon

    comes on, a slight noise is heard at intervals, whirling round

    and then stopping, sometimes impetuous and sometimes slow.

    This is a ‘ tyfoon brewing.’ Then fiery clouds collect in thick

    masses ; the thunder sounds deep and heavy. Kainbows appear,

    now forming an unbroken curve and again separating, and the

    ends of the bow dip into the sea. The sea sends back a bellowing

    sound, and boils with angry surges ; the loose rocks dash

    against each other, and detached sea-weed covers the water;

    there is a thick, murky atmosphere ; the water-fowl fly about

    affrighted ; the trees and leaves bend to the south—the tyfoon

    has connnenced. When to it is superadded a violent rain and

    a frightful surf, the force of the tempest is let loose, and away

    fly the houses up to the hills, and the ships and boats are

    removed to the dry land ; horses and cattle are turned heels

    over head, trees are torn up by the roots, and the sea boils up

    twenty or thirty feet, inundating the fields and destroying vegetation.

    This is called tleh la, or an iron tcJurlwindr ‘ Those

    remarkable gusts which annually occur in the Atlantic States,

    called tornadoes, defined as local storms affecting a thread of

    surface a few miles long, are unknown in China. The healthy

    climate of China has had much to do with the civilization of its

    inhabitants. Xo similar area in the world exceeds it for general

    salubrity.

    The Chinese are the only people who have, by means of a

    ‘ Chinese Repository. Vol. VIII ., p. 230 ; Vol. IV., p. 197. See also Fritsche’a

    paper in Journal of N. C. Branch Royal Asiatic Society, No. XII., 1878, pp.

    127-385; also Appendix II. in No. X., containing observations taken at Zi-ka

    wei.

    term added to the name of a place, endeavored to designate ita

    relative rank. Three of the words used for this purpose, viz.,

    fa, chau, and Men, have been translated as ‘ first,’ ‘ second,’ and

    ‘ third ‘ rank ; but this gradation is not quite correct, for the terms

    do not apply to the city or town alone, but to the portions of

    country of which it is the capital. The nature of these and

    other terms, and the divisions intended by them, are thus

    explained

    :

    “The Eighteen Provinces are divided into fu, ting, clinu, and Men. A fu

    is a large portion or department of a province, under the general control of

    one civil officer immediately subordinate to the heads of the provincial government.

    A ting is a division of a province smaller than a fu, and either like it

    governed by an officer immediately subject to the heads of the provincial

    government, or else forming a subordinate part of a/?/. In the former case it

    is called chih-l%, i.e. under the ‘direct rule’ of the provincial government;

    in the latter case it is sim^jly called ting. A chaii is a division similar to a

    ting, and like it either independent of any other division, or forming part of

    a/H. The difference between the two consists in the government of a ting

    resembling that of a fu more nearly than that of a chau does : that of the chau is less expensive. The ting and chau of the class to which the term chih-li is attached, may be denominated in common with the fu, departments or prefectures ; and the term cMh-Vi may be rendered by tlie word independent.

    The subordinate ting and chau may both be called districts. A ?den, which is also a district, is a small division or subordinate part of a department, whether of a,fu, or of an independent chau or ting.

    “Each/w, ting, chau, and hien, possesses at least one walled town, the seat of its government, which bears the same name as the department or district to which it pertains. Thus Hiangshan is the chief town of the district Hiang-.shan hien ; and Shanking, that of the department Shanking fu. By European writers, the chief towns of the/w or departments liave been called cities of the first order ; tho.se of the chau, cities of the second order ; and those of the hien, cities of the third order. The division called ting, being rarely met with, lias been left out of the arrangement—an arrangement not recognized in

    China. It must be observed that the cliief town of a fu is always also the

    cliief town of a hien district ; and sometimes, when of considerable size and

    importanc-e, it and the country around are divided into two Iden districts, both

    of which have the seat of their government within the same walls: but this

    is not the case with the ting and chau departments. A district is not always

    subdivided ; instances may occur of a whole district possessing but one important

    town. But as there are often large and even walled towns not included in the number of chief or of district towns, consequently not the seat of a regular chau or hien magistracy, a subdivision of a district is therefore frequently rendered necessary ; and for the better government of such towns and the towns surrounding them, magistrates are appointed to them, secondary to the magi.strates of the departments or the districts in which they are

    PtJ, TING, CHAU, AND HIEN. 59

    comprised. Thus Fnlishan is a very large commercial town or mart called a

    chin, situated in the district of Nanhai, of the department of Kwangchau,

    about twelve miles distant from Canton. The chief officer of the department

    has therefore an assistant residing there, and the town is partly under his

    government and partly under that of the Nanhai magistrate, within whose

    district it is included, but who resides at Canton. There are several of these

    c?iin in the provinces, as Kingteh in Kiangsi, Siangtan in Hunan, etc. ; they are not inclosed by walls. Macao affords another instance : being a place of some importance, both from its size and as the residence of foreigners, an assistant

    to the Hiangshan hien magistrate is placed over it, and it is also under

    the control of an assistant to the chief magistrate of the fu. Of these assistant

    magistrates, there are two ranks secondary to the chief magistrate of a///,

    two secondary to the magistrate of a chaii, and two also secondary to the magistrate

    of a liien. Tiie places under the rule of these assistant magistrates are

    called by various names, most frequently chin and so, and sometimes also chai

    and wei. These names do not appear to have reference to any particular form

    of municipal government existing in them ; but the chai and the loei are often

    military posts ; and sometimes a place is, with respect to its civil government,

    the chief city of a fu, while with respect to its military position it is called

    icei. There are other towns of still smaller importance ; these are under the

    government of inferior magistrates who are called siun kien : a division of

    country under such a magistrate is called a sz’, which is best represented by

    the term township or commune. The town of Whampoa and country around it form one such division, called Kiautang sz’, belonging to the district of Pwanyu, in the depai’tment of Kwangchau.

    “In the mountainous districts of Kwangsi, Yunnan, Kweichau, and Sz’-

    chuen, and in some other places, there are districts called tu sz’. Among

    these, the same distinctions of fu, chau, and hien exist, together with the

    minor division «2′. The magistrates of these departments and districts are liereditary in their succession, being the only hereditary local officers acknowledged by the supreme government.

    “There is a larger division than any of the above, but as it does not prevail universally, it was not mentioned in the first instance. It is called tau, a cottrse or circuit, and comprises two or more departments of a province, whether fu, or independent ting or cJtnu. These circuits are subject to the government of officers called tau-tai or intendants of circuit, who often combine with political and judicial powers a military authority and various duties relating to the territory or to the revenue.”

    ‘The eighteen provinces received their present boundaries and divisions in the reign of Ivienhmg ; and the little advance which has been made abroad in the geography of China is shown by the fact, that although these divisions were established a hundred years ago, the old deniarkations, existing at’ Chinese Repository, Vol. IV., p. 54.

    the time of the survey in 1710, are still found in many modern European geographies and maps. The following tahle shows their present divisions and government. The three columns under the head of JJepaiiiiieuts contain i\iQ fu, chUdl tiny^ and chihli chau, all of which are properly prefectures ; the three columns under the head of Districts contain the timj, cJiau, and Men.

    The province of CniiiLi is the most important of the whole. Qn foreign maps it is sometimes written Pechele {i.e., Korth vJhihii), a name formerly given it in order to distinguish it from Iviangnau, or Xaii-cUiJd’i, in which the seat of government w^as once located. This name is descriptive, rather than technical, and means ‘ Direct rule,’ denoting that from this province the supreme power which governs the empire proceeds; any province, in which the Emperor and court should be fixed, would therefore be termed Chihli, and its chief city King, ‘ capital,’ or King-ta or King-ss\ ‘ court of the capital.’ The surface of this province lying south of the Great Wall is level, excepting a few ridges of hills in the west and north, while the eastern parts, and those south to the Gulf, are among the flattest portions of the Great Plain.

    It is bounded on the north-east by Liautung, M’here for a short distance the Great AVall is the frontier line ; on the east by the Gulf of Pechele ; on the south-east and south by Shantung; on the south-west by llonan ; on the west by Shansi and north by Inner Mongolia, where the river Liau forms the boundary. The extensive region beyond the Wall, occupied mostly by the Tsakhar Mongols, is now included within the jurisdiction, and placed under the administration o*f officers residing at one of the garrisoned gates of the Great Wall ; the area of this part is about half that of the whole province. The chief department in the province, that of Shuntien, being both large and important, as containing the metropolis, is divided into four III or circuits, each under the rule of a sub-prefect, who issubordinate to the prefect living at Peking.

    Peking’ {i.e., Northern Capital) is situated upon a sandy’ This word shoixld not be written Pekin ; it is pronounced Pei-ching by the citizens, and by most of the people north of the Great River.

    TOPOGRAPHICAL DIVISIONS OF CIIIXA PROPEPv, Gl 13 o) a o S 0′;’= so-e a ^ S to pc; Hfol o> ?s 2 5 _S S1^ S S ^ ^^3 « ^ig cs 2 ^ =3 “So g oO iD 3 Sfl £5tzT^ x’^cgO CIS3 O .a> cs> iio 2SC ” to *2 > ^2 o’ 2 ‘”‘ 6B;o -^ 5 o :5: cs £ 1: cs •-O c! CO BD^ 2u 5 ^OH C 2 SC3 M C4 *3 -3 c3

    plain, about twelve miles south-west of the Pei ho, and more than a hundred miles west-north-west of its month, in lat. 39° 54′ 36′ K., and long. 11(3° 27′ E., or nearly on the parallel of Samarkand, Naples, and Philadelphia. It is a city worthy of note on many accounts. Its ancient history as the capital of the Yen Kwoh (the ‘ Land of Swallows ‘) during the feudal times, and its later position as the metropolis of the empire for many centuries, give it historical importance ; while its imperial buildings, its broad avenues with their imposing gates and towers, its regular arrangement, extent, populousness, and diversity of costume and equipage, combine to render it to a traveler the most interesting and unique city in Asia. It is now ruinous and poor, but the remains of its former grandeur under Kienlung’s prosperous reign indicate the justness of the comparisons made by the Catholic writers with western cities one hundred and eighty years ago. The entire circuit of the walls and suburbs is reckoned by Ilyacinthe at twenty-five

    miles, and its area at twenty-seven square miles, but more accurate

    measurements of the walls alone give forty-one //, or

    14.25 miles (or 23.55 kilometers) for the Manchu city, including

    the cross-wall, and twenty-eight Z/, or ten miles, for the

    Chinese city on its south ; not counting the cross-wall, the circuit

    measures almost twenty-one miles. The suburbs near the

    thirteen outer gates altogether form a small pi-oportion to the

    whole ; the area within them is nearly twenty-six square miles.

    Those residents who have had the best opportunities estimate

    the entire population at a million or somewhat less ; no census

    returns are available to prove this figure, nor can it be stated

    what is the proportion of Manchus, Mongols, and Chinese, except

    that the latter outnumber all others. Du Ilalde reckoned it

    to be about three millions, and Klaproth one million three hundred

    thousand ; and each was probably true at some period,

    for the number has diminished with the poverty of the Government.

    Peking is regarded by the Chinese as one of their ancient

    cities, ])ut it was not made the capital of the whole empire

    until Kublai established his court at this spot in 1264. The

    Ming emperors who succeeded the Mongols held their court

    POSITION AND HISTORY OF PEKING. 63

    at Nanking until Yimgloh transferred the seat of government to Peking in 1411, where it lias since remained. Under the Mongols, the city was called Khan-haligh (*.<?., city of the Khan), changed into Cambalii in the accounts of those times; on Chinese maps it is usually called King-sz\ Peking has, during its history, existed under many different names ; after each disaster her walls have been changed and her houses rebuilt, so that to-day she stands, like the capitals of the ancient Roman and Byzantine empires, upon the debris of centuries of buildings. The most important renovations have been those by the Liao dynasty, in 937 A.D., who entirely rebuilt the city, and by the Kin rulers in 1151.

    It was at first surrounded by a single wall pierced by nine

    gates, whence it is sometimes called the City of Nine Gates.

    The southern suburbs were inclosed by Kiatsing in 1543, and

    the city now consists of two portions, the northern or inner

    city {JSFui ching), containing about fifteen square miles, where

    are the palace, government buildings, and barracks for troops; and the southern or Outer city ( Wai ching), where the Chinese live. The wall of the Manchu city averages fifty feet high, forty wide at top, and about sixty at bottom, most of the slope being on the inner face. That around the Outer city is no more than thirty in height, twenty-five thick at bottom, and about fifteen at top. The terre-plein throughout is pave^ with bricks weighing sixty pounds each ; a crenellated parapet runs around the entire town, intended only for archers or musketeers, as no port-holes for cannon exist. It is undoubtedly the finest wall surrounding any city now extant. Near the gates, of which there are sixteen in all, the walls are faced with stone, but in other places with these large bricks, laid in a concrete of lime and clay, which in process of time becomes almost as durable as stone. The intermediate space between facings is filled up with the earth taken from the ditch which surrounds the city. Square buttresses occur at intervals of sixty yards on the outer face, each projecting fifty feet, and every sixth one being twice the size of the others ; their tops furnish room for the troops posted there to resist side attacks. Each gate is surmounted with a brick tower of many stories, over a hundred feet high, built in galleries with port-holes, and giving a very imposing appearance to the city as one approaches it from the wide plain. The gates of the Mancliu city have a double entrance formed by joining their supporting bastions with a circular wall in which are side entrances, thus making an enceinte of several acres, in which the yellow-tiled temple to the tutelary God of War is conspicuous. The arches of all the gates are built solidly of granite; the massive doors are closed and barred every night soon after dark.

    At the sides of the gates, and also between them, are esplanades for mounting to the top ; this is shut to the common people, and the guards are not allowed to bring their women upon the wall, which would be deemed an affront to Kwanti. The moat around the city is fed from the Tunghwui River, which also supplies all the other canals leading across or through the city. The approach to Peking from Tung chau is by an elevated stone road, but nothing of the buildings inside the walls is seen ; and were it not for the lofty towers over the gates, it would more resemble an encampment inclosed by a massive wall than a large metropolis. No spires or towers of churches, no pillars or monuments, no domes or minarets, nor even many dw-ellings of superior elevation, break the dull uniformity of this or any Chinese city. In Peking, the different colored yellow or green tiles on official buildings,’ mixed with the brown roofs of common houses, impart a variety to the scene, but the chief objects to relieve the monotony are the large clumps of trees, and the flag -staffs in pairs near the temples.

    GENERAL ASPECT OF THE CAPITAL. 65

    The view from the walls impresses one with the grand ideas of the founders of the city ; and the palaces in the Forbidden City, towering above everything else, worthily exhibit their notions of what was befitting the sovereigns of the Middle Kingdom. The Bell and Clock Towers, the Prospect Hill, the dagobas, pagodas, and gate towers, and lastly the Temple of ‘ ” You woxald think them all made of, or at least covered with, piii’e gold enamelled in azure and green, so that the spectacle is at once majestic an^ channing.” Magaillans, Noavelln Dencriptioit dc Id Cliiiu\ p. 353.

    Heaven, are all likewise visible from this point, and render the scene picturesque and peculiar.*

    The plan of the city here given is reduced from a large Chinese

    map, but is not very exact. The northern portion occupies

    for the most part the same area as the Cambaluc of Marco

    Polo, which, however, extended about two miles north, where

    the remains of the old north wall of the Mongols still exist.

    On their expulsion Ilungwu erected the present northern wall,

    and his son Yungloh rebuilt the other three sides in 1419 on a

    rather larger scale ; but the ai’rangement of the streets and

    gates is due to the Great Khan. When taken possession of by

    the Manchus in 1611, they found a magnificent city ready for

    them, uninjured and strong, which they apportioned among

    their officers and bannermen ; but necessity soon obliged these

    men, less frugal and thrifty than the natives, to sell them, and

    content themselves with humbler abodes ; consequently, the

    greater part of tlie noi-thern city is now tenanted by Chmese.

    The innermost inclosure in the l!^ul Ching contains the palace

    and its surrounding buildings; the second is occupied by barracks

    and public offices, and by many private residences ; the

    outer one, for the most part, consists of dwelling-houses, with

    shops in the large avenues. The inner inclosui’e measures 6.3

    li^ or 2.23 miles, in circuit, and is called Ts£ Kin Ching, or

    ‘ Carnation Prohibited City ;

    ‘ the wall is less solid and high than the city wall ; it is covered with bright yellow tiles, guarded by numerous stations of bannermen and gendarmerie, and surrounded by a deep, wide moat. Two gates, the Tunghwa and Si-hiva, on the east and west, afford access to the interior of this habitation of the Emperor, as well as the space and rooms appertaining, which furnish lodgment to the guard

    c’afending the approach to the Dragon’s Throne ; a tower at

    each corner, and one over each gateway, also gi\’e accommodation

    to other troops. The interior of this inclosure is divided

    ‘ See also Ji’ Unwera Pittoresque, Chine Modern f, par MM. Pauthier et Bazin,

    Paris, 185:^, for a good map of Peking, with careful descriptions. Yule’s Murro

    Polo, passim. De Guigues, Voydr/cs, Tome I. Williamson, Journeys in North

    China, Vol. II. Dr. Rennie, Pckiny and tlixi Pekimjeae. Tour du Monde foi 1864, Tome II.

    A.

    B.

    C.

    D.

    E.

    F.

    G.

    H.

    1.

    J.

    K.

    K.

    L.

    M.

    N.

    O.

    P.

    Q.

    R.

    S.

    T.

    U.

    V.

    w.

    X.

    Y.

    Z.

    BEFEBENCES.

    The Meridian Gate.

    Gate of E.\tensive Peace.

    Hall of Perfect Peace.

    Hall of Secure Peace.

    Palace of Heaven—the Emperor’s.

    Palace of Earth’s Repose—the Empress’.

    Gate to Earth’s Repose, leads to a Garden.

    Ching-hwang miao.

    Temple of Great Happiness.

    Northern gate of Forbidden City.

    Nui Koh, or Privy Council Chamber, lies

    within the wall.

    Gate of Heavenly Rest.

    Hall of Intense Mental Exercises.

    Library, or Hall of Literary Abyis.

    Imperial Ancestral Hall.

    Hall of National Portrait-s.

    PrintinK Office.

    Court of Controllers of Imperial Clan.

    Marble Isle ; a marble bridge leads to it.

    Five Dragon Pavilion.

    Great Ancestral Temple.

    Altar to the Gods of Land and Grain.

    Artificial Mountain. The Russian school

    lies just north of the Eastern gate near N.

    A summer-houpc.

    Military Examination Hall.

    Plantain Garden, or Conservatory,

    A Pavilion.

    Medical College.

    Astronomical Board.

    Five of the Six Boards. The Hanlin Yu9n

    lies just above them.

    House of the Russian Mission.

    Colonial Office.

    Temple for Imperial worship.

    Imperial Observatory, partly on the wall-

    Hall of Literary Examination.

    Russian Church of the Assumption.

    Temple of Eternal Peace of the lamas.

    Kwoh Tsz’ Kien, a Manchii College.

    Temple of the God of the North Star.

    High Watch-tower and Police Office.

    Board of Punishments.

    Censorate.

    Mohammedan Mosque.

    I’ortugtiese Church.

    Elephant’s Inclosure.

    Principal Ching-hwang miau.

    Temple of Deceased Emperors of all ages.

    Obelisk covering a »cab of Buddha.

    Altar to Heaven.—Altar to Earth is on the

    north of the city.

    Altar to Ayriculture.

    Black Dragon Pool, and Temple of God ol

    Hain.

    Altar to the Moon.

    Altar to the Sun.

    PALACES OF THE PROHIBITED CITY. 67

    Into three parts by two walls running from south to north, and

    the whole is occupied by a suite of court-yards and halls, which,

    in their prrangenient and architecture, far exceed any other

    speciraer?. of the kind in China. According to the notions of a

    common Chinese, all here is gold and silver ; ” he will tell you

    of gold and silver pillars, gold and silver roofs, and gold and

    silver vases, in which swim gold and silver fishes.”

    The southern gate, called the Wu 3Idn, or ‘ Meridian Gate,’

    is the fourth in going north from the entrance opposite the

    Tsien. Mitii, and this distance of nearly half a mile is occupied

    by troops. The Wtc Ildn leads into the middle division, in

    which are the imperial buildings ; it is especially appropriated

    to the Emperor, and whenever he passes through it, a bell

    placed in the tower above is struck ; when his troops return in

    triumph, a drum is beaten, and the prisoners are here presented

    to him ; here, too, the presents he confers on vassals and ambassadors

    are pompously bestowed. Passing through this gate

    into a large court, over a small creek spanned by five marble

    bridges, ornamented with sculptures, the visitor is led through

    the Tai-ho Mdii into a second court paved with marble, and

    terminated on the sides by gates, porticos, and pillared corridors.

    The next building, at the head of this court, called the TaiheDian or ‘ Hall of Highest Peace,’ is a superb marble structure, one hundred and ten feet high, standing on a terrace that raises it twenty feet above the ground ; five flights of stairs, decorated with balustrades and sculptures, lead up to it, and five doors open through it into the next court-yard. It is a great hall of seventy-two pillars, measuring about two hundred feet by ninety broad, with a throne in the midst. Here

    the Emperor holds his levees on New Year’s Day, his birthdays,

    and other state occasions ; a cortege of about fifty household

    courtiers stand near him, while those of noble and inferior

    dignity and rank stand in the court below in regular grades,

    and, when called upon, fall prostrate as they all make the fixed

    obeisances. It was in this hall that Titsingh and Van Braam

    were banqueted by Kienlung, January 20, 1795, of which interesting

    ceremony the Dutch embassador gives an account, and

    since which event no European has entered the building. The three Tien in this iiiclosiire are the audience halls, and the sido buildings contain stores and treasures under the charge of the Household Board, with minor bureaus.

    Beyond it are two halls; the first, the CJmmjhe Dian, or ‘Hall of Central Peace,’ having a circular roof, that rests on columns arranged nearly four-square. Here the Emperor ‘jomes to examine the written prayers provided to be offered at the state worship. The second is the Baohe Dian, or ‘ Hall of Secure Peace,’ elevated on a high marble terrace, and containing nine rows of pillars. The highest degrees for literary merit are her6 conferred triennially by the Emperor upon one hundred and fifty or more scholars ; here, also, he banquets his foreign guests and other distinguished persons the day before New Year’s Day. After ascending a stairway, and passing the Iti-eii Tsing 2Idn, the visitor reaches the Kieii Tsing Jfiinj, or ‘Palace of Heavenly Purity’, into which no one can eiiter without special license. In it is the council-chamber, where the Emperor usually sits at morning audience up to eight o’clock, to transact business with his ministers, and see those appointed to office. The building is the most important as it is described to be the loftiest and most mao-nificent of all the palaces. In the court before it is a small tower of gilt copper, adorned with a great number of figures, and- on each side are large incense vases, the uses of which are no doubt religious.

    It Avas in this palace that Ivanghi celebrated a singular and

    unique festival, in 1722, for all the men in the enquire over

    sixty years of age, that being the sixtieth year of his reign.

    His grandson Ivienlung, in 1785, in the fiftieth year of his

    reign, repeated the ceremony, on which occasion the number

    of guests was about three thousand.’ Beyond it stands the

    ‘ Palace of Earth’s Bepose,’ where ‘ Heaven’s consort ‘ rules

    • ler niiniature court in the imperial harem ; there are numerous

    buildings of lesser size in this part of the inclosure, and

    adjoining the northern Avail of the Forbidden City is the imperial

    Flower Garden, designed for the use of its inmates. The

    gardens arc adorned with elegant pavilions, tenq)les, and. :

    ‘ Chinese liepobitory, Vol. IX., p. 259.

    IMPERIAL CITY. 69

    groves, and interspersed with canals, fountains, pools, and

    flower-beds. Two groves rising from the bosoms of small

    lakes, and another crowning the summit of an artificial mountain, add to the beauty of the scene, and afford the inmates of the palace an agreeable variety.

    In the eastern division of the Prohibited City are the otiices

    of the Cabinet, where its members hold their sessions, and the

    treasury of the palace. North of it lies the ‘Hall of Intense Thought,’ where sacrifices are presented to Confucius and other sages. Kot far from this hall stands the Wchi-//yen loA, or the Library, the catalogue of whose contents is published from time to time, forming an admirable synopsis of Chinese literature.

    At the northern end of the eastern division are numerous

    palaces and buildings occupied by princes of the blood, and

    those connected Avith them ; and in this quarter is placed the

    Fung Sien tien, a small temple where the Emperor comes to

    ‘ bless his ancestors.’ Here the Emperor and his family perform

    their devotions before the tablets of their departed progenitors;

    whenever he leaves or returns to his palace, the first

    day of a season, and on other occasions, the monarch goes

    through his devotions in this hall.

    The western division contains a great variety of edifices devoted

    to public and private purposes, among which may be

    mentioned the hall of distinguished sovereigns, statesmen, and

    literati, the printing-office, the Court of Controllers for the

    regulation of the receipts and disbursements of the court, and

    the Ching-Jncang Mlao^ or ‘Guardian Temple’ of the city.

    The number of people residing within the Prohibited City

    cannot 1)0 stated, .but probably is not large ; most of them are

    Manchus.

    The second inclosure, which surrounds the imperial palaces,

    is called Hwang Ching^ or ‘ Imperial City,’ and is an oblong rectangle

    about six miles in circuit, encompassed by a wall twenty

    feet high, and having a gate in each face. From the southern

    gate, called the Tlen-an Mdn^ or ‘ Heavenly Rest,’ a broad

    avenue leads up to the Kin Chiw/ ; and before it. outside of

    the M’all, is an extensive space walled in, and having one entrance

    on the south, called the gate of Great Purity, which 110 one is allowed to enter except on foot, unless by special permission. On the right of the avenue within the wall is a gateway leading to the TaiMiao, or ‘ Great Temple’ of the imperial ancestors, a large collection of buildings hiclosed by a wall 3,000 feet in circuit. It is the most honored of religious structures

    next to the Temple of Heaven, and contains tablets to princes

    and meritorious officers. Here offerings are presented before

    the tablets of deceased emperors and empresses, and worship

    performed at the end of the year by the members of the imperial

    family and clan to their departed forefathers. Across

    the avenue from this temple is a gateway leading to the Shie-

    Tsih tan, or altar of the gods of Land and Grain. These were

    originally Kaa-lung, a Minister of Works, b.c. 2500, and Hautsih,

    a remote ancestor of Chan Kung ; here the Emperor sacriiices

    in spring and autumn. This altar consists of two stories,

    each five feet high, the upper one being fifty-eight feet square; no other altar of the kind is found in the empire, and it would

    he tantamount to high treason to erect one and worship upon it.

    The north, east, south, and west altar are respectively black,

    green, red, and white, and the top yellow ; the ceremonies connected

    with the worship held here are among the most ancient practised among the Chinese.

    PUBLIC BUILDINGS AND BARKS. 71

    On the north of the palace, separated by a moat, and surrounded by a wall more than a mile in circuit, is the King Shan, or ‘ Prospect Hill,’ an artificial mound, nearly one hundred and fifty feet high, and having five summits, crowned with as many temples ; many of these show the neglect in which public edifices soon fall. Trees of various kinds border its base, and line the paths leading to the tops. Its height allows the spectator to overlook the whole city, while, too, it is itself a conspicuous object from every direction. The earth and stone in it were taken from the ditches and pools dug in and around the city, and near its base are many tanks of picturesque shape and appearance; so that altogether it forms a great ornament to the city. Another name for it is Mei Shan, or ‘ Coal Hill,’ from a tradition that a quantity of coal Avas placed there, as a supply in case of siege. The western part of this inelosure is chiefly occupied by the Si l”;<;6/<, or ‘Western Park,’ in and around which are found some of the most beautiful objects and spots in the uietropolis. An artificial lake, more than a mile long, and averaging a furlong in breadth, occupies the centre; it is supplied from the Western Hills, and its waters are adorned with the splendid lotus. A marble bridge of nine arches crosses it, and its banks are shaded by groves of trees, under which are well-paved walks. On its south-eastern side is a large summer-house, consisting of several edifices partly in or over the water, and inclosing a number of gardens and walks, in and around which are artificial hills of rock-work beautifully alternating or supporting groves of trees and parterres of flowers.

    On the western side is the hall for examining military candidates,

    where his majesty in person sees them exliibit their

    prowess in equestrian archery. At the north end of the lake is

    a bridge leading to an islet, wdiich presents the aspect of a hill

    of gentle ascent covered with groves, temples, and summerhouses,

    and surmounted with a tower, from which an extensive

    view can be enjoyed. On the north of the bridge is a hill on

    an island called Kiung-hwa tan^ capped by a white dagoba.

    Xear by is an altar forty feet in circuit, and four feet high,

    inclosed by a wall, and a temple dedicated to Yuenfi, the

    reputed discoverer of the silk-worm, where the Empress annually

    offers sacrifices to her ; in the vicinity a plantation of mulberry

    trees and a cocoonery are maintained. Xear the temple

    of ‘ Great Happiness,’ not far distant from the preceding, on

    the northern borders of the lake, is a gilded copper statue of

    Maitreya, or the coming Buddha, sixty feet high, with a hundred

    arms ; the temple is one of the greatest ornaments of the

    Park. Across the lake on its western bank, and entered

    through the first gate on the south side of the street, is the

    Ts^-kwamj Koh^ wdiere foreign ministers are received by the

    Emperor ; the inclosure is kept with great care, and numerous

    halls and temples are seen amidst groves of firs. The object

    kept in view in the arrangement of these gardens and grounds

    has been to make them an epitome of nature, and then furnish

    every part with conmiodious buildings. But however elegant

    the palaces and grounds may have appeared when new, it is to

    be feared that his majesty has no higher ideas of cleanliness and order tliuu lii.s subjects, and tluit the various public and private edifices and gardens in these two inelosures are despoiled of luilf their beauty bj dirt and neglect. The nundjer of the palaces in them both is estimated to be over two hundred, “each of which,” says Attinet, in vague terms, ” is suflSciently large to accommodate the greatest of European noblemen, with all his retijiue.*’

    Along the avenue leading south from the Imperial City to the division Avail, are found the principal government offices. Five of the ISix Boards have their bureaus on the east side, the Board of Punishments with its subordinate departments being situated with its courts on the west side; immediately south of this is the Censorate. The office attached to the Board of Itites, for the preparation of the Calendar, commonly called the Astronomical Board, stands directly east of this; and the Medical College has its hall not far off. The Ilanlhi l\en, or National Academy, and the Ll-fan Yuen., or Colonial Office, are also near the south-eastern corner of the Imperial City. Opposite to the Colonial Office is the Tang T)iz\ where the remote ancestors of the reigning family are worshipped by his majesty together with the princes of his family; when they come in procession to this temple in their state dresses, the Emperor, as high-priest of the family, performs the highest religious ceremony before his deified ancestors, viz., three kneelings and nine knockings. After he has completed his devotions, the attendant grandees go through the same ceremonies. The temple itself is pleasantly situated in the midst of a grove of fir and other trees, and the large inclosure around it is prettily laid out.

    BUDDHIST AND CONFUCIAN TEMPLES. 73

    In the south-eastern part of the city, built partly upon the wall, is the Observatory, which was placed imder the superintendence of the Komish missionaries by Ivanghi, but is now confided to the care of Chinese astronomers. The instruments are arranged on a terrace higher than the city wall, and are beautiful pieces of bronze art, though now antiquated and useless for practical observations. Nearly opposite to the Observatory stands the Ilall for Literary Examinations, Mdiere the candidates of the province assemble to write their essays. In the north-eastern corner of the city is the Bussian Mission and

    Astronomical Office, inclosed in a large compound ; near it live

    the converts. About half a mile west is the Yung-ho Kung, or

    ‘ Lamasar}’ of Eternal Peace,’ wherein alwut 1,500 Mongol and

    Tibetan priests study the dogmas of Buddhism, or spend their

    days in idleness, under the conti’ol of a Gegen or living Buddha.

    Their course of study comprises instruction in metaphysics, ascetic

    duties, astrology, and medicine ; their daily ritual is performed

    in several courts, and the rehearsal of prayers and chants

    by so many men strikes the hearer as very impressive. The I’ear

    building contains a wooden image, 70 feet in height, of Mait-

    •veya, the coming Buddha ; the whole establishment exhibits in its

    buildings, pictures, images, cells, and internal arrangemeuts for

    study, living, and worship, one of the most complete in the empire.

    Several smaller lamasaries occur in other parts of the city.

    Directly west of the Yimg-ho Kung^ and presenting the

    greatest contrast to its life and activity, lies the Confucian

    Temple, where embowered in a grove of ancient cypresses

    stands the imposing Wan Mlao^ or ‘ Literary Temple,’ in which

    the Example aiid Teacher of all Ages and ten of his great disciples

    are worshipped. The hall is 84 feet in front, and the lofty

    roof is supported on wooden pillars over 40 feet high, covering

    the single room in which their tablets are placed in separate

    niches, he in the high seat of honor. All is simple, quiet, and

    cheerless ; the scene liere presents an impressive instance of

    merited honors paid to the moral teachers of the people. Opposite

    and across the court are ten granite stones shaped like

    drums, which are believed to have been made about the eighth

    century b.c, and contain stanzas recording King Siien’s hunting

    expeditions. In another court are many stone tablets containing

    the lists of Tslii-sz’ graduates since the Mongol dynasty, many thousands of names with places of residence. Contiguous to this temple is the Pili-yung Kang^ or ‘Classic Ilall’, where the Emperor meets the graduates and literati. It is a beautiful specimen of Chinese architectural taste. Near it are 800 stone tablets on which the authorized texts of the classics are engraved.’

    ‘ Dr. Martin, The CJdnese (New York, 1881), p. 85.

    North of the Imperial City lies the extensive yamiui of fJie Tl-tuh, who has the police and garrison of the city under his control, and exercises great authority in its civil administration. The Drum and Bell Towers stand north of the Ti-ngan Mwi in the street leading to the city wall, each of them over a hundred feet high, and forming conspicuous objects ; the drum and bell are sounded at night watches, and can be heard throughout the city; a clepsydra is still maintained to mark time—a good instance of Chinese conservatism, for clocks are now in general use, and correct the errors of the clepsydra itself.

    SHRINES OF ALL KELIGIONS. 75

    Outside of the south-western angle of the Imperial City stands the Mohammedan mosque, and a large number of Turks whose ancestors were brought from Turkestan about a century ago live in its vicinity ; this quarter is consequently the chief resort of Moslems who come to the capital. South-%vest of the mosque, near the cross-wall, stands the Xan Tavy, or old For tugiiese church, and just west of the Forbidden City, inside of the Hwang Chlng, is the Peh 2’ang, or Cathedral; Loth are imposing edifices, and near them are large schools and seiiiinaries for the education of children and neophytes. There are religions edifices in the Chinese metropolis appropriated to many forms of religion, viz., the Greek, Latin, and Protestant churches, Islamism, Buddhism in its two principal forms, nationalism, ancestral worship, state worship, and temples dedicated to Confucius and other deified mortals, besides a great number in which the popular idols of the country are adored. One of the most worthy of notice is the Ti- Wang Miao, lying on the avenue leading to the west gate, a large collection of halls wherein all the tablets of former monarchs of China from remote ages are worshipped. The rule for admission into this Walhalla is to accept all save the vicious and oppressive, those who were assassinated and those who lost their kingdoms. This

    memorial temple was opened in 1522; the Manchus have even

    admitted some of the Tartar rulers of the Kin and Liao dynasties,

    raising the total number of tablets to nearly three hundred.

    It is an impressive sight, these simple tablets of men who once

    ruled the Middle Kingdom, standing .here side by side, wovshipped

    by their successors that their spirits may bless the state.

    This selection of the good sovereigns alone recalls to mind the

    custom in ancient Jerusalem of allowing wicked pi-inces no place

    in the sepulchres of the kings. Distinguished statesmen of all

    ages, called by the Chinese liroh cJiu, or ‘pillars of state,’ are

    associated with their masters in this temple, as not unworthy to

    receive equal honors.

    A little west of this remarkable temple is the Peli-ta sz\ or ‘White Pagoda Temple,’ so called from a costly dagoba near it erected about a.d. 1100, renovated by Kublai in the thirteenth century, and rebuilt in 1S19. Its most conspicuous feature is the great copper umbrella on the top. When finished, the dagoba was described as covered with jasper, and the projecting parts of the roof with ornaments of exquisite workmanship tastefully arranged. Around this edifice, which contains twenty beads or relics of Buddha, two thousand clay pagodas and five books of charms, are also one hundred and eight small pillars Oil which lamps are burned. The portion of the city lying south of the cross-wall is inhabited mostly by Chinese, and contains

    hundreds of /avui-kican, or club-liouses, erected by the gentry

    of cities and districts in all parts of the empire to accommodate

    their citizens resorting to the capital. Its streets are narrow

    and the whole aspect of its buildings and markets indicates the

    life and industry of the people. Hundreds of inns accommodate

    trayellers who lind no lodging-places in the Nul C/n’urj, and

    storehouses, theatres, granaries and markets attract or supply their customers from all parts. There is more dissipation and freedom from etiquette here, and the Chinese officials feel freer from their Manchu colleagues.

    Three miles south of the Palace, in the Chinese City, is situated the Tien Tan, or ‘ Altar to Ileayen,’ so placed because it was anciently customary to perform sacrifices to Heaven in the outskirts of the Emperor’s residence city. The compound is inclosed by more than three miles of wall, within which is planted a thick grove of locust {Sajj/iora), pine and fir trees, interspaced with stretches of grass. Within a second wall, which surrounds the sacred buildings, rises a copse of splendid and thickly growing cypress trees, reminding one of the solemn shade in the vicinity of famous temples in Ancient Greece, or of those celebrated shrines described in “Western Asia. The great South Altar, the most important of Chinese religious structures, is a beautiful triple circular terrace of white marble, whose base is 210, middle stage 150, and top 90 feet in width, each terrace encompassed by a richly caryed balustrade. A curious symbolism of the number three and its multiples may be noticed in the measurements of this pile. The uppermost terrace, whose height above the ground is about eighteen feet, is paved with marble slabs, forming nine concentric circles—the inner of nine stones inclosing a central piece, and around this each receding layer consisting of a successive multiple of nine until the square of nine (a favorite number of Chinese philosophy) is reached in the outermost row. It is upon the single nnind stone in the centre of the upper plateau that the Emperor kneels when worshipping Heaven and his ancestors at the winter solstice.

    THE TEMPLE OF HEAVEN”. 77

    Four lliglits of nine steps each lead from this elevation to the next lower stage, where are placed tablets to the spirits of the sun, the moon, the stars, and the Year God. On the ground at the end of the four stairways stand vessels of bronze in which are placed the bundles of cloth and sundry animals constituting part of the sacrilicial offerings. But of ^’astly greater importance than these in the matter of burnt-offering is the great furnace, nine feet high, faced with green porcelain, and ascended on three of its sides by porcelain staircases. In this receptacle, erected some hundred feet to the south-east of the altar, is consumed a burnt-offering of a bullock—entire and without blemish—at the yearly ceremony. The slaughter-house of the sacrificial bullock stands east of the North Altar, at the end of an elaborate winding passage, or cloister of 72 compartments, each 10 feet in length.

    Separated from the Altar to Heaven by a low wall, is a smaller though more conspicuous construction called Kl-l’iih Tan, or ‘ Altar of Prayer for Grain.’ Its proportions and arrangement are somewhat similar to those of the South Altar, but upon its upper terrace rises a magnificent triple-roofed, circular building known to foreigners as the ‘ Temple of Heaven.’

    This elaborate house of worship, whose surmounting gilded ball rests 100 feet above the platform, was originally roofed with blue, yellow and green tiles, but by Kienlung these colors were changed to blue. When, added to these brilliant hues, we consider the I’ichly carved and painted eaves, the windows shaded by Venetians of blue-glass rods strung together, and the I’ai’e symmetry of its proportions, it is no exaggeration to call this temple the most remarkable edifice in the capital—or indeed in the empire. The native name is Qi-Nian Dian, or ‘Temple of Prayer for the Year’. In the interior, the large shrines of carved wood for the tablets coiTespond to the movable blue wooden huts which on days of sacrifice are put up on the Southern Altar. Here, upon some day following the first of spring (Fel). G), the Emperor offers his supplications to Heaven for a blessing upon the year. In times of drought, prayer for rain is also made at this altar, the Emperor being obliged to proceed on foot, as a repentant suppliant, to the ‘ Hall of Peni tent Fasting,’ a distance of three miles. A green furnace for burnt-offerings lies to the south-east of this, as of the Korth Altar ; while in the open park not far from the two and seventy cloisters are seven great stones, said to have fallen from heaven and to secure good luck to the country.

    Across the avenue upon which is situated this great inclosure of the I’ien Tan, is the Sleii ^uny Tan, or ‘ Altar dedicated to Shinnung,’ the supposed inventor of agriculture. These precincts are about two miles in circumference, and contain four separate altars : to the gods of the heavens, of the earth, of the planet Jupiter, and to Shinnung, The worship here is performed at the vernal equinox, at which time the ceremony of ploughing a part of the inclosed park is performed by the Emperor, assisted by various officials and members of the Board of Rites, The district magistrates and prefect also plough their plats ; but no one touches the imperial portion save the monarch himself. The first two altars are rectangular ; that to the gods of heaven, on the east, is 50 feet long and 4^ feet high: four marble tablets on it contain the names of the gods of the clouds, rain, wind, and thunder. That to the gods of earth is 100 feet long by GO wide ; here the five marble tablets contain the names of celebrated mountains, seas, and lakes in China, Sacrifices are offered to these divinities at various times, and, with the prayers presented, are burned in the furnaces, thus to come before them in the unseen world ; the idea which runs through them partakes of the nature of homage, not of atonement, iS’ early one-half of the Chinese City is empty of dwellings, much of the open land being cultivated ; a large pond for rearing gold-fish near the T’ten Tan is an attractive place. West of this city wall is an old and conspicuous dagobain the Ti.enning sz\ nearly 200 feet high, and a landmark for the city gate. This part of Peking was much the best built when the Liao and Kin dynasties occupied it, west of the main city is the Temple of the Moon, and on the east side, directly opposite, stands the Temple to the Sun ; the T’l Tan, or ‘ Altar to Earth.’ is on the north over against the Altar to Heaven, just desciilicd.

    MONUMENT, OK TOPE, OF A LAMA. UWANG SZ’, PEKING.THE BELL TEMPLE AND HWANG SZ*. 79

    At all these the Emperor performs religious rites during the twelve months. The inciosure of the Altar to Earth is suuiller, and everything connected with the sacrifices is on an inferior scale to those conducted in the Altar to Heaven, The main altar has two terraces, each 6 feet high, and respectively lOG feet and 00 feet square ; the tablet to Imperial Earth is placed on the npper with those to the Imperial Ancestors, and all are adored at the summer solstice. The bullock for sacrifice is afterwards buried and not burned. Adjoining the terraced altar on the south is a small tank for Mater.

    About two miles from the Tl Tan, in a northerly direction, passing through one of the ruined gates of the Peking of Marco Polo’s time on the way, is found the Ta-chioig sz\ or ‘Bell Temple’, in which is hung the great bell of Peking. It was cast about 1406, in the reign of Yungloli, and was covered over in 1578 by a small temple. It is 14 feet high, including the nmbones, 34 feet in circumference at the lim, and 9 inches thick ; the weight is 120,000 lbs. av. ; it is struck by a heavy beam swung on the outside. The Emperor cast five bells in all, but this one alone was hung. It is covered with myriads of Chinese characters, both inside and out, consisting of extracts from the Fah-hwa King and TJng-yen King, two Buddhist classics. In some respects this may be called the most remarkable work of art now in China ; it is the largest suspended bell in the world. A square hole in the top prevents its fracture under the heaviest rinoino-.’

    ‘ Compare Kirclier, China Illustratn, where an engraving of it may be seen. A bell near Mandalay, mentioned by Dr. Anderson, is 13 feet high, 10 feet across tli3 lips, and weighs 90 tons—evidently a heavier monster than this in Peking. (Mandalay to Momien, p. 18.)

    A short distance outside the northern gate, Tah-shing Man, is an open ground for military reviews, and near it a Buddhist temple of some note, called Hwang sz\ containing in its enceinte a remarkable monument erected by Ivienlung. In 1779 the Teshu Lama started for Peking with an escort of 1,500 men; he was met by the Emperor near the city of Si-ning in Ivansuh, conducted to Peking with great honor, and lodged in this temple for several months. He died here of small-pox, November 12, 1780, and this cenotaph of white marble was erected to his nieinoi’v ; the body was inclosed in a <^old cuflin and sent to the Dalai Lama at Lliassa in 1781. The plinth of this beautiful work contains scenes in the })relate’s life carved on the panels, one of which represents a lion rubbing- his eyes with his paw as the tears fall for grief at the Lama’s death.

    The Summer Palace at Yiien-ming Yuen lies about seven miles from the north-west corner of Peking, and its entire circuit is reckoned to contain twelve square miles. The country in this direction rises into gentle hills, and advantage has been taken of the original surface in the arrangement of the different parts of the ground, so that ilie whole presents a great variety of hill and dale, woodlands and lawns, interspered with pools, lakes, caverns, and islets joined by bridges and walks, their banks thrown up or diversified like the free hand of nature. Some parts are tilled, groves or tangled thickets occur here and there, and places are purposely left wild to contrast the better with the cultivated precincts of a palace, or to form a rural pathway to a retired temple or arbor. Here were formerly no less than thirty distinct places of residence for various palace officials, around which were houses occupied by eumichs md servants, each constituting a little village.

    But all was swept away l)y the British and French troops in

    I860, and their ruins still i-cmain to irritate the officials and

    people of Peking against all foreigners. Xear the Summer

    Palace is the great cantomnent of llai-tien, where the Manchu

    garrison is stationed to defend the capital, and whose troops

    did their best in the vain effort to stay the attack in I860. As

    a contrast to the proceedings connected with this approach of

    the British, an extract fi-om Sir John Davis’s Chinese (chap, x.)

    will furnish an index of the changed condition of things.

    ” It was at a place called Jlai-tien, in the innnediate vicinity

    of these gardens, that the strange scene occurred which terminated

    in the dismissal of the embassy of 1816, On his arrival

    there, about daylight in the jnornii?g, with the coinmissioners

    and a few other gentlemen, tlie ambassador was drawn

    to one of the Emperor’s temporary residences by an invitation

    from Duke llo, as he was called, the imperial relative charged

    rt’ith the conduct of the negotiations. After passing through

    SUMMEIl PALACE AT YUEN-MING YUEN. 81

    an open court, where were assembled a vast number of grandees

    in their dresses of ceremony, they were shown into a WTetched

    room, and soon encompassed l)y a well-dressed crowd, among

    whom were princes of the blood by dozens, wearing yellow girdles.

    With a childish and unmannei-ly curiosity, consistent

    enough with the idle and disorderly life which many of them

    are said to lead, they examined the persons and dress of the

    gentlemen without ceremony ; while these, tired with their

    sleepless journey, and disgusted at the behavior of the celestials,

    turned their backs upon them, and laid themselves down to rest.

    Duke IIo soon appeared, and surpi’ised the ambassador hy urging

    him to proceed directly to an audience of the Emperor, who

    was waiting for him. His lordsliip iu vain remonstrated that

    to-morrow liad been fixed for the first audience, and that tired

    and dusty as they all were at present, it would be worthy

    neither of the Emperor nor of himself to wait on his majesty in

    a manner so unprepared. He urged, too, that he was unwell,

    and required innnediate rest. Duke llo became more and more

    pressiug, and at length forgot himself so far as to grasp the

    ambassador’s arm violently, and one of the others stepped up at

    the same time. His lordship immediately shook them oft’, and

    the gentlemen crowded about him ; while the highest indignation

    was expressed at such treatment, and a determined resolution

    to proceed to no audience this morning. The ambassador

    at leugth retired, with the appearance of satisfaction on the

    part of Duke Ho, that the audience should take place tomorrow.

    There is every reason, however, to suppose that this

    person had been largely bribed by the heads of the Canton

    local government to frustrate the views of the embassy, and

    prevent an audience of the Emperor. The mission, at least, was

    on its way back in the afternoon of the same day.”

    The principal part of the provisions recpiired for the supply of this iimnense city comes from the southern provinces, and from flocks reared beyond the wall. It has no important manufactures, horn lanterns, wall papers, stone snuff-bottles, and pipe mouth-pieces, being the principal. Trade in silks, foreign fabrics, and food is limited to supplying the local demand, inasmuch as a heavy octroi duty at the gates restrains all enterprise. No foreign merchants are allowed to carry on business here. The government of Peking differs from that of other cities in the empire, the affairs of the department being separated from it, and administered by officers residing in thvi four circuits into which it is divided. ” A minister of one of the Boards is appointed superintendent of the city, and subordinate to him is ^ fuyin, or mayor. Their duties consist in having charge of the metropolitan domain, for the purpose of extending good government to its four divisions. They have under them two district magistrates, each of Mhoni rules half the city; none of these officers are subordinate to the provincial governor, but carry affairs which they cannot determine to the Emperor. They preside or assist at many of the festivals observed in the capital, superintend the military police, and hold the courts which take cognizance of the offences committed there.”‘

    ‘ Chinese Repository, Vol. IV., p. 181.

    STREET SCENES AND FEATURES OF PEKING. 80

    The thoroughfares leading across Peking, from one gate to the other, are broad, unpaved avenues, more than a hundred feet wide, which appear still wider owing to the lowness of the buildings; the centre is about two feet higher than the sides. The cross-streets in the main city are generally at right angles with them, not over forty feet wide, and for the most part occupied with dwellings. The inhabitants of the avenues are required to keep them well sprinkled in summer; but in rainy weather they are almost impassable from the mud and deep jniddles, the level surface of the ground, and obstructed, neglected drains, preventing rapid drainage. The crowds which throng these avenues, some engaged in various callings, along the sides or in the middle of the way, and others busily passing and repassing, together with the gay appearance of the signl)oards, and. an air of business in the shops, render the great streets of the Chinese metropolis very bustling, and to a foreigner a most interesting scene. Shop-fronts can be entirely opened when necessary ; they are constructed of panels or shutters fitting into grooves, and secured to a row of strong posts which set into mortises. At night, when the shop is

    closed, nothing of it is seen from without ; but in the daytime,

    when the goods are exposed, tlie scene becomes more animated.

    The sign-boards are often broad planks, fixed in stone bases

    on each side of the shop-front, and reaching to the eaves, or

    above them ; the characters are large and of different colors,

    and in order to attract more notice, the signs are often hung

    with various colored flags, bearing inscriptions setting forth the

    excellence of the goods. The sliops in the outer city are frequently

    constructed in this manner, others are made more compact

    for warmth in winter, but as a whole they are not brilliant

    in their fittings. Their signs are, when possible, images of

    the articles sold and always have a red pennon attached ; the

    finer shop-fronts are covered with gold-leaf, brilliant when new,

    but shabby enough when faded, as it soon does. The aj^pearance

    of the main streets exhibits therefore a curious mixture ol

    decay and renovation, which is not lessened by the dilapidated

    temples and governmental buildings everywhere seen, all indicating

    the impoverished state of the exchequer. In many parts of

    the city are placed 2>(^i-lau, or honorary gateways, erected to

    mark the approach to the palace, and M^orthy, by their size and

    ornamental entablatures, to adorn the avenues and impress the

    traveller, if they were kept in good condition.

    The police of the city is connected with the Bannermen, and

    is, on the whole, efiicient and successful in preserving the peace.

    During the night the thoroughfares are quiet ; they are lighted

    a little by lanterns hanging before the houses, but generally are

    dark and cheerless. In the metropolis, as in all Chinese cities,

    the air is constantly polluted by the stench arising from private

    vessels and pul)lic reservoirs for urine and every kind of offal,

    which is all carefully collected by scavengers. By this means,

    although the streets are kept clean, they are never sweet ; but

    habit renders the people almost insensible to this as well as

    other nuisances. Carts, mules, donkeys and horses are to be

    hired in all the thoroughfares. The Manchu women ride

    astride ; their number in the streets, both riding and walking,

    imparts a pleasant feature to the crowd, which is not seen in

    cities further south. The extraordinary length and elaborateness

    of marriage and funeral processions daily passing through the avenues, adds a pretty feature to them, which other cities Avitli narrow streets catinot emulate.

    The environs beyond the suburbs are occupied with niausolea, temples, private mansions, hamlets, and cultivated fields, in or near which are trees, so that the city, viewed from a distance, appears as if situated in a thick forest. Many interesting points for the antiquarian and scientist are to be found in and around this old city, which annually attracts more and more tlic attention of other nations. Its population has decreased regularly since the death of Kienlung in 1707, and is now probably rather less than one million, including the immediate suburbs. The clinuite is healthy, but subject to extremes from zero to 104°; the dryness during ten months of the year is, moreover, extremely irritating. The poor, who resort thither from other parts, form a needy and troublesome ingredient of the population, sometimes rising in large mobs and pillaging the granaries to supply themselves with food, but more commonly perishing in great numbers from cold and hunger. Its peace is always an object of considerable solicitude with the imperial government, not only as it may involve the personal safety of the Emperor, but still more from the disquieting effect it may have upon the administration of the empire. The possession of this capital by an invading force is more nearly equivalent to the control of the country than might be the case in most European kingdoms, but not as much as it might be in Siam, Burmah, or Japan.

    The good influences which nuiy be exerted upon the nation from the metropolis are likewise correspondingly great, while the purification of this source of contamiiuition, and the liberalizing of this centre of power, now well begun in various ways, will confer a vast benefit upon the Chinese people.’

    ‘ Compare the Aiinales de la Foi, Tome X., p. 100, for interesting details concerning the Romish missionurios in Peking. Also Pautliier’s CIdne Moderne,pp. 8-;}(i (I’iiris, l.sr)2), containing an oxccllont map. Bretschneider’s Archeokxjical and Jliitt’iricti! Rencarches on Pddiig, etc., published in the Chinese Recorder, Vol. VI. (1875, passim). Memnirea .mncernaiit fllistoire, les Sciences, les Arts, les A/oeiirs, /<?.<( Usages, etc., des Chinois. par les Mit,si(»inaires de Pckiii ; 16 vols., Paris, 1797-1814. N. B. Dtjimys, Notes for T(>iV.rwts in the: North of China ; Hongkong, 18(5G.

    Chihli contains several other large cities, among which Tau-ting, the foniier residence of the governor-general, and Tientsin, are the most important. The former lies about eighty miles south-west of the capital, on the Yungting River and the great road leading to Shansi. The whole department is described as a thoroughly cultivated, populous region ; it is well M’atered, and possesses two or three small lakes.

    Tientsin is the largest port on the coast above Shanghai. Owing, however, to the shallowness of the gulf and the bar at the mouth of the Pei ho, over which at neap tide only three or four feet of water flow, the port is rendered inaccessible to large foreign vessels. 1 tti size and importance were formerly chiefly owing to its being t’le terminus of the Grand Canal, where the produce and taxes for the use of the capital were brought. Mr. Gutzlaff, who visited Tientsin in 1831, described it as a bustling place, comparing the stirring life and crowds on the water and shores outside of the walls of the city with those of Liverpool.

    The enormous fleet of grain junks carrying rice to the capital is supplemented by a still greater number of vessels which take the food up to Tung chau. Formerly the coast trade increased the shipping at Tientsin to thousands of junks, including all which lined the river for about sixty miles. This native trade has diminished since 1861, inasmuch as steamers arc gradually ousting the native vessels, no one caring to risk insurxince on freight in junks. The country is not very fertile between the city and the sea, owing to the soda and nitre in the soil; but scanty crops are brought forth, and these only after much labor ; one is a species of grass(Phragmites) much used in making floor-mats. Sometimes the rains cause the Pei ho and its affluents to break over their banks, at which periods their waters deposit fertilizing matter over large areas.

    The approach to Tientsin from the eastward indicates its importance, and the change from the sparsely populated country lying along the banks of the Pei ho, to the dense crowds on shore and the fleets of boats, adds greatly to the vivacity of its aspect. ” If flue buildings and striking localities are required to give interest to a scene,” remarks Mr. Ellis, ” this has no claims; but, on the other hand, if the gradual crowding of junks till they become innumerable, a vast population, buildings, though not elegant, yet reguhir and peculiar, careful and successful cultivation, can supply these deficiencies, the entrance to Tientsin will not be without attractions to the traveler.’”

    The stacks of salt along the river arrest the attention of the voyager; the innuense quantity of this article collected at this city is only a small portion of the amount consumed in the interior. Tientsin will gradually increase in wealth, and nt)\v perhaps contains half a million of inhabitants. Its position renders it one of the most important cities in the empire, and the key of the capital.

    Near the endjouehure of the river is Ta-ku, with its forts and gari’ison, a small town noticeable as the spot where the first interview between the Chinese and English plenipotentiaries was held, in August, IS^tO ; and for three engagements between the British and Chinese forces in 1858, 1859, and ISGO. The general aspect of the province is flat and cheerless, the soil near the coast unpi’o(lucti\e, but, as a whole, rich and well cultivated, though the harvests are jeopardized by frequent droughts.

    The port of Peking is Tung chau on the Pei ho, twelve miles from the east gate, and joined to it by an elevated stone causeway. All boats here unload their passengers and freight, which are transported in carts, wheelbarrows, or on mules and donkeys.

    The city of Tung chau presents a dilapidated appearance amidst all its business and trade, and its population depends on the transit of goods for their chief support. The streets are paved, the largest of them having raised footpaths on their sides. The houses indicate a prosperous community. A single pagoda towers nearly 200 feet above them, and forms a waymark for miles across the country. Tung chau is only 100 feet above the sea, fi-om which it is distant 120 miles in a direct line; consequently, its liability to floods is a serious drawback to its permanent prosperity.

    ‘ Jourtud of Lord AinhcrsVs Emba.sKy to China^ Cd ed., p. 22. Lundon, 1840

    DOLOX-XUli \:SD TOV.^’.S IX THE NORTH. 87

    Another city of note is Siuenhwa fu, finely situated between the branches of the Great Wall. Tindvowski remarks, “the crenfvted wall which surrounds it is thirty feet high, and puts one in mind of that of the Krendin, and resembles those of several towns in Uussia; it consists of two thin parallel brick walls, the intennediate space being filled with clay and saud. The Avail is flanked with towers. AVe passed through three gates to enter the city : the first is covered with iron nails; at the second is the guard-house ; we thence proceeded along a broad street, bordered with shops of hardware ; we went through several large and small streets, which are broad and clean ; but, considering its extent, the city is thinly peopled.” ‘

    The department of Chahar, or Tsakhar, lies beyond the Great Wall, north and west of the province, a mountainous and thinly settled country, chiefly inhabited by Mongol shepherds who keep the flocks and herds of the Emperor.”

    ‘ Travels of the Russian Mission through Mongolia to China, Vol. I., p. 293.London, 1837.•^ Williamson, Journeys in North China, Vol. II. , p. 90.

    In the north-east of their grounds lies the thriving town of Dolon-nor (I.e., Seven Lakes), or Lama-miao, of about 20,000 Chinese, founded by Kanghi. The Buddhist temples and manufactories of bells, idols, praying machines, and other religious articles found here, give it its name, and attract “the Mongols, whose women array themselves in the jewelry made here. It is in latitude 42° 16′ X., about ten miles from the Shangtu river, a large branch of the river Liao, on a sandy plain, and is approached by a road Minding among several lakes. North-west of Dolon-nor are the ruins of the ancient Mongolian capital of Shangtu, rendered more famous among English reading people by Coleridge’s exquisite poem—

    In Xanadu did Kubla Khan
    A stately pleasure-dome decree :
    Where Alpli, the sacred river, ran
    Through caverns measureless to man
    Down to a sunless sea.
    So twice five miles of fertile ground
    With walls and towers were girdled round

    —than by Marco Polo’s relation, which moved the poet to pen the lines. It was planned as Mukden now is, an outer and inner Avail inclosing separate peoples, and its tumuli will probably furnish many tablets and relics of the Mongol emperors, when carefully dug over. It was too far from Peking for the Manclm monarchs to rebuild, and the Ming emperors had no power there. It was visited in 1 872 by Messrs. Grosvenor and Bushell of the British Legation ; Dr. BusheH’s description corroborates Polo’s account and Gerbillon’s later notices of its size.’

    There are several lakes, the largest of which, the Peh hu, in

    the south-western part, connects with the Pei ho throngh the

    river Hli-to. The various bi-anches of the five rivers, whose

    miited waters disembogue at Ta-ku, afford a precarious water

    communication through the southern half of Chihli. Their headwaters

    rise in Shan si and beyond the Great AVall, bringing down

    much silt, which their lower currents only partially take out into

    the gulf; this sediment soon destroys the usefulness of the

    channels by raising them dangerously ncai’ the level of the banks.

    The utilization of their streams is a difficult problem in civil

    engineering, not only here but throughout the Great Plain.

    Kear the banks of the Lan ho, a large stream flowing south

    from the eastern slopes of the (Jhahar Hills, past Yungping fu

    into the gulf, and about one hundred and seventy-four miles

    north of Ta-ku, lies Chingpeli, or Jeh-ho, the Emperor’s country

    palace. The approach to it is through a pass cut out of the

    rock, and resembles that leading to Damascus. The imperial

    grounds are embraced by a high range of hills forming a grand

    amphitheatre, which at this point is extremely fine. This descent

    to the city presents new and captivating views at every

    turn of the road. The hunting grounds are inclosed by a high

    wall stretching twenty miles over the hills, and stocked with

    deer, elks, and other game. The Buddhist temples form the

    chief attraction to a visitor. The largest one is square and castellated,

    eleven stories high, and about two hundred feet on

    each of its sides ; the stories are painted red, yellow and green

    alternating. There are several similar but smaller structures

    below this one, and on each of the first two or three series is a

    row of small chinaware pagodas of a blue color ; their tiles are

    ‘ Journal of the Boy. Qeog. Foe, 1874. Yule’s Marco Polo, Vol. I., pp. 263-26S. Cathay and the Way Thither, Vol. I., p. 134. Gerbillon, Memoires concernant leu Vhinoin (Anih^y’^ cd.), Vol. IV., pp. 701-71(5. Joiiriuil AHutiqve,Ser. II., Tome XL, p. 345. Hue, Tiirtary, etc., Vol. I., p 34, 2d ed., London

    SHANDONG PROVINCE. 89

    likewise blue. In the bright sunlight the effect of these brilliant hands is very good, and the general neatness adds to the pleasing result of the gay coloring. Nearly a thousand lamas live about these shrines. The town of Re-he (I.e., Hot River) consists mostly of ons street coiling around the hills near the palace; its inhabitants are of a higher grade than usual in Chinese cities, the greater part being connected with the government.

    The road through Ku peh kau in the Great Wall from Peking to Jeh-ho is one of the best in the province, and the journey presents a variety of charming scenery ; its chief interest to foreigners is connected with the visit there of Lord Macartney, in 1793.’ This fertile prefecture is rapidly settling by Chinese, whose numbers are now not far from two millions.

    The principal productions of Chihli are millet and wheat, sorghum, maize, oats, and many kinds of pulse and fruits, among which are pears, dried and fresh dates(likamnus), apples and grapes ; all these are exported. Coal, both bituminous and anthracite, exists in great abundance ; one mode of using hard coal is to mix its dust with powdered clay and work them into balls and cakes for cooking and fuel. The province also furnishes good marble, granite, lime, and iron, some kinds of precious stones, and clay for bricks and pottery.

    ‘ Sir G. L. Staunton, Acconntof an KmhasRy from the King of Great Britain to the Emperor of China. 3 vols. Lond., 179G.

    The province of Shandong (i.e., East of the Hills) has a long coast-line, its maritime border being more than half its whole circuit. It lies south of the Gulf of Pechele, south-east of Chihli, north of Kiangsu, and borders on Honan, where the Yellow River divides the two. Most of its area is level, the hilly part is the peninsula portion, where the highest points rise too high to admit of cultivation. The Grand Canal enters the province on its course from Tientsin at Lintsing chan in the north-west, passing in a south-easterly direction to the old Yellow River, and adds greatly to its importance. The shores of the promontory are generally l)old, and full of indentations, presenting several excellent harbors ; no important river disembogues within the province, and on each side of the peninsula the waters are shallow. Chifu, in the prefecture of Tangchau, has the hest harhor, and its trade will gradually draw toward it a large population. The hills along the shore have a reniarkahlj uniform, conical shape, resembling the bonnets worn by officers. The hilly regions are arranged in a series of chains running across the promontory, the longest and highest of which runs Avith the general trend of the coast in Tai-ngan fu, some peaks reaching over five thousand feet, but most of them being under three thousand feet high. Their intervales are highly cultivated. The soil is generally productive, except near the shores of the gulf, where it is nitrous. Two crops are aimually produced here as elsewhere in Northern China. The willow, aspen, ailantus, locust(Sop^ora), oak, mulberry, and conifera, are common trees; silk-worms fed on oak leaves furnish silk.

    This province is one of the most celebrated in Chinese history, partly from its having been the scene of many remarkable events in the early history of the people up to b.c. 200, but more particularly from its containing the birthplaces of Confucius and Mencius, wdiose fame has gone over the earth. The inhabitants of the province are proud of their nativity on this score, much as the woman of Samaria was because Jacob’s cattle had (huidv water at the well of Sychar.

    TAI SHAN, THE ‘ GREAT MOUNT,’ 91

    The high mountain called Taishan, or ‘great mount’, is situated near Tai-ngan fu in this province. This peak is mentioned in the Shu King as that where Shun sacrificed to Heaven (b.c.2254) ; it is accordingly celebrated for its historical as well as religious associations. It towers high above all other peaks in the range, as if keeping solitary watch over the country roundabout, and is the great rendezvous of devotees ; every sect has there its temples and idols, scattered up and down its sides, in which priests chant their prayers, and practise a thousand superstitions to attract pilgrims to their shrines. During the spring, the roads leading to the Tai shan are obstructed with long caravans of people coming to accomplish their vows, to supplicate the deities for health or riches, or to solicit the joys of heaven in exchange for the woes of earth. A French missionary mentions having met with pilgrims going to it, one party

    of whom consisted of old dames, who had with iulhiite fatigue

    and discomfort come from the south of llonan, about three

    hundred miles, to “‘remind their god of the long abstinence

    from flesh and fish thev had obsei’ved during the course of tlieir

    lives, and solicit, as a recompense, a happj transmigration for

    their souls.” The youngest of this party was 78, and the oldest

    90 years.’ Another traveller says that the pilgrims resort there

    during the spring, when there are fairs to attract tliem ; high

    and low, official and commoner, men and women,’ old and

    young, all sorts gather to worship and traffic. A great temple

    lies outside the town, whose grounds furnish a large and secure

    area for the tents where the devotees amuse themselves, after

    they have finished their devotions. The road to the summit is

    about five miles, well paved and furnished with rest-houses,

    tea-stalls, and stairways for the convenience of the pilgrims,

    and shaded with cypresses. It is beset with beggars, men and

    women with all kinds of sores and diseases, crippled and injured,

    besieging travellers with cries and self-imposed sufferings,

    frequently lying across the path so as to be stepped upon.

    A vast number of them live on alms thus collected, and have

    scooped themselves holes in the side of the way, where they

    live ; their numbers indicate the great crowds whose offerings

    support such a M’retched thi-ong on the hill.

    ‘ Annalcs de la Foi, 1844, Tome XVI., p. 421.

    The capital of the province is Tsinan, a well-built city of about 100,000 inhabitants. It was an important town in ancient times as the capital of Tsi, one of the influential feudal States, from b.c.1100 to its conquest by Chf Huangdi about 230 ; the present town lies not far east of the Ta-tsing ho, or new Yellow River, and is accessible by small steamers from sea. It has hills around it, and is protected by three lines of defence, composed of mud, granite, and brick. Three copious sprhigs near the western gate furnish pure water, which is tepid and so abundant as to fill the city moat and form a lake for the solace of the citizens whether in boats upon its bosom or from temples around its shores. Its manufactures are strong fabrics of wild silk, and ornaments of llit-ll, a vitreous substance like strass, of which pnuff-l)()ttlcp, bangles, cups, etc., are made in great variety, to reseuil)le serpentine, jade, ice, and other things. East of Tsinan is the prefect city of Tsing chau, once the provincial capital, and the centre of a populous and fertile region. Tsining chau is an opulent and flourishing place, judging from the gilded and carved shops, temples, and public offices in the suburbs, which stretch along the eastern banks of the Canal ; just beyond the town, the Canal is only a little raised above the level of the extensive marshes on each side, and further south the swamps increase rapidly : when Amherst’s embassy passed, the whole country, as far as the eye could reach, displayed the effects of a most extensive I’ecent inundation. Davis adds, ” The

    waters were on a level with those of the Canal, and there was

    no need of dams, which wei-e themselves nearly under water,

    and sluices for discharging the superfluous water were occasionally

    observed. Clumps of large trees, cottages, and towers, were

    to be seen on all sides, half under water, and deserted by the

    inhabitants ; the number of the latter led to the inference that

    they were provided as places of refuge in case of inundation,

    which must be here very frequent. Wretched villages t»ccuiTC(l

    frequently on the right-hand bank, along which the tracking

    path was in some places so completely undermined as to give

    way at every step, obliging them to lay down hurdles of reeds

    to afford a passage.” ‘

    Lin-tsing chau, on the Yu ho, at its junction with the Canal, lies in the midst of a beautiful country, full of gardens and cultivated grounds, interspersed with buildings. This place is the depot for produce brought on the Canal, and a rendezvous for large fleets of boats and baiges. ?sear it is a pagoda in good repair, about 150 feet high, the basement of which is built of granite, and the other stories of glazed bricks.

    ‘ SketcJies of CJu/ui, Yul. I., p. 257.

    CITIES AND CIIAnACTERISTICS OF SHANTUNG. 93

    The towns and villages of Shandong have been much ^•isited during the past few years, and tlu’ir inhabitants have become better acquainted with foreigners, with whom increased intercourse has developed its good and bad results. The productions of this fertile province comprise every kind of grain and vegetable finuid in Xoitlieni China, and its trade by sea and along the Canal opens many outlets for enterprising capital. Among its mineral productions are gold, copper, asbestos, galena, antimony, silver, sulphur, fine agates, and saltpetre ; the first occurs in the beds of streams. All these yield in real importance, however, to the coal and iron, which are abundant, and have been worked for ages. Its manufactures supply the common clothing and utensils of its people ; silk fabrics, straw braid woven from a kind of wheat, glass, cheap earthenware, and rugs of every pattern.

    Mr. Stevens, an American missionary who risited Wei-hai wei and Chifu in 1837, gives a description of the people, which is still applicable to most parts of the province : “These poor people know nothing, from youth to old age, but the same monotonous round of toil for a subsistence, ?nd never see, never hear anything of the world around them. Improvements in the useful arts and sciences, and an increase of the conveniences of life, are never known among them. In the place where their fathers lived and died, do they live, and toil, and die, to be succeeded by another generation in the same nuiimer.

    Few of the comforts of life can be found among them; their houses consisted in general of granite and thatched roofs, but neither table, chair, nor floor, nor any article of furniture could be seen in the houses of the poorest. Every man had his pipe, and tea was in most dwellings. They were industriously engaged, some in ploughing, others in reaping, some carrying out manure, and others bringing home produce; numbers were collected on the thrashing-floors, winnowing, sifting and packing wheat, rice, millet, peas, and in drying maize, all with the greatest diligence. Here, too, were their teams for ploughing, yoked together in all possible ludicrous combinations; sometimes a cow and an ass; or a cow, an ox and an ass; or a cow and two asses; or four asses; and all yoked abreast. All the women had small feet, and wore a pale and sallow aspect, and their miserable, squalid appearance excited an indelible feeling of compassion for their helpless lot. They were not always shy, but were generally ill-clad and ugly, apparently laboring in the fields like the men. But on several occasions, young ladies clothed in gay silks and satins, riding astride upon bags on donkeys, were seen. Ko prospect of melioration for either men or women appears but in the liberalizing and happy influences of Christianity.” ‘

    The province of ShanXxi (i.e., West of the Hills) lies between Ciiihli and Shensi, and north of HeNan ; the Yellow River bounds it on the west and partly on the south, and the Great Wall forms most of the northern frontier. It measures 55,2(38 square miles, nearly the same as England and Wales, or the State of Illinois. This province is the original seat of the Chinese people ; and many of the places mentioned and the

    scenes recorded in their ancient annals occurred within its borders.

    Its rugged surface presents a striking contrast to the level

    tracts in Chihli and Shantung. The southern portion of ShansI,

    including the region down to the Yellow River, in all an area

    of 30,000 square miles, presents a geological formation of great

    simplicity from Ilwai king a^ far north as Ping ting. The plain

    around the lirst-named cit)^ is bounded on the north by a steep,

    castellated raiige of hills which varies from 1,000 to 1,500 feet

    in height ; it has few roado ov streams crossing it. On reaching

    the top, an undulating table-land stretches northward, varying

    from 2,500 to 3,000 feet above the Plain, consisting of coal formation,

    above the limestone of the lower steep hills. About

    forty miles from those hills, there is a second rise like the first,

    up which the road takes one to another plateau, nearly 6,000

    feet above the sea. This plateau is built up of later rocks, sandstones,

    shales, and conglomerates of green, red, yellow, lilac,

    and brown colors, and is deeply eroded by branches of the Tsin

    Piver, which finally flow into the Yellow Piver. This plateau

    has its north-west boi-der in the Wu ling pass, beyond which

    besrins the descent to the basin of the Fan Piver. That basin

    is traversed near its eastern side by the Hob shan nearly to Taiyuen; its peaks rise to 8,000 feet in some places ; the rocks are granite and divide the coal measures, anthracite lying on its eastern side and bituminous on the west, as far as the Yellow.
    ‘ Chinese Repository, Vol. IV., pp. 308-335. W. H. Medhurst’s China,chaps, xv.-xix.

    NAT- -HANSI. 95

    River, and nr \, On top of both plateaus is spread the loess deposi iu depth from ten to five hundred fe^ ” ‘ water-courses in every direction, Avhic’ ‘ ^ .nines.

    On the eastern side . Shansi the rocks are made up of ancient for Liatlons v»r deposits of the Sihirian age, presenting a series of peaks, piisses and ranges that render travel very difficult down to u’.j Plain. By these outlying ranges the province is isolated from Chihli, as no useful water communication exists. This coal and iron formation is probably the largest in the “world, and when railroads open it up to easy access it can be leadily -worked along the water-courses. The northern part of the province is drained through the rivers ending at Tientsin. This elevated region cannot be artificially irrigated, and when the rainfall is too small or too late, the people suffer from famine. The northern and southern prefectures exhibit great diversity in their animal, mineral, and vegetable productions. Some of the favorite imperial hunting-grounds are in the north; from the coal, iron, cinnabar, copper, marble, lapis-lazuli, jasper, salt, and other minerals which it affords, the inhabitants gain much of their wealth. The principal grains are wheat and millet, a large variety of vegetables and fruits, such as persimmons, pears, dates and grapes. The rivers are not large, and almost every one of them is a tributary of the Yellow River. The Fan ho, about 300 miles long, is the most important, and empties into it near the south-western corner of the province, after draining the central section. East of this stream, as far as the headwaters of those rivers flowing into Chihli, extends an undulating table-land, having a general altitude of 3,000 feet above the Plain. South of it runs the river Kiang, also an afiiuent of the Yellow River, and near this, in Kiai chau, is a remarkable deposit of salt in a shallow lake (18 miles long and 3 lu-oad), which is surrounded by a high wall. The salt is evaporated in the sun under government direction, the product bringing in a large revenue ; the adjacent town of Lung-tsiien, containing 80,000 inhabitants, is devoted to the business. Salt has been obtained from this region for two thousand years ; the water in some of the springs is only brackish, and used in culiiKiry operations. There are t\\ “> smaller lakes nearei” the Yellow River.

    The iron obtained in the lower puitean, ii: the sonth-east neaj Tsih chan, is from clay iron-ure and spathic ore with heniatite4 \vhich occurs in limestone strata at the bottom of the coal formations.

    It is extracted in a rude manner, but the produce is etpial to any iron in the world, while its price is only about two cents a pound. The working and transportation of coal and iron employ myriads of people, though they are miserably paid. The province barely supplies its own cotton, but woolen garments and sheepskins are produced to make up the demand for clothing.

    Taiyuen fu, the capital, lies on the northern border of a fertile plain, 3,000 feet above the sea level ; this plain extends about 2,000 square miles, and owes its existence to the gradual filling up of a lake there, the waters having cut their way out, and left the river Fan to drain the surplus. Across the IIo shan Range lies another basin of equal fertility and mineral wealth, in Ping-ting chau, where coal, iron, clay and stone exist in unlimited

    quantities. In the northern part of this province the Buddhist

    tenqjles at AVu-tai shan in Tai chau draw vast crowds of votaries

    to their shrines. The hills in which they are built rise

    jtroiuinently above the range, and each celebrated locality is

    memorialized by its own particular divinity, and the buildings

    where he is worshipped. The presence of a living Buddha, or

    G’egen, hei-e attracts thousands of Mongols from the north to

    adore him ; their toilsome journey adding to the worth of the

    \isit. Most of the lamas are from the noi-th and west. The

    region north of this seems to be gradually losing its fertility,

    owing to the sand which is drifted by north winds from the

    Ortous steppes ; and as all the hills are bare of trees, the whole

    of Shansi seems destined to increasing poverty and barrenness.

    Its inhabitants are shrewd, enterprising traders as well as frugal

    agriculturists ; many of the bankers in the Empire are from its

    cities.

    MOUNTAIN PASSES IN SFIANSl. 97

    The great roads from Peking to the south-west and west pass through all the chief towns of this province, and when new pi-()b:ibly (‘(|ualk'(l in eiiglneei’ing and construction anything o^ the kind ever biult by the Konuuis. The stones with which they are paved average 15 inches in thickness. Few regions can exceed in natural difficulties some of the passes over the loess-covered tracts of this province, where the road must wind the Loess-clefts from the Han-sing From Richthofen.

    through miles of narrow cuts in the light and tenacious soil, to emerge before a landscape such as that seen in the illustration.’

    The province of Henan (i.e. South of the River) comprises some of the most fertile parts of the Plain, and, on account of its abundance and central position, early received the name of

    ‘ Richthofen, China. Band I. S. 68. Ilcv. Arthur Smith, Glimpses of Travel in the Middle Kingdom. Shanghai, 1875.

    Chung Hwa T’l, or the ‘ Middle Flowery Land,’ afterwards enlarged into Chung Kicoh, or ‘ Middle Kingdom.’ Its form is an irregular triangle, and its size nearly the same as ISiiantmig ; it has iShansi and Cliihli on the north, ]S’ganliwui on the southeast, Ilupeh on the south and south-west, and Shensi on the west, bordering also on Shantung and Kiangsu. This area is divided into three basins, that of the Yellow River in the north, of the Hai River on the south, and the Han River on the south-west; the last two are separated by a marked range of mountains, the Fuh-niu shan, which is regarded as the eastern terminus of the Kwunlun Mountains ; it is about 300 miles long, and its eastern end is near Jii-ning fu. This range maintains an elevation of 4,000 to 6,000 feet, and is crossed at Xanchau, where a remarkable natural pass about 30 miles long, rising to 1,200 or 1,500 feet, affords the needed facilities for trade and travel between the central and northern provinces. The Peh and Tan rivers drain its southern slopes into the Ilan, and the eastern sides are abundantly watered by the numerous branches of the Hai River as they flow into Ilungtsih Lake. The northern portion of Henan along the Yellow River is level, fertile and populous, forming one of the richest portions of the province.

    For its climate, productions, literary reputation, historical associations, and variety of scenery, this province takes a prominent rank. The earliest records of the Black-haired race refer to this region, and the struggles for dominion among feudal and imperial armies occurred in its plains. Its’ present difficulty of access from the coast will ere long be overcome by railroads, when its capabilities may be further developed, and the cotton, hemp, iron, tutenag, silk and coal be increased for exportation.

    THE PKOVIXCE OF IIOXMST. 99

    The people at present consume their own food and manufactures, and only require a got)d demand to increase the quality and amounts and exchange them for other things. The three prefectures north of the Yellow River are low-lying; through these the waters of that river have recently found their way into the river Wei and thence to the (lulf of Pechele, at Mang-tsin or east of it ; the gradual rise of the l)ed renders their levels nearly the same, while it makes the main stream so broad and shallow that it is of little use for navigation. These plains are traversed by wheelbarrows and carts, whose drivers and trundlers form a vast body of stalwart men constantly going about in their employment from one city to another.

    Kaifung fu, or Pien-liang, the capital, is situated about a

    league from the southern bank of the Yellow Kiver, whose bed

    is here elevated above the adjacent country. It was the metropolis

    from A.D. 960 to 1120, and has often suffered from attacks

    of armies as well as from inundations. The dikes are mostly

    on the northern shore, and exhibit the industry and unavailing

    efforts of the people for scores of leagues. During the period

    of the Manchu conquest Kaifung was defended by a loyal general,

    who, seeing no other resource against the invaders, broke

    down the embankments to drown them, by which mantjeuvre

    upwards of 300,000 of the inhabitants perished. The city was

    rebuilt, but it has not attained to its ancient splendor, if credit

    can be given to the Statistics of Kaifumj^ in which work it

    is described as having been six leagues in circuit in the twelfth

    century, approached by five roads, and containing numerous

    palaces, gardens, and government houses. The valley of the

    Kiver Loll lies between the Yellow River and the Fuh-niu Mountains,

    a fertile, populous region wherein many of the remarkable

    events of Chinese history M’ere enacted. Loh-yang, near Honan,

    was the metropolis at three different intervals, and probably

    further researches here will bring to light many ancient relics; rock-cut temples and old inscriptions, with graceful bas-reliefs, near the natural gate of Lung-man, where the road crosses Sung slian, have already been seen. Owing to the direction of the roads leading through this region from the south and east, and the passes for travel towards the north-west, it will form a very important center of trade in the future of Central Asia and western China.

    The province of Iviangsu is named from the first syllable of the capital, Kiangning, joined to Su, part of the name of the richest city, Suchau. It lies along the sea-coast, in a northwesterly direction, having Shantung on the north, Xganhwnii on the west, and C’hehkiang on the south. The area is about 4:5,000 square miles, equaling Pennsylvania or a little less than England by it-self. It consists, with little interruption, of level tracts interspersed with lakes and marshes, through which How their two noble rivers, which as tliej are the source of the extraordinary fertility of this region, so also render it obnoxious to freshes, or cover the low portions with irreclaimable morasses.

    The region of Kiangnan is where the beauty and riches

    of China are most amply displayed ; ” and M-hether we considai*,”

    remarks Gutzlaff, speaking of this and the adjoining

    province, ” their agricultural resom-ces, their great manufactures,

    their various productions, their excellent situation on the

    banks of these t»vo large streams, their many canals and tributary

    rivers, these two provinces doubtless constitute the best

    territory of China.” The staple productions are grain, cotton,

    tea, silk, and rice, and most kinds of manufactures are here

    carried to the greatest perfection. The people have an exceptional

    reputation for intelligence and wit, and although the

    province has long ceased to possess a court, its cities still ])i’esent

    a ga^’er aspect, and are adorned W’ith better structures than

    any others in the empire. This province was the scene of the

    dreadful ravages of the Tai-ping rebellion, and large districts

    are still desolate, while their cities lie waste.

    Proljably no other country of equal extent is better watered

    than Kiangsu. The Great River, the Grand Canal, many

    smaller streams and canals, and a succession of lakes along the

    line of the canal, afford easy communication through everj’ part.

    The sea-coast has not been surveyed north of the Yangtsz’,

    where it is unapproachable in large vessels ; dykes have been

    constructed in some portions to prevent the in-flo\v of the

    ocean. The largest lake is the Ilungtsih, about two hundred

    miles in circumference. South of it lies Ivauyu Lake, and on

    the eastern side of the canal opposite is Pauying Lake, both of

    them broad sheets of water. Numerous small lakes lie around them. Tai hu, or ‘ Great Lake,’ lies partly in Jiangsu and partly in Zhejiang, and is the largest in the province. Its borders are skirted by romantic scenery, while its bosom is broken by numerous islets, affording convenient resort to the fishermen who get their subsistence from its waters.

    CITY OF NANKING. 10^

    Kiangning fu (better known abroad as Nanking), the capital

    of the province, is situated on the south sliore of tlie Yangtsz’,

    194 miles from Shanghai. It was the metropolis from a.d. 317

    to 582, and again for 35 years during the Ming dynasty (1368-

    1403). This city is the natural location of an imperial court,

    accessible by land and water from all cpiarters, and susceptible

    of sure defence. “When the Tai-pings were expelled in 1865,

    the city was nearly destroyed, and has since that date only

    slowly revived. When Hungwu made it his capital, he

    strengthened the wall around it, inclosing a great area, 35 miles

    in circuit, which was never fully covered with buildings, and at

    present has a most ruinous appearance. Davis remarks the

    striking resemblance between Home and Xanking, the area

    within the walls of both being partially inhabited, and ruins of

    buildings lying here and there among the cultivated fields, the

    melancholy remains of departed glory. Both of them, however,

    have now brighter prospects for the future.

    The part occupied by the Manchus is separated by a cross

    wall from the Chinese town. The great extent of the wall

    renders the defence of the city difficult, besides which it is

    overlooked from the hills on the east, from one of which, tlio

    Chung shan, a wide view of the surrounding country can be

    obtained. On this eastern face are three gates ; the land near

    the tM’o toward the river is marshy, and the gates are ap

    preached on stone causeys. A deep canal runs up from the

    river directly under the walls on the west, serving to strengthen

    the approaches on that side. Xanking is laid out in four

    rather wide and parallel avenues intersected by others of less

    width ; and though not so broad as those of Peking, are on the

    Mdiole clean, vrell-paved, and bordered Avith handsomely furnished

    shops.

    The only remarkable monuments of royalty which remain are

    several guardian statues situated not far from the walls. These

    statues form an avenue leading up to the sepulchre where the

    Emperor Hungwu was buried about 1398. They consist of

    gigantic figures like warriors cased in armor, standing on either

    side of the road, across which at intervals large stone tablets are

    extended, supported by great blocks of stone instead of pillars

    Situated at some distance arc a innnber of ]-ude colossal timires of horses, elephants, and other animals, all intended to repre eent the guardians of the mighty dead.’

    Nothing made Kanking more celebrated abroad than the

    Porcelain Tower, called Pao-nydn tah, or the ‘Recompensing

    Favor Monastery,’ which stood pre-eminent above all other

    similar buildings in China for its completeness and elegance,

    the material of which it was built, and the quantity of gikling

    with wliicli its interior was embellished. It was erected by

    Yungloh to recompense the great favor of her majesty the

    Empress, and occupied 19 years (1411-14:30) in its construction.

    It was maintained in good condition by the government, and

    three stories which had been thrown down by lightning in

    1801 were rebuilt. TheTai-pings blew it up and carried off the

    bricks in 1856, fearing lest its geomantic influences should work

    against the success of their cause. As to its dimensions : Its

    form was octagonal, divided into nine equal stories, the circumference

    of the lower story being 120 feet, decreasing gradually

    to the top. Its base rested upon a solid foundation of brickwork

    ten feet high, up which a flight of twelve steps led into

    the tower, whence a spiral staircase of 190 steps carried the

    visitor to the summit, 261 feet from the ground. The outer

    face was covered with slabs of glazed porcelain of various

    colors, principally green, red, yellow, and white, the body of

    the edifice being brick. At every story was a projecting roof,

    covered with green tiles ; from each corner and from the top of

    these roofs were suspended bells, numbering 150 in all.

    ‘ The curious reader can consult the article by Mayer, in Vol. XII. of the North China Jirnnch Royal Asiatic Societt/’s Journal, 1878, for the meaning of these various objects.

    ^ Five Years in China, Nashville, Tenn., 1860. See also Voyages of the Nemesis, pp. 450-452, for further details of this city in 1842 ; the Chinese Repository, Vols. I., p. 257, and XIII., p. 261, contain more details on the PagoJa

    PORCELAIl^ TOWEll OF NANKING. 103

    This beautiful structure was visited in 1852 by Dr. Charles Taylor, an American missionary, who has left a full account of his observations. It was to have been raised to an altitude of 329 feet and of thirteen stories, but only nine were built ; careful measurement gave 261 feet as its height, 8^ feet its thickness at top, and 12 feet at the base, wdiere it was 96 feet 10 inches in diameter. The facing was of bricks made of fine porcelain clay ; the prevailing color was green, owing to the predominance of the tiles on the nnnierous stories. The woodwork supporting these successive roofs was strong, curiously carved and richly painted. The many-colored tiles and bricks were highly glazed, giving the building a gay and beautiful appearance, that was greatly heightened when seen in the reflected sunlight.

    When new it had 140 lamps, most of them hanging outside; and a native writer says ” that when lighted they illumine the 33 heavens, and detect the good and evil among men, as well as forever ward off human miseries.” The destruction of a building like this, from mere fanciful ideas, goes far to explain the absence of all old or great edifices in China.

    Nanking has extensive manufactories of fiue satin and ci-upc, Nankeen cotton cloth, paper and ink of fine quality, and beautiful artificial flowers of pith paper. In distant parts of the empire, any article which is superior to the common run of workmanship, is said to be from Nanking, though the speaker means only that it was made in that region. It is renowned, too, for its scholars and literary character, and in this particular stands among the first places of learning in the country. It is the residence of the governor-general of three provinces, and consequently the centre of a large concourse of officials, educated men, and students seeking for promotion ; these, with its large libraries and bookstores, all indicating and assisting literary pursuits, combine to give it this distinguished position. In the monastery on Golden Island, near Chinkiang, a library was found by the English officers, but there was no haste in examining its contents, as they intended to have carried off the whole collection, had not peace prevented.

    The city of Suchau now exceeds Nanking in size and riches. It is situated on islands lying in the Ta hu, and from this sheet of water many streams and canals connect the city with most parts of the department. The walls are about ten miles in circumference; outside of them are four suburbs, one of which is said to extend ten miles, besides which there is an immense floating population. The whole space includes many canals and pools connected with the Grand Canal and the lake, and preeented in 1859 a scene of activity, industry, and riches whicieonJd not be surpassed elsewhere in China. The population probably then exceeded a million, including the suburbs. It lies north-west of Shanghai, the way passing through a continual range of villages and cities; the environs are highly cultivated, producing cotton, silk, rice, wheat, fruits, and vegetables. It was captured in 1860 by the rebels, and M’lien retaken in 1865 was nearly reduced to a heap of ruins. It is, however, rapidly reviving, as the loss of life was comparatively small.

    The Chinese regard this as one of their richest and most beautiful cities, and have a saying, ” that to be happy on earth, one must be born in Suchau, live in Canton, and die in Liauchau, for in the first are the handsomest people, in the second the most C(»8tly luxui-ies, and in the third the best coffins.”

    It has a high reputation for its Imildings, the elegance of its tombs, the picturesrpie scenery of its waters and gardens, the politeness and intelligence of its inhabitants, and the beauty of its women. Its manufactures of silk, linen, cotton, and works in iron, ivory, wood, horn, glass, lackered-ware, paper, and other articles, are the chief sources of its wealth and prosperity; the kinds of silk goods produced here surpass in variety and richness those woven in any other place. Vessels can proceed up to the city by several channels from the Yangzi jiang, but junks of large burden anchor at Shanghai, or Songjiang ; the whole country is so intersected by natural and artificial watercourses, that the people have hardly any need for roads and carts, but get about in barrows and sedans. Small steamers find their way to every large village at high tide.*

    THE CITIES OF SUCIIAU AND CIIIXKIANG. 105

    Chinkiang, situated at the junction of the Grand Canal with the Yangzi jiang, was captured by the British in July, 1842, at a great loss of life to its defenders ; the Manchu general Hailing, finding the city taken, seated himself in his office, and set fire to the house, making it his funeral pyre. Its position renders it the key of the country, in respect to the transport of produce, taxes and provisions for Peking, inasmuch as when the river and canal ai-e both blockaded, the supplies for the north and south are to a great extent intercepted. In times of peace the scenes at the junction afford a good e\hil)itinu of the Industry and trade of the people. BaiTow describes, in 1794, ” tlio multitude of ships of war, of burden and of pleasure, some glidin<^ down the stream, <^)thers sailing against it; some moving by oars, and others lying at anchor; the banks on either side covered with towns and houses as far as the eye could reach; as presenting a prospect more varied and cheerful than any that had hitherto occurred. Kor was the canal, on the opposite side, less lively. For two whole days we were contimially passing among fleets of vessels of different construction and dimensions.” ‘

    The country in the vicinity is well cultivated, moderately hilly, and presents a characteristic view of Chinese life and action. ” On the south-east, the hills broke into an undulating country clothed with verdure, and firs bordering upon small lakes. Beyond, stretched the vast river we had just ascended. In the other direction, the land in the foreground continued a low and swampy flat, leaving it difficult at a little distance to determine which of the serpentine channels was the main branch; there were imnnnerable sheets of water, separated by narrow mounds, so that the whole resembled a vast lake, intersected by causeways. Willows grew along their sides, and dwellings were erected on small patches somewhat higher than the common surface.” ” This whole country was the scene of dreadful fighting for many years. Between the Imperialists and Tai-pings the city was totally destroyed, so that in 1801 hardly a house was left. It is now roo-ainino- its natural trade and prosperity.

    Near the month of the Grand Canal is Kin shan, or Golden Island,’ a beautiful spot, covered with temples and monastic establishments. A pagoda crowns the summit, and there are many pavilions and halls, of various sizes and degrees of elegance, on its sides and at the base, many of them showing their imperial ownership by the yellow or green tiling. Since the river has been open to traffic, and the devastations of the Tai-pings have ceased, the priests have retui-ned in small munbers to their abodes, but the whole settlement is a pool mockery of its early splendor. A similar one, rather larger, is found at Siung shan, or Silv^er Island, below Chinkiang ; it is, however, on a less extensive scale, though in a beautiful situation.

    ‘ Travels in China. ‘^ Capt. G. G. Locli, Ecents in CMna, p. 74.^Mentioned by Marco Polo. Yule’s edition, Vol. II., p. 1<37.

    Priests are the only occupants; temples and palaces the principal buildings, surrounded by gardens and bowers. Massive granite terraces, decorated with huge stone monsters, are reached from the water by broad flights of steps; fine temples, placed to be seen, and yet shaded by trees, open pavilions, and secluded summer-houses, give it a delightful air of retreat and conifort, which a nearer inspection sadly disappoints.

    The banks of the Yangtsz’ during the 250 miles of its course through this province, are uniformly low, and no towns of importance occur close to them, as they would be exposed to the floods. The vast body of water, with its freight of millions of tons of silt goes on its way in a quiet equable current into the Yellow Sea. The dense population of the prefectures on the south bank, contrasted with the sparseness of the region between the Canal and seashore on the north side, indicate the comparative barrenness of the latter, and the difficulty of cultivating marshy lands so nearly level with the sea.

    SHANGHAI. 107

    The largest seaport in Jiangsu is Shanghai (i.e., Approaching the Sea), now become one of the leading emporia in Asia. It lies on the north shore of the Wusong River, about fourteen miles from its mouth, in lat. 31° 10′ N., and long. 121° 30′ E., at the junction of the Huangpu with it, and by means of both streams communicates with SuZhou, SongJiang, and other large cities on the Grand Canal ; while by the Yangzi’ it receives produce from Yunnan and Sichuan. In these respects its position resembles that of New Orleans.

    The town of Wusung is at the mouth of that river, here about a mile wide ; and two miles beyond lies the district town of Paushan. The wall of Shanghai is three miles in circuit, through which six gates open into extensive suburbs ; around the ramparts flows a ditch twenty feet wide. The city stands in a wide plain of extraordinary fertility, intersected by numerous streamlets, and aftoi-ding ample means of navigation and communication; its population is estimated to be at present over 500-000, but the data for this figure are rather imperfect. Since it was opened to foreign commerce in 1843, the growth of the town has been rapid in every element of prosperity, though subject to great vicissitudes by reason of the rebellion which devastated the adjoining country. Its capture by the insurgents in 1851, and their expulsion in February, 1853, with the destruction of the eastern and southern suburbs in 1800, have been its chief disasters since that date. The native trade has gradually passed from the unwieldy and unsafe junks which used to throng the Ilwang-pu east of the city, into steamers and foreign craft, and is now confined, so far as the vessels are concerned, to the inland and coast traffic in coarse, cheap articles.

    Shanghai city itself is a dirty place, and poorly built. The houses are mostly made of bluish square brick, imperfectly burned ; and the walls are constructed in a cellular manner by placing bricks on their edges, and covering them with stucco. The streets are about eight feet wide, paved with stone slabs, and in the daytime crowded with people. Silk and embroidery, cotton, and cotton goods, porcelain, ready-made clothes, beautiful skins and furs, bamboo pipes of every size, bamboo ornaments, pictures, bronzes, specimens of old porcelain, and other curiosities, to which the Chinese attach great value, attract the

    stranger’s notice. Articles of food form the most extensive

    trade of all ; and it is sometimes a difficult matter to get

    through the streets, owing to the iiwmense quantities of fish,

    pork, fruit, and vegetaUes, which crowd the stands in front of

    the shops. Dining-rooms, tea-houses, and bakers’ shops, are

    met with at every step, from the poor man who carries around

    his kitchen or bakehouse, altogether hardly worth a dollai-, to

    the most extensive tavern or tea-house, crowded with customers.

    ‘ Fortune’s Wanderings in China, p. 120.

    For a few cash, a Chinese can dine upon rice, fish, vegetables, and tea; nor does it matter much to him, whether his table is set in the streets or on the ground, in a house or on a deck, he makes himself merry with his chopsticks, and eats what is before him.’ The buildings composing the Cheng-huang miao, and the grounds attached to this establishment, present a good instance of Chinese style and taste in architecture. Large warehouses for storing goods, granaries, and temples, are common; but neither these, nor the public buildings, present any distinguishing features peculiar to this city alone.

    The contrast between the narrow, noisome and reeking parts of the native city, and the clean, spacious, well-shaded and well paved streets and large houses of the foreign municipalities, is like that seen in many cities in India. The Chinese are ready enough to enjoy and support the higher style of living, but they are not yet prepared to adopt and maintain similar improvements among themselves. The difficulty of being sure of the co-operation of the rulers in municipal improvements deters intelligent natives from initiating even the commonest sanitary enterprise of their foreign neighbors.

    The remaining cities and districts of Iviangsu present nothing worthy of special remark. The Grand Canal runs from north to south, and affords a safe and ample thoroughfare for multitudes of boats in its entire length. Tsing-kiang-pu and Ilwaingan, near the old Yellow River, receive the traffic from the north and Ilungtsih Lake, while Yangchau near the Yangtsz’ River, takes that going north. In this part of the channel, constant dyking has resulted in raising the banks ; the city of Ilwai-ngan, for example, lies below the canal which brings trade to its doors, and may one day be drowned by its benefactor. Salt is manufactured in the districts south of the Yellow River, where the people cultivate but rare patches of arable land.

    The island of Tsungming, at the mouth of the Yangtsz’, is about sixty miles long, and sixteen wide, containing over nine hundred square miles, and is gradually enlarging by the constant deposits from the river; it is flat, but contains fresh water. It is highly cultivated and populous, though some places on the northern side are so impregnated with salt, and others so marsh}’, as to be useless for raising food. This island produces a variety of kaoliang or sorghum (Holcus), which is sweet enough to furnish syrup, and is groMu for that purpose in the United States.

    POSITIOX AND TOWNS OF NGANIIWUI PllOVINCE, 109

    The pruvince of T^ganuwui was so named by condjining the rtrst words in its two large cities, Xgaiikiiig and llw uicliaii, and forms the south-western half of Kiangnan ; it is both larger and more uneven than Kiangsu, ranges of hills stretching along the southern portions, and between the River llwai and the Yangzi. It lies in the central and southern parts of the Plain, north of Kiangsi, west of Kiangsu and Chehkiang, and between them and IJonan and Ilupeh. Its productions and manufactures, the surface, cultivation of the country, and character of the people, are very similar to those of Kiangsu, but the cities are less celebrated. The terrible destruction of life in this province during the Tai-ping rule has only been partially remedied by immigration from other provinces ; it will require years of peace and industry to restore the prosperous days of Taokwang’s reign.

    The surface of the country is naturally divided into that portion which lies in the hilly regions around Ilwaichau and Ningkwoh connected with the Tsientang River, the central plain of the Yangtsz’ with its short affluents, and the northern portion which the River Ilwai drains. The southern districts are superior for climate, fertility, and value of their products to most parts of the Empire; and the numerous rivulets which irrigate and open their beautiful valleys to traffic with other districts, render them attractive to settlers. No expense has been spared in erecting and preserving the embankments along the streams, whose waters are thereby placed at the service of the farmers.

    The Great River passes through the south from south-west to north-east ; several small tributaries flow into it on both banks, one of which connects with Chao Hu, or Nest Lake, in Lu Zhou Fu, the principal sheet of water in the province. The largest section is drained by the River Huai and its branches, which flow into Hongze Lake ; most of these are navigable quite across to Ilonan. The productions comprise every kind of grain, vegetables, and fruit known in the Plain ; most of the green tea districts lie in the south-eastern parts, particularly in the Sunglo range of hills in ITwuichau prefecture. Silk, cotton, and hemp are also extensively raised ; but excepting iron, few metals are brought to market.

    The provincial capital, Xgaiikiiig or Anking, lies close to the northern shore of the Kiang. Davis describes the streets as very narrow, and the shops as unattractive ; the courts and gateways of many good dwelling-houses presented themselves as he passed along the streets. ” The palace of the governor we first took for a temple, but were soon undeceived by the inscriptions on the huge lanterns at the gateway. These official residences seldom display any magnificence. The pride of a Chinese officer of rank consists in his power and station, and as the display of mere wealth attracts little respect, it is neglected more than in any country of the world. The best shops that

    we saw were for the sale of horn lanterns and porcelaiu. They

    possess the art of softening horn by the application of a very

    high degree of moist heat, and extending it into thin laminse of

    any shape. These lamps are about as transparent as groundglass,

    and, M’hen ornamented with silken hangings, have an elegant

    appearance.” During the fifty years since his visit, this

    large city has been the sport of prosperous and adverse fortunes,

    and is now slowly recovering from its demolition during the

    Tai-ping rebellion. It is situated on rising ground near the base

    of a range of hills far in the north, the watershed of two basins.

    The banks of the river, between Kanking and Xganking, a

    distance of 300 miles, are well cultivated, and contain towns

    and villages at short intervals. The climate, the scenery, the

    bustle on the river near the towns, and the general aspect of

    peaceful thrift along this reach, makes it on ordinary occasions

    one of the bright scenes in China. AYuhu hien, about sixty

    miles above Xanking, lies near tlie mouth of the llwangchi, a

    stream connecting it with the back country, and making it the

    mart for much of that trade. It was next in importance to

    Chinkiang, but its sufferings between the rebels and imperialists

    nearly destroyed it. The revival in population and trade has

    been encouraging, and its former importance is sure to revive.

    Ilwuichau (or in Cantonese, Fychow) is celebrated, among

    other things, for its excellent ink and lackered-ware. Fung’

    yang (i.e., the Rising Phoenix), a town lying north-west of Thanking, on the River Huai, was intended, by Hongwu, the founder of the Ming dynasty, to have been the capital of the Empire instead of NanJing, and was thus named in anticipation of its future splendor.

    KIANGSf PROVINCE. Ill

    The province of IviAN<isi (/.<?., AVest of the River) lies south of Xganhwui and Ilupeh, between Chehkiaiig and Fuhkien on the east, and Ilunan on the west, reaching from the Yaugtsz’ to the Mei ling on the south. Its form is oblong, and its entire area is nuide up of the beautiful basin of the Kan kiang, including all the affluents and their minor valleys. The hilly portions form part of the remarkable series of mountainous ridges, which cover all south-eastern and southern China, an area of about 300,000 square miles, extending from Ningpo south-westerly to Annam. It is made up of ranges of short and moderate hills, cut up by a complicated net of water-courses, many of which present a succession of narrow defiles and gentle valleys with bottom lands from five to twelve miles wide. That part of this region in Kiangsi has an irregular watershed on the east, separating it from the Min basin, and a more definite divide on the west from Ilunan and its higher mountains. The province entire is a little larger than all New England, or twice the size of Portugal, but, in population, vastly exceeds those countries.

    The surface of the land is rugged, and the character of the inhabitants partakes in some respects of the roughness of their native hills. It is well watered and drained by the River Kan and its tributaries, most of which rise within the province; the main trunk empties into Poyang Lake by numerous mouths, whose silt has gradually made the country around it swampy. For many miles on its eastern and southern banks extends an almost uninhabitable marsh, presenting a dreary appearance. The soil, generally, is productive, and large quantities of rice, wheat, silk, cotton, indigo, tea, and sugar, are grown and exported. It shares, in some degree, the manufactures of the neighboring provinces, especially in Xankeen cloth, vast quantities of which are woven here, but excels them all in the quality and amount of its porcelain. The mountains produce camphor, varnish, oak, banian, fir, pine, and other trees ; those on the west are well wooded, but much of the timber has been carried away during the late rebellion, and left the hill-sides bare and profitless.

    Kancliang, the provincial capital, lies near the southern shore

    of the Poyang Lake ; the city walls are six miles in circuit, and

    accessible by water from all sides. The character of its population

    is not favorable among their countrymen, and owing to the

    difficulty of reaching it from the Yangtsz’, it escaped the ruin

    and rapine which befel Kiukiang. Small steamers can come

    up to its jetties, but as the tea and porcelain are shipped on the

    south-east side of the lake, Nanchang is not likely to become

    a large mart ; few of the cities above it can ever be reached l)y

    steamers. Barrow estimated that there were, independent of

    innumerable small craft, 100,000 tons of shipping lying before

    the place. The banks of the Kan kiang, near the lake, are flat,

    and not highly cultivated, but the scenery becomes more varied

    and agreeable the further one ascends the stream ; towns and

    villages constantly come in sight, and the cultivation, though

    not uiiiversal, is more extended. Among other sights on this

    river are the bamboo water-wheels, which are so built on the

    steep banksides, that the buckets lift their freight 20 or 25

    feet, and pour it out in a ceaseless stream over the fields. The

    flumes thrown out into the stieani to turn a stronger current on

    the wheel, often seriously interfere with navigation. Many

    pagodas are seen on eithei* bank of this water-course, some of

    them undoubtedly extremely old. As the voyager ascends the river, several large cities are passed, as Linkiang, Kih-ngan, Ivauchau, and Xan-ngan (all capitals of departments), besides numerous towns and villages; so that if the extent of this river and the area of the valley it drains be considered, it will probably bear comparison with that of any valley in the world for populousness, amount and variety of productions, and diligence of cultivation.

    Beyond Kihngan are the Shihpah tan, or ‘ Eighteen llapids,’ which are torrents formed by ledges of rocks running across the river, but not of such height or roughness as to seriously obstruct the navigation except at low water. The shores in their vicinage are exceedingly beautiful. The transparency of the stream, the bold I’ocks fringed with wood, and the varied forms of the mountains, call to mind those delightful streams that are discharged from the lakes and iioilh counties of England. The

    TOWNS AND PRODUCTIONS OF KIAN(iSI. 113

    hilly banks are in many places covered with the Camellia oleifera, whose white blossoms give them the appearance of snow, when the plant is in flower. Kanchan is the town where large boats are obliged to stop; but Nan-ngan is at the head of navigation, about three hundred miles from the lake, where all goods for the south are debarked to be carried across the Mei ling, or ‘ Plnm Pass.’

    Within the department of Janchan in Fanliang hien, east of Poyang Lake, are the celebrated porcelain manufactories of Ivingteh chin, named after an Emperor of the Sung dynasty, in whose reign, a.d. 1004, they were established. This mart still supplies all the fine porcelain used in the country, but was almost wholly destroyed during the rebellion, the kilns broken up, and the workmen dispersed to join the rebels or die from want. The million of workmen said to have been employed there thirty years ago are now only gradually resuming their operations, and slowly regaining their prosperity. The approach to the spot is announced by the smoke, and at night it appears like a town on fire, or a vast furnace emitting fiames from numerous vents, there. being, it is said, five hundred kilns constantly burning. Ivingteh chin stands on the river Chang in a plain flanked by high mountains, about forty miles north-east from Jauehau, through which its ware is distributed over the empire.

    Genius in China, as elsewhere, renders a place illustrious, and few spots are more celebrated than the vale of the white Deer in the Lii hills, near Kankang, on the west side of Lake Poyang, where Chu Hi, the great conniientator of Confucius, lived and taught, in the twelfth century. It is a secluded valley about seven miles from the city, situated in a nook by the side of a rivulet. The unpretending buildings are comprised in a number of different courts, evidently intended for use rather than show. In one of the halls, the White Deer is represented, and near by a tree is pointed out, said to have been planted by the philosopher’s own hand. This spot is a place of pilgrimage to Chinese literati at the present day, for his writings are prized by them next to their classics. The beauty and sublimity of this region arc lauded by Davis, and its praisea are frequent themes for poetical celebration among native scholars.”

    The maritime province of Ciiehkiang, the smallest of the eighteen, lies eastward of Kiangsi and ^N^ganhwui, and between Kiangsu and Fuhkein north and south, and derives its name from the river Cheh or ‘ Crooked,’ which runs across its southern part. Its area is 39,000 square miles, or nearly the same as Ohio; it lies south-east of the plain at the end of the Kan slian, and for fertility, numerous water-courses, rich and populous cities, variety of productions, and excellence of manufactures, is not at all inferior to the larger provinces. Baron Richthofen’s letter to the Shanghai Chamber of Commerce, July 25, 1871, contains a good account of its topography. The whole province produces cotton, silk, tea, rice, ground nuts, wheat, ‘indigo, vegetable tallow {stilUngia)^ and pulse, in abundance. It possesses within its limits every requisite for the food and clothing of its inhabitants, while the excellence of its manufactures insures it in exchange a supply of the luxuries of other regions.

    The rivers in Chehkiang rise in the province ; and, as might be inferred from the position of the hills, their course is generally short and the currents rapid. Fourteen principal streams are enumerated, of which the Tsientangis the most important.

    The main branch of this river rises in the southern districts in two head-waters, which join at Kiichau fu and run thence into Hangchau Bay. The bore which comes up into this river fifteen miles, as far as Hangchau, is the only one along the coast. As its wall of water approaches the city, the junks and boats prepare by turning their bows to meet it, and usually rise over its crest, G or 10 feet at times, without mishap.

    The basin of the Tsientang River measures nearly half of the province; by means of rafts and boats the people transport themselves and their produce for about 300 miles to its headwaters.

    ‘ Davis’s Sketches^ Vol. II., p. 55.

    NATURAL FEATURES OF CHEIIKIANG. 115

    The valley of Lanki is the largest of the bottom lands, 140 miles long and .5 to 15 wide, and passes north through a gorge 70 miles in length into the lower valley, where it receives the Sin-ngan River from the west in Xganhwui, and thus communicates with Tlwuichau at times of higli water. It is just fitted for the rafting navigation of the region, and by means of its tortuous channels each one of the 29 districts in its entire basin can be readied by water.

    The forest and fruit trees of Chehkiang comprise almost

    every vahiable species known in the eastern provinces. The

    larch, elcococcus, camphor, tallow, fir, mulberry, varnish, and

    others, are common, and prove sources of wealth in their timber

    and products. The climate is most salubrious ; the grains,

    vegetables, animals, and fishes, furnish food ; while its beautiful

    manufactures of silk are unrivalled in the world, and have found

    their way to all lands. Hemp, lackered- and bamboo-wares,

    tea, crockery, paper, ink, and other articles, are also exported.

    The inhabitants emulate those in the neighboring regions for

    wealth, learning, and refinements, with the exception of the

    hilly districts in the south bordering on Kiangsi and Fuhkien.

    The dwellers of these upland valleys are shut out by position

    and inclination, so that they form a singularly clannish race.

    Their dialects are peculiar and very limited in range, and each

    group of villagers suspects and shuns the others. They are sometimes rather turbulent, and in some parts the cultivation of the mountain lands is interdicted, and a line of military posts extends around them in the three provinces, in order to prevent the people from settling in their limits; though the interdiction does not forbid cutting the timber growing there.’

    HangZhou, the capital of the province, lies in the northern part, less than a mile from the Qiantang. The velocity of this stream indicates a rapid descent of the country towards the ocean, but it discharges very little silt ; the tide rises six or seven feet opposite the city, and nearly thirty at the mouth.

    >See Chinese Repository, Vol. FV., p. 488; Journal of N. C. Br. R. A. Society,Vol. VI., pp. 123-128; and Chinese Recorder, Vol. I., 1869, pp. 241-248. These people are relies of tribes of Miaotsz’.

    Only a moiety of the inhabitants reside within the walls of the city, the suburbs and the waters around them supporting a large population. A portion of the space in the north-western part is walled off for the accommodation of the Manchu garri-si)]i, which consists of 7,000 troops. The governor-general of Chehkiang and Fulikien has an official house here, as well, also, as the governor of the province, but since the increased importance of Fuhchan. he seldom resides in this city; these, with their courts and troops, in addition to the great trade passing through, render it one of the richest and most important cities in the empire. The position is the most picturesque of any of the numerous localities selected by the Chinese for their capital. It lies in full view of the ocean, and from the hill-top in the center a wide view of the plains south and east is obtained.

    ‘ Yule’s Marco Poh, Vol. IT., p. 145.

    IIANGCIIAU AND ITS ENVIKOISrS. 117

    The charming lake, Si Ilu, and the numerous houses on its shores, with the varied scenery of the hills, copses, glades, and river banks, all highly cultivated, within a radius of ten miles, fidly bear out the praises of the Chinese as to i’ts singular beauty. Marco Polo lavishes all his admiration upon its size, riches, manufactures, and government, from which it is to be inferred that it suffered little in the Mongolian conquest. He visited the place when governor of Yangchau in 1286, and enthusiastically describes it as ” beyond dispute the finest and the noblest in the world.” ‘ The Chinese have a proverb—-t^Ar^;?^yu. tlen tang : Hia ya Sa Hang—the purport of which is that Ilangchau and Suchau are fully equal to paradise ; but the comparison of the Venetian traveler gives one a poorer idea of the European cities of his day, than it does of the magnificence of the Chinese, to those who have seen them. The streets are well-paved, ornamented with numerous honorary tablets erected to the memoiy of distinguished individuals, and agreeably interrupting the passage through them. The long main street extending along the Grand Canal into and through the city, thence out by the Tsientang, was, before its ruthless demolition by the Tai-pings in 1S63, probably one of the finest streets in t’^? whole Empire. The shops and warehouses, in point of size and stock of goods contained in them, might vie with the best in London. In population, luxury, wealth, and influence this city rivals Suchau, and for excellence of manufactures probably exceeds the latter place. Were Ilangchau easily reached bji sea, and had it ample harbors, it would engross the trade of the eastern coast; but furious tides (running sometimes 11^ knots an hour) ; the bore jeoparding passage-boats and other small crafts ; sand banks and quick sands ;—these present insuperable difficulties to the commerce by the ocean.

    This city was the metropolis of the country during the nine latter princes of the Sung dynasty (1129 to 1280), when the northern parts were under dominion of the tribe of Kin Tartars. One cause of celebrity is found in the beauty of its environs, especially those near the Si llu, or West Lake, an irregular sheet of water about 12 miles in circuit. Barrow observes that ” the natural and artificial beauties of this lake far exceeded anything we had hitherto had an opportunity of seeing in China. The mountains surrounding it were lofty, and broken into a variety of forms that were highly picturesque ; and the valleys were richly clothed with trees of different kinds, among which three species were remarkably striking, not only by their intrinsic beauty, but also by the contrast they formed with themselves and the rest of the trees of the forest. These were the camphor and tallow trees, and the arl)or vitse. The bright, shining green foliage of the first, mhigled with the purple leaves of the second, and over-topped by the stately tree of life, of the deepest green, produced a pleasing effect to the eye ; and the landscape was rendered still more interesting to the mind by the very singular and diversified appearance of several thousand repositories of the dead upon the sloping sides of the inferior hills. Here, as well as elsewhere, the sombre and upright cypress was destined to be the melancholy companion of the tombs.

    ” Higher still, among the woods, avenues had been opened to admit of rows of small blue houses, exposed on white colonnades, which, on examination, were also found to be mansions of the dead. Xaked coffins, of extraordinary thickness, were everywhere Iving on the surface of the OTOund. The maro-ins of the lake w^ere studded with light aerial buildings, among W’hich one of more solidity and greater extent than the rest was said to belong to the emperor. The grounds were inclosed with brick walls, and mostly planted with vegetables and fruit trees; but in some there appeared to be collections of such shrubs and tiowers as are most esteemed in the country.” ‘

    Staunton speaks of the lake as a beautiful sheet of water, perfectly pellucid, full of fish, in most places shallow, and ornamented with a great number of light and fanciful stone bridges, thrown across the arms of the lake as it runs up into the hills.

    A stone tower on the summit of a projecting headland attracted attention, from its presenting a different architecture from that usually seen in Chinese buildings. This tower, called the Lui Fung t<(h, lit. ‘Tower of the Thunder Peak’ (not Thundering Wind, as Staunton renders it), from the hill being at first owned by Mr. Lui, was built about a.d. 050, and is to-day a solid structure, though much ruined. It has now four stories, and is about 120 feet high ; something like a regular order is still discernible in the moldering cornices. The legend of the White Snake is associated with this structure, and people constantly cany away pieces of its bricks as charms.

    An interesting corroboration of this account is given by Polo, who says, ” Inside the city there is a lake which has a compass of some 30 miles ; and all around it are erected beautiful palaces and mansions, of the richest and most exquisite structure that you can imagine, belonging to the nobles of the city. There are also on its shores many abbeys and churches of the idolaters. In the middle of the lake are two islands, on each of which stands a rich, beautiful and spacious edifice, furnished in such a style as to seem fit for the palace of an emperor. And when any one of the citizens desired to hold a marriage feast, or to give any other entertainment, it used to be done at one of these palaces.” ‘^

    • Travels ih China, p. 522. ‘^ Yule’s Murco Poh, Vol. II., p. 146.

    DESCRIPTION OF HANGZHOU. 119

    The splendor and size of the numerous Buddhist temples in and around HangZhou attracted travelers to the city more even than (lid its position; these shrines have, however, all been destroyed, and their thousands of priests driven away; the Taipings left no Iniilding untouched. The Yoh Miao stands near the north-west corner of the Si IIu, and contains the tombs of the patriot general ^’oh Pi of the Sung dynasty (a.d. 1125), and his son, who were unjustly executed as traitors. Two conical

    mounds mark their resting places, and separated bj a wall, but

    inside the inclosnre are four iron statues cast in a kneeling posture

    and loaded with chains,—on his right Qin Hui and his wife, on the left a judge and general, who subserved Qin Hui’s hatred of Yue Fei by their flagitious conduct. All four are here doing homage and penance to this just man whom they killed, and by the obloquy they receive serve as a warning to other traitors. In a temple, called Tmg-tHz’ s.z\ not far from the city, ths party of the Dutch embassy were well lodged, and attended by three hundred priests. The establishment was in good repair, and besides two guardian monsters more than thirty feet high, near the entrance, contained five hundred images of the Buddhist Arhans, with miniature pagodas of bronze, of beautiful workmanship.

    Ilangchau is better known abroad for manufactures of silk than for any other fabrics, but its position at the termination of the Canal may perhaps give its name to ujany articles which are not actually made there, for lluchau is now a greater depot for raw and woven silks. In the northern suburbs lies an irregular basin, forming the southern extremity of the Canal ; but between the river and the basin there is no communication, so that all goods brought hither nnist be landed. The city contains, among other public buildings, a mosque, bearing an iugcription in Arabic, stating that it is a ” temple for Mussnlmen, when travelling, who wish to consult the Koran,” ‘ It is higher than the adjacent buildings, and adorned with a cupola, pierced with holes at short intervals. It was spared in 1803, as not being an idolatrous temple. There are also several others in the city, it being a stronghold of Islamism in China. “Water communication exists between Ilangchau and Yiiyau, south-east through Shauhing, and thence to Ningbo, by means of which goods find their way to and from the capital. A good road also runs between the two former cities; indeed, elsewhere in the province the thoroughfares are very creditable; they are laid with broad slabs of granite and limestone, and lead over plains and hills in numberless directions.

    ‘ De Guigiies, Voyages a Peking, Vol. II., pp. 65-77.

    Ningbo fu (‘Peaceful AVave city*) is the next important city in Zhejiang, in consequence of its foreign relations. It is adniiiably situated for trade and intluence, at the junction of three streams, in hit. 20° 55′ ^”., and long. 121° 22’ E. ; the united river flows on to the ocean, eleven and a half miles distant, under the name of the Tatsieh. Opposite the city itself, there are but two streams, but the southern branch again subdivides a few miles south-west of Ningbo. Its population has been variously estimated from one-fourth to one-third of a million, and even more, including the subin-ban and floating inhabitants.

    This place was called Klng-yuen by the Sung, and received its present name from the Mongols. It was captured in 1862 by the insurgents, who were deterred from destroying it by the presence of foreign men-of-war ; the prosperity of the mart has since increased. When foreigners first resorted to China for trade, Ningbo soon became a centre of silk and other kinds of commodities; the Portuguese settled there, calling it Z/rt>/(^>o, “which is the same name. It is, moreover, an ancient city, and its Annals afford full information upon every point interesting to a Chinese antiquarian, though a foreigner soon tires of the numy insignificant details mixed up with a few valuable statements.’

    ‘ Compare R. M. Martin’s CJiiiui (Vol. II., ]>. 304), who gives considerable miscellaneous information about the open ports, jtrevious to 184(5; also Dennys’ Treaty Porta of (Jhiiut, 18(57, pp. ;52(5-:54!) ; Richthol’en’s Letlerx, No. T), 1871 ; Yule’s Marco Polo, Vol. II., p. 181 ; Mistsioaarij Recorder, 18(59, pp. 15(5,177.NINGPO. 121

    ” The plain in which Xingpo lies is a magnificent amphitheatre, stretching away from twelve to eighteen miles on one side to the base of the distant hills, and on the other to the verge of the ocean. As the eye travels along, it catches many a pleasing object. Turn landward, it will see canals and water-courses, fields and snug farm-houses, smiling cottages, family residences, hamlets and villages, family tombs, monasteries and temples. Turn in the opposite direction, and you perceive a plain country descending toward the ocean; but the river alive with all kinds of boats, and the banks studded with ice-houses, most of all attract the attention. From without the city, and while still

    Upon the ramparts, look within its walls, you. will be no less gratified. Here there is nothing European, little to remind you ut’ what you have seen in the west. The single-storied and the double-storied houses, the heavy prison-like family mansions, the family vaults and graveyards, the glittering roofs of the temples, the dilapidated official residences, the deserted literary and examination halls, and the prominent sombre Tower of Ningpo, are entirely Chinese. The attention is also arrested for a moment or two by ditches, canals, and reservoirs of water, with their wooden bridges and stone arches.” ‘ Two serious drawbacks to a residence here are the stifling heat of summer and the bad equality of the water.

    The circumference of the walls is nearly five miles ; they are

    about twenty-five feet high, fifteen feet wide at the top, and

    twenty-two at the base, built solidly, though somewhat dilapidated,

    and overgrown with grass. A deep moat partly surrounds

    them ; conimencing at the North gate, it runs on the west, south,

    and south-east side as far as Bridge gate, a distance of nearly

    thi’ee miles, and is in some places forty yards wide. Its constant

    use as a thoroughfare for boats insures its repair and proper

    depth ; the other faces of the city are defended by the river.

    There are six gates, and two sally-ports near the south and west

    approaches intended for the passage of the boats that ply on the

    city canals.

    On the east is Bridge gate, within which, and near the walls,

    the English factory was once situated. This opening leads out

    to the floating bridge ; the latter structure is two hundred yards

    long and five broad, made of planks firmly lashed, and laid

    upon sixteen lighters closely linked and chained together, but

    which can be opened. A busy market is held on the bridge,

    and the visitor following the lively crowd finds his way to an

    extensive suburb on the opposite side. Ferry boats ply across

    both streams in vast numbers, adding greatly to the vivacity of

    the scene. The custom-house is situated beyond the bridge,

    and this eastern suburb contains several buildings of a religious

    ‘ Milne, in Chinese Bepositorp, “Vol. XIII. , p. 22, and in liis Life in China, part second. London, 1857.

    :ind public cliaracter, lumber-yards, dock-yards, and rows of icelionses, inviting the notice of the traveler. The environs beyond the north gate are not so thickly settled as those across the rivers ; the well cultivated fields, divided and irrigated by numerous water-courses, with scattered hamlets, beguile the visitor in his rambles, and lead him onward.

    There are numerous temples and monasteries, and a large variety of assembly-halls, governmental offices, and educational establishments, but none of these edifices are remarkable in an architectural point of view. The assembly-halls or club-houses are numerous, and in their internal arrangements form a cm-ious feature of native society. It is the practice among residents or merchants from other provinces, to subscribe and erect on the spot where they are engaged in business, a temple, dedicated to the patron deity of their native province, in which a few priests are supported, and plays acted in its honor. Sometimes the building is put in charge of a layman, called a ” master of ceremonies,” and the cun-ent expenses defrayed by subscription.

    The club-houses are places of resort for travellers from the several provinces or districts, and answer, moreover, to European coffee-houses, in being points where news from abroad is heard and exchanged.

    The streets are well paved, and interrupted here and there

    by honorary portals of considei*able size and solidity, which also

    give variety to an otherwise dull succession of shops and signboards,

    or dead walls. Two small lagoons afford space for

    some aquatic amusements to the citizens. One called Sun Lake

    is only a thousand yards in circuit ; the other, called Moon

    Lake, is near the AVest gate, and has three times its perimeter.

    ]3oth are supplied by sluices passing through the city gates,

    while many canals are filled from them, which aid in irrigating

    the suburbs. Some of the pleasantest residences of the city are

    built on their banks.

    NINGPO, CHI.HIIAI, AND THE ARCHIPELAGO. 12B

    Among interesting edifices is the Tien-fung tah {i.e., Heavenconferred pagoda), a hexagonal seven-storied tower upward of 100 feet high, which, according to the Aanah of Ningbo, was first erected 1100 years ago, though during that period it has been destroyed and rebuilt several times. Upon the authority of this work, the tower was constructed before the city itself, and its })reservation is considered as connected with the good hick of the place. The visitor mounts to the summit by a flight of narrow stone steps, ascending spirally within the walls.

    The most elegant and solid building of the city lies on the water’s edge outside the walls, between the East and Bridge gates ; it is a temple dedicated to the marine goddess Ma Tsupu, and was founded by Fuhkien men in the 12th century, but the present structure was erected in IGSO, and largely endowed.

    Its ornaments are elaborate and rich, and its appearance on festival days, gay and animated in an unusual degree. The lanterns and scrolls hanging from the ceiling attract attention by the curious devices and beautiful characters written and drawn on them in bright colors, while the walls are concealed by innumerable drawings.

    Chinhai, at the mouth of the river, is so situated by nature and fortified by art, that it commands the passage. Its environs were the scene of a severe engagement between the Chinese and English in October, 1841, on which occasion great slaughter was committed npon the imperial troops. The town lies at the foot of a hill on a tongue of laud on the northern bank of the river, and is partly sheltei-ed from the sea on the north by a dyke about three miles long, composed of large blocks of hewn granite, and proving an admirable defence in severe weather. The walls are twenty feet high and three miles in circumference, but the suburbs extend along the water, attracted by, and for the convenience of, the shipping. Merchant ships report here when proceeding up the river, along whose banks the scenery is diversified, wdiile the water, as usual in China, presents a lively scene. Numerous ice-houses are seen constructed of thick stone walls twelve feet high, each having a door on one side and an incline on the other for the removal and introduction of the ice, and protected by straw and a heavily thatched roof.

    The Chusan archipelago forms a single district of which Tinghai is the capital ; it is divided into thirty-four chwang or townships, whose officers are responsible to the district magistrate.

    The southern limit of the group is Quesan or the Iviu shan islands, in lat. 29° 21′ X., and long. 121° 10′ E., consist ing of eleven islets, the nortlierninost of which is False Saddle Island ; their total number is over a hundred. Tinghai city lies on the southern side of Chau shan or Boat Island, which gives its name on foreign maps to the whole group. It is twenty miles long, from six to ten wide, and fifty one and a half in circumference. The archipelago seems to be the highest portion of a vast submarine plain, geologically comiected with the Kan shan range on the Continent and the mountains in Kiusiu and Nippon; it is a pi\’ot for the changes in weather and temperature observed north and south of this point along the coast.

    The general aspect of these islands and the mainland, is the same beautiful alternation of hills and narrow valleys, everywhere fertile and easily irrigated, with peaks, cascades, and woodlands interspersed. In Chusan itself the fertile and well watered valleys usnally reach to the sea, and are furnished with dykes along the beach, which convert them into plains of greater or less extent, through which run canals, used both for irrigation and navigation. Rice and barley, beans, yams, sweet potatoes, etc., are grown ; every spot of arable soil being cultivated, and terraces constructed on most of the slopes. The view from the tops of the ridges, looking athwart them, or adown their valleys, or to seaward, is highly picturesque. The prevailing rocks belong to the ancient volcanic class, comprising many varieties, but principally clay-stone, trachj^te, and compact and porphyritic felspar. The brief occupation of this island by the British forces in 1841 led to no permanent improvement in the condition of the people, and it has neither trade nor minerals sufficient to attract capital thither. Owing in part, perhaps, to this poverty, Tinghai escaped the ravages of the Tai-pings, and has now recovered from the damage sustained by its first capture.

    PUTO ISLAND AND ITS TEMPLES. 125

    Puto and a few smaller islands are independent of civil jurisdiction, being ruled by the abbot of the head monastery. This establishment, and that on Golden Island in the Yangtsz’ are among the ‘ richest and best patronized of all the bhiddhist monasteries in China ; both of them have been largely favored by emperors at diffirent periods.

    Puto is a narrow islet, 3^ miles long, and lies 1^ miles from the eastern point of Cliusan. Its surface is covered with sixty monasteries, pavilions, temples, and other religious buildings, besides grottos and sundry monuments of superstition, in which at least 2,000 idle priests chant the praises of their gods. One visitor describes his landing and ascending ” a broad and well beaten pathway which led to the top of one of the hills, at every: 5rag and turn of which we encountered a temple or a grotto, an inscription or an image, with here and there a garden tastefully laid out, and walks lined with aromatic shrubs, which diffused a grateful fragrance through the air. The prospect from these heights was extremely delightful; numerous islands, far and near, bestudded the main, rocks and precipices above and below, here and there a mountain monastery rearing its head, and in the valley the great temple, with its yellow tiles indicative of imperial distinction, basked like a basilisk in the noonday-sun. All the aid that could be collected from nature and from Chinese art, was here concentrated to render the scene enchanting. But to the eye of the Christian philanthropist it presented a melancholy picture of moral and spiritual death. The only tliuig we heard out of the mouths of the

    priests was Ometo Full ; to every observation that was made,

    re-echoed Ometo Full ; and the reply to every inquiry was

    Ometo Full. Each pi-iest was furnished with a rosary which

    lie was constantly counting, and as he counted repeated the

    same senseless, monotonous exclamation. These characters met

    the eye at every turn of the road, at every corner of the temples,

    and on every scrap of paper; on the bells, on the gateways,

    and on the walls, the same words presented themselves; indeed the whole island seemed to be under the spell of this talismanic phrase, and devoted to recording and re-echoing Ometo Full.” ‘ The pristine glory of these temples has become sadly dimmed, many of the buildings present marks of decay, and some of the priesthood are obliged to resort to honest labor in order to gain a living. Deaths in their number are supplied by purchasing youths, who are taught nothing but re-‘ Mcdhurst’s China, its State and Prospects, p. 393.

    Jigious literature, a tit training to stunt their minds to pursue the dull niunnuery of singing Onieto Full. The two inipeiial temples present good specimens of Chinese architecture ; but they as well as all other things to be seen at Puto are dilapidated and effete.

    Temples were erected on this island as early as a.d. 550, and since it became a resort for priests it seems to have enjoyed the patronage of the government. The goddess of Mercy is said to have visited this spot, and her image is the principal object of worship. No females are allowed to live on the island, nor any persons other than the priests, unless in their employ. The revenues are derived from rent of the lands belong-ino; to the temples, from the collection of those priests who go on begging excursions over the Empire, and from the alms of pilgrims who resort to this agreeable locality. It appears like one of the most beautiful spots on the earth when the ti’aveller lands, just such a place as his imagination had pictured as exclusively belonging to the sunny East, and so far as nature and art can combine, it is really so : but liere the illusion ends. Idleness and ignorance celibacy and idolatr}-, vice, dirt, and dilapidation, in the inmate! or in their habitations, form a poor back-ground for the well dressed connnunity, and gay, variegated prospect seen when stepping ashore.

    A town of considerable importance in this province is Chapu,

    about fifty miles north-west from Chinhai, across Ilangchau

    Pay, and connected with that city through a luxuriant plain by

    a well-paved causeway about thirty miles long. Chapu was the

    port of Ilangchau, and when it possessed the entii-e trade with

    Japan, boasted of being the largest mai’t on the seacoast of Chehkiang.

    The town lies at the bottom of a bay on the westei’n

    face of some hills fc)rming its eastern point ; and at low tide

    the mud extends a long way from the lowland. The suburbs

    are situated near a small headland ; the walled town stands

    about half a mile ])ehin(l. When attacked by the British in

    !^^ay, ]S42, the walls were found in ])()or condition, but the

    Manchu garrison stationed here upheld their ancient reputation

    for bravery. This body of troops occupies a separate division

    of the city, and their cantonment is j)lanned on the model of a

    CHAPU AND CAN FIT. 127

    camp. The outer defences are numerous, but most of tlie old

    fortifications are considerably decayed. The country in tlu;

    vicinity is highly cultivated, and possesses an unusual number

    of finely constructed, substantial houses.

    South-west from Chapu lies the old town of Canfu (called

    Kanpu by the Chinese), which was once the port of Ilangchau,

    but now deserted, since the stream on which it is situated has

    become choked with sand. This place is mentioned in the voyages

    of two Arabian travellers in the ninth century, as the chief

    port of China, where all shipping centred. The narrow entrance

    between Buffalo Island and Ivitto Point is probably the

    Gates of China mentioned by them ; and Marco Polo, in 1290,

    says, ” The Ocean Sea comes within 25 miles of the city at a

    place called Ganfu, where there is a town and an excellent

    haven, with a vast amount of shipping which is engaged in the

    traffic to and from India and other foreign parts. . . . And a

    great river flows from the city of Kinsay to that sea-haven, l)y

    which vessels can come up to the city itself.” ‘ Marsden erroneously

    supposes Kanpu to be Xingpo, If this was in fact the

    only port allowed to be opened for foreign trade, it shows that,

    even in the Tang dynasty, the same system of exclusion was

    maintained that has so recently been broken up ; though at that

    date the Emperors in Shansi had very little authority along the

    southern coasts. The changes in the Bay of Ilangchau have

    been more potent causes for the loss of trade, and Yule reasonably

    concludes that the upper part of it is believed to cover now

    the old site in Polo’s time.

    ‘ Yule’s Marco Polo, Vol. II., p. 149. Cathay and the Way Thither, p.cxciii. Reinaud, Relations den Voyages faits par les Arabea dans VTnde et d la Chine, etc. (Paris, 1845), Tome I., p. 19.

    The province of Fujian (i.e. Happily Established) is bounded on the north by Zhejiang, north-west and west by Iviangsf, south-west by Ivwangtung, and east by the channel of Formosa. Its western borders are determined, for the most part, by the watershed of the basins of the rivers Min and Kan; a rugged and fertile region of the Xan shan. The line of seacoast is bold, and bordered with a great number of islands, whose lofty granitic or trappean peaks extend in precipitous,

    Larreu headlands from Xaiiioli as far as tlie Cliusan archipelago.

    Ill the general features of its surface, the islands on its

    coasts, and its position with reference to the ocean, it resembles

    the region lying east of Xew Hampshire in the United States ;

    including Formosa, it about equals Missouri in size.

    The Itiver Min is formed by the union of three large streams

    at Yenping fu ; it drains all the country lying east of the AVu-i

    (Bohea) hills, or about three-fourths of the province. It is

    more than three hundred miles long, and owing to its regular

    depth, is one of the most useful streams in China ; twenty-seven

    walled towns stand on its banks. The tide rises eighteen or

    twenty feet at the entrance, and this, with the many islands and

    reefs, renders the approach difficult. At Min-ngan hien, about

    fourteen miles from the mouth, the stream is contracted to less

    than half a mile for about three miles, the water being from

    twelve to twenty-five fathoms deep ; the hills on each side rise

    from fifteen hundred to two thousand feet. One traveller speaks

    of the walls of its forts and batteries, in this part, as affording

    a sort of stairs for the more convenient ascent of the hills on

    which they are situated. From the top, ” the view embraces a

    beautiful scene ; nothing can be more picturesque than the little

    plats of wheat and barley intermixing their yellow crops on the

    acclivities with bristling pines and arid rocks, and crowned with

    garden spots, or surrounded with rice fields and orchards of

    oranges. The valley of the Min, viewed from the summit of

    the fortress, is truly a beautiful sight.” ‘ The scenery on this

    river, though of a different character, will bear comparison with

    that of the Hudson for sublimity and beauty ; the hills are,

    however, much higher, and the country less fruitful, on the

    Min.

    * Borget, L(i Chine Ouverte, p. 13G.

    AVATKll-COUllSES OF FUIIKIEN ri:()VIX(n<:. 129

    Beyond Pagoda Anchorage the passage is too shallow for large vessels, and this obstacle tends to prevent Fuhchau from becoming a place of commerce in keeping with its size and geographical advantages. From the city upwards the river is partially obstructed with rocks and banks, rendering the navigation troublesome as far as Mintsing hien, about thirty miles above it, beyond which the strong rapids render the passageto Yenping extremely tedious,—in high water impossible even with trackers. The banks are steep, and the tow-rope is sometimes taken 50 to 70 feet above the water.

    Mr. Stevens says of this river, that ” bold, high, and romantic

    hills giA^e a uniform yet ever varying aspect to the country ;

    l)ut it partakes so much of the mountainous character, that it

    may be truly said that beyond the capital we saw not one plain

    even of small extent. Every hill was covered with verdure

    from the base to the summit. The less rugged were laid out in

    terraces, rising above each other sometimes to the number of

    thirty or forty. On these the yellow barley and wheat were

    waving over our heads. Here and there a laborer, with a bundle

    of grain which he had reaped, was bringing it down on his

    shoulder to thrash out. Orange, lemon, and mulberry, or other

    trees, sometimes shaded a narrow strip along the banks, half

    concealing the cottages of the inhabitants.” ‘

    Next in size is the Lung kiang, which flows by Changchau, and disembogues near Amoy after a course of two hundred miles. A large number of small islands lie on the coast of Fuhkien, the first of which, on the west, is Naraoh or ]^an-au, about thirteen miles long. Amoy and Quemoy are the largest islands of a group lying off the estuary of the Lung kiang.

    Chimmo Bay is north-east of Amoy, and is the entrance of the passage up to Chinchew, or Tsiuenchau fu, the Zayton * of Marco Polo, and still celebrated for the commercial enterprise of its inhabitants. Before the introduction of steamers into the oasting trade, the harbors and creeks along the provinces of Fuhkien and Kwangtung were infested with numerous fleets of pirates, which used to ” sneak about like rats,” and prey upon the peaceful traders.

    ‘ Chinese Repository, Vol. IV., p. 93.’Yule’s Mnrco Poh, Vol. II., pp. 183-185, etc. A Turkish geography,printed at Constantinople, describes this port under the name of Zeitouii.Compare Klaproth, Memoires sur VAsie, Tome II., p. 208. See further,CJdnese Recoider, Vol. III., p. 87; Vol. IV., p. 77; Vol. V., p. 327, and Vol VI., p. 31, sqq.Vol. I.—9

    The grain raised in Fujian is hardly enough to support its population, especially on the sea-board, and large quantities of rice are brought from Siani, Formosa, and elsewhere. Black tea, camphor and other woods, sugar, chinaware, and grass cloth, are the principal exports.

    The city of Fuzhou(i.e., Happy City), or Ilokchiu, as it is called by the inhabitants, lies in lat. 26° 5′ north, and long. 119° 20′ east, on the northern side of the Min, thirty -four miles from its mouth, and nine from Pagoda Island. The city lies in a plain, surrounded by hills, forming a natural and most magnificent amphitheatre of vast dimensions, whose fertility emulates and adds to its beauty. Suburbs extend from the walls three miles to the banks, and stretch along on both sides the stream.

    They are connected with each other, and a small islet in the

    river, by a stone bridge built in the eleventh century. The

    scenery is bold, and such parts of the surrounding hills as are not

    cultivated or used for graves, are covered with pines ; some of

    the hills north of the city are three thousand feet high. Opposite

    Fuhchau the land is lower, and the suburb is built upon an

    island formed by the division of the main channel, seven miles

    above the city ; the branches reunite at Pagoda Island. This

    island, and the plain on each side, forms a large basin, about

    twenty miles long by fifteen wide. The river is crowded with

    floating habitations, ferry-boats, and trading craft, rendering its

    surface an animated and noisy scene. The flowers grown in

    pots on the boats, and those usually worn by the boatwomen in

    their hair, all assist in imparting a pleasing aspect to the lively sight.

    The city walls ai-e about thirty feet high and twelve wide at the top. The gates, seven in number, are overlooked by high towers ; smaller guard-houses stand upon the walls at short intervals, in which a few soldiers lodge, and where two or three cannon indicate their object. The city is divided into wards and neighborhoods, each of which is under its own police and headmen, who are resjxnisible for the peace of their respective districts.

    APPEARANCE OF FUHCIIAU. 131

    From the Wu-shih slum, an eminence on the south of the city, the view is extensive, and presents a great diversity of charming objects. The square battlements of the wall are seen extending in a devious and irregular circuit for more than eight miles, and inclosing most of the buildings, except on the south.

    On the south-east, a hill rises abruptly more than two hundred feet, its sides built up with interspersed dwellings ; and another on the extreme north of the cit}’, surmounted by a “watch-tower,

    closes the prospect in that dii-ection. Two pagodas within, and

    fantastic looking watch-towers upon the walls, large, regularbuilt

    granaries, and a vast number of flag-staffs in pairs indicating

    temples and offices, contribute to relieve the otherwise dull

    monotony, which is still further diversified by many large trees.

    Several lookout houses are placed over the streets, or upon the

    roofs of buildings, for the accommodation of watchmen, one of

    M’hich immediately attracts the attention of the visitor, from

    its height, and its clock-dial with Koman letters. Few vacant

    spaces occur within the walls of the city, which is everywhere

    equally well built.

    Serpentine canals divide the country round about into plats of greater or less extent, of every form and hue ; while they help drain the city and provide channels for boats coming from the river. These parts of the landscape are dotted with hamlets and cottages, or, where the ground is higher, with graves and tombstones. To one seated on this eminence, the confused hum of mingling cries ascending from the town below,—the beating of gongs, crackling of fireworks, reports of guns, vociferous cries of hucksters and coolies, combining with the barking of dogs and other domestic sounds, as well as those from the crows, fish-hawks, and magpies nearer by,—inform him in the liv^eliest manner that the beautiful panorama he is looking down upon is filled with teeming multitudes in all the tide of life. On the western side of the city is a sheet of water, called Xi Hu, or West Lake, with a series of unpretending buildings and temples lying along its margin, a bridge crossing its expanse, and fishing-nets and boats floating upon its bosom. The watch-tower, on the hill in the northern part of the city, is upon the wall, which here runs near a precipice two hundred feet high ; it is a most conspicuous object when approaching the place.

    The Manchus occupy the eastern side of the city, and number altogether about 8,000 persons; the natives gcncrall}- are not allowed to enter their precincts. They live under their own officers, in much the same style as the Chinese, and, .not having any regular occupation, give no little trouble to the provincial authorities. Though vastly larger than Ningpo, the number of temples and substantial private residences in Fuhchau is much less, and as a whole it is not so well built. The streets are full of abominations, for which the people seem to care very little.

    Before foreign trade attained importance, paper money used to be issued by native mercantile iirms in the city, varying in denomination from forty cents to a thousand dollars, and supplying all the advantages with few of the dangers of bank notes.

    The blue, red, and black colors, which are blended on these promissory bills, present a gay appearance of signatures and eudorsings. The name of the issuing house, and a number of characters traced around the page, in briglit blue ink, form the original impression. The date of issue, and some ingeniously Avrought cyphers, for the recej^tion of signatures and prevention of forgeries, are of a deep red ; while the entry of the sum, and names of the partners and receiver, stand forth in large blade characters. On the back are the endorsements of various individuals, through whose hands the bill has passed, in order to facilitate the detection of forgeries, but not rendering the writer at all liable. These bills have now nearly disappeared, and bank bills from Hongkong are gradually coming into use. The streets usually are thronged with craftsmen and hucksters, in the fashion of Chinese towns, where the shopmen, in their desire to attract buyers, seem to inuigine, that the more they get in their customers’ way, the more likely they are to sell them something. The shops are thrown ojien so widely, and display such a variety of articles, or expose the M’orkmeii so plainly, that the whole street seems to be leather the stalls of a nuirket, or the aisle in a manufactory, than the town-thoroughfare.

    BUILDINGS AND TYPES OF INirABITANTS. 133

    The chief civil and military dignitaries of the province reside here, besides the profect and the magistrates of ]\rin and llaukwan districts. The (li’iiKj-lmxing mUio is one of the largest religious edifices in the place, and the temples tif the goddess of Mercy, and god of War, the most frequented. The KiuSien shan, or ‘ Hill of the Nine Genii,’ on the southern side of the town, is a pretty object. The city wall runs over it, and on its sides little houses are built upon rocky steps ; numerous inscriptions are carved in the face of the rocks. Near the eastern gate, called Tang Men., or ‘ Bath gate,’ is a small suburb, where Chinese and Manchus live together, and take care of many hot wells filled from springs near by ; the populace resort hither in large crowds to wash and amuse themselves.

    The citizens of Fuhchau bear the character of a reserved, proud, rather turbulent people, imlike the polite, affable natives further north. They are better educated, however, and plume themselves on never having been conquered by foreigners. Their dialect is harsh, contrasting strongly with the nasal tones of the patois of Amoy, and the melliflnous sounds heard at Ningpo. There are few manufactures of importance in the city, its commerce and resources depending almost wholly on the trade with the interior by the River Min. Many culprits wearing the cangue are to be seen in the streets, and in passing none of the hilarious merriment which is heard elsewhere greets the eai”. There is also a general lack of courtesy between acquaintances meeting in the higlnvay, a circumstance quite unusual in China. Beggars crowd the thoroughfares, showing both the poverty and the callousnesj of the inhabitants. One half the male population is supposed to be addicted to the opium pipe, and annually expend millions of dollars for this noxious gratification.

    The population of the city and suburljs is reckoned at rather over than under a million souls, including the boat people; it is, no doubt, one of tlie chief cities in the Empire \\\size, trade, and iidluence.

    The island in the river is settled by a trading p()])ulati(jii, a great part of whom consist of sailors and boatmen. The country-women, who bring vegetables and poultry to market, are a robust race, and contrast strikingly with the sickly-looking, little-footed ladies of the city, Fishing-boats are numerous in the river, many of which are furnished with cormorants.’

    Chinese liejwsitary, Vol. TSV., pp. 185, 225.

    Amoy is the best known port in the province, and 150 years ao-Q was the seat of a large foreign coniinercc. It lies in tha district of Tung-ngan, within the prefecture of Tsiuenchau, in lat. 2i° 4U’ X., and long. 118° 20′ E., upon the south-western corner of the island of Amoy, at the mouth of the Lung Kiang. The island itself is about forty miles in circumference, and contains scores of large villages besides the city. The scenery within the bay is picturesque, caused partly by the numerous islands which define it, some of them surmounted by pagodas or temples, and partly by the high hills behind the city, and

    crowds of vessels in the liarbor in the foreground.’ There is

    an outer and inner city, as one approaches it seaward—or more

    properly a citadel and a city—divided by a ridge of rocky hills

    having a fortified wall along the top. A paved road connects

    the two, which is concealed from the view of the beholder as

    he comes in from sea, until he has entered the Inner harbor.

    The entire circuit of the city and suburbs is about eight miles,

    containing a population of 185,000, while that of the island is

    estimated at 100,000 more.

    The harbor of Amoy is one of the best on the coast ; the tide

    rises and falls from fourteen to sixteen feet. The western side

    of the harbor is formed by the island of Kulang su, the batteries

    upon it completely commanding the city. It is about a

    mile long and two and three-quarters around, and maintains a

    large rural population, scattered among four or five hamlets.

    The foreign residences scattered over its hills add measurably

    to the charm of its aspect when viewed from the harbor. Eastward

    of Amoy is the island of Quemoy (/.6\, Golden harbor), whose low, rice grounds on the south-west shore produce a very different effect as opposed to the high land on Amoy ; its population is, moreover, much less.

    ‘ The Boston Missionary Herald for 1845 (p. 87) coutaius a notice of tha ” WfeHe Deer Cavern,” in tliu neighborhood.

    AMOY AND ITS ENVIRONS. 135

    The country in this part of Fuhkien is thickly settled and highly cultivated. Mr. Abeel, describing a trip toward TungngaTi, says, ” For a few miles up, the hills wore the same rugged, barren aspect which is so common on the southern coast of China, but fertility and cultivation grew upon us as we advanced ; the mountains on the east became hills, and these were adorned with fields. The villages were numerous at intervals; many of them were indicated in the distance by large groves of trees, but generally the landscape looked naked. Well-sweeps were scattered over the cultivated hills, affording evidence of the need and the means of irrigation.”

    In the other direction, toward Changchau, the traveller, beyond Pagoda Island, enters an oval bay ten or twelve miles long, bounded by numerous plains rising in the distance into steep barren mountains, and upon which numerous villages are found ; twenty-three were counted at once by Mr. Abeel, and the boatmen said that all could not be seen. Several large towns, and ” villages uncounted ” are visible in every direction, as one proceeds up the river toward Changchau, thirty-five miles from Amoy. This city is well built, the streets paved with granite, some of them twelve feet wide, and intolerably offensive. A bridge, about eight hundred feet long, spans the river, consisting of beams stretching from one abutment to another, covered with cross pieces. From the hill- top behind a temple at the north-western corner of the city, the prospect is charming.

    ” Imagine an amphitheatre,” says Mr. Lowrie, ” thirty miles in length and twenty in breadth, hemmed in on all sides by bare pointed hills, a river running through it, an immense city at our feet, with fields of rice and sugar-cane, noble trees and

    numerous villages stretching away in every direction. It was

    grand and beautiful beyond every conception we had ever

    formed of Chinese scenery. Beneath us lay the city, its shape

    nearly square, curving a little on the river’s banks, closely built,

    and having an amazing number of very large trees within and

    around. The guide said that in the last dynasty it had numl)

    ered 700,000 inhabitants, and now he thought it contained a

    million—probably a large allowance. The villages around also

    attracted our attention. I tried to enumerate them, but after counting thirty-nine of large size distinctly visible in less than half the field before us, I gave over the attempt. It is certainly Avithhi the mark to say that within the t-ircuit of thi.- immense plain there are at least one hundred villages, some of them small, but many numbering Inmdreds and even thousands of inliabitants.” ‘

    ‘ Chinese Repository, Vol. XI., p. 506.

    ChangZhou was the last city in the eastern provinces held by the Tai-pings, a small remnant of their forces having come across the country after the loss of NanJing. They were expolled in 1806, after the town had suffered much from the contending forces. Traces of this destruction have not yet entirely disappeared from the vicinity.

    Shilima, or Chiohbe, is a place of some trade, extending a

    mile along the shore, and larger than Ilaitang hien, a district

    town between it and Amoy. Large numbers of people dwell

    in boats on this river, rendering a voyage up its channel somewhat

    like going through a street, for the noise and bustle.

    The city of Chinchew (or Tsiuenchau), north of Amoy, w’as

    once the larger of the two. It is described by Marco Polo, who

    reached it after iive days’ journey from Fuhchau, meeting with

    a constant succession of flourishing cities, towns and villages.

    “At this city is the haven of Zayton, frequented by all the

    ships from India, . . . and by all the merchants of Manzi, for

    hither is imported the most astonishing quantity of goods and

    of precious stones and pearls. . . . For it is one of the two

    greatest havens in the world for connnerce.”^ It was gradually

    forsaken for Amoy, which was more accessible to junks.

    ‘ Chinesie Rejmiton/, Vol. XIT., p. T^•.^0^, Fortune’s Tea Districts, chaps, xiv and XV.=” Yule’s Marco Polo, Vol. II., p. IbG.

    THE ISLAND OF FORMOSA. 137

    From Zayton, Ivublai Khan’s expedition to Java and Japan sailed, and here the men from Egypt and Arabia traded for silks, sugar, and spices long after the Portuguese reached China. The department of Ilinghwa, situate on the coast between Tsiuenchau and Fuhchau, is exceedingly populous, and its dialect differs distinctly from both of the adjoining prefectures. Its people have a bad reputation, and female infanticide prevails here to a greater degree than elsewhere. At Yenping, on the Min River, the people speak the dialect of banking, showing their origin of not many scores of years past ; there are many patois in these hilly parts of Fnhkien, hirI tlio province as a whole exhibits probably greater discrepancies in its dialects than any other. Its produce is exported north and west, as well as coastwise, and this intcirconrse tends to assimilate the speech of the inhabitants with their neighbors. The natural scenery in the ranges near the Bohea Hills in the borders of Kiangsi attracts visitors from afar. Fortune describes the picturesque grouping of steep rocks, lonely temples on jutting ledges and hidden adits, alternating with hamlets, along the banks of the stream which carries the boats and produce away to a market. The rocks and cliffs here have furnished Chinese artists with many subjects for pen and pencil, while the valley in addition to its natural beauty brings forth the best of teas.

    The island of Formosa, lying 90 miles west of Amoy, together with the Pescadore group, forms a department called Taiwan. The former is a fertile, well-watered region, possessing a salubrious climate, and meriting in every respect its name Formosa—a descriptive term first given by the Portuguese to their settlement at Kilung in 1590, and extended afterward to the entire island. Its total length is about 235 miles, while the width at the centre is not far from 80 miles ; the limits of Chinese jurisdiction do not, however, end)race more than the western or level portion, leaving to untamed aborigines the

    thickly wooded districts beyond the ]\f((h htii sJkdk a lofty

    rantj-e of mountains runnino; north and south and formino- the

    backbone of the island. The western coast presents no good

    harbors, and vessels lying a long distance oft” shore are exposed

    to the double inconvenience of a dano-erons anchoraije and an

    inhospitable reception from the natives ; the eastern side is still

    less inviting, owing to its possession by savage tribes. From

    recent reports it appears, moreover, that the whole coast line is

    rising with unusual persistence and regularity, and that the

    streams are being choked up at their mouths.

    The aborigines of this island are, in those districts that lemain uncontaminated by mixture with Chinese settlers, a remarkably well-built, handsome race, strong, large of eye, bold, and devoted to hunting and ardent spirits (when the latter is procurable), after the manner of wild people the world over; no written language exists among them, nor do they employ any fixed method of reckoning time. They and the inhabitants of Lewchew and neighboring islands are probably of the same race with the Philippine Tagalas, though some have supposed them to be of Malay or Polynesian origin. Like the North American Indians they are divided into numerous clans,

    whose mutual feuds are likely to last until one party or another

    is exterminated ; this turbulence restrains them from any

    united action against the Chinese, whose occupation of the

    island has always been irksome to the natives. Their social

    condition is extremely low ; though free from the petty vices

    of thieving and deception, and friendly toward strangers, the

    principle of blood-requital holds among them with full force,

    and family revenge is usually the sole object of life among the

    men. I^o savage is esteemed who has not beheaded a Chinaman,

    while the greater the number of heads brought home from a fray, the higher the position of a brave in the comnumity.

    The women are forced to attend both to house and field, but share the laziness of their masters, insomuch that they never cut from the growing rice or millet more than enough for the day’s provision. ” Although these people have men’s forms,” observes a Chinese writer in the peculiar antithetical style common to their literary productions, ” they have not men’s natures. To govern them is impossible; to exterminate them not to be thought of; and so nothing can be done with them. The only thing left is to establish troops with cannon at all the passes through which they issue on their raids, and so overawe them, b^^ military display, from coming out of their fastnesses. The savage tracks lie only through the dense forests, thick with underbi’ush, where hiding is easy.

    PRODUCTIONS OF FORMOSA. 139

    When they cut off a head, they boil it to separate the flesh, adorn the skull with various ornaments, and hang it up in their huts as evidence of their valor.” In addition to a few native clans who have submitted to the rulers from the mainland and dwell in the border region between the colonists and :i])oi-igines proper, a peculiarly situated race, called Ilahhas^ maintains a neutral position between the hill tribes and the Cliinese. These people were formerly industrious but per«secuted inhabitants of Kwangtung province, who, in order to better their lot, emigrated to Formosa and established close communication with the natives there, making themselves indispensable to them by procuring arms, powder, and manufactured goods, while owing to their industry they were able in time to monopolize the camphor trade. Though retaining the Chinese costume and shaving their heads, they practically ignore Chinese rule, paying tribute and intermarrying with the mountaineers, from whom they have also obtained large tracts of land.

    Maize, potatoes, fruits, tobacco, indigo, sugar, rice, and tea, are all grown on this island, the three latter in rapidly increasing quantities for purposes of export. Of natural products salt, coal, sulphur, petroleum, and camphor are of the first importance.

    The vast coal basins have hardly been opened or even explored, the only mines now worked being those in the northern part, near Kilung. Native methods of mining are, however, the only ones employed thus far, and it is not surprising, considering their extreme simplicity, that they have not been able to extract coal from remote districts, where the natural difficulties encountered are greatest. Hand labor alone is used, and draining a pit unheard of—compelling a speedy abandoning of the mines when pierced to any great depth in the mountain side. The cost of the coal at the mouth of the pit is about 65 cents per ton for the first qualities, which price improved methods might reduce a third. The presence of volcanoes on this island will, nevertheless, present a serious obstacle to the employment of western mining machinery, especially along the coast, where the measures appear to be excessively dislocated and the work of draining is rendered more difficult. Petroleum is abundant in certain tracts of northern Formosa, flowing plentifully from crevices in the hills, and used to some extent for burning and medicinal purposes by the natives, but not exported. The possibilities of a large sulphur trade are much more important. It is brought from solfatarae and geysers at Tah-yu kang, near Kilung, where it is found in a nearly pure state, as well, too, as a great quantity of sulphurous acid which might with profit be used in the sugar refineries on the island. The manufacture of sidphur is, however forbidden by treaty, though its exportation goes on in small quantities, the contractors taking on themselves all risk of seizure. Camphoi”, perhaps the greatest source of wealth to Formosa, is obtained here by saturating small sticks of the wood with steam, not by boiling as in Japan. The crystals of camphor condense in a receiv-er placed above the furnace ; during the process of distillation an es-^ential oil is produced, which when chemically treated with nitric acid becomes solid camphor. The trees from which the wood is cut grow^ in the most inaccessible tracts of the island, and are, according to all descriptions, of innnense extent, though chopped down by the natives without discrimination or idea of encouraging a second growth.

    Among the most interesting natural phenomena of this district are the so-called volcanoes, whoso occasional eruptions have been noticed by many, Mr. Le Gendre, United States Consul at Amoy in 1869, upon a visit to Formosa took occasion to examine more closely into this subject. It appears from his report ‘ that a gas is constantly issuing from the earth, and when a hole to the depth of a few inches is made it can be lighted.

    It is most likely, he continues, that from time to time gas jets break forth at points of the hills where they had not been observed before, rushing through its long grass and forests of linge trees, and the rock oil which as a general thing flows in their vicinity. As they are apt to spontaneously ignite in contact with the atmosphere, they must set fire to these materials and cause a local conflagration, that gives to the many peaks of the chain the appearance of volcanoes.

    FORMOSA AND THE PESCADORES. 141

    Previous to the first half of the fifteenth century the Chinese had little knowledge of Formosa, nor was their sway established over any part of it until 1GS3. It was never really colonized, and became a misooverned and refractorv region from the earliest attempts at subjection. A great emigration is constantly going on from the main, and lands are taken up by capitalists, who not only encourage the people in settling there, but actually purchase large numbers of poor people to occupy these districts. Taiwan fu, the seat of local government, is the ‘ Commercial Relations between the U. S. and Voreign ‘iS(ttiiinx. lS(iO.

    largest place on the island ; other harbors or places of importance are Ku-sia and Takow, some miles south of Taiwan, the latter, with Tamsui, on the north-west coast, being one of the recently opened ports of trade. Kihmg possesses a good harbor and is the entrepot of goods for the northern end of the island. Snice the opening (in 1861) of these three towns to foreign intercourse, and the more careful examination of the neutral territory at the foot of the mountains, the resources, peoples, and condition of this productive isle have become better known.

    It may be of interest to refer, before leaving Formosa, to the extraordinary fabulous history of the island by one George Psalmanazar, the nam de lylmiie of a remarkable impostor of the commencement of the eighteenth century, who pretended to be a Japanese convert to CJhristianity from Formosa, and who created a profound sensation in Europe by the publication in Latin of a iictitious notice of that country.’

    About twenty-five miles west of Formosa, and attached to Taiwan fu, is the district of Pdvghu ting or Pescadore Islands, consisting of a group of twenty-one inhabited islets, the largest of which, called Panghu, is eighty-four miles in circumference; none of them rise three hundred feet above the sea. The two largest, called Prmgliu and Fisher Islands, ai-e situated near the centre of the cluster, and have an excellent harbor between them. The want of trees, and the absence of sheltered valleys, give these islands a barren appearance. Millet, ground-nuts, pine-apples, sweet potatoes, and vegetables are grown, but for most of their supplies they depend upon Formosa. The population of the group is estimated at ‘6()()(^^ of M’hom a large part are fishermen. The Dutch seized these islands in 1G22, and attempted to fortify them by forced Chinese laborers, but removed to Formosa two years after at the instance of the governor of Fuhkien.
    ‘ ” An nistoricrd and GeograpJdcal Description of Formosa, an Island subject to the Emperor of Japan, ^^ etc. YiXii^voili {MemoiressiirVAsie, Tome I., p. 321) translates an accovint of this island from Chinese sources. E. C. Taintor, The Aborigines of Northern /’l^’/w^Avn!—Shanghai, 1874—read before the North China branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. Chinese Repository, Vol. II., p408, and Vol. V., p. 480.”

    CHAPTER III. GEOGRAPHICAL DESCRIPTION OF THE WESTERN PROVINCES

    The central provinces of llnpeli and Hunan formerly constituted a single one under the name of Hukwang {i.e. Broad Lakes), and they are still commonly known by this appellation. HuPEH {i.e. Korth of the Lakes) is the smaller of the two, but contains the most arable land. It is bounded north by Honan, east by Kganhwui and Kiangsi, south by Hunan, and west by Sz’chuen and Shensi. Its area is about T0,000 square miles, or slightly above that of Kew England.

    The Great Tliver flows through the south, where it connects with all the lakes on both its shores, and nearly doubles its volume of water. The Han kiang, or Han shui rises in the southwest of Shensi, between the Fuh-niu shan and Tapa ling, and drains the south of that province and nearly the whole of Hupeh, joining Yangtsz’ at AVuehang. It is very tortuous in its course, flowing about 1300 miles in all, and is navigable only a portion of the year, during the freshes, as far as Siangyang, about 300 miles. Boats of small size come down, however, at all times from Sin-pu-wan, near its source in Shensi.

    THE PROVINCE OP IIUPEH. 143

    The mouth is not over 200 feet broad, but the bed of the river as one ascends soon widens to 400 and 500 feet, and at Shayang, 168 miles from Hankow, it is half a mile wide. The area of its whole basin is about the same as the province. The extraordinary effects of a large body of melted snow poured into a number of streams converging on the slopes of a range of hills, and then centering in a narrow valley, bringing their annual deposit of alluvial and silt are seen along the River Han. The rise of this stream is often fifty feet where it is narrowest, and the shores are high ; at Iching the channel varies from 300 to 1500 feet at different seasons, but the i-iverbed from 2000 to 9000 feet, the water rising 18 feet at the fresh. In these wide places, the river presents the aspect of a broad, winding belt of sand dunes, in which the stream meanders in one or many channels, l^avigation, therefore, is difficult and dangerous, since moving sands shift the deep water from place to place, and boats are delayed or run aground. In high water the banks are covered, but the current is then almost as serious an obstacle as the shallows are in winter.

    The southeastern part of Ilupeh is occupied by an extensive depression filled with a succession of lakes. The length and breadth of this plain are not far from two hundred miles, and it is considered the most fertile part of China, not being subject to overflows like the shores of the Yellow River, while the descent of the land allows its abundance of water to be readily distributed. Every spot is cultivated, and the surplus of productions is easily transported wherever there is a demand.

    The portions nearest the Yangtsz’ are too low for constant cultivation. The Ax Lake, Millet Lake, Red Horse Lake, and Mienyang Lake, are the largest in the province. The remaining parts of both the Lake provinces are hilly and mountainous ; the high range of the Ta-peh shan (‘ Great White Mountains ‘), commencing far into Shensi, extends to the west of Ilupeh, and separates the basins of the Great River from its tributary, the Han Jiang, some of its peaks rising to the snow line. The productions of Ilupeh are bread-stuffs, silk, cotton, tea, fish, and timber; its manufactures are paper, wax, and cloth. The climate is temperate and healthy.

    The favorable situation of “Wuchang, the provincial capital,

    lias drawn to it most of the trade, which has caused in the

    course of years the settlement of Hanyang and Hankow on the

    northern bank of the Yangtsz’ and River Han. The number

    of vessels gathered here in former years from the other cities

    on these two streams was enormous, and gave rise to exaggerated

    ideas of the value of the trade. The introduction of steamers has destroyed much of this native commerce, and the cities themselves suffered dreadfully Ijv the Tai-pings, from Mliicli thev are rapidly recovering, and oti a surer foundation. The cities ‘lie in lat. 30° 33′ X. and long. 114° 20’ E., 582 geographical miles distant from Shanghai.

    Wuchang is the residence of the provincial officers, the

    Manchu garrison, and a literary population of influence, while

    the working part depends mostly on Hankow for employment.

    Its walls are over twelve miles in circuit, inclosing more vacant

    than occupied surface, whose flatness is relieved by a range of

    low hills that extend bevond Ilanvano; on the other side of

    the liver. The narrow streets are noisome from the offal,

    and in summer are sources of malaria, as the drainage is had.

    AYhen Haidvow was opened to foreign trade in 1801, it presented

    AvucHAXd a:vd Hankou. 145

    a most ruinous appearance, but the sense of security inspired by the presence of the men and vessels from far lands rapidly drew the scattered citizens and artisans to rebuild the ruins. The foreigners live near the river side, east of Hankow and west of the River Han, where the anchorage is very favorable, and out of the powerful current of the Yangtsz’. The difference in level of the great stream is about forty feet in the year. In the long years of its early and peaceful trade up to 1850, this region had gathered probably more people on a given area than could be found elsewhere in the world ; and its repute for riches led foreigners to base great hopes on their share, which have been gradually dissipated. The appearance of the city as it was in 1845 is given by Abbt’^ Hue in a few sentences: ” The night had already closed in when we reached the place where the river is entirely covered with vessels, of every size and form, congregated here from all parts. I hardly think there is another port in the world so frequented as this, which passes, too, as among the most commercial in the empire. We entered one of the open ways, a sort of a street having each side defined by floating shops, and after four hours’ toilsome navigation through this difficult labyrinth, arrived at the place of debarkation. For the space of five leagues, one can only see houses along the shore, and an infinitude of beautiful and strange looking vessels in the river, some at anchor and others passing up and down at all hours.” ‘

    The coup d’a’il of these three cities is beautiful, their environs being highly cultivated and interspersed with the mansions of the great ; but he adds, “If you draw near, you will find on the margin of the river only a shapeless bank worn away with freshets, and in the streets stalls surmounted with palisades, and workshops undermined by the waters or tumbling to pieces from age. The open spots between these ruins are filled with abominations which diffuse around a suffocating odor. No regulation.s respecting the location of the dwellings, no sidewalks, no place to avoid the crowd which presses upon one, elbowing and disputing the passage, but all get along pell-mell, in the midst of cattle, hogvS, and other domestic animals, each protecting himself as he best can from the filth in his way, which the Chinese collect with care for agricultural uses, and carry along in little open buckets through the crowd.”

    Above Hankow, the towns on the Yangtsz’ lie n’earer its

    banks^lfsHiey are not so exposed to the freshets. The largest

    trading places in this part of Ilupeli on the river, are Shasi,

    opposite Kinchau fu, and Ichang near the borders of Sz’chuen,

    respectively 293 and 363 miles distance. From the first settlement

    there is a safe passage by canal across to Shayang, forty

    miles away on the iliver Han ; the travel thence goes north

    to Shansi. The other has recently been opened to foreign

    trade. It is the terminus of navigation for the large vessels

    used from Shanghai upward, as the rapids commence a few

    miles beyond, necessitating smaller craft that can be hauled by

    trackers. These two marts are large centres of trade and travel,

    and were not made desolate by the Tai-pings, as were all other

    towns of importance on the lower Yangtsz’.

    ‘ Annnles de la Fci. i845, Tome XVII., pp. 287, 290. See also Hue’s TravreU in the Chinese Empire, Harper’s Ed., 1855, Vol. II., pp. 142-144. Fnmpelly, pp. 224-22G ; Blakiston’s Yanrjtsze, p. 65 ; Treaty Ports of China, 1867,Art. Hankow.

    The portion of the Yangzi in this province, between Yichang and the Sichuan border, exhibits perhaps some of the most Jiiagnificenl- glunpse^,_.M_scenery in the world. Breaking through the limestone foundations that dip on either side of the granite core of the rapids, the river first penetrates the AVu shan, Mitan, and Lukan gorges on the one side, then the lono- defile of Ichang on the other. At various points between and beyond these the stream is broken by more or less formidable rapids. Among these grand ravines the most impressive, though not the longest, is that of Lukan, whose vertical walls rise a thousand feet or more above the narrow river. Nothing can be more striking, observes Blakiston, than suddenly coming upon this huge split in the mountain mass ” by which the river escapes as through a funnel,” The eastern portions of llupch are rougher than the southern, and were overrun during the rebellion by armed bands, so that their best towns were destroyed. Siangyang fu and Fanching, near the northern borders, arc important places in the internal commerce of this region. Its many associations with leading events in Chinese early and feudal history render it an interesting region to native scholars. A large part of the southwestern prefecture of Shingan is hilly, and its mountainous portions are inhabited by a rude, illiterate population, many of whom are partly governed by local rulers.

    The province of Hunan is bounded north by Ilupeh, east by Kiangsi, south by Kwangtung and Kwangsi, w.est by Ivweichau and Sz’chuen. Its area is reckoned at 84,000 square miles—equal to Great Britain or the State of Kansas. It is drained by four rivers, whose basins comprise nearly the whole province, and define its limits by their terminal watersheds. The largest is the Siang, which, rising in the hills on the south and east in numerous navigable streams, affords facilities for trade in small boats to the borders of Kiangsi and Kwangtung,

    the traffic concentring at Siangtan ; this fertile and populous

    basin occupies well-nigh half of the province. Through the

    western part of Hunan runs the Yuen kiang, but the rapids

    and cascades occur so frequently as to render it far less useful

    than the Siang. Boats are towed up to the towns in the southwest

    with great labor, carrying only four or five tons cargo;

    these are exchanged for mere scows at Ilangkia, 200 miles

    above Changteh, in order to reach Yuenchau. The contrast

    ‘UKAN GOKGE, YANGZI RlVER. NATURAL AND POLITICAL FEATURES OF HUNAN. 147

    between the two rivers as serviceable channels of intercourse is

    notable. Between these two main rivers runs the Tsz’ kiang,

    navigable for only small batteaux, which nnist be pulled up so

    many rapids that the river itself has been called Tan ho, or

    ‘ Rapid River ; ‘ its basin is narrow and fertile, and the produce

    is carried to market over the hills both east and west. The

    fourth river, the Li shui, empties, like all the others, into the

    Tungting Lake, and drains the northwestern portion of the

    province ; it is navigable only in its lower course, and is almost

    useless for travel. These rivers all keep their own chaimels

    through the lake, which is rather a cesspool for the overflow of

    the Yangtsz’ during its annual rise than a lake fed by its own

    springs and aflluents. At Siangyin, on the River Siang, the

    banks are 35 feet above low water, and gradually slope down

    to its mouth at Yohchau, or near it. The variation of this

    lake from a large sheet of water at one season to a marsh at

    another, must of course affect the whole internal trade of the

    province, inasnnich as the rivers running through it are in a

    continual condition of flood or low water—either extreme

    cannot but seriously interfere with steam vessels.

    The productions of Ilunan do not represent a very high development

    of its soil or mines. Tea and coal are the main exports; tea-oil, ground-nut and tun/j oils, hemp, tobacco, and rice, with iron, copper, tin, and coarse paper make up the list.

    The coal-fields of southern Hunan contain deposits equal to those in Pennsylvania ; anthracite occurs on the River Lui, and bituminous on the River Xiang, both beds reaching over the border into Kwangtung. The timber trade in pine, fir, laurel, and other woods is also important. The population of Hunan was somewhat reduced during the Tai-ping rebellion ; its inhabitants have in general a bad reputation among their countrymen for violence and rudeness. The hilly nature of the country tends to segregate them into small communities, which are imperfectly acquainted with each other, because travelling is difficult ; nor is the soil fertile enough to support in many districts a considerable increase of population.

    The capital of Hunan, Changsha, lies on the River Xiang, and is one of the most iofluentialj as it is historically one of the most interesting, cities in the central })urt of China ; the festival of the Dragon Boats originated here. Siangtan, at the confluence of the Lien kf, nioie than 200 miles above Yohchan, is one of the greatest tea-marts in China. Its population is reckoned to he a million, and it is a centre of trade and banking for the products of this and other legions ; it extends for three miles along the west bank, and nearly two miles inland, with thousands of boats lining the shores. Its return to prosperity since the rebellion has been marvellously rapid. The city of Changteh on the Yuen River is the next important town, as it is easily reached from Yohchan on the Yangzi; large amounts of rice are grown in the prefecture.

    Hunan has a high position for letters, the people are well dressed, healthy, and usually peaceable. The boating population is, however, exceptionally lawless, and forms a difficult class for the local authorities to control. Aboriginal hill-tribes exist in the sonthwestern districts, mIucIi are still more unmanageable, probably through the imjust taxation and oppression of the imperial officers set over them. In addition to these ungovernable elements a large area is occupied by the Yao-Jin, who have possessed themselves of the elevated territory lying between Ynngchau and Kweiyang, in the southern point of the province, and there barricaded the mountain passes so that no one can ascend against their will.

    MOUNTAINS AND HIVEKS OF SIIENSl. 140

    The province of SnENsi (i.e., Western Defiles) is bounded north by Inner Mongolia, from which it is divided by the Great Wall, cast by Shansi and Ilonan, southeast by Ilupeh, south by Sz’chuen, and west by Ivansuh. Its area is not far from 70,000 square miles, which is geologically and politically most distinctly marked by the Tsingling shan, the watershed between the Wei and Ilan I’ivers. There is only one good road across it to Ilanchung fu near its southern part ; another, farther east, goes from Si-ngan, by a natural pass between it and the Fuh-niu shan, to Shang, on the Tan ho, in the Ilan basin. This part conijM’ises about one-third of Shensf. The other portion includes the basins of the Wei, Loh an<l Wu-ting, and some smaller tributaries of the Yellow River, of which the Wei is the mo.-^t important. This I’iver joins tiie Yehow at the lowest point of its basin, the Tung-kwaii pass, where the larger stream breaks thj-ongh into the lowlands of llonan, and divides eastern and southern Cliina from the northwestern regions.

    The whole of this part presents a loess formation, and the beds of the streams are cut deep into it, the roads across them being few. The Wei basni is the most fertile part of the province; the history of the Chinese race has been more connected with its fortunes than with any other portion of their possessions. Its productiveness is shown in the rapid development and peopling of the districts along the banks and affluents.

    On the north, the Great Wall separates Shensi from the Ordos -Mongols, its western end reaching the Yellow River at Ninghia—the largest and only imjx^rtant city in that region. All the connections with this region are through Shensi and by Kwei-hwa-ching, l)ut the configuration of the ranges of hills prevents direct travel. Isone of the rivers in this region are serviceable to any great degree for navigation, and but few of them for irrigation ; the crops depend on the rainfall. The climate is more equable and mild than in Shansi, and not so wet as in many parts of Kansuh. The harvests of one good year here furnish food for three poor ones. The chief dependence of the people is on wheat, but rice is grown wherever water can be had; sorghum, millet, pulse, maize, barle}^ ground-nut, and fruits of many sorts fill up the list. Cotton, hemp, tobacco, rapeseed, and poppy are largely cultivated, but the surplus of any crop is not enough in average years to leave much for export.

    The ruthless civil war recently quenched in the destruction of the Mohannnedans in the province has left it quite desolate in many parts, and its restoi’ation to former prosperity and population must be slow.

    The travel between Shensi and Sz’chuen is almost wholly confined to the great road reaching from Si-ngan to Chingtu. It passes along the River Wei to Hienyang liien on the left bank, where the road north into Kansuh diverges, the other continuing west along the river through a populous region to Paoki hien, where it recrosses the Wei. During this portion, the Tai-peh Mountain, about eleven thousand feet high, with its white summit, adds a prominent feature to the scenery. At Paoki, the crossing at the Tsingliiig slian commences, and occupies seven days of difficult travel through a devious road of 163

    miles to Fung hien on the confines of Kansnh. It crosses successive

    ridges from C>,OUO to 9,000 feet higli, and is carried along

    the sides of hills and down the gorges in a manner reflecting

    nnich credit on the engineers of the third centuiy a.d. who

    made it. These mountainous regions ai-e thinly settled all the

    M’ay down to Paoching, near Ilanchung ; hut upon gaining the

    Kiver Ilan, one of the most beautiful and fertile valleys in

    China is reached. Its western watershed is the Kiu-tiao shan,’

    running southwesterly into Sz’chuen on the west side of the

    Kialing River.

    The city of Si-ngan is the capital of the northwest of China, and next to Peking in size, population, and importance. It surpasses that city in historical interest and records, and in the long centuries of its existence has upheld its earlier name of Chang-cm^ or ‘ Continuous Peace.’ The approach to it from the east lies across a bluff, whose eastern face is filled with houses cut in the dry earth, and from whose sunnnit the lofty towers and imposing walls are seen across the plain three miles away.

    These defences Avere too solid for the Mohammedan rebels, and protected the citizens while even their suburbs were burned. The population occupies the entire enciente, and presents a heterogeneous sprinkling of Tibetans, Mongols and Tartai’s, of whom many thousand Moslems are still spared because they were loyal. Si-ngan has been taken and retaken, rebuilt and destroyed, since its establishment in the twelfth century b.c. by the Martial King, but its position has always assured for it the control of trade between the central and western provinces and Central Asia. The city itself is picturesquely situated, and contains some few remains of its ancient importance, while the

    ‘ Usually known as the Ta-pa ling ; but Baron von Eiclithofen found that the natives of that region “call those mountains the Kiu-tiao shan, that is the ‘ nine mountain ridges,’ designating therewith the fact that the range is made up of a number of parallel ridges. This name should be retained in preference to the other.” Letter on the Promncc>< of Chihl’i, Shansi, Shenx’t, etc Shanghai, 1872. See also his CMim, Band II. S. SCJJ-STti ; Alex. Wylie, Notes of a Journey from Chin<jtoo to Hankow^ Journ. Roy. Qeoy. Sac. Vol XIV., p. 108.

    St-I^GA?^ ITS CAPITAL. 151

    neighborhood promises better returns to the sagacious antiquarian

    and explorer than any portion of China. The principal

    record of the Xestorian mission work in China, the famous tablet

    of A.D. 781, still remains in the yard of a temple. Some miles to

    the northwest lies the temple Ta-fu-sz’, containing a notable

    colossus of Buddha, the largest in China, said to have been cut

    by one of the Emperors of the Tang in the ninth century.

    This statue is in a cave hewn out of the sandstone rock, being

    cut out of the same material and left in the construction of the

    grotto. Its height is 56 feet ; the proportions of limbs and

    l)ody of the sitting figure are, on the whole, good, the Buddha

    being represented with right hand npraised in blessing, and the

    figure as well as garments richly covered with color and gilt.

    Before the god stand two smaller colossi of the Schang-hoa,

    Buddha’s favorite disciples ; their inferior art and workmanship,

    however, testify to a later origin. The cave is lighted from

    above, after the manner of the Pantheon, by a single round

    opening in the vaulting. Sixty feet over the rock temple rises

    a tile roofing, and upon the hillside without the cavern are a

    nimiber of minor temples and statues.’

    Next to this city in importance is Ilanchnng, near the bordor of Sz’chuen ; it was much injured by the Tai-pings, and is only slowly recovering, like all the towns in that valley which were exposed ; none of these rebels crossed the Tsingling Mountains. Yu-lin (‘Elm Forest’) is an important city on the Great Wall in the north of Shensi, the station of a garrison which overawes the Mongols. Several marts carrying on considerable trade are on or near the Wei and Han Rivers.

    Gold mines occur in Shensi, and gold is collected in some of the streams ; other metals also are worked. The climate is too cold for rice and silk ; wheat, millet, oats, maize, and cotton supply their places ; rhubarb, nuisk, wax, red-lead, coal, and nephrite are exported. The trade of Si-ngan is chiefly that of bartering the produce of the eastern provinces (reaching it by the great pass of Tung-kwan) and that from Tibet, Kansuh, and 111. Wild animals still inhabit the northern parts, and the number of horses, sheep, goats, and cattle raised for food and service is large compared with eastern China.

    ‘ See Kreituer, Tmfernen Osten, p. 504. Wien, 1881.

    The iniineiise province of Kansuh (/.(\, A^oluntary Reverence,

    made by uniting the names of Kanchaufu and ISuh chau) belonged

    at one time to Shensi, and extended no farther westtlian Kiayii

    kwan; but since the division by Ivienlung, its limits have been

    stretched across the desert to the confines of Songaria on the

    northwest, and to the borders of Tibet on the west. It is

    bounded north and northeast by Gobi and the Dsassaktu

    khanate, east by Shensi, south by Sz’chuen, southwest by Kokonor

    and the desert, and northwest by Cobdoand lli. Its entire

    area cannot be much under 400,000 square miles, the greater

    part of which is a barren waste ; it extends across twelve degrees

    of latitude and twenty-one degrees of longitude, and comprises

    all the best part of the ancient kingdom of Tangut, M’hich

    was destroyed by Genghis.

    The topography of this vast region is naturally divided into

    two distinct areas by the Kiayii kwan at the end of the Great

    Wall ; one a fertile, well-watered, populous country, differing

    toto cwlo from the sandy or mountainous wildernesses of the

    other. The eastern portion is further partitioned into two sections

    by the ranges of mountains which cross it nearly from

    south to north in parallel lines, dividing the basins of the AVei

    and Yellow Rivers near the latter. The passage between them

    is over the Fan-shui ling, not far from the Tao ho and by the

    town of Tihtao, leading thence up to Lanchau. This part of

    the province, watered by the Wei, resembles Shansi in fertility

    and productions, and its nearness to the elevated ranges of the

    Bayan-kara induces comparatively abundant rainfall. The

    streams in the extreme south flow into Sz’chuen, but furnish

    few facilities for navigation. The affluents of the Yellow River

    are on the whole less useful for irrigation and navigation, and

    the four or five which join it near Lanchau vary too nmch in

    their supply of water to be depended on.

    JIAiSSUII PROVINCE. 153

    The peculiar feature of Kansuh is the narrow strip projecting like a wedge into the Tibetan plateau, reaching from Lanchau northwesterly between the Ala shan and Kilien shan to the end of the Great Wall. This strip of territory commands the passage between the basin of the Tarini River and Central Asia and China Proper ; its passage nearly controls trade and power throughout the northern provinces. The Ta-tnng River flows on the south of the Kilien Mountains, but the travel goes near the Wall, where food and fuel are abundant, a long distance beyond its end—even to the desert. The roads from Si-ngan to Lanchan pass up the King River to Pingliang and across several ranges, or else go farther up the River Wei to Tsin chau; the distances are between 500 and 600 miles. From Lanchau one road goes along the Yellow River down to Ninghia, a town inhabited chiefly by Mongols. Another leads 90 miles west to Sining, whither the tribes around Koko-nor repair for trade. The most important continues to Suhchau, this being an easier journey, while its trade furnishes employment to denizens of the region, whose crops are taken by travellers on passage ; this road is about 500 miles in length. Its great importance from early days is indicated by the erection of the Great Wall, in order to prevent inroads along its sides, and by the fortress of Kiayii, which shuts the door upon enemies.

    The climate of Kansuh exhibits a remarkable contrast to that

    of the eastern provinces. Prejevalsky says it is damp in three

    of the seasons; clear, cold winds blowing in winter, and alternatiug

    witli calm, warm weather ; out of 92 days up to September

    3(>, he registered 72 rainy days, twelve of them snowy.

    The highest temperature was 8S° F. in July. Snow and hail

    also fall in May. Xorth of the Ala slian, which divides this

    moist region from the desert, everything is dry and sandy; their peaks attract the clouds, which sometimes discharge their

    contents in torrents, and leave the northern slopes dry ; a marsh

    appears over against and only a few miles from a sandy waste.’

    ‘ Prejevalsky’s Travels in Mongolia, Vol. II., pp. 256-266.

    The country east of the Yellow River is fertile, and produces wheat, oats, barley, millet, and other edible plants. Wild animals are frequent, wdiose chase affords both food and peltry; large flocks and herds are also maintained by Tartars living within the province. The mountains contain metals and minerals, among which are copper, almagatholite, jade, gold, and silver. The capital, Lanchau, lies on the south side of the Yellow River, where it turns northeast ; the valley is narrow, and defended on the west Ly a pass, through which the road goes westward. At Sming fii, about a hundred miles east of Qing Hai, the superintendent of Koico-nor resides ; its political importance has largely increased its trade within the last few yeais. Xinghia fu, in the northeast of the province, is the larofest tow’n on the borders of the desert. The destruction of life and all its resources during the recent JNIohannjiedan rebellion, which was crushed out at Suhchau in October, 1873, is not likely to be repeated soon, as the rebels were all destroyed ;’ their Toorkish origin can even now be traced in their features.” Ko relialjle desci’iption of the t(nvns belonging to Kansuh in the districts around Barkul, since the pacificatioTi of the country by the Chinese, has been made.

    The province of Sz’cuuen (‘ Four Streams ‘) was the largest of

    the old eighteen before Kansuh was extended across the desert,

    and is now one of the richest in its pi-oductions. It is bounded

    north by Kansuh and Shonsi, east by Ilupeh and Ilunan, south

    by Kweichau and Yunnan, west and northwest by Tibet and

    Koko-nor; its area is 1G0,S00 square miles, or double most of

    the other provinces, rather exceeding Sweden in supei-ticies, as it

    falls below California, while it is superior to both in navigable

    I’ivers and productions. The emperors at Si-ngan always de-

    ])ended upon it as the main prop of their power, and in the

    third century a.d. the After Hans I’uled at its capital over the

    west of China.

    ‘7)//). Cor., ^S7i, p. 251.

    • That this insurroction was not unprccodented we learn from a notice of a similar Moliammedan revolt here in 1784. NouveUes Lcttrcs h\lijiantes des MissiiiitK de Ik (‘}iini\ Tome II., p. 2;3.

    TOPOGKAPTIY 01″ SZ’CHUEN PROVINCE. lf).1

    Sz’chuen is naturally divided by the four great rivers which run from north to south into the Yangtsz’, and thus form parallel basins ; as a whole these comprise about half of the entire area, and all of the valuable portion. The western part beyond the Min Hiver belongs to the high table lands of Central Asia, and is little else than a series of mountain ranges, sparsely populated and unfit for cultivation, except in small spaces and bottom lands. The eastern portion is a triangular sluiped I’egion surrounded with high niountaiiis composed of Silurian and Devonian formations with intervening deposits, mostly of red clayey sandstone, imparting a peculiar brick color, which has

    led Baron von Richthofen to call it the Red Basin. The ranges

    of hills average about 3,500 feet high, but the rivers have cut

    their channels through the deposits from 1,500 to 2,500 feet

    deep, making the travel up and down their waters neither rapid

    nor easy. The towns which define this triangular red basin are

    Kweichau on the Yangtsz’, from which a line runnhig south

    of the river to Pingshan hien, not far from Siichau at its

    confluence with the Min, gives the southern border ; thence

    taking a circuit as far west as Yachau fu on the Tsing-i River,

    and turning northwesterly to Lung-ngan fu, the western side is

    roughly skirted, while the eastern side returns to Kweichau

    along the watershed of the River Ilan. Within this area, life,

    industry, wealth, prosperity, are all found; outside of it, as a

    rule, the rivers arc unnavigable, the country uncultivable, and

    the people wild and insubordinate, especially on the south and

    west.

    The four chief rivers in the province, flowing into the Yangtsz’,

    are the Kialing, the Loh, the Min, and the Yalung, the

    last and westerly beiiig regarded as the main stream of the

    Great River, which is called the Kin-sha kiang, west of the

    Min. The Kialing rises in Kansuh, and retains that name

    along one trunk stream to its mouth, receiving scores of tributaries

    from the ridges between its basin and the Ilan, until it

    develops into one of the most useful watercourses in China,

    coming perhaps next to the Pearl River in Kwangtung. Chungking,

    at its embouchure, is the largest dej^ot for trade west of

    Icliang, and like St. Louis, on the Mississippi, will grow in importance

    as the country beyond develops. The River Fo Loh

    (called Fa-sang by Blakiston) is the smallest of the four, its

    headwaters being comiected with the Min al)Ove Chingtu ; the

    town of Lu chau stands at its mouth ; through its upper part it

    is called Chuno; kiani>;. The Min River has its fountains near

    those of the Kialing in Koko-nor, and like that stream it gathers

    contributions from the ranges defining and crossing its basin; as it descends into the plain of Cliingtu, its waters divide into a dozen channels below 1 1 wan hien, and after ruiuiing more than a hundred miles reunite above ^Afei hien, forming a deep and picturesque riv n* down to Siichau, a thousand miles and more from the source. At its junction, the Min almost doubles the volume of water in summer, when the snows melt. The Ya-Innc River is the only large affluent between the Min and the main trunk ; it comes from the I>ayan-kara mountains, between the headwaters of the Yellow and Yangzi Rivers, and leceives no important tributaries in its long, solitary, and unfnictuous course. The Abbe Hue speaks of crossing its rapid channel near Makian-Dsung just before reaching Tatsienlu, the frontier town ; it takes three luimes in its course.

    From Chingtu as a centre, many roads radiate to the other

    large towns in the province, by which travel and trade find free

    course, and render the connections with other provinces safe

    and easy. The roads are paved with flagstones wide enough

    to allow passage for two pack-ti’ains abreast ; stairs are made

    on the inclines, up and down which mules and ponies travel

    without risk, though most of the goods and passengers are

    carried by coolies. In order to facilitate travel, footpaths are

    opened and paved, leading to every handet, and wherever the

    traffic will afford it, bridges of cut stone, iron chains or wii-e,

    span the torrent or chasm, according as the exigency’ requires ;

    towns or hamlets near these structures take pride in keeping

    them in repair.

    chIjStgtu a]nd the mix valley. 157

    The products of this fertile region are varied and abundant. nice and wheat alternate each other in summer and winter, but the amount of land producing food is barely sufficient for its dense population ; pulse, barley, maize, ground-mits, sorghum, sweet and connnon potatoes, buckwheat and tobacco, are each raised for home consumption. Sugar, hemp, oils of several kinds, cotton, and fruits complete the list of plants mostly grown for home use. The exports consist of raw and woven silk, of which more is sent abroad than from any province ; salt, opium, musk, croton (tun//) oil, gentian, rhubarb, tea, coal, spelter, copper, iron, and insect wax, are all grown oi* made for other regions. The peace which S//chuen enjoyed while other provinces were ravaged by rebels, has tended to develop all its products, and increase its abundance. The climate of this region favors the cultivation of the hillsides, which are composed of disintegrated sandstones, because the moist and mild winters bring forward the winter crops ; snow remains only a few days, if it fall at all, and Mdieat is cut before May. The summer rains and freshets furnish water for the rice fields by filling the streams on a thousand hills. This climate is a great contrast to the dry regions further north, and it is subject to less extremes of temperature and moisture than Yunnan south of it. When this usual experience is altered by exceptional dry or wet seasons, the people are left without food, and their wants cannot be supplied by the abundance of other provinces, owing to the slowness of transit. Brigandage, rioting, cannibalism, and other violence then add to the misery of the poor, and to the difficulty of government.

    Chingtu, the capital, lies on the River Min, in the largest plain in the province, roughly measuring a hundred miles one way, and fifty the other, conspicuous for its riches and populousness.

    The inhabitants are reckoned to number 3,500,000 souls. This city has been celebrated from the earliest days, but received its present name of the ‘Perfect Capital ‘ when Liu Pi made it his residence. Its population approaches a million, and its walls, shops, yamuns, sti-eets, warehouses, and suburbs, all indicate its wealth and political importance. Marco Polo calls it Sindafu, and the province Acbalec Manzi, describing the fine stone bridge, half a mile long, M’ith a roof resting on marble pillars, under Mhich “trade and industry is carried on,” ‘ which spans the Kian-suy, i.e.^ the Yangtsz’, as the Min is still often termed. The remarkable cave houses of the old iidiabitants still attract the traveler’s notice as he journeys up to Chingtu, along its banks.

    > Yule’s Marco Polo, Vol. II., p. 23.

    M. David, who lived at this city several months, declares it to be one of the most beautiful towns in China, placed in the midst of a fertile plain watered by many canals, which form a network of great solidity and usefulness. The number of honoraiy gateways in and near it attract the voyager’s eye, and their variety, size, inscriptions, and age furnish an interesting field of in(]iiiry. Many statues cut in fine stone are scattered about the city or used to adoi-n the cemeteries.

    The city of Chungking, on the Yangzi, at the mouth of the Jialing River, 725 miles from Hankow, is the next important city in Sichuan, and the center of a great trade on both rivers. The other marts on the Great River are also at the mouths of its affluents, and from Kwaichau to Siichau and Pingslian hien, a distance of 41)0 miles, there is easy and safe communication within the province for all kinds of boats; steam vessels will also liere find admirable opportunities for their employment.

    In the western half of Sz’clmen, the people are scattered over intervales and slopes between the numberless hills and mountains that make this one of the roughest parts of China; they are governed by their own local rulers, under Chinese superintendence. They belong to the Lolos race, and have been inimical and insubordinate to Chinese rule from earliest times, preventing their own progress and destroying all desire on the part of their rulers to benefit them. Yachau fu, Tatsieidu, and Datang are the largest towns Avest of Chingtu, on the road to Tibet. On the other side of the province, at

    Fungtu hien, occur the fire-wells, where great supplies of

    petroleum gas are used to evaporate the salt dug out near by.

    The many topics of interest in all parts of Sz’chuen, can only

    be referred to in a brief sketch, for it is of itself a kingdom.’

    ‘ Chinese Repository, “Vol XIX., pp. 317 and .394 Annnles de la Foi, Tome III., pp. :Ui9-:}81, and Tome IV., pp. 40!)-4ir>. J^ter by Baron Hiclithofen oit the Provinces of ChlM’i, Shdiisl, Sheiis’t, Sz’chueiiy etc. Shanghai, 1872-Krt’itiicr, Tiafcriien Onteit, pp. 780-829.

    THE PROVINCE OF KWAXGTUNG. 150

    The province of Kwangtuno {i.e., Broad East), from its having been for a long time the only one of the eighteen to which foreigners have had access, has almost become synonymous with (vhina, although but little more is really known of it than of the others—except in the vicinage of Canton, and along the course of the Peh kiang, from Xanhiung down to that city. It is bounded north by Kiangsi and llunan, northeast by Fuh-kieu, south by the ocean, and west and northwest hy Kwangsi; with an area about the same as that of the United Kingdom. The natural facilities for internal navigation and an extensive coasting trade, are unusually great ; for while its long line of ‘coast, nearly a thousand miles in length, affords many excellent harbors, the rivers communicate with the regions on the west, north, and east beyond its borders.

    The Xan shau runs along the north, between it and Kiangsi

    and Ilunan, in a northeasterly and southwesterly direction^

    presenting the same succession of short ridges, with bottom

    lands ‘and clear streams between them, which are seen in Fuhkien.

    These ridges take scores of names as they follow one

    another from Kwangsi to Fuhkien, but no part is so well known

    as the road, twenty-four miles in length, which crosses the Mei

    ling [i.e. Plum ridge), between Xan-ngan and Xanhiung. The

    elevation here is about a thousand feet, none of the peaks in

    this part exceeding two thousand, but rising higher to the west.

    Their summits are limestone, with granite underlying; granite

    is also the prevailing rock along the coast. Li-nm ridge in

    Hainan has some peaks reaching nearly to the snow-line. The

    bottoms of the I’ivers are wide, and their fertility amply repays

    the husbandman. Fruits, rice, silk, sugar, tobacco, and vegetables,

    constitute the greater part of the pi-oductions. Lead,

    iron, and coal, are abundant.

    The Zhu Jiang, or Pearl River, which flows past Canton, takes this name only in that short portion of its course ; it is however preferable to employ this as a distinctive name, comprehending the whole stream, rather than to confuse the reader by naming the numerous branches. It is formed by the union of three rivers, the West, Korth, and East, the two first of which unite at Sanshwui, west of the city, while the East River joins them at Whampoa. The Si kiang, or AVest Iliver, by far the largest, rises in the eastern part of Yunnan, and receives tributaries throughout the whole of Kwangsi, along the southern acclivities of the Xan shan, and after a course of 500 miles, passes out to sea through numerous mouths, the best known of which is the Boeca Tigris. The Peh kiang, or North Piver, joins it after a course of 200 miles, and the East Piver is nearly the same length; these two streams discharge the surplus waters of all the northern parts of Kwangtung. The country drained by the three cannot benmch less than 150,000 square miles, and most of their channels are navigable for boats to all the large towns in this and the province of Kwangsi. The Han kiang is the only river of importance in the eastern end of Kwangtung; the large town of Chauchau lies near its mouth. There can hardly be less than three hundred islands scattered along the deeply indented coast line of this province between Namoh Island and Annani, of which nearly one-third belong to the department of Kwangchau.

    Canton,, or Kwangchau fu (i.e. Broad City), the provincial capital, lies on the north bank of the Pearl River, in lat. 23° 7’10” K., and long. 113° 11:’ 30″ E., nearly parallel with Havana, Muskat, and Calcutta ; its climate is, however, colder than any of those cities. The name Canton is a corruption of Kwangtung, derived in English from Kamtoin, the Portuguese mode of writing it ; the citizens themselves usually call it Kicangtung Sling chinij, i.e. the provincial capital of Kwangtung or simply sdny cJilny. Another name is Yang-ching, or the ‘City of Rams,’ and a third the City of Cienii, both derived from ancient legends. It lies at the foot of the White Cloud hills, along the banks of the river, about seventy miles north of Macao in a direct line, and ninety northwest of Hongkong ; these distances are greater by the river.

    SIZE AND SITUATION OF CANTON. 161

    The delta into which the West, JSTorth, and East Rivei’S fall might be called a gulf, if the islands in it did not occupy so much of the area. The whole forms one of the most fertile parts of the province, and one of the most extensive estuaries of any river in the world,—being a rough triangle about a hundred miles long on each side. The bay of Lintin—so called from the islet of that name, where opium and other store ships formerly anchored—is the largest sheet of water, and lies below the principal embouchure of the river, called Fu, 3ft(.n, i.e. Bocca Tigi-is, or Bogue. Few rivers can be more completely protected by nature than this ; their defences of walls and guns at this spot, however, have availed the Chinese but little against the skill and power of their enemies. Ships pass through it up to the auchorage at Whainpoa, about thirty miles, from whence Canton lies twelve miles nearly due west. The approach to it is indicated by two lofty ]3agodas within the walls, and the multitude of boats and junks thronging the river, amidst which the most pleasing object to the ” far- travelled stranger” is the glimpse he gets through their masts of the foreign houses on Sha-meen, and the flagstaifs bearing their national ensigns.

    The part of Canton inclosed by walls is about six miles in circumference ; having a partition wall running east and west, which divides it into two unequal parts. The entire circuit, including the suburbs, is nearly ten miles. The population on land and water, so far as the best data enable one to judge, cannot be less than a million of inhabitants. This estimate has been doubted ; and certainty npon the subject is not to be attained, for the census affords no aid in determining this point, owing to the fact that it is set down hy districts, and Canton lies partly in two districts, Kanhai and Pwanyii, which extend beyond the walls many miles. Davis says, ” the whole circuit of the city has been compassed within two hours by persons on foot, and cannot exceed six or seven miles ;

    ”—-which is true, but he means only that portion contained within the walls ; and there are at least as many houses without the walls as within them, besides the boats. The city is constantly increasing, the western suburbs present many new streets entirely built up within the last ten years. The houses stretch along the river from opposite the Fa ti or Flower grounds to French Folly, a distance of four miles, and the banks are everywhere nearly concealed by the boats and rafts.

    The situation of Canton is one w^hich would naturally soon attract settlers. The earliest notices of the city date back two centuries befoi-e Christ, but traders were doubtless located here prior to that time. It grew in importance as the country became better settled, and in a.d. 700, a regular market was opened, and a collector of customs appointed. AYhenthe Manchus overran the country in 1650, this city resisted their ntmost efforts to reduce it for the space of eleven months, and was finally carried by treachery. Martini states that a hundred thousand men were killed at its sack ; and the whole number who lost their lives at the final assault and during the siege was 700,000—if the native accounts are trustworthy.’ Since then, it has been rebuilt, and has increased in prosperity until it is regarded as the second city in the empire for numbers, and is probably at present the first in wealth.

    The foundations of the city Avails are of sandstone, their upper

    part being brick ; they are about twenty feet thick, and from

    twenty-five to forty feet high, having an esplanade on the inside,

    and pathways leading to the i-aiiipart, on three sides. The

    houses are built near the wall on both sides of it, so that except

    on the north, one hardly sees it when walking around the

    city. There are twelve outer gates, four in the partition wall,

    and two water gates, through which boats pass, into the moat,

    from east to west. A ditch once encompassed the walls, now

    dry on the northern side ; on the other thi’cc, and within the

    city, it and most of the canals arc filled by the tide, which as it

    runs out does nmch to cleanse iUp city from its sewage. The

    gates are all shut at night, and a guard is stationed near them to

    preserve order, but the idle soldiers themselves cause at times

    no little disturbance. Among the names of the gates are Gfeat-

    Peace gate, Eternal-Rest gate, Five-Genii gate, Bainhoo- Wiehet

    gate, etc.

    The appearance of the city when viewed from the hills on the north is insipid and uninviting, compared with western cities, being an expanse of reddish roofs, often concealed by frames for drying or dyeing clothes, or shaded and relieved by a few large trees, and interspersed with high, red ])olcs used for flagstaffs. Two pagodas shoot up within the walls, far above the watch towers on them, and with the five-storied tower on Kwanyiji shan near the northern gate, form the most conspicuous objects in the prospect.

    ‘ The French bishop Palafox gives still another accoimt of the capture of Canton ; his statement contains, however, one or two glaring errors. Vid. Iliitoire de la Conquete de la Chine par lea Tartares^ pp. 150 ff.

    SIGHTS OF CANTON CITY. 163

    To a spectator at this elevation, the river is a prominent feature in the landscape, as it shines out covered with a great diversity of boats of different colors aiul sizes, some stationary others moving, and all resounding with the mingled hum of laborers, sailors, musicians, hucksters, children, and boatwonien, pursuing their several sports and occupations. On a low sandstone ledge, in the channel off the city, once stood the Sea Pearl(Hai Zhu) Fort, called Dutcli Folly by foreigners, the cpiietude reigning witliin which contrasted agreeably with the liveliness of the waters around. Beyond, on its southern shore, lie the suburb and island of Ilonam, and green fields and low hills are

    seen still farther in the distance ; at the western angle of this

    island the Pearl Piver divides, at the Peh-ngo tan or Macao

    Passage, the greatest body of water flowing south, and leaving a

    comparatively narrow channel before the city. The hills on the

    north rise twehe hundred feet, their acclivities for miles being

    covered with graves and tombs, the necropolis of this vast city.

    The streets are too narrow to be seen from such a spot.

    Among their names, amounting in all to more than six hundred,

    are Dragon street, Martial Dragon street, l\’arl street. Golden

    Fknver street, I^ew Green Pea street, Physic street, SjKctaele

    street, Old Clothes street, etc. They are not as dirty as those

    of some other cities in the empire, and on the whole, considering

    the habits of the people and surveillance of the government,

    which prevents almost everything like public spirit, Canton has

    been a well governed, cleanly city. In these respects it is not

    now as w^ell kept, perhaps, as it was before the war, nor was it

    ever comparable to modern cities in the West, nor should it be

    likened to them : without a coi’poration to attend to its condition,

    or having power to levy taxes to defray its unavoidable

    expenses, it cannot be expected that it should be as wholesome.

    It is more surprising, rather, that it is no worse than it is. The houses along the waterside are built upon piles and those portions of the city are subject to inundations. On the edge of the stream, the water percolates the soil, and spoils all the wells.

    The temples and public buildings of Canton are numerous. There are two pagodas near the west gate of the old city, and one hundred and twenty-four temples, pavilions, halls, and other religious edifices within the circuit of the city. The Kwang tah or ‘Plain pagoda,’ was erected by the Mohammedans (who still reside near it), about ten centuries ago, and is rather a minaret than a pagoda, though quite unlike those structures of Turkey in its style of architecture ; it shoots up in an angular, tapering tower, to the height of one hundred and sixty feet. The other is an octagonal ])agoda, of nine stories, one hundred and seventy feet high, first erected more than thirteen hundred years ago. The geoniancei’S say that the whole city is like a junk, these two pagodas are her masts, and the iive-storied tower on the northern wall, her stern sheets.

    Among the best known monuments to foreigners visiting this city was the monastery of ChorKj-shoin ^z\ ‘ Temple of Longevity,’ founded in 1573, and occupying spacious grounds. “In the iirst pavilion are three Buddhas ; in the second a sevenstory, gilt pagoda, in which are TO images of Buddha. In the third pavilion is an image of Buddha reclining,, and in a merry mood. A garden in the rear is an attractive place of resort, and another, on one side of the entrance, has a numher of tanks in which gold fish are reared. In the space in front of the temple a fair is held every morning for the sale of jade ornaments and other articles.” ‘ This temple was destroyed in Novemher, 1881, hy a mob who were incensed at the alleged jnisbehaviour of some of the priests toward the female devotees—an instance of the existence in China of a lively popular sentiment regarding certain matters. Near this compound stands the ‘Temple of the Five Hundred Genii,’ containing 500 statues of various sizes in honor of Buddha and his disciples.

    ‘Dr. Kerr, Cttntoiu (Inidc,

    BUDDHIST TEMPLES IN CANTON. 165

    The TTaJ-cJiwang sz\ a Buddhist temple at Ilonam usually known as the Plonam Joss-house, is one of the largest in Canton. Its grounds cover about seven aci-es, surrounded by a wall, and divided into courts, garden-spots, and a burial-gromid, where are deposited the ashes of priests after cremation. The buildings consist mostly of cloistei’s or apartments surrounding a court, within which is a temple, a pavilion, or a hall ; these courts are overshadowed by bastard-banian trees, the resort of thousands of birds. The outer gateway leads up a gravelled walk to a high portico guarded by two huge demoniac figures, through which the visitor enters a small inclosure, separated from the largest one by another spacious porch, in which are four colossal statues. This conducts him to the main temple, a low building one hundred feet square, and surrounded by pillars; it contains three wooden gilded images, in a sitting posture, called San Pao Fah, or the Past, Present, and Future Puddha, each of them about twenty-five feet high, and surrounded by numerous altars and attendant images. Daily prayers are chanted before them by a large chapter of priests, all of whom, dressed in yellow canonicals, go through the liturgy. Beyond this a smaller building contains a marble carving somewhat resembling a pagoda, under which is preserved a relic of Puddha, said to be one of his toe-nails. This court has other shrines, and many rooms for the accommodation of the priests, among which are the printing-office and library, both of them respectable for size, and containing the blocks of books issue by them, and sold to devotees.

    There are about one hundred and seventy-five priests connected with the establishment, only a portion of whom can read. Among the buildings are several small temples dedicated to national deities whom the Puddhists have adopted into their mythology. One of the houses adjoining holds the hogs (not hiKjs, as was stated in one work) offered by worshippers who feed them as long as they live.

    •Two other shrines belonging to the Buddhists, are both of them, like the Honam temple, well endowed. One called Kivanghiao s.i\ or ‘ Temple of Glorious Filial Duty,’ contains two hundred priests, who are supported from glebe lands, estimated at three thousand five hundred acres. The number of priests and nuns in Canton is not exactly known, but probably exceeds two thousand, nine-tenths of whom are Puddhists. There are only three temples of the Pationalists, their numbers and influence being far less in this city than those of the Puddhists.

    The Cluntj-liioang miao is an important religious institution in every Chinese city, the temple, being a sort of palladium, in which both rulers and people offer their devotions for the mcIfare of the city. The superintendent of that in Canton pays $4,000 for his situation, which sum, with a large profit, is obtained again in a few years, by the sale of candles, incense, etc., to the worshippers. The temples in China are generally cheerJJess and gloomy abodes, well enough fitted, however, for the residence of inanimate idols and the perfurmance of unsatisfying ceremonies. The entrance courts are usually occupied by liucksters, beggars, and idlers, who are occasionally driven off to give room for the mat-sheds in which theatrical performances got up by priests are acted. The principal hall, where the idol sits enshrined, is lighted only in fictnt, and the altar, drums, bells, and other furniture of the temple, are little calculated to enliven it ; the cells and cloisters are inhabited by men almost as senseless as the idols they serve, miserable beings, whose droning, useless life is too often only a cloak for vice, indolence, and crime, which make the class an opprobrium in the eyes of their countrymen.

    Canton is the most intluential city in Southern China, and its

    reputation for riches and luxury is established throughout the

    central and northern provinces, owing to its formerly engrossing

    the entire foreign trade np to 1843, for a period of about one

    hundred years. At that time the residence of the governorgeneral

    Avas at Shao-king fu, west of Canton, and his official

    guard of 5,000 troops is still quartered there, as the Manchii

    garrison is deemed enougli for the defence of Canton. He and

    the lloppo, or collector of customs, once had their yamuns in the

    Xew City, but a llomish C^athedral lias been built on the ^te

    of the former’s office since its capture in 1857. The governor,

    treasurer, Manchu commandant, chancellor, and the lower local

    magistrates (ten in all), live in the Old City, and with their official

    retinues compose a large body of underlings. Some of these

    establishments occupy four or five acres.

    The KanyYuenoY Examination Hall, lies in the southeastern corner of the Old City, similar in size and arrangement to these edifices in other cities. It is 1,330 feet long, 583 wide, and covers over sixteen acres. The wall surrounding it is entered at the east and west corners of the south end, where door-keepers are stationed to prevent a crowd of idlers. The cells are arranged in two sets on each side of the main passage^ which is paved and lined with trees: they are further disposed in rows of 57 and 63 cells each—all reached through one side door.

    The total is 8,653 ; each cell is 5 feet 9 inches deep, by 3 feet 8 inches wide ; grooves are made in the wall to admit a planlc, serving as a table by day and a bed by night. Once within, the students arc contined to their several stalls, and the outer gate is sealed. A single roof covers the cells of one range, the ranges being 3 feet 8 inches apart. The northern portion includes about one-third of the whole, and is built over with the lialls, courts, lodging-rooms, and guard or eating-houses of the highest examiners, their assistants and copyists, with thousands of waiters, printers, underlings, and soldiers. At the biennial examination the total number of students and others in the Hall reaches nearly twelve thousand men.

    THE THIRTEEN HONGS OR FACTORIES. 167

    There are four prisons in the city, all of them large establish- v^

    ments ; all the capital offenders in the province are brought to Canton for trial before the provincial officers, and this regulation makes it necessary to provide spacious accommodations for them. The execution-ground is a small yard near a pottery manufacture between the southern gate and the river side, and unless the ground is newly stained with blood, or cages containing the heads of the criminals are hung around, has nothing about it to attract the attention. Another public building, situated near the governor’s palace, is the Wan-s/iao Jiung, or ‘ Imperial Presence hall,’ where three days before and after his majesty’s birthday, the officers and citizens assemble to pay him adoration.

    The various guilds among the people, and the clubs of scholars

    and merchants from other provinces, have, each of them, public

    halls which are usually called consoo houses by foreigners, from

    a corruption of a native term hung-sz\ i.e., public hall ; but the

    usual designation is houi kwan or ‘ Assembly Hall.’ Their

    total number must be quite one hundred and fifty, and some of

    them are not destitute of elegance.’

    ‘ Chinese Repository, Vol. II., pp. 145, 191, &c.

    The former residences of foreigners in the western suburbs were known as Shisan Hang or ‘ Thirteen Hangs,’ “” and for nearly two centuries furnished ulniust theonlv (!\hll)ition to the Chinese people of the Yangren or ‘ocean-men’. Here the fears and the greed of the rulers, landlords, and traders combined to restrain foreigners of all nations “within an area of about fifteen acres, a large part of this space being the Garden or licyxnidxiii’ta

    – This word is derived from the Chinese hong or hang, meaning a row or series, and is applied to warehouses because these consist of a succession of rooms. The foreign factories were built in this manner, and therefore the Chinese called each block a hong; the old security-merchants were dubbed liong-merchants, because they lived in such establishments.

    “Walk on the baidv of the river. All these houses and out-houses covered a space scarcely as great as the base of the Great Pyramid ; its total population, including native and foreign servants, was upwards of a thousand souls. The shops and nuirkets of the Chinese were separated from them only a few feet, and this greatly increased the danger from fire, as may be inferred from the sketch of the street next on the west side.

    VIEW OF A STKEET IN CANTON.ENVIKOXS OF CANTOX. 169

    In 1S50, the number of hongs was reckoned to be 16, and the local calendar for that A’ear contained 317 names, not including women and children. Besides the 16 Hangs, four native streets, boidered with shops for the sale of fancy and silk goods to their foreign customers, ran between the factories. This latter name was given to them from their being the residences of factors, for no handicraft was carried on here, nor were many goods stored in them. Fires were not unusual, which demolished jwrtions of them ; in 1822 they were completely consumed; another conflagration in 1843 destroyed two hongs and a street of shops ; and in 1842, owing to a sudden riot, connected with paying the English indemnity, the British Consulate was set on fire. Finally, as if to inaugurate a new era, they were all simultaneously burned by the local authorities to drive out the British forces, in December, 1856, and every trace of this interesting spot as it existed for so long a time in the annals of foreign intercourse obliterated. Since the return of trade, a new and better site has been fomned at Shameen, west of the old spot, by building a solid stone wall and filling in a long, marshy low-tide bank, formerly occupied by boats, to a height of 8 or 10 feet, on which there is room for gardens as well as houses. This is surrounded by water, and thereby secure from fire and mobs t() which the old hongs were exposed. Besidences are obtainable anywhere in the city by foreigners, and the common sight in the olden times of their standing outside of the Great Peace Gate to see the crowd pass in and out while

    they themselves could not enter, is no longer seen. A very

    good map of the enciente was made by an American missionary,

    Daniel Vrooman, by taking the angles of all the conspicuoni

    buildings therein, with the highest points in the suburbs ; he

    then taught a native to pace the streets between them, compass

    in liand (noting courses and distances, which he fixed by the principal gates), until a complete plan was filled out. When the city was opened four years afterwards this map was foundto need no important corrections.

    The trades and manufactories at Canton are mainly connected

    with the foreign commerce. Many silk fabrics are woven at

    Fatshan, a large town situated about ten miles west of the city ;

    fire-crackers, paper, mat-sails, cotton clotli, and other articles,

    are also made there for exportation. The number of persons

    engaged in M’eaving cloth in Canton is about 50000, including

    embroiderers ; nearly 7000 barbers and 4200 shoemakers are

    stated as the number licensed to shave the crowns and shoe the

    soles of their fellow-citizens.

    ^lie opposite suburb of Ilonam offers pleasant walks for recreation, and the citizens are in the habit of going over the river to saunter in its fields, or in the cool grounds of the great temple ; a race-course and many enjoyable rides on horseback also tempt foreigners into the country. A couple of miles up the river are the Fa ti or Flower gardens which once supplied the plants carried out of the country, and are resorted to bypleasure parties ; but to one accustomed to the squares, gardens, and esplanades of M’estern cities, these grounds appear mean in

    the extreme.y Foreigners randjle into the country, but rowing

    upon the river is their favorite reci-eation. Like Europeans in

    all parts of the East, they retain their own costume and modes

    of living, and do not espouse native styles ; though if it were

    not for the shaven crown, it is not unlikely that many of them

    would adopt the Chinese dress.

    The Cantonese enumerate eight remarkable localities, called

    l>ah hhuj^ which they consider worth}’ the attention of the

    stranger. The first is the peak of Yuehsiu, just within the

    walls on the north of the city, and commanding a fine view of

    the surrounding country. The Vi-])a Tah^ or Lyre pagoda at AVhampoa, and the ‘Eastern Sea Fish-pearl,’ a rock in the Pearl

    River off the city, on wliich the fort ah-eady referred to as

    the ‘ Dutch Folly ‘ was formerly situated, are two more ; the

    pavilion of the Five Genii, with the five stone rams, and print

    of a man’s foot in the rock, ” always filled with water,” near

    by ; the rocks of Yu-shan ; the lucky wells of Faukiu in the

    western suburbs ; cascade of Si-tsiau, forty miles west of the

    city ; and a famous red building in the city, complete the eight

    ” lions.”

    The foreign shipping all anchored, in the early days, at “Whampoa, but this once important anchorage has been nearly deserted since the river steamers began their trips to the outer waters. There are two islands on the south side of the anchorage, called French and Danes’ islands, on which foreigners are buried, some of the gravestones marking a century past. The prospect from the summit of the hills hereabonts is picturesque and charming, giving the spectator a high idea of the fertility and industry of the land and its people. The town of Whanipoa and its pagoda lie north of the anchorage; between this and Canton is another, called Lob creek pagoda, both of them uninhabited and decaying.

    MACAO AND HONGKONG. 171

    Macao (pronounced Mal’ov) is a Portuguese settlement on a small peninsula projecting from the south-eastern end of the large island of Iliangshan. Its Chinese inhabitants have been governed since 1S49 by the Portuguese authorities somewhat differently from their own people, but the mixed government has succeeded very well. The circuit of this settlement is about eight miles ; its position is beautiful and very agreeable ; nearly surrounded with water, and open to the sea breezes, having a good variety of hill and plain even in its little territory, and a large island on the west called Tul-vtien shan or La})a Island, on which arc pleasant rambles, to be reached by equally pleasant boat excursions, it offers, moreover, one of the healthiest residences in south-eastern Asia. The population is not far from 80,000, of whom more than ‘7,000 are Portuguese and other foreigners, living under the control of the Portuguese authorities. The Portuguese have refused to pay the former annual ground-rent of 000 taels to the Chinese Government, since the assassination of their governor in 1849, and now control all the inhabitants living within the Barrier wall, most of M’lioni have been born therein. The houses occupied by the foreign population aie solidly built of brick or adobie, large, roomy, and open, and from the rising nature of the ground on which they stand, present an imposing appearance to the visitor coming in from the sea.

    There are a few notable buildings in the settlement ; the most imposing edifice, St. Paul’s church, was burned in 1835.

    Three forts on connnanding eminences protect the town, and others outside of the walls defend its waters ; the governor takes the oaths of office in the Monte fort ; but the government offices are mostly in the Senate house, situated in the middle of the town. Macao was, up to 1813, the only residence for the

    families of merchants trading at Canton. Of late the authorities

    are doing much to revive the prospei-ity of the place, by making

    it a free port. The Typa anchorage lies’ between the islands

    Mackerara and Typa, about three miles off the southern end

    of the peninsula ; all small vessels go into the Inner harbor on

    the west side of the town. Ships anchoring in the Roads are

    obliged to lie about three miles off in consequence of shallow

    Mater, and large ones cannot come nearer than six or seven miles.’

    Since the ascendancy of Hongkong, this once celebrated poi-t

    has fallen away in trade and importance, and for many years

    had an infamous reputation for the protection its rulers afforded

    the coolie trade.

    Eastward from Macao, about, forty miles, lies, the English colony of Hongkong, an island in lat. 22° 16^’ K., and long. Ill” 8^’ E., on the eastern side of the estuary of the Pearl River. The island of Hongkong, or Xianggang (i.e., the Fragrant Streams), is nine miles long, eight broad, and twenty-six in circumference, presenting an exceedingly uneven, barren surface, consisting for the most part of ranges of hills, with narrow intervales, and a little level beach land. Victoria Peak is 1825 feet. Probably not one-twentieth of the surface is available for a<^riciiltural purposes. The island and harbor were first ceded to the Crown of England by the treaty made between Captain Elliot and Kishen, in January, 1841, and again by the treaty of Nanjing, in August, 1842 ; lastly, by the Convention of Peking, October 24, ISCO, the opposite peninsula of Ivowlung M’as added, in order to furnish space for quartering troops and storehouse room for naval and military supplies. The town of Victoria lies on the north side, and extends more than three miles along the shore. The secure and convenient harbor has attracted the settlement here, though the nne\en nature of the ground compels the inhabitants to stretch their warehouses and dwellings along the beach.

    ‘ Cldnese Rejwsitory, passim. An Historical Sketch of the Portwjxiese Settlements in China. Bj Hir A. Ljungstedt. Boston, 188(>.

    The architecture of most of the buildings erected in Victoria is eu})erior to anything heretofore seen in (^liina. Its population is now estimated at 130,000, of whom five-sixths are Chinese tradesmen, craftsmen, laborers, and boatmen, few of whom lune their families. • The government of the colony is vested ^’n a governor, chief-justice’, and a legislative council of five, assisted by various subordinate officers and secretaries, the M’liole forming a cumbrous and expensive machinery, compaied “with the needs and resources of the colony The Bishop of Victoria has an advisory control over the missions of the establishment in the southern provinces of China, and supervises the schools in the colony, where many youths are trained in English and Chinese literature.

    The supplies of the island are chiefly brought from the mainland where an increasing population of Chinese, under the control of the magistrate of Kowluiig, find ample demand for all the provisions they can furnish.

    Three newspapers are published in English, and two in Chinese. The Seaman’s and Military hospitals, the chapels and schools of the London and Church Missionary Society, St. John’s Cathedral, Tioman Catholic establishment, the government house, the magistracy, jail, the ordnance and engineer departments.

    TOWNS OF KWAXGTUNG PROVINCE. 173

    Exchange, and the Club house, are among the principal edifices. The amount of money expended in buildings in this colony is enormous, aiid most of them are substantial stone or brick houses. The view of the city as seen from the harbor is only excelled in beauty by the wider panorama spread out before the spectator on Victoria Peak. During the forty-odd years of its occupation, this colony lias slowly advanced in commercial importance, and become an entrepot for foreign goods designed for native markets in Southern China. Every facility has been given to the Chinese who resort to its shops to carry away their purchases, by making the port free of every impost,

    and preventing the imperial revenue cutters from interfering

    with their junks while in sight of the island. The arrangements

    of this contested point so that the Chinese revenue shall

    not suffer have not satisfied either party, and as it is in the similar

    case of Gibraltar, is not likely to soon be settled. Smugglers

    must run their own risks with the imperial officers. The

    most valuable article leaving Hongkong is opium, but the

    greatest portion of its exports pay the duties on entering China

    at the five open ports in the province of Kwangtung. As the

    focus of postal lines of passenger steamers, and the port where

    mercantile vessels come to learn markets, Ilonofkono; exerts a

    greater influence on the southeast of Asia than her trade and

    size indicate. The island of Shangclmen or San9ian, where Xavier

    died, lies southwest of Macao about thirty miles, and is sometimes

    visited by devout persons from that place to reverence his tomb, which they keep in repair.

    The city oi Shauchau in the northern part of the province lies at the fork of the river, which compels a change of boats for passengers and goods ; it is one of the largest cities after Canton, and a pontoon bridge furnishes the needed facilities for stopping and taxing the boats and goods passing through.

    Shanking, west of Canton, is another important town, which held out a long time against the Manchus ;* it was formerly the seat of the provincial authorities, till they removed to Canton in 1630 to keep the foreigners under control. It stretches along six miles of the river bank, a well-built city for China, in a beautiful position. Some of its districts furnish green teas and matting for the Canton market, and this trade has opened the way for a large emigration to foreign countries. Among other towns of note is Xanhiung, situated at the head of navigation on the North River, where goods cross the Mei ling.

    ‘ Palafox, Conquete de la CJdne, p. 172.

    Before the coast was opened to trade, fifty thousand porters obtained a livelihood by transporting packages, passengers, and merchandise to and from this town and Xan-ngan in Kiangsi. It is a thriving place, and the restless habits of these industrious carriers give its population somewhat of a turbulent character. Many of them are women, who usually pair off by themselves and carry as heavy burdens as the men.

    Not far from Yangshan hien is a fine cavern, the JV^iu Yen or ‘ Ox Cave,’ on a hillside near the North River. Its entrance is like a grand hall, with pillars TO feet high and 8 or 10 feet thick. The finest part is exposed to the sun, but many pretty rooms and niches are revealed by torches ; echoes 2-esound through their recesses. The stalactites and stalagmites present a vast variety of shapes—some like immense folds of di-apery, between which are lamps, thrones and windows of all shapes and sizes, while others hang from the roof in fanciful forms.

    ‘ Embassy (of Lord Amherst) to Cldna, Moxon’s ed., 1840, p. 98.

    THE ISLAND OF HAINAN. 175

    The scenery along the river, between Xanhiung and Shauchau, is described as wild, rugged, and barren in the extreme; the summits of the mountains seem to touch each other across the river, and massive fragments fallen from their sides, in and along the river, indicate that the passage is not altogether free from danger. In this mountainous region coal is procured by opening horizontal shafts to the mines. Ellis ‘ says, it was brought some distance to the place where he saw it, to be used in the manufacture of green vitriol. Many pagodas are passed in the stretch of 330 miles between Xanhiung and Canton, calculated to attract notice, and assure the native boatmen which swarm on its waters, of the protection of the two elements he has to deal with—wind and water. One of the most conspicuous objects in this part of the river are five rocks, which rise abruptly from the banks, and are fancifully called Wt(-7na-tao, or ‘Five-horses’ heads.’ The formation of this part of the province consists of compact, dark-colored limestone, overlying sandstone and breccia. Nearly halfway between Shauchau and Canton is a celebrated mountain and cavern temple, dedicated to Kwanjnn, the goddess of Mercy, and most charmingly situated amid waterfalls, groves, and fine scenery, near a hill about 1850 feet high. The cliff has a sheer descent of five hundred feet; the temple is in a fissure a hundred feet above the water, and consists of two stories; the steps leading up to them, the rooms, walls, and cells, are all cut out of the rock. Inscription;; and scrolls hide the naked walls, and a few inane priests inhabit this somewhat gloomy abode. Mr. Barrow draws a proper comparison between these men and the inmates of the Cork Convent in Portugal, or the Franciscan Convent in Madeira, who had likewise ” chained themselves to a rock, to be gnawed by the vultures of superstition and fanaticism,” but these last have less excuse.

    The island of Hainan constitutes a single department, Kiungchau,

    but its prefect has no power over the central and mountainous

    parts. In early European travels it is named Aynao, Kainan

    and Aniam. It is about one hundred and fifty miles long and

    one hundred broad, being in extent nearly twice the size of

    Sicily. It is separated from the main by Luichau Strait, sixteen

    miles wide, whose shoals and reefs render its passage uncertain.

    The interior of the island is mountainous, and well wooded, and the inhabitants give a partial submission to the Chinese ; Ihey are identical in race with the mountaineers in Kweichau. This ridge is called Li-mu ling; a remarkable peak in the centre of the southern half, Wuzhi Shan or ‘ Fivefinger Mountain,’ probably rises 10,000 feet. The Chinese inhabitants are mostly descendants of emigrants from Fuhkien, and are either trading, agricultural, marine, or piratical in their vocation, as they can make most money. The lands along the coast are fertile, producing areca-nuts, cocoa-nuts, and other tropical fruits, which are not found on the main. Kiungchau fu lies at the mouth of the Li-mu River, opposite Luichau. The port is Hoiliau, nineteen miles distant, but the entrance is too shallow for most vessels, and the trade consequently seeks a better market at Pakhoi, a town which has recently risen to importance as a treaty port on the mainland. All the thirteen district towns are situated on the coast, and within their circuit, on Chinese maps, a line is drawn, inclosing the centre of the island, within which the Li viin^ or Li people live, some of whom are acknowledged to he independent. They are therefore known as wild and civilized Li, and are usually in a state of chronic irritation from the harsh treatment of the rulers. It is prohahle that they originally came from the Malayan Peninsula (as their features, dress, and habits indicate their atiinity with those tribes), and have gradually withdrawn themselves into their recesses to avoid oppression. In 1202, the Emperor Kublai gave twenty thousand of them lands free for a time in the eastern parts, but the Ming sovereigns found them all intractable and l)elligerent. The population of the island is about a million. Its productions are rice, sweet potatoes, sugar, tobacco, fruits, timber, and insect wax.’

    The province of Guangxi(l.e. Broad West) extends westward of Guangdong to the borders of Annam, occupying the region on the southwest of the Xan ling, and has been seldom visited by foreigners, mIioso journeys have been up the Kwai Jiang: or ‘Cassia River’ into Hunan. The banks of the rivers sometimes spread out into plains, more in the eastern parts than elsewhere, on which an abundance of rice is grown. There are mines of gold, silver, and other metals, in this province, most of which are worked under the superintendence of government, but no data are accessible from whicli to ascertain the produce.

    Among the commercial productions of Guangxi, are cassia, cassia-oil, ijik-stones, and cabinet-woods; its natural ivsources supply the prin(;i})al articles of trade, for there are no manufactures of importance. IMany partially subdued tribes are found within the limits of this province, who are ruled by their own hereditary governors, under the supervision of the Chinese authorities; there are twenty-four vhau districts occupied by these people, the names of whose head-men are given in the lied

    ‘ E. C. Taintor, OeogrnpMeal Skelcit of the Mnnd of JTnlnnn, with map.

    (Canton. 18«8. Journal N. G. Br. R. A. S., No. VII., Arts. I., 11., and IN.C’/iiTKi li/anew, Vols. I., p. 124, and II., p. 382. N. B. Dennys, Report on thtnetoly-^jpeiied porta of Kiangchow {UoUkiu) in JIi<iu((n, <ind lldiphong in. Tonqidn. Ilouij’koug, 1878.

    THE PROVINCE OF KWANGSI. 177

    Book, and their position marked in the statistical maps of the

    empire, but no information is furnished in either, concerning

    the numbers, hmguage, or occupations, of the inhabitants.

    Guangxi is well watered by the west lliver and its branches, which enable traders to convey timber and surplus produce to Canton, and receive from thence salt and other articles. The mountains on the northwest are occasionally covered with siK)w; many of the western districts furnish little besides wood for buildings and boats. The basin of the West River is subdivided by ranges of hills into three large valleys, through which flow many tributaries of the leading streams, and as they each usually drop the old name on receiving a new affluent, it is a confusing study to follow them all. On the south the river Yiih rises near Yunnan, and deflects south to Kan-ning near

    the borders of Kwangtung, joining the central trunk at Sinchau,

    after a course of five hundred miles. On the north the

    river Lung and the Hiing-shui receive the surplus drainage

    of the northern districts and of Kweichau, a region where the

    Miaotsz’ have long kept watch and ward over their hilly abodes.

    The waters are then poured into the central trench a few miles

    west of Sinchau. This main artery of the province rises in

    Yunnan and would connect it by batteaux with Canton City if the channel were improved ; it is called Sz’ ho, and ranks as the largest tributary of the Pearl River.

    The capital, Guilin (i.e., Cassia Forest), lies on the Cassia River, a branch of the West River, in the northeast part of the province ; it is a poorly built city, surrounded by canals and branches of the river, destitute of any edifices wortliy of notice and having no great amount of trade. During the Tai-ping rebellion, this and the next town were nearly destroyed between the insurgents and imperialists.

    Wuchau fu, on the same river, at its junction with the Long Jiang, or ‘Dragon River’, where they unite and form the West River, is the largest trading town in the province. The independent chau districts are scattered over the southwest near the frontiers of Annam, and if anything can be inferred from their position, it may be concluded that they were settled by Laos tribes, who had been induced, by the comparative security of life and property within the frontiers, to acknowledge the Chinese sway.’

    The province of Kweichau (*.<?., Koblc Region) is on the whole the poorest of the eighteen in the character of its inhabitants, amount of its products, and development of its resources.

    A range of mountains passes from the northeast side in a southwesterly course to Yunnan, forming the watershed between the valleys of the Yangtsz’ and Siang rivers, a rough but fertile region. The western slopes are peopled by Chinese tillers of the soil, a rude and ignorant race, and rather turbulent; the eastern districts are largely in the hands of the Miaotsz’, who are considered by the officials and their troops to be lawful objects

    of oppression and destruction. The climate of the province

    is regarded as malarious, owing to the quantity of stagnant

    water and the impurity of that drawn from wells. Its productions

    consist of rice, wheat, musk, insect wax, tobacco, timber,

    and cassia, with lead, copper, silver, quicksilver, and iron. The

    quicksilver mines are in Kai chau, north of the provincial capital,

    and apparently exceed in extent and richness all other

    known deposits of this metal ; they have been worked for centuries.

    Cinnabar occurs at various places, about lat. 27°, in a

    belt extending quite across the province, and tei’minating near

    the borders of Yunnan. Two kinds of silk obtained from the

    worms which feed on the mulberry and oak, furnish material

    for clothing so cheaply that cotton is imported from other provinces.

    Horses and other domestic animals are reared in larger quantities than in the eastern provinces. •

    The largest river is the AVu, which drains the central and northern parts of the province, and empties into the Yangtsz’, through the river Kien near Chungking. Other tributaries of that river and West River, also have their sources in this province, and by means of batteaux and rafts are all more or less available for traffic. The natural outlet for the products of Ivweichau is the river Yuen in Ilunan, whose various branches flow into it from the eastern prefectures, but their unsettled condition prevents regular or successful intercourse.

    ‘ Chinese Repodtory, Vol. XIV., pp. 171 ff.

    KWEICHAU PROVINCE AND THE MIAOTSZ 179

    The capital, Kweijang, is situated among the mountains ; it is the smallest provincial capital of the eighteen, its walls not being more than two miles in circumference. The other chief towns or departments are of inferior note. There are many military stations in the southern prefectures at the foot of the mountains, intended to restrain the unsubdued tribes of Miaotsz’ who inhabit them.

    Miaotsz’ Types.

    This name Miaotsz’ is used among the Chinese as a general term for all the dwellers upon these mountains, but is not applied to every clan by the people themselves. They consist of eighty-two tribes in all (found scattered over the mountains in Kwangtung, ITunan, and Kwangsi, as well as in Kweichau), speaking several dialects, and diifering among themselves in their customs, government, and dress. The Chinese have often described and pictured these people, but the notices are confined to a list of their divisions, and an account of their most striking peculiarities. Their language dift’ei’s entirely from the Chinese, but too little is known of it to ascertain its analogies to other tonj^ues; its affinities are most likely with the Laos, and those

    tribes between Burmah, Siam, and China. One clan, inhabiting

    Lipo hien in the extreme south, is called Yau-jin, and

    although they occasionally come down to Canton to trade, the

    citizens of that place firmly believe them to be furnished with

    short tails like monkeys. They carry arms, are inclined to live

    at peace with the lowlanders, but resist eveiy attempt to penetrate

    into their fastnesses. The Yau-jin first settled in Kwangsi,

    and thence passed over into Lien chau about the twelfth century, where they have since maintained their footing. Both sexes wear their hair braided in a tuft on the top of the head—but never shaven and tressed as the Chinese—and dress in loose garments of cotton and linen ; earrings are in imiversal use among them. They live at strife among themselves, which becomes a source of safety to the Chinese, who are willing enough to liarass and oppress, but are ill able to resist, these hardy mountaineers. In 1832, they broke out in active hostilities, and destroyed numerous parties of troops sent to subdue them, but were finally induced to return to their retreats by offers^of pardon and largesses granted to those who submitted.

    A Chinese traveler among the Miaotsz’ says that some of them live in huts constructed upon the branches of trees, others in mud hovels ; and one tribe in clift” houses dug out of the hillsides, sometimes six hundred feet up. Their agriculture is rude, and their garments are obtained Ijy barter from the lowlanders in exchange for metals and grain, or wov^en by themselves.

    The religious observances of these tribes are carefully noted, and whatever is connected with nuirriages and funerals.

    THE PROVINCE OF YUNNAN. 181

    In one tribe, it is the custom for the father of a new-born child, as soon as its mother has become strone^ enouoh to leave her couch, to get into bed himself and there receive the congratulations of his acquaintances, as he exhibits his offspring—a custom which has been found among the Tibetan tribes and elsewhere. Another class has the counterpart of the may-pole and its jocund dance, which, like its corresponding game, is availed of by young men to select their mates.’

    The province of Yunnan {i.e., Cloudy South—south of the Yun ling, or ‘Cloudy Mountains”‘) is in the southwest of the empire, bounded by north Sz’chuen, east by Kweichau and Kwangsi, south by Annam, Laos, and Siam, and west by Burmah.

    ‘ Chinese Repository, Vol. I., p. 29; Vol. XIV., pp. 105-117; G. T. Lay,Chinese as They Are, p. 316 ; Journal of N’. C. Branch of Royal Asiatic Society,No. III., 1H59, and No. VI., 1869. Chinese Recorder, Vols. 11., p. 265, and III., pp. 33, 74, 96, 134 and 147. Peking Gazette for 1872. China Rei-ietc,Vol. v., p. 92.- Known as Widiharit in Pali records. Chinese Recorder, Vol. III., pp. 33,74, sqq. ; see also pp. 62, 93, 126, for the record of a visit.

    Its distance from the central authority of the Empire since its partial conquest under the Ilanjhjnasty has always made it a weak point, and the uneducated, mixed character of the inhabitants has given an advantage to enterprising leaders to resist Chinese rule. It was recovered from the aborigines by the Tang Emperors, who called it Jung chau, or the region of the Jung tribes, from which the name Karajang, i.e.. Black Jung, which Marco Polo calls it, is derived; Kublai Khan himself led an army in 1253 thither before he conquered China, and sent the Venetians on a mission there about the year 127S, after his establishment at Peking. A son of the Emperor was his Yiceroy over this outlying province at that time. The recent travels of Margary, Baber, and Anderson, of the British service, with Monhot and Garnier of the French, have done much to render this secluded province better known. The central portion is occupied by an extensive plateau, ramifying in various directions and intersected with valley-plains at altitudes of 5,000 to 6,000 feet, in Mdiich lie several large lakes and the seven principal cities in the province. These plains are overtopped by the ridges separating them, which, seen from the lower levels, appear, as in Sliansi, like horizontal, connected summit-lines. All are built up of red sandstone, like the basin in Sz’chuen, through which rivers, small and large, have furroM’ed their beds hundreds and thousands of feet, rendering communication almost impossible in certain directions as soon as one leaves the plateau. In the east and northwest, the defiles are less troublesome, and in this latter portion of the province are some peaks rising far above the snow line. These are called on Col. Yule’s map the Goolan Sigon range. The climate is cooler than in Sz’chuen, owing to this elevation, and not very healthy ; snow lies for weeks at Yunnan fu, and the summers are charming.

    The Yangtsz’ enters the province on the northwest for a short distance. The greatest river in it is the Lantsan, which rises in Tibet, and runs for a long distance parallel with and between the Yangzi and Xu Kivers till the three break through the mountains not far from each other, and take different courses,—the largest turning to the eastward across China, the Lantsan southeast throngh Ynnnan to the gulf of Siani, under the name of the Meikon or river of Cambodia, and the third, or Salween, westerly through Burmah. The Meikon receives many large tributaries in its course across the province, and its entire length is not less than 1500 miles. The Lungehuen,

    a large affluent of the Irrawadi, runs a little west of the

    Salween. The Meinam rises in Yunnan, and flows south into

    Siam under the name of the Xanting, and after a course of nearly

    eight hundred miles, empties into the sea below Bangkok.

    East of the Lantsan are several important streams, of which

    three that unite in Annam to form the Sangkoi, are the largest.

    The general course of these rivers is southeasterly, and their

    upper waters are separated by mountain lidges, between which

    the valleys are often reduced to very narrow limits. There are

    two lakes in the eastern part of the province, south of the capital,

    called Sien and Tien ; the latter is about seventy miles

    long by twenty wide, and the Sien hu {I.e., ‘ Fairy Lake ‘) about

    two-thirds as large. Another sheet of water in the northwest,

    near Tali fu, coiinnunicating with the Yangtsz’ kiang, is called

    Urh hai or Uhr sea, which is more* than a hundred miles long,

    and about twenty in width.

    INHABITANTS AND PRODUCTIONS OF YUNNAN. 183

    The capital, Yunnan, lies u})ou the north shore of Lake Tien, and is a town of note, having, moreover, considerable political importance from its trade with other parts of the country through the Yangtsz’, and with Burmah. The city was seriously injured in 1834, by an earthquake, which is said to have lasted three entire days, forcing the inhabitants into tents or the open fields, and overthrowing every important building.’

    The traffic between this province and Burinah centres at the fortified post of Tsantah, in the district of Tangjneh, both of them situated on a branch of the Irrawadi. The principal part of the commodities is transported upon animals from these depots to Bhamo, upon the Iri-awadi, the largest market-town in this part of Chin-India. The Chinese participate largely in this trade, which consists of raw and manufactured silk to the amount of §400,000 annualh’, tea, copper, carpets, orpiment, quicksilver, vermilion, drugs, fruits, and other things, carried from their country in exchange for raw cotton to the amount of $1,140,000 annually, ivory, wax, rhinoceros and deer’s horns, precious stones, birds’ nests, peacocks’ feathers, and foreign articles.

    The entire traffic is probably $2,500,000 annually, and for a few years past has been regularly increasing. There is considerable intercourse and trade on the southern frontiers with the Lolos, or Laos and Annamese,” partly by means of the head-waters of the Meinam and Meikon—which are supposed to communicate with each other by a natural canal—and partly by caravans over the mountains. Yunnan fu was the capital of a Chinese prince about the time of the decadence of the Ming dynasty, who had rendered himself independent in this part of their empire by the overthrow of the rebel Li, but having linked his fortunes with an imbecile scion of that house, he displeased his officers, and his territories gradually fell under the sway of the conquering Manchus.

    ‘ A/males de la Foi, Tome VIII. , p. 87.
    ‘ Two thousand Chinese families live in Amerapura.

    The southern and western districts of the province are inhabited by half-subdued tribes who are governed by their own rulers, under the nominal sway of the Chinese, and pass and repass across the frontiers in pursuit of trade or occupation. The extension of British trade from Bangoon toward this part of China, has brought those hill tribes more into notice, and proved in their present low and barbarous condition the accuracy of the ancient description by Marco Polo and the Boman Catholic missionaries. Colonel Yule aptly terms this wide region an “Ethnological Garden of tribes of various race and in every stage of uncivilization.” The unifying influence of the Chinese written language and literary institutions has been neutralized among these races by their tribal dissensions and inaptitude for study of any kind. Anderson gives short vocabularies of the Kakhyen, Shan, Ilotha Shan, Le-san and Poloung languages, all indicating radical differences of origin, the existence of which would keep them from mingling with each other as Avell as from the Chinese.’

    The mineral wealth of Yunnan is greater and more varied than that of any other province, certain of the mines having been worked since the Sung dynasty. Coal occurs in many places on the borders of the central plateau ; some of it is anthracite of remarkable solidity and uniformity. Salt occurs in hills, not in wells as in Sz’chuen ; the brine is sometimes obtained by diving tunnels into the hillsides. Metalliferous ores reach from this province into the three neighboring ones. Copper is the most abundant, and the mines in Kingyuen fu, in the southwestern ‘part of Sz’chuen, have supplied both copper and zinc ores during the troubles in Yunnan. The copper at Ilwuili chau in that prefecture is worked by companies which pay a royalty of two taels a pecul to the government, and furnish the metal to the mine owners for $S per pecul. The pehtaiKj or argentan ores are mixed with copper, tin, or lead, by the manufacturers according to the uses the alloys are put to.

    Silver exists in several places in the north, and the exploitation of the mines was successful until within 30 years past ; now they cannot be safely or profitably worked, in consequence of political disturbances. Gold is obtained in the sand of some rivers but not to a large extent; lead, iron, tin, and zinc occur in such plenty that they can be exported, but no data are accessible as to the entire product or export.
    ”’ Yule’s Marco Polo, Vol. II. Anderson, Mandalay to Momien.” rroced. Roy. Geog. Soc, Vols. XIII., p. 392, XIV.’, p. 335, XV., pp. 1G3 and 343. Col. Yule, Trade Routes to Westeru CJdiia—The Geo(jiuq,hic<d Mitynzine,April, 1875. Riclithofen, Recent Attoiipts to find a direct Trade-Road toSonthtDCstern China—Shoiif/fiai Budget, March 2(i, 1874. Journey of A. R.Margary from Shaiighae to Bhamo. Loudon, 1875. Col. H. Browne in Blue Books, Nos. 1, 2, 3, and 4 (1870-77).

    CHAPTER IV. GEOGRAPHICAL DESCRIPTION OF MANCHURIA, MONGOLIA, ILi, AND TIBET

    The portions of the Chinese Empire beyond the limits of the Eighteen Provinces, though of far greater extent than China Proper, are comparatively of minor importance. Their vast regions are peopled by different races, whose languages are nnitually unintelligible, and whose tribes are held together under the Chinese sway rather by interest and reciprocal hostilities or dislike, than by force. European geographers have vaguely termed all that space lying north of Tibet to Siberia, and east of the Tsung ling to the Pacific, Chinese Tartary ; while the countries west of the Tsung ling or Belur tag, to the Aral Sea, have been collectively called Inde2}endtnt Tartary. Both these

    names have already become nearly obsolete on good maps of

    those regions ; the more accurate knowledge brought home by

    recent travellers having ascertained that their inhabitants are

    neither all Tartars (or Mongols) nor Turks, and further that

    the native names and divisions are preferable to a single comprehensive

    one. Such names as Manchuria, Mongolia, Songaria,

    and Turkestan, derived from the leading tribes dwelling in

    those countries, are more definite, though these are not permanent,

    owing to the migratory, changeable habits of the people.

    From their ignorance of scientific geography, the Chinese have

    no general designations for extensive countries, long chains of

    mountains, or devious rivers, but apply many names where, if

    they were better informed, they would be content with one.

    The following table presents a general view of these countries,

    giving their leading divisions and forms of government.

    EXTENT OF Manchuria. 187

    They cannot be classed, however, in the same manner as the provinces, nor are the divisions and capitals here given to be regarded as definitely settled. Their nnited area is 3,951,130 square miles, or a little more than all Europe ; their separate areas cannot be precisely given. Manchuria contains about 400,000 square miles ; Mongolia between 1,300,000 and 1,500,000 square miles ; III about 1,070,000 square miles ; and Tibei from 500,000 to 700,000 square miles.

    MANcnuRi.v is so termed from the leading race who dwell there, the 3IandJu/’s or Manclius ^ it is a word of foreign origin, the Chinese having no general appellation for the viceroyalty ruled from Mukden. It comprises the eastern portion of the high table land of Central Asia, and lies between latitudes 39° and 52° X., and longitudes 120° to 134° E. These points include the limits in l^otli directions, giving the region a rectangular shape lying in a north-east and sonth-west direction; roughly speaking, its dimensions are 800 by 500 miles. It is

    bounded on the south by the Gulf of Pechele, and the highlands

    of Corea on the north bank of the Yalnli River ; on the east

    by a line running from the Russian town of Possiet northerly

    to the River ITsuri, so as to include Ilinka Lake ; thence from

    its headwaters to its junction Nvith the Anmr. This river forms

    the northern frontier ; its tributary, the River Argun, together

    with the large lakes llurun and Puyur, lie on the west ; from

    the latter lake an artificial line stretching nearly due east for

    six degrees in lat. 47° strikes the town of Tsitsihar on the

    River Xonni. The rest of the western border follows the rivers

    Konni and Songari to the Palisade. This obsolete boundary

    commences at Shan-hai kwan on the Gulf of Liatung and runs

    north-easterly ; it nominally separates the Mongols from the

    Manchus for neai’ly 300 miles, and really exists only at the

    passes where the roads are guarded by military.

    But a portion of this region has yet been traversed by Europeans, and most of it is a wilderness. The entire population is not stated in the census of 1812, and from the nature of the country and wandering habits of the people, many tribes of whom render no allegiance to the Emperor, it would be impossible to take a regular census. Parts of Manchuria, as here defined, have been known under many names at different periods.

    LiaiUung (‘East of the River Lian’) has been applied to the country between that river, Corea, and the Sea of Japan ; Tungking(‘Eastern Capital’) referred to the chief town of that region, under the Ming dynasty ; and Kwantung (‘ East of the Pass ‘), denoting the same country, is still a common designation for the whole territory.

    Manchuria is now chiefly comprised in the valleys between the ITsuri and Nonni Rivers, up to the Amur on the north, while the basin of the Liau on the south embraces the rest. There are three principal mountain chains. Beginning nearly a hundred miles east of Mukden, in lat. 43°, are the Long White Mountains’ (Chang-bai Shan of the Chinese, or Kolmin-shanguin alin of the Manchus), which form the watershed between the Songari and Yaluh Rivers and serve for the northern frontier of Corea as far as Russian territory. There it divides

    and takes the name of Sih-hih-teh, or Sihoti Mountains, for the

    eastern spur which runs near the ocean, east of the River ITsuri; and the name of Hurkar Mountains for the western and lower

    spurs between that river and the Ilurkar. One noted peak,

    called Mount Chakoran, rising over 10,000 feet, lies south-east

    of San-sang on the Amur. On the plain, north of Ivirin,

    numerous buttes occur, sometimes isolated, and often in lines

    fifteen or twenty miles apart ; most of them are wooded.

    In the western part of Tsitsihar lies the third great range of

    mountains in Manchuria, called the Sialkoi Mountains, a continuation

    of the Inner Iling-an range of Mongolia, and separating

    the Argun and Nonni basins. The Sialkoi range extends over

    a great part of Mongolia, commencing near the bend of the Yellow

    River, and reaching in a north-easterly direction, it forms

    in Manchuria three sides of the extensive valley of the Xonni,

    ending between the Amur and Songari Rivers at their junction.

    These regions are more arid than the eastern portions, and

    the mountains are rather lower ; but our information is vague

    and scanty. As a whole, Manchuria should be called hilly

    rather than mountainous, its intervales alone repaying cultivation.

    ‘ Klaproth {Memoires Relatifs d PAsie, Tome I., Paris, 1834) has translated from the Manchu a narrative of a visit made in 1(577 by one of the grandees of Kanghi’s court to a summit in this range. Chlneise lieposilvry, Vol. XX. , p. 29G.

    THE AMUR AND ITS AFFLUENTS. 189

    The country north of the Chang-bai Shan as far as the Stanovoi Mountains is drained by one river, viz., the Sagalien, Amur, Kwantung, or Hehlung kiang (for it is known by all these names), and its affluents ; Scujalieii ula in Manchu and Heilong Jiang in Chinese, each mean ‘Black’ or ‘Black Dragon River’. The Amur drains the north-eastern slope of Central Asia by a circuitous course, aided by many large tributaries. Its source is in lat. 50° N. and long. 111° E., in a spur of the Daou-]”ian Mountains, called Kenteh, where it is called the Onon.

    After an east and north-east course of nearly five hundred miles,

    the Onon is joined in long. 115° E. by the Ingoda, a stream

    coming from the east of Lake Baikal, where it takes its rise by a

    peak called Tshokondo, the highest of the Yablonsi Khrebet

    Mountains. Beyond this junction, under the Bussian name of

    Shilka, it flows about two hundred and sixty miles north-east

    till it meets the Argun. The Argun rises about three degrees

    south of the Onon, on the south side of the Kenteh, and under

    the name of Kerlon runs a solitary north-east course for four

    Imndred and thirty miles to Lake Hurun, Kerlon, or Dalai-nur; the Kalka here comes in from Lake Buyur or Fir, and their waters leave Lake Hurun atUst-Strelotchnoi (the Arrow’s Mouth) under the name of the Argun, flowing north nearly four hundred miles to the union with the Shilka in lat. 53° ; from its exit as the Argun and onward to the entrance of the Usuri, it forms the boundary between China and Russia for 1,593 versts, or 1,062 miles.

    Beyond this town the united stream takes the name of the

    Amur (/.(‘., Great River) or Sagalien of the Manchus, running

    nearly east about 550 miles beyond Albazin, when its course is

    south-east till it joins the Songari. Most of the affluents are on

    the north bank ; the main channel grows wider as its size increases,

    having so many islands and banks as seriously to interfere

    with navigation. The valley thus watered possesses great

    natural advantages in soil, climate, and productions, which are

    now gradually attracting Russian settlers. In lat. 47^° the Songari River {Sung-hwa kiang of the Chinese) unites with the Amur on the right bank, 950 miles from Ust-Strelotchnoi,

    bringing the drainings of the greater portion of ]\ranehuria,

    and doubling the main volume of water. The headwaters of

    this stream issue from the northern slopes of the C”liang-peh

    shan ; quickly combined in a single channel, these waters tlow

    past the town of Ivirin, scarcely a hundred miles from the

    mountains, in a river twelve feet deep and 900 M-ide. Xear Petune

    the Iliver Xonni joins it from Tsitsihar, and their united

    stream takes the Chinese name of Kwantung (‘ Mingled Union ‘);

    it is a mile and a half wide here and only three or four feet

    deep, a sluggish river full of islands. Then going east b}- north,

    growing deeper by its affluents, the Ilurka, Mayen, Tunni,

    llulan, and other smaller ones, it unites with the Amur at

    at Changchu, a hundred miles west from the Usuri. All accounts

    agree in giving the Songari the superiority. At Sansing,

    it is a deep and rapid river, but further down islands and

    banks interfere with the navigation. The Ilurka drains the

    original country of the Manchus.’

    The district south-east of the desert, and north of the Great

    Wall, is drained and fertilized by the Sira-nniren, or Liau

    Iliver, which is nearly valueless for navigation. Its main and

    western branch divides near the In shan Mountains into the

    Hwang ho and Lahar; the former rises near the Pecha peak,

    a noted point in those mountains. The Sirainuren runs

    through a dry region for nearly 400 miles before it turns south,

    and in a zigzag channel reaches the Gulf of Liautung, a powerful stream carrying its quota of deposit into the ocean ; the M’idtli at Yingtsz’ is C50 feet. The depth is IG feet on the bar at high tide. The Yaluh kiang, nearly three hundred miles long, runs in a very crooked channel along the northern frontiers of Corea. iJut little is known about the two lakes, Ilurun and Pir, except that their waters are fresh and full of fish ; the river Urshun unites them, and several smaller streams run into the latter.

    ‘ Voyage Down the Amur, by Perry McD. Collins, in 1857. New York,1860, cliaps. xxxii.-lx., passim. Ravenstein’s Arnur. Chinese Repository,Vol. XIX., p. 289. Rev. A. Williamson, Journeys in North China, Vol. II.,eliap.s. x.-xiii.

    NATURAL RESOURCES OF MANCHURIA. 191

    The larger part of Manchuria is covered by forests, the

    abode of wild animals, whose capture affords employment,

    clothing, and food to their hunters. The rivers and coasts

    abound in fish ; among which carp, sturgeon, salmon, pike, and

    other species, as well as shell-fish, are plenty ; the pearl-fishery

    is sufficiently remunerative to employ many fishermen ; the

    Chinese Government used to take cognizance of their success,

    and collect a revenue in kind. The argali and jiggetai are

    found here as well as in Mongolia ; bears, wolves, tigers, deer,

    and numerous fur-bearing animals are hunted for their skins.

    The troops are required to furnish 2,4:00 stags annually to the

    Emperor, who reserves for his own use only the fieshy part of

    the tail as a delicacy. Larks, pheasants, and crows of various

    species, with pigeons, thrushes, and grouse, abound. The condor

    is the largest bird of prey, and for its size and fierceness rivals

    its congener of the Andes.

    The greater half of Shingking and the south of Ivirin is cultivated; maize, Setaria wheat, barley, pulse, millet, and buckwheat are the principal crops. Ginseng and rhubarb are collected by troops sent out in detachments under’ the charge of their proper officers. These sections support, moreover, large herds of various domestic animals. The timber which covers the mountains will prove a source of wealth as soon as a remunerative market stimulates the skill and enterprise of settlers; even now, logs over three feet in diameter find their way up to Peking, brought from the Liau valley.

    Manchuria is divided into three provinces, Shhujhing, Kirin,

    and Tsltnlhar. The province of Shingking includes the ancient

    Liautung, and is bounded north by Mongolia ; north-east and

    east by Kirin ; south by the Gulf of Liautung and Corea, from

    which latter it is separated by the Yaluh Eiver ; and west by

    Chahar in Chihli. It contains two departments, viz., Fungtien

    and Kinchau, subdivided into fifteen districts; there are also

    twelve gai-risoned posts at the twelve gates in the Palisade,

    whose inmates collect a small tax on travellers and goods. Manchuria

    is under a strictly military government, every male above

    eighteen being liable for military service, and being, in fact,

    enrolled under that one of the eight standards to which by Liith he belongs. The administration of Shingking is partl;yuivil and partly military ; that of Iviriu and Tsitsihar is entirely military.

    The popnlation of the province has been estimated by T. T.

    Meadows ‘ at twelve millions, consisting of Manclms and Chinese.

    The coast districts are now mostly occupied and cultivated

    by emigrants from Shantung, who are pushing the Manchus

    toward the Amur, or compelling them to leave their hunting

    and take to farming if they wish to stay where they ^vere born.

    The conquerors are being civilized and developed by their subjects,

    losing the use of their own meagre language, and becoming

    more comfortable as they learn to be industrious. But few

    aboriginal settlements now remain who still resist these influences.

    The inhabitants collect near the river, or along the great

    roads, where food or a market are easiest found.

    The capital of Shingking is usually known on the spot as

    Shin-yang, an older name than the Manchu Mukden, or the

    Chinese name Fungtien. As the metropolis of Manchuria, it is

    also known as Shingking (the ‘ Affluent Capital ‘), distinguished

    from the name of the province by the addition oi jjuti-chiny, or

    ‘head-garrison.’ It lies in lat. 41° 50^’ X. and long. 123° 30′ E., on the banks of the Shin, a small brancli of the Liau, and is reckoned to be five hundred miles north-east from Peking. The town is surrounded by a low mud wall about ten miles in circuit, at least half a mile distant from the main city wall, whose eight gates have double archways so that the crowd may not interfere in passing ; this wall is about three miles around, and its towers and bastions are in good condition. It is 35 or 40 feet high, and 15 feet wide at the top, of brick throughout ; a crenulated parapet protects the guard. But for its smaller scale, the walls and buildings here are precisely similar to those at Peking.

    ‘ The Chinese and their Rebdliona. Loudon, 1856.

    THE PROVINCE OF SHINGKING. 193

    The streets are wide, clean, and the main business avenues lined with large, well built shops, their counters, windows, and other arrangements indicating a great trade. This capital contains a large proportion of governmental establishments, yai/uins^ and nearly all the officials belong to the ruling race. Main streets run across the city from gate to gate, with narrow roads or ku-tung intersecting them. The palace of the early Manchn sovereigns occupies the center; while the large warehouses are outside of the inner city. Everywhere marks of prosperity and security indicate an enterprising population, and for its tidy look, industrious and courteous population, Mukden takes high rank among Chinese cities. Its population is estimated to be under 200,000, mostly Chinese. The Manchu monarchs made it the seat of their government in 1631, and the Emperors have since done everything in their power to enlarge and beautify it. The Emperor Kienlung rendered himself celebrated among his subjects, and made the city of Mukden better known abroad, by a poetical eulogy upon the city and province, which was printed in sixty-four different forms of Chinese writing. This curious piece of imperial vanity and literary effort was translated into French by Amyot.

    The town of Ilingking,’ sixty miles east of it, is one of the favored places in Shingking, from its being the family residence of the Manchu monarchs, and the burial-ground of their ancestors.

    It is pleasantly situated in an elevated valley, the tombs being three miles north of it upon a mountain called Tsz’yun shan. The circuit of the walls is about three miles. Ilingking lies near the Palisade which separates the province from Ivirin, and its officers have the rule over the surrounding country, and the entrances into that province. It has now dwindled to a small handet, and the guards connected with the tombs comprise most of the inhabitants.

    Ivinchau, fifteen leagues from Mukden, carries on considerable

    trade in cattle, pulse, and drugs. Gutzlaff ‘ describes the

    harbor as shallow, and exposed to southern gales ; the houses

    in the town are built of stone, the environs well cultivated and

    settled by Chinese from Shantung, while natives of Fuhkien

    conduct the trade. The Manchus lead an idle life, but keep

    on good terms with the Chinese. When he was there in 1832,

    ‘Also called Yertden ; Klaprcth, Meinoire.% Tcvme T., p. 446. Remusat

    informs us that this name formerly included all vf Kirin, or that which was placed under it.- Voyages Along the Coast of China. New York, 1833»Vol. I.— 18

    the authorities had ordered all the females to seclude themselves

    in order to put a stop to debauchery among the native

    sailors. Horses and camels are numerous and cheap, but the

    carriages are clumsy. Kaichau, another port lying on the east

    side of the gulf, possesses a better liarboi-, but is not so much

    frequented.

    Since the treaty of 1858 opened the port of Xiuchwang or

    Yingts//, on the Iliver Liau, to foreign trade, the development

    of Shingking has rapidly increased. The trade in pulse and

    bean-cake and oil employs many vessels annually. Opium,

    silk, and paper are prepared for export thi’ough this mart, besides

    foreign goods. Fung-hwang ting, lying near the Yaluh

    liiver, commands all the trade with Corea, which must pass

    through it. There are many restrictions upon this intercourse

    by both governments, and the Chinese forbid their subjects

    passing the frontiers. The trade is conducted at fairs, under

    the supervision of officers and soldiers ; the short time allowed

    for concluding the bargains, and the great numbers resorting to

    them, render these bazaars more like the frays of opposing clans

    than the scenes of peaceable trade. There is a market-town in

    Corea itself, called Ki-iu w^an, about four leagues from the

    frontier, wliei’e the Chinese ” supply the Coreans with dogs,

    cats, pipes, leather, stags’ horns, copper, horses, mules, and

    asses ; and receive in exchange, baskets, kitchen utensils, rice,

    corn, swine, paper, mats, oxen, furs, and small horses.” Merchants

    are allowed not more than four or five hours in which

    to conduct this fair, and the Corean officers under whose charge

    it is placed, drive all strangers back to the frontier as soon as

    the day closes.’

    The borders of the sea consist of alluvial soil, efflorescing

    a nitrous white salt near the beach, .but very fertile inland,

    well cultivated and populous. Beyond, the hill-country is extremely

    picturesque. Ever-changing views, torrents and fountains,

    varied and abounding vegetation, flocks of black cattle

    grazing on the hillsides, goats perched on the overhanging crags,

    liorses, asses, and sheep lower down in the intervales, numerous

    ‘ Annales de la Foi, Tome XVIII., 1840, p. 302.

    TRADE AND CLIMATE OF MANCHURIA. 195

    well-built Iiamlets, eveiywliere enliven the scene. The department

    of Kinchau lies along the Gulf of Liautung, between the

    Palisade and the sea, and contains four small district towns,

    with forts, around whose garrisons of agricultural troops have

    collected a few settlers. On the south, toward Chilili and the

    “Wall, the country is better cultivated.

    The climate of Manchuria, as a whole, is healthy and moderate,

    far removed from the rigor of the plateau on its west, and

    not so moist as the outlying islands on the east. In summer

    the ranges are TO” to 90° F., thence down to 10° or 20° below

    zero. The rivers remain frozen from December nearly to

    April, and the fall of snow is less than in Eastern America.

    The seasons are really six weeks of spring, five months of summer,

    six weeks of autumn and four months of winter ; the last

    is in some respects the enjoyable period, and is used l)y the

    farmers to l)ring produce to market. If the houses were

    tighter, their inmates would suffer little during the cold season.

    Hue speaks of hail storms which killed tlocks of sheep in Mongolia,

    near’Chahar. Darwin (^N^aturalisfs Yoymje, 2d ed., 1845,

    p. 115) corroborates the possibility of his statement by a somewhat

    similar experience near Buenos Ayres. He here saw many

    deer and other wild animals killed by ” hail as large as small

    apples and extremely hard.’” Of the denuded country, near the

    Liau River, Abbe Hue says : ” Although it is uncertain where

    God placed paradise, we may be sure that he chose some other

    country than Liautung ; for of all savage regions, this takes a

    distinguished rank for the aridity of the soil and rigor of the

    climate. On his entrance, the traveller remarks the barren

    aspect of most of the hills, and the nakedness of the plains,

    where not a tree nor a thicket, and hardly a slip of a herb is to

    be seen. The natives are superior to any Europeans I have

    ever seen fof their powers of eating ; beef and pork abound on

    their tables, and I think dogs and horses, too, under some other

    name ; rich people eat i-ice, the poor are content with boiled

    millet, or with another grain called hac-ham,, about thrice the

    size of millet and tasting like wheat, which I never saw elsewhere.

    The vine is cultivated, but must be covered from October to April ; the grapes are so watery that a hundred liters of juice produce by distillation only forty of poor spirit. The leaves of an oak are used to rear wild silkworms, and this is a considerable branch of industry. The people relish the worms as food after the cocoons have been boiled, drawing them out with a pin, and sucking the whole until nothing but the pellicle is left.” ‘ Another says, the ground freezes seven feet in Kirin, and about three in Shingking ; the thermometer in winter is thirty degrees below zero. The snow is raised into the air by the north-east winds, and becomes so fine that it penetrates the clothes, houses, and enters even the lungs. When travelling, the eyebrows become a mass of ice, the beard a large flake, and the eyelashes are frozen together ; the wind cuts and pierces the skin like razors or needles. The earth is frozen during eight months, but vegetation in summer is rapid, and the streams are swollen by the thawing drifts of snow.

    The province of Kikin, or Girin, comprises the country northeast

    of Shingking, as far as the Annir and Usuri, which bound

    it on the north and east, while Corea and Shingking lie on the

    south-east (better separated by the Chang-peh shan than any

    political confine) and Mongolia on the west. All signs of the line

    of palisades have disappeared (save at the Passes) in the entire

    trajct between the Songari and Shan-hai kwan. The region is

    mountainous, except in the link of that river after the Xonni

    joins it till the Usuri comes in, measuring about one-fourth of

    the M’hole. This extensive region is thinly inhabited by Manchus

    settled in garrisons along the bottoms of the rivers, by

    Goldies, Mangoons, Ghiliaks, and tribes having afiinity with

    them, mIio subsist principall}^ by hunting and fishing, and acknowledge

    their fealty by a tribute of peltry, but who have no

    officers of government placed over them. Du llalde calls them

    Kicking Tatse^ Yuj)i Tatse^ and other names, which seem, indeed,

    to have been their ancient designations. The Y^u-jn TdJifs’i,

    or ‘Fish-skin Tartars,’^ are said to inhabit the extensive valley

    of the Usuri, and do not allow the subjects of the Emperor to

    ‘ AnnaleR de la Foi, Tomo XVI. , p. ‘^i’iO.

    – The inhabitants of ancient Gedrosia, now Beloochi.stan, are said to have

    clothed themselves in lish-skins. Heereu, Historical Researches among Asiatic

    Nations^ Vol. I., p. 175.

    TOWNS AND PRODUCTIONS OB’ KIRIN PROVINCE. 197

    live among them. In winter they nestle together in kraals like

    the Bushmen, and subsist upon the products of their summer’s

    tishing, having cut down fuel enough to last them till warm

    weather. Shut out, as they have been during the past, from all

    elevating influences, these people are likely to be ei-e long amalgamated

    and lost, as well among liussian and other settlers coming

    in from the north, as amid the Chinese immigrants who occupy

    their land in the south. The entire population of this province

    cannot be reckoned, from present information, as high as three

    millions, the greater part of which live along the Songari valley.

    Kirin is divided into three ruling tlmj departments or commanderies,

    viz., Kirin ula, or the garrison of Kirin, Petune or

    Pedne, and Changchun ting. Kirin, the largest of the three, is

    subdivided into eight garrison districts. The town, called

    Chaen Chwang, or ‘ Navy Yard,’ in Chinese, is finely situated

    on the Songari, in lat. 43” 45′ N., and long. 127° 25′ E., at the

    foot of encircling hills, where the river is a thousand feet wide.

    The streets are narrow and irregular, the shops low and small,

    and much ground in the city is unoccupied. Two great streets

    cross each other at right angles, one of them running far into

    the river on the west supported by piles. The highways are

    paved with wooden blocks, and adorned with flowers, gold fish,

    and squares ; its population is about 50,000.

    The four other important places in Kirin are Petune, Larin,

    Altchuku, or A-shi-ho, and Sansing, the latter at the confluent of

    the Sono-ari and Ilurka. Altchuku is the largest, and Petune

    next in size, each town having not far from 35,000 inhabitants

    ;

    Larin is perhaps half as lai’ge, and like the others steadily increasing

    in numbers and importance. jS inguta on the river Ilurka

    has wide regions under its sway where ginseng is gathered ; near

    the stockaded town is a subterranean body of water that furnishes

    large fish. A great and influential portion of the Chinese

    population is Moslem, but no Manchus reside in the place.

    The former control trade and travel in every town.

    Petune, in lat. 45° 20′ X., and long. 125° 10′ E., is inhabited

    by troops and many persons banished from C’hina for their

    crimes. Its favorable position renders it a place of considerable

    trade, and during the suunner ujonths it is a busy mart for

    198 TlIK MIDDLE KINCiDOM.

    these tliiiilj peopled regions. It consists of two main streets,

    with the chief market at their crossing. .\. large mosque attracts

    attention. The third commandery of Changchun, west

    of Kirin and south of Petunc, just beyond the Palisade, is a

    mere post for overseeing the Manchus and Mongols passing to

    and fro on the edge of the steppe.

    The resources of this wide domain in timber, minerals, metals,

    cattle and grain Ivaxq not yet been explored or developed. The

    hills are wooded to the top, the bottoms bring forth two crops

    anmially, and the rivers take down timber and grain to the

    llussian settlers. Sorghum, millet, barley, maize, pulse, indigo,

    and tobacco are the chief crops ; and latterly opium, wdiicli has

    rapidly extended, because it pays well. Oil and whiskey are extensi\’

    ely manufactured, packed in wicker baskets lined with

    paper and transported on Avheelbarrows. The wild and domestic

    animals are numerous. ^Vmong the latter the hogs and mules,

    more than any other kind, furnish food and transportation ;

    while tigers, panthers, and leopards, bears, wolves, and foxes

    reward the hunters for their pains in killing them.

    The province of Tsi-tsi-hak, or Ilehlung kiang, comprises the

    northwest of Manchuria, extending four hundred miles from

    east to west, and about five hundred from north to south. It is

    bounded north by the Amur, from Sliilka to its junction with

    the Songari ; east and southeast by Ivirin, from which the

    Songari partly separates it ; southwest by Mongolia, and west

    by the lliver Argun, dividing it from Russia. The greatest part

    of it is occupied by the valley of the Noimi, jSToun or IS^iin ; its

    area of about two hundred thousand square miles is mostly an

    iminhabited, mountainous wilderness. It is divided into six

    commanderies, viz. : Tsitsihar, Ilulan, Putek, Merguen, Sagalien

    ula, and Ilurun-pir, whose officers have control over the

    tribes within their limits; of these, Sagalien or Igoon is the

    chief town in the northeast districts, and is used by the government

    of Peking as a penal settlement. The town stands on a

    plain but a rood or so above the river, Avhich sweeps off to the

    mountains in the distance. Here is posted a large force of officers

    and men, their extensive barracks indicating the importance

    attached to the place. The garrison has gradually attracted a

    THE PROVINCE OF TSI-TSI-IIAR. 199

    population of natives and Chinese from the south, who live by

    fishing and hunting, as well as farming.

    Tsitsihar, the capital of the province, lies on the River

    ]^onni, in lat. 47° 20′ N., and long, 124° E., and is a place of some

    trade, resorted to by the tribes near the river. Merguen, Hurunpir,

    and Ilulan are situated upon rivers, and accessible when

    the waters are free from ice. Tsitsihar was built in 1692 by

    Kanghi to owerawe the neighboring tribes. It is inclosed hy a

    stockade and a ditch. The one-stoi-ied houses are constructed

    of logs, or of brick stuccoed, where timber is dear, and warmed

    by the brick beds ; the tall chimneys outside the main buildings

    give a peculiar appearance to villages. Pulse, maize, tobacco,

    millet, and wheat, and latterly poppy are common crops. The

    valley of the Nonni is cultivated by the Taguri Manchus, among

    whom six thousand six hundred families of Yakutes settled in

    1687, when they emigrated from Siberia. The Korchin Mongols

    occupy the country south and west of this valley. Some

    of its streams produce large pearls. The region lying between

    the Sialkoi Mountains and the River Argun is rough and sterile,

    presenting few inducements to agriculturalists. Fish abound

    in all the rivers, and furs are sought in the hills. Pasturage is

    excellent in the bottoms. Fairs, between the natives and Cossacks,

    are constantly held at convenient places on the Argun

    and other rivers. The racial distinction between the Mongols

    and Manchus is here seen in the agricultural labors of the latter,

    so opposed to the nomadic habits of the former. This

    region has, within the last half century, attracted Chinese settlers

    from Shantung and Chihli. These colonists are fast filling

    up the vacant lands along the rivers, dispossessing the Manchus

    by their thrift and industry, and making the country far more

    valuable. They will in this way secure its possession to the

    Peking Government, and bring it, by degrees, under Chinese

    control, greatly to the benefit of all. In early days the policy

    of the Manchus, like that of the E. I. Company in India towardg

    British immigration, discountenanced the entrance of Chinese

    settlers, and in both cases to the disadvantage of the ruling

    power.

    The administration of Manchuria consists of a supreme civil

    200 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    government at Mukden, and three provincial military one.’-,

    though Shingking is under both civil and military. There are

    live Boards, each under a president, whose duties are analogous

    to those at Peking. The oversight of the city itself is under a

    fiiyia or mayor, superior to the prefect. The three provinces

    are under as many marshals, whose subordinates rule the conimanderies,

    and these last have garrison officers subject to them,

    whose rank and power correspond to the size and importance of

    their districts. These delegate part of their power to ” assistant

    directors,” or residents, who are stationed in every town ; on

    the frontier posts, the officers have a higher grade, and report

    directly to the marshals or their lieutenants. All the officers,

    both civil and military, are Manchus, and a great portion of

    them belong to the imperial clan, or are intimately connected

    with it. By this arrangement, the Manchus are in a measure

    disconnected with the general government of the provinces,

    furnished wnth offices and titles, and induced to recommend

    themselves for promotion in the Empire by their zeal and fidelity

    in their distant posts.’

    Mongolia is the first in order of the colonies, by which are

    meant those parts of the Empire under the control of the Ll-fan

    Yaen, or Foi’eign Office.” According to the statistics of the

    Empire, it comprises the region lying between lats. 35° and 52°

    X., and from long. 82° to 123° E. ; bounded north by the

    Russian governments of Trans-Baikalia, L’kutsk, Yeniseisk,

    Tomsk, and Semipolatinsk ; northeast and east by Manchuria

    ;

    south by the provinces of Chihli and Shansi, and the Yellow

    River ; southwest by Kansuh ; and west by Cobdo and Ili.

    These limits are not very strictly marked at all points, but the

    lengtli from east to west is about seventeen hundred miles,

    and one thousand in its greatest breadth, inclosing an area of

    ‘ Rev. Alex. Williamson, Travels in Northern China. London, 1870.

    Vol. II., Chaps. I. to XIV. ; Chinene Reposltorij, Vols. IV., p. 57 ; XV., p. 454 -,

    Phinene Itecorder, Vol. VII., \HH\, ” The Ris« and Progress of the Maujows,”

    by J. Ross, pp. 155, 2;}5, and ;515.

    ” Compare Niebuhr’s Flistori/ of Rome, Vol. II., Sect. “Of the Colonies,”

    where can be observed the essential differences between Roman settlements

    abroad and those of the Chinese ; and still greater differences will be fonnd in

    contrasting these with the offsets of Grecian States.

    CLIMATE AXU DIVISIOXS OF MONGOLIA. 201

    1,400,000 square miles, supporting an estimated population uf

    two millions. This elevated plain is almost destitute of wood

    or water, inclosed southward by the mountains of Tibet, and

    northward by offsets from the Altai range. The central part

    is occupied by the desert of Gobi, a barren steppe having an

    average height of 4,000 feet above the sea level, and destitute

    of all running water. Owing to its elevation, extremely vari.:-

    l)le climate, and the absence of oases, it may be considered quite

    as terrible as Sahara, although the sand-waste liere is, perhaps,

    hardly as unmitigated.

    The climate of Mongolia is excessively cold for the latitude,

    arising partly from its elevation and dry atmosphere, and, on

    the steppes, to the want of shelter from the winds. But this

    has its compensation in an unclouded sky and the genial rays of

    the sun, which support and cheer the people to exertion when

    the thermometer is far below zero. The air has been drained of

    its moisture by the ridges on every side ; day after day the

    sun’s heat reaches the eartli with smaller loss than obtains in

    moister regions in the same latitudes. Otherwise these wastes

    would support no life at all at such an elevation. In the districts

    bordering on Chihli, the people make their houses partly

    under ground, in order to avoid the inclemency of the season.

    The soil in and upon the confines of this high land is unfit for

    agricultural purposes, neither snow nor rain falling in suflicient

    quantities, except on the acclivities of the mountain ranges ;

    but millet, barley, and wheat might be raised north and south

    of it. The nomads rejoice in their freedom from tillage, however,

    and move about with their herds and possessions Avithin

    the limits marked out by the Chinese for each tribe to occupy.

    The space on the north of Gobi to the confines of Russia,

    about one hundred and fifty miles wide, is warmer than the

    desert, and supports a greater population than the southern

    sides. Cattle arc numerous on the hilly tracts, but none are

    found in the desert, where wild animals and birds hold undisputed

    possession. The thermometer in winter sinks to thirty

    and forty degrees below zero (Fr.), and sudden and great

    changes are frequent. Xo month in the year is free from snow

    or frost ; but on the steppes, the heat in summer is almost

    202 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    intolerable, owing to the radiation from the sandy or stony

    surface. The snow does not fall very deep, and even in cold

    weather the cattle find food under it ; the flocks and herds are

    not, however, large.

    The principal divisions of Mongolia are four, viz. : 1, Inner

    Mongolia, lying between the Wall and south of the desert ; 2,

    Outer Mongolia, between the desert and the Altai Mountains,

    and reaching from the Inner Iling-an to the Tien shan ; 3, the

    country about Koko-nor, between Kansuh, Sz’chuen, and Tibet

    ;

    and, 4, the dependencies of Uliasutai, lying northwestward of

    the Kalkas khanates. The whole of this region has been included

    under the comprehensive name of Tartary, and if the

    limits of Inner and Outer Mongolia had been the bounds of Tartary,

    the appellation would have been somewhat appropriate.

    But when Genghis arose to power, he called his own tribe

    Kitkai Mongol^ ‘ Celestial People,’ and designated all the

    other tribes Tatars^ that is ‘ tributaries.’ ‘ The three tribes of

    Kalkas, Tsakhars, and Sunnites, now constitute the great body

    of Mongols under Chinese rule.

    Inner Mongolia, or Nui MunyJcu, is bounded north by

    Tsitsihar, the Tsetsen khanate, and Gobi, their frontiers being

    ‘ Abulgasi-Bayadui-clian (lIi»toire Genenlogique des Tatars, traduite du

    Manuscript Tartare ; Leyde : 172G), gives another derivation for these two

    names. ” Alanza-chan eut deux lils jumeaiix I’un appelle Tatar and I’autre

    Mogull oil pour bien dire Muiig’l, entre les quels il partagea ses Estates lorsqu’il

    se vit sur la fin de sa vie.” It is the first prince, he adds, from whom

    came the name Tartar—not from a river called Tata, as some liave .stated—

    wliile of the second : ” Le terme Mung’l a ests change par une corruption generale

    en Mogull ; Mung vent dire trMe on un homme triste, et i)aroeque ce

    prince estoit naturellement d’une humeur fort triste, il porta ce nom dans la

    verite”—(pp. 27-29). But Visdelon (D’Herbelot, ed. 1778, Tome IV., p. 327)

    shows more acquaintance with their history in producing proofs that the name

    Tatar was applied in the eightli century by the Chinese to certain tribes living

    north of the in shan, Ala shan, and River Liau. In the dissensions following

    upon the ruin of the Tang dynasty, some of them migrated eastwards beyond

    the Songari, and there in time rallied to subdue the northern provinces,

    under the name of Nu-cldh. These are the ancestors of the Manchus. Another

    fraction went north to the marshy banks of Lakes Hurun and Puyur,

    where they received the name of Moungul Tahtsz\ i.e., Marsh Tatars. This

    tribe and name it was that the warlike Genghis afterwards made conspicuous

    The sound Mogul used in India is a dialectal variation.

    TRIBES OF INNER MONGOLIA. 203

    almost luidefinable ; east by Ivirin and Sliingking ; south hy

    Chihli and Shansi ; and west by Kansuli. Wherever it runs

    the Wall is popularly regarded as the boundary between China

    and Mongolia. The country is divided into six m/’nj or clialkans^

    like our corps, and twenty-four aimahs ‘ (tribes), which are

    again placed under forty-nine standards or Ihochoun^ each of

    which generally includes about two thousand families, commanded

    l)y hereditary princes, or dsassaks. The principal

    tribes are the Kortchin and Ortous. The large tribe of the

    Tsakhars, which occupies the region north of the Wall, is governed

    by a tatanfj, or general, residing at Kalgan, and their

    pasture gi-ounds are now nominally included in the province of

    Chihli. The province of Shansi in like manner includes the

    lands occupied by the Toumets, who are under the control of a

    general stationed at Suiyuen, beyond the Yellow E-iver. In the

    pastures northwest from Kalgan, in the vicinity of Lakes

    Chazau and Ichi, and reaching more than a hundred miles from

    the Great Wall, lie the tracts appropriated to raising horses for

    the ” Yellow Banner Corps.” Excepting such grazing lands or

    the vast hunting grounds near Jeh-lio, reserved in like manner

    by the government, small settlements of Chinese are continually

    squatting over the plains of Inner Mongolia, from whence they

    have already succeeded in driving many of the aboriginal Mongol

    tribes off to the north. Those natives who will not retire

    are fain to save themselves from starvation or absorption by

    cultivating the soil after the fashion of their neighbors, the

    Chinese immigrants. It was, indeed, this influx of settlers

    which led Ivanghi to erect the southern portion of Inner Mongolia

    into prefectures and districts like China Proper. This

    alteration of habits among its population seems destined, ere

    long, to modify the aspect of the country.

    Most of the smaller tribes, except the Ortous, live between

    the western frontiers of Manchuria, and the steppes reaching

    north to the Sialkoi range, and south to Chahar. These tribes

    are peculiarly favored by the Manchus, from their having joined

    them in their conquest of China, and their leading men are

    ‘ Abulgasi (p. 8:’) fviniislies a notice of these aiinaks and their origin.

    204 thp: middle kingdom.

    often promoted to liigh stations in the government of the

    country.

    OcjTEK Mongolia, or Wal Muivjhu^ is the wild tract Iving

    north of the last as far as Russia. It is bounded north bv

    Russia, east by Tsitsihar, southeast and south by Inner Mongolia,

    southwest by Bai’kul in Kansuli, west by Tarbagatai,

    and northwest by Cobdo and Uliasutui. The desert of CJobi

    occupies the southern half of the i-egion. It is divided into

    four lu^ or circuits, each of which is governed by a khan or

    prince, claiming direct descent fi’om Genghis, and superintending

    the internal management of his own khanate. The Tsetseu

    khanate lies west of Ilurun-pir in Tsitsiliar, extending from

    Russia south to Inner Mongolia. West of it, reaching from

    Siberia across the desert to Inner Mongolia, lies the Tuchetu

    (or Tut<letii of Klaproth’) khanate, the most considerable of the

    four ; the road fi’om Iviakhta to Ivalgan lies within its borders.

    “West of the last, and bounded south by Gobi and northeast

    by Uliasutai, lies the region of the Kalkas of Sainnoin ; and on

    its northwest li(3S the Dsassaktu khanate, south of Uliasutai,

    and reaching to Barkul and Cobdo on the south and west. All

    of them are politically under the control of two IManchu residents

    stationed at I’rga, who direct the mutual interests of the

    Mongols, Chinese, and Russians.

    Ilrga, or Ivuren, the capital, is situated in the Tuchetu khanate,

    in lat. 48° 20′ X., and long. 1()T^° E., on the Tola River, a

    branch of the Selenga. It is the largest and most important

    place in Mongolia, and is divided into ^fahiia’i cJi’tn, the Chinese

    quartei’, and Jhxjdo-Iviu’c’ii^ the Mongol settlement, nearly

    three miles from the other. Its total population is estimated at

    30,000, the Chinese inhabitants of M’hich are forbidden by law

    to live with their families ; of the Mongols here, by far the larger

    part is composed of lamas. In the estimation of these people

    Ilrga stands next to Il’lassa in degree of sanctity, being the seat

    of the third person in the Tibetan 2)atriarchate. According to

    the Lama doctrine this dignitary—the Kutuktu—is the terrestrial

    impersonation of the Godhead and never dies, but passes.

    ‘ Meinoires, Tome I., p. 3.

    OUTER MONGOLIA. 205

    after lils apparent decease, into the body of some newly born

    boy, who is songlit for afterwards according to the prophetic

    indications of the Dalai-lania in Tibet. Tliis holy potentate,

    thongh of limited education and entirely nnder the control of

    the attendant lamas, exercises an nnbonnded influence over the

    Kalkas. It is, indeed, by means of him that the Chinese officials

    control the native I’aces of Mongolia. His wealth, owing to

    contributions of enthusiastic devotees, is enoi-mous ; in and

    about Urga he owns 150,000 slaves, an abundance of worldly

    goods, and the most pretentious palace in Mongolia. Outside

    of its religious buildings, Urga is disgustingly dirty ; the filth

    is thrown into the streets, and the habits of the people are

    loathsome. Decrepid beggars and starving dogs infest the

    Avays ; dead bodies, instead of being interred, are flung to birds

    and beasts of prey ; Imts and liovels afford shelter for both rich

    and poor.*

    The four khanates constitute one ahaah or tribe, subdivided

    into eighty-six standards, each of which is restricted to a certain

    territory, within which it wanders about at pleasure. There

    are altogether one hundred and thirty-five standards of the

    Mongols. The Kalkas chiefiy live between the Altai Mountains

    and Gobi, but do not cultivate the soil to much effect.

    They are devoted to Buddhism, and the lamas hold most of the

    power in their hands through the KatfiMu. They render an

    annual tribute to the Emperor of horses, camels, sheep, and

    other animals or their skins, and receive presents in return of

    many times its value, so that they are kept in subjection by

    constant bril)ing ; the least restiveness on their part is visited

    by a reduction of presents and other penalties. An energetic

    government, however, is not wanting in addition. The supreme

    tribunal is at Urga ; it is the yaiiiKii, par excellence, and has

    both civil and military jurisdiction. The decisions are subject

    to the revision of the two Chinese residents, and sentences

    are usually carried into execution after their confirmation.

    The punishments are horribly sev^ere ; but only a decided

    ‘ Prejevalsky, Monrjolia, Vol. I. ; Pumpelly, Across America, pp. 382-385 ;

    Michie, Across Siberia.

    206 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

    and cruel hand over these wild tribes can keep them from constant

    strife.

    Letters are encouraged among them by the Manchus, but

    Avith little success. Many Buddhist books have been translated

    into Mongolian by order of the Emperors ; nor can we wonder

    at the indifference to literature when this stuff is the aliment

    ])rovided them. Their tents, or yu/’ts, are made of wooden

    laths fastened together so as to form a coarse lattice-work ; the

    framework consists of several lengths securer! with ropes, leaving

    a door about three feet square. The average size is twelve

    feet across and ten feet high ; its shape is round and the conical

    roof admits light where it emits smoke. The poles or rafters

    are looped to the sides, and fastened to a hoop at the top.

    Upon this framework sheets of heavy felt are secured according

    to the season. A hearth in the centre holds the fire which

    heats the kettle hanging over it, and warms the inmates squatted

    round, who usually place only felt and sheepskins under

    them. The felt protects from cold, rain, snow, and heat in a

    wonderful manner. A first-class yiwt is by no means an uncomfortable

    dwelling, with its furniture, lining, shrine, and hot

    kettle in the centre. A carpet for sleeping and sitting on is sometimes

    seen in yurts of the wealthier classes; in these, too, the

    walls are lined with cotton or silk, and the floors are of wood.

    The lodges of the rich Kalkas have several apartments, and are

    elegantly furnished, but destitute of cleanliness, comfort, or

    airiness. Most of their cloths, utensils, and arms ai’o procured

    from the Chinese. The Sunnites are fewer than the Kalkas,

    and roam the wide wastes of Gobi. Both derive some revenue

    fi’om conducting caravans across their counti-y, but depend for

    their livelihood chiefly upon the produce of their herds and

    hunting. Their princes are obliged to reside in Urga, or keep

    hostages there, in order that the residents nuiy direct and restrain

    their conduct ; but their devotion to the Katitktu^ and

    the easy life they lead, are the strongest inducements to remain.

    The trade with Tlussia formerly all passed through Iviakhta,

    a town near the frontier, and was carried on by special agents

    and officials appointed by each nation. The whole business

    was managed in the interest of the govermnent, and its ramiK-

    IAKHTA AND THE TRADE WITH RUSSIA. 207

    fications furnished employment, position, and support to so

    many persons as to form a bond of union and guaranty of peace

    between them and their subjects. Timkowski’s jonrney with

    the decennial mission to Peking in 1820-21 furnishes one of

    the best accounts of this trade and intercourse now accessible,

    and with Klaproth’s notes, given iti the English translation

    published in 1827, has long been the chief reliable authority

    for the divisions and organization of the Mongol tribes. Since

    the opening of the Suez Canal, through which Russian steamers

    carry goods to and fro between Odessa and China, the largest

    portion of the Chinese produce no longer goes to Kiakhta.

    That which is required for Siberia is sent from Hankow by way

    of Shansi’, or from Kalgan and Tientsin, under the direction of

    Russian merchants at those places. Furs, which once formed

    the richest part of this produce, are gradually diminishing in

    quality and quantity wdth the increase of settlers. In 1843 the

    export of black tea for Russian consumption was only eight

    millions of pounds, besides the brick tea taken by the Mongols.

    Cottrell states the total value of the trade, annually, at that

    period, at a hundred millions of rubles, reckoned then to be equal

    to $20,830,000, on w^hich the Russians paid, in 1836, about

    $2,500,000 as import duty. The data respecting this trade of

    forty years ago are not very accurate, probably ; the monopoly

    was upheld mostly for the benefit (.>f the officials, as private

    traders found it too much burdened.

    Kiakhta is a haudet of no importance apart from the trade.

    The frontier here is marked by a row of granite columns ; a stockade

    separates it from Maimai chin. Pumpelly says : ” One

    can hardly imagine a sharper line than is here drawn. On the

    one side of the stockade wall, the houses, churches, and people

    are European, on the other, Chinese. With one step the traveller

    passes really from Asia and Asiatic customs and language,

    into a refined European society.’” The goods pay duty at the

    Russian douane in a suburb of fifty houses, near Kiakhta. The

    Chinese town is also a small place, numbering between twelve

    and fifteen hundred men (no women being allowed in the settlement)

    who lived in idleness most of the year. This curious

    haudet has two principal streets crossing at right angles, and gates at the four ends, in the wooden muU which surrounds it.

    These streets are badly paved, while their narrowness barely allows the passage of two camels abreast. The one-storied houses are constructed of wood, roofed Avith turf or boards, and consist of two small rooms, one used as a shop and the other as a bedroom. The windows in the rear apartment are made of oiled paper or mica, but the door is the only opening in the shop.

    The dwellings are kept clean, the furniture is of a superior description, and considerable taste and show are seen in displaying the goods. The traders live hixuriously, and attract a great crowd there during the fair in February, when the goods are exchanged. They are under the control of a Manchu, called the dzargneh’i, who is appointed for three years, and superintends the police of the settlement as Mell as the commercial proceedings. There are two Buddhist temples here served by lamas, and containing five colossal images sitting cross-legged, and numerous smaller idols.’

    The western portion of Mongolia, between the meridians of

    84^ and *JG^ E., extending from near the western extremity of

    Kansuh province to the confines of Russia, comprising Uliasutai

    and its dependencies, Cobdo, and the Kalkas and Tom–gouths of the Tangini JNEountains, is less kiunvn than any other part of it. The residence of the superintending officer of this province is at [Tliasutai (i.e., ‘ Poplar drove ‘), a tt»wn lying northwest of the Seleuira, in the khanate of Sainnoin, in a wiill cultivated and pleasant valley.

    Conno, according to the ( 1iin(\se ma])s, lies in the northwest of Mongolia ; it isbounded north and west by the government Yeniseisk, northeast by I’lianghai, and southeast by the Dsassakt.i khanate, south by Kansidi, and west by Tarbagatai. The part occupied by the Ulianghai or Fi-iyangkit tribes of the Tangmi ^lountains lies northeast of ( ‘olxlo, and nctrth of the Sainnoin and Dsassaktu khanates, and separated from Kussia by the Altai.

    These tribes are allied to the Samoj^eds, and the i ule over th(Mn is ^CoiirAV?, Recollections of Sibena, Chap. IX., p. 314; Timkowski’s T/aveU, Vol. I., ])p. 4-91, 1821 ; PumpHlly, Acnm America and Asia, p. ;]S7, 1871 ; Klapi-oth, Memoires, Toiuu I., p. (Jo ; Kittor, J),’e Erdkuiule run Asien, Bd. II., l>l.. 11)8-1220.

    THE PROVINCE OF COBDO. 200

    administered bv twenty-five siiljordinate military officers, subject

    to the resident at Uliasutai. This city is said to contain

    about two tliousand liouses, is regularly built, and carries on

    some trade with Urga ; it lies on the Iro, a tributary of the

    Jabkan. Cobdo comprises eleven tribes of Kalkas divided into

    thirty-one standards, whose princes obey an amban at Cobdo

    City, himself subordinate to the resident at Uliasutai. The

    Chinese rule over these tribes is conducted on the same principles

    as that over the other IVLjngols, and they all render fealty to

    the Emperor through the chief resident at Uliasutai, but liow

    much obedience is really paid his orders is not known. The

    Kalkas submitted to the Emperor in 1688 to avoid extinction in

    their war with the Eleuths, by whom they had been defeated.

    Cobdo contains several lakes, many of which I’eceivc rivers without having any outlet. The largest is Upsa-nor, which receives from the east the Kiver Tes, and the Iki-aral-nor into which the Jabkan runs. The Hiver Irtysh falls into Lake Dzaisang.

    The existence of so many rivers indicates a more fertile country north of the Altai or Ektag Mountains, but no bounties of nature would avail to induce the inhabitants to adopt settled modes of living and cultivate the soil, if such a clannish state of society exists among them as is described by M. Levchine to be the case among their neighbors, the Kirghis.

    The tribes in Cobdo resemble the American Lidians in their habits, disputes, and modes of life, more than the eastern Kalkas, who approximate in their migratory character to the Arabs.

    The province of Qinghai, or Koko-nor (called Tsok-gumbam by the Tanguts), is not included in Mongolia by European geographers, nor in the Chinese statistical works is it comprised within its borders ; the inhabitants are, however, mostly Mongols, both Buddhist and Moslem, and the government is conducted on the same plan as that over the Kalkas tribes further north.

    This region is known in the histories of Central Asia under the names of Tangout, Sifan, Turfan, etc. On Chinese maps it is politically called Qinghai(‘Azure Sea’), but in their books is named Si Tn or Si Yi/t, ‘ western Limits.’ The borders are now limited on the north by Kansuh, southeast by Sz’chuen, south by Anterior Tibet, and west by the desert, comprising about four degrees of latitude and eleven of longitude. It includes within its limits several large lakes, which receive rivers into their bosoms, and many of them having no outlets.

    The Azure Sea is the largest, lying at an altitude of 10,500 feet and overlooked by high mountains, which in winter are covered with snow, and in summer form an emerald frame that deepens the blueness of the Avater. . It is over 200 miles in circuit, and its evaporation is replaced by the inflowing waters of eight large streams ; oue small islet contains a monaster}’, whose inmates are freed from their solitude only when the ice makes a bridge, as no boat is known to have floated on its salt

    water. The wide, moist plains on the east and west furnish

    pasturage for domestic and wild animals, and constant collisions

    occur between the tribes resorting there for food. The travels

    of Abbe Hue and Col. Prejevalsky furnish nearly all that is

    known concerning the productions and inhabitants of Koko-nor.

    The country is nominally divided into thirty-four banners, and

    its Chinese rulers reside at Si’ning, east of the lake ; but they

    have more to do in defending themselves than in protecting

    their subjects. The Avhole country is occupied by the Tanguts

    of Til)etan origin, who are brigands by profession, and roam

    over the mountains around the headwaters of the Yangtsz’ and

    Yellow Kivers ; by the Mohammedan Dunganis, who have latterly

    been nearly destroyed in their recent rebellion ; and by

    tribes of Mongols under the various names of Eleuths, Kolos,

    Kalkas, Surgouths, and Koits. The Chinese maps are filled

    with names of various tribes, but their statistical accounts are as

    meagre of information as the maps are deficient in accurate and

    satisfactory delineations.

    THE PROVINCE AND LAKE OF KOKO-NOR. 211

    The topographical features of this region are still imperfectly known, and its inhospitable climate is rendered more dangerous by man’s barbarity. High mountain masses alternate with narrow valleys and a few large depressions containing lakes ; the country lying south of the Azure Sea, as far as Burmah, is exceedingly mountainous. “West and southwest of the lake extends the plain of Chaidamu, which at a recent geological age has been the bed of a huge lake; it is now covered with morasses, shaking bogs, small rivers, and sheets of water—the most considerable of the latter bemg Lake Kara, in the extreme western portion.

    The saline argillaceous soil of this region is not adapted to vegetation. Large animals are scarce, due in part to the plague of

    insects which compels even the natives to retreat to the mountains

    with their herds during certain seasons. Its inhabitants

    are the same as those of Eastei-n Koko-nor ; thej are divided

    into five banners, and number about 1,000 yurts^ or 5,000 souls.

    The Burkhan-buddha range forms the southern boundary of

    this plain, and the northernmost limit of the lofty plateau of

    Tibet. Its length from east to west is not far from 130 miles,

    its eastern extremity being near the Yegrai-ula (the near sources

    of the Yellow Eiver) and Toso-nor. The range has no lofty

    peaks, and stretches in an unbroken chain at a height of 15,000

    to 16,000 feet ; it is terribly barren, but does not attain the

    line of perpetual snow. The southern range, which separates

    the headwaters of the Yellow and Yangtsz’ Rivers, is called the

    Bayan-kara Mountains ; that northw^est of this is called on

    Chinese maps, Kilien shan and Kan shan, and bounds the desert

    on the south. On the northern declivities of the T^an shan

    range are several towns lying on or near the road leading across

    Central Asia, which leaves the valley of the Yellow Eiver at

    Lanchau, in Kansuh, and runs X.X.W. over a rough country to

    Liangchau, a town of some importance situated in a fertile and

    populous district. From this place it goes northwest to Kanchau,

    noted for its manufactures of felted cloths which are in

    demand among the Mongol tribes of Koko-nor, and where large

    quantities of rhubarb, horses, sheep, and other commodities are

    procured. Going still northwest, the traveller reaches Suhchau,

    the last large place before passing the Great Wall, which renders

    it a mart for provisions and all articles brought from the

    west in exchange for the manufactures of China. This city

    was the last stronghold of the Dungani Moslems, and when

    they were destroyed in 1873 it began to revive out of its ruins.

    About fifty miles from this town is the pass of Kiayii, beyond

    which the road to Hami, Urumtsi, and 111 leads directly across

    the desert, here about three hundred miles wide. This route

    has been for ages the line of internal communication between the west of China and the regions lying around and in the basins of the Tarini river and the (‘asi)ian.’ A better idea of the security of traffic and caravans within the Empire, and consequently of the goodness of the Chinese rule, is obtained by comparing the usually safe travel on this route with the hazards, robberies, and poverty formerly met with on the great roads in ]5okhara, and the regions south and west of the Belur tag.

    The productions of Koko-nor consist of grain and other vegetables raised along the bottoms of the rivers and margins of the lakes ; sheep, cattle, horses, camels, and other aninuds. Alpine liares, wild asses,’ wild yaks, vultures, lammergeiers, pheasants, antelopes, wolves, mountain sheep, and wild camels are among the denizens of the wilds. The Chinese have settled among the tribes, and Mohammedans of Turkish origin are found in the large towns. There are eight corps between Koko-nor and

    Iliasutai, comprising all the tribes and banners, and over which

    are placed as many supreme generals or commanders appointed

    from Peking. The leading tribes in Ivoko-nor are Eleuths,

    Tanguts, and Tourbeths, the former of M’hom are the remnants

    of one of the most powerful tribes in Centi-al Asia. Tangout

    submitted to the Emperor in 1G90, and its population since the

    incorporation has greatly increased. They iidiabit the hilly region

    of Kansuh, Ivoko-nor^ Eastern Tsaidam, and the basin of

    the Upper Yellow Kiver. They resemble gipsies, being above

    the average in height, with thick-set features, broad shoulders,

    liair and whiskers, black, dark eyes, nose straight, lips thick

    and protruding, face long and never flat, skin tawny. Unlike

    the Mongols aiul Chinese they have a strong growth of beard

    and whiskers which, however, they always shave. They wear

    no tail, Ijut shave their heads; their dress consists of furs and

    cloths made into long coats that reach to the knees. Shirts or

    trowsers are not made use of ; their upper logs are generally

    left bare. Women dress like the men. Their habitations are wooden huts or black cloth tents. The Tangut is cunning,

    ‘Compare Richthofen, China, Band I., 2or Thoil. ; Yulo, Cathaij and t/ie Way Thither, passim.

    •The wild ass is called by Prejevalsky the most remarkable animal of these steppes. Compare Yule’s Marco Polo, Vol. I., p. 220 (2d edition).

    THE TANGUTS AND NOMADS OF KOKO-NOR. 218

    stingy, lazy, and sliiftless. His sole occupation that of tending

    cattle (yaks). He is even more zealous a Buddhist than are the

    Mongols, and extremely superstitious.” The trade at Sining is

    large, but not equal to that between Yunnan and Burniah at

    Tall and Bhamo ; dates, rhubarb, chowries, precious stones, felts,

    cloths, etc., are among the commodities seen in the bazaar. It

    lies about a hundred miles from the sea, at an elevation of

    V,800 feet, and near it is the famous laraasary of Ivunibum,

    where MM. Hue and Gabet lived in 1845. The town is well

    situated upon the Sining ho, and though constructed for the

    most part of wood, presents a fine appearance owing to the

    number of official buildings therein. The population numbers

    some 00,00(1 souls.”

    ‘ For a notice of the Ouigours, who formerly ruled Tangout, consult Klaproth, Memmres, Tome II., p. 301, if. See also Remusat, Nouveaux Melanges Asiati’ques, Tome II., p. 61, for a notice of the Ta-ta tung’o, who applied their letters to write Mongolian.

    * Chinese Repository, Vol. IX., p. 113; Vol. I., p. 118. Penny Cyclopaedia, Arts. Bayan Kara, Tangut. Kreitner, Imfemen Osten, p. 703. Hue, Tr^i*-els, passim.

    The towns lying between the treat Wall and ill, though politically belonging to Xansuh, are more connected with the colonies in their form of government than with the Eighteen Provinces. The first town beyond the Kiayii Pass is Yulimim, distant about ninety miles, and is the residence of officers, who attend to the caravans going to and from the pass. It is represented as lying near the junction of two streams, which flow northerly into the Purunki. The other district town of Tunhwang lies across a mountainous country, upwards of two hundred miles distant. The city of Xgansi chau has been built to facilitate the communication across the desert to Hami or Kamil, the first town in Songaria, and the depot of troops, arms, and munitions of Avar. “With the town of Hami,” says an Austrian visitor in these regions, ” the traveller comes upon the southern foot-hills of the Tien shan, and the first traces of Siberian civilization. Magnificent mountain scenery accompanies him on his way toward the west to the Pussian line. In the government of Semipolatinsk are the express mail-wagons wliicli stand ready at his order to carry him at furious speed to the town of the same name, then to the right bank of the River Irtjsh, and so to Omsk.” ‘ This route and that stretching towards the southwest bring an important trade to llanii ; the country around it is cuUivated by poor Mongols.” Barkul, or Chinsi fu, in hit. 43° 40′ ]X., and long. 93° 30’ E., is the most important place in the department ; the district is called Iho hien. A thousand Manchus, and three thousand Chinese, guard the post. The town is situated on the south of Lake Barkul, and its vicinity receives some cultivation, llami and Turfan each form a ihi(j district in the southeast and west of the department. The trade at all these places consists mostly of articles of food and clothing.

    Urumtsi, c)r Tih-hwa chau (the Bivh-halih of the Ouigours in 1100 % in hit. 43° 45′ N., and long. 89° E., is the westernmost department of Kansuh, divided into three districts, and containing many posts and settlements. In the war with the Eleuths in 1770, the inhabitants around this place were exterminated, and the countiy afterwards repeopled by upwards of ten thousand troops, with their families, and by exiles; emigrants from Kansuh were also induced to settle there. The Chinese accounts

    speak of a high monntain near the city, always covered

    with ice and snow, whose base is wooded, and abounding with

    pheasants ; coal is also obtained in this region. The cold is

    great, and snow falls as late as July. Many parts produce

    grain and vegetables. All this department formerly constituted

    a portion of Songaria. The policy of the Chinese government

    is to induce the tribes to settle, by placing large bodies of troops

    with their families at all important points, and sending their

    exiled criminals to till the soil ; the Mongols then find an increasing demand for their cattle and other products, and are induced to become stationary to meet it. So far as is known, this policy had succeeded well in the regions beyond the Wall, and those around Koko-nor ; but the rebellion of the Dunganis, who arose in these outlying regions at the moment when the energies of the Peking government were all directed to suppressing the Tai-ping insurrection, destroyed these improvements, and frustrated, for an indefinite period, the promising development of civilization among the inhabitants.

    ‘ Lieut. Krcitner, Imfernen Osten.

    ” In Remusat’s Ilii^toire de la VUle de Khotun (p. 70) there is an account of a journey made in the lOth century between Kanchan and Klioten.

    ^ Remusat calls it PciUiUope. Nouveaux MelamjeSy Tome I., p. 5.

    DIVISIONS AND BOUNDARIES OF ILI. 215

    That part of the Empire called Ili is a vast region lying on

    each side of the Tien shan, and including a tract nearly as large

    as Mongolia, and not much more susceptible of cultivation. Its

    limits may be stated as extending from lat. 36° to 49° K., and

    from long. 71° to 96° E., and its entire area, although difficult

    to estimate from its irregularity, can hardly be less than 900,000

    square miles, of which Songaria occupies rattier more than onethird.

    It is divided into two Lu^ or ‘ Circuits,’ viz., the Tien

    shan Pell Lu, and Tien shan Nan Lu, or the circuits north and

    south of the Celestial Mountains. The former is commonly

    designated Songaria, or Dzungaria, from the Songares or

    Eleuths, who ruled it till a few scores of years past, and the latter

    used to be known as Little Bokhara, or Eastern Turkestan.

    tli is bounded north by the Altai range, separating it from

    the Kirghls ; northeast by the Irtysh Piver and Outer Mongolia

    ; east and southeast by ITrumtsi and Barkul in Ivansuh ;

    south by the desert and the Ivwanlun range ; and west by the

    Belur-tag, dividing it from Badakshan and Russian territory.’

    ‘ The recent treaty between Russia and China (ratified in 1881), marks the boundaries between Ili and Russian territory in the following sections: Art. VII. A tract of country in the west of Ili is ceded to Russia, where those who go over to Russia and are thereby dispossessed of their land in tli may settle. The boundary line of Chinese tli and Russian territory will stretch from the Pieh-chen-tao [Bedschin-tau] Mountains along the course of the Hocrh-kwo-ssU [Yehorsos] River, to its junction with the Ili River, thence across the 111 River, and south to the east of the village of Kwo-li-cha-ti”‘ [Kaldschatl on the Wu-tsung-tau range, and from this point south along the old boundary line fixed by the agreement of Ta-Cheng [Tashkend] in the year 1864.

    Art. VIII. The boundary line to the east of the Chi-sang lake, fixed iu the year 1864 by the agreement of Ta-Cheng [Tashkend], having proved unsatisfactory, high officers will be specially deputed by both countries jointly to examine and alter it so that a satisfactory result may be attained. That there may be no doubt what part of the Kliassak country belongs to China and what to Russia, the boundary will consist of a straight line drawn from the Kwei Tung Mountains across the Hei-i-erh-te-shih River to the Sa-wu-crh range, and Ill lenoftli, the Northern Circuit extends about nine hundred miles, and the width, on an average, is three hundred miles. The Southern Circuit reaches nearly twelve hundred and fifty miles from west to east, and varies from three hundred to five hundred in breadth, as it extends to the IvM’unhm range on the south. There is probably most arable land in the Northern Circuit.

    Ili, taken north of the Tarim basin, may be regarded as an

    inland isthmus, extending southwest from the south of Siberia,

    off between the Gobi and Caspian deserts, till it reaches the

    Hindu Kush, leading down to the valley of the Indus. The

    former of these deserts incloses it on the east and south, the

    other on the west and northwest, separated from each other by

    the Belur and Muz-tag ranges, which join with the Tien shan,

    that divide the isthmus itself into t\\o parts. These deserts

    united are equal in extent to that of Sahara, l)ut are not as arid

    and tenantless.

    This region has some peculiar features, among which its great

    elevation, its isolation in respect to its water-courses, and the

    character of its vegetation, are the most remarkable. Songaria

    is especially noticeable for the many closed river-basins which

    occur between the Altai and Tien shan, among the various

    liiinor ranges of hills, each of which is entirely isolated, and

    containing a lake, the receptacle of its drainage. The largest

    of these singular basins is that of the Kiver 111, which runs

    about three hundred miles westward, from its rise in the Tien

    shan (lat. 85°) till it falls into Lake Balkash, which also receives

    some other streams ; the superficies of the whole basin is about forty thousand square miles. The other lakes lie northeastward of Balkash ; the largest of them are the Dzaisang, which receives the Irtysh, the Kisilbasli, into which the ITrungu the liigli of Beors deputed to settle the boundiuy will fix the iit>\v boundary .along such straight line which is within the old bounchxry.

    Art. IX. As to the boundary on the west, between the Province of Fei-rrhkan[Ferghana], which is subject to Russia, and Chinese Kashgar, officials will be deputed V)y both countries to examine it, and they will fix the boundary line between the territories at present actually under the jurisdiction of either country, and they will erect boundary stones thereon.

    TOPOGRAPHY OF ILI. 217

    flows, and four or five smaller ones between them, lying north

    of the city of III. Lake Tenmrtu, or Issik-kul, lies now just

    beyond the southwestern part of this Circuit, and was until

    recently contained therein. This sheet of water is deep and

    never freezes ; it is brackish, but full of fish ; the dimensions

    are about one liundred miles long, and thirty-five wide ; its

    superabundant waters flow oif through the Chu ho into the

    Xirghis steppe.

    The Ala-tau range defines the lake on the north shore. Says

    a Hussian traveller in describing this region, ” It M^ould be difl[icnlt

    to imagine anything more splendid than the view of the

    Tien shan from this spot. The dark blue surface of the Issikkul,

    like sapphire, may M’ell bear comparison with the equally

    blue surface of Geneva Lake, but its expanse—five times as

    great—seeming almost unlimited, and the matchless splendor of

    its background, gives it a grandeur which the Swiss lake does

    not possess. The unbroken, snowy chain liere stretches away

    for at least 200 miles of the length of the Issik-kul ; the sharp

    outlines of the spurs and dark valleys in the front range are

    softened by a thin mist, which hangs over the water and

    heightens the clear, sharp outlines of the white heads of the

    Tien shan giants, as they rise and glisten on the azure canopy

    of a central Asian sky. The line of perpetual snow connnences

    at three-fifths of their slope up, but as one looks, their snowless

    base seems to sink the deeper in the far east, till the waves of

    the lake seem to wash the snowy crests of Ivhan-Tengse.” Forty

    small rivers flow into it, but its size is gradually lessening.’

    Little is known concerning the topography, the productions,

    or the civilization of the tribes who inhabit a large part of Songaria,

    but the efforts of the Chinese government have been

    systematically directed to developing its agricultural resources,

    by stationing bodies of troops, who cultivate the soil, there, and

    by banishing criminals thither, who are obliged to work for and

    assist the troops. It gives one a higher idea of the rulers of

    China, themselves wandering nomads originally, when they are

    seen carrying on such a plan for extending the capabilities of

    these remote parts of their Empire, and teaching, partly by force, partly by bribes, and partly by example, the Mongol tribes under them the advantages of a settled life.

    ‘ Compare also Schuyler, Turkistan, Vol. II., pp. 137 ff

    The productions of Songaria are nnmerons. Wheat, barley,

    rice and millet, are the chief corn stuffs ; tobacco, cotton, melons,

    and some fruits, are grown ; herds of horses, camels, cattle, and

    sheep, afford means of locomotion and food to the people, while

    the mountains and lakes supply game and fish. The inhabitants

    are composed mostly of Eleuths, with a tribe of Tourgouths,

    and remnants of the Songares, together with Mongols, Manchus,

    and Chinese troops, settlers and criminals.

    TiEN-SHAN Peh Lu is divided by the Chinese into three commanderies, llh, on the west, Tarhagatai on the north, and Kurkara usu on the east, between Ili and the west end of Kansuh.

    The government of the ISTorth and South Circuits is under the control of Manchu military officers residing at Ili. This city, called by the Chinese Ilwuiyuen ching, and Gouldja (orlvuldja) and Kuren by the natives, lies on the north bank of the Ili River, in lat. 43° 55′ K., and long. 81^° E. ; it contains about fifty thousand inhabitants, and carries on considerable trade with China through the towns in Ivansuh. The city was defended by six strong fortresses in its neighborhood, and tho solidity of the stone walls enabled it to resist a vigorous assault in the Dungani rebellion. Its circuit is nearly four miles, and two wide avenues cross its centre, dividing it into four equal parts, through each of which run many lanes. Its houses indicate the Turkish origin of its builders in their clay or adobe walls and flat roofs, and this impression is increased by the Junnna mosque of the Taranchis, and the Dungan mosque, outside of the walls. The last has a wonderful minaret built of small roofed pavilions one over another; both of them affect the Chinese architecture in their roofs, and their walls are faced with diamond-shaped tiles. The Buddhist temple has hardly been rebuilt since the city has returned to Chinese rule. The supply of meats and vegetables is constant, and the variety and quality exceed that of most other towns in the region. The population is gradually increasing with the return of peace and trade, but is still under twenty thousand, of which not one-fifth are Chinese and Manchus : the Taranchis constitute half of the whole, and Dunganis are the next in number. The province is the richest and best cultivated of all this reijion of fli : its coal, metals, and fruits are sources of prosperity, and with its return to Chinese sway under new relations in respect to Russian trade, its future is promising.

    TIEN-SHAlSr PEU LU AXD THE TOWX OF KULDJA. 219

    The destruction of life was dreadful at the capture of Kuldja and other towns, which were then left a heap of ruins.’

    Schuyler estimates that not more than a hundred thousand people remained in the province, out of a third of a million in 1860. It is stated in Chinese works that when Amursana, the discontented chief of the Songares, applied, in 1775, to Kienlung for assistance against his rival Tawats or Davatsi, and was sent back with a Chinese army, in the engagements which ensued, more than a million of people were destroyed, and the whole country depopulated. At that time, Knldja was built by

    Kienlung, and soon became a place of note. Outside of the

    town are the barracks for the troops, which consist of Eleuths

    and Mohammedans, as well as ]\[anchus and Chinese. Coal is

    found in this region, and most of the inland rivers produce

    abundance of fish, wliile wild animals and birds are numerous.

    The resources of the country are, however, insufficient to meet

    the expenses of the military establishment, and the presents

    made to the begs, and the deficit is supplied from China.”

    ‘ 175,000 perished in Kuklja alone.
    ” The question of the existence of volcanoes in Central Asia, especially on the Knldja frontier, has always been a matter of doubt and discussion among geologists and Russian explorers. The Governor of Semiretchinsk, General Kolpakofsky, was, in 1881, able to report the discovery of the perpetual fires in the Tien shan range of mountains. The mountain Bai shan was found twelve miles northeast of Kuldja, in a basin surrounded by the massive Ailak mountains ; its fires are not volcanic, but proceed from burning coal. On the sides of the mountain there are caves emitting smoke and sulphurous gas. Mr. Schuyler, in his Turkistan, mentions that these perpetual fires in the mountains, referred to by Chinese historians, were considered by Severtzofif, a Russian, who explored the region, as being caused by the ignition of the seams of coal, or the carburetted h^’drogen gas in the seams. The same author further mentions that Captain Tosnofskey, another Russian explorer, was told of a place in the neighborhood from which steam constantly rose, and that near this crevice there had existed, from ancient times, three pits, where per sons afflicted with rheumatism or skin diseases were in the habit of bathing.

    Subordinate to the control of the commandant at Knldja are nine garrisoned places situated in the same valley, at each of which are bodies of Chinese convicts. The two remaining districts of Tarbagatai and Ivur-kara usu are small compared with 111 ; the first lies between Cobdo and the Kirghis steppe, and is inhabited mostly by emigrants from the steppes of the latter, who render merely a nominal subjection to the gari’isons placed over them, but are easily governed through their tribal rulers. The Tourgouths, who emigrated from Kussia in 1772, into China, are located in this district and Cobdo, as well as in the valleys of the Tekes and Kunges rivers. They have become more or less assimilated with other tribes since they were placed here. In the war with the Songares, many of the people fled from the valley of IK to this region, and after that country was

    settled, they submitted to the Emperor, and partly returned to

    111. The chief town, called Tuguchuk by the Kirghis, and

    Suitsing cliing by the Chinese, is situated not far from the

    southern base of the Tarbagatai Mountains, and contains about

    six hundred houses, half of which belong to the garrison. It

    is one of the nine fortified towns under the control of the commandant

    at Kuldja, and a place of some trade with the Kirghis.

    There are two residents stationed here, with high powers to oversee

    the trade across the frontier, but their duties are inferior

    in importance to those of the officials at Ilrga. 2,500 Manchu

    and Chinese troops remain at this post, and since the conquest

    of the country in 1772 by Kienhmg, its agricniltural products

    have gradually increased under the industry of the Chinese.

    The tribes dwelling in this distant province are restricted within

    certain limits, and their obedience secured by presents. The

    climate of Tarbagatai is changeable, and the cold weather

    comprises more than half the year. The basin of Lake

    Aladvul, or Alaktu-kul, occupies the southwest, and part of the

    Trtysh and Lake Dzaisang the northeast, so that it is well

    watered. The trade consists chiefiy of domestic animals and

    cloths.

    POSITION OF TIEN-SHAN NAN LU. 221

    The town of Kur-kara usu lies on the Ttiver Kur, northeast from Kuldja and oti the road between it and TTrumtsi ; it ia called Kingsui ching by the Chinese. The number of troops stationed at all these posts is estimated at sixty thousand, and the total population of Songaria under two millions.

    The TiEN-SHAN Kan Lit, or Southern C^ircuit of Ili,the territory

    of ‘ the eight Mohammedan cities,’ was named Sin

    Kiang (‘ New Frontier ‘) by Kienlung. It is less fertile than

    the T^orthern Circuit, the greatest part of its area consisting of

    ruffo-ed mountains or barren wastes, barelv affordino; subsistence

    for herds of cattle and goats. The principal boundaries are the

    Kwanlun Mountains, and the desert, separating it from Tibet on

    the south ; Cashmere lies on the southwest, and Badukshan and

    Kokand are separated from it on the west and northwest by

    the Belur-tag, all of them defined and partitioned by the mountain

    ranges over which the passes 12,000 to 16,000 feet high

    furnish both defence and travel according to the season.

    The greater part of this Circuit is occupied with the basin of

    the Tarim or Ergu, which flows from the Belur range in four

    principal branches ‘ (called from the towns lying upon their

    banks the Yarkand, Kashgar, Aksu, and Khoten Rivers), and

    running eastward, receives several affluents from the north and

    south, and falls into Lake Lob in long. 89^ E., after a course,

    including windings, of between 1,100 and 1,300 miles. Of the

    river system from which this stream flows Baron Ilichthofen

    says, ” the region which gives birth to this river is on a scale of

    grandeur such as no other river in the world can boast. It is

    girt round by a wide semicircular collar of mountains of the

    loftiest and grandest character, often rising in ridges of 18,000

    to 20,000 feet in height, while the peaks shoot up to 25,000 and

    even 28,000 feet. The basin which fills in the horse-shoe shaped

    space encompassed by these gigantic elevations, though deeply

    depressed below them, stands at a height above the sea varying

    from 6,000 feet at the margin to about 2,000 in the middle,

    and formed the bed of an ancient sea. From its wall-like sides

    on the south, west, and north, the waters rush headlong down,

    and though the winds blowing from all directions deposit most

    of their moisture on the remoter sides of the surrounding

    ‘ Wood, Jmirney to the Source of the River Oxus, p. 356. From the hills that encircle Lake Sir-i-kol rise some of the principal rivers in Asia : the Yarkand, Kashgar, Sirr, Kuner, and Oxus.

    ranges, viz., the southern foot of the Himalayas, the west side

    of the Paniii-, and the northern slope of the Tien shan, the

    streams formed thereby windhig through the cloud-capped lofty

    cradle-land, and breaking tlirough the mountain chains, reach

    the old ocean bed onlj^ partly well watered. The smallest of

    them disappear in the sand, others flow some distance before

    expanding into a level salt basin and are there absorbed. Only

    the largest, whose munber the Chinese estimate at sixty, unite

    with the Tarim, a river 1,150 miles long, and therefore in

    length between the Khine and Danube, but far surpassing both

    in the massiveness of surrounding mountains, just as it exceeds

    the Daimbe in the extent of its basin. Its tributaries foi-m

    along the foot of the mountains a number of fruitful oases, and

    these by means of artificial irrigation have been converted into

    flourishing, cultivated states, and have played an important part

    in the history of these regions.” ‘ Col. Prejevalsky’s explorations

    in this totally unknown country have brought out a multitude

    of facts pregnant with interest both for histoi’ical and geographical

    study. Among the most important results of his discoveries is the location of Lob more than a degree to the south of its position on Chinese maps, and a consequent bend of the Tarim from its due eastern course before it reaches its outlet.

    This lake, consisting of two sheets of water, the Kara-buran

    and Kara-kurc’hin (or Chon-kul), lies on the edge of the deseit,

    in an uniidiabited region, and surrounded by great swamps,

    which extend also northwest along the Tarim to its junction

    with the Kaidu. It is shallow, overgrown with weeds, and is

    for the most part a morass, the water being fresh, despite the sail

    marshes in the vicinity. The people living near it speak a language

    most like that of Ivhoten ; they are Moslems. Lake Lob is elliptical, 90 to 100 versts long and 20 wide, 2,200 feet above the sea. Enormous flocks of birds come from Khoten on the southwest, as they go north, and make Lob-nor their stopping-place. The desert in this region is poor and desolate in the extreme.

    ‘ RicJitJioferi’ s Bemarks in Prejevalsky’s Loh-nor, p. i;?8. London, 1879.

    THE RIVER TARIM AND LOB-NOR. 223

    Its southern side is formed by the Altyn-tag range, a spur of the Kwanlun Mountains that rises about 14,000 feet in a sheer wall. Wild camels are found in its ravines, whose sight, hearing, and smell are marvellously acute. No other river basins of any size are found within the Circuit, except a large tributary called the Kaidu, which, draining a parallel valley north of Lobnor, two hundred miles long, runs into a lake nearly as large, called Bostang-nor, from which an outlet on the south continues it into the Tarim, about eighty miles from its mouth.

    The tributaries of this river are represented as much more serviceable for agricultural purposes than the main trunk is for navigation. The plain through which the Tarim flows is about two hundred miles broad and not far from nine hundred miles long, most of it unfit for cultivation or pasturage. The desert extends considerably west of the two lakes. The climate of this region is exceedingly dry, and its barrenness is owing, apparently, more to the want of moisture than to the nature of the soil. The western parts are colder than those toward Kansuh, the river being passable on ice at Yarkand, in lat. 38°, for three months, while frost is hardly known at Hami, in lat. 43°.

    The productions of the valley of the Tai’im comprise most of the grains and fruits found in Southern Europe ; the sesamum is cultivated for oil instead of the olive. Few trees or shrubs cover the mountain acclivities or plains. All the domestic animals abound, except the hog, which is i-eared in small numbers by the Chinese. The camel and yak are hunted and raised for food and service, their coats affording both skins and hair for garments. The horse, camel, black cattle, ass, and sheep, are found wild on the edge of the desert, where they find a precarious subsistence. The mountains and marshes contain jackals, tigers, bears, wolves, lynxes, and deer, together with some large species of birds of prey. Gold, copper, and iron are brought from this region, but the amount is not large, and as articles of trade they are less important than the sal-ammoniac, saltpetre, sulphur, and asbestos obtained from the volcanic region in the east of the Celestial Mountains. The best specimens of the yuh or nephrite, so highly prized by the Chinese, are obtained in the Southern Circuit.

    The present divisions of this Circuit are regulated by the position of the eight Mohammedan cities. The western departments of Kansnh naturally belong to the same region, and the cities now pertaining to that province are inhabited by entirely

    similar races, and governed in the same feudal manner, with

    some advantages in consideration of their early submission to

    Kienlung. The first town on the road, of note, is Ilami ; Turfan

    and Pidshan are less important as trading posts than as

    garrisons. The eight cities are named in the Statistics of the

    Empire in the following order, beginning at the east : Harashar,

    Kuche, Ushi (including Sairim and Bai), Aksu, Khoten,

    Yarkand, Kashgar, and Yingkeshar or Yangi Hissar. The

    superior officers live at Yarkand, but the Southern Circuit is

    divided into four minor governments at Ilarashar, Ushi, Yarkand,

    and Khoten, each of whose residents reports both to Kuldja

    and Peking. There is constant restiveness on the part of the

    subject races, who are all Moslems, arising from their clannish

    habits and feuds ; they have not the elements of substantial

    progress and national growth, either under their own rulers or

    Chinese. They have lately thrown off the Peking Government,

    but they have generally regretted the rapines and waste caused

    by the strifes and change, and Avould probably receive the

    Kitai (so they term the Chinese) back again. The latter are

    not hard masters, and bring trade and wealth the longer they

    remain. One of the IJsbek chiefs under Yakub khan gave

    the pith of the situation between the two, when he replied to

    Dr. Bellew’s remark that he talked like a Chinese himself,

    ” Ko, I hate them. But they were not bad rulers. “We had

    everything then ; we have nothing now. We never see any

    signs of the Kitai trade, nor of the wealth they brought here.”‘

    Ilarashar (or Karashar) lies on the Kaidu River, not far from

    Lake Bagarash or Bostang, about two hundred and ninety miles

    west of Turfan, in lat. 42° 15′ N., and long. 87° E. It is a

    large district, and has two towns of some note within the jurisdiction

    of its officers—namely, Korla and Bukur. Ilarashar is

    fortified, and from its being a secure position, and the seat of

    the chief resident, attracts considerable trade. The embroidery

    is superior ; but the tribes living in the district are more addicted

    to hunting than disposed to sedentary trades. Korla lies

    TOWNS OF THE SOUTheRISr CIIiCUIT. 225

    southwest of llarasliar on the Kaidii, between lakes Bostany;

    and Lob, and the productions of the town and its vicinity indi

    cate a fertile soil ; the Chinese say the Mohammedans who live

    here are fond of singing, but have no ideas of ceremony or

    Virbanity. Bukur lies two hundred miles Avest of Korla and

    ” might be a rich and delicious country,”” says the Chinese account,

    ” but those idle, vagrant Mohannnedans only use their

    strength in theft and plunder ; the Avomen blush at nothing.”

    The town formerly contained upward of ten thousand inhal)-

    itants, but Kienlung nearly destroyed it ; the district has been

    since resettled by Iloshoits, Tourbeths, and Turks, and the people

    carry on some trade in the produce of their herds, skins, copper,

    and agates.

    Kuche, about eighty miles west from Bukur, hit. 41° 3T’ X.,

    and long. 83° 20′ E., is a larger an<l more important city than that

    t)f Ilarashar, for the road which crosses the Tien shan l)y the

    pass Muz-daban to Ili, here joins tliat coming from Aksu on

    the west and Ilami on the east. It is three miles in circuit, and

    is defended by ten forts and three hundred troops. The

    bazaars contain grain, fruits, and vegetables, raised in the vicinity

    by great labor, for the land requires to be irrigated by hand

    from Avells, pools, and streams. Copper, sulphur, and saltpeti’e

    are carried across to 111, for use of government as well as traffic,

    being partly levied from the inhabitants as taxes ; linen is

    manufactured in the town, and sal ammoniac, cimiabar, and

    quicksilver are procured fi’oni the mountains. Kuche is considered

    the gate of Turkestan, and is the chief town, politically

    speaking, between Ilami and Yarkand. The district and town

    of Shayar lie south of Kuche, in a marshy valley producing

    abundance of rice, melons, and fruit ; the pears are particularly

    good. Two small lakes, Baba-kul and Sary-kamysch, lie to the

    east of this town, and are the only bodies of water between

    Bostang-nor and Issik-kul. The population is about four thousand,

    ruled by hegs subordinate to the general at Kuche.

    The valley of. the Aksu contains two large towms, Aksu and Ushi or Ush-turfan, besides several posts and villages. Between the former and Kuche, lie the small garrisons and districts of Bai and Sairim. The first contains from four to five hundred families, ruled by their own chiefs. Sairim or Ilanlemuli is siiboi-dinate to Ushi in some degree, but its productions, climate, and inhabitants are like those of Kuche. ” Their manners are simple,” remarks a Chinese writer, speaking of the people; ” they are neither cowards nor rogues like the other Mohammedans; they are fond of singing, drinking, and dancing, like those of Kuche.” Aksu is a large commercial and manufacturing

    town, containing twenty thousand inhabitants, situated,

    like Kuche, at the termination of a road leading across the Tien

    slian to til, and attracting to its market traders from Siberia,

    i)okhara, and Kokand, as well as along the great road. Its manufactures

    of cotton, silk, leather, harnesses, crockery, precious

    stones, and metals are good, and sent abroad in great numbers.

    The country produces grain, fruits, vegetables, and cattle in perfection, and the people are more civilized than those on the east and north; “they are generous and nol)lo, and both slug and ] idieulc the oddities and niggardliness of the other jMobammedans.”

    The Chinese garrison consists of three thousand soldiers, and the officers are accountable to those at Ushi. Ushi lies al)Out TO miles due west of Aksu, in lat. 41° 15′ N. and long. 79° 40′ E., and is stated to contain ten thousand inhabitants.

    ^ CiilU’d aho Pourouts. Compare Klaproth {Memoircs, Tome III., p. 332), who has a notice of these tribes.

    THE GOVERNMENT AND TOWN OF KASJIGAR. 227

    The Chinese name is Yung-ning ching(ie. ‘City of Eternal Tranquillity’). The officers stationed here report to the commandant at Ili, but they communicate directly with Peking, and receive the Emperor’s sanction to their choice of begs, and to the envoys forwarded to the capital with tribute. Copper money is cast here in ingots, somewhat like the ingots of sycee in the provinces. There are six forts attached to Uslif, to keep in order the wandering tribes of the Kii’ghis, called I’ruth l\irghi’s,’ which roam over the fi’ontier regions between Ushi and ^’arkand. They pay homage to the officers at Ushi, but give no tribute. Those who do pay tribute are taxed a tenth, but the Kii-ghis on this frontier are usually allowed to roam where they like, provided they keep the peace. This region was nearly depopulated by Kienlung’s generals, and at present supports a sparse population compared with its fertility and resources.

    The government of Kashgar, known, at the time of the Arab conquest, as Klehlh Bul’hara, presents a vast, undulating plain, of which the slope is very gradual toward the east, and of which the general elevation maybe reckoned at from three to four thousand feet above the sea. The aspect of its surface is mostly one of unmitigated waste—a vast spread of bare sand and gloomy salts, traversed in all directions by dunes and banks of gravel, with the scantiest vegetation, and all but absence of animal life. Such is the view that meets the eye ajid joins the horizon everywhere on the plain immediately beyond the river courses and the settlements planted on their banks.’ The population of this whole district is considerably less than a million

    and a half. The natural mineral productions hei’e are of great

    value, and it is a knowledge of this fact which has induced the

    Chinese to persevere in retaining so expensive and turl)ulent a

    frontier province. The gold and jade of Ivhoten, silver and

    lead of Cosharab, and copper of Khalistan, have given abundant

    employment to Chinese settlers ; while coal, iron, sulphur,

    alum, sal ammoniac, and zinc, though worked in unimportant

    quantities before the insurrection of Yakub khan (Atalik

    Gliazi), furnished the inhabitants with supplies for domestic

    use. An important hinderance to building villages in many sections

    of this territory is the prevalence of sand dunes here.

    Solitary houses and even whole settlements lying in the path of

    these moving hills are suddenly overwhelmed and oftentimes

    totalh’ effaced.

    The town of Kashgar is situated at the northwestern angle

    of the Southern Circuit, on the Kashgar River, a branch of the

    Tarim, in lat. 39° 25′ X., and long. 76° 5′ E., at the extreme

    west of the Empire. Several roads meet here. Going in a

    northw^est direction, one leads over the Tien shan to Kokand ; a

    second passes south, through Yarkand and Khoten, to Leh and

    Cashmere ; a third, the great caravan route, from China through

    1 H. W. Bellew, Kashmir and Kashgar. A Narrative of the Journey of the Embassy to Kashgar in 1873-4, p. 2.

    Uslii, iiiav be said to end liere ; and the fourth and most frequented,

    leads off northwest over the Tien shan through the

    llowat Pass, and along the western banks of Lake Issik-kul to

    111. Kashgar was the capital of the Oigours for a long time, and

    its ruler forced his people, as far east as llanii, to accept Islaniisni

    about the year lUCiO. They then came under Genghis’

    sway, and this city increased its iuiportance. but when Abubahr

    JMiza took Yarkand, he razed Kashgar to the ground. Under

    Chinese rule it became one of the richest marts in Central

    Asia, and its future im])ortance is secured by its position. The

    city is enclosed with high and massive walls, supported by buttress

    bastions, and protected by a deep ditcli on three sides, the river flowing under the fourth. There are but two gates ; the area within is about fifty acres. Around it are populous suburbs.

    In the middle of the town is a large s(piare, and four bazaars

    branch from it through to the gates ; the gari-ison is placed

    without the wall^. The nuinufactures of Kashgar excel those

    of any other town in the two Circuits, especially in jade, gold,

    silk, cotton, gold and silver cloths, and carpets. The country

    around produces fruit and grain in abundance; “the manners

    of the people have an appearance of elegance and politeness,”

    says the Chinese geographer ;

    ” the women dance

    and sing in fanuly parties ; they fear and respect the officers,

    and have not the M’ild, uncultivated aspect of those in

    Ushi.” This judgment is in a measure confirmed by Bellew,

    who credits the people with being singularly free from prejudice

    against the foreigners, quite indifferent on any score of his

    nationality or religion, and content so long as lie pays his way

    and does not offend the customs of the natives. Sevei-al towns

    arc subordinate to Kashgar, because of its oversight of their

    I’ulers, and consumption of their products. Southwest lies Tashl)

    alig, and on the road leading to Yarkand is Yangi Tlissar, both

    of them towns of some importance ; the whole distance from

    Kashgar presents a succession of sandy or saline tracts, alternating

    with fertile bottoms wherever water runs. Small villages

    and post houses serve to connect the larger towns, but the soil

    does not reward the cultivators with much produce.

    THE CITY OF YARKAND. 229

    Tarkand, or Yerkiang, is the political capital of the Southern

    Circuit, as the highest militaiy officers and strongest force

    are stationed liere. It is situated on the Yarkand Itiver, in hit.

    36° 30′ X., and long. 77° 15′ E., in the midst of a sand-girt

    oasis of great fertility. The environs are ai)undantlv su])plied

    with water by canals. The stone walls are three miles in circumference,

    but its suburbs are nuicli larger ; the houses are

    built of dried bricks, and the town has a more substantial appearance

    than others in III. There are njanj mosques and colleges,

    which, with the public buildings occupied by the government

    and ti’oops, add to its consideration. Yarkand is one of

    the ancient cities of Tartary, and was, in remote times, a royal

    residence of Turk princes of the Afrasyab dynasty. In modern

    times it owes its rank as a well-built city chiefly to Abubahr

    Miza, whose short-lived sway from Aksu to Wakhan left its

    chief results in the mosques and bazaars erected or enlarged by

    him. By means of quarrying jade in the Karakash valley, and

    W’orking the bangles, ear-rings and other articles in the city,

    thousands of families found employment under Chinese rule.

    With the overthrow of that sway and then of Yakub khan in

    its restoration, all this industry disappeared. In the destruction

    ensuing on these long struggles for supremac}^, one learns the

    explanation of the barbarism which has succeeded the downfall

    of mighty empires all over AYestern ^isia. The city has no important

    manufactures ; it enjoys a local reputation for its

    leather, and boots and shoes made here are esteemed all over

    the province. Among other articles of trade are horses, silk,

    and wool, and fabrics made from them ; but everything found

    at Ivashgar is sold also at this market. In a Chinese notice of

    the city, the customs at Yarkand are stated to have yielded over

    $45,000 annually ; the taxes are 35,400 sacks of grain, 57,569

    pieces of linen, 15,000 lbs. of copper, besides gold, silk, varnish,

    and hemp, part of which are carried to 111. Jade is obtained

    from the river in large pieces, yellow, white, black, and reddish,

    and the articles made from it are cariied to China. The Chinese

    authorities have no olqection to the resorting thither of

    natives of Kokand, Badakshan, and other neighboring states,

    many of whom settle and marry.

    Klioten is situated on the southern side of the desert, and the

    district embraces all the country south of Aksu and \ arkand,

    alono- the northern base of the Kwanlun Mountains, for more

    tlian three hundred miles from east to west. The capital is

    called Ilchi on Chmese maps, and lies in an extensive plain on

    the Khoten Kiver in lat. 37° N., and long. 80^ E. The town

    of Karakash (meaning ‘Black Jade’)’ lies in lat. 37° 10′, long.

    80″ 13′ 30″, a few miles northwest in the same valley, and is

    said by traders to be the capital rather than Ilchi ; it is located

    on the road to Yarkaud, distant twelve days’ journey. On

    this road the town of (iumnu is also placed, whose chief had in

    his possession a stone supposed to have the power of causing

    rain. Kirrea lies five days’ journey east of Ilchi, near the pass

    across the mountains into Tibet and Ladak ; a gold mine is

    M’orked near this place, the produce of which is monopolized by

    the Chinese. The three towns of Karakash, tlchi, and Kirrea,

    are the only places of importance between the valley of the

    Tarim and Tibet, but none of them have been visited for a long

    time by Europeans.* The population of the town or district is

    unknown ; one notice ‘ gives it a very large number, approaching

    three millions and even more, which at any rate indicates

    a more fertile soil and genial climate than the regions north and

    south of it. Dr. Morrison, in his Yieia of China, puts it at

    44,630 inhabitants ; and although the former includes the whole

    district, and is probably too large, the second seems to be nnich

    too small.

    Khoten is known, in Chinese books, by the names of Yu-tu’/i,

    Ilwan-na, KleuAan, and Klu,-sa-tan-na—the last meaning, in

    Sanscrit, ” Breast of tiie Earth.” * Its eastern part is marshy,

    i)ut that the country nnist have a considerable elevation is

    manifest from the fact that the river which drains and connects

    it with the Tarim runs quite across the desert in its

    course. The country is governed by two high officei-s and a

    ‘ But Remusat says that Karakash is a river and no town.

    ‘” Wood {Journey to the Oxuk, p. 279) refers to a frontier town by the name

    of Ecla.

    ‘ Penny Ci/clopcedia, Art. Tuian Shan nan lu.

    * Rdmusat, Ilis’oire de Hhotan, p. 35.

    KHOTEN DISTRICT. 2^1

    detachment of troops ; there are six towns under their jurisdiction,

    the inhabitants of which are ruled in the same manner as

    the other Mohammedan cities. The people, however, are said

    to be mostly of the JJuddhist faith, and the Chinese give a good

    accoimt of their peacefulness and industi-y. The trade with

    Leh and ll’lassa is carried on by a road crossing the Kwunlun

    over the Kirrea Pass, beyond which it divides. The productions

    of Khoten are fine linen and cotton stuffs, jade ornaments,

    amber, copper, grain, fruits, and vegetables ; the former for exportation,

    the latter for use. It was in this region that Col.

    Prejcvalsky discovered (in 1879) a new variety of wild horse, a

    specimen of which has been stuffed and exhibited in St. Petersburg.

    The animal in question, though belonging undoubtedly

    to the genus J^quus, presents, in many respects, an intermediate

    form between the domestic horse and the wdld ass.

    Remusat published, in 1820, an account of this country,

    drawn from Chinese books, in wdiich the principal events in its

    histoiy are stated, commencing with the Han dynasty, before

    the Christian era, down to the Manchu conquest. In the early

    part of its history, Khoten was the resort of many priests from

    India, and the Buddhist faith was early established there. It

    was an independent kingdom most of the time, from its earliest

    mention to the era of Genghis khan, the princes sometimes extending

    their sway from the Iviayii pass and Koko-nor to the

    Tsung ling, and then being obliged to contract to the valley now

    designated as Khoten. After the expulsion of the Mongols

    from China, Khoten asserted its independence, but afterward

    fell under the sway of the Songares and Eleuths, and lost many

    of its inhabitants. The Manchus conquered it in 1770, when

    the rest of the region between the Tien shan and Kwanlun fell

    under their sway, but neither have they settled in it to the same

    extent, nor made thereof a penal settlement, as in other parts

    of 111.-

    The government of Ili differs in some respects from that of

    Mongolia, where religion is partly called in to aid the state. In

    ‘ Concerning the nomenclature of this region compare Remusat, Histoire de

    Khotan, p. 66. See, moreover, ib., p. 47 ff., the legend of a drove of desert

    rats assisting the king of this land against the army of his enemies.

    the Northern Circuit, the authority is strictly military, exercised

    by means of residents and generals, with bodies of troops under

    their control. The supreme connnand of all Hi is intrusted by

    the colonial office to a Manchu UiaH(jl(an,ov military governorgeneral

    at Kuldja, who has under him two coimcillors to take

    cognizance of civil cases, and thirty -four residents scattered

    about in both Circuits. This governor has also the control of

    the troops stationed in the three western departments of Kansuh,

    but has nothing to do M’ith the civil jurisdiction of those

    towns. The entire number of soldiers under his hand is stated

    at 60,000, most of whom have families, and add agricultural,

    mechanical, or other labors to the profession of arms. The

    councillors are not altogether sul)ordhiatc to the general, but report

    to the Colonial Office.

    In the Northern Circuit, there is a deputy appointed for every village and town, invested with military powers over the troops and convicts, and civil supervision over the native jpiko or chieftains, who are the real rulers acknowledged by the clans.

    The character of the inhabitants north of the Tien shan is rendered

    unlike that of those dwelling in the Southern Circuit, not

    more by the diversity in their language and nomadic habits,

    than by the sway religious rites and allegiance have over them.

    Through this latter motive, the government of Mongolia and

    the Xorthern Circuit is rendered far easier and more effectual

    for the distant court of Peking than it otherwise Avould be.

    The appointment of the native chieftains is first announced to

    the general at Kuldja and the Colonial Office, and they succeed

    to their post when confirmed, which, as the station is in a measure

    hereditaiy, usually follows in course.

    The inhabitants of the Southern Circuit are Mohammedans

    and acknowledge a less Milling subjection to the Emperor than

    those in the Xorthern, the differences in race, religion, and language

    being probably the leading reasons. The government

    of the whole rejjrion is divided amoni»; the Manchu residents or

    aiiihatin at the eight cities, who are nominally responsible to the

    general at Ili, and independent of each other, but there is a

    gradation in rank and power, the one at Yarkaiid having the

    priority. The begs are chosen by the tribes themselves, and

    GOVERNMEXT OF IlI 233

    exercise authority in all petty cases arising among the people,

    without the interference of the Chinese. The troops are all

    Manchu or Chinese, none of the Turks being enrolled in separate

    bodies, though individuals are employed with safety.

    There is considerable difference in the rank and inliuence of

    the begs, which is upheld and respected by the amhcDis. The

    allowances and style granted them are regulated in a measure

    by their feudal importance. The revenue is derived from a

    monthly capitation tax on each man of about half a dollar, and

    tithes on the produce ; there are no transit duties as in China,

    but custom-houses are established at the frontier trading towns.

    The language generally used in the Southern Circuit is the

    Jaghatai Turki of the Kalmucks ; the Usbecks constitute the majority

    of the people, but Eleuths and Kalmucks are everywhere

    intermixed. The Tibetans have settled in Khoten, or more

    probably, remnants still exist there of the former ijihabitants.

    The history of the vast region constituting the present government

    of 111 early attracted the attention of oriental scholars,

    and few portions of the world have had a more exciting historj’.

    After the expulsion of the Mongols from China by

    Hungwu, A.D. 1366, they found that they, as a tribe, were inferior

    in power to the westei’u triljes, but it was not till about

    1680 that the Eleuths, noi-th of the Tien slian under the Galdan,’

    began to attack the Kalkas, and drive them eastward.

    The Sunnites, Tsakhars, and Solons, portions of the Eastern

    Mongols, had already joined the Manchus ; and the Kalkas, to

    avoid extermination, submitted to them also, and besought their

    assistance against the Eleuths. Kanghi received their allegiance,

    and tried to settle the difficulties peaceably, but was

    obliged to send his troops against the Galdan, and drivj him

    from the territory of the Kalkas to the westward of Lob-nor

    and Barkul. The Emperor was materially aided in this enterprise

    by the secession from the Eleuths of the Songares,

    whose khan had taken offence, and drawn his hordes off to the

    south. The khans of the Kalkas and their vast territory thus

    ‘ “Galdan, better kuown by his title of Contaisch “—Remusat, Nouveaux

    Melanges, Tome II., p. 29, See also Scliuyler’s TurkiMan, Vol. II., p. 168.

    became subject to the Chinese. The Galdan lost all his forces,

    and expired bj poison, in 1697, his power dying with him, and

    his tribe having already become too weak to resist.

    Upon the ruins of his power arose that of Arabdan, the khan

    of the Songares. lie subjugated the ]S’orthern Circuit, passed

    over into Turkestan, Tangout, and Khoten, and gradually reduced

    to his sway nearly all the elevated region of Central Asia

    M’est of Kansuh. lie expelled the Tourgouths from their possessions

    in Cobdo, and compelled them to retreat to the banks

    of the Volga. Ivanghi expelled the Songares from the districts

    about Koko-nor, but made no impression upon their authority

    in Songaria. After the death of Arabdan, about 1720, his

    throne was disputed, and the power weakened by dissensions

    among his sons, so that it Avas seized by two usurpers, Amursana

    and Tawats, Avho also fell out after their object was gained.

    Annn-sana repaired to Peking for assistance, and with the aid

    of a Chinese army expelled Tawats, and took possession of the

    throne of Arabdan. But he had no intention of becoming a

    vassal to Ivienlung, and was no sooner reinstated than he resisted

    him ; he defeated two Chinese armies sent against him,

    but succumbed on the third attack, and fled to Tobolsk, -where

    he died in 1757.

    The territory of Arabdan then fell to Ivienlung, and he pursued

    his successes with such cruelty that the Northern Circuit

    was nearly depopulated, and the Songares and Eleuths became

    almost extinct as distinct tribes. The banished tribe of Tourgouths

    was then invited by the Emperor to retui-n from Russian

    sway to their ancient possessions, which they accepted in

    1772; the history of the Chinese embassy to them, and their

    disastrous journey back to Cobdo over the Ivirghis steppe and

    through the midst of their enemies, is one of the most remarkable

    instances of nomadic wanderings and unexampled suffering

    in modern times.’ Chinese troops, emigrants, exiles, and

    nomadic tribes and families, M^ere sent and encouraged to come

    ‘ Compare Remusat (Nouvrnvx Melanges, Tome II., p. 102), who lias compiled

    a brief life of their leader Ubusha. De Quincey’s essay, The Flight of a

    Tartar Tribe. Ritter, Asien, Bd. V. pp. 531-58:^ : Welthistorischer Einflusa

    des chinenicheu lieichs auf Central- tinU West-Asien.

    HISTORY AND CONQUEST OF ILI 235

    into the vacant territory, so that erelong it began to resume its

    former importance. In the period which has since elapsed, the

    Manchus have been enabled to prevent any combination among

    the clans, and maintain their own authority by a mixed system

    of coercion and coaxing which they well know how to practise.

    The agricultural and mineral resources of the country have

    been developed, many of the nomads induced to attend to agriculture

    by making their chieftains emulous of each others prosperity,

    and by exciting a spirit of traffic among all.

    There have been some disturbances from time to time, but no

    master spirit has arisen ^v]lo has been able to unite the tribes

    against the Chinese. In 1825, there “svas an attempt made

    from Kokand by Jehangir, grandson of the l:ojeh or prince of

    Kashgar, to regain possession of Turkestan ; the khan of Kokand

    assisted him with a small army, and such was their dislike

    of the Chinese, that as soon as Jehangir appeared, the Mohammedans

    arose and drove the Chinese troops away or put them

    to death, opening the gates to the invader, lie took possession

    of Tarkand and Kashgar, and advanced to Aksu” where the

    winter put a stop to the campaign. In the next year, the khan

    of Kokand, seeing the disposition of the people, thought he

    would embark himself in the same cause, and made an incursion

    as far as Aksu and Khoten, reducing more than half the

    Southern Circuit to himself, but ostensibly in aid of Jehangir.

    The kojeh, beginning to fear his aid, withdrew ; and the khan,

    having suffered some reverses from the Chinese troops, made his

    peace on very favorable terms, and returned to his own country.

    Jehangir went to Khoten fi-om Yarkand, but his conduct there

    displeasing the people, the Chinese troops, about 60,000 in

    number, had no difficulty in dispersing his force, and resuming

    their sway. The adherents of the kojeh fled toward Badakshan,

    while he himself repaired to Isaac, the newly appointed kojeh

    of Kashgar, by whom he was delivered up to the Chinese with

    his family, and all of them most barbarously destroyed.

    The kojeh was rewarded with the office of prince of Kashgar,

    but having been accused of treasonable designs he was ordered

    to come to Peking for trial ; the charges were all disproved,

    and he returned to Kashgar after several years’ residence at the capital of the Empire. The country was gradually reduced

    by Changliiig, the general at Ili, but Kashgar suffered so nuich

    by the war and removal of the chief authority to Yarkand,

    that it has not since regained its Importance. During this war,

    the dislike of the Mohammedans to the Chinese sway M’as exhibited

    in the large forces Jehangir brought into the field ; and

    if he had been a popular spirited leader, there is reason for

    supposing he might have finally wrested these cities from the

    Chinese. The joy of Taukwang at the successful termination

    of the expedition and capture of the rebel, was so extravagant

    as to appear childish ; and when Jehangir was executed at

    Peking, he ordered the sons of two officers who had been reported

    killed, ” to witness his execution, in order to give expansion

    to the indignation which had accumulated in their

    breasts ; and let the rebel’s heart be torn out and given to them

    to sacrifice it at the tombs of their fathers, and thus console

    their faithful spirits.” Honors Avere heaped upon Changling at

    his return to Peking, and rewards and titles showered upon all

    the troops engaged in the war.

    Since this insurrection, the frontiers of Kashgar and Kokand

    have been passed and repassed by the Pruth Kirghis; iiil830,

    they excited so much trouble because their trade was restricted,

    that a large force was called out to restrain them, and many

    lives were lost before the rising was subdued. The causes of

    the dispute wei-e then examined, and the trade allowed to go on

    as befoi’e. The oppressions of the residents sometimes goad

    on the Mohammedans to rise against the Chinese, but the

    policy of the Emperor is conciliatory, and the complaints of the

    people are in general listened to. The visits of the begs and

    princes to Peking with tribute affords them an opportunity to

    state their grievances, while it also prevents them from caballing

    among themselves. In 1871 the Russians took possession of

    nearly the whole of Tien-Shan Peh Lu during an insurrection of

    the Dunganis against Chinese control. The Tarantchis having

    attacked a Russian outpost, and Yakub Beg being on suspiciously

    good terms with the rebels, it was determined to occupy

    Kuldja—which was effected after a campaign of less than a

    month, led by Gen. l\olpakofsky. The Chinese government was

    BOUNDARIES OF TIBET. 2S1

    imniediatelv informed that the place should be restored whenever

    a sutHcient force could be brought there to hold it against

    attacks, and preserve order. After the final conquest of the

    Dungan tribes in 1S79-SO, this territory was returned by the

    Ilussians upon conclusion of their last treaty M’ith China, exactly

    ten years from the date of possession. The old manner

    of government is now resumed and the country slowly recoveriiiiT

    from the fri^-htful devastation of the insurrection. The

    salai’ies of the governor-general and his councillors, and the

    residents, are small, and they are all obliged to resort to illegal

    means to reimburse their outlays. The highest officer receives

    about $5,200 annually, and his councillors about $2,000 ; the residents

    from $2,300 down to $500 and less. These sums do not,

    probably, constitute one-tenth of the receipts of their situations.’

    The third gi-eat division of the colonial part of the Chinese

    empire, that of Tibet, is less known than III, though its area is

    hardly less extensive. It constitutes the most southern of the

    three great table lands of Central Asia, and is surrounded with

    high mountains which separate it from all the contiguous regions.

    The word Tibet or Tubet is unknown among the inhabitants

    as the name of their country ; it is a corruption by the

    Mongols of T(c po,’ the country of the Tu, a race w^hich overran

    it in the sixth century ; Turner gives another name, Pue-hoachim-,

    signifying the ‘ snowy country of the north,’ doubtless a

    local or ancient term. The general appellation by the people is

    Pot or Bod, or Bod yul—”- the land of Bod.” ‘ It is roughly

    bounded northeast by Ivoko-nor ; east by Sz’chuen and Yunnan ;

    south by Assam, Butan, Xipal, and Gurhwal ; west by Cashmere

    ; and north by the unknown i-anges of the Kwanlun Mountains.

    The southern frontier curves considerably in its course,

    1 Chinese Repository, Vol. V., pp. 267, 316, 351, etc. ; Vol. IX., p. 113.

    Penny Uyclo^mUa, Art. Songaria. Boiilger, Russia and England in Central

    Asia, 2 Vols., London, 1879. Schuyler, Turkistan, 2 vols., N. Y., 1877.

    Petermann’s Mlttheilungen, Appendices XLII. and XLIII., 1875.

    – This derivation is explained somewhat differently in R^musat, Nouveaux

    Melanges, Tome I., p. 190.

    3 To these Ritter adds the names of Wei, Dzang, Nga-ri, Kham, Bhodi, Peuu-

    Tsang, Si-Dzang, Tliupho, Tubl.at, TGbGt, Tiibet, Tibet, and Barantola, asall

    applying to this country. Asien, Bd. III., S. 174-183.

    but is not less than 1,500 miles from the western extremity of

    Kipal to the province of Yunnan ; the northern border is about

    1,300 miles ; the western frontiers cannot be accurately defined,

    and depend more upon the possession of the passes through which

    trade is carried on than any political separation. Beltistan,

    Little Tibet, and Ladak, although included in its limits on

    Chinese maps, have too little subjection or connection with the

    court of Peking, to be reckoned among its dependencies.

    Tibet, in its largest limits, is a table land, the highest plains

    of which have a mean elevation of 11,510 feet, or about 1,300

    feet lower than the plateau of Bolivia, near Lake Titicaca.

    The snow-line on the north side of the Himalaya is at an altitude

    of 16,630 feet ; on the southern slope it is at 12,982 feet.

    Several striking analogies may be traced between this country

    and Peru : the tripartite divisions caused by lofty ranges ; their

    common staples of wool, from alpacas and vicunas in one, and

    sheep and goats in the other ; the abundance of precious

    metals, and many specific customs. The entire province of

    Tibet is divided by mountain chains into three distinct parts; its western portion consists of the basin of the Lidus, until it breaks through into Cashmere at Makpon-i-Shagaron. It begins near Mount Ivailasa, and stretches northwest between the Hindu Ivush and Himalaya, comprising the whole of Beltistan and Ladak ; the Kara-korum, Mus-tag, or Tsung ling range defines it on the northeast. The second part consists of an extensive desert land, commencing at Mount Kailasa, and having the Tsung ling on the west, the Kwjlnlun on the north

    (which separates it from Khoten, and the high waterslied of the

    Yangtsz’, Salween, and other rivers), and Lake Tengkiri, on the

    east ; the Himalaya constitutes its southern boundary. This

    high i-egion, called Katshe or Kor-kache, has not been traversed

    by intelligent travellers and is one of the few yet unknown regions

    of the earth, and is nearly uninhabitable, owing to the extreme rigor of its climate.’

    ‘ Se<‘ Ri’musat, Nouvennx Milnnc/es, T. , p. 100, for notices of tribes anciently inliabiting this district and Bokhara. Compare also Heeren {Historical Re’ aenrcJies, Vol. I., j)p. 180-186), who gives in brief the accounts of Herodotus k)id Ctesias.

    \ NATURAL FEATURES OF TIBET. 239

    The eastern part, consisting of the basin of the Yaru-tsangbu,

    contains, in its plains, most of the towns in Tibet, until it

    reaches the Alpine region which lies between the River Yarn

    and the Yangtsz’, a space extending from long. 1)5° to 99° E.

    This district is described as a succession of ridges and gorges,

    over which the road takes the traveller on narrow and steep

    paths, crossing the valleys by ropes and bridges enveloped in

    the clouds. Mount Kailasa, a notable peak lying in the northeastern

    part of Xari, is not far from 26,000 feet high. The

    number of summits covered with perpetual snow exceeds that

    of any other part of the world of the same extent.

    The road from Sz’chuen to H’lassa strikes the Yalung kiang,

    in the district of Ta tsien lu, and then goes southwesterly to

    Batang on the Yangtsz’ kiang ; crossing the river it proceeds

    up the narrow valley a short distance, and then crosses the

    mountains northwest to the Lantsan kiang or River Meikon, by

    a series of pathways leading over the gorges, till it reaches

    Tsiamdo ; from this point the road turns gradually southwest,

    following the valleys when practicable, till it ends at H’lassa.

    The largest river in Tibet is the Erechumbu, or Yaru-tsangbu ;

    tsangha means river, and is often alone used for this whole

    name. It rises in the Tamchuk range, at the Mariam-la pass

    in Nari, 60 miles east of Lake Manasarowa, the source of the

    Sutlej ; it flows a little south of east for about seven hundred

    miles, through the whole of Southern Tibet, between the first

    and second ranges of the Himalayas, as far as long. 90° E.

    Its tributaries on the north are mimerous, and among them the

    Nauk-tsani>;bu and Dzany;tsu are the larij-est. The volume of

    water which flows through the mountains into Assam by this

    river, is equal to that by the Indus into Scinde. The disputed

    question, whether the Yaru-tsangbu joins the Brahmaputra or

    Irrawadi, has been settled by presumptive evidence in favor

    of the former, but a distance of about 400 miles is still unexplored; ‘ the fall in this part is about 11,000 feet, to where the river Dihong has been traced in Assam. This makes the Brah-‘ Introduction by Col. Yule, iu Gill’s River of Golden 8and.luaputra the largest and longest river in Southern Asia ; Its passage into Assam is near 95° E. longitude.

    The eastern part of Tibet, beyond this meridian, is traversed

    by numerous ranges of lofty mountains, having no separate

    names, the direction of which is from west to east, and from

    northwest to southeast. From these ranges, lateral branches

    run out in different directions, containing deep valleys between

    them. In proportion as the principal chains advance towards

    the southeast they converge towards one another, and thus the

    valleys between them gradually become narrower, until at last,

    on the frontiers of Yunnan and Burmah, they are mere mountain

    passes, whose entire breadth does not much exceed a

    hundred miles, having four streams flowing through them.

    In fact, Tibet incloses the fountain heads of all the large rivers

    of Southern and Eastern Asia. The names and courses of those

    in Eastern Tibet are known ordy imperfectly from Chinese

    maps, but others have described them after their entrance into

    the lowlands.

    Tibet, especially the central part, is a country of lakes, in this

    respect resembling Cobdo. The largest, Tengkiri-nor, situated

    in the midst of stupendous mountains, about one hundred and

    ten miles northwest of Il’lassa, is over a hundred miles long and

    about thirty wide. The i-egion north of it contains many isolated

    lakes, most of them salt. Two of the largest, the Bouka

    and Kara, are represented as connected with the Tliver Xu.

    Lake Khamba-la, Yamoruk or Yarbrokyu, sometimes called

    Palti, from a town on its northern sliore, is a large lake south of

    iriassa, remarkable for its ring shape, the centi-e being filled

    by a large island, around which its waters flow in a chamiel

    thirty miles or more in width. On the island is a nunnery,

    called the Palace of the Holy Sow, said to be the finest in the

    country. In Balti or Little Tibet are many sheets of water, the

    largest of which, the Yik and Paha, are connected by a river

    flowing through a marshy country. A long succession of lakes

    fill one of the basins in Katsche, suggesting the former existence

    of another Aral Sea. The sacred lakes of Manasarowa and

    Ilavan-hrad (Ma])am-dalai and Langga-nor, of the Cliinese)

    form the headwaters of the Sutlej.

    CLIMATE, FOOD ANJ) l’K<>DUCTIONS. 241

    The climate of Tibet is cliaracterized by its purity and excessive

    dryness. The valleys are hot, notwithstanding their proximity

    to snow-capped mountains; from May to October the sky

    is clear in the table -lands, and in the valleys the moisture and

    temperature are favorable to vegetation, the harvest being gathered

    before the gales and snows set in, after October. The

    effects of the air resemble or are worse than those of the kamsin

    in Egypt. The trees wither, and their leaves may be ground

    to powder between the fingers ; planks and beams break, and

    the iidial)itants cover the tind)ers and wood-work of their houses

    with coarse cotton, in order to preserve them against the destructive

    saccidity. The timber neither rots nor is worm-eaten.

    Mutton, exposed to the open air, Ijecomes so “dry that it may be

    powdered like bread ; when once dried it is preserved during

    years. This flesh-bread is a common food in Tibet. The carcass

    of the animal, divested of its skin and viscera, is placed

    where the frosty air Mnll have free access to it, until all the

    juices of the body dry np, and the whole becomes one stiffened

    mass. Xo salt is used, nor does it ever become tainted, and is

    eaten without any further dressing or cooking ; the natives eat it

    at all periods after it is frozen, and prefer the fresh to that which

    has been kept some months. The food called janiha is prepared

    by cooking brick tea during several hours, then adding butter

    and salt, and stirring the mixture until it becomes a thick broth.

    AVhen eaten the stuff is served in wooden bowls, and a plentiful,

    supply of roasted barley-meal poured in, the whole being kneaded

    by the hands and devoured in the shape of dough pellets.

    The productions of Tibet consist of domestic animals, cattle,

    horses, pigs ; some wild animals, such as the white-breasted

    argali, orongo-antelope, ata-dzeren, wolf, and steppe-fox ; and few

    plants or forests, presenting a strong contrast with Nipal and

    Butan, where vegetable life flourishes more luxuriantly. Sheep

    and goats are reared in immense flocks, for beasts of burden

    over the passes, and for their flesh, hair, and coats. Chiefest

    among the animals of tliis mountain land is the yak.’ The

    ‘ Called by Wood Kasli-gow {Journey to the Oxus, p. 319). Chauri gau^aarlykt and sarlac, are other names. doiiiesticated variety, or long-haired yak, is the inseparable companion and most trusty servant not only of the Tibetans, but of tribes in Cashmere, Ladak, Tangout, and JVIongolia, even as far north as Urga. It is a cross-breed, or mule from the yak bull and native cow, which alone is hardy enough for these elevated regions.’ These creatures are of the same size as our cattle, strong, sure-footed and possessed of extraordinary endurance; they retain, however, something of their wild nature, even after long domestication, and must be carefully treated,

    Domesticated Yak.

    especially when being loaded and unloaded. They thrive best

    in hilly countries, well watered and covered with grass—the two

    last being indispensable. The hair is black or black and white,

    seldom entirely white. One sort is without horns, and when

    crossed with the cow bears sterile males, or females which are

    fertile for one generation. As to the wild yak of Til)et, a traveller

    says : ” This handsome animal is of extraordinary size and

    beauty, measuring, when grown, eleven feet in length, exclusive

    of its bushy tail, which is three feet long; its height at the

    hump is six feet ; girth around the body eleven feet, and its

    ‘ This cross is mentioned by Maroo Polo, Yule^a ed., Vol. I., p. 241.

    AlSriMALS OP TIBET. 243

    weight ten or eleven liundred weight. The head is aaorned

    with ponderous liorns, two feet nine inches h)ng, and one foot

    four indies in circumference at the root. The body is covered

    with tliick, black hair, which in the old males assumes a chestnut

    color on the back and upper parts of the sides, and a deep

    fringe of black hair hangs down from the flanks. The muzzle

    is partly gray, and the younger males liave marks of the same

    color on the upper part of the body, whilst a narrow, silverygray

    stripe runs down the centre of the back. The hair of

    young yaks is much softer than that of older ones ; they are

    also distinguishable by their smaller size, and by handsomer

    horns, with the points turned up. The females are much

    smaller than the males, and not nearly so striking in appearance

    ; their horns are shorter and lighter, the hump smaller,

    and the tail and flanks not nearly as hairy.” ‘ This animal is

    useful for its milk, flesh, and wool, as well as for agricultural

    purposes and travel.

    There is comparatively little agriculture. The variety of

    wild animals, birds, and fishes, is very great ; among them the

    musk deer, feline animals, eagles, and wild sheep, are objects

    of the chase. The brute creation are generally clothed with an

    abundance of fine hair or wool ; even the horses have a shaggier

    coat than is granted to bears in more genial climes. The

    Tibetan mastiff is one of the largest and fiercest of its race,

    almost nntamable, and unknown out of its native country.

    The nnisk deer is clothed with a thick coverino; of hair two or

    three inches long, standing erect over the whole body ; the

    animal resembles a hog in size and form, having, however,

    slender legs. The Tibetan goat affords the shawl wool, so

    highly prized for the manufacture of garments.^

    ‘ Prejevalsky, Travels in Mongolia, etc., Vol. I., p. 187.

    “^ B. H. Hodgson, Notice of the Mammals of Tibet, Journal As. Soc. of BeU’gal, Vol. XI., pp. 275 ff. ; also ib. Vols. XVI., p. 763, XIX., p. 466, and XXVI., No. 3, 1857. Abbe Armand David-, Notes sur quelques oiseaux de Thibet, Nouv. Arch, du MuMum, Bull, V. 1869, p. 33; ib. Bull, VI., pp. 19 and 33. Bull, VIII., 1872, pp. 3-128, IX., pp. 15-48, X., pp. 3-82. Recherches pour servir a Vhistoire naturelle des mammiferes comprennant des considerations su)’ la classification de ces animaux, etc. , des etudes sur la faiine de la Chineel du Tibet oriental, par MM. Milne-Edwards, etc, 2 vols. Paris, 1868-74.

    Fruits are common ; small peaches, grapes, apples, and nuts, constitute the limited variety. Barley is raised more than any

    other grain the principal part of agricultural labors being performed

    by the Avomen. Pulse and wheat ai’e cultivated, but no

    rice “svest of Illassa. Ithubarl), asaf{jL’tida, ginger, madder, and

    safflower are collected or prepared, but most of the medicines

    come from China and Butan. Turnips, rape, garlic, onions, and

    melons are raised in small quantities. The mineral productions

    are exceedingly rich. Gold occurs in mines and placer diggings,

    and forms a constant article of export ; lead, silver, copper, and

    cinnabar are also dug out of the ground, but iron has not been

    found to much extent. The great difficulty in the way of the

    inhabitants availing themselves of their metallic Avealth, apart

    fi’om their ignorance of the best modes of mining, is the want

    t>f fuel with which to smelt the ore. Tincal, or crude borax,

    is gathered on the borders of a small lake in the neighborhood

    of Tengkiri-nor, where also any quantity of rock salt can be

    obtained. Precious stones are met with, most of which find

    their way to China.

    The 2)resent divisions of Tibet, by the Chinese, are Tsien

    Tsang^ or Anterior Tibet, and JIau Tsang, or Ulterior Tibet.

    Anterior Tibet is also called U (Wei) and U-tsang, and includes

    the central part of Bod-yur where Il’lassa is ; east of

    this lies Ivham (Kang) or Khamyul, and northeast toward

    Ivoko-nor is Ivhamsok, /.(?., Ivham on the River Sok. Kear the

    bend of the Brahmaputra is the district of Ivongbo, where I’ice

    can be raised ; going westward are Takpo, doUs and gTsang on

    the borders of Xari, ending in a line nearly continuous with

    the eastern border of Kipal. The Chinese books mention eight

    cantons in Anterior Tibet, five of them lying east of ITlassa,

    added to which are thirty-nine feudal townships in Khamsok

    called tu-sz\ all of them chiefiy nominal or at present antiquated.

    Csoma de Ivciros speaks of several small principalities

    in Kham, and describes the inhabitants as differing from the

    rest of the Tibetans in appearance and language ; they assimilate

    probably with the tribes on the l]urman and Chinese frontiers.

    Xari ( A-li in Chinese) is divided into Mangyul, Khorsum,

    and Maryul. The first of these districts lies nearly centerh’LASSA

    the (ATITAL. 24^

    iiiinous with Xipal, and its area is probably about the same, but

    its cold, drj, and elevated i-egions, support only a few sliepherds

    ; Khorsuni and Maryul lie north and northwest in a

    still more inhospitable clime ; the latter adjoins Ladak and

    Balti and is the reservoir of hundreds of lakes situated from

    12,000 to 15,000 feet above the sea. A ridge separates the

    valley of the Indus from the Sutlej, crossed at the Bogola Pass,

    19,220 feet high, and then- over the Gugtila Pass, 19,500 feet

    into Gartok. The people throughout this elevated region are

    forced to live in tents, wood being ahuost unknown for buildil’lassa,

    the gyalsa or capital of Tibet, is situated on the Kichu

    River, about twelve leagues from its junction with the

    Yarn, in lat. 29° 39′ ]S\, and long. 91°05’E. ; the name signifies

    God’s ground^ and it is the largest town in this part of Asia.

    It is famous for the convents near it, composing the ecclesiastical

    establishments of the Dalai (or ‘ Ocean ‘)-lama, whose residence

    is in the monastery of Pobrang-marbu {I.e., ‘ Red town ‘) on

    Mount Putala. The principal building of this establishment is

    three hundred and sixty-seven feet high, and it contains, as the

    Chinese expression is, ” a myriad of rooms.” This city is the

    head-quarters of Buddhism, and the hierarchy of lamas, who, by

    means of the Dalai-lama, and his subordinate the Kiituktu, exercise

    priestly control over wellnigh all Mongolia as well as Tibet.

    The city lies in a fertile plain nearly 12,000 feet high, about

    twelve miles wide, and one hundred and twenty-five from north

    to south, producing harvests of barlej^ and millet, with abundant

    pasturage and some fruit trees. Mountains and hills encircle it; of these the westernmost is Putala, the liver running so near its base that a wall has been built to preserve the buildings from the rise of the waters. The Chinese garrison is quartered about two miles north of this mount, and two large temples, called ITlassa tm-‘kang and Bamotsietso-hang, resplendent with gold and precious stones, stand very near it. The four monasteries.

    Sera, Brebung, Samye, and Galdan, constitute as many separate establishuients.’ During the sway of the Songares in’ Klaproth, Description du Ttibet, p. 246.Ill, their prince xVrabdan made a descent npon IPlassa, and the Lama Avas killed. Kanglu placed a new one upon the see, in 1720, appointing six leading officers of the old Lama to assist him in the government. Three of these joined in an insurrection, and in the conflicts which succeeded, IFlassa suffered considerably.

    The population of the town is conjectured to be 24,000 ; that of the province is reckoned by Csoma at about 050,000.

    The town was visited in the year 1811 by j\rr. Manning whose description of its dirty and miserable streets swarming Mitli dogs and beggars, and the meanness of its buildings, corresponds

    with what Hue and Gabet found in 1846. Mr. Manning

    remained there nearly five months, and had several intei:-

    views with the Dalai-lama ; lie was much impeded in his

    observations by a Cantonese viansJd or teachei’, and exposed to

    danger of illness from insufficient shelter and clothing. His

    reception by the chief of the Buddhist faith on the 17th of

    December, was equally remarkable with that by the Teshu-lama

    of Bogle in 1774, and of Turner in 1783. Mr. Manning was

    alone and unprotected and had very few presents, but his offering

    was accepted ; it consisted of a piece of fine broadcloth, two

    brass candlesticks, twenty new dollars, and two vials of lavender

    water. He rode to the foot of the mountain Putala, and

    dismounted on the first platform to ascend by a long stairway

    of four hundred steps, part of them cut in the rock, and the

    rest ladder steps from story to stoiy in the palace, till he

    reached a large platform roof off which was the reception hall.

    Upon entering this he found that the Ti-mu-fu or Gesiib Jiwihoche,

    the highest civil functionary in Tibet, was also present,

    wliich caused him some confusion : “I did not know how

    much ceremony to go through with one before I began with

    the other. I made the due obeisance, touching the ground three times with my head to the (ii’and Lama, and once to the 2\-ina-fu. I presented my gifts, delivering the coins with a handsome silk scarf with my own hands to them both. While I was Jxotovnmj, the awkward servants let one of the bottles of lavender water fall and break. Havin<i: delivered the scarf to the Grand Lama, I took oft” my hat, and humbly gave him my clean shaven head to lay his hands upon. . . . The Lama’s beautiful and interesting face and manner engrossed all my attention.

    SIIIGATSE AND TESIIU-LUMBO. 247

    He was about seven yeai-s old ; had the simple manners

    of a well educated princely child. His face was, I thought,

    poetically and affectingly beautiful. He was of a cheerful disposition,

    his beautiful mouth perpetually unbending into a

    graceful smile, which illuminated his whole countenance. No

    doubt my grim beard and spectacles excited his risibility. “We

    had not been seated long before he put questions which we rose

    to receive and answer. He inquired whether I had met with

    difficulties on the road ; to which I replied that I had had

    troubles, but now that I had the happiness of being in his presence

    they were amply compensated. I could see that this

    answer pleased both him and his people, for they found that I

    was not a mere rustic, but had some tincture of civility in me.” ‘

    The capital of Tsangor Ulterior Tibet is Shigatse, situated 126

    miles west of H’lassa, and under its control. The monastery

    where the Teshu-lama and his court resides is a few miles

    distant, and constitutes a town of about 4,000 priests, named

    Teshu-Lumbo. He is styled Panchen Rimboche, and is the

    incarnation of Amitabha ]>uddha. His palace is built of dark

    l)rick and has a roof of gilded copper ; the houses rise one

    above another and the gilt ornaments on the temples combine

    to give a princely appearance to the town. The fortress of

    Shigatse stands so as to command both places. The plain

    between this town and H’lassa is a fertile tract, and judging

    from the number of towns in the valleys of the basin of the

    Yaru, its productive powers are comparatively great. Ulterior

    Tibet is divided into six other cantons, besides the territory

    under the jurisdiction of the chief town, most of their fortified

    capitals lying westward of Shigatse.

    ‘ Mis-sion of George Bogle to Tibet and Journey of Thomas Manning to Lhaaa^Edited by C. R. Markliam. London, 1876, p. 265.

    The degree of skill the Tibetans have attained in manufactures, mechanical arts, and general civilization, is less than that of the Chinese, but superior to the Mongols. They appear to be a mild and humane people, possessing a religious sense and enjoying an easy life compared with their southern neighbors.

    They are well-bred and affable, fond of gossiping and festivities, which soften the heart and cheer the temper. Women are treated with care and are not often compelled to work out of doors, ^s’o two people or countries widely separated present a stronger contrast than do the stout, tall, muscular, and floi-id Butias, upon their fertile fields and wooded hills, with the squat, puny, sluggish, and swarthy Tibetans in their rugged, barren mountains. They distinguish five sorts of people among

    themselves, the last of whom are the Butias ; the others are

    the inhabitants of Kham, or Anterior Tibet, those in Tsang, the

    nomads of Kor-kache, and the people of Little Tibet. All of

    them speak Tibetan with some variations. The Tibetans are

    clad with woollens and furs to such a degree that they appear

    to emulate the animals they derive’ them from in their weight

    and warmth ; and with this clothing is found no small quantity

    of dirt. The dress of the sexes varies slightly in its shape ;

    yellow and red are the predominant colors. Large bulgar boots

    of hide are worn by all persons ; the remainder of the dress

    consists of woollen robes and furs like those of the Chinese.

    The women wear many jewels, and adorn their hair as do the

    Mongols with pearls, coral, and turquoises. Girls braid their

    hair in three tresses, married women in two. The head is protected

    by high velvet caps ; the men wear broad-brimmed

    coverings of various materials.

    The two religious sects are distinguished by yellow and red

    caps ; the latter are comparatively few, allow marriage to the

    lamas, but do not differ materially in their ritual or tenets.

    There is no country where so large a proportion of the people

    are devoted to religious service as in Tibet, nor .one where the

    secular part of the inhabitants pays such implicit deference to

    the clergy. The food of the Tibetans is taken at all hours,

    nmtton, barley, and tea constituting the staple articles. On

    all visits tea is presented, and the cup replenished as often as it

    is drained. Spirits and beer, both made from barley, are common

    beverages. On every visit of ceremony, and whenever a

    letter is sent from one person to another, it is necessary to connect

    a silk scarf with it, the size and texture being proportioned

    to the rank and condition of the parties. The sentence Omviaiil 2)ttdiiii- hum is woven upon each end.

    OM MANX PADMI HUM. 249

    The following note by Col. Yule, condensed from Koeppen’s

    Lamaisehe Hlcrai’clde iind Kurhe, contains the most satisfactory

    explanation of this puzzling mystic formnla : ” Om mani

    padmi hum!—the primeval six syllables, as the lamas l ly,

    among all prayers on earth form that which is most abundantly

    recited, written, printed, and even spun by machines for the

    good of the faithful. These syllables form the only prayer

    knoM’u to the ordinary Tibetans and Mongols; they are the first

    words that the child learns to stannner, and the last gasping

    utterance of the dying. The wanderer nmrmurs them on his

    M’ay, the herdsman beside his cattle, the matron at her household

    tasks, the monk in all the stages of contemplation (/.^., of

    fa7- niente) y they form at once a cry of battle and a shout of

    victory ! They are to be read wherever the Lama church

    hath spread, upon banners, upon rocks, upon trees, upon walls,

    upon monuments of stone, upon household utensils, upon strips

    of paper, upon human skulls and skeletons ! They foi*m, according

    to the idea of the believers, the utmost conception of all

    religion, of all wisdom, of all revelation, the path of rescue and

    the gate of salvation ! Properly and literally these

    four words, a single utterance of which is sufficient of itself

    to purchase an inestimable salvation, signify nothing more

    than : ” O the Jewel in the Lotus ! Amen !

    ” Li this interpretation,

    most probably, the Jetcel stands for the Bodhisatva

    Avalokite5vara, so often born from the bud of a lotus flower.

    According to this the whole fornmla is simply a salutation to

    the mighty saint who has taken under his especial chai-ge the

    conversion of the Xorth, and with him who first employed it

    the mystic formula meant no more than Ave AvaloJiitecvara !

    But this simple explanation of course does not satisfy the Lama

    schoolmen, who revel in glorifications and multitudinous glossifications

    of this formula. The six syllables are the heart of

    hearts, the root of all knowledge, the ladder to re-birth in

    higher forms of being, the conquerors of the five evils, the

    flame that burns up sin, the hannner that breaks up torment,

    and so on. Om saves the gods, tua the Asuras, ni the men, jH((7 the animals, ?//< the spectre world oi p?’etas, ^lan the in

    habitants of hell! O/a^ is ‘the blessing of self-renunciation,

    ma of mercy, ?u’ of chastity, etc’ * Truly monstrous,’ says

    Koeppen,”is the number oi pcuh/us \\\nch in the great festivals

    Imm and buzz through the air like flies.’ In some places

    each worshipper reports to the highest Lama how many oni

    ‘jiKinis he has nttered, and the total immber emitted by the

    congregation is counted by the billion.”

    Grueber and Dorville describe Manij>e as an idol, befoi’e

    which xtidfa yens insol’dis gcdleulatlonihus sacra sua faclt.,

    hlentldtn verTja haec repetens:

    —’ O JManipe, mi hum, O Manipe,

    mi hum ; id est Manipe, salva nos !

    ‘ ” Ileniusat {Melanges

    I^ostJiuiiies, Paris, 1843, p. 90) translates this phrase by:

    ” Adoration, O thou precious stone who art in the lotus ! ” and

    observes that it illustrates the fundamental dogma of Buddhism,

    viz. : the production of the material universe by an absolute

    being; all things which exist are shut up in the breast of the

    divine substance ; the ‘ precious stone ‘ signifying that tJte

    world is in God. Mr. Jameson says that the sentence Oni

    tnaxi jxtdiiii JuDKj is formed of the initial letters of various

    deities, all of whom are supposed to be implored in the prayer.’

    In reverential salutations, the cap is removed by the inferior,

    and tbe arms hang by the side. The bodies of the dead are

    placed in an open inclosure, in the same nuumer as practised by

    the Parsees, where birds and beasts of prey devour them, or

    they are dismembered in an exposed place. Lanuis are burned,

    and their ashes collected into urns. As soon as the breath has

    departed, the body is seated in the same attitude as Buddha is

    represented, with the legs bent before, aiul the soles of the feet

    turned upwards. The right hand rests upon the thigh, the

    left turns up near the body, the tlnnnb touching the shoulder.

    In this attitude of contemplation, the corpse is burned.

    In Tibet, as in Butan, the custom of polyandry prevails. The

    choice of a Avife lies with the eldest son, who having made

    known his intentions to his parents sends a matchmaker to pro-

    ‘ Comjiare, for further discussion of this suhjoct, Timkowski’s Misffion ts Peking, London. 1827, Vol. II., p. :i4y. Wilson’s Abode of >S/toiC, p. 329.

    TIBETAN TYPES AND CUSTOMS. 251

    pose the matter to the parents of the girl. The consent of the

    parents being obtained, the matchmaker places an ornament of

    a jewel set in gold, called sedskc upon the head of the damsel,

    and gives her presents of jewels, dresses, cattle, etc., according

    to the means of the young man. The guests invited on the

    day of the marriage bring presents of such things as they

    choose, which augments the dowry, A tent is set up before

    the bride’s house, in which are placed three or four square

    cushions, and the ground around sprinkled with wheat ; the

    bride is seated on the highest cushion, her parents and friends

    standing near her according to their rank, and the assembled

    party there partake of a feast. The bride is then conducted to

    the house of her lover by the friends present, her person being

    sprinkled with wheat or barley as she goes along, and there

    placed by his side, and both of them served with tea and spirits.

    Soon after, the groom seats himself apart, and every one present

    gives a scarf, those of superior rank binding them around their

    necks, equals and inferiors laying them by their sides. The

    next day, a procession is formed of the relatives of the newly

    married pair, wdiich visits all the friends, and the marriage is

    conqjleted. The girl thus becomes the wife of all the brothers,

    and manages the domestic concerns of their household. The

    number of her husbands is son)etimes indicated by as many

    points in her cap. This custom is strengthened by the desire,

    on the part of the family, to keep the property intact among

    its members ; but it does not prevent one of the husbands leaving

    the roof and marrying another woman, nor is the usage

    universal, liemusat speaks of a novel in Tibetan, in which the

    author admirably portrays the love of his heroine, Triharticha,

    for her four lovers, and bi’ings their marriage in at the end in

    the happiest manner.

    The dwellings of the poor are built of unhewn stones, rudely piled upon each other without cement, two stories high, and resembling brick-kilns in shape and size ; the windows are small, in order not to weaken the structure ; the roof is flat, defended by a brushwood parapet, and protected from the molestation of evil spirits by flags, strips of paper tied to strings, or branches of trees. Timber is costly and little used ; the floors are of marble or tiles, and the furniture consists of little else than mats and cushions. The temples and convents are more imposing and commodious structures ; some of those at Il’lassa are among the noblest specimens of architecture in Central Asia.

    The mausoleum of the Teshu-lama at Teshu Lumbu resembles

    a plain square watch-tower surmounted by a double Chinese

    canopy roof, the eaves of which are hung with Ijells, on which

    the breeze plays a ceaseless dirge. The body of the lama reposes

    in a coffin of gold, and his effigy, also of gold, is placed

    within the concavity of a large shell upon the top of the pyramidal

    structure which contains it. The sides of the pyramid

    are silver plates, and on the steps are deposited the jewels and

    other costly articles which once appertained to him. An altar

    in front receives the oblations and incense daily presented before

    the tomb, and near by is a second statue of the deceased as

    large as life in the attitude of reading. Scrolls and pennons of

    silk hang from the ceiling, and the walls are adorned with

    paintings of priests engaged in prayer. The whole structure is

    substantially built, and its rich ornaments are placed there n<jt

    less for security than to do honor to the revered person deposited

    beneath. The windows are closed with mohair curtains,

    and a skylight in the upper story serves for lighting the room,

    and for passing out upon the roof. The roof or parapet is

    ornamented with cylinders of copper or other nuiteiials, which

    imparts a brilliant appearance to the ediiices.

    The manufactures of Tibet consist of woollens, cloth, blankets,

    yarn, goat-hair shawls, musk, paper, metals, and jewelry.

    Their lapidaries cut every kind of oriuiment in superior style,

    and gold and silverware forms a considerable article of trade to

    China. These and other crafts nmst necessai’ily languish, liowever,

    from the immense proportion of men who are witiidi’awn

    from labor into monasteries, compelling the residue to devote

    most of their strength to tillage. The most important exports

    to China consist of gold dust, precious stones, bezoars, asafcetida,

    musk, woollens, and skins ; for which the people receive

    silks, teas, chinaware, tobacco, musical instruments, and metals.

    The trade is carried on throuy-h Sinino- fu in Kansuh, and Batang in Sz’chneii. Tincal, rock-salt, and shawl wool, are additional articles sent to Ladak, Biitan, and India.

    COMMERCE AND LANGUAGE OF TIBET. 25;}

    Music is studied by the priesthood for their ceremonies, and

    with much better effect than among the Chinese priests. Their

    amusements consist in archery, dancing, and observance of

    many festivals connected with the worship of the dead or of

    the living. Dram-drinking is common, but the people camiot

    be called a drunken race, nor does the habit of opium eating or

    smoking, so fatally general in Assam, prevail, inasmuch as the

    poppy cannot well be cultivated among the mountains.

    Education is confined to the priesthood, but the women, who conduct much of the traffic, also learn arithmetic and writing. The language is alphabetical, and reads from left to right; there are two forms of the character, the uchen used for books, and the umin employed in writing, which do not differ more than the Iloman and the running-hand in English. The form of the characters shows their Sanscrit origin, but there are many consonants in the language not found in that tongue, and silent letters are not unfrequent in the written words. There are thirty consonants in the alphbet, distributed into eight classes, with four additional voM-el signs ; each of them ends in a short a, as la, oiga, cJia, which can be lengthened by a diacritical mark placed underneath. The syllables are separated

    from each other by a point ; the accented consonant is that

    which follows the vowel, and the others, whether before or

    after it, are pronounced as rapidly as possible, and not unfrequently

    omitted altogether in speaking. The variations in this

    respect constitute the chief features of the patois found in different

    parts where Tibetan is spoken. A dictionary and grammar ‘

    of this language were printed in 1S34 in Calcutta by (‘soma de

    Korcis, a Hungarian who resided among the priests near Ladak.

    The literature is almost wholly theological, as far as it has been

    examined, and such works as are not of this character, have

    probably been introduced from China. Their divisions of time,

    numeration, chronology, and weights, have also been adopted

    ‘ Essay towards a Dictionary, Tibetan and English. A Grammar of the Tibetan Lauguage in English. Calcutta, 1834. from that country with a few alterations. An Englishman, Mr. Brian Hodgson, who lived in Kipal from lb20 to 1843, has added more than any one else to our knowledge of the literature of this country. This gentleman procured complete copies of the original documents of the Buddhist canon preserved in Sanscrit in Nipalese monasteries, as well as (by a present from the Dalai-lama) the whole of the existing literary remains of the once flourishing Christian mission at Il’lassa. His more important essays on these lands have now been brought together in a single volume.’

    The history of Tibet has been made partially known to Europe through the Mongol author, Sanang Setsen,^ but if free access could be had to their annals, it is probable that a methodical history could be extracted, reaching back at least three centuries before Christ. Tibet was ruled by its ow^n princes till the rise of Genghis ; the first monarch, who united the various tribes under his sway b. c. 313, was Seger-Sandilutu-Kagan-Tlil-Esen,^ and from the fact that Buddhism was introduced during his reign, it miglit be inferred that he came from the south. Il’lassa was founded by Srongzan-Ctambo, or Srongbdzan sgambouo,^ about a.d. 630, after which time Tibetan

    history becomes more authentic, inasmuch as this king introduced

    the alphabet. The Tang dynasty carried their arms into

    Tibet from Khoten, but the people threw off their yoke during

    the decline of that family. Mohammedanism also disturbed the

    supremacy of the Buddhist faith, and severe persecutions followed

    about the beginning of the tenth century by an Islam

    prince Darma, but it was rej^elled at liis death, and has neversince

    made the least impression upon the people. Genghis reduced

    Tangout, one of the principalities, northeast of Koko-nor,

    and soon after brought the whole country under his sway ; this

    ‘ Essays on the Language, Literature, and Religion of Nejial and Tibet, etc.Loudon, 1874.-‘ R musat, Observations stir VlJistoire des Mongols orientemix de S:inang Setsen,Paris, I’an 8. Ssanang Ssetsen, Oeschichte der Mongolen, Uebers., von. J.J. Schmidt, Petersb., 1829.^ Remusat relates tlic story of his origin, Melanges Posthmnes, p. 400.• Klaproth, Description du Tubet.

    HISTORY OF TIBET. 255

    Kiiblai still further settled as a dependency of his empire. The people recovered their independence on the expulsion of the Mongols, and under the Ming dynasty formed several small kingdoms, among which were Ladak and Rodok, both of them still existing.

    From a short resume of letters written from Tibet in 162(), by Romish missionaries living there, it appears that the kingdom of Sopo was the most powerful in the north, and Cogur, IT-tsang, and Mai-yul were three southern principalities. The king of Cogue allowed these missionaries to reside in his territories, and took pleasure in hearing them converse and dispute with the lamas. The Dalai-lama at this time was the king’s brother, and possessed subordinate influence in the state, but the priests were numerous and influential. The conquest of Mongolia and Tangout opened the way for Ivanglil to enter Tibet, but the intercourse between the Emperor and Dalai-lama was chiefly connected with religion and carrying tribute. An index of the freedom of communication between Tibet and the west is found in the passports issued to the traders visiting iriassa in lOSS. The lamas held the supreme power imtil towards the end of his reign, when Chinese influence became paramount. The country had already been concpiered by the Songar chieftain, so that on his defeat it could ofPer little resistance.

    Ivanghi appointed six of the highest princes or gidlho over the provinces ; but soon after his death, in 1727, three of them conspired against Yungching, and were not subdued without considerable resistance. The Emperor then appointed the loyal prince or gialbo as governor-general, and he remained in his vice-regal office till his death, about 1750. Kienlung, finding that his son was endeavoring to make himself fully independent, executed him as a rebel, suppressed the office, and appointed two Chinese generals to be associated with the Dalailama and his coadjutoi-, in the administration of the country.

    The troops were increased and forts erected in all parts of the country to awe the people and facilitate trade.

    The present government of Tibet is superintended by two ta chilly ‘or great ministers,’ residing at Il’lassa, who act con-“‘ointly, while they serve as checks upon each other ; they do not hold their office for a long time. They have absolute control over all the troops in the country, and the military are generally confined to the garrisons, and do not cultivate the soil. The collection of revenue, transmission of tribute to Peking, and direction of the persons who carry it, and those mIu) conduct the trade at Batang and Sining fu, are all under their control. The Dalai-lama, and the Teshu-lama are the high religious officers of the country, each of them independent in his own province, but the former holding the highest place in the hierarchy. The Chinese residents confer with each concerning the direction of his own province. All their appointments to office or nobility must be sanctioned by the residents before they are A’alid, but merely religious officers are not under this surveillance. In the villages, the authority is administered by secular deputy lamas called delni^ and by commandants called kaiipon^ who are sent from the capital. Each dcha is assisted by a native vazir of the place, who, Avith the chief lama, foiiii the local government, amenable to the supreme magistracy. The western province of Kari is peopled by nomads, who wander over the regions north of Tlavan-hrad, and are under the authority of larjxni-‘^ sent from IFlassa, without the assistance of lamas. The two higli-pi-iests themselves are likewise assisted by councillors. One of these, called Soopoon(‘hoondx)o, who held the office of sadeeh or adviser when Turner visited Teshu-Lumbo, was a ]V[anchu by birth, but had long lived in Tibet.

    GOVERNMENT OF TIBET. 257

    The nomadic clans of Dam Mongols and other tribes occupying the thirty-nine feudal townships or ta-sz’ in Anterior Tibet, are governed by the residents without the intervention of the lamas. The disturbances in Ulterior Tibet in 1792, resulting from the irruption of the Kipalese and sack of Teshu-Lumbo, were speedily quelled by the energy of Kienlung’s government, and the invaders forced to sue for mercy. The southern frontier was, in consequence of this inroad, strongly fortified by a chain of posts, and the communication with the states between Tibet and India strictly forbidden and w^atched. It gave the Chinese an opportunity to strengthen their rule and extend their inlluence north to Khoten and into Ladak. The natural mildness of character of the Tibetans, and similarity of religion renders thera much easier under the Chinese joke, than the Mohammedans.*
    ‘ Authorities on Tibet besides those already referred to: Journal Asiatique,Tomes IV., p. 281 ; VIII., p. 117; IX., p. 81 ; XIV., pp. 177, ff. 277, 406,etc. Dii Halde, DescHption of (Jhiim., Vol. II., pp. 884-888. Capt. Samuel Turner, Account of an Embassy to the Court of Teslioo Lama in Tibet, London, 1800. Histoire cic ce qui s’est ]Mi>se au lioyaume du Tibet, en Pann’e 1(}26 ; trad de I’ltalien. Paris, 1829. P. Kircher, CJiinn llhistrnta. MM. Peron et Billecocq, liecueil de Voyages du lldbet, Paris, 1796. Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal^ passim. Chinese Repository, Vols. VI., pp. 28, 494,IX., p. 20, and XIII., p. 50.5. Hitter, Asien, Bd. II., 4er Abschnitt, and Bd.III., S. 187-424. Richthofen, China, Bd. I., S. 228, 247, 466, 670, 688, etc.C. H. Desgodin, La mission du Tibet de 1855 a 1870, comprennant Pexpose desaffaires rdigieuses, etc. Dhtpres les lettres de M. fabbe Desgodins, missionaireapofitoliquc, Verdun, 1872. Lieut.’ Kreitner, Jm fernen Osten, pp. 829 ff.,and in The r»jndar Science Monthly, for August, 1882. Emil Schlagintweit,Tibetan Buddhism, Illustrated by Literary Documents and Objects of Religious Worship, London, 1868. Abbe Hue, I’ravels through Tartary, Tibet and China, 2 vols.Vol. I.—17

    CHAPTER V. POPULATION AND STATISTICS

    Much of the interest appertaining to the country and people here treated of, in the minds of philanthropic and intelligent men, has arisen from the impression they have received of its vast population. A country twice the size of the Chinese empire would present few attractions to the Christian^ the merchant, or the ethnologist, if it were no better inhabited than Sahara, or Arizona : a people might possess most admirable institutions, and a matchless form of government, yet these excellencies would lose their interest, did we hear that it is the republic of San Marino or the kingdom of Muscat, where they are found. The population of few countries in the world has been accurately ascertained, and probably that of China is less satisfactory than any European or American state of the present day. It is far easier to take a census among a people who understand its object, and will honestly assist in its execution, than in a despotic, half-civilized country, Avherc the mass of the inhabitants are afraid of contact or intercourse with their rulers; in most of such states, as Abyssinia, Turkey, Persia, etc., there is either no regular emnneration at all, or merely a general estimate for the purposes of i-cvemie or conscription.

    CREDIT DUE TO CHINESE CENSUSES. 259

    The subject of the population of Cliiiui has engaged the attention of the monarchs of the present dynasty, and their censuses have been the best sources of information in making up an intelligent opinion upon the matter. Whatever may be our views of the actual population, it is plain that these censuses, with all their discrepancies and inaccuracies, are the only reliable sources of information. The conflicting opinions and

    conclusions of foreign writers neither give any additional weight

    to them, nor detract at all from their credibility. As the question

    stands at present, they can be doubted, but cannot be

    denied ; it is impossible to prove them, while there are many

    grounds for believing them; the enormous total which they

    exhibit can be declared to be improbable, but not shown to be

    impossible.

    No one who has been in China can hesitate to acknowledge that there are some strong grounds for giving credit to them, but the total goes so far beyond his calculations, that entire belief nmst, indeed, be deferred till some new data have been furnished. There are, perhaps, more peculiar encouragements

    to the increase of population there than in any other

    country, mostly arising from a salubrious climate, semi-annual

    crops, unceasing industry, early marriages, and an equable

    taxation, involving reasonable security of life and property.

    Turning to other countries of Asia, we soon observe that in

    Japan and Persia these causes have less influence ; in Siam

    and Burmah they are weak ; in Tibet they are almost powerless.

    At this point every one must rest, as the result of an examination

    into the population of the Chinese Empire ; though,

    from the survey of its principal divisions, made in the preceding

    chapters, its capability of maintaining a dense population needs

    no additional- evidence. The mind, however, is bewildered in

    some degree by the contemplation of millions upon millions of

    human beings thus collected under one government ; and it

    almost wishes there might be grounds for disbelieving the

    enormous total, from the dieadful results that might follow

    the tyrannical caprice or unrestrained fury of their rulers,

    or the still more shocking scenes of rapine and the hideous

    extremities of want which a bad harvest would necessarily

    cause.

    Chinese literature contains many documents describing

    classes of society comprised in censuses in the various dynasties.

    The results of those enumerations have been digested by Ma

    Twan-lin in a judicious and intelligent manner in the chapters

    treating on population, from which M. Ed. Biot has elaborated

    many important data.’ The early records show that the census

    was designed to contain only the number of taxable people, excluding all persons bound to give personal service, who were

    under the control of others. Moreover, all othcials and slaves,

    all persons over 60 or 66 years of age, the weak or sick, those

    needing help, and sometimes such as were newly placed on state

    lands, were likewise omitted. Deducting these classes. Ma

    Twan-lin gives one census taken in the ninth century, b.c, as

    13,704,923 persons, between the ages of 15 and 05, living

    within the frontiers north of the Yangtsz’ Eiver. This figure

    would be worth, according to the tables of modern statistics,

    about 65 per cent, of the entire population, or as representing

    21,753,528 inhabitants.

    The mighty conqueror, Tsin Chi Ilwangtf, changed the personal

    corvc’c to scutage, and introduced a kind of poll tax, by

    accepting the money from many who could not be forced to do

    the work required. This practice was followed in the 11 an

    dynasty, and in b.c. 194, the poll-tax was legalized, to include

    all men between 15 and 66, while a lighter impost was le\ ied

    on those between 7 and 14. During the four centuries of this

    family’s regime, the object and modes of a census were well

    understood. Ma Twan-lin gives the results of ten taken between

    A.D. 2 and 155. His details show that it was done

    simply for revenue, and was omitted in bad years, when drought

    or freshets destroyed the harvests ; they show, too, an increase

    in the number of slaves, that women were now enumerated,

    and that girls between 15 and 30 paid a poll-tax. In b.c. 30,

    the limits of age were placed between 7 and 56. The average

    of these ten censuses is 63,500,600, the first one being as high

    as 83,640,000, while the next and lowest, taken fifty-five years

    afterwards, is only 29,180,000, and the third is 47,396,<»00.

    These great variations are explained by the disturbances arising

    in consequence of the usurpation of Wangmang, a.d. 9-27, and

    subsequent change of the ca})ital, and the impossibility, during

    this troubled period, of canvassing all parts of the Empire.

    ‘ This careful digest is contained in the Journal Asiatique for 1836 (April and May), and will repay perusal.

    MA TWAN-LIN’s study OF THE cp:nsu8es. 261

    The irfcroiice from thesc data, that tlio real population of the Chinese Empire north of the Nan ling at the time of Christ was at least eighty millions, is as well groinided as almost any fact in its history.’

    After the downfall of the Ilan dynasty, a long period of

    civil war ensued, in which the destruction of life and property

    was so enormous that the population was i-educed to one-sixth

    of the amount set down in a.d. 230, when disease, epidemics,

    and earthquakes increased the losses caused by war and the cessation

    of agricultui’e, according to Ma Twan-lin ; and it is not

    till A.D. 280, when the Tsin dynasty had subjected all to its

    sway, that the country began to revive. In that year an enumeration

    was made which stated the free peojjle between 12

    and 66 years in the land at 14,163,863, or 23,180,000 in all.

    From this period till the Sui dynasty came into power, in 589,

    Cliina was torn by dissensions and rival monarchs, and the

    recorded censuses covered only a portion of the land, the figures

    including even fewer of the people, owing to the great number

    of serfs or bondmen who had sought safety under the protection

    of landowners. At this time a new mode of taking the census

    was ordered, in M’hich the people were classified into those from

    1 to 3 years, then 3 to 10, then 10 to IT, and 17 to 60, after

    which age they were not taxed ; the ratio of the land tax was

    also fixed. A .census taken in 606 in this way gives an estimated

    population of 46,019,956 in all China ; the frontiers, at

    this period, hardly reached to the Xan ling Mountains, and the

    author’s explanation of the manner of carrying on some public

    works shows that even this sum did not include persons who were

    liable to l)e called on for personal service, while all officials, slaves,

    and beggars were omitted. Troubles arose again from these

    enforced works, and it was not till the advent to power of the

    Tang dynasty, in 618, that a regular enumeration was possible.

    ‘ The population of the Ronican Empire at the same period is estimated at 85,000,000 bj Merivale (Vol. IV., pp. ‘^,?,Q-M’^i), but the data are less complete than in China; he reckons the European provinces at 45,000,000, and the Asiatic and African colonies at the remainder, giving 27,000,000 to Asia Minor and Syria. The area of China, at this time, was less than Rome by about one fourth.

    This family reigned 287 years, and Ma Twan-lin gives fifteen

    returns of the population up to 841. They show great variations,

    some of them difficult to explain even by omitting ot

    supplying large classes of the inhabitants. The one most carefully

    taken was in a.d. 75-i, and gives an estimated total of

    about seventy millions for the whole Empire, which, though

    nearly the same as that in the Ilan dynasty in a.d. 2, extended

    over a far greater area, even to the whole southern seaboard.

    In addition to former enumerated classes, many thousands of priests were passed by in this census.

    The years of anarchy following the Tang, till a.d. 976, M-hen the Sung dynasty obtained possession, caused their usual effect. Its first census gives only about sixteen millions of taxable population that year, when its authority was not firmly assured ; but

    in 1021 the returns rise to 43,388,380, and thence gradually

    increase to 100,095,250 in 1102, just before the provinces north

    of the Yellow River, by far the most fertile and loyal, were lost.

    The last enumeration, in 1223, while Ma Twan-lin was living,

    places the returns in the southern provinces at 63,304,000 ; this

    was fifty years before Kublai khan conquered the Empire. Our

    author gives some details concerning the classes included in the

    census during his own lifetime, which prove to a reasonable

    mind that the real number of mouths living on the land Avas, if

    anything, higher than the estimates. In 1290, the Mongol

    Emperor published his enumeration, placing the taxable population

    at 58,834,711, “not counting those who had fled to the

    mountains and lakes, or who had joined the rebels.” This was

    not long after his ruthless hand had almost depopulated vast

    regions in the northern provinces, before he could quiet them.

    In the continuation of Ma Twan-lin’s Ti (‘searches, thei-e are

    sixteen censuses given for the Ming dynasty between 1381 and

    1580 ; the lowest figure is 46,800,000, in 1506, and the highest,

    66,590,000, in 1412, the average for the two centuries being

    56,715,360 inhabitants. One of its compilers declares that he

    cannot reconcile their great discrepancies, and throws doubts on

    their totals from his inability to learn the mo(^leof emimeration.

    Three are given for three consecutive years (1402-1404), the

    difference between the extremes of which amounts to sixteen

    millions, but they were all taken when Yungloh was fighting Kienwan, his nephew, at Nanking, and settling himself at Peking as Emperor, during which years large districts could not possibly have been counted.

    COMPARATIVE CENSUS TABLES. 263

    Before entering upon a careful examination of this question,

    it will be well to bring together the various estimates taken of

    the population during the present dynasty. The details given

    in the table on page 264 have been taken from the best sources,

    and are as good as the people themselves possess.

    Besides these detailed accounts, there have been several

    aggregates of the whole country given by other native writers

    than Ma Twan-lin, and some by foreigners, professedly drawn

    from original sources, but who have not stated their authorities.

    The most trustworthy, together with those given in the other

    table, are here placed in chronological order.

    Authorities.

    / Continuation of MaTwan-lin. Ed.I Biot, Jour7ial Asiatique, 1836.

    Oeneral Statistics of the Empire ;Medhurst’s China, p. 53.

    ‘, Till Tung Chi, a statistical work; \ Morrison’s View of China.

    j General Statistica ; Chinese Repository, Vol. I., p. 359.

    I Memoires sur les Chinois, Tome f VI., p. 377 ff.

    ] Les Missionaires, De Guignes,

    I Tomelll, p. 67.

    i General Statistics ; Chinese Repo-

    \ sitory. Vol. I., p. 359.

    J

    Yih Tung Chi, a statistical work ;

    ( Morrison’s Vieto of China.

    I Memoiressur lesChinois^TomeYI.

    f De Guignes, Tome III. , p. 73.

    j Allerstein ; Grosier ; De Guignes,

    ] Tome III., p. 67.

    \ ” Z.” of Berlin, in Chinese Repo-

    \ sitory. Vol. I., p. 361.

    j General Statistics ; Dr. Morrison,

    I Anglo-Chinese Coll. Report,

    \ 1839. Statement made to Lord

    ( Macartney.

    ] General Statistics ; Chinese Repo-

    ( sitory. Vol. I., p. 359.

    \ VassUivitch.

    ] Chinese Ciistoni’s Reports.

    Seven of these censuses, viz., the 7th, 8th, 12th, 13th, 17th,

    20th, 21st and 23d, are given in detail in the following table.

    364 tiij: middle kingdom.

    c O 3) CP o o^o^o —^ ~_ —_ —_ o ^_ :r_ —__ o

    ©j”-^’cct-*” CO* -T ;r”-r – to 7?’ ::’ //cc -T ir: r*’

    Tr-gi,-(0 CO rrir2-Tr;c;-T:ct:r-r. r: xco

    els??,:

    ~ ^? 5 »

    oil a>

    ^_^ —• N^ ^-^ ,*J l*X ^—’ -‘. ‘y T —^ ^’. l*X ^ ‘.r •— •*•’ -f^

    x’jT C-“cTi–rT^jij ;^’ -^ (^ —’ ^ ;^” 4^ai”X iO ifj

    1(5 = 100 o ooin o

    :c JO t- a, -^ lO =- r; o

    o iO X CO ;o 00 ?* T 😮

    I- rt as i: i- «:ca:_^ s-j

    ;C5’rX!W CO ;c”iCt:^ -^

    lO OOO U3″0 O

    CO <— O iC T 2? ?*

    O X O ‘^ lO ^ cc

    JB ‘—O i-H TJ ‘-‘.’5”

    a;i-r^5’*o^»:c-jrm -r o c: ir: ‘t t-_^oo (»

    cS X vr rr .r CO = 7′ – i m /; th x g 3 o (- :^

    <r« !- t- ^r ^ (- c; -r :^ = x o; x i- t-_~ -r o 😮

    irfic c:’i; ITT* r-‘ lo’xTx.’ x’ i- 1- ttScovi tT

    t-i U r-l(N T( ri 1-1

    ‘”id

    •52J «

    000=0000 oO oO oO oO oO O00!=0G> oO oO O00O0-^ 000= O — 00 C= 0^=:__0_0 0^0 0^=^ 0000 cT o”o cTo^oo cTcTo ^o

    o

    O0O0^0J0O Oo o_^o^o__o_o_0o_0o;3o_o=_^0oo0_o0_^

    oo*-*i-^io” 5* cTi-j’io’^’MocrirJtfT-fo’oroo’

    o

    roi-HrtS:ci-*ooot-5einQooif5 05o;e

    :*-Hi-oin~ X — oioiocii-o^Cii-H^^X’

    –r(T-<inOOC-**3’Ol0^rlO 0_’X^T* ?? c*^

    d” -T t–‘ cc^X :c o” i-^ oT ^* i-^ CO irf~ TT co’cd” T—* tjoccTco-

    Tioi-i-inoOicoi-t-ixco’-o

    15 O O 00 ri O S^ l-^CC CO ‘^^’^..^ •^’*^*’^ ^

    <i-iff{ra?;s«T<r-ie«i-ii-i>-i(NT-i

    Gi-l

    O

    t-.’NTH-Ot-i-iT-IQ035O(NWMC0 00C:XlX5»

    r-lt-0-n’CC;CiOOO:COTO-TIN3:-TT-ITJ>in-T

    OT0003C00iCC’NQ0C000?rO’W”T ^^CO X O t-^

    -^aTs^-^ooiffiO ‘?f0^00 cc^r-Tco co”oi”u5 x’ CO r-T

    t-OOt-Ht-IC0OC0»-lCCC010:CC0C0l— rHOS-^

    COt-T-ii-i;C-»OCO£- lO^CO O0_t-H CO cb os_i-_^o ‘»

    ofw itT t-^ cfcTiO*x -^ ‘^’” t”cc 5^ T-T cc’ T-T r-T r-T

    IS

    . OJXt-TH3:05iOt-e«o:»»T)’Xin3:cO’l’

    •(NXOCOC:-TTr(MXOt-lO:-‘£. XCD35 -~ — ~ ‘ “) 05 T-i_o; o^ o :c »-»

    _. -_ _ – _ TrH-^’oO lOrH *rf ‘t’ C:0~’-ilO«i-(CCCDt–^i-l-T-^Ol010 ” ^”^CCWCOfHT-HT* 74

    t-T itT

    uoi:(‘B[ndod uaAV

    lO^’NOOlOO^COCirlCOlOXrHCO*”-!

    t-^lflT^iOOC^t’-l’-XiQirtt-fN-TasXO

    •^Tji’TiTJ’Xt— COCD’WCC(?*»-<THf-ifW

    s

    THE CENSUSES INDIVIDUALLY CONSIDERED. 265

    The first three belong to the Ming dynasty, and are taken from

    a continuation of Ma Twan din’s Researches, whence they were

    quoted in the Mtrror of Hlstonj, without their details. During

    the Ming dynasty, a portion of the country now called the

    Eighteen Provinces, was not under the control of IlungM’u and

    his descendants. The wars with the Japanese, and with tribes

    on the north and west, together with the civil wars and struggles

    between the Chinese themselves, and with the Nu-chi in

    Manchuria, nmst have somewhat decreased the population.

    The first census of 1662 (No. 4), is incidentally mentioned by

    Kierlung in 1791, as having been taken at that time, from his

    making some observations upon the increase of the population

    and comparing the early censuses with the one he had recently

    ordered. This sum of 21,068,600 does not, however, include

    all the inhabitants of China at that date ; for the Manchus

    commenced their sway in 161:’±, and did not exercise full authority

    over all the provinces much before 1700 ; Canton was

    taken in 1650, Formosa in 1683.

    The census of 1668 (Ko. 5), shows a little increase over that

    of 1662, but is likewise confined to the conquered portions ; and

    in those provinces which had been subdued, there were extensive

    tracts which had been almost depopulated at the conquest.

    Any one who reads the recitals of Semedo, Martini, Trigautius,

    and othei’s, concerning the massaci-es and destruction of life

    both by the Manchus and by Chinese l)andits, between 1630

    and 1650, M’ill feel no loss in accounting for the diminution of

    numbers, down to 1710. But the chief explanation of the decrease

    from sixty to twenty-seven millions is to be found in the

    object of taking the census, viz., to levy a poll-tax, and get at

    the number of men fit for the army—two reasons for most men

    to avoid the registration.

    The census of 1711 (No. 8), is the first one on record which bears the appearance of crediljility, when its several parts are compared with each other. The dates of the preceding (Nos. 6 and 7), are rather uncertain ; the last was extracted by Dr. Morrison from a book published in 1790, and he thought it was probably taken as early as 1650, though that is unlikely.

    The other is given by Dr. Medhurst without any explanation, and their great disparity leads us to think that both are dated wrongly. The census of 1711 is much more consistent in itself, though there are some reasons for supposing that neither did it include all the population then in China. The census was still taken for enrolment in the army, and to levy a capitation tax upon all males between the ages of sixteen and sixty. But this tax and registration were evaded and resisted by the indignant Chinese, who had never been chronicled in this fashion by their own princes; the Emperor Kanghi, therefore, abolished the capitation tax. It was not till about this time that the

    Manchus had subdued and pacified the southern provinces, and

    it is not improbable that this census, and the survey taken by

    the Jesuits, were among their acts of sovereignty. Finding

    the people unwilling to be registered, the poll tax was merged

    in the land tax, and no census ordered during the reign of

    Yungching, till Kienlung revived it in order to have some

    guide in apportioning relief during seasons of distress and scarcity,

    establishing granaries, and aiding the police in their duties.

    Many, therefore, who would do all in their power to prevent

    their names being taken, when they were liable to be taxed or

    called on to do military service, could have no objection to

    come forward, when the design of the census was to benefit

    themselves. It matters very little, however, for what object the

    census was taken, if there is reason to believe it to have been

    accurate. It might indeed act as a stimulus to multiply names

    and figures whom there were no people to represent, as the

    principle of paying the marshals a percentage on the numbers

    they reported did in some parts of New York State in 1840.

    The three next numbers (9, 10, and 11), are taken from De

    Guignes, who quotes Amiot, but gives no Chinese authorities.

    The last is given in full by De Guignes, and both this and that

    of Allerstein, dated twenty years after, ai-e introduced into the

    table. There are some disci’epancies between these two and

    the census of 1753, taken from the General Statistics, which

    cannot easily be reconciled. The internal evidence is in favor

    of the latter, over the census of 1743 ; it is taken from a new

    edition of the Ta Tsing IFioul Tien, or ‘ General Statistics of

    the Empire,’ and the increase during the forty-two years which

    COMPAIJISON OF LATER CENSUSES. 267

    had elapsed since the last census is regular in all the provinces,

    with the exception of Shantung and Kiangnan. The extraordinary

    fertility of these provinces would easily induce immigration,

    while in the war of conquest, their popnlousness and wealth attracted the armies of the Manchus, and the destruction of life was disproportionably great. The smaller numbers given to the western and southern provinces correspond

    moreover to the opposition experienced in those regions.

    On the whole, the census taken in 1753 compares very well

    with that of 1711, and both of them bear an aspect of verity,

    which does not belong to the table of 1743 quoted by De Guignes.

    From 1711 to 1753, the population doubled itself in about

    twenty-two years, premising that the whole country was faithfully

    registered at the iii-st census. For instance, the province

    of Kweichau, in 1711, presents on the average a mere fraction

    of a little more than a single person to two square miles ; while

    in 1753 it had increased in the unexampled ratio of three to a square mile, which is doubling its population every seven years ; Kwangtung, Kwangsi, and Kansuh (all of them containing to this day, partially subdued tribes), had also multiplied their numbers in nearly the same proportion, owing in great measure, probably, to the more extended census than to the mere increase of population.

    The amounts for 173G, three of 1743, and those of 1760,

    1761, and 1762 (Xos. 9, 10, 11, 12, 15, 16, and 17), are all extracted

    from De Guignes, who took them from the Memolres

    sur les Chlnois. The last, that of 1762, is given in detail in the

    table. The discrepancy of sixty millions between that given

    by Amiot for 1760, and that by Dr. Morrison for the same

    year, is owing, there can be little doubt, to foreigners, and not

    to an error of the Chinese. The work from which Dr. Morrison

    extracted his estimate for that year was published in 1790,

    but the census was taken between 1760 and 1765. The same

    work contains the census of 1711 (Xo. 8), quoted by him, and

    there is good cause for believing that Amiot’s or Grosier’s

    estimate of 157,343,975 for 1743, is the very same census, he having multiplied the number 28,605,716 by five, supposing them to have been families and not individuals. The three ascribed to the year 1743, are probably all derived from the same native authorities by different individuals.

    The three dated in 1760, 1761, and 1762, are harmonious with each other ; but if they are taken, those of 1753 and 1760, extracted from the Ylh Tung CIu hy I)i-. Morrison, must be rejected, which are far more reasonable, and correspond better with the preceding one of 1711. It may be remarked, that by reckoning five persons to a family in calculating the census of 1753, as Amiot does for 1743, the population would be 189,223,820 instead of 103,050,060, as given in the table. This explains the apparent decrease of fifty millions. All the discrepancies between these various tables and censuses must not be charged upon the Chinese, since it is by no means easy to ascertain their modes of taking the census and their use of terms. In the tables, for example, they employ the phrase y^/lting, for a male over 15 years of age, as the integer ; this has, then, to be multiplied by some factor of increase to get at the total population ; and this last figure must be obtained elsewhere.

    It must not be overlooked that the object in taking a census being to calcidate the probable revenue by enumei’atingthe taxable persons, the margin of error and deficiency depends on the peace of the state at the time, and not chiefly on the estimate of five or more to a household.

    The amount for 1736 corresponds sufficiently closely with that for 1743 ; and reckoning the same number of persons in a family in 1753, that tallies well enough with those for 1760, 1761, and 1762, the whole showing a gradual increase for twenty-five years. But all of them, except that of 1753, ai’6 probably rated too high. That for 1762 (Xo. 17), has been justly considered as one of the most authentic.

    THE FOUR MOST RELIABLE CEISTSUSES. 269

    The amount given by ” Z.” of Berlin (Xo. 18), of 155^ millions for 1790 is quoted in the Clihiem liejms’dot’y, but the writer states no authorities, was probably never in China, and as it appears at present, is undeserving the least notice. That given by Dr. Morrison for 1792 (Xo. 19), the year before Lord Macartney’s embassy’, is quoted from an edition of that date, but probably Avas really taken in 1765 or thereabouts, but he did nut publish it in detail.’ It is probably much nearer the truth than the amount of ao’d millions by the commissioner Chau to the English ambassador. This estimate has had much more respect paid to it as an authentic document than it deserved.

    The Chinese connnissioner would naturally wish to exalt his country in the eyes of its far-travelled visitors, and not having the official returns to refer to, would not be likely to state them less than they were. lie gave the population of the provinces in round numbers, perhaps altogether from his own memory, aided by those of his attendant clerks, with the impression that his hearers would never be able to refer to the original native authorities.

    The next one quoted (Xo. 21) is the most satisfactory of all the censuses in Chinese works, and was considered by both the Morrisons and by Dr. Bridgman, editor of the Chinese Jiejwsitori/, as ” the most accurate that has yet been given of the population.”

    In questions of this nature, one well authenticated table is

    worth a score of doubtful origin. It has been shown how

    apocryphal are many of the statements given in foreign books,

    but with the census of 1812, the source of error which is chiefly

    to be guarded against is the average given to a family. This

    is done by the Chinese themselves on no uniform plan, and it

    may be the case that the estimate of individuals from the number

    of families is made in separate towns, fi-oni an intimate

    acquaintance with the particular district, which would be less

    liable to eri-or than a general average. The number of families

    given in the census of 1753, is 37,785,552, which is more than

    one-third of the population.

    The four censuses which deserve the most credit, so far as

    the sources are considered, are those of 1711, 1753, 1792, and

    1812 {i.e., Nos. 8, 13, 19, and 21) ; these, when compared,

    show the following rate of increase: From 1711 to 1753, the population increased 7”1,222,602,

    which was an annual advance of l,70-±,82-l: inhabitants, or a’ Sir G. Staunton, PJmbassy to China, Vol. II., Appendix, p. 615 : ” Table of the Population and Extent of China proper, within the Great V/all. Taken in round numbers from the Statements of Chow ta-zhin.” little more than six per cent, per annum for forty-two years.

    Tiiis high rate, it must be remembered, does not take into account

    the more thorough subjugation of the south and west at

    the later date, when the Manchus could safely enrol large districts,

    where in 1711 they would have found so much difficulty

    that they would not have attempted it.

    From 1753 to 1792, the increase was 104,636,882, or an annual

    advance of 2,682,997 inhabitants, or about 2^ per cent,

    per annum for thirty-nine years. During this period, the

    country enjoyed almost uninterrupted peace under the vigorous

    sway of Kienlung, and the unsettled regions of the south and

    west rapidly filled up.

    From 1792 to 1812, the increase was 51:,126,679, or an annual

    advance of 2,706,333—not quite one per cent, per annum

    —for twenty years. At the same rate of progress the present

    population would amount to over 150,000,000, and this might

    have been the case had not the Tai-ping rebellion reduced the

    numbers. An enumeration (Xo. 22), was published by the

    Russian Professor of Chinese Yassilivitch in 1868 as a translation

    from official documents. Foreigners have had greater

    opportunities for travel through the country, between the years

    1840 to 1880, and have ascertained the enormous depopulation

    in some places caused by wars, short supplies of food in consequence

    of scarcity of laborers, famines, or brigandage, each

    adding its own power of destruction at different places and

    times. The conclusion will not completely satisfy any inquirer,

    but the population of the Empire cannot now reasonably

    be estimated as high as the census of 1812, by at

    least twenty-five millions. The last in the list of these censuses

    (No. 23), is added as an example of the efforts of intelligent

    persons residing in China to come to a definite and

    independent conclusion on this point from such data as they

    can obtain. The Imperial Customs’ Service has been able to

    command the best native assistance in their researches, and the

    table of population given above fi-om the Gotha Almanac is

    the sunnnary of what has been ascertained. The population

    of extra-})rovincial (^hina is really uulvnown at present. Manclmria

    is put down at twelve millions by one author, and three

    PRESUMPTIVE EVIDENCE IN THEIR FAVOR. 271

    or four millions, by another, without any official autliurity for

    either ; and all those vast regions in Ili and Tibet may easily

    be set down at from twelve to fifteen millions. To sum up,

    one must confess that if the Chinese censuses are worth but

    little, compared with those taken in European states, they are

    better than the guesses of foreigners who have never been in

    the country, or who have travelled only partially in it.

    The Chinese are doubtless one of the most conceited nations

    on the earth, but with all their vanity, they have never bethought

    themselves of rating their population twenty-five or

    thirty per cent, higher than they suppose it to be, for the purpose

    of exalting themselves in the eyes of foreigners or in their

    own. Except in one case none of the estimates were presented

    to. Of intended to be known by foreigners. The distances in U

    between places given in Chinese itineraries correspond very

    well with the real distances ; the number of districts, towns,

    and villages in the departments and provinces, as stated in

    their local and general topographical works, agree with the

    actual examination, so far as it can be made : why should their

    censuses be charged with gross error, when, however much we

    may doubt them, we cannot disprove them, and the weight of

    evidence derived from actual observation rather confirms them

    than otherwise ; and while their account of towns, villages,

    distances, etc., are unhesitatingly adopted until better can be

    obtained ? Some discrepancies in the various tables are ascribable

    to foreigners, and some of the censuses are incomplete,

    or the year cannot be precisely fixed, both of which vitiate the

    deductions made from them as to the rate of increase. Some

    reasons for believing that the highest population ascribed to

    the Chinese Empire is not greater than the country can support,

    will first be stated, and the objections against receiving the

    censuses then considered.’

    ‘ This interesting subject can then be left with the reader, who will find

    further remarks in Medhurst’s China, De Guignes’ Voyages d Peking, The Missionaries,

    in Tomes VI. and VIII. of Memoires, Ed. Biot, in Journal Asiatique

    for 1836. The Numerical Relations of the Population of China during the 4,000

    Years of its Historical Existence ; or the Rise and Fall of the Chinese Pojmlation,

    by T. Sacharoflf. Translated into English by the Rev. W. Lobscheid, Hongkong,

    1862. Notes and Queries on China and Japan, Vol. II., pp. 88, 103, and 117

    The area of the Eighteen Provinces is rather imperfectly given

    at 1,348,870 sqnare miles, and the average population, there

    fore, for the whole, in 1812, was 268 persons on every sqnare

    mile ; that of the nine eastern provinces in and near the Great

    Plain, comprising 502,192 sqnare miles, or two-fifths of the

    whole, is 458 persons, and the nine southern and western provinces,

    constituting the other three-fifths, is 154 to a square mile.

    The surface and fertility of the country in these two portions

    differ so greatly, as to lead one to look for results like these.

    The areas of some European states and their population, are

    added to assist in making a comparison with China, and coming

    to a clearer idea about their relative density.

    states.

    France

    German}’ . ..

    Great Britain

    Italy

    Holland

    Spain

    Japan

    Benural

    204.092

    212,091

    121,608

    114,296

    20,497

    190,625

    160,474

    156,200

    Population.

    dp:nsity of populations in Europe and china. 273

    ture-lands, and only ten millions devoted to grain and vegeta

    bles ; the other two millions consist of fallow-ground, hop-beds,

    etc. One author estimates that in England 42 acres in a hundred,

    and in Ireland G4, are pastures—a little more than half of

    the whole. There are, then, on the average about two acres of

    land for the support of each individual, or rather less than this,

    if the land required for the food of horses be subtracted. It

    has been calculated that eight men can be fed on the same

    amount of land that one horse requires ; and that four acres of

    pasture-land will furnish no more food for man than one of

    ploughed land. The introduction of railroads has superseded

    the use of horses to such an extent that it is estimated there are

    only 200,000 horses now in England, instead of a million in 1830.

    If, therefore, one-half the land appropriated to pasture should

    be devoted to grain, and no more horses and dogs raised than a

    million of acres could support, England and Wales could easily

    maintain a population of more than four hundred to a square

    mile, supposing them to be willing to live on what the land and

    water can furnish.

    The Irish consume a greater proportion of vegetables than

    the English, even since the improvement by emigration after

    1851 ; many of these live a beggaily life upon half an acre, and

    even less, -and seldom taste animal food. The quantity of land

    under cultivation in Belgium is about fifteen-seventeenths of

    the whole, which gives an average of about two acres to each

    person, or the same as in England. In these two countries, the

    people consume more meat than in Ireland, and the amoimt of

    land occupied for pasturage is in nearly equal proportions in

    Belgium and England. In France, the average of cultivated

    land is If acre ; in Holland, If acre to each person.

    If the same proportion between the arable and uncultivated

    land exists in China as in England, namely one-fourth, there are

    about six hundred and fifty millions of acres under cultivation

    in China ; and we are not left altogether to conjecture, for by a

    report made to Ivienlung in 1745, it appears that the area of

    the land under cultivation was 595,598,221 acres ; a subsequent

    calculation places it at 640,579,381 acres, which is almost the

    same proportion as in England. Estimating it at six hundred and fifty millions—for it lias since increased rather than diminished—it gives one acre and four-fifths to every person, Which is by no means a small supply for the Chinese, considering that there are no cultivated pastures or meadows.

    In comparing the population of different countries, the

    manner of living and the articles of food in use, form such important

    elements of the calculation, in ascertaining whether the

    country be overstocked or not, that a mere tabular view of the

    number of persons on a square mile is an imperfect criterion of

    the amount of inhabitants the land would maintain if they consumed

    the same food, and lived in the same manner in all of

    them. Living as the Chinese, Hindus, Japanese, and other

    Asiatics do, chiefly upon vegetables, the country can hardly be

    said to maintain more than one-half or one-third as many people

    on a square mile as it might do, if their energies were developed

    to the same extent with those of the English or Belgians.

    The population of these eastern regions has been repressed by the combined influences of ignorance, insecurity of life and property, religious prejudices, vice, and wars, so that the land has never maintained as many inhabitants as one would have otherwise reasonably expected therefrom.

    Nearly all the cultivated soil in China is employed in raising food for man. AVoollen garments and leather are little used, while cotton and mulberry cultivation take np only a small proportion of the soil. There is not, so far as is known, a single acre of land sown with grass-seed, and therefore almost no human labor is devoted to raising food for animals, which will not also serve to sustain man. Horses are seldom used for pomp or war, for travelling or carrying burdens, but mules, camels, asses, and goats are employed for transportation and other purposes north of the Yangtsz’ River. Horses are fed on cooked rice, bran, sorghum seed, pulse, oats, and grass cut along

    the banks of streams, or on hillsides. In the southern and

    eastern provinces, all animals are rare, the transport of goods

    and passengers being done by boats or by men. The natives

    make no use of butter, cheese, or milk, and the few cattle employed

    in agriculture easily gather a living on the waste ground

    around the villages. In the south, the buffalo is applied more

    AREA AND VALUE OF ARABLE LAND IN CHINA. 275

    than the ox to plough the rice fields, and the habits of this

    animal make it cheaper to keep him in good condition, while he

    can also do more work. The winter stock is grass cut upon the

    hills, straw, bean stalks, and vegetables, ^o wool being wanted

    for making cloth, flocks of sheep and goats are seldom seen—it

    may almost be said are unknown in the east and south.

    No animal is reared cheaper than the hog ; hatching and

    raising ducks affords employment to thousands of people ; hundreds

    of these fowl gather their own food along the river

    shore, being easily attended by a single keeper. Geese and

    poultry are also cheaply reared. In fishing, which is carried on

    to an enormous extent, no pasture-grounds, no manuring, no

    barns, are needed, nor are taxes paid by the cultivator and consumer.

    While the people get their animal food in these ways, its preparation takes away the least possible amount of cultivated soil. The space occupied for roads and pleasure-gromids is insignificant, but there is perhaps an amount appropriated for burial places quite equal to the area used for those purposes in European countries ; it is, however, less valuable land, and much of it would be useless for culture, even if otherwise unoccupied.

    Graves are dug on hills, in ravines and copses, and wherever they will be retired and dry; or if in the ancestral field, they do not hinder the crop growing close around them.

    Moreover, it is very common to preserve the coffin in temples

    and cemeteries until it is decayed, partly in order to save the

    expense of a grave, and partly to worship the remains, or preserve

    them until gathered to their fathers, in their distant

    native places. They are often placed in the corners of the fields,

    or under precipices where they remain till dust returns to dust,

    and bones and wood both moulder away. These and other customs

    limit the consumption of land for graves much more than

    would be supposed, when one sees, as at Macao, almost as much

    space taken up by the dead for a grave as by the living for a

    hut. The necropolis of Canton occupies the hills north of the

    city, of which not one-fiftieth part could ever have been used

    for agriculture, but where cattle are allowed to graze, as much

    as if there were no tombs.

    Under its genial and equable climate, nioi’e than three-fourths

    of the area of China Proper produces two crops annually. In

    Kwangtung, Kwangsi, and Fuhkien, two ci’ops of rice are taken

    year after year from the low lauds ; while in the loess regions

    of the northwest, a three-fold return from the grain fields is

    annually looked for, if the rain-fall is not withheld. In the

    winter season, in the neighborhood of towns, a third crop of

    sweet potatoes, cabbages, turnips, or some other vegetable is

    grown, T)e Guignes estimates the retui-ns of a rice crop at ten

    for one, which, with the vegetables, will give full twenty-five

    fold from an acre in a year ; few parts, however, yield this increase.

    Little or no land lies fallow, for constant manuring and

    turning of the soil prevents the necessity of repose. The diligence

    exhibited in collecting and applying manure is Avell

    known, and if all this industry result in the production of two

    crops instead of one, it really doubles the area under cultivation,

    Avhen its superficies are compared with those of other

    countries. If the amount of land which produces two ci’ops be

    estimated at one-fourth of the whole (and it is perhaps as near

    one-third), the area of arable land in the provinces may be considered

    as representing a total of 812 millions of acres, or 2f

    acres to an individual. The land is not, however, cut up into such

    small farms as to prevent its being managed as w^ell as the people

    know how to stock and cultivate it ; manual labor is the chief

    dependence of the farmer, fewer cattle, carts, ploughs, and machines being employed than in other countries. In rice fields no aninuils are used after the wet land has received the shoots, transplanting, weeding, and reaping being done by men.

    In no other country besides Japan is so much food derived from the water. Not only arc the coasts, estuaries, rivers, and lakes, covered with fishing-boats of various sizes, which are provided with everything fitted for the capture of whatever lives in the waters, but the spawn of fish is collected and reared.

    TENDENCIKS TO INCREASE OF POrULATION”. 277

    Rice fields are often converted into pools in the winter season, and stocked with fish; and the tanks dug for irrigation usually contain fish. By all these means, an immense supply of food is obtained at a cheap rate, which is eaten fresh or preserved with or without salt, and sent over the Empire, at a cost which places it within the reach of all above beggary. Other articles of food, both animal and vegetable, such as dogs, game, worms, spring greens, tripang, leaves, etc., do indeed compose part of their meals, but it is comparatively an inconsiderable fraction, and need not enter into the calculation. Enough has been stated to show that the land is abundantly able to support the population ascribed to it, even with all the drawbacks known to exist; and that, taking the highest estimate to be true, and considering the mode of living, the average population on a square mile in China is less than in several European countries.

    The political and social causes which tend to multiply the inhabitants are numerous and powerful. The failure of male posterity to continue the succession of the family, and worship at the tombs of parents, is considered by all classes as one of the most afflictive misfortunes of life; the laws allow unlimited facilities of adoption, and secure the rights of those taken into the family in this way. The custom of betrothing children, and the obligation society imposes upon the youth when arrived at maturity, to fulfil the contracts entered into by their parents, acts favorably to the establishment of families and the nurture of children, and restricts polygamy. Parents desire children for a support in old age, as there is no legal or benevolent provision

    for aged poverty, and public opinion stigmatizes the man

    who allows his aged or infirm parents to suffer when he can

    help them. The law requires the owners of domestic slaves to

    provide husbands for their females, and prohibits the involuntary

    or forcible separation of husband and wife, or parents and

    children, when the latter are of tender age. All these causes

    and influences tend to increase population, and equalize the

    consumption and use of property more, perhaps, than in any

    other land.

    The custom of families remaining together tends to the

    same result. The local importance of a large family in the

    country is weakened by its male members removing to town, or

    emigrating; consequently, the patriarch of three or four generations

    endeavors to retain his sons and grandsons around him, their houses joining his, and they and their families forming a social, united company. Such cases as those mentioned in the.

    Sacred Commands are of course rare, where nine generations of the family of Chang Kung-i inhabited one lioiise, or of Chin, at whose table seven hundred mouths were daily fed,’ but it is the tendency of society. This remark does not indicate that great landed proprietors exist, whose hereditary estates are secured by entail to the great injur}- of the state, as in Great Britain,

    for the farms are generally small and cultivated by the

    owner or on the metayer system. Families are supported on a

    more economical plan, the claims of kindred are better enforced,

    the land is cultivated with more care, and the local importance

    of the family perpetuated. This is, however, a very different system from that advocated by Fourier in France, or Greeley in America, for these little communities are placed

    under one natural head, whose authority is acknowledged and

    upheld, and his indignation feared. Workmen of the same profession form unions, each person contributing a certain sum on the promise of assistance when sick or disabled, and this custom prevents and alleviates a vast amount of poverty.

    ‘ Sacred Edict, pp. 51, 60.

    RESTRICTIONS UPON EMIGRATION. 279

    The obstacles put in the way of emigrating beyond sea, both in law and prejudice, operate to deter respectable persons from leaving their native land. Necessity has made the law a dead letter, and thousands annually leave their homes. No better evidence of the dense population can be offered to those acquainted with Chinese feelings and character, than the extent of emigration. “What stronger proof,” observes Medhurst,” of the dense population of China could be afforded than the fact, that emigration is going on in spite of restrictions and disabilities, from a country where learning and civilization reign, and where all the dearest interests and prejudices of the emigrants are found, to lands like Burmah, Siam, Cambodia, Tibet, Manchuria, and the Indian Archipelago, where comparative ignorance and barbarity prevail, and where the extremes of a tropical or frozen region are to be exchanged for a mild and temperate climate? Added to this consideration, that not a single female is permitted or ventures to leave the country, when consequently, all the tender attachments that bind heart to heart must be burst asunder, and, perhaps, forever.”‘

    Moreover, if they return with wealth enough to live upon, they are liable to the vexatious extortions of needy relatives, sharpers, and police, who have a handle for their fleecing whip in the law against leaving the country ; although this clause has been neutralized by subsequent acts, and is not in force, the power of public opinion is against going. A case occurred in 1832, at Canton, where the son of a Chinese living in Calcutta, who had been sent home by his parent with his mother, to perform the usual ceremonies in the ancestral hall, was seized by his uncle as he was about to be married, on the pretext that his father had unequally divided the paternal inheritance; he

    was obliged to pay a thousand dollars to free himself. Soon

    after his marriage, a few sharpers laid hold of him and bore

    him away in a sedan, as he was walking near his house, but his

    cries attracted the police, who carried them all to the magistrates,

    where he was liberated—after being obliged to fee his

    deliverers.’ Another case occurred in Macao in 1838. A

    man had been living several years in Singapore as a merchant,

    and when he settled in Macao still kept up an interest in the

    trade with that place. Accounts of his great wealth became

    rumored abroad, and he was seriously annoyed by relatives.

    One night, a number of thieves, dressed like police-runners,

    came to his house to search for opium, and their boisterous

    manner terrified him to such a degree, that in order to escape

    them he jumped from the terrace upon the hard gravelled

    court-yard, and broke his leg, of which he shortly afterward

    died. A third case is mentioned, where the returned emigrants,

    consisting of a man and his wife, who was a Malay, and

    two children, were rescued from extortion, when before the

    magistrate, by the kindness of his wife and mother, who wished

    to see the foreign woman.” Such instances are now unknown,

    owing to the increase of emigration ; they were, indeed, never numerically great, on account of the small number of those who came back.

    ‘ China : Its State ojid Prospects, p. 42.

    ^ Ta Tslag Leu Lee ; being the Fundamental Laws, etc., of the Penal Codt of China, by Sir G. T. Staunton, Bart , London, 1810. Section CCXXV.

    ^ Chinese Repository, Vol. I., p. 382.

    * Ibid., Vol. VII., p. 503; Vol. II., p. 161.

    The anxiety of the government to provide stores of food for times of scarcity, shows rather its fear of the disastrous residts following a short crop—such as the gathering of clamoi’ous crowds of starving poor, the increase of bandits and disorganization of society—than any peculiar care of the rulers, or that these storehouses really supply deficiencies. The evil consequences resulting from an overgrown population are experienced in one or another part of the provinces almost every year ; and drought, inundations, locusts, mildew, or other natural causes, often give rise to insurrections and disturbances. There can be no doubt, however, that, without adding a single acre to the area of arable land, these evils would be materially alleviated, if the intercommunication of traders and their goods, between distant parts of the country, were more frequent, speedy, and safe; but this is not likely to be the case until both rulers and ruled make greater advances in just government, science, obedience, and regard for each other s right.

    It would be a satisfaction if foreigners could verify any part

    of the census. But this is, at present, impossible. They cannot

    examine the records in the ofiice of the Board of Revenue,

    nor can they ascertain the population in a given district from

    the archives in the hands of the local authorities, or the mode

    of taking it. Neither can they go through a village or town to

    count the number of houses and their inhabitants, and calculate

    from actual examination of a few parts what the whole would

    be. “Where\er foreigners have journeyed, there has appeared

    much the same succession of waste land, hilly regions, cultivated

    plains, and M’ooded heights, as in other countries, M’ith an

    abundance of people, but not more than the land could support,

    if properly tilled.

    METHOD OF TAKING THE CENSUS. 281

    The people are grouped into hamlets and villages, under the control of village elders and officers. In the district of Nanhai, Avhich forms the western part of the city of Canton, and the surrounding country for more than a hundred square miles, there are one hundred and eighty /it'((/if/ or villages; the population of each hiang varies from two hundred and upwards to one hundred thousand, but ordinarily ranges between three hundred and thirty-five hundred. If each of the eighty-eight districts in the province of Kwangtung contains the same number of JtlaiKj, there will be, including the district towns, 15,928 villages, towns, and cities in all, with an average population of twelve hundred inhabitants to each. From the top of the hills on Dane’s Island, at Whampoa, thirty-six towns and villages can

    be counted, of which Canton is one; and four of these contain

    from twelve to fifteen hundred houses. The whole district of

    Hiangshan, in which Macao lies, is also well covered with villages,

    though their exact number is not known. The island of

    Anioy contains more than fourscore villages and towns, and

    this island forms only a part of the district of Tung-ngan. The

    banks of the river leading from Amoy up to Changchau fu, are

    likewise well peopled. The environs of Ningpo and Shanghai

    are closely settled, though that is no more than one always expects

    near large cities, where the demand for food in the city

    itself causes the vicinity to be well peopled and tilled. In a

    notice of an irruption of the sea in 1819, along the coast of

    Shantung, it was reported that a hundred and forty villages

    were laid under water.

    Marco Polo describes the mode followed in the days of Kublai

    khan : ” It is the custom for every burgess of the city, and

    in fact for every description of person in it, to write over his

    door his own name, the name of his wife, and those of his children,

    his slaves, and all the inmates of his house, and also the number of animals that he keeps. And if any one dies in the house, then the name of that person is erased, and if a child is born its name is added. So in this way the sovereign is able to know exactly the population of the city. And this is the practice throughout all Manzi and Cathay.” ‘ This custom was observed long before the Mongol conquest, and is followed at present ; so that it is perhaps easier to take a census in China than in most European countries.

    The law upon this subject is contained in Sees. LXXV. and

    ‘ Yule’s Marco Polo, Vul. II., p. 152.

    LXXVI. of the statutes. It enacts various penalties for not

    registering the members of a family, and its provisions all go to

    show that the people are desirous rather of evading the census

    than of exaggerating it. When a family has omitted to make

    any entry, the head of it is liable to be punished with one hundred

    blows if he is a freeholder, and with eighty if he is not.

    If the master of a family has among his household another distinct family whom he omits to register, the punishment is the same as in the last clause, with a modification, according as the unregistered persons and family are relatives or strangers.

    Persons in government employ omitting to register their families, are less severely punished. A master of family failing to register all the males in his household who are lia1)le to public service, shall be punished with from sixty to one hundred blows,

    according to the demerits of the ofPence ; this clause was in

    effect repealed, when the land tax was substituted for the capitation

    tax. Omissions, from neglect or inadvertency to register

    all the individuals and families in a village or town, on the part

    of the headmen or government clerks, are punishable with

    different degrees of severity. All persons whatsoever are to

    be registered according to their accustomed occupations or professions,

    whether civil or military, whether couriers, artisans,

    physicians, asti’ologers, laborers, musicians, or of any other denomination

    whatever ; and subterfuges in representing one’s self

    as belonging to a profession not liable to public service, are

    visited as usual with the bamboo ; persons falsely describing

    themselves as belonging to the army, in order to evade public

    service, are banished as well as beaten. From these clauses it

    is seen that the Manchus have extended the enumeration to

    classes M’hich were exempted in the Ilan, Tang, and other

    dynasties, and thus come nearer to the actual population.

    ‘ Penal Code, p. 79, Staunton’s translation.

    ITS PROBABLE ACCURACY. 283

    ” In the Chinese government,” observes Dr. Morrison, ” there appears great regularity and system. Every district has its appropriate officers, every street its constable, and every ten houses their tything man. Thus they have all the requisite means of ascertaining the population with considerable accuracy. Every family is required to have a board always hanging up in the house, and ready for the inspection of authorized officers,

    on which the names of all persons, men, women, and children,

    in the house are inscribed. This board is called mun-j>ai

    or ‘door-tablet,’ because when there are women and children

    within, the officers are expected to take the account from the

    board at the door. Were all the inmates of a family faithfully

    inserted, the amount of the population would, of course, be

    ascertained with great accuracy. But it is said that names are

    sometimes omitted through neglect or design ; others think

    that the account of persons given in is generally correct.”

    The door-tablets are sometimes pasted on the door, thus serving

    as a kind of door-plate ; in these cases correctness of enumeration

    is readily secured, for the neighbors are likely to know

    if the record is below the truth, and the householder is not

    likely to exaggerate the taxable inmates under his roof. I have

    read these inun-jMil on the doors of a long ro\v of houses ; they

    were pi-inted blanks filled in, and then pasted outside for thejy<;o-

    Mah or tithing man to examine. Both Dr. Morrison and his

    son, than whom no one has had better opportunities to know the

    true state of the ease, or been more desirous (^f dealing fairly

    with the Chinese, regarded the censuses given in the General

    Statistics as more trustworthy than any other documents available.

    In conclusion, it may be asked, are the results of the enumeration

    of the people, as contained in the statistical works published

    by the government, to be rejected or doubted, therefore,

    because the Chinese officers do not wish to ascertain the exact

    population ; or because they are not capable of doing it ; or,

    lastly, because they wish to impose upon foreign powers by an

    arithmetical array of millions they do not possess ? The question

    seems to hang upon this trilemma. It is acknowledged

    that they falsify or garble statements in a manner calculated to

    throw doubt upon everything they write, as in the reports of

    victories and battles sent to the Emperor, in the memorials upon

    the opium trade, in their descriptions of natural objects in

    books of medicine, and in many other things. But the question

    is as applicable to China as to France : is the estimated population of France in 1801 to be called in question, because the Moniteur gsive false accounts of Napoleon’s battles in 18131

    It would be a strange combination of conceit and folly, for a

    ministry composed of men able to carry on all the details of a

    complicated government like that of China, to systematically

    exaggerate the population, and then proceed, for more than a

    century, with taxation, disbursements, and official appointments,

    founded upon these censuses. Somebody at least must know

    them to be worthless, and the proof that they were so, must,

    one would think, ere long Jbe apparent. The provinces and

    departments have been divided and subdivided since the Jesuits

    made their survey, because they were becoming too densely

    settled for the same officers to rule over them.

    Still less will any one assert that the Chinese are not capable

    of taking as accurate a census as they are of measuring distances,

    or laying out districts and townships. Errors may be

    found in the former as well as in the latter, and doubtless are

    so ; for it is not contended that the four censuses of 1711, 1Y53,

    1792, and 1812 are as accurate as those now taken in England,

    France, or the United States, but that they are the best data

    extant, and that if they are rejected we leave tolerable evidence

    and take up with that which is doubtful and suppositive. The

    censuses taken in China since the Christian era are, on the

    whole, more satisfactory than those of all other nations put

    together up to the Reformation, and further careful research

    will no doubt increase our respect for them.

    Ere long we may be able to traverse a census in its details of

    record and deduction, and thus satisfy a reasonable curiosity,

    especially as to the last reported total after the carnage of the

    rebellion. On the other hand, it may be stated that in the last

    census, the entire population of Manchuria, Koko-nor, 111, and

    Mongolia, is estimated at only 2,107,286 persons, and nearly all

    the inhabitants of those vast regions are subject to the Emperor.

    The population of Tibet is not included in any census,

    its people not being taxable. It is doubtful if an enumeration

    of any part of the extra provincial territory has ever been

    taken, inasmuch as the Mongol tril)es, and still less the TTsbeck

    or other Moslem races, are unused to such a thing, and would

    EVIDENCES IN FAVOR OF THE CENSUS, 28,”)

    not be nnnibered. Yet, the Chinese cannot be eliarged with

    exaggeration, when good judges, as Klaproth and others, reckon

    the whole at between six and seven millions ; and Khoten alone,

    one author states, has three and a half millions. No writer of

    importance estimates the inhabitants of these regions as high

    as thirty millions— as does 11. Mont. Martin—which would be

    more than ten to a square mile, excluding Gobi ; while Siberia

    (though not so well peopled) has only 3,611,300 persons on an

    area of 2,649,600 square miles, or 1^ to each square mile.

    The reasons just given why the Chinese desire posterity are

    not all those which have favored national increase. The uninterrupted

    peace’ which the country enjoyed between the years

    1700 and 1850 operated to greatly develop its resources. Every

    encouragement has been given to all classes to multiply and

    fill the land. Polygamy, slavery, and prostitution, three social

    evils which check increase, have been circumscribed in their

    effects. Early betrothment and poverty do much to prevent

    the first ; female slaves can be and are usually married ; while

    public prostitution is reduced by a separation of the sexes and

    early marriages. No fears of overpassing the supply of food

    restrain the people from rearing families, though the Emperor

    Kienlung issued a proclamation in 1793, calling upon all ranks

    of his subjects to economize the gifts of heaven, lest, erelong,

    the people exceed the means of subsistence.

    It is difficult to see what this or that reason or objection has to do with the subject, except where the laws of population are set at defiance, which is not the case in China. Food and work, peace and security, climate and fertile soil, not universities or

    steamboats, are the encouragements needed for the multiplication

    of mankind ; though they do not have that effect in all

    countries (as in Mexico and Brazil), it is no reason why they

    should not in others. There are grounds for believing that not

    more than two-thirds of the whole population of China were

    included in the census of 1711, but that allowance cannot be

    made for Ireland in 1785 ; and consequently, her annual percentage

    of increase, up to 18-41, would then be greater than

    China, during the forty-two years ending with 1753. McCulloch

    quotes De Guignes approvingly, but the Frenchman takes the rough estimate of 333,000,000 given to Macartney, which is less trustworthy than that of 307,407,200, and compares it with Grosier’s of 157,343,975, which is certainly wrong through his misinterpretation. De Guignes proceeds from the data in his possession in 1802 (which were less than those now available), and from his own observations in travelling through the country in 179G, to show the improbability of the estimated population.

    But the observations made in journeys, taken as were those of the English and Dutch embassies, though they passed through some of the best provinces, cannot be regarded as good evidence against official statistics.

    “Would any one suppose, in travelling from Boston to Chatham,

    and then from Albany to Buffalo, along the railroad, that

    Massachusetts contained, in 1870, exactly double the population

    on a square mile of New York ? So, in going from Peking to

    Canton, the judgment which six intelligent travellers might

    form of the population of China could easily be found to differ

    by one-half. De Guignes says, after comparing China with

    Holland and France, ” All these reasons clearly demonstrate

    that the population of China does not exceed that of other

    countries ;” and such is in truth the case, if the kind of food,

    number of crops, and materials of dress be taken into account.

    His remarks on the population and productiveness of the country are, like his whole work, replete with good sense and candor; but some of his deductions would have been different, had he

    been in possession of all the data since obtained.’ The discrepancies

    between the different censuses have been usually considered

    a strong internal evidence against them, and they should receive

    due consideration. The really difficult point is to fix the

    percentage that must be allowed for the classes not included as

    taxable, and the power of the government to enumerate those

    who wished to avoid a census and the subsequent taxation.

    After all these reasons for receiving the total of 1812 as the

    best one, there are, on the other hand, two principal objections

    against taking the Chinese census as altogether tinistworthy.

    ‘ Voyages a Peking, Tome III. , pp. 55-80.

    POSSIBILITIES OF ERROR. 287

    The first is the enormous averages of 850, 705, and 071 inhabitants on a square mile, severally apportioned to Kiangsu, Xganliwui, and Cliehkiang, or, what is perhaps a fairer calculation, of 458 persons to the nine eastern provinces. Whatever amount of circumstantial evidence may be brought forward in confirmation of the census as a whole, and explanation of the mode of taking it, a more positive proof seems to be necessary before giving implicit credence to this result. Such a population on such an extensive area is marvellous, notwithstanding the fertility of the soil, facilities of navigation, and salubrity of the

    climate of these regions, although acknowledged to be almost

    unequalled. While we admit the full force of all that has been

    urged in support of the census, and are willing to take it as the

    best document on the subject extant, it is desirable to have

    proofs derived from personal observation, and to defer the settlement

    of this question until better opportunities are afforded.

    So high an average is, indeed, not without example. Captain

    Wilkes ascertained, in 1840, that one of the islands of the Fiji

    group supported a population of over a thousand on a square

    mile. On Lord North’s Island, in the Pelew group, the crew

    of the American whaler Mentor ascertained there were four

    hundred inhabitants living on half a square mile. These, and

    many other islands in that genial clime, contain a population

    far exceeding that of any large country, and each separate community

    is obliged to depend M’holly on its own labor. They

    cannot, however, be cited as altogether parallel cases, though if

    it be true, as Barrow says, ” that an acre of cotton will clothe

    two or three hundred persons,” not much more land need be

    occupied with cotton or mulberry plants, for clothing in China,

    than in the South Sea Islands.

    The second objection against receiving the result of the census

    is, that we are not well informed as to the mode of enumerating

    the people by families, and the manner of taking the account,

    when the patriarch of two or three generations lives in

    a hamlet, with all his children and domestics around him. Two

    of the provisions in Sec. XXY. of the Code^ seem to be designed

    for some such state of society ; and the liability to underrate

    the males fit for public service, when a capitation tax was

    ordered, and to overrate the inmates of such a house, when the head of it might suppose he would thereby receive increased aid from government when calamity overtook him, are equally apparent.

    The door-tablet is also liable to mistake, and in shops and workhouses, where the clerks and workmen live and sleep on the premises, it is not known what kind of report of families the assessors make. On these important points our present information is imperfect, while the evident liability to serious error in the ultimate results makes one hesitate. The Chinese may have taken a census satisfactory’ for their purposes, showing

    the number of families, and the a^•erage in each ; but the point

    of this objection is, that ^ve do not know how the families aie

    enumerated, and therefore are at fault in reckoning the individuals.

    The average of persons in a household is set down at five

    by the Chinese, and in England, in 1831, *t was 4.7, but it is

    probably less than that in a thickly settled country, if every

    married couple and their children be taken as a family, whether

    living by themselves, or grouped in patriarchal hamlets.

    Ko one doubts that the population is enormous, constituting

    by far the greatest assemblage of human beings using one speech

    ever congreo ated under one monarch. To the merchants and

    manufacturers of the West, the determination of this question

    is of some importance, and through them to their governments.

    The political economist and philologist, the naturalist and geographer,

    have also greater or less degrees of interest in the

    contemplation of such a people, iiduibiting so beautiful and feitile

    a country. But the Christian philanthropist tui-ns to the

    consideration of this subject with the liveliest solicitude ; for if

    the weight of evidence is in favor of the highest estimate, he

    feels his responsibility increase to a painful degree. The danger

    to this people is furthermore greatly enhanced by the 0})ium

    traffic—a trade which, as if the Rivers Phlegethon and Lethe

    were united in it, carries fire and destruction wherever it flows,

    and leaves a deadly forgetfulness wherever it has passed. Let

    these facts appeal to all calling themselves Christians, to send

    the antidote to this baleful drug, and diffuse a knowledge of the

    principles of the Gospel among them, thereby placing life as

    well as death before them.

    REVENUE OF THE EMPIRE. 289

    If the population of the Empire is not easily ascertained, a satisfactory account of the public revenue and expenditures is still more difficult to obtain ; it possesses far less interest, of course, in itself, and in such a country as China is subject to many variations. The market value of the grain, silk, and other products in which a large proportion of the taxes are paid, varies from year to year; and although this does not materially affect the government which receives these articles, it complicates the subject very much when attempting to ascertain the real taxation. Statistics on these subjects are only of recent date in Europe, and should not yet be looked for in China, drawn up with much regard to truth. The central government requires each province to support itself, and furnish a certain surplusage for the maintenance of the Emperor and his court; but it is well known that his Majesty is continually embarrassed for the want of funds, and that the provinces do not all supply enough revenue to meet their own outlays.

    The amounts given by various authors as the revenue of

    China at different times, are so discordant, that a single glance

    shows that they were obtained from partial or incomplete returns,

    or else refer only to the surplusage sent to the capital.

    De Guignes remarks very truly, that the Chinese are so fully persuaded of the riches, power, and resources of their country, that a foreigner is likely to receive different accounts from every

    native he asks ; but there appears to be no good reason why the

    government should falsify or abridge their fiscal accounts. In

    1587, Trigault, one of the French missionaries, stated the revenue

    at only tls. 20,000,000. In 1655, Xieuhoff reckoned it at

    tls. 108,000,000. About twelve years after, Magalhaens gave

    the treasures of the Emperor at $20,423,962 ; and Le Comte,

    about the same time, placed the revenue at $22,000,000, and

    both of them estimated the receipts from rice, silk, etc., at

    $30,000,000, making the whole revenue previous to Kanghi’s

    death, in 1721, between fifty and seventy millions of dollars.

    Barrow reckoned the receipts from all sources in 1796 at

    tls. 198,000,000, derived from a rough estimate given by the

    commissioner who accompanied the embassy. Sir George

    Staunton places the total sum at $330,000,000 ; of which

    $60,000,000 only were transmitted to Peking. Medhurst,

    Vol. T.—19.

    drawing his iiiforuiation from original sources, thus states the

    principal items of the receipts :

    Land taxes in money,)

    ( Tie. 3I,745,9()6 valued at $42,327,954

    Land taxes in grain, }- sent to Peking, ^ Shih 4,2:30,’.)57 ” 12,692,871

    Custom and transit duties, ) ( Tls. 1,480,997 ” 1,974,662

    Land taxes in money, l kent in Drovinces ‘ ”^^«- 28,705,125 ” 38,373,500

    Grain, ( ^^P’^^P’^*”‘^””®^

    1 Shih 31,596,569 ” 105,689,707

    $200,958,694

    The shih of rice is estimated at $3, but this does not include

    the cost of transportation to the capital.’ At $200,000,-

    000, the tax received by government from each person on an

    average is about sixty cents ; Barrow estimates the capitation

    at about ninety cents. The account of the revenue in taels

    from each province given in the table of population on page

    264, is extracted from the Hed Mooh for 18-40 ; ” the account

    of the revenue in rice, as stated in the official documents

    for that year, is 4,114,000 shih, or about five hundred and

    fifty millions of pounds, calling each shUi a pecul. The

    manner in wdiich the various items of the revenue are divided

    is thus stated for Kwangtung, in the Ited Booh for 1842 :

    Taels.

    Land tax in money 1,264,304

    Pawnl)rokers’ taxes 5,990

    Taxes at the frontier and on transportation 719,307

    Retained 339,143

    Miscellaneous sources 59,530

    Salt department (gabel) 47,510

    Revenue from customs <at Canton 43,750

    Other stations iu the province 53,670

    2,533,204

    This is evidently only the sum sent to the capital from this

    province, ostensibly as the revenue, and which the provincial

    treasury must collect. The real receipts from this province or

    any other cannot well be ascertained by foreigners ; it is, however,

    known, that in former years, the collector of customs at

    Canton was obliged to remit annually from eight hundred

    thousand to one million three hundred thousand taels, and

    ‘ The fihih, says Medhurst, is a measure of grain containing 3,460 English

    cubic inches. China : Its State and Prospects, p. 68. London, 1838.

    * Aiinalea de la Foi, Tome XVI., p. 440.

    SOURCES AND AMOUNT OF REVENUE. 291

    the gross receipts of bis office were not far from three millions

    of taels.’ This was then the richest collectorate in the

    Empire ; hut since the foreign trade at the open ports has been

    placed under foreign supervision, the resoui’ces of the Empire

    have been better reported. A recent analysis of the sources of

    revenue in the Eighteen Provinces has been furnished by the

    eustoms service ; it places them under different headings from

    the preceding list, though the total does not materially differ.

    Out of this whole amount the sum derived from the trade in

    foreign shipping goes most directly to the central exchequer.

    Taels.

    Land tax in money 18,000,000

    Li-kin or internal excise on goods 20,000,000

    Import and export duties collected by foreigners 12,000,000

    Import and export duties on native commerce 3,000,000

    Salt gabel 5,000,000

    Sales of offices and degrees 7,000,000

    Sundries „ 1,400,000

    Amount paid in silver 66,400,000

    Land tax paid in produce 13,100,000

    79,500,000

    De Guignes has examined the subject of the revenue with

    his usual caution, and bases his calculations on a proclamation

    of Kienlung in 1777, in which it was stated that the total income

    in bullion at that period was tls. 27,967,000.

    Taels.

    Income in money as above 27,967,000

    Equal revenue in kind from grain 27,967,000

    Tax on the second crop in the southern provinces 21 ,800,000

    Gabel, coal, transit duties, etc 6,479,400

    Customs at Canton. .’. 800,000

    Revenue from silk, porcelain, varnish, and other manufactures.. 7,000,000

    Adding house and shop taxes, licenses, tonnage duties, etc 4,000,000

    Total revenue 89,713,400

    The difference of about eighty millions of dollars between

    this amount and that given by Medhurst, will not surprise one

    who has looked into this perplexing matter. All these calculations

    are based on approximations, which, although easily made

    ‘ Chinese Commercial Guide, 2d edition, 1842, p. 143.

    up, cannot be verified to onr satisfaction ; but all agree in placing

    the total amount of revenue below that of any European

    government in proportion to the population. In 1823, a paper

    M-as published by a graduate uj^on the fiscal condition of the

    country, in which he gave a careful analysis of the receij)ts and

    disbursements. P. P. Thoms translated it in detail, and summarized

    the former under three heads of taxes reckoned at

    tls. 33,327,056, rice sent to Peking 0,34(5,438, and supplies to

    army 7,227,300—in all tls. 46,900,854. Out of the first snni

    tls. 24,507,933 went to civilians and the army, leaving tls. 5,819,-

    123 for the Peking government, and tls. 3,000,000 for the Yellow

    Piver repairs and Yuen-ming Palace. The resources of the

    Empire this writer foots up at tls. 74,461,633, or just one-half

    of what Medhurst gives. The extraordinary sources of revenue

    which are resorted to in time of war or bad harvests, are sale of

    oflSce and honors, temporary increase of duties, and demands

    for contributions from wealthy merchants and landholders. The first is the most fruitful source, and nniy be regarded rather as a permanent than a temporary expediency employed to make

    up deficiencies. The mines of gold and silver, pearl fisheries in

    Manchuria and elsewhere, precious stones brought from 111 and

    Ivhoten, and other localities, furnish several millions.

    The expenditures, almost every year, exceed the revenue, but

    how the deficit is supplied does not clearly appear ; it has been sometimes drawn from the rich by force, at other times made good by paltering with the currency, as in 1852-55, and again by reducing rations and salaries. In 1832, the Emperor said the excess of disbursements was tls. 28,000,000 ;

    ‘ and, in 1836, the defalcation was still greater, and oflfices and titles to the amount of tls. 10,000,000 were put up for sale to supply it.

    This deficiency has become more and more alarming since the drain of specie annually sent abroad in payment for opium has been increased by military exactions for suppressing the lebellion up to 1867. At that date the Empire began to recuperate.

    ‘ Chinese Rejiositorij, Vol. I., p. 159.

    PRINCIPAL ITEMS OF EXPENDITURE. 293

    The principal items of the expenditure are thus stated by De Guignes:

    Taels,

    Salary of civil and military officers, a tithe of the impost on lands. 7,773,500

    Pay of 00(),()U0 infantry, three taels per month, half in money and

    half in rations •21,G00,()()&

    Pay of 242,000 cavalry, at four taels jjer month 11,010,000

    Mounting the cavalry, twenty taels each 4,840,000

    Uniforms for both arms of the service, four taels 3,308,000

    Arms and ammunition 842,000

    Navy, revenue cutters, etc 13,500,000

    Canals and transportation of revenue 4,000,000

    Forts, artillery, and munitions of war 3,800,000

    71,339,500

    This, according to his calculation, shows a surplus of nearly twenty millions of taels every year. But the outlays for quelling insurrections and transporting troops, deficiency from bad harvests, defalcation of officers, payments to the tribes and princes in Mongolia and 111, and other unitsual demands, more than exceed Ihis surplus. In 1833, the Peking Gazette contained an elaborate paper on the revenue, proposing various ways and means for increasing it. The author, named Xa, says

    the income from land tax, the gabel, customs and transit duty,

    does not in all exceed forty millions of taels, while the expenditures

    should not much transcend thirty in years of peace.* This

    places the budget much lower than other authorities, but the

    censor perhaps includes only the imperial resources, though the

    estimate would then be too high. The pay and equipment of

    the troops is the largest item of expenditure, and it is probable

    that here the apparent force and pay are far too great, and that

    reductions are constantly made in this department by compelling

    the soldiers to depend more and more for support upon

    the plats of land belonging to them. It is considered the best

    evidence of good government on the part of an officer to render

    his account of the revenue satisfactorily, but from the injudicious

    system which exists of combining fiscal, legislative, and

    judicial functions and control in the same person, the temptations

    to defraud are strong, and the pecuhitions proportionabl}’ great.

    The salaries of officers, for some reasons, are placed so low as

    ‘ Chinese Repository, Vol. II., p. 481.

    to prove that the legal allowances were really the nominal incomes,

    and the sums set against their names in the lied Book

    as y<-ing tlen, or anti-extortion perquisites (lit., ‘ nourishing

    frugality ‘), are the salaries.. That of a governor-general is

    from 15,000 to 25,000 taels for the latter, and only ISO or 200

    taels for the legal salary ; a governor gets 15,0UO when he is

    alone, and 10,000 or 12,000 when under a governor-general ; a

    treasurer from 4,500 to 10,000 ; a judge from 3,000 to 8,000 ;

    a prefect from 2,0(»0 to 4,5U0 ; district nuigistrates from 700 to 1,000, according to the onerousness of the post ; an intendant from 3,000 to 4,500 ; a literary chancellor from 2,000 to 5,000 ; and military men from 4,0(»0 taels down to 100 or 150 per annum. The perquisites of the highest and lowest officers are disproportionate, for the people prefer to lay their important cases before the highest courts at once, in order to avoid the expense of passing through those of a lower grade. The personal disposition of the functionary modifies the exactions lie makes upon the people so much, that no guess can be made as to the amount.

    The land tax is the principal resource for the revenue in rural districts, and this is well understood by all parties, so that there is less room for exactions. The land tax is from 1^ to 10 cents a inao (or from 10 to QQ cents an acre), according to the quality of the land, and difficulty of tillage ; taking the average at 25 cents an acre, the income from this source would be up- M^ard of 150 millions of dollars. The clerks, constables, lictors, and underlings of the courts ..ud prisons, are the “claws” of their superiors, as the Chinese aptly call them, and perform most of their extortions, and are correspondingly odious to the people. In toM’ns and trading places, it is easier for the officers to exact in various Avays from wealthy people, than in the country, where rich people often hire bodies of retainers to defy the police, and practise extortion and i-obbery themselves. Like other Asiatic governments, China suffers from the consequences of Ijribery, peculation, extortion, and poorly paid officers, but she has no powerful aristocracy to retain the money thus squeezed out of the people, and ere long it finds its way out of the hands of emperors and ministei’S back into the mass of the people, officers’ salaries and the land-tax. 295

    The Chinese believe, however, that the Emperor annually remits such amounts as he is able to collect into Mukden, in time of extremity ; but latterly he has not been able to do so at all, and probably never sent as much to that city as the popular ideas imagine. The sum applied to filling the granaries is much larger, but this popular provision in case of need is really a light draft upon the resources of the country, as it is usually managed. In Canton, there are onh fourteen buildings appropriated to this purpose, few of them more than thirty feet square, and none of them full.

  • 亨利·梅因《古代法》

    目录

    导 言
    第 一 章   古 代 法 典
    第 二 章   法 律 拟 制
    第 三 章   自 然 法 与 衡 平
    第 四 章   自 然 法 的 现 代 史
    第 五 章   原 始 社 会 与 古 代 法
    第 六 章   遗 嘱 继 承 的 早 期 史
    第 七 章   古 今 有 关 遗 嘱 与 继 承 的 各 种 思 想
    第 八 章   财 产 的 早 期 史
    第 九 章   契 约 的 早 期 史
    第 十 章   侵 权 和 犯 罪 的 早 期 史

    本书的 主 要 目 的 , 在 扼 要 地 说 明 反 映 于 “ 古 代 法 ” 中 的人 类 最 早 的 某 些 观 念 , 并 指 出 这 些 观 念 同 现 代 思 想 的 关 系 。 如果 没 有 像 罗 马 法 那 样 的 一 套 法 律 , 本 文 中 企 图 进 行 的 研 究 , 多数 将 不 能 有 丝 毫 希 望 达 到 有 用 的 结 果 。 因 为 在 罗 马 法 的 最 古部 分 中 , 有 着 最 久 远 的 古 代 事 物 的 痕 迹 , 而 在 其 后 期 规 定 中 ,又 提 供 了 甚 至 到 现 在 还 支 配 着 现 代 社 会 的 民 事 制 度 资 料 。 由于 必 须 把 罗 马 法 当 作 一 个 典 型 的 制 度 , 这 使 著 者 不 得 不 从 其中 采 取 了 数 目 似 不 相 称 的 例 证 ; 但 他 的 本 意 并 非 在 写 一 篇 关于 罗 马 法 律 学 的 论 文 , 他 并 且 尽 可 能 竭 力 避 免 足以 使 其 作 品具 有 这 样 的 外 貌 的 一 切 论 述 。 第 三 和 第 四 章以 一 定 篇 幅 用 来说 明 罗 马 法 学 专 家 的 某 些 哲 学 理 论 , 这 样 做 , 有 两 个 理 由 。 第一 , 著 者 认 为 这 些 理 论 对 世 界 的 思 想 和 行 为 , 比 一 般 所 设 想的 有 较 为 广 泛 、 永 久 的 影 响 。 其 次 , 这 些 理 论 被 深 信 为 是 有关 本 书 所 讨 论 的 各 个 问 题 直 到 最 近 还 流 行 着 的 大 多 数 见 解 的根 源 。 对 于 这 些 纯 理 论 的 渊 源 、 意 义 与 价 值 , 著 者 如 不 说 明其 意 见 , 则 其 所 承 担 的 工 作 , 将 不 能 做 得 深 入 透 澈 。 ——亨利·梅因

    导言

    有 关 法 律 的书 籍 , 不 论 是 古 代 法 或 现 代 法 , 并 不 常 常 能吸 引 很 多 的读 者 ; 但 十 八 世 纪 和 十 九 世 纪 分 别 产 生 了 一 本 著名 的 法律 书 籍 ,对 当 代 的 和 以 后 的 思 想 发 展 方 向 , 有 着 深 远的影 响 。 孟德 斯 鸠的 “ 论 法 的 精 神 ”是 法 国 十 八 世 纪 最 杰 出 的作 品 之一 , 它 标 志 着 历 史 法 律 学 上 的 一 个 重 要 阶 段 , 虽然 具 有梅 因 在 “ 古 代 法 ” ( 第 五 章 ) 中 所 评 论 的 某 些 偏 颇之 处 。“ 古 代 法 ” 在 十 九 世 纪 执 行 了 甚 至 更 为 重 大 的 职 能; 真 的, 就 英 国 而 论 , 如 果 说 现代 历 史 法 律 学 是 随 着 这本 书 的出 现 而 出 生 的 , 也 不 能 谓 言 之过 甚。

    虽 然 在 梅 因 的 卓 越 的 文 体 中 所 表 达 的 , 有 一 些 也 不 能 认为 是 普 通 的 东 西 , 但 “ 古 代 法 ” 中 有 相 当 部 分 , 在 过 去 七 十年 中 , 几 乎 是 学 习 法 律 制 度 的 学 生 所 不 可 或 缺 的 。 为 了 要 能体 现 它 在 当 时 是 怎 样 一 个 独 具 见 解 的 作 品 , 我 们 有 必 要 来 回顾 一 下 当 时 流 行 着 的 一 些 智 力 状 态 。

    1758年 时 作 为 第 一 个 佛 尼 林 派( V i n e r i a n)教授的 布 拉 克 斯 顿 ( B l a c k s t o n e ) 进 行 了 未 有 先 例 的 试 验 , 他在 牛 津 大 学 讲 授 英 国 法 律 。 当 时 , 他 不 得 不 用 法 律 研 究 是 一个 有 教 养 绅 士 的 一 种 适 宜 的 职 业 , 来 说 服 他 的 听 众 ; 虽 然 甚至 他 自 己 或 许 也 不 会 相 信 这 是 像 猎 狐 一 样 一 种 非 常 绅 士 般 的职 业 。 七 十 年 以 后 , 约 翰 · 奥 斯 丁 ( J o h n   A u s t i n ) 在 伦 敦 大学 以 法 律 学 的 吸 引 力 与 实 利 向 其 听 众 吹 嘘 ( 结 果 收 效 很 少 ) ,同 时 却 坦 白 地 承 认 有 许 多 心 地 宽 厚 的 人 们 不 愿 研 习 法 律,主要 是 由 于 它 所 来 自 的 渊 源 , 其 性 质 “ 令 人 可 厌 ” 。 有 一 次,他这 样 写 道 , “ 我 胆 敢 断 言 , 在 一 个 文 明 社 会 中 , 没 有 一 套 法 律会 像 我 们 的 那 样 缺 乏 一 致 性 和 均 称 性 ” 。 除 了 海 尔 ( H a l e ) 和布 拉 克 斯 顿 外 , 没 有 人 曾 把 它 作 过 有 系 统 的 阐 明 。 过 去 , 法律 是 根 据 有 试 验 必 有 错 误 的 原 则 学 习 的 , 现 在 还 活 着 的 一 些老 法 学 家 可 以 记 得 那 样 一 个 时 期 , 用 一 个 著 名 的 美 国 老法官— — 荷 姆 斯 法 官 先 生 ( M r . j u s t i c e   h o l m e s ) — — 的 话 来 描写 , 法 律 只 是 一 麻 袋 的 琐 细 东 西 ; 真 的 , 在 某 些 开 业 律 师 中,赞 成 用 这 种 纯 粹 实 验 的 、 听 天 由 命 的 方 法 来 精 通 法 律 的 偏 见,甚 至 到 今 天 忘 没 有 完 全 消 除 。

    至 于 英 国 的 法 律 史 , 不 仅 被 忽 视 了 , 简 直 是 被 蔑 视 了 。 例如 , 边沁竟 然 建 议 — — 除 了 作 为 批 判 之 外 — — 完全 不 顾 所 有 的 先 例 而 把 英 国 法 律 全 部 重 新 写 过 : 对 于 他 , 甚至 其 最 卓 越 的 学 生 约 翰 · 斯 图 亚 特 · 密 尔也 不 得 不 说 , “ 他 宁 愿 完 全 不 顾 过 去 的 全 部 成 就 , 而 重新 从 头 写 起 ” 。 如 果 对 于 英 国 法 律 史 的 态 度 是 这 样 , 那 就 可 以想 象 到 , 对 于 外 国 制 度 或 对 于 今 昔 法 律 现 象 的 比 较 研 究 , 又将 会 有 怎 样 轻 蔑 的 感 情 了 。这 种 褊 狭 的 心 情 , 在 对 待 罗 马 法 上 , 特 别 显 而 易 见 。1816年 尼 布 尔 ( N i e b u b r ) 在 维 罗 纳 ( V e r o n a ) 发 掘 到 该 雅 士( G a i u s ) “ 法 学 教 典 ” ( I n s t i t u t e s ) 的 手 稿 — — 这 当 然 是 学 术史 上 最 著 名 的 发 现 之 一 : 因 为 这 篇 论 文 不 仅 是 我 们 对 于 古 代罗 马 法 律 甚 至 是 我 们 对 于 雅 利 安 ( A r y a n ) 法 律 一 些 最 有 启 发 性 的 方 面 的 唯 一 知 识 来 源 , 并 且 在 它 写 成 四 百 年 后 的 一 部 不朽 杰 作 查 斯 丁 尼 安 ( J u s t i n i a n ) 的 “ 法 学 阶 梯 ” ( I n s t i t u t e s ) 曾根 据 其 中 极 大 部 分 作 为 编 纂 的 范 本 。 英 国 对 这 样 的 重 大 事 件漠 不 关 心 。 在 本 书 第 九 章 中 , 可 以 看 到 梅 因 痛 切 地 — — 最 终是 有 效 地 — — 抗 议 “ 对 罗 马 法 的 无 知 , 这 是 英 国 人 欣 然 承 认 ,且 有 时 不 以 为 耻 地 引 以自夸的 ” 。

    但 是 , 对 于 过 去 法 律 制 度 和 政 治 制 度 中 可 以 确 定 的 事 实,不 愿 加 以 探 究 的 情 况 , 不 独 英 国 如 此 。 全 欧 洲 有 许 多关 于 政治 社 会 、 自 然 法 以 及 “ 自 然 状 态 ” 的 起 源 的 假 说 , 这 些 假 设,从 现 代 观 点 看 来 , 似 乎 是 很 可 笑 , 并 且 一 点 也 不 像 历 史 上 的事 实 , 以 致 在 今 日 , 我 们 竟 难 于 理 解 他 们 怎 样 会 这 样 强有力地 深 入 当 时 人 们 的 想 像 的 。 我 们 必 须 耐 心 地 、 宽 容 地、并 且也 许 谦 逊 地 ( 否 则 将 来 我 们 自 己 的 信 念 也 将 同 样 地 成 为 毫 无根 据 ) 牢 记 着 梅 因 所 说 的 “ 推 理 的 错 误 的 非 常 活 力 ” 。 这 使 我们 记 起 赫 伯 特 · 斯 宾 塞的 意 见 , 即 “ 一种 思 想 体 系 在 自 杀 以 后 , 有 可 能 精 神 焕 发 地 到 处 流 行 ” 。 十 八世 纪 中 流 行 着 的 关 于 政 治 起 源 的 各 种 观 念 , 在 卢 梭的 奇 怪 的 假 定 中 达 到 了 极 点 , 并 且 直 到 十 九 世 纪中 叶 即 使 已 濒 于 死 亡 , 却 仍 活 着 、 呼 吸 着 , 但 如 果 说 这 些 观念 在 过 去 二 千 年 的 长 时 期 中 实 在 一 无 进 步 , 那 是 不 能 说 是 言之 过 甚 的 。 关 于 社 会 人 的 性 质 , 同 这 些 虚 说 讽 喻 同 时 流 行 的 ,另 外 有 一 种 广 泛 传 布 的 信 念 , 认 为 政 治 历 史 是 一 些 退 化 的 而不 是 发 展 的 故 事 , 认 为 人 类 及 其 大 部 分 的 制 度 已 从 一 个 神 秘地 遥 远 的 时 代 的 较 为 幸 福 的 状 况 中 趋 向 衰 颓 。 因 此 , 既 然 恢复 原 始 的 天 真 状 态 已 不 可 能 , 则 我 们 为 民 族 所 能 做 的 最 好 的工 作 就 是 珍 惜 地 保 存 事 物 的 现 存 秩 序 , 至 少 要 阻 止 它 进 一 步堕 落 。

    由 于 对 历 史 的 藐 视 , 幸 而 它 是 同 比 较 体 面 的 动 机 相 结 合着 的 — — 一 种 动 机 是 对 于 这 种 卓 越 的 自 然 法 的 正 当 反 应 , 另一 种 动 机 是 要 对 法 律 概 念 的 实 质 进 行 有 系 统 分 析 的 一 种 非 常及 时 的 愿 望 — — , 就 在 英 国 产 生 了 另 一 种 法 律 理 论 , 这 主 要同 霍 布 斯和 奥 斯 丁 有 关 , 但 和 边 沁 也 不 无 关 系 。 这种 理 论 , 我 们 为 了 便 利 称 它 为 法 律 与 主 权 的 命 令 说 。 它 认 为 法 律最突出的 是 一 个 在 法 律 上 有 无 限 权 力 的 主 权 者 或 “ 政 治领 袖 ” 对 一 个 臣 民 或 “ 政 治 下 属 ” 所 颁 发 的 不 可 抗 拒 的 命令 ,后 者 既 被 假 定 为 具 有 服 从 的 习 惯 , 就 有 绝 对 服 从 的 义 务。对于自 然 法 或 理 想 法 中 模 糊 的 赏 罚 观 念 发 生 着 怀 疑 , 并 且 是 正当 地 怀 疑 , 它 就 集 中 其 全 部 注 意 力 于 现 实 法 的 强 制 性 质 , 至于 它 在 历 史 上 或 伦 理 上 的 各 种 要 素 , 则 坚 决 不 加 考 虑 。这 种理 论 虽 然 在 其 他 地 方 很 少 受 到 注 意 , 但 在 英 国 直 到 现 在仍 旧常 常 被 讨 论 到 ; 不 过 至 少 有 一 种 意 见 是 大 家 一 致 同 意 的, 即它 既 然 从 法 律 学 的 领 域 中 排 斥 了 历 史 考 虑 , 就 使 它 陷入了一 种 根 本 的 谬 误 , 即 把 一 切 法 律 制 度 都 认 为 是 以 西 欧 的 君 主国 家 作 为 典 型 的 。

    对 于 这 些 倾 向 , 不 是 没 有 阻 力 的 , 这 些 阻 力 就 存 在 于 梅因 的 作 品 中 。 德 国 有 一 个冯·萨维尼,他是历 来 最 著 名 的 法 学 家 之 一 , 他 在 十 九 世 纪 初 期 曾 对 十 八 世 纪非 历 史 的 思 想 习 惯 加 以 激 烈 的 攻 击 。 虽 然 他 对 于 国 家 法 律 与习 惯 并 没 有 真 正 找 到 一 种 科 学 的 历 史 的 研 究 方 法 , 但 他 提 供了 向 这 个 方 向 努 力 的 主 要 推 动 力 量 ; 他 从 事 于 法 律 学 研 究 的精 神 , 辉 煌 地 表 达 在 他 自 己 的 研 究 中 , 此 种 精 神 在 以 后 就 从来 没 有 被 人 们 舍 弃 过 , 虽 然 其 中 有 些 夸 张 之 处 , 随 着 时 间 的变 迁 已 有 所 变 更 。 他 在 英 国 很 少 直 接 影 响 , 就 是 曾 在 德 国 求学 的 奥 斯 丁 , 也 常 常 反 对 他 所 提 出 的 结 论 , 并 且 我 认 为 虽 然没 有 很 多 证 据 , 足 以 证 明 梅 因 非 常 熟 悉 丰 · 萨 维 尼 及 其 门 徒的 著 作 , 但 他 是 深 知 他 们 的 观 点 的 一 般 要 旨 的 , 并 且 无 疑 地在 实 质 上 是 同 意 这 种 观 点 的 。 梅 因 可 能 从 洛 多 尔 夫 · 丰 · 伊叶 林  在1858年 出 版 的 巨 著 “ 罗 马 法 精 神 ”受 到 更 加 直 接 的 影 响 。 伊 叶 林 在 几 个 重 要 问 题 方 面 , 与 萨 维 尼 的 观 点 不 同 , 但 他 肯 定 地 主 张 把 历 史 方 法 用 于 法 律 学 中 。 他 也 对 罗 马 法 的 研究 带 来 了 一 种 新 的 和 活 泼 的 精 神 , 与 长 期 在 德 国 压 制 着 罗 马法 的 无 生 气 的 经 院 哲 学 派 不 同 ; 有 许 多 证 据 足 以 表 明 这 对 于梅 因 是 一 种 真 正 的 刺 激 , 正 像 吉 朋对 伊 叶 林 同 样 是 一 种 刺 激 一 样 。
    “ 古 代 法 ” 出 现 的 时 期 , 也 是 人 类 思 想 史 上 有 最 深 远 影 响 的 事 件 之 一 , 即 达 尔 文自 然 选 择 原 则 形 成 的 时 期 。
    “ 物 种 起 源 ”发 表 于 “ 古 代 法 ” 出 版 前 两 年 。 在 梅 因 的 主 要 著 作 中 , 据 我 所 知 , 只 有 一 处 直 接提 到 了 达 尔 文 ; 在 “ 古 代 法 律 与 习 惯 ” 第 七 章 中 , 他 认 为 达 尔 文 从 自 然 科 学 上 提 供 了 有 利于 父 权 制 理 论 的 证 据 。 究 竟 梅 因 是 否 接 受 进 化 论 的 理 论包 括其 全 部 含 意 在 内 , 这 是 本 文 作 者 所 不 了 解 的 , 但 梅 因 在历 史法 律 学 方 面 的 著 作 自 然 地 同 十 九 世 纪 中 叶 广 为 传 布 的 新 的 研究 精 神 平 列 在 一 起 , 则 是 没 有 疑 问 的 。
    关 于 这 种 “ 新 学 问 ” , 就 其 对 法 律 的 影 响 而 论 , 梅 因 的 全部 著 作 可 以 被 认 为 是 一 种 有 生 气 的 表 现 。 他 对 那 些 不 科 学的缺 乏 批 判 的 , 被 野 蛮 地 但 简 略 地 称 为 “ 先 天 主 义 ” 的 那 种很盛 行 的 思 想 习 惯 , 从 不 放 松 加 以 反 对 。 他 在 “ 古 代 法 制 史 ”( 第 十 二 讲 ) 中 写 道 ,“ 为 英 国 法 学 家 一 般 接 受 的 各 种 历 史 理 论 , 不 但 对 于 法 律 的 研究 有 很 大 的 损 害 , 即 使 对 历 史 的 研 究 也 是 如 此 , 因 此 , 当 前英 国 学 术 上 最 迫 切 需 要 增 益 的 , 也 许 是 新 材 料 的 审 查 , 旧材料 的 再 度 审 查 , 并 在 这 基 础 上 把 我 们 法 律 制 度 的 来 源 及 其 发展 , 加 以 阐 明 。 ” 对 英 国 法 律 应 该 这 样 , 对 其 他 一 般 法 律 也 同样 应 该 这 样 。 在 “ 古 代 法 ” 中 , 梅 因 对 当 时 流 行 的 政 治 纯 理论 中 最 为 旁 若 无 人 的 、 根 深 蒂 固 的 某 种 “ 先 天 主 义 ” 给 以第一 次 的 攻 击 ( 这 在 他 以 后 的 著 作 中 , 常 被 重 复 地 进 行 着)。例如 , 在 第 四 章 中 的 “ ‘ 自 然 平 等 ’ 的 教 条 ” , 第 五 章 中 的 “ 幻想 的 ‘ 自 然 状 态 ’ ” , 第 八 章 中 的 “ 认 为 财 产 起 源 于 单 独 的个人 对 物 质 财 富 的 ‘ 占 有 ’ 这 毫 无 根 据 的 观 点 ” , 第 九 章 中 的“ 社 会 契 约 的 梦 呓 ” , 没 有 一 个 人 曾 像 他 那 样 恶 毒 地 辱 骂这 些一 度 声 势 极 盛 的 说 教 的 严 重 错 误 。 他 说 : 这 些 有 关 “ 世界最古 年 代 人 类 情 况 的 描 写 受 到 这 两 种 假 设 的 影 响 , 首 先 是假定人 类 并 不 具 有 今 天 围 绕 者 他 们 的 大 部 分 环 境 , 其 次 ,是假定在 这 样 想 像 的 条 件 下 他 们 会 保 存 现 在 刺 激 他 们 进 行 活 动的同样 的 情 绪 和 偏 见 ” 。 至 少 对 于 英 国 , 梅 因 可 以 说 是 已 经改变了“自然” 的 面 貌 。

    这 种 智 力 状 态 使 梅 因 完 全 不 可 能 接 受 霍 布 斯 与 奥 斯 丁 的主 权 命 令 说 , 把 它 视 为 是 一 切 法 律 的 起 源 和 性 质 的 特 征 。 这 是 在 “ 古 代 法 ” 最 初 的 篇 幅 中 就 加 以 说 明 的 ; 并 且 他 在 十 四 年 后 出 版 的 “ 古 代 法 制 史 ” 最 后 两 讲 中 更 深 入 地 加 以 发 挥 。 奇 怪 的 是 , 梅 因 虽 然 是 奥 斯 丁 最 严 格 的 批 评 者 之 一 , 但 他 把 奥 斯 丁 在 法 律 分 析 上 所 作 努 力 的 真 正 成 绩 推 荐 给 英 国 法 学 家 , 则 有 甚 于 任 何 人 。 奥 斯 丁 在 1 8 2 8 年 所 作 的 演 讲 , 除 了 培 养 人才 补 足 审 判 席 缺 额 以 外 , 似 乎 很 少 成 就 ; 他 的 演 讲 集 在 1 8 32年 出 版 时 , 依 旧 毫 无 影 响 ; 只 是 通 过 了 梅 因 的 各 种 著 作 和 他在 1 8 5 2 年 对 法 学 院 所 作 的 演 讲 才 把 这 一 热 诚 的 、 太 过 热 诚 的真 理 追 求 者 所 作 耐 性 的 但 落 空 的 努 力 , 从 湮 没 中 援 救 出 来 。 但是 , 虽 然 他 对 奥 斯 丁 的 分 析 天 才 比 以 后 许 多 争 论 者 给 予 更 多的 赞 誉 , 但 他 对 于 把 法 律 视 作 为 命 令 , 并 且 只 是 命 令 这 一个论 点 , 却 无 疑 地 论 证 了 它 的 缺 点 。

    我 在 前 面 已 经 提 到 梅 因 对 于 英 国 人 对 罗 马 法 的 “ 极 端 无知 ” , 提 出 了 非 难 。 1847年 , 他 接 受 了 剑 桥 大 学 民 法 学 钦 定 讲座 的 教 授 职 位 , 因 为 这 个 任 命 , 使 他 得 以 专 心 研 究 古 代 法 而获 益 不 少 。 在 关 于 罗 马 遗 嘱 ( 第 六 章 ) 、 法 律 诉 讼 ( 第十 章 )、家 父 权 ( 第 五 章 ) 以 及 罗 马 契 约 分 类 ( 第 八 章 ) 等 这 些 辉 煌的 纲 要 中 , 包 含 着 许 多 新 奇 的 东 西 , 这 些 东 西 现 在 虽 已毫 不新 奇 , 但 在 1 8 6 1 年 它 们 都 是 很 新 奇 的 ; 我 们 必 须 指 出 其 中 也有 许 多 到 现 在 已 成 为 有 疑 问 的 了 , 但 是 , 对 于 并 不 熟 悉专 门的 罗 马 法 的 读 者 , 还 不 能 在 英 文 中 找 到 一 本 书 , 能 对 那伟 大法 制 中 某 些 独 特 的 制 度 , “ 像 古 代 法 ” 这 样 提 供 生 气 勃 勃 的说明 , 并 且 就 罗 马 法 对 于 欧 洲 人 生 活 上 和 思 想 上 几 乎 每 一 个 部门 所 发 生 的 巨 大 影 响 , 现 在 当 然 还 找 不 到 比 第 九 章 中 所 作 的更 好 的 、 更 有 说 服 力 的 描 写 。 还 不 很 熟 悉 这 一 切 的 读 者 , 可以 从 吉 朋 所 著 “ 罗 马 帝 国 衰 亡 史 ” 这 一 无 比 精 辟 的 书 的 第 四十 四 章 中 找 到 很 适 宜 的 补 充 材 料 。

    梅 因 与 进 化 论 学 派 的 密 切 关 系 , 可 以 从 他 对 于 法 律 制 度史 中 某 种 进 步 因 素 所 具 有 的 确 实 而 决 不 空 洞 的 信 念 , 明 白 表现 出 来 , 他 完 全 意 识 到 进 步 一 字 的 含 义 含 糊 : 在 其 无 数警句之 一 中 , 他 告 诉 我 们 : “ 对 于 人 们 , 不 论 是 个 人 或 是 集体,没有 东 西 比 把 他 们 的 道 德 进 步 认 作 一 个 实 体 的 现 实 性 , 更可厌恶 的 了 ” ; 他 认 为 绝 大 部 分 人 类 往 往 对 于 任 何 有 意 识 地努力改进 民 主 制 度 表 示 漠 不 关 心 , 对 于 这 种 现 象 , 他 表 示 大 为惊奇( 见 第 二 章 ) 。 他 从 不 怀 疑 , 社 会 是 明 显 地 向 着 一 种 稳健的坚实 的 方 向 前 进 的 ; 这 样 , 在 契 约 的 发 展 史 中 , 他 发 现 了善意这 个 道 德 观 念 的 逐 步 出 现 , 并 且 虽 然 从 没 有 停 止 和 自 然 法 非历 史 性 的 谬 论 作 斗 争 , 但 他 依 然 在 其 中 看 到 了 一 个 可 以 促 使改 进 的 有 力 因 素 , 以 反 对 法 律 的 保 守 主 义 的 禀 性 ,即认为法律 是 只 能 通 过 相 当 难 以 运 用 的 如 拟 制 、 衡 平 和 立 法 等 权宜手段 来 改 进 本 身 的 。 他 同 样 清 楚 地 认 识 到 社 会 是 天 然 地 分 为“ 进 步 的 ” 和 “ 不 进 步 的 ” 的 — — 这 种 两 分 法 , 相 当 于 西 方 与东 方 的 两 分 法 。 他 不 愿 为 “ 进 步 ” 的 标 准 下 一 个 定 义 ; 但 在“ 古 代 法 制 史 ” 中 , 他 提 出 了 至 少 两 种 可 能 的 区 别 标 准 — — 一种 是 有 意 识 地 采 用 对 最 大 多 数 人 给 以 最 大 幸 福 的 原 则 作 为 立法 政 策 , 另 一 种 是 对 待 妇 女 地 位 的 流 行 态 度 。 有 许 多 其 他 标准 可 以 提 出 来 讨 论 ; 没 有 一 个 可 以 不 变 地 加 以 应 用 ; 但 谁 会怀 疑 , 在 进 步 的 社 会 和 不 进 步 的 社 会 之 间确有 不 同 , 或 是 谁会 认 为 , 梅 因 在 这 样 相 信 了 以 后 已 作 出 了 过 分 满 足 的 假 设 呢 ?

    在 进 一 步 介 绍 “ 古 代 法 ” 中 某 几 个 时 常 引 起 争 论 的 部 分以 前 , 必 须 首 先 注 意 到 本 书 的 一 个 独 特 之 点 。 大 多 数 人 在 对某 一 门 科 学 作 专 门 研 究 时 , 在 发 表 ( 如 果 他 们 的 确 发 表 了 ) 他们 的 一 般 结 论 前 , 必 先 就 其 各 个 细 节 , 加 以 详 细 研 究 , 并可能 要 先 加 以 说 明 。 而 梅 因 的 做 法 , 恰 恰 与 此 相 反 。 在 其 第 一本 书 中 , 他 叙 述 了 最 粗 糙 的 一 般 原 理 , 而 在 他 所 有 的 后 期 作品 中 , 除 了 二 本 比 较 不 重 要 的 之 外 , 只 是 用 了 更 详 细 的 和 更明 确 具 体 的 例 证 , 以 深 入 阐 明 他 在 开 始 其 专 业 时 新 提 出 的 各项 原 理 。 这 种 方 法 是 大 胆 的 , 并 不 是 毫 无 危 险 的 :除 了 对 于事 物 的 要 点 具 有 非 常 的 直 觉 的 理 解 力 的 人 , 采 用 这 种 做 法 , 很难 获 得 成 功 。 学 者 们 为 了 使 其 结 论 能 达 到 精 确 无 误 , 一般 对于 概 括 是 非 常 谨 慎 的 , 有 时 简 直 是 不 健 康 地 谨 慎 ; 但 是 对 于“ 古 代 法 ” , 如 果 真 有 任 何 成 语 与 它 联 用 得 最 最 经 常 , 那 就 是“ 辉 煌 的 概 括 ” 这 一 个 成 语 。 在 “ 古 代 法 ” 中 , 很 少 有 一 页 没有 几 句 著 名 的 警 句 , 突 出 于 字 里 、 行 间 ; 可 怪 的 是 , 梅 因 在经 过 长 期 的 辛 勤 的 进 一 步 研 究 后 , 竟 发 现 很 少 有 必 要 就 其 最早 的 意 见 , 进 行 修 正 。 这 本 书 充 满 了 渊 博 的 知 识 , 却 没 有 表示 博 学 的 一 般 附 属 物 ; 究 竟 是 由 于 政 策 , 或 是 由 于 厌 恶,还是由于 无 能 , 无 论 如 何 , 梅 因 坚 决 拒 绝 采 用 似 乎 常 常 需 要 的旁 注 和 详 细 证 据 , 以 为 其 明 白 直 率 的 主 文 的 累 赘 。 虽 然具结果 有 时 使 经 过 专 门 训 练 的 读 者 感 到 不 便 , 但 免 除 学 术上的累赘 , 无 疑 地 大 大 增 加 了 “ 古 代 法 ” 和 梅 因 的 其 他 一 切 著 作的声 望 。 我 们 享 受 着 文 字 的 乳 汁 , 而 不 被 迫 目 击 挤 乳 的 这种繁重 的 、 有 时 候 很 辛 苦 的 劳 动 , 虽 然 在 “ 东 西 方 村 落 共 产 体 ”( V i l l a g e   C o m m u n i t i e s   i n   t h e   E a s t   a n d   W e s t ,1871) 、 “ 古 代 法 制 史 ” (1875) 及 “ 古 代 法 律 与 习 惯 ” ( 1 8 8 3年)中 都 用 了 比 “ 古 代 法 ” 更 正 确 的 、 更 有 批 评 眼 光 的 考 查以 观 察 古 代 法 律 中 的 各 个 问 题 , 但 梅 因 在 “ 古 代 法 ” 之 后 写的 一 些 作 品 , 都 不 及 这 个 初 生 儿 , 甚 至 一 半 也 及 不 到 。

    因 此 , “ 古 代 法 ” 应 该 被 认 为 好 像 是 梅 因 毕 生 工 作 中 的 一个 宣 言 书 , 这 是 雅 利 安 民 族 各 个 不 同 支 系 , 尤 其 是 罗 马 人 、 英国 人 、 爱 尔 兰 人 、 斯 拉 夫 人 以 及 印 度 人 的 古 代 法 律 制 度 的 一个 比 较 研 究 。 由 于 它 本 身 是 一 个 令 人 满 意 的 统 一 体 , 它 不 能被 视 为 仅 仅 是 一 篇 绪 论 ; 不 过 , 对 于 他 粗 糙 地 谈 到 的 许 多 问题 , 如 果 要 获 得 更 丰 富 的 知 识 , 读 者 还 必 须 借 助 于 梅 因 的 后期 作 品 。 例 如 第 八 章 提 到 的 村 落 共 产 体 是 一 篇 用 同 名 的 完 整的 ( 虽 然 是 简 短 的 ) 论 文 的 主 题 , 由 于 当 时 那 士 ( N a s s e ) 和G.L . 丰 · 毛 勒 ( G . L . v o n   M a u r e r ) 的 新 近 研 究 而 引 起的 ; 关 于 父 权 家 族 的 说 明 , 当 然 应 该 以 “ 古 代 法 律 与 习 惯 ” 为补 充 材 料 , 这 是 梅 因 的 最 后 一 部 重 要 著 作 , 在 其 中 , 他 用 了同 样 的 说 服 力 和 机 智 , 乘 便 对 主 张 母 权 制 理 论 的 几 个 主 要 代表人 予 以 答 复 。 在 这 里 , 由 于 篇 幅 的 限 制 , 难 以 就 “ 古 代法”中 讨 论 的 各 个 题 目 , 一 一 指 出 究 竟 在 他 后 期 作 品 中 哪 些地 方 曾 详 加 说 明 ; 但 就 主 要 的 题 目 中 , 可 以 提 出 的 有 主 权 、 集体 财 产 的 早 期 形 式 ( 其 重 要 的 一 方 面 , 即 联 合 家 族 , 在 “ 古代 法 ” 中 没 有 提 到 , 但 在 “ 村 落 共 产 体 ” 和 “ 古 代 法 制 史 ” 中 ,都 有 详 尽 的 讨 论 ) , 封 建 制 度 化 的 过 程 , 各 种 古 代 法 典 ( 例 如在 “ 古 代 法 律 与 习 惯 ” 的 第 一 章 中 , 详 细 叙 述 了 “ 摩 奴法典 ” ),法 学 家 〔 特 别 是 罗 马法学专家 ( J u r i s p r u d e n t e s ) 和 爱尔 兰 “ 古 代 法 官 ” 〕 在 制 成 法 律 上 所 起 的 影 响 , 原 始 的 亲 属 关系,动 产 所 有 权 〔 关 于 第 八 章 中 所 讨 论 的要式交易物 ( r e s m a n Acipi) 更 详 细 的 说 明 , 可 参 考 “ 古 代 法 律 与 习 惯 ” 第 十 章 〕 , 土地 所 有 权 , 长 子 继 承 权 , 拟 制 ( 例 如 , 关 于 收 养 这 个 拟 制 的补 充 说 明 , 可 见 “ 古 代 法 制 史 ” 第 八 讲 和 “ 古 代 法 律 与 习 惯 ” 第 四 章 ) , 原 始 诉 讼 程 序 〔 著 名 “ 戏 剧 化 ” 的誓金(Sacra m e n At u m ) 可 在 “ 古 代 法 制 史 ” 第 九 讲 中 再 发 现 〕 , 强 制 执 行 的 各种 早 期 形式,祖先 崇 拜 和 家 族圣物,以 及 衡 平 的 发 展 等。
    “ 古 代 法 ” 中 有 许 多 部 分 , 在 后 来 成 为 批 评 或 者 有 时 是 别人 所 不 同 意 的 主 题 , 对 于 这 些 , 只 可 浏 览 一 过 。 在 一 般 人的心目中 , 梅 因 的 名 字 也 许 最 容 易 同 父 权 制 的 理 论 联 系 在 一 起 。
    大 家 都 知 道 , 有 一 个 以 巴 觉 芬 ( B a c h o f e n ) 〔 他 的 “ 母 权 制论 ” ( D a s   M u t t e r r e c h e t ) 由 于 巧 合 , 恰 在 “ 古 代 法 ” 出 版 的同 一 年 中 出 版 〕 、 马 克 林 南 ( M c l e n n a n ) 、 摩 尔 根 ( M o r g a n ) 、约 瑟 夫 · 库 勒 ( J o s e f   k o h l e r ) 和 法 拉 善 ( F r a z e r ) 为 其 主 要代 表 人 物 的 反 对 学 派 , 主 张 人 类 社 会 以 一 个 人 群 开 始 ,其中男 女 两 性 处 于 一 种 没 有 节 制 的 杂 交 状 态 中 互 相 匹 配 , 主张首先 出 现 的 家 族 集 团 是 以 母 氏 为 中 心 的 , 并 且 主 张 以 认 定 的 生父 的 体 力 和 独 占 禁 忌 占 优 势 的 家 族 集 团 , 在 发 展 的 过 程中,应属 于 一 个 较 后 的 阶 段 。 而 在 “ 古 代 法 ” 和 “ 古 代 法 律 与 习惯 ” 的 简 要 研 究 中 , 显 然 梅 因 所 描 写 的 社 会 , 既 不 是 一 个 以“ 自 然 状 态 中 的 人 ” 也 不 是 以 母 系 子 嗣 , 而 是 一 个 以 父 权 的 、宗 亲 的 家 作 为 单 位 的 社 会 。
    但 是 , 梅 因 所 重 新 假 设 的 这 种 共 产 体 , 从 来 没 有 要 被 认为 是 人 类 社 会 渊 源 的 代 表 之 意 。 他 的 研 究 明 白 地 限 于 雅 利 安民 族 , 尤 其 是 其 中 比 较 进 步 的 几 个 支 系 ( 但 有 显 著 的 例 外 , 如印 度 村 落 共 产 体 ) ; 虽 然 在 其 他 方 面 可 能 有 些 争 执 , 但 雅 利 安家 族 制 度 主 要 是 父 权 的 , 这 是 没 有 争 议 的 。 在 “ 古 代 法 律 与习 惯 ” 中 , 梅 因 不 但 不 主 张 人 类 种 族 的 各 个 支 系 应 该 有 一 个单 一 的 、 一 成 不 变 的 发 展 图 式 , 他 并 且 毫 无 隐 瞒 地 对 这 种 想法 表 示 着 怀 疑 。 现 代 学 说 所 主 张 的 , 正 和 这 个 意 见 相 同 : 现在 认 为 , 把 父 权 制 理 论 和 母 权 制 理 论 作 为 相 互 之 间 不 能调和的 对 立 物 是 完 全 人 为 的 。 男 性 和 女 性 在 家 族 中 和 社 会 上 的 相对 重 要 性 决 定 于 许 多 变 化 着 的 情 况 , 譬 如 各 家 族 集 团 是孤立的 还 是 互 相 邻 接 的 , 男 女 两 性 的 相 对 人 数 , 战 争 的 影 响,可用 以 瞻 养 妻 子 的 财 富 , 灭 婴 的 习 俗 , 以 及 许 多 其 他 类 似 的 因素 , 决 不 可 能 在 一 切 时 代 和 一 切 地 点 , 完 全 相 同 。 即 使 在 大量 证 据 中 仅 仅 熟 悉 其 中 一 部 分 的 人 ( 或 仅 仅 熟 悉 其 中 可靠部分 的 人 , 并 且 不 包 括 梅 因 讽 刺 地 称 之 为 “ 道 听 途 说 ” 的 人 ) ,现 在 也 不 再 怀 疑 母 系 的 安 排 曾 流 行 于 世 界 的 许 多 地 方 。 梅 因曾 被 责 难 为 在 承 认 马 克 林 南 和 摩 尔 根 所 提 出 母 权 制 的 证 据 时过 分 勉 强 , 并 且 过 分 严 格 地 坚 持 着 男 性 的 体 力 和 性 的 忌 妒 这些 支 配 的 因 素 。 实 际 上 , 梅 因 完 全 承 认 父 权 制 并 不 能 适用 于一 切 形 式 的 社 会 ; 他 所 主 张 的 , 只 是 父 权 制 是 雅 利 安 人 所 特有 的 , 同 时 母 权 制 的 证 据 并 不 足 以 支 持 有 一 种 原 始 群 杂交的通 说 而 已 。 对 于 这 两 种 说 法 , 现 代 的 意 见 都 支 持 着 他 ; 任 何普 遍 的 原 始 杂 交 的 假 设 , 现 在 为 一 般 人 所 不 信 , 虽 然 作为偶然 的 热 情 奔 放 的 那 种 所 谓 性 的 共 产 主 义 , 证 据 还 是 不 少 ; 在雅 利 安 人 中 间 确 有 母 权 制 的 遗 迹 , 但 他 们 认 为 这 很 可 能 不 是人 类 家 族 中 这 一 支 系 的 一 种 较 古 时 期 的 原 有 情 况 , 而 是 它 同非 雅 利 安 种 族 习 惯 相 接 触 的 结 果 。

    梅 因 的 行 文 流 畅 , 偶 尔 ( 但 只 是 偶 尔 ) 也 有 自 相 矛 盾 之处 , 这 是 不 能 毫 无 保 留 地 加 以 接 受 的 。 这 类 矛 盾 在 “ 古 代法 ” 最 初 的 篇 幅 中 就 可 以 看 到 , 在 第 一 章 中 , 关 于 半 司 法 的 、半 宗 教 的θεμιτε 觉 得 出 了 在 原 始 社 会 中 “ 判 决 先 于 习 惯 ” 的结 论 。 在 “ 村 落 共 产 体 ” 中 , 梅 因 回 到 了 “ 主 权 者 有 权 创造习 惯 ” 。 在 这 个 问 题 上 , 有 两 种 不 同 信 念 的 学 派 ; 一 派 主 张 在最 古 时 期 高 级 官 吏 的 宣 告 只 是 宣 布 业 已 存 在 的 习 惯 , 另一派则 认 为 这 些 宣 告 却 真 正 是 创 设 和 塑 造 通 俗 惯 例 的 决 定 因 素 。真 相 似 乎 是 在 这 两 种 相 反 的 观 点 的 中 间 。 毫 无 疑 问 , 早期的判 决 , 不 论 是 国 王 的 或 是 祭 司 的 , 不 论 是 纯 粹 世 俗 的或是幻想为 神 灵 所 启 示 的 , 在 确 定 习 惯 的 形 式 、 范 围 以 及 方 向 上,确有 很 大 的 影 响 。 同 时 , 一 切 证 据 似 乎 都 说 明 , 最 古 时 期 的 司法 职 能 被 认 为 是 以发现现存的法律 为 其 主 要 目 的 。 在 西 方 世界,到处都有关 于 这 种 “ 发 现 法 律 ” 以 及 以 发 现 法 律 为 专 职的 公 认 专 家 的 各 种 记 录 。 甚 至 在 解 释 过 程 中 采 用 了 ( 这 也 常是 必 然 的 ) 新 的 成 分 , 在 这 种 情 况 下 , 实 际 上 已 从 单 纯 的 宣布 进 入 了 创 设 的 时 期 , 甚 至 在 这 种 时 候 , 这 种 改 革 仍 旧被装扮成 只 是 发 现 : 正 像 英 国 法 官 在 实 质 上 是 把 新 的 成 分 转 入 到法 律 中 去 , 却 仍 旧 尽 可 能 地 把 它 们 说 成 是 根 据 于 现 存 的 先 例一 样 。 梅 因 对 于 这 种 看 法 , 曾 经 详 细 考 虑 而 加 以 同 意 , 因 为在 “ 古 代 法 律 与 习 惯 ” ( 第 六 章 ) 中 , 当 他 写 到θεμιτε时 , 认为 它 “ 无 疑 地 来 自 早 已 存 在 的 习 惯 或 惯 例 ” ; 虽 然 他 也 许 是 为了 表 示 公 正 起 见 , 接 着 说 ; “ 这观念是,它 们 是 由 国 王 自 发 地或 经 过 神 的 提 示 而 想 出 来 的 ” 。

    “ 古 代 法 ” 中 没 有 一 部 分 像万民法的 叙述 那 样 需 要 更 多 的 详 细 说 明 。 “ 古 代 法 ” 的 最 大 缺 点 , 在 于 它跳 过 了 从 罗 马 人 到 格 罗 秋 ( Grotius) 之 间 的 几 个 世 纪 , 忽 略了中古世纪的时期 , 在 这 个 时 期 内 , “ 自 然 法 ” 转 变 成 为 有 无限 活 力 和 影 响 的 一 种 神 学 概 念 。 对 于 像 梅 因 这 样 有 非 常 的 均衡 感 和 透 视 力 的 人 , 这 真 是 一 个 奇 怪 的 遗 漏 , 而 每 一 个 读 者希 望 对 这 一 漫 长 时 期 的 法 律 理 论 有 比 较 正 确 的 印 象 的 ,应该至 少 参 考 一 下 布 赖 斯 爵 士 (B r y c e ) 和 菲 莱 特 烈 克 · 濮洛 克 爵 士 (F r e d e r i c k   P o l l o c k ) 关 于 “ 自 然 法 律 史 ” 的几 篇 论 文 , 以 及喀莱尔博士 (A. J. C a r l y l e ) 的“ 西 方 中 世 纪 政 治 理 论 ” 。

    梅 因 对 于 罗 马 契 约 法 发 展 的 说 明 , 是 他 论 文 中 最 雄 辩 的部 分 之 一 。 但 这 部 分 有 些 浪 漫 的 倾 向 , 则 是 无 法 掩 盖 的 事 实 。 在 有 些 方 面 , 他 似 乎 显 然 是 错 误 的 ; 例 如约定,根据现代意 见 , 不 能 被 真 正 地 认 为 是 来 源 于耐克逊( n e x u m ) : 它也 许 在宗教的 神 圣 性 中 有 完 全 不 同 的 历 史 , 不 同 的 来 源 。在其 他 方 面 , 如 关 于耐克逊 的 确 切 性 质 , 他 所 表 示 的 见 解 , 有些 也 只 能 认 为 是 似 乎 可 信 的 猜 测 ; 但 这 样 说 , 并 不 能 被 认 为是 对 他 责 难 , 因 为 从 梅 因 的 时 代 起 , 对 于 这 一 个 问 题 曾 发 生过 无 休 无 止 的 争 论 , 而 争 论 的 结 果 也 还 只 是 一 些 可 能 和 推 测而 已 , 实 际 上 , 以 证 据 而 论 , 也 只 能 得 到 这 样 的 结 果 。 梅 因对 于 罗 马 契 约 的 历 史 分 类 存 在 着 真 正 的 弱 点 , 这 与 罗 马 法 学家 自 己 对 于 合 意 的 分 类 的 存 在 着 弱 点 , 完 全 相 同 — 弱 点是在于 它 图 表 式 的 但 靠 不 住 的 单 纯 。 梅 因 所 提 出 的 各 个 阶段是:把债 务 同 真 正 的 以 身 体 自 由 为 质 物 ( 耐 克 逊 借 贷 ) 看 做 一 回 事 , 带 有 严 格 的 神 圣 仪 式 ; 其 次 是 以 庄 严 的 口 头 问 答 和 以 诚 意 担保 的 债 务 ; 其 次 是 有 书 面 文 字 的 无 可 辩 驳 的 证 据 ; 其 次 是 真正 契 约 的 “ 巨 大 道 德 进 步 ” , 这 些 契 约 代 表 着 公 正 的 基 本 原 理 ,即 根 据 一 致 同 意 的 条 件 , 受 领 和 享 有 他 人 有 价 物 件 的 人 , 有归 还 它 或 其 价 值 的 义 务 ; 其 次 是 在 任 何 经 济 发 达 的 社 会 中 , 在四 种 最 普 通 和 重 要 的 交 易 中 一 致 的 效 力 ; 以 及 最 后 , 通 过 裁判 官的 自 由 学 说 , 在 任 何 严 肃 的 和 合 法 的 场 合 中 所取 得 纯 粹 一 致 的 拘 束 力 。 我 们 不 能 说 这 种 根 据 于 道 德 进 步 路线 的 历 史 顺 序 , 是 明 显 地 错 误 的 , 但 为 慎 重 起 见 , 我 们 必 须承 认 要 证 实 其 一 切 细 节 , 现 有 的 证 据 显 然 并 不 充 分 。 事 实 正如 我 们 常 常 指 出 来 的 那 样 , 罗 马 人 在 有 关 合 意 的 法 律 方 面 是独 特 地 凭 经 验 的 , 他 们 从 来 没 有 发 展 一 个 令 人 满 意 的 和 不 矛盾 的 真 正作为 契 约 的 契 约 理 论 , 他 们 的市民法要因(causa civilis)学说, 被 假 定 为 是 一 切 有 拘 束 力 的 合 意 所 依 据 的 , 是完 全 没 有 可 靠 的 法 律 基 础 的 。 梅 因 留 给 我 们 的 印 象 是 , 裁 判官 凭 着 体 现 “ 能 达 到 正 当 后 果 的 ‘ 诺 成 契 约 ’ 原 则 ” 的 ‘ 裁判 官 告 令 ” , 把 合 意 的 可 诉 性 扩 大 到 几 乎 毫 无 限 制 。 这 是 一 种严 重 的 夸 大 。 实 际 上 , 裁 判 官 告 令 , 在 数 量 上 是 很 少 的 , 在性 质 上 是 很 专 门 的 , 在 范 围 上 是 很 狭 小 的 。 毫 无 疑 义 , 到 了古 典 时 期 , 契 约 的 领 域 在 理 论 上 和 在 实 际 上 , 都 已 变 得 很 广泛 , 足 以 满 足 一 切 普 通 目 的 了 ; 但 是 它 还 不 能 公 正 地 被 认 为具 有 梅 因 这 样 热 诚 地 归 功 于 它 的 那 种 科 学 的 均 称 性 或 道 德 的一 致 性 。

    在 第 五 章 的 结 尾 , 可 以 看 到 梅 因 对 他 所 想 象 的 “ 各 国 民事 法 律 ” 的 发 展 , 进 行 了 干 练 的 总 结 , 同 时 读 者 在 开 始 阅 读本 书之 前 , 最 好 先 熟 读 这 一 段 文 字 , 即 以 “ 到 现 在 为 止 , 我 们 已 经研 究 过 有 关 古 代 ‘ 人 法 ’ 的 各 个 部 分 ” 开 始 的 几 页 , 并 且 先 要 把 本 书 开 头 的 主 要 的 五 章 所 依 据 的 要 旨 牢 记 在 心 中 。这 几 页 中 最 后 一 句 话 是 全 部 英 国 法 律 文 献 中 最 著 名 的 “ 进 步社 会 的 运 动 , 到 此 处 为 止 , 是 一个从身分到契约 的 运 动 。 ” 这些 文 句 在 它 写 成 的 当 时 , 是 适 当 的 、 可 以 接 受 的 — —那 个 时候 , 十 九 世 纪 个 人 主 义 的 全 部 力 量 正 在 逐 渐 增 加 其 动 力。关于 梅 因 所 应 用 的 “ 身 分 ” 这 个 字 , 是 否 适 当 , 这 里 不 拟作专门 的 详 尽 讨 论 , 但 作 为 一 个 法 律 “ 术 语 ” , 就 他 所 接 受 的 含 义来 讲 , 是 有 讨 论 的 余 地 的 ; 但 他 的 结 论 实 足 以 表 现 一 条为当今 历 史 法 学 家 没 有 任 何 争 执 的 原 则 — — 即 个 人 自 决 的原则,把 个 人 从 家 庭 和 集 团 束 缚 的 罗 网 中 分 离 开 来 ; 或 者 , 用 最 简单 的 话 来 说 , 即 从 集 体 走 向 个 人 的 运 动 。 这 是 梅 因 的 论文的主 要 观 点 , 是 他 对 所 有 那 些先天 的 空 想 进 行 攻 击 的 矛 头,这些 空 想 创 造 了 抽 象 的人 , 作 为 年 轻 世 界 的 天 命 的 君 主 , 这样就 颠 倒 了 全 部 的 历 史 进 程 。 可 以 看 到 , 梅 因 在 说 这 个 运 动到此处为止 是 进 步 社 会 的 特 征 时 , 是 很 慎 重 的 。 现 在 有 许 多 人在 问 , 有 的 带 着 怀 疑 , 有 的 可 以 看 出 是 有 礼 貌 地 , 究 竟 有 没有 从 契 约 到 身 分 的 相 反 运 动 发 生 过 。 我 们 可 以 完 全 肯 定 , 这个 由 十 九 世 纪放任主义 ( l a i s s e z f a i r e ) 安 放 在 “ 契 约 自 由 ” 这神 圣 语 句 的 神 龛 内 的 个 人 绝 对 自 决 , 到 了 今 日 已 经 有 了 很 多的 改 变 ; 现 在 , 个 人 在 社 会 中 的 地 位 , 远 较 著 作 “ 古 代 法 ” 的时 候 更 广 泛 地 受 到 特 别 团 体 、 尤 其 是 职 业 团 体 的 支 配 , 而 他的 进 入 这 些 团 体 并 非 都 出 于 他 自 己 的 自 由 选 择 。 很 可 能 , 过去 一 度 由 家 庭 这 个 发 源 地 担 任 的 任 务 , 在 将 来 要 由 工 团 这 个发 源 地 来 担 任 了 ; 也 可 能 梅 因 的 这 个 著 名 原 则 , 将 会 有 一 天被 简 单 地 认 为 只 是 社 会 史 中 的 一 个 插 曲 。 如 果 竟 然 是 这 样 发生 了 , 这 究 竟 是 标 志 着 社 会 的 进 步 还 是 退 化 , 是 一 个 非 常 适合 于 每 一 个 有 思 想 的 人 仔 细 研 究 的 问 题 , 但 在 这 里 , 是 不 宜于 作 任 何 讨 论 的 。

    本 书 中 有 些 不 重 要 的 疏 漏 之 处 , 对 于 一 般 读 者 , 是 可 以不 必 特 别 提 出 的 。 但 有 一 点 必 须 加 以 指 出 。 在 第 四 章 中 梅 因竟 以 为 布 拉 克 顿 ( B r a c t o n ) 曾 “ 把 全 部 形 式 和 三 分 之 一 内 容直 接 剽 窃 自 ‘ 民 法 大 全 ’ ” 的 一 篇 论 文 , 作 为 纯 粹 英 国 法 的 一个 纲 要 , 向 其 同 胞 推 销 。 这 与 现 在 由 麦 特 兰 ( M a i t l a n d ) 研 究结 果 确 定 的 事 实 严 重 地 不 相 符 合 , 这 些 事 实 , 在1861年 时 是不 可 避 免 地 被 误 解 了 。 布 拉 克 顿 的 亨 利 或 布 拉 顿 ( B r a t o n ) 是除 了 法 学 家 和 历 史 学 家 外 , 一 般 人 很 少 知 道 的 一 个 作 家 , 因此 请 原 谅 我 为 他 作 一 介 绍 , 他 是 亨 利 三 世 皇 朝 后 半 期 中 一 个王 室 法 庭 的 法 官 , 并 且 是 研 究 中 世 纪 时 期 “ 英 国 法 律 和 习惯 ” 方 面 一 个 最 重 要 的 “ 寺 院 派 ” 作 家 。 像 他 当 时 所 有 的 教士 一 样 , 他 用 拉 丁 文 纂 述 文 章 , 他 应 用 罗 马 法 的 传 统 分 类 与排 列 ; 虽 然 决 不 至 于 有 “ 三 分 之 一 内 容 ” , 但 他 的 著 名 论 文 中确 有 相 当 部 分 借 助 于 罗 马 法 — — 但 不 是 “ 民 法 大 全 ” 的 本 身 ,而是 十 二 世 纪 “ 波 罗 诺 学 派 ” ( B o l o g n e s e ) 注 释 者 所 “ 修 正 ”的 罗 马 法 律 学 。 但 他 的 著 作 , 不 论 在 意 图 上 或 是 在 效 果 上 , 绝不 是 欺 人 之 谈 : 他 的 主 题 是 真 实 的 、 本 土 风 光 的 、 英 国 的 封建 法 律 , 虽 然 曾 受 到 当 时 所 公 认 的 研 究 法 律 学 的 方 法 — — 一个 必 然 是 罗 马 式 的 方 法 — — 的 影 响 , 而 它 受 到 这 种 影 响 , 实在 也 是 无 可 避 免 的 。
    最 后 必 须 加 以 说 明 , 在 本 书 中 提 到 的 一 二 椿 有 关 英 国 法的 事 , 最 近 已 经 有 了 变 化 。 一 般 都 知 道 , 在 梅 因 著 作 中 占 有非 常 显 著 地 位 的 并 且 是 他 所 一 贯 不 赞 成 的 长 子 继 承 权, 在 现 在 , 除 了 荣 誉 称 号 以 外 , 在 一 切 主 要 方 面都 已 从 英 国 继 承 法 中 消 失 了 。 第 八 章 中 有 关 英 国 动 产 法 “ 威胁着要 并 吞 和 毁 灭 不 动 产 法 ” 的 预 言 , 现 在 大 部 已 经 实 现 了 。
    至 于 英国已婚妇 女 的 无 能 力 ( 第 五 章 ) ,这种 现 象 在1861年时 是 任 何 文 明 社 会 的 一 种 耻 辱 , 在 二 十 一 年 以 后 已 被 彻 底 消灭 , 这 原 是 众 所 周 知 而 毋 庸 加 以 说 明 的 事。
    ——C a r l e t o n   k e m p   A l l e n,1931

    第一章   古代法典

    世 界 上 最 著 名 的 一 个 法 律 学 制 度 从 一 部 “ 法 典 ” (code)开 始 , 也 随 着 它 而 结 束 。 从 罗 马 法 历 史 的 开 始 到 结 束 , 它 的释 义 者 一 贯 地 在 其 用 语 中 暗 示 着 , 他 们 制 度 的 实 体 是 建 筑 于“ 十 二 铜 表 法 ”、因 此 也 就 是 建 筑 于 成 文 法 的 基 础 上 的 。 在 罗 马 , 对 于 “ 十 二 铜 表 法 ” 以前 的 一 切 制 度 , 除 了 一 特 殊 之 点 外 , 都 不 予 承 认 。 罗 马 法 律学 在 理 论 上 是 来 自 一 部 法 典 , 而 英 国 法 律 在 理 论 上 则 被 认 为是 来 自 古 代 的 不 成 文 惯 例 , 这 是 他 们 制 度 的 发 展 和 我 们 制 度的 发 展 所 以 不 同 的 主 要 原 因 。 这 两 种 理 论 与 事 实 不 完 全 相 符,但 却 都 产 生 了 极 端 重 要 的 后 果 。

    “ 十 二 铜 表 法 ” 的 公 布 并 不 能 作 为 我 们 开 始 研 究 法 律 史 的最 早 起 点 , 这 是 毋 庸 多 说 的 。 古 代 罗 马 法 典 , 是 属 于 这 样 一类 的 法 典 , 几 乎 世 界 上 每 一 个 文 明 国 家 都 可 以 提 出 一 个 范 例 ,并 且 以 罗 马 和 希 腊 而 论 , 它 们 是 在 彼 此 之 间 相 距 并 不 过 分 遥远 的 时 代 中 在 它 们 各 自 的 领 域 中 广 泛 地 传 布 着 。 它 们 是 在 非常 类 似 的 情 况 下 出 现 的 , 并 且 据 我 们 所 知 , 也 是 由 类 似 的 原因 产 生 的 。 毫 无 疑 问 , 在 这 些 法 典 的 后 面 , 存 在 许 多 法 律 现象 , 这 些 法 律 现 象 在 时 间 上 是 发 生 在 法 典 之 前 的 。 现 在 有 很多 文 件 记 录 , 明 白 地 提 供 我 们 关 于 这 种 早 期 法 律 现 象 的 知 识 ;但 在 语 言 学 家 能 对 “ 梵 文 ”文 学 作 出 完 全的 分 析以 前 , 我 们 知 识 的 最 好 来 源 无 疑 地 只 有 希 腊 的 荷 马 诗 篇, 当 然 我 们 不 能 把 它 认 作 一 种 确 实 事 件 的历 史 , 而 只 能 把 它 作 为 作 者 所 知 道 的 不 是 完 全 出 于 想 象 的 一种 社 会 状 态 的 描 写 。 纵 使 诗 人 的 想 象 力 对 于 这 种 英 雄 时代的某 些 特 征 , 如 战 士 的 勇 猛 以 及 神 的 威 武 , 可 能 有 些 夸 张 之 处 ,但 我 们 没 有 理 由 相 信 , 他 的 想 象 力 曾 受 到 道 德 或 形 而 上 学 的概 念 的 影 响 , 因 为 , 这 些 概 念 当 时 当 没 有 作 为 有 意 识 观察的对 象 。 就 这 一 点 而 论 , 荷 马 文 学 实 远 比 后 期 的 文 件 更为真实可 靠 , 因 为 , 这 些 文 件 虽 然 也 是 为 了 要 说 明 同 样 的 较 早时期的 情 况 , 但 是 它 们 的 编 纂 是 在 哲 学 的 或 神 学 的 影 响 之 下 进 行的 。 如 果 我 们 能 通 过 任 何 方 法 , 断 定 法 律 概 念 的 早 期 形 式 , 这将 对 我 们 有 无 限 的 价 值 。 这 些 基 本 观 念 对 于 法 学 家 , 真 象 原始 地 壳 对 于 地 质 学 家 一 样 的 可 贵 。 这 些 观 念 中 , 可 能 含 有 法律 在 后 来 表 现 其 自 己 的 一 切 形 式 。 我 们 的 法 律 科 学 所 以 处 于这 样 不 能 令 人 满 意 的 状 态 , 主 要 由 于 对 于 这 些 观 念 除 了最最肤 浅 的 研 究 之 外 , 采 取 了 一 概 加 以 拒 绝 的 草 率 态 度 或 偏 见 。 在采 用 观 察 的 方 法 以 代 替 假 设 法 之 前 , 法 学 家 进 行 调 查 研究的方 法 真 和 物 理 学 与 生 物 学 中 所 用 的 调 查 研 究 方 法 十 分 近 似 。凡 是 似 乎 可 信 的 和 内 容 丰 富 的 、 但 却 绝 对 未 经 证 实 的 各 种 理论 , 像 “ 自 然 法 ”或 “ 社 会 契 约 ” 之 类 , 往 往 为 一 般 人 所 爱 好 , 很 少 有 踏 实 地 探 究社 会 和 法 律 的 原 始 历 史 的 ; 这 些 理 论 不 但 使 注 意 力 离 开 了 可以 发 现 真 理 的 唯 一 出 处 , 并 且 当 它 们 一 度 被 接 受 和 相 信 了 以后 , 就 有 可 能 使 法 律 学 以 后 各 个 阶 段 都 受 到 其 最 真 实 和 最 大的 影 响 , 因 而 也 就 模 糊 了 真 理 。

    在 荷 马 诗 篇 中 曾 经 提 到 “ 地 美 士 ” ( T h e m i s ) 和 “ 地 美 士第 ” ( T h e m i s t e s ) 的 字 眼 , 这 是 一 些 最 早 期 的 概 念 , 它 们 和 现在 已 经 充 分 发 达 的 法 律 观 念 和 生 活 规 律 有 着 密 切 的 关 系 。 如所 周 知 , “ 地 美 士 ” 在 后 期 希 腊 万 神 庙 中 是 “ 司 法 女 神 ” ( A Goddess   o f J u s t i c e ) , 但 这 是 一 个 现 代 的 并 且 已 经 很 发 达 的 观念 , 同 “ 伊 利 亚 特 ” ( I l i a d ) 中 把 “ 地 美 士 ” 描 写 为 宙 斯的 陪 审 官 的 原 意 , 完 全 不 同 。 所 有 对 于 人 类 原 始 状 态的 忠 实 观 察 者 现 在 都 能 清 楚 地 看 到 , 在 人 类 的 初 生 时 代 , 人 们 对 于 持 续 不 变 的 或 定 期 循 坏 发 生 的 一 些 活 动 只 能 假 用 一 个有 人 格 的 代 理 人 来 加 以 说 明 。 这 样 , 吹 看 的 风 是 一 个 人 , 并且 当 然 是 一 个 神 圣 的 人 ; 上 升 、 上 升 、 到 达 极 顶 然 后 下 落 的太 阳 是 一 个 人 , 并 且 是 一 个 神 圣 的 人 ; 生 长 庄 稼 的 土 地 是 一个 人 , 也 是 神 圣 的 人 。 在 物 理 世 界 中 如 此 , 在 道 德 世 界 中 也是 如 此 。 当 国 王 用 判 决 解 决 纠 纷 时 , 他 的 判 决 假 设 是 直接灵感 的 结 果 。 把 司 法 审 判 权 交 给 国 王 或 上 帝 的 神 圣 代 理 人 , 万王 之 中 最 伟 大 的 国 王 , 就 是地美士 。 这 个 概 念 的 特 点 , 表 现在 这 个 字 的 复 数 用 法 。地美士第,即地美西斯 , 是 “ 地 美士 ” 的 复 数 , 意 指 审 判 的 本 身 , 是 由 神 授 予 法 官 的 。 在 谈 到 国 王 时 , 好 像 他 们 的 手 中 就 有 着 丰 富 的 “ 地 美 士 第 ” , 随 时 可 以 应 用 似 的 。 但 是 我 们 必 须 明 白 了 解 “ 地 美 士 第 ” 并 不 就 是 法 律 而 是 判 决 。 格 罗 脱 ( G r o t e ) 先 生 在 其 “ 希 腊 史 ”中 说, “宙 斯 或 是 地 球 上 的 人 王 , 不 是 一 个 立法 者 而 是 一 个 法 官 ” 。 他 有 充 足 的 “ 地 美 士 第 ” , 但 是 , 虽 然始 终 相 信 “ 地 美 士 第 ” 来 自 天 上 , 我 们 却 并 不 能 就 假 设 在 各个 “ 地 美 士 第 ” 之 间 , 有 着 任 何 一 条 原 则 贯 串 着 ; 它 们 是 各别 的 、 单 独 的 判 决 。

    甚 至 在 荷 马 诗 篇 中 , 我 们 也 还 可 以 看 出 , 这 些 观 念 只 是暂 时 的 。 在 古 代 社 会 的 简 单 机 构 中 , 情 况 类 似 的 情 形 可 能 比现 在 还 要 普 遍 , 而 在 一 系 列 的 类 似 案 件 中 , 就 有 可 能 采用彼此 近 似 的 审 判 。 我 们 由 此 就 有 了 一 种 “ 习 惯 ” 的 胚 种 或者雏形 , 这 是 在 “ 地 美 士 第 ” 或 判 决 的 概 念 之 后 的 一 种 概 念。由于 我 们 的 现 代 联 想 , 我 们 就先天地 倾 向 于 以 为 一 个 “ 习 惯 ” 观念 必 然 是 先 于 一 个 司 法 判 决 的 概 念 , 以 为 一 个 判 决 必 然是肯定 一 个 “ 习 惯 ” , 或 是 对 于 违 犯 “ 习 惯 ” 的 人 加 以 处 罚 , 纵 使我 们 的 思 想 倾 向 是 这 样 , 但 是 , 非 常 明 确 , 各 种 观 念 的 历 史

    顺 序 却 真 正 是 象 我 在 前 面 所 排 列 的 那 样 排 列 的 。 荷 马 对 于 一个 在 胚 胎 中 的 习 惯 , 有 时 用 单 数 的 “ 地 美 士 ” — — 更 多 的 时候 则 用 “ 达 克 ” ( D i k e ) , 它 的 意 义 明 显 地 介 于 一 个 “ 判 决 ” 和一 个 “ 习 惯 ” 或 “ 惯 例 ” 之 间 。 至 于 N Fμ σ � 是 指 一 条 “ 法律 ” , 这 是 后 期 希 腊 社 会 政 治 语 言 中 一 个 非 常 伟 大 而 著 名 的 名辞 , 但 在 荷 马 诗 篇 中 却 没 有 见 到 过。

    所 谓 神 圣 的 代 理 人 这 种 观 念 , 暗 示 着 “ 地 美 士 第 ” , 而 其本 身 又 人 格 化 在 “ 地 美 士 ” 中 。 这 种 观 念 一 个 肤 浅 的 研 究 者可 能 会 把 它 和 其 他 原 始 信 念 混 淆 起 来 , 我 们 必 须 把 它 们 区 分开 来 。 有 一 种 概 念 认 为 整 部 的 法 典 是 由 “ 神 ” ( D e i t y ) 口 授 的 ,例 如 印 度 的 “ 摩 奴 ” 法 典 ( H i n d o o   laws of Manu), 这 种概 念 似 乎 属 于 比 较 后 期 和 比 较 发 达 的 思 想 , “ 地 美 士 ” 和 “ 地美 士 第 ” 是 同 长 久 以 来 顽 固 地 为 人 们 拘 泥 着 的 一 种 信 念 密 切地 联 系 着 的 , 这 种 信 念 认 为 在 生 活 的 每 一 个 关 系 中 , 在 每 一个 社 会 制 度 中 , 都 有 一 种 神 的 影 响 作 为 它 的 基 础 , 并 支 持 着它 。 在 每 一 古 代 法 律 中 , 在 每 一 政 治 思 想 的 雏 形 中 , 到 处 都可 以 遇 到 这 种 信 念 的 征 象 。 那 时 候 所 有 的 根 本 制 度 如 “ 国家 ” 、 “ 种 族 ” 和 “ 家 族 ” 都 是 假 定 为 贡 献 给 一 个 超 自 然 的 主宰 , 并 由 这 个 主 宰 把 它 们 结 合 在 一 起 的 。 在 这 些 制 度 所 包 含的 各 种 不 同 关 系 中 集 合 起 来 的 人 们 , 必 然 地 要 定 期 举 行 公 共的 祭 礼 , 供 奉 公 共 的 祭 品 , 他 们 时 时 为 了 祈 求 赦 免 因 无 意 或疏 忽 的 侮 慢 而 招 惹 的 刑 罚 举 行 着 斋 戒 和 赎 罪 ,在 这 中 间 这 种同 样 的 义 务 甚 至 被 更 有 意 义 地 承 认 着 。 凡 是 熟 悉 普 通 古 典 文学 的 人 , 都 会 记 得家祭 ( s a c r a   g e n t i l i c i a ) 这 个 名 词 , 这 对于 古 代 罗 马 的 收 养 法 和 遗 嘱 法 都 有 着 极 重 要 的 影 响 。 到 现 在为 止 , 还 保 存 着 原 始 社 会 某 些 最 古 怪 特 点 的 印 度 习 惯 法 ( H i n Ad o o   C u s t o m a t y   law),对 于 人 们 所 有 的 一 切 权 利 和 继 承 的一 切 规 定 , 几 乎 都 要 在 死 人 安 葬 时 , 也 就 是 说 在 家 族 延 续 发生 中 断 时 , 按 照 举 行 规 定 仪 式 时 的 严 肃 程 度 而 决 定 。

    在 我 们 离 开 这 一 法 律 学 阶 段 以 前 , 凡 是 英 国 学 生 都 必 须注 意 到 这 样 的 一 点 。 在 边 沁 的 “ 政 府 论 丛 ” 以 及 奥 斯 丁 的 “ 法 律 学 范 围 论 ”中 , 他 们 把 每 一 项 法 律 分 解 为立 法 者 的 一 个命令,因 此 是 一 种 强 加 于 公 民 身 上 的义务,并且 是 在 发 生 反 抗 时 的 一 种制裁 ; 他 们 并 且 进 一 步 断 定 这 个 作为 法 律 第 一 个 要 素 的命 令,必 须 不 仅 是 针 对 一 个 单 一 的 行 为,而 且 是 对 着 一 系 列 的 或 者 许 多 属 于 同 一 类 型 和 性 质 的 行 为 。这 样 把 法 律 的 各 种 要 素 加 以 分 析 的 结 果 , 同 已 经 成 熟 的 法 律学 的 事 实 完 全 相 符 ; 并 且 只 要 在 用 语 上 稍 为 引 伸 一 下 ,它们就 能 在 形 式 上 适 用 于 各 种 各 样 的 、 各 个 时 代 的 一 切 法 律 。 但是 , 这 并 不 就 是 说 , 在 这 个 概 括 中 所 含 有 的 法 律 观 念 , 即 使到 现 在 , 还 完 全 同 这 个 解 剖 相 符 合 ; 可 奇 怪 的 是 , 我 们 对 于古 代 思 想 史 如 果 研 究 得 越 深 入 , 我 们 发 现 我 们 自 己 同 边 沁 所主 张 的 所 谓 法 律 是 几 个 要 素 的 混 合 物 的 这 种 概 念 , 距 离 越 远 。可 以 断 言 , 在 人 类 初 生 时 代 , 不 可 能 想 象 会 有 任 何 种 类 的 立法 机 关 , 甚 至 一 个 明 确 的 立 法 者 。 法 律 还 没 有 达 到 习 惯的程度 , 它 只 是 一 种 惯 行 。 用 一 句 法 国 成 语 , 它 还 只 是 一种“气氛 ” 。 对 于 是 或 非 唯 一 有 权 威 性 的 说 明 是 根 据 事 实 作 出 的 司 法判 决 , 并 不 是 由 于 违 犯 了 预 先 假 定 的 一 条 法 律 , 而 是 在 审 判时 中 一 个 较 高 的 权 力 第 一 次 灌 输 入 法 官 脑 中 的 。 我 们 要想理解 这 些 在 时 间 上 和 在 联 想 上 同 我 们 距 离 这 样 遥 远 的 种 种 见解 , 当 然 是 极 端 困 难 的 , 但 是 , 我 们 如 果 能 比 较 详 细 地 研 究一 下 古 代 社 会 的 构 成 , 了 解 到 在 古 代 社 会 中 , 每 个 人 的生命有 极 大 部 分 都 生 活 在 族 长 的 专 制 之 下 , 他 的 一 切 行 为 实 际 上

    不 是 由 法 律 的 而 是 由 翻 复 无 常 的 一 种 统 治 所 控 制 着 , 这 就 比

    较 可 信 了 。 我 可 以 说 , 一 个 英 国 人 应 该 比 外 国 人 更 能 够 理 解

    这 样 的 一 个 历 史 事 实 , 即 “ 地 美 士 第 ” 的 发 生 先 于 任 何 法 律

    概 念 , 这 是 因 为 , 在 流 行 着 的 有 关 英 国 法 律 学 性 质 的 许 多 相

    互 矛 盾 的 理 论 中 , 其 最 得 人 心 的 , 或 者 无 论 如 何 是 最 能 影 响

    实 践 的 , 当 然 是 假 定 成 案 和 先 例 先 于 规 则 、 原 则 及 差 别 而 存

    在 的 理 论 。 应 该 指 出 , 根 据 边 沁 和 奥 斯 丁 的 见 解 , “ 地 美 士

    第 ” 还 有 把 单 一 的 或 唯 一 的 命 令 从 法 律 中 区 分 开 来 的 特 性 。 真

    正 的 法 律 使 所 有 公 民 毫 无 差 别 地 一 致 遵 守 着 种 类 相 似 的 许 多

    条 例 ; 这 正 是 法 律 的 最 为 一 般 人 所 深 切 感 觉 到 的 特 征 , 使

    “ 法 律 ” 这 个 名 词 只 能 适 用 于 一 致 、 连 续 和 类 似 。 至 于 ·

    命令 只规 定 一 个 单 独 的 行 为 , 因 此 同 “ 地 美 士 第 ” 比 较 近 似 的 是 命令而不是法律 。 命 令 只 是 对 孤 立 的 事 实 状 态 的 宣 告 , 并 不 必然 地 按 照 一 定 的 顺 序 一 个 和 另 一 个 相 速 。

    英 雄 时 代 的 文 学 告 诉 我 们 的 法 律 萌 芽 , 一 种 是 “ 地 美 士第 ” , 还 有 一 种 是 在 稍 为 发 展 的 “ 达 克 ” 的 概 念 中 。 我 们 在 法律 学 史 上 达 到 的 下 一 个 阶 段 是 非 常 著 名 的 , 并 且 也 是 饶 有 兴趣 的 。 格 罗 脱 先 生 在 其 “ 希 腊 史 ” 第 二 篇 第 二 章 中 , 曾 把 已逐 渐 不 同 于 荷 马 所 纂绘的社 会 生 活 方 式 详 细 加 以 描 写 。英雄时 代 的 王 权 , 部 分 地 依 靠着神所赋与的特 权 , 部 分 地 依 靠着拥 有 出 类 拔 萃 的 体 力 、 勇 敢 和 智 慧 。 逐 渐 地 , 君 主 神 圣不可侵 犯 的 印 象 开 始 淡 薄 , 当 一 系 列 的 世 袭 国 王 中 产 生 了 柔 弱 无能 的 人 , 王 家 的 权 力 就 开 始 削 弱 , 并 且 终 于 让 位 于 贵 族 统 治 。如 果 我 们 可 以 正 确 地 应 用 革 命 的 术 语 , 则 我 们 可 以 说 , 王 位是 被 荷 马 一 再 提 到 的 和 加 以 描 写 的 领 袖 议 会 所 篡 夺 了 。 无 论如 何 , 在 欧 洲 各 地 , 这 时 已 经 从 国 王 统 治 时 代 转 变 到 一 个 寡头 政 治 时 代 ; 即 使 在 名 义 上 君 主 职 能 还 没 有 绝 对 消 失 ,然而王 权 已 缩 小 到 只 剩 下 一 个 暗 影 。 他 成 为 只 是 一 个 世 袭 将 军 , 像在 拉 栖 第 梦 ( L a c e d Em o n ) , 只 是 一 个 官 吏 , 像 雅 典 的 执 政 王(King Archon at Athens ) , 或 仅 仅 是 一 个 形 式 上 的 祭司 , 像 罗 马 的献身王 ( R e x   S a c r i f i c u l u s ) 。 在 希 腊 、 意 大 利和 小 亚 细 亚 , 统 治 阶 级 似 乎 一 般 都 包 括 着 由 一 种 假 定 的 血 缘关 系 结 合 在 一 起 的 许 多 家 族 , 他 们 虽 然 在 开 始 时 似 乎 都 主 张有 一 种 近 似 神 圣 的 性 质 , 但 他 们 的 力 量 在 实 际 上 却 并 不 在 于他 们 所 标 榜 的 神 圣 性 。 除 非 他 们 过 早 地 被 平 民 团 体 所 推 翻 , 他们 都 会 走 向 我 们 现 在 所 理 解 的 一 种 贵 族 政 治 。 在 更 远 一 些 的亚洲 国 家 , 社 会 所 遭 遇 的 变 革 , 在 时 间 上 , 当 然 要 比 意 大 利和 希 腊 所 发 生 的 这 些 革 命 早 得 多 ; 但 这 些 革 命 在 文 化 上 的 相对 地 位 , 则 似 乎 是 完 全 一 样 的 , 并 且 在 一 般 性 质 上 , 它 们 也似 乎 是 极 端 相 似 的 。 有 些 证 据 证 明 , 后 来 结 合 在 波 斯 王 朝 统治 下 的 各 个 民 族 以 及 散 居 在 印 度 半 岛 上 的 各 个 民 族 , 都 有 其英 雄 时 代 和 贵 族 政 治 时 代 ; 但 是 在 它 们 那 里 , 分 别 产 生 了 军事 的 寡 头 政 治 和 宗 教 的 寡 头 政 治 , 而 国 王 的 权 威 则 一 般 并没有 被 取 而 代 之 。 同 西 方 事 物 的 发 展 过 程 相 反 , 在 东 方 , 宗 教因 素 有 胜 过 军 事 因 素 和 政 治 因 素 的 倾 向 。 在 国 王 和 僧 侣阶级之间,军事和 民 事 的 贵 族 政 治 消 失 了 , 灭 绝 了 , 或 者 微 不 足道 ; 我 们 所 看 到 的 最 后 结 果 , 是 一 个 君 主 享 有 大 权 , 但是受到了祭 司 阶 级 的 特 权 的 拘 束 。 在 东 方 , 贵 族 政 治 成 为 宗 教 的 ,而 在 西 方 , 贵 族 政 治 成 为 民 事 的 或 政 治 的 , 虽 然 有 着 这些区别 , 但 是 , 在 一 个 英 雄 国 王 历 史 时 代 的 后 面 跟 着 来 了 一 个 贵族 政 治 的 历 史 时 代 , 这 样 一 个 命 题 是 可 以 被 认 为 正 确 的,纵使 并 不 对 于 全 人 类 都 是 如 此 , 但 无 论 如 何 , 对 于 印 度 — 欧 罗巴系 各 国 是 一 概 可 以 适 用 的 。

    有 一 点 对 于 法 学 家 很 重 要 , 就 是 这 些 贵 族 都 是 法 律 的 受托 人 和 执 行 人 。 他 们 似 乎 已 经 继 承 了 国 王 的 特 权 , 唯 一 的 重要 区 别 , 在 于 他 们 并 不 对 每 一 个 判 决 都 装 作 出 于 直 接 的 神 示 。主 张 全 部 法 律 或 是 部 分 法 律 来 自 神 授 的 思 想 联 系 , 仍 旧 到 处表 现 出 来 , 这 使 族 长 所 作 的 判 决 被 诿 诸 于 超 人 类 的 口 授 , 但是 思 想 的 进 步 已 不 复 允 许 把 个 别 争 议 的 解 决 , 用 假 定 一 种 超人 的 仲 裁 来 解 释 。 法 律 寡 头 政 治 现 在 所 主 张 的 是 要 垄 断 法 律知识 , 要 对 决 定 争 论 所 依 据 的 各 项 原 则 有 独 占 的 权 利 。 我 们在事 实 上 已 到 了 “ 习 惯 法 ” 的 时 代 。 “ 习 惯 ” 或 “ 惯 例 ” 现 在已 成 为 一 个 有 实 质 的 集 合 体 而 存 在 , 并 被 假 定 为 贵 族 阶 层 或阶 级 所 精 确 知 道 的 。 我 们 所 依 据 的 权 威 使 我 们 深 信 , 这 种 寄托 于 寡 头 政 治 的 信 任 有 时 不 免 要 被 滥 用 , 但 这 当 然 不 应 该 仅仅 视 为 一 种 僭 取 或 暴 政 的 手 段 。 在 文 字 发 明 以 前 , 以 及 当 这门 技 术 还 处 于 初 创 时 代 , 一 个 赋 与 司 法 特 权 的 贵 族 政 治 成 了唯 一 的 权 宜 手 段 , 依 靠 这 种 手 段 可 以 把 民 族 或 部 族 的 习 惯 相当 正 确 地 保 存 着 。 正 是 由 于 它 们 被 托 付 于 社 会 中 少 数 人 的 记忆 力 , 习 惯 的 真 实 性 才 能 尽 可 能 地 得 到 保 证。

    “习惯法” 以 及 它 为 一 个 特 权 阶 级 所 秘 藏 的 时 代 , 是 一 个很 值 得 注 意 的 时 代 。 这 个 时 代 的 法 律 学 处 于 怎 样 一 个 状 态 , 其残 留 痕 迹 到 现 在 仍 旧 可 以 在 法 律 的 和 民 间 的 用 语 中 发 现 。 这种 专 门 为 有 特 权 的 少 数 人 所 知 道 的 法 律 , 不 论 这 少 数 人是一个 等 级 , 一 个 贵 族 团 体 , 一 个 祭 司 团 体 , 或 者 一 个 僧侣学院,是 一 种 真 正 的 不 成 文 法 。 除 此 以 外 , 世 界 上 就 没 有 所 谓不成文 法 这 样 东 西 了 。 英 国 的 判 例 法 有 时 被 称 为 不 成 文 法,有些英 国 理 论 家 正 告 我 们 说 , 如 果 真 要 编 订 一 部 英 国 法 律 学 的 法

    典 , 我 们 必 须 把 不 成 文 法 变 为 成 文 法 — — 他 们 坚 持 说 , 这 一

    个 转 变 , 如 果 不 是 在 政 策 上 有 可 疑 之 处 , 无 论 如 何 , 是 非 常

    重 大 的 。 实 际 上 , 在 有 一 个 时 期 中 , 英 国 普 通 法 的 确 可 以 合

    理 地 称 为 不 成 文 法 。 前 一 辈 的 英 国 法 官 们 确 实 标 榜 着 具 有 为

    法 院 和 人 民 群 众 所 不 完 全 知 道 的 规 则 、 原 则 及 差 别 的 知 识 。 他

    们 要 垄 断 的 法 律 , 究 竟 是 不 是 完 全 不 成 文 的 , 是 非 常 可 疑 的 ;

    但 是 , 无 论 如 何 , 纵 使 可 以 假 定 过 去 确 实 曾 经 一 度 有 着 许 多

    专 门 为 法 官 们 所 知 道 的 民 事 和 刑 事 规 则 , 但 它 在 不 久 以 后 即已 不 再 成 为 不 成 文 法 了 。 在 “ 威 斯 敏 斯 特 法 院 ”开 始 根 据 档 案 , 不 论 是 根 据 年 鉴 或 是其 他 资 料 作 出 判 决 时 , 他 们 所 执 行 的 法 律 已 是 成 文 法 。 到 这个 时 候 英 国 法 律 中 任 何 一 条 规 则 , 必 须 首 先 从 印 成 的 许 多 判决 先 例 所 记 录 的 事 实 中 清 理 出 来 , 然 后 再 由 特 定 法 官 根 据 其不 同 的 风 格 、 精 确 度 以 及 知 识 而 表 现 于 不 同 的 文 字 形 式 中 , 最后 再 把 它 运 用 于 审 判 的 案 件 。 在 这 过 程 中 , 没 有 一 个 阶 段 显示 出 有 任 何 特 点 , 使 它 和 成 文 法 有 什 么 不 同 之 处 。 英 国 法 律是 成 文 的 判 例 法 , 它 和 法 典 法 的 唯 一 不 同 之 处 , 只 在 于 它 是用 不 同 的 方 法 写 成 的 。

    离 开 “ 习 惯 法 ” 时 代 , 我 们 再 来 谈 谈 法 律 学 史 上 另 一 明确 划 分 的 时 代 , 也 就 是 “ 法 典 ” 时 代 , 在 那 些 古 代 法 典 中 , 罗马 的 “ 十 二 铜 表 法 ” 是 最 著 名 的 范 例 。 在 希 腊 、 在 意 大 利 、 在西 亚 的 希 腊 化 海 岸 上 , 这 些 法 典 几 乎 到 处 都 在 同 一 个 时 期 出现 , 这 所 谓 同 一 个 时 期 , 我 的 意 思 当 然 并 不 是 指 在 时 间 上 的同 一 个 时 期 , 而 是 说 在 每 一 个 社 会 相 对 地 进 步 到 类 似 的 情 况下 出 现 的 。 在 我 所 提 到 的 几 个 国 家 中 , 到 处 都 把 法 律 铭 刻 在石 碑 上 , 向 人 民 公 布 , 以 代 替 一 个 单 恁 有 特 权 的 寡 头 统 治 阶级 的 记 忆 的 惯 例 。 在 我 所 说 的 这 种 变 化 中 , 我 们 决 不 能 设 想当 时 已 有 了 现 代 编 纂 法 典 时 所 必 须 有 的 各 种 精 密 考 虑 。 毫 无疑 问 , 古 代 法 典 的 所 以 全 创 造 成 功 是 由 于 文 字 的 发 现 和 传 布 。诚 然 , 贵 族 们 似 乎 曾 经 滥 用 具 对 于 法 律 知 识 的 独 占 : 并 且 无论 如 何 , 他 们 对 于 法 律 的 独 占 有 力 地 阻 碍 了 当 时 在 西 方 世 界开 始 逐 渐 普 遍 的 那 些 平 民 运 动 获 得 成 功 。 不 过 虽 然 民 主 情 绪可 能 使 这 些 法 典 更 加 深 得 人 心 , 但 是 法 典 的 产 生 当 然 主 要 还是 由 于 文 字 发 明 的 直 接 结 果 。 铭 刻 的 石 碑 被 证 明 真 是 一 种 比较 好 的 法 律 保 存 者 , 并 且 是 一 种 使 其 正 确 保 存 的 更 好 保 证 , 这比 仅 仅 依 靠 着 少 数 人 的 记 忆 要 好 得 多 , 虽 然 这 种 记 忆 由 于 惯常 运 用 的 结 果 也 是 在 不 断 地 加 强 着 的 。

    罗 马 法 典 就 是 属 于 上 面 所 说 的 那 一 类 法 典 , 这 类 法 典 的价 值 不 在 于 其 分 类 比 较 匀 称 或 用 词 比 较 简 洁 明 了 , 而 在 于 它们 为 众 所 周 知 , 以 及 它 们 能 使 每 个 人 知 道 应 该 做 些 什 么 和 不应 该 做 些 什 么 的 知 识 。 罗 马 “ 十 二 铜 表 法 ” 中 确 实 显 示 出有排 列 匀 稀 的 某 种 迹 象 ; 但 根 据 傅 说 , 这 可 能 是 由 于 当 时这个法 律 的 编 纂 者 曾 求 助 于 希 腊 人 , 这 些 希 腊 人 具 有 后 期希腊在编 纂 法 律 工 作 上 的 经 验 。 从 “ 核 伦 的 阿 提 喀 法 典 ” ( A t t i cC o d e   o f   S o l o n ) 所 遗 留 下 来 的 片 断 , 可 以 看 到 它 很 少 有秩序,而 在 “ 德 里 科 ” 的 法 律 ( L a w s   o f   D r a c o ) 中 也 许 更 少 。这 些 东 方 的 和 西 方 的 法 典 的 遗 迹 , 也 都 明 显 地 证 明 不 管它们的 主 要 性 质 是 如 何 的 不 同 , 它 们 中 间 都 混 杂 着 宗 教 的、民事的 以 及 仅 仅 是 道 德 的 各 种 命 令 ; 而 这 是 和 我 们 从 其 他 来源所知 道 的 古 代 思 想 完 全 一 致 的 , 至 于 把 法 律 从 道 德 中 分离出来,把 宗 教 从 法 律 中 分 离 出 来 , 则 非 常 明 显 是 属 于 智 力 发 展 的 较后 阶 段 的 事 。

    但 是 , 不 论 从 现 代 的 眼 光 看 来 这 些 “ 法 典 ” 的 特 点 是 什么 , 它 们 对 于 古 代 社 会 的 重 要 性 , 是 无 法 用 言 词 来 形 容 的 。 问题 — — 而 这 个 问 题 影 响 着 每 一 个 社 会 的 全 部 将 来 — — 并不在于 究 竟 该 不 该 有 一 个 法 典 , 因 为 大 多 数 古 代 社 会 似 乎 迟 早 都会 有 法 典 的 , 并 且 如 果 不 是 由 于 封 建 制 度 造 成 了 法 律 学史上重 要 的 中 断 , 则 所 有 的 现 代 法 律 很 可 能 都 将 明 显 地 追 溯 到 这些 渊 源 中 的 一 个 或 一 个 以 上 上 去 。 但 是 民 族 历 史的转 折 点 , 是要 看 在 哪 一 个 时 期 , 在 社 会 进 步 的 哪 一 个 阶 段 , 他 们应该把法 律 书 写 成 为 文 字 。 在 西 方 世 界 中 每 一 个 国 家 的 平 民 成分都成 功 地 击 溃 了 寡 头 政 治 的 垄 断 , 几 乎 普 遍 地 在 “ 共 和 政治”史的初期 就 获 得 了 一 个 法 典 。 但 是 在 东 方 , 像 我 已 在 前 面 说 过

    的 , 统 治 的 贵 族 们 逐 渐 倾 向 于 变 为 宗 教 的 而 不 是 军 事 的 或 政

    治 的 , 并 因 此 不 但 不 失 去 反 而 获 得 了 权 力 ; 同 时 , 在 有 些 事

    例 中 , 亚 细 亚 国 家 的 地 理 构 造 促 使 各 个 社 会 比 西 方 社 会 的 面

    积 更 大 , 人 口 更 多 ; 根 据 公 认 的 社 会 规 律 , 一 套 特 定 制 度 传

    布 的 空 间 越 广 , 它 的 韧 性 和 活 力 也 越 大 。 不 论 由 于 何 种 原 因 ,

    东 方 各 国 社 会 编 制 法 典 , 相 对 地 讲 , 要 比 西 方 国 家 迟 得 多 , 并

    且 有 很 不 相 同 的 性 质 。 亚 细 亚 的 宗 教 寡 头 , 或 者 是 为 了 他 们

    自 己 参 考 , 或 者 是 为 了 帮 助 记 忆 , 或 者 是 为 了 教 育 生 徒 , 都

    终 于 把 他 们 的 法 律 知 识 具 体 地 编 订 成 为 法 典 ; 但 也 许 促 使 他

    们 这 样 做 的 最 难 于 拒 绝 的诱力,还 在 于 这 是 一 个 可 以 增 加 和

    巩 固 他 们 影 响 的 机 会 。 他 们 完 全 垄 断 法 律 知 识 , 这 一 点 使 它

    们 能 用 汇 编 来 欺 骗 世 人 , 而 汇 编 中 所 包 括 的 确 实 已 被 遵 守 的规 则 , 还 不 及 祭 司 阶 级 认 为 应 当 被 遵 守 的 规 则 多 。 称 为 “ 摩奴 ” 法 律 的 印 度 法 典 , 当 然 是 婆 罗 门所 编 辑 的 ,无 疑 地 包 含 了 印 度 民 族 的 许 多 真 正的惯例,但根据现代最好的 东 方 学 者 的 见 解 , 整 个 讲 起 来 , 它 并 不 代 表 确 实 曾 经 在 印度 斯 坦 执 行 过 的 一 套 规 则 。 在 它 里 面 有 一 大 部 分 只 是 在 婆 罗门 的 眼 光 中应该 作 为 法 律 的 一 幅 理 想 图 画 。 这 是 和 人 类 的 性质 相 适 应 的 , 也 是 和 作 者 的 特 殊 动 机 相 一 致 的 : 即 像 “ 摩 奴法 典 ” 这 样 的 一 些 法 典 , 应 该 假 托 为 最 古 的 , 并 且 应 认 为 完全 从 “ 神 ” 得 来 的 。 按 照 印 度 的 神 话 学 , “ 摩 奴 ” 是 至 尊 “ 上帝 ” 的 一 种 分 出 物 ; 但 是 这 个 冠 以 他 的 名 称 的 汇 编 , 虽 然 其确 切 日 期 已 不 易 查 考 , 从 印 度 法 律 学 的 相 对 进 步 来 看 , 实 在是 一 种 近 代 的 产 品 。

    “ 十 二 铜 表 法 ” 以 及 类 似 的 法 典 赋 予 有 关 社 会 的 好 处 , 主要 是 保 护 这 些 社 会 使 它 们 不 受 有 特 权 的 寡 头 政 治 的 欺 诈 , 使国 家 制 度 不 致 自 发 地 腐 化 和 败 坏 。 “ 罗 马 法 典 ” 只 是 把 罗马人的 现 存 习 惯 表 述 于 文 字 中 。 从 罗 马 人 在 文 化 进 步 中 的 相 对 地位 来 看 , 它 是 一 非 常 早 的 法 典 , 而 它 公 布 的 时 间 , 正 当罗马社 会 还 没 有 从 这 样 一 种 智 力 状 态 中 脱 身 出 来 , 也 就 是 正 当 他们 的 智 力 状 态 还 处 在 政 治 和 宗 教 义 务 不 可 避 免 地 混 淆 在 一 起的 时 候 。 一 个 野 蛮 社 会 实 行 的 一 套 习 惯 , 往 往 对 其 文 化 进 步绝 对 有 害 或 有 某 种 特 殊 的 危 险 。 一 个 特 定 社 会 从 其 初 生 时 代和 在 其 原 始 状 态 就 已 经 采 用 的 一 些 惯 例 , 一 般 是 一 些 在 大体上 最 能 适 合 于 促 进 其 物 质 和 道 德 福 利 的 惯 例 ; 如 果 它 们 能 保持 其 完 整 性 , 以 至 新 的 社 会 需 要 培 养 出 新 的 惯 行 , 则 这个社会 几 乎 可 以 肯 定 是 向 上 发 展 的 。 但 不 幸 的 是 , 发 展 的 规 律始终 威 胁 着 要 影 响 这 些 不 成 文 的 惯 例 。 习 惯 是 为 群 众 所 遵 守 的 ,但 他 们 当 然 未 必 能 理 解 它 们 所 以 存 在 的 真 正 原 因 , 因 此 , 也

    就 不 可 避 免 地 要 创 造 出 迷 信 的 理 由 以 说 明 它 们 的 永 恒 存 在 。

    于 是 就 开 始 着 这 样 一 种 过 程 , 简 单 地 讲 , 就 是 从 合 理 的 惯 例

    产 生 出 不 合 理 的 惯 例 。 类 比 , 这 是 法 律 学 成 熟 时 期 中 最 有 价

    值 的 工 具 , 但 在 法 律 学 的 初 生 时 代 却 是 最 危 险 的 陷 阱 。 禁 令

    和 命 令 在 开 始 时 由 于 正 当 理 由 原 来 只 限 于 某 一 种 性 质 的 行

    为 , 后 来 就 被 适 用 于 属 于 同 一 类 别 的 一 切 行 为 , 因 为 一 个 人做 了一椿要受到 上 帝 谴 责 的 行 为 , 他 在 做 任 何 稍 有 些 类 似 的

    行 为 时 , 就 必 然 地 要 感 到 一 种 自 然 的 恐 惧 。 当 一 种 食 物 由 于

    卫 生 的 理 由 被 禁 止 , 禁 令 就 要 适 用 于 一 切 类 似 的 食 物 , 虽 然

    类 比 在 有 的 时 候 完 全 是 建 筑 在 想 象 的 基 础 上 的 。 同 样 的 , 为

    了 保 证 一 般 清 洁 而 作 出 的 明 智 的 规 定 , 终 于 竟 变 成 了 教 仪 上

    净 身 的 冗 繁 的 手 续 。 又 如 等 级 的 划 分 是 在 社 会 史 上 特 定 紧 急

    关 头 为 保 持 民 族 生 存 所 必 需 的 , 但 逐 渐 退 化 而 成 为 所 有 人 类一 切 制 度 中 最 不 幸 的 和 最 有 损 害 的 制 度 — — “ 族 籍 制 度 ”(C a s t e ) 。 印 度 法 的 命 运 , 在 事 实 上 , 是 衡 量 罗 马 法 典 价 值 的尺 度 。 人 种 学 告 诉 我 们 , 罗 马 人 与 印 度 人 来 自 同 一 个 原始祖先 , 而 在 他 们 的 原 来 习 惯 中 , 也 确 实 有 显 著 的 类 似 之处,即使 在 现 在 , 印 度 法 律 学 还 存 留 着 考 虑 周 到 和 判 断 正 确 的 实 体 ,只 是 不 合 理 的 摹 仿 已 使 它 在 实 体 上 面 附 加 着 残 酷 妄 诞 的 巨 大附 着 物 。 罗 马 人 由 于 得 到 了 法 典 的 保 护 , 没 有 受 到 这 一类腐蚀 。 在 它 编 纂 的 时 期 , 惯 例 还 是 很 健 康 的 , 如 果 推 迟 到 一 百年 以 后 , 或 许 就 太 迟 了 。 印 度 法 的 大 部 分 是 具 体 规 定 于文字中 的 , 但 是 , 在 “ 梵 文 ” 中 到 现 在 仍 旧 保 存 着的撮要 虽 然在一 种 意 义 上 是 很 古 的 , 但 在 它 们 中 间 有 充 分 证 据 , 证 明 它 们的 编 制 是 在 错 误 造 成 之 后 。 当 然 , 我 们 不 能 就 因 此 而 有 权 利说 , 如 果 “ 十 二 铜 表 法 ” 没 有 公 布 , 罗 马 人 的 文 明 将 像 印 度文 明 那 样 地 无 力 和 恶 化 , 但 至 少 这 是 可 以 断 定 的 , 他 们有了 法 典 , 才 避 免 了 那 样 不 幸 的 遭 遇 。

    第二章 法律拟制

    当 原 始 法 律 一 经 制 成 “ 法 典 ” , 所 谓 法 律 自 发 的 发 展 , 便告 中 止 。 自 此 以 后 , 对 它 起 着 影 响 的 , 如 果 确 有 影 响 的 话 , 便都 是 有 意 的 和 来 自 外 界 的 。 。 我 们 不 能 设 想 , 任 何 民 族 或 部 族的 习 惯 , 从 一 个 族 长 把 它 们 宣 告 以 后 一 直 到 把 它 们 用 文 字 公布 为 止 在 这 一 个 长 久 的 — — 在 有 些 情 况 下 , 非 常 悠 久 的 — —期 间 内 , 会 一 无 变 更 。 如 果 认 为 在 这 个 期 间 以 内 的 任 何 变 更都 不 是 有 意 地 进 行 的 , 也 是 不 妥 当 的 。 但 就 我 们 对 于 这 个 时期 内 法 律 进 步 所 掌 握 的 一 些 知 识 来 说 , 我 们 确 有 理 由 假 定 , 在造 成 变 化 中 , 故 意 只 占 着 极 小 的 部 分 。 远 古 惯 例 中 曾 经 发 生过 一 些 改 革 , 但 促 使 这 些 改 革 发 生 的 情 感 作 用 和 思 想 方 式 , 却不 是 我 们 在 现 在 智 慧 状 态 下 所 能 理 解 的 。 但 是 , 有 了 “ 法典 ” 就 开 始 了 一 个 新 纪 元 。 在 这 时 期 以 后 , 当 我 们 追 溯 一 下法 律 变 更 的 经 过 时 , 我 们 就 能 发 现 这 些 变 更 都 是 出 于 一 种 要求 改 进 的 、 有 意 识 的 愿 望 , 或 者 无 论 如 何 , 是 出 于 一 种 具 有一 定 目 的 的 有 意 识 的 愿 望 , 这 同 原 始 时 代 所 企 求 的 完 全 不 同 。

    初 看 起 来 , 我 们 从 法 典 产 生 以 后 的 法 律 制 度 史 中 , 似 乎很 难 引 伸 出 来 足 以 深 信 不 疑 的 各 种 一 般 命 题 。 涉 及 的 领 域是太 广 泛 了 。 我 们 很 难 肯 定 , 在 我 们 的 观 察 中 是 否 已 包 括 了 足够 数 量 的 现 象 , 或 者 我 们 对 于 所 观 察 的 现 象 , 是 否 已 有了正确 的 理 解 。 但 如 果 我 们 注 意 到 , 在 法 典 时 代 开 始 后 , 静 止 的社 会 和 进 步 的 社 会 之 间 的 区 分 已 开 始 暴 露 出 来 的 事 实 , 我 们

    的 工 作 就 比 较 容 易 进 行 。 我 们 所 关 心 的 只 是 进 步 的 社 会 , 而

    这 类 社 会 显 然 是 极 端 少 数 的 。 虽 然 有 着 充 分 的 证 据 , 但 是 对

    于 一 个 西 欧 的 公 民 , 还 是 非 常 难 于 使 他 完 全 领 会 这 样 一 个 真

    理 , 即 环 绕 在 他 周 围 的 文 明 , 在 整 个 世 界 史 中 , 实 在 是 一 个

    罕 有 的 例 外 。 如 果 把 各 个 进 步 民 族 同 人 类 生 活 总 体 的 关 系 鲜

    明 地 放 在 我 们 的 前 面 , 则 我 们 中 间 共 有 的 思 想 感 情 , 我 们 所

    有 的 一 切 希 望 、 恐 惧 和 理 想 必 将 受 到 重 大 的 影 响 。 这 是 无 可

    争 辩 的 , 几 乎 绝 大 部 分 的 人 类 , 在 其 民 事 制 度 因 被 纳 入 某 种

    永 久 纪 录 中 而 第 一 次 使 其 具 有 外 表 上 的 完 善 性 时 , 就 绝 少 有

    表 示 要 再 加 以 改 进 的 愿 望 。 一 套 惯 例 有 时 被 另 外 一 套 惯 例 强

    暴 地 推 翻 和 代 替 了 ; 到 处 , 标 榜 着 来 自 超 自 然 渊 源 的 一 个 原

    始 法 典 , 往 往 由 于 僧 侣 注 释 者 的 牵 强 附 会 而 被 大 大 地 扩 大 了 ,

    并 被 歪 曲 成 为 最 可 惊 人 的 形 式 ; 但 是 , 除 了 世 界 上 极 小 部 分

    外 , 从 没 有 发 生 过 一 个 法 律 制 度 的 逐 渐 改 良 。 世 界 有 物 质 文

    明 , 但 不 是 文 明 发 展 法 律 , 而 是 法 律 限 制 着 文 明 。 研 究 现 在

    处 在 原 始 状 态 下 的 各 民 族 , 使 我 们 得 到 了 某 些 社 会 所 以 停 止

    发 展 的 线 索 。 我 们 可 以 看 到 , 婆 罗 门 教 的 印 度 还 没 有 超 过 所

    有 人 类 各 民 族 历 史 都 发 生 过 的 阶 段 , 就 是 法 律 的 统 治 尚 未 从

    宗 教 的 统 治 中 区 分 出 来 的 那 个 阶 段 。 在 这 类 社 会 中 的 成 员 , 认

    为 违 犯 了 一 条 宗 教 命 令 应 该 用 普 通 刑 罚 来 处 罚 , 而 违 背 了 一

    个 民 事 义 务 则 要 使 过 失 者 受 到 神 的 惩 戒 。 在 中 国 ,这 一 点 是

    过 去 了 , 但 进 步 又 似 乎 就 到 此 为 止 了 , 因 为 在 它 的民事法律中,同 时 又 包 括 了 这 个 民 族 所 可 能 想 象 到 的 一 切 观 念 。 静 止的 和 进 步 的 社 会 之 间 的 差 别 , 是 还 须 继 续 加 以 探 究 的 大 秘 密之 一 。 在 对 于 它 的 局 部 的 解 释 中 , 我 敢 把 上 章 之 末 所 提 出 的意 见 , 提 供 考 虑 。 我 也 许 必 须 进 一 度 说 明 , 如 果 不 明 白 地 理解 到 , 在 人 类 民 族 中 , 静 止 状 态 是 常 规 , 而 进 步 恰 恰 是 例 外 ,这 样 研 究 就 很 少 可 能 有 结 果 。 成 功 的 另 一 个 不 可 或 缺 的 条 件 ,是 对 于 罗 马 法 的 所 有 各 主 要 阶 段 , 都 要 有 精 确 的 知 识 。 罗 马法 律 学 中 , 有 着 任 何 一 套 人 类 制 度 中 最 长 久 著 名 的 历 史 。 它所 经 历 的 一 切 变 化 的 性 质 , 已 经 在 大 体 上 得 到 很 好 的 肯 定 。 从它 的 开 始 到 它 的 结 束 , 它 是 逐 步 地 改 变 得 更 好 , 或 向 着 修 改者 所 认 为 更 好 的 方 向 发 展 , 而 且 改 进 是 在 各 个 时 期 中 不 断 地进 行 着 的 , 在 这 些 时 期 中 , 所 有 其 余 的 人 类 的 思 想 和 行 动 , 在实 质 上 都 已 经 放 慢 了 脚 步 , 并 且 不 止 一 次 地 陷 于 完 全 停 滞 不前 的 状 态 。

    我 将 把 我 的 叙 述 局 限 于 进 步 社 会 中 所 发 生 的 情 况 。 关于这 些 社 会 , 可 以 这 样 说 , 社 会 的 需 要 和 社 会 的 意 见 常 常 是或多或少 走 在 “ 法 律 ” 的 前 面 的 。 我 们 可 能 非 常 接 近 地 达 到 它们 之 间 缺 口 的 接 合 处 , 但 永 远 存 在 的 趋 向 是 要 把 这 缺 口 重 新

    打 开 来 。 因 为 法 律 是 稳 定 的 ; 而 我 们 所 谈 到 的 社 会 是 进 步 的 ,

    人 民 幸 福 的 或 大 或 小 , 完 全 决 定 于 缺 口 缩 小 的 快 慢 程 度 。

    关 于 使 “ 法 律 ” 和 社 会 相 协 调 的 媒 介 , 有 一 个 有 些 价 值

    的 一 般 命 题 可 以 提 出 。 据 我 看 来 , 这 些 手 段 有 三 , 即 “ 法 律

    拟 制 ” 、 “ 衡 平 ” 和 “ 立 法 ” 。 它 们 的 历 史 顺 序 就 像 我 在 上 面 所

    排 列 的 , 有 时 , 其 中 两 个 在 同 时 进 行 , 也 有 些 法 律 制 度 没 有

    受 到 它 们 中 的 这 一 个 或 另 一 个 的 影 响 。 但 我 从 没 有 看 到 过 一

    个 例 子 , 它 们 出 现 的 顺 序 会 是 不 同 的 或 颠 倒 过 来 的 。 “ 衡 平 ”

    的 早 期 历 史 , 一 般 讲 起 来 , 都 是 比 较 模 糊 的 , 因 此 , 有 人 以为 某 些 改 进 民 法 的 单 独 条 例 , 就 早 于 任 何 衡 平 的 审 判 权 。 我

    的 意 见 是 , 不 论 任 何 地 方 , 补 救 的 “ 衡 平 ” 必 早 于 补 救 的 立

    法 ; 但 是 , 倘 使 事 实 上 并 不 严 格 地 是 这 样 , 那 就 只 须 把 关 于

    它 们 先 后 顺 序 的 命 题 局 限 于 那 些 时 期 , 即 , 它 们 在 改 变 原 始法 律 中 发 生 持 续 和 实 质 影 响 的 时 期 内 。

    我 在 应 用 “ 拟 制 ” 这 个 字 时 , 其 含 意 比 英 国 法 学 家 习 用的 意 义 要 广 泛 一 些 , 比 罗 马 的 “ 拟 制 ” ( f i c t i o n e s ) 则 要 广 泛得 多 。 “ 拟 制 ” ( f i c t i o ) 在 旧 罗 马 法 中 , 恰 当 地 讲 , 是 一 个 辩诉 的 名 词 , 表 示 原 告 一 方 的 虚 伪 证 言 是 不 准 被 告 反 驳 的 ; 例如 原 告 实 际 上 是 一 个 外 国 人 而 提 出 他 是 一 个 罗 马 公 民 的 证 言是 。 这 种 “ 拟 制 ” 的 目 的 , 当 然 是 为 了 给 予 审 判 权 , 因 此,他们 与 英 国 后 座 法 院 和 理 财 法 院 命 令 状 中 的 主 张 非 常 类 似 , 这些 法 院 就 是 通 过 这 些 主 张 来 剥 夺 普 通 诉 证 的 审 判 权 的 ; — —主 张 被 告 已 为 国 王 执 行 官 所 拘 留 , 或 是 主 张 原 告 为 国 王 的 债务 人 , 并 以 被 告 的 拖 欠 为 理 由 而 不 能 清 偿 债 务 。 但 我 现 在应用 “ 法 律 拟 制 ” 这 一 个 用 语 , 是 要 用 以 表 示 掩 盖 、 或 目 的 在

    掩 盖 一 条 法 律 规 定 已 经 发 生 变 化 这 事 实 的 任 何 假 定 , 其 时 法

    律 的 文 字 并 没 有 被 改 变 , 但 其 运 用 则 已 经 发 生 了 变 化 。 因 此 ,

    这 个 用 语 包 括 了 上 面 我 从 英 国 法 和 罗 马 法 中 所 引 证 的 拟 制 的

    实 例 , 但 是 它 们 所 包 括 的 范 围 还 要 广 泛 得 多 , 因 为 我 认 为 英

    国 的 “ 判 例 法 ” 和 罗 马 的 “ 法 律 解 答 ” ( R e s p o n s a Pr u d e n t i u m ) 都 是 以 拟 制 为 其 基 础 的 。 这 两 方 面 的 例 子 立 刻就 要 加 以 研 究 。

    事实 是 , 在 这 两 种 情 况 下,法 律 都 已 经 完 全 被 变 更 了 ; 而拟制 是 它 仍 旧 和 改 变 以 前 一 样 。 为 什 么 各 种 不 同 形 式 的 拟 制 特 别 适 合 于 社 会 的 新 生 时 代 , 这 是 不 难 理 解 的 。

    它 们 能 满 足 并 不 十 分 缺 乏 的 改 进 的 愿 望 , 而 同 时 又 可 以 不 触

    犯 当 时 始 终 存 在 的 、 对 于 变 更 的 迷 信 般 的 嫌 恶 。 在 社 会 进 步

    到 了 一 定 阶 段 时 , 它 们 是 克 服 法 律 严 格 性 最 有 价 值 的 权 宜 办

    法 。 真 的 , 如 果 没 有 其 中 之 一 , 即 “ 收 养 的 拟 制 ” , 准 许 人 为

    地 产 生 血 缘 关 系 , 就 很 难 理 解 社 会 怎 样 能 脱 出 其 襁 褓 而 开 始

    其 向 文 明 前 进 的 第 一 步 。 因 此 , 我 们 不 应 该 受 着 边 沁 的 影 响 ,

    他 一 遇 到 法 律 拟 制 就 要 加 以 嘲 笑 谩 骂 。 他 认 为 拟 制 只 是 诈 欺 ,

    这 适 足 以 说 明 对 于 它 们 在 法 律 发 展 史 中 所 担 任 的 特 殊 任 务 ,

    愚 昧 无 知 。 但 同 时 有 些 理 论 家 看 到 了 拟 制 的 用 处 , 即 据 而 认

    为 它 们 应 该 在 我 们 制 度 中 固 定 下 来 , 如 果 我 们 同 意 他 们 的 见

    解 , 也 同 样 的 是 愚 蠢 的 。 它 们 有 它 们 的 时 代 , 但 是 它 们 的 时

    代 早 已 过 去 了 。 我 们 现 在 已 不 值 得 要 去 用 像 法 律 拟 制 这 样 一

    种 粗 糙 的 方 式 以 求 达 到 一 个 公 认 为 有 益 的 目 的 。 我 不 能 承 认

    任 何 变 例 都 是 合 法 的 , 如 果 它 只 有 使 法 律 更 难 解 , 或 者 是 更

    难 按 照 和 谐 的 顺 序 排 列 起 来 , 因 为 , 法 律 拟 制 是 均 称 分 类 的

    最 大 障 碍 。 法 律 制 度 仍 旧 保 持 原 样 , 原 封 不 动 , 但 它 已 只 成

    为 一 个 躯 壳 。 它 已 经 早 被 破 坏 了 , 而 藏 在 其 外 衣 里 面 的 则 是

    新 的 规 定 。 于 是 , 困 难 就 立 刻 发 生 了 , 我 们 将 很 难 断 定 , 实

    际 上 可 以 适 用 的 规 定 究 竟 应 该 归 类 于 其 真 正 的 还 是 归 类 于 其

    表 面 的 地 位 , 同 时 , 禀 性 不 同 的 人 在 不 同 的 部 门 中 进 行 选 择

    时 , 也 将 得 到 不 同 的 结 果 。 如 果 英 国 法 真 要 得 到 有 秩 序 的 分门 别 类 , 那 就 必 须 剪 除 这 些 法 律 拟 制 , 虽 然 最 近 在 立 法上有所 改 进 , 但 在 英 国 法 律 中 , 拟 制 仍 旧 是 很 多的。

    法 律 用 以 适 应 社 会 需 要 的 其 次 一 个 手 段 , 我 称 之 为 “ 衡平 ” ( E q u i t y ) 。 这 个 名 词 的 含 义 , 是 指 同 原 有 民 法 同 时 存 在 的某 一 些 规 定 , 它 们 建 筑 在 各 别 原 则 的 基 础 上 , 并 且 由 于 这 些原 则 所 固 有 的 一 种 无 上 神 圣 性 , 它 们 竟 然 可 以 代 替 民 法 。 不论 是 罗 马 的 “ 裁 判 官 ” 或 是 英 国 的 大 法 官 的 “ 衡 平 ” , 同 出 现比 较 早 的 “ 拟 制 ” 都 有 不 同 , 其 不 同 之 点 在 于 它 能 公 开 地 、 明

    白 地 干 涉 法 律 。 另 一 方 面 , 它 又 和 “ 立 法 ” 不 同 , 这 是 发 生

    在 它 之 后 的 另 外 一 种 法 律 改 进 的 媒 介 , 其 不 同 之 点 在 于 它 的

    权 力 基 础 并 不 建 筑 在 任 何 外 界 的 人 或 团 体 的 特 权 上 面 , 甚 至

    也 不 建 筑 在 宣 布 它 的 官 吏 的 特 权 上 面 , 而 是 建 筑 在 它 原 则 的

    特 殊 性 上 面 , 这 些 原 则 , 据 说 是 一 切 法 律 应 该 加 以 遵 循 的 。 这

    种 认 为 有 一 套 原 则 比 普 通 法 律 具 有 更 高 的 神 圣 性 并 且 可 以 不

    经 任 何 外 界 团 体 的 同 意 而 主 张 单 独 适 用 的 概 念 , 要 比 法 律 拟制 最 初 出 现 时 属 于 进 步 得 多 的 一 个 思 想 阶 段 。

    最 后 一 个 改 进 的 手 段 是 “ 立 法 ” ( L e g i s l a t i o n ) , 就 是 由 一个 立 法 机 关 制 定 的 法 规 。 这 种 立 法 机 关 , 不 论 它 的 形 式 是 一个 专 制 君 主 或 是 一 个 议 会 , 总 之 是 一 个 为 社 会 所 公 认 的 机 关 。

    它 和 “ 法 律 拟 制 ” 不 同 , 正 像 “ 衡 平 ” 和 “ 法 律 拟 制 ” 不 同一 样 。 它 和 “ 衡 平 ” 也 有 不 同 , 因 为 它 的 权 威 来 自 一 个 外 界团 体 或 人 。 它 所 以 有 强 制 力 , 与 其 原 则 无 关 。 不 论 社 会 舆 论对 立 法 机 关 加 以 任 何 现 实 的 约 束 , 在 理 论 上 , 它 有 权 把 它 所认 为 适 宜 的 义 务 加 在 社 会 的 成 员 身 上 。 没 有 谁 能 够 限 制 它 任意 制 定 法 律 。 如 果 衡 平 的 名 词 可 以 用 作 是 或 非 的 标 准 , 而 立法 机 关 所 制 定 的 法 规 恰 巧 是 根 据 了 这 些 标 准 而 调 整 的 , 则 立法 可 以 说 是 根 据 了 衡 平 而 制 定 的 ; 但 即 使 是 这 样 , 这 些 法 规所 以 能 有 拘 束 力 , 仍 旧 是 由 于 立 法 机 关 本 身 的 权 力 , 并 不 是由 于 立 法 机 关 制 定 法 律 所 根 据 的 原 则 的 权 力 。 因 此 , 它 们 在专 门 术 语 的 意 义 上 与 “ 衡 平 法 ” 不 同 , 后 者 标 榜 着 有 一 种 高度 的 神 圣 性 , 这 使 它 们 即 使 没 有 经 过 君 主 或 议 会 同 意 , 也 应该 为 法 院 立 即 承 认 。 这 些 差 别 特 别 重 要 , 因 为 一 个 边 沁 的 学生 很 容 易 把 “ 拟 制 ” 、 “ 衡 平 ” 和 “ 制 定 法 ” 混 淆 起 来 , 把 它们 统 统 归 属 于 立 法 的 一 个 项 目 下 。 他 会 说 , 它 们 都 包 括制定法律 ; 它 们 之 所 以 不 同 , 只 是 在 新 法 律 产 生 的 机 构 。 这 个 说法 是 完 全 正 确 的 , 我 们 永 远 不 应 该 忘 记 ; 但 这 并 不 使 我 们 有理 由 不 去 利 用 这 样 一 个 便 利 的 名 词 , 表 达 出 立 法 的 特 殊 意 义 。“ 立 法 ” 与 “ 衡 平 ” 在 一 般 人 的 心 目 中 和 在 大 多 数 法 律 家 的 心目 中 , 是 分 开 的 ; 我 们 决 不 能 忽 略 它 们 之 间 的 区 分 , 纵 使 是习 惯 上 的 区 分 , 因 为 这 个 区 分 有 着 重 要 的 实 际 后 果 。

    法律拟制的 例 子 , 几 乎 可 以 很 容 易 地 在 任 何 正 常 发 展 的法 律 规 定 中 找 到 , 因 为 它 们 的 真 正 性 质 立 刻 可 以 为 现 代 观 察者 所 发 觉 。 在 我 即 将 进 而 研 究 的 两 个 例 子 中 , 其 所 用 权 宜 的性 质 不 是 很 容 易 立 刻 就 发 现 的 。 这 些 拟 制 的 第 一 批 作 者 , 其目 的 也 许 并 不 在 改 革 , 当 然 更 不 希 望 被 人 怀 疑 是 在 改 革 。 此外 , 有 一 些 人 , 并 且 是 始 终 有 着 这 样 一 些 人 , 拒 绝 看 到在发展 过 程 中 的 任 何 拟 制 , 而 习 惯 言 语 证 实 了 他 们 的 拒 绝 。因此,没 有 其 他 的 例 子 能 够 被 更 好 地 用 来 说 明 法 律 拟 制 的 分 布广泛 , 以 及 它 们 在 完 成 其 双 重 任 务 , 即 一 方 面 改 变 一 个 法律制度 , 而 另 一 方 面 又 掩 盖 这 种 改 变 时 所 有 的 效 率 。

    我 们 在 英 国 惯 常 看 到 有 一 种 机 构 , 在 扩 大 、 变 更 和 改 进法 律 。 但 在 理 论 上 这 种 机 构 原 是 不 能 改 变 现 存 法 律 一 丝 一毫的 。 这 种 用 以 完 成 实 际 立 法 工 作 的 过 程 , 并 非 是 不 可 感知的,只 是 不 被 承 认 而 已 。 关 于 包 括 在 判 例 中 和 记 录 在 法 律 报 告 中的 我 们 大 部 分 的 法 律 制 度 , 我 们 习 惯 于 用 一 种 双 重 言 语 , 并

    往 往 持 有 一 种 双 重 的 互 不 一 致 的 两 套 观 念 。 当 有 一 些 事 实 被

    提 出 于 英 国 法 院 请 求 审 判 时 , 在 法 官 与 辩 护 人 之 间 进 行 讨 论

    的 全 部 进 程 中 , 决 不 会 、 也 决 不 可 能 提 出 要 在 旧 的 原 则 之 外

    应 用 其 他 任 何 原 则 , 或 者 除 早 已 允 许 的 差 别 外 应 用 任 何 差 别

    的 问 题 。 被 绝 对 地 认 为 当 然 的 , 是 在 某 些 地 方 , 必 然 会 有 这

    样 一 条 法 律 能 够 包 括 现 在 诉 诸 法 律 以 求 解 决 的 事 实 , 如 果 不

    能 发 现 这 样 一 条 法 律 , 那 只 是 由 于 缺 乏 必 要 的 耐 性 、 知 识 或

    智 力 把 它 发 现 而 已 。 但 是 一 当 判 决 被 宣 告 并 列 入 纪 录 以 后 , 我

    们 就 不 自 觉 地 、 不 公 开 地 潜 入 到 一 种 新 的 言 语 和 一 串 新 的 思

    想 中 。 到 这 时 , 我 们 不 得 不 承 认 新 的 判 决已经 改 变 了 法 律 。 如

    果 我 们 用 有 时 被 应 用 的 一 个 非 常 不 正 确 的 说 法 , 那 就 是 可 以

    适 用 的 规 定 已 经 成 为 比 较 有 弹 性 的 了 。 事 实 上 , 它 们 已 经 发

    生 变 化 。 在 已 有 的 先 例 中 , 现 在 已 显 然 地 多 了 一 条 , 比 较 各

    个 先 例 而 得 出 的 法 律 准 则 , 必 将 和 仅 仅 从 一 个 例 子 所 能 得 到

    的 法 律 准 则 完 全 不 同 。 旧 的 规 定 已 经 被 废 除 , 而 一 个 新 的 规

    定 已 被 用 来 代 替 它 , 但 这 个 事 实 往 往 不 容 易 觉 察 , 因 为 们 们

    不 习 惯 于 把 我 们 从 先 例 中 引 伸 出 来 的 法 律 公 式 用 正 确 的 文 字

    表 现 出 来 , 因 此 , 它 们 性 质 的 改 变 , 除 非 是 剧 烈 而 明 显 的 以

    外 , 就 不 很 容 易 被 发 觉 了 。 我 现 在 不 打 算 停 下 来 详 细 讨 论 使

    英 国 法 学 家 同 意 这 些 古 怪 变 例 的 原 因 。 情 况 可 能 是 这 样 的 , 即

    原 来 可 能 有 一 条 公 认 的 学 说 , 认 为 在 某 些 地 方 ,在太虚幻境中 (in nu b i b u s ) 或 者在官吏的胸怀中 ( i n   g r e m i o   m a g i s At r a t u u m ) , 有 着 一 套 完 全 的 、 有 条 理 的 、 匀 称 的 英 国 法 律 , 其内 容 广 泛 , 足 以 提 供 各 种 原 则 以 适 用 于 任 何 可 以 想 象 到 的 一组 情 况 。 这 个 理 论 在 当 初 比 在 现 在 更 为 人 们 深 信 不 疑 , 并 且

    这 也 许 真 正 有 很 好 的 根 据 。 十 三 世 纪 的 法 官 们 也 许 的 确 掌 握

    着 一 些 为 律 师 和 一 般 人 民 所 不 知 道 的 法 律 宝 藏 , 因 为 我 们 有

    理 由 怀 疑 他 们 秘 密 地 从 罗 马 法 和 “ 寺 院 法 ” 的 流 行 纲 要 中 任

    意 地 但 不 一 定 是 始 终 聪 明 地 套 用 着 一 些 东 西 。 但 是 当 韦 斯 敏

    斯 德 法 院 所 判 决 的 问 题 逐 渐 增 加 , 足 以 组 成 一 个 独 立 存 在 的

    法 律 制 度 基 础 时 , 这 个 仓 库 就 被 封 闭 ; 而 现 在 , 几 世 纪 以 来 ,

    英 国 法 律 学 者 竟 然 提 出 了 这 样 一 个 自 相 矛 盾 的 命 题 , 认 为 除

    “ 衡 平 法 ” 和 “ 制 定 法 ” 以 外 , 在 英 国 法 的 基 础 上 , 从 它 第 一

    次 形 成 的 时 候 起 , 就 没 有 什 么 东 西 加 上 去 过 。 我 们 不 承 认 我

    们 的 法 庭 从 事 于 立 法 工 作 ; 我 们 暗 示 着 , 它 们 从 来 没 有 做 过

    立 法 工 作 ; 然 而 我 们 又 主 张 , 英 国 普 通 法 的 规 定 , 在 衡 平 法

    院 和 国 会 的 帮 助 下 , 是 可 以 同 现 代 社 会 的 复 杂 利 益 相 适 应 的 。

    在 罗 马 有 一 种 法 律 , 具 有 非 常 类 似 我 们 判 例 法 中 我 所 说的 那 些 特 点 的 , 称 为 “ 法 律 解 答 ” , 即 “ 法 学 家 的 回 答 ” 。 这些 “ 解 答 ” 的 形 式 , 在 罗 马 法 律 学 的 各 个 时 期 中 有 极 大 的不同 , 但 自 始 至 终 它 们 都 是 由 对 权 威 文 件 的 注 解 组 成 的 , 而 在最 初 , 它 们 只 是 解 释 “ 十 二 铜 表 法 ” 的 各 种 意 见 的 专 门 性的汇 编 。 同 我 们 一 样 , 在 这 些 解 答 中 所 有 的 法 律 用 语 都 从 这 样一 个 假 设 出 发 , 即 古 代 “ 法 典 ” 的 原 文 应 被 保 存 不 变 。 这就是 明 白 的 规 定 。 它 废 止 了 一 切 注 解 和 评 注 , 并 且 不 论 解 释 者是 如 何 的 优 秀 , 对 于 法 典 的 任 何 解 释 , 在 参 照 古 老 的 原文时,没 有 人 敢 公 开 承 认 , 他 所 作 的 解 释 不 会 发 生 修 正 。 但 在 事 实上 , 冠 以 重 要 法 学 专 家名 字 的 “ 法 律 解 答 汇编 ”,至 少 具 有 与 我 们 报 告 案 件 同 样的 威 权 , 并 且 不 断 地 变 更 、 扩 大 、 限 制 或 在 实 际 上 废 弃 “ 十二 铜 表 法 ” 的 规 定 。 在 新 法 律 学 逐 步 形 成 的 过 程 中 , 它 的 作者 们 自 认 为 非 常 专 心 地 尊 重 着 “ 法 典 ” 的 原 来 文 字 。 他 们 只是在 解 释 它 , 阐 明 它 , 引 伸 其 全 部 含 义 ; 但 其 结 果 , 通 过 把

    原 文 凑 合 在 一 起 , 通 过 把 法 律 加 以 调 整 使 适 应 于 确 实 发 生 的

    事 实 状 态 以 及 通 过 推 测 其 可 能 适 用 于 或 许 要 发 生 的 其 他 事 实

    状 态 , 通 过 介 绍 他 们 从 其 他 文 件 注 释 中 看 到 的 解 释 原 则 , 他

    们 引 伸 出 来 大 量 的 多 种 多 样 的 法 律 准 则 , 为 “ 十 二 铜 表 法 ” 的

    编 纂 者 所 梦 想 不 到 的 , 并 且 在 实 际 上 是 很 难 或 者 不 能 在 其 中

    找 到 的 。 法 学 专 家 的 全 部 论 文 都 受 到 尊 重 , 因 为 它 们 是 被 假

    定 为 完 全 符 合 “ 法 典 ” 的 , 但 它 们 的 相 当 高 的 权 威 是 植 基 在

    把 它 们 公 诸 于 世 的 各 个 法 学 专 家 的 声 望 上 的 。 凡 是 举 世 公 认

    为 伟 大 的 任 何 名 字 , 必 使 一 本 “ 法 律 解 答 汇 编 ” 具 有 一 种 不

    小 于 立 法 机 关 制 定 法 规 所 有 的 拘 束 力 ; 而 这 样 一 本 汇 编 的 本

    身 又 成 为 更 进 一 步 的 法 律 学 所 根 据 的 新 基 础 。 但 是 , 早 期 法

    学 家 的 “ 解 答 ” 并 不 由 原 著 者 像 现 在 那 样 印 行 的 。 它 们 由 其

    学 生 加 以 记 录 和 编 辑 , 因 此 , 多 半 都 不 是 按 照 任 何 分 类 方 法

    排 列 的 。 学 生 们 在 这 些 出 版 物 中 所 处 的 地 位 , 应 加 特 别 注 意 ,

    因 为 他 们 对 老 师 服 务 , 一 般 都 因 老 师 对 学 生 孜 孜 不 倦 的 教 育

    而 得 到 补 偿 。 被 称 为 “ 法 学 教 典 ” 或 “ 评 释 ”(C o m m e n t a r i e s ) 的 教 育 论 文 为 当 时 承 认 的 义 务 的 一 种 后 来果 实 , 是 罗 马 制 度 中 最 显 著 的 特 色 之 一 。 至 于 法 学 专 家 们 公诸 于 世 的 他 们 的 分 类 法 以 及 他 们 对 于 变 更 和 改 进 专 门 术 语 的建 议 , 显 然 不 是 在 他 们 用 以 训 练 法 学 家 的 解 答 中 , 而 是 在 这些 涉 及 原 理 的 作 品 中 。

    在 把 罗 马 的 “ 法 律 解 答 ” 同 英 国 法 律 中 最 相 近 的 相 应 部分 进 行 比 较 时 , 我 们 必 须 牢 记 着 , 说 明 罗 马 这 一 部 分 法 律 学的 权 威 者 不 是法院 而 是律师 。 罗 马 法 庭 的 判 决 虽 然 在 特 定 案件 中 是 终 局 的 判 决 , 但 除 了 当 时 承 审 官 吏 在 职 位 上 极 有威信者外 , 并 无 使 它 可 以 适 用 于 其 他 案 件 的 权 力 。 更 确 当 地 讲,在共 和 时 期 内 罗 马 并 没 有 和 英 国 法 院 、 日 耳 曼 帝 国 审 判院或法兰 西 君 主 国 高 等 审 判 厅 相 类 似 的 机 构 。 罗 马 有 许 多 高 级官吏在 其 各 该 部 门 中 都 握 有 重 要 的 司 法 职 能 , 但 他 们 的 官 职 任 期只 有 一 年 , 因 此 它 们 不 能 与 一 个 永 久 的 裁 判 所 相 比 , 只 能 作为 在 律 师 领 袖 中 间 迅 速 地 流 转 着 的 一 个 循 环 职 位 。 对 这种奇特 状 态 的 来 源 , 可 能 有 很 多 的 说 明 , 在 我 们 看 来 是 一种可惊的 变 例 , 但 是 事 实 上 , 它 比 我 们 自 己 的 制 度 更 能 适 合 于 古 代社 会 精 神 , 因 为 这 种 社 会 常 常 不 断 地 分 裂 为 许 多 各 别 的 阶 级 ,在 它 们 之 间 虽 然 互 不 往 来 , 但 却 都 不 愿 在 他 们 上 面 有 一 个 职业 的 教 阶 组 织 存 在 。

    值 得 注 意 的 是 , 这 种 制 度 并 没 有 产 生 某 种 很 可 能 会 产 生的 结 果 。 例 如 , 它 并 没 有 使 罗 马 法通俗化— — 它 没 有 像 有 些希 腊 共 和 国 那 样 削 弱 知 识 分 子 精 通 这 门 科 学 所 需 要 的 努力,虽 然 并 没 有 人 为 的 障 碍 阻 碍 其 普 及 和 作 权 威 的 解 释。相反的,如 果 不 是 由 于 其 他 许 多 原 因 在 发 生 作 用 , 那 就 非 常 可 能,这种 罗 马 法 律 学 就 会 成 为 琐 细 、 专 门 和 难 以 解 释 的 东 西,像从那 时 候 起 流 行 着 的 任 何 制 度 一 样 。 其 次 , 另 外 有 一 种 可能更加 自 然 地 预 期 会 发 生 的 后 果 , 却 没 有 在 任 何 时 期 中 表显出来 。直到 罗 马 的 共 和 政 权 被 颠 复 时 , 法 学 专 家 还 只 是 一 个 界 限不十 分 明 显 并 在 数 量 上 有 很 大 消 长 的 阶 级 ; 虽 然 , 他 们 之 中 任何 特 定 的 个 人 , 对 于 在 他 们 面 前 提 出 的 任 何 案 件 能 发 表 终 局的 意 见 , 则 似 乎 从 来 就 没 有 发 生 过 疑 问 。 在 拉 丁 文 学 中,有大 量 的 关 于 著 名 法 学 专 家 日 常 活 动 的 生 动 描 写 — — 从全 国 各地 蜂 拥 而 来 的 当 事 人 在 清 晨 到 达 他 的 接 待 室 , 他 的 学 生环 立在 周 围 , 手 里 都 拿 着 笔 记 簿 , 记 录 着 这 伟 大 法 学 家 的 回 答——,但 这 样 描 写 的 著 名 人 物 在 任 何 既 定 时 期 内 , 很 少 或 从来 没 有 超 过 一 个 或 二 个 人 的 。 同 时 正 由 于 当 事 人 和 辩 护人的

    直 接 接 触 , 罗 马 人 民 也 就 似 乎 经 常 注 意 着 职 业 威 信 的 升 降 。 现

    在 有 充 分 的 证 据 , 特 别 是 在 西 塞 罗的 著 名 演 讲 “ 为黑 罗 那 辩 ” ( Pro M u r En a ) 中 , 证 明 群 众 对 于 胜 诉 的 重 视 往往不 是 不 够 而 是 过 度 的 。

    我 们 毫 不 怀 疑 , 我 们 在 罗 马 法 最 早 依 靠 了 它 而 得 以 发 展的 这 种 手 段 中 所 发 现 的 各 种 特 点 , 就 是 使 罗 马 法 独 特 卓 越的渊 源 , 也 是 使 它 很 早 就 能 有 丰 富 原 则 的 渊 源 。 原 则 的 成长和茂 盛 , 部 分 地 是 法 律 注 释 者 之 间 的 竞 争 所 造 成 的 , 而这种竞争 , 在 有 法 院 的 地 方 , 即 有 国 王 或 政 府 授 以 司 法 特 权 的 受 托人 的 地 方 , 是 不 被 人 们 所 完 全 知 道 的 。 但 是 主 要 的 媒 介 ,无疑 地 还 在 于 提 请 法 律 判 决 的 各 种 案 件 的 无 限 制 地 大 量 增加。有 些 事 实 状 态 虽 会 使 一 个 乡 村 当 事 人 真 诚 地 感 到 不 知 所 措,但 这 些 事 实 状 态 对 于 形 成 法 学 专 家 “ 解 答 ” 或 法 律 判 决基础的 价 值 , 还 不 如 一 个 有 才 智 的 学 生 所 提 出 的 各 种 假 设情况。成千 成 百 的 事 实 , 不 论 是 真 的 或 是 出 于 想 象 的 , 都 被 一 律 看 待 。

    对 于 一 个 法 学 专 家 , 如 果 他 的 意 见 为 审 判 其 当 事 人 案 件 的 官

    吏 暂 时 废 弃 , 他 会 毫 不 介 意 , 除 非 这 个 官 吏 的 法 律 知 识 或 在

    专 业 上 受 到 的 尊 敬 都 恰 恰 高 过 于 他 。 当 然 , 我 的 意 思 并 不 是说 他 会 完 全 不 考 虑 其 当 事 人 的 利 益 , 因 为 , 这 些 当 事 人 在 较早 时 期 就 是 大 律 师 的 选 举 人 , 到 后 来 才 成 为 他 的 付 款 人 的 , 但

    是 , 一 个 法 学 专 家 走 向 成 功 之 路 要 依 靠 他 的 公 会 的 好 评 ; 显

    然 , 在 我 所 描 写 的 这 样 一 个 制 度 下 , 要 达 到 这 样 一 个 结 果 , 就

    必 须 把 每 一 个 案 件 作 为 一 条 重 大 原 则 的 一 个 例 证 或 是 一 条 广

    泛 规 定 的 一 个 示 范 来 考 虑 , 而 不 能 斤 斤 于 个 别 案 件 的 得 失 。 另

    外 一 种 更 有 力 的 影 响 , 发 生 在 对 各 种 可 能 的 问 题 任 意 提 出 或

    创 造 , 不 加 任 何 明 确 的 限 制 。 资 料 既 然 可 以 任 意 增 加 , 则 发

    展 成 为 一 条 总 则 的 方 便 便 也 无 限 地 增 多 。 法 律 是 在 我 们 自 己

    中 间 执 行 的 , 法 官 不 能 逾 越 展 示 于 他 或 他 的 先 辈 之 前 的 各 种

    事 实 的 范 围 。 因 此 , 受 到 审 判 的 每 一 种 情 况 , 借 用 一 个 法 国

    成 语 , 就 被 奉 之 为 神 圣 。 它 具 有 与 每 一 个 其 他 真 正 的 或 假 设

    的 案 件 不 同 的 某 种 特 点 。 但 是 在 罗 马 , 像 我 已 经 在 前 面 企 图

    说 明 的 , 没 有 像 “ 法 院 ” 或 “ 审 判 院 ” 这 一 类 的 机 构 ; 因 此 ,

    也 没 有 一 组 事 实 会 比 其 他 事 实 具 有 更 多 的 特 殊 价 值 。 当 有 一

    种 困 难 提 交 法 学 专 家 征 求 意 见 时 , 决 没 有 东 西 会 阻 止 一 个 赋

    有 很 好 类 比 力 的 人 立 即 进 而 援 引 和 考 虑 同 它 有 些 联 系 的 全 部

    假 设 问 题 。 不 论 给 予 当 事 人 的 实 际 劝 告 是 怎 样 , 其 由 倾 听着的 学 生 在 笔 记 簿 上 慎 重 保 存 起 来 的 解 答 , 无 疑 地 会 考 虑 到 由一 重 大 原 则 所 能 适 用 的 、 或 为 一 条 包 罗 无 遗 的 规 定 所 能 包 括的 一 切 情 况 , 在 我 们 中 间 , 这 种 情 况 是 不 可 能 的 , 并 且 应 该承 认 , 在 对 英 国 法 提 出 的 许 多 批 评 中 , 它 提 出 时 所 用 的 方 式似 乎 已 经 不 存 在 了 。 我 们 的 法 院 所 以 不 愿 直 截 了 当 地 宣 布 原则 , 很 可 能 不 是 由 于 我 们 法 官 的 禀 性 , 而 是 由 于 我 们 的 先 例比 较 少 , 虽 然 我 们 的 先 例 , 在 不 知 其 他 制 度 的 人 看 来 已 是 卷帙 浩 繁 的 了 。 就 法 律 原 则 的 财 富 而 论 , 我 们 显 然 比有些现代欧 洲 国 家 贫 乏 得 多 。 但 必 须 记 着 , 它 们 是 以 罗 马 法 律 学 为 其民 事 制 度 的 基 础 的 。 它 们 把 罗 马 法 的碎石残屑 建 筑 在 它 们墙垣 之 中 ; 但 就 其 材 料 和 工 作 技 巧 来 看 , 则 并 没 有 使 它 好 过 英国 司 法 机 关 所 造 的 建 筑 物 。

    罗 马 共 和 时 期 是 使 罗 马 法 律 学 具 有 特 别 性 质 的 一 个 时期 ; 在 其 最 初 的 一 部 分 时 间 中 , 法 律 的 发 展 主 要 依 靠 着法学专 家 的 “ 解 答 ” 。 但 当 它 临 到 共 和 国 衰 败 的 时 候 , 在 “ 解 答 ”的 形 式 上 显 示 出 它 们 已 不 可 能 再 作 进 一 步 扩 展 的 预 兆 。它们已 经 开 始 系 统 化 , 并 且 被 提 炼 成 为 纲 要 。 据 说 曾 有 一 个 名 为缪 子 · 沙 沃 拉 ( Q . M u c i u s   S c Ev o l a ) 的 “ 教 长 ”( P o n t i f e x ) 公 布 过 一 本 包 括 全 部 “ 市 民 法 ” 的 手 册 , 在 西 塞罗 的 著 作 中 , 也 显 示 出 对 于 旧 方 法 日 益 不 满 的 迹 象 , 所 谓 旧方 法 是 指 与 法 律 改 革 这 个 更 活 泼 的 手 段 比 较 而 言 的 。 到 了 这个时候 , 其 他 各 种 媒 介 也 在 事 实 上 对 法 律 开 始 发 生 影 响 。 所谓 “ 告 令 ” ( E d i c t ) 或 “ 裁 判 官 ” 的 年 度 布 告 已 被 日 益 重 视,并 用 作 法 律 改 革 的 主 要 手 段 , 而 哥 尼 流 · 西 拉 ( L . C o r n e l i u s S y l l a ) 把 称 为 “ 哥 尼 流 律 ” ( L e g e s   C o r n e l i E) 的 大 量 条 例经 过 立 法 而 制 定 为 法 律 , 就 显 示 出 用 直 接 立 法 的 方 法 能 达 到如 何 迅 速 的 改 进 。 至 于 对 “ 解 答 ” 的 致 命 打 击 则 来 自 奥古斯都,他 限 制 少 数 主 要 的 法 学 专 家 对 案 件 发 表 有 拘束 力 的 意 见 的 权 利 , 这 个 变 化 虽 使 我 们 能 更 接 近 于 现 代 世 界的 观 念 , 但 显 然 根 本 地 改 变 了 法 律 职 业 的 特 点 以 及 它 对 罗 马法 影 响 的 性 质 。 在 一 个 较 后 的 时 期 中 , 另 外 一 个 学 派 的 法 学专 家 又 产 生 了 , 这 些 都 是 各 时 代 中 法 律 学 的 巨 大 人 物 。 但 是阿 尔 比 安 ( U l p i a n ) 和 保 罗 斯 ( P a u l u s ) 、 该 雅 士 和 巴 平 尼 安( p a p i n i a n ) 都 不 是 “ 解 答 ” 的 作 者 。 他 们 的 作 品 都 是 论 述 法律 特 定 部 门 尤 其 是 “ 裁 判 官 告 令 ” 的 正 式 论 文 。

    罗 马 人 的 “ 衡 平 法 ” 以 及 使 衡 平 法 成 为 其 制 度 一 部 分 的“ 裁 判 官 告 令 ” , 将 在 下 面 的 一 章 中 加 以 研 究 。 至 于 对 “ 制 元法 ” , 须 要 说 明 的 只 是 它 在 共 和 时 期 是 很 少 的 , 但 到 了 帝 国 时期 则 有 大 量 增 加 。 在 一 个 国 家 还 是 青 年 和 幼 年 的 时 代 , 绝 少要 求 借 助 于 立 法 机 关 的 活 动 以 求 对 私 法 作 一 般 的 改 进 的 。 人民 所 要 求 的 不 是 变 更 法 律 , 这 些 法 律 通 常 被 估 计 得 高 过 它 们的 真 正 价 值 , 人 民 的 要 求 只 在 能 很 纯 洁 地 、 完 善 地 和 容 易 地执 行 法 律 ; 一 般 是 在 要 除 去 某 种 大 积 弊 , 或 是 要 处 理 阶 级 与阶 级 之 间 和 朝 代 与 朝 代 之 间 某 种 无 可 调 和 的 争 执 时 , 才 求 助于 立 法 机 关 。 依 罗 马 人 看 来 , 在 社 会 发 生 了 一 次 重 大 民 变 后,必 须 制 定 一 大 批 的 条 例 , 才 得 以 安 定 社 会 秩 序 。 西 拉 用 “ 哥尼 流 律 ” 来 宣 布 他 的 改 造 共 和 国 ; 朱 理 亚 · 凯 撒在 “ 制 定 法 ” 中 作 了 大 量 增 加 ; 奥 古 斯 多 促 使 通 过 了最 重 要 的 “ 朱 理 亚 律 ”; 在 以 后 的 一 些 皇 帝 中 ,最 积 极 于 颁 布 宪 令 的 是 像 君 士 坦 丁那 些 要 想统 治 世 界 事 务 的 君 主 。 真 正 的 罗 马 制 定 法 时 期 要 直 到 帝 国 建立 以 后 方 才 开 始 。 皇 帝 们 的 各 种 立 法 起 初 还 伪 装 经 过 群 众 同意 , 但 在 后 来 就 毫 不 掩 饰 地 利 用 皇 权 , 从 奥 古 斯 多 政 权 巩 固后 到 “ 查 斯 丁 尼 安 法 典 ” 公 布 , 这 种法 规 有 大 量 的 增 加 。 可 以 看 到 , 甚 至 在 第 二 个 皇 帝 的 统 治 时期 内 , 法 律 的 条 件 和 其 执 行 的 方 式 就 已 逐 渐 地 接 近 于 我 们 都熟 悉 的 了 。 一 个 制 定 法 和 一 个 有 限 制 的 释 义 局 已 产 生 了 ; 一个 永 久 的 上 诉 法 院 和 一 个 特 许 的 评 释 集 将 在 不 久 之 后 产 生了 ; 这 样 , 我 们 就 被 带 到 更 接 近 于 我 们 今 日 的 观 念 了 。

    第 三 章   自 然法 与 衡 平

    有 些 法 律 原 则 由 于 固 有 的 优 越 性 而 有 代 替 旧 有 法 律 的 权利 , 这 种 理 论 很 早 就 在 罗 马 国 家 和 英 国 广 泛 流 行 。 这 一 类 原则 存 在 于 任 何 制 度 中 , 在 以 前 各 章 中 曾 被 称 为 “ 衡 平 ” , 像 我们 立 刻 就 要 谈 到 的 , 这 个 名 词 是 罗 马 法 学 专 家 用 以 称 呼 法 律变 化 中 这 种 媒 介 的 名 称 之 一 ( 虽 然 是 唯 一 的 一 个 ) 。 在 英 国 ,冠 以 “ 衡 平 ” 名 称 的 衡 平 法 院 , 其 有 关 的 法 律 学 只 能 在 另 一论 文 中 充 分 讨 论 。 它 的 组 成 是 极 端 复 杂 的 , 它 的 资 料 来 自 几个 不 同 的 渊 源 。 早 期 的 教 会 大 法 官 曾 从 “ 寺 院 法 ” 中 采 取 了许 多 原 则 , 这 些 原 则 已 深 深 地 根 植 在 其 结 构 中 。 罗 马 法 中 可以 适 用 于 世 俗 纠 纷 的 规 定 远 多 于 “ 寺 院 法 ” , 因 此 罗 马 法 便 常为 下 一 代 的 衡 平 法 官 所 借 重 , 在 他 们 的 审 判 意 见 录 中 , 我 们常 常 发 现 列 入 了 从 “ 民 法 大 会 ” ( C o r p u s   J u r i s   C i v i l i s ) 中采 摘 的 整 段 原 文 , 其 中 的 名 词 不 加 更 动 , 虽 然 它 们 的 来 源 是从 来 没 有 注 明 的 。 在 近 代 , 尤 其 是 在 十 八 世 纪 中 叶 和 其 后 半期 中 , 尼 德 兰 ( L o w   C o u n t r i e s ) 的 公 法 学 家 所 创 造 的 法 律与 道 德 的 混 合 制 度 似 乎 曾 经 为 英 国 法 学 家 详 细 研 究 过 , 从 泰

    尔 波 爵 士 ( L o r d   T a l b o t ) 大 法 官 到 厄 尔 顿 爵 士 ( L o r d   E l A

    d o n ) 就 任 大 法 官 职 位 时 为 止 , 这 些 作 品 对 衡 平 法 院 的 裁 定 实

    有 相 当 的 影 响 。 构 成 这 个 制 度 的 各 种 要 素 虽 然 来 自 许 多 不 同

    方 面 , 但 由 于 它 必 须 与 普 通 法 近 似 , 它 的 发 展 受 到 了 很 大 的抑 制 , 不 过 它 始 终 能 符 合 一 个 比 较 新 的 法 律 原 则 的 要 求 , 能

    因 其 固 有 的 伦 理 优 越 性 而 有 权 废 弃 国 内 旧 有 的 法 律 。

    罗 马 的 “ 衡 平 法 ” 在 结 构 上 比 较 简 单 , 它 从 开 始 出 现 时

    起 的 全 部 发 展 过 程 是 很 容 易 查 考 的 。 它 的 性 质 和 它 的 历 史 都

    有 详 加 研 究 的 必 要 。 它 是 对 人 类 思 想 有 着 深 远 影 响 的 、 通 过

    人 类 思 想 严 重 地 影 响 了 人 类 命 运 的 那 几 种 概 念 的 根 源 。

    罗 马 人 认 为 他 们 的 法 律 制 度 是 由 两 个 要 素 组 成 的 。 经 查

    斯 丁 尼 安 皇 帝 钦 定 出 版 的 “ 法 学 阶 梯 ” ( I n s t i t u t i o n a l   T r e a At i s e s ) 中 说 , “ 受 法 律 和 习 惯 统 治 的 一 切 国 家 , 部 分 是 受 其 固有 的 特 定 法 律 支 配 , 部 分 是 受 全 人 类 共 有 的 法 律 支 配 。一 个民 族 所 制 定 的 法 律 , 称 为 该 民 族 的 ‘ 民 事 法 律 ’ , 但 是 , 由 自

    然 理 性 指 定 给 全 人 类 的 法 律 , 则 称 为 ‘ 国 际 法 ’ , 因 为 所 有 的

    国 家 都 采 用 它 。 ” 所 谓 “ 由 自 然 理 性 指 定 给 全 人 类 的 ” 这 一 部

    分 法 律 , 就 是 被 假 定 为 由 “ 裁 判 官 告 令 ” 带 入 罗 马 法 律 学 中

    的 原 素 。 在 有 些 地 方 , 它 被 简 单 地 称 为 “ 自 然 法 ” ( J u s   N a t u Ar a l e ) ; 它 的 规 定 据 说 是 受 命 于自然 衡平 ( n a t u r a l i s  Eq u i t a s ) 和 自 然 理 性 。 我 将 设 法 发 掘 这 些 著 名 成 语 如 “ 国 际法 ” 、 “ 自 然 法 ” 、 “ 衡 平 法 ” 的 渊 源 , 并 进 而 决 定 它 们 所 表 示的 概 念 在 相 互 之 间 存 在 着 什 么 关 系 。

    有 一 些 学 者 对 于 罗 马 历 史 只 有 极 肤 浅 的 知 识 , 当 他 看 到

    许 多 外 国 人 用 各 种 名 义 在 共 和 国 境 内 出 现 , 以 及 共 和 国 的 命

    运 竟 会 受 到 非 常 程 度 的 影 响 , 一 定 有 很 深 刻 的 印 象 。 在 较 后

    时 期 , 这 种 侨 民 入 境 的 原 因 是 很 容 易 被 理 解 的 , 因 为 我 们 很

    容 易 体 会 为 什 么 各 族 人 民 都 要 成 群 结 队 地 到 这 世 界 霸 主 的 国

    家 来 ; 在 罗 马 国 家 最 早 的 纪 录 中 , 我 们 就 发 现 有 这 种 大 量 外国 人 和 归 化 者 移 入 的 现 象 。 毫 无 疑 义 , 古 代 意 大 利 大 半 是 由

    强 盗 部 落 所 组 成 的 , 社 会 的 不 安 定 使 得 人 们 集 居 在 有 力 量 来

    保 护 自 己 并 可 以 不 受 外 界 攻 击 的 任 何 社 会 领 土 内 , 纵 使 这 种

    保 护 要 以 付 重 税 、 以 政 治 上 权 利 的 被 剥 夺 、 以 忍 受 社 会 耻 辱

    作 为 代 价 , 也 在 所 不 惜 。 这 个 解 释 也 许 是 不 完 全 的 , 要 作 一

    比 较 完 全 的 解 释 , 还 必 须 考 虑 到 当 时 活 跃 的 商 业 关 系 , 这 种

    关 系 虽 然 很 少 在 共 和 国 的 军 事 传 统 中 反 映 出 来 , 但 罗 马 在 史

    前 时 期 是 必 然 地 和 迦 太 基 ( C a r t h a g e ) 以 及 和 意 大 利 内 地 存 在

    着 这 种 关 系 。 不 论 情 况 究 竟 是 怎 样 , 共 和 国 中 的 外 国 人 实 决

    定 着 其 历 史 的 全 部 过 程 , 在 这 个 历 史 的 各 个 阶 段 中 , 几 乎 完

    全 是 在 说 明 一 个 顽 强 的 民 族 与 一 个 外 来 的 人 民 之 间 的 冲 突 。

    在 现 代 世 界 中 从 来 没 有 发 生 过 这 种 情 况 , 一 方 面 , 因 为 现 代

    欧 洲 社 会 很 少 或 从 来 没 有 受 到 过 足 以 使 土 著 公 民 感 觉 得 到 的

    大 量 的 外 国 移 民 侵 入 , 另 一 方 面 , 因 为 现 代 国 家 的 团 结 一 起

    是 依 靠 着 对 于 一 个 国 王 或 政 治 上 强 有 力 者 的 忠 诚 , 因 此 这 些

    国 家 可 以 用 古 代 世 界 所 没 有 见 到 过 的 速 度 吸 收 着 相 当 数 量 的

    入 境 移 民 , 但 在 古 代 世 界 中 , 一 个 社 会 的 本 地 公 民 常 常 自 以

    为 是 由 于 血 统 而 结 合 在 一 起 的 ; 他 们 反 对 外 来 人 民 主 张 平 等

    权 利 , 认 为 这 是 对 于 他 们 生 来 固 有 权 利 的 一 种 篡 夺 。 早 期 罗

    马 共 和 国 在 “ 宪 令 ” 中 规 定 有 绝 对 排 斥 外 国 人 的 原 则 , 在

    “ 市 民 法 ” 中 也 有 同 样 规 定 。 外 国 人 或 归 化 者 在 “ 国 家 ” 利 益

    休 戚 相 关 的 任 何 机 构 中 , 是 不 能 参 与 的 。 他 不 能 享 受 “ 公 民

    法 ” ( Q u i r i t a   r i a n   l a w ) 的 利 益 。 他 不 能 成 为耐克逊的当事人 , 这 种 契 约 在 有 一 个 时 期 是 原 始 罗 马 人 的 让 与 证 据 同 时 也是 契 约 。 他 不 能 用 “ 提 供 誓 金 之 诉 ” ( S a c r a m e n t a l   A c t i o n )起 诉 , 这 种 涉 讼 的 方 式 其 渊 源 可 以 追 溯 到 文 明 的 萌 芽 时 代 。 但是 , 不 论 是 为 了 罗 马 的 利 益 或 是 为 了 罗 马 的 安 全 , 都 不允许把 外 国 人 完 全 剥 夺 法 律 的 保 护 。 所 有 古 代 社 会 往 往 为 了 轻 微的 骚 动 就 有 被 颠 复 的 危 险 , 所 以 单 单 出 于 自 卫 的 本 能 ,就足以 迫 使 罗 马 人 要 想 出 某 种 方 法 来 安 排 外 国 人 的 权 利 和 义 务 ,

    否 则 他 们 也 许 会 — — 而 这 是 古 代 世 界 中 一 种 真 正 重 要 的 危 险

    — — 用 武 力 斗 争 来 解 决 争 执 。 况 且 , 在 罗 马 史 中 从 来 没 有 一

    个 时 期 完 全 忽 略 对 外 贸 易 。 因 此 , 对 于 当 事 人 双 方 都 是 外 国

    人 或 者 一 方 是 本 国 人 一 方 是 外 国 人 的 争 议 , 在 最 初 所 以 有 审

    判 权 , 也 许 一 半 是 作 为 一 种 警 察 手 段 , 一 半 是 为 了 要 促 进 商

    业 。 由 于 这 类 审 判 权 的 存 在 , 就 有 必 要 立 即 发 见 某 种 原 则 , 以

    便 据 以 解 决 提 交 审 判 的 问 题 , 而 罗 马 法 律 家 为 了 达 到 这 目 的

    而 采 用 的 原 则 是 卓 越 地 反 映 着 当 时 的 特 点 的 。 像 我 在 前 面 已

    经 说 过 的 , 他 们 拒 绝 用 纯 粹 的 罗 马 “ 市 民 法 ” 来 判 决 新 的 案

    件 。 他 们 拒 绝 采 用 外 国 诉 讼 人 “ 本 国 ” 的 特 定 法 律 , 显 然 这

    是 因 为 , 如 果 这 样 做 了 , 也 许 要 造 成 法 律 的 退 化 。 他 们 最 后

    采 用 的 方 法 , 是 选 择 罗 马 同 外 来 移 民 所 出 生 的 意 大 利 各 个 不

    同 社 会 中 共 有 的 法 律 规 定 。 换 言 之 , 他 们 开 始 形 成 一 种 符 合于 “ 万 民 法 ” ( J u s   G e n t i u m ) 的 原 始 的 和 字 面 的 意 义 的 制 度 。所 谓 “ 万 民 法 ” , 即 “ 所 有 国 家 共 有 的 法 律 ” 。 事 实 上 , “ 万 民法 ” 是 古 意 大 利 各 部 落 各 种 习 惯 共 同 要 素 的 总 和 , 因 为 这 些部 落 是 罗 马 人 有 办 法 可 以 观 察 到 的 、 并 且 是 不 断 把 移 民 一 群群 送 到 罗 马 土 地 上 来 的所有国家 。 当 有 一 种 特 别 惯 例 被 看 到为 大 量 的 各 别 民 族 共 同 应 用 时 , 它 即 被 纪 录 下 来 作 为 “ 所有国 家 共 有 的 法 律 ” 或 是 “ 万 民 法 ” 的 一 部 分 。 像 这 样 , 在 罗马 四 周 各 个 不 同 的 国 家 中 , 对 于 财 产 的 让 与 虽 然 都 必 然 地 伴随 着 很 不 同 的 形 式 , 但 是 准 备 要 让 与 的 物 品 的 实 际 移 转 、 交

    付 或 是 送 达 乃 是 它 们 之 中 共 有 仪 式 的 一 部 分 。 例 如 , 这 就 是

    “ 曼 企 帕 地 荷 ” ( M a n c i p a t i o n ) 或 是 罗 马 所 特 有 的 让 与 方 式 中

    的 一 部 分 , 虽 然 是 一 个 次 要 的 部 分 。 因 此 , 交 付 既 然 很 可 能

    是 被 法 学 专 家 有 机 会 观 察 到 的 各 种 让 与 方 式 中 的 唯 一 共 同 要

    素 , 它 就 被 订 作 “ 万 民 法 ” 中 的 一 种 制 度 , 或 是 “ 所 有 国 家

    共 有 法 律 ” 的 一 项 规 定 。 大 量 的 其 他 惯 例 在 经 过 仔 细 研 究 后 ,

    也 得 到 同 样 的 结 果 。 它 们 都 有 一 个 共 同 目 的 , 具 有 某 些 共 同

    特 点 , 这 些 特 点 就 被 归 类 在 “ 万 民 法 ” 中 。 因 此 , “ 万 民 法 ”

    是 规 则 和 原 则 的 一 个 集 合 物 , 这 些 规 则 和 原 则 经 过 观 察 后 被

    决 定 是 各 个 意 大 利 部 落 间 当 时 通 行 的 各 种 制 度 所 共 有 的 。

    上 面 所 说 的 “ 万 民 法 ” 的 起 源 情 况 , 也 许 足 以 消 除 这 样

    一 种 误 解 , 即 认 为 罗 马 法 学 家 似 乎 对 “ 万 民 法 ” 特 别 重 视 。

    “ 万 民 法 ” 的 产 生 , 一 部 分 是 由 于 他 们 轻 视 所 有 的 外 国 法 律 ,

    一 部 分 是 由 于 他 们 不 愿 以 其 本 土 的 “ 市 民 法 ” ( J u s   C i v i l e ) 的

    利 益 给 予 外 国 人 。 诚 然 , 现 在 如 果 我 们 执 行 着 罗 马 法 学 专 家

    当 时 所 进 行 的 工 作 , 我 们 对 于 “ 万 民 法 ” 可 能 会 采 取 一 种 完

    全 不 同 的 看 法 。 我 们 对 于 这 样 辨 别 出 来 的 作 为 大 量 不 同 惯 例

    的 基 础 而 普 遍 存 在 的 要 素 , 必 然 会 附 着 某 种 模 糊 的 优 越 或 占

    先 之 感 。 我 们 对 于 这 样 普 遍 地 适 用 的 规 则 和 原 则 , 必 然 会 有

    几 分 尊 重 。 也 许 我 们 会 认 为 , 这 种 共 同 的 要 素 是 进 行 交 易 所

    必 需 的 本 质 , 而 剩 下 来 的 在 各 个 社 会 中 不 相 同 的 仪 式 , 则 只

    能 被 认 为 是 偶 然 的 和 非 必 要 的 。 我 们 也 可 能 会 作 出 这 样 的 推

    论 , 认 为 我 们 正 在 进 行 比 较 的 各 个 民 族 , 在 过 去 可 能 曾 经 一度 遵 守 过 一 种 共 同 的 伟 大 制 度 , 而 “ 万 民 法 ” 就 是 这 个 制 度

    的 一 个 复 制 品 , 认 为 各 个 国 家 中 错 综 复 杂 的 惯 例 , 只 是 过 去

    曾 经 一 度 管 理 过 他 们 的 原 始 状 态 的 比 较 简 单 的 法 规 的 讹 误 和

    残 余 。 但 现 代 思 想 引 导 观 察 者 达 到 的 这 些 结 论 , 与 原 始 罗 马

    人 本 能 地 感 到 的 结 论 几 乎 恰 恰 相 反 。 我 们 所 尊 重 或 赞 美 的 , 正

    是 他 所 不 喜 欢 的 或 疑 惧 的 。 他 所 爱 好 的 那 部 分 法 律 学 , 正 是

    现 代 理 论 家 认 为 不 必 加 以 考 虑 的 和 暂 时 的 ; 例 如 “ 曼 企 帕 地

    荷 ” 中 的 庄 严 手 势 ; 口 头 契 约 中 巧 妙 地 安 排 的 问 和 答 ; 辩 护

    与 诉 讼 中 不 胜 枚 举 的 手 续 程 序 。 “ 万 民 法 ” 只 是 由 于 政 治 需 要

    而 强 使 他 注 意 的 一 种 制 度 。 他 不 爱 “ 万 民 法 ” 正 像 他 不 爱 外

    国 人 一 样 , 因 为 “ 万 民 法 ” 是 从 这 些 外 国 人 的 制 度 中 来 的 , 并

    且 是 为 了 外 国 人 的 利 益 而 制 定 的 。 在 “ 万 民 法 ” 能 得 到 他 的

    重 视 以 前 , 必 须 在 他 思 想 中 有 一 次 彻 底 的 革 命 , 但 当 这 个 革

    命 确 实 发 生 时 , 它 真 进 行 得 非 常 的 彻 底 , 我 们 现 在 对 于 “ 万

    民 法 ” 的 估 计 所 以 与 刚 才 所 说 的 完 全 不 同 , 其 真 正 理 由 就 在

    于 现 代 法 律 学 和 现 代 哲 学 所 持 的 观 点 都 是 继 承 着 后 期 法 学 专

    家 就 这 问 题 所 持 的 成 熟 见 解 的 。 过 去 确 实 有 过 这 样 一 个 时 期 ,

    把 这 仅 仅 是 “ 市 民 法 ” 的 一 个 卑 贱 附 属 物 的 “ 万 民 法 ” 认 作

    为 一 切 法 律 所 应 该 尽 可 能 依 从 的 一 个 伟 大 的 、 虽 然 还 没 有 完

    全 发 展 的 模 范 。 这 个 剧 变 的 发 生 是 正 当 希 腊 的 “ 自 然 法 ” 理论 被 适 用 于 罗 马 的 “ 所 有 国 家 共 有 法 律 ” 的 实 践 中 的 时 期。所 谓 “ 自 然 法 ” ( j u s   N a t u r a l e ) 只 是 从 一 个 特 别 理 论 的角 度 来 看 的 “ 万 民 法 ” 或 “ 国 际 法 ” 。 法 学 专 家 阿 尔 比 安 曾 经

    以 一 个 法 学 家 所 特 有 的 辨 别 的 癖 好 , 企 图 把 它 们 加 以 区 别 , 但

    结 果 没 有 成 功 。 根 据 有 更 高 权 威 的 该 雅 士 的 言 论 , 以 及 前 面从 “ 法 学 教 典 ” 中 所 摘 引 的 部 分 , 使 我 们 毫 不 怀 疑 , 这 些 用

    语 在 实 际 上 是 可 以 通 用 的 。 它 们 之 间 的 差 别 完 全 是 历 史 的 , 在

    本 质 上 , 它 们 之 间 不 可 能 有 什 么 区 别 。 “ 万 民 法 ” 或 “ 所 有 国

    家 共 有 法 律 ” 与 “ 国 际 法 ” 之 间 的 混 淆 不 清 , 完 全 是 现 代 的 ,

    这 几 乎 是 不 必 加 以 说 明 的 。 国 际 法 的 古 典 用 语 是 “ 使 节 法 ”( J u s   F e c i a l e ) 或 谈 判 与 外 交 的 法 律 。 但 是 毫 无 疑 问 , “ 万 民法 ” 的 含 义 不 明 对 于 独 立 国 家 之 间 的 关 系 应 由 自 然 法 来 管 理这 一 个 现 代 理 论 的 产 生 曾 经 起 过 很 大 的 作 用 。

    我 们 有 必 要 研 究 一 下 希 腊 的 自 然 和 自 然 法 律 的 两 个 概念 。 � Gσ ι � 这 个 字 在 拉 丁 文 中 是 n a t u r a , 在 英 文 中 是nature,它的 含 义 毫 无 疑 问 原 来 是 指 物 质 宇 宙 , 但 这 个 物 质 宇 宙 是 从 完全 另 外 一 个 角 度 来 领 会 的 , 由 于 我 们 的 智 力 与 当 时 的 智 力 有着 距 离 , 这 一 个 角 度 , 在 现 代 语 言 中 , 就 不 很 容 易 加 以说 明。自 然 指 的 是 物 质 世 界 , 是 某 种 原 始 元 素 或 规 律 的 结 果 。 最 古的 希 腊 哲 学 家 习 惯 把 宇 宙 结 构 解 释 为 某 种 单 一 原 则 的 表现,这 种 原 则 , 他 们 有 不 同 的 看 法 , 认 为 是 运 动 、 是 强 力 、 是 火、是 湿 气 、 是 生 殖 。 “ 自 然 ” 的 最 简 单 和 最 古 远 的 意 义 , 正 就 是从 作 为 一 条 原 则 表 现 的 角 度 来 看 的 物 质 宇 宙 。 此 后 , 后 期 希腊 各 学 派 回 到 了 希 腊 最 伟 大 知 识 分 子 当 时 迷 失 的 道 路 上 , 他们 在 “ 自 然 ” 的 概 念 中 , 在物质 世 界 上 加 上 了 一 个道德 世 界 。他 们 把 这 个 名 词 的 范 围 加 以 扩 展 , 使 它 不 仅 包 括 了 有 形的 宇宙 , 并 且 包 括 了 人 类 的 思 想 、 惯 例 和 希 望 。 这 里 , 像 以前一样 , 他 们 所 理 解 的自然 不 仅 仅 是 人 类 的 社 会 的 道 德 现 象 , 而且 是 那 些 被 认 为 可 以 分 解 为 某 种 一 般 的 和 简 单 的 规 律 的现象。

    犹 如 最 古 的 希 腊 理 论 家 所 假 定 的 机 会 的 嘲 弄 使 物 质 宇 宙

    从 其 简 单 的 原 始 形 式 变 成 为 现 今 的 庞 杂 状 态 , 他 们 的 聪 明 的

    后 裔 幻 想 着 , 倘 若 不 是 凑 巧 的 意 外 人 类 很 可 能 会 使 其 自 己 生

    活 于 较 简 单 的 行 动 规 律 和 一 种 比 较 平 静 的 生 活 中 。 按 照 ·

    自 ·

    而 生 活 , 曾 被 认 为 是 人 类 生 存 的 目 的 , 并 且 是 最 优 秀 的 人 必

    须 要 达 到 的 目 的 。 按 照 自 然 而 生 活 , 是 解 脱 粗 俗 人 民 的 混 乱

    习 惯 和 粗 野 放 纵 而 达 到 较 高 级 的 行 为 规 律 , 这 些 规 律 只 有 有

    志 者 通 过 克 己 和 自 制 才 能 加 以 遵 守 。 尽 人 皆 知 , 这 个 命 题 — —按 照 自 然 而 生 活 — — 是 著 名 的 斯 多 葛 派 哲 学 哲 理 的总 和 。 在 希 腊 被 征 服 后 , 这 种 哲 学 在 罗 马 社 会 中 立 刻 有 了 长足 的 发 展 。 它 对 于 有 权 势 的 阶 级 有 着 自 然 的 魔 力 , 这 个 阶 级

    的 人 们 至 少 在 理 论 上 还 墨 守 着 古 代 意 大 利 民 族 的 简 单 习 惯 ,

    不 愿 意 使 自 己 屈 从 于 新 的 外 来 的 风 俗 习 惯 。 他 们 于 是 立 即 开

    始 爱 好 斯 多 葛 派 关 于 按 照 自 然 而 生 活 的 训 戒 。 当 时 由 于 对 世

    界 的 掠 夺 , 由 于 各 地 最 奢 侈 民 族 的 榜 样 , 罗 马 城 中 充 满 了 荡

    佚 荒 淫 , 这 种 爱 好 , 相 比 之 下 , 益 加 可 喜 , 我 并 且 要 说 , 益

    加 可 以 尊 贵 。 纵 使 我 们 不 能 从 历 史 上 来 加 以 证 实 , 但 我 们 仍

    可 以 断 定 , 出 现 于 这 新 希 腊 学 派 门 徒 的 前 列 的 , 一 定 是 罗 马

    法 学 家 。 我 们 有 大 量 证 据 , 证 明 在 罗 马 共 和 国 中 , 实 质 上 只

    有 两 种 职 业 , 军 人 一 般 地 就 是 行 动 的 一 派 , 而 法 学 家 则 普 遍地 站 在 反 抗 派 的 前 列 。

    法 学 家 同 斯 多 葛 派 哲 学 家 的 联 盟 , 延 续 到 数 世 纪 之 久 。 在一 系 列 的 著 名 法 学 专 家 中 , 其 最 早 的 几 个 名 人 都 同 斯 多 葛 学派 有 联 系 , 最 后 , 一 般 公 认 罗 马 法 律 学 的 黄 金 时 代 是 在 安 托宁 · 凯 撒 ( A n t o n i n e   C Es a r s ) 的 时 代 , 而 他 们 就 是 从 这 派哲 学 中 取 得 一 种 生 活 规 则 的 最 著 名 的 门 徒 。 这 些 学 理 在 一 些从 事 特 殊 职 业 的 人 中 间 长 期 广 泛 传 播 , 必 然 要 影 响 他 们所执行 的 和 掌 握 的 艺 术 。 在 罗 马 法 学 专 家 的 遗 著 中 , 有 些论 点 简直 不 能 理 解 , 除 非 我 们 掌 握 了 斯 多 葛 派 的 哲 理 把 它 用 作 一 把

    钥 匙 ; 但 同 时 , 如 果 我 们 只 计 算 那 些 肯 定 归 属 于 斯 多 葛 派 教

    条 的 法 律 条 文 的 数 目 来 衡 量 斯 多 葛 学 派 对 于 罗 马 法 所 发 生 的

    影 响 , 这 将 是 一 个 严 重 的 、 虽 然 是 很 普 通 的 错 误 。 一 般 人 以

    为 , 斯 多 葛 学 派 的 力 量 并 不 在 其 规 定 的 行 为 准 则 中 , 因 为 这

    些 准 则 常 是 可 厌 和 可 笑 的 , 而 是 在 于 伟 大 的 ( 虽 然 是 模 糊

    的 ) 教 人 抑 制 情 欲 的 一 些 原 则 中 。 同 样 地 , 最 明 显 地 表 现 于

    斯 多 葛 哲 学 上 的 希 腊 理 论 对 法 律 学 上 的 影 响 , 并 不 在 于 它 们

    提 供 给 罗 马 法 的 特 殊 论 点 的 数 量 , 而 在 于 它 们 结 予 它 的 单 一

    的 基 本 假 设 。 自 从 自 然 一 语 已 成 为 罗 马 人 口 头 上 一 个 家 喻 户

    晓 的 名 词 以 后 , 这 样 一 种 信 念 便 逐 渐 在 罗 马 法 学 家 中 间 流 行

    着 , 即 旧 的 “ 万 民 法 ” 实 际 是 已 经 失 去 的 “ 自 然 ” 法 典 , 至

    于 “ 裁 判 官 ” 根 据 “ 万 民 法 ” 原 则 而 创 制 的 “ 告 令 ” 法 律 学 ,

    则 正 在 逐 渐 恢 复 法 律 因 为 背 离 了 它 而 退 化 的 一 种 范 式 。 从 这

    信 念 出 发 , 我 们 立 即 得 到 了 这 样 一 个 推 断 , 即 “ 裁 判 官 ” 有

    责 任 尽 量 以 “ 告 令 ” 来 代 替 “ 市 民 法 ” , 尽 可 能 把 “ 自 然 ” 用

    以 管 理 处 于 原 始 状 态 中 的 人 们 的 各 种 制 度 恢 复 过 来 。 当 然 , 用

    这 个 媒 介 来 改 良 法 律 , 还 存 在 着 许 多 障 碍 。 甚 至 在 法 律 界 本

    身 , 可 能 还 要 克 服 各 种 偏 见 , 而 罗 马 人 的 习 惯 也 是 非 常 固 执 ,

    不 肯 很 快 屈 服 于 单 纯 的 哲 学 理 论 。 “ 告 令 ” 用 以 反 抗 某 种 专 门的 变 例 的 间 接 方 法 , 显 示 出 作 者 的 不 得 不 非 常 谨 慎 注 意,而且 直 到 查 斯 丁 尼 安 时 代 , 还 有 部 分 的 旧 法 固 执 地 拒 绝 它 的 影响 。 但 是 , 从 整 体 来 讲 , 罗 马 人 在 法 律 改 进 方 面 , 当 受 到“ 自 然 法 ” 的 理 论 的 刺 激 时 , 就 发 生 了 惊 人 迅 速 的 进 步 。 单 纯化 和 概 括 化 的 观 念 , 是 常 常 和 “ 自 然 ” 这 个 概 念 联 系 着 的 ; 因此 单 纯 匀 称 和 通 晓 易 懂 就 被 认 为 是 一 个 好 的 法 律 制 度 的 特点 , 过 去 对 于 复 杂 言 语 、 繁 褥 仪 式 和 不 必 要 困 难 的 好 尚,便完 全 消 除 。 罗 马 法 所 以 能 具 有 现 存 形 式 , 是 依 靠 着 查 斯 丁 尼安 的 坚 强 意 志 以 及 不 寻 常 的 机 会 , 但 是 制 度 的 基 本 图 形 , 则在 皇 帝 的 改 革 实 行 以 前 很 早 就 计 划 定 当 了 。

    旧 “ 万 民 法 ” 与 “ 自 然 法 ” 之 间 , 真 确 切 的 接 触 之 点 是什 么 ? 我 以 为 它 们 是 通 过 原 来 意 义 的 “ 衡 平 ” ( Hq u i t a s ) 而接 触 和 混 合 的 ; 这 里 , 我 们 似 乎 在 法 律 学 上 第 一 次 遇 到“衡平 ” 这 个 著 名 的 名 词 。 在 研 究 一 个 来 源 如 此 古 远 、 历 史 如此悠 久 的 用 语 上 , 如 果 可 能 , 最 妥 当 的 办 法 是 深 追 最 初 隐 藏 这

    概 念 的 简 单 隐 喻 或 比 喻 。 一 般 认 为 Hq u i t a s 就 是 希 腊 文

    Iσ IDη � , 即 平 均 或 按 比 例 分 配 的 原 则 。 数 或 量 的 平 均 分 配 无 疑

    地 是 和 我 们 对 公 正 的 理 解 密 切 地 交 织 在 一 起 的 ; 很 少 联 想 能

    象 这 样 顽 固 地 坚 持 在 人 们 的 心 中 , 即 使 是 最 深 刻 的 思 想 家 也

    很 难 把 它 从 脑 海 中 加 以 清 除 。 但 在 探 求 这 种 联 想 的 来 历 时 , 我

    们 当 然 还 不 能 证 明 它 是 一 种 早 期 的 思 想 , 它 只 是 比 较 后 来 的

    一 种 哲 学 的 产 物 , 同 时 也 必 须 注 意 , 希 腊 民 主 政 治 用 以 夸 耀

    的 法 律 “ 平 等 ” — — 这 种 平 等 , 在 卡 利 斯 屈 拉 得 斯 ( G a l l i s t r a A

    t u s ) 的 美 丽 的 酒 歌 中 , 据 说 是 哈 马 笛 斯 ( H a r m o d i u s ) 和 阿 利

    斯 托 杰 顿 ( A r i s t o g i r o n ) 给 予 雅 典 人 的 — — 与 罗 马 人 的 “ 衡平 ” 很 少 共 同 之 处 。 前 者 表 示 在 公 民 中 间 平 等 施 行 民 事 法 律 ,

    纵 使 公 民 这 一 个 阶 级 的 人 数 是 非 常 有 限 的 ; 后 者 的 含 义 是 把民 事 法 律 以 外 的 一 种 法 律 适 用 于 不 一 定 要 由 公 民 组 成 的 一 个

    阶 级 。 前 者 不 包 括 暴 君 ; 后 者 包 括 着 外 国 人 , 在 某 种 情 况 下 ,并 且 包 括 奴 隶 。 总 的 讲 来 , 我 倾 向 于 从 另 外 一 个 角 度 来 探 求罗 马 “ 衡 平 ” 的 胚 种 。 拉 丁 文 “ Eq u u s ” 比 希 腊 文 “ Iσ F� ” 更明 确地 带 有平准 的 意 思 。 平 准 的 倾 向 正 是 “ 万 民 法 ” 的 特 点 ,这 种 倾 向 是 一 个 原 始 罗 马 人 最 注 意 的 。 纯 粹 的 “ 公 民 法 ” 承认 在 各 阶 级 人 类 和 各 种 类 财 产 之 间 有 大 量 的 武 断 的 区 分 ; 至于 把 许 多 不 同 习 惯 加 以 比 较 概 括 起 来 的 “ 万 民 法 ” 则 不 承 认“ 公 民 法 ” 的 这 些 区 分 。 例 如 , 古 罗 马 法 规 定 在 “ 宗 亲 ”( A g n a t i c ) 与 “ 血 亲 ” ( C o g n a t i c ) 关 系 之 间 具 有 一 种 根 本 的区 别 , 前 者 是 指 基 于 共 同 服 从 于 同 一 家 父 权 的 “ 家 族 ” , 后 者是 指 ( 按 照 现 代 的 观 点 ) 单 单 由 于 源 自 共 同 祖 先 的 事 实而结合 起 来 的 “ 家 族 ” 。 这 个 区 分 在 “ 各 国 共 有 法 律 ” 中 不 复 存 在,在 财 产 的 古 代 形 式 之 间 、 即 所 谓 “ 要 式 交 易 ” 物 ( T h i n g s  “ M a n c i p i ” ) 与 “ 非 要 式 交 易 ” 物 ( T h i n g s   “ n e c  M a n c i p i ” ) 之 间 的 区 别 , 也 是 如 此 。 因 此 , 据 我 看 来 , 这 种 界限 不 清 , 就 是 以 “ 衡 平 ” 表 示 的 “ 万 民 法 ” 的 特 色 。 当 裁 判官 制 度 适 用 于 涉 及 外 国 诉 讼 人 的 案 件 时 , 常 常 发 生 有 要 求平准 或 排 除 不 规 则 的 必 要 , 我 猜 想 这 个 字 在 最 初 就 是 用 来 描 述

    这 种 情 况 的 。 起 始 , 在 这 个 用 语 中 可 能 没 有 任 何 伦 理 的 色 彩 ;

    也 没 有 任 何 理 由 可 以 相 信 它 所 指 的 诉 讼 程 序 就 不 是 原 始 罗 马

    人 心 目 中 所 极 端 嫌 恶 的 诉 讼 程 序 , 而 是 另 一 种 诉 讼 程 序 。

    在 另 一 方 面 , 罗 马 人 通 过 “ 衡 平 ” 这 个 名 词 所 理 解 的

    “ 万 民 法 ” 的 特 点 , 正 就 是 对 假 想 中 的 自 然 状 态 的 第 一 次 和 最

    鲜 明 地 感 觉 到 的 特 点 。 “ 自 然 ” 含 有 匀 称 秩 序 的 意 思 , 先 是 在物 质 世 界 中 , 而 后 是 在 道 德 世 界 中 , 而 对 秩 序 的 最 早 的 看 法 ,

    无 疑 地 含 有 直 线 、 平 面 和 长 短 之 意 。 人 们 不 论 是 在 想 象 假 定

    中 的 自 然 状 态 的 轮 廓 , 也 不 论 是 在 想 象 “ 各 国 共 有 法 律 ” 的

    确 实 行 使 情 况 时 , 都 会 不 自 觉 地 想 到 这 种 同 样 种 类 的 图 画 或

    数 字 , 并 且 我 们 所 知 道 的 关 于 原 始 思 想 的 知 识 , 会 使 我 们 达

    到 这 样 一 个 结 论 , 即 这 种 想 象 上 的 相 似 性 很 可 能 会 促 使 我 们

    相 信 这 两 种 概 念 在 实 际 上 是 一 同 事 。 可 是 , 虽 然 “ 万 民 法 ” 在

    罗 马 在 事 前 很 少 有 或 者 没 有 什 么 声 望 , 但 是 当 “ 自 然 法 ” 的

    理 论 被 介 绍 到 罗 马 时 , 带 来 了 高 度 的 哲 学 权 威 的 威 望 , 并 且

    被 认 为 是 同 罗 马 民 族 较 早 和 更 幸 福 的 情 况 有 联 系 的 。 不 难 理

    解 , 观 点 的 不 同 会 如 何 地 影 响 到 这 名 词 的 含 义 , 它 既 描 述 了

    旧 原 则 的 运 用 , 又 描 述 了 新 理 论 的 结 果 。 即 在 现 代 的 人 看 来 ,

    把 一 个 过 程 描 述 为 “ 平 准 ” 的 过 程 , 而 同 时 把 这 个 过 程 称 为

    “ 变 例 的 纠 正 ” , 也 不 能 认 为 完 全 是 一 回 事 , 虽 然 两 者 的 含 义

    确 切 地 讲 来 是 一 样 的 。 我 也 并 不 怀 疑 , 当 “ 衡 平 ” 一 经 被 理

    解 为 具 有 希 腊 理 论 的 含 义 时 , 从 希 腊平均 ( Iσ IDη � ) 观 念 所 发生 的 各 种 联 想 , 便 开 始 环 绕 在 衡 平 的 周 围 。 西 塞 罗 的 言 论 把

    它 夸 大 了 , 而 这 就 是 衡 平 这 个 概 念 发 生 变 质 的 第 一 个 阶 段 , 并

    为 自 从 那 个 时 候 起 的 几 乎 每 一 个 伦 理 制 度 或 多 或 少 推 动 着 进行 的 。

    这 里 必 须 说 明 一 下 , 起 初 同 “ 各 国 共 有 法 律 ” 发 生 联 系 、后 来 又 同 “ 自 然 法 ” 联 系 的 各 种 原 则 和 差 别 , 是 通 过 了 什 么正 式 手 段 而 逐 渐 结 合 到 罗 马 法 律 中 去 的 。 因 塔 垦 士( T a r q u i n s ) 的 被 放 逐 而 在 古 罗 马 史 上 引 起 的 危 机 中 , 发 生 了在 许 多 古 代 国 家 早 期 史 乘 中 相 类 似 的 一 种 变 化 , 但 这 种 变 化同 我 们 今 天 所 称 为 革 命 的 那 些 政 治 事 件 , 很 少 共 同 之 处 。 最妥 当 的 说 法 , 可 以 说 是 君 主 政 体 被 转 变 为 委 员 政 治 。 以 往 被集 中 在 一 个 人 手 中 的 权 力 , 现 在 被 分 配 给 了 许 多 选 任 官吏,王位 这 个 名 称 仍 旧 被 保 持 着 , 放 在 后 来 被 称 为 “ 献 身 王 ” (Re x  S a r o r u m   或   R e x   S a c r i f i c u l u s ) 的 一 个 人 物 身 上 。 变 化的 一 部 分 是 把 最 高 司 法 机 关 的 固 定 职 务 移 转 给 了 “ 裁 判 官 ” ,他 同 时 是 共 和 国 的 首 席 官 吏 , 跟 着 这 些 职 务 一 并 移 转 的 有法律 的 和 立 法 的 无 限 制 的 最 高 统 治 权 , 这 是 始 终 为 古 代 主权者所 掌 握 , 并 且 是 显 然 地 同 他 们 一 度 所 享 有 的 宗 法 的 和 英 雄 的

    权 力 有 关 系 的 。 罗 马 当 时 的 情 况 , 使 这 些 被 移 转 的 职 能 中 这

    个 比 较 不 确 定 的 部 分 特 别 显 得 重 要 , 因 为 , 随 着 共 和 国 的 建

    立 , 迫 使 国 家 不 得 不 进 行 一 系 列 反 复 的 试 验 , 以 求 解 决 这 样

    一 个 困 难 , 使 能 很 好 处 理 这 一 部 分 人 , 他 们 在 技 术 上 不 符 合

    于 土 著 罗 马 人 的 标 准 , 但 却 长 期 隶 属 于 罗 马 审 判 权 之 内 。 在

    这 类 人 之 间 或 在 这 类 人 和 土 著 公 民 之 间 所 发 生 的 争 执 , 如 果

    “ 裁 判 官 ” 不 进 行 处 理 , 则 将 永 远 处 于 罗 马 法 所 能 提 供 的 救 济

    的 范 围 之 外 。 随 着 商 业 的 扩 展 , 在 罗 马 人 民 和 真 正 的 外 国 人

    之 间 发 生 了 更 为 严 重 的 纠 纷 , 不 久 也 迫 使 他 不 得 不 加 以 处 理 。

    约 在 第 一 次 布 匿 战 争 ( P u n i c   W a r ) 时 期 , 罗 马 法 院 中 这 类

    案 件 的 数 量 , 大 量 增 加 , 当 时 就 任 命 了 一 个 专 任 “ 裁 判 官 ” 即

    后 来 被 称 为 “ 外 事 裁 判 官 ” 的 ( P r Et o r   P e r e g r i n n s ) 来 专 门

    处 理 这 些 案 件 。 同 时 , 罗 马 人 为 了 预 防 暴 政 的 复 辟 , 使 职 责

    范 围 有 逐 渐 扩 张 趋 势 的 每 一 个 高 级 官 史 在 他 就 职 之 时 , 公 布

    一 个 “ 告 令 ” 或 布 告 , 在 这 个 “ 告 令 ” 或 布 告 中 , 他 把 他 负

    责 部 门 的 管 理 方 式 公 布 出 来 。 “ 裁 判 官 ” 采 用 了 与 其 他 高 级 官吏 同 样 的 规 定 ; 但 每 年 规 定 一 套 原 则 制 度 , 必 然 是 不 可 能 的 ,

    他 只 是 照 例 把 他 前 任 的 “ 告 令 ” 重 新 公 布 一 次 , 并 针 对 当 前

    的 迫 切 需 要 或 根 据 他 自 己 对 于 法 律 的 见 解 , 作 一 些 增 加 或 者

    变 更 。 这 样 每 年 由 于 新 增 部 分 的 不 断 加 长 , “ 裁 判 官 ” 告 令 就

    获 得 了 “ 常 续 告 令 ” ( E d i c t u m   P e r p e u u m ) 的 名 称 , 意 即连续的和不断的 告 令 。 它 的 无 限 长 度 , 再 加 上 了 它 结 构 必 然 地杂 乱 无 章 , 引 起 了 嫌 恶 , 使 一 次 次 往 上 增 加 的 习 惯 , 到 了 萨尔 维 士 · 犹 令 安 ( S a l v i u s   J n l i a n u s ) 的 年 代 就 被 终 止 了 , 犹令 安 是 汉 德 林 皇 帝 ( E m p e r o r   H a d r i a n ) 朝 代 的 一 个 高 级 官吏 。 这 一 个 “ 裁 判 官 ” 的 告 令 便 包 括 了 全 部 的 衡 平 法 律 学 , 可能 被 用 了 新 的 和 均 称 的 顺 序 加 以 排 列 , 于 是 , 在 罗 马 法 中 , 常续 告 令 便 常 被 称 为 “ 犹 令 安 告 令 ” ( E d i c t   o f   J u l i a n u s ) 。

    一 个 研 究 “ 告 令 ” 这 特 殊 机 构 的 英 国 人 , 可 能 会 发 生 的第 一 个 问 题 , 是 “ 裁 判 官 ” 的 这 些 广 泛 权 力 , 究 竟 有 没 有 限制 的 范 围 ? 这 样 很 少 有 明 确 界 限 的 权 威 , 如 何 与 社 会 的 和 法律 的 稳 定 条 件 相 适 应 ? 要 求 得 一 个 答 案 , 只 有 通 过 详 细 研 究我 们 自 己 施 行 英 国 法 律 的 各 种 条 件 。 必 须 记 着 “ 裁 判 官 ” 本身 是 一 个 法 学 专 家 , 或 者 是 一 个 完 全 掌 握 在 都 是 些 法 学专家的 顾 问 手 中 的 人 , 那 就 很 可 能 , 每 一 个 罗 马 法 学 家 都 焦 急 地在 等 待 着 有 一 天 时 间 到 来 , 他 能 充 任 或 掌 握 这 伟 大 的 司 法 高级 官 职 。 在 这 期 间 内 , 他 的 嗜 好 、 情 感 、 偏 见 和 教 养 程度不可 避 免 地 是 属 于 他 自 己 阶 级 的 , 而 他 最 后 带 到 他 职 位 上 的 资格 也 必 然 是 他 在 职 业 的 实 践 和 研 究 中 所 获 得 的 。 每 一 个英国大 法 官 所 受 到 的 正 是 完 全 同 样 的 训 练 , 他 所 带 到 大 法 官 席 上的 正 是 同 样 的 资 格 。 在 他 就 任 时 就 可 以 决 定 , 到 他 离 职 前 必将 在 某 种 程 度 上 变 更 法 律 , 但 是 直 到 他 离 去 职 位 和 直 到 他 所

    作 的 一 系 列 判 决 完 全 被 记 载 于 “ 法 律 记 录 ” 以 前 , 我 们 不 能

    发 现 他 对 于 前 辈 所 遗 留 下 来 的 原 则 , 究 竟 有 了 多 少 的 简 明 或

    增 加 。 “ 裁 判 官 ” 对 罗 马 法 的 影 响 , 和 我 们 所 不 同 的 , 只 在 其

    结 果 被 确 定 的 期 间 。 像 前 面 已 说 过 的 , 他 的 任 期 只 有 一 年 , 而

    他 在 任 期 以 内 所 作 的 判 决 , 虽 然 对 于 诉 讼 人 当 然 是 不 可 推 翻

    的 , 但 此 外 就 没 有 别 的 价 值 。 因 此 , 他 宣 布 想 实 行 变 革 的 最

    顺 利 的 时 期 即 是 在 他 就 “ 裁 判 官 ” 职 位 的 时 候 ; 所 以 , 他 在

    就 职 时 公 开 地 做 的 , 正 是 其 英 国 代 表 在 最 后 不 声 不 响 和 有 时

    不 自 觉 地 做 的 。 对 于 这 种 显 然 的 自 由 所 加 的 节 制 , 也 正 和 加

    于 一 个 英 国 法 官 的 完 全 一 样 。 理 论 上 , 对 于 他 们 二 者 的 权 力 ,

    似 乎 都 并 没 有 任 何 限 制 , 但 是 在 事 实 上 , 罗 马 “ 裁 判 官 ” 和

    英 国 大 法 官 一 样 , 被 其 早 期 训 练 浸 润 的 先 入 之 见 以 及 职 业 论

    点 的 有 力 抑 制 束 缚 在 极 其 狭 小 的 活 动 范 围 之 内 , 这 些 抑 制 的

    严 格 程 度 非 身 受 者 是 不 能 体 会 的 。 应 该 附 加 说 明 的 , 那 许 可

    行 动 的 范 围 以 及 其 不 准 逾 越 的 范 围 , 都 是 非 常 清 楚 地 被 标 明

    的 。 在 英 国 , 法 官 遵 循 着 记 录 判 决 中 各 类 事 实 而 进 行 类 比 。 在

    罗 马 , 由 于 “ 裁 判 官 ” 的 干 预 在 最 初 仅 仅 是 为 了 关 心 社 会 的

    安 全 , 那 就 很 可 能 , 在 最 早 的 时 候 , 干 预 的 多 少 决 定 于 它 所

    必 须 解 决 的 困 难 的 程 度 。 后 来 , 当 “ 解 答 ” 引 起 了 大 家 对 于

    原 则 的 兴 味 时 , 他 就 无 疑 地 利 用 “ 告 令 ” 作 为 一 种 手 段 , 来

    广 泛 推 行 他 和 同 时 代 的 其 他 法 学 专 家 认 之 为 法 律 基 础 的 那 些

    原 则 。 最 后 , 他 竟 完 全 处 在 希 腊 哲 学 理 论 的 影 响 之 下 , 这 些

    理 论 立 即 推 动 他 前 进 , 并 把 他 局 限 于 一 个 特 殊 的 发 展 过 程 中 。

    对 于 萨 尔 维 士 · 犹 令 安 所 采 取 的 措 施 的 性 质 , 有 很 多 的争 论 , 无 论 如 何 , 这 些 措 施 对 于 “ 告 令 ” 的 影 响 是 非 常 明 显的 。 “ 告 令 ” 不 再 因 每 年 有 所 增 加 而 延 长 。 在 这 以 后 , 罗 马 衡平 法 律 学 由 于 汉 德 林 朝 代 到 亚 力 山 大 · 赛 弗 拉 斯 ( A l e x a n d e r  S e v e r u s ) 朝 代 一 系 列 伟 大 法 律 学 专 家 的 辛 勤 著 作 而 得 到 发展 。 他 们 所 建 立 起 来 的 奇 伟 制 度 , 在 查 斯 丁 尼 安 “ 法 学 汇纂 ” ( P a n d e c t s   o f   J u s t i n i a n ) 中 还 保 存 着 一 些 片 断 , 证 明 他们 的 著 作 采 用 了 论 文 的 形 式 讨 论 了 “ 罗 马 法 ” 的 全 部 , 但 主要 的 是 对 “ 告 令 ” 加 以 解 释 。 真 的 , 在 这 个 时 代 中 , 一 个 法学 专 家 不 论 其 处 理 的 是 什 么 , 他 总 可 以 称 为 是 “ 衡 平 法 ”的一 个 释 义 者 。 在 “ 告 令 ” 被 停 止 应 用 的 时 代 以 前 , “ 告 令 ” 的

    原 则 已 经 渗 入 了 罗 马 法 律 学 的 每 一 个 部 门 。 必 须 了 解 , 罗 马

    的 “ 衡 平 法 ” 纵 使 在 和 “ 市 民 法 ” 完 全 不 同 的 时 候 , 也 始 终

    是 在 同 一 个 法 院 内 执 行 的 。 “ 裁 判 官 ” 是 普 通 法 的 大 官 吏 , 也

    是 衡 平 法 的 首 席 法 官 , 并 且 一 到 “ 告 令 ” 发 展 成 为 一 种 衡 平

    规 定 时 , “ 裁 判 官 ” 法 院 立 即 开 始 适 用 它 , 以 代 替 “ 市 民 法 ”

    的 旧 规 定 , 或 者 与 其 同 时 适 用 , 这 样 旧 规 定 就 不 经 过 立 法 机关 的 立 法 行 为 而 直 接 或 间 接 地 被 废 弃 了 , 其 结 果 , 当 然只是法 律 与 衡 平 完 全 不 相 融 合 而 已 , 这 种 融 合 要 直 到 查 斯丁尼安改 革 时 方 才 实 现 。 法 律 学 上 这 两 个 要 素 在 技 术 上 的 分 割 , 必然 地 造 成 了 某 种 混 乱 和 不 便 , 而 “ 市 民 法 ” 中 有 些 比 较 顽固的 学 理 , 则 又 是 “ 告 令 ” 著 者 或 释 义 者 都 不 敢 加 以 干 涉 的。不过 在 同 时 , 在 法 律 学 的 领 域 内 , 几 乎 没 有 一 个 角 落 没 有 受 到“ 衡 平 法 ” 或 多 或 少 的 影 响 。 它 供 给 了 法 学 家 他 所 用 的 一 切 概括 材 料 、 所 用 的 解 释 方 法 、 他 对 原 理 的 释 明 , 以 及 大 量 的 限制 规 定 , 这 些 规 定 很 少 受 到 立 法 者 的 干 预 , 但 却 严 密 地 控 制着 每 一 个 立 法 法 案 的 应 用。

    法 学 家 的 时 期 同 亚 力 山 大 · 赛 弗 拉 斯 同 时 告 终 。 从 汉 德林 到 这 个 皇 帝 时 为 止 , 法 律 在 继 续 不 断 地 改 进 着 , 正 如 现 在在 大 多 数 大 陆 国 家 中 一 样 , 一 部 分 通 过 审 定 的 解 释 , 一 部 分

    通 过 直 接 立 法 。 但 在 亚 力 山 大 · 赛 弗 拉 斯 在 位 的 时 期 , “ 罗 马

    衡 平 法 ” 的 发 展 力 量 似 乎 已 到 了 枯 竭 的 时 候 , 法 学 专 家 的 延

    续 也 停 止 了 下 来 。 余 下 来 的 一 部 分 罗 马 法 律 史 是 君 主 立 法 史 ,

    最 后 , 则 是 试 图 把 到 这 时 为 止 已 成 为 罗 马 法 律 学 的 这 个 庞 大

    躯 体 编 成 法 典 的 历 史 时 期 。 这 样 一 种 最 后 的 和 最 著 名 的 试 验就 是 查 斯 丁 尼 安 的 “ 民 法 大 全 ” 。

    要 把 英 国 的 和 罗 马 的 衡 平 法 详 细 地 加 以 比 较 或 对 照 , 是一 件 冗 长 可 厌 的 事 , 但 有 必 要 提 出 它 们 所 共 有 的 两 个 特 点 。 第一 个 特 点 是 这 样 的 。 它 们 都 倾 向 于 、 并 且 所 有 这 类 制 度 都 是这 样 地 倾 向 于 和 旧 普 通 法 第 一 次 为 衡 平 法 所 干 涉 时 的 那 种 状态 完 全 一 样 的 状 态 。 这 样 一 个 时 期 是 必 然 会 到 来 的 , 就 是 原来 采 用 的 道 德 原 则 已 经 发 挥 出 了 所 有 的 合 法 的 结 果 , 于 是 , 建筑 在 这 些 道 德 原 则 上 面 的 制 度 , 就 会 像 最 严 峻 的 法 律 法 典 那样 地 生 硬 、 那 样 地 没 有 伸 缩 、 那 样 地 不 得 不 落 后 于 道 德 的 进步 。 在 罗 马 , 这 样 一 个 时 期 正 是 亚 力 山 大 · 赛 弗 拉 斯 在 位 的时 期 ; 在 这 以 后 , 虽 然 整 个 罗 马 世 界 正 在 经 历 着 一 次 道德革命 , 但 “ 罗 马 衡 平 法 ” 已 停 止 扩 展 。 英 国 法 律 史 达 到 这同一阶 段 时 , 正 是 大 法 官 厄 尔 顿 爵 士 在 职 的 时 候 , 在 我 们的衡平法 官 中 , 他 是 第 一 个 人 不 但 不 用 间 接 立 法 的 方 法 来 扩 大 其法院 的 法 律 学 , 并 且 终 其 身 致 力 于 解 释 它 和 协 调 它 。 如 果 法 律史 的 哲 学 会 在 英 国 被 更 好 地 理 解 , 则 厄 尔 顿 爵 士 的 贡 献 , 将不 会 像 同 时 代 法 学 家 对 待 它 那 样 , 一 方 面 加 以 夸 张 而 另 一 方面 则 不 予 重 视 。 还 有 其 他 各 种 误 解 , 曾 发 生 某 种 实 际 效 果 的 ,也 许 可 能 会 得 到 避 免 。 英 国 法 学 家 很 容 易 看 出 , “ 英 国 衡 平法 ” 是 建 筑 在 道 德 规 则 上 的 一 种 制 度 ; 但 是 却 忘 记 了 这 些 规则 是 过 去 几 世 纪 的 — — 而 不 是 现 在 的 — — 道 德 , 忘 记 了 这 些

    规 则 已 经 几 乎 尽 它 们 所 能 的 受 到 了 多 方 面 的 应 用 , 并 且 忘 记

    了 它 们 虽 然 同 我 们 今 天 的 伦 理 信 条 当 然 并 没 有 很 大 的 区 别 ,

    但 它 们 并 不 一 定 同 我 们 今 天 的 伦 理 信 条 处 在 同 一 个 水 平 上 。

    一 般 人 对 于 这 个 主 题 所 采 用 的 各 种 理 论 并 不 完 全 , 这 造 成 了

    两 种 相 反 的 误 解 。 许 多 研 究 “ 衡 平 法 ” 的 著 者 , 看 到 了 这 个

    制 度 在 今 日 的 完 整 状 态 , 竟 然 会 明 显 地 或 暗 示 地 自 陷 于 这 样

    一 种 矛 盾 的 说 法 , 即 认 为 衡 平 法 律 学 的 始 创 人 在 奠 定 第 一 块

    墙 基 时 , 就 已 经 筹 划 着 它 今 日 的 固 定 形 式 。 而 另 外 一 些 人 则

    抱 怨 着 — — 这 是 一 种 时 常 在 法 庭 辩 论 中 提 到 的 不 平 — — 以 为

    衡 平 法 院 所 执 行 的 道 德 规 定 已 不 完 全 合 乎 今 日 的 伦 理 标 准 。

    他 们 希 望 每 一 个 大 法 官 对 法 律 学 所 做 的 , 能 完 全 和 英 国 衡 平

    法 的 先 辈 们 对 旧 普 通 法 所 做 的 一 样 。 但 这 是 和 促 使 法 律 改 进的 媒 介 顺 序 , 恰 恰 相 反 的 。 衡 平 法 自 有 它 的 地 位 和 它 的 时 期 ;但 我 在 前 面 已 经 指 出 了 , 当 衡 平 法 的 活 力 消 耗 完 了 时 , 另 一个 手 段 已 经 准 备 好 来 继 承 它 了 。

    英 国 和 罗 马 衡 平 法 还 有 另 一 个 显 著 的 共 同 特 点 , 即 原 来用 以 辩 护 衡 平 主 张 比 法 律 规 定 优 越 的 这 个 假 定 , 是 虚 伪 的 。 对于 人 们 , 不 论 是 个 人 或 是 集 体 , 没 有 东 西 比 把 他 们 的 道德进步 认 作 一 个 实 体 的 现 实 性 , 更 可 厌 恶 的 了 。 这 种 厌 恶 情 绪 , 就个 人 而 言 , 表 现 在 过 分 的 尊 敬 , 这 种 过 分 的 尊 敬 通 常 是 只 用以 对 一 致 性 的 这 个 可 疑 的 美 德 的 。 全 社 会 集 体 意 见 的 动 向 是非 常 明 显 , 不 应 加 以 忽 视 的 , 并 且 一 般 是 非 常 明 显 地 为 了 求得 进 步 不 应 加 以 诋 毁 的 ; 但 是 社 会 上 有 一 种 巨 大 的 阻 力,不愿 接 受 它 , 把 它 作 为 一 种 原 始 现 象 来 对 待 , 而 一 般 都 只 把 它解 释 为 恢 复 一 个 失 去 的 至 善 ( L o s t   p e r f e c t i o n ) — — 逐 渐 回返 到 民 族 未 堕 落 以 前 的 状 态 。 这 种 向 后 而 不 是 向 前 去 寻 求 道德 进 步 目 标 的 倾 向 , 像 我 们 已 看 到 的 , 在 古 代 就 对 罗 马 法 律学 产 生 了 最 深 远 的 影 响 。 罗 马 法 学 专 家 为 了 要 说 明 “ 裁 判官 ” 对 法 律 学 所 作 的 改 进 , 从 希 腊 借 用 了 一 个 人 类 “ 自 然 ” 状态 — — 一 个 “ 自 然 ” 社 会 — — 的 学 理 , 这 种 自 然 社 会 是 出 现于 由 现 实 法 统 治 的 社 会 组 织 之 前 的 社 会 。 另 一 方 面 在 英 国 , 则用 一 些 特 别 适 合 于 当 时 英 国 人 口 味 的 观 念 , 来 解 释 “ 衡 平法 ” 主 张 的 优 于 普 通 法 , 这 些 观 念 假 定 国 王 作 为 其 宗 主 权 的自 然 结 果 , 是 应 该 被 推 定 为 具 有 监 督 公 正 执 行 的 一 般 权 利 的 ,过 去 有 这 样 一 种 旧 的 学 理 , 认 为 “ 衡 平 法 ” 来 自 国 王 的 良 心— — 这 种 改 进 在 实 际 上 已 经 发 生 在 被 指 为 主 权 者 在 道 德 意 义上 的 一 个 固 有 的 提 高 的 社 会 道 德 标 准 中 了 , 这 种 见 解 是 和 前述 的 见 解 相 同 的 , 不 过 表 现 于 一 种 不 同 的 和 一 种 更 为 离奇古怪 的 方 式 中 而 已 。 英 国 宪 法 的 发 展 , 使 这 种 一 条 理 论 在 过 了一 个 时 期 以 后 , 就 不 合 口 味 ; 但 是 , 衡 平 法 院 的 审 判 权在当时 既 然 已 经 是 坚 定 地 确 定 了 , 那 就 没 有 另 设 任 何 正 式代 替 物的 必 要 。 在 现 代 教 科 书 中 , 关 于 “ 衡 平 法 ” 的 理 论 是 多 种多样 的 , 但 都 是 同 样 的 不 足 取 。 其 中 绝 大 部 分 都 只 是 把 罗马的自 然 法 学 理 加 以 改 头 换 面 , 尤 其 是 那 些 著 者 , 他 们 在 开 始 讨论 衡 平 法 院 的 审 判 权 时 就 在 自 然 公 正 和 民 事 公 正 之 间 加 以 明白 的 区 分 , 那 真 是 把 罗 马 自 然 法 学 理 的 要 旨 全 部 采 纳 了 。

    第 四 章   自 然 法 的 现 代 史

    从 前 面 所 说 的 , 可 以 推 断 , 改 变 罗 马 法 律 学 的 理 论 决 不能 被 认 为 有 哲 学 上 的 正 确 性 。 这 种 理 论 事 实 上 包 括 了 “ 思 想的 混 合 方 式 ” 之 一 , 这 种 所 谓 思 想 的 混 合 方 式 现 在 被 认为是人 类 思 想 初 期 的 最 高 思 想 的 特 点 , 同 时 也 是 我 们 今 天 的 智 慧的 努 力 所 不 难 发 现 的 。 “ 自 然 法 ” 把 “ 过 去 ” 与 “ 现 在 ” 混 淆起 来 了 。 逻 辑 上 , 它 意 味 着 曾 经 一 度 由 自 然 法 支 配 的 一 种 “ 自 然 ” 状 态 ; 但 法 学 专 家 并 不 明 白 地 或 确 信 地 说 到 过 有 这 样一 个 状 态 存 在 , 这 种 状 态 除 了 偶 然 在 幻 想 黄 金 时 代 的 诗 歌 中能 发 现 外 , 的 确 也 绝 少 为 古 人 们 所 注 意 到 。 自 然 法 从 实 际 效果 讲 , 是 属 于 现 代 的 产 物 , 和 现 存 制 度 交 织 在 一 起 的 东 西 , 是一 个 有 资 格 的 观 察 家 可 以 从 现 存 制 度 中 区 分 出 来 的 东 西 。 把“ 自 然 ” 的 法 规 从 同 这 些 法 规 混 淆 在 一 起 的 各 种 粗 陋 成 分 中 分离 开 来 的 鉴 别 方 法 , 是 一 种 单 纯 和 调 和 的 感 觉 。 但 是 这 些 经过 提 炼 出 来 的 原 素 所 以 能 受 到 重 视 , 却 并 不 是 由 于 它 们 的 单纯 和 调 和 , 而 是 由 于 它 们 来 自 太 古 的 “ 自 然 ” 统 治 。 这 种 混淆 并 没 有 为 法 学 专 家 的 现 代 学 生 们 成 功 地 解 释 清 楚 , 而 对

    “ 自 然 法 ” 提 出 的 一 些 近 代 纯 理 论 中 暴 露 出 来 的 认 识 模 糊 、 用

    语 含 混 不 清 之 处 , 实 际 上 远 比 我 们 公 正 地 责 咎 于 罗 马 法 学 家

    的 还 要 来 得 厉 害 。 有 些 研 究 这 个 主 题 的 著 者 , 认 为 “ 自 然 ” 法

    典 存 在 于 将 来 , 是 所 有 民 事 法 律 正 在 走 向 的 目 的 , 他 们 企 图用 这 种 方 法 来 避 免 基 本 的 困 难 , 但 是 这 非 但 同 旧 理 论 所 根 据的 假 设 完 全 相 反 , 而 且 也 许 混 杂 了 两 种 自 相 矛 盾 的 理 论 。 这种 不 问 过 去 只 向 将 来 寻 求 完 善 典 型 的 倾 向 , 是 由 基 督 教 带 到这 世 界 上 来 的 , 古 代 文 学 很 少 或 者 没 有 暗 示 过 这 样 一 种 信 念 ,即 认 为 社 会 进 步 必 然 地 是 从 坏 到 好 的 。

    但 是 , 这 个 理 论 在 哲 学 上 虽 然 有 其 缺 陷 , 我 们 却 不 能 因此 而 忽 视 其 对 于 人 类 的 重 要 性 。 真 的 , 如 果 自 然 法 没 有 成 为古 代 世 界 中 一 种 普 遍 的 信 念 , 这 就 很 难 说 思 想 的 历 史 、 因 此也 就 是 人 类 的 历 史 , 究 竟 会 朝 哪 一 个 方 向 发 展 了 。

    法 律 以 及 由 法 律 结 合 在 一 起 的 社 会 , 在 其 幼 稚 时 代 , 似乎 很 容 易 遭 受 两 种 特 殊 危 险 。 其 中 之 一 是 , 法 律 可 能 发 展 得太 快 。 在 比 较 进 步 的 希 腊 社 会 中 , 它 们 的 法 典 就 发 生 过这 种情 形 , 这 些 法 典 用 惊 人 的 速 度 从 繁 杂 的 程 序 形 式 和 不 必 需 的术 语 中 解 脱 出 来 , 并 且 不 久 以 后 就 使 各 种 严 峻 的 规 定 和 规 则上 不 再 依 附 着 任 何 迷 信 色 彩 。 它 们 这 样 做 , 其 本 意 并 不 是 为了 人 类 的 最 终 利 益 , 虽 然 因 此 而 使 其 公 民 获 得 的 直 接 好 处 可能 是 相 当 大 的 。 国 民 性 中 最 罕 见 的 特 性 之 一 , 是 这 样 的 来 应用 和 制 定 法 律 的 能 力 , 即 一 方 面 在 达 到 抽 象 公 正 中 忍 受 着 不断 地 发 生 的 错 误 , 而 在 同 时 却 不 丧 失 法 律 可 能 符 合 于 一 个 较高 理 想 的 希 望 或 愿 望 。 希 腊 的 思 想 家 本 其 高 贵 的 和 顺 应的特性 , 没 有 把 自 己 局 限 在 窄 狭 的 法 律 公 式 中 ; 我 们 对 于 雅 典 平民 法 院 的 工 作 情 况 掌 握 着 正 确 的 知 识 , 如 果 我 们 用 雅 典 平 民法 院 来 推 测 希 腊 的 法 院 , 则 我 们 可 以 知 道 , 在 希 腊 法 院 中 有着 非 常 强 有 力 的 倾 向 把 法 律 与 事 实 混 淆 在 一 起 。 当 时 “ 演 说家 ”的 遗 著 , 以 及 亚 里 士 多 德在 “ 修辞 学 论 ”中 所 保 存 的 法 庭 语 录 , 显示 出 当 时 对 纯 粹 的 法 律 问 题 往 往 是 用 可 能 影 响 法 官 心 理 的 各 种 理 由 来 进 行 辩 论 的 。 通 过 这 种 方 法 , 不 可 能 产 生 持 久 的 法律 学 制 度 。 一 个 社 会 对 于 某 些 特 殊 案 件 , 为 了 要 得 到 一 个 理想 的 完 美 的 判 决 , 就 毫 不 迟 疑 的 把 阻 碍 着 完 美 判 决 的 成 文 法律 规 定 变 通 一 下 , 如 果 这 个 社 会 确 有 任 何 司 法 原 则 可 以传诸后 世 , 那 它 所 能 传 下 来 的 司 法 原 则 只 可 能 仅 仅 是 包 括 着 当 时正 在 流 行 的 是 非 观 念 。 这 种 法 律 学 就 不 能 具 有 为 后 世 比 较 进步 的 概 念 所 能 适 合 的 骨 架 。 充 其 量 , 它 只 是 在 带 有 缺 点 的 文明 之 下 成 长 起 来 的 一 种 哲 学 而 已 。

    很 少 民 族 社 会 的 法 律 学 曾 受 到 这 种 或 则 过 早 成 熟 或 则 时机 未 熟 就 已 经 瓦 解 的 特 殊 危 险 的 威 胁 。 究 竟 罗 马 人 有 没 有 受到 过 它 的 严 重 威 胁 , 当 然 还 不 能 确 定 , 但 是 无 论 如 何 ,罗马人 在 其 “ 自 然 法 ” 的 理 论 中 是 有 着 适 当 的 保 护 的 。 因 为法学专 家 显 明 地 把 “ 自 然 法 ” 想 象 为 一 种 应 该 逐 渐 吸 收 各 种民事法 律 的 制 度 , 但 是 在 民 事 法 律 还 没 有 被 废 弃 以 前 , 自 然 法 却不 能 把 它 们 取 而 代 之 。 在 国 外 自 然 法 是 没 有 这 种 神 圣 不可侵犯 的 印 象 的 , 就 是 只 要 向 它 提 出 申 诉 就 有 可 能 使 处 理 特 定 诉讼 案 件 的 法 官 的 心 理 为 之 折 服 。 这 个 概 念 的 所 以 有 其 价 值 和作 用 , 是 因 为 它 能 使 人 在 想 象 中 出 现 一 个 完 美 法 律 的 典 型 , 它并 且 能 够 鼓 舞 起 一 种 要 无 限 地 接 近 于 它 的 希 望 , 而 在 同 时 , 对于 还 没 有 适 应 于 这 个 理 论 的 那 些 现 存 法 律 义 务 , 它 又 从 不 使法 律 实 务 者 或 市 民 加 以 否 认 。 同 样 重 要 的 , 应 该 看 到 , 这 个模 范 制 度 同 许 多 在 以 后 时 期 曾 嘲 弄 过 人 们 的 希 望 的 制 度 不同 , 并 不 完 全 是 幻 想 的 产 物 。 从 来 没 有 人 把 它 看 作 是 建 筑 在完 全 没 有 经 过 考 验 的 原 则 之 上 的 。 一 般 的 看 法 , 它 是 现 存 法律 的 基 础 , 并 且 一 定 要 通 过 现 存 法 律 才 能 找 到 它 。 它 的 职 能 ,简 单 地 讲 , 是 补 救 性 的 , 而 不 是 革 命 性 的 或 无 政 府 状 态 的 。 这一 点 , 不 幸 地 , 恰 恰 就 是 现 代 对 于 “ 自 然 法 ” 的 见 解 常 常 不再 和 古 代 见 解 相 同 的 地 方 。

    社 会 在 幼 年 时 代 要 招 惹 到 的 另 外 一 种 危 险 , 曾 阻 碍 了 或停 住 了 更 大 一 部 分 人 类 的 进 步 。 原 始 法 律 的 僵 硬 性 , 主 要 是由 于 它 同 宗 教 的 早 期 联 系 和 同 一 性 而 造 成 的 , 这 种 僵 硬 性 曾

    把 大 多 数 人 在 生 活 和 行 为 上 的 见 解 束 缚 住 , 使 它 们 和 人 们 的惯 例 第 一 次 被 固 定 为 有 系 统 形 式 时 的 见 解 一 样 。 世 界 上 只 有

    一 二 个 民 族 由 于 奇 异 的 命 运 才 能 使 它 们 免 除 了 这 种 不 幸 , 而

    从 这 些 民 族 所 出 的 支 系 曾 丰 富 了 少 数 现 代 社 会 , 但 是 情 况 仍

    旧 是 这 样 : 在 大 部 分 世 界 中 , 只 有 墨 守 着 由 原 始 立 法 者 所 设

    计 的 最 初 计 划 , 法 律 才 能 达 到 其 完 美 性 。 如 果 在 这 类 情 形 中 ,

    智 慧 确 曾 对 法 律 发 生 过 影 响 , 那 它 能 一 致 地 以 之 自 夸 的 , 就

    是 它 能 在 古 原 文 的 基 础 上 , 求 得 种 种 机 巧 的 牵 强 附 会 的 结 论 ,

    而 在 其 文 字 性 质 上 却 毫 无 显 著 的 背 离 。 我 找 不 出 任 何 理 由 , 为

    什 么 罗 马 法 律 会 优 于 印 度 法 律 , 假 使 不 是 “ 自 然 法 ” 的 理 论

    给 了 它 一 种 与 众 不 同 的 优 秀 典 型 。 在 这 个 稀 有 的 事 例 中 , 这

    个 由 于 其 他 原 因 而 注 定 了 对 人 类 发 生 巨 大 影 响 的 社 会 , 把 单

    纯 和 匀 称 作 为 其 心 目 中 一 个 理 想 的 和 绝 对 的 完 美 法 律 的 特

    证 。 一 个 国 家 或 者 一 个 职 业 在 其 力 求 改 进 时 , 如 果 能 有 一 个

    明 显 的 要 达 到 的 目 标 , 其 重 要 性 是 不 能 忽 视 的 。 在 过 去 三 十

    年 间 , 边 沁 之 所 以 能 在 英 国 发 生 巨 大 影 响 , 其 秘 密 就 是 在 于他 能 成 功 地 把 这 样 一 个 目 的 , 向 国 人 提 出 。 他 给 我 们 一 个 明白 的 改 良 规 则 。 前 一 世 纪 中 的 英 国 法 学 家 是 敏 锐 的 , 当 然 不致 于 会 被 这 样 一 个 似 是 而 非 的 言 论 所 蒙 蔽 , 以 为 英 国 法 律 是人 类 完 美 的 理 想 , 但 是 由 于 缺 乏 任 何 其 他 原 则 可 资 依 据 , 他们 在 行 动 上 似 乎 就 相 信 着 这 样 一 个 说 法 。 边 沁 提 出 社 会 幸 福 ,

    把 它 作 为 优 先 于 其 他 一 切 的 首 要 目 的 , 这 样 , 就 使 一 个 长 期以 来 正 在 寻 找 出 路 的 洪 流 , 得 到 了 发洩 。

    如 果 我 们 把 前 面 所 描 述 的 假 定 作 为 边 沁 主 义 的 古 代 对 称物 , 这 不 能 说 是 完 全 出 于 妄 想 的 一 种 比 较 。 罗 马 理 论 引 导 人们 努 力 的 方 向 , 正 和 这 个 英 国 人 计 划 的 理 论 所 导 致 的 方 向 , 完全 相 同 ; 罗 马 理 论 的 实 际 结 果 , 同 主 张 坚 决 地 追 求 社 会 一 般幸 福 的 改 良 法 学 派 所 可 能 达 到 的 结 果 , 不 致 于 有 很 大 的 区 别 。但 如 果 认 为 这 个 理 论 是 边 沁 原 则 的 有 意 识 的 豫 期 , 则 是一种错 误 。 毫 无 疑 义 , 在 罗 马 的 普 通 文 献 和 法 律 文 献 中 ,确有时以 人 类 幸 福 作 为 补 救 立 法 的 正 当 目 的 , 但 如 果 拿 有 关 这 个 原则 的 证 据 , 同 不 断 地 给 予 “ 自 然 法 ” 笼 盖 一 切 的 主 张 的 颂扬相 比 , 则 前 者 是 显 著 地 少 而 无 力 的 。 罗 马 法 学 专 家 所 甘 心 悦

    服 的 , 不 是 近 似 博 爱 的 东 西 , 而 是 它 们 的 单 纯 和 调 和 之 感 — —

    就 是 他 们 意 味 深 长 地 称 为 “ 文 雅 ” 的 东 西 。 他 们 辛 勤 劳 力 的

    结 果 , 恰 和 一 个 更 精 确 的 哲 学 所 企 求 的 相 一 致 , 这 正 是 人 类

    好 运 的 一 部 分 。

    回 过 头 来 看 自 然 法 的 现 代 史 , 我 们 断 然 相 信 它 的 影 响 是

    广 泛 深 入 的 , 但 这 种 影 响 的 是 好 是 坏 , 则 就 比 较 难 以 坚 定 地

    加 以 肯 定 。 同 它 有 关 的 各 种 学 说 和 制 度 , 是 在 我 们 时 代 中 争

    论 最 剧 烈 的 一 些 资 料 。 譬 如 说 , “ 自 然 法 ” 理 论 是 一 切 特 殊 观

    念 如 法 律 、 政 治 与 社 会 的 渊 源 , 在 过 去 一 百 年 间 通 过 法 国 而传 遍 西 方 世 界 。 法 学 家 在 法 国 史 上 所 占 有 的 地 位 以 及 法 律 概

    念 在 法 国 思 想 中 所 占 的 领 域 , 始 终 是 非 常 巨 大 的 。 但 现 代 欧

    洲 的 法 律 科 学 , 其 起 源 实 在 不 是 在 法 国 , 而 是 在 意 大 利 , 在

    意 大 利 各 大 学 的 使 者 在 大 陆 各 地 创 设 的 和 企 图 ( 虽 然 结 果 是

    徒 劳 的 ) 在 我 岛 国 创 立 的 学 校 中 , 建 立 在 法 国 的 学 校 对 这 个

    国 家 的 命 运 产 生 了 最 大 的 影 响 。 当 时 的 法 国 法 学 家 立 即 同 加佩 皇 族 ( h o u s e   o f   C a p e t ) 的 国 王 们 结 成 了 密 切 的 联 盟 , 而法 兰 西 君 主 国 之 所 以 能 从 省 邦 和 藩 属 的 割 据 状 态 中 成 长 起来 , 一 方 面 固 然 是 由 于 武 力 , 同 时 也 借 助 他 们 对 帝 王 特 权 的主 张 以 及 他 们 对 封 建 承 继 规 则 的 解 释 。 法 国 国 王 们 同 法 律 家之 间 的 谅 解 , 使 国 王 们 在 对 大 封 建 主 、 贵 族 和 教 会 的 斗 争 中

    取 得 巨 大 的 利 益 , 我 们 只 要 研 究 一 下 直 到 中 世 纪 还 在 欧 洲 流

    行 着 的 各 种 观 念 就 能 够 体 会 到 这 一 点 。 首 先 是 对 于 概 括 的 非

    常 醉 心 以 及 对 于 一 般 命 题 的 出 奇 的 崇 拜 , 因 此 , 在 法 律 的 分

    野 内 , 对 于 看 上 去 似 乎 能 包 含 和 总 括 在 各 地 区 作 为 惯 例 实 行

    的 许 多 各 别 规 则 的 每 一 条 一 般 公 式 就 都 油 然 而 产 生 一 种 虔 敬

    之 心 。 像 这 样 一 类 的 一 般 公 式 , 对 于 熟 习 “ 民 法 大 全 ” 或

    “ 注 释 集 ” 的 法 律 实 务 者 说 来 , 当 然 是 不 难 尽 量 提 供 的 。 但 是

    此 外 还 有 其 他 原 因 使 法 学 家 的 权 力 有 更 大 的 增 加 。 在 我 们 所

    谈 到 的 时 期 中 , 对 于 成 文 法 律 究 竟 有 怎 样 程 度 和 怎 样 性 质 的

    权 力 , 在 观 念 上 是 普 遍 地 模 糊 的 。 一 般 讲 来 , 独 断 的 序 言 ,兹规定 ( I t a   s c r i p t u m   e s t ) , 似 乎 即 足 以 止 息 所 有 的 异 议 。 按

    照 我 们 今 日 的 心 意 , 我 们 对 于 所 引 证 的 公 式 , 必 将 审 慎 地 加

    以 研 究 , 查 询 其 来 源 , 必 要 时 并 会 否 认 它 所 属 的 法 律 有 代 替

    当 地 习 惯 之 权 , 但 前 辈 法 学 家 可 能 就 不 敢 这 样 做 , 他 们 只 是考 究 一 下 法 律 的 规 定 是 否 可 以 适 用 , 充 其 量 , 也 只 是 从 “ 法

    学 汇 纂 ” 或 “ 寺 院 法 ” 中 引 一 些 相 反 的 命 题 而 已 。 对 于 各 种

    法 律 争 论 中 这 个 最 重 要 的 方 面 人 们 看 法 的 变 化 无 定 , 必 须 牢

    记 在 心 中 , 因 为 这 不 但 可 以 帮 助 说 明 法 学 家 对 于 帝 王 出 过 一

    臂 之 力 , 同 时 也 可 以 使 几 个 古 怪 的 历 史 问 题 得 以 阐 明 。 “ 伪 教皇 教 令 集 ” ( F o r g e d   D e c r e t a l s ) 著 者 的 动 机 以 及 他 的 非 常 成功 , 也 能 因 此 而更 加 容 易 领 会 。 再 就 一 个 关 系 较 小 的 现 象 而论 , 它 能 够 帮 助 我 们 、 虽 然 只 是 部 分 地 , 了 解 布 拉 克 顿 的 抄袭 主 义 。 这 个 生 活 在 亨 利 三 世 ( H e n r y   Ⅲ ) 时 代 的 英 国 著 者 ,竟 会 把 他 的 一 篇 全 部 形 式 和 三 分 之 一 内 容 直 接 剽 窃 自 “ 民 法大 全 ” 的 论 文 , 作 为 纯 粹 国 英 法 的 纲 要 , 而 向 其 同 胞 宣 扬 。 他竟 敢 在 正 式 禁 止 系 统 地 研 究 罗 马 法 的 一 个 国 家 内 作 这 样 的 试验 , 这 在 法 学 史 上 将 始 终 成 为 一 个 最 不 可 解 之 谜 。 但 当 我 们了 解 到 当 时 对 于 成 文 法 律 有 拘 束 力 的 一 般 意 见 , 不 论 其 来 源 如 何 , 则 我 们 的 惊 异 是 仍 旧 可 以 略 为 减 少 的 。

    当 法 国 的 国 王 们 在 长 期 争 取 最 高 统 治 权 的 斗 争 中 得 到 胜

    利 的 结 束 时 , 约 相 当 于 瓦 罗 亚 · 安 古 伦 ( V a l o i s A n g o u l e Jm e ) 王 族 继 承 皇 位 的 时 候 , 法 国 法 学 家 的 地 位 是 特 殊 的 , 并 且 延续 到 革 命 暴 发 为 止 。 一 方 面 , 他 们 形 成 了 国 内 最 有 教 养 的 并且 是 最 有 势 力 的 阶 级 。 他 们 尽 量 利 用 他 们 在 封 建 贵 族 以 外 的

    一 个 特 殊 阶 级 的 地 位 , 他 们 并 且 通 过 了 一 个 组 织 把 他 们 的 职

    业 分 布 到 全 法 国 来 确 保 他 们 的 影 响 , 这 个 组 织 包 括 许 多 巨 大

    的 特 许 公 司 , 具 有 广 泛 而 明 确 的 权 力 , 以 及 更 为 广 泛 无 限 制

    的 发 言 权 。 不 论 他 们 所 担 任 的 是 辩 护 人 , 是 法 官 , 或 是 立 法

    者 , 在 其 性 质 上 他 们 都 远 超 过 全 欧 洲 的 同 辈 。 他 们 的 法 律 技巧 , 他 们 的 能 言 善 辩 , 他 们 的 善 于 类 比 和 调 和 , 以 及 ( 如 果以 他 们 中 最 著 名 的 人 物 来 评 定 ) 他 们 对 公 正 概 念 的 热 诚 , 正和 他 们 所 赋 有 的 各 式 各 样 的 独 特 天 才 , 同 样 是 十 分 引 人 注 意的 。 在 这 多 样 的 天 才 中 包 括 着 由 古 乍 斯 ( C u j a s ) 到 孟 德 斯 鸠 ,由 达 该 素 ( D ’ A g u e s s e a u ) 到 都 漠 兰 ( D u m o u l i n ) 的 两 个 相反 的 极 端 之 间 的 全 部 人 物 。 但 是 在 另 一 方 面 , 他 们 必 须 执 行

    的 法 律 制 度 , 则 与 他 们 所 养 成 的 习 性 完 全 不 同 。 这 个 主 要 经

    由 他 们 的 努 力 而 组 成 的 法 国 , 当 时 从 一 种 畸 形 的 和 不 协 调 的

    法 律 学 受 到 的 苦 恼 , 远 超 过 了 其 他 的 任 何 欧 洲 国 家 。 一 次 巨

    大 的 分 裂 终 于 在 这 个 国 家 发 生 , 把 它 分 为成文法区域和习惯 ·

    法 ·

    区域,前 者 承 认 成 文 的 罗 马 法 为 其 法 律 学 的 基 础 , 后 者 只

    在 它 能 提 供 一 般 表 现 形 式 或 是 它 能 提 供 同 当 地 惯 例 相 一 致 的

    法 律 推 理 方 法 时 , 才 加 以 采 用 。 这 样 划 分 的 区 域 , 又 被 划 分为 不 同 的 小 区 域 。 在习惯法区域中 , 就 其 习 惯 的 性 质 来 说 、 省与 省 之 间 不 同 , 县 与 县 之 间 、 市 与 市 之 间 又 有 不 同 。 在成文法区域 中 , 掩 盖 在 罗 马 法 上 面 的 封 建 规 则 , 具 层 次 组 成 亦 非常 复 杂 。 英 国 从 来 没 有 发 生 过 这 样 的 混 乱 情 况 。 在 德 国,这种 情 况 曾 经 存 在 , 但 因 为 和 该 国 政 治 宗 教 间 的 深 刻 划 分 , 在很 大 程 度 上 是 非 常 协 调 的 , 所 以 很 少 影 响 , 甚 至 难 以 感觉到法 国 的 独 特 之 点 在 于 当 君 主 的 中 央 政 权 正 在 不 断 加 强 , 完 全

    的 行 政 统 一 工 作 正 在 迅 速 完 成 , 以 及 在 人 民 中 间 一 种 热 烈 的

    国 家 精 神 正 在 发 展 起 来 的 时 候 , 这 种 法 律 上 非 常 参 差 的 情 况

    还 是 继 续 着 , 丝 毫 不 感 到 有 什 么 改 变 。 这 种 矛 盾 现 象 产 生 了

    许 多 严 重 的 后 果 , 其 中 , 尤 以 它 在 法 国 法 学 家 心 神 上 所 产 生的 效 果 , 最 为 重 要 。 他 们 在 推 理 上 的 意 见 和 他 们 在 智 力 上 的

    偏 见 , 恰 恰 和 他 们 的 利 益 和 职 业 习 惯 完 全 相 反 。 他 们 既 深 深

    地 感 觉 到 并 完 全 认 识 到 法 律 学 上 的 完 美 是 在 于 单 纯 性 和 一 致

    性 , 因 此 便 以 为 或 似 乎 以 为 那 些 确 实 感 染 着 法 国 法 律 的 缺 点

    是 难 以 革 除 的 , 因 此 , 在 实 际 上 , 他 们 常 拒 绝 纠 正 这 些 缺 点 ,

    其 顽 固 程 度 即 在 比 较 不 开 明 的 同 胞 中 也 是 不 常 有 的 。 但 当 时

    有 一 种 方 法 可 以 用 来 调 和 这 些 矛 盾 。 他 们 变 成 了 “ 自 然 法 ” 的

    热 烈 拥 护 者 。 “ 自 然 法 ” 跳 过 了 所 有 的 省 市 界 限 ; 它 不 管 一 切

    区 分 , 不 论 是 贵 族 和 市 民 之 间 的 , 市 民 和 农 民 之 间 的 ; 它 给

    明 白 、 单 纯 和 系 统 以 极 端 崇 高 的 地 位 ; 但 是 它 并 没 有 促 使 其

    拥 护 者 进 行 任 何 特 殊 的 改 进 , 亦 没 有 直 接 威 胁 到 任 何 可 尊 敬

    的 或 有 利 的 专 门 性 质 。 “ 自 然 法 ” 可 以 说 已 成 为 法 国 的 普 通 法 ,

    或 者 , 无 论 如 何 , 承 认 它 的 尊 严 和 要 求 已 成 为 所 有 法 国 法 律

    实 务 者 一 致 同 意 的 一 个 哲 理 。 革 命 前 法 学 家 的 言 论 中 , 对

    “ 自 然 法 ” 毫 无 保 留 地 一 致 颂 扬 , 而 值 得 注 意 的 是 , 那 些 专 事诽 谤 纯 粹 罗 马 法 的 “ 习 惯 ” 论 者 , 在 谈 到 “ 自 然 ” 及 其 规 定时 , 往 往 甚 至 比 自 认 为 只 尊 重 “ 法 学 汇 纂 ” ( D i g e s t ) 及 “ 法典 ” 的 民 法 学 家 , 更 为 热 烈 。 都 漠 兰 是 古 “ 法 兰 西 习 惯 法 ” 所

    有 权 威 学 者 中 的 最 高 权 威 , 却 有 几 篇 非 常 透 彻 详 尽 的 有 关

    “ 自 然 法 ” 的 论 文 , 他 的 颂 词 并 且 有 一 种 特 殊 的 风 格 , 显 然 同罗 马 法 学 专 家 的 小 心 慎 重 有 着 距 离 。 一 个 “ 自 然 法 ” 的 假 说已 成 为 不 复 是 指 导 实 际 的 一 种 理 论 , 而 是 纯 理 论 信 仰 的 一 种信 条 ; 因 此 , 我 们 将 发 现 在 它 比 较 近 来 所 经 受 的 变 化 中 , 由于 其 拥 护 者 的 推 崇 , 它 的 最 弱 部 分 也 上 升 到 了 其 最 强 部 分 的水 平 。

    在 “ 自 然 法 ” 史 达 到 最 紧 要 的 关 头 时 , 十 八 世 纪 已 经 过去 了 一 半 。 如 果 对 于 自 然 法 理 论 及 其 后 果 的 讨 论 继 续 专 属 于法 律 界 , 则 它 所 受 到 的 重 视 可 能 要 有 一 些 减 少 ; 因 为 到 这 个

    时 候 , “ 论 法 的 精 神 ” 出 版 了 。 孟 德 斯 鸠 在 这 本 书 中 , 一 方 面

    相 当 夸 张 地 显 示 出 作 者 强 烈 地 不 愿 接 受 以 前 通 常 是 不 加 详 细

    审 查 而 予 以 容 忍 的 各 种 假 设 , 另 一 方 面 又 相 当 模 糊 地 表 现 出

    作 者 要 与 现 存 偏 见 相 调 和 的 愿 望 , 但 是 , 这 本 书 虽 有 其 缺 点 ,

    却 仍 按 照 着 “ 历 史 方 法 ” 进 行 研 究 , 在 这 种 方 法 之 前 , “ 自 然

    法 ” 是 从 来 没 有 能 瞬 息 维 持 其 立 足 点 的 。 它 不 但 受 到 了 大 众

    的 欢 迎 , 并 且 在 思 想 上 也 发 生 了 巨 大 的 影 响 ; 但 是 , 在 事 实

    上 它 并 没 有 得 到 进 一 步 深 入 的 机 会 , 因 为 似 乎 注 定 要 被 它 所

    毁 灭 的 反 假 说 突 然 从 法 庭 传 到 了 民 间 , 并 且 成 为 远 较 法 院 或

    学 校 中 曾 经 激 辩 过 的 主 题 更 能 引 起 激 烈 争 执 的 主 题 。 这 个 把

    它 放 在 新 地 位 的 人 , 是 一 个 非 常 的 人 , 他 没 有 学 识 , 很 少 美

    德 , 并 且 也 没 有 十 分 坚 强 的 个 性 , 但 由 于 一 种 鲜 明 的 想 象 力 ,

    以 及 他 对 于 人 类 的 真 诚 的 热 爱 ( 为 了 这 , 我 们 对 他 有 许 多 地

    方 应 该 原 谅 的 ) , 却 使 他 成 为 历 史 上 不 可 磨 灭 的 人 物 。 在 我 们

    自 己 的 一 代 中 , 我 们 从 来 没 有 看 到 过 — — 的 确 , 即 在 全 世 界

    整 个 历 史 过 程 中 , 也 不 会 看 到 一 次 或 二 次 以 上 的 — — 这 样 一

    个 文 件 , 曾 对 人 类 的 心 灵 、 对 知 识 分 子 的 躯 体 和 灵 魂 产 生 过

    像 卢 梭 在 1 7 4 9 年 和 1 7 6 2 年 之 间 所 产 生 的 那 样 巨 大 的 影 响的 。 在 由 贝 尔 ( B a y l e ) 和 部 分 地 由 我 国 的 洛 克开 始 ,最 后 却 由 伏 尔 泰完 成 的 纯 然 是 偶 象 破 坏 的 努 力 以后 , 这 是 要 重 新 建 立 人 类 信 念 的 第 一 次 尝 试 ; 并 且 除 了 每 一个 有 建 设 性 的 努 力 常 常 必 然 优 于 单 纯 的 破 坏 性 的 努 力 以 外,它 还 有 着 一 个 卓 越 之 处 , 就 是 在 一 个 几 乎 普 遍 的 怀 疑 论 的 氛围 中 间 , 提 出 了 所 有 过 去 推 理 方 面 知 识 的 健 全 性 问 题 。 在 卢梭 的 一 切 理 论 中 , 其 中 心 人 物 , 不 论 是 穿 着 英 国 服 装 在 一 个

    社 会 契 约 上 签 名 的 或 者 是 率 直 地 把 所 有 历 史 特 性 完 全 剥 光

    的 , 都 一 律 是 在 一 种 假 设 的 自 然 状 态 中 的 “ 人 ” 。 每 一 种 法 律

    和 制 度 , 凡 是 不 能 适 合 于 这 些 理 想 情 况 下 的 这 种 想 象 的 人 , 都

    被 加 以 非 难 , 认 为 是 从 一 种 原 始 完 美 状 态 的 堕 落 ; 对 于 每 一

    种 能 使 社 会 更 接 近 于 “ 自 然 ” 生 物 统 治 着 的 世 界 的 社 会 变 革 ,

    都 认 为 是 可 以 赞 美 的 , 并 值 得 用 任 何 明 显 的 代 价 使 其 实 现 。 这

    个 确 论 仍 旧 是 罗 马 法 学 家 的 理 论 , 因 为 在 这 个 人 类 居 住 的“ 自 然 条 件 ” ( N a t u r a l   C o n d i t i o n ) 的 暗 影 中 , 除 了 对 于 法 学

    专 家 具 有 非 常 魔 力 的 单 纯 和 调 和 之 外 , 竟 没 有 一 个 特 色 和 特

    点 为 人 们 所 注 意 到 ; 但 是 这 个 理 论 好 像 是 本 末 倒 置 过 来 了 。 现

    在 所 研 究 的 主 要 问 题 , 已 不 是 “ 自 然 法 律 ” , 而 是 “ 自 然 状态 ” ( S t a t e   o f   n a t u r e ) 。 罗 马 人 曾 认 为 , 如 果 对 于 现 存 的 各种 制 度 加 以 仔 细 观 察 , 则 在 这 些 制 度 中 必 然 可 以 挑 选 出 有 几

    个 部 分 或 者 立 即 可 以 显 示 出 来 , 或 者 必 须 经 过 法 律 上 的 纯 净

    作 用 才 可 以 显 示 出 那 种 自 然 统 治 的 痕 迹 , 这 种 自 然 统 治 在 罗

    马 人 看 起 来 , 有 可 能 是 真 实 的 。 至 于 卢 梭 的 信 念 是 : 一 个 完

    美 的 社 会 秩 序 可 以 求 之 于 单 纯 的 对 自 然 状 态 的 考 虑 , 这 一 种

    社 会 秩 序 完 全 同 世 界 的 实 际 情 况 没 有 关 系 , 并 且 完 全 同 世 界

    的 实 际 情 况 不 同 。 这 两 种 见 解 的 分 歧 是 巨 大 的 , 一 种 是 痛 责

    现 在 , 因 为 它 不 像 理 想 中 的 过 去 : 而 另 外 的 一 种 , 假 定 现 在

    同 过 去 一 样 的 必 要 的 , 因 此 也 就 不 轻 视 现 在 或 谴 责 现 在 。 我

    们 没 有 必 要 枉 费 时 间 , 以 详 细 分 析 这 建 筑 于 一 个 自 然 状 态 基础 上 的 政 治 、 艺 术 、 教 育 、 伦 理 学 和 社 会 关 系 的 哲 学 。 这 种

    哲 学 对 于 每 一 个 国 家 中 比 较 不 精 确 的 思 想 家 还 具 有 特 别 的 吸

    引 力 , 并 且 无 疑 地 是 妨 碍 着 应 用 “ 历 史 研 究 方 法 ” 的 几 乎 一

    切 先 入 之 见 的 、 多 少 是 不 直 接 的 根 源 , 但 它 已 为 我 们 今 日 有

    识 者 所 不 信 任 到 了 这 样 的 程 度 , 竟 使 那 些 熟 知 纯 理 论 的 错 误

    具 有 非 常 活 力 的 人 们 , 为 之 惶 惑 不 止 。 在 今 天 最 常 提 到 的 问

    题 , 也 许 并 不 是 这 些 意 见 究 竟 有 什 么 价 值 , 而 是 : 在 一 百 年

    以 前 使 它 们 有 这 样 的 盖 过 一 切 的 优 势 , 其 原 因 究 竟 是 什 么 。 我

    认 为 回 答 是 很 简 单 的 。 在 上 一 世 纪 中 , 有 一 种 研 究 最 可 能 用

    来 纠 正 凡 是 专 门 注 意 于 古 法 律 的 人 很 容 易 陷 入 的 误 解 , 这 种

    研 究 便 是 宗 教 的 研 究 。 但 希 腊 宗 教 如 当 时 所 理 解 的 那 样 , 都

    已 被 分 散 于 许 多 想 象 的 神 话 中 。 东 方 的 各 种 宗 教 纵 使 确 曾 受

    到 过 注 意 , 但 这 些 宗 教 似 乎 都 迷 失 于 空 虚 的 宇 宙 开 辟 论 中 。 只

    有 一 种 原 始 记 录 , 值 得 加 以 研 究 — — 就 是 早 期 的 犹 太 史 。 但

    当 时 的 种 种 偏 见 阻 止 着 我 们 利 用 它 。 卢 梭 学 派 同 伏 尔 泰 学 派

    所 共 有 的 少 数 特 征 之 一 ; 是 完 全 轻 视 一 切 宗 教 上 的 古 代 事 物 ,

    特 别 是 属 于 希 伯 来 民 族 的 。 众 所 周 知 , 当 时 的 理 论 家 都 不 仅

    认 为 以 摩 西为 名 的 制 度 并 非 真 的 出 自 神 授 , 认 为 它

    们 也 不 是 象 传 说 那 样 在 一 个 较 后 的 时 期 被 制 定 为 法 典 的 , 他

    们 认 为 这 些 制 度 以 及 全 部 的 “ 摩 西 五 经 ”都 只是 一 种 毫 无 根 据 的 伪 造 , 是 在 从 “ 幽 囚 ” ( C a p t i v i t y ) 中 回 来以 后 完 成 的 。 这 些 思 想 家 所 以 作 出 这 样 的 假 定 , 因 为 这 与 他们 的 荣 誉 有 关 。 因 此 法 国 的 哲 学 家 们 , 既 被 阻 止 取 得 这 个 反

    对 纯 理 论 谬 见 的 主 要 保 证 , 就 在 他 们 热 切 于 从 他 们 认 为 是 僧

    侣 的 迷 信 中 逃 避 出 来 的 时 候 , 又 轻 率 地 把 他 们 自 己 投 入 了 法学 家 的 迷 信 中 去 。

    但 是 这 个 以 自 然 状 态 的 假 设 为 基 础 的 哲 学 , 虽 然 因 为 它

    只 被 看 到 了 其 粗 糙 的 和 比 较 容 易 看 到 的 一 面 , 一 般 的 评 价 不

    高 , 但 这 并 不 是 说 , 当 它 在 比 较 精 巧 的 伪 装 中 , 就 失 掉 了 它

    可 以 赞 美 的 地 方 、 通 俗 的 地 方 和 它 的 力 量 。 我 相 信 , 象 我 前

    面 已 说 过 的 , 它 仍 旧 是 “ 历 史 方 法 ” 的 劲 敌 ; 并 且 ( 除 了 宗

    教 上 的 反 对 以 外 ) 凡 是 拒 绝 或 责 难 这 种 研 究 方 式 的 人 , 一 般

    都 是 由 于 有 意 或 无 意 地 受 到 了 信 赖 社 会 或 个 人 的 非 历 史 的 即

    自 然 的 状 态 的 一 种 偏 见 或 武 断 的 影 响 的 结 果 。 不 过 “ 自 然 ” 学

    说 及 其 法 律 观 点 之 所 以 能 保 持 其 能 力 , 主 要 是 由 于 它 们 能 和

    各 种 政 治 及 社 会 倾 向 联 结 在 一 起 , 在 这 些 倾 向 中 , 有 一 些 是

    由 它 们 促 成 的 , 有 一 些 的 确 是 它 们 所 创 造 的 , 而 绝 大 部 分 则

    是 由 它 们 提 供 了 说 明 和 形 式 。 它 们 明 显 地 大 量 渗 入 到 不 断 由

    法 国 传 播 到 文 明 世 界 各 地 的 各 种 观 念 中 , 这 样 就 成 为 改 变 世

    界 文 明 的 一 般 思 想 体 系 的 一 部 分 。 这 些 学 理 对 民 族 命 运 所 加

    的 影 响 , 其 价 值 如 何 , 当 然 是 我 们 时 代 中 最 热 烈 争 辩 的 论 点

    之 一 , 对 于 这 个 方 面 , 我 们 不 准 备 在 本 文 中 加 以 讨 论 。 但 是

    如 果 回 顾 一 下 自 然 状 态 理 论 在 政 治 上 达 到 非 常 高 度 的 重 要 性

    的 时 期 , 则 绝 少 人 会 否 认 : 在 第 一 次 “ 法 国 革 命 ” 时 期 , 曾

    经 多 次 发 生 的 重 大 失 望 都 是 由 它 有 力 地 促 成 的 。 它 产 生 了 或

    强 烈 地 刺 激 了 当 时 几 乎 普 遍 存 在 的 智 力 上 的 恶 习 , 如 对 现 实

    法 的 蔑 视 , 对 经 验 的 不 耐 烦 , 以 及 ·

    先 ·

    天 ·

    的 优 先 于 一 切 其 他 理

    性 等 。 这 种 哲 学 紧 紧 地 掌 握 住 了 那 些 比 较 思 想 得 少 、 同 时 又

    不 善 于 观 察 的 人 , 它 的 发 展 趋 势 也 就 比 例 地 成 为 明 显 的 无 政

    府 状 态 。 可 惊 异 的 是 , 杜 蒙 ( D u m o n t ) 为 边 沁 出 版 的 “ 无 政府 的 诡 辩 ” 一 书 中 具 体 地 表 现 了边 沁 所 暴 露 的 显 然 是 来 自 法 国 的 谬 见 , 有 很 多 是 来 自 经 过 法国 变 化 的 罗 马 假 设 , 并 且 除 非 是 参 照 了 罗 马 假 设 , 这 些 诡 辩是 不 容 易 理 解 的 。 在 这 一 点 上 可 以 参 考 在 革 命 的 各 个 主 要 年代 中 间 的 ·

    劝 ·

    戒 ·

    者 ( M o n t e u r ) 。 时 代 越 黑 暗 , 则 诉 诸 “ 自 然 法

    律 和 状 态 ” 便 越 加 频 繁 。 在 “ 国 民 议 会 ” 中 这 种 情 况 比 较 少

    见 ; 在 “ 立 法 议 会 ” 时 期 则 比 较 经 常 ; 在 “ 宪 法 会 议 ” 中 , 在

    辩 论 着 阴 谋 和 战 争 的 纷 争 声 中 , 这 种 情 况 便 永 久 存 在 着 。

    有 一 个 例 子 非 常 明 显 地 说 明 了 自 然 法 理 论 对 现 代 社 会 的

    影 响 , 并 且 表 明 这 些 影 响 是 如 何 的 深 而 且 远 。 我 以 为 人 类 根

    本 平 等 的 学 理 , 毫 无 疑 问 是 来 自 “ 自 然 法 ” 的 一 种 推 定 。 “ 人

    类 一 律 平 等 ” 是 大 量 法 律 命 题 之 一 , 它 随 着 时 代 的 进 步 已 成

    为 一 个 政 治 上 的 命 题 。 罗 马 安 托 宁 时 代 的 法 学 专 家 们 提 出 :

    “ 每 一 个 人 自 然 是 平 等 的 ”, 但 在 他 们 心 目 中 , 这 是 一 个 严 格 的 法 律 公 理 。 他 们 企 图 主 张 , 在 假 设 的 “ 自 然 法 ” 之 下 , 以 及 在 现 实法 接 近 “ 自 然 法 ” 的 程 度 内 , 罗 马 “ 市 民 法 ” 所 支 持 的 各 阶

    级 人 们 之 间 的 武 断 区 分 不 应 该 在 法 律 上 存 在 。 这 个 规 定 对 罗

    马 法 律 实 务 者 , 是 有 相 当 的 重 要 性 的 , 因 为 这 使 他 们 必 须 记

    着 , 凡 在 罗 马 法 律 学 被 推 定 为 完 全 符 合 于 “ 自 然 ” 法 典 的 规

    定 时 , 则 罗 马 法 院 在 考 虑 公 民 与 外 国 人 之 间 、 人 民 与 奴 隶 之

    间 、 “ 宗 亲 ” 与 “ 血 亲 ” 之 间 ” 的 一 切 问 题 时 , 却 不 应 该 有 所

    区 别 。 凡 是 作 这 样 主 张 的 法 学 专 家 , 当 然 决 不 会 指 摘 使 市 民

    法 不 能 达 到 其 理 论 形 式 的 社 会 安 排 , 他 们 显 然 也 不 会 相 信 世

    界 真 会 看 到 人 类 社 会 会 同 自 然 组 织 完 全 同 化 的 。 但 当 人 类 平等 学 说 披 上 了 现 代 服 装 而 出 现 时 , 它 显 然 已 包 藏 着 一 种 新 的

    意 义 。 罗 马 法 学 专 家 用 “ 是 平 等 ” ( Eq u a l e s   s u n t ) 的 这 些 字眼 , 其 所 含 意 义 真 和 他 所 说 的 完 全 一 样 , 而 现 代 民 法 学 家 在

    写 “ 人 类 一 律 平 等 ” 时 , 他 的 意 思 是 “ 人 类 应 该 平 等 ” 。 罗 马

    人 以 为 自 然 法 是 和 市 民 法 同 时 存 在 的 , 并 且 是 在 逐 渐 吞 并 着

    市 民 法 的 , 这 种 特 殊 看 法 显 然 已 经 被 遗 忘 了 , 或 已 经 成 为 不

    可 理 解 的 了 。 这 些 字 眼 在 过 去 充 其 量 只 是 表 达 了 有 关 人 类 各

    种 制 度 渊 源 、 组 织 和 其 发 展 的 一 种 理 论 , 后 来 开 始 被 用 来 表

    示 人 类 长 期 遭 受 的 大 不 公 正 之 意 。 早 在 十 四 世 纪 初 期 , 关 于

    人 类 出 生 状 态 的 流 行 说 法 虽 然 明 显 地 想 要 和 阿 尔 比 安 及 其 同

    时 代 人 的 说 法 相 一 致 , 但 其 形 式 和 意 义 却 已 全 然 不 同 。 路 易

    · 胡 廷 国 王 ( K i n g   L o u i s   H u t i n ) 解 放 王 家 领 地 内 农 奴 的 著名 命 令 中 的 前 言 , 在 罗 马 人 听 来 , 将 是 非 常 陌 生 的 , “ 既 然 按

    照 自 然 法 , 每 个 人 应 该 生 而 自 由 ; 由 于 自 上 古 以 来 就 已 采 用

    并 一 直 到 现 在 还 在 我 国 土 上 被 保 持 着 的 某 种 惯 例 和 习 惯 , 并

    且 可 能 由 于 人 们 前 辈 的 罪 行 , 在 我 们 普 通 人 民 中 就 有 许 多 人

    陷 入 了 被 奴 役 的 地 位 , 因 此 , 我 们 等 等 ” , 这 不 是 一 条 法 律 规

    定 而 是 一 个 政 治 教 条 的 宣 言 ; 从 这 个 时 候 起 , 法 国 法 学 家 们

    在 谈 到 人 类 平 等 时 , 正 好 象 这 是 偶 然 被 保 留 在 他 们 的 科 学 中

    的 一 个 政 治 真 理 似 的 。 象 来 自 “ 自 然 法 ” 假 设 中 的 一 切 其 他

    演 释 一 样 , 同 时 也 象 “ 自 然 法 ” 这 个 信 念 的 本 身 一 样 , 它 在

    直 到 被 从 法 学 家 之 手 转 入 到 十 八 世 纪 文 人 们 之 手 以 及 信 服 他

    们 的 公 众 之 手 以 前 , 只 是 毫 无 生 气 地 被 同 意 着 , 而 且 它 对 意

    见 和 实 践 , 也 都 很 少 有 影 响 。 在 这 些 文 人 之 手 中 , 它 成 为 他

    们 信 条 中 最 清 楚 的 教 理 , 并 被 认 为 是 一 切 其 他 教 理 的 一 个 总结 。 但 是 , 它 最 后 在 1 7 8 9 年 事 件 中 所 以 得 势 , 可 能 不 完 全 是

    由 于 它 在 法 国 的 声 望 。 因 为 在 这 世 纪 的 中 叶 , 它 已 被 传 播 到

    了 美 国 。 当 时 的 美 国 法 学 家 , 尤 其 是 弗 吉 尼 亚的 法 学 家 , 似 乎 已 具 有 和 英 国 同 时 代 人 不 同 的 大 量 知 识 , 其 主要 不 同 之 点 , 是 在 他 们 的 知 识 中 包 括 了 许 多 只 可 能 来 自 欧 洲大 陆 法 律 文 献 的 知 识 。 只 要 参 考 一 下 杰斐逊的 著 作 , 就 可 以 看 到 他 是 如 何 深 受 到 法 国 当 时 时 尚 的 半 法 律 、 半通 俗 的 见 解 的 影 响 ; 我 们 也 毫 不 怀 疑 , 正 是 由 于 他 们 对 法 国法 学 家 这 些 特 殊 观 念 深 表 同 情 , 在 “ 独 立 宣 言 ” 开 头 的 几 行 中 , 这 位 指 导 着 当 时 美 国 事务 的杰斐逊和 在 这 殖 民 地 中 的 其 他 法 学 家 , 就 把 这 独 特 的 法国 假 设 即 “ 人 类 生 而 平 等 ” 和 英 国 人 最 熟 悉 的 假 设 “ 人 类 生而 自 由 ” 相 结 合 在 一 起 。 这 是 放 在 我 们 当 前 的 这 个 学 理 的 历史 中 有 极 大 重 要 性 的 一 节 文 句 。 美 国 法 学 家 这 样 突 出 地 和 这样 着 重 地 主 张 人 类 的 根 本 平 等 , 这 在 他 们 自 己 国 家 中 , 并 且在 较 小 的 程 度 上 , 也 在 大 不 列 颠 , 推 动 了 一 个 政 治 运 动 , 到

    现 在 还 远 没 有 衰 竭 下 来 ; 但 除 此 以 外 , 他 们 正 把 他 们 所 一 度

    采 用 的 教 条 还 给 了 法 国 本 土 , 赋 予 了 更 巨 大 的 能 力 , 并 且 使

    它 受 到 了 一 般 人 更 大 的 欢 迎 和 尊 敬 。 甚 至 在 第 一 次 “ 国 民 议

    会 ” 中 比 较 小 心 谨 慎 的 政 治 家 , 也 重 复 着 阿 尔 比 安 的 命 题 , 好

    象 这 个 命 题 立 即 自 荐 于 人 类 的 本 能 和 直 觉 似 的 ; 并 且 在 所 有

    “ 1 7 8 9 年 的 各 种 原 则 ” 中 , 这 是 唯 一 的 曾 受 到 最 少 的 热 烈 的 攻击 , 曾 最澈底地 影 响 现 代 意 见 并 将 最 深 刻 地 改 变 社 会 构 成 和

    国 家 政 治 的 原 则 。

    “ 自 然 法 ” 所 尽 的 最 伟 大 的 职 能 是 产 生 了 现 代 “ 国 际 法 ”和 现 代 “ 战 争 法 ”, 虽 然 它 的 这 一 个 部 分 效果 是 非 常 重 要 的 , 但 在 这 里 , 由 于 它 和 本 文 关 系 不 大 , 因 此将 略 而 不 论 。

    在 形 成 “ 国 际 法 ” 基 础 的 各 种 假 定 中 间 , 或 在 形 成 “ 国

    际 法 ” 中 到 现 在 仍 旧 能 保 持 其 从 原 来 建 筑 师 那 里 所 接 受 的 形

    态 的 部 分 基 本 假 定 中 间 , 有 二 三 种 特 别 显 得 重 要 的 假 定 。 其

    中 第 一 个 表 现 在 这 样 的 一 个 立 论 中 , 即 认 为 有 一 种 可 以 确 定

    的 “ 自 然 法 ” 。 格 罗 修 斯 及 其 后 继 者 直 接 从 罗 马 人 那 里 得 到 这

    一 个 假 设 , 但 他 们 同 罗 马 法 学 专 家 之 间 以 及 在 他 们 相 互 之 间 ,

    对 于 确 定 的 方 式 , 在 看 法 上 有 着 巨 大 的 分 歧 。 在 文 艺 复 兴 以

    后 盛 极 一 时 的 公 法 学 家 中 , 几 乎 每 一 个 人 都 野 心 勃 勃 , 提 出

    了 新 的 和 更 容 易 处 理 的 有 关 “ 自 然 ” 及 其 法 律 的 定 义 , 并 且

    无 可 争 辩 , 当 这 个 概 念 经 过 一 系 列 的 “ 公 法 ” 学 著 者 之 手 , 在

    其 周 围 就 积 聚 了 一 大 堆 的 附 加 物 , 其 中 包 括 了 都 是 从 支 配 着

    各 学 派 的 每 一 种 伦 理 学 理 论 中 得 来 的 各 种 观 念 片 断 。 虽 然 是

    这 样 , 但 仍 有 明 显 的 证 据 证 明 这 个 概 念 主 要 是 有 历 史 性 质 的 ,

    因 为 从 自 然 状 态 的 各 种 必 要 特 点 中 探 求 自 然 法 典 ; 虽 然 经 过

    了 种 种 努 力 , 但 所 获 得 的 结 果 , 正 和 人 们 把 罗 马 法 学 家 的 意

    见 不 加 探 究 或 修 正 而 立 即 采 用 时 所 可 能 得 到 的 结 果 , 完 全 相

    同 。 如 果 把 国 际 法 中 的 协 约 和 条 约 部 分 撇 开 不 论 , 可 以 看 到 ,

    在 这 制 度 中 有 相 当 惊 人 的 一 部 分 是 由 纯 粹 罗 马 法 律 所 组 成

    的 。 法 学 专 家 的 每 一 种 学 理 , 只 要 经 过 他 们 确 认 为 同 “ 万 民

    法 ” 相 协 调 时 , 公 法 学 家 就 以 种 种 理 由 来 借 用 它 , 不 论 这 个

    学 理 是 如 何 明 显 地 标 志 着 其 罗 马 渊 源 。 我 们 也 可 以 看 到 , 这

    些 派 生 的 理 论 是 带 有 其 原 来 观 念 的 弱 点 的 。 大 多 数 公 法 学 家的 思 想 方 法 仍 旧 是 “ 混 合 的 ” 。 在 研 究 这 些 著 者 时 , 最 大 的 困

    难 始 终 是 在 弄 清 楚 他 们 所 讨 论 的 究 竟 是 法 律 还 是 道 德 — — 他

    们 所 描 写 的 国 际 关 系 状 态 究 竟 是 现 实 的 还 是 理 想 的 — — 他 们

    所 说 的 究 竟 是 事 实 , 还 是 他 们 的 意 见 认 为 应 该 是 这 样 的 。

    作 为 “ 国 际 法 ” 基 础 的 其 次 一 个 假 设 是 , “ 自 然 法 ” 与 国家相 ·

    互之间有约束力。一系 列 主 张 或 认 可 这 原 则的 言 论 , 得 追 溯 到 现 代 法 律 科 学 的 极 幼 稚 时 代 , 并 且 初 看 起

    来 , 它 好 像 是 直 接 来 自 罗 马 人 学 说 的 一 个 推 理 。 人 为 的 社 会

    状 态 和 自 然 状 态 不 同 , 在 前 者 之 中 有 一 个 明 显 的 制 法 者 , 在

    后 者 却 没 有 , 因 此 , 如 果 某 一 个单位 不 承 认 它 们 服 从 一 个 共

    同 主 权 或 政 治 领 袖 的 时 候 , 它 们 就 好 像 恢 复 到 了 受 命 于 “ 自

    然 法 ” 了 。 国 家 就 是 这 类 的 单 位 ; 它 们 各 自 独 立 的 这 个 假 设 ,

    排 斥 了 一 个 共 同 立 法 者 的 观 念 , 并 从 这 观 念 出 发 , 按 照 某 种

    思 想 方 法 进 而 得 到 了 从 属 于 自 然 原 始 秩 序 的 观 念 。 另 一 种 想

    法 认 为 各 独 立 的 社 会 相 互 之 间 没 有 任 何 法 律 把 它 们 联 系 着 ,

    但 这 种 无 法 律 状 态 正 就 是 法 学 专 家 们 的 “ 自 然 ” 所 厌 恶 的 真

    空 。 如 果 一 个 罗 马 法 学 家 遇 到 有 市 民 法 被 排 斥 不 能 适 用 的 情

    况 , 他 就 立 即 会 以 “ 自 然 ” 法 令 来 填 补 这 个 空 隙 , 这 样 一 种

    想 法 , 显 然 是 有 理 由 的 。 但 我 们 不 能 就 因 此 以 为 , 在 历 史 的

    任 何 时 期 中 , 都 确 实 可 以 得 出 这 样 的 结 论 , 虽 然 这 在 我 们 的

    眼 光 中 是 非 常 明 确 和 直 接 的 。 根 据 我 的 判 断 , 罗 马 法 的 遗 作

    中 没 有 任 何 一 节 可 以 用 来 证 明 法 学 专 家 确 曾 相 信 自 然 法 在 独

    立 国 家 之 间 有 任 何 拘 束 力 ; 并 且 我 们 不 得 不 看 到 , 对 于 把 君

    主 领 土 看 作 和 文 明 同 境 界 的 罗 马 帝 国 公 民 们 , 如 果 确 有 各 国

    平 等 隶 属 “ 自 然 法 ” 这 样 的 想 法 , 也 至 多 只 是 古 怪 理 论 的 一个 极 端 结 果 。 真 相 似 乎 是 : 现 代 的 “ 国 际 法 ” 虽 然 无 疑 是 罗

    马 法 的 后 裔 , 但 只 是 由 一 种 不 规 则 的 血 统 相 联 系 着 的 。 现 代

    早 期 的 罗 马 法 解 释 者 , 误 解 了 “ 万 民 法 ” 的 意 义 , 毫 不 犹 豫

    地 认 为 罗 马 人 传 给 了 他 们 一 套 调 整 国 际 事 务 的 法 律 制 度 。 在

    起 初 这 个 “ 国 际 法 ” 成 为 有 许 多 可 怕 的 竞 争 者 与 之 相 对 抗 的

    一 种 权 威 , 而 欧 洲 是 长 期 处 在 这 种 情 况 下 , 阻 碍 着 它 被 普 遍

    接 受 。 但 是 , 逐 渐 地 , 西 方 世 界 安 排 了 它 自 己 , 使 其 形 式 比

    较 适 合 于 民 法 学 家 的 理 论 ; 情 况 的 变 更 摧 毁 了 所 有 敌 对 学 理

    的 势 力 ; 最 后 , 在 一 个 罕 有 地 幸 运 的 机 会 , 阿 雅 拉 ( A y a l a ) 和

    格 罗 修 斯 终 于 为 它 取 得 了 欧 洲 的 热 诚 同 意 ; 这 种 同 意 曾 经 在

    每 一 个 不 同 的 庄 严 条 约 中 被 一 再 重 复 申 述 着 。 它 的 胜 利 主 要

    应 归 功 于 这 些 伟 大 人 物 , 他 们 并 且 企 图 把 它 放 在 一 个 完 全 新

    的 基 础 上 , 这 是 毋 庸 赘 述 的 ; 而 且 毫 无 疑 问 , 在 这 转 移 位 置

    的 过 程 中 , 他 们 改 变 了 很 多 它 的 结 构 , 虽 然 远 没 有 一 般 所 想

    象 的 那 么 多 。 格 罗 修 斯 既 然 从 安 托 宁 法 学 专 家 那 里 采 用 了 这

    个 论 点 , 认 为 “ 万 民 法 ” 和 “ 自 然 法 ” 是 同 一 的 , 他 和 他 的

    直 接 前 辈 及 直 接 后 继 者 便 使 “ 自 然 法 ” 具 有 一 种 权 威 , 这 种

    权 威 要 不 是 在 那 个 时 候 “ 国 际 法 ” 的 含 义 模 糊 不 清 , 是 也 许

    永 远 不 会 为 “ 自 然 法 ” 要 求 的 。 他 们 毫 无 保 留 地 主 张 “ 自 然

    法 ” 是 各 国 的 法 典 , 于 是 就 开 始 了 这 样 一 种 过 程 , 就 是 把 假

    定 是 从 单 纯 考 虑 “ 自 然 ” 概 念 而 求 得 的 各 种 规 定 灌 输 到 国 际

    制 度 中 去 , 这 个 过 程 几 乎 一 直 延 续 到 我 们 的 时 代 。 还 有 一 种

    对 于 人 类 有 着 巨 大 实 际 重 要 性 的 后 果 , 虽 然 在 欧 洲 早 期 现 代

    史 中 并 非 完 全 不 知 , 但 在 直 到 格 罗 修 斯 学 派 的 学 理 获 得 盛 行

    之 前 , 却 从 来 没 有 被 明 显 地 或 普 遍 地 承 认 过 。 如 果 各 个 国 家的 集 体 都 受 着 “ 自 然 法 ” 的 统 治 , 则 组 成 这 个 集 体 的 各 个 原

    子 必 须 绝 对 平 等 。 人 类 在 “ 自 然 ” 的 王 笏 之 下 , 是 一 律 平 等

    的 , 从 而 , 如 果 国 际 间 的 状 态 是 一 种 自 然 的 状 态 , 则 各 国 也

    一 定 是 平 等 的 。 独 立 的 国 家 不 论 , 大 小 强 弱 不 同 , 但 在 国 际

    法 的 眼 光 中 是 一 律 平 等 的 ; 这 个 命 题 对 人 类 的 幸 福 有 巨 大 的

    贡 献 , 虽 然 它 在 各 个 时 代 中 继 续 不 断 地 为 各 种 政 治 倾 向 所 威

    胁 着 。 如 果 “ 国 际 法 ” 不 是 由 文 艺 复 兴 后 的 公 法 学 家 们 完 全

    从 “ 自 然 ” 的 庄 严 主 张 中 求 得 , 那 末 这 个 学 理 可 能 永 远 不 能

    获 得 一 个 稳 固 的 立 足 点 。

    可 是 , 总 的 讲 起 来 , 象 我 在 前 面 已 经 说 过 的 , 自 从 格 罗

    修 斯 时 代 以 来 , 在 加 于 “ 国 际 法 ” 上 的 各 种 附 加 物 中 , 只 有

    很 小 一 部 分 是 从 罗 马 “ 万 民 法 ” 最 古 资 料 直 接 采 取 来 的 。 土

    地 的 取 得 始 终 是 引 起 国 家 野 心 的 巨 大 的 刺 激 物 ; 而 适 用 于 这

    种 取 得 的 法 律 规 定 , 以 及 消 除 因 土 地 取 得 而 造 成 的 战 争 的 法

    律 规 定 , 都 仅 仅 是 从 罗 马 法 中 有 关 取 得 “ 万 民 法 ” 财 产 的 各

    种 方 式 的 部 分 中 抄 袭 得 来 的 。 这 许 多 取 得 的 方 式 , 象 我 在 前

    面 已 经 企 图 说 明 的 , 都 是 由 前 辈 法 学 专 家 从 其 所 观 察 到 的 各

    种 惯 例 中 抽 象 出 来 的 一 些 共 同 要 素 , 这 些 惯 例 曾 经 流 行 于 罗

    马 周 围 各 部 落 间 ; 根 据 它 们 的 来 源 , 这 些 规 定 被 归 类 在 “ 各

    国 共 有 的 法 律 ” 中 , 再 由 于 他 们 的 单 纯 性 , 后 来 的 法 学 家 便

    认 为 它 们 恰 合 于 一 个 “ 自 然 法 ” 的 较 近 代 的 概 念 。 它 们 就 这

    样 编 进 了 现 代 的 “ 国 际 法 ” , 其 结 果 是 , 国 际 制 度 中 有 关 ·

    领土( d o m i n i o n ) 、 领 土 性 质 、 领 土 范 围 、 取 得 和 保 卫 领 土 方 式 的 那些 部 分 , 便 都 是 纯 粹 的 罗 马 “ 财 产 法 ” — — 这 就 是 说 , 罗 马

    “ 财 产 法 ” 中 的 那 些 部 分 , 曾 为 安 托 宁 法 学 专 家 想 象 为 和 自 然状 态 有 某 种 一 致 性 的 。 为 了 使 “ 国 际 法 ” 中 这 些 章 节 能 付 诸

    实 施 , 有 必 要 使 存 在 于 主 权 者 之 间 的 相 互 关 系 , 如 同 罗 马 所

    有 者 各 个 成 员 之 间 存 在 的 关 系 一 样 。 这 是 建 立 “ 国 际 法 典 ” 所

    依 据 的 各 种 假 定 中 的 另 一 个 假 定 , 而 这 也 是 在 现 代 欧 洲 史 开

    头 几 个 世 纪 中 不 可 能 被 同 意 的 一 个 假 定 。 这 个 假 定 可 以 被 分

    解 为 这 样 一 个 双 重 命 题 , 一 方 面 “ 主 权 是 领 土 的 ” , 即 它 是 始

    终 和 地 球 表 面 上 一 定 部 分 的 所 有 权 联 系 着 , 另 一 方 面 “ 主 权

    者 ·

    相 ·

    互 ·

    之 ·

    间 , 应 该 被 认 为 不 是 国 家 领 土 的最高 所 有 人 , 而 是

    ·

    绝 ·

    对 所 有 人 ” 。

    许 多 现 代 的 “ 国 际 法 ” 著 者 都 默 认 : 他 们 以 各 种 衡 平 和

    常 识 原 则 为 基 础 建 立 起 的 整 套 学 理 , 都 可 以 在 现 代 文 明 的 各

    个 阶 段 中 推 论 出 来 。 但 这 个 默 认 一 方 面 掩 盖 着 国 际 理 论 上 所

    存 在 的 某 些 真 正 缺 点 , 另 一 方 面 , 就 大 部 分 的 现 代 史 而 论 , 实

    在 是 完 全 不 足 取 的 。 在 匡 际 事 务 中 “ 万 民 法 ” 的 权 威 并 不 是

    始 终 不 受 到 反 抗 的 ; 相 反 的 , 它 不 得 不 长 时 期 地 和 几 种 相 竞

    争 的 制 度 不 断 斗 争 着 。 同 时 , 主 权 的 领 土 性 质 也 并 不 是 始 终

    被 承 认 着 的 , 因 为 在 罗 马 统 治 解 体 以 后 , 人 们 的 心 理 是 长 时

    期 地 处 在 和 这 类 概 念 不 相 协 调 的 观 念 的 支 配 之 下 。 在 “ 国 际

    法 ” 上 这 两 个 主 要 假 定 被 普 遍 承 认 之 前 , 一 个 旧 的 制 度 以 及

    建 筑 在 它 上 面 的 思 想 观 念 必 然 地 要 腐 败 , 一 个 新 的 欧 洲 , 以

    及 与 之 相 适 应 的 新 的 观 念 必 然 地 要 生 长 起 来 。

    有 一 桩 事 值 得 注 意 , 在 我 们 通 常 称 为 现 代 史 的 大 部 分 时期 中 , 没 有 接 受 过 所 谓领土主权 这 类 概 念 。 在 过 去 , 主 权 并不 是 和 对 地 球 上 一 部 分 或 再 小 部 分 的 土 地 的 控 制 联 系 在 一 起的 。 世 界 曾 有 这 样 许 多 世 纪 长 期 处 于 罗 马 帝 国 的 庇 护 之 下 , 以致 忘 记 了 包 括 在 帝 国 中 的 广 大 空 间 在 过 去 曾 一 度 被 划 分 成 许多 独 立 国 家 , 它 们 都 主 张 有 权 不 受 外 来 的 干 预 , 并 且 标 榜 着

    国 家 权 利 应 该 一 律 平 等 。 在 蛮 族 入 侵 平 靖 后 , 关 于 主 权 当 时

    流 行 着 的 观 念 , 似 乎 具 有 双 重 意 义 。 一 方 面 它 有 着 所 谓 “部落 主 权 ” 的 形 式 。 法 兰 克 人, 勃艮第人, 汪 达 尔 人,伦巴达人以 及 西 哥 特 人, 当 然 都 是 他 们 所 占领 着 的 土 地 的 主 人 , 其 中 有 几 种 人 并 以 他 们 自 己 的 名 字 作 为

    土 地 的 地 理 名 称 ; 但 是 他 们 并 不 根 据 土 地 占 有 的 事 实 而 主 张

    任 何 权 利 , 并 且 在 实 际 上 甚 至 对 于 占 有 的 事 实 也 并 不 认 为 有

    任 何 特 别 重 要 性 。 他 们 似 乎 还 保 留 着 他 们 由 森 林 中 和 草 原 上

    所 带 来 的 传 统 , 按 照 他 们 自 己 的 看 法 , 仍 旧 是 一 个 宗 法 社 会 ,

    一 个 游 牧 部 落 , 只 是 暂 时 驻 扎 在 能 供 给 他 们 粮 食 的 土 地 上 而

    已 。 阿 尔 卑 斯 北 高 卢 的 一 部 分 加 上 了 日 耳 曼 的 一 部 分 , 现 在

    已 成 为 法 兰 克 人 在事实上 占 领 的 国 家 — — 就 是 法 兰 西 ; 但 克洛维的 后 裔 即 墨 洛 温王 朝 的 首 领们 并 不 是 法 兰 西 的 国 王 而 是 法 兰 克 人 的 国 王 。 另 外 一 种 有 关主 权 的 特 殊 观 念 , 似 乎 是 — — 这 是 重 要 的 一 点 — — 普 遍 领 土

    的 观 念 。 当 一 个 君 主 失 去 了 领 袖 与 其 部 族 之 间 的 特 殊 关 系 , 并

    为 了 个 人 的 目 的 急 切 要 取 得 一 个 新 的 主 权 形 式 时 , 他 所 能 采

    用 的 唯 一 先 例 是 罗 马 皇 帝 们 的 霸 术 。 胡 乱 摹 仿 一 句 谚 语 , 他成 了 “不为凯撒,即为庸人”的人 。 或 则 他 享 有 拜 占 廷 皇 帝的 全 部 特

    权 , 或 则 他 完 全 没 有 任 何 政 治 地 位 。 在 我 们 这 个 时 代 , 当 一

    个 新 的 王 朝 希 望 废 去 被 黜 免 皇 朝 的 名 号 时 , 它 往 往 喜 欢 说 它的 称 号 来 自人民 而 不 是领土 。 这 样 , 我 们 便 有 了 一 些 法 兰 西

    皇 帝 和 国 王 , 还 有 一 个 比 利 时 人 的 国 王 。 在 我 们 所 谈 到 的 时

    期 中 , 在 类 似 的 情 况 下 , 还 出 现 了 另 外 一 种 不 同 的 观 念 。 一

    个 “ 首 领 ” 如 果 不 想 再 自 称 为 部 落 国 王 , 必 定 会 要 求 成 为 世

    界 的 皇 帝 。 这 样 , 当 世 袭 的 权 臣 们 和 实 际 上 久 已 废 立 的 君 主

    们 相 决 裂 时 , 他 们 立 即 不 愿 自 称 为 法 兰 克 人 的 国 王 , 这 个 称

    号 是 属 于 被 废 黜 的 墨 洛 温 的 ; 但 他 们 又 不 能 自 称 为 法 兰 西 的

    国 王 , 因 为 , 虽 然 这 类 称 号 显 然 并 不 是 不 见 经 传 的 , 却 也 不

    是 一 个 尊 严 的 称 号 。 因 此 , 他 们 就 进 而 矢 志 为 世 界 帝 国 的 统

    治 者 。 他 们 的 动 机 曾 被 大 大 地 误 解 。 近 代 法 国 作 家 们 曾 认 为 ,

    查 理 曼是 远 远 超 过 他 的 同 时 代 人 的 , 不 但 在

    其 意 图 的 性 质 上 如 此 , 即 在 他 执 行 这 些 意 图 所 用 的 能 力 上 也

    是 如 此 。 不 论 是 否 有 人 在 任 何 时 期 都 是 超 过 他 的 同 时 代 人 的 ,

    但 有 一 点 必 然 是 真 的 , 即 查 理 曼 在 企 求 一 个 无 限 制 的 领 土 时 ,

    确 是 有 力 地 采 取 了 他 当 时 的 时 代 思 想 所 准 许 他 遵 循 的 唯 一 的

    道 路 。 关 于 他 在 智 力 上 的 卓 越 , 当 然 是 毫 无 疑 问 的 , 但 这 种

    卓 越 不 是 由 他 的 理 论 而 是 由 他 的 行 为 证 明 的 。

    在 见 解 上 的 这 些 特 性 , 并 不 因 为 查 理 曼 的 遗 产 为 其 三 个

    孙 子 所 分 割 而 有 所 变 更 。 秃 头 查 理、 路易和 罗 退 耳仍 旧 在 理 论 上 — — 如 果 用 这个 词 是 适 当 的 — — 是 罗 马 的 皇 帝 。 正 犹 如 东 罗 马 帝 国 与 西 罗马 帝 国 的 “ 凯 撒 ” ·

    在 ·

    法 ·

    律 ·

    上 都 是 全 世 界 的 皇 帝 , 而 ·

    在 ·

    事 ·

    实 ·

    则 只 各 自 统 治 着 其 中 的 一 半 , 这 三 个 加 洛 温 朝 的 皇 帝 似 乎 都

    认 为 他 们 的 权 力 是 有 限 的 , 但 是 他 们 的 称 号 是 无 限 的 。 这 同

    一 的 纯 理 论 的 主 权 普 遍 性 在 肥 硕 查 理死 亡 , 发 生 第 二 次 分 裂 时 仍 继 续 和 王 位 联 系 着 , 并 且 , 真 的 ,

    在 日 耳 曼 帝 国 存 续 期 间 内 , 从 来 没 有 完 全 和 它 分 离 过 。 领 土

    主 权 — — 这 种 把 主 权 与 地 球 表 面 上 一 块 土 地 的 占 有 联 系 起 来

    的 见 解 — — 明 显 地 是 ·

    封 ·

    建 ·

    制 ·

    度 的 一 个 支 流 , 虽 然 是 一 个 迟 缓

    的 支 流 。 这 可 能 是 ·

    先 ·

    天 ·

    的 预 期 的 , 因 为 第 一 次 把 个 人 义 务 , 结

    果 也 就 是 把 个 人 权 利 和 土 地 所 有 权 联 系 起 来 的 是 封 建 制 度 。

    对 于 封 建 制 度 的 渊 源 和 其 法 律 性 质 , 不 论 正 当 见 解 应 当 是 怎

    样 , 要 鲜 明 地 想 象 封 建 组 织 的 最 好 方 式 , 应 从 它 的 基 础 开 始 ,

    先 考 虑 佃 农 同 设 定 和 限 制 其 劳 务 的 小 块 土 地 之 间 的 关 系 — —

    而 后 通 过 上 层 封 建 建 筑 的 狭 小 范 围 而 一 直 上 升 以 至 接 近 于 这

    制 度 的 顶 点 。 在 黑 暗 时 代 的 后 期 , 这 个 顶 点 究 竟 在 什 么 地 方 ,

    是 不 容 易 决 定 的 。 可 能 , 在 部 落 主 权 的 概 念 确 实 消 失 的 地 方 ,

    这 个 最 高 之 点 始 终 被 指 向 着 西 罗 马 帝 国 凯 撒 的 假 定 承 继 人 。

    但 是 过 了 不 久 , 当 帝 国 权 威 的 实 际 影 响 大 大 萎 缩 时 , 皇 帝 把

    他 仅 有 的 残 余 权 力 集 中 于 日 耳 曼 和 北 意 大 利 , 所 有 在 前 加 洛

    温 帝 国 四 周 的 最 高 封 建 主 发 觉 了 在 他 们 上 面 实 际 上 已 经 没 有

    一 个 最 高 首 领 。 逐 渐 地 他 们 就 习 惯 于 这 种 新 的 形 势 , 而 已 免

    除 外 来 干 涉 的 这 个 事 实 , 终 于 把 依 附 的 理 论 隐 灭 掉 ; 当 然 有

    许 多 征 象 表 明 , 这 个 变 化 的 完 成 并 不 是 十 分 容 易 的 ; 而 且 我

    们 得 毫 无 疑 问 地 认 为 , 由 于 这 样 一 种 印 象 , 就 是 说 , 根 据 事

    物 的 自 然 性 质 , 必 然 地 要 在 某 些 地 方 有 一 个 最 高 的 统 治 权 , 就

    产 生 了 不 断 地 把 世 俗 上 的 无 上 权 力 归 属 于 罗 马 教 皇 的 倾 向 。

    法 兰 西 加 佩 王 朝 的 接 位 , 标 志 着 思 想 革 命 中 第 一 阶 段 的 完 成 。

    这 个 环 绕 着 巴 黎 四 周 有 限 领 土 的 封 建 诸 侯 , 由 于 大 量 的 宗 主

    权 结 合 于 本 身 这 一 个 偶 然 事 件 而 开 始 自 称 为 ·

    法 ·

    兰 ·

    西 ·

    国 ·

    王 , 他成 为 了 一 种 全 然 新 的 意 义 的 国 王 , 一 个 主 权 者 , 他 对 法 兰 西

    土 地 的 关 系 和 男 爵 对 于 封 邑 、 佃 农 对 于 自 由 产 的 关 系 完 全 相

    同 。 这 个 先 例 不 但 是 新 奇 的 , 同 时 也 是 有 影 响 的 。 在 法 兰 西

    的 这 种 君 治 的 形 式 , 有 力 地 促 使 其 他 地 方 向 同 一 个 方 向 变 化 。

    我 盎 格 鲁 - 撒 克 逊王 室 的 王 位 这 时 处 于 一个 部 落 首 领 和 领 土 最 高 统 治 权 的 中 途 。 但 是 诺 曼王朝 诸 王 最 高 权 模 仿 着 法 兰 西 国 王 , 明 显 地 是 一 种 领 土 主 权 。 在

    以 后 建 立 的 或 巩 固 的 每 一 个 统 治 权 , 都 根 据 了 后 一 种 模 型 而

    组 成 。 西 班 牙 、 那 不 勒 斯以 及 在 意 大 利 自 由 市 废 墟

    上 建 立 起 来 的 各 个 诸 侯 国 家 , 都 由 领 土 主 权 的 统 治 者 统 治 着 。

    从 一 个 见 解 逐 渐 转 变 到 另 一 个 见 解 的 事 例 中 , 我 认 为 最 最 离

    奇 的 莫 如 ·

    威 ·

    尼 ·

    斯 ·

    人。 在 其 对 外 征 伐 开 始 时 , 这 个共 和 国 自 视 为 和 罗 马 共 和 政 治 同 一 类 型 的 国 家 , 统 治 着 许 多

    的 属 省 。 经 过 了 一 个 世 纪 以 后 , 你 就 可 以 发 现 它 却 希 望 成 为一 个 集 合 的 主 权 国 家 , 对 它 在 意 大 利 和 爱 琴 海所 有的 占 有 地 拥 有 一 个 封 建 宗 主 国 的 权 利 。

    关 于 主 权 这 个 主 题 的 各 种 通 俗 观 念 在 经 历 着 显 著 变 化 的时 期 内 , 作 为 我 们 今 日 称 为 “ 国 际 法 ” 的 制 度 , 在 形 式 上 是杂 乱 无 章 的 , 在 原 则 上 也 是 不 符 合 它 所 祈 求 的 目 的 的 。 在 罗马-日耳 曼 帝 国 内 的 一 部 分 欧 洲 土 地 上 , 联 邦 国 家 之 间 的 关系 是 由 复 杂 的 但 还 不 完 全 的 帝 国 宪 法 机 构 所 约 束 着 ; 并且这在 我 们 看 来 也 许 是 可 惊 异 的 , 日 耳 曼 法 学 家 所 爱 好 的 观 念 仍旧 是 : 联 邦 国 之 间 的 关 系 , 不 论 在 帝 国 之 内 或 在 帝 国 之 外 应该 根 据 以 凯 撒 为 中 心 的 纯 粹 罗 马 法 律 学 的 规 定 而 不 应 该 根 据“万 民 法 ” 的 规 定 。 这 个 学 理 在 边 远 的 各 国 中 没 有 像 我 们 早 先所 假 定 那 样 地 被 大 胆 抛 弃 ; 但 是 在 实 质 上 , 在 欧 洲 的 其 余 的地 方 , 封 建 的 部 属 已 成 为 公 法 的 一 种 代 替 品 ; 当 那 些 封建从属 犹 疑 不 定 暧 昧 不 明 时 , 至 少 在 理 论 上 , 从 “ 教 会 ” 领袖的权 威 上 面 找 到 一 种 最 高 的 支 配 力 。 虽 然 是 这 样 , 但 可 以 断 定,封 建 和 教 会 的 势 力 在 十 五 世 纪 甚 至 在 十 四 世 纪 年 代 中 就 已 开

    始 迅 速 衰 败 了 ; 如 果 我 们 密 切 审 视 一 下 当 时 各 次 战 事 的 借 口

    以 及 公 开 的 联 盟 动 机 , 就 可 以 看 到 , 以 后 为 阿 雅 拉 和 格 罗 修

    斯 所 调 和 和 巩 固 的 各 种 见 解 , 正 随 着 旧 原 则 一 步 步 地 被 代 替

    而 有 着 重 要 的 进 展 , 虽 然 这 种 进 展 是 默 默 无 声 的 , 并 且 是 很

    缓 慢 的 。 来 自 各 个 渊 源 的 权 威 有 没 有 经 熔 合 而 最 后 成 为 一 个

    国 际 关 系 的 制 度 , 以 及 这 个 制 度 究 竟 在 实 质 上 是 不 是 和 格 罗

    修 斯 的 结 构 有 什 么 不 同 , 现 在 已 无 法 加 以 断 定 , 因 为 在 事 实

    上 “ 宗 教 改 革 ” 已 经 把 它 所 有 的 有 力 要 素 , 除 了 一 点 之 外 , 全

    部 消 灭 。 “ 宗 教 改 革 ” 从 日 耳 曼 开 始 , 它 在 帝 国 的 各 个 诸 侯 之

    间 用 深 而 且 广 的 鸿 沟 分 裂 开 来 , 纵 使 帝 国 元 首 保 持 中 立 , 也

    已 无 法 用 帝 国 最 高 统 治 来 加 以 沟 通 。 帝 国 元 首 于 是 不 得 不 袒

    护 教 会 以 反 对 改 革 者 ; 教 皇 自 然 也 是 处 在 同 样 的 苦 境 中 ; 这

    样 , 这 原 来 在 敌 对 双 方 之 间 负 有 调 停 职 责 的 两 个 当 局 者 本 身

    就 成 为 了 各 国 分 裂 中 的 一 个 大 党 的 首 领 。 在 这 时 声 势 已 被 削

    弱 , 并 且 已 不 能 被 认 为 是 公 共 关 系 中 的 一 个 原 则 而 加 以 信 任

    的 封 建 主 义 , 已 不 复 是 足 够 稳 定 并 可 以 和 宗 教 联 盟 相 匹 敌 的

    一 种 约 束 力 。 因 此 , 在 公 法 处 于 几 乎 混 乱 状 态 的 情 况 下 , 那

    些 被 认 为 是 罗 马 法 学 专 家 唯 一 加 以 认 可 的 一 个 国 家 制 度 的 各种 观 念 , 仍 旧 继 续 存 在 。 这 些 观 念 从 格 罗 修 斯 手 中 获 得 的 形式 、 均 称 和 卓 越 性 , 为 每 一 个 学 者 所 熟 知 。 但 “ 战 事 与 和 平法 规 论 ” 这 部 巨著 的 惊 人 之 处 则 在 其 迅 速 、 完 全 和 普 遍 的 成 功 上 。 “ 三 十 年 战争 ” 的 惨 状 , 军 人 毫 无 拘 束 的 放 纵 行 为 所 激 起 的 无 边 恐 怖 和

    憾 事 , 无 疑 地 , 在 某 种 程 度 上 , 可 以 被 用 来 说 明 这 种 成 功 的

    原 因 , 但 是 这 还 不 能 作 为 全 部 的 说 明 。 因 为 只 要 对 当 时 的 各

    种 观 念 略 为 浏 览 一 下 , 就 可 以 使 我 们 深 信 在 格 罗 修 斯 的 伟 大

    著 作 中 描 绘 出 来 的 国 际 大 厦 的 基 本 图 样 , 如 果 不 是 在 理 论 上很 完善 的 话 , 那 它 就 很 可 能 会 被 法 学 家 所 抛 弃 , 被 政 治 家 及士 兵 们 所 藐 视 。

    显 然 , 格 罗 修 斯 制 度 在 纯 理 论 上 的 完 善 性 是 和 我 们 所 讨论 的 那 个 领 土 主 权 概 念 密 切 地 联 系 着 的 。 “ 国 际 法 ” 理 论 所 作出 的 假 定 是 : 各 个 共 和 政 治 在 其 相 互 关 系 上 处 在 一 种 自然 状态 中 ; 但 是 一 个 自 然 社 会 的 各 个 组 成 原 子 根 据 这 个 基 本 假 设必 须 是 互 相 分 离 和 各 自 独 立 的 。 如 果 有 一 个 较 高 的 权 力 由 于对 共同 最 高 统 治 权 的 要 求 而 把 它 们 联 结 起 来 , 纵 使 这 种 联 结是 很 薄 弱 的 并 且 也 是 偶 然 的 , 但 正 是 这 一 个 共 同 领 导 者 的 概念 引 进 了 现 实 法 的 观 念 , 排 斥 了 一 个 自 然 法 的 观 念 。 因此,如果 一 个 帝 国 元 首 的 普 遍 宗 主 权 , 即 使 仅 仅 是 在 理 论 上 被得到承 认 , 格 罗 修 斯 的 努 力 就 可 能 会 变 成 徒 劳 。 这 也 不 是现代公法 和 我 企 图 描 述 其 发 展 的 有 关 主 权 的 各 种 见 解 之 间 的 唯一结合之 点 。 我 曾 经 说 过 , 国 际 法 律 学 中 有 些 部 门 完 全 是 由 罗马“财 产 法 ” 组 成 的 。 那 末 我 们 可 以 得 到 什 么 推 论 呢 ? 推 论 是:在 对 主 权 所 作 的 评 价 中 如 果 没 有 象 我 所 描 述 的 那 种 变化——如 果 主 权 并 没 有 和 地 球 上 一 块 土 地 的 所 有 权 联 系 起 来 , 换言之 , 并 没 有 成 为 对 领 土 的 主 权 — — , 则 格 罗 修 斯 的 理 论 , 就将 有 四 分 之 三 无 法 加 以 适 用 。

    第 五 章   原 始 社 会 与 古 代 法

    在 近 代 , 法 律 学 这 个 主 题 作 为 科 学 研 究 的 必 要 性 , 是 一向 被 重 视 的 , 由 于 感 到 这 种 必 要 而 提 出 的 论 文 来 自 各 个 不 同方 面 , 但 是 , 如 果 说 , 到 现 在 为 止 , 被 认 为 是 科 学 的 东 西 实际 上 绝 大 部 分 仅 只 是 一 些 推 测 , 只 是 一 些 在 前 面 二 章 中 所 研究 的 罗 马 法 学 家 的 推 测 , 我 以 为 并 不 能 认 为 太 武 断 。 明 白 承认 和 采 用 一 个 自 然 状 态 ; 以 及 与 其 性 质 相 类 似 的 原 则 制 度 的各 种 推 测 理 论 , 其 有 关 的 一 系 列 论 文 , 从 这 些 理 论 发 明 者 的时 代 起 一 直 到 我 们 今 天 为 止 , 始 终 被 继 续 着 , 很 少 中 断 。它们 出 现 于 奠 定 现 代 法 律 学 基 础 的 注 释 学 派 的 注 解 中 , 出 现 于继 承 他 们 的 经 院 法 学 家 的 作 品 中 。 它 们 可 以 在 寺 院 法 学者的教 条 中 看 到 。 它 们 被 那 些 在 文 艺 复 兴 时 代 极 为 活 跃 的 博 学 多能 的 民 法 学 家 放 置 在 杰 出 的 地 位 。 格 罗 修 斯 及 其 继 承 人 不 但

    使 它 们 具 有 实 际 的 重 要 性 , 并 且 使 它 们 变 得 更 加 辉 煌 更 加 可

    以 赞 誉 。 在 我 国 布 拉 克 斯 顿 的 开 头 几 章 中 也 可 以 看 到 它 们 , 他

    把 它 们 原 封 不 动 地 从 柏 拉 玛 克 ( B u r l a m a q u i ) 中 照 抄 下 来 , 而凡 是 今 天 所 刊 印 的 用 以 为 学 者 或 实 务 者 作 指 导 的 各 种 教 科

    书 , 在 它 们 开 头 讨 论 法 律 的 基 本 原 理 时 往 往 就 会 被 发 觉 , 这

    些 基 本 原 理 就 是 罗 马 假 设 的 一 次 重 复 申 述 。 但 是 , 正 由 于 这

    些 推 测 有 时 用 以 掩 盖 其 自 己 的 伪 装 , 如 同 其 原 来 的 形 式 一 样 ,

    使 我 们 对 于 它 们 混 杂 于 人 类 思 想 中 的 技 巧 , 能 获 得 一 个 充 分的 观 念 。 洛 克 所 主 张 的 “ 法 律 ” 起 源 于 一 个 “ 社 会 契 约 ” 的理 论 , 很 难 隐 瞒 其 来 自 罗 马 的 特 点 , 事 实 上 , 这 个 理 论 只 是

    使 古 代 见 解 对 现 代 人 中 特 殊 的 一 代 具 有 更 大 吸 引 力 的 外 衣 而

    已 ; 可 是 , 在 另 一 方 面 , 霍 布 斯 就 同 一 主 题 所 提 出 的 理 论 , 却

    故 意 否 认 罗 马 人 及 其 门 徒 所 设 想 的 一 个 自 然 法 的 现 实 性 。 然

    而 在 这 个 把 英 国 有 代 表 性 的 政 治 家 长 期 分 成 为 两 个 敌 对 阵 营

    的 两 种 理 论 中 , 有 一 点 却 是 彼 此 之 间 极 为 相 似 的 , 就 是 它 们

    都 以 人 类 的 、 非 历 史 的 、 无 法 证 实 的 状 态 作 为 他 们 的 基 本 假

    设 , 这 两 个 理 论 的 作 者 , 对 于 社 会 产 生 前 状 态 的 各 种 特 征 , 以

    及 对 于 人 类 凭 以 脱 离 这 种 社 会 产 生 前 状 态 进 入 我 们 所 熟 悉 的

    仅 有 的 那 种 社 会 组 织 的 异 常 活 动 的 性 质 , 有 着 分 歧 的 看 法 。 但

    是 他 们 却 一 致 同 意 , 认 为 在 原 始 状 态 中 的 人 和 在 社 会 产 生 后

    的 人 两 者 之 间 , 存 在 着 一 个 巨 大 的 鸿 沟 把 他 们 分 离 开 来 , 我

    们 毫 不 怀 疑 , 这 个 观 点 正 是 他 们 有 意 识 地 或 者 无 意 识 地 从 罗

    马 人 那 里 借 用 来 的 。 如 果 法 律 现 象 的 确 象 这 些 理 论 家 所 认 为

    的 那 样 — — 即 认 为 是 一 个 庞 大 、 复 杂 的 整 体 — — , 那 么 , 也

    就 难 怪 人 心 往 往 要 规 避 它 所 担 任 的 工 作 , 否 则 它 有 时 候 就 会

    失 望 地 放 弃 系 统 化 的 工 作 ; 而 人 心 所 采 取 的 规 避 的 办 法 , 是

    退 而 求 助 于 某 种 似 乎 可 以 调 和 一 切 事 物 的 智 巧 的 推 测 。

    在 和 罗 马 学 理 有 着 同 样 的 思 想 基 础 的 各 种 法 律 学 理 论

    中 , 有 两 种 非 常 著 名 的 理 论 , 必 须 除 外 。 其 中 的 第 一 种 是 和

    孟 德 斯 鸠 的 大 名 有 联 系 的 。 虽 然 在 “ 论 法 的 精 神 ” 的 开 始 部

    分 中 , 有 一 些 模 糊 辞 句 似 乎 表 明 作 者 不 愿 与 当 时 流 行 着 的 各

    种 见 解 公 然 决 裂 , 但 从 全 书 的 大 意 来 看 , 它 对 其 主 题 所 表 示

    的 概 念 当 然 是 和 前 人 所 发 表 的 见 解 完 全 不 同 的 。 在 它 从 各 种假 定 的 法 律 学 制 度 中 通 过 广 泛 深 入 观 察 而 搜 集 起 来 的 大 量 种

    类 繁 杂 的 例 子 中 间 , 常 常 可 以 看 到 有 一 种 明 显 的 渴 望 , 想 把

    因 其 粗 鲁 、 奇 异 或 猥 亵 而 使 文 明 的 读 者 为 之 震 惊 的 那 些 风 尚

    和 制 度 ; 置 于 特 别 杰 出 的 地 位 。 书 中 不 断 地 提 出 的 推 测 是 : 法

    律 是 气 候 、 当 地 情 况 、 偶 然 事 件 或 诈 欺 的 产 物 — — 是 除 了 相

    当 经 常 发 生 作 用 的 原 因 以 外 任 何 原 因 的 产 物 。 在 事 实 上 , 孟

    德 斯 鸠 似 乎 把 人 类 的 本 性 看 做 是 完 全 可 塑 性 的 , 它 只 是 在 被

    动 地 重 复 着 它 从 外 界 所 接 受 的 印 象 , 在 绝 对 地 听 命 着 它 从 外

    界 所 接 受 的 刺 激 。 而 他 的 制 度 所 以 不 能 成 为 一 个 制 度 , 无 疑

    地 , 错 误 就 是 在 这 里 。 他 过 低 地 估 计 了 人 类 本 性 的 稳 定 性 。 他

    很 少 或 完 全 不 重 视 种 族 的 遗 传 性 质 , 即 每 一 代 从 前 辈 接 受 下

    来 再 一 代 代 传 下 去 很 少 加 以 改 变 的 性 质 。 的 确 , 除 非 对 “ 论

    法 的 精 神 ” 中 所 注 意 到 的 那 些 变 更 原 因 给 予 应 有 的 承 认 , 要

    对 社 会 现 象 、 因 而 也 对 于 法 律 提 供 一 个 完 全 的 说 明 是 不 可 能

    的 ; 但 这 些 原 因 的 数 量 和 其 力 量 , 似 乎 为 孟 德 斯 鸠 过 高 地 估

    计 了 。 在 他 所 罗 列 的 变 例 中 , 有 许 多 已 被 证 明 是 建 筑 在 虚 伪

    的 报 告 或 错 误 的 解 释 上 , 而 在 剩 余 下 来 的 一 些 变 例 中 , 有 不

    少 不 是 证 明 人 类 本 性 的 变 化 无 常 , 相 反 地 却 证 明 了 其 恒 久 不

    变 , 因 为 它 们 都 是 人 类 在 较 古 远 的 时 期 顽 固 地 抗 拒 了 在 别 种

    场 合 可 能 会 发 生 效 果 的 各 种 影 响 而 遗 留 下 来 的 遗 物 。 真 相 是 ,

    在 我 们 智 力 的 、 道 德 的 和 体 力 的 组 成 中 , 绝 大 部 分 都 是 属 于

    稳 定 部 分 , 它 对 于 变 化 具 有 巨 大 的 抵 抗 力 , 因 此 虽 然 世 界 上

    一 个 部 分 的 人 类 社 会 是 明 显 地 变 化 多 端 的 , 但 这 些 变 化 并 非

    如 此 迅 速 , 也 不 是 如 此 广 泛 , 以 致 其 数 量 、 性 质 及 一 般 趋 向

    会 达 到 不 可 能 确 定 的 地 步 。 以 我 们 今 日 有 限 知 识 所 可 能 达 到的 , 也 许 只 是 比 较 地 接 近 的 真 理 , 但 我 们 没 有 理 由 以 为 这 是非 常 遥 远 的 , 或 以 为 ( 实 在 是 同 样 的 东 西 ) 它 须 要 在 将 来作很 大 的 修正,因 此 是 完 全 无 用 的 和 不 足 为 训 的 。

    前 面 所 谈 的 另 外 一 种 理 论 是 边 沁 的 历 史 理 论 。 这 个 理 论

    在 边 沁 的 著 作 的 有 几 个 部 分 中 模 糊 地 ( 并 且 可 以 说 是 胆 小

    地 ) 提 出 来 , 和 他 在 “ 政 府 论 丛 ” 中 开 其 端 , 后 来 由 约 翰 ·

    奥 斯 丁 先 生 加 以 完 成 的 有 关 法 律 概 念 的 分 析 完 全 不 同 。 把 一

    条 法 律 还 原 为 在 特 殊 情 况 下 适 用 的 一 种 特 殊 性 的 命 令 , 目 的

    只 是 为 了 使 我 们 可 以 摆 脱 言 语 上 的 困 难 — — 这 当 然 是 一 种 最

    可 怕 的 困 难 。 至 于 社 会 所 以 把 这 些 命 令 加 诸 自 己 身 上 , 其 动

    机 何 在 , 这 些 命 令 相 互 之 间 的 联 系 如 何 , 以 及 它 们 对 在 它 们

    以 前 的 命 令 及 对 它 们 所 代 替 的 命 令 的 依 附 性 质 又 如 何 这 一 些

    问 题 , 仍 旧 是 悬 而 未 决 。 边 沁 所 提 出 的 答 案 是 , 社 会 因 其 对

    一 般 权 宜 措 施 的 见 解 有 所 变 更 而 变 更 着 、 并 且 是 不 断 地 变 更

    着 法 律 。 很 难 说 这 个 命 题 是 错 误 的 , 但 它 肯 定 是 没 有 效 果 的 。

    因 为 , 所 谓 对 一 个 社 会 或 毋 宁 说 是 对 社 会 的 统 治 阶 级 是 权 宜

    的 东 西 , 实 际 上 必 然 地 就 是 社 会 在 作 出 变 更 时 心 目 中 所 想 要

    达 到 的 目 的 , 不 论 这 个 目 的 是 什 么 。 所 谓 权 宜 和 最 大 幸 福 , 实

    在 就 是 推 动 变 更 的 冲 动 , 不 过 名 称 不 同 而 已 ; 当 我 们 把 权 宜

    作 为 是 变 更 法 律 或 意 见 的 准 则 时 , 我 们 从 这 个 命 题 中 所 能 得

    到 的 , 只 是 用 一 个 特 别 名 词 来 代 替 当 我 们 说 一 次 变 更 发 生 了时 必 然 地 要 想 到 的 另 一 个 名 词 而 已 。

    对 于 现 有 的 各 种 法 律 学 理 论 , 存 在 着 非 常 广 泛 的 不 满 , 并且 一 般 都 认 为 这 些 理 论 不 能 真 正 解 决 它 们 标 榜 着 要 解 决 的 问题 , 因 此 就 正 当 地 产 生 了 这 样 的 一 种 怀 疑 , 就 是 说 为 了 要 求得 一 个 完 美 的 结 果 所 必 须 的 某 些 方 面 的 研 究 ; 或 者 为 其 著 者进 行 得 不 够 彻 底 , 或 者 是 甚 至 完 全 被 忽 略 了 。 真 的 , 也 许 除了 孟 德 斯 鸠 外 , 在 所 有 这 些 纯 理 论 中 , 的 确 都 有 一 个 可 以 指责 的 显 著 遗 漏 。 在 这 些 纯 理 论 中 , 都 忽 视 了 在 它 们 出 现的特定 时 间 以 前 很 遥 远 的 时 代 中 , 法 律 在 实 际 上 究 竟 是 怎 样 的 。 这

    些 纯 理 论 的 创 造 者 详 细 地 观 察 了 他 们 自 己 时 代 的 各 种 制 度 和

    文 明 以 及 在 某 种 程 度 上 能 迎 合 他 们 心 理 的 其 他 时 代 的 各 种 制

    度 和 文 明 , 但 是 当 他 们 把 其 注 意 力 转 向 和 他 们 自 己 的 在 表 面

    上 有 极 大 差 别 的 古 代 社 会 状 态 时 , 他 们 便 一 致 地 停 止 观 察 而

    开 始 猜 想 了 。 因 此 , 他 们 所 犯 的 错 误 , 正 和 一 个 考 察 物 质 宇

    宙 规 律 的 人 , 把 他 的 考 虑 从 作 为 一 个 统 一 体 的 现 存 物 理 世 界

    开 始 而 不 从 作 为 其 最 简 单 构 成 要 素 的 各 个 分 子 着 手 时 所 犯 的

    错 误 , 很 相 类 似 。 这 种 在 科 学 上 违 背 常 理 的 方 法 , 在 任 何 其

    他 思 想 领 域 中 不 可 采 用 , 那 在 法 律 学 中 当 然 也 是 同 样 不 足 取

    的 。 似 乎 在 先 就 可 以 看 到 , 我 们 应 该 从 最 简 单 的 社 会 形 式 开

    始 , 并 且 越 接 近 其 原 始 条 件 的 一 个 状 态 越 好 。 换 言 之 , 如 果

    我 们 要 采 用 这 类 研 究 中 所 通 常 遵 循 的 道 路 , 我 们 就 应 该 尽 可

    能 地 深 入 到 原 始 社 会 的 历 史 中 。 早 期 社 会 所 提 供 给 我 们 的 各

    种 现 象 并 不 是 一 看 就 容 易 理 解 的 , 但 要 掌 握 住 这 些 现 象 时 所

    遇 到 的 困 难 , 和 在 考 究 现 代 社 会 组 织 错 综 复 杂 情 况 时 使 我 们

    遭 受 的 困 惑 , 是 不 能 相 比 的 。 这 种 困 难 的 产 生 ; 是 由 于 它 们

    的 奇 怪 和 异 样 , 而 不 是 由 于 它 们 的 数 量 和 复 杂 性 。 当 人 们 用

    一 种 现 代 的 观 点 来 观 察 这 些 现 象 时 必 然 会 引 起 不 易 很 快 克 服

    的 惊 奇 ; 但 当 惊 奇 被 克 服 时 , 它 们 就 将 很 少 也 很 简 单 的 了 。 不过 纵 使 它 们 造 成 了 很 大 的 困 难 , 我 们 不 辞 劳 苦 以 确 定 这 些 胚种 也 不 会 是 浪 费 精 力 的 。 因 为 现 在 控 制 着 我 们 行 动 以 及 塑 造着 我 们 行 为 的 道 德 规 范 的 每 一 种 形 式 , 必 然 可 以 从 这 些 胚 种当 中 展 示 出 来 。

    我 们 所 能 知 道 的 社 会 状 态 的 雏 形 , 来 自 三 种 记 录 — — 即

    观 察 者 对 于 同 时 代 比 较 落 后 的 各 种 文 明 的 记 事 , 某 一 个 特 殊

    民 族 所 保 存 下 来 的 关 于 他 们 的 原 始 历 史 的 记 录 , 以 及 古 代 的

    法 律 。 第 一 种 证 据 是 我 们 可 以 预 期 的 最 好 的 一 种 。 各 个 社 会

    既 不 是 同 时 并 进 而 是 按 着 不 同 速 度 前 进 的 , 因 此 确 有 这 样 一

    些 时 期 , 凡 是 受 到 有 系 统 的 观 察 习 惯 训 练 的 人 们 , 能 真 正 有

    机 会 可 以 看 到 人 类 的 幼 年 , 并 加 以 描 述 。 塔西佗曾尽 量 利 用 了 这 种 机 会 ; 但 是 他 所 著 的 “ 日 耳 曼 ” 一书 , 不 像 大 多 数 著 名 的 经 典 著 作 一 样 , 没 有 能 引 起 别 人 去 仿 效 他 的 优 秀 榜 样 ; 因 此 我 们 现 在 所 保 有 的 这 一 类 的 记 录 , 数

    量 非 常 之 少 。 文 明 人 对 于 其 野 蛮 的 邻 人 往 往 有 一 种 傲 慢 之 感 ;

    这 就 使 他 们 往 往 明 显 地 不 屑 于 观 察 他 们 , 而 这 种 不 关 心 有 时

    更 因 为 恐 惧 、 因 为 宗 教 偏 见 、 甚 至 就 因 为 这 些 名 词 — — 即 文

    明 和 野 蛮 — — 的 应 用 而 更 加 严 重 , 这 种 文 明 和 野 蛮 的 分 野 常

    对 大 多 数 人 造 成 了 不 但 在 程 度 上 而 且 在 种 类 上 都 有 所 差 别 的

    印 象 。 甚 至 对 于 “ 日 耳 曼 ” 也 有 些 批 评 家 曾 怀 疑 它 为 了 要 求

    对 比 尖 锐 , 叙 述 生 动 而 牺 牲 了 信 实 。 有 一 些 史 料 , 叙 述 着 民

    族 的 幼 年 , 保 存 在 档 案 中 流 传 给 我 们 的 , 也 被 认 为 由 于 种 族

    骄 傲 或 由 于 新 时 代 的 宗 教 情 绪 而 被 歪 曲 了 。 然 而 对 于 大 部 分

    的 古 代 法 律 却 并 未 发 生 过 这 些 毫 无 根 据 的 或 合 理 的 疑 虑 , 这

    是 非 常 值 得 重 视 的 事 实 。 所 有 流 传 下 来 的 许 多 古 代 法 律 所 以

    能 被 保 存 下 来 , 只 是 因 为 它 们 是 古 代 的 , 那 些 在 当 初 执 行 它和 服 从 它 的 人 们 , 并 不 标 榜 能 理 解 它 ; 在 有 些 情 况 下 , 他 们

    甚 至 嘲 笑 它 和 藐 视 它 。 除 了 它 是 由 他 们 祖 先 传 下 来 的 以 外 , 他

    们 对 它 并 不 特 别 重 视 。 因 此 , 如 果 我 们 能 集 中 注 意 力 于 那 些

    古 代 制 度 的 断 片 , 这 些 断 片 还 不 能 合 理 地 被 假 定 为 曾 经 受 到

    过 改 动 , 我 们 就 有 可 能 对 于 原 来 所 属 社 会 的 某 种 主 要 特 征 获

    得 一 个 明 确 的 概 念 。 在 这 个 基 础 上 再 向 前 跨 进 一 步 , 我 们 可

    以 把 我 们 已 有 的 知 识 适 用 于 象 “ 摩 奴 法 典 ” 那 种 大 体 上 其 真

    实 性 还 可 疑 的 一 些 法 律 制 度 ; 凭 了 这 个 已 经 获 得 的 关 键 , 我

    们 就 可 以 把 那 些 真 正 是 古 代 传 下 来 的 部 分 从 那 些 曾 经 受 到 过

    编 纂 者 的 偏 见 、 兴 趣 或 无 知 的 影 响 的 部 分 , 区 分 开 来 。 至 少

    应 该 承 认 , 如 果 有 足 够 的 材 料 来 从 事 于 这 样 的 研 究 过 程 , 如

    果 反 复 的 比 较 是 被 正 确 地 执 行 着 , 则 我 们 所 遵 循 的 方 法 , 必

    将 象 征 比 较 语 言 学 中 使 能 达 到 惊 人 结 果 的 那 些 方 法 一 样 很 少

    有 可 以 反 对 的 余 地 。

    从 比 较 法 律 学 中 所 获 得 的 证 据 , 使 我 们 对 人 类 原 始 状 态

    确 立 了 一 种 看 法 , 即 所 谓 “ 宗 法 理 论 ” 。 当 然 这 个 理 论 无 疑 地

    原 来 是 以 下 亚 细 亚(L o w e r   A s i a ) 希 伯 来族 长制 的 圣 经 史 为 根 据 的 ; 但 是 , 像 前 面 已 经 解 释 过 的 , 正 因 为 它 和 “ 圣 经 ” ( S c r i p t u r e ) 有 联 系 , 它 就 被 反 对 , 不 被 认 为 是一 个 可 以 接 受 的 完 全 的 理 论 , 因 为 直 到 最 近 还 热 诚 从 事 于 总

    括 各 种 社 会 现 象 的 多 数 研 究 者 , 不 是 一 些 对 希 伯 来 古 代 事 物

    具 有 最 顽 强 偏 见 的 人 , 就 是 一 些 想 不 借 助 于 宗 教 记 录 而 最 坚

    强 地 希 望 自 己 建 立 一 个 体 系 的 人 。 即 使 一 直 到 现 在 ; 也 许 还

    有 着 这 样 一 种 倾 向 , 低 估 这 些 记 事 的 价 值 , 或 者 应 该 说 是 不

    愿 把 它 们 作 为 闪 族 ( S e m i t i c   p e o p l e ) 传 统 的 组 成 部 分 , 而 从其 中 得 出 结 论 。 但 是 , 值 得 注 意 的 是 , 这 一 种 法 律 记 录 , 几乎 完 全 来 自 属 于 印 度 - 欧 罗 巴 种 族 的 社 会 制 度 , 其 中 较 大 部

    分 是 罗 马 人 、 印 度 人 和 斯 拉 夫 人 所 供 给 的 ; 而 当 前 研 究 阶 段

    所 面 临 的 困 难 是 : 要 知 道 究 竟 到 什 么 地 方 为 止 , 究 竟 有 哪 一

    些 人 种 , 是不 许 可 被 肯 定 为 他 们 的 社 会 原 来 是 按 照 父 权 的 模

    型 而 组 成 的 。 从 “ 创 世 纪 ” 开 头 的 几 章 中 所 能 收 集 到 的 这 一

    类 社 会 的 主 要 轮 廓 , 在 这 里 毋 庸 详 为 描 述 , 因 为 我 们 大 多 数

    人 已 经 从 小 都 非 常 熟 悉 , 同 时 也 因 为 由 于 洛 克 和 菲 尔 美

    ( F i l m e r ) 之 间 辩 论 的 结 果 , 在 英 国 文 献 中 已 有 专 书 论 述 了 这个 问 题 , 虽 然 这 本 书 并 不 是 很 有 益 的 。 从 历 史 表 面 上 所 能 看

    到 的 各 点 是 : — — 最 年 长 的 父 辈 — — 最 年 长 的 尊 属 亲 — — 是

    家 庭 的 绝 对 统 治 者 。 他 握 有 生 杀 之 权 , 他 对 待 他 的 子 女 、 他

    的 家 庭 象 对 待 奴 隶 一 样 , 不 受 任 何 限 制 ; 真 的 , 亲 子 具 有 这

    样 较 高 的 资 格 , 就 是 终 有 一 天 他 本 身 也 要 成 为 一 个 族 长 , 除

    此 以 外 , 父 子 关 系 和 主 奴 关 系 似 乎 很 少 差 别 。 子 女 的 羊 和 牛

    就 是 父 的 羊 和 牛 , 父 所 占 有 的 物 件 是 由 他 以 代 表 的 身 分 而 非

    所 有 人 的 身 分 占 有 的 , 这 些 占 有 物 , 在 他 死 亡 时 , 即 在 其 一

    等 卑 亲 属 中 平 均 分 配 , 长 子 有 时 以 生 得 权 的 名 义 接 受 双 倍 的

    份 额 , 但 更 普 通 的 是 除 了 一 种 荣 誉 的 优 先 权 以 外 , 不 再 赋 予

    任 何 继 承 利 益 。 在 圣 经 的 记 事 中 有 一 个 不 十 分 明 显 的 例 子 , 似

    乎 父 系 的 帝 国 第 一 次 发 生 了 破 坏 的 痕 迹 。 雅 各和以扫两 个 家 族 分 离 而 组 成 为 两 个 国 家 ; 但 是 雅 各 子 女的 各 个 家 族 却 仍 旧 结 合 在 一 起 , 而 成 为 一 个 民 族 。 这 就 好 象是 一 个 国 家 或 共 和 政 治 的 不 成 熟 的 胚 种 , 同 时 也 好 象 是 一 种权 利 顺 序 较 胜 于 家 族 关 系 所 提 出 的 要 求 。

    为 了 法 学 家 的 特 殊 目 的 , 简 要 地 说 明 人 类 在 其 历 史 黎 明时 期 所 做 状 态 的 各 个 特 征 , 我 以 为 只 要 摘 引 荷 马 “奥特赛 ”中 如 下 几 行 诗 句 就 够 了 :

    “ 他 们 既 没 有 评 议 会 , 又 没 有地美士第 , 但 每 一 个 人 对 妻 子 和儿 女 都 有 审 判 权 , 在 他 们 相 互 之 间 , 则 是 各 不 相 关 的 。 ” 这 些诗 句 是 适 用 于 “ 独 眼 巨 人 ”的 , 我 以 为 如 果 说 “ 独眼 巨 人 ” 就 是 荷 马 心 目 中 一 种 外 国 的 和 不 进 步 的 文 明 的 典 型 ,

    也 许 不 完 全 是 一 种 幻 想 ; 因 为 一 个 原 始 共 产 体 对 于 在 风 尚 上

    和 它 自 己 有 非 常 不 同 的 人 , 往 往 会 感 到 几 乎 是 自 然 的 憎 恶 , 这

    种 憎 恶 通 常 表 现 为 把 他 们 描 写 成 怪 物 , 例 如 巨 人 甚 至 是 魔 鬼

    ( 在 东 方 神 话 学 中 , 几 乎 在 所 有 情 况 中 都 是 如 此 ) 。 不 论 是 不

    是 这 样 , 在 这 几 行 诗 句 中 , 正 集 中 了 古 代 法 律 事 物 所 能 给 予

    我 们 的 各 种 暗 示 的 总 和 。 人 类 最 初 是 分 散 在 完 全 孤 立 的 集 团

    中 的 , 这 种 集 团 由 于 对 父 辈 的 服 从 而 结 合 在 一 起 。 法 律 是 父

    辈 的 语 言 , 但 它 们 没 有 达 到 我 们 在 本 文 第 一 章 中 所 分 析 的 地

    美 士 第 的 程 度 。 当 我 们 向 前 进 行 而 达 到 这 些 早 期 法 律 概 念 成

    形 的 社 会 状 态 时 , 我 们 发 现 , 这 些 法 律 概 念 仍 旧 多 少 带 有 足

    以 表 示 一 个 专 制 的 父 的 命 令 的 这 个 特 点 的 神 秘 性 和 自 发 性 ,

    但 在 同 一 时 候 , 由 于 他 们 来 自 一 个 主 权 者 , 这 些 法 律 概 念 就

    预 先 假 定 了 一 个 组 织 比 较 广 泛 、 由 许 多 家 族 集 团 组 成 的 联 合体 。 第 二 个 问 题 是 , 这 种 联 合 体 的 性 质 是 什 么 以 及 它 包 括 的

    亲 密 程 度 究 竟 是 怎 样 的 。 正 是 在 这 一 点 , 古 代 法 律 提 供 给 我

    们 最 大 的 贡 献 之 一 , 并 且 填 补 了 否 则 只 可 能 以 猜 度 来 渡 过 的

    一 个 鸿 沟 。 它 不 论 在 任 何 方 面 都 明 显 地 表 示 着 , 原 始 时 代 的

    社 会 并 不 象 现 在 所 设 想 的 , 是 一 个个人 的 集 合 , 在 事 实 上 ; 并

    且 根 据 组 成 它 的 人 们 的 看 法 , 它 是一个 ·

    许 ·

    多 ·

    家 ·

    族 ·

    的 ·

    集 ·

    合 ·

    体 。 如

    果 说 一 个 古 代 社 会 的 ·

    单 ·

    位 是 “ 家 族 ” , 而 一 个 现 代 社 会 的 单 位

    是 “ 个 人 ” , 则 这 个 对 比 , 也 许 可 以 更 强 有 力 地 表 示 出 来 。 在

    古 代 法 律 中 , 这 个 差 别 有 着 重 大 的 后 果 。 法 律 的 这 样 组 成 是

    为 了 要 适 应 一 个 小 的 独 立 团 体 的 制 度 。 因 此 , 它 的 数 量 不 多 ,

    因 为 它 可 以 由 家 长 的 专 断 命 令 来 增 补 的 。 它 的 仪 式 繁 多 , 因

    为 它 所 着 重 处 理 的 事 务 , 类 似 国 际 间 的 事 务 的 地 方 , 多 于 个

    人 间 交 往 的 迅 速 处 理 。 尤 其 重 要 的 , 它 具 有 一 种 特 性 , 其 重

    要 性 在 目 前 还 不 能 全 部 表 现 出 来 。 它 所 持 有 的 ·

    人 ·

    生 观 和 发 达

    的 法 律 学 中 所 体 现 的 完 全 不 同 。 团 体 ·

    永 ·

    生 ·

    不 ·

    灭 , 因 此 , 原 始法 律 把 它 所 关 连 的 实 体 即 宗 法 或 家 族 集 团 , 视 为 永 久 的 和 不能 消 灭 的 。 这 种 见 解 同 远 古 时 代 道 德 属 性 所 表 现 的 特 别 看 法 ,

    有 着 密 切 联 系 。 个 人 道 德 的 升 降 往 往 和 个 人 所 隶 属 集 团 的 优

    缺 点 混 淆 在 一 起 , 或 处 于 比 较 次 要 的 地 位 。 如 果 共 产 体 有 了

    罪 过 , 它 的 罪 恶 大 于 其 成 员 所 犯 罪 的 总 和 ; 这 个 罪 是 一 个 团

    体 行 为 , 其 后 果 所 及 , 要 比 实 际 参 与 犯 罪 行 为 的 人 多 的 多 。 如

    果 , 反 过 来 , 个 人 是 显 然 有 罪 的 , 那 他 的 子 女 、 他 的 亲 属 、 他

    的 族 人 或 他 的 同 胞 就 都 要 和 他 一 起 受 罚 , 有 时 甚 至 代 替 他 受

    罚 。 因 此 关 于 道 德 责 任 和 道 德 报 应 的 观 念 , 在 很 古 时 代 , 似

    乎 常 比 各 个 较 进 步 时 代 体 会 得 更 加 明 白 , 因 为 既 然 家 族 集 团是 永 生 不 灭 的 , 其 担 当 刑 罚 的 责 任 是 无 限 制 的 , 则 原 始 人 的

    头 脑 自 不 会 象 后 来 当 个 人 被 视 为 完 全 和 集 团 分 离 的 时 期 的 后

    代 人 的 头 脑 那 样 被 种 种 困 难 问 题 所 窘 困 了 。 早 期 希 腊 关 于 一

    个 遗 传 的 诅 咒 的 观 念 , 标 志 着 由 古 代 的 和 简 单 的 对 于 事 物 的

    看 法 走 向 后 来 神 学 或 形 而 上 学 解 释 的 过 渡 的 一 步 。 他 的 后 裔

    从 原 来 罪 犯 所 受 到 的 遗 物 , 不 是 一 种 受 刑 罚 的 义 务 , 而 是 一

    种 犯 新 罪 使 发 生 一 种 该 受 报 复 的 义 务 ; 这 样 , 家 族 的 责 任 就

    和 这 种 新 的 思 想 状 态 , 即 把 犯 罪 后 果 限 制 于 实 际 犯 罪 者 的 新

    思 想 状 态 , 取 得 了 一 致 。

    如 果 我 们 能 根 据 前 面 谈 到 的 圣 经 上 的 例 子 提 供 给 我 们 的

    暗 示 而 作 出 一 个 一 般 结 论 , 并 假 定 : 凡 族 长 死 亡 时 , 一 个 家

    族 仍 能 结 合 在 一 起 而 不 分 散 , 这 时 候 共 产 体 就 开 始 存 在 了 , 如

    果 是 这 样 , 则 社 会 起 源 的 解 释 将 是 很 简 单 的 。 在 大 多 数 的 希

    腊 国 家 中 , 以 及 在 罗 马 , 长 期 存 在 着 一 系 列 上 升 集 团 的 遗 迹 ,

    而 “ 国 家 ” 最 初 就 是 从 这 些 集 团 中 产 生 的 。 罗 马 人 的 “ 家

    族 ” 、 “ 大 氏 族 ” 和 “ 部 落 ” 都 是 它 们 的 类 型 , 根 据 它 们 被 描

    述 的 情 况 , 使 我 们 不 得 不 把 它 们 想 象 为 从 同 一 起 点 逐 渐 扩 大

    而 形 成 的 一 整 套 同 心 圆 , 其 基 本 的 集 团 是 因 共 同 从 属 于 最 高

    的 男 性 尊 属 亲 而 结 合 在 一 起 的 “ 家 族 ” 。 许 多 “ 家 族 ” 的 集 合

    形 成 “ 氏 族 ” 或 “ 大 氏 族 ” 。 许 多 “ 氏 族 ” 的 集 合 形 成 “ 部

    落 ” 。 而 许 多 “ 部 落 ” 的 集 合 则 构 成 了 “ 共 和 政 治 ” 。 根 据 这

    些 痕 迹 , 我 们 是 不 是 可 以 进 而 认 为 : 共 和 政 治 是 因 为 来 自 一

    个 原 始 家 族 祖 先 的 共 同 血 统 而 结 合 在 一 起 的 许 多 人 的 一 个 集

    合 体 。 关 于 这 一 点 , 我 们 至 少 可 以 断 定 , 一 切 古 代 社 会 都 自

    认 为 是 来 自 一 个 原 祖 , 并 且 除 此 以 外 , 他 们 虽 经 努 力 , 但 仍无 法 想 出 他 们 所 以 会 结 合 在 一 个 政 治 团 体 中 的 任 何 其 他 理

    由 。 事 实 上 , 政 治 思 想 的 历 史 是 从 这 样 一 个 假 设 开 始 的 ; 即

    血 缘 是 共 产 体 政 治 作 用 的 唯 一 可 能 的 根 据 ; 也 没 有 任 何 一 种

    我 们 强 调 地 称 之 为 革 命 的 感 情 破 灭 , 其 惊 人 和 完 全 的 程 度 及

    得 上 其 他 原 则 — — 例 如 所 谓 “ 地 方 毗 邻 ” — — 第 一 次 成 为 共

    同 政 治 行 动 的 基 础 时 所 完 成 的 变 化 的 。 因 此 , 我 们 可 以 肯 定

    认 为 在 早 期 共 和 政 治 中 , 所 有 公 民 都 认 为 , 凡 是 他 们 作 为 其

    成 员 之 一 的 集 团 , 都 是 建 筑 于 共 同 血 统 上 的 。 凡 对 于 “ 家

    族 ” 是 显 然 正 确 的 , 当 时 便 认 为 首 先 对 于 “ 氏 族 ” , 而 后 对 于

    “ 部 落 ” , 最 后 对 于 “ 国 家 ” 也 都 是 正 确 的 。 可 是 , 我 们 发 现 ,

    虽 然 有 着 这 样 一 个 信 念 , 或 者 假 如 我 们 可 以 这 样 称 呼 它 的 话 ,

    这 个 理 论 , 但 每 一 个 共 产 体 所 保 存 着 的 记 录 或 传 统 , 却 都 明

    显 地 表 示 这 个 基 本 假 设 是 虚 伪 的 。 不 论 我 们 观 察 希 腊 各 邦 , 或

    罗 马 , 或 提 供 尼 布 尔 以 许 多 有 价 值 例 证 的 在 笛 脱 麻 希 的 条 顿

    贵 族 政 治 , 或 凯 尔 特 部 族 组 织 , 或 斯 拉 夫 俄 罗 斯 人 和 波 兰 人

    的 那 些 只 在 后 来 才 引 人 注 意 的 奇 怪 的 社 会 组 织 , 在 每 个 地 方 ,

    我 们 都 能 在 他 们 的 历 史 中 发 现 有 把 外 国 出 生 的 人 接 纳 或 同 化

    于 原 来 的 同 族 人 中 的 事 。 如 果 单 独 以 罗 马 而 论 , 我 们 也 可 看

    到 , 这 个 原 始 集 团 即 “ 家 族 ” 是 不 断 地 由 于 收 养 的 习 俗 而 搀

    杂 进 来 其 他 血 统 的 人 的 , 而 有 关 把 原 来 的 “ 部 落 ” 之 一 驱 逐

    出 境 , 以 及 一 个 古 代 国 王 大 量 增 加 各 氏 族 成 员 的 种 种 故 事 , 似

    乎 是 始 终 不 断 地 流 传 着 的 。 国 家 的 组 成 被 普 遍 假 定 为 自 然 的 ,

    但 在 实 际 上 却 绝 大 部 分 是 人 为 的 。 这 种 存 在 于 信 念 或 理 论 同

    显 著 的 事 实 之 间 的 互 相 抵 触 , 初 看 起 来 是 非 常 令 人 困 惑 的 ; 但

    它 真 正 说 明 的 , 正 是 “ 法 律 拟 制 ” 在 社 会 幼 年 时 代 所 发 挥 的效 能 。 最 早 最 广 泛 应 用 的 法 律 拟 制 , 是 允 许 以 人 为 的 方 法 来

    发 生 家 庭 关 系 , 我 以 为 , 人 类 所 深 受 其 惠 的 , 实 没 有 比 这 个

    更 多 的 了 。 如 果 过 去 从 来 没 有 过 这 种 拟 制 , 任 何 一 个 原 始 集

    团 不 论 其 性 质 如 何 , 决 不 可 能 吸 收 另 一 个 集 团 , 除 了 一 方 面

    是 绝 对 的 优 势 , 另 方 面 是 绝 对 的 从 属 之 外 , 也 决 不 可 能 有 任

    何 二 个 集 团 在 任 何 条 件 下 能 结 合 起 来 。 毫 无 疑 问 , 如 果 我 们

    用 现 代 的 见 解 来 设 想 几 个 独 立 共 产 体 的 结 合 , 我 们 可 以 提 出

    成 百 种 达 到 这 个 目 的 的 方 式 来 , 其 中 最 简 单 的 方 式 就 是 由 包

    括 在 要 合 并 的 各 集 团 中 的 个 人 , 按 照 地 区 在 一 起 选 举 或 一 起

    活 动 ; 但 是 , 许 多 人 如 果 仅 仅 因 为 他 们 恰 巧 居 住 于 同 一 地 域

    以 内 就 应 该 行 使 共 同 政 治 权 利 , 这 个 观 念 对 于 原 始 的 古 代 社

    会 来 讲 , 是 完 全 陌 生 和 奇 怪 的 。 在 那 时 代 , 受 到 欢 迎 的 办 法

    是 , 外 国 人 应 该 ·

    把 ·

    他 ·

    们 ·

    自 ·

    己 ·

    冒 ·

    充 为 来 自 他 们 所 要 加 入 的 人 民

    的 同 一 祖 先 ; 我 们 今 天 所 不 易 理 解 的 , 正 就 是 这 个 拟 制 的 善

    意 , 以 及 它 能 被 做 得 接 近 真 实 。 但 是 , 有 一 个 情 况 是 必 须 加

    以 重 视 的 , 即 形 成 不 同 政 治 集 团 的 人 们 当 然 有 定 期 会 集 在 一

    起 的 习 惯 , 目 的 在 用 共 同 的 祭 祀 以 确 认 和 神 圣 其 联 系 。 被 同

    化 于 同 胞 中 的 异 乡 人 无 疑 地 也 会 被 允 许 参 加 这 些 祭 祀 ; 我 们

    可 以 相 信 当 这 些 异 乡 人 一 度 这 样 做 了 以 后 , 似 乎 就 很 容 易 或

    没 有 什 么 困 难 被 视 为 参 加 了 共 同 血 统 。 因 此 , 从 证 据 得 出 的

    结 论 , 所 有 早 期 社 会 并 不 都 是 由 同 一 祖 先 的 后 裔 组 成 , 但 所

    有 永 久 和 团 结 巩 固 的 早 期 社 会 或 者 来 自 同 一 祖 先 , 或 者 则 自

    己 假 定 为 来 自 同 一 祖 先 。 有 无 数 的 原 因 可 能 会 把 原 始 集 团 加

    以 粉 碎 , 但 无 论 如 何 , 当 它 们 的 成 分 重 新 结 合 时 , 都 是 以 一

    种 亲 族 联 合 的 型 式 或 原 则 为 根 据 的 。 不 论 在 事 实 上 是 怎 样 , 所有 的 思 想 、 言 语 和 法 律 都 被 调 整 , 以 适 合 于 这 个 假 定 。 但 是 ,

    虽 然 在 我 看 来 , 就 那 些 记 录 为 我 们 所 熟 悉 的 各 个 共 产 体 而 论 ,

    所 有 这 一 切 似 乎 都 是 可 以 成 立 的 , 但 它 们 历 史 的 其 余 部 分 论

    证 了 前 面 所 提 出 的 论 点 , 即 这 个 最 有 力 的 “ 法 律 拟 制 ” 主 要

    地 起 着 暂 时 的 和 有 限 的 影 响 。 到 了 某 一 个 时 间 — — 也 许 是

    — — 当 它 们 自 己 感 觉 到 自 己 力 量 足 以 抵 抗 外 来 压 力 时 — — ,

    所 有 这 些 国 家 就 立 即 终 止 用 人 为 扩 大 血 缘 的 方 法 来 滋 补 新 成

    员 。 因 此 , 凡 当 有 新 的 人 口 由 于 任 何 原 因 而 结 集 在 他 们 四 周 ,

    但 不 能 提 出 和 他 们 起 原 于 共 同 祖 先 的 主 张 时 , 在 这 种 情 况 下 ,

    他 们 就 必 然 地 成 为 “ 贵 族 ” 。 他 们 严 格 维 持 着 一 个 制 度 的 主 要

    原 则 , 根 据 这 个 原 则 人 们 除 了 真 正 的 或 人 为 的 血 统 关 系 以 外 ,

    没 有 任 何 条 件 可 以 使 他 们 获 得 政 治 权 利 , 因 此 教 导 了 弱 者 另

    一 个 原 则 , 这 个 原 则 已 证 明 是 具 有 高 度 的 生 命 力 的 。 这 就 是

    ·

    地 ·

    方 ·

    毗 ·

    邻 原 则 , 现 在 已 被 到 处 承 认 为 共 产 体 在 政 治 职 能 上 的

    一 种 条 件 。 于 是 一 套 新 的 政 治 观 念 立 刻 产 生 了 , 这 些 既 然 是

    我 们 自 己 的 观 念 , 是 我 们 同 时 代 人 的 观 念 ; 并 且 在 很 大 程 度

    上 也 是 我 们 祖 先 的 观 念 , 因 此 也 就 模 糊 了 我 们 对 于 那 些 被 它

    们 所 驳 倒 和 废 弃 的 旧 理 论 的 理 解 。

    一 个 古 代 社 会 、 据 我 们 所 能 设 想 到 的 , 虽 然 是 多 种 多 样

    的 , 但 “ 家 族 ” 是 它 的 典 型 ; 不 过 这 里 所 谓 的 家 族 , 同 现 代

    人 所 理 解 的 宗 族 并 不 完 全 相 同 。 为 了 要 得 到 古 代 的 概 念 , 我

    们 必 须 就 我 们 现 代 观 念 作 一 些 重 要 的 增 加 和 一 些 重 要 的 限

    制 。 我 们 必 须 把 家 族 看 作 是 因 吸 收 外 来 人 而 不 断 扩 大 的 团 体 ,

    我 们 并 且 必 须 把 收 养 的 拟 制 认 为 是 和 真 正 的 血 缘 关 系 非 常 密

    切 地 近 似 的 , 因 此 不 论 在 法 律 上 或 在 人 们 的 意 见 中 , 对 于 真正 的 血 缘 关 系 和 收 养 关 系 之 间 , 都 没 有 丝 毫 差 别 。 在 另 一 方

    面 , 由 于 共 同 血 统 而 在 理 论 上 混 合 于 一 个 家 族 中 的 人 们 , 他

    们 在 实 际 上 结 合 在 一 起 , 乃 是 由 于 他 们 共 同 服 从 其 最 高 在 世

    的 尊 亲 属 如 父 亲 、 祖 父 或 曾 祖 父 。 一 个 首 领 具 有 宗 法 权 , 是

    家 族 集 团 观 念 中 的 一 个 必 要 的 要 素 , 正 和 家 族 集 团 是 由 他 所

    产 生 的 事 实 ( 或 假 定 事 实 ) 同 样 的 必 要 ; 因 此 , 我 们 必 须 了

    解 , 不 论 任 何 人 , 虽 然 由 于 血 缘 关 系 真 正 包 括 在 同 族 之 内 ; 但

    如 果 他 们 ·

    在 ·

    事 ·

    实 ·

    上 退 出 了 其 统 治 者 的 支 配 , 则 早 在 法 律 创 始

    时 期 , 他 们 就 要 被 认 为 是 不 属 于 这 个 家 族 了 。 我 们 在 原 始 法

    律 学 的 发 轫 时 候 所 遇 到 的 , 正 是 这 种 宗 法 的 集 合 体 , — — 近

    代 家 族 就 是 这 样 在 一 方 面 加 以 缩 小 在 另 一 方 面 加 以 扩 大 而 组

    成 的 。 家 族 也 许 比 “ 国 家 ” 、 比 “ 部 落 ” 、 比 “ 氏 族 ” 更 加 古

    老 一 些 , 但 它 在 “ 氏 族 ” 和 “ 部 落 ” 被 长 久 遗 忘 , 在 血 缘 同

    国 家 的 组 成 已 长 久 失 掉 了 联 系 以 后 , 还 在 私 法 上 留 有 残 迹 。 它

    在 法 律 学 的 各 大 部 门 中 都 有 烙 印 可 以 发 现 ; 并 且 我 以 为 , 它

    可 以 被 认 为 是 这 些 部 门 中 许 多 最 重 要 和 最 持 久 特 征 的 真 正 渊

    源 。 最 古 法 律 的 各 种 特 性 从 开 始 时 就 使 我 们 得 到 这 样 一 个 结

    论 , 即 在 权 利 和 义 务 制 度 上 , 它 对 于 家 族 集 团 所 持 的 见 解 正

    和 我 们 今 日 流 行 在 全 欧 洲 的 对 于 个 人 所 持 的 见 解 完 全 相 同 。

    即 使 在 现 在 , 我 们 还 可 以 观 察 到 这 样 的 社 会 , 它 们 的 法 律 和

    惯 例 除 非 被 假 定 为 还 没 有 脱 离 这 种 原 始 状 态 就 很 难 加 以 说

    明 ; 但 是 在 环 境 比 较 幸 运 的 共 产 体 中 , 法 律 学 的 结 构 已 开 始

    逐 渐 瓦 解 了 , 如 果 我 们 仔 细 地 观 察 这 种 瓦 解 现 象 , 我 们 就 能

    看 到 这 种 瓦 解 主 要 是 发 生 在 受 到 家 族 的 原 始 概 念 影 响 最 深 的

    那 些 部 分 的 制 度 中 。 一 个 最 重 要 的 例 证 中 , 就 是 在 罗 马 法 中 , 变 化 发 生 得 非 常 迟 缓 , 从 一 个 时 代 到 另 一 个 时 代 , 我 们 可 以

    观 察 到 变 化 所 遵 循 的 路 线 和 方 向 , 并 且 甚 至 可 以 对 变 化 所 趋

    向 的 最 后 结 果 , 略 加 叙 述 。 并 且 在 进 行 这 个 最 后 的 研 究 时 , 我

    们 不 会 受 到 那 个 把 现 代 和 古 代 世 界 分 隔 开 来 的 想 象 障 碍 的 阻

    挠 。 因 为 经 过 提 炼 的 罗 马 法 同 原 始 野 蛮 的 惯 例 混 合 后 , 形 成

    了 以 封 建 制 度 这 个 虚 伪 的 名 字 为 我 们 所 知 的 混 合 物 , 其 结 果

    之 一 是 复 活 了 在 罗 马 世 界 早 已 废 弃 不 用 的 古 代 法 律 学 的 许 多

    特 色 , 因 此 那 似 乎 已 经 终 止 了 的 分 解 过 程 又 再 度 开 始 , 并 且

    在 某 种 程 度 上 直 到 现 在 仍 旧 在 继 续 进 行 中 。

    最 古 社 会 的 家 族 组 织 曾 在 少 数 法 律 制 度 学 上 留 有 明 白 而

    广 大 的 标 志 , 显 示 出 “ 父 ” 或 其 他 祖 先 对 于 卑 亲 属 的 人 身 和

    财 产 有 终 身 的 权 力 , 这 种 权 力 , 我 们 为 了 方 便 起 见 , 用 它 后

    来 在 罗 马 的 名 称 , 称 它 做 “ 家 父 权 ” 。 在人 类 原 始 联 合 的 所 有 特 色 中 , 没 有 比 这 种 权 力 更 多 地 被 大 量的 证 据 所 证 明 ; 但 也 没 比 这 种 权 力 更 为 普 遍 地 、 更 为 迅 速 地从 进 步 共 产 体 的 惯 例 中 消 失 掉 。 在 安 托 宁 时 代 写 作 的 该 雅 士 ,认 为 这 个 制 度 是 罗 马 人 特 有 的 制 度 , 诚 然 , 如 果 他 看 一 看 莱因 河 或 多 瑙 河 对 岸 那 些 曾 引 起 他 同 时 代 人 好 奇 心 的 野 蛮 部落 , 他 可 能 会 看 到 许 多 最 粗 陋 形 式 的 宗 法 权 的 例 子 。 在 远 东

    有 一 个 和 罗 马 人 来 自 同 一 人 种 的 支 系 也 正 在 按 照 其 最 专 门 的

    细 节 重 复 施 行 “ 家 父 权 ” 。 但 在 公 认 为 包 括 于 罗 马 帝 国 内 的 各

    民 族 中 , 除 了 只 在 亚 细 亚 加 拉 塔 ( A s i a t i c   G a l a t E) 之 外 , 该雅 士 不 可 能 找 到 有 类 似 罗 马 “ 家 父 权 ” 的 一 种 制 度 。 据 我 看来 , 祖 先 的 直 接 权 威 在 大 多 数 进 步 社 会 中 所 以 会 很 快 就 少 于

    其 在 最 早 状 态 中 所 有 的 程 度 , 是 有 多 种 理 由 的 。 未 开 化 人 们对 其 父 绝 对 遵 从 , 无 疑 地 是 一 个 主 要 事 实 , 这 个 事 实 不 是 轻

    易 地 能 解 释 清 楚 的 , 如 果 只 说 因 为 这 样 对 他 们 有 利 ; 但 是 , 在

    同 时 , 如 果 子 服 从 父 是 出 于 自 然 的 , 那 末 子 希 望 父 具 有 卓 越

    的 体 力 或 卓 越 的 智 慧 也 是 同 样 出 于 自 然 的 。 因 此 , 当 社 会 处

    在 体 力 和 智 力 都 具 有 特 殊 价 值 的 时 候 , 就 会 发 生 一 种 影 响 , 倾

    向 于 使 “ 家 父 权 ” 限 于 确 实 具 有 才 干 的 和 强 有 力 的 人 。 当 我

    们 初 看 到 有 组 织 的 希 腊 社 会 时 , 好 像 出 类 拔 萃 的 智 慧 会 使 体

    力 虽 已 衰 微 的 人 仍 能 保 持 其 家 父 权 ; 但 在 “ 奥 特 赛 ” 中 优 烈

    锡 士 ( U l y s s e s ) 和 莱 安 底 斯 ( L a e r t e s ) 的 关 系 似 乎 表 示 当 其子 兼 有 非 常 的 勇 武 和 智 慧 时 , 其 年 已 衰 老 的 父 是 可 以 从 家 族

    首 领 的 地 位 上 被 废 免 的 。 在 成 熟 的 希 腊 法 律 学 中 , 其 规 定 比

    荷 马 文 学 中 所 暗 示 的 实 践 , 更 前 进 了 几 步 ; 虽 然 仍 有 许 多 严

    格 的 家 族 义 务 被 保 留 着 , 但 父 亲 的 直 接 权 威 象 在 欧 洲 的 法 典

    中 一 样 被 限 制 于 未 成 年 的 子 女 , 或 是 , 换 言 之 , 被 限 制 于 这

    些 子 女 假 定 他 们 的 智 力 和 体 力 还 不 充 足 的 一 定 时 期 内 。 但 是 ,

    这 个 具 有 改 革 古 旧 惯 例 以 适 应 共 和 政 治 急 需 这 种 显 著 倾 向 的

    罗 马 法 , 它 一 方 面 保 持 了 原 始 制 度 , 另 一 方 面 却 保 持 了 我 认

    为 它 曾 从 属 的 自 然 限 制 。 在 每 一 种 生 命 有 关 的 场 合 , 如 当 集

    体 的 共 产 体 为 了 议 和 或 为 了 战 争 而 必 须 利 用 其 智 力 和 体 力

    时 , 家 子或 “ 在 父 权 下 之 子 ” 就 可 以 获 得 和 父 同 样 的 自 由 。 罗 马 法 学 中 有 这 样 一 个 格 言 , “ 家 父 权 ” 并 不 触 及 “ 公 法 ”。 父 和子 在 城 中 一 同 选 举 , 在 战 场 上 并 肩 作 战 ; 真 的 , 当 子 成 为 将

    军 时 , 可 能 会 指 挥 其 父 , 成 为 高 级 官 吏 时 ; 要 审 判 其 父 的 契

    约 案 件 和 惩 罚 其 父 的 失 职 行 为 。 但 在 “ 私 法 ” 所 创 造 的 一 切关 系 中 , 子 就 必 须 生 活 在 一 个 家 庭 专 制 之 下 , 这 种 家 庭 专 制

    直 到 最 后 还 保 持 着 严 酷 性 , 它 并 且 延 续 了 许 多 世 纪 , 为 就 成

    为 法 律 史 中 最 奇 怪 的 问 题 之 一 。

    罗 马 的 “ 家 父 权 ” 必 然 地 是 我 们 原 始 父 权 的 典 型 , 但 作

    为 一 个 文 明 生 活 的 制 度 , 不 论 我 们 从 其 对 人 的 影 响 或 对 物 的

    效 果 而 论 , 都 是 同 样 难 以 理 解 的 。 遗 憾 的 是 , 在 它 的 历 史 上

    存 在 着 的 一 个 鸿 沟 , 现 在 已 无 法 更 完 全 地 填 满 了 。 就 人 而 言 ,

    根 据 我 们 所 获 得 的 材 料 , 父 对 其 子 有生死之权,更 ·

    毋 ·

    待 ·

    论 的 , 具 有 无 限 制 的 肉 体 惩 罚 权 ; 他 可 以任 意 变 更 他 们 的 个 人 身 分 ; 他 可 以 为 子 娶 妻 , 他 可 以 将 女 许 嫁 ; 他 可 以 令 子 女 离 婚 ; 他 可 以 用 收 养 的 方 法 把 子 女 移 转 到

    其 他 家 族 中 去 ; 他 并 且 可 以 出 卖 他 们 。 后 来 在 帝 政 时 期 , 我

    们 还 可 以 发 现 所 有 这 些 权 利 的 遗 迹 , 但 已 经 缩 小 在 极 狭 小 的

    范 围 内 。 家 内 惩 罚 的 无 限 制 的 权 利 已 变 成 为 把 家 庭 犯 罪 移 归

    民 事 高 级 官 吏 审 判 的 权 利 ; 主 宰 婚 姻 的 特 权 已 下 降 为 一 种 有

    条 件 的 否 定 权 ; 出 卖 的 自 由 已 在 实 际 上 被 废 止 , 至 于 收 养 在

    查 斯 丁 尼 安 的 改 良 制 度 中 几 乎 全 部 失 去 了 它 在 古 代 的 重 要

    性 , 如 果 没 有 子 女 的 同 意 , 移 转 给 养 父 母 就 不 能 生 效 。 总 之 ,

    我 们 已 十 分 接 近 最 后 流 行 于 现 代 世 界 的 各 种 观 念 的 边 缘 , 但

    是 在 这 些 相 隔 很 远 的 时 代 之 间 , 存 在 着 一 个 暗 昧 的 期 间 , 据

    我 们 猜 想 , “ 家 父 权 ” 所 以 能 这 样 长 时 期 地 持 续 者 , 其 原 因 就

    在 它 比 表 面 上 较 为 可 以 容 忍 一 些 。 儿 子 积 极 完 成 其 对 国 家 所

    负 各 种 义 务 中 最 重 要 的 义 务 , 纵 使 不 取 消 他 父 亲 的 权 威 , 一

    定 也 会 削 弱 这 种 权 威 。 我 们 不 难 想 象 , 如 果 对 于 一 个 占 有 高

    级 民 事 官 吏 职 位 的 成 年 人 行 使 父 权 专 制 , 则 必 然 地 会 引 起 极大 的 诽 谤 。 不 过 在 较 早 期 的 历 史 中 , 这 种 在 实 际 上 解 放 的 事

    例 , 如 和 罗 马 共 和 时 代 因 不 断 发 生 战 事 而 造 成 的 事 例 相 比 , 是

    要 少 得 多 。 早 期 战 争 中 一 年 有 四 分 之 三 时 间 辗 转 于 战 场 上 的

    军 事 护 民 官 和 士 兵 , 以 及 在 后 一 时 期 统 治 一 省 的 地 方 总 督 和

    占 领 它 的 军 团 兵 , 他 们 实 在 不 应 该 有 任 何 实 际 理 由 使 他 们 自

    认 为 是 一 个 专 制 主 人 的 奴 隶 ; 而 在 当 时 , 所 有 这 些 逃 避 “ 家

    父 权 ” 的 道 路 有 不 断 增 加 的 倾 向 。 胜 利 引 导 到 征 服 , 征 服 引

    导 到 占 领 ; 用 殖 民 来 占 领 的 方 式 改 变 了 用 常 备 军 来 占 领 各 省

    的 制 度 。 每 次 向 前 进 展 一 步 , 就 要 召 唤 更 多 的 罗 马 公 民 出 国 ,

    就 要 对 正 在 不 断 减 少 的 拉 丁 民 族 的 血 液 进 行 一 次 新 的 汲 引 。

    我 以 为 , 我 们 得 推 定 , 到 帝 国 建 立 , 世 界 平 靖 开 始 的 时 候 , 主

    张 松 弛 “ 家 父 权 ” 的 强 有 力 的 情 绪 , 已 成 为 确 切 不 移 的 了 。 最

    早 加 于 这 古 代 制 度 的 大 打 击 来 自 较 早 期 的 几 个 凯 撒 , 而 图 拉

    真 ( T r a j a n ) 和 汉 德 林 所 作 的 几 次 单 独 干 涉 , 似 乎 又 为 后 来 一

    系 列 明 确 的 立 法 准 备 了 条 件 , 我 们 虽 无 法 断 定 这 些 立 法 的 时

    间 , 但 我 们 知 道 , 这 些 立 法 在 一 方 面 限 制 了 家 父 权 , 另 一 方

    面 增 加 了 其 自 动 放 弃 的 种 种 便 利 。 在 比 较 早 的 时 期 , 如 果 子

    经 过 三 次 出 卖 , 就 可 以 消 灭 “ 家 父 权 ” , 我 认 为 , 这 个 方 式 证

    明 在 很 早 时 候 就 感 觉 到 没 有 延 长 这 种 权 力 的 必 要 。 这 一 条 规

    定 宣 布 子 在 被 父 出 卖 三 次 以 后 应 该 获 得 自 由 , 其 原 意 似 乎 是

    为 了 要 惩 罚 这 种 甚 至 为 道 德 观 念 还 处 于 启 蒙 时 期 的 原 始 罗 马

    人 所 反 对 的 实 践 。 但 是 甚 至 在 “ 十 二 铜 表 法 ” 公 布 以 前 , 由

    于 法 学 专 家 的 智 机 , 如 果 家 父 愿 意 中 止 家 父 权 的 时 候 , 就 可

    以 利 用 这 个 方 式 来 把 它 取 消 。

    无 疑 地 , 我 们 是 不 能 从 历 史 的 表 面 来 发 现 这 许 多 促 使 减轻 父 对 子 人 身 权 力 的 严 酷 性 的 原 因 的 。 我 们 无 法 断 定 究 竟 公

    共 舆 论 对 于 一 种 法 律 所 赋 予 的 权 威 能 使 它 瘫 痪 到 如 何 程 度 ,

    或 者 父 子 之 情 究 竟 能 使 它 被 忍 耐 到 如 何 程 度 。 但 是 , 虽 然 对

    于 人 身 的 权 力 在 后 来 可 能 变 成 了 有 名 无 实 , 不 过 到 现 在 还 残

    存 的 罗 马 法 律 学 的 全 部 要 旨 暗 示 着 ; 父 对 子财产 所 有 的 权 利 ,

    则 是 始 终 毫 无 犹 豫 地 被 行 使 到 法 律 所 准 许 的 限 度 的 。 这 些 对

    财 产 的 权 利 在 最 初 出 现 时 , 其 活 动 范 围 较 广 是 无 足 惊 异 的 。 古

    代 罗 马 法 禁 止 “ 在 父 权 下 之 子 ”和父 分 开 而 持 有 财 产 , 或 者 ( 我 们 宁 可 说 ) 绝 对 不 考 虑 子 有 主张 一 种 各 别 所 有 权 的 可 能 。 父 有 权 取 得 其 子 的 全 部 取 得 物 , 并享 有 其 契 约 的 利 益 而 不 牵 涉 到 任 何 赔 偿 责 任 。 我 们 从 最 古 罗

    马 社 会 的 构 成 中 所 能 得 到 的 就 是 这 些 , 因 为 除 非 我 们 假 定 原

    始 家 族 集 团 的 成 员 应 该 把 他 们 各 式 各 样 的 劳 动 所 得 都 放 在 其

    共 有 的 财 产 中 , 而 在 同 时 他 们 又 不 能 把 在 事 前 没 有 经 过 考 虑

    的 个 人 债 务 来 拘 束 它 , 则 我 们 就 很 难 就 原 始 家 族 集 团 作 出 一

    个 概 念 。 “ 家 父 权 ” 的 真 正 难 解 之 处 实 在 并 不 在 这 一 方 面 , 而

    是 在 于 父 的 这 些 财 产 特 权 被 剥 夺 得 如 此 之 慢 , 以 及 在 于 在 这

    些 特 权 被 大 大 地 缩 小 之 前 全 部 文 明 世 界 都 被 引 入 这 些 特 权 范

    围 之 内 的 情 况 。 对 于 这 种 情 况 , 没 有 试 作 过 任 何 改 革 , 直 到

    帝 国 的 初 期 , 现 役 军 人 的 取 得 物 可 以 不 受 “ 家 父 权 ” 的 影 响 ,

    这 无 疑 地 是 被 用 作 为 对 推 翻 自 由 共 和 政 治 的 军 队 的 酬 劳 的 一

    部 分 。 经 过 三 个 世 纪 以 后 , 这 同 样 的 免 除 扩 大 而 适 用 于 国 家

    文 官 的 劳 动 所 得 。 这 二 种 变 化 在 应 用 时 是 显 然 有 限 制 的 , 并

    且 它 们 在 技 术 上 是 采 用 这 样 的 形 式 , 以 求 尽 量 避 免 干 预 “ 家

    父 权 ” 的 原 则 。 罗 马 法 在 过 去 是 一 向 承 认 某 种 有 限 的 和 依 附的 所 有 权 的 , 奴 隶 及 “ 在 父 权 下 之 子 ” 的 赏 金 和 积 蓄 并 不 被强 迫 包 括 在 家 庭 账 目 之 内 , 这 种 特 许 财 产 的 特 别 名 称 为 “ 特有 产 ” ( P e c u l i u m ) , 适 用 于 新 从 “ 家 父 权 ” 中 解 放 出 来 的 取 得物 , 属 于 军 人 方 面 的 则 称 为 “ 军 役 特 有 产 ”, 属 于 文 官 方 面 的 则 称 为 “ 准 军 役 特 有 产 ”。 以 后 对 家 父 权 还 有 其 他 的 变 更 , 在 外 表

    上 对 于 古 代 原 则 已 不 复 像 过 去 那 样 的 尊 重 了 。 在 采 用 “ 准 军

    役 特 有 产 ” 以 后 不 久 , 君 士 坦 丁 大 帝 取 消 了 父 对 子 从 其 母 承

    继 财 产 上 所 有 的 绝 对 权 , 把 它 缩 小 为 一 种用益权或 终 身 收 益 。 在 西 罗 马 帝 国 还 有 少 数 比 较 不 很 重 要 的 变 化 , 但最 大 的 变 化 发 生 在 东 罗 马 帝 国 , 是 当 查 斯 丁 尼 安 的 时 代 , 他

    所 制 定 的 法 律 , 规 定 除 非 子 的 取 得 物 是 来 自 其 父 自 己 财 产 , 父

    对 这 些 取 得 物 的 权 力 不 得 超 出 在 他 生 存 期 内 享 有 出 产 物 的 范

    围 。 罗 马 的 “ 家 父 权 ” 虽 已 作 了 这 样 极 度 的 宽 放 , 但 是 罗 马

    的 制 度 仍 旧 远 比 现 代 世 界 中 任 何 类 似 制 度 为 广 泛 和 严 格 。 法

    律 学 最 早 的 现 代 作 者 认 为 , 只 有 比 较 残 暴 和 比 较 鄙 野 的 罗 马

    帝 国 征 服 者 , 特 别 是 斯 拉 夫 族 的 各 国 , 才 有 类 似 “ 法 学 彙

    纂 ” 和 “ 法 典 ” 中 所 叙 述 的 一 种 “ 家 父 权 ” 。 所 有 的 日 耳 曼 移民 似 乎 都 承 认 一 个 家 族 团 体 属 于门特 ( m u n d ) 或 族 长 权 之 下 ;

    但 族 长 的 权 力 显 然 只 是 一 种 腐 败 的 “ 家 父 权 ” 的 遗 骸 , 同 罗

    马 人 的 父 所 享 有 的 权 力 远 不 能 相 比 拟 。 法 兰 克 人 特 别 被 提 到

    没 有 受 到 这 种 罗 马 制 度 的 影 响 , 因 此 老 一 辈 的 法 国 法 学 家 甚

    至 在 非 常 忙 于 用 罗 马 法 规 定 来 填 补 野 蛮 习 惯 的 孔 隙 时 , 还 不

    得 不 用 这 明 白 的 格 言 ·

    在 ·

    法 ·

    兰 ·

    西 ·

    父 ·

    权 ·

    不 ·

    能 ·

    代 ·

    来 保 获 自 己 , 使 不 受 到“ 家 父 权 ” 的 侵 入 。 罗 马 人 固 执 地 保 持 着 他 们 这 个 最 古 状 态 的

    遗 迹 , 其 本 身 是 值 得 注 意 的 , 但 更 值 得 注 意 的 是 “ 家 父 权 ” 在

    它 一 度 绝 迹 以 后 又 复 在 全 部 文 明 世 界 广 泛 流 行 这 一 事 实 。 当

    “ 军 役 特 有 产 ” 还 只 是 父 对 子 财 产 权 力 的 唯 一 例 外 时 , 以 及 当

    父 对 于 子 人 身 所 有 的 权 力 还 是 极 为 广 泛 的 时 候 , 罗 马 公 民 权

    以 及 随 着 公 民 权 而 产 生 的 “ 家 父 权 ” 正 被 广 布 到 帝 国 的 每 一

    个 角 落 。 每 一 个 非 洲 人 或 西 班 牙 人 、 每 一 个 高 卢 人 、 不 列 颠

    人 或 犹 太 人 因 赠 与 、 买 受 或 继 承 而 获 得 这 种 公 民 权 的 光 荣 时 ,

    把 它 自 己 放 在 罗 马 “ 人 法 ” 之 下 , 又 虽 然 我 们 的 权 威 学 者 暗

    示 , 在 取 得 公 民 权 前 所 生 的 子 女 不 能 违 背 他 们 的 意 志 而 把 他

    们 放 在 “ 父 权 ” 之 下 , 但 在 这 以 后 所 生 的 子 女 以 及 所 有 在 他

    们 以 后 的 卑 亲 属 都 应 该 处 于 一 个 罗 马家子 的 通 常 地 位 上 。 对

    于 后 期 罗 马 社 会 的 构 成 , 本 不 在 本 文 研 究 范 围 之 内 , 但 我 不

    妨 在 这 里 说 明 , 有 人 认 为 安 托 宁 那 · 卡 刺 卡 拉 ( A n t o n i n u s C a r a c a l l a ) 规 定 把 罗 马 公 民 权 赋 予 其 全 部 臣 民 的 措 施 并 不 重要 , 这 种 意 见 是 缺 乏 根 据 的 。 不 论 我 们 对 这 件 事 作 如 何 解 释 ,

    但 它 必 然 无 疑 地 大 大 扩 大 了 “ 家 父 权 ” 的 范 围 , 并 且 据 我 看

    来 , 它 使 家 族 关 系 更 加 紧 密 , 而 这 正 是 我 们 必 须 比 以 前 更 加

    注 意 的 , 可 以 用 来 说 明 正 在 改 变 着 世 界 的 伟 大 道 德 革 命 的 一

    种 媒 介 。

    在 离 开 我 们 主 题 的 这 一 个 部 分 以 前 , 应 该 注 意 到 “ 家

    父 ” 对 于 “ 在 父 权 下 之 子 ” 的 不 法 行 为 ( 或侵 ·

    权 ·

    行 ·

    为 ) 应 负

    责 任 。 他 对 其 奴 隶 的 不 法 行 为 也 同 样 的 应 该 负 责 ; 但 在 这 两

    种 情 形 下 , 他 原 有 这 样 一 种 特 别 的 权 利 , 就 是 把 犯 罪 者 的 本

    人 交 出 以 赔 偿 损 害 。 “ 家 父 ” 这 样 因 为 子 的 缘 故 而 负 担 责 任 ,再 加 上 父 和 “ 在 父 权 下 之 子 ” 相 互 之 间 不 能 提 起 控 诉 , 有 些

    法 学 家 认 为 这 种 情 况 最 好 用 “ 家 父 ” 与 “ 家 子 ” 间 存 在 着 一

    种 “ 人 格 统 一 ” 的 假 设 来 加 以 说 明 。 在 “ 继 承 ” 的 一 章 中 , 我

    将 说 明 在 什 么 意 义 上 和 在 什 么 限 度 内 , 这 种 “ 统 一 ” 可 以 被

    认 为 是 一 种 现 实 。 在 目 前 我 只 须 说 明 : “ 家 父 ” 的 这 些 责 任 以

    及 此 后 要 讨 论 到 的 其 他 一 些 法 律 现 象 , 据 我 看 来 , 都 是 作 为

    原 始 族 长 所 有 ·

    权 ·

    利 的 一 种 对 称 的 某 种 ·

    义 ·

    务 。 我 的 看 法 是 , 如

    果 他 有 绝 对 的 处 分 其 同 部 族 之 人 的 人 身 和 财 产 的 权 利 , 则 和

    这 种 代 表 性 的 所 有 权 相 适 应 , 他 也 有 从 共 同 基 金 中 供 养 同 族

    内 所 有 成 员 的 责 任 。 困 难 是 在 于 , 当 我 们 在 想 象 “ 家 父 ” 的

    这 种 责 任 的 性 质 时 , 我 们 必 须 从 我 们 习 惯 的 联 想 中 充 分 地 解

    脱 出 来 。 它 不 是 一 种 法 律 义 务 , 因 为 法 律 还 没 有 渗 透 到 “ 家

    族 ” 的 境 界 之 内 。 要 称 它 为 ·

    道 ·

    德 ·

    的 也 许 还 言 之 过 早 , 因 为 道

    德 观 念 属 于 较 后 阶 段 的 智 力 发 展 ; 在 目 前 , 我 们 不 妨 称 之 为

    “ 道 德 义 务 ” , 但 是 这 所 谓 “ 道 德 义 务 ” , 应 该 被 理 解 为 一 种 自

    觉 地 服 从 的 , 并 且 是 依 靠 本 能 和 习 惯 而 不 是 依 靠 文 明 规 定 裁

    制 所 强 行 的 义 务 。

    “ 家 父 权 ” 就 其 正 常 状 态 而 论 , 并 不 是 , 并 且 据 我 看 来 ,

    也 不 可 能 是 一 种 在 大 体 上 永 久 的 制 度 。 因 此 , 如 果 我 们 单 从

    它 本 身 来 考 虑 , 它 以 前 具 有 普 遍 性 的 证 据 , 是 不 完 全 的 ; 但

    是 如 果 研 究 一 下 古 代 法 律 中 在 根 本 上 依 附 着 它 、 但 却 不 是 从

    它 所 有 方 面 或 为 每 一 个 人 所 能 看 到 的 一 条 线 索 所 联 系 着 的 其

    他 部 门 , 则 可 以 获 得 的 证 据 将 更 多 。 我 们 试 以 亲 属 关 系 为 例 ,

    或 者 换 言 之 , 以 古 代 法 律 学 中 亲 属 相 互 间 据 而 衡 量 远 近 亲 疏

    的 等 级 为 例 。 这 里 , 最 方 便 的 方 法 又 是 应 用 罗 马 的 用 语 , 即“ 宗 亲 ” 和 “ 血 亲 ” 关 系 。 血亲 关 系 就 是 现 代 观 念 所 熟 悉 的 亲属 关 系 概 念 ; 这 是 因 一 对 已 婚 的 人 所 出 生 的 共 同 后 裔 而 产 生 的 亲 属 关 系 , 不 论 其 后 裔 来 自 男 性 或 女 性 方 面 。宗亲 亲 属 关系 和 这 完 全 不 同 ; 它 不 包 括 有 许 多 我 们 在 今 天 认 为 当 然 是 我

    们 亲 属 的 人 , 而 同 时 却 包 括 了 更 多 我 们 决 不 会 计 算 在 我 们 亲

    属 中 的 人 。 其 实 , 这 是 根 据 了 最 古 时 代 的 看 法 而 存 在 于 家 族

    成 员 间 的 一 种 关 系 。 这 个 关 系 的 范 围 , 和 现 代 亲 属 关 系 的 范

    围 是 远 不 相 一 致 的 。

    因 此 , “ 血 亲 ” 指 的 是 一 切 人 , 从 血 统 上 能 追 溯 到 一 个 单

    一 的 男 性 和 女 性 祖 先 的 ; 或 者 , 如 果 我 们 用 罗 马 法 中 这 个 字

    的 严 格 的 专 门 意 义 , 他 们 是 一 切 从 血 统 上 能 追 溯 到 一 对 合 法

    结 婚 夫 妇 的 人 。 “ 血 亲 属 ” 因 此 是 一 个 相 对 的 名 称 , 它 所 表 示

    血 缘 关 系 的 程 度 要 以 被 选 定 作 为 计 算 的 起 点 的 特 殊 婚 姻 而 决

    定 。 如 果 我 们 从 父 和 母 的 婚 姻 开 始 , “ 血 亲 属 ” 只 表 示 兄 弟 和

    姊 妹 的 亲 属 关 系 ; 如 果 我 们 从 祖 父 和 祖 母 的 婚 姻 开 始 , 则 伯

    叔 姑 母 以 及 其 后 裔 也 都 要 包 括 在 “ 血 亲 属 ” 的 观 念 内 , 根 据

    这 同 一 步 骤 只 要 我 们 在 宗 谱 上 选 定 更 高 更 高 的 起 点 , 那 就 可

    继 续 得 到 更 大 量 的 “ 血 亲 ” 。 这 一 些 都 是 为 一 个 现 代 人 所 容 易

    理 解 的 , 但 谁 是 “ 宗 亲 ” 呢 ? 首 先 , 凡 专 从 男 性 追 溯 其 亲 属

    关 系 的 都 是 “ 血 亲 ” 。 为 了 要 组 成 一 张 “ 血 亲 ” 世 系 表 , 当 然

    只 须 要 依 次 取 每 一 个 直 系 祖 先 , 并 把 其 所 有 男 女 两 性 的 卑 属

    亲 都 包 括 在 一 张 表 式 内 ; 如 果 , 在 追 溯 这 样 一 张 家 系 表 或 家

    系 树 的 各 个 支 派 时 , 我 们 每 到 达 一 个 女 性 的 名 字 时 立 即 停 止 ,

    不 再 在 该 特 殊 的 支 派 或 枝 节 上 继 续 向 前 进 行 , 把 女 性 的 卑 属

    亲 完 全 除 外 后 所 有 遗 留 下 来 的 人 就 都 是 “ 宗 亲 ” , 而 他 们 相 互的 关 系 便 是 “ 宗 亲 ” 关 系 。 我 之 所 以 要 在 那 实 际 上 把 他 们 从

    “ 血 亲 ” 分 开 来 的 过 程 上 稍 谈 几 句 , 因 为 这 说 明 了 一 个 著 名 的

    法 律 格 言 “ 一 个 妇 女 是 家 族 的 终 点 ”。 在 一 个 女 性 名 字 出 现 的 地 方 封 闭 了 家 系 中 有 关 支 派 或 枝 条 。 女 性 的 后 裔 是 不 包 括 在 家 族 关 系 的 原 始 观 念 中 的 。

    如 果 我 们 所 研 究 的 古 法 律 制 度 是 一 个 允 许 收 养 的 制 度 ,

    则 在 “ 宗 亲 ” 之 中 还 必 须 加 进 由 于 人 为 的 扩 大 范 围 而 增 加 到

    “ 家 族 ” 中 来 的 人 口 , 包 括 男 性 或 女 性 。 但 是 这 类 人 的 卑 亲 属

    如 果 能 满 足 上 面 所 谈 的 各 种 条 件 ; 则 他 们 将 只 是 “ 宗 亲 ” 。

    然 则 , 究 竟 凭 着 什 么 理 由 , 决 定 这 种 专 断 的 包 括 和 除 外 ?

    为 什 么 一 个 “ 亲 属 关 系 ” 的 概 念 一 方 面 是 这 样 地 有 弹 性 , 可

    以 包 括 因 收 养 而 带 入 家 族 中 来 的 陌 生 人 , 但 另 一 方 面 又 是 这

    样 地 狭 隘 , 把 一 个 女 性 成 员 的 后 裔 排 除 在 家 族 之 外 ? 要 解 决

    这 个 问 题 , 我 们 又 必 须 回 到 “ 家 父 权 ” 。 “ 宗 亲 属 ” 的 基 础 并

    不 是 “ 父 ” “ 母 ” 的 婚 姻 , 而 是 “ 父 ” 的 权 威 。 在 同 一 “ 父

    权 ” 之 下 的 一 切 人 , 或 是 曾 经 在 它 下 面 的 一 切 人 , 或 是 可 能

    会 在 它 们 下 面 的 一 切 人 , 如 果 他 们 的 直 系 祖 先 寿 命 很 长 足 以

    造 成 他 个 人 的 王 国 , 所 有 这 一 切 人 就 都 是 因 “ 宗 亲 属 ” 而 结

    合 在 一 起 的 。 实 际 上 , 在 原 始 的 见 解 中 , 所 谓 “ 亲 属 关 系 ” 正

    是 以 “ 家 父 权 ” 为 其 范 围 的 。 “ 家 父 权 ” 开 始 时 , “ 亲 属 关

    系 ” 也 开 始 ; 因 此 , 收 养 关 系 也 包 括 在 亲 属 关 系 之 中 。 “ 家 父

    权 ” 终 了 时 , “ 亲 属 关 系 ” 也 终 了 ; 因 此 , 一 个 被 父 所 解 放 了

    的 子 就 丧 失 了 “ 宗 亲 属 ” 的 一 切 权 利 。 这 就 是 为 什 么 女 性 后

    裔 不 在 古 亲 属 关 系 范 围 之 内 的 理 由 。 如 果 一 个 妇 女 未 婚 而 死

    亡 , 她 不 能 有 合 法 的 卑 亲 属 。 在 她 结 婚 后 , 她 所 生 的 子 女 属于 她 夫 而 不 属 于 她 父 的 “ 家 父 权 ” 范 围 , 这 样 , 她 的 子 女 就不 属 于 她 自 己 的 家 族 。 很 显 然 , 如 果 有 人 自 称 是 母 亲 的 亲 属 ,

    则 原 始 的 社 会 组 织 可 能 要 为 之 惊 惶 失 措 。 因 为 这 样 一 个 人 就

    可 能 要 属 于 两 个 不 同 的 “ 家 父 权 ” ; 但 是 各 别 的 “ 家 父 权 ” 含

    有 各 别 的 管 辖 权 之 意 , 则 这 个 同 时 属 于 两 个 管 辖 权 的 人 就 必

    将 生 活 于 两 种 不 同 法 律 管 理 之 下 。 既 然 “ 家 族 ” 是 帝 国 内 的

    一 个 帝 国 ; 是 共 和 政 治 内 的 一 个 共 产 体 , 受 到 它 自 己 的 以 父

    为 其 泉 源 的 制 度 的 统 治 , 则 把 亲 属 关 系 限 于 “ 宗 亲 ” , 正 是 避

    免 在 家 庭 中 的 法 庭 上 发 生 法 律 冲 突 的 一 种 必 要 保 证 。

    “ 父 权 ” 本 身 因 父 的 死 而 消 灭 , 但 “ 宗 亲 属 ” 则 好 像 是 一

    个 模 型 , 在 “ 父 权 ” 消 灭 后 还 留 着 痕 迹 。 这 就 是 研 究 法 律 学

    史 的 人 对 “ 宗 亲 属 ” 感 到 有 兴 趣 的 所 在 。 只 有 在 比 较 少 数 的

    古 代 法 律 的 纪 念 碑 中 可 以 看 到 “ 父 权 ” , 但 是 意 味 着 父 权 存 在

    的 “ 宗 亲 ” 关 系 , 则 几 乎 到 处 都 可 以 发 现 。 属 于 印 度 - 欧 罗

    巴 祖 先 的 各 个 共 产 体 的 土 著 法 律 , 在 其 最 古 结 构 中 ; 绝 少 不

    显 示 出 明 明 可 以 归 因 于 “ 宗 亲 属 ” 的 特 性 的 。 例 如 : 在 含 有

    浓 厚 宗 族 依 附 这 个 原 始 观 念 的 印 度 法 中 , 亲 属 关 系 是 完 全

    “ 宗 亲 ” 的 , 据 我 所 知 , 在 印 度 的 家 谱 中 , 所 有 妇 女 的 名 字 一

    般 是 完 全 略 而 不 载 的 。 对 于 亲 属 关 系 的 这 种 同 样 见 解 , 在 许

    多 蹂 躏 罗 马 帝 国 的 各 民 族 的 法 律 中 都 普 遍 存 在 , 真 好 象 是 它

    们 原 始 惯 例 的 一 部 分 ; 我 们 并 且 不 妨 猜 想 ; 如 果 不 是 后 期 罗

    马 法 对 现 代 思 想 所 加 的 巨 大 影 响 , 它 在 现 代 欧 洲 法 律 学 中 可

    能 要 比 现 在 更 永 久 地 被 保 存 着 。 “ 裁 判 官 ” 很 早 就 把 “ 血 亲属 ” 作 为天然 形 式 的 亲 属 关 系 , 并 不 辞 艰 苦 地 想 把 旧 的 概 念

    从 他 们 的 制 度 中 清 除 出 去 。 他 们 的 观 念 传 给 了 我 们 , 但 “ 宗亲 属 ” 的 痕 迹 在 许 多 现 代 的 继 承 法 规 定 中 仍 旧 可 以 看 到 。 把

    女 性 及 其 子 女 排 斥 在 政 府 职 务 之 外 , 一 般 以 为 系 由 于 撒 利 族法 兰 克 人 ( S a l i a n   F r a n k s ) 的 惯 例 , 但 这 当 然 是 来 自 “ 宗亲 ” 关 系 , 起 源 于 古 日 耳 曼 对 于 自 主 财 产 的 继 承 规 定 。 在 英

    国 法 律 中 , 只 有 到 最 近 才 被 废 弃 的 那 种 特 别 规 定 , 即 禁 止 半

    血 统 兄 弟 相 互 继 承 土 地 的 规 定 , 也 可 以 在 “ 宗 亲 ” 中 找 到 解

    释 。 在 诺 曼 底的 习 惯 中 。 这 个 规 定 只 适 用 于同母 ·

    异 ·

    父 ( u t e r i n e ) 兄 弟 , 也 即 是 同 母 而 不 是 同 父 的 兄 弟 ; 这

    种 限 制 , 是 严 格 地 从 “ 宗 亲 属 ” 制 度 中 演 绎 出 来 的 , 因 为 在

    这 个 制 度 下 , 同 母 异 父 兄 弟 在 相 互 之 间 根 本 不 是 亲 属 。 当 它

    被 带 到 英 格 兰 时 , 英 国 法 官 不 了 解 原 则 的 来 源 , 把 它 解 释 为

    只 是 一 般 地 禁 止 半 血 统 的 继 承 , 并 把 它 推 用 到同血 ·

    统兄 弟 , 即 同 父 异 母 的 各 个 儿 子 。 在 一 切 虚 伪 法律 哲 学 的 文 籍 中 , 当 以 企 图 对 半 血 统 的 被 排 斥 进 行 解 释 并 证

    明 它 是 正 当 的 布 拉 克 斯 顿 的 诡 辩 文 章 , 最 为 突 出 。

    我 以 为 , 由 此 可 以 看 出 这 个 由 “ 家 父 权 ” 结 合 起 来 的

    “ 家 族 ” 是 全 部 “ 人 法 ” 从 其 中 孕 育 而 产 生 出 来 的 卵 巢 。 在

    “ 人 法 ” 的 各 章 中 , 最 重 要 的 是 有 关 妇 女 身 分 的 一 章 。 刚 才 说

    过 , “ 原 始 法 律 学 ” 虽 不 允 许 一 个 妇 女 把 任 何 “ 宗 亲 属 ” 的 权

    利 传 给 其 后 裔 , 但 却 把 它 本 人 包 括 在 “ 宗 亲 ” 范 围 之 内 。 其

    实 , 一 个 女 性 同 她 所 出 生 的 家 族 之 间 的 关 系 , 应 该 比 把 她 和

    男 性 亲 属 结 合 在 一 起 的 关 系 更 来 得 严 格 、 密 切 和 永 久 。 我 们

    曾 几 次 说 过 , 早 期 法 律 只 着 眼 于 “ 家 族 ” ; 这 也 就 是 说 , 它 只

    着 眼 于 行 使 “ 家 父 权 ” 的 人 : 因 此 , 它 在 父 死 之 时 解 放 其 子

    或 孙 所 依 据 的 唯 一 原 则 , 是 在 考 虑 这 个 子 或 孙 有 没 有 使 其 本身 成 为 一 个 新 家 族 的 首 领 和 一 套 新 “ 父 权 ” 的 根 子 的 能 力 。 一

    个 妇 女 当 然 不 具 有 这 种 能 力 , 因 此 也 就 不 能 有 获 得 法 律 所 赋

    与 的 自 由 的 权 利 。 所 以 古 法 律 学 用 一 种 特 殊 的 诡 计 把 她 终 生

    留 在 “ 家 族 ” 的 范 围 中 。 这 就 是 最 古 罗 马 法 中 所 谓 “ 妇 女 终身 监 护 ” ( P e r p e t u a l   T u t e l a g e   o f   W o m e n ) 的 制 度 , 在 这个 制 度 下 面 , 一 个 “ 女 性 ” 虽 因 其 父 的 死 亡 而 从 父 权 中 解 脱

    出 来 , 但 仍 应 继 续 终 身 从 属 于 最 近 的 男 性 亲 属 ; 并 以 他 作 为

    其 “ 监 护 人 ” 。 “ 终 身 监 护 制 ” ( P e r p e t u a l   G u a r d i a n s h i p ) 显

    然 是 不 折 不 扣 的 “ 家 父 权 ” 的 一 种 人 为 的 延 长 , 虽 然 当 时 在

    其 他 方 面 , “ 家 父 权 ” 已 经 被 完 全 取 消 了 。 在 印 度 , 这 个 制 度

    完 整 无 缺 地 保 存 下 来 , 并 执 行 得 非 常 严 格 , 以 致 一 个 印 度 的

    母 亲 常 常 受 着 自 己 儿 子 的 监 护 。 甚 至 在 欧 洲 所 有 斯 干 的 那 雄

    亚 各 国 有 关 妇 女 的 法 律 一 直 到 最 近 还 保 留 着 这 种 制 度 。 西 罗

    马 帝 国 的 侵 入 者 在 土 著 惯 例 中 都 普 遍 具 有 这 种 制 度 。 他 们 在

    “ 监 护 制 ” 这 个 主 题 上 所 有 的 各 式 各 样 观 念 , 实 在 是 他 们 介 绍

    到 西 方 世 界 的 各 种 观 念 中 最 退 化 的 一 种 。 但 在 成 熟 的 罗 马 法

    律 学 中 , 这 种 制 度 已 完 全 消 失 。 如 果 我 们 所 能 参 考 的 只 是 查

    斯 丁 尼 安 所 编 纂 的 法 律 , 则 我 们 将 几 乎 完 全 不 知 道 有 这 样 一

    个 制 度 ; 但 是 该 雅 士 手 稿 的 发 现 让 我 们 看 到 了 这 个 制 度 , 正

    当 它 陷 于 完 全 丧 失 信 用 和 濒 于 消 灭 的 这 样 一 个 最 有 趣 的 时

    代 。 这 个 伟 大 的 法 学 专 家 斥 责 了 一 般 用 来 替 这 个 制 度 辩 解 的

    所 谓 女 性 智 力 低 劣 的 说 法 , 在 他 的 著 作 中 , 并 且 有 相 当 大 的

    一 部 分 用 来 说 明 罗 马 法 学 家 所 提 出 以 便 “ 妇 女 们 ” 能 凭 以 打

    垮 这 古 代 规 定 的 许 多 方 法 , 其 中 有 些 是 非 常 聪 明 的 。 这 些 法

    学 专 家 在 “ 自 然 法 ” 理 论 的 指 导 下 , 在 这 个 时 期 明 显 地 以 两性 平 等 作 为 其 衡 平 法 典 的 一 个 原 则 。 我 们 可 以 看 到 他 所 攻 击

    的 各 种 限 制 是 对 于 财 产 处 分 上 的 限 制 , 因 为 在 那 个 时 候 , 妇

    女 处 分 财 产 仍 必 须 正 式 取 得 其 监 护 人 的 同 意 。 至 于 对 她 人 身

    的 支 配 权 则 显 然 早 已 废 弃 了 。

    “ 古 代 法 ” 把 妇 女 从 属 于 她 血 统 至 亲 , 而 现 代 法 律 学 中 的

    一 个 主 要 现 象 则 是 把 她 从 属 于 丈 夫 。 这 种 变 化 的 历 史 是 值 得

    注 意 的 。 这 种 历 史 的 开 始 , 远 在 罗 马 的 纪 年 史 中 。 在 古 代 , 按

    照 罗 马 的 惯 例 而 缔 结 婚 姻 的 方 式 有 三 种 , 一 种 是 男 宗 教 仪 式 ,

    另 外 两 种 是 按 照 世 俗 仪 式 进 行 。 宗 教 婚 姻 叫共食婚 ( C o n f a r A r e a t i o n ) ; 高 级 形 式 的 民 事 婚 姻 称 为买卖婚 ( C o e m p t i o n ) ; 低 级 形 式 称 为时效婚 ( U s u s ) , 通 过 这 些 婚 姻 , 夫 对 于 妻 的 人 身和 财 产 取 得 了 多 种 权 利 , 总 的 说 来 , 是 超 过 现 代 法 律 学 任 何制 度 所 赋 与 他 的 。 然 则 , 他 究 竟 是 凭 什 么 能 力 取 得 这 些 权 利的 呢 ? 他 不 是 以夫 而 是 以父 的 能 力 。 通 过 “ 共 食 婚 ” 、 “ 买 卖婚 ” 和 “ 时 效 婚 ” ,妇女处在夫 的 监 护 下也 就 是 说 , 在 法 律 上 , 她 成 了 她 丈 夫 的女儿 。 她 被 包 括 在 夫的 “ 家 父 权 ” 中 。 她 承 担 着 在 “ 家 父 权 ” 存 在 时 所 产 生 的 以及 在 “ 家 父 权 ” 消 灭 后 所 遗 下 的 一 切 义 务 。 她 所 有 的 全 部 财

    产 绝 对 地 属 于 夫 所 有 , 在 他 死 亡 后 , 她 便 受 监 护 人 的 保 护 , 监

    护 人 是 由 其 夫 用 遗 嘱 指 定 的 。 但 是 , 这 三 种 古 代 的 婚 姻 形 式

    逐 渐 废 弃 不 用 , 在 罗 马 最 光 辉 灿 烂 的 时 期 , 它 们 几 乎 完 全 为

    另 外 的 一 种 婚 礼 所 代 替 — — 显 然 是 旧 式 的 , 但 到 这 时 为 止 一

    向 是 被 认 为 不 体 面 的 — — , 这 是 低 级 形 式 民 间 婚 姻 的 一 种 变

    形 。 我 毋 庸 详 细 说 明 这 在 现 在 成 为 普 遍 流 行 的 制 度 的 专 门 结

    构 , 只 须 说 明 : 在 法 律 上 妇 女 只 是 作 为 家 族 的 一 种 暂 时 寄 托物 而 已 。 家 族 所 有 的 各 种 权 利 仍 旧 毫 无 损 失 , 妇 女 继 续 在 她

    父 所 指 定 的 监 护 人 的 保 护 之 下 , 而 监 护 人 的 支 配 权 在 许 多 实

    质 问 题 上 甚 且 超 过 其 夫 的 低 级 权 力 。 其 结 果 , 罗 马 女 性 不 论

    是 已 婚 的 或 未 婚 的 , 在 人 身 上 和 财 产 上 都 有 巨 大 的 独 立 地 位 ,

    因 为 象 我 已 经 暗 示 过 的 ; 后 期 法 律 的 趋 势 把 监 护 人 的 权 力 逐

    渐 缩 减 到 零 , 而 流 行 的 婚 姻 形 式 也 并 没 有 把 补 充 的 优 越 权 给

    予 其 夫 。 但 基 督 教 似 乎 从 开 始 时 就 有 要 缩 小 这 种 显 著 自 由 的

    倾 向 。 具 有 这 个 新 信 仰 的 专 家 们 最 初 由 于 对 腐 败 的 邪 教 世 界

    种 种 放 荡 行 为 的 正 当 嫌 恶 的 引 导 , 但 后 来 则 为 禁 欲 主 义 的 一

    种 热 情 所 催 促 , 对 于 这 事 实 上 为 西 方 世 界 所 仅 见 的 最 松 弛 的

    一 种 婚 姻 关 系 , 不 表 欢 迎 。 最 后 期 的 罗 马 法 律 由 于 它 曾 受 到

    基 督 皇 帝 宪 令 的 接 触 , 带 有 反 对 这 些 伟 大 安 托 宁 法 学 专 家 们

    自 由 学 理 的 某 种 痕 迹 。 当 时 流 行 的 宗 教 情 绪 可 以 说 明 , 经 过

    蛮 族 征 服 的 熔 炉 锻 炼 过 并 由 罗 马 法 律 学 同 宗 法 惯 例 混 合 而 形

    成 的 近 代 法 律 学 , 为 什 么 会 在 其 雏 形 中 过 分 地 吸 收 一 些 不 完

    全 的 文 明 社 会 中 有 关 妇 女 地 位 的 规 定 。 在 近 代 史 开 始 的 混 乱

    时 代 , 日 耳 曼 和 斯 拉 夫 移 民 的 法 律 对 于 地 方 臣 民 象 是 一 个 隔

    层 那 样 重 叠 在 罗 马 法 学 之 上 , 这 些 优 胜 民 族 的 妇 女 到 处 都 是

    处 在 各 式 各 样 的 古 代 监 护 制 之 下 , 丈 夫 要 从 他 本 族 以 外 任 何

    家 族 娶 妻 , 为 了 从 他 们 那 里 取 得 保 佐 权 , 就 必 须 以 一 种 聘 金

    付 给 她 的 亲 属 作 为 代 价 。 当 我 们 继 续 向 前 进 展 看 到 中 世 纪 时 ,

    法 典 已 通 过 两 种 制 度 的 合 并 而 形 成 , 其 有 关 妇 女 的 法 律 也 就

    带 有 双 重 渊 源 的 烙 印 。 对 于 未 婚 女 性 , 罗 马 法 律 学 的 原 则 占

    了 优 势 , 一 般 ( 虽 然 对 这 规 定 在 有 些 地 方 是 有 例 外 的 ) 都 已

    不 受 家 族 的 束 缚 ; 但 已 婚 妇 女 的 地 位 则 是 根 据 蛮 族 的 古 代 原则 规 定 的 , 夫 能 以 夫 的 身 分 把 过 去 一 度 属 于 妻 的 男 性 亲 属 所

    有 的 各 种 权 力 取 为 己 有 , 所 不 同 的 是 他 已 不 再 是 购 买 他 的 特

    权 了 。 因 此 , 到 这 时 候 , 西 欧 和 南 欧 的 近 代 法 律 开 始 因 这 样

    一 个 主 要 特 征 而 著 名 , 就 是 一 方 面 未 婚 妇 女 和 寡 妇 比 较 有 了

    自 由 , 另 一 方 面 它 又 使 妻 子 感 到 沉 重 无 力 。 由 于 婚 姻 而 使 女

    性 处 于 从 属 地 位 , 要 经 过 很 长 时 期 才 明 显 地 消 灭 , 欧 洲 这 种

    野 蛮 主 义 的 复 活 , 其 主 要 和 有 力 的 溶 剂 始 终 是 来 自 查 斯 丁 尼

    安 法 典 化 的 法 律 学 ; 因 为 凡 是 研 究 它 的 地 方 都 必 然 地 会 唤 起

    那 热 情 , 查 斯 丁 尼 安 法 典 化 的 法 律 学 隐 秘 地 、 但 是 最 有 效 地

    损 坏 着 它 在 表 面 上 仅 仅 是 要 加 以 解 释 的 各 种 习 惯 、 但 是 有 关

    已 婚 妇 女 的 一 章 法 律 , 绝 大 部 分 不 是 根 据 了 “ 罗 马 法 ” 而 是

    根 据 了 “ 寺 院 法 ” 的 见 解 来 解 释 的 , “ 寺 院 法 ” 对 于 因 婚 姻 而

    创 设 关 系 所 持 的 见 解 同 世 俗 法 律 学 的 精 神 两 者 之 间 有 着 宽 阔

    的 距 离 , 其 程 度 较 其 他 任 何 方 面 都 来 得 明 显 。 这 多 少 是 难 以

    避 免 的 , 因 为 凡 是 保 留 着 一 些 基 督 教 制 度 这 种 彩 色 的 社 会 , 很

    少 可 能 会 使 已 婚 妇 女 恢 复 中 期 罗 马 法 所 赋 与 她 们 的 个 人 自

    由 , 但 是 已 婚 女 性 在 财 产 上 没 有 权 力 和 其 在 人 格 上 的 没 有 地

    位 是 建 筑 在 完 全 不 同 的 基 础 上 的 , 而 寺 院 法 的 释 义 者 所 以 深

    深 阻 碍 了 文 明 , 就 是 因 为 他 们 把 前 者 保 存 下 来 , 并 加 以 巩 固 。

    有 许 多 迹 象 说 明 在 世 俗 原 则 和 教 会 原 则 之 间 , 是 曾 经 发 生 过

    斗 争 的 , 但 寺 院 法 几 乎 处 处 都 得 到 胜 利 。 在 有 些 法 国 省 分 中 ,

    等 级 低 于 贵 族 的 已 婚 妇 女 取 得 了 罗 马 法 律 学 所 准 许 的 处 分 财

    产 的 全 部 权 力 , 这 种 地 方 法 律 后 来 有 大 部 分 就 为 “ 拿 破 仑 法

    典 ” 所 采 纳 ; 但 是 苏 格 兰 法 律 的 情 况 表 明 , 切 实 顺 从 罗 马 法

    学 专 家 的 学 理 并 不 一 定 能 使 妻 的 地 位 有 所 提 高 。 不 过 对 于 已 婚 妇 女 最 严 厉 的 制 度 , 或 则 是 那 些 严 格 尊 重 “ 寺 院 法 ” 的 制

    度 , 或 则 是 由 于 同 欧 洲 文 明 接 触 较 迟 从 未 把 他 们 的 古 制 加 以

    去 除 的 制 度 。 斯 干 的 那 维 亚 法 律 直 到 后 来 对 于 所 有 女 性 还 是

    比 较 苛 刻 的 , 仍 旧 因 为 对 妻 的 严 峻 而 著 名 。 英 国 普 通 法 所 规

    定 的 财 产 上 的 无 能 力 , 其 严 厉 程 度 也 并 不 稍 逊 , 而 英 国 普 通

    法 中 绝 大 部 分 的 基 本 原 则 , 都 是 来 自 “ 寺 院 法 学 者 ” 的 法 律

    学 的 。 普 通 法 中 规 定 已 婚 妇 女 法 律 地 位 的 那 一 部 分 , 真 可 以

    使 一 英 国 人 对 作 为 本 章 主 题 的 伟 大 制 度 有 一 个 明 白 的 概 念 。

    我 们 只 要 回 想 一 下 纯 粹 英 国 普 通 法 所 赋 与 丈 夫 的 各 种 特 权 ,

    并 回 想 一 下 , 在 普 通 法 还 没 有 经 衡 平 法 或 制 定 法 修 正 的 部 分

    中 , 在 权 利 、 义 务 和 救 济 等 各 方 面 严 格 地 坚 持 妻 在 法 律 上 必

    须 完 全 从 属 的 见 解 , 我 们 将 对 古 代 “ 家 父 权 ” 的 运 用 和 性 质 ,

    获 得 一 个 鲜 明 的 印 象 。 最 早 的 罗 马 法 和 最 晚 的 罗 马 法 之 间 , 就

    在 “ 父 权 下 之 子 ” 这 个 主 题 上 所 存 在 着 的 距 离 , 同 普 通 法 和

    衡 平 法 院 法 律 学 就 其 分 别 对 妻 所 作 规 定 上 存 在 的 距 离 , 可 以

    视 为 完 全 相 等 。

    如 果 我 们 看 不 到 监 护 在 两 种 形 式 上 的 真 正 来 源 , 而 就 这

    些 论 题 采 用 了 普 通 用 语 , 则 我 们 必 然 会 以 为 , “ 妇 女 的 保 佐 ”

    果 然 是 古 代 法 律 制 度 把 停 止 权 利 的 拟 制 推 进 到 一 个 过 分 极 端

    的 例 子 , 而 古 代 法 律 制 度 为 “ 男 性 孤 儿 监 护 ”所 设 的 规 定 则 是 恰 恰 方 向 相 反 的 一 种 错 误 的 例 证 。 所 有 这 类 制 度 都 规 定 在 绝 早 的 时 期 就 终 止 男

    性 的 保 佐 。 根 据 可 以 作 为 其 典 型 的 古 代 罗 马 法 的 规 定 , 因

    “ 父 ” 或 “ 祖 父 ” 死 亡 而 免 除 “ 家 父 权 ” 的 家 子 , 应 仍 处 在 监

    护 之 下 , 一 般 讲 到 他 十 五 岁 的 时 候 为 止 ; 但 一 到 这 个 时 候 , 他 就 能 立 刻 完 全 享 有 人 格 和 财 产 独 立 之 权 。 因 此 , 未 成 年 的 期

    间 , 是 不 合 理 地 短 促 , 正 像 妇 女 无 权 力 的 持 续 期 间 是 荒 谬 地

    长 久 一 样 。 但 是 , 事 实 上 , 在 造 成 这 两 种 监 护 原 来 形 式 的 情

    况 中 , 既 没 有 过 分 , 也 没 有 不 足 的 成 分 。 在 这 两 者 之 中 , 不

    论 是 哪 一 种 都 丝 毫 没 有 考 虑 对 公 或 对 私 的 便 利 。 男 性 孤 儿 的

    监 护 原 只 是 为 了 庇 护 他 们 到 解 事 的 年 龄 , 正 像 妇 女 的 保 佐 , 目

    的 是 在 保 护 女 性 使 不 受 其 本 身 柔 弱 所 造 成 的 害 处 。 父 的 死 亡

    所 以 能 使 子 免 除 家 族 束 缚 , 其 理 由 是 为 了 子 已 有 能 力 成 为 一

    个 新 的 宗 族 首 领 和 一 个 新 “ 家 父 权 ” 的 始 创 者 ; 这 类 能 力 是

    妇 女 所 没 有 的 , 所 以 她 就 ·

    永 ·

    远 ·

    不 ·

    能 被 解 放 。 因 此 “ 男 性 孤 儿

    监 护 ” 是 一 种 手 段 , 用 以 保 持 从 属 于 “ 父 ” 家 族 的 假 象 , 到

    假 定 儿 童 能 自 成 为 父 的 时 候 为 止 。 这 就 是 把 “ 家 父 权 ” 延 长

    到 体 力 刚 刚 达 到 壮 年 时 为 止 。 因 为 严 格 的 理 论 要 求 它 应 该 作

    出 这 样 的 规 定 , 直 到 青 春 期 终 了 为 止 。 但 是 , 它 既 然 并 不 要

    求 把 受 监 护 的 孤 儿 一 直 监 护 到 智 力 成 熟 或 适 宜 于 处 理 事 务 的

    年 龄 , 那 就 不 能 达 到 一 般 便 利 的 目 的 ; 而 这 一 层 似 乎 是 罗 马

    人 在 其 社 会 进 步 的 很 早 阶 段 就 已 经 发 觉 的 了 。 罗 马 立 法 中 最

    早 的 纪 念 碑 之 一 是 ·

    雷 ·

    多 ·

    利 ·

    亚 或 ·

    柏 ·

    雷 ·

    多 ·

    利 ·

    亚 ·

    法 ( L e x   l Et o r i a

      o r   P l Et o r i a ) , 它 就 把 所 有 成 年 的 和 有 完 全 权 利 的 自 由 男性 放 在 一 种 新 型 监 护 人 称 为保佐人 ( C u r a t o r e s ) 的 暂 时 管 束之 下 , 取 得 保 佐 人 的 认 可 是 一 切 行 为 或 契 约 有 效 的 必 要 条 件 。

    青 年 人 年 龄 达 到 二 十 六 岁 , 是 这 个 制 定 法 所 规 定 的 监 督 的 限

    期 ; 罗 马 法 中 所 用 的 “ 成 年 ” 或 “ 未 成 年 ” 这 些 名 词 , 是 专

    对 二 十 五 岁 的 年 龄 而 言 的 。 在 现 代 法 律 学 中 , ·

    未 ·

    成 ·

    年 或 ·

    受 ·

    ·

    护 已 经 几 乎 一 致 地 被 用 为 专 门 保 护 在 体 力 上 和 智 力 上 未 成 熟的 少 年 人 。 在 达 到 解 事 年 龄 时 ,未成 · 年 或受 · 监护 便 自 然 终 止

    了 。 但 罗 马 人 对 于 体 力 幼 弱 的 保 护 和 对 于 智 力 幼 稚 的 保 护 , 分

    成 在 理 论 上 和 在 形 式 上 完 全 不 同 的 两 种 制 度 。 有 关 这 两 种 制

    度 的 观 念 , 在 近 代 的 对 监 护 的 观 念 中 已 合 而 为 一 。

    “ 人 法 ” 中 还 有 另 外 一 章 , 现 在 有 加 以 引 述 的 必 要 。 在 成

    熟 的 法 律 学 的 各 种 制 度 中 用 以 规 定 ·

    奴 ·

    隶 ·

    主 ·

    和 ·

    奴 ·

    隶 关 系 的 法 律

    规 定 , 并 没 有 很 明 显 的 迹 象 可 以 表 明 这 种 原 始 状 态 是 古 代 社

    会 所 共 有 的 。 但 是 这 种 例 外 是 有 理 由 的 。 在 “ 奴 隶 制 度 ” 中

    似 乎 始 终 有 一 些 使 人 类 为 之 震 惊 或 困 惑 的 东 西 , 不 论 人 类 是

    如 何 的 不 习 惯 于 回 忆 , 不 论 人 类 道 德 天 性 的 教 养 是 进 步 得 如

    何 微 少 。 古 代 共 产 体 几 乎 是 下 意 识 地 都 要 体 验 到 良 心 谴 责 , 其

    结 果 往 往 会 采 用 一 些 想 象 的 原 则 为 奴 隶 制 度 作 辩 护 , 或 至 少

    是 作 理 性 上 的 辩 护 的 可 能 根 据 。 在 他 们 历 史 的 初 期 , 希 腊 人

    解 释 这 个 制 度 的 根 据 是 因 为 某 种 民 族 智 力 低 劣 , 从 而 天 然 地

    适 合 于 这 种 奴 役 状 态 。 罗 马 人 用 了 同 样 独 特 的 精 神 , 认 为 它

    是 战 胜 者 和 战 败 者 之 间 一 种 假 定 的 合 意 , 前 者 要 求 敌 人 永 久

    为 其 服 役 ; 而 后 者 以 获 得 他 在 法 律 上 已 经 丧 失 的 生 命 来 作 为

    交 换 。 这 些 理 论 不 但 不 充 分 , 并 且 也 显 然 同 它 所 想 说 明 的 实

    际 情 况 不 符 。 但 这 些 理 论 在 某 些 方 面 还 有 着 巨 大 的 影 响 。 它

    们 使 “ 奴 隶 主 ” 心 安 理 得 。 它 们 永 久 保 存 了 并 且 也 许 加 深 了

    “ 奴 隶 ” 的 低 下 地 位 。 它 们 自 然 有 助 于 隐 蔽 奴 隶 同 家 族 制 度 其

    他 方 面 原 来 所 有 的 关 系 。 这 种 关 系 虽 不 明 显 , 但 在 原 始 法 律

    的 许 多 部 分 中 , 特 别 是 在 典 型 的 制 度 — — 即 古 罗 马 的 制 度 中 ,

    还 是 不 经 意 地 被 表 现 出 来 的 。

    在 美 国 , 曾 花 了 很 多 力 量 从 事 于 研 究 早 期 社 会 中 “ 奴隶 ” 是 否 被 认 为 “ 家 族 ” 中 一 个 成 员 的 问 题 。 有 这 样 一 种 看法 , 认 为 答 案 必 然 是 正 面 的 。 从 古 代 法 和 许 多 原 始 历 史 所 提供 的 证 据 中 , 很 明 显 , “ 奴 隶 ” 在 某 种 条 件 下 , 是 可 以 成 为“ 奴 隶 主 ” 的 “ 继 承 人 ” 或 “ 概 括 继 承 人 ” ( U n i v e r s a l S u c c e s s o r ) 的 , 这 样 重 要 的 权 力 , 像 我 将 在 “ 继 承 ” 这 一 章中 加 以 说 明 的 , 意 味 着 “ 家 族 ” 的 管 理 和 代 理 在 某 种 特 殊 情

    况 下 是 可 能 遗 传 给 奴 仆 的 。 但 在 美 国 的 论 点 中 似 乎 有 着 这 样

    的 一 个 假 定 , 即 如 果 我 们 承 认 “ 奴 隶 制 ” 曾 经 是 一 个 原 始 的

    “ 家 族 ” 制 度 , 这 个 确 认 实 在 就 是 意 味 着 承 认 现 在 “ 黑 奴 制

    度 ” 在 道 德 上 是 有 可 以 辩 护 的 根 据 的 。 然 则 所 谓 “ 奴 隶 ” 原

    来 就 包 括 在 “ 家 族 ” 之 内 , 究 竟 是 什 么 意 思 呢 ? 这 并 不 是 说

    奴 隶 的 地 位 不 可 能 是 激 动 人 们 行 动 的 最 卑 鄙 动 机 的 产 物 。 “ 奴

    隶 制 ” 的 基 础 无 疑 是 出 于 这 种 简 单 的 愿 望 , 就 是 利 用 他 人 的

    体 力 以 为 图 谋 自 己 舒 适 或 安 乐 的 一 种 手 段 , 而 这 是 象 人 类 天

    性 一 样 地 古 老 的 。 当 我 们 说 “ 奴 隶 ” 在 古 时 候 就 包 括 在 “ 家

    族 ” 之 内 , 我 们 并 不 是 企 图 说 明 那 些 把 他 带 到 “ 家 族 ” 里 并

    把 他 留 在 那 里 的 人 们 的 动 机 ; 我 们 仅 仅 是 在 暗 示 , 把 他 同 奴

    隶 主 连 结 起 来 的 约 束 , 和 把 集 团 中 每 一 个 成 员 同 族 长 结 合 在

    一 起 的 约 束 , 是 属 于 同 样 的 一 般 性 质 的 。 我 们 在 前 面 已 提 到

    过 , 在 人 类 原 始 观 念 中 , 除 了 家 族 关 系 之 外 , 不 可 能 理 解 在

    各 个 个 人 相 互 之 间 可 以 有 任 何 关 系 , 事 实 上 , 上 述 的 后 果 就

    是 来 自 这 个 一 般 的 确 言 。 “ 家 族 ” 首 先 包 括 因 血 缘 关 系 而 属 于

    它 的 人 们 , 其 次 包 括 因 收 养 而 接 纳 的 人 们 ; 但 是 当 有 一 种 第

    三 类 的 人 , 他 们 只 是 因 为 共 同 从 属 于 族 长 而 参 加 “ 家 族 ” 的 ,

    这 些 人 就 是 “ 奴 隶 ” 。 族 长 所 出 生 的 和 收 养 的 臣 民 被 放 在 “ 奴隶 ” 之 上 ; 因 为 按 照 事 物 正 常 的 发 展 , 他 们 迟 早 一 定 会 从 约

    束 中 被 解 放 出 来 , 行 使 他 自 己 的 权 力 ; 至 于 “ 奴 隶 ” , 他 并 不

    因 为 地 位 低 微 而 被 放 在 家 族 范 围 之 外 , 也 不 因 为 他 地 位 低 微

    而 使 他 降 低 到 无 生 命 的 财 产 那 样 的 地 位 , 我 以 为 , 这 是 可 以

    从 遗 留 下 来 的 许 多 迹 象 中 明 显 地 证 明 的 , 象 在 没 有 其 他 办 法

    时 古 代 奴 隶 可 以 有 继 承 的 能 力 , 就 是 证 明 之 一 。 但 如 果 妄 自

    推 测 , 以 为 在 社 会 的 启 蒙 时 期 , 因 为 在 “ 父 ” 的 王 国 中 曾 经

    为 他 保 留 过 一 定 的 地 位 , 所 以 “ 奴 隶 ” 的 命 运 就 可 以 大 大 改

    善 , 这 当 然 是 极 端 不 妥 当 的 。 比 较 可 能 的 情 况 是 , 家 子 在 实

    际 上 已 经 被 同 化 为 “ 奴 隶 ” , 而 不 是 “ 奴 隶 ” 分 享 着 较 晚 的 时

    代 父 对 其 子 所 表 示 的 那 种 温 情 。 但 是 对 于 那 些 比 较 进 步 的 和

    成 熟 的 法 典 , 我 们 可 以 有 信 心 地 说 , 凡 是 准 许 有 奴 隶 制 度 的

    场 合 , 在 那 些 保 留 着 奴 隶 早 期 状 态 某 种 残 余 的 制 度 下 面 的

    “ 奴 隶 ” , 一 般 要 比 采 用 使 他 社 会 地 位 降 低 的 其 他 理 论 的 制 度

    下 面 的 “ 奴 隶 ” 好 一 些 。 法 律 学 对 于 奴 隶 所 持 的 观 念 , 对 于

    奴 隶 始 终 有 着 巨 大 的 关 系 。 罗 马 法 由 于 受 到 了 “ 自 然 法 ” 理

    论 的 影 响 , 把 他 日 益 看 作 为 一 件 财 产 的 趋 势 得 以 停 止 发 展 , 从

    而 凡 是 深 受 罗 马 法 律 学 影 响 并 准 许 有 奴 隶 的 地 方 , 其 奴 隶 的

    状 态 从 来 不 是 悲 惨 得 难 堪 的 。 我 们 有 大 量 的 证 据 , 证 明 在 美

    国 凡 是 以 高 度 罗 马 化 的 路 易 斯 安 那 州 法 典为 其 法 律 基 础 的 那 些 州 中 , 黑 种 人 的 命 运 及 其 前途 , 在 许 多 重 大 方 面 都 比 以 英 国 普 通 法 为 其 基 础 的 制 度 之 下

    的 要 好 得 多 , 因 为 根 据 最 近 的 解 释 , 在 英 国 普 通 法 上 “ 奴

    隶 ” 是 没 有 真 正 的 地 位 的 , 因 此 也 就 只 能 被 认 为 是 一 种 物 件 。

    到 现 在 为 止 , 我 们 已 经 研 究 过 属 于 本 文 范 围 之 内 的 有 关古 代 “ 人 法 ” 的 各 个 部 分 , 而 研 究 的 结 果 , 我 相 信 , 能 使 我

    们 对 于 法 律 学 初 生 时 期 所 有 的 看 法 , 有 进 一 步 的 明 确 。 各 国

    的 民 法 , 在 其 最 初 出 现 时 , 是 一 个 宗 法 主 权 的 “ 地 美 士 第 ” ,

    我 们 现 在 并 且 可 以 看 到 这 些 “ 地 美 士 第 ” 也 许 只 是 更 早 期 人

    类 状 态 中 每 一 个 独 立 族 长 可 能 向 他 妻 、 子 以 及 奴 隶 任 意 提 出

    的 不 负 责 任 的 命 令 的 一 种 发 展 形 式 。 但 是 甚 至 在 国 家 组 织 形

    成 之 后 , 法 律 的 使 用 仍 旧 是 极 其 有 限 的 。 这 些 法 律 不 论 是 保

    持 着 像 “ 地 美 士 第 ” 的 这 种 原 始 形 态 , 也 不 论 是 已 经 进 步 到

    “ 习 惯 或 法 典 化 条 文 ” 的 状 态 , 它 的 拘 束 力 只 及 到 各 “ 家 族 ”

    而 不 是 个 人 。 用 一 个 不 完 全 贴 切 的 对 比 , 古 代 法 律 学 可 以 譬

    作 “ 国 际 法 ” , 目 的 只 是 在 填 补 作 为 社 会 原 子 的 各 个 大 集 团 之

    间 的 罅 隙 而 已 。 在 处 于 这 种 情 况 下 的 一 个 共 产 体 中 , 议 会 的

    立 法 和 法 院 的 审 判 只 能 及 到 家 族 首 长 , 至 于 家 族 中 的 每 一 个

    个 人 , 其 行 为 的 准 则 是 他 的 家 庭 的 法 律 , 以 “ 家 父 ” 为 立 法

    者 。 但 民 法 的 范 围 在 开 始 时 虽 然 很 小 , 不 久 即 不 断 地 逐 渐 扩

    大 。 改 变 法 律 的 媒 介 即 拟 制 、 衡 平 和 立 法 , 依 次 在 原 始 制 度

    中 发 生 作 用 , 而 在 每 一 个 发 展 过 程 中 必 有 大 量 的 个 人 权 利 和

    大 量 的 财 产 从 家 庭 审 判 庭 中 移 转 到 公 共 法 庭 的 管 辖 权 之 内 。

    政 府 法 规 逐 渐 在 私 人 事 件 中 取 得 了 同 在 国 家 事 务 中 所 有 的 同

    样 的 效 力 , 已 不 再 被 每 一 个 家 庭 中 奉 为 神 圣 的 暴 君 的 严 命 所

    废 弃 了 。 通 过 罗 马 法 的 纪 年 史 , 我 们 可 以 看 到 有 关 一 个 古 代

    制 度 逐 渐 被 摧 毁 以 及 把 各 种 材 料 再 度 结 合 起 来 而 形 成 各 种 新

    制 度 的 几 乎 全 部 的 历 史 , 这 些 新 的 制 度 , 有 的 被 保 持 原 状 一

    直 传 到 了 现 代 世 界 , 也 有 的 由 于 在 黑 暗 时 期 和 蛮 族 相 接 触 而

    被 消 灭 或 腐 蚀 , 最 后 才 又 为 人 类 所 恢 复 。 当 这 个 法 律 学 在 查斯 丁 尼 安 时 代 经 过 了 最 后 一 次 改 编 后 , 除 了 为 活 着 的 “ 家

    父 ” 仍 旧 保 有 广 泛 权 力 的 唯 一 条 款 以 外 , 其 中 已 很 难 找 到 古

    代 制 度 的 迹 象 。 到 处 都 以 便 利 的 、 匀 称 的 或 单 纯 的 原 则 — —

    总 之 , 是 新 的 原 则 — — 来 代 替 能 满 足 古 代 良 心 的 空 洞 考 虑 的

    权 威 。 到 处 都 以 一 种 新 的 道 德 来 代 替 同 古 代 惯 例 相 一 致 的 行

    为 准 则 和 顺 从 理 由 , 因 为 在 事 实 上 , 这 些 准 则 和 理 由 都 是 从古 代 惯 例 中 产 生 的 。

    所 有 进 步 社 会 的 运 动 在 有 一 点 上 是 一 致 的 。 在 运 动 发 展的 过 程 中 , 其 特 点 是 家 族 依 附 的 逐 步 消 灭 以 及 代 之 而 起 的 个人 义 务 的 增 长 。 “ 个 人 ” 不 断 地 代 替 了 “ 家 族 ” , 成 为 民 事法律 所 考 虑 的 单 位 。 前 进 是 以 不 同 的 速 度 完 成 的 , 有 些 社会在表 面 上 是 停 止 不 前 , 但 实 际 上 并 不 是 绝 对 停 止 不 前 , 只要经过 缜 密 研 究 这 些 社 会 所 提 供 的 各 种 现 象 , 就 可 以 看 到 其 中 的古 代 组 织 是 在 崩 溃 。 但 是 不 论 前 进 的 速 度 如 何 , 变 化 是绝少受 到 反 击 或 者 倒 退 的 , 只 有 在 吸 收 了 完 全 从 外 国 来 的 古 代 观

    念 和 习 惯 时 , 才 偶 尔 发 生 显 然 停 滞 不 前 的 现 象 。 我 们 也 不 难

    看 到 : 用 以 逐 步 代 替 源 自 “ 家 族 ” 各 种 权 利 义 务 上 那 种 相 互

    关 系 形 式 的 , 究 竟 是 个 人 与 个 人 之 间 的 什 么 关 系 。 用 以 代 替

    的 关 系 就 是 “ 契 约 ” 。 在 以 前 , “ 人 ” 的 一 切 关 系 都 是 被 概 括

    在 “ 家 族 ” 关 系 中 的 , 把 这 种 社 会 状 态 作 为 历 史 上 的 一 个 起

    点 , 从 这 一 个 起 点 开 始 , 我 们 似 乎 是 在 不 断 地 向 着 一 种 新 的

    社 会 秩 序 状 态 移 动 , 在 这 种 新 的 社 会 秩 序 中 , 所 有 这 些 关 系

    都 是 因 “ 个 人 ” 的 自 由 合 意 而 产 生 的 。 在 西 欧 , 向 这 种 方 向

    发 展 而 获 得 的 进 步 是 显 著 的 。 奴 隶 的 身 分 被 消 灭 了 — — 它 已

    为 主 仆 的 契 约 关 系 所 代 替 了 。 在 “ 保 佐 下 妇 女 ” 的 身 分 , 如果 她 的 保 佐 人 不 是 夫 而 是 其 他 的 人 , 也 不 再 存 在 了 ; 从 她 成

    年 以 至 结 婚 , 凡 是 她 所 能 形 成 的 一 切 关 系 都 是 契 约 关 系 。 “ 父

    权 下 之 子 ” 的 身 分 也 是 如 此 , 在 所 有 现 代 欧 洲 社 会 的 法 律 中

    它 已 经 没 有 真 正 的 地 位 。 如 果 有 任 何 民 事 责 任 加 于 “ 家 父 ” 和

    成 年 之 子 , 使 他 们 共 同 受 到 它 的 约 束 , 则 这 样 的 责 任 只 可 能

    通 过 契 约 而 后 才 能 具 有 法 律 效 力 。 有 一 些 显 然 的 例 外 , 而 这

    种 例 外 的 性 质 适 足 以 证 明 这 个 规 定 。 在 解 事 年 龄 以 前 的 子 裔 ,在 监 护 下 的 孤 儿 , 经 宣 告 的 疯 癫 病 人 , 都 在 “ 人 法 ” 上 规 定了 他 们 在 某 些 方 面 是 有 能 力 的 , 在 某 些 方 面 是 无 能 力 的 。 究竟 为 什 么 要 有 这 些 规 定 呢 ? 在 各 种 不 同 制 度 的 传 统 用 语 中 , 所提 出 的 理 由 虽 然 是 各 不 相 同 的 , 但 是 在 实 质 上 , 各 种 说 法 所具 有 的 效 果 却 是 完 全 一 致 的 。 绝 大 部 分 法 学 家 都 一 致 承 认 这样 一 个 原 则 , 他 们 都 认 为 上 述 各 类 人 所 以 应 受 外 来 的 支 配 , 其唯 一 理 由 是 在 于 他 们 本 身 不 具 有 为 其 自 己 利 益 而 作 出 决 定 的能 力 ; 换 言 之 , 他 们 缺 乏 用 “ 契 约 ” 而 达 到 定 约 的 必 要 条 件 。

    “ 身 分 ” 这 个 字 可 以 有 效 地 用 来 制 造 一 个 公 式 以 表 示 进 步的 规 律 , 不 论 其 价 值 如 何 , 但 是 据 我 看 来 , 这 个 规 律 是 可 以足 够 地 确 定 的 。 在 “ 人 法 ” 中 所 提 到 的 一 切 形 式 的 “ 身 分 ” 都起 源 于 古 代 属 于 “ 家 族 ” 所 有 的 权 力 和 特 权 , 并 且 在 某 种 程度 上 , 到 现 在 仍 旧 带 有 这 种 色 彩 。 因 此 , 如 果 我 们 依 照 最 优秀 著 者 的 用 法 , 把 “ 身 分 ” 这 个 名 词 用 来 仅 仅 表 示 这 一 些 人格 状 态 , 并 避 免 把 这 个 名 词 适 用 于 作 为 合 意 的 直 接 或 间 接 结果 的 那 种 状 态 , 则 我 们 可 以 说 , 所 有 进 步 社 会 的 运 动 , 到 此 处 为 止 , 是 一 个 “ 从 身 分 到 契 约 ” 的 运 动 。

    第 六 章   遗 嘱 继 承 的 早 期 史

    我 们 在 英 国 研 究 “ 法 律 学 ” , 如 果 想 要 表 示 出 历 史 的 研 究

    方 法 的 优 越 性 , 超 过 其 他 流 行 在 我 们 中 间 的 任 何 方 法 , 则

    “ 遗 命 ” ( T e s t a m e n t s ) 或 “ 遗 嘱 ” ( W i l l s ) 在 “ 法 律 ” 的 一 切部 门 中 , 是 一 个 最 好 的 例 子 。 它 所 以 具 有 这 种 性 能 是 由 于 它 的 内 容 多 、 时 间 长 。 它 的 历 史 , 在 社 会 状 态 很 幼 稚 的 时 期 就开 始 了 , 当 时 所 有 的 各 种 概 念 , 由 于 其 形 式 古 老 , 须 要 费 些 心 力 才 能 加 以 理 解 ; 而 在 其 发 展 过 程 的 另 一 个 极 端 , 即 现 在 ,

    我 们 又 有 这 样 许 多 法 律 观 念 , 这 些 法 律 观 念 成 为 现 代 语 法 和

    思 想 习 惯 所 隐 蔽 的 一 些 同 样 的 概 念 , 因 此 也 就 遇 到 另 外 一 种

    困 难 , 就 是 难 以 相 信 那 些 作 为 我 们 日 常 知 识 的 各 种 观 念 , 究

    竟 是 否 真 的 需 要 加 以 分 析 研 究 。 “ 遗 嘱 法 ” 的 发 展 正 在 这 两 个

    极 端 之 间 , 是 可 以 追 溯 得 很 清 楚 的 。 和 多 数 其 他 部 门 的 法 律

    史 不 同 , 它 在 封 建 制 度 产 生 的 时 代 很 少 受 到 阻 碍 。 真 的 , 就

    法 律 的 所 有 部 门 而 论 , 所 谓 它 们 曾 由 于 古 代 史 和 近 代 史 间 的

    划 分 而 引 起 了 中 断 , 或 者 换 言 之 , 曾 由 于 罗 马 帝 国 的 解 体 而

    引 起 了 中 断 , 这 个 说 法 实 际 上 是 大 大 地 夸 张 了 的 。 许 多 著 者 ,

    只 是 由 于 懒 惰 , 不 愿 费 一 些 力 量 在 六 百 多 年 的 混 乱 中 从 迷 惑

    和 模 糊 的 里 面 寻 求 联 系 的 线 索 , 至 于 其 余 的 研 究 者 , 虽 然 不

    是 天 然 地 缺 乏 耐 性 和 勤 奋 , 但 由 于 他 们 对 自 己 国 内 法 律 制 度

    怀 有 无 谓 的 自 尊 心 , 不 愿 承 认 它 曾 受 惠 于 罗 马 法 律 学 , 他 们就 被 引 入 了 歧 途 。 但 这 些 不 利 的 势 力 , 对 “ 遗 嘱 法 ” 领 域 中

    发 生 的 影 响 比 较 少 。 蛮 族 对 于 所 谓 “ 遗 嘱 ” 的 概 念 , 显 然 是

    生 疏 的 。 权 威 学 者 一 致 同 意 , 他 们 在 本 土 和 以 后 在 罗 马 帝 国

    边 境 居 留 地 上 所 实 行 的 各 种 包 括 他 们 习 惯 的 成 文 法 典 的 有 关

    部 分 中 , 完 全 没 有 “ 遗 嘱 ” 的 痕 迹 。 只 有 在 他 们 和 罗 马 各 省

    人 民 混 合 在 一 起 以 后 , 他 们 才 从 帝 国 法 律 学 中 吸 取 了 “ 遗

    嘱 ” 的 概 念 , 在 开 始 时 只 是 一 部 分 , 到 后 来 才 被 全 部 采 纳 。 教

    会 的 影 响 对 于 这 次 迅 速 同 化 有 很 大 关 系 。 教 会 势 力 很 早 就 继

    承 了 有 些 邪 教 神 庙 所 享 有 的 那 些 保 管 和 登 记 “ 遗 命 ” 的 特 权 ;

    甚 至 在 这 样 早 的 时 候 , 宗 教 基 金 中 的 现 世 所 有 物 几 乎 完 全 来

    自 私 人 遗 赠 。 因 此 , 最 早 的 “ 省 议 会 ”的 命 令 对 于 否 认 “ 遗 嘱 ” 神 圣 性 的 人 都 有 革 出 教 门

    的 规 定 。 在 我 们 这 里 , 在 英 国 , 一 般 都 认 为 阻 止 “ 遗 嘱 法 ” 史

    中 断 的 主 要 原 因 之 一 当 然 是 由 于 教 会 的 影 响 , 这 种 中 断 有 时

    被 确 信 曾 在 其 他 部 门 的 “ 法 律 学 ” 史 中 发 生 过 。 有 一 类 “ 遗

    嘱 ” 的 管 辖 权 过 去 曾 被 委 托 给 “ 宗 教 法 院 ” , 这 些 法 院 虽 然 并

    不 始 终 是 明 白 地 、 但 却 的 确 适 用 着 罗 马 法 律 学 的 原 则 ; 并 且 ,

    虽 然 “ 普 通 法 院 ” 或 “ 衡 平 法 院 ” 都 并 没 有 必 须 遵 照 “ 宗 教

    法 院 ” 的 任 何 义 务 , 但 它 们 对 这 在 它 们 旁 边 适 用 的 一 套 明 确

    规 定 的 制 度 , 终 不 能 规 避 其 有 力 影 响 。 英 国 的 人 格 遗 嘱 继 承

    法 就 成 了 过 去 罗 马 公 民 遗 产 处 分 所 遵 循 的 宗 规 的 一 种 变 形 。

    用 历 史 方 法 来 研 究 这 个 问 题 时 我 们 所 能 得 到 的 结 论 , 和

    不 依 靠 历 史 而 单 凭表 ·

    面印 象 进 行 分 析 时 所 得 到

    的 结 论 , 两 者 之 间 的 极 端 不 同 是 不 难 指 出 的 。 我 认 为 , 不 论

    从 一 个 “ 遗 嘱 ” 的 通 俗 概 念 出 发 , 或 是 从 它 的 法 律 概 念 出 发 ,没 有 人 会 不 想 象 到 : 凡 是 “ 遗 嘱 ” 必 附 有 某 种 特 性 。 例 如 , 他

    可 能 会 说 , 一 个 “ 遗 嘱 ” 必 须 ·

    只 ·

    有 ·

    在 ·

    死 ·

    亡 ·

    时 才 能 发 生 效 力 — —

    它 是 ·

    秘 ·

    密 ·

    的 , 它 里 面 所 规 定 的 有 利 害 关 系 的 人 们 是 必 然 地 不

    应 该 知 道 的 — — 它 是 ·

    可 ·

    以 ·

    取 ·

    消 ·

    的 , 即 始 终 可 以 为 一 个 新 的 遗

    嘱 行 为 所 代 替 的 。 但 是 , 我 可 以 证 明 , 在 某 一 个 时 期 , 一 个

    “ 遗 嘱 ” 完 全 没 有 这 些 特 征 。 我 们 的 “ 遗 嘱 ” 直 接 来 自 “ 遗

    命 ” , 而 “ 遗 命 ” 在 最 初 是 一 经 执 行 立 即 有 效 的 : 是 不 秘 密 的 ;

    是 不 可 取 消 的 。 事 实 上 , 在 所 有 法 律 媒 介 中 , 没 有 一 种 历 史

    媒 介 的 产 物 要 比 人 们 用 书 面 意 志 来 控 制 其 死 后 的 财 产 处 分 更

    为 复 杂 的 了 。 “ 遗 命 ” 很 迟 缓 地 但 是 逐 渐 地 把 我 在 前 面 所 说 的

    各 种 特 性 聚 集 在 其 周 围 ; 造 成 这 种 情 况 的 原 因 是 完 全 偶 然 的 ,

    并 且 也 是 在 偶 然 的 事 物 压 力 之 下 完 成 的 , 这 些 原 因 和 事 物 压

    力 除 了 曾 影 响 过 法 律 的 历 史 以 外 , 对 于 我 们 目 前 已 经 是 没 有

    什 么 利 害 关 系 的 了 。

    在 法 律 理 论 远 比 现 在 为 多 的 一 个 时 期 中 — — 诚 然 , 这 些

    理 论 的 绝 大 部 分 是 毫 无 价 值 的 和 十 分 不 成 熟 的 , 但 是 这 些 理

    论 却 仍 旧 把 法 律 学 从 我 们 并 非 是 不 知 道 的 、 比 较 恶 劣 的 和 比

    较 拙 劣 的 情 况 下 挽 救 了 出 来 , 在 当 时 的 情 况 中 , 我 们 不 能 希

    望 有 象 概 括 这 一 类 的 东 西 , 而 法 律 也 被 仅 仅 认 为 是 一 种 经 验

    的 产 物 — — 对 于 我 们 在 直 觉 上 能 立 即 和 显 然 地 感 到 的 一 个

    “ 遗 嘱 ” 所 具 有 的 某 些 特 性 , 当 时 在 进 行 解 释 时 所 采 取 的 流 行

    说 法 是 : 这 些 特 性 是 它 天 然 就 有 的 , 或 者 , 说 得 具 体 一 些 , 是

    由 “ 自 然 法 ” 附 着 于 它 上 面 的 。 我 以 为 , 在 一 度 认 定 所 有 这

    些 特 征 的 渊 源 都 在 历 史 的 记 忆 中 , 可 能 就 不 会 有 人 主 张 这 样

    一 个 学 理 了 ; 同 时 , 这 个 学 理 所 自 来 的 理 论 , 其 遗 迹 尚 残 存于 我 们 所 习 用 并 且 也 许 还 不 知 如 何 加 以 舍 弃 的 表 现 形 式 中 。

    我 可 以 用 十 七 世 纪 法 律 文 籍 中 一 个 共 有 的 论 点 来 说 明 这 种 情

    况 。 当 时 的 法 学 家 很 普 遍 地 认 为 “ 立 遗 嘱 ” 权 力 的 本 身 是 来

    自 “ 自 然 法 ” 的 权 力 , 是 由 “ 自 然 法 ” 所 赋 与 的 一 种 权 利 。 他

    们 的 学 说 虽 然 并 不 是 所 有 的 人 都 能 立 即 看 到 其 联 系 的 , 但 实

    质 上 , 这 些 学 说 确 在 后 来 为 这 些 人 所 取 法 , 他 们 主 张 : 指 定

    或 控 制 死 亡 后 财 产 处 分 的 权 利 是 财 产 所 有 权 本 身 的 一 种 必 然

    的 或 自 然 的 结 果 。 每 一 个 法 律 学 者 也 一 定 还 遇 到 过 表 现 在 一

    个 相 当 不 同 的 学 派 的 语 句 中 的 这 个 同 一 的 见 解 , 这 个 见 解 在

    说 明 这 一 部 门 法 律 的 原 理 时 , 认 为遗命 继 承是 死 亡 者 财 产 应 该 首 先 遵 照 的 移 转 方 式 , 然 后再 进 而 说 明 法 定 继 承是 立 法 者

    的 偶 然 规 定 , 以 履 行 由 于 死 亡 的 财 产 所 有 者 因 疏 忽 或 不 幸 而

    未 执 行 的 一 种 职 能 。 这 些 意 见 , 实 际 上 就 是 所 谓 遗 嘱 处 分 是

    “ 自 然 法 ” 的 一 个 制 度 这 种 比 较 扼 要 的 学 理 , 表 现 于 详 尽 的 方

    式 中 而 已 。 当 近 代 思 想 非 难 “ 自 然 ” 和 “ 自 然 法 ” 时 , 究 竟

    它 所 联 想 的 范 围 如 何 , 如 果 要 武 断 地 加 以 认 定 , 当 然 是 决 不

    妥 当 的 ; 但 我 以 为 , 大 多 数 主 张 “ 遗 嘱 权 ” 是 来 自 “ 自 然

    法 ” 的 人 们 , 他 们 的 意 思 , 可 能 或 者 是 认 为 这 种 权 力 在 事 实

    上 普 遍 存 在 的 , 或 者 认 为 这 种 权 力 由 于 一 种 原 始 的 本 能 和 冲

    动 的 推 动 而 为 各 国 所 一 致 承 认 。 对 于 上 述 论 点 中 的 第 一 点 , 我

    认 为 , 当 它 经 过 这 样 明 显 的 说 明 后 , 是 决 不 能 认 为 满 意 的 , 特

    别 是 在 这 样 一 个 时 期 中 , 当 我 们 可 以 看 到拿破仑法典对 于 “ 遗 嘱 权 ” 有 着 许 多 严 格 的 限 制 , 同 时 也可 以 看 到 以 这 个 法 兰 西 法 典 为 范 本 的 各 种 制 度 正 在 一 天 天 地增 加 。 对 于 第 二 种 说 法 , 我 们 也 必 须 加 以 反 对 , 因 为 这 是 违 背 了 早 期 法 律 史 中 最 最 可 靠 的 事 实 的 , 并 且 我 敢 于 一 般 地 断 定 , 在 所 有 自 然 生 长 的 社 会 中 , 在 早 期 的 法 律 学 中 是不 准 许

    或 是 根 本 没 有 考 虑 到 过 “ 遗 嘱 权 ” 的 , 只 有 在 法 律 发 展 的 后

    来 阶 段 , 才 准 许 在 多 少 限 制 之 下 使 财 产 所 有 者 的 意 志 能 胜 过

    他 血 亲 的 请 求 。

    所 谓 “ 遗 嘱 ” 或 “ 遗 命 ” 这 个 概 念 是 不 能 单 从 它 本 身 来

    考 虑 的 。 它 是 一 系 列 概 念 中 的 一 个 概 念 , 并 且 还 不 是 第 一 个

    概 念 。 就 其 本 身 而 论 , 一 个 “ 遗 嘱 ” 仅 仅 是 遗 嘱 人 用 以 宣 告

    其 意 思 的 工 具 。 我 以 为 , 在 讨 论 这 一 个 工 具 前 , 有 几 个 问 题

    必 须 首 先 加 以 研 究 — — 例 如 , 从 一 个 死 亡 者 在 死 亡 时 所 转 移

    的 究 竟 是 什 么 , 究 竟 是 哪 一 类 的 权 利 或 利 益 ? 转 移 给 谁 , 用

    什 么 形 式 ? 以 及 为 什 么 死 亡 者 被 允 许 在 死 后 来 支 配 其 财 产 的

    处 分 ? 如 果 用 术 语 来 表 示 , 则 和 一 个 “ 遗 嘱 ” 观 念 有 关 联 的

    各 种 概 念 , 它 们 的 依 附 关 系 是 应 该 这 样 表 示 的 。 一 个 “ 遗

    嘱 ” 或 “ 遗 命 ” 是 一 种 工 具 , 继 承 权 的 移 转 即 通 过 这 个 工 具

    而 加 以 规 定 。 继 承 权 是 概 括 继 承 的 一 种 形 式 。 概 括 继 承 是 继

    承 一 种 ·

    概 ·

    括 ·

    的 ·

    权 ·

    利 ( u n i v e r s i t a s   j u r i s ) , 或 权 利 和 义 务 的 全

    体 。 把 这 个 次 序 颠 倒 过 来 , 我 们 就 必 须 研 究 什 么 是 ·

    概 ·

    括 ·

    的 ·

    ·

    利 ; 什 么 是 概 括 继 承 ; 被 称 为 一 个 继 承 权 的 概 括 继 承 , 它 的

    形 式 究 竟 是 怎 样 的 。 此 外 还 有 两 个 问 题 , 虽 然 在 某 种 程 度 上

    和 我 所 要 讨 论 的 各 点 是 并 不 相 关 的 , 但 为 了 澈 底 了 解 “ 遗

    嘱 ” 这 个 主 题 , 却 是 必 须 加 以 解 决 的 。 这 两 个 问 题 就 是 , 为

    什 么 一 个 继 承 权 在 任 何 情 况 下 都 要 由 遗 嘱 人 的 意 志 来 支 配 ,

    以 及 用 以 控 制 继 承 权 的 工 具 , 它 的 性 质 究 竟 是 什 么 ?

    第 一 个 问 题 和概 ·

    括 ·

    的 ·

    权 ·

    利 有 关 ; 即 和 一 个 全 体 的 ( 或 一

    群 的 ) 权 利 和 义 务 有 关 。 所 谓 ·

    概 ·

    括 ·

    的 ·

    权 ·

    利 是 各 种 权 利 和 义 务

    的 集 合 , 由 于 在 同 一 时 候 属 于 同 一 个 人 这 种 唯 一 情 况 而 结 合

    起 来 的 。 它 好 比 是 某 一 个 特 定 的 个 人 的 法 律 外 衣 。 它 并 不 是

    把 “ 任 何 ” 权 利 和 “ 任 何 ” 义 务 凑 合 在 一 起 而 形 成 的 。 它 只

    能 是 属 于 一 个 特 定 人 的 一 切 权 利 和 一 切 义 务 所 组 成 的 。 把 这

    样 许 多 财 产 权 、 通 行 权 、 遗 赠 权 、 特 种 清 偿 义 务 、 债 务 、 损

    害 赔 偿 责 任 — — 把 这 样 一 些 法 律 权 利 和 义 务 结 合 在 一 起 而 成

    为 一 个 ·

    概 ·

    括 ·

    的 ·

    权 ·

    利 的 纽 带 , 是 由 于 它 们 附 着 于 某 一 个 能 够 行

    使 这 些 权 利 和 义 务 的 个 人 的 这 一 种 ·

    事 ·

    实 。 没 有 这 一 个 ·

    事 ·

    实 , 就

    没 有 权 利 和 义 务 的 全 体 。 ·

    概 ·

    括 ·

    的 ·

    权 ·

    利 这 个 用 语 不 是 古 典 的 , 但

    法 律 学 有 这 个 观 念 , 应 该 完 全 归 功 于 罗 马 法 ; 同 时 这 个 用 语

    也 不 是 完 全 难 于 捉 摸 的 。 我 们 应 该 设 法 把 我 们 每 一 个 人 对 世

    界 上 其 余 人 的 全 部 法 律 关 系 , 聚 集 在 一 个 概 念 之 下 。 不 论 这

    些 法 律 关 系 的 性 质 和 构 成 是 怎 样 , 这 些 法 律 关 系 在 集 合 起 来

    后 , 就 成 为 了 一 个 ·

    概 ·

    括 ·

    的 ·

    权 ·

    利 ; 只 要 我 们 仔 细 记 着 , 在 这 个

    用 语 中 不 但 应 该 包 括 权 利 并 且 也 应 该 包 括 义 务 , 则 我 们 对 于

    这 个 观 念 就 很 少 有 误 解 的 危 险 。 我 们 的 义 务 可 能 超 过 我 们 的

    权 利 。 一 个 人 可 能 欠 得 多 而 值 得 少 , 因 此 , 如 果 他 的 总 的 法

    律 关 系 用 金 钱 价 值 来 衡 量 , 他 可 能 是 一 个 所 谓 破 产 者 。 但 就

    以 他 为 中 心 所 包 含 的 全 部 权 利 和 义 务 而 论 , 这 依 然 是 一 个

    “ 概 括 的 权 利 ” 。

    其 次 我 们 要 研 究 “ 概 括 继 承 ” 。 概 括 继 承 就 是 继 承 一 种 ·

    ·

    括 ·

    的 ·

    权 ·

    利 。 当 一 个 人 接 受 了 另 外 一 个 人 的 法 律 外 衣 , 在 同 一

    个 时 候 一 方 面 承 担 其 全 部 义 务 , 另 一 方 面 享 有 其 全 部 权 利 时 ,就 发 生 概 括 继 承 。 为 了 使 这 个 概 括 继 承 真 实 和 完 全 , 转 移 必

    须 象 法 学 家 所 说 的 那 样一次。 当 然 , 可 以想 象 , 一 个 人 可 以 在 不 同 时 期 取 得 另 外 一 个 人 的 全 部 权 利 和

    义 务 , 例 如 通 过 连 继 购 买 ; 他 也 可 以 用 不 同 身 份 来 取 得 这 些

    权 利 和 义 务 , 部 分 由 于 是 继 承 人 , 部 分 由 于 是 买 受 人 , 部 分

    由 于 是 受 遗 赠 人 。 但 是 , 虽 然 这 样 组 合 起 来 的 一 群 权 利 和 义

    务 在 事 实 上 确 等 于 一 个 特 定 人 的 全 部 法 律 人 格 , 但 这 种 取 得

    不 能 作 为 一 个 概 括 继 承 。 要 有 一 个 真 正 的 概 括 继 承 , 转 让 必

    须 是 对 全 部 权 利 和 义 务 在同一 时 候 一 次 进 行 , 同 时 受 领 人 也

    必 须 以同一 法 律 身 分 来 接 受 。 一 个 概 括 继 承 的 观 念 正 如 一 个

    概 括 的 权 利 的 观 念 , 在 法 律 学 中 是 永 久 的 , 虽 然 在 英 国 法 律

    制 度 中 , 由 于 取 得 权 利 的 身 分 是 多 种 多 样 的 , 尤 其 是 由 于 英

    国 财 产 上 “ 不 动 产 ” 和 “ 动 产 ” 两 大 部 分 之 间 的 区 分 , 这 个

    观 念 给 模 糊 了 。 在 破 产 的 情 况 下 , 一 个 受 让 人 继 承 破 产 者 全

    部 财 产 , 是 一 种 概 括 继 承 , 虽 然 受 让 人 只 就 遗 产 的 限 度 清 偿

    债 务 , 但 这 只 是 对 原 来 观 念 的 一 个 修 正 形 式 。 如 果 在 我 们 中

    间 有 人 承 受 一 个 人 的 ·

    全 ·

    部 财 产 以 偿 付 其 ·

    全 ·

    部 债 务 作 为 条 件 ,

    则 这 类 移 转 就 和 最 古 罗 马 法 中 所 谓 概 括 继 承 完 全 类 似 。 当 一

    个 罗 马 公 民收养 一 个 养 子 , 就 是 说 把 原 来 不 在 “ 家 父 权 ” 下

    的 人 收 纳 为 其 养 子 , 他 就概括地 继 承 其 养 子 的 财 产 , 也 就 是

    说 他 取 得 了 养 子 全 部 财 产 和 承 担 了 其 养 子 全 部 义 务 。 在 原 始

    “ 罗 马 法 ” 中 还 发 现 有 几 种 其 他 形 式 的 概 括 继 承 , 但 其 中 最 重

    要 和 最 持 久 的 一 种 , 是 我 们 所 最 直 接 关 心 的 “ 汉 来 狄 塔 斯 ”

    ( H Er e d i t a s ) 或 “ 继 承 权 ” 。 “ 继 承 权 ” 是 在 死 亡 时 发 生 的 一 种概 括 继 承 。 概 括 继 承 人 是 “ 汉 来 斯 ” ( H Er e s ) 或 “ 继 承 人 ” 。 他 立 即 取 得 死 亡 者 的 全 部 权 利 和 全 部 义 务 。 他 立 刻 取 得 了 他

    的 全 部 法 律 人 格 , 并 且 不 论 他 由 于 “ 遗 嘱 ” 提 名 , 或 是 根 据

    “ 无 遗 嘱 ” ( I n t e s t a c y ) 而 继 承 , “ 汉 来 斯 ” 的 特 殊 性 质 保 持 不

    变 , 这 是 无 须 赘 述 的 。 “ 汉 来 斯 ” 这 个 名 词 可 以 用 于 “ 无 遗 嘱

    继 承 人 ” , 也 可 以 用 于 “ 遗 嘱 继 承 人 ” , 因 为 一 个 人 成 为 “ 汉

    来 斯 ” 的 方 式 和 他 所 具 有 的 法 律 性 质 本 来 是 毫 无 关 系 的 。 死

    亡 者 的 概 括 继 承 人 , 不 论 是 由 于 “ 遗 嘱 ” 或 由 于 “ 无 遗 嘱 ” ,统 是 他 的 “ 继 承 人 ” 。 但 是 “ 继 承 人 ” 不 一 定 是 一 个 人 。 在 法律 上 被 视 为 一 个 单 位 的 许 多 人 , 也 可 以 作 为 “ 继 承 权 的共同继承人 ” ( C o h e i r s ) 。

    我 现 在 引 述 罗 马 人 通 常 对 于 一 个 “ 继 承 权 ” 所 下 的 定 义 ,读 者 就 能 够 理 解 这 些 各 别 名 词 的 全 部 含 意 。 “ 继承权是对于一个死亡者全部法律地位的一种继承”。意思 就 是 说 , 死 亡 者 的 肉 体 人 格 虽 已 死 亡 , 但 他 的 法 律 人 格 仍

    旧 存 在 , 毫 无 减 损 地 传 给 其 “ 继 承 人 ” 或 “ 共 同 继 承 人 ” ,

    ( 以 法 律 而 论 ) 他 的 同 一 性 在 其 “ 继 承 人 ” 或 “ 共 同 继 承 人 ”

    身 上 是 延 续 下 去 的 。 在 我 国 法 律 中 , 把 “ 遗 嘱 执 行 人 ” 作 为

    死 亡 者 个 人 遗 产 范 围 内 的 代 表 一 条 可 以 用 来 例 证 它 所 自 来 的

    理 论 , 不 过 它 虽 然 能 例 证 , 但 却 仍 不 能 对 这 个 理 论 加 以 说 明 。

    甚 至 后 期 罗 马 法 , 尚 认 为 在 死 亡 者 和 其 继 承 人 之 间 , 必 须 有

    密 切 相 当 的 地 位 , 但 英 国 的 一 个 代 表 人 就 不 具 有 这 一 种 特 点 ;

    同 时 在 原 始 法 律 学 中 , 一 切 东 西 都 依 赖 着 继 承 的 延 续 。 除 非

    在 遗 嘱 中 规 定 着 遗 嘱 人 的 权 利 和 义 务 应 该 立 即 移 转 给 “ 继 承

    人 ” 或 “ 共 同 继 承 人 ” , 遗 命 就 丧 失 其 效 力 。

    在 近 代 遗 嘱 法 律 学 中 , 象 在 后 期 罗 马 法 中 一 样 , 最 重 要

    的 目 的 是 在 执 行 遗 嘱 人 的 意 志 。 象 古 罗 马 法 律 中 , 相 应 关 心

    的 主 题 是 “ 概 括 继 承 ” 的 授 与 。 在 这 些 规 定 中 , 有 一 些 在 我

    们 看 来 是 一 种 来 自 常 识 的 原 则 , 但 另 外 一 些 则 看 上 去 很 象 是

    一 个 无 谓 的 幻 想 。 不 过 如 果 没 有 其 中 第 二 类 的 规 定 , 则 第 一类 的 规 定 便 将 无 从 产 生 , 这 是 任 何 这 一 类 的 命 题 所 必 然如此的 。

    为 了 要 解 决 这 显 然 的 矛 盾 , 并 使 我 想 说 明 的 一 系 列 观 念

    更 为 清 楚 起 见 , 我 必 须 借 用 前 一 章 开 始 部 分 中 所 作 研 究 的 结

    果 。 我 们 在 社 会 的 幼 年 时 代 中 , 发 现 有 这 样 一 个 永 远 显 著 的

    特 点 。 人 们 不 是 被 视 为 一 个 个 人 而 是 始 终 被 视 为 一 个 特 定 团

    体 的 成 员 。 每 一 个 人 首 先 是 一 个 公 民 , 然 后 , 既 是 一 个 公 民 ,

    他 必 是 阶 级 中 的 一 个 成 员 — — 属 于 一 个 贵 族 阶 级 的 成 员 或 是

    属 于 一 个 平 民 阶 级 的 成 员 ; 或 是 , 在 有 一 些 社 会 中 , 由 于 时

    运 不 佳 而 在 其 发 展 的 过 程 中 遭 受 到 了 特 殊 的 逆 转 , 他 就 成 了

    一 个 族 籍 的 成 员 。 其 次 , 他 是 一 个 氏 族 、 大 氏 族 或 部 族 的 成员 ; 最 后 , 他 是 一 个家族 的 成 员 。 这 最 后 的 一 类 是 他 所 处 身的 最 狭 小 的 最 个 人 的 关 系 ; 这 看 上 去 好 象 是 矛 盾 的 , 但 他 绝不把他自己 看 成 为 一 个 各 别 的 个 人 。 他 的 个 性 为 其 家 族 所 吞没 了 。 我 重 复 一 遍 前 面 已 经 说 过 的 对 于 一 个 原 始 社 会 的 定 义 。作 为 社 会 的 单 位 的 , 不 是 个 人 , 而 是 由 真 实 的 或 拟 制 的 血 族关 系 结 合 起 来 的 许 多 人 的 集 团 。

    我 们 第 一 次 发 现 有 关 概 括 继 承 的 迹 象 , 正 是 一 个 未 开 化

    社 会 的 特 点 之 一 。 原 始 时 代 的 共 和 国 和 一 个 近 代 国 家 的 组 织

    不 同 , 在 原 始 时 代 的 共 和 国 中 , 包 括 了 许 多 小 的 专 制 政 府 , 每一 个 政 府 相 互 之 间 各 不 相 关 , 每 一 个 政 府 都 处 于 一 个 唯 一 的

    君 主 特 权 的 绝 对 统 治 之 下 。 但 是 , 虽 然 “ 族 长 ” 〔 我 们 在 这 时

    候 还 不 应 称 他 为 “ 家 父 ” ( P a t e r f a m i l i a s ) 〕 有 这 样 广 泛 的 权 利 ,

    但 我 们 决 不 能 就 认 为 他 负 担 着 同 样 广 大 的 义 务 。 如 果 他 管 理

    一 家 , 这 是 为 了 家 族 的 利 益 。 如 果 他 是 所 有 物 的 主 人 , 他 是

    作 为 儿 女 和 亲 族 的 受 讬 人 而 持 有 的 。 除 去 由 于 他 统 治 着 小 国

    家 的 关 系 而 赋 与 他 的 权 力 和 地 位 以 外 , 他 没 有 任 何 其 他 特 权

    或 特 殊 地 位 。 一 个 “ 家 族 ” 在 事 实 上 是 一 个 “ 法 人 ” , 而 他 就

    是 它 的 代 表 , 或 者 我 们 甚 至 几 乎 可 以 称 他 为 是 它 的 “ 公 务

    员 ” 。 他 享 有 权 利 , 负 担 义 务 , 但 这 些 权 利 和 义 务 在 同 胞 的 期

    待 中 和 在 法 律 的 眼 光 中 , 既 作 为 他 自 己 的 权 利 和 义 务 , 也 作

    为 集 体 组 织 的 权 利 和 义 务 。 我 们 不 妨 在 这 里 研 究 一 下 , 当 这

    样 一 个 代 表 在 死 亡 时 所 可 能 产 生 的 结 果 。 在 法 律 的 眼 光 中 , 根

    据 民 事 高 级 官 吏 的 看 法 , 族 长 的 死 亡 是 一 个 全 然 无 关 紧 要 的

    事 件 。 因 为 结 果 只 是 代 表 家 族 集 体 组 织 和 对 于 市 政 审 判 权 负

    有 主 要 责 任 的 人 , 换 一 个 名 字 而 已 。 所 有 原 来 依 附 于 死 亡 的

    族 长 的 种 种 权 利 和 义 务 , 将 毫 无 间 断 地 依 附 于 其 继 承 人 ; 因

    为 , 在 事 实 上 , 这 些 权 利 和 义 务 是 家 族 的 权 利 和 义 务 , 而 家

    族 则 分 明 具 有 一 个 法 人 的 特 性 — — 它 是 永 生 不 灭 的 。 债 权 人

    对 新 的 族 长 象 对 旧 的 族 长 一 样 , 可 以 要 求 同 样 的 补 偿 , 因 为

    这 种 责 任 既 然 是 仍 旧 存 在 的 家 族 的 责 任 , 自 将 绝 对 不 变 。 在

    族 长 死 亡 后 , 家 族 所 有 的 一 切 权 利 将 和 他 死 亡 前 所 有 的 完 全

    相 同 , 除 了 这 法 人 — — 如 果 对 这 样 早 的 时 代 真 能 够 恰 当 地 运

    用 这 样 精 确 而 专 门 的 用 语 — — 必 须 用 一 个 略 微 有 变 动 的 名 字

    来 ·

    依 ·

    法 ·

    要 ·

    求 以 外 。

    如 果 我 们 要 了 解 社 会 是 怎 样 逐 渐 地 和 缓 慢 地 分 解 而 成 为

    它 现 在 所 由 构 成 的 合 成 原 子 的 — — 是 经 过 了 怎 样 的 不 知 不 觉

    的 程 序 才 以 人 和 人 的 关 系 来 代 替 个 人 和 家 族 以 及 家 族 和 家 族

    相 互 之 间 的 关 系 的 , 那 我 们 就 得 探 究 法 律 学 历 史 的 全 部 过 程 。

    现 在 所 应 注 意 之 点 是 , 纵 使 革 命 已 经 显 然 完 成 , 纵 使 高 级 官

    吏 已 经 在 很 大 程 度 上 代 替 了 “ 家 父 ” 的 地 位 , 民 事 法 庭 已 代

    替 了 家 族 法 庭 , 但 是 , 司 法 当 局 所 管 理 的 全 部 权 利 和 义 务 仍

    旧 受 到 已 经 废 弃 的 特 权 的 影 响 , 并 在 每 一 个 部 分 中 都 带 有 这

    些 特 权 的 色 彩 。 因 此 , 毫 无 疑 问 , 被 罗 马 法 律 用 全 力 坚 持 作

    为 遗 嘱 或 无 遗 嘱 继 承 首 要 条 件 的 “ 概 括 的 权 利 ” 的 移 转 , 是

    一 个 比 较 古 老 的 社 会 的 一 个 特 点 , 这 特 点 是 人 们 的 思 想 无 法

    把 它 和 新 社 会 分 离 开 来 的 , 虽 然 它 和 较 新 的 局 面 之 间 是 并 没

    有 真 正 的 或 适 当 的 联 系 的 。 一 个 人 在 法 律 上 的 生 存 得 在 其 继

    承 人 或 许 多 共 同 继 承 人 身 上 延 长 , 这 在 实 质 上 似 乎 就 等 于 把

    ·

    家 ·

    族 的 一 个 特 征 通 过 拟 制 而 移 转 给 ·

    个 ·

    人 。 法 人 中 的 继 承 必 然

    是 概 括 的 , 而 家 族 是 一 个 法 人 。 法 人 永 生 不 灭 。 个 别 成 员 的

    死 亡 对 于 集 体 的 总 的 生 存 毫 无 关 系 , 并 且 也 决 不 会 影 响 到 集

    体 的 法 律 附 带 、 其 能 力 或 其 责 任 。 这 样 , 在 罗 马 人 所 谓 概 括

    继 承 的 这 个 观 念 中 一 个 法 人 所 有 的 这 一 切 性 质 , 似 乎 都 被 移

    转 给 个 人 公 民 了 。 他 肉 体 的 死 亡 可 以 丝 毫 不 影 响 他 所 占 有 的

    法 律 地 位 , 其 所 根 据 的 原 则 显 然 是 : 他 的 地 位 应 该 尽 可 能 和

    一 个 家 族 的 地 位 相 类 似 , 而 一 个 家 族 既 有 着 法 人 的 性 质 , 是

    不 会 发 生 肉 体 死 亡 的 。

    我 注 意 到 在 大 陆 法 学 家 中 , 对 于 混 杂 于 概 括 继 承 中 的 各

    种 概 念 之 间 的 联 系 , 在 理 解 其 性 质 时 , 绝 少 不 感 到 很 大 的 困难 的 , 同 时 在 法 律 学 中 , 一 般 讲 起 来 恐 怕 也 没 有 一 个 主 题 像

    他 们 就 这 个 主 题 上 所 作 的 纯 理 论 那 样 缺 少 价 值 。 但 英 国 法 学

    者 就 我 们 现 在 正 在 研 究 的 观 念 所 作 的 分 析 , 应 该 不 会 有 错 误

    的 危 险 。 在 我 们 自 己 的 制 度 中 有 一 种 为 所 有 法 律 家 都 熟 悉 的

    拟 制 , 能 用 来 很 好 地 说 明 它 。 英 国 法 学 家 把 法 人 分 为 “ 集 合

    法 人 ” ( C o r p o r a t i o n   a g g r e g a t e ) 和 “ 单 一 法 人 ” ( C o r p o r a t i o n s o l e ) 。 一 个 “ 集 合 法 人 ” 是 一 个 真 正 的 法 人 , 但 一 个 “ 单 一 法 人 ” 则 是 一 个 个 人 , 是 一 系 列 的 个 人 中 的 一 个 成 员 , 通 过 拟 制 而 赋 与 一 个 “ 法 人 ” 的 性 质 的 。 例 如 , 国 王 或 一 个 教 区 中 的 教 区 长 就 是 “ 单 一 法 人 ” 的 例 子 。 在 这 里 , 当 考 虑 到

    他 的 权 能 或 职 位 时 , 是 和 随 时 可 以 据 有 这 种 权 能 或 这 个 职 位

    的 各 别 的 人 不 相 牵 涉 的 , 同 时 , 由 于 这 种 权 能 是 永 久 的 , 因

    此 据 有 这 种 权 能 的 一 系 列 的 个 人 便 也 带 着 “ 法 人 ” 所 有 的 主

    要 属 性 — — 即 “ 永 久 性 ” 。 在 罗 马 法 的 较 古 理 论 中 , 个 人 之 与

    家 族 , 正 和 英 国 法 律 学 的 原 理 中 一 个 “ 单 一 法 人 ” 之 与 “ 集

    合 法 人 ” 的 关 系 , 完 全 相 同 。 这 两 种 观 念 的 由 来 和 联 系 是 完

    全 相 同 的 。 事 实 上 , 如 果 我 们 认 为 就 罗 马 遗 嘱 法 律 学 而 论 , 每

    一 个 个 人 公 民 就 是 一 个 “ 单 一 法 人 ” , 则 我 们 将 不 但 能 充 分 理

    解 一 个 继 承 权 的 全 部 概 念 , 并 且 将 能 完 全 掌 握 这 概 念 所 自 来

    的 假 定 的 线 索 。 我 们 有 这 样 一 个 格 言 , 国 王 是 一 个 “ 单 一 法

    人 ” , 他 永 生 不 灭 。 他 的 权 能 应 立 即 为 其 继 承 人 所 填 补 , 而 统

    治 权 的 延 续 也 就 视 为 未 经 中 断 。 对 于 罗 马 人 , 把 死 亡 的 事 实

    从 权 利 和 义 务 的 移 转 中 排 除 掉 , 似 乎 也 是 同 样 简 单 和 自 然 的

    过 程 。 遗 嘱 人 在 其 继 承 人 或 在 许 多 共 同 继 承 人 中 继 续 生 存 下

    去 。 在 法 律 上 , 他 和 他 们 是 同 一 个 人 , 如 果 有 任 何 人 在 其 遗

    嘱 处 分 中 违 背 了 把 他 的 实 际 生 存 和 他 的 死 后 生 存 结 合 起 来 的

    原 则 , 纵 使 这 种 违 背 仅 仅 是 出 于 推 定 的 , 法 律 也 就 将 认 为 这

    个 遗 嘱 有 瑕 疵 而 予 以 排 斥 , 并 把 继 承 权 给 与 其 血 亲 族 , 至 血

    亲 族 所 以 能 具 有 符 合 继 承 人 条 件 的 权 能 , 是 由 法 律 本 身 的 规

    定 , 而 不 是 由 可 能 会 有 错 误 的 任 何 证 件 所 赋 与 的 。

    当 一 个 罗 马 人 在 死 亡 时 没 有 遗 嘱 或 没 有 有 效 的 “ 遗 嘱 ” ,

    他 的 卑 亲 属 或 亲 族 就 将 根 据 下 述 亲 等 而 成 为 其 继 承 人 。 继 承

    的 人 或 许 多 人 不 仅 仅代表 ·

    着 死 亡 者 , 根 据 刚 才 所 谈 到 的 理 论 ,

    他 们 并 且 ·

    继 ·

    续 着 他 的 民 事 生 活 、 他 的 法 律 生 存 。 当 继 承 的 顺

    序 是 由 “ 遗 嘱 ” 决 定 时 , 也 可 以 得 到 同 样 的 结 果 , 但 是 死 亡

    者 和 其 继 承 人 之 间 有 同 一 性 的 原 理 , 当 然 比 任 何 形 式 的 “ 遗

    命 ” 或 任 何 种 遗 嘱 法 律 学 要 古 老 得 多 。 这 里 , 应 该 恰 当 地 提

    出 一 个 问 题 , 这 个 问 题 将 因 我 们 对 这 主 题 探 究 得 愈 深 入 而 对

    我 们 发 生 愈 大 压 迫 力 — — 如 果 不 是 由 于 和 概 括 继 承 有 关 联 的

    这 些 显 著 观 念 , 那 末遗 ·

    嘱 是 否 就 根 本 不 会 出 现 了 呢 ? 遗 嘱 法

    所 适 用 的 原 则 是 可 以 用 多 种 多 样 的 似 是 而 非 的 哲 学 假 设 来 说

    明 的 ; 这 个 原 则 和 现 代 社 会 的 每 一 个 部 分 交 织 着 , 并 且 可 以

    用 广 泛 的 一 般 便 宜 来 作 为 辩 护 它 的 根 据 的 。 但 是 在 这 里 , 必

    须 再 一 次 地 重 复 我 们 的 警 告 , 即 如 果 以 为 , 目 前 我 们 为 维 护

    一 个 现 存 制 度 而 持 有 的 那 些 理 由 , 必 然 地 和 这 个 制 度 产 生 时

    所 有 的 情 绪 有 其 共 同 之 处 , 这 是 不 对 的 , 这 种 印 象 是 法 律 学

    上 各 种 问 题 发 生 错 误 的 最 大 根 源 。 可 以 断 言 , 在 古 罗 马 “ 继

    承 法 ” 中 , 遗 嘱 或 遗 命 这 个 观 念 是 和 一 个 人 死 后 生 存 于 其 继

    承 人 人 格 中 的 理 论 , 不 能 分 解 地 纠 缠 在 一 起 的 , 我 甚 至 可 以

    说 , 是 混 和 在 一 起 的 。

    概 括 继 承 这 个 概 念 虽 然 在 法 律 学 中 已 经 根 深 蒂 固 , 却 并

    不 是 为 每 一 种 法 律 的 编 制 者 自 发 地 想 到 的 。 在 可 以 发 现 有 这

    种 概 念 的 地 方 , 都 显 示 出 它 是 来 自 罗 马 法 ; 跟 着 它 一 直 传 下

    来 的 有 许 多 以 “ 遗 命 ” 和 “ 遗 赠 ” 为 主 题 的 法 律 规 定 , 这 些

    规 定 为 现 代 实 务 者 所 应 用 , 竟 完 全 没 有 觉 察 到 它 们 和 其 原 来

    理 论 的 关 系 。 但 是 , 在 纯 粹 罗 马 法 律 学 中 , 一 个 人 在 其 继 承

    人 身 上 继 续 生 存 的 原 则 — — 如 果 我 们 可 以 这 样 说 , 根 本 消 灭

    死 亡 的 事 实 — — 是 遗 嘱 继 承 和 无 遗 嘱 继 承 全 部 法 律 所 环 绕 的

    中 心 , 这 是 非 常 明 显 而 不 致 发 生 误 解 的 。 罗 马 法 强 迫 服 从 这

    个 有 势 力 的 理 论 , 其 坚 决 严 厉 的 程 度 就 足 以 说 明 , 这 个 理 论

    是 由 罗 马 原 始 社 会 组 织 中 生 长 出 来 的 ; 在 这 个 推 定 之 外 , 我

    们 并 且 还 有 更 好 的 证 据 。 在 罗 马 最 古 的 “ 遗 嘱 ” 制 度 中 恰 巧

    有 某 些 术 语 偶 然 地 被 保 存 到 现 在 。 在 该 雅 士 的 著 作 中 , 我 们

    看 到 概 括 继 承 所 借 以 创 设 的 授 受 公 式 。 我 们 看 到 古 代 的 名 称 ,

    通 过 了 这 个 名 称 , 一 个 后 来 被 称 为 “ 继 承 人 ” 的 人 被 预 先 给

    指 定 了 。 在 “ 十 二 铜 表 法 ” 中 我 们 并 且 还 有 明 白 承 认 “ 遗

    命 ” 权 的 著 名 条 款 , 而 规 定 “ 无 遗 嘱 继 承 ” 的 条 款 也 被 保 存

    着 。 所 有 这 一 切 古 代 的 名 言 中 , 都 有 一 个 显 著 的 特 点 。 它 们

    一 致 表 示 , 从 “ 遗 嘱 人 ” 转 移 给 “ 继 承 人 ” 的 是 ·

    家族 , 也 就

    是 包 括 在 “ 家 父 权 ” 中 和 由 “ 家 父 权 ” 而 产 生 的 各 种 权 利 和

    义 务 的 集 合 体 。 在 所 有 的 三 个 例 子 中 都 完 全 没 有 提 到 物 质 财

    产 ; 在 其 余 两 个 例 子 中 , 物 质 财 产 被 明 白 地 称 为 “ 家 族 ” 的

    附 属 物 或 附 属 品 。 因 此 , 原 始 的 “ 遗 嘱 ” 或 “ 遗 命 ” 是 一 个

    手 段 , 或 者 ( 因 为 在 开 始 时 可 能 不 是 成 文 的 ) 是 一 种 程 序 , 而

    ·

    家 ·

    族 的 移 转 就 是 根 据 了 这 个 规 定 而 进 行 的 。 这 是 宣 告 谁 有 权来 继 承 “ 遗 嘱 人 ” 为 族 长 的 一 种 方 式 。 当 我 们 对 于 “ 遗 嘱 ” 的 原 来 目 的 作 出 这 样 的 理 解 , 我 们 也 就 立 即 可 以 看 到 为 什 么

    “ 遗 嘱 ” 会 同 古 代 宗 教 和 法 律 最 古 怪 遗 物 之 一 的家祭 ( s a c r a)联 系 在 一 起 。 这 些 ·

    家 ·

    祭 是 一 种 罗 马 形 式 的 制 度 , 凡 是 没 有 完

    全 解 脱 原 始 形 态 的 社 会 都 有 这 种 制 度 。 ·

    家 ·

    祭 是 用 以 纪 念 家 族

    同 胞 之 谊 的 祭 祀 和 礼 仪 , 是 家 族 永 存 的 誓 约 和 见 证 。 不 论 ·

    家祭 的 性 质 如 何 — — 所 谓 在 一 切 情 形 中 ·

    家 ·

    祭 都 是 对 某 些 荒 诞 无

    稽 的 祖 先 的 崇 拜 , 不 论 这 话 是 否 真 实 — — 它 们 在 各 处 都 被 用

    来 誓 证 家 族 关 系 的 神 圣 性 ; 因 此 每 当 家 族 族 长 本 人 发 生 变 化

    危 及 “ 家 族 ” 的 延 续 生 存 时 , ·

    家 ·

    祭 就 显 得 特 别 重 要 。 因 此 , 在

    这 族 统 治 者 死 亡 时 , 人 们 更 常 提 到 ·

    家 ·

    祭 。 在 印 度 人 中 , 继 承一 个 死 亡 者 财 产 的 权 利 , 是 和 履 行 其 葬 仪 的 责 任 相 辅 而 行 的 。

    如 果 葬 仪 没 有 被 按 礼 履 行 或 者 不 是 由 适 当 的 人 来 履 行 , 则 在

    死 亡 者 和 在 生 存 者 之 间 不 能 认 为 已 经 建 立 了 任 何 关 系 ; “ 继 承

    法 ” 就 不 能 适 用 , 没 有 人 能 继 承 遗 产 。 在 一 个 印 度 人 的 一 生

    中 , 似 乎 每 一 椿 大 事 都 和 这 些 祭 仪 有 关 。 如 果 印 度 人 结 婚 了 ,

    是 为 了 要 有 子 女 , 在 他 死 亡 后 祭 祀 他 ; 如 果 他 没 有 子 女 , 他

    就 有 最 大 的 责 任 从 其 他 家 族 中 收 养 一 个 子 女 , “ 其 目 的 是 在 ” ,

    根 据 印 度 博 士 的 说 法 , “ 获 得 葬 饼 、 水 和 庄 严 的 祭 礼 ” 。 西 塞

    罗 时 代 罗 马 ·

    家 ·

    祭 所 保 存 的 范 围 , 也 并 不 小 于 印 度 。 它 包 括 了

    “ 继 承 权 ” 和 “ 收 养 ” 。 如 果 对 养 子 原 来 的 家 族 不 举 行 适 当 的

    ·

    家 ·

    祭 , 则 不 能 进 行 “ 收 养 ” : 如 果 祭 仪 的 费 用 不 在 各 个 共 同 继

    承 人 中 严 格 地 平 均 分 摊 , 则 不 准 根 据 “ 遗 命 ” 来 分 配 一 个

    “ 继 承 权 ” 。 我 们 最 后 一 次 看 到 这 ·

    家 ·

    祭 的 时 代 的 罗 马 法 , 和 现

    存 印 度 制 度 之 间 所 存 在 的 差 别 , 是 非 常 有 益 的 。 在 印 度 人 中间 , 法 律 中 的 宗 教 成 分 获 得 了 完 全 的 优 势 。 “ 家 族 ” 祭 祀 成 了

    一 切 “ 人 法 ” 和 大 部 分 “ 物 法 ” 的 基 石 。 祭 祀 甚 至 经 过 异 常

    的 扩 大 , 因 为 , 在 一 种 常 常 伴 随 着 祭 祀 的 观 念 的 印 象 影 响 之

    下 , 认 为 人 类 血 液 是 一 切 祭 品 中 最 可 珍 贵 的 祭 品 , 印 度 人 就

    在 原 始 的 家 祭 上 作 了 一 些 补 充 , 认 为 寡 妇 在 丈 夫 的 葬 仪 中 应

    该 以 身 殉 葬 , 这 个 实 践 为 印 度 人 继 续 实 行 到 有 史 时 期 , 并 且

    在 几 个 印 度 - 欧 罗 巴 人 种 中 亦 都 见 诸 于 传 说 。 在 罗 马 人 方 面

    则 恰 恰 与 此 相 反 , 法 律 责 任 和 宗 教 义 务 已 不 再 挽 杂 在 一 起 。 举

    行 庄 严 ·

    家 ·

    祭 的 必 要 性 已 不 再 成 为 民 事 法 律 理 论 的 一 部 分 , 它

    们 改 属 “ 教 长 会 ” ( C o l l e g e   o f   P o n t i f f s ) 的 各 别 管 辖 之 下 。

    在 西 塞 罗 给 阿 提 格 斯 ( A t t i c u s ) 的 许 多 信 中 充 满 了 有 关 ·

    家 ·

    的 提 示 , 使 我 们 深 信 不 疑 ·

    家 ·

    祭 已 在 “ 继 承 权 ” 上 构 成 了 一 种

    难 以 容 忍 的 重 担 ; 但 到 这 个 时 候 , 在 发 展 上 已 经 超 过 了 法 律

    从 宗 教 分 离 出 来 的 时 期 , 而 我 们 所 期 待 着 的 是 ·

    家 ·

    祭 从 后 期 法

    律 学 中 全 部 消 失 不 见 。

    在 印 度 法 律 中 , 没 有 一 个 所 谓 真 正 的 “ 遗 嘱 ” 的 东 西 。

    “ 遗 嘱 ” 所 处 的 地 位 为 “ 收 养 ” 所 占 据 着 。 在 这 里 我 们 可 以 看

    到 “ 遗 嘱 权 力 ” 和 “ 收 养 能 力 ” 的 关 系 , 以 及 为 什 么 这 两 者

    之 一 的 行 使 都 可 能 引 起 要 履 行 ·

    家 ·

    祭 的 一 种 特 殊 渴 望 。 “ 遗 嘱 ”

    和 “ 收 养 ” 都 威 胁 着 要 歪 曲 “ 家 族 ” 承 袭 的 正 常 进 程 , 但 当

    亲 族 之 中 没 有 人 能 继 承 的 时 候 , 它 们 显 然 都 是 避 免 承 袭 的 完

    全 中 断 的 手 段 。 在 这 两 者 之 中 , 用 人 为 的 方 法 来 创 设 血 亲 关

    系 的 “ 收 养 ” 是 在 大 部 分 古 代 社 会 中 自 发 地 产 生 的 一 种 手 段 。

    印 度 人 无 疑 地 在 古 代 的 实 践 上 前 进 了 一 步 , 即 准 许 寡 妇 收 纳

    养 子 , 如 果 丈 夫 忽 略 了 这 样 做 ; 只 在 孟 加 拉 的 地 方 习 惯 中 , 隐约 有 一 些 “ 遗 嘱 权 力 ” 的 痕 迹 。 但 是 首 创 这 个 对 人 类 社 会 的

    转 化 具 有 巨 大 影 响 ( 仅 次 于 “ 契 约 ” ) 的 “ 遗 嘱 ” 制 度 这 一 项

    功 劳 , 主 要 应 该 归 属 于 罗 马 人 。 我 们 必 须 注 意 , 切 不 可 以 把

    在 晚 近 时 代 它 所 具 有 的 职 能 , 认 为 在 其 最 早 形 态 中 就 已 经 具

    备 的 了 。 在 开 始 时 , 它 并 不 是 分 配 死 亡 者 财 产 的 一 种 方 式 , 而

    是 把 家 族 代 表 权 移 转 给 一 个 新 族 长 的 许 多 方 法 中 的 一 种 。 无

    疑 地 财 产 已 传 给 其 “ 继 承 人 ” , 但 这 些 是 因 为 公 有 财 产 处 分 权

    是 随 着 家 族 统 治 权 的 移 转 而 移 转 的 。 我 们 还 没 有 到 达 “ 遗

    嘱 ” 史 上 的 这 一 个 阶 段 , 即 “ 遗 嘱 ” 已 成 为 变 更 社 会 的 有 力

    工 具 , 即 一 方 面 它 们 刺 激 着 财 产 的 流 转 , 另 一 方 面 它 们 在 财

    产 所 有 权 中 产 生 了 可 塑 性 。 甚 至 最 后 期 的 罗 马 法 学 家 , 似 乎

    也 没 有 在 实 际 上 把 这 些 后 果 和 “ 遗 嘱 权 力 ” 联 系 起 来 。 在 罗

    马 社 会 中 , 从 没 有 把 “ 遗 嘱 ” 视 为 分 离 “ 财 产 ” 和 “ 家 族 ” 的

    一 种 手 段 , 或 作 为 创 设 许 多 各 式 各 样 利 益 的 一 种 手 段 , 而 是

    作 为 使 一 个 家 族 的 成 员 都 能 得 到 比 在 “ 无 遗 嘱 ” 继 承 规 定 下

    所 能 获 得 的 更 好 的 供 应 的 一 种 方 法 。 我 们 可 能 要 发 生 这 样 一

    个 疑 问 , 即 当 时 一 个 罗 马 人 对 于 立 遗 嘱 的 实 践 所 有 的 想 法 和

    我 们 今 天 所 熟 悉 的 想 法 究 竟 是 不 是 极 端 地 不 同 的 。 把 “ 收

    养 ” 和 “ 立 遗 嘱 ” 作 为 延 续 “ 家 族 ” 的 方 式 的 习 惯 , 是 必 然

    地 和 罗 马 人 对 于 主 权 继 承 的 看 法 特 别 含 糊 有 关 联 。 我 们 不 能

    不 看 到 , 早 期 罗 马 各 个 皇 帝 的 依 次 继 承 在 当 时 是 被 认 为 合 理

    地 正 常 的 , 并 且 尽 管 当 时 发 生 了 这 一 切 事 情 , 但 象 狄 奥 多 西

    ( T h e o d o s i u s ) 或 查 斯 丁 尼 安 这 类 诸 侯 的 自 封 为 凯 撒 和 奥 古 斯多 , 也 并 没 有 被 认 为 是 妄 诞 无 稽 的 。

    当 原 始 社 会 的 各 种 现 象 揭 露 以 后 , 十 七 世 纪 法 学 家 认 为可 疑 的 一 个 命 题 , 即 “ 无 遗 嘱 继 承 ” 比 “ 遗 嘱 继 承 ” 是 更 为

    古 老 的 一 个 制 度 , 已 成 为 无 可 争 辩 的 了 。 在 这 个 问 题 解 决 以

    后 , 又 发 生 了 另 外 一 个 更 有 趣 的 问 题 , 即 一 个 遗 嘱 的 指 示 究

    竟 是 怎 样 和 在 什 么 条 件 下 最 初 被 准 许 用 来 规 定 家 族 权 的 移

    转 , 以 及 后 来 又 规 定 财 产 的 死 后 分 配 。 这 个 问 题 的 所 以 难 于

    决 定 , 是 因 为 在 古 代 共 产 体 中 “ 遗 嘱 权 力 ” 是 罕 见 的 。 除 了

    罗 马 人 之 外 , 其 他 原 始 社 会 究 竟 是 否 知 道 有 真 正 立 遗 嘱 权 力

    的 , 还 是 有 疑 问 的 。 它 的 萌 芽 形 式 虽 然 到 处 可 见 , 但 其 中 绝

    大 部 分 都 不 能 逃 避 渊 源 来 自 罗 马 的 嫌 疑 。 雅 典 的 遗 嘱 无 疑 是

    土 著 的 , 但 我 们 不 久 就 可 以 看 到 , 它 只 是 未 成 熟 的 遗 命 。 至

    于 那 些 征 服 罗 马 帝 国 的 各 个 蛮 族 所 传 给 我 们 的 一 些 法 典 中 用

    法 律 规 定 的 “ 遗 嘱 ” , 这 些 “ 遗 嘱 ” 几 乎 都 肯 定 是 罗 马 的 。 近

    来 最 有 鉴 别 力 的 德 国 批 评 都 注 意 到 这 些 ·

    蛮 ·

    族 ·

    法 ·

    律上 来 , 调 查 的 主 要 目 的 , 是 要 在 这 些 制 度 中 把

    原 来 本 族 习 惯 所 组 成 的 部 分 从 借 用 罗 马 法 律 的 外 来 要 素 中 分

    离 出 来 。 在 进 行 这 项 工 作 的 过 程 中 , 经 常 发 现 一 个 结 果 , 即

    在 古 代 法 典 的 核 心 中 并 没 有 “ 遗 嘱 ” 的 痕 迹 。 凡 含 有 “ 遗

    嘱 ” 的 法 律 , 都 是 来 自 罗 马 法 律 学 的 。 同 样 地 , ( 据 我 被 告

    知 ) 希 伯 来 语 的 犹 太 法 所 规 定 的 萌 芽 “ 遗 命 ” , 也 应 该 归 因 于

    和 罗 马 人 接 触 。 唯 一 不 属 于 罗 马 或 希 腊 社 会 的 遗 命 形 式 可 以

    被 合 理 地 假 定 为 土 著 的 , 是 为 孟 加 拉 省 的 惯 例 所 承 认 的 一 种 ;

    而 孟 加 拉 的 遗 命 只 是 一 种 萌 芽 的 “ 遗 嘱 ” 。

    从 上 述 证 据 似 乎 应 该 得 出 这 样 一 个 结 论 , 即 “ 遗 命 ” 在

    最 初 只 是 在 没 有 人 能 根 据 真 正 的 或 人 为 的 血 族 权 利 而 享 有 继

    承 时 方 才 有 效 。 因 此 , 当 梭 伦 法 第 一 次 以 “ 遗 命 ” 权 赋 与 雅典 公 民 时 , 他 们 曾 禁 止 剥 夺 直 系 男 性 卑 亲 属 的 继 承 权 。 同 样地 , 孟 加 拉 的 “ 遗 嘱 ” 只 有 在 和 家 族 某 种 优 先 权 相 一 致 时 才 被 准 许 适 用 于 某 种 继 承 。 又 , 犹 太 人 的 原 来 制 度 虽 没 有 规 定

    “ 立 遗 嘱 ” 的 特 权 , 但 后 来 自 称 为 以遗漏之 ·

    件 ( c a s u s  o m i s s i ) 补 充 “ 摩 西 法 ” ( M o s a i c   L a w ) 的 希 伯 来 语 法 律 学 ,

    准 许 在 根 据 摩 西 制 度 规 定 有 继 承 权 的 亲 族 全 部 不 能 继 承 或 全

    部 不 能 发 现 时 , 才 能 行 使 “ 立 遗 嘱 ” 权 。 古 日 耳 曼 法 典 借 以

    保 卫 与 之 相 结 合 的 遗 嘱 法 律 学 的 一 些 限 制 也 是 很 有 意 义 的 ,

    并 且 也 指 向 了 同 一 的 方 向 。 根 据 我 们 所 知 道 的 这 些 日 耳 曼 法

    律 , 其 绝 大 部 分 都 有 这 样 一 个 特 点 , 即 在 每 家 所 有 的 ·

    自 ·

    主 ·

    地(a l l o d ) 或 领 地 外 , 法 律 还 承 认 几 种 附 属 的 财 产 , 每 一 种 附 属

    财 产 就 都 表 示 着 罗 马 的 原 则 曾 各 别 地 被 注 入 到 原 始 条 顿 惯 例

    中 。 原 始 的 日 耳 曼 的 自 主 的 财 产 是 被 严 格 地 保 留 给 其 亲 族 的 。

    它 不 但 不 能 用 遗 命 来 处 分 , 并 且 也 不 能 ·

    在 ·

    生 ·

    前 ( i n t e r  

    v i v o s ) 用 让 与 的 方 式 来 移 转 。 古 日 耳 曼 法 和 印 度 法 律 学 相 同 ,

    规 定 男 性 的 子 嗣 与 其 父 亲 是 财 产 共 有 人 , 家 族 赠 与 非 得 全 部

    成 员 同 意 , 不 能 执 行 。 但 其 他 各 种 财 产 , 比 自 主 物 发 生 得 较

    迟 并 且 也 比 较 不 甚 贵 重 的 , 就 比 较 容 易 移 转 , 并 且 移 转 时 也

    按 照 远 为 宽 弛 的 规 定 办 理 。 妇 女 和 女 性 的 后 嗣 也 可 以 继 承 这

    种 财 产 , 显 然 是 根 据 这 样 一 个 原 则 , 即 它 们 是 不 包 括 在 宗 亲

    的 神 圣 界 限 之 内 的 。 从 罗 马 借 用 的 “ 遗 命 ” , 最 初 被 准 许 适 用

    于 、 实 在 也 仅 适 用 于 这 些 最 后 提 到 的 财 产 。

    以 上 的 说 明 , 可 用 以 使 我 们 对 古 代 罗 马 “ 遗 嘱 史 ” 中 一

    种 确 定 的 事 实 所 作 的 最 可 能 的 解 释 更 为 可 信 。 我 们 根 据 丰 富

    的 证 据 , 认 为 在 罗 马 国 家 的 原 始 时 代 , “ 遗 命 ” 是 在 “ 特 别 民会 ” ( C o m i t i a   C a l a t a ) 也 即 是 在 “ 贵 族 民 会 ” ( C o m i t i a   C u r i a At a ) 或 “ 罗 马 贵 族 市 民 议 会 ” ( P a r l i a m e n t   o f   t h e   P a t r i c i a n B u r g h e r s   o f   R o m e ) 为 “ 私 事 ” 而 集 会 时 加 以 执 行 的 。 这

    种 执 行 的 方 式 , 成 为 民 法 学 家 世 代 相 传 的 一 种 说 法 的 来 源 , 他

    们 认 为 在 罗 马 史 的 有 一 个 时 代 中 每 一 个 “ 遗 嘱 ” 都 是 一 个 庄

    严 的 立 法 行 为 。 但 我 们 实 在 没 有 必 要 去 仰 仗 一 个 曾 对 古 代 议

    会 的 程 序 作 了 非 常 不 精 确 的 说 明 的 解 释 。 有 关 在 “ 特 别 民会 ” 中 执 行 “ 遗 嘱 ” 的 故 事 , 其 适 当 的 解 答 无 疑 地 应 求 诸最古 的 罗 马无遗嘱 继 承 法 。 原 始 罗 马 法 律 学 中 规 定 亲 属 相 互 之间 继 承 权 的 准 则 , 在 它 们 还 没 有 受 到 “ 裁 判 官 ” 的 “ 告 令 法律 ” 所 变 更 前 , 是 这 样 的 : — — 第 一 , 由正统 ( s u i ) 或 没 有被 解 放 的 直 系 卑 亲 属 继 承 。 在 没 有正统 时 , 由 “ 最 近 的亲 ” 来 代 替 他 , 即 由 过 去 在 或 曾 经 在 死 亡 者 同 一 “ 家 父 权 ”下的 最 亲 近 的 人 或 最 亲 近 的 亲 等 来 代 替 。 再 次 是 三 等 和 最 后 等亲 , 其 中 继 承 权 传 给同族人 , 即 死 亡 者氏族或大氏族中的集体 成 员 。 我 在 前 面 已 经 解 释 过 , “ 大 氏 族 ” 是 家 族 的 一 种 拟 制

    的 扩 大 , 凡 是 具 有 同 一 姓 氏 以 及 因 为 有 同 一 姓 氏 而 被 假 定 为

    来 自 共 同 始 祖 的 一 切 罗 马 “ 贵 族 ” 公 民 都 包 括 在 内 。 称 为

    “ 贵 族 民 会 ” 的 “ 贵 族 议 会 ” 是 完 全 由 “ 氏 族 ” 或 “ 大 氏 族 ”

    的 代 表 组 成 的 一 个 “ 立 法 机 关 ” 。 这 是 罗 马 人 民 的 一 个 代 表 会

    议 , 根 据 了 国 家 的 组 成 单 位 是 “ 氏 族 ” 的 假 定 而 组 织 的 。 正

    由 于 这 样 不 可 避 免 的 推 理 , “ 民 会 ” 的 受 理 “ 遗 嘱 ” 是 与 “ 同

    族 人 ” 的 权 利 有 关 的 , 并 且 其 目 的 是 在 保 证 “ 同 族 人 ” 能 行

    使 他 们 的 最 后 继 承 权 。 如 果 我 们 假 定 , 只 有 在 遗 嘱 人 没 有 可以 发 现 的同族人 或在同族人 放 弃 权 利 时 才 可 以 立 “ 遗 命 ” , 并假 定 每 一 个 “ 遗 命 ” 应 提 交 给 “ 罗 马 氏 族 大 会 ” ( G e n e r a l   A s As e m b l y   o f   t h e   R o m a n   G e n t e s ) 以 便 使 那 些 因 遗 嘱 处 分 而 受 到 损 害 的 人 得 在 必 要 时 可 以 提 出 否 决 , 在 大 会 中 通 过 后即 可 推 定 他 们 已 放 弃 其 继 承 权 , 如 果 我 们 这 样 假 定 , 则 全 部

    显 然 的 变 例 就 可 以 为 之 扫 除 了 。 在 “ 十 二 铜 表 法 ” 公 布 的 前

    夕 , 这 种 否 决 权 可 能 已 经 大 大 地 缩 小 了 , 或 是 仅 仅 偶 然 地 和

    不 经 常 地 行 使 着 。 虽 然 , 要 说 明 把 这 管 辖 权 托 付 给 “ 特 别 民

    会 ” 的 意 义 和 渊 源 是 容 易 的 , 但 要 追 溯 其 逐 渐 发 展 或 逐 渐 衰

    亡 的 过 程 却 没 有 这 样 容 易 。

    但 是 , 所 有 现 代 “ 遗 命 ” 所 自 来 的 “ 遗 命 ” , 并 不 是 在

    “ 特 别 民 会 ” 中 执 行 的 “ 遗 命 ” , 而 是 另 外 一 种 与 之 相 竞 争 并

    且 终 于 用 来 代 替 它 的 “ 遗 命 ” 。 这 种 早 期 罗 马 “ 遗 命 ” 在 历 史

    上 有 其 重 要 性 , 并 且 通 过 了 它 可 以 解 释 清 楚 许 多 古 代 的 思 想 ,因 此 我 认 为 必 须 比 较 详 细 地 加 以 阐 明 。

    当 “ 遗 嘱 权 ” 在 法 律 史 上 第 一 次 出 现 时 , 像 几 乎 所 有 伟大 的 各 种 罗 马 制 度 一 样 , 有 迹 象 证 明 它 成 了 “ 贵 族 ” 和 “ 平民 ” 间 争 论 的 题 目 。 当 时 有 一 条 政 治 格 言 , 即 “一个平民不能成为一个大氏族的成员 ” ( P l e b s   G e m t e m   n o n   h a b et),其 结 果 是 把 “ 平 民 ” 完 全 排 斥 在 “ 贵 族 民 会 ” 之 外 。 因 此 ,有些 评 论 家 就 认 为 一 个 “ 平 民 ” 的 “ 遗 嘱 ” 是 不 可 能 在 “ 贵 族议 会 ” 中 宣 读 的 , 因 此 一 个 “ 平 民 ” 就 也 完 全 没 有 “ 遗 嘱 ” 之

    权 。 其 他 评 论 家 仅 仅 指 出 , 在 “ 遗 嘱 人 ” 没 有 代 表 的 一 个 不

    友 好 的 议 会 中 , 要 把 一 个 拟 议 的 “ 遗 嘱 ” 提 交 它 受 理 是 有 困

    难 的 。 不 论 真 正 的 看 法 应 该 如 何 , 一 种 “ 遗 命 ” 被 应 用 了 , 它

    具 有 意 图 避 免 某 种 可 厌 恶 义 务 的 一 切 特 点 。 这 种 “ 遗 嘱 ” 是一 种在生 ·

    前 的 让 与 , 把 “ 遗 嘱 人 ” 的 家 族 和 财 产 完 全 地 和 不

    可 挽 回 地 移 转 给 他 心 意 中 的 继 承 人 。 这 种 移 转 一 定 是 始 终 为

    严 格 的 罗 马 法 规 定 所 准 许 的 , 但 是 , 当 这 种 行 为 的 目 的 是 要

    在 死 后 发 生 效 力 时 , 就 可 能 发 生 纠 纷 , 因 为 在 没 有 取 得 “ 贵族 议 会 ” 的 正 式 认 可 前 , 它 是 否 能 成 为 有 效 的 “ 遗 嘱 ” , 是 一

    个 问 题 。 当 时 在 罗 马 人 民 的 两 个 阶 级 之 间 如 果 在 这 一 点 上 存

    在 着 分 歧 意 见 , 那 末 后 来 通 过 伟 大 的 大 宪 官 和 解 时 代 它 就 连同 许 多 其 他 不 平 的 泉 源 给 一 并 消 灭 了 。 “ 十 二 铜 表 法 ” 原 文 还保 存 着 , 它 说法律规定,家父得使用他资产的监护权 ( P a t e r  f a m i l i a s   u t i   d e   p e c u n i a J  t u t e l a Jv e   r e i   s u E l e g a Js s i t , i t a   j u s   e s t o ) — — 这 一 条 法 律 除 了 使 “ 平 民 遗嘱 ” 合 法 化 外 , 不 可 能 有 任 何 其 他 的 目 的 。

    学 者 们 都 知 道 , 在 “ 贵 族 议 会 ” 停 止 作 为 罗 马 国 家 的 立法 机 关 又 经 过 了 几 世 纪 后 , 它 仍 旧 为 了 私 事 而 继 续 召 开 正 式集 会 。 因 此 , 在 “ 十 二 铜 表 法 ” 公 布 后 的 一 个 长 时 期 内 ,我们 有 理 由 相 信 “ 特 别 民 会 ” 仍 旧 为 了 使 “ 遗 命 ” 生 效 而 集 会。把 它 称 为 一 个 “ 登 记 法 院 ” ( C o u r t   o f   R e g i s t r a t i o n ) , 可 以最 恰 当 地 表 示 出 它 可 能 的 职 能 , 但 是 提 出 的 “ 遗 嘱 ” 应 被 理解 为 并 不 真 正 地登入簿据 , 只 是 向 其 成 员 宣 读 , 他 们 应 能 注意 其 要 旨 并 牢 记 于 心 中 。 很 可 能 这 一 种 “ 遗 命 ” 从 来 没 有写成 书 面 , 但 无 论 如 何 , 纵 使 “ 遗 嘱 ” 原 来 是 书 面 的 , “ 民 会 ”

    的 职 责 也 只 限 于 听 取 高 声 朗 诵 , 在 这 以 后 文 件 由 “ 遗 嘱 人 ” 加以 保 管 , 或 寄 存 于 某 些 宗 教 团 体 妥 为 保 管 。 这 种 公 告 也 许 是在 “ 特 别 民 会 ” 中 执 行 的 “ 遗 命 ” 的 附 带 条 件 之 一 , 这 就 使它 不 为 一 般 人 所 欢 迎 。 在 帝 国 的 初 期 , “ 民 会 ” 仍 旧 召 集 会 议 ,但 这 些 会 议 似 已 徒 具 形 式 , 很 少 或 甚 至 没 有 “ 遗 嘱 ” 会 在 定期 会 议 中 被 提 出 来 。

    对 现 代 世 界 文 明 有 深 远 影 响 的 , 是 古 代 的 “ 平 民 遗嘱 ” — — 这 是 上 述 “ 遗 命 ” 的 代 替 物 。 它 在 罗 马 获 得 了 由于要 把 “ 遗 命 ” 提 交 “ 特 别 民 会 ” 而 丧 失 的 一 切 声 望 。 它 所 以有 其 一 切 优 点 , 关 键 在 于 它 是 来 自曼企帕因 ( m a n c i p i u m ) 或 即 古 罗 马 的 让 与 , 我 们 毫 不 踌 躇 地 认 为 这 种 手 续 程 序 是 现 代社 会 如 果 没 有 了 它 们 就 很 难 团 结 在 一 起 的 两 个 伟 大 制 度即“ 契 约 ” 和 “ 遗 嘱 ” 的 母 体 。 曼 企 帕 因 或 后 来 在 拉 丁 文 中 所谓“ 曼 企 帕 地 荷 ” , 把 我 们 带 回 到 民 事 社 会 的 萌 芽 时 代 去 。由于它 的 产 生 远 在 书 写 艺 术 发 明 之 前 、 至 少 是 在 书 写 艺 术 广 为 流

    行 之 前 , 所 以 手 势 、 象 征 的 行 为 和 庄 严 的 成 语 便 被 用 来 代 替

    了 文 件 的 形 式 , 冗 长 的 和 繁 复 的 仪 式 是 为 了 要 使 有 关 各 造 都

    能 注 意 到 交 易 的 重 要 性 , 并 使 证 人 们 可 以 因 此 而 获 得 深 刻 的印 象 。 口 头 证 言 不 及 书 面 证 言 完 备 , 因 此 必 须 增 加 的 证 人 和助 手 的 人 数 , 远 超 过 后 来 被 认 为 合 理 或 可 以 理 解 的 范 围 。

    罗 马 的 “ 曼 企 帕 地 荷 ” 首 先 要 求 当 事 人 、 也 就 是 出 卖 人和 买 受 人 到 场 , 如 果 我 们 用 现 代 法 律 术 语 , 应 该 是 让 与 人 和受 让 人 到 场 。 此 外 , 还 应 该 至 少 有五个 证 人 ; 以 及 一 个 例 外人 物 , 即 “ 司 秤 ” ( L i b r i p e n s ) , 他 带 着 一 对 天 平 秤 用 以 权 衡古 罗 马 未 铸 成 钱 币 的 铜 钱 。 我 们 现 在 所 研 究 的 “ 遗 命 ” — —即铜衡式 ( p e r Ee t   l i b r a m ) “ 遗 嘱 ” , 这 是 在 术 语 上 这 样 被 长

    期 继 续 称 呼 的 — — 就 是 一 个 普 通 “ 曼 企 帕 地 荷 ” , 在 形 式 上 甚至 在 用 语 上 都 是 毫 未 变 动 过 的 。 “ 遗 嘱 人 ” 是 让 与 人 ; 五 个 证人 和 司 秤 都 到 场 了 ; 受 让 人 的 地 位 由 一 个 在 术 语 上 被 称 为家产买主 ( f a m i l i E  e m p t o r ) 的 所 占 有 。 于 是 就 按 照 一 个 普 通“ 曼 企 帕 地 荷 ” 的 仪 式 进 行 。 经 过 某 种 正 式 的 手 势 和 言 语 的 宣述 。

    家产买主 用 一 块 钱 敲 击 天 平 以 表 示 价 金 的 支 付 , 最 后 ,“ 遗 嘱 人 ” 即 用 所 谓 “ 交 易 宣 告 ” ( N u n c u p a t i o ) 的 一 套 话 语 来批 准 刚 才 所 做 的 , 这 一 套 成 语 在 遗 嘱 法 律 学 中 已 有 了 长 久 的历 史 , 已 为 法 学 家 所 熟 知 。 对 于 称 为 家 产 买 主 的 人 的 性 质 , 必须 特 别 加 以 注 意 。 毫 无 疑 问 , 在 起 初 他 是 “ 继 承 人 ” 本 身 。“ 遗 嘱 人 ” 当 场 把 他 全 部 “ 家 产 ” ( f a m i l i a ) , 也 就 是 他 在 家 族

    上 以 及 通 过 家 族 所 享 有 的 一 切 权 利 移 转 给 他 , 包 括 他 的 财 产 、

    他 的 奴 隶 以 及 他 的 一 切 祖 传 特 权 , 连 同 他 的 一 切 义 务 和 责 任 。

    根 据 上 面 所 说 的 资 料 , 我 们 可 以 发 现 原 始 形 式 的 所 谓

    “ 曼 企 帕 地 荷 ” 式 “ 遗 命 ” 和 现 代 的 遗 嘱 之 间 是 有 几 个 显 著 的不 同 之 点 的 。 因 为 “ 曼 企 帕 地 荷 ” 式 “ 遗 命 ” 既 然 相 当 于“ 遗 嘱 人 ” 财 产 的完全的 让 与 , 它 是 不 能撤销的 。 因 为 一 个 权力 在 既 已 消 灭 之 后 , 是 不 能 重 新 行 使 的 了 。

    再 则 , 它 不 是 秘 密 的 。 既 然 “ 家 产 买 主 ” 本 身 就 是 “ 继承 人 ” , 他 就 完 全 知 道 他 的 权 利 是 什 么 , 并 且 也 知 道 他 是 不 可

    改 变 地 享 有 继 承 权 的 , 即 使 在 秩 序 最 好 的 古 代 社 会 中 也 常 难

    免 会 发 生 暴 乱 , 因 此 这 样 的 知 识 便 成 为 极 端 危 险 的 了 。 但 这

    种 “ 遗 命 ” 和 “ 让 与 ” 关 系 所 发 生 的 最 可 惊 的 后 果 , 也 许 是

    在 把 继 承 权 立 刻 归 属 于 “ 继 承 人 ” 。 多 数 民 法 学 家 都 不 相 信 这

    一 点 , 他 们 认 为 “ 遗 嘱 人 ” 财 产 的 归 属 是 以 “ 遗 嘱 人 ” 死 亡

    为 条 件 的 , 或 要 在 一 个 不 可 确 定 的 时 候 , 即 让 与 人 死 亡 的 时

    候 才 能 让 与 给 他 。 但 是 一 直 到 罗 马 法 律 学 的 最 后 时 期 , 有 一

    类 的 交 易 是 绝 对 不 允 许 用 一 个 条 件 来 直 接 变 更 它 , 或 用 一 定时 限 来 限 制 它 , 或 用 一 定 时 限 来 起 算 的 。 用 术 语 来 讲 , 就 是不 准 许 附 有条件 ( c o n d i t i o ) 或日期 ( d i e s ) 的 。 “ 曼 企 帕 地荷 ” 是 其 中 的 一 种 , 因 此 , 虽 然 看 起 来 很 奇 怪 , 但 我 们 还 是

    不 得 不 得 出 这 样 一 个 结 论 , 即 原 始 罗 马 “ 遗 嘱 ” 是 立 即 生 效

    的 , 即 使 “ 遗 嘱 人 ” 在 其 “ 立 遗 嘱 ” 行 为 后 仍 旧 生 存 , 也 是

    如 此 。 很 可 能 , 罗 马 公 民 原 来 只 在 临 死 的 时 候 订 立 “ 遗 嘱 ” ,

    而 一 个 少 壮 的 人 为 了 “ 家 族 ” 延 续 而 预 作 准 备 时 就 往 往 宁 可

    采 取 “ 收 养 ” 而 不 采 取 “ 遗 嘱 ” 的 形 式 。 我 们 仍 旧 应 该 相 信 ,

    如 果 “ 遗 嘱 人 ” 竟 然 恢 复 健 康 , 他 只 能 在 其 “ 继 承 人 ” 的 容

    许 之 下 继 续 管 理 其 家 族 。

    这 些 不 方 便 处 如 何 补 救 , 以 及 为 什 么 “ 遗 命 ” 会 具 有 现

    在 普 遍 地 认 为 和 它 有 关 联 的 各 种 特 点 , 我 在 进 行 解 释 之 前 , 首

    先 应 该 说 明 二 三 个 问 题 。 “ 遗 命 ” 并 非 必 须 是 书 面 的 : 在 起 初 ,

    “ 遗 命 ” 似 乎 一 成 不 变 地 是 口 头 的 , 并 且 , 即 使 在 较 后 时 期 ,

    宣 布 遗 赠 的 证 书 也 只 是 偶 然 地 和 “ 遗 嘱 ” 联 系 在 一 起 而 并 不

    是 它 的 主 要 组 成 部 分 。 它 对 “ 遗 嘱 ” 的 关 系 , 事 实 上 正 和 旧

    英 国 法 律 中 允 许 使 用 的 证 书 对 罚 金 和 回 复 的 关 系 , 或 “ 封 土

    授 与 状 ” 对 封 土 授 与 的 关 系 相 同 。 在 “ 十 二 铜 表 法 ” 之 前 , 书

    面 绝 少 用 处 , 因 为 “ 遗 嘱 人 ” 无 权 以 其 遗 产 遗 赠 给 任 何 人 , 能

    从 一 个 遗 嘱 中 获 得 利 益 的 唯 一 的 人 们 是 “ 继 承 人 ” 或 “ 共 同

    继 承 人 ” 。 但 “ 十 二 铜 表 法 ” 中 条 文 的 极 端 一 般 性 不 久 产 生 了

    这 样 一 条 教 义 , 即 不 论 “ 遗 嘱 人 ” 对 他 加 上 任 何 指 示 , “ 继 承

    人 ” 必 须 接 受 继 承 权 , 换 言 之 , 必 须 接 受 作 出 遗 赠 限 制 的 继

    承 权 。 书 面 的 遗 嘱 证 件 于 是 取 得 了 一 种 新 的 价 值 , 即 可 以 用

    来 作 为 防 止 继 承 人 诈 欺 地 拒 绝 满 足 受 遗 赠 人 的 一 种 保 证 ; 但到 最 后 , “ 遗 嘱 人 ” 还 是 可 以 任 意 决 定 专 靠 证 人 的 证 言 , 并 用口 头 宣 告家产买主 必 须 支 付 的 各 个 遗 赠 。

    所 谓家产买主 这 个 名 词 , 须 要 注 意 。 “ 买 主 ” 表 示 “ 遗嘱 ” 可 以 说 是 一 种 买 卖 , 而 “ 家 产 ” 这 个 词 , 和 “ 十 二 铜 表法 ” 遗 嘱 条 款 中 的 用 语 相 比 较 时 , 可 以 使 我 们 获 得 有 启 发 性的 结 论 。 “ 家 产 ” 在 古 典 拉 丁 文 中 , 意 思 始 终 是 指 一 个 人 的 奴隶 。 但 在 这 里 , 以 及 一 般 地 在 古 罗 马 法 的 用 语 中 , 它 包 括 了在 他 “ 家 父 权 ” 之 下 的 一 切 人 , 至 于 “ 遗 嘱 人 ” 的 物 质 财 产或 资 产 , 则 视 为 家 族 的 附 属 物 而 移 转 。 试 再 回 顾 一 下 “ 十 二铜 表 法 ” , 可 以 看 到 它 谈 到 了 “他资产的监护权 ” ( t u t e l a   r e isu E) , 这 一 种 说 法 正 和 刚 才 所 研 究 的 成 语 意 义 相 反 。 因 此我 们 就 无 法 避 免 这 样 一 个 结 论 , 即 甚 至 在 比 较 近 的 大 宪 官 和解 时 代 , 表 示 “ 家 庭 ” 和 “ 财 产 ” 的 两 个 名 词 在 日 常 用 语 中是 混 淆 不 清 的 。 如 果 把 一 个 人 的 “ 家 庭 ” 认 为 是 他 的 财 产 , 我们 就 不 妨 把 这 个 用 语 解 释 为 指 “ 家 父 权 ” 的 范 围 , 但 是 , 由于 这 两 个 名 词 是 可 以 相 互 交 换 的 , 我 们 必 须 承 认 , 这 样 的 说法 把 我 们 带 回 到 了 原 始 时 代 , 当 时 财 产 是 由 家 族 所 有 , 而 家族 则 为 公 民 所 管 理 , 因 此 社 会 的 成 员 并 不 有 其 财 产和 其 家 族 ,而是通过 其 家 族 而 有 其 财 产 的 。

    在 一 个 不 容 易 明 确 决 定 的 时 期 , 罗 马 “ 裁 判 官 ” 在 处 理“ 遗 命 ” 时 , 习 惯 于 按 照 法 律 的 精 神 而 不 是 法 律 的 文 字 来 举 行仪 式 。 不 定 期 处 分 在 不 知 不 觉 中 成 为 成 规 定 例 , 直 到 最 后 , 一

    种 完 全 新 形 式 的 “ 遗 嘱 ” 成 熟 了 , 并 且 和 “ 告 令 法 律 学 ” 正

    规 地 啣 接 在 一 起 。 新 的 或 是裁判官 的 “ 遗 命 ” 从 ·

    大 ·

    官 ·

    法 ( J u s  H o n o r a r i u m ) 或 罗 马 的 衡 平 法 取 得 其 全 部 的 稳 固 性 。 某 年的 “ 裁 判 官 ” 一 定 曾 在 其 就 任 的 “ 布 告 ” 中 列 入 了 一 个 条 款 ,

    说 明 他 决 意 支 持 通 过 某 种 仪 式 而 执 行 的 一 切 “ 遗 命 ” ; 这 种 改

    革 在 被 发 现 为 有 利 的 以 后 , 其 有 关 条 款 便 被 “ 裁 判 官 ” 的 继

    承 者 重 新 引 用 , 并 再 为 其 后 任 重 复 采 用 , 直 到 最 后 由 于 这 样

    地 被 继 续 编 入 而 被 称 为 “ 常 续 ” 或 “ 永 续 告 令 ” ( C o n t i n u o u s E d i c t ) 这 一 部 分 法 律 学 的 一 个 公 认 部 分 。 研 究 一 下 一 个有效 “ 裁 判 官 遗 嘱 ” 的 条 件 , 显 然 可 以 看 到 这 些 条 件 决 定 于“ 曼 企 帕 地 荷 遗 命 ” 的 要 求 , 革 新 的 “ 裁 判 官 ” 显 然 只 在 旧 有的 手 续 能 保 证 真 实 或 防 止 诈 欺 时 才 加 以 保 留 。 当 “ 曼 企 帕地荷 遗 命 ” 执 行 时 , 在 “ 遗 嘱 人 ” 的 旁 边 有 七 个 人 到 场 。 因 此“ 裁 判 官 遗 嘱 ” 必 须 有 七 个 证 人 : 其 中 两 个 相 当 于司秤和家产买主 , 他 们 不 是 作 为 象 征 的 性 质 , 他 们 到 场 的 唯 一 目 的 是为了 提 供 证 言 。 这 时 不 再 举 行 象 征 的 仪 式 ; 只 是 把 “ 遗 嘱 ”诵读 一 遍 ; 但 是 为 了 要 永 保 “ 遗 嘱 人 ” 处 分 的 证 据 起 见 , 很 可能 ( 虽 然 不 能 绝 对 地 肯 定 ) 必 须 有 一 书 面 的 证 件 。 无 论 如 何 ,每 当 一 个 书 面 提 出 诵 读 或 被 提 供 为 一 个 人 的 最 后 “ 遗 嘱 ” 时,我 们 确 切 地 知 道 , 除 非 七 个 证 人 中 的 每 一 个 人 分 别 在 外 面 加盖 其 印 章 , “ 裁 判 官 法 院 ” 是 不 会 用 特 别 干 涉 来 支 持 它 的。这是 在 法 律 学 史 上 第 一 次 看 到盖印 , 作 为 立 证 的 方 式 。 必 须 注意 , 罗 马 “ 遗 嘱 ” 以 及 其 他 重 要 文 件 上 的 印 章 并 非 仅 仅 作 为签 证 者 到 场 或 同 意 的 标 志 , 而 是 的 的 确 确 的 一 种 封 签 , 在 可以 阅 读 文 件 前 必 须 加 以 启 开 的 。

    因 此 “ 告 令 法 律 ” 所 强 行 的 一 个 “ 遗 嘱 人 ” 的 处 分 , 只要 经 过 七 个 证 人 的 封 签 证 明 , 不 一 定 要 经 过 “ 曼 企 帕 地 荷 ” 的形 式 。 但 我 们 可 以 作 出 这 样 一 个 一 般 性 的 命 题 , 即 罗 马 财 产的 主 要 性 质 , 除 非 通 过 假 定 为 和 “ 市 民 法 ” 同 源 的 各 种 程 序以 外 , 是 不 能 传 授 的 。 因 此 , “ 裁 判 官 ” 不 能 把 一 个继承权授与 任 何 人 。 他 不 能 把 “ 继 承 人 ” 或 “ 共 同 继 承 人 ” 放 在 “ 遗嘱 人 ” 本 身 和 他 自 己 的 权 利 义 务 所 有 的 同 样 关 系 中 。 他 所 能做 到 的 , 是 使 被 称 为 “ 继 承 人 ” 的 人 对 遗 赠 财 产 有 实 际 的 享有 权 , 并 对 “ 遗 嘱 人 ” 的 债 务 有 清 偿 的 力 量 。 当 “ 裁 判 官 ” 为这 些 目 的 而 行 使 其 权 力 时 , 在 术 语 上 他 被 称 为 传 授遗产占有( B o n o r u m   P o s s e s s i o ) 。 这 种 情 况 下 的 “ 继 承 人 ” 或遗产占有者 , 能 享 有 “ 市 民 法 ” 上 “ 继 承 人 ” 所 能 享 有 的 一 切 财 产 所有 权 。 他 取 得 财 产 利 益 并 能 以 之 移 转 , 然 而 , 在 申 请 损 害 赔偿 时 , 他 不 应 如 我 们 所 说 的 , 求 诸 “ 普 通 法 ” 而 应 求 诸 “ 裁判 官 法 院 ” 的 “ 衡 平 法 ” 。 如 果 我 们 说 他 拥 有 在 继 承 权 中 的 一种衡平 的 财 产 , 可 能 不 致 发 生 大 错 ; 但 是 , 为 了 使 我 们 不 致为 这 样 的 类 比 所 迷 惑 , 我 们 必 须 始 终 记 着 , 在 有 一 年 中,遗产占有 是 根 据 所 谓 “ 时 效 取 得 ” ( U s u c a p i o n ) 的 一 条 罗 马 法 原则 而 产 生 效 果 的 , “ 占 有 者 ” 就 成 为 包 括 在 继 承 权 中 的 一切 财产 的 一 个 “ 公 民 ” 所 有 人 。我 们 对 古 代 的 “ 民 事 诉 讼 ” ( C i v i l   P r o c e s s ) 法 所 知 道 的太 少 了 , 不 能 对 “ 裁 判 官 法 院 ” 所 提 供 的 各 式 救 济 方 法 之间的 利 弊 一 一 加 以 比 较 。 但 可 以 断 言 , 虽 然 “ 曼 企 帕 地 荷遗命 ” 有 许 多 缺 点 , 但 通 过 它 而 立 即 全 部 把概括的权利 加 以 移转 的 “ 曼 企 帕 地 荷 遗 命 ” , 却 从 没 有 完 全 为 这 新 的 “ 遗 嘱 ” 所

    代 替 ; 在 一 个 不 拘 泥 于 古 代 形 式 或 者 这 些 古 代 形 式 并 不 十 分

    被 重 视 的 时 期 , 法 学 专 家 的 所 有 机 智 便 都 被 耗 费 于 改 进 这 种

    比 较 神 圣 庄 严 的 工 具 。 在 该 雅 士 时 代 , 也 就 是 安 托 宁 · 凯 撒时 代 ; “ 曼 企 帕 地 荷 遗 命 ” 的 大 缺 点 都 已 消 除 。 原 来 , 正 如 我

    们 已 经 看 到 过 的 那 样 , 对 手 续 程 序 的 主 要 性 质 的 要 求 , 是

    “ 继 承 人 ” 本 身 必 须 是 “ 家 产 买 主 ” , 其 结 果 是 : 他 不 但 立 即

    在 “ 遗 嘱 人 的 财 产 ” 中 取 得 一 种 既 得 利 益 , 并 且 被 正 式 告 知他 的 权 利 。 但 是 到 了 该 雅 士 时 期 , 就 准 许 可 由 一 些 不 相 关 的人 来 担 任 “ 家 产 买 主 ” 。 因 此 继 承 人 就 不 一 定 会 被 告 知 他 的 预定 继 承 ; 从 此 以 后 , “ 遗 嘱 ” 就 取 得 了秘密 的 特 性 。 用 一 个 陌生 人 作 为 “ 家 产 买 主 ” 以 代 替 真 正 的 “ 继 承 人 ” , 还 有 其 他 的种 种 后 果 。 在 它 一 经 合 法 化 后 , 一 个 罗 马 “ 遗 命 ” 就 包 括 了两 个 部 分 或 阶 段 — — 一 个 是 让 与 , 这 是 一 种 纯 粹 的 形 式 , 还有 一 个 是 “ 宣 告 ” 。 在 这 程 序 的 后 半 过 程 中 , “ 遗 嘱 人 ” 或 者口 头 向 其 助 手 宣 布 在 他 死 亡 后 应 该 执 行 的 愿 望 , 或 者 提 出 一个 书 面 文 件 , 其 中 包 含 有 他 的 愿 望 。 可 能 要 直 到 注 意 力 已 不再 集 中 于 这 想 象 的 ” 让 与 ” 而 集 中 于 “ 宣 告 ” , 并 把 它 作 为 交易 的 重 要 部 分 时 , “ 遗 嘱 ” 才 被 准 许 成 为可以撤销的 。

    这 样 , 我 已 从 法 律 史 上 把 “ 遗 嘱 ” 的 系 统 作 了 一 番 考 察 。它 的 根 源 , 就 是 建 筑 在 “ 曼 企 帕 地 荷 ” 或 “ 让 与 ” 上 的 古“ 铜 衡 式 ” 遗 命 。 但 这 个 古 “ 遗 嘱 ” 有 多 种 缺 点 , 这 些 缺 点 已经 , 虽 然 只 是 间 接 的 , 为 裁 判 官 法 所 补 救 了 。 同 时 , 法 学 专家 们 的 机 智 , 在 “ 普 通 法 遗 嘱 ” 或 “ 曼 企 帕 地 荷 遗 命 ” 中 , 实现 了 那 些 裁 判 官 可 能 会 同 时 在 “ 衡 平 法 ” 中 达 到 的 各 种 改 进 。但 这 些 最 后 的 改 良 , 完 全 依 靠 了 法 律 上 的 机 巧 , 因 此 我 们 看到 该 雅 士 或 是 阿 尔 比 安 时 代 的 “ 遗 嘱 法 ” 只 是 过 渡 性 质 的 。 以后 接 着 发 生 些 什 么 变 化 , 我 们 不 知 道 ; 但 最 后 , 刚 在 查 斯 丁尼 安 法 律 学 复 兴 之 前 , 我 们 发 现 东 罗 马 帝 国 的 人 民 应 用 着 一种 “ 遗 嘱 ” , 它 一 方 面 可 以 追 溯 到 “ 裁 判 官 遗 嘱 ” , 而 另 一 方面 可 以 追 溯 到 “ 铜 衡 式 ” 遗 命 。 像 “ 裁 判 官 遗 命 ” 一 样 , 它不 需 要 “ 曼 企 帕 地 荷 ” , 并 且 除 非 有 七 个 证 人 的 封 签 不 生 效 力 。

    但 又 象 “ 曼 企 帕 地 荷 遗 嘱 ” 一 样 , 它 所 移 转 的 是 继 承 权 , 不仅 仅 是 一 个遗产占有 。 但 它 最 重 要 特 点 中 有 几 点 是 由 现 实 法规 所 规 定 的 , 并 且 正 是 由 于 它 有 三 重 来 源 , 即 “ 裁 判 官 告令 ” 、 “ 市 民 法 ” 以 及 “ 帝 国 宪 令 ” , 因 此 查 斯 丁 尼 安 就 称 他 自己 时 代 的 “ 遗 嘱 法 ” 为三重法 。 这 种 新 的“遗命 ” 就 是 一 般 人 所 说 的 “ 罗 马 遗 嘱 ” 。 但 这 只 是 东 罗 马 帝国 的 “ 遗 嘱 ” ; 根 据 萨 维 尼 的 研 究 , 显 示 出 在 西 罗 马 帝 国,直到 中 世 纪 , 旧 的 “ 曼 企 帕 地 荷 遗 命 ” 连 同 让 与 、 铜 和 天平 等工 具 , 仍 旧 被 继 续 使 用 着 。

    第七章 古今有关遗嘱与继 承的各种思想

    虽 然 现 代 欧 洲 “ 遗 嘱 法 ” 中 有 许 多 地 方 和 过 去 人 类 所 实 行 的

    最 古 的 遗 嘱 处 分 有 着 密 切 的 联 系 , 但 在 “ 遗 嘱 ” 和 “ 继 承 ” 这

    个 主 题 上 , 古 代 和 现 代 思 想 观 念 确 实 存 在 着 重 要 的 分 歧 。 这

    一 些 分 歧 点 , 我 将 在 本 章 中 详 细 加 以 说 明 。

    在 距 离 “ 十 二 铜 表 法 ” 时 代 几 世 纪 以 后 的 一 个 时 期 中 , 我

    们 发 现 在 “ 罗 马 市 民 法 ” 上 增 加 了 许 多 规 定 , 其 目 的 是 在 限

    制 剥 夺 子 女 的 继 承 权 ; 我 们 看 到 “ 裁 判 官 ” 的 审 判 权 亦 积 极

    地 执 行 这 一 项 利 益 ; 我 们 在 那 时 候 发 现 有 一 种 新 的 救 济 方 法 ,

    在 性 质 上 是 非 常 例 外 的 , 而 其 来 源 也 是 不 确 定 的 , 这 种 救 济

    方 法 称 为 “ 遗 嘱 违 反 伦 道 之 诉 ” ( Q u e r e l a   I n o f f i c i o s i   T e s t a Am e n t i ) , 目 的 是 使 亲 子 恢 复 为 其 父 的 “ 遗 命 ” 所 不 公 正 地 拒 绝

    的 继 承 利 益 。 有 的 著 者 在 把 这 个 法 律 规 定 和 承 认 订 立 “ 遗

    嘱 ” 的 绝 对 自 由 的 “ 十 二 铜 表 法 ” 原 文 相 比 较 时 , 他 们 想 把

    大 量 戏 剧 性 的 偶 然 事 件 混 入 他 们 的 “ 遗 嘱 法 律 ” 史 中 。 他 们

    谈 到 族 长 立 刻 毫 无 限 制 地 任 意 剥 夺 子 女 的 继 承 权 , 谈 到 这 种

    新 的 实 践 对 公 共 道 德 所 造 成 的 侮 辱 和 损 害 , 更 谈 到 一 切 善 良

    人 们 对 “ 裁 判 官 ” 阻 止 父 权 堕 落 进 一 步 发 展 而 作 的 勇 敢 行 为

    加 以 赞 美 。 这 些 故 事 就 其 所 叙 述 的 主 要 事 实 而 论 , 并 不 是 完

    全 毫 无 根 据 的 , 但 反 映 出 对 于 法 律 史 上 的 各 项 原 则 是 有 严 重的 误 解 的 。 “ 十 二 铜 表 法 ” 的 法 律 应 该 根 据 它 制 定 时 代 的 特 性

    来 加 以 解 释 。 它 不 可 能 有 一 种 在 较 后 时 代 认 为 它 必 须 加 以 反

    对 的 倾 向 , 它 只 根 据 这 样 一 个 假 定 继 续 前 进 , 即 不 认 为 这 种

    倾 向 是 存 在 的 , 或 者 我 们 可 以 说 , 根 本 不 考 虑 到 有 这 种 倾 向

    存 在 的 可 能 。 罗 马 公 民 很 少 可 能 会 立 刻 开 始 自 由 地 运 用 这 剥

    夺 继 承 权 的 权 力 。 我 们 知 道 , 在 当 时 , 家 族 奴 役 的 羁 绊 是 在

    最 残 酷 地 压 迫 着 , 但 人 们 仍 旧 忍 受 着 , 在 这 种 情 况 下 , 如 果

    以 为 在 我 们 自 己 时 代 不 受 欢 迎 的 某 些 负 担 , 在 那 时 竟 然 能 够

    解 脱 , 这 是 违 背 了 一 切 理 性 和 违 背 了 对 于 历 史 的 合 理 理 解 的 。

    “ 十 二 铜 表 法 ” 准 许 执 行 “ 遗 命 ” , 只 限 于 它 认 为 遗 嘱 可 能 被

    执 行 的 情 况 下 , 也 就 是 说 , 只 限 于 没 有 子 嗣 和 近 亲 的 时 候 。 它

    并 不 禁 止 剥 夺 直 系 卑 亲 属 的 继 承 权 , 因 为 这 种 偶 然 事 件 是 当

    时 罗 马 立 法 者 所 不 可 能 预 见 到 的 , 因 此 也 就 无 从 在 立 法 中 用

    明 文 加 以 规 定 。 毫 无 疑 义 , 当 家 族 情 谊 逐 渐 丧 失 了 它 原 来 所

    具 有 的 个 人 义 务 的 面 貌 时 , 就 偶 然 发 生 了 剥 夺 子 女 继 承 权 的

    事 件 , 但 “ 裁 判 官 ” 的 干 预 却 并 不 是 由 于 这 种 恶 习 的 普 遍 发

    生 , 而 在 最 初 时 无 疑 地 是 由 于 下 述 原 因 的 推 动 , 即 因 为 这 类

    不 自 然 的 任 意 行 动 事 例 在 当 时 是 很 少 而 且 是 例 外 的 , 并 且 也

    是 和 当 时 的 道 德 观 念 相 抵 触 的 。

    由 这 一 部 分 罗 马 “ 遗 嘱 法 ” 所 提 供 的 迹 象 在 性 质 上 是 完

    全 不 同 的 。 可 注 意 的 是 , 罗 马 人 从 没 有 把 一 个 “ 遗 嘱 ” 用 作

    ·

    剥 ·

    夺 一 个 “ 家 族 ” 的 继 承 权 的 一 种 手 段 , 或 用 作 造 成 一 项 遗

    产 的 不 公 平 分 配 的 一 种 手 段 。 阻 止 它 转 向 这 一 方 面 的 法 律 规

    定 , 随 着 这 部 分 法 律 学 的 逐 渐 发 展 而 不 断 增 加 其 数 量 和 严 密

    程 度 ; 这 些 规 定 无 疑 地 是 和 罗 马 社 会 一 贯 的 情 绪 相 符 合 的 , 并不 完 全 是 由 于 个 人 感 情 的 偶 然 变 动 。 遗 嘱 权 的 主 要 价 值 似 乎

    是 在 它 的 能 够 帮 助 一 个 “ 家 族 ” ·

    作 ·

    好 ·

    豫 ·

    备 , 并 在 分 配 继 承 财

    产 中 能 比 较 按 照 “ 无 遗 嘱 继 承 法 ” 分 配 得 更 加 公 平 不 偏 。 如

    果 一 般 的 情 绪 确 是 这 样 , 它 在 某 种 程 度 上 说 明 了 始 终 成 为 罗

    马 人 的 特 点 : 即 对 于 “ 无 遗 嘱 ” 而 死 亡 感 到 特 殊 的 恐 怖 。 丧

    失 遗 嘱 特 权 似 乎 被 认 为 是 比 任 何 灾 害 更 沉 重 的 一 种 天 罚 ; 咒

    诅 一 个 敌 人 , 说 他 要 死 而 无 “ 遗 嘱 ” 要 比 任 何 咒 诅 都 更 苛 酷 。

    在 我 们 今 日 所 存 在 的 各 种 意 见 中 , 没 有 这 种 类 似 的 感 情 , 或

    是 很 不 容 易 发 现 有 这 种 感 情 。 所 有 各 个 时 代 的 一 切 人 无 疑 地

    都 宁 愿 能 筹 划 其 所 有 物 的 归 宿 , 并 由 法 律 来 为 他 们 执 行 这 个

    任 务 ; 但 是 罗 马 人 对 于 “ 有 遗 嘱 而 死 亡 ” 的 感 情 , 从 其 强 度

    来 讲 , 并 不 仅 仅 是 出 于 放 任 随 便 的 愿 望 ; 当 然 , 它 和 家 族 骄

    傲 更 无 共 同 之 处 , 因 为 家 族 骄 傲 全 然 是 封 建 制 度 的 产 物 , 它

    把 一 种 财 产 积 累 在 一 个 独 一 的 代 表 人 手 中 。 也 许 是 ·

    先 ·

    天 ·

    的 由

    于 “ 无 遗 嘱 继 承 ” 中 的 某 些 规 定 , 造 成 这 种 强 烈 地 宁 愿 用

    “ 遗 嘱 ” 分 配 财 产 而 不 愿 根 据 法 律 规 定 而 分 配 。 但 是 , 困 难 是

    在 于 , 当 我 们 看 到 罗 马 的 “ 无 遗 嘱 继 承 ” 法 律 , 还 是 处 在 查

    斯 丁 尼 安 把 它 制 成 为 现 代 立 法 者 几 乎 普 遍 采 用 的 继 承 顺 序 以

    前 几 个 世 纪 中 一 直 具 有 的 那 种 形 式 中 时 , 它 完 全 没 有 给 人 以

    显 著 不 合 理 或 不 平 衡 的 印 象 。 相 反 的 , 它 所 规 定 的 分 配 方 法

    非 常 公 平 合 理 , 并 且 和 现 代 社 会 一 般 认 为 满 意 的 分 配 方 法 很

    少 不 同 之 处 , 因 此 , 我 们 实 没 有 理 由 说 明 为 什 么 会 这 样 地 非

    常 不 受 欢 迎 , 特 别 是 在 这 样 一 种 法 律 学 中 , 它 把 有 子 女 要 扶

    养 的 人 的 遗 嘱 权 削 减 到 一 个 狭 小 的 范 围 内 。 我 们 可 以 预 期 的 ,

    象 在 现 在 的 法 兰 西 那 样 , 族 长 都 一 般 地 不 愿 意 自 找 麻 烦 执 行一 个 “ 遗 嘱 ” , 他 宁 愿 让 其 财 产 听 任 “ 法 律 ” 处 理 。 但 是 , 我

    以 为 如 果 我 们 比 较 仔 细 地 研 究 一 下 查 斯 丁 尼 安 以 前 的 “ 无 遗

    嘱 继 承 ” 标 准 , 我 们 就 能 发 现 打 开 秘 密 的 关 键 。 这 个 法 律 的

    结 构 包 括 两 个 不 同 的 部 分 。 一 部 分 的 规 定 来 自 “ 市 民 法 ” , 这

    是 罗 马 的 “ 普 通 法 ” ; 另 一 部 分 则 来 自 “ 裁 判 官 告 令 ” 。 我 在

    其 他 场 合 已 经 提 到 过 了 , “ 市 民 法 ” 规 定 有 权 继 承 的 继 承 人 按

    顺 序 有 这 样 三 种 ; 未 解 放 之 子 , 宗 亲 中 的 最 近 亲 等 , 以 及

    “ 同 族 人 ” 。 在 这 三 种 顺 序 中 间 , “ 裁 判 官 ” 添 加 了 各 类 的 亲 族 ,

    这 些 亲 族 是 “ 市 民 法 ” 所 完 全 不 管 的 。 直 到 最 后 “ 告 令 ” 和

    “ 市 民 法 ” 结 合 而 组 成 了 一 张 继 承 顺 序 表 , 它 在 实 质 上 和 传 到

    现 代 的 多 数 法 典 中 的 并 没 有 很 大 区 别 。

    有 一 点 必 须 注 意 , 在 古 代 一 定 有 这 样 一 个 时 期 , 当 时

    “ 无 遗 嘱 继 承 ” 的 顺 序 完 全 由 “ 市 民 法 ” 决 定 “ 告 令 ” 的 安 排

    是 完 全 不 存 在 的 , 或 是 不 一 贯 地 执 行 的 。 我 们 毫 不 疑 惑 , “ 裁

    判 官 ” 的 法 律 学 在 其 早 年 时 代 , 不 得 不 和 可 怕 的 阻 力 相 竞 争 ,

    并 且 更 可 能 的 是 , 在 一 般 情 绪 和 法 律 意 见 默 认 了 它 很 久 以 后 ,

    它 定 期 地 介 绍 进 来 的 各 种 变 更 并 不 根 据 于 某 种 确 定 的 原 则 ,

    而 是 根 据 了 连 续 任 命 的 各 个 高 级 官 吏 的 不 同 偏 见 而 随 时 变 动

    的 。 我 认 为 , 罗 马 人 在 这 个 时 期 中 所 实 行 的 “ 无 遗 嘱 继 承 ” 规

    定 , 足 以 说 明 罗 马 社 会 长 时 期 以 来 对 于 一 个 “ 无 遗 嘱 死 亡 ” 所

    以 始 终 存 在 着 强 烈 嫌 恶 的 理 由 。 当 时 继 承 的 顺 序 是 这 样 的 : 在

    一 个 公 民 死 亡 时 , 如 果 没 有 遗 嘱 或 是 没 有 有 效 的 遗 嘱 , 他 的

    “ 未 解 放 ” 之 子 成 为 其 继 承 人 。 他 的 ·

    解 ·

    放 之 子 不 能 分 享 继 承 权 。

    如 果 在 他 死 亡 时 , 没 有 直 系 卑 亲 属 , 就 由 宗 亲 中 最 近 的 亲 等

    继 承 , 但 是 通 过 女 性 后 裔 而 和 死 者 结 合 起 来 的 亲 族 ( 不 论 如何 接 近 ) , 都 不 能 享 有 继 承 权 。 家 族 中 所 有 其 他 支 系 都 被 排 斥

    在 继 承 权 之 外 , 而 继 承 权 就 应 归 属 于 ·

    同 ·

    族 ·

    人 也 就 是 和 死 者 具

    有 同 一 姓 氏 的 全 体 罗 马 公 民 。 因 此 , 如 果 没 有 一 个 有 效 的

    “ 遗 命 ” , 在 我 们 所 考 察 的 这 一 个 时 期 中 的 一 个 罗 马 人 就 将 使

    其 解 放 之 子 绝 对 得 不 到 什 么 权 利 , 另 一 方 面 , 既 然 假 定 他 在

    死 亡 时 没 有 子 嗣 , 则 他 的 宗 族 就 有 完 全 失 去 其 财 产 而 使 财 产

    传 诸 于 另 外 一 些 人 的 迫 切 危 险 , 这 些 人 和 他 的 关 系 仅 仅 是 由

    于 祭 司 的 拟 制 , 假 定 凡 是 同 族 的 全 部 成 员 都 是 来 自 一 个 共 同

    祖 先 。 这 样 一 种 状 态 的 本 身 就 几 乎 足 以 说 明 上 述 一 般 情 绪 的

    所 以 发 生 ; 但 在 事 实 上 , 如 果 我 们 忘 记 了 , 我 所 描 述 的 情 况

    很 可 能 是 发 生 在 正 当 罗 马 社 会 处 于 从 其 分 散 家 族 的 原 始 组 织

    转 变 的 第 一 个 阶 段 时 , 则 我 们 所 理 解 的 仅 及 一 半 而 已 。 把

    “ 解 放 ” 承 认 为 一 个 合 法 的 惯 例 , 真 是 针 对 父 权 王 国 的 最 早 的

    一 个 打 击 , 但 是 法 律 虽 然 仍 旧 认 为 “ 家 父 权 ” 是 家 族 关 系 的

    根 本 , 却 坚 持 把 解 放 之 子 视 作 “ 亲 属 ” 权 外 的 陌 生 人 和 血 缘

    外 的 外 人 。 然 而 , 我 们 不 能 就 因 而 认 为 法 律 上 的 炫 学 所 加 于

    家 族 上 的 种 种 限 制 会 在 其 父 的 自 然 情 感 上 有 同 样 效 果 。 家 族

    忠 诚 一 定 仍 旧 保 留 着 “ 宗 法 ” 制 度 下 的 那 种 近 乎 不 可 思 议 的

    神 圣 性 和 强 烈 性 ; 并 且 家 族 忠 诚 很 少 可 能 会 因 为 解 放 行 为 而

    消 灭 , 它 的 可 能 性 恰 恰 完 全 相 反 。 可 以 毫 不 踌 躇 地 认 为 当 然

    的 , 从 父 权 下 得 到 解 放 不 但 不 是 情 感 的 割 断 , 相 反 的 正 是 情

    感 的 表 现 — — 这 是 对 最 最 溺 爱 和 最 最 尊 重 的 子 嗣 给 予 一 种 仁

    德 和 宠 爱 的 标 志 。 如 果 在 所 有 子 嗣 中 受 到 这 样 特 别 宠 遇 之 子

    会 因 为 “ 无 遗 嘱 死 亡 ” 而 绝 对 地 被 剥 夺 了 继 承 权 , 则 他 的 不

    愿 蒙 受 这 种 情 况 是 母 庸 多 加 解 释 而 自 明 的 。 我 们 也 许 可 以 ·

    先天地 假 定 , 人 们 的 喜 爱 “ 立 遗 嘱 ” 是 由 于 “ 无 遗 嘱 ” 继 承 规

    定 所 造 成 的 某 种 道 德 上 的 不 公 正 而 产 生 的 ; 在 这 里 , 我 们 发

    现 这 些 “ 无 遗 嘱 ” 继 承 规 定 是 和 古 代 社 会 借 以 结 合 在 一 起 的

    那 种 天 性 不 相 一 致 的 。 我 们 可 以 把 上 面 所 主 张 的 一 切 , 表 现

    于 一 简 明 的 形 式 中 。 原 始 罗 马 人 的 每 一 种 占 优 势 的 情 绪 , 都

    是 和 家 族 的 各 种 关 系 交 织 在 一 起 的 。 但 什 么 是 “ 家 族 ” ? 法 律

    上 有 它 的 定 义 — — 自 然 情 感 上 有 它 另 外 的 一 个 定 义 。 在 这 两

    者 之 间 的 冲 突 中 产 生 了 我 们 所 要 加 以 分 析 的 感 情 , 它 热 烈 欢

    迎 这 样 一 种 制 度 , 根 据 这 种 制 度 人 们 可 以 根 据 情 感 的 指 示 而

    决 定 其 对 象 的 命 运 。

    因 此 , 我 认 为 罗 马 人 对 于 “ 无 遗 嘱 死 亡 ” 的 恐 惧 , 说 明

    了 在 古 代 有 关 “ 家 族 ” 这 个 主 题 的 法 律 与 古 代 人 对 于 家 族 的

    情 感 慢 慢 地 发 生 改 变 这 两 者 之 间 很 早 就 发 生 了 冲 突 。 在 罗 马

    “ 制 定 法 ” 中 有 一 些 规 定 ; 特 别 是 有 关 限 制 妇 女 继 承 能 力 的 那

    一 个 条 例 , 是 使 这 种 感 情 长 期 存 在 的 主 要 原 因 ; 一 般 人 都 相

    信 , 创 设 “ 信 托 遗 赠 ” ( F i d e i - C o m - m i s s a ) 制 度 , 其 目 的 就

    是 想 用 以 避 免 这 些 条 例 所 规 定 的 无 能 力 。 但 是 这 种 感 情 本 身

    的 惊 人 的 强 烈 程 度 , 似 乎 说 明 了 在 法 律 和 舆 论 之 间 早 就 存 在

    着 某 种 很 深 的 对 抗 ; 而 “ 裁 判 官 ” 对 于 法 律 学 的 改 进 无 法 把

    这 种 感 情 加 以 消 灭 , 也 是 完 全 不 足 为 奇 的 。 凡 是 熟 悉 舆 论 哲

    学 的 人 都 知 道 : 一 种 情 绪 决 不 会 因 为 产 生 它 的 情 况 消 逝 了 而

    必 然 地 随 着 消 灭 。 它 可 能 会 比 情 况 留 存 得 更 长 久 ; 不 , 它 也

    可 能 会 在 后 来 达 到 一 个 强 烈 的 顶 点 和 高 潮 , 而 这 种 顶 点 和 高

    潮 是 在 情 况 继 续 存 在 期 间 从 来 没 有 达 到 过 的 。

    把 一 个 “ 遗 嘱 ” 看 作 是 授 予 一 种 权 力 , 把 财 产 从 家 族 中转 出 来 , 或 是 把 财 产 根 据 “ 遗 嘱 人 ” 的 想 象 或 见 解 而 分 成 许

    多 不 公 平 的 部 分 , 这 种 看 法 发 生 在 封 建 制 度 已 完 全 巩 固 了 的

    中 世 纪 的 后 半 期 。 当 现 代 法 律 学 初 步 以 粗 糙 的 形 式 出 现 时 , 用

    遗 嘱 来 绝 对 自 由 处 分 一 个 死 者 的 财 产 , 还 是 很 少 见 的 。 在 这

    个 时 期 内 , 当 财 产 的 遗 传 由 “ 遗 嘱 ” 规 定 时 — — 在 大 部 分 的

    欧 洲 , 动 产 是 遗 嘱 处 分 的 主 体 — — 遗 嘱 权 的 行 使 不 能 干 预 寡

    妇 从 遗 产 中 取 得 一 定 分 额 的 权 利 , 同 样 不 能 干 预 子 嗣 取 得 固

    定 比 例 的 权 利 。 子 所 取 得 的 分 额 由 罗 马 法 的 规 定 用 数 量 表 示

    出 来 。 关 于 寡 妇 的 规 定 , 应 该 归 功 于 教 会 的 努 力 , 它 始 终 不

    懈 地 关 怀 着 丈 夫 死 后 妻 子 的 利 益 , — — 经 过 二 三 世 纪 的 坚 决

    要 求 之 后 , 才 获 得 了 所 有 的 胜 利 中 也 许 是 最 难 得 的 一 个 胜 利 ,

    就 是 丈 夫 在 结 婚 时 就 明 白 保 证 赡 养 其 妻 , 最 后 并 把 “ 扶 养 寡

    妇 财 产 ” ( D o w e r ) 的 原 则 列 入 了 全 西 欧 的 “ 习 惯 法 ” 中 。 可

    怪 的 是 , 以 土 地 作 为 扶 养 寡 妇 的 财 产 的 制 度 经 证 明 要 比 类 似

    的 和 更 古 的 为 寡 妇 和 子 嗣 保 留 的 一 定 分 额 动 产 的 制 度 , 更 加

    巩 固 。 在 法 兰 西 有 些 地 方 习 惯 中 , 把 这 种 权 利 一 直 保 持 到

    “ 革 命 ” 时 代 , 在 英 国 , 也 有 类 似 的 惯 例 的 痕 迹 ; 但 在 大 体 上 ,

    流 行 着 的 学 理 是 动 产 可 以 由 “ 遗 嘱 ” 自 由 处 分 , 并 且 , 虽 然

    寡 妇 的 要 求 得 到 继 续 尊 重 , 但 子 的 特 权 则 被 从 法 律 学 上 加 以

    取 消 。 当 然 这 种 变 化 完 全 是 由 于 “ 长 子 继 承 权 ” 的 影 响 。 “ 封

    建 的 ” 土 地 法 为 了 一 个 子 嗣 而 剥 夺 所 有 其 余 诸 子 的 继 承 权 , 甚

    至 对 那 些 可 以 平 均 分 配 的 财 产 也 不 复 视 为 有 加 以 平 均 分 配 的

    义 务 。 “ 遗 命 ” 是 用 以 产 生 不 平 等 的 主 要 工 具 , 而 在 这 种 情 况

    下 产 生 了 古 代 人 和 现 代 人 对 于 一 个 “ 遗 嘱 ” 的 不 同 的 概 念 。 但

    是 , 虽 然 通 过 “ 遗 命 ” 而 享 有 处 理 遗 产 的 自 由 是 封 建 主 义 的一 个 偶 然 产 物 , 但 是 在 自 由 “ 遗 嘱 ” 处 分 制 度 和 另 外 一 个 制

    度 , 像 封 建 土 地 法 制 度 之 间 , 是 存 在 着 极 端 巨 大 的 区 别 的 , 因

    为 在 封 建 土 地 法 制 度 之 下 , 财 产 的 移 转 是 强 迫 按 照 规 定 的 遗

    传 系 统 而 进 行 的 。 这 个 真 理 似 乎 是 “ 法 兰 西 法 典 ” 的 著 者 所

    没 有 注 意 到 的 。 在 他 们 决 定 要 加 以 摧 毁 的 社 会 组 织 中 , 他 们

    看 到 “ 长 子 继 承 权 ” 主 要 建 筑 在 “ 家 族 ” 授 产 的 基 础 上 , 但

    他 们 同 时 也 注 意 到 “ 遗 命 ” 在 严 格 限 嗣 继 承 下 常 常 被 用 来 以

    为 他 保 留 的 完 全 相 同 的 优 先 权 给 予 长 子 。 因 此 , 为 了 使 他 们

    的 工 作 非 常 可 靠 , 他 们 不 但 使 长 子 不 得 在 婚 姻 协 议 中 优 先 于

    其 余 诸 子 , 他 们 并 把 “ 遗 嘱 继 承 ” 排 斥 于 法 律 之 外 , 否 则 就

    要 使 他 们 的 基 本 原 则 , 即 在 父 死 亡 时 其 财 产 应 在 诸 子 中 平 均

    分 配 的 原 则 不 能 成 立 。 其 结 果 是 他 们 建 立 了 一 种 小 范 围 的 永

    续 限 嗣 继 承 制 度 ( a   s y s t e m   o f   s m a l   p e r p e t u a l e n t a i l s ) , 这 种 制 度 非 常 接 近 欧 洲 的 封 建 制 度 , 而 不 是 完 全 的遗 产 自 由 。 英 国 的 土 地 法 , “ 封 建 制 度 的 赫 鸠 妻 尼 恩 城 ” ( t h e   H e r c u l a n e u m   o f   F e u d a l i s m ) , 当 然 是 更 和 中 世 纪 的 土 地

    法 相 似 而 不 同 于 任 何 大 陆 国 家 的 土 地 法 , 我 们 的 “ 遗 嘱 ” 也

    就 常 常 被 用 来 助 长 或 效 法 长 子 和 其 亲 系 的 优 先 权 , 这 成 为 不

    动 产 婚 姻 授 产 中 几 乎 普 遍 的 特 色 。 但 是 , 这 个 国 家 中 的 感 情

    和 舆 论 都 曾 受 到 自 由 遗 嘱 处 分 实 践 的 重 大 影 响 ; 据 我 看 来 , 在

    大 部 分 法 兰 西 社 会 中 就 家 族 中 保 存 财 产 这 个 问 题 所 具 有 的 情

    绪 , 比 诸 英 国 人 更 接 近 于 二 三 世 纪 以 前 流 行 于 全 欧 洲 的 情 绪

    状 态 。

    “ 长 子 继 承 权 ” 问 题 引 起 了 历 史 法 律 学 中 一 个 最 困 难 的 问

    题 。 虽 然 我 还 没 有 说 明 我 的 见 解 , 但 我 常 常 谈 到 在 罗 马 继 承法 上 , 许 多 “ 共 同 继 承 人 ” 总 是 和 一 个 单 一 “ 继 承 人 ” 有 同

    一 的 立 足 点 的 。 事 实 上 , 我 们 从 没 有 看 到 罗 马 法 律 学 上 有 这

    样 一 个 时 期 , 一 个 “ 继 承 人 ” 或 “ 概 括 继 承 人 ” 的 地 位 不 可

    以 为 一 个 集 体 的 共 同 继 承 人 所 取 得 。 这 个 集 体 作 为 一 个 单 一

    的 单 位 而 继 承 , 继 承 的 财 产 通 过 以 后 另 外 的 法 律 程 序 在 他 们

    中 间 进 行 分 配 。 当 “ 继 承 ” 是 ·

    法 ·

    定 ·

    继 ·

    承 , 这 个 集 体 中 所 包 括

    的 都 是 死 者 的 子 嗣 时 , 他 们 每 一 个 人 都 从 财 产 中 取 得 一 个 相

    等 的 份 额 ; 虽 然 在 有 一 个 时 期 男 性 比 女 性 占 一 些 便 宜 , 但 在

    这 里 完 全 没 有 一 些 “ 长 子 继 承 权 ” 的 痕 迹 。 分 配 的 方 式 在 全

    部 古 代 法 律 学 中 是 完 全 一 样 的 。 当 然 , 当 民 事 社 会 开 始 , 各

    家 族 在 经 过 许 多 世 代 以 后 已 不 再 结 合 在 一 起 时 , 自 发 地 就 产

    生 了 这 种 观 念 , 要 把 领 地 在 每 一 世 代 的 所 有 成 员 中 平 均 分 配 ,

    并 且 不 专 为 长 子 或 其 支 系 保 留 任 何 特 权 。 关 于 这 种 现 象 和 原

    始 思 想 的 密 切 关 系 , 可 以 从 比 罗 马 制 度 更 古 的 一 些 制 度 中 , 看

    到 一 些 特 别 有 意 义 的 暗 示 。 在 印 度 人 中 , 当 子 刚 出 生 时 , 他

    对 其 父 的 财 产 立 刻 取 得 一 种 既 得 权 , 这 种 财 产 未 得 共 有 人 的

    承 认 是 不 能 出 卖 的 。 在 子 达 到 成 年 时 , 他 有 时 甚 至 可 以 不 愿

    其 父 是 否 同 意 而 强 迫 分 割 财 产 , 并 且 , 如 果 得 到 父 的 同 意 , 则

    纵 使 不 为 所 有 其 余 诸 子 所 愿 意 , 一 子 也 能 取 得 分 割 。 在 这 类

    分 割 发 生 时 , 父 除 了 取 得 的 份 额 不 是 一 份 而 是 两 份 以 外 , 并

    不 能 较 其 子 更 为 优 待 。 日 耳 曼 部 落 的 古 代 法 是 非 常 类 似 的 。

    “ 自 由 地 ” 或 家 族 领 地 是 父 和 子 的 共 有 财 产 。 不 过 , 习 惯 上 这

    种 共 有 财 产 在 父 死 亡 时 也 是 不 分 割 的 , 而 一 个 印 度 人 的 所 有

    物 虽 然 在 理 论 上 是 可 以 分 割 的 , 但 在 事 实 上 却 同 样 地 很 少 分

    割 , 因 此 往 往 许 多 世 代 转 辗 相 传 从 不 分 割 , 这 样 , 印 度 的 家族 就 有 不 断 扩 大 为 “ 村 落 共 产 体 ” 的 倾 向 , 其 情 况 我 将 在 以

    后 加 以 阐 述 。 所 有 这 一 切 , 明 显 地 指 出 , 在 死 亡 时 把 财 产 在

    男 性 子 嗣 中 绝 对 平 均 分 配 , 是 家 族 依 附 发 生 瓦 解 的 第 一 个 阶

    段 中 社 会 上 最 为 普 遍 的 实 践 。 这 时 候 , “ 长 子 继 承 权 ” 就 成 为

    历 史 上 的 难 题 了 。 当 封 建 制 度 在 形 成 的 过 程 中 , 这 些 制 度 除

    了 一 方 面 从 罗 马 各 省 的 法 律 以 及 另 一 方 面 从 蛮 族 的 古 代 习 惯

    中 得 到 其 原 素 外 , 在 世 界 上 已 没 有 其 他 渊 源 , 但 我 们 知 道 罗

    马 人 或 蛮 族 在 财 产 继 承 中 都 不 习 惯 于 把 任 何 优 先 权 给 予 长 子

    或 其 亲 系 , 因 此 , 初 看 起 来 , 我 们 感 到 迷 惑 不 解 。

    在 蛮 族 最 初 定 居 于 罗 马 帝 国 境 内 时 所 实 行 的 各 种 “ 习

    惯 ” 中 , 并 没 有 “ 长 子 继 承 制 ” 。 我 们 知 道 它 的 渊 源 是 来 自 入

    侵 酋 长 的采地 ( b e n e f i c e ) 或 贻 赠 。 这 些 初 时 只 是 由 移 居 来 的

    国 王 偶 然 封 赐 、 但 后 来 为 查 理 曼 大 量 分 配 的 “ 采 地 ” , 乃 是 授

    与 有 军 功 的 受 益 人 管 业 的 罗 马 各 省 土 地 。 ·

    自 ·

    主 ·

    地 所 有 人 似 乎

    并 不 跟 随 其 统 治 者 从 事 远 征 或 艰 难 的 冒 险 事 业 , 所 有 法 兰 克

    酋 长 和 查 理 曼 所 进 行 的 历 次 远 征 , 其 随 军 出 征 的 或 是 人 身 依

    附 王 家 的 士 兵 , 或 是 由 于 土 地 的 租 佃 而 被 迫 服 役 的 士 兵 。 但

    是 采 地 在 开 始 时 完 全 没 有 世 袭 的 意 味 , “ 采 地 ” 的 持 有 要 听 从

    赐 与 人 的 好 恶 , 至 多 以 受 赐 人 的 终 身 为 限 ; 但 从 最 初 的 时 候

    起 , 受 益 人 似 乎 并 未 致 力 于 扩 大 出 租 地 , 并 在 其 死 后 把 土 地

    继 续 保 留 给 家 族 中 人 。 由 于 查 理 曼 继 承 人 柔 弱 无 能 , 这 些 企

    图 普 遍 获 得 成 功 , “ 采 地 ” 就 逐 渐 转 变 为 世 袭 的 “ 封 地 ”

    ( F i e f ) 了 。 但 是 封 地 虽 然 是 世 袭 的 , 却 并 不 一 定 遗 传 给 长 子 。

    它 们 所 遵 从 的 继 承 规 则 , 完 全 由 赐 与 人 和 受 益 人 之 间 同 意 的

    条 件 决 定 , 或 者 由 其 中 之 一 方 强 加 于 另 一 方 的 条 件 决 定 。 因此 , 原 来 的 租 地 条 件 是 非 常 多 种 多 样 的 ; 因 为 到 现 在 为 止 所

    提 到 的 各 种 租 地 条 件 都 是 为 罗 马 人 和 蛮 族 所 熟 悉 的 继 承 方 式

    的 某 种 联 合 , 所 以 并 不 象 有 时 所 说 的 那 样 任 意 地 变 化 的 , 但

    它 们 无 疑 是 非 常 琐 细 的 。 在 有 些 租 地 条 件 中 , 毫 无 疑 问 地 准

    许 长 子 和 其 支 系 先 于 其 他 子 嗣 而 继 承 封 地 , 但 这 类 继 承 非 特

    并 不 普 通 , 甚 至 也 没 有 为 一 般 所 采 用 。 在 欧 洲 社 会 较 近 的 一

    次 变 化 中 , 当 领 地 的 ( 或 罗 马 的 ) 和 自 主 地 的 ( 或 日 耳 曼

    的 ) 财 产 形 式 完 全 为 封 建 的 财 产 形 式 所 代 替 时 , 这 种 完 全 同

    样 的 现 象 又 重 复 发 生 了 。 自 主 地 完 全 为 封 地 所 吸 收 。 较 大 的

    自 主 地 所 有 者 把 部 分 的 土 地 有 条 件 地 移 转 给 其 属 下 而 自 成 为

    封 建 主 ; 较 小 的 自 主 地 所 有 者 为 了 逃 避 那 个 恐 怖 时 代 的 压 迫 ,

    就 把 他 们 的 财 产 奉 献 给 某 些 强 大 的 酋 长 , 并 以 战 争 时 为 他 服

    役 为 条 件 再 从 他 的 手 中 领 回 其 土 地 。 当 这 个 时 期 , 西 欧 的 广

    大 人 民 都 处 于 奴 隶 或 半 奴 隶 的 状 态 — — 罗 马 和 日 耳 曼 的 个 人

    奴 隶 , 即 罗 马 的 土 著 农 奴 ( c o l o n i ) 和 日 耳 曼 的 农 奴 ( l i d i ) — — 他 们 同 时 为 封 建 组 织 所 并 吞 , 他 们 中 的 一 小 部 分 对 封 建 主 处

    于 奴 仆 关 系 , 但 大 部 分 则 以 当 时 视 为 降 格 的 条 件 接 受 土 地 。 在

    这 普 遍 分 封 土 地 的 时 代 中 创 设 的 各 种 租 地 条 件 、 因 佃 农 和 新

    地 主 拟 定 的 条 件 或 因 佃 农 被 迫 接 受 地 主 条 件 的 不 同 而 各 异 。

    在 采 地 的 情 况 下 , 有 些 财 产 的 继 承 按 照 “ 长 子 继 承 权 ” 的 规

    定 , 但 并 不 是 全 部 如 此 。 但 是 , 一 当 封 建 制 度 普 遍 推 行 于 西

    欧 ; 就 明 显 地 感 到 “ 长 子 继 承 权 ” 比 其 他 任 何 种 继 承 方 式 有

    更 大 的 长 处 。 “ 长 子 继 承 权 ” 于 是 就 以 惊 人 迅 速 的 程 度 遍 传 到

    全 欧 各 地 , 它 传 播 的 主 要 工 具 是 “ 家 族 授 产 ” ( F a m i l y   S e t t l e Am e n t , 在 法 兰 西 称 为 P a c t e s   d e   F a m i l l e , 在 日 耳 曼 称 为 H a u s G e s e t z e ) , 它 普 遍 规 定 凡 是 由 于 武 功 而 占 有 的 土 地 一 概

    应 传 给 长 子 。 最 后 , 法 律 竟 让 位 给 这 多 年 应 用 的 实 践 , 在 逐

    渐 建 立 起 来 的 一 切 “ 习 惯 法 ” 中 , 对 于 自 由 租 地 和 军 役 租 地

    的 财 产 , 长 子 和 其 亲 系 有 优 先 继 承 之 权 。 至 于 因 佃 役 租 地 而

    持 有 的 土 地 ( 原 来 , 所 有 租 地 都 是 佃 役 的 , 佃 农 必 须 偿 付 金

    钱 或 提 供 劳 役 ) , 习 惯 所 规 定 的 继 承 制 度 在 各 国 和 各 省 中 差 别

    很 大 。 比 较 一 般 的 通 例 是 , 这 些 土 地 在 所 有 人 死 亡 时 应 由 所

    有 子 嗣 平 均 分 配 , 但 在 有 些 事 例 中 , 长 子 仍 有 优 先 权 , 在 有

    些 事 例 中 则 由 幼 子 取 得 优 先 权 。 但 象 英 国 的 “ 定 役 租 地 ”

    ( S o c a g e ) 一 样 , 它 发 生 的 时 期 较 其 余 各 类 的 租 地 为 迟 , 并 且

    既 不 是 完 全 自 由 的 , 也 不 是 完 全 佃 役 的 , 这 些 通 过 租 地 而 持

    有 的 财 产 、 这 些 在 某 些 方 面 看 来 是 属 于 最 重 要 的 一 类 财 产 的

    继 承 , 通 常 就 适 用 “ 长 子 继 承 权 ” 。

    “ 长 子 继 承 权 ” 所 以 能 被 广 为 传 播 , 一 般 都 认 为 是 由 于 所

    谓 封 建 的 理 由 。 据 说 , 如 果 在 封 地 最 后 持 有 人 死 亡 时 把 它 传

    给 一 个 单 一 的 人 而 不 在 多 数 人 中 间 进 行 分 配 , 封 建 主 就 可 以

    对 他 所 需 要 的 军 役 有 更 好 的 保 证 。 我 不 否 认 这 种 意 见 可 以 部

    分 地 说 明 “ 长 子 继 承 权 ” 所 以 逐 渐 为 人 们 所 爱 好 , 但 我 们 须

    指 出 , “ 长 子 继 承 权 ” 所 以 能 成 为 欧 洲 的 一 种 习 惯 , 倒 并 不 是

    由 于 它 对 封 建 主 有 利 , 而 是 由 于 它 为 佃 农 所 欢 迎 。 再 则 , 上

    述 理 由 完 全 不 能 说 明 它 的 来 源 。 法 律 中 决 不 可 能 有 任 何 规 定

    完 全 是 为 了 要 求 得 便 利 。 在 便 利 的 意 识 发 生 作 用 之 前 , 必 先

    有 某 些 观 念 存 在 着 , 它 所 能 做 的 也 只 是 把 这 些 观 念 组 成 新 的

    结 合 而 已 ; 在 当 前 的 情 形 中 , 问 题 正 就 是 在 找 寻 这 些 观 念 。

    从 一 个 富 有 这 类 征 兆 的 地 方 , 我 们 获 得 了 一 个 很 有 价 值的 暗 示 。 在 印 度 , 虽 然 父 的 所 有 物 可 在 其 死 亡 时 加 以 分 割 , 并

    且 甚 至 在 生 前 就 可 以 在 所 有 男 性 子 嗣 中 平 均 分 割 , 虽 然 这 个

    平 均 分 配 财 产 的 原 则 推 广 到 印 度 制 度 的 每 一 个 部 分 , 但 当 最

    后 一 个 在 职 者 死 亡 时 , 他 所 传 下 的 ·

    官 ·

    职 ·

    或 ·

    政 ·

    治 ·

    权 ·

    利 , 几 乎 普

    遍 地 根 据 “ 长 子 继 承 权 ” 的 规 定 而 进 行 继 承 。 因 此 , 主 权 是

    传 给 长 子 的 , 作 为 印 度 社 会 集 合 单 位 的 “ 村 落 共 产 体 ” 的 事

    务 原 归 一 人 管 理 时 , 则 父 死 之 后 一 般 就 由 长 子 继 续 管 理 。 在

    印 度 , 所 有 职 位 都 有 世 袭 的 趋 向 , 并 且 在 性 质 许 可 时 , 这 些

    职 位 即 归 属 于 最 老 支 系 的 最 长 成 员 。 把 这 些 印 度 继 承 和 在 欧

    洲 几 乎 一 直 到 现 在 还 存 在 的 较 未 开 化 社 会 组 织 的 有 些 继 承 ,

    加 以 比 较 , 我 们 可 以 得 到 这 样 的 结 论 , 即 宗 法 权 不 仅 是 ·

    家 ·

    ·

    的 并 且 是 ·

    政 ·

    治 ·

    的 , 它 在 父 死 亡 时 不 在 所 有 子 嗣 中 分 配 , 它 是

    长 子 的 天 生 权 利 。 例 如 , 苏 格 兰 高 原 部 落 的 酋 长 职 位 是 按 照

    “ 长 子 继 承 权 ” 的 顺 序 继 承 的 。 的 确 , 这 里 似 乎 有 一 种 家 族 依

    附 , 比 我 们 从 有 组 织 民 事 社 会 原 始 记 录 中 所 知 道 的 任 何 一 种

    家 族 依 附 还 要 来 得 古 老 。 古 罗 马 法 中 亲 属 的 宗 法 联 合 体 以 及

    大 量 类 似 的 征 兆 , 说 明 在 有 一 个 时 期 中 家 族 所 有 的 各 支 系 都

    团 结 在 一 个 有 机 的 整 体 中 ; 当 亲 属 这 样 形 成 的 集 团 本 身 就 成

    为 一 个 独 立 社 会 时 , 这 个 集 团 是 由 最 老 亲 系 的 最 长 男 性 管 理

    的 ; 这 自 非 狂 妄 的 臆 测 。 的 确 , 我 们 并 不 具 有 这 类 社 会 的 真

    实 知 识 。 即 在 最 原 始 的 共 产 体 中 , 就 我 们 所 知 , 家 族 组 织 至

    多 只 是 “ 政 府 中 的 政 府 ” ( i m p e r i a   i n   i m p e r i o ) 。 但 是 有 一

    些 部 族 、 特 别 是 凯 尔 特 部 族 的 地 位 从 有 史 以 来 都 近 似 独 立 , 这

    使 我 们 不 得 不 深 信 它 们 过 去 曾 一 度 是 各 别 的 政 府 , 它 的 酋 长

    职 位 是 根 据 “ 长 子 继 承 权 ” 而 继 承 的 。 但 是 , 我 们 必 须 注 意 ,不 要 把 它 和 法 律 上 的 名 词 作 现 代 的 联 想 。 我 们 现 在 所 谈 到 的

    一 种 家 族 关 系 比 我 们 所 熟 知 的 印 度 社 会 或 古 罗 马 法 中 任 何 家

    族 关 系 更 为 紧 密 。 如 果 罗 马 的 “ 家 父 ” 明 显 地 是 家 族 所 有 物

    的 管 家 , 如 果 印 度 人 之 父 只 是 其 诸 子 的 共 同 分 配 者 , 则 真 正

    的 宗 法 族 长 将 更 显 著 地 仅 仅 是 一 个 公 共 基 金 的 管 理 人 。

    因 此 , 在 “ 采 地 ” 中 所 发 现 的 “ 长 子 继 承 权 ” 的 继 承 事

    例 可 能 是 从 入 侵 种 族 的 一 种 宗 族 政 府 制 度 模 仿 来 的 , 这 种 家

    族 政 府 制 度 曾 为 入 侵 种 族 所 知 道 , 但 并 不 是 普 遍 适 用 的 。 有

    些 未 开 化 的 部 落 也 许 还 在 实 行 着 这 种 制 度 , 或 者 更 加 可 能 , 社

    会 还 刚 刚 离 开 较 古 的 状 态 , 因 此 人 们 在 为 一 种 新 形 式 的 财 产

    决 定 继 承 规 则 时 , 就 自 发 地 联 想 到 了 这 种 “ 长 子 继 承 权 ” 。 但

    这 里 还 有 一 个 问 题 , 为 什 么 “ 长 子 继 承 权 ” 会 逐 渐 代 替 了 其

    他 一 切 继 承 原 则 ? 我 以 为 答 案 应 该 是 在 加 洛 林 帝 国 瓦 解 期 间 ,

    欧 洲 社 会 肯 定 是 在 退 化 着 。 它 比 早 期 蛮 族 王 朝 时 期 的 悲 惨 低

    微 状 况 甚 至 还 要 落 后 一 些 。 这 个 时 期 的 最 大 特 点 是 国 王 权 力

    的 软 弱 甚 至 中 断 , 因 此 也 就 是 内 政 的 软 弱 中 断 ; 因 此 社 会 内

    部 是 不 团 结 的 , 人 们 也 普 遍 地 倒 退 到 比 共 产 体 开 始 时 更 古 的

    一 种 社 会 组 织 中 去 。 在 第 九 第 十 世 纪 时 期 , 封 建 主 连 同 其 属

    臣 大 概 都 属 于 一 个 宗 法 家 庭 , 这 种 家 庭 不 是 象 原 始 时 代 那 样

    用 “ 收 养 ” 而 是 用 “ 分 封 土 地 ” ( I n f e u d a t i o n ) 的 方 法 补 充 成

    员 的 ; 对 这 样 一 种 结 合 , “ 长 子 继 承 权 ” 继 承 方 式 是 强 力 和 持

    久 的 一 种 渊 源 。 只 要 全 部 组 织 建 筑 在 它 上 面 的 土 地 能 保 留 在

    一 起 , 它 就 能 有 力 地 进 行 攻 击 和 防 卫 ; 分 割 土 地 也 就 是 分 割

    这 小 小 的 社 会 , 也 就 是 在 普 遍 暴 乱 的 世 纪 中 给 侵 略 造 成 机 会 。

    我 们 可 以 完 全 断 定 , “ 长 子 继 承 权 ” 制 的 被 优 先 采 用 , 并 不 是为 了 一 个 子 而 剥 夺 其 余 诸 子 的 继 承 权 。 分 裂 封 地 要 使 每 一 个

    人 受 到 损 害 。 封 地 的 巩 固 会 使 每 一 个 人 获 得 好 处 。 “ 家 族 ” 可

    以 因 权 力 集 中 于 一 个 人 手 中 而 更 强 大 有 力 量 ; 赋 与 继 承 权 的

    封 建 主 并 不 能 较 其 同 胞 和 亲 属 在 占 有 、 利 益 或 享 受 上 有 任 何

    优 越 之 处 , 如 果 我 们 以 英 国 长 子 在 一 个 严 格 的 授 产 下 所 处 的

    地 位 , 来 估 计 一 个 封 地 的 继 承 人 所 继 承 的 特 权 , 这 将 是 一 个

    独 特 的 时 代 错 误 。

    我 曾 说 过 , 早 期 的 封 建 结 合 来 自 一 种 古 代 的 “ 家 族 ” 形

    式 , 并 且 和 它 极 端 类 似 。 但 是 在 古 代 世 界 中 , 在 还 没 有 通 过

    封 建 制 度 坩 埚 的 一 些 社 会 中 , 当 时 似 乎 曾 经 流 行 的 “ 长 子 继

    承 权 ” 还 没 有 变 成 后 期 封 建 欧 洲 的 “ 长 子 继 承 权 ” 。 当 亲 属 集

    团 经 过 许 多 世 代 不 再 为 一 个 世 袭 的 酋 是 统 治 时 , 过 去 曾 为 大

    家 而 管 理 的 领 地 也 就 被 大 家 平 均 分 配 了 。 为 什 么 这 种 情 况 不

    在 封 建 世 界 中 发 生 呢 ? 如 果 在 最 初 的 封 建 时 代 的 混 乱 期 间 , 长

    子 为 了 全 家 的 利 益 而 持 有 土 地 , 那 末 为 什 么 当 封 建 欧 洲 已 经

    巩 固 , 正 规 的 社 会 生 活 又 再 度 确 立 了 时 , 全 个 家 族 会 不 重 新

    恢 复 过 去 一 度 属 于 罗 马 人 和 日 耳 曼 人 的 平 等 继 承 权 的 能 力 ?

    那 些 专 心 致 力 于 探 讨 封 建 制 度 的 家 系 的 著 者 , 很 少 能 掌 握 开

    启 这 个 困 难 的 关 键 。 他 们 看 到 了 封 建 制 度 的 原 料 , 但 是 他 们

    没 有 注 意 到 成 品 。 助 威 这 个 制 度 形 成 的 观 念 和 社 会 形 式 无 疑

    地 是 蛮 族 的 和 古 代 的 , 但 是 , 当 法 院 和 法 律 家 被 要 求 来 解 释

    它 时 , 他 们 用 来 解 释 它 的 原 则 却 是 最 后 期 罗 马 法 律 学 的 , 因

    此 也 就 是 非 常 精 炼 和 非 常 成 熟 的 原 则 。 在 一 个 宗 法 统 治 的 社

    会 中 , 长 子 继 承 了 宗 亲 集 团 的 政 府 , 并 有 绝 对 权 力 处 分 其 财

    产 。 但 他 并 不 因 此 而 成 为 一 个 真 正 的 所 有 人 。 他 还 有 不 包 含在 所 有 权 这 概 念 中 的 相 关 连 的 各 种 义 务 , 这 些 义 务 是 十 分 不

    明 确 的 并 且 也 不 可 能 下 定 义 的 。 但 后 期 的 罗 马 法 律 学 象 我 们

    自 己 的 法 律 一 样 , 把 对 于 财 产 上 所 有 的 无 限 制 权 力 看 做 财 产

    所 有 权 , 并 没 有 、 并 且 在 事 实 上 也 不 可 能 注 意 到 这 一 类 的 义

    务 , 而 关 于 这 类 义 务 的 概 念 是 在 正 规 法 律 产 生 之 前 就 已 经 有

    的 。 这 种 精 练 的 观 念 和 野 蛮 的 观 念 相 接 触 后 , 不 可 避 免 地 召

    致 了 这 样 一 个 后 果 , 就 是 把 长 子 改 变 成 继 承 财 产 的 法 定 所 有

    人 。 教 会 的 和 世 俗 的 法 律 学 家 从 一 开 始 就 这 样 确 定 了 长 子 的

    地 位 ; 而 原 来 本 可 与 其 亲 属 在 平 等 的 地 位 上 共 祸 福 的 年 轻 兄

    弟 , 则 在 不 知 不 觉 间 下 降 为 僧 侣 、 军 事 冒 险 家 或 是 官 邸 的 食

    客 。 这 种 法 律 上 的 革 命 , 正 和 苏 格 兰 高 原 大 部 分 地 方 在 最 近

    小 规 模 地 发 生 的 革 命 , 完 全 相 同 。 当 苏 格 兰 法 律 学 必 须 决 定

    酋 长 在 扶 养 部 族 的 领 地 上 所 具 有 的 法 律 权 力 时 , 它 已 远 超 过

    了 同 部 族 人 对 完 全 所 有 权 可 以 加 一 些 模 糊 限 制 的 时 期 , 因 此 ,

    它 也 就 不 可 避 免 地 把 许 多 人 的 遗 产 转 变 成 一 个 人 的 财 产 了 。

    为 了 简 明 起 见 , 我 把 一 个 单 独 子 嗣 对 一 个 家 或 一 个 社 会

    所 有 权 力 的 继 承 , 称 为 “ 长 子 继 承 权 ” 的 继 承 方 式 。 但 是 , 可

    注 意 的 是 , 在 遗 留 给 我 们 的 这 类 继 承 的 少 数 很 古 的 事 例 中 , 取

    得 代 理 地 位 的 不 一 定 是 我 们 所 熟 知 的 意 义 中 的 长 子 。 曾 在 西

    欧 流 行 的 “ 长 子 继 承 权 ” 形 式 也 曾 在 印 度 人 中 继 续 保 存 过 , 我

    们 并 有 一 切 理 由 相 信 它 是 正 常 的 形 式 。 在 这 种 制 度 下 , 不 但

    是 长 子 , 并 且 是 长 子 的 亲 系 也 常 常 获 得 优 先 权 。 如 果 长 子 不

    能 继 承 , 则 他 的 长 子 不 但 对 其 兄 弟 并 且 对 其 叔 父 辈 有 优 先 权 。

    如 果 他 也 不 能 继 承 , 这 同 一 规 定 可 以 适 用 于 再 下 一 代 。 但 如

    果 继 承 不 仅 仅 是 ·

    民 ·

    事 ·

    的 、 而 且 是 ·

    政 ·

    治 ·

    的 权 力 时 , 就 可 能 要 发生 一 种 困 难 , 这 种 困 难 的 大 小 随 社 会 团 结 力 的 强 弱 而 增 减 。 一

    个 行 使 权 力 的 酋 长 可 能 寿 命 长 过 其 长 子 , 而 原 来 有 继 承 资 格

    的 孙 子 又 可 能 年 龄 太 小 未 及 成 年 , 不 能 担 负 实 际 指 导 社 会 以

    及 管 理 事 务 的 责 任 。 在 这 种 情 况 下 , 比 较 固 定 的 社 会 往 往 采

    取 这 种 便 宜 方 法 ; 就 是 把 这 幼 小 的 继 承 人 放 在 监 护 之 下 , 一

    直 到 他 适 宜 于 执 政 的 年 龄 。 监 护 权 一 般 属 于 男 性 宗 亲 ; 但 有

    可 注 意 的 是 , 在 极 少 的 偶 然 事 例 中 , 古 代 社 会 也 有 同 意 由 妇

    女 行 使 这 种 权 力 者 , 这 无 疑 是 出 于 尊 重 母 亲 的 庇 护 的 要 求 。 在

    印 度 , 一 个 印 度 主 权 者 的 寡 妇 曾 用 她 稚 子 的 名 义 而 统 治 着 国

    家 , 并 且 我 们 也 不 禁 要 想 到 法 兰 西 皇 位 继 承 规 定 的 习 惯 — —这种 习 惯 , 不 论 其 渊 源 为 何 , 无 疑 是 非 常 古 远 的 — — 规 定母后 对 “ 摄 政 职 位 ” ( R e g e n c y ) 较 所 有 其 他 申 请 人 有 优 先 之 权 ,但 同 时 它 却 又 严 格 地 排 斥 一 切 女 性 据 有 皇 位 。 把 主 权 遗 传 给

    一 个 幼 小 的 继 承 人 所 发 生 的 不 方 便 , 还 有 另 外 一 种 方 法 加 以

    消 除 , 这 种 方 法 无 疑 会 自 发 地 发 生 在 组 织 简 略 的 共 产 体 中 。 就

    是 把 幼 小 的 继 承 人 完 全 放 在 一 边 , 而 把 酋 长 的 职 位 授 与 第 一

    代 中 年 事 最 高 的 现 存 男 性 。 凯 尔 特 部 族 组 织 在 他 们 已 保 留 了

    一 个 世 纪 且 其 中 民 事 的 和 政 治 的 社 会 还 没 有 初 步 划 分 的 许 多

    现 象 中 间 , 就 有 着 这 样 一 个 继 承 的 规 定 , 并 把 它 一 直 带 到 了

    有 史 时 期 。 在 这 些 部 族 组 织 中 , 似 乎 还 有 这 样 一 种 现 实 准 则 ,

    认 为 在 长 子 不 能 继 承 时 , 他 的 长 弟 可 以 优 先 于 所 有 的 孙 辈 而

    获 得 继 承 , 不 问 在 主 权 遗 传 的 当 时 孙 辈 的 年 龄 是 怎 样 。 有 些

    著 者 用 这 样 的 假 说 来 解 释 这 个 原 则 , 认 为 凯 尔 特 的 习 惯 是 把

    最 后 的 酋 长 看 做 好 象 是 一 个 树 根 或 是 主 干 , 而 后 把 继 承 权 给

    与 和 他 距 离 最 近 的 卑 亲 属 ; 叔 父 既 较 接 近 于 共 同 的 根 干 , 便应 优 先 于 孙 辈 。 如 果 这 个 解 释 只 是 用 以 说 明 继 承 制 度 , 那 是

    无 可 非 议 的 ; 但 如 果 以 为 第 一 个 采 用 这 样 的 规 定 的 人 , 是 在

    应 用 显 然 从 封 建 继 承 制 度 开 始 在 法 律 家 中 进 行 论 辩 的 时 候 起

    就 有 的 推 理 过 程 , 则 将 是 一 个 严 重 的 错 误 。 叔 父 所 以 能 优 先

    于 孙 辈 , 其 真 正 的 来 源 无 疑 地 是 出 于 一 个 原 始 社 会 中 原 始 人

    们 的 一 种 简 单 打 算 , 即 认 为 由 一 个 成 年 的 酋 长 来 统 治 总 比 由

    一 个 孩 子 统 治 来 得 好 , 一 个 年 纪 较 轻 的 儿 子 将 比 长 子 的 任 何

    子 嗣 更 早 达 到 成 年 。 同 时 , 我 们 有 证 据 证 明 我 们 所 最 熟 悉 的

    那 种 形 式 的 “ 长 子 继 承 权 ” 是 一 种 原 始 的 形 式 , 其 传 统 是 当

    越 过 一 个 幼 小 的 继 承 人 而 作 出 有 利 于 其 叔 父 的 决 定 时 , 须 先取 得 部 族 的 同 意 。 在 麦 克 唐 纳 氏 ( M a c d o n a l d s ) 纪 年 史 中 有着 有 关 这 种 仪 式 的 相 当 真 实 的 例 子。

    根 据 可 能 保 存 着 一 种 古 代 阿 剌 伯 习 惯 的 穆 罕 默 德 法 律( M o h a m e t a n   I a w ) , 财 产 继 承 权 是 在 诸 子 中 平 均 分 配 的 , 女儿 则 可 取 得 半 份 , 但 是 如 果 有 任 何 一 人 在 继 承 权 分 割 前 死 亡而 遗 下 子 女 时 , 这 些 孙 儿 女 会 全 部 为 其 叔 姑 所 排 斥 。 与这原则 相 一 致 , 当 遗 下 的 是 政 治 权 时 , 继 承 就 按 照 凯 尔 特社会中的 “ 长 子 继 承 权 ” 形 式 进 行 。 在 西 方 两 个 穆 罕 默 德 的 大 家 族中 , 所 根 据 的 规 定 是 : 在 继 承 王 位 时 叔 父 优 先 于 诸 姪 , 虽 此姪 为 长 兄 之 子 , 亦 在 所 不 论 ; 这 一 规 定 虽 然 直 到 最 近 还 在 埃及 适 用 , 但 依 我 所 知 , 是 否 适 用 于 土 耳 其 君 主 的 移 转 , 是 还有 疑 问 的 。 苏 丹 们 的 政 策 事 实 上 一 直 是 在 防 止 适 用 这 个规定的 情 况 的 发 生 , 很 可 能 , 他 们 整 批 屠 杀 其 幼 年 兄 弟 一 方 面 固然 是 为 了 其 子 孙 的 利 益 , 另一 方 面 也 是 为 了 消 除 对 王 位 的 危险 竞 争 者 。 不 过 很 明 显 , 在 一 夫 多 妻 的 社 会 中 , “ 长 子 继 承权 ” 的 形 式 是 经 常 在 变 化 的 。 有 许 多 理 由 都 可 以 构 成 对 继 承的 要 求 , 例 如 , 母 亲 的 位 次 或 她 受 父 亲 宠 爱 的 程 度 。 因 此 , 有些 信 奉 伊 斯 兰 教 的 印 度 君 主 不 敢 主 张 有 任 何 明 显 的 遗 嘱 权 ,但 主 张 有 权 指 定 继 承 之 子 。 圣 经 上 以 撒 与 其 子 的 历 史 中 所 提到 的祝福 , 有 时 被 指 为 一 种 遗 嘱 , 但 这 似 乎 应 该 被 认 为 是 一种 指 定 一 个 长 子 的 方 式 。

    第 八 章   财 产 的 早 期 史

    罗 马 “ 法 学 阶 梯 ” 在 对 各 种 各 样 的 所 有 权 下 了 定 义 之 后 ,

    进 而 讨 论 “ 取 得 财 产 的 自 然 方 式 ” 。 凡 是 不 熟 悉 法 律 学 史 的 人 ,

    对 于 这 些 取 得 的 “ 自 然 方 式 ” , 似 乎 不 致 在 一 看 之 下 就 有 理 论

    上 的 或 者 是 实 践 上 的 兴 趣 的 。 猎 人 捕 获 或 杀 死 的 野 兽 , 由 于

    河 流 在 不 知 不 觉 中 的 淤 积 而 在 我 们 田 野 上 增 加 的 土 地 , 和 生

    根 于 我 们 土 地 上 的 树 木 , 这 些 都 是 罗 马 法 律 家 称 之 为 我 们 可

    以自然地 取 得 的 东 西 。 较 老 的 法 学 专 家 一 定 曾 注 意 到 , 这 类

    取 得 是 普 遍 地 为 他 们 所 处 的 小 社 会 的 惯 例 所 认 可 的 , 后 一 时

    期 的 法 律 家 既 然 发 现 这 些 取 得 被 归 类 于 古 “ 万 民 法 ” 中 , 并

    把 它 们 看 作 为 最 简 单 的 一 种 取 得 , 就 在 “ 自 然 ” 律 令 中 给 它

    们 分 配 了 一 个 地 位 。 这 些 财 产 所 受 到 的 尊 严 性 在 现 代 时 期 正

    在 继 续 不 断 增 长 , 直 至 完 全 超 过 了 它 原 来 的 重 要 性 。 理 论 已

    把 它 们 作 为 它 的 美 好 食 料 , 并 使 它 们 在 实 践 上 起 着 最 最 严 重

    的 影 响 。

    在 这 些 “ 自 然 取 得 方 式 ” 中 , 我 们 有 必 要 只 研 究 其 中 的一 种 , 即 “ 先 占 ” ( O c c u p a t i o ) 。 “ 先 占 ” 是 蓄 意 占 有 在 当 时 为

    无 主 的 财 产 , 目 的 ( 这 是 在 专 门 定 义 中 加 上 去 的 ) 在 取 得 财

    产 作 为 己 有 。 罗 马 法 律 学 称 为无主物 ( r e s   n u l l i u s ) 的 物 件— — 即 现 在 没 有 或 过 去 从 来 没 有 过 一 个 所 有 人 的 物 件 — — 只能 用 列 举 的 方 法 来 加 以 确 定 。 在从来没有过 一 个 所 有 人 的 物件 中 , 如 野 兽 、 鱼 、 野 雞 、 第 一 次 被 发 掘 出 来 的 宝 石 , 以 及新 发 现 或 以 前 从 未 经 过 耕 种 的 土 地 。 在现在没有 一 个 所 有 人的 物 件 中 , 包 括 抛 弃 的 动 产 、 荒 废 的 土 地 以 及 ( 一 个 变 例 的但 最 为 惊 人 的 项 目 ) 一 个 敌 人 的 财 产 。 在 所 有 这 些 物 件 中 , 完全 的 所 有 权 为 第 一 个 占 有 它 们 、 意 图 保 留 它 们 作 为 已 有 的占有人 所 取 得 — — 这 种 意 图 在 某 种 情 况 下 是 必 须 以 特 殊 行 为 来表 示 的 。 我 以 为 我 们 不 难 理 解 “ 先 占 ” 有 其 普 遍 性 , 它 促 使有 一 代 的 罗 马 法 律 家 把 “ 先 占 ” 的 实 践 列 入 “ 所 有 国 家 共 有 的 法 律 ” 中 , 它 有 其 单 纯 性 , 这 使 另 外 一 些 法 律 家 认 为 它 应 归 因 于 “ 自 然 法 ” 。 但 对 于 它 在 现 代 法 律 史 中 的 命 运 , 我 们 是没有先天的 考 虑 的 。 罗 马 人 的 “ 先 占 ” 原 则 , 以 及 法 学 专 家把 这 原 则 发 展 而 成 的 规 则 , 是 所 有 现 代 “ 国 际 法 ” 有 关 “ 战利 品 ” 和 在 新 发 现 国 家 中 取 得 主 权 等 主 题 的 来 源 。 它 们 又 提供 了 “ 财 产 起 源 ” 的 理 论 , 这 种 理 论 立 刻 受 到 欢 迎 , 并 通 过这 一 种 或 另 一 种 形 式 而 成 为 绝 大 部 分 纯 理 论 法 律 家 所 默 认 的理 论 。

    我 曾 说 过 , 罗 马 的 “ 先 占 ” 原 则 曾 决 定 “ 国 际 法 ” 中 有

    关 “ 战 利 品 ” 这 一 章 的 要 旨 。 “ 战 争 虏 获 法 ” 中 的 种 种 规 定 ,

    来 自 这 样 一 种 假 定 , 就 是 敌 对 行 动 的 开 始 使 社 会 回 复 到 了 一

    种 自 然 状 态 , 并 且 , 在 这 样 造 成 的 人 为 的 自 然 状 态 中 , 就 两

    个 交 战 国 而 论 , 私 有 财 产 制 度 就 处 于 停 止 的 状 态 。 后 期 论 述

    “ 自 然 法 ” 的 著 者 竭 力 主 张 私 有 财 产 在 某 种 意 义 上 是 他 们 所 解

    释 的 制 度 所 认 可 的 , 因 此 , 所 谓 一 个 敌 人 的 财 产 是 ·

    无 ·

    主 ·

    物 的

    假 说 , 在 他 们 看 起 来 , 是 不 法 和 惊 人 的 , 他 们 谨 慎 地 把 它 污

    蔑 为 仅 仅 是 法 律 学 上 的 一 种 拟 制 。 但 是 , 当 我 们 把 “ 自 然法 ” 的 渊 源 追 溯 到 “ 万 民 法 ” , 我 们 立 刻 看 到 为 什 么 一 个 敌 人的 财 物 会 被 看 作 无 主 财 产 , 并 因 此 而 能 力 第 一 个 占 有 人 所 取

    得 。 在 古 代 , 当 胜 利 使 征 服 者 的 军 队 的 组 织 解 体 , 并 任 令 士

    兵 进 行 不 分 皂 白 的 抢 掠 时 , 从 事 战 争 的 人 们 会 自 然 地 产 生 这

    种 观 念 。 可 是 , 在 最 初 , 允 许 为 虏 获 者 所 取 得 的 , 只 是 一 些

    动 产 。 我 们 根 据 一 个 可 靠 的 证 据 , 知 道 在 古 意 大 利 , 对 于 在

    一 个 被 征 服 国 家 的 土 地 上 取 得 所 有 权 , 流 行 着 一 种 很 不 同 的

    规 则 , 因 此 , 我 们 可 以 猜 想 把 先 占 原 则 适 用 于 土 地 ( 这 始 终

    是 一 椿 困 难 事 ) 开 始 于 “ 万 民 法 ” 成 为 “ 自 然 法 典 ” 的 时 期 ,

    并 且 这 是 黄 金 时 代 法 学 专 家 所 作 的 一 种 概 括 的 结 果 。 他 们 有

    关 这 一 点 的 教 条 被 保 存 在 查 斯 丁 尼 安 的 “ 法 学 汇 纂 ” 中 , 这

    些 教 条 无 条 件 地 主 张 , 敌 人 的 各 种 财 产 就 交 战 的 对 方 而 论 是

    ·

    无 ·

    主 ·

    物 , 而 虏 获 者 使 敌 产 成 为 自 己 所 有 的 “ 先 占 ” 则 是 “ 自

    然 法 ” 的 一 种 制 度 。 国 际 法 律 学 从 这 些 立 论 中 得 出 的 规 则 , 有

    时 被 人 诋 毁 为 一 种 不 必 要 的 对 于 战 斗 者 的 残 酷 和 贪 婪 的 宽

    纵 , 但 我 认 为 提 出 这 种 责 难 的 人 , 只 是 那 些 不 熟 悉 战 争 历 史

    的 人 , 因 此 也 就 是 那 些 不 了 解 要 强 使 人 们 服 从 任 何 一 种 法 则

    是 怎 样 一 种 伟 大 功 绩 的 人 。 当 罗 马 的 “ 先 占 ” 原 则 被 现 代 的

    “ 战 利 品 ” 法 所 采 用 时 , 带 来 了 一 些 附 属 的 法 规 , 使 其 执 行 得

    更 加 精 确 。 如 果 把 在 格 罗 修 斯 论 文 成 为 权 威 著 作 后 发 生 的 战

    事 来 和 较 早 时 期 的 战 争 相 比 较 , 可 以 看 到 , 一 待 罗 马 的 格 言

    被 接 受 后 , “ 战 争 ” 立 刻 具 有 一 种 比 较 可 以 容 忍 的 性 质 。 如 果

    把 罗 马 “ 先 占 ” 法 律 非 难 为 对 现 代 “ 国 际 法 ” 的 任 何 部 分 发

    生 着 有 害 的 影 响 , 则 我 们 可 以 有 相 当 理 由 认 为 曾 受 到 有 害 影

    响 的 是 国 际 法 的 另 外 一 章 。 “ 公 法 学 家 ” 把 罗 马 人 曾 引 用 于 宝石 的 发 现 的 原 则 同 样 地 引 用 于 新 国 家 的 发 现 , 这 样 就 生 搬 硬

    套 地 采 用 了 与 期 待 它 担 当 的 任 务 完 全 不 相 称 的 一 条 学 理 。 由

    于 十 五 世 纪 和 十 六 世 纪 伟 大 航 海 家 的 发 现 , 这 学 理 被 提 高 到

    了 极 端 重 要 的 地 位 , 但 它 所 引 起 的 争 端 比 它 所 解 决 的 争 端 更

    来 得 多 。 不 久 , 在 最 需 要 明 确 的 两 个 问 题 上 , 发 生 了 最 大 的

    不 明 确 , 即 关 于 发 现 人 为 其 主 权 者 取 得 的 领 土 的 范 围 , 以 及

    完 成 ·

    主 ·

    权 ·

    者 ·

    占 ·

    有 ·

    假 ·

    定 ( a d p r e h e n s i o ) 所 必 需 的 行 为 的 性 质 。 更

    有 进 者 , 这 个 原 则 对 于 一 件 幸 运 的 结 果 竟 赋 与 了 这 样 巨 大 的

    利 益 , 它 就 本 能 地 为 欧 洲 有 些 最 冒 险 的 民 族 如 荷 兰 人 、 英 吉

    利 人 以 及 葡 萄 牙 人 所 反 对 。 我 们 英 国 人 虽 不 明 白 否 认 “ 国 际

    法 ” 的 规 定 , 但 在 实 践 上 从 不 承 认 西 班 牙 人 独 占 墨 西 哥 湾 以

    南 全 部 美 洲 的 要 求 , 也 没 有 承 认 法 兰 西 国 王 独 霸俄亥俄和密西西比河流 域 的 要 求 。 从 伊 利 萨 伯( E l i z a b e t h ) 接 位 到 查 理 二 世 接 位 时 为 止 , 在 美 洲 领 海 内 可 以说 从 来 没 有 过 完 全 的 和 平 , 而 新 英 格 兰 殖 民 者 侵 犯 法 兰 西 国

    王 的 领 土 一 直 延 续 了 一 世 纪 之 久 。 边 沁 看 到 这 条 法 律 在 运 用

    中 所 遇 到 的 混 乱 情 况 , 受 到 很 深 刻 的 印 象 , 竟 然 失 其 常 态 而

    去 赞 美 那 著 名 的 教 皇 亚 历 山 大 六 世 ( P o p e   A l e x a n d e r   t h e S i x t h ) 的 “ 训 谕 ” , 在 亚 速 尔 群 岛 ( A z o r e s ) 之 西 一 百 海 哩

    处 划 一 分 界 线 把 世 界 上 未 发 现 的 国 家 分 给 西 班 牙 人 和 葡 萄 牙

    人 ; 边 沁 的 赞 扬 , 初 看 起 来 , 好 像 很 是 奇 怪 的 , 但 教 皇 亚 历

    山 大 的 安 排 , 究 竟 是 否 在 原 则 上 真 比 “ 公 法 ” 的 规 定 更 为 妄

    谬 , 还 是 可 疑 的 。 因 为 “ 公 法 ” 把 半 个 大 陆 给 与 一 个 国 王 , 主

    要 由 于 他 的 臣 仆 们 所 做 的 , 恰 恰 符 合 罗 马 法 律 学 的 规 定 , 符

    合 取 得 一 件 可 以 用 手 复 盖 的 贵 重 物 件 时 所 需 要 的 各 种 条 件 。

    从 事 研 究 本 书 主 题 的 人 们 , 所 以 认 为 “ 先 占 ” 饶 有 兴 味

    者 , 主 要 由 于 它 对 纯 理 论 法 律 学 所 作 出 的 贡 献 , 即 它 提 供 了

    一 个 关 于 私 有 财 产 起 源 的 假 说 。 过 去 曾 一 度 普 遍 地 认 为 “ 先

    占 ” 中 包 含 的 手 续 程 序 和 在 最 初 时 属 于 共 有 的 土 地 及 其 果 实

    转 变 成 为 个 人 财 产 的 手 续 程 序 , 是 同 样 的 。 导 致 这 个 假 定 的

    思 想 过 程 是 不 难 理 解 的 , 如 果 我 们 掌 握 了 “ 自 然 法 ” 概 念 上

    古 代 的 和 现 代 的 区 别 。 罗 马 法 律 家 认 为 , “ 先 占 ” 是 取 得 财 产

    的 “ 自 然 方 式 ” 之 一 , 他 们 毫 不 怀 疑 地 深 信 , 如 果 人 类 真 能

    生 活 在 “ 自 然 ” 的 制 度 下 , “ 先 占 ” 必 将 为 他 们 的 实 践 之 一 。

    至 于 他 们 是 否 真 正 自 信 这 样 的 民 族 状 态 确 实 存 在 , 则 象 我 在

    前 面 已 经 说 过 的 , 是 他 们 论 文 中 留 而 未 决 的 一 点 ; 但 他 们 有

    一 个 推 测 则 确 是 所 有 时 代 的 人 一 致 认 为 可 信 的 , 即 财 产 制 度

    并 不 是 自 有 人 类 以 来 就 有 的 制 度 。 现 代 法 律 学 一 无 保 留 地 接

    受 他 们 的 全 部 教 条 , 而 对 于 这 种 假 定 的 “ 自 然 ” 状 态 所 怀 抱

    的 热 诚 好 奇 , 甚 且 超 过 了 他 们 。 此 后 , 由 于 现 代 法 律 学 接 受

    了 这 个 论 点 , 认 为 土 地 及 其 果 实 在 过 去 一 度 是 ·

    无 ·

    主 ·

    物 , 同 时

    也 由 于 它 对 于 “ 自 然 ” 的 特 殊 见 解 使 得 它 毫 无 犹 豫 地 假 定 人

    类 在 组 织 民 事 社 会 前 很 久 就 确 实 实 行 过 ·

    无 ·

    主 ·

    物 的 “ 先 占 ” , 我

    们 可 以 立 刻 得 到 这 样 一 个 推 理 : 即 “ 先 占 ” 是 一 个 手 续 程 序 ,

    通 过 了 这 个 手 续 程 序 , 原 始 世 界 的 “ 无 人 物 件 ” 在 世 界 历 史

    中 即 成 为 个 人 的 私 有 财 产 。 要 列 举 那 些 赞 成 这 个 理 论 的 某 一

    形 式 的 法 学 家 , 将 是 无 聊 的 , 并 且 也 没 有 这 样 做 的 必 要 , 因

    为 始 终 作 为 其 时 代 一 般 意 见 的 忠 实 索 引 的 布 拉 克 斯 顿 , 曾 在

    他 的 第 二 部 书 的 第 一 章 中 有 如 下 一 段 概 括 。

    他 写 道 : “ 土 地 及 土 地 里 的 一 切 物 件 是 人 类 直 接 得 自 ‘ 造物 主 ’ 的 赐 赠 的 一 般 财 产 。 财 物 共 有 即 使 在 最 早 时 代 , 似 乎也 从 来 没 有 适 用 于 物 件 实 体 以 外 的 部 分 ; 也 不 能 扩 大 及 于 物

    件 的 使 用 。 因 为 , 根 据 自 然 法 律 和 理 性 , 凡 是 第 一 个 开 始 使

    用 它 的 人 即 在 其 中 取 得 一 种 暂 时 所 有 权 , 只 要 他 使 用 着 它 , 这

    种 所 有 权 就 继 续 存 在 , 但 是 不 能 比 使 用 期 更 长 ; 或 者 , 更 确

    切 一 些 讲 , 占 有 的 权 利 只 是 与 占 有 行 为 同 时 继 续 存 在 。 这 样 ,

    土 地 是 共 有 的 , 没 有 一 部 分 可 以 成 为 任 何 特 定 个 人 的 永 久 财

    产 ; 但 如 有 人 占 有 了 它 的 任 何 一 定 的 地 点 作 为 休 息 、 居 住 以

    及 类 似 目 的 之 用 , 即 暂 时 取 得 一 种 所 有 权 , 如 果 有 人 用 武 力

    把 他 赶 走 , 这 是 不 公 正 的 并 且 是 违 反 自 然 法 的 , 但 是 一 当 他

    离 开 而 不 复 占 有 它 时 , 别 的 人 就 可 以 夺 取 它 而 并 无 不 公 正 之

    处 。 ” 他 于 是 再 进 而 辩 称 : “ 当 人 类 日 益 增 加 , 就 有 必 要 接 受

    较 永 久 的 所 有 权 的 概 念 , 不 是 仅 仅 把 眼 前 的 使 用 权 而 是 要 把

    将 被 使 用 的 物 件 的 实 体 拨 归 个 人 所 有 。 ”

    这 一 节 中 有 一 些 模 糊 的 说 法 , 令 人 怀 疑 布 拉 克 斯 顿 对 于

    他 在 他 的 权 威 著 作 中 所 找 到 的 命 题 即 所 谓 地 面 的 所 有 权 在

    “ 自 然 ” 法 下 是 由 ·

    占 ·

    有 ·

    人 第 一 个 取 得 的 意 义 , 似 乎 并 不 完 全 了

    解 ; 但 他 有 意 地 或 是 由 于 误 解 而 加 于 这 个 理 论 上 的 限 制 , 使

    它 变 成 了 它 所 不 时 采 取 的 形 式 。 许 多 比 布 拉 克 斯 顿 更 著 名 的

    作 者 在 用 语 上 是 确 切 的 , 认 为 在 事 物 开 始 时 , “ 先 占 ” 最 初 给

    与 一 种 针 对 世 人 来 说 是 排 外 性 的 但 又 只 是 暂 时 享 有 的 权 利 ,

    到 后 来 , 这 种 权 利 一 方 面 保 持 其 排 外 性 , 同 时 又 成 为 永 久 的 。

    他 们 这 样 来 说 明 其 理 论 , 目 的 是 为 了 使 “ 自 然 ” 状 态 中 的 ·

    ·

    主 ·

    物 通 过 “ 先 占 ” 而 成 为 财 产 的 学 理 , 和 他 们 从 圣 经 史 中 所

    获 得 的 推 理 取 得 一 致 , 即 族 长 们 在 最 初 对 牧 养 其 牛 羊 的 土 地并 不 是 永 久 占 有 的 。

    直 接 适 用 于 布 拉 克 斯 顿 理 论 的 唯 一 批 评 , 是 在 研 究 那 个

    造 成 他 的 原 始 社 会 图 景 的 情 况 , 是 否 要 比 其 他 能 同 样 容 易 地

    想 象 出 来 的 情 况 更 接 近 可 能 一 些 。 用 这 种 方 法 来 研 究 , 我 们

    可 以 恰 当 地 询 问 , 是 不 是 ·

    占 ·

    有 ( 布 拉 克 斯 顿 显 然 是 按 照 其 普

    通 英 语 意 义 而 使 用 这 个 名 词 的 ) 土 地 上 一 定 地 点 作 为 休 息 或

    居 住 的 人 就 应 该 准 许 保 留 它 而 不 受 干 扰 。 在 这 样 情 况 下 , 他

    的 占 有 权 必 须 有 同 样 广 大 的 力 量 , 才 能 保 留 它 , 并 且 他 也 很

    可 能 时 常 受 到 新 来 者 的 干 扰 , 如 果 这 个 新 来 者 看 中 了 这 块 土

    地 并 自 以 为 有 强 力 足 以 把 占 有 人 驱 逐 掉 。 但 事 实 是 : 所 有 对

    这 些 论 点 的 一 切 强 辩 由 于 这 些 论 点 本 身 的 毫 无 根 据 而 完 全 没

    有 价 值 。 人 类 在 原 始 状 态 中 所 做 的 也 许 并 不 是 一 个 毫 无 办 法

    加 以 研 究 的 主 题 , 但 对 于 他 们 为 什 么 要 这 样 做 的 动 机 , 则 可

    能 就 无 法 知 道 了 。 这 些 有 关 世 界 最 古 年 代 人 类 情 况 的 描 写 , 受

    到 这 两 种 假 定 的 影 响 , 首 先 是 假 定 人 类 并 不 具 有 他 们 现 在 被

    围 绕 着 的 大 部 分 的 情 况 , 其 次 是 假 定 在 这 样 想 象 的 条 件 下 他

    们 会 保 存 着 刺 激 他 们 现 在 活 动 的 同 样 情 绪 和 偏 见 , — — 虽 然

    在 事 实 上 , 这 些 情 绪 很 可 能 正 是 由 这 个 假 定 认 为 他 们 应 该 被

    剥 夺 的 情 况 所 创 设 和 产 生 的 。

    萨 维 尼 有 一 个 格 言 , 有 时 被 认 为 是 在 赞 助 着 和 布 拉 克 斯

    顿 所 概 括 的 一 些 理 论 颇 相 近 似 的 一 种 有 关 财 产 起 源 的 见 解 。

    这 个 伟 大 的 日 耳 曼 法 律 家 宣 称 : 一 切 “ 所 有 权 ” 都 是 因 “ 时

    效 ” ( P r e s c r i p t i o n ) 而 成 熟 的 “ 他 主 占 有 ” ( A d v e r s e   P o s s e s As i o n ) 。 萨 维 尼 作 出 这 样 说 明 , 只 是 就 罗 马 法 而 言 , 在 全 部 理

    解 其 含 义 以 前 , 必 须 对 用 语 的 解 释 和 定 义 耗 费 很 多 劳 力 。 可

    是 , 他 的 意 思 可 以 充 分 正 确 地 表 现 出 来 , 如 果 我 们 认 为 他 所

    断 言 的 是 : 不 论 我 们 对 罗 马 人 所 接 受 的 有 关 所 有 权 的 观 念 钻

    研 得 如 何 深 入 , 不 论 我 们 在 追 溯 这 些 观 念 时 如 何 密 切 接 近 法

    律 的 初 生 时 代 , 我 们 所 能 得 到 的 有 关 所 有 权 的 概 念 不 外 乎 包

    括 这 三 个 要 素 — — “ 占 有 ” , “ 他 主 占 有 ” , 即 不 是 一 种 任 意 的

    或 从 属 的 而 是 一 种 针 对 世 人 来 说 的 绝 对 占 有 , 以 及 “ 时 效 ” ,

    也 就 是 “ 他 主 占 有 ” 不 间 断 地 延 续 着 的 一 定 期 间 。 非 常 可 能 ,

    这 个 格 言 可 以 用 其 著 者 所 允 许 的 更 大 的 概 括 性 来 表 达 , 但 如

    果 我 们 所 考 察 的 任 何 法 律 制 度 的 发 生 远 在 这 些 联 合 观 念 构 成

    所 有 权 观 念 的 时 期 以 前 , 则 就 很 难 预 期 一 个 合 理 可 靠 的 结 论 。

    同 时 萨 维 尼 的 准 则 不 但 确 立 了 关 于 财 产 起 源 的 通 俗 理 论 , 它

    的 特 殊 价 值 还 在 于 使 我 们 注 意 到 它 的 弱 点 。 在 布 拉 克 斯 顿 和

    他 的 追 随 者 的 见 解 中 , 神 秘 地 影 响 我 们 人 类 祖 先 的 心 理 的 是

    取 得 专 门 享 有 的 方 式 。 但 神 秘 之 处 , 并 不 在 此 。 所 有 权 以 他

    主 占 有 开 始 , 并 不 足 以 奇 怪 。 第 一 个 所 有 人 应 该 是 武 装 的 强

    有 力 的 人 , 才 能 保 证 其 物 件 的 安 全 , 这 也 并 非 出 于 意 外 。 但

    是 为 什 么 一 定 要 经 过 一 定 的 时 间 , 才 能 产 生 一 种 尊 重 他 占 有

    的 情 绪 — — 这 正 就 是 为 什 么 人 类 对 于 一 切 在 ·

    事 ·

    实 ·

    上 长 时 期 存

    在 的 东 西 普 遍 加 以 尊 敬 的 根 源 — — , 这 才 真 正 有 深 入 研 究 的

    必 要 但 却 远 不 属 于 本 文 范 围 之 内 的 问 题 。

    在 指 出 我 们 可 能 多 少 搜 集 一 些 有 关 所 有 权 早 期 历 史 知 识

    的 处 所 之 前 , 我 敢 提 出 我 的 意 见 。 我 认 为 一 般 对 于 “ 先 占 ” 在

    文 明 第 一 阶 段 中 起 的 作 用 所 产 生 的 印 象 , 恰 正 和 真 相 直 接 相

    反 。 “ 先 占 ” 是 实 物 占 有 的 有 意 承 担 ; 至 于 这 样 一 种 行 为 赋 予

    人 们 对 “ 无 主 物 ” 享 有 权 利 的 看 法 , 不 但 不 是 很 早 期 社 会 的特 征 , 而 且 很 可 能 , 这 是 一 种 进 步 法 律 学 和 一 种 在 安 定 的 情

    况 下 法 律 产 生 的 结 果 。 只 有 在 财 产 权 利 的 不 可 侵 犯 性 在 实 际

    上 长 期 得 到 了 认 可 时 , 以 及 绝 大 多 数 的 享 有 物 件 已 属 于 私 人

    所 有 时 , 单 纯 的 占 有 可 以 准 许 第 一 个 占 有 人 就 以 前 没 有 被 主

    张 所 有 权 的 物 品 取 得 完 全 所 有 权 。 产 生 这 个 学 理 的 情 绪 , 和

    作 为 文 明 开 始 时 期 的 特 征 的 所 有 权 的 少 见 和 不 固 定 , 是 绝 对

    不 能 调 和 的 。 它 的 真 正 的 基 础 , 并 不 在 于 对 这 “ 财 产 权 ” 制

    度 出 于 天 性 的 偏 爱 , 而 是 在 于 这 个 制 度 长 期 继 续 存 在 而 发 生

    的 一 种 推 定 , 即 ·

    每 ·

    一 ·

    种 ·

    物 ·

    件 ·

    都 ·

    应 ·

    该 ·

    有 ·

    一 ·

    个 ·

    所 ·

    有 ·

    人 。 当 一 个

    “ 无 主 物 ” 、 也 就 是 当 一 个 还 没 有 或 者 ·

    从 ·

    来 没 有 成 为 完 全 所 有

    权 的 物 件 被 占 有 时 , 占 有 人 所 以 被 允 许 成 为 所 有 人 , 是 出 于

    这 样 一 种 感 觉 , 即 所 有 的 贵 重 物 件 天 然 地 是 一 种 绝 对 占 有 的

    主 体 , 而 在 上 述 的 情 况 中 , 除 了 “ 占 有 人 ” 以 外 还 没 有 一 个

    人 被 授 与 过 财 产 权 。 简 言 之 , “ 占 有 人 ” 成 为 所 有 人 , 因 为 所

    有 的 物 件 都 被 假 定 为 应 该 是 属 于 某 个 人 的 财 产 , 同 时 也 因 为

    没 有 一 个 人 比 他 对 这 特 定 物 件 有 更 好 的 所 有 权 。

    即 使 对 于 我 们 所 讨 论 的 、 在 其 自 然 状 态 中 的 人 类 的 描 写

    没 有 其 他 反 对 意 见 , 但 在 有 一 点 上 , 这 种 描 述 是 和 我 们 所 掌

    握 的 真 凭 实 据 严 重 地 不 一 致 的 。 可 以 看 到 , 这 些 理 论 所 假 定

    的 各 种 行 为 和 动 机 是 “ 个 人 ” 的 行 为 和 动 机 。 为 自 己 签 署

    “ 社 会 契 约 ” 的 , 是 每 一 个 “ 个 人 ” 。 这 好 象 是 一 个 移 动 的 沙

    洲 , 而 作 为 沙 洲 中 的 沙 粒 的 是 “ 个 人 ” , 按 照 霍 布 斯 的 理 论 ,

    这 些 沙 粒 由 于 强 力 的 锻 炼 凝 固 为 社 会 岩 石 。 在 布 拉 克 斯 顿 所

    描 绘 的 图 画 中 , “ 占 有 了 它 的 任 何 一 定 的 地 点 作 为 休 息 、 居 住

    以 及 类 似 目 的 之 用 ” 的 , 也 是 一 个 “ 个 人 ” 。 它 的 缺 点 是 : 它必 然 要 动 摇 从 罗 马 “ 自 然 法 ” 所 传 下 来 的 一 切 理 论 。 罗 马

    “ 自 然 法 ” 和 “ 市 民 法 ” 主 要 不 同 之 处 , 是 在 于 它 对 “ 个 人 ”

    的 重 视 , 它 对 人 类 文 明 所 作 最 大 的 贡 献 , 就 在 于 它 把 个 人 从

    古 代 社 会 的 权 威 中 解 放 出 来 。 但 是 有 必 要 再 一 次 加 以 重 复 的

    就 是 “ 古 代 法 律 ” 几 乎 全 然 不 知 “ 个 人 ” 。 它 所 关 心 的 不 是

    “ 个 人 ” 而 是 “ 家 族 ” , 不 是 单 独 的 人 而 是 集 团 。 即 使 到 了

    “ 国 家 ” 的 法 律 成 功 地 透 过 了 它 原 来 无 法 穿 过 的 亲 族 的 小 圈 子

    时 , 它 对 于 “ 个 人 ” 的 看 法 还 是 和 法 律 学 成 熟 阶 段 的 看 法 显

    著 地 不 同 的 。 每 一 个 公 民 的 生 命 并 不 认 为 以 出 生 到 死 亡 为 限 ;

    个 人 生 命 只 是 其 祖 先 生 存 的 一 种 延 续 , 并 在 其 后 裔 的 生 存 中

    又 延 续 下 去 。

    罗 马 人 就 “ 人 法 ” 和 “ 物 法 ” 之 间 的 区 分 , 虽 然 是 极 端

    方 便 的 , 但 却 是 完 全 人 为 的 , 这 个 区 分 显 然 促 使 我 们 在 研 究

    当 前 的 主 题 时 , 离 开 了 真 正 的 方 向 。 当 讨 论 到 “ 物 法 ” ( J u s  

    R e r u m ) 时 , 就 把 讨 论 “ 人 法 ” ( J u s   P e r s o n a r u m ) 中 所 得 的

    教 训 忘 记 了 , 当 考 虑 到 “ 财 产 ” 、 “ 契 约 ” 以 及 “ 侵 权 行 为 ”

    ( D e l i c t ) 等 等 时 , 好 像 从 关 于 “ 人 ” 的 原 始 状 态 所 确 定 的 事

    实 中 , 不 能 获 得 有 关 它 们 原 始 性 质 的 暗 示 。 如 果 一 个 纯 粹 古

    法 律 制 度 可 以 放 在 我 们 的 面 前 , 并 适 用 罗 马 的 分 类 来 作 为 试

    验 , 这 种 方 法 的 无 用 是 显 而 易 见 的 。 不 久 就 可 以 看 到 , 把

    “ 人 法 ” 从 “ 物 法 ” 中 分 离 出 来 , 在 法 律 的 初 生 时 代 是 毫 无 意

    义 的 , 因 为 属 于 这 两 个 部 门 的 规 定 是 难 解 地 错 杂 在 一 起 的 , 而

    后 期 法 律 家 的 区 分 只 可 能 适 用 于 后 期 法 律 学 。 本 文 开 始 时 已

    经 说 过 , 可 以 推 断 , 如 果 把 我 们 的 注 意 力 限 于 个 人 的 所 有 权 ,

    则 就 先 天 地 极 少 可 能 对 早 期 的 财 产 史 获 得 任 何 线 索 。 真 正 古代 的 制 度 很 可 能 是 共 同 所 有 权 而 不 是 各 别 的 所 有 权 , 我 们 能

    得 到 指 示 的 财 产 形 式 , 则 是 些 和 家 族 权 利 及 亲 族 团 体 权 利 有

    联 系 的 形 式 。 在 这 里 , 罗 马 法 律 学 不 能 对 我 们 有 所 启 发 , 因

    为 正 是 被 自 然 法 理 论 所 改 变 后 的 罗 马 法 律 学 把 下 述 的 印 象 遗

    留 给 我 们 现 代 人 , 即 个 人 所 有 权 是 正 常 状 态 的 所 有 权 , 而 人

    的 集 团 所 共 有 的 所 有 权 只 是 通 则 的 一 个 例 外 。 可 是 , 凡 是 要

    探 究 原 始 社 会 任 何 已 经 消 灭 的 制 度 的 人 , 有 一 个 共 产 体 始 终

    应 该 仔 细 地 加 以 研 究 。 对 长 期 居 留 在 印 度 的 一 支 印 度 - 欧 罗

    巴 系 , 这 类 原 始 制 度 即 使 曾 经 发 生 过 重 大 变 化 , 但 我 们 发 现

    它 绝 少 完 全 抛 弃 它 原 来 在 其 中 长 大 的 外 面 轮 廓 。 在 印 度 人 中

    间 , 我 们 确 实 发 现 有 一 种 所 有 权 形 式 应 立 刻 引 起 我 们 的 注 意 ,

    因 为 它 完 全 符 合 我 们 研 究 “ 人 法 ” 中 有 关 财 产 原 始 状 态 时 要

    使 我 们 接 受 的 各 种 观 念 。 印 度 “ 村 落 共 产 体 ” 一 方 面 是 一 个

    有 组 织 的 宗 法 社 会 , 另 一 方 面 又 是 共 同 所 有 人 的 一 个 集 合 。 组

    成 它 的 人 们 相 互 之 间 的 个 人 关 系 是 和 他 们 的 财 产 所 有 权 不 能

    辨 别 地 混 淆 在 一 起 的 , 英 国 官 吏 曾 企 图 要 把 两 者 加 以 分 开 , 这

    种 企 图 被 认 为 是 英 印 统 治 中 最 惊 人 的 失 策 。 印 度 的 “ 村 落 共

    产 体 ” 是 被 公 认 为 非 常 古 老 的 。 不 论 从 哪 一 个 方 面 来 深 入 研

    究 印 度 历 史 , 印 度 的 一 般 历 史 或 者 地 方 史 , 在 其 历 史 发 展 的

    最 早 时 期 常 常 可 以 发 现 有 这 种 “ 共 产 体 ” 的 存 在 。 许 多 有 才

    智 的 和 善 于 观 察 的 著 者 , 其 中 大 部 分 的 人 对 于 这 种 “ 共 产

    体 ” 的 性 质 和 来 源 , 都 没 有 任 何 理 论 的 支 持 , 但 他 们 却 一 致

    同 意 认 为 它 是 一 种 最 不 容 易 摧 毁 的 社 会 制 度 , 它 从 来 不 愿 意

    把 任 何 一 个 惯 例 加 以 革 新 。 征 服 和 革 命 不 断 地 横 扫 而 过 , 但

    是 并 没 有 扰 乱 它 或 除 掉 它 , 在 印 度 , 凡 是 最 好 的 政 府 制 度 似乎 始 终 是 把 它 承 认 为 行 政 基 础 的 那 些 政 府 制 度 。

    成 熟 的 罗 马 法 律 以 及 紧 接 着 它 的 足 迹 的 现 代 法 律 学 把 共

    有 制 度 看 作 财 产 权 中 一 种 例 外 的 、 暂 时 的 状 态 。 在 西 欧 普 遍

    流 行 着 的 格 言 : ·

    没 ·

    有 ·

    人 ·

    能 ·

    违 ·

    背 ·

    其 ·

    意 ·

    志 ·

    而 ·

    被 ·

    保 ·

    留 ·

    在 ·

    共 ·

    同 ·

    所 ·

    有 ·

    ·

    中 ( N e m o   i n   c o m m u n i o n e   p o t e s t   i n v i t u s   d e t i n e r i ) , 就

    明 显 地 表 示 出 这 种 见 解 。 但 是 在 印 度 , 他 们 的 想 法 恰 恰 相 反 ,

    个 别 的 所 有 制 始 终 是 朝 着 共 同 所 有 制 的 方 向 在 发 展 。 其 过 程

    已 经 在 前 面 谈 到 了 。 儿 子 一 出 世 就 已 在 父 的 财 产 中 立 即 取 得

    一 种 既 得 利 益 ; 当 到 达 成 年 时 , 在 某 种 偶 然 情 况 下 , 法 律 的

    条 文 甚 至 许 可 他 要 求 分 割 家 族 财 产 。 可 是 , 在 事 实 上 , 甚 至

    在 父 死 亡 时 , 也 绝 少 发 生 分 家 的 , 财 产 继 续 被 保 留 不 分 割 有

    几 代 之 久 , 虽 然 每 一 代 的 每 一 个 成 员 对 于 财 产 中 没 有 经 过 分

    割 的 一 个 份 额 都 各 有 一 种 合 法 权 利 。 这 样 共 有 的 领 地 有 时 由

    一 个 选 任 的 管 理 人 加 以 管 理 , 但 在 一 般 情 况 下 , 在 某 些 省 份

    中 , 始 终 是 由 年 事 较 高 的 宗 亲 、 也 就 是 由 血 族 中 最 长 一 支 系

    的 最 年 长 的 代 表 来 管 理 。 这 样 一 种 共 同 财 产 所 有 人 的 集 合 , 一

    个 持 有 一 个 共 有 领 地 的 亲 族 的 集 团 , 是 最 简 单 形 式 的 印 度

    “ 村 落 共 产 体 ” 。 但 是 这 个 “ 共 产 体 ” 不 仅 仅 是 一 个 因 亲 族 的

    同 胞 之 谊 而 结 合 起 来 的 , 也 不 仅 仅 是 一 种 合 伙 的 联 合 。 它 是

    一 个 有 组 织 的 社 会 , 它 不 但 管 理 着 共 有 基 金 , 并 且 通 过 一 整

    套 的 官 吏 来 管 理 着 内 政 、 警 务 、 司 法 以 及 赋 和 公 共 义 务 的 分

    配 。

    我 在 上 面 叙 述 的 一 个 “ 村 落 共 产 体 ” 的 形 成 过 程 , 可 以

    视 为 典 型 的 。 但 我 们 不 能 就 因 此 而 假 定 , 在 印 度 每 一 个 “ 村

    落 共 产 体 ” 都 是 在 这 样 一 种 简 单 方 式 里 面 结 合 起 来 的 。 虽 然据 我 所 知 , 在 印 度 北 部 , 在 保 存 下 来 的 记 录 中 , 几 乎 一 成 不

    变 地 表 明 “ 共 产 体 ” 是 由 一 种 简 单 的 血 亲 集 合 而 成 的 , 但 记

    录 中 也 提 供 我 们 这 种 情 况 , 即 血 亲 外 的 人 也 始 终 随 时 可 以 参

    加 进 来 , 并 且 在 某 种 条 件 下 , 只 要 是 一 个 份 额 财 产 的 买 受 人 ,

    一 般 地 就 可 以 被 准 许 加 入 族 内 。 在 印 度 半 岛 的 南 部 , 常 常 有

    一 些 “ 共 产 体 ” 似 乎 不 是 由 一 个 而 是 由 二 个 或 更 多 的 家 族 发

    展 而 成 的 ; 也 有 些 “ 共 产 体 ” 的 构 成 部 分 经 公 认 是 完 全 出 于

    人 为 的 ; 真 的 , 有 时 在 同 一 社 会 中 聚 合 着 属 于 不 同 族 籍 的 人

    们 , 这 种 情 况 对 于 一 个 共 同 祖 先 的 假 设 是 一 个 致 命 的 打 击 。 但

    是 在 所 有 这 些 同 族 中 , 或 者 保 留 着 一 个 共 同 祖 先 的 传 统 , 或

    者 有 着 这 样 一 个 共 同 祖 先 的 假 定 。 蒙 特 斯 图 亚 特 · 爱 芬 斯 吞

    ( M o u n t s t u a r t   E l p h i n - s t o n e ) 曾 经 特 别 详 细 描 述 过 “ 南 方村 落 共 产 体 ” ( 在 其 “ 印 度 史 ” 第 7 1 页 中 ) 。 他 这 样 说 : “ 一

    般 人 的 看 法 是 : 村 落 的 土 地 所 有 人 都 是 开 拓 这 个 村 落 的 一 个

    或 几 个 个 人 的 后 裔 ; 向 原 有 族 员 购 买 或 通 过 其 他 方 法 从 原 有

    家 族 成 员 取 得 权 利 的 人 , 则 是 仅 有 的 例 外 。 这 一 个 推 定 由 下

    述 事 实 加 以 证 实 , 即 直 到 现 在 , 在 小 村 落 中 , 往 往 只 有 一 个

    唯 一 的 家 族 的 土 地 所 有 人 , 大 村 落 中 的 土 地 所 有 人 往 往 也 只

    有 少 数 几 个 家 族 ; 但 每 一 个 家 族 都 有 许 多 成 员 , 以 致 全 部 农

    业 劳 动 普 通 都 是 由 土 地 所 有 人 自 己 担 任 的 , 不 需 要 佃 农 或 工

    人 的 帮 助 。 土 地 所 有 人 的 权 利 是 他 们 集 体 所 有 的 , 虽 然 他 们

    几 乎 始 终 可 以 取 得 其 中 或 多 或 少 一 个 完 整 的 部 分 , 但 他 们 从

    来 没 有 发 生 过 一 次 全 部 的 分 割 。 例 如 , 一 个 土 地 所 有 人 可 以

    出 卖 或 抵 押 其 权 利 ; 但 他 必 须 首 先 取 得 ‘ 村 落 ’ 的 同 意 , 而

    买 受 人 就 恰 恰 抵 充 他 的 位 置 并 负 担 他 的 所 有 义 务 。 如 果 一 家没 有 后 裔 , 它 的 份 额 便 应 归 入 共 有 财 产 中 。 ”

    本 书 第 五 章 中 提 到 的 一 些 意 见 , 我 相 信 可 以 帮 助 读 者 理

    解 爱 芬 斯 吞 所 谈 的 重 要 性 。 没 有 一 种 原 始 社 会 的 制 度 可 能 会

    保 存 到 今 天 , 除 非 是 通 过 某 种 生 动 的 法 律 拟 制 使 它 取 得 了 原

    来 性 质 所 没 有 的 一 种 弹 性 。 因 此 , “ 村 落 共 产 体 ” 不 一 定 是 一

    种 血 亲 的 集 合 , 它 或 者 是 这 类 的 一 种 集 合 , 或 者 是 根 据 一 个

    亲 属 联 合 的 模 型 而 组 成 的 一 个 共 同 财 产 所 有 人 的 集 体 。 和 它

    可 以 相 比 拟 的 类 型 显 然 不 是 罗 马 的 “ 家 族 ” , 而 是 罗 马 的 “ 氏

    族 ” 或 “ 大 氏 族 ” 。 “ 氏 族 ” 也 是 根 据 家 族 的 模 型 而 组 成 的 一

    个 集 团 ; 这 是 通 过 多 种 多 样 的 拟 制 而 扩 大 的 家 族 , 这 些 拟 制

    的 确 切 性 质 已 经 湮 没 不 可 考 了 。 在 历 史 时 期 内 , 其 主 要 的 特

    点 正 就 是 爱 芬 斯 吞 在 “ 村 落 共 产 体 ” 中 所 谈 到 的 两 点 。 过 去

    始 终 有 一 个 共 同 祖 先 的 假 定 , 这 个 假 定 有 时 和 事 实 显 然 是 有

    出 入 的 ; 我 们 再 重 复 一 次 历 史 学 家 的 话 , “ 如 果 一 家 没 有 后 裔 ,

    它 的 份 额 便 应 归 入 共 有 财 产 中 ” 。 在 旧 罗 马 法 中 , 无 人 主 张 的

    继 承 权 归 属 于 “ 同 族 人 ” 。 凡 是 研 究 它 们 历 史 的 人 们 都 这 样 怀

    疑 , 认 为 “ 共 产 体 ” 和 “ 氏 族 ” 一 样 , 一 般 都 由 于 准 许 族 外

    人 的 加 入 而 混 杂 , 但 “ 共 产 体 ” 吸 收 族 外 人 的 确 实 方 式 , 现

    在 已 无 法 确 定 。 在 现 在 , 据 爱 芬 斯 吞 告 诉 我 们 , “ 共 产 体 ” 在

    取 得 族 人 同 意 后 用 接 纳 买 受 人 的 方 法 而 补 充 成 员 。 然 而 , 这

    个 被 收 养 成 员 的 取 得 是 属 于 一 种 概 括 继 承 的 性 质 ; 随 着 他 所

    买 受 的 份 额 , 他 同 时 继 承 了 卖 主 对 集 合 体 所 负 的 全 部 责 任 。 他

    是 一 个 “ 家 产 买 主 ” , 他 开 始 抵 充 某 人 的 地 位 , 也 就 继 承 了 他

    的 法 律 身 分 。 要 接 纳 他 必 须 取 得 全 族 人 的 同 意 , 这 使 我 们 回

    忆 到 “ 贵 族 民 会 ” 那 些 自 命 为 亲 属 的 较 多 族 人 所 组 成 的 “ 议会 ” , 也 就 是 古 代 罗 马 共 和 政 体 所 竭 力 坚 持 的 同 意 , 他 们 坚 执

    地 认 为 这 种 同 意 是 使 一 个 “ 收 养 ” 合 法 化 和 使 一 个 “ 遗 嘱 ” 获

    特 确 认 所 必 要 的 条 件 。

    在 印 度 “ 村 落 共 产 体 ” 的 每 一 个 方 面 几 乎 都 可 以 发 现 一

    种 极 端 古 老 的 象 征 。 我 们 有 极 多 的 充 足 的 理 由 来 猜 疑 : 法 律

    初 生 时 代 的 特 点 是 , 由 于 人 格 权 和 财 产 权 的 混 杂 不 清 以 及 公

    法 义 务 和 私 法 义 务 的 混 淆 在 一 起 而 流 行 着 共 同 所 有 制 , 因 此 ,

    即 使 在 世 界 的 任 何 其 他 部 分 都 不 能 发 现 类 似 地 混 合 的 社 会 ,

    我 们 应 有 正 当 理 由 从 我 们 对 于 这 些 财 产 所 有 同 族 团 体 的 考 察

    中 推 论 出 许 多 重 要 的 结 论 来 。 在 欧 洲 有 一 些 部 分 其 财 产 权 很

    少 受 到 封 建 变 化 的 影 响 , 在 许 多 其 他 重 要 方 面 它 和 东 方 世 界

    的 关 系 也 象 和 西 方 世 界 一 样 密 切 , 在 这 些 部 分 中 , 恰 巧 有 一

    套 类 似 的 现 象 在 最 近 引 起 了 许 多 热 切 的 兴 趣 。 哈 克 索 孙 ( M .

    d e   H a x t h a u s e n ) 、 顿 戈 波 斯 基 ( M . T e n g o b o r s k i ) 以 及 其 他人 的 科 学 研 究 告 诉 我 们 , 俄 罗 斯 的 村 落 并 不 是 人 们 的 偶 然 集合 , 也 不 是 根 据 契 约 而 组 成 的 联 合 体 ; 它 们 是 和 印 度 那 些 村

    落 一 样 天 然 组 织 起 来 的 共 产 体 。 诚 然 , 这 些 村 落 在 理 论 上 始

    终 是 某 些 贵 族 所 有 人 的 世 袭 财 产 , 农 民 从 历 史 时 期 起 就 已 变

    成 领 主 的 附 属 于 土 地 的 农 奴 , 在 很 多 情 况 下 , 并 成 为 领 主 个

    人 的 农 奴 。 但 这 高 贵 的 所 有 制 的 压 力 从 来 没 有 把 古 代 的 村 落

    组 织 加 以 破 坏 , 而 且 很 可 能 , 这 个 假 定 为 把 农 奴 制 介 绍 来 的

    俄 罗 斯 沙 皇 , 他 在 制 定 法 律 时 的 真 正 意 图 是 在 防 止 农 民 舍 弃

    那 种 合 作 , 因 为 没 有 这 种 合 作 , 旧 的 社 会 秩 序 是 不 可 能 长 期

    维 持 的 。 在 俄 罗 斯 “ 村 落 ” 中 , 村 民 之 间 是 假 定 有 一 种 宗 亲

    的 关 系 的 , 人 格 权 和 所 有 权 是 混 杂 在 一 起 的 , 在 内 政 方 面 亦有 多 种 多 样 的 自 发 规 定 , 这 一 切 就 使 它 几 乎 完 全 和 印 度 “ 共

    产 体 ” 重 复 ; 但 是 有 一 个 重 要 的 不 同 之 点 , 是 我 们 极 感 兴 趣

    的 。 一 个 印 度 村 落 的 共 同 所 有 人 , 虽 然 其 财 产 是 混 在 一 起 的 ,

    但 他 们 有 其 各 别 的 权 利 , 而 且 这 种 权 利 的 分 割 是 完 全 和 无 限

    制 地 继 续 着 的 。 在 一 个 俄 罗 斯 村 落 中 , 权 利 的 分 割 在 理 论 上

    也 是 完 全 的 , 但 只 是 暂 时 的 。 在 一 定 的 、 但 并 不 是 在 所 有 情

    况 中 都 是 同 样 的 时 期 终 了 后 , 各 别 的 所 有 权 即 告 消 灭 , 村 落

    的 土 地 就 集 中 在 一 起 , 然 后 在 组 成 共 产 体 的 家 族 中 按 照 人 数

    重 行 分 配 。 这 种 再 分 配 实 行 后 , 家 族 的 和 个 人 的 权 利 又 被 分

    成 为 各 个 支 系 , 作 为 再 一 次 分 配 时 期 到 来 之 前 继 续 遵 循 的 根

    据 。 还 有 一 种 所 有 权 更 奇 特 的 变 形 发 生 在 某 些 国 家 中 , 这 些

    国 家 长 期 成 为 土 耳 其 帝 国 和 奥 地 利 皇 室 领 土 之 间 的 一 块 争 执

    的 土 地 。 在 塞 尔 维 亚 ( S e r v i a ) 、 在 克 罗 西 亚 ( C r o a t i a ) 以 及

    在 奥 地 利 的 斯 拉 窝 尼 亚 , 各 种 村 落 也 都 是 由 既 是 共 同 所 有 人

    又 是 亲 属 的 人 们 集 合 而 成 的 ; 但 在 那 里 , 共 产 体 的 内 部 安 排

    和 以 上 两 个 例 子 中 所 提 到 的 有 所 不 同 。 在 这 一 例 子 中 , 共 有

    财 产 的 内 容 不 但 在 事 实 上 不 分 割 , 并 且 在 理 论 上 也 认 为 是 不

    能 分 割 的 , 全 部 土 地 由 所 有 村 民 的 联 合 劳 动 耕 种 着 , 农 产 物

    每 年 在 各 家 村 民 中 分 配 一 次 , 有 时 按 照 各 家 假 定 的 需 要 , 有

    时 按 照 规 定 而 以 一 定 份 额 的 用 益 权 给 与 各 别 的 人 。 东 欧 的 法

    学 家 都 认 为 所 有 这 些 实 践 都 可 追 溯 到 一 个 据 说 在 最 古 的 斯 拉

    夫 法 律 中 可 以 找 到 的 原 则 , 就 是 家 族 财 产 不 能 永 久 分 割 的 原

    则 。

    在 以 上 研 究 中 发 现 的 这 些 现 象 所 以 会 引 起 人 们 的 极 大 兴

    趣 , 主 要 是 它 使 我 们 得 以 了 解 原 来 持 有 财 产 的 团 体 ·

    内 ·

    部 的 各别 所 有 权 的 发 展 情 况 。 我 们 有 强 有 力 的 理 由 , 认 定 在 某 一 个

    时 期 中 , 财 产 不 属 于 个 人 、 甚 至 也 不 属 于 各 别 的 家 族 , 而 是

    属 于 按 照 宗 法 模 型 组 成 的 较 大 的 社 会 所 有 ; 从 古 代 所 有 权 转

    变 到 现 代 所 有 权 的 方 式 , 虽 然 还 是 十 分 模 糊 的 , 但 是 如 果 有

    几 种 显 著 的 “ 村 落 共 产 体 ” 形 式 没 有 被 发 现 并 加 以 研 究 的 话 ,

    则 可 能 还 要 更 加 模 糊 。 在 印 度 - 欧 罗 巴 血 统 的 民 族 中 间 , 过

    去 可 以 看 到 , 或 者 至 今 还 可 以 看 到 一 些 宗 法 团 体 , 其 中 各 式

    各 样 的 内 部 安 排 是 有 加 以 注 意 的 价 值 的 。 据 说 , 未 开 化 的 苏

    格 兰 高 原 部 族 领 袖 经 常 每 隔 一 个 短 时 期 、 有 时 甚 至 是 逐 日 把

    食 物 分 配 给 其 管 辖 下 各 家 庭 的 家 长 。 奥 地 利 和 土 耳 其 省 的 斯

    拉 夫 村 人 也 由 他 们 团 体 的 长 辈 作 定 期 分 配 , 但 在 这 里 , 是 把

    全 年 全 部 农 产 物 一 次 分 配 的 。 可 是 在 俄 罗 斯 村 落 中 , 财 产 的

    实 体 已 不 再 被 视 为 不 可 分 割 的 , 各 别 的 对 于 财 产 的 要 求 准 许

    自 由 提 出 , 但 在 这 里 , 分 割 的 进 程 在 继 续 一 定 的 时 期 以 后 即

    断 然 停 止 。 在 印 度 , 不 但 没 有 共 有 财 产 的 不 可 分 性 , 并 且 共

    有 财 产 的 各 个 部 分 所 具 有 的 各 别 的 财 产 所 有 权 得 无 限 制 地 延

    长 , 并 分 为 任 何 数 量 的 派 生 所 有 权 , 但 是 公 有 财 产 的 “ 事 实

    上 ” 的 分 割 则 为 根 深 蒂 固 的 习 惯 所 阻 止 , 也 为 反 对 在 未 经 族

    人 同 意 时 接 纳 族 外 人 的 规 定 所 阻 止 。 当 然 , 我 们 并 不 想 坚 持

    这 些 不 同 形 式 的 “ 村 落 共 产 体 ” 可 以 代 表 到 处 都 以 同 样 方 式

    完 成 的 一 种 变 化 过 程 中 的 各 个 阶 段 。 虽 然 证 据 并 不 允 许 我 们

    前 进 过 远 , 但 是 我 们 如 果 认 为 , 就 我 们 所 看 到 的 那 种 形 式 的

    私 有 财 产 权 , 主 要 是 由 一 个 共 产 体 的 混 合 权 利 中 逐 步 分 离 出

    来 的 各 别 的 个 人 权 利 所 组 成 的 , 这 种 猜 度 , 并 不 能 说 是 完 全

    毫 无 根 据 的 臆 测 。 我 们 在 研 究 “ 人 法 ” 时 , 似 乎 可 以 看 到“ 家 族 ” 扩 张 而 成 为 亲 属 的 “ 宗 亲 ” 集 团 , 然 后 , “ 宗 亲 ” 团

    体 分 解 而 成 为 各 个 的 家 ; 最 后 , 家 又 为 个 人 所 代 替 ; 现 在 可

    以 提 出 这 样 的 意 见 , 即 在 这 个 变 化 中 每 一 个 步 骤 相 当 于 “ 所

    有 权 ” 性 质 中 一 次 类 似 的 改 变 。 如 果 在 这 个 意 见 中 有 任 何 真

    理 的 话 , 可 以 看 到 , 它 在 实 质 上 影 响 了 有 关 “ 财 产 ” 起 源 的

    理 论 家 一 般 都 向 他 们 自 己 提 出 的 问 题 。 他 们 最 急 切 需 要 解 决

    的 问 题 — — 也 许 是 一 个 无 法 解 决 的 问 题 — — 是 : 最 初 引 起 人

    们 相 互 尊 重 他 人 的 所 有 物 , 其 动 机 究 竟 是 什 么 ? 这 个 问 题 也

    可 以 用 这 种 形 式 来 表 现 , 虽 然 也 很 少 希 望 能 为 它 找 到 一 个 答

    案 , 即 研 究 一 下 使 得 一 个 混 合 团 体 和 其 他 混 合 团 体 的 领 地 离

    开 的 原 因 。 但 是 , 私 有 “ 财 产 ” 史 中 最 最 重 要 的 一 章 如 果 真

    是 它 的 逐 渐 从 亲 属 共 同 所 有 权 中 解 除 出 来 , 那 末 , 需 要 研 究

    的 主 要 之 点 , 就 和 在 所 有 历 史 法 律 学 门 口 所 要 遇 到 的 问 题 完

    全 相 同 — — 即 原 来 促 使 人 们 团 结 在 家 族 联 合 体 中 的 动 机 究 竟

    是 什 么 ? 对 于 这 样 一 个 问 题 , 如 果 没 有 其 他 科 学 的 帮 助 , 单

    靠 法 律 学 是 不 能 提 出 一 个 答 案 的 。 这 个 事 实 不 得 不 加 以 注 意 。

    古 代 社 会 的 财 产 是 不 分 割 的 , 但 这 种 状 态 是 和 当 任 何 单

    独 的 一 部 分 完 全 从 集 团 遗 产 中 分 离 出 来 时 就 立 刻 表 现 的 一 种

    特 殊 鲜 明 的 分 割 , 是 不 相 矛 盾 的 。 这 种 现 象 的 产 生 , 无 疑 地

    是 由 于 财 产 经 分 割 后 , 就 成 为 一 个 新 的 团 体 的 所 有 物 , 因 此 ,

    在 已 经 分 离 的 状 态 下 , 如 果 要 和 它 发 生 往 来 , 就 成 为 两 个 高

    度 复 杂 团 体 之 间 的 一 种 交 易 了 。 我 已 经 就 各 集 合 体 的 大 小 和

    复 杂 程 度 等 方 面 , 把 古 代 法 和 现 代 国 际 法 加 以 比 较 , 这 些 集

    合 体 的 权 利 和 义 务 古 代 法 里 都 有 规 定 。 古 代 法 中 的 契 约 和 让

    与 既 然 不 是 以 单 独 的 个 人 而 是 以 有 组 织 的 人 的 团 体 为 当 事人 , 这 此 契 约 和 让 与 就 有 高 等 的 仪 式 ; 它 们 需 要 多 种 多 样 象

    征 性 的 行 为 或 言 辞 , 其 目 的 是 使 整 个 交 易 能 深 深 地 印 在 参 与

    仪 式 的 每 一 个 人 的 记 忆 中 ; 它 们 并 且 要 求 一 个 很 大 数 目 的 证

    人 到 场 。 从 这 些 特 点 以 及 类 似 的 其 他 特 点 产 生 了 古 代 财 产 形

    式 上 普 遍 存 在 着 的 顽 强 性 。 有 时 , 家 族 的 遗 产 是 绝 对 不 可 让

    与 的 , 像 斯 拉 夫 人 的 情 形 , 更 通 常 的 是 , 虽 然 让 与 不 一 定 完

    全 非 法 , 但 象 在 大 部 分 的 日 耳 曼 部 落 中 那 样 , 让 与 在 实 际 上

    几 乎 是 不 能 实 行 的 , 因 为 要 移 转 就 必 须 取 得 多 数 人 的 同 意 。 在

    这 些 障 碍 并 不 存 在 或 是 能 够 克 服 的 地 方 , 让 与 行 为 的 本 身 一

    般 都 为 一 大 套 不 能 有 丝 毫 疏 忽 的 仪 式 所 重 累 着 。 古 代 法 一 致

    拒 绝 废 除 一 个 单 独 动 作 , 不 论 它 是 如 何 地 荒 诞 ; 一 个 单 独 的

    音 节 , 不 论 其 意 义 可 能 是 早 已 被 忘 却 了 ; 一 个 单 独 的 证 人 , 不

    论 他 的 证 词 是 如 何 地 多 余 。 全 部 的 仪 式 应 该 由 法 律 上 所 规 定

    的 必 须 参 加 的 人 们 毫 不 苟 且 地 加 以 完 成 , 否 则 让 与 便 归 无 效 ,

    而 出 卖 人 亦 恢 复 其 权 利 , 因 为 他 移 转 的 企 图 并 未 生 效 。

    对 使 用 物 件 和 享 有 物 件 的 自 由 流 通 所 加 的 种 种 障 碍 , 只

    要 社 会 获 得 极 为 细 微 的 活 动 时 , 就 会 立 刻 被 感 觉 到 , 前 进 中

    的 社 会 就 竭 力 用 种 种 权 宜 手 段 来 克 服 这 些 障 碍 , 这 就 形 成 了

    “ 财 产 ” 史 中 的 材 料 。 在 这 些 手 段 中 , 有 一 个 更 重 要 , 因 为 它

    更 古 老 和 普 遍 。 把 财 产 分 为 许 多 类 别 的 想 法 , 似 乎 是 大 多 数

    早 期 社 会 中 自 发 地 产 生 的 。 有 一 种 或 一 类 的 财 产 放 在 比 较 不

    贵 重 的 地 位 上 , 但 在 同 时 却 免 除 了 古 代 加 在 它 们 上 面 的 种 种

    拘 束 。 后 来 , 适 用 于 低 级 财 产 移 转 与 继 承 的 规 定 , 其 高 度 的

    便 利 逐 渐 被 一 般 人 所 承 认 , 在 经 过 了 一 个 渐 进 的 改 革 过 程 后 ,

    比 较 不 贵 重 一 类 的 有 价 物 的 可 塑 性 就 传 染 给 传 统 上 地 位 较 高一 级 的 各 类 物 件 。 罗 马 “ 财 产 法 ” 的 历 史 就 是 “ 要 式 交 易物 ” 和 “ 非 要 式 交 易 物 ” 同 化 的 历 史 。 在 欧 洲 大 陆 上 的 “ 财产 ” 史 是 罗 马 化 的 动 产 法 消 灭 封 建 化 的 土 地 法 的 历 史 , 虽 然在 英 国 所 有 权 的 历 史 还 没 有 接 近 完 成 , 但 已 可 以 看 出 , 动 产

    法 是 在 威 胁 着 要 并 吞 和 毁 灭 不 动 产 法 。

    享 有 物 件 的 唯 一自然 分 类 , 即 能 符 合 物 体 中 实 质 区 别 的唯 一 分 类 , 是 把 它 们 分 成 为 “ 动 产 ” 和 “ 不 动 产 ” 。 这 种 分 类

    虽 是 法 律 学 中 所 熟 悉 的 , 但 它 是 罗 马 法 慢 慢 地 发 展 而 得 来 的 ,

    并 且 直 到 罗 马 法 的 最 后 阶 段 才 被 采 用 。 我 们 现 在 的 分 类 就 是

    从 罗 马 法 得 来 的 。 “ 古 代 法 ” 的 分 类 有 时 在 表 面 上 和 这 个 分 类

    很 相 类 似 。 古 代 法 分 类 偶 然 地 把 财 产 分 为 各 个 范 畴 , 并 把 不

    动 产 作 为 其 中 的 一 项 ; 但 是 后 来 发 现 它 们 或 者 把 许 多 和 不 动

    产 毫 无 关 系 的 物 件 归 在 不 动 产 之 内 , 或 者 把 它 们 从 和 它 们 有

    极 密 切 关 系 的 各 种 权 利 中 强 行 分 出 来 。 这 样 , 在 罗 马 法 中 ,

    “ 要 式 交 易 物 ” 不 但 包 括 土 地 , 并 且 也 包 括 奴 隶 和 牛 马 。 苏 格

    兰 法 律 把 某 种 抵 押 物 和 土 地 列 在 一 起 , 印 度 法 则 把 土 地 和 奴

    隶 联 系 起 来 。 在 另 一 方 面 , 英 国 法 律 把 多 年 的 土 地 租 赁 和 土

    地 上 的 其 他 利 益 分 列 , 并 把 前 者 用 动 产 物 ( c h a t t e l s   r e a l ) 的名 义 并 入 动 产 之 内 。 更 有 进 者 , “ 古 代 法 ” 的 分 类 是 含 有 贵 重和 低 贱 之 意 的 分 类 ; 动 产 和 不 动 产 之 间 的 区 分 , 至 少 以 罗 马法 律 学 而 论 , 实 在 并 不 具 有 尊 鄙 的 意 思 。 “ 要 式 交 易 物 ”最初的 确 要 比 “ 非 要 式 交 易 物 ” 优 越 些 , 正 象 苏 格 兰 的 可 继 承财产 和 英 格 兰 的 不 动 产 优 越 于 和 它 们 相 对 的 动 产 一 样 。 研究一切 制 度 的 法 律 家 都 不 辞 劳 苦 , 力 求 以 某 种 易 解 的 原 则 来 说 明这 些 分 类 ; 但 在 法 律 哲 学 中 去 寻 求 划 分 的 理 由 , 结 果 必 然 是徒 劳 无 功 ; 它 们 不 属 于 法 律 哲 学 而 属 法 律 历 史 。 可 以 用 来 概括 绝 大 多 数 事 例 的 解 释 是 , 比 其 余 享 用 物 贵 重 的 享 用 物, 一般 都 是 每 一 个 特 定 社 会 最 初 和 最 早 知 道 的 , 因 此 也 就 着 重 地用 “ 财 产 ” 的 名 称 来 尊 重 它 们 的 那 些 形 式 的 财 产 。 在 另 一 方面 , 所 有 不 列 入 爱 好 的 物 件 中 的 物 品 都 被 列 在 较 次 的 地 位 , 因为 关 于 它 们 价 值 的 知 识 是 肯 定 在 贵 重 财 产 目 录 已 经 确 定 之

    后 。 它 们 在 最 初 是 不 为 人 们 所 知 道 的 , 稀 少 , 用 途 有 限 , 再

    不 然 就 被 认 为 是 特 权 物 件 的 附 属 物 。 这 样 , 罗 马 “ 要 式 交 易

    物 ” 虽 然 包 括 了 许 多 极 有 价 值 的 动 产 , 但 价 值 最 高 的 宝 石 仍

    旧 是 从 来 没 有 被 列 入 “ 要 式 交 易 物 ” 项 内 , 因 为 它 们 是 古 罗

    马 人 所 不 知 道 的 。 同 样 地 , 在 英 国 , 动 产 物 据 说 已 下 降 到 动

    产 的 地 位 , 因 为 在 封 建 土 地 法 下 , 这 类 地 产 是 不 常 见 的 , 并

    且 是 毫 无 价 值 的 。 但 最 饶 有 兴 趣 的 是 , 这 些 商 品 继 续 降 格 , 正

    当 其 重 要 性 已 有 增 加 、 其 数 量 已 有 增 多 时 。 为 什 么 它 们 没 有

    继 续 被 包 括 在 爱 好 的 享 有 物 件 中 呢 ? 理 由 之 一 , 是 由 于 “ 古

    代 法 ” 固 执 地 墨 守 着 它 的 分 类 。 凡 是 没 有 受 过 教 育 的 人 和 早

    期 社 会 都 有 这 样 一 个 特 点 , 他 们 除 了 在 实 际 上 所 熟 悉 的 特 定

    应 用 之 外 , 一 般 都 不 能 想 出 一 条 通 用 的 规 则 。 他 们 不 能 从 日

    常 经 验 中 遇 到 的 特 殊 事 件 中 分 析 出 一 个 通 用 的 名 词 或 通 用 的

    格 言 ; 这 样 , 包 括 为 我 们 所 熟 知 的 各 种 形 式 财 产 的 名 称 , 就

    被 拒 绝 适 用 于 和 它 们 完 全 类 似 的 其 他 享 有 物 件 和 权 利 主 体

    上 。 对 象 法 律 那 样 稳 定 的 一 个 主 题 发 生 了 特 别 的 力 量 , 后 来

    又 添 加 了 其 他 更 适 合 于 文 明 进 步 以 及 一 般 适 宜 概 念 的 影 响 。

    法 院 和 法 律 家 终 于 对 爱 好 商 品 的 移 转 、 回 复 或 遗 传 中 所 需 要

    的 各 种 令 人 困 惑 的 手 续 程 序 , 感 到 不 便 , 于 是 便 也 不 愿 把 作为 法 律 幼 年 时 代 特 点 的 专 门 束 缚 加 于 新 的 各 类 财 产 之 上 。 因

    此 就 产 生 了 一 种 倾 向 , 把 这 些 最 后 发 现 的 物 件 在 法 律 学 安 排

    中 列 在 最 低 的 地 位 , 只 通 过 较 简 单 的 程 序 就 可 以 移 转 , 比 较

    古 代 的 让 与 简 便 了 许 多 , 不 再 用 来 作 为 善 意 的 绊 脚 石 和 诈 欺

    的 进 身 阶 了 。 我 们 也 许 有 低 估 古 代 移 转 方 式 的 不 便 的 危 险 。 我

    们 的 让 与 证 书 是 书 面 的 , 其 中 的 文 字 既 经 职 业 起 草 者 审 慎 推

    敲 过 , 在 正 确 性 上 就 绝 少 存 在 着 缺 点 。 但 是 一 个 古 代 让 与 不

    是 用 书 面 的 , 而 是 用 行 动 的 。 动 作 和 口 语 代 替 了 书 面 专 门 语

    法 , 任 何 公 式 被 误 读 了 或 是 象 征 的 行 为 被 遗 漏 了 , 就 可 能 使

    程 序 归 于 无 效 , 正 如 二 百 年 前 在 叙 述 使 用 权 或 发 表 残 余 财 产

    权 中 发 生 一 个 重 大 错 误 时 , 就 使 一 个 英 国 契 据 归 于 无 效 一 样 。

    真 的 , 古 代 仪 式 的 害 处 , 上 面 所 说 的 仅 及 其 半 。 假 使 只 在土地 的 移 转 中 需 要 有 书 面 的 或 行 为 的 精 密 让 与 , 由 于 这 类 财 产绝 少 在 极 忽 忙 之 中 予 以 处 分 , 在 移 转 时 发 生 错 误 的 机 会 是 不

    会 多 的 。 但 是 古 代 世 界 中 所 谓 高 级 财 产 不 但 包 括 土 地 , 并 且

    也 包 括 几 种 最 最 普 通 和 几 种 最 最 有 价 值 的 动 产 。 当 社 会 一 经

    开 始 很 快 地 运 动 时 , 如 果 对 于 一 匹 马 或 一 头 牛 , 或 对 于 古 代

    世 界 最 有 价 值 的 可 移 动 之 物 — — “ 奴 隶 ” — — 都 需 要 高 度 地错 综 复 杂 形 式 的 移 转 , 必 将 感 到 很 大 的 不 便 。 这 类 商 品 一 定常 常 是 、 并 且 甚 至 于 原 来 是 用 不 完 全 的 形 式 来 让 与 的 , 因 此也 就 在 不 完 全 的 名 义 下 持 有 它 们 。

    古 罗 马 法 中 的 “ 要 式 交 易 物 ” 是 土 地 — — 在 有 史 时 期 , 指意 大 利 疆 土 内 的 土 地 , — — 奴 隶 以 及 负 重 的 牲 畜 , 如 牛 和 马 。毫 无 疑 问 , 构 成 这 一 类 别 的 物 件 都 是 农 业 劳 动 的 工 具 , 对 于一 个 原 始 民 族 很 重 要 的 商 品 。 我 猜 想 , 这 类 商 品 最 初 称 为“ 物 件 ” 或 “ 财 产 ” , 而 它 们 移 转 的 让 与 方 式 称 作 “ 曼 企帕因 ” 或 “ 曼 企 帕 地 荷 ” ; 但 可 能 要 直 到 很 后 的 时 期 , 它 们才接受 了 “ 要 式 交 易 物 ” 的 特 别 名 称 , 所 谓 “ 要 式 交 易 物 ” , 就 是“ 需 要 一 次 ‘ 曼 企 帕 地 荷 ’ 的 物 件 ” 。 可 能 除 此 以 外 , 存 在 着或 产 生 了 有 一 类 的 物 件 , 这 些 物 件 是 不 值 得 坚 持 采 用 全 部 的

    “ 曼 企 帕 地 荷 ” 仪 式 的 。 当 这 些 物 件 由 所 有 人 移 转 给 所 有 人 时 ,

    只 须 进 行 通 常 手 续 程 序 的 一 部 分 , 这 一 部 分 就 是 实 际 送 达 、 实

    物 移 转 或 交 付 , 这 是 一 种 财 产 所 有 权 变 更 的 最 明 显 的 标 志 。 这

    类 商 品 是 古 代 法 律 学 中 的 “ 非 要 式 交 易 物 ” , 即 “ 不 需 要 一 次

    ‘ 曼 企 帕 地 荷 ’ 的 物 件 ” , 这 些 物 件 在 起 初 可 能 很 少 被 重 视 , 并

    且 也 不 常 从 一 个 团 体 的 所 有 人 移 转 给 另 一 团 体 的 所 有 人 的 。

    可 是 , “ 要 式 交 易 物 ” 的 目 录 虽 是 不 可 改 变 地 定 下 来 了 , 但

    “ 非 要 式 交 易 物 ” 的 目 录 却 在 无 限 制 地 扩 大 ; 从 此 , 人 类 对 物

    质 自 然 每 一 次 新 的 征 服 就 在 “ 非 要 式 交 易 物 ” 上 添 加 了 一 个

    新 的 项 目 , 或 在 那 些 已 经 公 认 的 项 目 中 实 行 一 次 修 改 。 因 此 ,

    它 们 就 不 知 不 觉 地 提 高 到 和 “ 要 式 交 易 物 ” 处 于 平 等 的 地 位 ,

    一 种 固 有 的 低 级 的 印 象 就 这 样 逐 渐 消 失 , 人 们 也 就 看 到 了 在

    他 们 移 转 时 , 如 果 用 简 单 的 手 续 , 比 较 采 用 复 杂 和 严 肃 的 仪

    式 有 更 多 的 利 益 。 法 律 改 良 中 的 两 个 媒 介 即 “ 拟 制 ” 和 “ 衡

    平 ” 就 被 罗 马 法 律 学 专 心 一 致 地 运 用 着 , 使 得 “ 交 付 ” 能 具

    有 “ 曼 企 帕 地 荷 ” 的 实 际 效 果 。 同 时 , 虽 然 罗 马 立 法 者 是 期

    不 敢 制 订 法 律 , 规 定 “ 要 式 交 易 物 ” 中 的 财 产 权 可 通 过 简 单

    的 物 件 送 达 而 立 即 移 转 , 但 甚 至 这 样 一 个 步 骤 , 最 后 也 为 查

    斯 丁 尼 安 大 胆 地 做 了 , 在 他 的 法 律 学 中 , “ 要 式 交 易 物 ” 和

    “ 非 要 式 交 易 物 ” 之 间 的 区 别 已 完 全 消 失 , “ 交 付 ” 或 “ 送达 ” 成 为 法 律 所 承 认 的 最 大 让 与 。 罗 马 法 律 家 很 早 就 对 “ 交

    付 ” 有 显 著 的 偏 爱 , 这 种 偏 爱 使 他 们 在 理 论 中 分 配 给 “ 交

    付 ” 一 个 特 殊 地 位 , 使 现 代 学 生 们 无 法 看 到 其 真 正 的 历 史 。

    “ 交 付 ” 被 归 类 在 “ 自 然 的 ” 取 得 方 式 中 , 一 方 面 因 为 它 在 意

    大 利 各 部 落 中 普 遍 地 应 用 着 , 另 一 方 面 因 为 它 是 能 通 过 最 简

    单 机 构 来 达 到 其 目 的 的 一 种 过 程 。 如 果 把 法 学 专 家 的 言 语 简

    要 地 加 以 重 述 , 无 疑 地 包 含 着 : 属 于 “ 自 然 法 ” 的 “ 交 付 ” 比

    “ 是 企 帕 地 荷 ” 还 要 古 老 , 因 为 “ 曼 企 帕 地 荷 ” 是 一 个 “ 市 民

    社 会 ” 的 制 度 ; 我 认 为 不 消 说 得 , 这 一 点 是 恰 恰 和 事 实 相 反

    的 。

    “ 要 式 交 易 物 ” 和 “ 非 要 式 交 易 物 ” 之 间 的 区 分 是 一 种 有

    功 于 人 类 文 明 的 区 分 , 这 种 区 分 涉 及 全 部 商 品 , 它 把 商 品 中

    的 一 小 部 分 归 入 一 类 , 而 把 其 余 的 列 入 较 低 级 的 一 类 。 各 种

    低 级 的 财 产 , 由 于 蔑 视 和 忽 视 , 首 先 从 原 始 法 律 所 喜 爱 的 复

    杂 仪 式 中 释 放 出 来 , 此 后 , 在 另 一 种 智 力 进 步 的 状 态 下 , 简

    单 的 移 转 和 恢 复 方 法 便 被 采 用 , 作 为 一 个 模 型 , 以 它 的 便 利

    和 简 单 来 非 难 从 古 代 传 下 来 的 繁 重 仪 式 。 但 是 , 在 有 些 社 会

    中 , 财 产 所 受 到 的 束 缚 是 过 分 地 复 杂 和 严 密 , 不 能 轻 易 地 得

    到 放 松 。 当 印 度 人 生 出 男 性 的 子 嗣 时 , 象 我 已 经 说 过 的 印 度

    的 法 律 便 使 他 们 都 在 父 的 财 产 中 取 得 一 种 利 益 , 并 使 他 们 的

    同 意 成 为 财 产 让 与 的 一 个 必 要 条 件 。 古 日 耳 曼 民 族 的 一 种 通

    例 具 有 同 样 的 精 神 — — 值 得 注 意 的 是 , 盎 格 鲁 - 撒 克 逊 的 习

    惯 似 乎 是 一 个 例 外 — — , 它 规 定 在 未 经 取 得 男 性 子 嗣 同 意 前

    禁 止 让 与 财 产 ; 斯 拉 夫 人 的 原 始 法 律 甚 至 完 全 禁 止 让 与 。 很

    明 显 , 这 一 类 的 障 碍 是 不 能 用 在 各 种 财 产 之 间 加 以 区 分 的 方法 来 克 服 的 , 因 为 困 难 涉 及 所 有 各 类 商 品 ; 因 此 , 当 “ 古 代

    法 ” 一 度 开 始 向 改 进 的 道 路 发 展 时 , 就 用 另 外 一 种 性 质 的 区

    分 来 克 服 这 种 障 碍 , 这 种 区 分 不 是 按 照 财 产 的 性 质 而 是 按 照

    其 渊 源 来 分 类 。 在 印 度 , 就 有 两 种 分 类 制 度 的 遗 迹 , 我 们 现

    在 考 虑 的 一 种 可 以 用 印 度 法 在 “ 继 承 财 产 ” 和 “ 取 得 物 ” 之

    间 建 立 的 区 分 来 例 证 。 父 的 继 承 财 产 在 其 子 出 生 时 即 为 他 们

    所 分 有 ; 但 按 照 大 多 数 省 分 的 习 惯 , 他 本 人 在 世 时 取 得 的 则

    完 全 为 他 个 人 所 有 , 并 可 以 由 他 任 意 移 转 。 罗 马 法 中 有 一 种

    类 似 的 区 分 , 这 是 对 “ 父 权 ” 最 早 的 一 种 改 革 , 它 允 许 子 把

    他 在 军 役 中 所 获 得 的 物 件 归 他 自 己 所 有 。 但 这 种 分 类 方 法 , 在

    日 耳 曼 人 中 得 到 最 广 泛 的 应 用 。 我 曾 反 复 地 说 过 ,自主 ·

    地 虽然 并 非 不 可 让 与 , 但 一 般 必 须 经 过 很 大 的 困 难 才 可 以 移 转 ; 而且 ,自主地 只 可 以 遗 传 给 宗 亲 属 。 于 是 , 非 常 多 种 多 样 的 区分 便 被 承 认 了 , 都 企 图 消 灭 和 自 主 土 地 分 不 开 的 各 种 不 便 。 例如,杀害亲属和解费 ( w e h r g e l d ) 在 日 耳 曼 法 律 学 中 占 有 很 大的 地 位 , 却 并 不 成 为 家 族 领 地 的 一 部 分 , 并 且 根 据 完 全不同的 继 承 规 则 而 遗 传 。 同 样 的 ,寡妇再醮时所课的罚金( r e i p u s ) 也 不 并 入 它 所 给 付 的 人 的自主地 之 内 , 在 移 转 时 , 并且 也 可 以 不 理 会 宗 亲 的 特 权 。 日 耳 曼 的 法 律 也 象 印 度 人 的 法

    律 一 样 , 把 家 长 的 “ 取 得 物 ” 和 “ 继 承 ” 财 产 区 分 开 来 , 准

    许 他 在 十 分 自 由 的 条 件 下 处 理 其 “ 取 得 物 ” 。 其 他 种 类 的 分 类

    也 是 被 承 认 的 , 常 见 的 是 土 地 与 动 产 的 区 分 ; 但 是 在 动 产 项

    下 还 被 分 成 几 个 附 属 的 类 别 , 每 一 类 都 适 用 一 种 不 同 的 规 则 。

    象 征 服 罗 马 帝 国 的 日 耳 曼 人 那 样 未 开 化 的 民 族 竟 会 有 这 样 丰

    富 的 分 类 , 我 们 在 初 看 起 来 似 乎 是 很 奇 怪 的 , 但 这 无 疑 地 是由 于 他 们 的 制 度 中 有 相 当 数 量 的 罗 马 法 成 分 , 这 些 都 是 他 们长 期 寄 居 于 罗 马 领 土 边 境 的 时 期 内 吸 收 的 。 对 于 自 主 地 以 外各 种 商 品 的 移 转 和 遗 传 的 规 定 , 我 们 可 以 毫 无 困 难 地 发 现 其

    中 许 多 来 自 罗 马 法 律 学 , 这 些 都 可 能 是 他 们 在 非 常 是 的 时 间

    内 零 零 星 星 地 从 罗 马 法 律 学 中 借 用 来 的 。 究 竟 阻 碍 财 产 自 由

    流 通 的 障 碍 通 过 了 这 类 手 段 能 克 服 到 何 种 程 度 , 我 们 无 法 加

    以 猜 度 , 因 为 这 些 区 分 已 在 现 代 历 史 上 消 失 了 。 我 在 前 面 已

    解 释 过 , 自 主 地 形 式 的 财 产 在 封 建 时 期 已 完 全 消 灭 了 , 并 且

    当 封 建 制 度 一 经 巩 固 后 , 西 方 世 界 所 有 各 种 区 分 在 实 际 上 只

    有 一 种 还 留 存 着 — — 就 是 土 地 和 物 件 、 不 动 产 和 动 产 之 间 的

    区 分 。 在 外 表 上 , 这 个 区 分 和 罗 马 法 在 最 后 采 用 的 那 种 区 分

    相 同 , 但 中 世 纪 的 法 律 和 罗 马 法 律 在 有 一 点 上 是 显 然 不 同 的 ,

    这 就 是 中 世 纪 的 法 律 认 为 不 动 产 比 动 产 更 加 高 贵 。 这 一 个 例

    子 , 就 足 以 证 明 它 所 属 的 一 类 方 法 的 重 要 性 。 在 以 法 兰 西 法

    典 为 其 制 度 的 基 础 的 一 切 国 家 中 , 也 就 是 在 欧 洲 大 陆 的 绝 大

    部 分 国 家 中 , 始 终 是 来 自 罗 马 法 律 的 动 产 法 代 替 了 和 废 弃 了

    封 建 的 土 地 法 。 英 国 是 唯 一 的 重 要 国 家 , 在 那 里 这 种 变 化 虽

    然 已 有 进 展 , 但 并 没 有 接 近 完 成 。 应 该 进 一 步 说 明 , 我 国 也

    是 唯 一 重 要 的 欧 洲 国 家 , 在 其 中 , 动 产 和 不 动 产 的 分 开 受 到

    了 在 过 去 曾 促 使 古 代 分 类 乖 离 了 唯 一 合 乎 自 然 分 类 的 同 一 种

    影 响 的 扰 乱 。 英 国 的 分 类 在 大 体 上 是 分 为 土 地 和 物 件 ; 但 某

    种 物 件 被 作 为 继 承 动 产 ( h e i r l o o m ) 和 土 地 列 在 一 起 , 某 种 土地 上 的 利 益 则 由 于 历 史 上 的 原 因 又 和 动 产 平 列 。 英 国 法 律 学站 在 法 律 变 化 的 主 流 之 外 , 重 复 着 古 代 法 律 的 现 象 , 这 里 所说 的 并 不 是 唯 一 的 事 例 。

    因为 本 文 的 范 围 只 许 可 提 到 那 些 极 古 的 方 法 , 我 要 再 谈

    一二 个 方 法 , 通 过 了 这 些 方 法 , 古 代 人 对 于 财 产 所 有 权 所 加

    的 种 种 束 缚 多 少 放 松 了 一 些 。 特 别 是 其 中 的 一 种 必 须 加 以 详

    细 讨 论 , 因 为 凡 是 不 熟 悉 早 期 法 律 史 的 人 都 不 会 很 容 易 地 相

    信 : 现 代 法 律 学 非 常 迟 缓 并 且 经 过 了 绝 大 困 难 才 获 得 承 认 的

    一 条 原 则 , 却 在 法 律 科 学 很 幼 年 时 代 就 非 常 熟 悉 了 。 在 一 切

    法 律 中 , 现 代 人 最 不 愿 采 用 并 不 愿 使 它 产 生 合 法 后 果 的 原 则 ,

    就 是 罗 马 人 所 知 的 “ 时 效 取 得 ” 和 在 “ 时 效 ” 的 名 义 下 一 直

    传 到 现 代 法 律 学 的 原 则 , 虽 然 这 个 原 则 是 有 它 有 利 的 性 质 的 。

    最 古 罗 马 法 上 有 一 条 明 定 的 规 则 , 比 “ 十 二 铜 表 法 ” 更 古 老 ,

    它 规 定 : 凡 是 曾 被 不 间 断 地 持 有 一 定 时 期 的 商 品 即 成 为 占 有

    人 的 财 产 。 占 有 的 期 间 是 极 短 促 的 — — 一 年 或 二 年 , 根 据 商

    品 的 性 质 而 定 — — , 在 有 史 时 期 内 , “ 时 效 取 得 ” 只 在 用 一 种

    特 殊 方 式 开 始 占 有 时 才 能 准 许 有 效 ; 但 我 以 为 在 一 个 较 不 进

    步 的 时 代 , 比 我 们 在 权 威 著 作 中 所 读 到 的 更 不 严 格 的 条 件 下 ,

    占 有 也 很 可 能 变 成 所 有 权 。 我 在 前 面 已 经 说 过 , 我 决 不 主 张

    人 类 对 于事实上 占 有 的 尊 重 是 法 律 学 本 身 所 能 说 明 的 一 种 现

    象 , 但 有 必 要 说 明 的 是 , 原 始 社 会 在 采 用 “ 时 效 取 得 ” 原 则

    时 , 并 没 有 被 曾 经 阻 碍 现 代 人 接 受 这 原 则 的 那 些 纯 理 论 的 疑

    虑 和 踌 躇 所 困 惑 。 现 代 法 律 家 对 于 “ 时 效 ” 的 看 法 , 起 先 是

    嫌 恶 , 后 来 则 是 勉 强 赞 成 。 在 有 几 个 国 家 中 , 包 括 我 们 自 己

    的 国 家 在 内 , 立 法 是 期 不 愿 越 过 这 样 一 个 旧 的 方 法 而 前 进 一

    步 , 根 据 这 个 旧 的 方 法 , 凡 是 在 过 去 一 个 指 定 的 时 期 以 前 、 一

    般 是 前 一 个 朝 代 的 第 一 年 以 前 遭 受 损 害 而 提 出 的 诉 讼 , 一 概

    不 予 受 理 ; 直 到 中 世 纪 最 后 结 束 、 詹 姆 士 一 世继 承 英 格 兰 王 位 , 我 们 才 获 得 了 一 种 很 不 完 全 的 真 正

    的 时 限 条 例 。 现 代 世 界 对 罗 马 法 中 这 最 著 名 的 一 章 、 而 且 无

    疑 是 欧 洲 大 多 数 法 律 家 经 常 谈 到 的 一 章 竟 会 这 样 慢 才 加 以 采

    用 , 主 要 是 由 于 受 到 “ 寺 院 法 ” 的 影 响 。 “ 寺 院 法 ” 是 从 宗 教

    习 惯 产 生 出 来 的 , 这 些 宗 教 习 惯 既 然 关 心 着 神 圣 或 准 神 圣 的

    利 益 , 就 很 自 然 地 认 为 它 们 所 赋 与 的 特 权 不 能 因 长 期 不 用 而

    丧 失 ; 按 照 这 个 见 解 , 宗 教 法 律 学 在 后 来 巩 固 时 , 就 以 明 显

    地 反 对 “ 时 效 ” 著 称 。 “ 寺 院 法 ” 被 教 会 法 律 家 用 作 世 俗 立 法

    的 范 本 , 对 基 本 原 理 就 发 生 了 特 殊 影 响 。 “ 寺 院 法 ” 给 予 全 欧

    洲 形 成 的 各 式 各 样 习 惯 的 明 确 规 定 , 其 数 量 远 不 及 罗 马 法 所

    给 予 的 多 , 但 它 在 许 多 基 本 问 题 上 似 乎 已 经 给 了 职 业 意 见 以

    一 种 偏 向 , 而 这 样 产 生 的 倾 向 又 随 着 每 个 制 度 的 发 展 而 不 断

    地 增 加 力 量 。 它 所 产 生 的 倾 向 之 一 就 是 对 于 “ 时 效 ” 的 嫌 恶 ;

    但 是 , 如 果 不 是 和 实 在 派 经 院 法 学 家 的 学 理 相 同 , 我 以 为 这

    种 偏 见 是 决 不 会 象 它 现 在 那 样 有 力 的 。 这 些 经 院 法 学 家 认 为 :

    不 论 实 际 立 法 如 何 变 动 , 凡 是 一 种 ·

    权 ·

    利 , 纵 使 经 过 长 期 的 忽

    视 , 在 实 际 上 是 不 可 毁 灭 的 。 这 种 想 法 的 残 余 , 到 现 在 依 旧

    存 在 。 凡 是 热 诚 讨 论 法 律 哲 学 的 任 何 地 方 , 对 于 “ 时 效 ” 的

    理 论 基 础 问 题 , 总 是 热 烈 地 进 行 争 辩 的 。 在 法 国 和 德 国 , 如

    果 一 个 人 已 经 有 许 多 年 丧 失 了 占 有 , 究 竟 应 作 为 其 怠 忽 的 处

    罚 而 剥 夺 其 所 有 权 呢 , 还 是 由 于 法 律 希 望结束诉讼 ( f i n i s  l i t i u m ) 而 通 过 简 单 仲 裁 使 其 丧 失 所 有 权 , 仍 旧 是 一 个 极 有 兴

    趣 的 问 题 。 但 是 在 古 代 罗 马 社 会 中 , 人 们 就 没 有 受 到 这 种 犹

    豫 不 决 的 困 扰 。 罗 马 的 古 代 惯 例 对 于 在 某 种 情 况 下 丧 失 占 有

    达 一 二 年 的 任 何 人 , 就 直 接 剥 夺 其 所 有 权 。 “ 时 效 取 得 ” 的 这个 规 定 , 在 它 最 古 代 形 式 下 , 其 确 切 性 质 究 竟 是 怎 样 的 , 很

    不 容 易 说 明 ; 但 是 , 就 我 们 从 书 本 中 所 看 到 和 它 附 着 在 一 起

    的 种 种 限 制 , 可 知 “ 时 效 取 得 ” 实 在 是 一 种 最 有 用 的 保 障 , 用

    以 防 止 过 于 繁 杂 的 一 种 让 与 制 度 所 有 的 各 种 害 处 。 为 了 得 到

    “ 时 效 取 得 ” 的 好 处 , 他 主 占 有 在 开 始 时 必 须 是 善 意 的 , 换 言

    之 , 即 占 有 人 必 须 认 为 他 是 合 法 地 取 得 财 产 ; 其 次 , 商 品 移

    转 给 他 时 所 采 用 的 形 式 虽 然 在 这 特 定 情 况 中 不 一 定 要 等 于 是

    一 个 完 全 的 权 利 的 赋 与 , 但 至 少 是 应 该 为 法 律 所 承 认 的 。 因

    此 , 在 一 个 “ 曼 企 帕 地 荷 ” 的 情 形 中 , 不 问 履 行 是 如 何 的 草

    率 , 但 只 要 在 履 行 中 已 经 包 括 了 一 种 “ 交 付 ” 或 “ 送 达 ” , 则

    权 利 上 的 缺 点 就 可 以 因 至 多 两 年 的 “ 时 效 取 得 ” 而 矫 正 。 在

    罗 马 人 的 实 践 中 , 我 认 为 他 们 对 于 “ 时 效 取 得 ” 的 利 用 , 最

    有 力 地 证 明 他 们 的 法 律 天 才 。 他 们 所 感 到 苦 恼 的 困 难 , 几 乎

    正 是 英 国 法 律 家 过 去 曾 经 和 现 在 仍 旧 感 到 窘 迫 的 困 难 。 由 于

    他 们 的 制 度 的 复 杂 性 , 这 是 他 们 一 直 没 有 勇 气 也 没 有 力 量 加

    以 改 造 的 , 实 际 上 的 权 利 常 常 和 理 论 上 的 权 利 相 脱 离 , 衡 平

    上 的 所 有 权 则 和 法 律 上 的 所 有 权 相 脱 离 。 但 是 法 学 专 家 制 订

    的 这 个 “ 时 效 取 得 ” 提 供 了 一 个 自 动 的 机 械 , 通 过 了 这 个 自

    动 机 械 , 权 利 的 缺 陷 就 不 断 得 到 矫 正 , 而 暂 时 脱 离 的 所 有 权

    又 可 以 在 可 能 极 短 的 阻 碍 之 后 重 新 迅 速 地 结 合 起 来 。 直 到 查

    斯 丁 尼 安 改 革 之 前 , “ 时 效 取 得 ” 一 直 没 有 失 掉 其 好 处 。 但 法

    律 和 衡 平 一 经 完 全 混 合 、 罗 马 人 不 再 用 “ 曼 企 帕 地 荷 ” 作 为

    让 与 时 , 这 古 代 的 方 法 已 失 去 必 要 , 而 “ 时 效 取 得 ” 在 相 当

    地 延 长 的 时 期 后 , 就 成 为 “ 时 效 ” , 它 最 后 几 乎 为 所 有 现 代 法

    律 制 度 所 普 遍 采 用 。

    我 将 简 单 地 提 一 提 另 外 一 种 方 法 , 它 和 上 面 所 提 到 的 一

    种 方 法 具 有 同 一 的 目 的 , 它 虽 然 没 有 立 即 在 英 国 法 律 史 中 出

    现 , 但 在 罗 马 法 中 却 是 历 史 非 常 悠 久 的 。 有 些 日 耳 曼 民 法 学

    家 对 英 国 法 律 中 类 比 这 个 问 题 所 提 供 的 线 索 没 有 足 够 地 注

    意 , 竟 认 为 它 甚 至 早 于 “ 曼 企 帕 地 荷 ” , 这 足 证 它 的 明 显 年 代 。

    我 要 谈 到 的 是 “ 拟 诉 弃 权 ” ( C e s s i o   i n   J u r e ) , 即 在 一 个 法院 中 , 对 于 要 求 让 与 财 产 的 一 种 串 通 回 复 。 原 告 用 一 种 普 通

    形 式 的 诉 讼 请 求 诉 讼 标 的 ; 被 告 缺 席 ; 商 品 就 当 然 地 被 判 给

    原 告 。 我 母 庸 提 醒 英 国 法 律 家 , 这 个 方 法 也 曾 为 我 们 的 祖 先

    所 想 到 , 并 产 生 了 著 名 的 “ 罚 金 ” 和 “ 回 复 ” , 大 大 地 解 除 了

    封 建 土 地 法 最 严 酷 的 束 缚 。 这 种 罗 马 人 的 和 英 国 人 的 方 法 有

    很 多 相 同 之 点 , 并 且 最 有 启 发 地 相 互 例 证 。 但 在 这 两 者 之 间

    还 是 有 区 别 的 , 英 国 法 律 家 的 目 的 是 解 除 存 在 权 利 中 的 各 种

    纠 葛 , 而 罗 马 法 学 专 家 则 是 在 用 一 种 必 然 地 无 可 非 议 的 移 转

    方 式 来 代 替 常 常 失 误 的 移 转 方 式 , 用 它 来 防 止 纠 葛 。 实 际 上 ,

    这 种 办 法 是 “ 法 院 ” 正 常 地 进 行 工 作 时 自 行 发 现 的 办 法 , 但

    无 论 如 何 仍 旧 逃 不 出 原 始 观 念 的 支 配 。 当 法 律 观 点 在 前 进 状

    态 中 时 , 法 院 认 为 串 通 的 诉 讼 是 诉 讼 程 序 的 一 种 滥 用 ; 但 始

    终 存 在 这 样 一 个 时 期 , 当 法 院 的 形 式 被 谨 慎 地 遵 守 着 时 , 法

    院 就 决 不 会 梦 想 再 有 所 求 了 。

    法 院 及 其 诉 讼 手 续 对 “ 财 产 ” 的 影 响 是 很 广 泛 的 , 但 这

    个 问 题 已 超 过 了 本 文 的 范 围 , 并 将 使 我 们 深 入 到 后 期 的 法 律

    史 , 这 也 和 本 文 的 计 划 是 不 相 一 致 的 。 但 有 必 要 提 一 下 , “ 财

    产 ” 和 “ 占 有 ” 间 区 分 之 所 以 重 要 , 就 是 由 于 这 种 影 响 — —

    并 不 是 区 分 的 本 身 , 这 ( 用 一 个 著 名 英 国 民 法 学 家 的 话 ) 和对 物 所 有 的 法 律 权 利 和 对 物 所 有 的 实 际 权 力 间 的 区 分 ) 是 完

    全 相 同 的 — — 而 是 它 在 法 律 哲 学 中 所 获 得 的 非 常 重 要 性 。 凡

    是 受 过 教 育 的 人 决 不 全 没 有 从 法 律 著 作 中 听 到 过 罗 马 法 学 专

    家 在 “ 占 有 ” 这 个 问 题 上 长 时 期 来 发 生 的 一 些 极 端 混 乱 的 意

    见 , 而 萨 维 尼 天 才 的 得 到 证 明 , 主 要 就 在 于 他 发 现 了 这 个 谜

    语 的 解 答 。 事 实 上 , 罗 马 法 律 家 所 用 的 “ 占 有 ” 似 乎 含 有 一

    种 不 容 易 说 明 的 意 义 。 这 个 名 词 从 其 字 源 上 看 , 原 来 一 定 含

    有 实 体 接 触 或 可 以 任 意 恢 复 的 实 体 接 触 之 意 ; 但 在 实 际 应 用

    上 如 不 加 任 何 形 容 词 , 它 的 含 义 不 仅 仅 包 括 实 体 强 留 , 而 是

    实 体 强 留 加 上 了 要 把 物 件 保 留 为 自 己 所 有 的 意 向 。 萨 维 尼 跟

    随 着 尼 布 尔 , 认 为 这 个 变 例 只 可 能 有 一 个 历 史 渊 源 。 他 指 出 ,

    罗 马 的 “ 贵 族 ” 市 民 在 付 出 名 义 租 金 而 成 为 绝 大 部 分 公 共 领

    地 的 佃 农 时 , 在 古 罗 马 法 的 见 解 中 , 他 们 只 是 占 有 人 , 但 他

    们 当 时 是 一 些 意 图 保 持 他 们 的 土 地 而 抗 拒 一 切 外 来 者 的 占 有

    人 。 其 实 , 他 们 所 提 出 的 请 求 , 几 乎 和 最 近 在 英 国 由 “ 教

    会 ” 土 地 的 承 租 人 所 提 出 的 请 求 , 完 全 相 同 。 他 们 承 认 在 理

    论 上 他 们 是 国 家 的 任 意 佃 农 ( t e n a n t s - a t - w i l l ) , 但 又 认 为

    时 间 和 安 全 的 享 有 使 他 们 的 持 有 成 熟 而 成 为 一 种 所 有 权 , 如

    果 为 了 要 重 行 分 配 领 地 而 排 斥 他 们 , 那 是 不 公 正 的 。 这 种 请

    求 和 “ 贵 族 ” 租 地 的 联 想 永 远 影 响 着 “ 占 有 ” 的 意 义 。 同 时 ,

    佃 农 如 果 被 排 斥 了 或 受 到 了 扰 乱 的 威 胁 时 , 他 们 所 能 利 用 的

    唯 一 法 律 救 济 , 是 “ 占 有 禁 令 ” ( P o s s e s s o r y   I n t e r d i c t s ) , 这是 罗 马 法 中 的 简 易 诉 讼 程 序 , 是 “ 裁 判 官 ” 为 了 要 保 护 他 们而 明 白 制 定 的 , 或 者 , 根 据 另 外 一 种 理 论 , 是 在 较 早 时 代 用以 临 时 保 持 占 有 以 待 法 律 权 利 问 题 的 最 后 解 决 。 因 此 , 不 难了 解 , 凡 是 · 作 ·

    为 · 自 ·

    己 · 所 ·

    有 而 占 有 财 产 的 人 , 就 有 权 要 求 “ 禁

    令 ” , 并 且 通 过 一 种 高 度 人 为 的 辩 诉 制 度 , 使 “ 禁 令 ” 程 序 能

    用 以 处 理 一 个 争 执 占 有 的 冲 突 请 求 。 接 着 就 开 始 了 一 种 运 动 ,

    而 这 种 运 动 正 象 约 翰 · 奥 斯 丁 先 生 所 指 出 的 , 在 英 国 法 律 中

    恰 恰 重 复 地 发 生 。 ·

    财产所有人 ( d o m i n i ) 宁 愿 采 用 形 式 比 较 简

    单 方 法 比 较 迅 速 的 “ 禁 令 ” , 以 代 替 手 续 程 序 迟 滞 而 复 杂 的

    “ 物 权 诉 讼 ” ( R e a l   A c t i o n ) , 并 且 为 了 能 利 用 这 种 占 有 救 济 ,

    财 产 所 有 人 竟 借 助 于 假 定 是 包 括 在 其 所 有 权 之 中 的 占 有 。 容

    许 不 是 真 正 的 “ 占 有 人 ” 而 是 “ 所 有 人 ” 的 人 们 能 自 由 利 用

    占 有 救 济 以 证 实 其 权 利 , 在 起 初 虽 可 能 是 一 种 恩 赐 , 但 最 后

    使 英 国 和 罗 马 法 律 学 发 生 了 严 重 退 化 的 效 果 。 罗 马 法 , 在

    “ 占 有 ” 问 题 上 发 生 了 各 种 复 杂 难 解 之 处 , 使 它 为 人 们 所 不 信

    任 , 而 英 国 法 , 在 适 用 于 回 复 不 动 产 的 诉 讼 陷 入 了 最 无 希 望

    的 混 乱 状 态 后 , 终 于 不 得 不 用 一 种 果 断 的 救 济 办 法 来 把 全 部

    混 乱 一 扫 而 光 。 近 三 十 年 来 英 国 在 实 质 上 已 把 物 权 诉 讼 加 以

    发 除 , 没 有 人 怀 疑 , 这 是 一 件 公 认 的 好 事 , 但 是 对 于 法 律 学

    的 调 和 有 敏 感 的 人 们 仍 将 慨 歎 地 认 为 , 这 样 我 们 不 但 没 有 澄

    清 、 改 进 和 简 化 真 正 的 所 有 权 诉 讼 , 反 而 牺 牲 了 这 些 所 有 权

    诉 讼 而 让 位 于 占 有 的 勒 迁 之 诉 ( p o s s e s s o r y   a c t i o n   o f   e Aj e c t m e n t ) , 这 样 使 我 们 的 全 部 土 地 回 复 制 度 完 全 建 筑 在 一 个

    法 律 拟 制 上 。

    法 院 也 用 区 分 “ 法 律 ” 和 “ 衡 平 ” 的 方 法 来 有 力 地 帮 助

    形 成 和 改 变 有 关 财 产 所 有 权 的 各 种 概 念 , 法 律 和 衡 平 间 的 区

    分 在 最 初 出 现 时 通 常 表 现 为 管 辖 权 上 的 区 分 。 在 英 国 , 可 以

    衡 平 的 财 产 只 是 受 “ 衡 平 法 院 ” 管 辖 的 财 产 。 在 罗 马 , “ 裁 判官 告 令 ” 采 用 新 的 原 则 时 在 外 表 上 往 往 是 用 允 许 在 某 种 情 况

    下 可 以 提 出 一 种 特 殊 诉 讼 或 一 种 特 殊 抗 辩 的 形 式 ; 因 此 , 罗

    马 法 上 的 ·

    可 ·

    衡 ·

    平 财 产 ( p r o p e r t y   i n   b o n i s ) 是 以 “ 告 令 ” 为

    根 据 的 完 全 由 救 济 方 法 保 护 的 财 产 。 保 全 衡 平 权 利 、 使 不 因

    法 律 所 有 人 的 请 求 而 发 止 的 机 构 , 在 两 种 制 度 中 似 乎 略 有 不

    同 。 在 我 们 的 制 度 中 , 它 们 的 独 立 性 靠 “ 衡 平 法 院 ” 的 “ 禁

    状 ” 而 保 全 。 在 罗 马 制 度 中 , 既 然 “ 法 律 ” 和 “ 衡 平 ” 还 没

    有 巩 固 , 并 且 由 同 一 法 院 执 行 , 就 不 需 要 “ 禁 状 ” , 只 须 “ 高

    级 官 吏 ” 简 单 地 拒 绝 把 “ 市 民 法 所 有 人 ” 能 凭 而 获 得 在 衡 平

    法 上 属 于 别 人 的 财 产 的 那 些 诉 讼 和 抗 辩 给 与 他 们 即 可 。 但 两

    个 制 度 在 实 际 的 执 行 上 , 是 几 乎 相 同 的 。 它 们 都 用 了 不 同 的

    手 续 程 序 , 以 一 种 暂 时 成 立 来 保 存 新 的 财 产 形 式 , 直 到 这 种

    新 的 财 产 形 式 为 全 部 法 律 所 承 认 。 用 了 这 种 方 法 , 罗 马 “ 裁

    判 官 ” 以 一 种 即 时 的 财 产 权 给 与 因 仅 仅 送 达 而 取 得 “ 要 式 交

    易 物 ” 的 人 , 不 必 等 待 “ 取 得 时 效 ” 的 成 熟 。 同 样 , 他 及 时

    承 认 最 初 仅 作 为 一 个 “ 受 托 人 ” 或 受 寄 人 的 抵 押 权 人 , 以 及

    “ 永 佃 人 ” ( E m p h y t e u t a ) 或 偿 付 一 定 永 久 佃 租 的 佃 农 , 有 所

    有 权 。 和 这 个 发 展 过 程 相 平 行 ; 英 国 衡 平 法 院 为 “ 抵 押 人 ” 、

    为 “ 信 托 受 益 人 ” ( C e s t u i   q u e   T r u s t ) 为 享 有 特 种 授 产 的

    已 婚 妇 女 , 以 及 为 还 没 有 获 得 一 种 完 全 法 律 所 有 权 的 “ 买 受

    人 ” , 创 设 一 种 特 殊 的 所 有 权 。 在 这 一 切 事 例 中 , 显 然 是 新 的

    所 有 权 形 式 被 承 认 了 并 保 存 了 。 但 是 , 在 英 国 和 罗 马 , “ 财

    产 ” 间 接 地 受 到 衡 平 影 响 的 , 真 不 下 千 百 种 之 多 。 衡 平 的 著

    者 利 用 他 们 手 中 掌 握 的 有 力 工 具 , 向 法 律 学 的 各 个 角 落 里 推

    进 , 他 们 必 然 地 要 遇 到 、 触 及 并 且 多 少 在 实 质 上 改 变 财 产 法律 。 在 前 面 我 谈 到 某 些 古 代 法 律 特 点 和 方 法 曾 有 力 地 影 响 着

    所 有 权 的 历 史 时 , 我 的 意 见 应 被 理 解 为 , 它 们 的 最 大 影 响 是

    在 把 改 进 的 暗 示 和 提 示 注 入 到 衡 平 制 度 制 造 者 所 呼 吸 的 精 神

    空 气 中 。

    但 是 要 描 述 “ 衡 平 法 ” 对 “ 所 有 权 ” 发 生 的 全 部 影 响 , 就

    必 须 把 它 的 历 史 一 直 写 到 我 们 现 在 为 止 。 我 所 以 提 到 它 , 主

    要 因 为 有 几 位 可 尊 敬 的 当 代 著 者 曾 以 为 : 从 罗 马 人 把 “ 衡

    平 ” 财 产 从 “ 法 律 ” 财 产 中 分 离 开 来 这 件 事 情 中 , 我 们 获 得

    了 使 中 世 纪 法 律 对 于 “ 所 有 权 ” 持 有 的 概 念 显 然 有 别 于 罗 马

    帝 国 法 律 所 持 有 概 念 的 线 索 。 封 建 时 代 概 念 的 主 要 特 点 , 是

    它 承 认 一 个 双 重 所 有 权 , 即 封 建 地 主 所 有 的 高 级 所 有 权 以 及

    同 时 存 在 的 佃 农 的 低 级 财 产 权 或 地 权 。 有 人 认 为 这 种 双 重 所

    有 权 非 常 象 罗 马 人 把 财 产 权 概 括 地 区 分 ·

    为 ·

    公 ·

    民 的 或 法 律 的 ,

    以 及 ( 用 一 个 后 来 的 名 词 ) ·

    有 ·

    使 ·

    用 ·

    权 ·

    的 ( B o n i t a r i a n ) 或 可 衡

    平 的 。 该 雅 士 也 把 ·

    完 ·

    全 ·

    所 ·

    有 ·

    权 分 裂 为 两 个 部 分 作 为 罗 马 法 律

    的 一 个 特 点 , 与 其 他 民 族 所 熟 悉 的 完 全 或 自 主 财 产 所 有 权 成

    为 明 白 的 对 比 。 诚 然 , 查 斯 丁 尼 安 把 完 全 所 有 权 重 新 合 而 为

    一 , 但 蛮 族 在 这 样 许 多 世 纪 中 所 接 触 到 的 是 西 罗 马 帝 国 经 过

    部 分 改 革 的 制 度 而 不 是 查 斯 丁 尼 安 的 法 律 学 。 当 蛮 族 居 留 在

    帝 国 的 边 缘 上 时 , 很 可 能 他 们 学 到 了 这 种 分 划 , 后 来 便 产 生

    了 显 著 的 后 果 。 我 们 虽 然 同 意 这 种 理 论 , 但 无 论 如 何 必 须 承

    认 , 在 各 种 蛮 族 习 惯 中 所 含 有 的 罗 马 法 因 素 到 现 在 为 止 , 还

    研 究 得 很 不 完 全 。 所 有 解 释 封 建 制 度 的 各 种 错 误 的 或 不 充 分

    的 理 论 , 在 它 们 相 互 之 间 有 一 点 类 似 的 倾 向 , 就 是 忽 略 了 包

    含 在 封 建 制 度 结 构 中 的 这 种 特 殊 要 素 。 在 这 个 国 家 中 为 一 般人 所 追 随 的 前 辈 研 究 者 , 都 特 别 着 重 封 建 制 度 逐 渐 从 长 成 到

    成 熟 这 个 混 乱 期 间 内 的 各 种 情 况 ; 后 来 , 在 已 经 存 在 的 那 些

    错 误 中 又 加 添 了 一 个 新 的 错 误 的 来 源 , 这 就 是 民 族 骄 傲 , 它

    使 日 耳 曼 的 著 者 过 分 夸 大 其 祖 先 早 在 他 们 来 到 罗 马 世 界 之 前

    就 已 建 立 起 了 的 社 会 组 织 的 完 整 性 。 有 一 二 位 英 国 研 究 者 虽

    能 从 正 确 的 方 向 来 寻 求 封 建 制 度 的 基 础 , 但 他 们 的 考 察 仍 旧

    没 有 得 到 任 何 可 以 令 人 满 意 的 结 果 , 这 或 者 是 由 于 他 们 过 于

    专 心 地 从 查 斯 丁 尼 安 的 编 纂 中 寻 求 类 比 , 或 者 由 于 他 们 把 注

    意 力 局 限 于 现 在 被 发 现 附 在 现 存 的 蛮 族 法 典 上 的 罗 马 法 纲 要

    上 。 但 是 , 如 果 罗 马 法 律 学 的 确 对 蛮 族 社 会 有 任 何 影 响 , 则

    绝 大 部 分 影 响 的 产 生 应 该 在 查 斯 丁 尼 安 立 法 以 前 , 也 就 是 这

    些 纲 要 着 手 编 辑 之 前 。 我 认 为 , 在 蛮 族 惯 例 这 个 瘦 削 的 骨 骼

    上 被 以 肌 肉 的 , 不 是 经 过 改 革 的 和 经 过 提 炼 的 查 斯 丁 尼 安 法

    律 学 , 而 是 流 行 在 西 罗 马 帝 国 的 以 及 东 罗 马 帝 国 ·

    民 ·

    法 ·

    大 ·

    全 所

    没 有 能 代 替 的 未 经 整 理 的 体 系 。 变 更 的 发 生 , 应 该 假 限 定 在

    日 耳 曼 部 落 作 为 征 服 者 而 占 有 罗 马 领 土 的 任 何 部 分 之 前 , 因

    此 , 也 就 是 远 在 日 耳 曼 君 主 为 供 罗 马 臣 民 之 用 下 令 起 卓 罗 马

    法 辑 要 之 前 。 凡 是 能 体 会 到 古 代 法 律 和 发 达 的 法 律 之 间 的 差

    别 的 每 一 个 人 都 会 感 觉 到 有 这 类 假 定 的 必 要 。 遗 存 的 ·

    蛮 ·

    族 ·

    ·

    律 虽 然 是 粗 糙 的 , 但 从 它 们 纯 粹 源 自 蛮 族 的 理 论 来 看 , 还 不

    是 太 粗 糙 的 ; 我 们 也 没 有 理 由 认 为 我 们 在 文 字 记 录 中 所 看 到

    的 已 超 过 了 当 时 在 胜 利 部 落 的 成 员 自 己 中 间 所 实 行 的 各 种 规

    定 。 如 果 我 们 能 有 办 法 使 我 们 相 信 在 蛮 族 制 度 中 已 经 存 在 着

    已 贬 低 了 价 值 的 罗 马 法 的 大 量 成 分 , 则 我 们 就 有 可 能 解 除 一

    个 严 重 的 困 难 。 征 服 者 的 日 耳 曼 法 律 和 其 臣 民 的 罗 马 法 律 恐不 可 能 合 并 起 来 , 如 果 在 这 两 种 法 律 相 互 之 间 不 具 有 比 精 炼法 律 学 和 蛮 族 习 惯 中 间 通 常 有 的 更 多 的 亲 和 力 的 话 。 很 可 能 ,蛮 族 的 法 典 在 表 面 上 虽 然 很 古 , 却 只 是 真 正 原 始 的 惯 例 和 半

    省 略 的 罗 马 规 定 的 一 种 混 合 物 , 正 是 这 种 外 国 原 素 使 它 们 和

    罗 马 法 律 学 能 合 并 起 来 , 而 当 时 的 罗 马 法 律 学 其 精 致 程 度 也已 稍 逊 于 西 罗 马 帝 国 诸 皇 帝 治 下 所 获 得 的 了 。

    虽 然 这 一 切 都 应 该 承 认 , 但 是 却 有 几 种 理 由 使 封 建 形 式的 所 有 权 不 象 是 罗 马 的 双 重 所 有 权 所 直 接 提 示 的 。 法 律 上 的财 产 权 和 衡 平 的 财 产 权 之 间 的 区 别 , 看 起 来 很 微 妙 , 极少 可能 为 蛮 族 所 理 解 ; 更 有 进 者 , 除 非 “ 法 院 ” 已 经 正 常 进 行 工作 , 这 是 很 难 被 人 懂 得 的 。 但 反 对 这 理 论 的 最 强 有 力 的 理 由是 , 在 罗 马 法 中 存 在 一 种 形 式 的 财 产 权 — — 这 的 确 是 “ 衡平 ” 的 一 种 产 物 — — 可 以 用 来 非 常 简 单 地 说 明 从 一 套 思 想 转变 到 另 一 套 思 想 的 过 渡 。 这 种 财 产 权 就 是 “ 永 佃 权 ” ( E m p h y At e u s i s ) , 虽 然 关 于 它 把 封 建 所 有 权 介 绍 到 世 界 上 来 时 所 作 出的 确 切 助 力 , 我 们 知 道 得 很 少 , 但 中 世 纪 的 “ 封 地 ” 就 常 常是 建 筑 在 这 上 面 的 。 “ 永 佃 权 ” 虽 在 当 时 也 许 还 没 有 以 它 的 这个 希 腊 名 称 为 人 所 知 道 , 仅 却 的 确 标 志 着 最 后 引 导 到 封 建 主义 的 一 种 思 潮 中 的 一 个 阶 段 。 在 罗 马 史 中 , 第 一 次 提 到 大 地产 , 是 在 我 们 研 究 到 罗 马 的 贵 族 财 产 时 , 其 规 模 之 大 绝 非 一个 “ 家 父 ” 连 同 其 子 嗣 和 奴 隶 全 家 所 能 耕 种 的 。 这 些 大 财 产所 有 人 似 乎 完 全 不 知 道 有 自 由 佃 农 耕 种 的 制 度 。 他 们 的大地产 ( l a t i f u n d i a ) 一 般 都 是 由 奴 隶 队 在 监 工 之 下 进 行 工 作 , 监工 本 身 可 能 是 奴 隶 或 自 由 人 ; 当 时 试 行 的 唯 一 组 织 , 就 是 把低 级 奴 隶 分 成 为 许 多 小 团 体 , 使 他 们 成 为 较 好 的 和 较 可 信 任的 那 些 奴 隶 的特有产 , 因 而 也 就 使 那 些 较 好 的 和 较 可 信 任 的奴 隶 关 心 他 们 的 工 作 效 率 。 可 是 , 这 类 制 度 对 于 有 一 种 土 地所 有 人 即 “ 市 政 当 局 ” 特 别 不 利 。 意 大 利 的 官 吏 从 事 于 罗 马行 政 的 往 往 调 动 迅 速 频 繁 ; 因 此 由 一 个 意 大 利 法 人 来 管理 广大 土 地 必 定 是 非 常 不 够 好 的 。 因 此 , 市 政 当 局 开 始 把纳税地( a g r i v e c t i g u l e s ) 出 租 , 换 言 之 , 即 把 土 地 以 一 定 的 租 金 、 在某 种 条 件 下 、 永 久 租 与 一 个 自 由 佃 农 。 这 个 办 法 后 来 为个人所 有 者 广 泛 模 仿 , 而 佃 农 和 所 有 人 的 关 系 原 来 是 由 契约决定的 , 后 来 为 “ 裁 判 官 ” 所 承 认 , 认 为 佃 农 也 具 有 一 种 有 限 的所 有 权 , 这 在 后 来 就 成 为 “ 永 佃 权 ” 。 从 这 时 起 , 租 地的历史分 为 两 大 支 流 。 在 我 们 对 于 罗 马 帝 国 记 录 最 不 完 全 的一段长时 期 内 , 那 时 罗 马 大 家 族 的 奴 隶 队 逐 渐 转 化 成 为土著农夫 , 他们 的 来 源 和 地 位 构 成 了 全 部 历 史 中 最 暧 昧 问 题 之 一 。 我 们 不妨 这 样 来 猜 测 , 即 他 们 中 一 部 分 来 自 奴 隶 的 上 升 , 一 部 分 来自 自 由 农 民 的 降 格 ; 同 时 他 们 也 证 明 了 罗 马 帝 国 的 富 人阶级逐 渐 注 意 到 耕 种 者 对 于 土 地 的 出 产 物 有 一 种 利 益 时 就 可 以 使土 地 财 产 的 价 值 增 多 。 我 们 知 道 , 他 们 的 服 役 是 属 于 土 地 的 ;这 种 服 役 性 质 并 不 完 全 具 有 绝 对 奴 隶 状 态 的 许 多 特 征 ; 并 且他 们 只 要 在 每 年 收 获 量 中 以 一 定 的 部 分 付 给 地 主 就 可 以 免 除服 役 。 我 们 也 知 道 , 他 们 经 历 了 古 代 世 界 和 现 代 世 界 中 一 切社 会 的 变 化 而 被 保 存 下 来 , 他 们 虽 然 包 括 在 封 建 结 构 的 较 低级 的 地 位 , 但 他 们 在 许 多 国 家 中 继 续 以 他 们 曾 付 给 罗 马土地所有人 ( d o m i n u s ) 的 完 全 同 样 数 量 的 贡 税 交 与 地 主 , 而 从 土著 农 夫 之 中 的 一 个 特 殊 阶 层 、 即 为 其 所 有 人 保 留 一 半 农 产物的分益土著农夫 ( c o l o n i   m e d i e t a r i ) , 传 下 来 了分益 佃 农( m e t a y e r   t e n a n t r y ) , 几 乎 所 有 欧 洲 南 部 的 土 地 到 现 在 为 止仍 旧 由 这 些 人 耕 种 着 。 在 另 一 方 面 , 如 果 我 们 可 以 这 样 来 理解 “ 民 法 大 全 中 ” 关 于 它 的 暗 示 的 话 , 那 末 “ 永 佃 权 ” 可 以成 为 财 产 权 的 一 种 人 人 欢 迎 和 有 益 的 变 更 ; 并 且 可 以 设 想 , 凡有 自 由 农 民 存 在 的 地 方 , 支 配 着 他 们 在 土 地 上 的 利 益 的 , 就是 这 种 租 地 制 。 前 面 已 经 说 过 , “ 裁 判 官 ” 把 永 佃 人 认 为 一 个真 正 的 所 有 人 。 在 被 驱 逐 时 , 他 可 以 用 “ 物 权 诉 讼 ” 来 争取恢 复 , 这 是 所 有 权 的 明 显 的 标 志 , 并 且 只 要 他 准 期 清 偿 租 金( c a n o n ) 就 可 以 受 到 保 护 , 不 受 租 借 人 的 干 扰 。 但 在 同 时 , 我 们 不 能 以 为 租 借 人 的 所 有 权 已 经 消 灭 或 是 停 止 了 。 他 的 所 有权 仍 旧 存 在 , 因 为 他 在 不 付 租 金 时 就 有 权 收 回 租 地 , 在 出 卖时 有 先 买 权 , 并 且 对 于 耕 种 的 方 式 有 一 定 的 控 制 权 。 因 此 , 我们 可 以 把 “ 永 佃 权 ” 作 为 一 个 显 著 的 双 重 所 有 权 的 例 子 ,这种 双 重 所 有 权 是 封 建 财 产 权 的 特 点 , 同 时 , 这 种 例 子 也比法律 的 和 衡 平 的 权 利 并 列 要 简 单 得 多 , 并 且 容 易 摹 仿 得 多 。 可是 。 罗 马 租 地 史 并 不 到 此 为 止 。 我 们 有 明 显 的 证 据 , 证明在沿 莱 因 河 和 多 瑙 河 一 带 是 期 保 卫 着 帝 国 边 疆 以 反 抗 蛮族的各大 堡 垒 之 间 , 有 连 绵 不 断 的 狭 长 的 田 地 , 称 为边界地 ( a g r i l i m i t r o p h i ) 的 , 向 由 罗 马 军 队 中 的 久 戍 的 兵 士 根 据 “ 永 佃权 ” 的 条 件 占 有 着 。 这 里 也 有 一 种 双 重 所 有 权 。 罗 马 国 家 是土 地 的 地 主 , 士 兵 们 只 要 随 时 准 备 着 在 边 境 危 急 时 应 征 入 伍服 役 , 即 能 耕 种 土 地 而 不 受 侵 扰 。 事 实 上 , 一 种 非 常 类 似 奥地 利 - 土 耳 其 边 境 军 队 屯 垦 制 度 的 卫 戍 职 守 代 替 了 普 通“永佃 权 ” 人 应 尽 的 清 偿 租 金 的 义 务 。 我 们 不 可 能 怀 疑 : 这 就 是建 立 封 建 主 义 的 蛮 族 君 主 所 抄 袭 的 先 例 。 他 们 目 睹 这 种 制 度有 百 余 年 , 并 且 我 们 必 须 记 着 , 有 许 多 守 卫 着 边 境 的 老 兵 本身 就 是 蛮 族 的 后 裔 , 他 们 说 的 也 许 是 日 耳 曼 语 言 。 他 们 接 近着 这 样 容 易 模 仿 的 一 个 模 型 , 这 不 但 使 佛 兰 克 和 论 巴 德 的 君主 们 从 此 获 得 了 把 公 有 领 地 划 出 一 部 分 赐 与 其 从 者 以 换 取 军役 的 想 法 ; 同 时 或 许 也 说 明 了 这 种 趋 势 , 即 这 种 “ 采 地 ” 很快 就 成 为 世 袭 的 , 因 为 一 个 “ 永 佃 权 ” 虽 然 可 能 是 根 据 原 来契 约 的 条 件 创 造 出 来 的 , 但 按 诸 常 理 它 却 是 传 给 受 让 人 的 继承 人 的 。 诚 然 , 采 地 的 持 有 人 , 以 及 较 近 时 期 由 采 地 变 成 的那 种 封 地 的 封 建 主 , 似 乎 都 负 有 某 种 为 屯 军 所 不 致 有 的 和“ 永 佃 权 人 ” 所 必 然 不 会 有 的 劳 役 。 例 如 对 于 高 一 级 的 封 建 主有 尊 敬 和 感 恩 的 义 务 , 有 帮 助 他 置 备 女 儿 嫁 奁 和 为 他 儿 子 准备 武 装 的 责 任 , 在 未 成 年 时 受 他 监 护 的 义 务 , 以 及 许 多 其 他类 似 的 租 地 条 件 , 一 定 都 是 从 罗 马 法 中 “ 庇 护 人 ” 和 “ 自 由民 ” 亦 即 是 “ 前 主 人 ” ( q u o n d a m m a s t e r ) 和 “ 前 奴 隶 ” ( q u o n d a m- s l a v e ) 的 相 互 关 系 依 照 字 面 直 接 借 用 来 的 。 然 而 , 我 们 知道 , 最 早 的 采 地 受 益 人 都 是 君 主 的 个 人 随 从 , 这 个 地 位 在 表面 上 是 很 光 荣 的 , 但 在 初 时 一 定 夹 杂 着 某 种 身 分 低 贱 的 意 味 ,这 是 无 可 争 辩 的 。 在 宫 庭 中 侍 奉 君 主 的 人 放 弃 了 某 种 属 于 绝对 个 人 自 由 的 东 西 , 即 自 主 财 产 所 有 人 最 足 以 骄 傲 的 特 权 。

    第 九 章   契 约 的 早 期 史

    关 于 我 们 所 处 的 时 代 , 能 一 见 而 立 即 同 意 接 受 的 一 般 命

    题 是 这 样 一 个 说 法 , 即 我 们 今 日 的 社 会 和 以 前 历 代 社 会 之 间

    所 存 在 的 主 要 不 同 之 点 ; 乃 在 于 契 约 在 社 会 中 所 占 范 围 的 大

    小 。 这 个 说 法 所 根 据 的 现 象 , 有 些 都 是 常 常 被 提 出 来 受 到 注

    意 、 批 评 和 颂 扬 的 。 我 们 决 不 会 毫 不 经 心 地 不 理 会 到 : 在 无

    数 的 事 例 中 , 旧 的 法 律 是 在 人 出 生 时 就 不 可 改 变 地 确 定 了 一

    个 人 的 社 会 地 位 , 现 代 法 律 则 允 许 他 用 协 议 的 方 法 来 为 其 自

    己 创 设 社 会 地 位 ; 真 的 , 对 于 这 个 规 定 有 几 个 例 外 , 不 断 地

    在 热 烈 愤 慨 下 遭 到 废 弃 。 例 如 , 黑 奴 问 题 , 到 现 在 仍 被 剧 烈

    争 论 着 , 其 真 正 争 执 之 点 是 : 奴 隶 的 身 分 究 竟 是 不 是 属 于 过

    去 的 制 度 , 又 如 雇 主 和 工 人 之 间 能 合 乎 现 代 道 德 的 唯 一 关 系 ,

    究 竟 是 不 是 完 全 由 契 约 决 定 的 一 种 关 系 。 承 认 过 去 和 现 在 之

    间 存 在 这 种 差 别 , 是 最 著 名 的 现 代 思 想 的 实 质 。 可 以 断 言 ,

    “ 政 治 经 济 学 ” 是 今 日 有 相 当 进 步 的 唯 一 伦 理 研 究 部 门 , 它 将

    会 和 生 活 的 事 实 不 相 符 合 , 如 果 “ 强 行 法 ” 对 它 一 度 占 据 的

    领 域 的 绝 大 部 分 不 肯 加 以 放 弃 , 并 且 人 们 不 能 具 有 直 到 最 近

    才 允 许 他 们 有 的 决 定 其 自 己 行 为 规 律 的 一 种 自 由 。 受 到 政 治

    经 济 学 训 练 的 大 多 数 人 都 有 这 样 一 种 偏 见 , 认 为 他 们 的 科 学

    所 根 据 的 一 般 真 理 是 有 可 能 变 为 普 遍 性 的 真 理 的 , 并 且 , 当

    他 们 把 它 作 为 一 种 艺 术 而 运 用 时 , 他 们 一 般 都 着 重 于 扩 大“ 契 约 ” 的 领 域 , 缩 小 “ 强 行 法 ” 的 领 域 , 只 有 在 必 须 依 靠 法

    律 以 强 制 “ 契 约 ” 的 履 行 时 , 才 是 例 外 。 一 些 思 想 家 在 这 种

    思 潮 影 响 下 作 出 的 鼓 动 , 开 始 在 西 方 世 界 中 很 强 烈 地 感 觉 到 。

    立 法 几 乎 已 经 自 己 承 认 它 和 人 类 在 发 现 、 发 明 以 及 大 量 积 累

    财 富 各 方 面 的 活 动 无 法 并 驾 齐 驱 ; 即 使 在 最 不 进 步 的 社 会 中 ,

    法 律 亦 逐 渐 倾 向 于 成 为 一 种 仅 仅 的 表 层 , 在 它 下 面 , 有 一 种

    不 断 在 变 更 着 的 契 约 规 定 的 集 合 , 除 非 为 了 要 强 迫 遵 从 少 数

    基 本 原 理 或 者 为 了 处 罚 违 背 信 用 必 须 诉 求 法 律 外 , 法 律 绝 少

    干 预 这 些 契 约 的 规 定 。

    社 会 研 究 , 因 为 它 们 必 须 依 靠 对 法 律 现 象 的 考 究 , 是 在

    一 种 非 常 落 后 的 状 态 中 , 因 此 , 我 们 发 现 这 些 真 理 不 为 今 天

    流 行 着 的 有 关 社 会 进 步 的 日 常 用 语 所 承 认 , 是 不 足 为 奇 的 。 这

    些 日 常 用 语 比 较 符 合 我 们 的 偏 见 , 而 不 符 合 我 们 的 信 念 。 当

    “ 契 约 ” 所 根 据 的 道 德 成 为 问 题 的 时 候 , 绝 大 多 数 的 人 都 更 强

    有 力 地 不 顾 把 道 德 认 为 是 进 步 的 , 我 们 中 有 许 多 人 几 乎 本 能

    地 不 愿 承 认 我 们 同 胞 所 有 的 善 意 和 信 任 , 会 比 古 时 代 更 为 广

    泛 传 布 , 也 不 愿 承 认 我 们 当 代 的 礼 仪 中 有 能 和 古 代 世 界 中 的

    忠 诚 相 比 拟 的 东 西 。 有 的 时 候 , 这 些 先 人 之 见 的 声 势 为 诈 欺

    行 为 所 大 大 加 强 , 这 种 诈 欺 行 为 是 在 它 们 被 目 睹 之 前 所 未 曾

    听 到 过 的 , 并 且 以 其 犯 罪 行 为 而 使 人 震 骇 , 更 以 其 复 杂 而 令

    人 惊 异 。 但 这 些 欺 诈 行 为 的 性 质 明 白 地 显 示 出 : 在 它 们 成 为

    可 能 之 前 , 它 们 所 破 坏 的 道 德 义 务 必 定 已 超 过 了 一 定 比 例 的

    发 展 。 由 于 多 数 人 笃 守 信 义 , 就 给 了 少 数 人 不 顾 信 义 的 方 便 ,

    因 此 , 当 巨 大 的 不 诚 实 的 事 件 发 生 时 , 必 然 的 结 论 是 , 在 一

    般 的 交 易 中 都 显 现 出 审 慎 的 正 直 , 只 在 特 殊 情 形 中 才 予 犯 法者 以 可 乘 之 机 。 如 果 我 们 坚 持 要 从 法 律 学 上 的 反 映 来 看 道 德

    史 , 并 且 把 我 们 的 眼 光 向 着 “ 犯 罪 ” 法 而 不 是 向 着 “ 契 约 ” 法 ,

    则 我 们 必 须 细 心 谨 慎 , 才 不 致 错 误 。 最 古 罗 马 法 所 处 理 的 唯

    一 形 式 的 不 诚 实 , 是 “ 窃 盗 罪 ” 。 在 我 写 本 书 的 时 候 , 英 国 刑

    法 中 最 新 的 一 章 , 是 企 图 为 “ 受 托 人 ” 的 欺 诈 行 为 作 出 处 罚

    的 规 定 。 从 这 对 比 中 所 可 能 得 到 的 正 当 推 论 , 并 不 是 原 始 罗

    马 人 比 我 们 有 更 高 的 道 德 观 念 。 我 们 应 该 说 , 在 他 们 和 我 们

    相 隔 开 的 时 代 中 间 , 道 德 已 经 从 一 个 很 粗 浅 的 概 念 进 步 到 一

    种 高 度 精 炼 的 概 念 — — 从 把 财 产 权 视 为 绝 对 神 圣 , 发 展 到 把

    仅 仅 由 于 片 面 信 用 而 产 生 的 权 利 视 为 有 权 受 到 刑 事 法 律 的 保

    护 。

    法 学 家 的 各 种 明 确 理 论 , 在 这 一 点 上 , 并 不 比 普 通 人 的

    意 见 更 接 近 真 理 。 试 从 罗 马 法 律 家 的 见 解 开 始 , 我 们 发 现 他

    们 的 见 解 和 道 德 及 法 律 进 步 的 真 正 历 史 并 不 符 合 。 在 有 一 类

    的 契 约 中 , 以 缔 约 两 造 的 善 意 担 保 为 唯 一 要 件 , 这 种 契 约 他

    们 特 别 称 之 为 “ 万 民 法 契 约 ” ( C o n t r a c t s   j u r i s   g e n t i u m ) 。

    并 且 , 虽 然 这 些 契 约 无 疑 地 是 罗 马 制 度 中 最 迟 产 生 的 , 但 其

    所 用 的 用 语 , 如 果 我 们 可 以 从 中 吸 取 其 含 义 的 话 , 实 包 含 着 :

    这 些 契 约 比 在 罗 马 法 中 处 理 的 某 种 其 他 形 式 的 约 定 还 要 古

    远 , 在 罗 马 法 中 忽 视 一 个 专 门 手 续 程 序 , 就 要 像 误 会 或 欺 骗

    一 样 损 害 到 责 任 。 然 而 所 谓 它 们 是 古 远 的 说 法 , 是 模 糊 的 、 暧

    昧 的 , 是 只 能 通 过 “ 现 在 ” 方 能 理 解 的 ; 所 谓 “ 国 际 法 契

    约 ” 被 明 白 地 看 作 人 类 在 “ 自 然 状 态 ” 下 所 知 道 的 一 种 “ 契

    约 ” , 也 要 到 罗 马 法 律 家 的 用 语 变 成 了 对 罗 马 法 律 家 的 思 想 方

    式 已 不 再 能 理 解 的 一 个 时 代 的 用 语 之 后 才 能 理 解 。 卢 梭 兼 有了 法 律 上 的 和 通 俗 的 错 误 。 在 “ 论 艺 术 和 科 学 对 道 德 的 影响 ”— — 这 是 他 作 品 中 引 人 注 意 的 第 一 部 ,并 且 是 他 最 无 保 留 地 申 述 他 的 意 见 使 他 成 为 一 个 学 派 首 创 人的 一 篇 作 品 — — 中 , 他 一 再 指 出 古 波 斯 人 的 诚 实 和 善 意 , 认为 这 些 是 原 始 人 天 真 的 特 征 , 已 经 逐 渐 为 文 明 所 消 灭 了 的 ; 到

    一 个 较 后 的 时 期 , 他 把 他 所 有 理 论 完 全 放 在 一 个 原 始 “ 社 会

    契 约 ” 学 理 的 基 础 上 。 所 谓 “ 社 会 契 约 ” , 是 我 们 正 在 讨 论 的

    错 误 所 形 成 的 最 有 系 统 的 一 种 形 式 。 这 个 理 论 虽 然 为 政 治 热

    情 所 抚 育 而 趋 于 重 要 , 但 所 有 它 的 营 养 则 完 全 来 自 法 律 学 的

    纯 理 论 。 首 先 受 它 吸 引 的 著 名 英 国 人 士 所 以 重 视 它 , 主 要 是

    由 于 可 以 在 政 治 上 利 用 它 , 但 是 , 正 象 我 现 在 解 释 的 , 如 果

    政 治 家 不 是 长 期 地 用 法 律 用 语 来 进 行 争 辩 , 则 他 们 将 决 不 可

    能 达 到 它 。 同 时 这 个 理 论 的 英 国 著 者 也 不 是 对 于 这 理 论 的 深

    远 影 响 茫 然 不 见 的 , 因 为 法 国 人 就 是 经 过 这 种 推 荐 而 承 继 到

    它 的 。 法 国 人 的 著 作 显 示 出 : 他 们 认 为 这 个 理 论 可 以 用 来 说

    明 一 切 政 治 现 象 , 同 时 也 可 以 说 明 一 切 社 会 现 象 。 他 们 看 到

    在 他 们 时 代 中 已 经 非 常 触 目 的 事 实 , 即 人 类 所 遵 守 的 现 实 法

    规 中 , 比 较 大 的 部 分 都 是 由 “ 契 约 ” 设 定 的 , 只 有 少 数 是 由

    “ 强 行 法 ” 设 定 的 。 但 是 , 他 们 对 于 法 律 学 中 这 两 个 要 素 的 历

    史 关 系 , 或 者 是 一 无 所 知 , 或 者 是 漠 不 关 心 。 因 此 , 他 们 提

    出 一 切 “ 法 律 ” 源 自 “ 契 约 ” 的 理 论 , 其 目 的 是 在 满 足 他 们

    的 尝 试 , 要 把 所 有 法 律 学 归 因 于 一 个 一 致 渊 源 的 纯 理 论 , 同

    时 也 在 规 避 主 张 “ 强 行 法 ” 来 自 神 授 的 各 种 学 理 。 在 另 一 个

    思 想 阶 段 中 , 他 们 可 能 满 足 于 把 他 们 的 理 论 停 留 在 一 个 巧 妙假 设 或 一 个 便 利 的 口 头 公 式 的 情 况 中 。 但 这 个 时 代 , 是 在 法

    律 迷 信 的 统 治 之 下 。 “ 自 然 状 态 ” 已 不 再 是 似 是 而 非 的 东 西 了 ,

    因 此 , 在 坚 持 “ 社 会 契 约 ” 是 一 种 历 史 事 实 时 , 就 很 容 易 使

    “ 法 律 ” 起 源 于 契 约 的 理 论 获 得 一 种 虚 伪 的 真 实 性 和 明 确 性 。

    我 们 自 己 的 一 代 已 经 摈 弃 了 这 些 错 误 的 法 律 理 论 , 部 分

    由 于 我 们 已 经 超 过 了 他 们 所 处 的 智 力 状 态 , 部 分 由 于 我 们 已

    经 几 乎 完 全 停 止 再 在 这 类 主 题 上 进 行 推 理 。 喜 爱 研 究 的 人 们

    在 目 前 所 乐 于 从 事 的 工 作 , 以 及 答 复 我 们 祖 先 对 社 会 状 态 起

    源 所 持 纯 理 论 的 工 作 , 是 对 现 在 存 在 和 在 我 们 眼 前 活 动 的 社

    会 进 行 分 析 ; 但 是 , 由 于 缺 少 历 史 的 帮 助 , 这 种 分 析 就 时 常

    退 化 而 成 为 一 种 徒 然 是 好 奇 心 的 活 动 , 并 且 特 别 容 易 使 研 究

    者 不 能 理 解 和 他 所 习 见 的 有 很 大 不 同 的 社 会 状 态 。 用 我 们 自

    己 时 代 的 道 德 观 念 来 评 价 其 他 时 代 的 人 们 , 其 错 误 正 如 假 定

    现 代 社 会 机 器 中 的 每 一 个 轮 子 、 每 一 只 螺 钉 在 较 原 始 的 社 会

    中 都 有 其 相 对 物 的 那 样 错 误 。 在 用 现 代 风 格 写 成 的 历 史 著 作

    中 , 这 类 印 象 繁 衍 很 广 , 并 且 都 很 巧 妙 地 掩 盖 着 它 们 自 己 ; 但

    是 我 在 法 律 学 的 领 域 中 也 发 现 了 它 们 的 痕 迹 , 如 一 般 对 孟 德

    斯 鸠 穿 插 在 其 “ 波 斯 人 信 札 ”中 有 关

    “ 穴 居 人 ” ( T r o g l o d y t e s ) 的 小 寓 言 所 作 的 颂 扬 中 。 据 说 “ 穴居 人 ” 是 一 种 人 , 由 于 他 们 系 统 地 破 坏 其 “ 契 约 ” , 因 而 全 部

    遭 受 灭 亡 。 如 果 这 个 故 事 表 示 着 著 者 意 中 的 道 德 观 念 , 并 且

    是 用 以 暴 露 这 一 世 纪 和 上 一 个 世 纪 曾 受 到 其 威 胁 的 一 种 反 社

    会 异 端 , 这 诚 然 是 无 可 指 摘 的 ; 但 如 果 由 它 而 得 到 的 推 论 是 :

    一 个 社 会 在 允 约 和 合 意 上 如 果 没 有 给 予 一 种 神 圣 性 , 而 这 种

    神 圣 性 与 一 个 成 熟 文 明 所 给 予 的 尊 敬 相 类 似 , 这 个 社 会 就 不可 能 结 合 在 一 起 , 则 它 所 含 有 的 错 误 将 是 非 常 严 重 的 , 它 将使 我 们 对 于 法 律 史 不 能 作 出 正 确 的 理 解 。 事 实 是 , “ 穴 居 人 ”

    完 全 没 有 注 意 到 “ 契 约 ” 责 任 , 却 曾 兴 旺 起 来 , 建 立 过 强 有

    力 的 国 家 。 在 原 始 社 会 组 织 中 , 必 须 首 先 了 解 的 一 点 是 , 个

    人 并 不 为 其 自 己 设 定 任 何 权 利 , 也 不 为 其 自 己 设 定 任 何 义 务 。

    他 所 应 遵 守 的 规 则 , 首 先 来 自 他 所 出 生 的 场 所 , 其 次 来 自 他

    作 为 其 中 成 员 的 户 主 所 给 他 的 强 行 命 令 。 在 这 样 制 度 下 , 就

    很 少 有 “ 契 约 ” 活 动 的 余 地 。 同 一 家 族 的 成 员 之 间 ( 我 们 得

    这 样 来 解 释 证 据 ) 是 完 全 不 能 相 互 缔 结 契 约 的 , 对 于 其 从 属

    成 员 中 任 何 一 人 企 图 拘 束 家 族 而 作 出 的 合 意 , 家 族 有 权 置 之

    不 理 。 诚 然 , 家 族 得 与 其 他 家 族 缔 结 契 约 , 族 长 得 与 族 长 缔

    结 契 约 , 但 这 种 交 易 在 性 质 上 和 财 产 的 让 与 相 同 , 并 同 样 地

    有 许 多 繁 文 缛 节 , 只 要 在 履 行 时 忽 略 其 中 一 个 细 节 就 足 以 使

    义 务 归 于 无 效 。 由 于 一 个 人 对 另 外 一 个 人 的 话 加 以 信 赖 而 产

    生 积 极 义 务 , 是 进 步 文 明 最 迟 缓 的 胜 利 品 之 一 。

    无 论 是 “ 古 代 法 ” 或 是 任 何 其 他 证 据 , 都 没 有 告 诉 我 们

    有 一 种 毫 无 “ 契 约 ” 概 念 的 社 会 。 这 种 概 念 在 最 初 出 现 时 , 显

    然 是 极 原 始 的 。 在 可 靠 的 原 始 记 录 中 , 我 们 都 可 以 注 意 到 , 使

    我 们 实 践 一 个 允 约 的 习 性 还 没 有 完 全 发 展 , 种 种 罪 恶 昭 彰 不

    信 不 义 的 行 为 常 被 提 到 , 竟 毫 无 非 难 , 有 时 反 加 以 赞 许 。 例

    如 , 在 荷 马 文 学 中 , 优 烈 锡 士 的 欺 诈 狡 猾 , 好 象 是 和 纳 斯 佗

    ( N e s t o r ) 的 智 虑 明 达 、 海 克 佗 ( H e - c t o r ) 的 坚 毅 不 拔 以 及亚 济 里 斯 ( A c h i l l e s ) 的 英 雄 豪 侠 处 于 同 等 的 一 种 美 德 。 古 代

    法 特 别 使 我 看 到 粗 糙 形 式 的 和 成 熟 时 期 的 “ 契 约 ” 间 存 在 着

    一 个 很 远 的 距 离 。 在 开 始 时 , 法 律 对 于 强 迫 履 行 一 个 允 约 , 并不 加 以 干 预 。 使 法 律 执 有 制 裁 武 器 的 , 不 是 一 个 允 约 , 而 是

    附 着 一 种 庄 严 仪 式 的 允 约 。 仪 式 不 但 和 允 约 本 身 有 同 样 的 重

    要 性 , 仪 式 并 且 还 比 允 约 更 为 重 要 ; 因 为 成 熟 的 法 律 学 着 重

    于 仔 细 分 析 据 供 一 个 特 定 的 口 头 同 意 的 心 理 条 件 , 而 在 古 代

    法 中 则 着 重 于 附 着 在 仪 式 上 的 言 语 和 动 作 。 如 果 有 一 个 形 式

    被 遗 漏 了 或 用 错 了 , 则 誓 约 就 不 能 强 行 , 但 是 , 在 另 一 方 面 ,

    如 果 所 有 形 式 经 表 明 已 完 全 正 确 进 行 , 则 纵 使 以 允 约 是 在 威

    胁 或 欺 骗 之 下 作 出 为 辩 解 , 也 属 徒 然 。 从 这 样 一 种 古 代 的 看

    法 , 转 变 而 成 为 一 个 “ 契 约 ” 的 熟 习 观 念 , 其 转 化 过 程 在 法

    律 学 史 中 是 显 然 可 见 的 。 在 起 初 , 仪 式 中 有 一 个 或 二 个 步 骤

    省 略 了 ; 后 来 其 他 的 也 简 化 了 或 者 在 某 种 条 件 下 忽 略 了 ; 最

    后 , 少 数 特 殊 的 契 约 从 其 他 契 约 中 分 离 出 来 , 准 许 不 经 任 何

    仪 式 而 缔 结 定 约 , 这 种 选 定 的 契 约 都 是 些 社 会 交 往 活 动 和 力

    量 所 依 靠 的 。 心 头 的 约 定 从 繁 文 缛 节 中 迟 缓 地 但 是 非 常 显 著

    地 分 离 出 来 , 并 且 逐 渐 地 成 为 法 学 专 家 兴 趣 集 中 的 唯 一 要 素 。

    这 种 心 头 约 定 通 过 外 界 行 为 而 表 示 , 罗 马 人 称 之 为 一 个 “ 合

    约 ” ( P a c t ) 或 “ 协 议 ” ( C o n v e n t i o n ) ; 当 “ 协 议 ” 一 度 视 为

    一 个 “ 契 约 ” 的 核 心 时 , 在 前 进 中 的 法 律 学 不 久 就 产 生 了 一

    种 倾 向 , 使 契 约 逐 渐 和 其 形 式 和 仪 式 的 外 壳 脱 离 。 在 这 以 后 ,

    形 式 只 在 为 了 要 保 证 真 实 性 和 为 了 要 保 证 谨 慎 和 细 心 时 才 加

    保 留 。 一 个 “ 契 约 ” 的 观 念 是 完 全 地 发 展 了 , 或 者 , 用 罗 马

    人 的 用 语 来 说 , “ 契 约 ” 是 吸 收 在 “ 合 约 ” 中 了 。

    罗 马 法 律 中 这 个 变 更 过 程 的 历 史 , 是 非 常 有 启 发 性 的 。 在

    法 律 学 的 最 初 曙 光 期 , 用 以 表 示 一 个 “ 契 约 ” 的 名 词 是 历 史

    “ 拉 丁 语 法 ” 学 者 很 熟 悉 的 一 个 名 词 。 这 就 是 “ 耐 克 逊 ” , 契约 的 两 造 称 为 “ 耐 克 先 ” ( n e x i , ) , 这 两 个 用 语 必 须 特 别 注 意 ,

    由 于 它 们 所 依 据 的 隐 喻 特 别 持 久 。 在 一 个 契 约 合 意 下 的 人 们

    由 一 个 强 有 力 的 ·

    约 ·

    束 或 ·

    连 ·

    锁 联 结 在 一 起 , 这 个 观 念 一 直 继 续

    着 , 直 到 最 后 影 响 着 罗 马 的 “ 契 约 ” 法 律 学 ; 并 且 由 这 里 顺

    流 而 下 , 它 和 各 种 现 代 观 念 混 合 起 来 。 然 则 在 这 耐 克 逊 或 约

    束 中 , 究 竟 包 括 些 什 么 ? 从 一 个 拉 丁 考 古 学 家 传 下 来 的 一 个

    定 义 , 认 为 ·

    耐 ·

    克 ·

    逊 是 ·

    每 ·

    一 ·

    种 ·

    用 ·

    铜 ·

    片 ·

    和 ·

    衡 ·

    具 ·

    的 ·

    交 ·

    易   ( o m n e q u o d   g e r i t u r   p e r   Es   e t   l i b r a m ) , 这 些 文 字 曾 引 起 了许 多 疑 惑 。 铜 片 和 衡 具 是 “ 曼 企 帕 地 荷 ” 的 著 名 附 属 物 , 即在 前 章 中 描 述 过 的 古 代 仪 式 , 通 过 这 种 仪 式 “ 罗 马 财 产 ” 最高 形 式 中 的 所 有 权 就 由 一 个 人 移 转 到 另 外 一 个 人 。 “ 曼 企 帕 地荷 ” 是 一 种让与 , 因 此 就 发 生 了 一 个 困 难 , 因 为 这 样 的 定 义似 乎 把 “ 契 约 ” 和 “ 让 与 ” 混 淆 起 来 了 , 而 在 法 律 哲 学 上 , 它们 不 仅 仅 是 各 别 的 , 而 且 在 实 际 上 是 相 互 对 立 的 。物权 ( j u s   i n   r e ) 、对世权 ( r i g h t   i n   r e m ) , 即 “ 对 全 世 界 有 效的 ” 权 利 或 “ 财 产 所 有 权 ” , 在 成 熟 法 律 学 的 分 析 中 是 和 人 权  ( j u s   a d   r e m ) 、 对 人 权 ( r i g h t   i n   p e r s o n a m ) , 即 “ 对一 单 独 个 人 或 团 体 有 效 的 ” 权 利 或 债 权 , 有 明 显 的 区 别 的 。

    “ 让 与 ” 转 移 “ 财 产 所 有 权 ” , “ 契 约 ” 创 设 “ 债 权 ” — — 然 则,这 两 者 怎 样 会 包 括 在 同 一 的 名 称 或 同 一 的 一 般 概 念 之 下 ? 这

    和 许 多 相 似 的 困 难 一 样 , 是 由 于 把 显 然 属 于 智 力 发 展 进 步 阶

    段 的 一 种 能 力 , 把 在 实 践 上 混 合 在 一 起 的 各 种 纯 理 论 观 点 加

    以 区 别 的 能 力 , 错 误 地 认 为 属 于 一 个 未 成 形 社 会 的 心 理 状 态

    而 产 生 的 。 我 们 有 不 可 误 解 的 有 关 社 会 事 务 状 态 的 各 种 迹 象 ,

    证 明 “ 让 与 ” 和 “ 契 约 ” 在 实 际 上 是 混 淆 不 分 的 ; 同 时 , 直到 人 们 在 缔 约 和 让 与 中 采 用 一 种 各 别 的 实 践 前 , 这 两 个 概 念的 差 异 从 来 没 有 为 人 们 所 领 会 到 。

    这 里 可 以 看 到 , 我 们 对 古 罗 马 法 已 具 有 足 够 的 知 识 , 使我 们 可 以 提 供 一 些 在 法 律 学 萌 芽 时 代 各 种 法 律 概 念 和 法 律 用语 所 遵 循 的 转 化 方 式 的 大 概 。 它 们 所 经 历 的 变 更 似 乎 是 从 一

    般 到 特 殊 的 一 种 变 更 ; 或 者 , 换 言 之 , 古 代 的 概 念 和 古 代 的

    名 词 是 处 于 逐 渐 专 门 化 的 过 程 中 。 一 个 古 代 的 法 律 概 念 相 当

    于 不 仅 一 个 而 是 几 个 现 代 概 念 。 一 个 古 代 的 专 门 术 语 可 以 用

    来 表 示 许 多 东 西 , 这 些 东 西 在 现 代 法 律 中 分 别 具 有 各 种 不 同

    的 名 称 。 如 果 我 们 研 究 下 一 阶 段 的 法 律 学 史 , 我 们 就 可 以 看

    到 次 要 的 概 念 逐 渐 地 被 解 脱 出 来 , 旧 的 一 般 的 名 称 正 为 特 别

    的 名 称 所 代 替 。 旧 的 一 般 概 念 并 没 有 被 遗 忘 , 但 它 已 不 再 包

    括 它 起 初 包 括 的 一 种 或 几 种 观 点 。 因 此 同 样 的 , 古 代 的 专 门

    术 语 依 旧 存 在 , 但 它 只 执 行 着 它 以 前 一 度 具 有 的 许 多 职 能 中

    的 一 种 。 我 们 可 以 从 许 多 方 面 来 证 明 这 种 现 象 。 例 如 , 各 式

    各 样 的 “ 父 权 ” 在 过 去 曾 一 度 被 认 为 是 属 于 同 一 性 质 的 , 它

    也 无 疑 地 被 归 属 于 一 个 名 称 之 下 。 祖 先 所 行 使 的 权 力 , 不 论

    它 是 对 家 族 或 是 对 物 质 财 产 — — 对 牛 、 羊 、 奴 隶 、 子 女 或 妻— — 行 使 的 统 是 一 样 的 。 我 们 不 能 绝 对 地 确 定 权 力 的 旧 的 罗马 名 称 , 但 我 们 有 强 有 力 的 理 由 相 信 :曼奴斯 ( m a n u s ) 能 表示 各 种 不 同 程 度 的权力 , 就 可 知 道 古 代 对 于权力 的 一 般 名 词

    是曼奴斯 。 但 是 , 当 罗 马 法 稍 稍 进 步 了 后 , 名 称 和 观 念 都 专

    门 化 了 。 “ 权 力 ” 按 照 着 它 所 行 使 的 对 象 而 在 文 字 上 或 在 概 念上 明 确 地 区 分 了 。 对 物 质 商 品 或 奴 隶 行 使 的 权 力 , 成 为完全所有权 — — 对 儿 女 , 称 为家父权 — — , 对 那 些 已 被 他 们 的 祖先 把 他 们 的 劳 役 卖 给 了 别 人 的 自 由 人 , 称 为曼企帕因 — — , 对妻 子 , 则 仍 然 是 曼 奴 斯 。 可 以 看 到 , 旧 的 文 字 并 没 有 完 全 废止 , 只 是 限 制 于 它 以 前 表 示 的 权 限 的 一 种 特 定 的 行 使 上 而 已 。

    这 个 例 子 可 以 使 我 们 理 解 “ 契 约 ” 和 “ 让 与 ” 在 历 史 上 所 发生 的 关 联 的 性 质 。 一 切 要 式 行 为 在 开 始 时 可 能 只 有 一 种 庄 严的 仪 式 , 在 罗 马 , 它 的 名 称 在 过 去 似 乎 就 是耐克逊 。 过 去 在让 与 财 产 时 所 用 的 同 样 形 式 , 后 来 似 乎 就 恰 恰 被 用 于 缔 结 一个 契 约 。 但 经 过 不 多 时 候 , 我 们 到 达 了 这 样 一 个 时 期 , 当 时一 个 “ 契 约 ” 的 观 念 又 被 从 一 个 “ 让 与 ” 的 观 念 中 分 离 了 出来 。 这 样 , 就 发 生 了 一 个 双 重 的 变 化 。 “ 用 铜 片 和 衡 具 ” 的 交易 , 当 它 的 目 的 是 在 移 转 财 产 时 , 采 用 了 一 个 新 的 、 特 殊 的名 称 , “ 曼 企 帕 地 荷 ” 。 而 古 代 的 “ 耐 克 逊 ” 则 仍 旧 用 以 表 示原 来 的 仪 式 , 但 这 样 仪 式 只 被 用 于 使 契 约 庄 严 化 的 特 殊 目 的 。

    当 我 们 说 : 在 古 代 二 种 或 三 种 法 律 概 念 往 往 混 合 为 一 , 我们 的 意 思 并 不 是 在 暗 示 : 在 这 些 包 括 在 一 起 的 几 个 观 念 之 中

    不 可 能 有 一 种 观 念 会 比 其 他 各 种 观 念 古 老 一 些 , 或 者 , 在 几

    个 观 念 形 成 时 , 也 不 可 能 有 一 种 观 念 会 较 其 他 观 念 显 著 地 占

    优 势 , 并 居 于 它 们 之 上 。 为 什 么 一 个 法 律 概 念 会 继 续 长 期 包

    括 几 个 概 念 , 一 个 术 语 会 代 替 几 个 术 语 , 其 理 由 无 疑 地 是 因

    为 在 原 始 社 会 中 , 往 往 在 人 们 有 机 会 注 意 或 给 与 适 当 名 称 之

    前 , 法 律 在 实 践 上 很 早 已 发 生 了 变 化 。 虽 然 我 们 已 说 过 , “ 父

    权 ” 在 最 初 时 并 不 是 因 它 所 行 使 的 对 象 的 不 同 而 有 所 区 分 , 然

    我 确 切 地 感 到 , “ 对 子 女 的 权 力 ” ( P o w e r   o v e r   C h i l d - r e n ) 实 即 是 古 代 “ 权 力 ” 概 念 的 基 础 ; 我 也 深 信 在 最 早 应 用“ 耐 克 逊 ” 时 , 也 即 是 在 原 来 应 用 它 的 人 们 的 心 目 中 , “ 耐 克逊 ” 的 作 用 是 在 使 财 产 的 移 转 有 适 当 的 庄 严 仪 式 。 大 概 “ 耐克 逊 ” 的 略 微 歪 曲 其 原 来 的 职 能 , 最 初 是 为 了 使 它 适 用 于

    “ 契 约 ” , 而 由 于 它 改 变 的 程 度 十 分 轻 微 , 所 以 人 们 长 期 没 有

    觉 察 或 注 意 到 。 旧 的 名 称 仍 旧 保 留 着 , 因 为 人 们 没 有 感 觉 到

    他 们 需 要 一 个 新 的 名 称 。 旧 的 观 念 盘 踞 在 人 们 脑 中 , 因 为 没

    有 人 发 现 有 理 由 要 费 心 来 研 究 它 。 这 种 情 况 , 在 “ 遗 嘱 ” 史

    中 已 有 了 明 白 的 例 证 。 一 个 “ 遗 嘱 ” 在 最 初 只 是 简 单 的 财 产

    移 转 。 只 在 这 种 特 殊 让 与 和 一 切 其 他 让 与 之 间 逐 渐 发 生 了 巨

    大 的 实 践 上 的 差 别 , 才 使 这 种 让 与 被 分 别 对 待 , 即 使 是 这 样 ,

    也 还 需 要 经 过 几 个 世 纪 以 后 , 法 律 改 良 者 才 把 这 名 义 上 的 曼

    企 帕 地 荷 , 作 为 无 用 的 累 赘 而 加 以 清 除 , 并 同 意 在 “ 遗 嘱 ” 中

    除 了 “ 遗 嘱 人 ” 的 明 白 意 思 外 , 其 他 一 切 都 非 必 要 。 不 幸 的

    是 , 我 们 无 法 以 对 “ 遗 嘱 ” 的 早 期 史 的 绝 对 信 心 来 追 溯 “ 契约 ” 的 早 期 史 , 但 我 们 并 非 完 全 没 有 暗 示 , 说 明 契 约 在 最 初出 现 时 是 把耐克逊 放 在 一 种 新 的 应 用 中 , 后 来 通 过 实 际 试 验获 得 了 重 要 效 果 , 被 承 认 为 一 种 各 别 的 交 易 。 下 述 过 程 的 描写 虽 然 是 出 于 臆 测 , 但 并 非 全 无 根 据 。 我 们 试 以 一 次 现 款 买

    卖 作 为 “ 耐 克 逊 ” 的 通 常 形 式 。 出 卖 人 携 带 他 意 欲 处 分 的 财

    产 — — 例 如 一 个 奴 隶 — — 买 受 人 带 来 了 他 用 作 金 钱 的 粗 铜 块— — 还 有 一 个 不 可 缺 少 的 助 手 , 即司秤 , 他 带 来 了 一 个 天 平秤 。 通 过 规 定 手 续 , 奴 隶 被 移 交 给 买 受 人 — — 铜 块 经司秤秤过 , 然 后 移 交 给 出 卖 人 。 在 这 交 易 继 续 进 行 的 过 程 中 , 我 们称 之 为耐克逊 , 买 卖 的 双 方 是 耐 克 先 ; 但 一 当 交 易 完 成 后 ,耐克逊 就 告 中 止 , 出 卖 人 和 买 受 人 即 不 再 具 有 他 们 因 这 暂 时 关

    系 而 产 生 的 名 称 。 在 这 里 , 我 们 试 再 根 据 商 业 史 的 发 展 向 前跨 进 一 步 。 假 定 奴 隶 是 移 转 了 , 但 没 有 付 钱 。 在这 ·

    种 情 况 下 ,

    就 出 卖 人 说 , ·

    耐 ·

    克 ·

    逊 是 完 成 了 , 并 且 当 他 已 移 交 其 财 产 后 , 他

    已 不 再 是 ·

    耐 ·

    克 ·

    苏 ·

    斯 ( n e x u s ) ; 但 就 买 受 人 说 , 耐 克 逊 仍 在 继

    续 着 。 就 他 的 部 分 而 论 , 交 易 还 未 完 成 , 他 仍 被 认 为 是 耐 克

    苏 斯 。 因 此 , 可 以 看 到 , 这 同 一 名 词 在 一 方 面 是 指 财 产 凭 以

    移 转 的 “ 让 与 ” , 在 另 一 方 面 又 是 指 债 务 人 对 于 还 没 有 偿 付 的

    买 价 的 个 人 债 务 。 我 们 还 可 以 更 进 一 步 , 假 设 一 种 程 序 是 完

    全 属 于 形 式 , 在 这 程 序 中 并 ·

    没 ·

    有 ·

    东 ·

    西 移 转 , 也 ·

    没 ·

    有 ·

    东 ·

    西 偿 付 ;

    这 就 表 明 了 一 种 更 高 级 商 业 活 动 的 交 易 , 一 种 ·

    将 ·

    来 ·

    生 ·

    效 ·

    的 ·

    ·

    卖 ·

    契 ·

    约 ( e x e c u t o r y   C o n t r a c t   o f   S a l e ) 。

    如 果 在 一 般 见 解 和 职 业 见 解 中 , 真 的 都 把 一 个 契 约 长 期

    地 认 为 是 一 种 不 ·

    完 ·

    全 ·

    的 ·

    让 ·

    与 , 这 个 真 理 的 重 要 性 是 有 多 种 理

    由 的 。 在 上 一 世 纪 中 , 有 关 人 类 在 自 然 状 态 中 的 各 种 纯 理 论

    被 概 括 为 这 样 一 个 学 理 , 即 “ 在 原 始 社 会 中 财 产 是 不 当 什 么

    的 , 被 重 视 的 只 有 债 务 ” , 这 并 非 是 完 全 不 适 当 的 ; 但 现 在 可

    以 看 到 , 如 果 把 这 个 命 题 颠 倒 过 来 , 可 能 会 更 接 近 于 实 际 。 另

    一 方 面 , 从 历 史 上 考 虑 , “ 让 与 ” 和 “ 契 约 ” 在 原 始 时 代 的 联

    系 , 说 明 了 某 些 常 被 学 者 和 法 学 家 认 为 特 别 难 以 解 释 的 东 西 ,

    我 的 意 思 是 指 : 极 古 法 律 制 度 中 一 般 都 对 于 ·

    债 ·

    务 ·

    人 非 常 苛 酷 ,

    并 给 与 ·

    债 ·

    权 ·

    人 以 过 分 的 权 力 。 当 我 们 一 度 懂 得 了 ·

    耐 ·

    克 ·

    逊 是 被

    人 为 地 延 长 了 以 使 债 务 人 有 一 定 的 时 间 , 我 们 就 可 以 更 好 地

    理 解 他 在 公 众 和 法 律 之 前 的 地 位 。 他 的 负 债 无 疑 地 被 认 为 是

    一 种 变 例 , 而 中 止 付 款 一 般 被 认 为 是 一 种 诡 计 和 对 于 严 格 的

    规 定 的 一 种 歪 曲 。 相 反 的 , 凡 是 在 交 易 中 正 当 地 完 成 其 任 务

    的 人 , 必 为 人 所 尊 重 ; 那 就 很 自 然 的 要 使 他 掌 握 紧 急 的 武 器以 便 强 使 程 序 完 成 , 这 个 程 序 严 格 地 讲 , 是 决 不 应 该 准 许 展

    期 或 迟 延 的 。

    因 此 , “ 耐 克 逊 ” 的 原 意 是 一 种 财 产 让 与 , 在 不 知 不 觉 中

    也 用 来 表 示 一 个 “ 契 约 ” , 并 且 , 在 最 后 , 这 个 字 和 一 个 “ 契

    约 ” 观 念 经 常 发 生 联 系 , 不 得 不 用 一 个 特 定 名 词 即 “ 曼 企 帕

    因 ” 或 “ 曼 企 帕 地 荷 ” 来 表 明 真 正 的 “ 耐 克 逊 ” 或 交 易 , 这

    样 财 产 是 真 正 的 移 转 了 。 现 在 , “ 契 约 ” 便 从 “ 让 与 ” 中 分 离

    出 来 , 它 们 的 历 史 的 第 一 阶 段 于 是 完 成 了 。 但 它 们 发 展 到 这

    样 一 个 时 期 , 即 缔 约 者 的 允 约 要 比 附 带 进 行 的 手 续 程 序 有 更

    高 神 圣 性 的 时 期 , 则 还 有 很 大 一 段 距 离 。 为 了 说 明 这 一 时 期

    中 所 发 生 的 变 化 的 性 质 , 必 须 略 为 越 出 本 文 范 围 之 外 , 研 究

    一 下 罗 马 法 学 专 家 关 于 “ 合 意 ” 的 分 析 。 这 种 分 析 , 是 他 们

    智 慧 最 美 丽 的 纪 念 碑 , 在 这 分 析 中 , 我 只 须 约 略 提 一 下 , 它

    把 “ 债 ” 和 “ 协 议 ” 或 “ 合 约 ” 在 理 论 上 加 以 分 开 。 边 沁 和

    奥 斯 丁 先 生 宣 称 , “ 一 个 契 约 有 两 个 要 素 : 首 先 , 要 约 者 一 造

    表 示 ·

    意 ·

    向 , 要 做 他 约 定 要 做 的 行 为 或 遵 守 他 约 定 要 遵 守 的 不

    行 为 。 其 次 , 是 受 约 者 表 示 他 ·

    预 ·

    期 要 约 者 一 造 履 行 其 提 出 的

    允 约 ” 。 这 在 实 际 上 是 和 罗 马 法 律 家 的 学 理 完 全 相 同 的 , 但 在

    他 们 的 见 解 中 , 这 些 “ 表 示 ” 的 结 果 不 是 一 个 “ 契 约 ” 而 是

    一 个 “ 协 议 ” 或 “ 合 约 ” 。 一 个 “ 合 约 ” 是 个 人 相 互 间 同 意 的

    极 端 产 物 , 它 显 然 还 不 够 成 为 一 个 “ 契 约 ” 。 它 最 后 是 否 会 成

    为 一 个 “ 契 约 ” , 要 看 法 律 是 否 把 一 个 “ 债 ” 附 加 上 去 。 一 个

    “ 契 约 ” 是 一 个 “ 合 约 ” ( 或 “ 协 议 ” ) ·

    加 ·

    上 一 个 “ 债 ” 。 在 这

    个 “ 合 约 ” 还 没 有 附 带 着 “ 债 ” 的 时 候 , 它 称 为 ·

    空 ·

    虚 ( n u d e 或 n a k e d ) 合 约。

    什 么 是 一 个 “ 债 ” ? 罗 马 法 律 家 的 定 义 是 : “ 应 负 担 履 行

    义 务 的 法 锁 ” ( J u r i s   v i n c u l u m , q u o   m e c e s s i t a t e   a d As t r i n g i m u r   a l i c u j u s   s o l v e n d E  r e i ) 。 这 个 定 义 通 过 它 们 所

    根 据 的 共 同 隐 喻 而 把 “ 债 ” 和 “ 耐 克 逊 ” 联 系 起 来 , 并 明 白

    告 诉 我 们 一 个 特 殊 概 念 的 体 系 。 “ 债 ” 是 法 律 用 以 把 人 或 集 体

    的 人 结 合 在 一 起 的 “ 束 缚 ” 或 “ 锁 链 ” , 作 为 某 种 自 愿 行 为 的

    后 果 。 凡 引 起 “ 债 ” 的 效 果 的 行 为 , 主 要 是 那 些 归 类 在 “ 契

    约 ” 和 “ 侵 权 ” 、 “ 合 意 ” 和 ” 损 害 ” 等 题 目 之 下 的 行 为 ; 但

    是 有 许 多 其 他 行 为 能 造 成 类 似 后 果 的 , 却 不 能 包 括 在 一 种 确

    切 分 类 中 。 应 予 注 意 的 是 , 行 为 并 不 是 由 于 任 何 道 德 上 的 必

    要 而 使 它 自 己 负 上 “ 债 ” 的 ; 这 是 由 法 律 根 据 其 充 沛 的 权 力

    而 附 加 上 去 的 , 这 是 非 常 有 必 要 加 以 注 意 的 一 点 , 因 为 “ 市

    民 法 ” 的 现 代 解 释 者 有 时 提 出 了 一 个 不 同 的 学 理 , 并 以 他 们

    自 己 道 德 的 或 形 而 上 学 的 理 论 来 作 为 支 持 。 ·

    法 ·

    锁 的 意 象 沾 染

    了 和 渗 透 了 罗 马 “ 契 约 ” 和 “ 侵 权 ” 法 律 的 每 一 个 部 分 。 法

    律 把 各 当 事 人 拘 束 在 一 起 , ·

    锁 ·

    链 只 有 通 过 称 为 ·

    清 ·

    偿 ( s o l u t i o )

    的 程 序 才 能 解 除 , 清 偿 也 是 一 个 借 喻 的 用 语 , 英 语 中 的 “ 支

    付 ” 只 偶 尔 地 和 它 的 意 义 相 同 。 这 借 喻 的 意 象 借 以 表 现 其 自

    己 的 一 致 性 , 说 明 了 罗 马 法 律 用 语 上 另 一 个 在 其 他 情 况 下 很

    难 解 释 的 特 性 , 即 “ 债 ” 既 表 示 权 利 , 也 表 示 义 务 , 例 如 使

    债 务 清 偿 之 权 以 及 清 偿 债 务 的 义 务 。 事 实 上 罗 马 人 把 “ 法 律

    上 的 锁 链 ” 的 全 貌 放 在 他 们 的 眼 前 , 对 其 一 端 的 重 视 不 多 也

    不 少 于 其 他 一 端 。

    在 进 步 的 罗 马 法 中 , “ 协 议 ” 在 完 成 以 后 , 几 乎 在 所 有 情

    况 下 , 都 立 即 把 “ 债 ” 加 上 去 , 于 是 就 成 为 一 个 “ 契 约 ” ; 这是 契 约 法 必 然 要 趋 向 的 结 果 。 但 为 了 进 一 步 研 究 , 我 们 必 须

    特 别 注 意 其 中 间 阶 段 — — 即 除 了 一 个 完 全 的 合 意 之 外 , 还 需

    要 某 种 东 西 来 吸 引 “ 债 ” 的 阶 段 。 这 个 时 期 正 是 把 契 约 分 成

    四 类 — — 即 “ 口 头 契 约 ” 、 “ 文 书 契 约 ” 、 “ 要 物 契 约 ” 和 “ 诺

    成 契 约 ” ( t h e   V e r b a l , t h e   L i t e r a l , t h e   R e a l , a n d   t h e

      C o n s e n s u a l ) — — 的 著 名 的 罗 马 分 类 法 开 始 应 用 的 时 期 , 在

    这 个 时 期 内 , 这 四 类 “ 契 约 ” 也 是 法 律 所 要 强 制 执 行 的 仅 有

    的 四 类 契 约 。 这 个 分 类 的 意 义 , 在 我 们 理 解 了 把 “ 债 ” 从

    “ 协 议 ” 中 分 离 出 来 的 理 论 后 , 立 即 可 以 理 会 。 每 一 类 的 契 约

    实 际 上 都 是 根 据 某 种 手 续 而 命 名 的 , 这 些 手 续 是 除 了 缔 约 两

    造 仅 仅 的 合 意 以 外 所 必 需 的 。 在 “ 口 头 契 约 ” 中 , 一 待 “ 协

    议 ” 完 成 以 后 , 必 须 要 经 过 一 种 言 辞 的 形 式 才 能 使 法 锁 附 着

    在 它 上 面 。 在 “ 文 书 契 约 ” 中 , 登 入 总 帐 簿 或 记 事 簿 能 使

    “ 协 议 ” 具 有 “ 债 ” 的 效 力 , 在 “ 要 物 契 约 ” 的 情 况 下 , 送 达

    作 为 预 约 主 体 的 “ 物 ” 时 , 才 产 生 同 样 的 结 果 。 总 之 , 在 每

    一 种 情 况 下 , 缔 约 的 两 造 必 须 达 到 一 种 谅 解 ; 但 是 , 如 果 他

    们 不 再 前 进 , 他 们 在 相 互 之 间 即 不 ·

    负 ·

    义 ·

    务 , 不 能 强 迫 履 行 或

    在 违 背 信 约 时 要 求 救 济 。 但 如 果 他 们 遵 守 了 某 种 规 定 的 手 续 ,

    “ 契 约 ” 就 立 即 完 成 , 并 以 所 采 取 的 特 殊 方 式 作 为 它 的 名 称 。

    至 于 这 种 实 践 的 例 外 , 将 在 下 文 中 加 以 详 述 。

    在 前 面 , 我 是 根 据 历 史 顺 序 而 列 举 四 类 “ 契 约 ” 的 , 但

    罗 马 教 科 书 的 著 者 并 不 都 是 一 成 不 变 地 按 照 这 个 顺 序 的 。 “ 口

    头 契 约 ” 是 四 类 契 约 中 最 古 的 一 类 , 并 且 是 原 始 “ 耐 克 逊 ” 最

    早 的 已 知 的 后 裔 , 这 是 毫 无 可 疑 的 。 古 代 采 用 的 “ 口 头 契

    约 ” 有 好 几 种 , 但 其 中 最 重 要 的 、 并 为 我 们 的 权 威 学 者 讨 论到 的 唯 一 的 一 种 是 用约 ·

    定 的 方 法 来 达 成 的 , 所 谓 约 定 , 就 是

    一 “ 问 ” 一 “ 答 ” ; 即 由 要 求 允 约 的 人 提 出 问 题 , 并 由 作 出 允

    约 的 人 给 予 回 答 。 这 个 问 题 和 回 答 , 像 我 刚 才 解 释 过 的 , 构

    成 了 原 始 观 念 中 除 了 有 关 系 的 人 们 的 单 纯 的 合 意 之 外 所 必 需

    的 额 外 要 素 。 它 们 成 为 “ 债 ” 借 以 附 加 上 去 的 媒 介 。 古 代 的

    “ 耐 克 逊 ” 现 在 已 经 传 给 较 成 熟 的 法 律 学 的 , 第 一 件 就 是 锁 链

    的 概 念 , 它 把 缔 约 两 造 结 合 起 来 , 而 这 就 成 为 “ 债 ” 。 其 次 传

    下 来 的 是 仪 式 的 观 念 , 它 伴 随 着 同 时 尊 崇 着 定 约 , 这 个 仪 式

    已 变 化 而 成 为 “ 约 定 ” 。 原 来 “ 耐 克 逊 ” 的 主 要 特 点 是 庄 严 让

    与 , 这 种 庄 严 让 与 转 变 为 单 纯 的 问 题 和 回 答 , 如 果 我 们 没 有

    罗 马 “ 遗 嘱 ” 史 来 启 发 我 们 , 将 始 终 是 一 个 秘 密 。 读 了 那 些

    历 史 , 我 们 可 以 懂 得 正 式 的 “ 让 与 ” 怎 样 先 从 和 手 中 交 易 有

    直 接 关 系 的 手 续 程 序 中 分 离 开 来 , 后 来 又 完 全 都 省 略 了 。 在

    当 时 , “ 约 定 ” 的 问 和 答 既 然 无 疑 地 是 一 种 最 简 单 形 式 的 “ 耐

    克 逊 ” , 我 们 可 以 认 为 这 种 问 和 答 实 早 已 带 有 一 种 专 门 形 式 的

    性 质 。 如 果 认 为 它 们 所 以 为 早 期 的 罗 马 法 律 家 所 欢 迎 , 完 全

    是 由 于 它 们 能 使 协 议 合 意 的 人 们 有 机 会 来 考 虑 和 回 想 , 这 是

    错 误 的 。 无 可 否 认 , 它 们 有 这 样 一 种 的 价 值 , 这 是 逐 渐 被 承

    认 的 ; 但 根 据 我 们 权 威 著 作 的 陈 述 , 有 证 据 证 明 它 们 有 关

    “ 契 约 ” 的 职 能 在 起 先 是 形 式 的 和 仪 式 的 , 并 不 是 每 一 个 问 题

    和 回 答 都 是 自 古 以 来 就 足 以 构 成 一 个 “ 约 定 ” 的 , 只 有 用 特

    别 适 宜 于 特 定 情 况 的 专 门 术 语 表 白 的 一 个 问 题 和 回 答 , 才 能

    构 成 一 个 “ 约 定 ” 。

    为 了 正 确 理 解 契 约 法 史 , 虽 然 必 须 把 “ 约 定 ” 理 解 为 : 在

    它 被 承 认 为 一 种 有 用 的 担 保 之 前 , 它 只 是 一 种 庄 严 的 形 式 , 但是 , 在 另 一 方 面 , 如 果 对 它 的 真 正 用 度 视 若 无 睹 , 也 将 是 错

    误 的 。 “ 口 头 契 约 ” 虽 然 已 不 象 古 代 那 样 重 要 , 但 它 一 直 被 保

    存 到 罗 马 法 律 学 的 最 后 时 期 ; 我 们 可 以 视 作 当 然 的 , 在 罗 马

    法 上 没 有 一 种 制 度 如 此 长 期 的 保 存 着 , 除 非 它 在 实 践 上 确 有

    些 用 处 。 我 在 一 个 英 国 著 者 的 文 章 中 看 到 他 对 罗 马 人 甚 至 在

    最 早 时 期 也 满 足 于 这 种 对 忽 忙 和 缺 乏 深 思 熟 虑 之 处 , 如 此 疏

    于 防 范 的 情 况 , 表 示 十 分 惊 奇 。 但 是 如 果 把 约 定 详 细 研 究 一

    下 , 并 且 记 着 在 我 们 所 涉 及 的 社 会 状 态 里 面 , 书 面 证 据 是 很

    不 容 易 得 到 的 , 那 末 我 以 为 , 我 们 必 须 承 认 这 种 专 门 用 以 满

    足 它 所 要 求 达 到 的 目 的 的 这 种 问 题 和 回 答 , 可 以 公 允 地 认 为

    是 一 种 高 度 巧 妙 的 办 法 。 ·

    允 ·

    约 ·

    人 以 约 定 人 的 资 格 把 契 约 中 所

    有 的 条 款 用 一 个 问 题 的 形 式 提 出 , ·

    要 ·

    约 ·

    人 给 予 回 答 。 “ 你 是 否同 意 在 某 某 地 点 某 某 日 期 送 达 给 我 某 某 一 个 奴 隶 ? ” “ 我 同意 。 ” 现 在 , 我 们 试 想 一 想 , 我 们 可 以 看 到 , 这 个 “ 债 ” 把 允约 用 问 句 的 形 式 提 出 来 , 就 把 两 造 的 自 然 地 位 给 颠 倒 过 来 了 ,并 且 由 于 有 效 地 破 坏 了 会 话 的 行 程 , 使 人 注 意 不 到 滑 过 一 个危 险 的 质 权 。 对 于 我 们 , 一 般 说 来 , 一 个 口 头 允 约 是 完 全 从要 约 人 的 话 中 得 来 的 。 在 古 罗 马 法 中 , 另 一 个 步 骤 是 绝 对 需

    要 的 , 即 允 约 人 在 达 到 合 意 后 必 须 把 所 有 条 件 综 合 在 一 个 庄

    严 的 问 句 中 ; 并 且 , 在 审 判 时 , 必 须 提 出 的 证 据 , 就 是 这 个

    问 句 以 及 对 这 问 句 的 同 意 — — 而 ·

    不 ·

    是 允 约 , 允 约 本 身 是 没 有

    拘 束 力 的 。 这 个 看 上 去 无 足 轻 重 的 特 点 , 在 契 约 法 的 用 语 中

    竟 有 这 样 大 的 关 系 , 这 是 罗 马 法 律 学 的 初 学 者 迅 速 感 觉 到 的 ,

    他 们 最 初 碰 到 的 绊 脚 石 之 一 几 乎 普 遍 地 是 由 它 产 生 的 。 当 我

    们 在 英 文 中 提 到 一 个 契 约 时 , 为 便 利 起 见 , 偶 然 把 它 和 契 约两 造 的 一 方 联 系 起 来 时 — — 例 如 , 如 果 我 们 想 一 般 地 提 到 一

    个 缔 约 人 — — , 我 们 的 话 所 指 的 总 是 要 约 人 。 但 罗 马 人 的 一

    般 用 语 则 转 向 不 同 的 一 面 ; 它 总 是 从 允 约 人 的 地 位 来 看 契 约

    的 , 如 果 我 们 可 以 这 样 说 的 话 。 在 谈 到 一 个 契 约 的 一 造 时 , 主

    要 谈 到 的 总 是 “ 约 定 人 ” , 即 提 出 问 题 的 人 。 至 于 约 定 的 用 处 ,

    其 最 生 动 的 实 例 可 参 见 拉 丁 喜 剧 家 的 集 子 。 如 果 有 这 些 段 落

    的 全 部 场 面 经 通 读 一 过 〔 例 如 , 普 罗 塔 斯 ( P l a u t u s ) 的 “ 说谎 者 ” ( P s e u d o l u s ) 幕 一 景 一 ; 幕 四 景 六 ; “ 三 个 铜 钱 ” ( T r i n u m Am u s ) 幕 五 景 二 〕 , 就 可 以 看 到 思 考 允 约 的 人 的 注 意 力 是 如 何

    有 效 地 为 问 题 所 吸 引 , 以 及 从 一 个 没 有 预 先 考 虑 好 的 应 承 中

    撤 退 的 机 会 是 如 何 的 充 足 。

    在 “ 文 书 ” 或 “ 书 面 契 约 ” 中 , 一 个 “ 债 ” 通 过 了 它 而

    加 于 “ 协 议 ” 上 的 正 式 行 为 是 把 可 以 明 白 确 定 的 欠 款 数 目 登

    入 一 本 总 帐 的 借 方 。 为 了 要 说 明 这 种 “ 契 约 ” , 必 须 了 解 罗 马

    的 家 庭 状 态 , 古 代 簿 记 的 有 条 不 紊 性 质 和 非 常 的 有 规 律 性 。 古

    罗 马 法 中 有 几 个 小 困 难 , 例 如 , 象 “ 奴 隶 特 有 产 ” 的 性 质 , 只

    有 在 我 们 回 想 起 : 在 一 个 罗 马 家 庭 中 , 所 有 成 员 都 严 格 地 对

    其 户 主 负 责 , 以 及 家 庭 中 每 笔 收 支 在 登 入 草 帐 后 , 在 一 定 期

    间 内 必 须 转 入 家 庭 总 帐 , 只 有 明 了 了 这 些 , 才 能 解 释 清 楚 。 可

    是 , 就 我 们 所 看 到 的 “ 文 书 契 约 ” 的 描 写 中 , 是 有 些 不 易 明

    了 之 处 的 , 原 因 是 登 帐 的 习 惯 在 后 来 已 不 普 遍 了 , 而 “ 文 书

    契 约 ” 的 用 语 成 了 表 示 和 原 来 所 理 解 的 完 全 不 同 的 一 种 定 约

    的 形 式 。 因 此 , 我 们 无 法 说 明 , 关 于 原 始 “ 文 书 契 约 ” ,

    “ 债 ” 的 设 定 究 竟 是 由 债 权 人 一 方 简 单 的 登 入 簿 据 , 还 是 必 须

    获 得 债 务 人 的 同 意 或 在 其 自 己 的 簿 据 中 同 样 登 记 , 才 能 发 生法 律 效 力 。 但 是 有 一 个 主 要 之 点 是 可 以 确 定 的 , 即 在 这 种“ 契 约 ” 中 , 只 要 条 件 遵 守 了 , 所 有 的 手 续 都 可 以 省 却 。 这 是

    契 约 法 历 史 中 向 前 推 进 的 另 一 步 。

    根 据 历 史 顺 序 , 其 次 一 种 “ 契 约 ” 是 “ 要 物 契 约 ” , 表 示

    在 伦 理 概 念 上 向 前 跨 进 一 大 步 。 凡 是 在 任 何 合 意 中 , 以 送 达

    一 种 特 殊 物 件 为 其 目 的 的 — — 绝 大 部 分 的 简 单 合 意 都 属 此 类

    — — , 一 待 送 达 确 实 发 生 后 , “ 债 ” 即 产 生 。 其 结 果 必 定 是 对

    最 古 的 有 关 “ 契 约 ” 观 念 的 一 个 重 大 革 新 ; 因 为 在 原 始 时 代 ,

    毫 无 疑 义 , 当 缔 约 的 一 造 由 于 疏 忽 而 没 有 把 他 的 合 意 通 过 约

    定 的 手 续 , 则 按 照 合 意 而 做 的 一 切 , 将 不 为 法 律 所 承 认 。 借

    钱 的 人 除 非 经 过 正 式 的 ·

    约 ·

    定 , 是 不 能 诉 请 偿 还 的 。 但 在 “ 要

    物 契 约 ” 中 , 一 方 的 履 行 就 允 许 使 他 方 负 担 法 律 责 任 — — 则

    显 然 是 基 于 伦 理 的 根 据 。 第 一 次 把 道 德 上 的 考 虑 认 为 “ 契

    约 ” 法 中 的 一 个 要 素 , 这 就 是 “ 要 物 契 约 ” 和 前 两 种 不 同 之

    处 , 并 不 是 由 于 专 门 形 式 或 由 于 遵 从 罗 马 家 庭 习 惯 而 有 所 不

    同 。

    我 们 现 在 要 讨 论 第 四 类 或 “ 诺 成 契 约 ” , 这 是 各 种 契 约 中

    最 有 趣 和 最 重 要 的 一 种 。 在 这 名 称 下 有 四 种 特 殊 “ 契 约 ” : 委

    任 ( M a n d a t u m )   即 “ 受 托 ” ( C o m m i s s i o n ) 或 “ 代 理 ”

    ( A g e n c y ) ; “ 合 伙 ( S o c i e t a s ) ; “ 买 卖 ” ( E m t i o   V e n d i t i o ) ; 以

    及 “ 租 赁 ” ( L o c a t i o   C o n d u c t i o ) 。 在 前 面 几 页 说 明 了 一 个“ 契 约 ” 是 附 加 着 一 个 “ 债 ” 的 一 个 “ 合 约 ” 或 “ 协 议 ” 后 ,

    我 曾 提 起 通 过 一 些 行 为 或 手 续 法 律 允 许 “ 债 ” 吸 收 入 “ 合

    约 ” 内 。 我 这 样 说 , 只 是 为 了 作 一 般 的 说 明 , 但 除 非 我 们 把

    这 理 解 为 不 但 包 括 正 面 的 , 而 且 也 包 括 反 面 的 , 则 这 个 说 明不 是 严 格 地 正 确 的 。 因 为 , 实 质 上 , 这 些 “ 诺 成 契 约 ” 的 特

    点 是 : 从 “ 合 约 ” 中 产 生 这 些 契 约 , 是 ·

    无 ·

    需 任 何 手 续 的 。 关

    于 “ 诺 成 契 约 ” , 很 多 是 难 以 辨 解 的 , 更 多 是 含 糊 不 清 的 , 甚

    至 曾 有 这 样 的 说 法 , 即 在 这 些 契 约 中 , 缔 约 两 造 的 ·

    同 ·

    意 比 在

    其 他 任 何 种 类 的 合 意 中 更 为 着 重 。 但 “ 诺 成 ” 的 这 个 名 词 不

    过 表 示 : 在 这 里 , “ 债 ” 是 立 即 附 着 于 ·

    诺 ·

    成 ( C o n s e n s u s ) 的 。

    “ 诺 成 ” 或 两 造 的 相 互 同 意 是 “ 协 议 ” 中 最 后 的 和 最 主 要 的 要

    素 , 而 属 于 “ 买 卖 ” 、 “ 合 伙 ” 、 “ 委 任 ” 和 “ 租 赁 ” 四 类 之 一

    的 合 意 , 它 的 特 点 是 : 一 经 两 造 同 意 提 供 了 这 个 要 素 时 , 一

    个 “ 契 约 ” 立 即 成 立 。 “ 诺 成 ” 带 来 了 “ 债 ” , 在 特 种 交 易 中 ,

    执 行 着 在 其 他 契 约 中 由 ·

    要 ·

    物 ( R e s ) 或口头 约 定 ( V e r b a   s t i p Au l a t i o n s ) 以 及 由文书 ( L i t e r E) 或 书 面 登 入 总 帐 而 履 行 的 同

    样 职 能 。 “ 诺 成 ” 因 此 是 一 个 名 词 , 并 无 细 微 的 变 例 , 而 正 是

    和 “ 要 物 ” 、 “ 口 头 ” 及 “ 文 书 ” 完 全 相 类 似 的 。

    在 生 活 的 接 触 中 , 最 普 通 和 最 重 要 的 一 种 契 约 无 疑 是 那

    称 为 “ 诺 成 ” 的 第 四 种 。 每 一 个 社 会 的 集 体 生 存 , 其 较 大 部

    分 是 消 耗 在 买 卖 、 租 赁 、 为 了 商 业 目 的 而 进 行 的 人 与 人 之 间

    的 联 合 、 一 个 人 对 另 一 个 人 的 商 业 委 托 等 等 交 易 中 ; 这 无 疑

    是 使 罗 马 人 象 大 多 数 社 会 一 样 , 考 虑 到 把 这 些 交 易 从 专 门 手

    续 的 累 赘 中 解 脱 出 来 , 并 尽 可 能 使 社 会 运 动 最 有 效 的 泉 源 不

    至 阻 塞 。 这 类 动 机 当 然 不 以 罗 马 人 为 限 , 而 罗 马 人 和 其 邻 国

    人 通 商 贸 易 , 必 然 使 他 们 有 丰 富 的 机 会 看 到 在 我 们 面 前 的 各

    种 契 约 到 处 都 有 变 成 ·

    诺 ·

    成 ·

    的 倾 向 , 即 一 经 表 示 相 互 同 意 立 即

    具 有 拘 束 力 。 于 是 , 依 靠 他 们 通 常 的 实 践 , 他 们 就 把 这 些 契

    约 称 为 ·

    万 ·

    民 ·

    法 契 约 。 但 我 们 并 不 以 为 它 们 在 很 早 时 期 就 有 这个 名 称 。 一 个 “ 万 民 法 ” 的 最 早 观 念 也 许 在 委 任 一 个 “ 外 事

    裁 判 官 ” 之 前 早 就 存 在 罗 马 法 律 家 的 心 中 , 但 只 有 通 过 广 泛

    的 和 正 常 的 贸 易 , 罗 马 法 律 家 才 能 熟 悉 其 他 意 大 利 社 会 的 契

    约 制 度 , 而 这 类 贸 易 在 意 大 利 获 得 彻 底 平 靖 和 罗 马 的 最 高 权

    力 断 然 确 立 之 前 , 是 很 难 达 到 相 当 的 规 模 的 。 虽 然 , 极 端 可

    能 , “ 诺 成 契 约 ” 是 罗 马 制 度 中 最 后 出 生 的 , 并 且 虽 然 很 可 能

    ·

    万 ·

    民 ·

    法 这 个 称 呼 证 明 它 渊 源 并 不 太 古 , 但 把 这 些 契 约 归 属 于

    “ 国 际 法 ” 的 这 个 用 语 , 却 在 现 代 产 生 了 它 们 来 自 非 常 古 远 的

    年 代 的 看 法 。 因 为 , 当 “ 国 际 法 ” 变 为 “ 自 然 法 ” 时 , 似 乎

    就 含 有 了 这 样 的 意 思 , 即 “ 诺 成 契 约 ” 是 最 适 合 于 自 然 状 态

    的 一 种 合 意 ; 于 是 , 产 生 了 这 独 特 的 信 念 , 即 文 明 愈 年 轻 , 它

    的 契 约 形 式 一 定 愈 简 单 。

    “ 诺 成 契 约 ” 在 数 量 上 是 极 端 有 限 的 。 但 是 , 毫 无 疑 义 它

    在 “ 契 约 ” 法 史 上 开 创 一 个 新 的 阶 段 , 所 有 现 代 契 约 概 念 都

    是 从 这 个 阶 段 发 轫 的 。 意 志 的 运 动 构 成 合 意 , 它 现 在 完 全 孤

    立 了 , 成 为 另 外 一 种 考 虑 的 主 题 ; 在 契 约 的 观 点 上 , 形 式 全

    部 被 消 除 了 , 外 部 行 为 只 是 看 做 内 部 意 志 行 为 的 象 征 。 “ 诺 成

    契 约 ” 被 归 类 在 “ 万 民 法 ” 中 , 并 且 这 种 分 类 在 不 久 以 后 即

    得 出 了 这 样 一 个 推 理 , 认 为 它 们 是 代 表 定 约 的 一 种 合 意 , 为

    “ 自 然 ” 所 认 可 并 包 括 在 自 然 法 典 中 的 。 当 到 达 这 一 点 时 , 我

    们 就 可 以 看 到 在 罗 马 法 律 家 中 有 几 个 著 名 的 学 理 和 区 分 。 其

    中 之 一 是 “ 自 然 债 ” 和 “ 民 事 债 ” ( N a t u r a l   a n d   C i v i l   O b l i A

    g a t i o n s ) 之 间 的 区 分 。 当 一 个 智 力 完 全 成 熟 的 人 有 意 使 其 自

    己 受 到 一 个 合 意 的 约 束 , 即 使 他 并 没 有 履 行 某 种 必 要 的 手 续

    以 及 由 于 某 种 技 术 上 的 障 碍 , 他 缺 少 了 制 订 一 个 有 效 契 约 的正 式 能 力 , 他 仍 被 称 为 在 一 个 ·

    自 ·

    然 ·

    债 ·

    之 ·

    下 。 法 律 ( 而 这 就 是

    区 分 所 暗 示 的 ) 不 强 制 执 行 债 , 但 它 也 不 绝 对 拒 绝 承 认 它 ; ·

    ·

    然 ·

    债 在 许 多 方 面 和 纯 粹 是 无 效 的 债 又 有 不 同 , 尤 其 是 在 这 样

    的 情 况 下 , 即 如 果 缔 结 契 约 的 能 力 在 后 来 取 得 时 , 自 然 债 就

    可 以 在 民 事 上 得 到 批 准 。 法 学 专 家 另 外 一 种 很 奇 怪 的 学 理 , 其

    渊 源 不 可 能 早 于 “ 协 议 ” 从 “ 契 约 ” 的 专 门 要 素 中 分 离 出 来

    的 时 期 。 根 据 这 些 法 学 专 家 的 意 见 , 虽 然 只 有 “ 契 约 ” 能 作

    为 一 个 ·

    诉 ·

    讼 的 基 础 , 但 一 个 单 纯 的 “ 合 约 ” 或 “ 协 议 ” 可 以

    作 为 一 个 ·

    抗 ·

    辩 的 根 据 。 由 此 推 论 , 虽 然 一 个 人 由 于 在 事 前 没

    有 注 意 遵 照 正 当 形 式 使 一 个 合 意 成 熟 为 一 个 “ 契 约 ” 的 话 , 不

    能 就 根 据 这 个 合 意 而 提 起 诉 讼 , 但 根 据 一 个 有 效 契 约 而 提 出

    的 请 求 , 只 要 经 证 明 有 一 个 还 没 有 超 过 一 个 简 单 协 议 状 态 的

    反 合 意 , 就 可 以 癖 驳 了 。 例 如 回 复 债 务 之 诉 可 以 提 供 一 个 仅

    仅 放 弃 或 延 期 付 款 的 非 正 式 合 意 作 为 抗 辩 。

    上 面 所 说 的 学 理 , 表 示 出 “ 裁 判 官 ” 在 向 其 最 伟 大 的 革

    新 前 进 时 所 发 生 的 迟 疑 。 他 们 关 于 “ 自 然 法 ” 的 理 论 必 定 曾

    经 引 导 他 们 特 别 偏 爱 “ 诺 成 契 约 ” 以 及 “ 诺 成 契 约 ” 仅 仅 是

    其 中 的 特 殊 例 子 之 一 的 那 些 “ 合 约 ” 或 “ 协 议 ” ; 但 是 他 们 不

    敢 立 即 把 “ 诺 成 契 约 ” 的 自 由 推 及 一 切 “ 协 议 ” 。 他 们 利 用 了

    从 罗 马 法 开 始 时 就 托 付 给 他 们 的 对 于 诉 讼 程 序 的 那 时 特 殊 监

    督 权 , 并 且 , 虽 然 他 们 不 准 提 出 不 是 根 据 正 式 契 约 的 一 个 诉

    讼 , 但 在 导 演 诉 讼 程 序 的 秘 密 舞 台 中 , 他 们 使 其 新 的 合 意 理

    论 有 充 分 活 动 的 余 地 。 但 当 他 们 进 展 到 这 样 的 程 度 后 , 不 可

    避 免 地 他 们 一 定 要 向 前 再 进 一 步 。 当 有 一 年 的 “ 裁 判 官 ” 在

    “ 告 令 ” 中 宣 称 : 他 将 对 还 没 有 成 熟 为 “ 契 约 ” 的 “ 合 约 ” 赋与 可 衡 平 的 诉 讼 , 只 要 争 执 中 的 “ 合 约 ” 是 根 据 一 个 要 因

    ( C a u s a ) 的 话 , 在 这 时 候 , 古 代 “ 契 约 ” 法 的 革 命 就 完 成 了 。

    这 类 的 “ 合 约 ” 在 进 步 的 罗 马 法 律 学 中 始 终 是 被 强 行 的 。 其

    原 则 是 把 “ 诺 成 契 约 ” 达 到 其 适 当 后 果 的 原 则 ; 事 实 上 , 如

    果 罗 马 人 的 专 门 用 语 具 有 象 他 们 的 法 律 理 论 所 具 有 的 那 样 的

    可 塑 性 , 这 些 由 “ 裁 判 官 ” 强 行 的 “ 合 约 ” 就 可 能 称 为 新 的

    “ 契 约 ” , 新 的 “ 诺 成 契 约 ” 。 但 , 法 律 语 法 是 最 后 变 更 的 法 律

    的 一 部 分 , 而 可 衡 平 地 强 行 的 ” 合 约 ” 继 续 被 简 单 地 称 为

    “ 裁 判 官 合 约 ” 。 必 须 注 意 , 除 非 在 “ 合 约 ” 中 有 要 因 , 这

    “ 合 约 ” 就 新 的 法 律 学 而 论 , 将 继 续 是 ·

    空 ·

    虑 的 ; 要 使 它 能 具 有

    效 力 , 就 必 须 用 一 个 约 定 来 使 它 变 为 一 个 “ 口 头 契 约 ” 。

    我 所 以 这 样 详 细 的 讨 论 它 , 主 要 由 于 我 认 为 这 “ 契 约 ” 史

    有 非 常 的 重 要 性 , 它 可 以 用 来 防 止 无 可 数 计 的 误 会 。 在 这 讨

    论 中 , 详 细 说 明 了 从 一 个 伟 大 的 法 律 学 里 程 碑 到 另 一 个 里 程

    碑 中 各 种 观 念 的 进 程 。 我 们 由 “ 耐 克 逊 ” 开 始 , 其 中 “ 契

    约 ” 和 “ 让 与 ” 是 混 杂 在 一 起 的 , 其 中 伴 随 着 合 意 的 手 续 形

    式 甚 至 比 合 意 本 身 还 要 重 要 。 从 “ 耐 克 逊 ” , 我 们 转 到 “ 约

    定 ” , 这 是 较 古 仪 式 的 一 个 简 单 形 式 。 其 次 发 现 的 是 “ 文 书 契

    约 ” , 在 这 里 , 一 切 的 手 续 都 被 放 弃 了 , 如 果 合 意 的 证 据 能 从

    一 个 罗 马 家 庭 的 严 格 遵 守 的 习 惯 中 提 出 来 。 在 “ 要 物 契 约 ” 中 ,

    第 一 次 承 认 了 一 个 道 德 责 任 , 凡 是 参 加 或 同 意 一 个 定 约 的 部

    分 履 行 的 人 们 , 就 不 许 由 于 形 式 上 的 缺 陷 而 否 认 它 。 最 后 , 出

    现 了 “ 诺 成 契 约 ” , 其 中 唯 一 被 重 视 的 是 缔 约 人 的 心 理 状 态 ,

    至 于 外 界 情 况 除 非 作 为 内 在 企 图 的 证 据 外 是 不 予 注 意 的 。 罗

    马 人 的 思 想 从 一 个 粗 糙 的 观 念 到 一 个 精 练 的 观 念 的 这 种 进步 , 究 竟 是 否 能 例 证 人 类 思 想 在 “ 契 约 ” 这 主 题 上 有 了 必 要的 进 步 , 这 当 然 是 无 法 断 定 的 。 除 了 罗 马 人 之 外 , 所 有 其 他古 代 社 会 的 “ 契 约 ” 法 或 者 太 少 了 , 没 有 充 足 的 资 料 , 或 者是 已 经 完 全 失 传 了 ; 至 于 现 代 法 律 学 则 是 如 此 透 澈 地 为 罗 马观 点 所 影 响 , 以 致 我 们 无 法 获 得 对 比 和 类 似 , 并 从 中 吸 取 教训 。 但 是 , 从 我 所 描 写 的 演 变 中 既 缺 乏 任 何 剧 烈 的 、 惊 奇 的以 及 不 易 理 解 的 东 西 , 我 们 就 可 以 合 理 地 相 信 , 在 某 种 程 度

    上 , 古 罗 马 “ 契 约 ” 史 是 其 他 古 代 社 会 中 这 类 法 律 概 念 的 历

    史 的 典 型 。 但 也 只 是 在 某 种 程 度 上 , 罗 马 法 的 进 步 可 以 被 用

    来 代 表 其 他 法 律 学 制 度 的 进 步 。 “ 自 然 ” 法 的 理 论 是 专 属 于 罗

    马 人 的 。 ·

    法 ·

    锁 的 观 念 , 就 我 所 知 , 也 是 专 属 于 罗 马 人 的 。 成

    熟 的 罗 马 的 “ 契 约 和 侵 权 ” 法 中 有 许 多 特 点 , 都 来 自 上 述 的

    两 种 观 念 , 或 则 来 自 其 一 , 或 则 两 者 兼 而 有 之 , 因 此 , 这 许

    多 特 点 也 是 属 于 一 特 定 社 会 的 专 门 产 物 。 这 些 后 期 法 律 概 念

    是 重 要 的 , 不 是 因 为 这 些 概 念 代 表 了 在 一 切 条 件 下 思 想 发 展

    的 必 然 结 果 , 而 是 因 为 它 们 对 现 代 世 界 的 智 力 素 质 起 了 十 分

    巨 大 的 影 响 。

    罗 马 法 尤 其 是 罗 马 “ 契 约 法 ” 以 各 种 思 想 方 式 、 推 理 方

    法 和 一 种 专 门 用 语 贡 献 给 各 种 各 样 的 科 学 , 这 确 是 最 令 人 惊

    奇 的 事 。 在 曾 经 促 进 现 代 人 的 智 力 欲 的 各 种 主 题 中 , 除 了

    “ 物 理 学 ” 外 , 没 有 一 门 科 学 没 有 经 过 罗 马 法 律 学 滤 过 的 。 纯

    粹 的 “ 形 而 上 学 ” 诚 然 是 来 自 希 腊 而 不 是 来 自 罗 马 的 , 但 是

    “ 政 治 学 ” 、 “ 道 德 哲 学 ” 甚 至 “ 神 学 ” 不 但 在 罗 马 法 中 找 到 了

    表 意 的 工 具 , 并 且 以 罗 马 法 为 其 最 深 奥 的 研 究 养 育 成 是 的 一

    个 卵 巢 。 为 了 要 说 明 这 种 现 象 , 并 没 有 绝 对 必 要 讨 论 文 字 和观 念 之 间 的 神 秘 关 系 , 或 是 说 明 人 类 的 心 神 如 何 从 来 没 有 能

    抓 住 任 何 思 想 主 题 , 除 非 它 在 事 前 就 具 有 适 当 丰 富 的 用 语 或

    能 掌 握 一 种 适 当 的 逻 辑 方 法 的 工 具 。 只 须 说 明 , 当 东 方 和 西

    方 世 界 的 哲 学 兴 趣 分 离 时 , 西 方 思 想 的 始 创 者 都 属 于 讲 拉 丁

    语 和 用 拉 丁 语 著 作 的 一 个 社 会 。 但 是 在 西 方 各 省 中 , 能 够 很

    精 确 地 用 来 研 究 哲 学 的 唯 一 语 言 是 罗 马 法 的 语 言 , 它 由 于 独

    特 的 机 会 , 几 乎 保 留 了 奥 古 斯 多 时 代 所 有 的 纯 洁 性 , 而 地 方

    拉 丁 则 正 在 退 化 为 怪 异 的 不 纯 正 的 一 种 方 言 。 如 果 罗 马 法 律

    学 提 供 了 语 言 上 唯 一 的 正 确 的 媒 介 , 更 重 要 的 , 是 它 同 时 提

    供 了 思 想 上 唯 一 的 正 确 、 精 密 深 邃 的 媒 介 。 因 为 哲 学 和 科 学

    在 西 方 不 能 立 足 , 至 少 有 三 个 世 纪 之 久 ; 并 且 虽 然 大 多 数 罗

    马 人 的 精 力 都 集 中 在 形 而 上 学 和 形 而 上 学 的 神 学 上 面 , 但 这

    些 热 情 的 研 究 中 所 用 的 语 法 完 全 是 希 腊 的 , 而 它 们 的 活 动 场

    所 是 帝 国 的 东 半 部 。 有 时 , 东 方 争 论 者 所 获 得 的 结 论 非 常 重

    要 , 以 致 不 论 是 同 意 或 是 不 同 意 这 些 结 论 的 人 都 必 须 把 它 们

    记 录 下 来 , 后 来 东 方 争 论 的 结 果 就 被 介 绍 到 西 方 来 , 对 于 这

    些 结 果 , 西 方 一 般 都 予 以 默 认 , 不 赞 许 亦 不 拒 绝 。 在 这 时 候 ,

    有 一 个 研 究 部 门 , 虽 是 最 勤 劳 的 人 也 感 到 困 难 , 最 精 细 的 人

    也 感 到 深 奥 , 最 精 巧 的 人 也 感 到 细 致 的 , 但 对 于 西 方 各 省 受

    过 教 育 的 阶 级 却 从 来 没 有 失 掉 过 它 的 吸 引 力 。 对 阿 非 利 加 、 西

    班 牙 、 高 卢 和 北 意 大 利 的 有 教 养 的 公 民 , 正 是 法 律 学 , 并 且

    也 只 有 法 律 学 , 代 替 了 诗 歌 和 历 史 、 哲 学 和 科 学 。 西 方 思 想

    在 其 最 早 的 对 于 明 显 的 法 律 面 貌 的 努 力 中 不 但 毫 无 一 些 神 秘

    之 处 , 并 且 , 如 果 我 们 以 为 它 会 有 其 他 任 何 色 彩 , 也 将 是 令

    人 惊 奇 的 。 我 所 认 为 可 怪 的 是 , 由 于 一 种 新 要 素 的 出 现 而 在西 方 和 东 方 观 念 之 间 、 西 方 和 东 方 神 学 之 间 引 起 的 区 别 , 竟

    然 很 少 人 注 意 。 正 是 由 于 法 律 学 的 影 响 开 始 变 得 非 常 有 力 , 才

    使 君 士 坦 丁 堡 的 建 立 和 后 来 的 西 罗 马 帝 国 从 东 罗 马 帝 国 分

    离 , 成 为 哲 学 史 中 的 两 个 新 纪 元 。 但 是 , 由 于 来 自 “ 罗 马 法

    律 ” 的 各 种 观 念 已 和 日 常 的 观 念 非 常 密 切 地 混 杂 在 一 起 , 大

    陆 思 想 家 无 疑 地 不 容 易 体 会 到 这 个 重 要 关 头 的 重 要 姓 。 另 一

    方 面 , 英 国 人 对 这 一 点 也 是 视 若 无 睹 的 , 这 是 由 于 他 们 对 于

    他 们 自 己 承 认 的 现 代 知 识 潮 流 的 最 丰 富 渊 源 和 罗 马 文 明 的 一

    个 智 慧 的 成 果 , 极 端 无 知 。 在 同 时 , 一 个 费 尽 心 力 熟 悉 古 典

    罗 马 法 的 英 国 人 , 由 于 其 本 国 人 对 这 主 题 向 来 极 少 兴 趣 , 对

    于 我 胆 敢 提 出 的 主 张 , 他 比 起 法 国 人 或 德 国 人 来 也 许 是 一 个

    更 好 的 鉴 定 家 。 任 何 一 个 知 道 罗 马 法 律 学 是 怎 样 一 回 事 的 人 ,

    知 道 确 实 由 罗 马 人 实 践 的 罗 马 法 律 学 的 人 , 并 且 要 观 察 最 古

    的 西 方 神 学 及 哲 学 在 那 些 特 点 上 不 同 于 它 们 之 前 的 思 想 状 态

    的 人 , 对 于 这 已 经 开 始 透 入 和 支 配 着 纯 理 论 的 新 要 素 究 竟 是

    什 么 , 都 可 以 有 资 格 加 以 说 明 。

    罗 马 法 中 对 其 他 研 究 主 题 有 最 广 泛 影 响 的 部 分 是 “ 债 ”

    法 , 或 是 接 近 于 “ 债 ” 法 的 部 分 , 即 “ 契 约 和 侵 权 ” 法 。 罗

    马 制 度 中 这 一 部 分 丰 富 的 术 语 , 它 所 能 用 以 履 行 的 职 能 , 罗

    马 人 本 身 并 不 是 不 知 道 的 , 这 从 他 们 把 这 个 特 别 形 容 词 准 字

    用 在 “ 准 契 约 ” 和 “ 准 侵 权 ” 等 名 词 中 , 就 可 以 得 到 证 明 。

    “ 准 ” 在 这 样 的 用 法 中 , 完 全 是 一 个 分 类 的 名 词 。 英 国 评 论 家

    常 认 为 “ 准 契 约 ” 就 是 默 约 , 但 这 是 错 误 的 , 因 为 默 约 是 真

    的 契 约 而 准 契 约 则 不 是 契 约 。 在 默 约 中 , 行 为 和 情 况 是 用 作

    为 某 些 要 素 的 象 征 , 这 些 要 素 在 明 约 中 是 用 文 字 来 象 征 的 ; 就合 意 的 理 论 而 论 , 一 个 人 所 用 的 究 竟 是 这 一 套 象 征 还 是 另 一

    套 象 征 , 是 毫 无 关 系 的 。 但 是 一 个 “ 准 契 约 ” 完 全 不 是 一 个

    契 约 。 这 类 准 契 约 中 最 普 通 的 例 子 , 象 一 个 人 误 以 金 钱 给 付

    另 一 个 人 因 而 在 这 两 人 之 间 存 在 的 关 系 。 法 律 为 了 顾 全 道 德

    上 的 利 益 , 使 受 领 人 负 有 偿 还 的 责 任 , 但 根 据 这 交 易 的 性 质 ,

    表 示 出 这 并 不 是 一 个 契 约 , 因 为 , 在 这 中 间 , 缺 乏 作 为 “ 契

    约 ” 最 重 要 要 素 的 “ 协 议 。 ” “ 准 ” 这 个 字 放 在 罗 马 法 的 一 个

    名 词 之 前 , 含 有 这 样 一 种 意 思 , 即 用 它 作 为 标 志 的 概 念 和 其

    原 来 的 概 念 之 间 , 在 比 较 上 有 着 一 种 强 有 力 的 表 面 类 比 或 相

    似 。 它 的 意 思 并 不 是 说 , 这 两 种 概 念 是 同 样 的 , 或 是 属 于 同

    一 种 类 的 。 相 反 地 , 它 否 定 了 在 它 们 之 间 存 在 着 同 一 性 的 观

    念 ; 但 是 它 指 出 它 们 有 充 分 的 相 似 之 处 , 可 以 把 其 中 之 一 归

    类 为 另 一 个 的 连 续 , 以 及 从 法 律 的 一 个 部 门 中 取 来 的 用 语 可

    以 移 用 到 法 律 的 另 外 一 个 部 门 , 并 加 以 应 用 , 而 不 致 对 规 定

    的 说 明 有 强 烈 的 歪 曲 , 而 这 些 规 定 在 另 一 种 情 况 下 是 很 难 完

    善 地 加 以 说 明 的 。

    有 人 这 样 乖 巧 地 提 出 , “ 默 约 ” 是 真 正 的 契 约 , “ 准 契

    约 ” 完 全 不 是 契 约 , 在 这 两 者 之 间 所 存 在 的 混 淆 不 清 , 和 把

    政 治 上 的 权 利 和 义 务 归 因 于 被 统 治 者 和 统 治 者 之 间 的 一 个

    “ 原 始 契 约 ” ( O r i g i n a l   C o m p a c t )   的 这 个 著 名 错 误 , 有 很

    多 共 同 之 点 。 早 在 这 理 论 获 得 定 形 之 前 , 罗 马 契 约 法 的 用 语

    大 部 分 用 来 描 写 人 类 所 常 常 设 想 的 存 在 于 君 主 和 臣 民 之 间 的

    权 利 和 义 务 上 的 相 互 关 系 。 当 世 界 上 充 满 了 各 式 各 样 的 格 言 ,

    极 端 断 然 地 提 出 国 王 的 主 张 应 该 绝 对 服 从 , — — 这 些 格 言 佯

    称 来 自 “ 新 约 全 书 ” , 而 实 际 上 却 是 来 自 凯 撒 暴 政 的 难 忘 回 忆— — 如 果 罗 马 “ 债 ” 法 没 有 提 供 一 种 言 语 , 能 隐 约 表 示 当 时

    还 没 有 完 全 发 展 的 一 种 观 念 , 则 被 统 治 者 应 该 享 有 相 关 权 利

    的 思 想 , 将 完 全 没 有 表 达 的 可 能 。 我 认 为 国 王 的 特 权 和 国 王

    对 其 臣 民 的 义 务 两 者 之 间 的 互 不 相 容 , 自 从 西 方 历 史 开 始 以

    来 是 从 来 没 有 忘 却 过 的 , 但 在 封 建 制 度 继 续 盛 行 之 际 , 除 了

    纯 理 论 著 作 家 外 , 这 是 绝 少 为 人 所 注 意 的 , 因 为 封 建 制 度 通

    过 明 白 的 习 惯 有 效 地 控 制 着 欧 洲 多 数 君 主 , 使 不 能 有 过 分 的

    理 论 上 的 权 利 。 但 是 当 封 建 制 度 衰 亡 、 中 世 纪 的 组 织 脱 出 工

    作 常 规 、 以 及 宗 教 改 革 使 教 皇 的 权 威 不 复 为 人 所 信 任 时 , 国

    王 有 神 权 的 学 理 就 显 著 地 立 即 提 高 到 它 以 前 从 来 没 有 达 到 过

    的 重 要 地 位 。 它 所 获 得 的 声 价 必 须 常 常 求 助 于 罗 马 法 的 用 语 ,

    而 原 来 带 有 神 学 面 貌 的 一 科 争 论 逐 渐 一 天 天 地 取 得 了 一 种 法

    律 争 辩 的 色 彩 。 于 是 出 现 了 一 种 曾 在 意 见 史 中 不 断 重 复 出 现

    的 现 象 。 正 当 君 主 权 主 张 逐 渐 发 展 而 成 为 菲 尔 美 的 学 理 时 , 从

    “ 契 约 法 ” 中 借 用 来 的 原 来 作 为 保 护 臣 民 权 利 的 用 语 竟 成 为 国

    王 和 人 民 间 一 个 现 实 的 原 始 契 约 的 学 说 , 这 一 个 学 说 首 先 在

    英 国 人 手 中 , 后 来 、 特 别 是 在 法 国 人 手 中 发 展 成 为 社 会 和 法

    律 一 切 现 象 的 一 种 广 博 的 解 释 。 但 是 政 治 学 和 法 律 学 之 间 仅

    有 的 真 正 的 联 系 , 是 在 后 者 把 其 独 特 地 有 可 塑 性 的 术 语 的 好

    处 给 与 了 前 者 。 罗 马 “ 契 约 ” 法 律 学 对 君 主 和 臣 民 关 系 上 所

    作 出 的 贡 献 , 正 和 在 一 个 比 较 狭 小 范 围 内 、 它 对 于 为 一 个

    “ 准 契 约 ” 责 任 拘 束 在 一 起 的 人 们 的 关 系 上 所 作 出 的 贡 献 完 全

    相 同 。 罗 马 “ 契 约 ” 法 律 学 提 供 了 一 套 文 字 和 成 语 , 充 分 正

    确 地 接 近 当 时 对 于 政 治 责 任 问 题 所 具 有 的 各 种 观 念 。 一 个

    “ 原 始 契 约 ” 学 理 所 处 的 地 位 , 从 未 能 高 过 怀 威 尔 博 士 (W h e w e l l ) 所 提 出 的 , 他 的 意 见 是 : 这 个 学 理 虽 然 是 不 够 健 全

    的 , 但 “ 它 可 能 是 表 示 道 德 真 理 的 一 种 ·

    方 ·

    便 ·

    的 形 式 ” 。

    在 “ 原 始 契 约 ” 发 明 之 前 把 法 律 用 语 广 泛 应 用 于 政 治 主

    题 上 以 及 “ 原 始 契 约 ” 这 个 假 定 在 后 来 所 发 生 的 有 力 影 响 , 充

    分 说 明 了 在 政 治 学 中 有 着 大 量 的 为 罗 马 法 律 学 所 独 特 创 造 的

    文 字 和 概 念 。 它 们 也 大 量 地 存 在 “ 道 德 哲 学 ” 中 , 这 可 能 有

    不 同 的 解 释 , 这 是 由 于 罗 马 法 比 政 治 理 论 受 到 伦 理 著 作 更 直

    接 的 贡 献 , 而 这 些 伦 理 著 作 的 著 者 也 更 加 自 觉 到 他 们 责 任 的

    范 围 。 在 谈 到 道 德 哲 学 特 别 应 该 归 功 于 罗 马 法 律 家 时 , 我 所

    指 的 应 该 是 未 经 康 德 ( K a n t ) 中 断 其 历 史 以 前 的 道 德 哲 学 , 即

    研 究 人 类 行 为 规 则 的 一 种 科 学 , 适 当 地 解 释 这 些 规 则 的 科 学 ,

    以 及 这 些 规 则 应 受 的 限 制 的 科 学 。 在 “ 批 判 哲 学 ” ( C r i t i c a l  P h i l o s o p h y ) 兴 起 后 , 道 德 学 的 旧 有 意 义 几 乎 完 全 丧 失 , 除 了由 罗 马 天 主 教 神 学 者 仍 旧 研 究 的 诡 辩 学 中 用 一 种 降 格 的 形 式

    保 留 着 之 外 , 道 德 学 似 乎 已 普 遍 被 认 为 只 是 本 体 论 研 究 ( o n At o l o g i c a l   i n q u i r y ) 的 一 个 部 门 了 。 除 怀 威 尔 博 士 一 人 外 , 我

    在 当 时 的 英 国 著 者 中 找 不 到 一 个 人 , 他 把 道 德 哲 学 理 解 为 在

    它 被 形 而 上 学 所 吸 收 之 前 以 及 在 它 的 规 定 的 基 础 变 成 为 比 其

    规 定 本 身 更 为 重 要 的 问 题 之 前 , 为 人 们 所 理 解 的 那 样 。 可 是 ,

    只 要 伦 理 科 学 涉 及 行 为 的 实 际 统 治 时 , 它 就 多 少 受 到 罗 马 法

    的 浸 润 。 象 现 代 思 想 中 一 切 巨 大 主 题 一 样 , 它 是 原 来 合 并 在

    神 学 中 的 。 最 初 曾 经 被 称 为 、 以 及 现 在 仍 为 罗 马 天 主 教 神 学

    者 称 为 “ 道 德 神 学 ” 的 科 学 , 无 疑 地 是 在 著 者 明 知 之 下 采 用

    了 教 会 制 度 中 的 行 为 原 则 而 构 成 的 , 并 且 是 用 了 法 律 学 中 的

    用 语 和 方 法 为 其 表 现 和 扩 张 的 。 在 这 个 过 程 继 续 进 行 的 中 间 ,法 律 学 虽 然 只 是 准 备 成 为 发 表 思 想 的 工 具 , 但 它 不 可 避 免 地

    会 把 它 的 特 色 传 给 思 想 本 身 。 由 于 和 法 律 概 念 相 接 触 而 感 染

    到 的 特 点 , 在 现 代 世 界 最 早 的 伦 理 文 献 中 完 全 可 以 看 到 , 我

    以 为 这 是 很 明 显 的 , 以 权 利 和 义 务 完 全 的 相 互 关 系 和 不 可 分

    解 的 关 系 为 基 础 的 “ 契 约 法 ” 曾 被 用 为 矫 正 著 者 们 某 种 倾 向

    的 东 西 , 因 为 这 些 著 者 如 果 听 其 自 然 , 就 有 可 能 把 一 个 道 德

    责 任 完 全 看 做 “ 神 国 ” ( C i v i t a s   D e i ) 中 一 个 公 民 的 公 共 义 务 。

    但 是 当 伟 大 的 西 班 牙 道 德 学 家 们 研 究 道 德 神 学 时 , 罗 马 法 在

    道 德 神 学 中 的 分 量 已 显 著 减 少 。 用 博 士 评 论 博 士 的 法 学 方 法

    发 展 起 来 的 道 德 神 学 有 它 自 己 的 一 套 用 语 , 而 亚 里 士 多 德 的

    推 理 和 表 现 的 特 征 , 由 于 大 部 分 无 疑 地 是 吸 收 自 学 院 派 的

    “ 道 德 论 ” ( D i s p u t a t i o n s   o n   M o r a l s ) 的 , 便 代 替 了 凡 是 精通 罗 马 法 的 人 决 不 会 误 会 的 那 种 特 殊 的 思 想 方 式 和 言 语 形

    式 。 如 果 道 德 神 学 家 的 西 班 牙 学 派 的 势 力 继 续 着 , 则 伦 理 学

    中 的 法 律 要 素 就 有 可 能 成 为 完 全 不 重 要 , 但 是 下 一 代 研 究 这些 主 题 的 罗 马 天 主 教 著 者 在 应 用 他 们 的 结 论 时 , 几 乎 把 他 们的 影 响 完 全 加 以 毁 灭 。 道 德 神 学 降 格 成 为 诡 辩 学 , 不 再 为 欧洲 纯 理 论 的 领 袖 们 感 到 兴 趣 ; 完 全 操 在 基 督 新 教 徒 手 中的新的 道 德 哲 学 , 大 大 超 出 了 过 去 道 德 神 学 家 的 成 就 。 其 结 果 是使 罗 马 法 对 伦 理 研 究 的 影 响 为 之 大 大 增 加 。

    在 “ 宗 教 改 革 ” 之 后 不 久 , 我 们 发 现 有 两 大 思 想 学 派 在这 一 个 主 题 上 划 分 开 来 。 这 两 大 学 派 中 最 有 势 力 的 一 派 最 初我 们 称 之 为 诡 辩 学 派 , 他 们 都 是 些 和 罗 马 天 主 教 会 有 神 交 的人 , 并 且 他 们 几 乎 都 是 分 属 于 这 一 个 或 另 一 个 宗 教 教 团 的 。 在另 一 方 面 , 则 有 另 外 一 批 著 者 , 他 们 是 以 在 学 识 上 共 同 来 自“ 战 争 与 和 平 法 规 论 ” 的 伟 大 著 者 嚣 俄 · 格 罗 修 斯 而 相 互 结 合在 一 起 的 。 几 乎 所 有 的 后 一 派 人 都 是 “ 宗 教 改 革 ” 的 信 徒 , 虽然 不 能 说 他 们 是 正 式 地 、 公 开 地 和 诡 辩 学 派 发 生 冲 突 , 但 他们 体 系 的 起 源 和 目 的 显 然 是 和 诡 辩 学 派 有 着 本 质 上 的 不 同的 。 这 个 区 别 有 必 要 加 以 重 视 , 因 为 它 涉 及 到 罗 马 法 和 对 这两 个 体 系 都 有 关 系 的 那 个 思 想 部 门 的 影 响 问 题 。 格 罗 修 斯 的著 作 虽 然 在 每 一 页 中 都 接 触 到 纯 粹 “ 伦 理 学 ” 的 各 个 问 题 , 并且 虽 然 它 是 无 数 有 关 形 式 道 德 学 的 书 籍 的 近 的 或 远 的 根 源 ,但 众 所 周 知 , 它 不 是 “ 道 德 哲 学 ” 的 一 本 专 著 : 它 是 决 定

    “ 自 然 法 ” 的 一 个 尝 试 。 现 在 , 无 须 研 究 这 个 问 题 , 即 一 个

    “ 自 然 法 ” 的 概 念 是 否 罗 马 法 学 专 家 的 一 种 独 有 创 造 , 我 们 可

    以 断 言 , 甚 至 格 罗 修 斯 本 人 也 承 认 罗 马 法 律 学 的 格 言 说 , 有

    些 已 知 的 现 实 法 应 该 认 为 是 “ 自 然 法 ” 的 一 部 分 , 这 个 格 言

    纵 使 不 是 毫 无 错 误 , 仍 应 该 受 到 极 端 的 尊 敬 而 加 以 接 受 的 。 因

    此 , 格 罗 修 斯 体 系 在 其 基 础 上 就 是 和 罗 马 法 牵 涉 在 一 起 的 , 而

    这 种 关 系 就 不 可 避 免 地 使 他 — — 这 是 著 者 所 受 法 律 训 练 的 必

    然 结 果 — — 在 每 一 章 节 中 自 由 地 应 用 着 罗 马 法 中 专 门 术 语 ,

    以 及 各 种 推 理 、 定 义 和 例 证 的 方 式 , 而 这 些 辩 论 的 意 义 , 特

    别 是 辩 论 的 说 服 力 , 有 时 是 被 隐 藏 着 的 , 是 不 熟 悉 于 它 们 来

    源 的 读 者 所 不 知 道 的 。 在 另 一 方 面 , 诡 辩 学 很 少 借 用 罗 马 法 ,

    而 其 所 主 张 的 道 德 观 念 和 格 罗 修 斯 所 断 言 的 全 不 相 同 。 在 诡

    辩 学 的 名 称 下 成 为 著 名 的 或 是 不 名 誉 的 有 关 是 和 非 的 哲 学 ,

    它 的 渊 源 来 自 “ 不 可 赦 之 罪 ” 和 “ 可 赦 之 罪 ” ( M o r t a l   a n d V e n i a l sin) 间 的 区 分 。 迫 使 诡 辩 哲 学 的 著 者 发 明 一 套 精 密的 规 范 体 系 , 以 便 在 尽 量 把 不 道 德 行 为 从 不 可 赦 犯 罪 的 范 畴中 移 出 来 , 并 把 它 们 定 为 可 赦 之 罪 , 其 动 机 之 一 是 出 于 一 种自 然 的 渴 望 , 想 要 避 免 把 一 种 特 定 行 为 定 为 不 可 赦 罪 的 可 怕后 果 , 另 一 种 动 机 是 出 于 一 种 同 样 地 可 以 体 会 的 愿 望 , 就 是

    为 天 主 教 会 解 除 一 种 不 便 的 理 论 , 来 帮 助 罗 马 天 主 教 会 在 和

    基 督 新 教 进 行 的 冲 突 中 取 得 胜 利 。 这 种 试 验 的 命 运 , 应 属 于

    普 通 史 的 范 围 。 我 们 知 道 , 诡 辩 学 派 使 僧 侣 辈 有 权 对 各 色 人

    等 的 性 格 加 以 精 神 上 的 约 束 , 这 样 也 就 使 它 对 诸 侯 、 政 治 家

    和 将 军 们 有 着 “ 宗 教 改 革 ” 时 代 以 前 所 从 未 听 到 过 的 一 种 影

    响 , 并 且 也 真 的 对 基 督 新 教 初 步 成 就 发 生 遏 制 和 缩 小 作 用 的

    那 个 巨 大 反 动 作 出 了 重 大 贡 献 。 但 在 其 开 始 的 企 图 中 , 它 不

    是 在 建 立 而 是 在 规 避 , — — 不 是 在 发 现 一 条 原 则 而 是 在 逃 避

    一 个 假 定 — — 不 是 在 确 定 是 和 非 的 性 质 而 是 在 行 为 的 决 定 在

    一 个 特 殊 性 质 中 哪 些 是 不 错 的 , — — 诡 辩 学 就 是 这 样 用 了 它

    的 巧 妙 的 高 论 继 续 发 展 下 去 , 直 到 它 最 后 过 分 地 削 弱 行 为 的

    道 德 特 征 , 过 分 地 诽 谤 了 我 们 人 类 的 道 德 本 能 , 以 致 最 后 人

    类 的 良 心 突 然 起 来 反 抗 它 , 并 把 这 体 系 和 其 博 士 们 埋 葬 在 一

    个 共 同 的 废 墟 中 。 在 长 期 不 断 的 打 击 中 , 最 后 的 一 击 来 自 巴斯 噶 ( P a s c a l ) 的 “ 书 翰 集 ” ( P r o v i n c i a l   L e t t e r s ) , 在 这 些可 纪 念 的 “ 文 件 ” 出 现 后 , 就 没 有 一 个 即 使 影 响 最 小 、 声 望最 微 的 道 德 学 家 敢 于 公 开 踏 着 诡 辩 学 家 的 足 迹 前 进 。 这 样 一来 , 全 部 伦 理 学 的 领 域 便 完 全 留 归 追 随 格 罗 修 斯 的 著 者 们 控

    制 了 ; 它 在 很 大 程 度 上 仍 表 现 出 和 罗 马 法 纠 缠 在 一 起 的 迹 象 ,这 有 时 被 认 为 是 对 格 罗 修 斯 理 论 的 一 种 过 失 , 但 有 时 则 被 认

    为 是 对 它 的 最 高 贡 献 。 自 从 格 罗 修 斯 时 代 以 来 , 许 多 研 究 者

    已 变 更 了 他 的 原 则 , 并 且 在 “ 批 判 哲 学 ” 兴 起 以 后 , 当 然 有许 多 人 已 完 全 抛 弃 了 他 的 原 则 ; 但 即 使 是 那 些 远 离 其 基 本 假

    设 的 人 们 , 也 继 承 了 很 多 他 的 陈 述 方 法 、 他 的 思 思 路 线 以 及

    他 的 例 证 方 式 ; 而 对 于 不 懂 罗 马 法 律 学 的 人 , 这 些 是 绝 少 意

    义 并 且 也 是 绝 无 妙 处 的 。(以上部分是 作 者 在 1 8 5 6 年 投 寄 “ 剑 桥 论丛 ” 的 一 篇 论 文 , 转 录 时 曾 略 加 修 改 )

    我 已 经 说 过 , 在 自 然 科 学 之 外 , 没 有 一 门 知 识 会 象 形 而

    上 学 那 样 受 罗 马 法 的 影 响 如 此 之 少 的 。 因 为 , 有 关 形 而 上 学

    主 题 的 讨 论 始 终 是 用 希 腊 文 进 行 的 , 最 初 是 用 纯 粹 希 腊 文 , 后

    来 是 用 特 意 用 来 表 现 希 腊 概 念 的 拉 丁 方 言 。 现 代 语 言 只 有 在

    采 用 拉 丁 方 言 或 在 模 仿 了 原 来 在 其 结 构 上 所 用 的 程 序 之 后 ,

    才 能 适 合 于 形 而 上 学 的 研 究 。 现 代 形 而 上 学 论 文 中 所 常 用 的

    用 语 , 其 来 源 是 亚 里 士 多 德 的 拉 丁 译 文 , 其 中 , 不 论 是 否 来

    自 阿 拉 伯 译 文 , 翻 译 者 的 计 划 并 不 是 要 从 任 何 部 分 的 拉 丁 文

    献 中 找 寻 类 似 的 言 语 , 而 是 要 从 拉 丁 字 根 上 重 新 创 造 一 套 相

    当 于 希 腊 哲 学 观 念 辞 句 的 成 语 。 在 这 样 一 个 过 程 中 , 罗 马 法

    的 用 语 可 能 仅 仅 发 生 绝 少 的 影 响 ; 至 多 , 也 只 有 少 数 变 形 的

    拉 丁 法 律 名 词 进 入 形 而 上 学 的 言 语 中 。 同 时 , 必 须 注 意 , 当

    有 些 形 而 上 学 的 问 题 成 为 西 欧 最 激 烈 的 问 题 时 , 在 其 思 想 中 ,

    如 果 不 是 在 言 语 中 , 一 定 泄 露 出 来 一 种 法 律 的 本 源 。 在 纯 理

    论 史 中 , 很 少 事 物 有 比 下 列 事 实 给 人 以 更 深 的 印 象 , 即 凡 是

    用 希 腊 语 言 的 人 民 从 来 没 有 严 重 地 感 觉 到 为 “ 自 由 意 志 ” 和

    “ 必 然 性 ” 的 大 问 题 所 困 扰 过 。 我 不 想 对 这 一 点 作 出 任 何 概 括

    的 解 释 , 但 这 样 说 明 似 乎 并 不 是 离 题 太 远 的 , 即 不 论 是 希 腊

    人 或 是 用 希 腊 语 讲 话 和 思 想 的 任 何 一 个 社 会 , 都 没 有 显 示 出

    来 有 产 生 一 种 法 律 哲 学 的 最 小 的 能 力 。 法 律 科 学 是 罗 马 人 的

    一 种 创 造 , “ 自 由 意 志 ” 的 问 题 是 当 我 们 在 一 个 法 律 观 点 下 研

    究 一 个 形 而 上 学 的 概 念 时 发 生 的 。 为 什 么 会 发 生 这 样 的 问 题 :

    不 变 的 顺 序 是 否 和 必 要 的 联 系 相 一 致 ? 我 只 能 说 , 罗 马 法 的

    随 着 它 的 发 展 而 日 益 增 强 的 趋 势 , 是 认 为 法 律 后 果 是 通 过 一

    种 坚 决 的 必 然 性 而 和 法 律 原 因 相 结 合 着 的 , 这 一 种 趋 势 在 我

    反 复 引 用 过 的 如 下 的 “ 债 ” 的 定 义 中 得 到 最 明 显 的 证 明 : “ 应

    负 担 履 行 的 义 务 的 法 锁 ” 。

    但 是 “ 自 由 意 志 ” 问 题 在 它 成 为 哲 学 问 题 之 前 , 是 一 个

    神 学 上 的 问 题 , 如 果 它 的 名 词 曾 受 到 法 律 学 的 影 响 , 这 是 由

    于 法 律 学 早 已 渗 入 了 神 学 的 缘 故 。 这 里 所 要 提 出 并 加 以 研 究

    的 大 问 题 过 去 从 来 没 有 被 满 意 地 阐 述 过 。 我 们 必 须 决 定 的 是 :

    法 律 学 究 竟 有 没 有 被 用 来 作 为 通 过 它 而 观 察 神 学 上 各 项 原 则

    的 媒 介 ; 它 究 竟 有 没 有 提 供 一 种 特 殊 的 言 语 , 一 种 特 殊 的 推

    理 方 式 , 以 及 解 决 许 多 生 活 问 题 的 特 殊 方 法 从 而 开 辟 新 的 通

    道 , 使 神 学 上 的 纯 理 论 通 过 它 顺 流 而 下 并 得 到 扩 展 。 为 了 要

    得 到 一 个 答 案 , 有 必 要 回 忆 一 下 关 于 神 学 最 初 吸 收 的 理 智 粮

    食 最 著 名 的 著 者 们 已 经 一 致 同 意 的 究 竟 是 什 么 。 各 方 面 都 一

    致 同 意 , 基 督 教 会 最 古 的 语 言 是 希 腊 语 , 而 它 最 初 所 从 事 的

    各 种 问 题 是 那 些 希 腊 哲 学 在 其 后 期 形 式 中 为 它 们 开 辟 了 道 路

    的 问 题 。 人 类 从 中 获 得 从 事 于 深 奥 争 论 , 如 有 关 “ 神 人 ” 、

    “ 神 质 ” 和 “ 神 性 ” ( t h e   D i v i n e   P e r s o n s , t h e   D i v i n e   S u b As t a n c e , a n d   t h e   D i v i n e   N a t u r e s ) 等 等 问 题 的 手 段 的 唯 一的 文 字 和 观 念 的 宝 库 , 是 希 腊 形 而 上 学 文 献 。 拉 丁 语 以 及 贫乏 的 拉 丁 哲 学 是 不 足 以 胜 任 的 , 因 此 , 帝 国 中 西 方 或 操 拉 丁

    语 的 各 省 对 于 东 方 的 结 论 , 就 毫 无 争 议 或 不 加 审 查 而 采 用 了 。

    弥 尔 曼 教 长 ( D e a n   M i l m a n ) 说 : “ 拉 丁 基 督 教 接 受 了 拉 丁 的

    狭 隘 肤 浅 的 语 彙 所 无 法 用 适 当 名 词 加 以 表 示 的 信 条 。 但 是 , 自

    始 至 终 , 罗 马 和 西 方 之 间 的 紧 密 粘 固 , 是 对 于 东 方 神 学 者 较

    深 奥 的 神 学 所 精 制 出 来 的 教 条 制 度 的 一 种 被 动 的 默 从 , 并 不

    是 它 自 己 对 那 些 神 秘 事 物 加 以 有 力 的 和 有 创 造 性 的 研 究 的 结

    果 。 拉 丁 教 会 是 阿 塔 纳 细 阿 ( A t h a n a s i u s ) 的 弟 子 , 同 时 也 是

    他 的 忠 实 信 徒 ” 。 但 是 , 当 东 方 和 西 方 的 分 离 一 天 天 地 扩 大 ,

    操 拉 丁 语 的 西 罗 马 帝 国 开 始 生 活 在 其 自 己 的 精 神 生 活 中 时 ,

    它 对 东 方 的 谦 逊 突 然 为 东 方 理 论 所 完 全 不 熟 悉 的 许 多 问 题 的

    议 论 所 代 替 。 “ 当 希 腊 神 学 〔 弥 尔 曼 : ‘ 拉 丁 基 督 教 ’ ( L a t i n C h r i s t i a n i t y ) 序 , 第 5 页 ] 用 更 精 致 的 技 巧 来 为 ‘ 神 格 ’ ( G o d Ah e a d ) 和 基 督 的 性 质 下 定 义 时 ” — — “ 当 无 休 止 的 争 辩 仍 旧 不

    断 地 延 续 , 并 从 这 陷 于 衰 弱 的 社 会 中 一 个 宗 派 跟 着 一 个 宗 派

    传 布 出 来 时 ” — — 西 方 教 会 以 非 常 的 热 诚 投 身 于 一 类 新 的 辩

    论 中 , 这 种 辩 论 , 从 那 时 候 起 一 直 到 现 在 , 是 包 括 在 拉 丁 教

    会 中 的 任 何 时 候 的 任 何 人 类 所 从 来 没 有 失 去 过 兴 趣 的 。 “ 罪

    过 ” ( S i n ) 的 性 质 和 它 的 可 以 由 继 承 而 转 让 — — 人 所 欠 的 债 务以 及 其 代 替 的 偿 还 — — “ 赎 罪 ” ( A t o n e m e n t ) 的 必 要 和 能 力— — 最 重 要 的 是 “ 自 由 意 志 ” 和 “ 神 意 ” ( D i v i n e P r o v i d e n c e ) 之 间 的 显 然 互 不 相 容 — — , 这 些 是 西 方 开 始 进 行

    辩 论 的 问 题 , 并 且 辩 论 时 象 东 方 在 讨 论 其 比 较 特 殊 的 信 条 的

    条 款 时 同 样 的 热 烈 。 然 则 , 在 这 个 把 希 腊 语 各 省 从 拉 丁 语 各

    省 分 离 开 来 的 分 界 线 的 两 边 , 为 什 么 竟 会 存 在 这 样 显 著 不 同的 两 类 神 学 上 问 题 ? 教 会 历 史 家 说 过 , 新 的 问 题 比 曾 把 东 方

    基 督 教 扯 得 粉 碎 的 那 些 问 题 更 多 “ 实 际 ” , 更 少 绝 对 理 论 , 他

    们 的 这 种 解 释 , 虽 已 接 近 答 案 , 但 就 我 所 注 意 到 的 , 他 们 中

    实 在 没 有 一 个 人 完 全 达 到 了 全 部 答 案 。 我 敢 毫 不 踌 躇 地 断 言 ,

    这 两 个 神 学 体 系 间 的 不 同 , 主 要 是 由 于 这 样 一 个 事 实 , 就 是

    神 学 理 论 由 东 方 传 到 西 方 时 , 它 是 由 希 腊 的 形 而 上 学 的 气 氛

    移 转 到 罗 马 法 的 气 氛 中 。 在 这 些 争 辩 成 为 有 压 倒 重 要 性 以 前

    的 几 个 世 纪 中 , 西 方 罗 马 人 的 一 切 智 力 活 动 都 完 全 花 费 在 法

    律 学 上 。 他 们 都 忙 于 把 一 套 特 殊 的 原 则 适 用 于 生 活 情 况 可 被

    安 排 的 一 切 结 合 中 。 没 有 任 何 外 来 的 工 作 或 风 尚 曾 把 他 们 的

    注 意 力 从 这 全 神 贯 注 的 事 情 上 转 移 开 来 , 并 且 为 了 继 续 这 样

    做 , 他 们 有 一 个 丰 富 而 精 确 的 词 汇 , 一 个 严 格 的 推 理 方 法 , 一

    批 多 少 已 为 经 验 所 证 实 的 有 关 行 动 的 通 则 , 和 一 个 严 正 的 道

    德 哲 学 。 因 此 他 们 也 就 不 可 能 不 从 基 督 教 记 录 的 各 项 问 题 中

    选 择 那 些 接 近 于 他 们 习 惯 的 纯 理 论 制 度 的 问 题 , 他 们 处 理 这

    些 问 题 的 态 度 也 就 不 可 能 不 来 自 他 们 的 法 庭 的 习 惯 。 几 乎 每

    一 个 对 罗 马 法 有 足 够 知 识 的 人 , 能 够 理 解 罗 马 刑 法 制 度 , 罗

    马 人 由 “ 契 约 或 侵 权 ” 创 设 的 债 的 理 论 , 罗 马 人 对 于 “ 债

    务 ” 以 及 对 于 “ 债 务 ” 产 生 、 消 灭 和 移 转 的 方 式 的 见 解 , 罗

    马 人 对 于 通 过 “ 概 括 继 承 ” 而 个 人 继 续 生 存 的 观 念 的 人 , 都

    可 以 说 明 : 西 方 科 学 问 题 经 证 明 对 它 非 常 意 气 相 投 的 心 境 是

    来 自 什 么 地 方 的 , 用 以 说 明 这 些 问 题 的 用 语 是 来 自 什 么 地 方

    的 , 以 及 应 用 于 其 解 决 中 的 推 理 方 法 又 是 来 自 什 么 地 方 的 。 必

    须 回 忆 一 下 , 这 逐 渐 渗 入 西 方 思 想 中 的 罗 马 法 既 不 是 古 城 市

    的 古 制 度 , 也 不 是 “ 拜 占 廷 皇 帝 ” 的 经 过 删 改 的 法 律 学 ; 当然 , 更 不 是 几 乎 埋 没 于 以 “ 现 代 民 法 ” 名 义 通 行 于 世 的 现 代

    纯 理 论 学 理 的 象 寄 生 物 那 样 的 过 度 发 展 中 的 大 量 规 则 。 我 所

    谈 的 , 只 是 指 由 安 托 宁 时 代 伟 大 法 律 思 想 家 所 研 究 出 来 的 、 部

    分 地 由 查 斯 丁 尼 安 的 “ 法 学 汇 纂 ” 加 以 转 载 的 法 律 哲 学 , 这

    个 体 系 很 少 缺 点 , 除 了 它 所 要 达 到 的 高 度 的 优 雅 、 明 确 和 精

    审 , 已 超 过 了 人 类 事 务 所 许 可 以 及 人 类 法 律 所 能 限 制 的 范 围 。

    许 多 英 国 著 名 的 和 有 信 誉 的 著 者 , 由 于 对 罗 马 法 的 无 知

    ( 这 是 英 国 人 不 得 不 立 即 承 认 , 但 有 时 不 以 为 耻 , 反 以 自 夸

    的 ) , 对 罗 马 帝 国 时 期 内 人 类 智 力 状 态 提 出 了 最 不 足 取 的 奇

    论 。 他 们 常 常 这 样 主 张 , 并 且 是 毫 不 踌 躇 地 、 好 象 在 提 出 这

    命 题 时 毫 不 卤 莽 似 的 , 认 为 从 奥 古 斯 多 时 代 终 了 的 时 候 起 一

    直 到 一 般 对 于 基 督 信 仰 开 始 发 生 兴 味 时 , 文 明 世 界 的 心 力 遭

    受 到 瘫 痪 症 的 猛 烈 侵 染 。 这 时 有 两 个 思 想 主 题 , — — 也 许 是

    除 了 自 然 科 学 之 外 仅 有 的 两 个 — — 可 以 供 人 们 所 具 有 的 一 切

    能 力 作 专 心 致 志 的 研 究 。 其 中 之 一 是 形 而 上 学 的 研 究 , 这 只

    要 人 愿 意 继 续 钻 研 是 没 有 限 制 的 ; 另 一 个 是 法 律 , 这 是 和 人

    类 的 事 务 同 样 地 广 大 的 。 恰 巧 在 上 述 的 时 期 中 , 操 希 腊 语 的

    名 省 专 心 从 事 于 其 一 , 而 操 拉 丁 语 的 各 省 又 专 心 于 另 一 种 问

    题 。 我 不 想 谈 亚 历 山 大 城 和 东 方 在 纯 理 论 研 究 方 面 的 成 果 ) 但

    我 大 胆 地 断 言 , 在 罗 马 和 西 方 的 手 中 有 一 件 工 作 , 足 以 补 偿

    在 其 他 智 力 上 的 欠 缺 , 并 且 我 要 附 带 说 明 一 句 , 他 们 所 获 得

    的 结 果 , 就 我 们 所 知 而 论 , 对 于 他 们 所 花 费 的 坚 毅 的 专 门 的

    劳 力 , 并 不 是 不 值 得 的 。 除 了 一 个 职 业 法 律 家 外 , 也 许 没 有

    人 能 完 全 了 解 “ 法 律 ” 能 吸 收 个 人 的 多 少 精 力 , 但 是 一 个 普

    通 人 也 不 难 理 解 为 什 么 罗 马 集 体 智 力 的 一 个 不 平 常 部 分 会 被法 律 学 所 独 占 。 “ 一 个 特 定 社 会 的 精 通 法 律 学 , 它 所 依 靠 的 条

    件 , 和 它 在 任 何 其 他 种 类 研 究 中 所 依 靠 的 条 件 终 久 是 完 全 相

    同 的 ; 而 条 件 中 最 主 要 的 是 全 国 智 力 花 费 的 比 例 , 以 及 时 间

    的 长 短 。 当 促 使 一 种 科 学 前 进 和 完 善 的 一 切 直 接 的 和 间 接 的

    原 因 结 合 在 一 起 时 , 这 种 结 合 在 从 ‘ 十 二 铜 表 法 ’ 到 两 个 帝

    国 分 裂 时 候 为 止 的 这 个 长 时 期 内 继 续 对 罗 马 的 法 律 学 发 生 作

    角 , — — 并 不 是 不 规 则 的 和 间 断 的 , 而 是 力 量 继 续 不 断 地 增

    长 , 数 量 继 续 不 断 地 增 加 的 。 我 们 可 以 看 到 , 一 个 年 轻 国 家

    最 早 的 智 力 活 动 是 研 究 它 的 法 律 。 一 当 人 们 的 智 力 第 一 次 有

    意 识 地 努 力 要 作 出 概 括 时 , 首 先 包 括 在 一 般 通 则 和 包 含 丰 富

    的 公 式 中 的 是 日 常 生 活 中 的 事 务 。 年 轻 共 和 国 集 中 一 切 精 力

    专 心 从 事 法 学 研 究 的 声 势 , 在 开 始 时 是 毫 无 限 制 的 ; 但 不 久

    就 终 止 了 。 智 力 不 再 为 法 律 所 垄 断 。 早 晨 集 合 在 伟 大 罗 马 法

    学 专 家 那 里 的 听 众 减 少 了 。 英 国 ‘ 法 学 院 ’ 的 学 生 数 从 几 千

    人 减 少 到 了 几 百 人 。 艺 术 、 文 学 、 科 学 和 政 治 在 全 国 的 知 识

    界 取 得 了 它 们 的 分 额 ; 而 法 律 学 的 实 践 则 限 制 于 一 个 职 业 界

    的 范 围 之 内 , 虽 然 并 不 是 有 限 的 或 是 无 关 重 要 的 , 但 它 所 以

    能 有 吸 引 力 , 一 方 面 是 由 于 这 一 门 科 学 的 固 有 的 引 人 之 处 , 另

    一 方 面 亦 是 由 于 因 此 而 可 能 获 得 的 酬 报 。 这 一 系 列 的 变 化 在

    罗 马 甚 至 比 在 英 国 表 现 得 更 为 显 著 。 到 共 和 国 时 代 的 末 期 , 法

    律 是 除 了 有 将 军 的 特 殊 天 才 的 人 以 外 一 切 有 才 干 的 人 的 唯 一

    天 地 。 但 是 到 了 奥 古 斯 多 时 代 , 一 个 新 的 智 力 发 展 的 阶 段 开

    始 了 , 正 象 我 们 的 伊 利 萨 伯 时 代 开 始 一 样 。 我 们 都 知 道 它 在

    诗 歌 和 散 文 上 的 成 就 ; 但 必 须 说 明 , 有 些 迹 象 表 明 在 其 装 饰

    文 学 的 光 辉 灿 烂 以 外 , 它 已 到 了 在 自 然 科 学 中 作 出 新 征 服 的前 夕 。 但 是 到 这 个 时 候 , 罗 马 国 家 中 智 力 的 历 史 已 不 再 和 智

    力 进 步 到 这 时 为 止 所 追 求 的 道 路 平 行 前 进 。 罗 马 文 学 严 格 讲

    起 来 只 能 说 是 昙 花 一 现 , 它 在 各 式 各 样 的 影 响 下 突 然 终 止 , 这

    些 影 响 虽 然 有 一 部 分 是 可 以 探 索 的 , 但 在 这 里 加 以 分 析 是 不

    适 当 的 。 古 代 的 知 识 界 有 力 地 被 推 囘 到 其 老 路 上 去 , 而 法 律

    又 成 为 专 属 于 天 才 的 正 常 范 围 , 正 和 罗 马 人 把 哲 学 和 诗 歌 蔑

    视 为 一 种 幼 稚 民 族 的 玩 具 的 时 代 一 样 。 在 帝 政 时 代 , 使 一 个

    有 天 才 的 人 从 事 于 法 学 专 家 的 事 业 的 外 因 , 其 性 质 究 竟 是 怎

    样 的 , 要 理 解 这 一 点 , 最 好 的 方 法 是 考 虑 他 在 选 择 职 业 时 所

    面 对 的 抉 择 。 他 可 能 成 为 一 个 修 辞 学 教 师 , 一 个 边 境 哨 地 的

    司 令 官 , 或 是 一 个 颂 词 的 职 业 著 者 。 此 外 , 能 容 纳 他 的 仅 有

    的 现 实 生 活 中 的 其 他 职 业 是 法 律 职 业 。 通 过 了 这 , 可 以 到 达

    财 富 、 名 誉 、 官 职 、 君 主 的 会 议 室 — — 甚 至 可 以 达 到 王 位 的

    本 身 。 ” (“ 剑 桥 论丛 ” , 1 8 5 6 年)

    学 习 法 律 学 的 报 酬 是 巨 大 的 , 所 以 在 帝 国 境 内 到 处 都 有

    法 律 学 校 , 甚 至 在 形 而 上 学 的 领 域 内 也 是 如 此 。 虽 然 帝 国 首

    都 迁 到 拜 占 廷 显 而 易 见 地 推 动 了 它 在 东 方 的 研 究 工 作 , 但 法

    律 学 从 没 有 能 推 翻 和 它 相 竞 争 的 各 种 学 问 。 它 所 用 的 语 言 是

    拉 丁 , 这 是 帝 国 东 半 部 的 一 种 外 来 方 言 。 只 是 对 西 方 我 们 可

    以 说 , 法 律 不 但 是 有 野 心 的 和 有 抱 负 的 人 的 精 神 食 粮 , 并 且

    是 一 切 智 力 活 动 的 唯 一 滋 养 。 对 于 罗 马 的 知 识 界 , 希 腊 哲 学

    仅 不 过 是 一 个 短 促 的 风 尚 , 并 且 当 新 的 东 方 首 都 建 立 , 帝 国

    分 裂 为 二 , 西 方 各 省 就 比 以 前 更 明 白 地 和 希 腊 纯 理 论 相 分 离 , 更 明 白 地 专 心 于 法 律 学 。 当 他 们 这 样 不 再 听 命 于 希 腊 人 , 并

    开 始 自 行 建 立 其 神 学 时 , 这 个 神 学 经 证 明 渗 透 了 法 律 的 观 念

    并 在 其 措 辞 中 用 了 法 律 的 用 语 。 当 然 , 在 西 方 神 学 中 , 这 个

    法 律 的 基 体 是 十 分 深 厚 的 。 一 套 新 的 希 腊 理 论 , 即 亚 里 士 多

    德 哲 学 , 后 来 流 入 西 方 , 并 且 几 乎 完 全 掩 没 了 土 著 的 学 理 。 但

    到 “ 宗 教 改 革 ” 、 它 部 分 地 摆 脱 了 它 们 的 影 响 时 , 它 立 即 用“ 法 律 ” 来 补 足 它 们 的 地 位 。 在 喀 尔 文 ( C a l v i n ) 和 阿 明 尼 阿斯 ( A r m i n i u s ) 两 种 宗 教 体 系 中 究 竟 哪 一 个 有 更 显 著 的 法 律性 质 , 这 是 很 难 说 的 。

    罗 马 人 的 特 殊 的 “ 契 约 ” 法 律 学 对 现 代 “ 法 律 ” 中 相 当部 门 所 发 生 的 巨 大 影 响 , 似 不 属 于 本 文 范 围 , 应 属 于 成 熟 的法 律 学 史 。 这 种 影 响 要 直 到 波 罗 诺 学 派 创 立 了 现 代 欧 洲 法 律学 后 才 感 觉 到 。 但 罗 马 人 在 帝 国 衰 亡 前 曾 把 “ 契 约 ” 概 念 发展 得 非 常 完 全 的 事 实 , 在 比 上 述 时 期 更 早 的 一 个 时 期 就 具 有重 要 性 。 我 曾 不 止 一 次 地 说 过 , “ 封 建 制 度 ” 是 古 代 蛮 族 习 惯和 罗 马 法 的 一 种 混 合 物 ; 其 他 任 何 解 释 都 是 不 足 信 的 , 甚 至是 不 可 领 会 的 。 封 建 时 代 最 早 的 社 会 形 式 和 原 始 人 类 到 处 结合 在 其 中 的 一 般 社 团 很 少 区 别 。 一 个 “ 封 地 ” 是 一 些 财 产 权利 和 人 身 权 利 不 可 分 解 地 混 合 在 一 起 的 一 种 有 机 的 、 完 全 的结 合 。 它 和 一 个 印 度 “ 村 落 共 产 体 ” 以 及 一 个 苏 格 兰 高原部族 社 团 有 许 多 共 同 之 处 。 但 封 建 社 会 仍 具 有 某 种 现 象 ,是我们 从 文 明 初 创 者 自 发 形 成 的 社 团 中 找 不 到 的 。 真 正 的古代共产 体 不 是 由 明 白 的 规 定 而 是 依 靠 情 绪 , 或 者 , 我 们 应 该 说 , 依靠 本 能 , 结 合 在 一 起 的 ; 凡 是 新 来 者 都 虚 假 地 装 做 有 血 统 关系 而 就 在 这 个 本 能 的 范 围 之 内 被 纳 入 社 团 的 。 但 是 最 早 的 封建 社 会 既 不 是 仅 仅 由 情 绪 结 合 起 来 的 , 也 不 是 靠 一 种 拟 制 来补 充 其 成 员 的 。 把 他 们 结 合 在 一 起 的 纽 带 是 “ 契 约 ” , 他 们 用和 新 伙 伴 缔 结 一 个 契 约 的 方 法 来 获 得 新 伙 伴 。 封 建 主 和 属 臣的 关 系 原 来 是 用 明 白 的 定 约 来 确 定 的 , 一 个 愿 意 把 自 己 用推荐或分封土地 的 方 法 接 纳 在 同 族 之 内 的 人 , 对 于 他 被 接 纳 的各 项 条 件 是 明 白 了 解 的 。 因 此 , 把 封 建 制 度 和 原 始 民 族 纯 粹惯 例 加 以 区 分 的 主 要 东 西 是 “ 契 约 ” 在 它 们 中 间 所 占 的 范 围 。封 建 主 具 有 一 个 宗 法 家 长 的 许 多 特 点 , 但 他 的 特 权 为 多 种 多样 确 立 的 习 惯 所 限 制 , 这 种 习 惯 来 自 分 封 土 地 时 经 过 同 意 的

    明 确 的 条 件 。 使 我 们 不 能 把 封 建 社 会 和 真 正 的 古 代 社 会 归 属

    一 类 , 其 主 要 的 不 同 之 点 就 是 由 此 而 来 的 。 封 建 社 会 比 较 持

    久 , 比 较 多 种 多 样 ; 它 们 所 以 持 久 , 是 因 为 明 确 的 规 定 比 本

    能 的 习 惯 不 容 易 毁 灭 , 其 所 以 多 种 多 样 , 是 因 为 它 们 所 根 据

    的 契 约 是 依 照 交 出 或 授 与 土 地 的 人 的 具 体 情 况 和 具 体 要 求 而

    调 节 的 。 这 最 后 的 理 由 可 以 用 来 说 明 那 在 我 们 中 间 流 行 的 关

    于 现 代 社 会 渊 源 的 通 俗 意 见 是 如 何 大 大 地 需 要 修 正 。 人 们 常

    说 , 现 代 文 明 的 外 貌 所 以 如 此 地 不 规 则 和 多 样 化 , 主 要 是 由

    于 日 耳 曼 民 族 的 丰 富 而 易 变 的 天 才 , 这 和 罗 马 帝 国 那 种 迟 钝的 常 规 是 完 全 不 同 的 。 真 相 是 , 罗 马 帝 国 把 法 律 概 念 遗传给了 现 代 社 会 , 而 这 种 不 规 则 正 是 来 自 那 些 法 律 概 念 ; 如 果 说蛮 族 的 习 惯 和 制 度 有 一 个 特 点 比 另 一 个 特 点 更 为 显 著 , 那 末这 个 特 点 就 是 它 们 的 极 端 一 致 。

    第 十 章   侵 权 和 犯 罪 的 早 期 史

    “ 条 顿 法 典 ” ( T e u t o n i c   C o d e s ) 包 括 我 们 盎 格 鲁 - 撒 克逊 的 法 典 在 内 , 是 流 传 到 我 们 手 里 的 唯 一 的 古 代 世 俗 法 律 , 关于 它 原 来 的 规 模 我 们 可 以 形 成 一 个 明 确 的 概 念 。 虽 然 罗 马 和希 腊 法 典 的 现 存 片 断 足 以 证 明 它 们 的 一 般 性 质 , 但 残 存 的 数

    量 不 多 , 还 不 够 使 我 们 十 分 确 切 地 知 道 它 们 到 底 有 多 大 的 篇

    幅 以 及 各 个 部 分 相 互 的 比 重 。 但 大 体 而 论 , 所 有 已 知 的 古 代

    法 的 蒐 集 都 有 一 个 共 同 的 特 点 使 它 们 和 成 熟 的 法 律 学 制 度 显

    然 不 同 。 最 显 著 的 差 别 在 于 刑 法 和 民 法 所 占 的 比 重 。 在 日 耳

    曼 法 典 中 , 民 事 部 分 的 法 律 比 刑 事 部 分 范 围 要 狭 小 得 多 。 德

    累 科 法 典 科 处 血 刑 的 传 统 , 似 乎 表 明 它 也 有 同 样 的 特 点 。 只

    有 在 “ 十 二 铜 表 法 ” ( 这 是 一 个 具 有 伟 大 法 律 天 才 和 一 个 温 良

    风 俗 的 社 会 的 产 物 ) 中 , 它 的 民 事 法 律 才 有 些 象 其 现 代 的 先

    例 ; 但 是 损 害 救 济 方 式 所 占 的 地 位 , 虽 然 不 是 异 常 巨 大 , 但

    却 是 相 当 大 的 。 我 以 为 可 以 这 样 说 , 法 典 愈 古 老 , 它 的 刑 事

    立 法 就 愈 详 细 、 愈 完 备 。 这 种 现 象 常 常 可 以 看 到 , 并 且 这 样

    解 释 无 疑 地 在 很 大 程 度 上 是 正 确 的 : 由 于 法 律 初 次 用 文 字 写

    成 时 , 社 会 中 经 常 发 生 强 暴 行 为 。 据 说 , 立 法 者 按 照 野 蛮 生

    活 中 某 一 类 事 件 发 生 次 数 的 多 少 以 分 配 其 工 作 的 比 重 。 但 我

    认 为 这 个 说 法 并 不 十 分 完 全 。 应 该 囘 想 一 下 , 在 古 代 的 蒐 集

    中 民 事 法 律 比 较 缺 少 是 和 本 文 中 所 讨 论 的 古 代 法 律 学 的 其 他特 征 相 一 致 的 。 文 明 社 会 所 施 行 的 法 律 的 民 事 部 分 , 有 十 分

    之 九 是 由 “ 人 法 ” 、 “ 财 产 和 继 承 法 ” 以 及 “ 契 约 法 ” 组 成 的 。

    但 是 很 显 然 , 当 我 们 越 接 近 社 会 的 萌 芽 时 代 , 这 一 切 法 律 学

    领 域 就 愈 缩 小 到 更 狭 小 的 范 围 之 内 。 既 然 一 切 身 分 形 式 都 共

    同 从 属 于 “ 父 权 ” 之 下 , 既 然 “ 妻 ” 对 其 “ 夫 ” 没 有 任 何 权

    利 , 子 对 其 父 也 没 有 任 何 权 利 , 以 及 婴 儿 “ 受 监 护 人 ” 对 作

    为 其 “ 监 护 人 ” 的 “ 宗 亲 ” , 也 没 有 任 何 权 利 , 这 个 等 于 是

    “ 身 分 法 ” 的 “ 人 法 ” 即 被 限 制 在 最 狭 小 的 限 度 内 。 同 样 地 ,

    有 关 “ 财 产 ” 和 “ 继 承 ” 的 规 定 决 不 会 很 多 的 , 既 然 土 地 和

    财 物 是 在 家 族 内 授 受 , 并 且 , 如 果 真 要 分 配 的 话 , 也 是 在 家

    族 的 范 围 内 进 行 的 。 但 是 , 古 代 民 法 中 最 大 的 缺 口 始 终 是 由

    于 缺 少 “ 契 约 ” 而 造 成 的 , 在 有 些 古 代 法 典 中 完 全 不 提 到

    “ 契 约 ” , 而 在 另 一 些 古 代 法 典 中 则 用 一 种 精 细 的 “ 宣 誓 ” 法

    律 来 代 替 “ 契 约 ” , 这 足 以 证 明 “ 契 约 ” 所 依 据 的 道 德 观 念 还

    没 有 成 熟 。 至 于 刑 法 , 则 并 没 有 同 样 的 使 它 贫 乏 的 理 由 , 因

    此 , 纵 使 我 们 不 应 冒 昧 地 宣 称 在 国 家 的 幼 年 时 代 总 是 一 个 无

    法 抑 制 的 强 暴 时 期 , 我 们 仍 旧 应 该 懂 得 为 什 么 刑 法 和 民 法 的

    现 代 关 系 竟 在 古 代 法 典 中 颠 倒 过 来 。

    我 曾 认 为 : 原 始 法 律 学 曾 以 近 代 所 不 知 道 的 优 先 给 与 ·

    ·

    罪 法 。 这 种 说 法 完 全 是 为 了 方 便 起 见 , 但 事 实 上 , 对 古 代 法

    典 的 仔 细 考 察 使 我 们 知 道 , 它 们 以 非 常 的 数 量 揭 示 的 法 律 并

    非 真 正 的 犯 罪 法 。 所 有 文 明 制 度 都 一 致 同 意 在 对 国 家 、 对 社

    会 所 犯 的 罪 行 和 对 个 人 所 犯 的 罪 行 之 间 , 应 该 有 所 区 别 , 这

    样 区 别 的 两 类 损 害 , 我 称 之 为 ·

    犯 ·

    罪 ( c l i m i n a ) 和 ·

    不 ·

    法 ·

    行 ·

    为( d e l i c t a ) , 虽 然 我 并 不 认 为 这 两 个 名 词 在 法 律 学 上 是 始 终 这样 一 致 应 用 的 。 古 代 社 会 的 刑 法 不 是 “ 犯 罪 ” 法 ; 这 是 “ 不

    法 行 为 ” 法 , 或 用 英 国 的 术 语 , 就 是 “ 侵 权 行 为 ” 法 。 被 害

    人 用 一 个 普 通 民 事 诉 讼 对 不 法 行 为 人 提 起 诉 讼 , 如 果 他 胜 诉 ,

    就 可 以 取 得 金 钱 形 式 的 损 害 补 偿 。 我 们 试 参 考 该 雅 士 在 “ 评

    释 ” 中 根 据 “ 十 二 铜 表 法 ” 对 刑 事 法 律 学 所 作 的 讨 论 , 可 以

    看 到 , 在 罗 马 法 所 承 认 的 民 事 不 法 行 为 的 开 头 有 ·

    窃 ·

    盗 ·

    罪 ( F u r At u m ) 。 我 们 在 习 惯 上 认 为 专 属 于犯 ·

    罪 的 罪 行 被 完 全 认 为 是不

    · 法 ·

    行为 , 并 且 不 仅 是 窃 盗 , 甚 至 凌 辱 和 强 盗 , 也 被 法 学 专 家

    把 它 们 和 扰 害 、 文 字 诽 谤 及 口 头 诽 谤 联 系 在 一 起 。 所 有 这 一

    切 都 产 生 了 “ 债 ” 或 是 ·

    法 ·

    锁 , 并 都 可 以 用 金 钱 支 付 以 为 补 偿 。

    但 这 个 特 点 , 最 有 力 地 表 现 在 日 耳 曼 部 落 的 统 一 法 律 ( t h e  

    c o n s o l i d a t e d   L a w s   o f   G e r m a n i c   t r i b e s ) 中 。 它 们 对 杀 人罪 也 不 例 外 有 一 个 庞 大 的 用 金 钱 赔 偿 的 制 度 , 至 于 轻 微 损 害 ,

    除 少 数 例 外 , 亦 有 一 个 同 样 庞 大 的 金 钱 赔 偿 制 度 。 垦 布 尔 先

    生 ( M r . K e m b l e s ) 〔 在 “ 盎 格 鲁 - 撒 克 逊 ” ( A n g l o -

    S a x o n s ) 卷 一 , 第 1 7 7 页 中 〕 写 道 : “ 根 据 盎 格 鲁 - 撒 克 逊 法

    律 , 对 于 每 一 个 自 由 人 的 生 命 , 都 可 以 按 照 他 的 身 分 而 以 一

    定 金 钱 为 赔 偿 , 对 于 其 身 受 的 每 一 个 创 伤 , 对 于 他 的 民 权 、 荣

    誉 或 安 宁 所 造 成 的 几 乎 每 一 种 损 害 , 都 可 以 用 相 当 的 金 钱 为

    赔 偿 ; 金 额 按 照 偶 然 情 势 而 增 加 ” 。 这 些 和 解 费 明 显 地 被 认 为

    是 收 入 的 一 种 有 价 值 的 来 源 ; 一 套 高 度 复 杂 的 规 则 规 定 着 申

    请 它 们 的 权 利 和 负 担 它 们 的 责 任 ; 并 且 象 我 在 前 面 已 经 说 过

    的 那 样 , 如 果 它 们 在 所 属 的 人 死 亡 时 还 没 有 清 偿 , 它 们 常 根

    据 一 些 特 殊 的 规 定 而 遗 传 下 去 。 因 此 , 如 果 一 种 ·

    侵 ·

    权 ·

    行 ·

    为 或

    ·

    不 ·

    法 ·

    行 ·

    为 的 标 准 是 : 被 认 为 受 到 损 害 的 是 被 损 害 的 个 人 而 不是 “ 国 家 ” , 则 可 断 言 , 在 法 律 学 幼 年 时 代 , 公 民 赖 以 保 护 使

    不 受 强 暴 或 诈 欺 的 , 不 是 “ 犯 罪 法 ” 而 是 “ 侵 权 行 为 法 ” 。

    于 是 , 在 原 始 法 律 学 中 “ 侵 权 行 为 ” 被 大 量 地 扩 大 了 。 必

    须 说 明 , 原 始 法 律 学 也 涉 及 “ 罪 过 ” 。 对 于 条 顿 法 典 , 我 们 几

    乎 是 毋 庸 作 这 样 的 说 明 的 , 因 为 我 们 所 接 受 到 的 这 些 法 典 的

    形 式 , 是 经 基 督 教 立 法 者 编 纂 或 改 写 过 的 。 但 是 , 在 非 基 督

    教 的 古 代 法 律 中 , 对 于 某 类 行 为 和 不 行 为 也 往 往 因 为 违 背 了

    神 的 指 示 和 命 令 而 加 以 刑 罚 。 雅 典 “ 阿 勒 乌 柏 果 斯 元 老 院 ”

    ( S e n a t e   o f   A r e o p a g u s ) 所 适 用 的 法 律 也 许 是 一 个 特 殊 的宗 教 法 典 , 而 在 罗 马 , 显 然 从 很 早 的 时 期 起 , 教 长 法 律 学 就

    对 通 奸 罪 、 渎 神 罪 以 及 谋 杀 罪 加 以 刑 罚 。 因 此 , 在 雅 典 和 在

    罗 马 各 省 中 , 法 律 处 罚 ·

    罪 ·

    过 。 他 们 也 有 处 罚 ·

    侵 ·

    权 ·

    行 ·

    为 的 法 律 。

    触 犯 “ 上 帝 ” 的 罪 行 的 概 念 产 生 了 第 一 类 的 律 令 ; 触 犯 邻 居

    的 概 念 产 生 了 第 二 类 的 律 令 ; 但 触 犯 国 家 或 集 成 社 会 的 观 念 ,

    并 没 有 一 开 始 就 产 生 一 个 真 正 的 犯 罪 法 律 学 。

    但 是 我 们 不 能 就 因 而 假 定 , 对 国 家 做 出 不 法 行 为 这 样 一

    种 简 单 而 基 本 的 概 念 , 是 在 任 何 原 始 社 会 中 都 缺 乏 的 。 很 可

    能 在 最 初 阻 止 犯 罪 法 律 发 展 的 真 正 原 因 , 正 是 由 于 这 个 概 念

    被 理 解 得 很 清 楚 明 白 。 无 论 如 何 , 当 罗 马 社 会 认 为 它 本 身 受

    到 了 损 害 时 , 它 即 绝 对 按 照 字 面 地 类 推 适 用 当 一 个 个 人 受 到

    不 法 行 为 时 所 发 生 的 后 果 , 国 家 对 不 法 行 为 的 个 人 就 用 一 个

    单 一 行 为 来 报 复 。 其 结 果 是 , 在 共 和 国 的 幼 年 时 代 , 对 于 严

    重 妨 害 国 家 安 全 或 国 家 利 益 的 每 一 种 罪 行 , 都 由 立 法 机 关 制

    定 一 个 单 独 法 令 来 加 以 处 罚 。 这 就 是 对 于 一 个 ·

    犯 ·

    罪 ( c r i m e n )的 最 古 概 念 — —犯 ·

    罪 是 一 种 涉 及 重 要 结 果 的 行 为 , 对 于 这 种行 为 , 国 家 不 交 给 民 事 法 院 或 宗 教 法 院 审 判 , 而 专 对 犯 罪 者

    制 定 一 个特 ·

    别法 ·

    律 ( p r i v i l e g i u m ) 加 以 处 理 。 因 此 , 每 一 个 起

    诉 都 用 一 种 痛 苦 和 刑 罚 状 ( a   b i l l   o f   p a i n s   a n d   p e n a l At i e s ) 的 形 式 , 而 审 判 一 个 犯 人 ( c r i m i n a l ) 所 用 的 一 种 诉 讼 程序 是 完 全 非 常 的 、 完 全 非 正 规 的 、 完 全 离 既 定 的 规 则 和 固 定

    条 件 而 独 立 的 。 一 方 面 由 于 执 行 正 义 的 法 院 就 是 主 权 国 家 本

    身 , 另 一 方 面 由 于 不 可 能 把 规 定 的 或 禁 止 的 行 为 加 以 分 类 , 因

    此 , 在 这 个 时 代 中 , 就 没 有 任 何 的 犯 罪 ·

    法 ·

    律 、 任 何 的 犯 罪 法

    律 学 。 所 用 的 程 序 和 通 过 一 条 普 通 法 令 的 形 式 完 全 相 同 ; 它

    是 由 同 样 的 人 物 提 议 , 并 且 用 完 全 同 样 的 仪 式 来 进 行 的 。 可

    以 注 意 的 是 , 当 一 种 犯 罪 法 律 连 同 执 行 它 的 一 套 “ 法 院 ” 和

    官 员 们 在 后 来 出 现 时 , 旧 的 程 序 可 能 是 由 于 它 符 合 于 理 论 , 仍

    旧 严 格 地 适 用 着 ; 由 于 这 一 种 方 法 不 复 为 人 所 信 任 , 罗 马 人

    民 常 对 触 犯 国 家 尊 严 的 人 保 留 着 用 一 种 特 别 法 律 加 以 处 罚 的

    权 力 。 凡 是 古 典 派 的 学 者 都 能 知 道 , 雅 典 的 ·

    痛 ·

    苦 ·

    和 ·

    刑 ·

    罚 ·

    ( Cι σ α γ γ CKι α ) 正 是 完 全 同 样 地 , 在 正 式 法 院 成 立 后 还 继 续 存

    在 。 我 们 也 知 道 , 当 条 顿 民 族 的 自 由 人 集 会 立 法 时 , 他 们 也

    主 张 有 权 刑 罚 特 别 凶 残 的 罪 行 , 或 刑 罚 占 有 崇 高 地 位 的 犯 人

    所 犯 的 罪 行 。 具 有 这 种 性 质 的 , 是 “ 盎 格 鲁 - 撒 克 逊 国 会 ”

    ( A n g l o - S a x o n   W i t e n a g e m o t ) 的 刑 事 管 辖 权 。

    也 许 有 人 以 为 , 我 所 说 的 古 代 和 现 代 关 于 刑 法 观 念 上 所

    存 在 的 不 同 , 只 是 在 口 头 上 存 在 。 可 以 这 样 说 , 社 会 除 了 用

    立 法 的 方 法 来 处 罚 犯 罪 外 , 从 最 早 的 时 代 起 , 它 就 用 它 的 法

    院 来 进 行 干 预 , 强 迫 不 法 行 为 人 补 偿 其 不 法 行 为 。 如 果 它 是

    这 样 做 了 , 那 就 始 终 可 以 假 定 社 会 在 某 些 方 面 由 于 他 造 成 的罪 行 而 受 到 了 损 害 。 但 是 , 不 论 这 个 推 论 在 今 天 的 我 们 看 来是 如 何 严 格 , 它 是 否 真 正 由 原 始 古 代 的 人 们 所 作 出 , 依 旧 是

    一 个 疑 问 。 国 家 在 最 早 时 代 ·

    通 ·

    过 ·

    其 ·

    法 ·

    院 而 进 行 干 涉 , 很 少 是

    由 于 国 家 受 到 了 损 害 这 个 观 念 , 这 从 下 述 的 情 况 中 可 以 看 出 ,

    即 在 原 来 的 司 法 行 政 中 , 它 所 采 用 的 程 序 , 主 要 是 摹 仿 私 人

    生 活 中 可 能 要 做 的 一 系 列 的 行 为 , 即 人 们 在 生 活 中 发 生 了 争

    执 , 但 在 后 来 不 得 不 把 他 们 的 争 执 提 交 和 解 。 高 级 官 吏 谨 慎

    地 仿 效 着 临 时 被 召 唤 来 的 一 个 私 人 公 断 者 的 态 度 。

    为 了 要 表 明 这 个 说 法 不 仅 仅 是 一 种 幻 想 , 我 将 提 出 它 所

    依 据 的 证 据 。 我 们 所 知 道 的 最 古 的 司 法 程 序 是 罗 马 人 的 “ 誓

    金 法 律 诉 讼 ” ( L e g i s   A c t i o   S a c r a m e n t i ) , 所 有 后 期 的 罗 马“ 诉 讼 法 ” ( L a w   o f   A c t i o n s ) 都 是 从 它 发 展 来 的 。 该 雅 士曾 详 尽 地 描 述 它 的 仪 式 。 初 看 起 来 , 这 好 象 是 毫 无 意 义 甚 至荒 谬 的 , 但 稍 加 注 意 , 就 可 使 我 们 了 解 它 的 意 义 。

    涉 讼 的 标 的 一 般 认 为 是 应 该 存 缴 到 法 院 中 的 。 如 果 是 动

    产 , 就 用 原 物 。 如 果 是 不 动 产 , 就 以 碎 片 或 样 品 为 代 替 ; 例

    如 土 地 用 一 块 泥 , 房 屋 用 一 块 砖 作 代 表 。 在 该 雅 士 所 选 的 例

    子 中 , 诉 讼 是 为 了 一 个 奴 隶 。 当 诉 讼 开 始 时 , 原 告 手 持 一 竿

    前 进 , 这 一 根 竿 子 据 该 雅 士 的 说 明 是 象 征 着 一 支 枪 。 他 抓 住

    了 奴 隶 , 并 用 下 述 语 句 主 张 他 的 权 利 , “我根据公民法的规定主张这个人是我所有的 ” ( H u n c   e g o   h o m i n e m   e x   J u r e   Q u i r i t i u m   m e u m   e s s e   d i c o   s e c u n d u m   s u a m   c a u s a m   s i c u t   d i x i ) ; 接 着 他 用 竿 触 他 , 说 , “现在把枪放在他身上 ” ( E c c e   t i b i   V i n d i c t a m   i m p o s u i ) 。 被 告 进 行 着 同样 的 一 系 列 的 行 为 和 动 作 。 这 时 裁 判 官 进 而 干 涉 , 他 吩 咐 诉讼 两 造 放 手 , “ 放开枪 ” ( M i t t i t e   a m b o   h o m i n e m ) 。 他 们 服从 了 , 原 告 就 要 求 被 告 提 出 其 干 涉 的 理 由 , “ 我请求这物件,你有什么理由主张权利 ” ( P o s t u l o   a n n e   d i c a s   g u a J  e x c a u s a J  v i n d i c a v e r i s ) , 对 这 个 问 题 所 给 与 的 回 答 是 一 个 新 的权 利 的 主 张 , “我已主张这物件是我所有,所以把枪放在他身上 ” ( J u s   p e r e g i   s i c u t   v i n d i c t a m   i m p o s u i ) 。 到 这 时 , 第一 个 请 求 人 提 出 一 笔 称 为 “ 誓 金 ” 的 金 钱 , 作 为 他 提 出 案 件正 当 的 赌 注 , 并 说 , “你的权利主张没有根据,我愿以誓金决胜负 ” ( Q u a n d o   t u   i n j u r i a J  p r o v o c a s t i , D Er i s   S a c r a m e n A

    t o   t e   p r o v o c o ) , 被 告 于 是 说 “ 我也给 ” ( S i m i l i t e r   e g o t e ) , 接 受 赌 注 。 这 以 后 的 程 序 已 不 再 是 一 种 正 式 需 要 的 了 , 但 须 注 意 , 裁 判 官 从 誓 金 中 提 取 保 证 金 , 这 些 保 证 金 常 被 解 入国 库 。

    这 是 每 一 个 古 罗 马 诉 讼 的 必 要 的 开 端 。 有 人 认 为 这 就 是

    一 个 戏 剧 化 的 “ 公 道 的 起 源 ” , 我 以 为 , 这 个 意 见 是 很 难 不 予

    同 意 的 。 两 个 带 武 器 的 人 为 了 某 种 引 起 纠 纷 的 财 产 而 争 吵 着 。

    裁 判 官 ,一个因恭敬谨慎和功绩而受尊敬的人 ( v i r   p i e t a t e

      g r a v i s ) , 恰 巧 经 过 , 居 间 要 求 停 止 争 执 。 争 吵 的 人 就 把 情况 告 诉 他 , 同 意 由 他 公 断 , 他 们 一 致 同 意 失 败 的 一 方 除 了 放 弃 争 执 的 标 的 物 外 , 并 应 以 一 定 数 量 的 金 钱 给 付 公 断 八 , 作 为 麻 烦 和 时 间 上 损 失 的 酬 报 。 如 果 不 是 由 于 一 个 意 外 的 巧 合,该 雅 士 所 描 写 的 一 个 “ 法 律 诉 讼 ” 中 必 要 的 诉 讼 程 序 , 实 质

    上 是 和 荷 马 所 描 写 的 给 “ 火 及 金 属 工 作 之 神 ” ( G o d H e p h Es t u s ) 铸 造 为 亚 济 里 斯 盾 牌 的 第 一 格 ( F i r s t C o m Ap a r t m e n t   o f   t h e   S h i l e d   o f   A c h i l l e s ) 的 两 个 主 题 之 一完 全 相 同 , 则 这 个 解 释 将 不 象 它 表 面 上 那 样 地 可 信 。 在 荷 马所 描 写 的 审 判 剧 内 , 似 乎 为 了 特 意 要 表 明 原 始 社 会 的 特 证 , 争

    议 不 是 为 了 财 产 , 而 是 为 了 一 个 杀 人 罪 的 和 解 费 。 一 个 人 说

    他 已 经 付 了 , 另 一 个 人 说 他 从 来 没 有 收 到 过 。 但 是 使 这 幅 图

    画 成 为 古 罗 马 实 践 的 复 本 的 细 节 就 是 指 定 要 交 给 法 官 的 酬

    金 。 两 个 塔 仑 ( t a l e n t ) 的 黄 金 放 在 中 间 , 这 些 黄 金 要 付 给 那个 能 把 判 决 的 理 由 解 释 得 使 听 众 感 到 极 为 满 意 的 人 。 这 个 数

    额 , 和 “ 誓 金 ” 的 细 小 相 比 , 显 得 十 分 巨 大 , 这 在 我 看 来 , 表

    示 着 变 动 中 的 惯 例 和 已 经 巩 固 为 法 律 的 惯 例 之 间 的 差 别 。 这

    被 诗 人 认 作 是 英 雄 时 代 城 市 生 活 中 一 个 显 著 的 、 特 有 的 、 但

    仍 旧 只 是 偶 然 的 特 点 而 加 以 介 绍 的 一 幕 , 在 民 事 诉 讼 的 历 史

    开 始 时 , 就 被 固 定 而 成 为 一 种 正 式 的 、 通 常 的 诉 讼 手 续 。 因

    此 , 很 自 然 , 在 一 个 “ 法 律 诉 讼 ” 中 , “ 法 官 ” 的 酬 劳 会 减 低

    到 一 个 合 理 的 数 额 , 并 且 不 再 用 公 决 的 方 法 把 它 公 断 给 许 多

    公 断 人 中 的 一 个 人 , 而 视 为 当 然 地 把 它 付 给 裁 判 官 所 代 表 的

    国 家 。 但 我 毫 不 怀 疑 , 荷 马 如 此 生 动 地 加 以 描 写 并 由 该 雅 士

    用 了 比 平 常 粗 劣 的 术 语 精 美 得 多 的 术 语 来 描 写 的 这 些 事 件 ,

    在 实 质 上 它 们 的 意 义 是 完 全 一 致 的 ; 为 了 肯 定 这 个 见 解 , 应

    该 附 加 说 明 , 许 多 观 察 现 代 欧 洲 最 早 司 法 惯 例 的 观 察 者 都 认

    为 “ 法 院 ” 加 于 罪 人 的 罚 金 原 来 就 是 誓 金 , “ 国 家 ” 并 不 因 为

    被 告 对 它 做 了 任 何 不 法 行 为 而 取 得 和 解 费 , 但 从 给 与 原 告 的

    赔 偿 中 取 得 一 分 作 为 时 间 和 麻 烦 的 公 平 代 价 。 垦 布 尔 先 生 明

    白 地 认 为 盎 格 鲁 - 撒 克 逊 的 b a n n u m 或 f r e d u m 具 有 这 种 性质 。

    古 代 法 律 还 提 供 了 其 他 证 据 , 证 明 最 古 的 司 法 官 吏 模 仿着 私 人 争 执 中 人 们 的 可 能 行 为 。 在 决 定 陪 偿 损 害 时 , 他 们 以

    在 该 案 件 的 情 况 下 一 个 被 害 人 可 能 要 采 取 报 复 的 程 度 作 为 他

    们 的 指 南 。 这 就 说 明 了 为 什 么 古 代 法 律 对 于 现 行 犯 或 犯 罪 后

    不 久 被 捕 的 犯 人 以 及 经 过 相 当 时 间 后 被 捕 的 犯 人 处 以 很 不 同

    的 刑 罚 的 原 故 。 在 古 罗 马 的 “ 盗 窃 法 ” 中 有 几 个 有 关 这 个 特

    点 的 奇 怪 例 证 。 “ 十 二 铜 表 法 ” 似 将 “ 盗 窃 罪 ” 分 为 “ 显 然

    的 ” 和 “ 非 显 然 的 ” 两 种 , 并 根 据 罪 行 归 类 的 不 同 而 处 以 显

    著 不 同 的 刑 罚 。 “ 显 然 的 窃 盗 ” 是 指 在 行 窃 的 屋 子 里 被 捕 的 人

    或 是 携 带 赃 物 向 安 全 处 所 逃 避 中 被 捕 的 人 ; 如 果 他 原 来 是 一

    个 奴 隶 , “ 十 二 铜 表 法 ” 判 处 他 死 刑 , 如 果 他 是 一 个 自 由 人 ,

    “ 十 二 铜 表 法 ” 判 处 他 为 财 产 所 有 人 的 奴 隶 。 “ 非 显 然 的 窃

    盗 ” 是 指 在 上 述 以 外 其 他 任 何 情 况 下 被 发 现 的 人 ; 对 这 一 类

    的 罪 人 , 旧 法 典 只 是 简 单 地 要 求 他 双 倍 偿 囘 他 所 偷 窃 的 价 值 。

    在 该 雅 士 时 代 , “ 十 二 铜 表 法 ” 对 “ 显 然 的 窃 盗 ” 的 过 度 严 酷 ,

    大 大 减 轻 了 , 但 是 法 律 仍 维 持 旧 的 原 则 , 处 以 四 倍 于 偷 窃 价

    值 的 罚 金 。 至 于 “ 非 显 然 的 窃 盗 ” 则 仍 旧 继 续 给 付 双 倍 。 古

    代 立 法 者 无 疑 地 认 为 , 如 果 让 被 害 的 财 产 所 有 人 自 己 处 理 , 则

    在 他 盛 怒 之 下 所 拟 加 的 刑 罚 必 将 和 窃 盗 在 一 个 相 当 时 期 后 发

    觉 时 , 他 所 能 满 意 的 刑 罚 , 完 全 不 同 ; 法 律 刑 罚 的 等 级 就 是

    根 据 这 个 考 虑 而 调 整 的 。 这 里 边 的 原 则 和 盎 格 鲁 - 撒 克 逊 及

    其 他 日 耳 曼 法 典 所 遵 循 的 原 则 完 全 相 同 , 这 些 法 典 规 定 人 赃

    并 获 的 窃 盗 应 当 场 绞 杀 或 斩 首 , 但 对 于 追 捕 已 经 中 断 而 仍 把

    他 杀 死 的 人 , 则 规 定 要 处 以 杀 人 罪 的 刑 罚 。 古 代 法 律 中 的 这

    些 区 别 有 力 地 证 明 一 个 改 进 的 和 一 个 粗 糙 的 法 律 学 之 间 的 距

    离 。 现 代 司 法 行 政 者 公 认 为 最 感 困 难 的 , 是 对 属 于 同 一 专 门类 型 的 各 种 罪 行 , 把 它 们 的 犯 罪 程 度 加 以 区 别 。 我 们 很 容 易

    说 一 个 人 犯 了 过 失 杀 人 罪 、 窃 盗 罪 或 重 婚 罪 , 但 如 果 要 确 定

    他 所 犯 道 德 罪 过 的 程 度 , 从 而 确 定 他 所 应 受 刑 罚 的 轻 重 , 则

    常 常 是 最 感 困 难 的 。 如 果 我 们 企 图 正 确 地 解 决 这 个 问 题 , 我

    们 在 决 疑 上 , 或 在 动 机 的 分 析 上 , 必 将 遇 到 困 难 ; 因 此 , 我

    们 今 日 的 法 律 就 开 始 了 一 种 日 益 增 长 的 倾 向 , 尽 可 能 对 这 问

    题 不 在 现 实 法 上 加 以 规 定 。 在 法 兰 西 , 当 陪 审 团 认 为 有 罪 时 ,

    究 竟 这 个 罪 是 否 有 可 以 减 轻 的 情 况 , 听 由 陪 审 团 加 以 决 定 ; 在

    英 格 兰 , 准 许 法 官 对 于 刑 罚 的 选 择 有 几 乎 无 限 的 伸 缩 范 围 ; 所

    有 的 国 家 都 对 误 用 法 律 保 留 着 叫 做 “ 赦 免 特 权 ” 的 一 种 最 后

    补 救 办 法 , 这 种 权 力 一 般 都 归 “ 元 首 ” ( C h i e f   M a g i s t r a t e ) 掌握 。 很 奇 怪 , 原 始 时 代 的 人 们 很 少 受 到 这 些 踌 躇 的 若 恼 , 他

    们 完 全 确 信 被 害 人 的 冲 动 是 他 有 权 要 求 报 复 的 正 当 标 准 , 并

    且 他 们 正 确 地 摹 仿 他 情 感 的 升 降 以 确 定 他 们 的 量 刑 标 准 。 我

    希 望 能 够 这 样 说 , 他 们 的 立 法 方 法 是 已 过 时 效 的 。 但 有 些 现

    代 法 律 制 度 , 在 遇 到 严 重 不 法 行 为 时 , 承 认 不 法 行 为 者 在 当

    场 被 捕 时 其 所 受 被 害 人 过 度 的 惩 罚 是 有 正 当 理 由 的 — — 这 一

    种 宽 纵 , 虽 然 在 表 面 上 看 来 似 乎 是 可 以 理 解 的 , 但 据 我 看 来 ,

    在 实 际 上 是 根 据 于 一 种 很 低 微 的 道 德 观 念 。

    我 曾 说 过 , 最 后 引 导 古 代 社 会 形 成 一 个 真 正 犯 罪 法 律 学

    的 理 由 , 是 非 常 简 单 的 。 国 家 自 以 为 是 受 到 损 害 了 , “ 人 民 议

    会 ” 就 用 伴 随 着 立 法 行 为 的 同 一 行 动 直 接 打 击 犯 人 。 最 古 犯

    罪 法 院 只 是 立 法 机 关 的 一 部 分 或 委 员 会 — — 虽 然 在 现 代 并 不

    完 全 是 如 此 , 我 将 有 机 会 指 出 — — 在 古 代 世 界 , 确 实 是 如 此

    的 。 无 论 如 何 , 这 是 最 大 的 两 个 古 国 的 法 律 史 所 指 出 的 结 论 ,在 一 个 情 况 中 是 相 当 清 楚 的 , 而 在 另 一 个 情 况 中 是 绝 对 明 白

    的 。 雅 典 的 原 始 刑 法 把 犯 罪 的 惩 罚 一 部 分 委 托 给 “ 执 政 官 ”

    ( A r c h o n s ) 作 为侵权行为 而 加 以 处 罚 , 一 部 分 委 托 给 “ 阿 勒乌 柏 果 斯 元 老 院 ” , 作 为 罪 过 而 加 以 处 罚 。 这 两 个 管 辖 权 在 最

    后 都 移 转 给 “ 希 黎 亚 ” ( H e l i Ea ) 即 平 民 高 等 法 院 ( t h e   H i g h   C o u r t   o f   P o p u l a r   J u s t i c e ) , 而 “ 执 政 官 ” 和 “ 阿 勒 乌柏 果 斯 ” 的 职 能 便 成 为 只 是 行 政 的 或 竟 完 全 无 意 义 的 了 。 但

    “ 希 黎 亚 ” 只 是 “ 议 会 ” 的 一 个 古 字 ; 古 典 时 代 的 “ 希 黎 亚 ”

    只 是 为 了 司 法 目 的 而 召 集 的 “ 人 民 议 会 ” , 著 名 的 雅 典 “ 迪 卡

    斯 德 黎 ” ( D i k a s t e r i e s ) 只 是 它 的 一 部 分 或 是 陪 审 官 。 在 罗 马 ,也 发 生 过 相 应 的 变 更 , 这 更 容 易 加 以 解 释 , 因 为 罗 马 人 把 他

    们 的 试 验 限 于 刑 法 , 他 们 和 雅 典 人 不 同 , 并 不 使 普 通 法 院 既

    有 民 事 的 又 有 刑 事 的 管 辖 权 。 罗 马 犯 罪 法 律 学 的 历 史 开 始 于

    古 “ 平 民 法 院 ” ( J u d i c i a   P o p u l i ) , 据 说 是 由 国 王 主 持 的 。 这

    些 全 然 是 在 立 法 形 式 下 对 大 罪 人 的 庄 严 审 判 。 但 似 乎 从 一 个

    很 早 的 时 期 起 , “ 民 会 ” 有 时 把 它 的 犯 罪 管 辖 权 委 托 一 个 “ 审

    问 处 ” ( Q u Es t i o ) 或 “ 委 员 会 ” , 它 和 “ 议 会 ” 的 关 系 , 正 和

    “ 众 议 院 ” 的 一 个 “ 委 员 会 ” 与 “ 议 院 ” 本 身 的 关 系 一 样 , 只

    是 罗 马 的 “ 委 员 ” 或 “ 审 问 官 ” ( Q u Es t o r e s ) 不 仅 对 “ 民

    全 ” 提 送 ·

    报 ·

    告 , 并 且 也 行 使 该 团 体 本 身 习 惯 上 行 使 的 一 切 权

    力 , 甚 至 包 括 对 “ 被 告 人 ” 判 刑 。 这 样 的 一 个 “ 审 问 处 ” 只

    被 指 定 审 判 一 种 特 殊 犯 人 , 但 并 没 有 规 定 不 许 可 二 个 或 三 个

    “ 审 问 处 ” 在 同 时 进 行 审 判 ; 很 可 能 , 当 有 几 件 对 社 会 的 严 重

    不 法 案 件 同 时 发 生 时 , 有 几 个 “ 审 问 处 ” 在 同 时 受 到 委 派 。 也

    有 迹 象 表 明 , 有 时 这 些 “ 审 问 处 ” 非 常 近 似 我 们 “ ·

    常 ·

    设 委 员会 ” ( S t a n d i n g   C o m m i t t e e s ) 的 性 质 , 因 为 它 们 是 定 期 委 任

    的 , 不 必 等 待 某 种 严 重 犯 罪 行 为 的 发 生 。 在 很 古 的 时 代 的 议

    事 录 中 被 提 到 过 的 , 旧 的 “ 弑 亲 审 问 官 ” ( Q u Es t o r e s   P a r r i Ac i d i ) 有 权 审 判 ( 或 如 有 的 人 认 为 的 那 样 , 有 权 搜 索 和 审 判 )一 切 弑 亲 和 谋 杀 案 件 , 他 们 似 乎 是 正 规 地 每 年 选 派 的 ; 而 审判 对 共 和 国 有 严 重 危 害 的 二 人 委 员 会 或 “ 叛 逆 二 人 委 员 会 ” ( D u u m v i r i   P e r d u e l l i o n i s ) , 大 多 数 著 者 也 相 信 是 定 期 指 派

    的 。 把 这 些 权 力 委 派 给 这 些 官 吏 , 使 我 们 又 前 进 了 一 步 。 不

    再 是 在 对 国 家 犯 罪 发 生 时 , 才 被 委 派 , 而 是 在 有 ·

    可 ·

    能 发 生 时 ,

    就 已 具 有 一 般 的 、 虽 然 是 暂 时 的 审 判 权 。 这 时 已 很 接 近 一 种

    正 规 的 犯 罪 法 律 学 , 这 也 可 以 从 “ 弑 亲 ” 和 “ 判 逆 ” 这 些 一

    般 用 语 上 显 示 出 来 , 这 些 用 语 标 志 着 已 临 近 彷 彿 是 犯 罪 分 类

    的 那 种 东 西 。

    但 真 正 的 犯 罪 法 要 到 纪 元 前 1 4 9 年 才 开 始 产 生 , 当 时 古

    尔 潘 尼 斯 · 披 梭 ( L . C a l p u r n i u s   P i s o ) 实 行 了 所 谓 “ 古 尔潘 尼 亚 贪 污 律 ” ( L e x   C a l p u r n i a   d e   R e p e t u n d i s ) 的 制 定

    法 。 这 个 法 律 适 用 于 有 关 盗 用 金 钱 ( R e p e t u n d a r u m   P e c u A

    n i a r u m ) 的 案 件 , 这 就 是 , 各 “ 省 民 ” ( P r o v i n c i a l s ) 对 总 督

    ( G o v e r n o r - G e n e r a l ) 不 正 当 征 收 的 金 钱 有 偿 还 的 请 求 权 , 但

    这 个 制 定 法 的 最 大 和 永 久 重 要 性 在 于 它 建 立 了 第 一 个 “ 永 久

    审 问 处 ” ( Q u Es t i o   P e r p e t u a ) 。 一 个 “ 永 久 审 问 处 ” 是 一 个

    ·

    永 ·

    久 的 委 员 会 , 和 那 些 临 时 的 以 及 那 些 暂 时 的 是 有 区 别 的 。 它

    是 一 个 正 规 的 刑 事 法 院 , 它 的 存 在 从 创 设 它 的 制 定 法 通 过 时

    候 起 , 一 直 继 续 到 废 弃 它 的 另 一 个 制 定 法 通 过 时 候 为 止 。 它

    的 成 员 不 是 象 较 早 的 “ 审 问 处 ” 的 成 员 那 样 特 别 任 命 的 , 而是 在 组 成 它 的 法 律 中 规 定 由 特 种 法 官 中 选 任 并 按 照 明 确 的 规

    定 进 行 更 换 。 它 有 权 审 理 的 罪 行 也 是 在 条 例 中 明 白 规 定 和 明

    白 下 定 义 的 , 新 的 “ 审 问 处 ” 有 权 在 将 来 审 判 一 切 人 , 如 果

    他 的 行 为 符 合 于 法 律 所 规 定 的 犯 罪 的 定 义 。 因 此 , 它 是 一 个

    正 规 的 犯 罪 司 法 机 关 , 行 使 一 种 真 正 的 刑 事 法 律 学 。

    因 此 , 原 始 犯 罪 法 史 可 分 为 四 个 阶 段 。 我 们 可 以 了 解 犯罪 的 概 念 和不法行为或侵权行为以及罪过 的 概 念 是 有 区 别的 , 在 犯 罪 的 概 念 中 包 括 着 对 国 家 或 社 会 集 体 所 加 损 害 的 概 念 , 我 们 首 先 发 现 的 是 , 共 和 国 按 照 这 概 念 的 字 面 意 义 由 它 自 己 直 接 干 预 或 由 它 用 单 独 行 为 对 那 些 损 害 国 家 的 人 给 予 报

    复 。 这 是 我 们 的 出 发 点 ; 每 一 个 公 诉 状 就 是 一 个 痛 苦 和 刑 罚

    状 , 这 是 一 个 特 别 法 律 , 指 明 犯 人 的 姓 名 , 并 规 定 他 的 刑 罚 。

    当 犯 罪 种 类 增 加 , 使 立 法 机 关 不 得 不 把 权 力 委 托 给 特 别 “ 审

    问 处 ” 或 “ 委 员 会 ” , 它 们 都 有 权 对 一 个 特 定 的 控 告 进 行 调 查 ,

    并 在 控 告 经 证 明 属 实 后 有 权 对 特 定 犯 人 加 以 处 罚 。 这 时 , ·

    ·

    二 ·

    步 方 告 完 成 。 当 立 法 机 关 不 再 等 待 一 个 犯 罪 发 生 以 后 方 才

    委 托 “ 审 问 处 ” , 而 在 某 种 犯 罪 有 发 生 的 可 能 以 及 预 防 这 些 犯

    罪 将 要 发 生 时 , 定 期 的 任 命 象 “ 弑 亲 审 问 处 ” 和 “ 叛 逆 二 人

    委 员 会 ” 那 样 的 “ 委 员 ” 时 , 它 又 作 了 ·

    另 ·

    一 ·

    次 运 动 。 至 ·

    最 ·

    阶 段 , “ 审 问 处 ” 从 定 期 的 或 临 时 的 变 为 永 久 的 法 院 — — 法 官

    们 不 再 由 指 派 委 员 会 的 特 定 法 律 加 以 指 定 , 而 是 规 定 在 将 来

    用 一 种 特 定 方 法 和 从 一 个 特 定 阶 级 中 选 任 — — , 并 把 某 种 行

    为 用 普 通 文 字 加 以 说 明 和 宣 布 为 有 罪 , 如 果 触 犯 了 , 就 将 处

    以 适 合 于 每 一 种 犯 罪 的 刑 罚 。

    如 果 “ 永 久 审 问 处 ” 有 一 个 较 长 的 历 史 , 它 们 将 无疑 的会 被 认 为 是 一 个 各 别 的 制 度 , 它 们 和 “ 民 会 ” 的 关 系 将 不 会比 我 们 自 己 的 法 院 和 君 主 之 间 的 关 系 更 为 密 切 , 君 主 在 理 论上 是 公 道 的 泉 源 。 但 帝 国 暴 政 在 它 们 的 渊 源 被 完 全 忘 却 前 就把 它 们 全 部 摧 毁 , 并 且 , 在 它 们 存 续 的 时 期 内 , 这 些 “ 永 久

    委 员 会 ” 被 罗 马 人 视 为 仅 仅 是 一 种 委 托 权 的 受 托 人 。 犯 罪 的

    审 判 权 被 认 为 是 立 法 机 关 的 一 种 自 然 属 性 , 而 公 民 的 心 理 总

    是 要 从 “ 审 问 处 ” 回 复 到 “ 民 会 ” , 是 民 会 把 它 不 可 分 割 的 职

    能 的 一 部 分 委 托 给 “ 审 问 处 ” 执 行 的 。 甚 至 在 “ 审 问 处 ” 成

    为 永 久 机 关 时 也 认 为 它 只 是 “ 平 民 议 会 ” 的 “ 委 员 会 ” — —

    只 是 为 一 个 较 高 的 权 威 服 役 的 机 关 — — , 这 个 看 法 有 重 要 的

    法 律 后 果 , 其 痕 迹 留 在 犯 罪 法 中 一 直 到 最 近 的 时 期 。 它 的 直

    接 结 果 之 一 是 在 “ 审 问 处 ” 成 立 了 很 久 之 后 , “ 民 会 ” 仍 继 续

    通 过 痛 苦 和 刑 罚 状 而 行 使 刑 事 管 辖 权 。 虽 然 立 法 机 关 为 了 便

    利 起 见 , 同 意 把 其 权 力 委 托 于 其 自 身 以 外 的 机 关 , 我 们 并 不

    能 就 认 为 它 已 经 完 全 放 弃 了 这 些 权 力 。 “ 民 会 ” 和 “ 审 问 处 ”

    继 续 平 行 地 审 判 犯 人 ; 在 平 民 发 生 任 何 不 平 常 的 大 公 愤 时 , 直

    到 共 和 国 消 灭 时 为 止 , 必 然 地 要 在 “ 部 落 民 会 ” ( A s s e m b l y  of t h e   T r i b e ) 前 对 其 对 象 提 起 控 诉 。

    共 和 国 各 种 制 度 中 最 显 著 的 特 征 之 一 也 来 自 始 “ 审 问

    处 ” 的 依 附 于 “ 民 会 ” 。 罗 马 共 和 国 刑 法 制 度 中 “ 死 ” 刑 的 消

    灭 一 向 是 上 一 世 纪 中 著 者 们 最 喜 爱 的 题 目 , 他 们 经 常 利 用 它

    指 出 罗 马 人 的 性 格 和 现 代 社 会 组 织 的 学 说 。 这 种 断 然 地 提 出

    的 理 由 , 认 为 它 纯 粹 是 出 于 偶 然 的 。 在 罗 马 立 法 机 关 陆 续 采

    取 的 三 种 形 式 中 , 为 众 所 习 知 的 一 种 , 即 “ 兵 员 民 会 ” ( C o m i t i a C e n t u r i a t a ) , 是 专 门 在 行 军 中 代 表 国 家 的 。 因 此 “ 兵 员 民众 ” 就 具 有 一 个 军 队 指 挥 官 所 应 有 的 一 切 权 力 , 它 有 权 使 所

    有 的 犯 过 失 的 人 , 遭 受 一 个 士 兵 在 违 犯 纪 律 时 所 应 得 的 同 样

    惩 戒 。 因 此 , “ 兵 员 民 会 ” 可 以 科 处 死 刑 。 但 “ 贵 族 民 会 ” 或

    “ 部 落 民 会 ” ( C o m i t i a   T r i b u t a ) 则 不 然 。 罗 马 城 中 的 罗 马 公

    民 是 由 宗 教 和 法 律 赋 与 神 圣 性 的 , 由 于 这 一 点 , 这 两 种 民 会

    就 都 受 到 了 束 缚 , 并 且 , 就 这 后 一 种 “ 部 落 民 会 ” 而 论 , 我

    们 确 知 : 根 据 确 定 的 原 则 , “ 部 落 民 会 ” 最 多 只 能 科 处 罚 金 ,

    既 然 刑 事 审 判 权 专 属 于 立 法 机 关 , 而 “ 兵 员 民 会 ” 和 “ 部 落

    民 众 ” 却 继 续 行 使 着 平 列 的 权 力 , 于 是 很 容 易 就 会 把 比 较 严

    重 的 犯 罪 向 科 处 较 重 刑 罚 的 立 法 机 关 起 诉 ; 但 在 这 时 , 比 较

    民 主 的 民 会 即 “ 部 落 民 会 ” 几 乎 已 完 全 代 替 了 别 的 民 会 , 成

    为 后 期 共 和 国 的 普 通 立 法 机 关 。 共 和 国 的 衰 落 , 正 当 “ 永 久

    审 问 处 ” 设 立 的 时 候 , 因 此 设 立 它 们 的 制 定 法 都 是 由 一 个 立

    法 机 关 通 过 , 而 过 个 立 法 机 关 本 身 在 通 常 开 会 时 也 不 能 对 一

    个 犯 人 判 处 死 刑 。 所 以 , 具 有 受 委 托 权 威 的 “ 永 久 司 法 委 员

    全 ” ( P e r m a n e n t   J u d i c i a l   C o m m i s s i o n s ) , 在 其 权 力 和 能 力

    上 , 受 到 委 派 权 力 给 它 的 团 体 所 具 有 的 权 力 限 度 的 限 制 。 它

    们 不 能 做 “ 部 落 民 会 ” 所 不 能 做 的 事 ; 既 然 “ 民 会 ” 不 能 判

    处 死 刑 , “ 审 问 处 ” 也 就 同 样 的 无 权 判 处 死 刑 。 这 样 达 到 的 变

    例 在 古 代 并 不 象 现 代 一 样 用 赞 成 的 眼 光 来 看 它 , 并 且 , 真 的 ,

    罗 马 人 的 性 格 是 否 会 因 此 而 变 好 , 是 个 疑 问 , 但 可 以 肯 定 的

    是 , “ 罗 马 宪 法 ” 竟 变 得 更 坏 。 正 如 每 一 个 跟 随 着 人 类 历 史 一

    直 流 传 到 今 日 的 制 度 一 样 , 死 刑 在 文 明 过 程 的 某 一 些 阶 段 中

    对 社 会 是 必 需 的 。 有 一 个 时 期 , 废 弃 死 刑 的 企 图 挫 败 了 作 为

    一 切 刑 法 根 源 的 两 大 本 能 。 如 果 没 有 了 死 刑 , 社 会 将 感 觉 到它 对 罪 人 没 有 获 得 充 分 的 报 复 , 同 时 也 将 以 为 刑 罚 的 赦 免 将

    不 足 以 阻 止 别 人 的 仿 效 。 罗 马 法 院 不 能 判 处 死 刑 , 显 然 地 、 直

    接 地 引 入 一 个 恐 怖 的 革 命 时 期 , 即 称 为 “ 公 敌 宣 言 ” ( P r o s c r i p At i o n s ) 的 , 在 这 期 间 内 , 一 切 法 律 都 正 式 停 止 执 行 , 只 因 为

    党 派 暴 行 不 能 为 它 所 渴 望 的 报 复 找 到 其 他 的 出 路 。 这 种 法 律

    的 间 歇 的 中 止 , 是 使 罗 马 人 民 政 治 能 力 衰 败 的 最 有 力 的 原 因 ;

    并 且 , 一 旦 到 达 这 样 境 地 , 我 们 可 以 毫 不 迟 疑 地 说 , 罗 马 自

    由 的 毁 灭 仅 仅 是 一 个 时 间 问 题 , 如 果 “ 法 院 ” 的 工 作 能 使 人

    民 的 热 情 有 一 个 适 当 的 出 口 , 司 法 诉 讼 的 形 式 将 无 疑 地 被 罪

    恶 昭 彰 地 滥 用 , 象 在 我 国 后 期 斯 图 亚 特 ( S t u a r t s ) 的 各 个 朝代 一 样 , 但 国 民 性 格 将 不 致 于 象 它 在 实 际 上 那 样 深 受 其 害 , 罗马 制 度 的 稳 定 也 不 致 于 象 它 在 实 际 上 那 样 严 重 受 到 削 弱 。

    我 还 要 提 一 提 罗 马 刑 事 制 度 中 由 这 同 一 的 司 法 权 的 理 论

    产 生 的 另 外 两 个 特 点 。 这 两 个 特 点 是 : 罗 马 刑 事 法 院 的 非 常

    众 多 以 及 犯 罪 分 类 的 变 化 繁 多 和 极 不 规 则 , 这 是 罗 马 刑 事 法

    律 学 全 部 历 史 中 一 贯 的 特 色 。 据 说 , 每 一 个审问处 , 不 论 是否 永 久 的 , 都 以 一 个 各 别 的 制 定 法 为 其 创 始 的 来 源 。 它 从 创

    设 它 的 法 律 得 到 权 力 ; 它 严 格 遵 守 其 特 许 状 所 规 定 的 范 围 , 对

    于 特 许 状 所 没 有 明 白 规 定 的 各 种 犯 罪 是 不 能 过 问 的 。 由 于 组

    成 各 种 “ 审 问 处 ” 的 制 定 法 都 是 为 了 适 应 特 种 紧 急 需 要 , 事

    实 上 每 一 种 制 定 法 都 是 为 了 惩 罚 当 时 的 情 况 特 别 令 人 憎 恶 和

    特 别 危 险 的 一 类 行 为 , 这 些 立 法 在 相 互 之 间 丝 毫 没 有 关 系 , 并

    且 也 没 有 共 同 原 则 把 它 们 联 系 起 来 。 同 时 存 在 的 不 同 犯 罪 法

    共 有 二 三 十 种 , 由 数 目 完 全 相 等 的 “ 审 问 处 ” 来 执 行 它 们 ; 在

    共 和 国 时 期 内 , 并 没 有 作 过 任 何 企 图 要 把 这 些 各 别 的 司 法 机关 合 而 为 一 , 或 是 要 把 委 任 它 们 和 规 定 它 们 责 任 的 各 种 制 定

    法 中 的 规 定 加 以 匀 称 。 这 个 时 期 罗 马 犯 罪 管 辖 权 的 情 况 在 某

    些 方 面 有 些 象 英 国 的 民 事 救 济 行 政 , 当 时 英 国 普 通 法 院 还 没

    有 把 那 种 拟 制 的 证 言 引 用 到 它 们 的 令 状 , 使 它 们 得 相 互 侵 入

    彼 此 的 特 殊 的 领 域 中 。 正 和 “ 审 问 处 ” 一 样 , 后 座 法 院 ( C o u r t of Q u e e n ’ s   B e n c h ) 、 民 事 高 等 法 院 ( C o m m o n  P l e a s ) 和 理 财 法 院 ( E x c h e q u e r ) 在 理 论 上 都 是 从 一 个 较 高 的权 威 分 出 来 的 机 关 , 并 且 每 一 个 机 关 都 分 别 主 管 一 类 特 种 案件 , 这 类 案 件 被 假 定 是 由 其 管 辖 权 的 泉 源 委 托 给 它 的 ; 不 过当 时 罗 马 “ 审 问 处 ” 在 数 量 上 远 不 止 三 个 , 如 要 把 分 属 于 每

    一 个 “ 审 问 处 ” 审 判 权 的 各 种 行 为 加 以 区 别 , 远 不 及 把 韦 斯

    敏 斯 德 三 种 法 院 的 范 围 加 以 划 分 那 样 便 当 。 在 各 个 不 同 的

    “ 审 问 处 ” 的 范 围 之 间 划 一 条 正 确 分 界 线 是 有 困 难 的 , 因 此 这

    样 多 的 罗 马 法 院 有 时 造 成 了 许 多 不 便 ; 我 们 很 惊 异 地 读 到 , 当

    一 个 人 所 犯 的 罪 行 不 能 立 即 明 了 究 竟 应 属 哪 一 个 类 别 时 , 他

    可 同 时 或 连 续 地 在 几 个 不 同 的 “ 委 员 会 ” 中 被 提 出 控 诉 , 以

    至 有 一 个 “ 委 员 会 ” 宣 布 它 有 权 来 认 定 他 有 罪 ; 并 且 , 虽 然

    某 一 个 “ 审 问 处 ” 的 定 罪 可 以 排 斥 其 他 “ 审 问 处 ” 的 审 判 权 ,

    但 某 一 个 “ 审 问 处 ” 所 作 的 无 罪 开 释 不 能 作 为 另 一 个 “ 审 问

    处 ” 提 出 控 告 时 的 辩 护 。 这 和 罗 马 民 事 法 律 的 规 定 直 接 相 反 ;

    我 们 并 且 可 以 确 定 , 象 罗 马 人 那 样 对 法 律 学 中 的 变 例 ( 或 者用 他 们 的 意 义 深 长 的 成 语粗野 ) 十 分 敏 感 的 人 民 , 是 不 会 长期 容 忍 这 种 情 况 的 , 如 果 不 是 “ 审 问 处 ” 的 忧 郁 的 历 史 使 它们 被 认 为 是 党 派 手 中 的 暂 时 武 器 , 而 不 是 惩 治 犯 罪 的 常 设 机构 。 皇 帝 不 久 就 消 除 了 这 种 审 判 权 的 重 复 和 冲 突 的 现 象 ; 但可 以 注 意 的 是 他 们 并 没 有 消 除 犯 罪 法 中 的 另 一 个 特 点 , 这 是和 “ 法 院 ” 的 数 量 有 密 切 关 系 的 。 甚 至 包 括 在 查 斯 丁 尼 安“ 民 法 大 全 ” 中 的 犯 罪 分 类 也 是 非 常 反 复 多 变 的 。 事 实 上 每 一

    个 “ 审 问 处 ” 都 把 自 己 局 限 于 由 其 特 许 状 委 托 给 它 审 判 的 各

    种 罪 行 。 但 这 些 罪 行 在 原 来 制 定 法 中 所 以 归 类 在 一 起 , 只 是

    因 为 在 这 一 项 制 定 法 通 过 时 这 些 罪 行 恰 巧 同 时 需 要 法 律 加 以

    惩 罚 。 因 此 , 在 这 些 罪 之 间 未 必 一 定 有 任 何 共 同 之 点 ; 但 是

    它 们 在 一 个 特 定 “ 审 问 处 ” 中 构 成 一 特 定 的 审 判 题 目 , 这 一

    个 事 实 很 自 然 地 会 给 群 众 以 深 刻 的 印 象 , 同 时 在 同 一 制 定 法

    中 所 提 到 的 各 种 罪 行 之 间 的 联 系 又 是 如 此 的 根 深 蒂 固 , 甚 至

    在 西 拉 和 奥 古 斯 多 皇 帝 正 式 企 图 整 理 罗 马 犯 罪 法 时 , 立 法 者

    还 是 保 留 着 旧 的 分 类 方 法 。 西 拉 和 奥 古 斯 多 的 制 定 法 是 帝 国

    刑 事 法 律 学 的 基 础 , 这 些 制 定 法 所 传 给 法 律 学 的 有 些 分 类 是

    非 常 特 别 的 。 我 试 举 一 个 简 单 的 例 子 ,伪证 是 始 终 和割伤 以及毒杀 归 类 在 一 起 , 这 无 疑 是 由 于 一 条 西 拉 法 律 即 “ 哥 尼 流暗 杀 和 毒 杀 律 ” ( L e x   C o r n e l i a   d e   S i c a r i s   e t   V e n e f i Ac i s ) 曾 把 这 三 种 形 式 的 罪 行 的 审 判 权 给 与 同 一 个 “ 永 久 委 员会 ” 。 同 时 可 以 看 到 , 这 种 罪 行 的 任 意 归 类 也 影 响 到 罗 马 人 的方 言 。 人 民 自 然 地 养 成 这 样 一 种 习 惯 , 即 把 列 举 在 一 条 法 律中 的 各 种 罪 行 用 单 子 上 的 第 一 个 名 称 来 称 呼 它 , 而 这 个 名 称也 就 用 来 称 呼 授 权 审 判 这 些 罪 行 的 法 院 。 凡 是 由 “ 通 奸 审 问处 ” ( Q u Es t i o   D e   A d u l t e r i s ) 审 判 的 罪 行 便 都 称 为 “ 通 奸罪 ” ( A d u l t e r y )。

    我 对 罗 马 “ 审 问 处 ” 的 历 史 和 特 征 所 以 不 厌 其 详 地 加 以说 明 , 是 因 为 一 个 刑 事 法 律 学 的 形 成 从 没 有 在 任 何 其 他 地 方这 样 有 启 发 地 例 证 过 。 最 后 的 一 批 “ 审 问 处 ” 是 由 奥 古 斯 多皇 帝 加 设 的 , 从 这 时 候 起 , 罗 马 人 可 以 说 已 具 有 一 个 相 当 完

    全 的 犯 罪 法 了 。 和 它 发 展 的 同 时 , 类 推 的 过 程 继 续 进 行 着 , 我

    把 这 个 过 程 称 为 把 “ 不 法 行 为 ” 改 变 为 “ 犯 罪 ” , 因 为 , 虽 然

    罗 马 法 立 机 关 对 于 比 较 凶 暴 的 罪 行 并 没 有 废 止 民 事 救 济 , 它

    给 被 害 人 提 供 了 他 一 定 愿 意 选 择 的 一 种 赔 偿 。 但 是 , 即 在 奥

    古 斯 多 完 成 其 立 法 以 后 , 有 几 种 罪 行 仍 继 续 被 视 为 “ 不 法 行

    为 ” , 而 这 些 罪 行 在 现 代 社 会 看 起 来 , 是 应 该 作 为 犯 罪 的 ; 直

    到 后 来 , 在 一 个 不 能 确 定 的 时 期 , 当 法 律 开 始 注 意 到 一 种 在

    “ 法 学 汇 纂 ” 中 称 为非常犯罪 ( c r i m i n a   e x t r a o r d i n a r i a ) 的 新的 罪 行 时 , 它 们 才 成 为 刑 事 上 可 以 处 罚 的 罪 行 。 无 疑 的 , 有 一 类 行 为 , 罗 马 法 律 学 理 论 是 单 纯 地 把 它 们 看 做 不 法 行 为 的 ;但 是 社 会 的 尊 严 心 日 益 提 高 , 反 对 对 这 些 行 为 的 犯 罪 者 在 给 付 金 钱 赔 偿 损 失 以 外 不 加 其 他 较 重 的 处 罚 , 因 此 , 如 果 被 害 人 愿 意 时 , 准 许 把 它 们 作 为 非 常 ( e x t r a   o r d i n e m ) 犯 罪 而 起诉 , 即 通 过 一 种 在 某 些 方 面 和 普 通 程 序 不 同 的 救 济 方 式 而 起诉 。 从 这 些非常犯罪 第 一 次 被 承 认 的 时 期 起 , 罗 马 国 家 的 犯 罪 表 一 定 和 现 代 世 界 任 何 社 会 中 所 有 的 同 样 地 长 。

    我 们 没 有 必 要 详 细 描 写 罗 马 帝 国 执 行 犯 罪 司 法 的 方 式 ,但 须 注 意 , 它 的 理 论 和 实 践 都 对 现 代 社 会 发 生 有 力 的 影 响 。 皇帝 们 并 不 直 接 废 弃 “ 审 问 处 ” , 在 开 始 时 , 他 们 把 一 种 广 泛 的 刑 事 审 判 权 交 给 “ 元 老 院 ” ( S e n a t e ) , 虽 然 事 实 上 它 其 中 可 能显 得 很 卑 贱 , 但 在 这 个 “ 元 老 院 ” 中 皇 帝 在 名 义 上 也 和 其 余的 人 一 样 只 是 一 个 “ 议 员 ” ( S e n a t o r ) 。 皇 帝 在 开 始 时 就 主 张 要 有 某 几 种 并 行 的 犯 罪 审 判 权 ; 这 种 审 判 权 跟 着 对 自 由 共 和国 的 记 忆 日 益 衰 退 而 坚 定 地 扩 大 着 , 它 占 取 了 古 法 院 的 权 力 。 逐 渐 地 , 对 犯 罪 的 惩 罚 权 移 转 给 直 接 由 皇 帝 委 派 的 高 级 官 吏 , “ 元 老 院 ” 的 特 权 移 转 到 “ 帝 国 枢 密 院 ” ( l m p e r i a l   P r i v y C o u n c i l ) , “ 帝 国 枢 密 院 ” 也 就 成 了 一 个 最 后 刑 事 上 诉 法 院 。 在 这 些 影 响 下 , 现 代 人 所 熟 悉 的 学 理 在 不 知 不 觉 中 形 成 了 , 即 君 主 是 一 切 “ 公 道 ” 的 泉 源 , 是 一 切 “ 美 德 ” 的 受 托 人 。 帝国 在 这 时 候 已 达 到 完 善 的 地 步 , 这 不 是 不 断 增 长 阿 谀 和 卑 贱的 结 果 , 而 是 帝 国 集 权 的 结 果 。 事 实 上 , 刑 事 公 道 的 理 论 已几 乎 回 到 了 它 开 始 的 出 发 点 。 它 开 始 时 相 信 应 该 由 集 合 体 用其 自 己 的 手 来 报 复 其 自 己 的 不 法 行 为 ; 它 最 后 所 采 的 学 理 则以 为 犯 罪 的 惩 罚 在 一 种 特 殊 方 式 中 属 于 君 主 , 他 是 人 民 的 代表 和 受 托 人 。 这 种 新 的 见 解 和 旧 的 见 解 不 同 , 主 要 在 于 公 道 监 护 所 给 予 君 主 个 人 的 敬 畏 和 庄 严 气 概 。

    罗 马 人 对 于 君 主 和 公 道 关 系 的 一 个 较 近 的 见 解 , 当 然 有助 于 使 现 代 社 会 可 以 无 须 经 过 这 一 系 列 的 变 化 , 象 我 在 “ 审问 处 ” 的 历 史 中 已 经 例 证 过 了 的 。 在 居 住 于 西 欧 的 几 乎所有民 族 的 原 始 法 律 中 , 都 有 这 样 一 个 古 代 概 念 的 迹 象 ,即犯罪的 处 罚 属 于 自 由 人 的 议 会 , 在 有 些 国 家 中 — — 据 说 苏 格兰是其 中 之 — — 现 存 司 法 机 关 的 渊 源 可 以 追 溯 到 立 法 机 关的一个“ 委 员 会 ” 。 但 犯 罪 法 普 遍 由 于 两 种 原 因 而 得 到 更 快 的 发 展 , 这两 种 原 因 , 即 罗 马 帝 国 的 回 忆 和 教 会 的 影 响 。 一 方 面 , 凯 撒的 威 严 传 统 由 于 查 理 曼 王 朝 的 暂 时 得 势 而 被 保 全 , 使 君 主 具有 一 个 蛮 族 酋 长 所 决 不 能 获 得 的 一 种 威 望 , 并 使 最 小 的 封 建主 也 有 了 社 会 保 护 人 和 国 家 代 表 人 的 资 格 。 另 一 方 面 , 教 会急 于 控 制 凶 暴 残 忍 行 为 , 对 比 较 严 重 的 恶 行 树 立 惩 罚 的 权 威 ,在 “ 圣 经 ” 的 有 些 章 节 中 , 有 些 语 句 同 意 以 刑 罚 之 权 授 与 民事 高 级 官 吏 。 “ 新 约 全 书 ” 认 为 世 俗 统 治 者 的 存 在 是 为 了 使 作恶 之 人 有 所 恐 惧 ; “ 旧 约 全 书 “ 认 为 “ 流 人 血 者 , 人 亦 流 其血 ” 。 我 以 为 , 毫 无 疑 问 , 对 于 犯 罪 问 题 的 各 种 现 代 观 念 都 根据 “ 黑 暗 时 代 ” 教 会 所 主 张 的 两 种 假 定 — — 第 一 , 每 一 个 封建 统 治 者 在 他 的 地 位 上 得 比 拟 于 圣 · 保 罗所谈 到 的 罗 马 高 级 官 吏 ; 其 次 , 他 所 要 惩 罚 的 罪 行 是 “ 摩 西 十诫 ” ( M o s a i c   C o m m a n d m e n t s ) 中 规 定 要 禁 止 的 , 或 是 教 会并 不 保 留 在 其 自 己 审 判 权 之 内 的 。 “ 异 端 ” ( H e r e s y ) ( 被 假 定为 包 括 在 “ 第 一 诫 ” 和 “ 第 二 诫 ” 中 的 ) 、 “ 通 奸 ” 和 “ 伪证 ” 是 宗 教 罪 行 , 教 会 只 允 许 世 俗 权 力 在 发 生 非 常 严 重 案 件时 才 予 以 合 作 以 便 课 以 较 重 的 刑 罚 。 同 时 , 它 教 导 我 们 , 各式 各 样 的 谋 杀 和 强 盗 案 件 之 所 以 都 属 于 民 事 统 治 者 的 管 辖 ,这 不 是 由 于 他 们 地 位 的 偶 然 结 果 , 而 是 由 于 上 帝 的 明 白 命 令 。在 关 于 阿 尔 弗 烈 德 国 王 ( K i n g   A l f r e d ) ( 垦 布 尔 , 卷 二 ,第 2 0 9 页 ) 的 著 作 中 , 有 这 样 一 段 , 特 别 明 显 地 说 明 在 他 的时 代 关 于 刑 事 审 判 权 的 起 源 流 行 着 的 各 种 观 念 的 争 论。可 以看 到 , 阿 尔 弗 烈 德 认 为 它 半 属 于 教 会 权 威 , 半 属 于 “ 国 会 议员 ” ( W i t a n ) , 他 明 白 主 张 反 叛 地 主 罪 可 以 不 受 普 通 规 定 的 管辖 , 正 和 罗 马 “ 大 法 ” ( L a w   o f   M a j e s t a s ) 规 定 反 叛 凯 撒罪 应 不 受 普 通 规 定 管 辖 相 同 。 “ 在 这 以 后 ” , 他 说 , “ 有 许 多 国家 接 受 了 对 基 督 的 信 仰 ( 有 许 多 宗 教 会 议 遍 及 地 球 各 处 , 在英 国 人 中 当 他 们 接 受 了 基 督 信 仰 , 不 论 对 神 圣 主 教 的 , 或 是对 崇 高 的 ‘ 国 会 议 员 ’ 的 ) 之 后 , 也 是 如 此 。 他 们 于 是 规 定 ,由 于 基 督 的 慈 悲 之 心 , 世 俗 的 君 主 们 在 取 得 他 们 的 许 可 后 , 得不 犯 罪 过 而 对 每 一 恶 行 取 得 他 们 所 规 定 的 以 金 钱 表 现 的 · 博脱( b o t ) ; 除 了 反 叛 君 主 外 , 对 于 这 种 情 形 , 他 们 是 不 敢 给 与 任何 慈 悲 的 , 因 为 ‘ 全 能 的 上 帝 ’ 对 于 藐 视 ‘ 他 ’ 的 , 不 为 定罪 , 基 督 对 于 把 ‘ 他 ’ 出 卖 致 死 的 , 也 不 为 定 罪 , ‘ 他 ’ 命 令一 个 君 主 应 该 受 人 爱 戴 , 象 ‘ 他 自 己 ’ 受 人 爱 戴 一 样 。 ”

  • GREYE:胡安焉《我在北京送快递》

    首都北京,约有28.8万名快递员。
    他们是物流业的末梢神经,承担着物品抵达顾客前的最后环节。网购时代,每个人都与快递员产生连接,却从未注意过他们的世界。
    43岁的胡安焉曾是28.8万人中的一员。2019年前后,他在北京送了两年快递。在效率的催逼下,他的世界被缩小到5公里范围内,像日复一日推石头上山的西西弗斯,还要推得又快又好。
    2023年年初,快递员胡安焉成了作家。他出版书籍《我在北京送快递》,引发热议。边缘人第一次被公众关注,人们惊叹于他敏锐的洞察,也被他的故事吸引。
    胡安焉不善言辞,这个特质让他在生活中被频频绊倒。社会对他来说,是一套不适应的价值系统,他从未融入其中,却不得不接受它的评判与筛选,结果则是一连串的失败与失望。
    这是一个普通人幸与不幸的故事。在黯淡无光的漫长岁月里,他不服输、不沉沦,写作是他唯一的光,他靠此杀出一条血路。

    01 我在北京送快递

    2019年11月25日,这是胡安焉当快递员的最后一天。
    手上要送的快递只有寥寥几件,早上装好车后,他甚至跟同事聊了会儿天再出发。时间一下子变得宽裕,“就像穷光蛋一夜暴富”。
    过去两年间,他每天要派送一百多个快件,旺季时数量还要翻个两三倍。“双11”后的几天里,他在站点卸完货后,“快件漫到我的腰部,并向门外淌出。”为了完成额度,他每日心急火燎,疲于奔命。
    他负责的地盘位于北京通州,方圆约5公里,包括八个住宅小区、两个商场、两栋写字楼和两个创业园区。

    胡安焉的送快递路线

    以往,他早上8点开着三轮车从站点出发,按一个固定的路线派件,这是他摸索出来的最高效的路线,如果不按这个路线走,就完不成当天的工作。
    时间的紧迫感总是如影随形。到了早上9点,如果只送出20个快件,他就会焦虑,因为昨天同样时间他已经送出25个;如果已经送出30个,他心里就会宽慰。对效率的苛刻成了本能反应。
    与工作量相匹配,他的平均工资是7000元,最多的一个月拿到了一万出头。
    得到公司遣散的消息,他不意外,苗头早就出现。
    从年初开始,公司就将派件费下调,派一个件的收入从2元降到1.8元,后来又降到1.6元。由于业务被转移到其他快递公司,快件量也日渐减少。
    既然时间充裕,他试着把路线反过来走。
    他才发现,自己从未见过早上八九点钟的某小区,这个小区他过去总在傍晚抵达,而他已经为这里的居民送了一年多快递。
    结束工作后,他坐在自己负责派件的一个商场内,打量店铺里的售货员,看送餐员跑来跑去,他猜测,他们大多数人都是麻木的,脑子里什么也没想——和他一样。
    下了班之后,他重新拿起书来读,穆齐尔的《没有个性的人》、乔伊斯的《尤利西斯》,都是大部头。
    工作变清闲之后,他变得更温和、更平实,对人更有耐心。而此前在工作量的重压下,他很容易烦躁、满腹牢骚,对人莫名生出怨恨。
    胡安焉不擅长与客户沟通。主管要求他们送出快件后,要请客户帮忙打个五星好评,站点还做了统计表贴在墙上,好评数靠后的人在开会时要被揪出来检讨。
    对着客户,他开不了这个口。
    于是每天下了班,他就在手机里编辑短信,请当天服务过的客户给他打个好评,每天要发二三十条短信。对他来说,文字表达要比面对面口头表达容易得多。
    矛盾也时有发生。

    有一位客户公司搬迁了,却忘记修改收货地址,不知情的胡安焉把快件送到了他的旧地址。第二天,客户气冲冲地打来电话,不提自己留错地址的事,只理直气壮地要求胡安焉取回快件,重新派送到他的新地址。

    胡安焉气炸了,但还是忍气吞声,自掏腰包付了8元转寄费。

    还有一位客户,态度亲切,语调温柔。她有一件退货需要快递员上门取件,但她晚上7点才下班,而快递平台不接受夜间取件的预约。

    在电话里,她向胡安焉提出建议:何不你晚上吃过饭,到我的小区里散散步,顺便把我的退货取了。

    但实际上,胡安焉的住处距离她的小区往返需要一小时,谁会这样散步?他想回敬她:不如你吃过晚饭后,出门散步,顺便找个快递站把退货寄了。但这句话终究没有说出口。
    同事在快递车里休息

    胡安焉手机里有个“报复备忘录”,里面记了两个名字,都是让他气得牙痒痒的、蛮不讲理的客户。离职后,他把备忘录删了,一个都没报复。
    曾有一位客户批评他说:“顾客就是上帝,难道你不懂吗?”
    胡安焉听了一愣,随即为自己辩解道:“可是上帝应该只有一个,我每天却要伺候很多个啊。”

    02 格格不入

    1979年,胡安焉出生在广州,但父母都不是广州人。
    爸爸是粤东汕尾人,妈妈出生在上海,他们下乡时在海南省认识,结婚后搬到广州海珠区新港西路。当时新港西路还是一片泥地,后来才铺上沥青。
    胡安焉记得,小时候过年都是孤零零的,家里没有亲戚可以串门,他也没有同龄人可以一起玩耍。
    爸爸的性格内向孤僻,沉默寡言,跟单位的同事不太往来,“从头到尾,他跟社会都是脱节的。”
    (胡安焉的家就在中山大学南校区对面,小时候校园是他的游乐园)
    在他看来,父母非常压抑自己的情感,凡事都是退让,对他的要求也很严格。
    在那个道德主义流行的年代,父母总是怕他做错事,告诉他这不好那不好,炒股是不好的,投机倒把做生意也是不好的,好像所有私人的价值追求都是负面的。
    在这样的家庭教育下,他成了不太会表达自己的人。
    中专毕业后,他到夜校读广告设计,进了一家漫画杂志社做美编,工资1500元。
    试用期过后转正,当时的劳动合同内容他已记不清,只记得有一种强烈的被冒犯的感觉——合同违反了一堆劳动法,他没有签,但也没有离职。
    这些事情触发了他的思考。
    以前他觉得,社会肯定是对的,他无非就是怎么打磨自己,让自己能嵌入社会。但这份工作让他发现,原来社会不像他以为的那么正确。
    对他产生更大冲击的,是漫画社里的同事们。
    同事们都有点艺术家气质,他们听摇滚乐、听金属朋克,身上有文身和耳钉,发型也非常叛逆、有个性。胡安焉崇拜这群朋友。
    进漫画社时,胡安焉已经24岁,做过六七份工作了。

    由于性格内向、温驯,他的工作经历都不太愉快,并且渐渐发现自己与社会格格不入,心里有点惶恐。

    但是在漫画社里,他的惶恐得到了安慰、缓和。他看到这样一群充满理想主义的同龄人,他们拒绝把自己塞进社会模板里,主动逃离主流价值,但他们照样过得很积极、很开心。

    没多久,这群朋友就辞去工作,到北京追求“流浪与创作”的生活。胡安焉也跟着去了。

    为了节省房租,他们租住在燕郊,房租平摊到每个人头上才一百多元。最窘迫的时候,他们买不起菜,于是用面粉和水做成煎饼吃。他们花在画画和创作上的时间很少,多数时候在到处闲逛、聊天。

    一天下午,他们在外面游荡,路过一个批发市场时,朋友冷不丁地对胡安焉说了一句:我觉得你更适合写作。

    朋友为什么会说那句话,胡安焉没有追问。但他一直记得这句话,后来成了他决定写作的动机之一。
    在北京的那段时间,胡安焉还读了很多书,波德莱尔的诗、美国“垮掉的一代”艾伦·金斯堡的诗、凯鲁亚克的小说……
    虽然内容都忘得差不多了,但这种多元化的,甚至是有点边缘的价值观,给他造成了一种很深的刺激。

    慢慢地,他不再觉得,人一定要遵循社会的主流价值去生活。

    “前面的工作经历,无论取掉其中哪一段,都不会对今天的我产生影响。但是假如没有在北京的这段经历,今天的我肯定会是一个和现在很不同的人——它塑造了最初的我,给了我一个起点。”

    03 不断地逃离

    都说性格决定命运。胡安焉觉得,性格确实多次左右了他的人生选择。

    从青少年时代开始,他就意识到自己比同龄人更单纯、更迟钝。踏入社会后,这种不适应感越来越强烈。

    看着身边的同学蜕变为成人,他不明白他们是怎么做到的,“我怀疑他们早在还是个学生时,身体里就已经藏了一个成人。”而胡安焉的身体里,还是一个学生。
    读中专的时候,学校安排整个班级到酒店实习,实际上是做廉价劳工。

    在宴会厅撤场的时候,他一次多码了几张椅子,身边的同学就围拢过来调侃他,说活是干不完的,如果他干活太卖力,领班就会以同样的标准要求他们。他害怕得罪人,就不再在同学面前卖力干活。

    酒店的班次分两种,普通班和两头班。所谓两头班,就是早上上四小时,晚上再上四小时,意味着要花费双倍的通勤时间和费用,大家都不想上。

    有位同事因家里有事,用两头班换了胡安焉的普通班。下次应该要用普通班换回他的两头班,这样才公平。

    但胡安焉怕显得自己斤斤计较,就跟同事说,不用换回来了。

    没想到同事得寸进尺,下次又来找他换班。另一位同事看不过去,帮胡安焉出了头。

    他渐渐地意识到,自己是一个不懂得拒绝,经常逆来顺受的人,而大多数人都不会站在他人的角度考虑问题。如果他不想继续吃亏,要不变得和别人一样自私,要不就选择和所有人保持距离——后一种通常容易得多。

    后来,他做过十几份零工,人际相处难免出现问题。每次他克服不了,第一反应就是逃离。

    他幻想着,换一个环境,如果运气好的话,就会遇到不同的人,他们会公平地、友善地对待他,自觉地把他应得的给他。然而这是一种妄想。

    28岁那年,他不想打工了,向父母借了两万元,和朋友合伙开女装店。
    店铺开在广西南宁一家商场里的六楼。
    楼层大约只有三个篮球场大小,却挤了170个店面。朋友负责在广州的服装市场拿货、发货,他则负责在南宁看店。

    每天十几个小时地待在暗无天日的商场里,他的社恐变得更严重了。有客人进店,他的反应不是振奋,而是厌烦和恐惧,更不会主动拉客和销售。偶尔与人起争执,他会止不住地发抖、打寒战。

    生意场上残酷的竞争,让这座拥挤狭隘的商场暗流涌动。店主们连跟顾客谈价格,都是把数字敲在计算器上,唯恐被隔壁听见。

    大家抬头不见低头见,表面客客气气,背地里却互相中伤、搬弄是非。有个店主看不惯胡安焉的店铺生意好,于是到处散播流言,说他卖的衣服都是假货。有一次,胡安焉的合伙人来南宁,还跟另一个店主大打出手。
    经营女装店两年后,胡安焉退出了。

    离开那个充满是非的环境后,他才意识到自己的精神受到了创伤。他变得畏光、怕人、疑神疑鬼。走在路上,他觉得街上的人都在看他、议论他,他朝路人回瞪过去,才发现对方根本没有在看他。

    积累了太多负面情绪无法释放,他只想惩罚自己。

    2009年8月,没做太多准备,他就骑着爸爸平时买菜的自行车,从广州骑到北京,骑了26天。

    这辆车给他带来了很多麻烦,它平均两天要坏三次,后来三分之二的零件都换掉了。自行车的坐垫也不能调,只能在最低的高度,他骑的时候腿是屈着的,导致半月板撕裂,留下了后遗症。

    吃饭在路边的小吃店解决,晚上睡在几十块一晚的旅馆里。一路上,他摔过车,掉进山路边挺深的排水沟里;也骑上过高速,时速100多公里的汽车贴在身边呼啸而过。

    他没去任何名胜景点,沿途经过的都是小县城和乡镇。他在陌生的城市里东张西望,听不同的方言,看不同的风俗,这给了他很大的精神满足。

    骑行结束后,他回到广州,把自己困在家里大量地阅读。

    这一年他30岁。也就是这时,他开始写作。

    04 生活的惯性

    写作与打工,在胡安焉的生活里,是两种无法相容的状态。

    “当我去工作的时候,我就无法写作。工作极大地占用我的时间,同时还透支我的情绪,令我在下班后只想放松和减压,而无力思考其他……当我要写作的时候,我就辞去工作,专心地在家写。”

    他也尝试过靠写作养活自己。但把小说投到各家杂志社,总是石沉大海,偶尔发表一篇,也只有千字几十的稿费。逐渐见底的存款,让他放弃了这个想法。

    33岁那年,他搬到大理找工作。

    大理优美的自然环境以及好天气治愈了他,那段日子他过得自由自在。他到一家商场做保安,新同事不知道他的底细、他的过去,他因此可以卸下心理负担,随性地生活,“就像把生活格式化了一遍。”
    (胡安焉在大理还摆过一阵子地摊,卖文具)
    许多人都追求安稳的生活,但安稳对胡安焉来说没有太大吸引力。

    同样的工作、同样的生活环境,会让他变得越来越迟钝,感知会退化,甚至会有窒息的感觉。他渴望新鲜感,渴望对生活一直保持敏锐的感知力。

    这种流浪的底气也源于他的无欲无求。

    父母在广州有房,有退休金,不需要他养老。他自己物欲也很低,平时不抽烟不买名牌,剪头发去路边5元的摊子,出行可以骑车就不坐车,日常开支很低。

    出门在外,他租的都是小单间,一张床一张桌子,带个厕所就够了。

    他认为,很多人在一个地方扎根,是因为他们工作上的积累、人际关系的积累都在这里,离开了就要从零开始。而他本身没有任何积累,没车没房,自然也就没有牵挂。
    打工和写作交替的生活模式,成了一种惯性。

    多年里,他每次打工存到一点钱,就辞职写作;写作写不下去了,就又出门打工。

    2017年,他到广东顺德一家物流园,从事夜间分拣工作。做这份工作,首先是因为不用面试,谁来了都能做。其次,每个月的工资有接近五千,比他之前的工作都要高一点。

    所谓夜间分拣,就是把各地收来的货物从货车上卸下,按照目的地分拣、打包,再重新装车。

    他们晚上7点上班,早上7点下班,连续工作12个小时。被送到这里分拣的,很多是大件的货物,重的高达五六十斤。很多人吃不了这个苦,做不长久。胡安焉做了10个月,掉了快20斤体重。

    这些工作的细节,后来被胡安焉写进文章里。
    到了2020年4月,他从快递公司离职后没多久,新冠疫情就爆发了。

    疫情形势严峻,快递员不让进小区,物流业也受到很大影响,他就没有去找工作。当时他有一定的存款,就想待在家里重启写作,写小说。

    写小说前,他想写点随笔作为热身。他回忆起那份夜间分拣的工作,就花了一个下午写下来。

    在这篇随笔里,他细致地描写了日夜颠倒的作息,对身体和精神造成的折磨:

    “每次到了凌晨四五点,我都困得不行,只要让我躺下,五秒内就可以睡着;即使不躺下,我也已经摇摇欲坠,经常眼前一黑就要失去知觉,可是随即又惊醒过来。”

    他随文附上一张照片——那是他的手,拇指的骨头由于长期从事重体力劳动,已有些变形,其他手指缠有胶布,手上布满了汗水和灰尘凝结而成的灰色斑点。
    文章一发出来,立刻被大量转发、阅读。很多人在留言里表达自己的惊讶,他们感到匪夷所思,原来社会上还有这样的工作。

    胡安焉这才发现,“这部分人的生活内容,大多数人是一无所知的。”

    做体力劳动不要求学历。他的同行里极少有文字表达能力的,很多人小学都没读完,除了自己的名字外写不了几个字。在大众层面,他们是不被留意到的群体,也没有能力去表达、去发声。

    一下子涌来的关注,让胡安焉感觉像中奖了一样。

    随后,稿约、文章发表的机会、出版的机会都纷至沓来,他的生活有了翻天覆地的变化。他觉得自己是幸运的。虽然还没因此赚到很多钱,但反正他生活也很俭朴,他已经感到满足。

    现在,他和妻子搬到成都生活,日子过得安静、平和。
    他们在成都三环租了一个60平米的房子,租金才1800,家里有快1000本书,都堆在纸箱子里。

    成都物价很低,中午他买菜做饭,吃完就步行10分钟到附近的图书馆,一整个下午都花在里面,读书、写东西。晚上则看看书,看看电影。

    但成都不是终点,他和妻子计划以后搬到大理。生活总是在变换。

    05 用写作超越自己

    刚开始写作时,胡安焉对写作的看法仍是功利的。
    他心里想,我30岁了,如果能在写作中获得一些成绩,确立我不是一事无成的人,我就不会惶恐于这辈子是白过的。

    如今想来,他觉得当年的自己太稚嫩了。
    “今天我认为这完全就是放屁,根本就不成立。一个人,最重要的是他本质是什么,而不是他创造了什么,或者得到了什么。当然创造什么也很重要,但这还是建立在你本质是什么的基础上,它只是你本质的一种投射。”

    过了不惑之年,胡安焉有了更稳固的价值观,不会再被外界的评价影响。

    但有些东西始终没有变,比如他的诚实与自省。
    《我在北京送快递》出版后,收到很多好评,有读者夸赞是“真诚而克制的写作”。胡安焉自己重看,觉得文字仍未达到自己的标准,不少部分有自我维护的成分在里面。

    这段时间,不少记者找过来要采访,他没有经验。有记者问他存款多少,他也和盘托出。后来才意识到,这是他的隐私,不回答也可以。
    他认为,一个人的生活与写作是离得很近的。你如何感知世界,如何处理生活,都会体现在你的语言里。

    “对待生活不能做到真诚,他的生命感受必然是虚饰和雷同的。但写作必须刺穿这层虚饰,把真实的自己袒露出来。这只是第一步,但也是必不可少的一步。”

    通过写作,他也不断地回溯自己过去的经历,试图去理解,他人生中的各种际遇,到底以何种方式影响了他,让他成为了今天的自己。

    2008年,他在南宁经营女装店的时候,曾经遇到一个“疯女人”。

    女人穿着奇怪的衣服,搭配一只大得过分的包包。“她表情紧张,甚至有些害怕,脚步迟迟疑疑,但又竭力保持镇静。”胡安焉不认识她,只知道她精神有点问题。

    那天,女人走进他的店内,挑选了一条短裤,她没有走进试衣间,而是撩起短裙,直接套在自己的腿上。照了照镜子后,她没有脱下短裤,而是又套了第二条短裤在身上,接着是第三条。

    胡安焉看着眼前的女人,以及她身上挂着的三条短裤,突然有点难过,“从她的脸上,我清清楚楚地看到了自己,她就是另一个我——惊慌,恐惧,孤独,委屈。”

    多年后,他把这个“疯女人”写进自己的小说。

    这个萍水相逢的人,为何会给他留下如此深刻的印记,他没有答案,这毕竟不是一道数学题。这种模模糊糊的感觉,他只能通过小说去表达。

    年轻时,他初读塞林格的《麦田上的守望者》,从中获得了很多感动。他希望读者读了他的小说,也能体会到这种隐晦的、用言语说不出的滋味及感受。
    在小说的创作上,胡安焉野心不小。
    能有一本拿出来不脸红的,复杂性和丰富性都达到一定水平的代表作,是他当下的创作目标。但他明白,如果没有时间上的积淀,以及不断的自我进步,这是不可能实现的。
    “就像卡夫卡说的,唯一的美德是耐心。在写作上唯一需要的就是耐心。”
    现在,胡安焉没有固定的经济来源,靠偶尔到账的稿费度日。以后是否会拮据到需要去打工,甚至是做回快递员,重新过上那种西西弗斯推石头上山的日子,他自己也不确定。
    这个问题他也问过自己,如果西西弗斯没有石头,会怎样?
    如果说推石头上山,是一种机械的、徒劳的盲目;但没有石头,似乎又会失去目标感,陷入虚无之中。他以前的生活,好像只在这两种状态中摇摆。
    如今,他不再认为人生只有这两种可能。
    生活应该有更高的意义。“你可以把一生都投入到对这两种状态的克服之中,最后超越它。”

  • 王  鑫,张慧琴,孙昌璞:用科学精神抵御学术滑向灰色地带

    科技创新是推动人类社会进步的关键动力,在我国社会经济发展中扮演着日益重要的作用。而科学精神则是激励科技创新产生价值的行动规范,是一切科学活动的思想源泉,其求真、诚信、创新、怀疑、宽容等精神内核是科技创新健康发展的基本保证。

    改革开放以来,我国科技创新能力持续加强,科技创新水平显著提高,实质的科技创新成果也日渐增长。但在取得这些科技进步的同时,也出现了一些有违科学精神的现象。一些人受各种利益驱使,迅速滑向科研诚信的灰色地带,甚至走向学术不端,挑战科技界的学术底限(见图1)。学术不端行为是显而易见、容易判断的违规行为,而游走于学术不端和诚信科研之间的灰色地带的行为却贻害更深,比如说盲目追逐研究热点、挑选研究数据、过度解读研究结果等行为,长此以往它们对科技创新会产生严重危害。这些屡禁不止的行为主要源于不断滋生的趋利之风,同时也有科学创新自身属性带来的问题。科技创新本质上是创造前所未有的新东西,短期内很难评判其真正的价值。对于其价值的评价和评估难以完全客观,这或许是科技创新中学术灰色地带存在的内在因素。

    图 1  处于诚信科研和学术不端之间的灰色地带

    为了杜绝学术不端行为,我国相关部门和机构相继出台了一系列文件和规定,科技管理部门也三令五申,但实际上这些举措起不到令行则止的作用。与此同时,科学家群体也不断发出呼吁,希望科学研究要回归学术本源,用科学精神对科研不端和游走于灰色地带的行为进行约束并坚决说“不”。

    一、什么是科学研究的灰色地带?

    “科学研究的灰色地带”是介于诚信科研(responsible conduct of research)和学术不端(Research Misconduct)①[1]之间灰色地带的科研行为,也被称为“有问题的科研行为”(Questionable Research Practices)。这类行为虽然看上去可能并不严重,但它们违背了学术界传统价值观,对科学研究可能造成损害[2]

    科学研究的灰色地带涉及研究数据的规范性、完整性、可靠性,研究方法的科学性和逻辑性,以及对待科研人员的公正性和恰当性等方面[2]。有研究者具体列举了34种处于科研诚信灰色地带的行为[1],我们在此基础上将其归纳为四大类问题(见表1),即:在选题方面可能存在追逐流行或有利可图的题目、“过份地钻薄木板”等情况;在确定研究目的时可能存在违背伦理原则、利益相关关系不透明等情况;在研究方法上可能存在研究材料重复使用、无目的收集数据和挑选数据等情况;在论证过程中缺乏批判思维、过度解读结果或其影响力以及原创性不足等问题也值得关注。

    表 1  34种有问题的科研行为[1]

    资料来源:作者根据Ravn和Sørensen(2021)论文归纳整理。

    需要注意的是,一些理论和实验密切联系的研究存在着操纵数据以迎合理论的不良现象。这种粗暴地解释实验结果的行为,大大降低了理论内在的严谨性和实验求真的严肃性。最近,马约朗纳粒子研究领域的大量撤稿事件(见表2)正是这方面典型的例证,后文将详细阐述。

    表 2  马约朗纳粒子研究领域的撤稿情况

    学术界应该关注科学研究灰色地带问题。通常,对于学术不端行为(如伪造、篡改和剽窃),学术界已有广泛的共识和明确的定义,然而,在诚信科研和学术不端之间存在的一些灰色地带行为,它们既不像诚信科研那样“光明磊落”,也不像学术不端行为那样明确定义。由于对这些行为存在认知上的模糊,其种类和数量均要高于明确定义的学术不端行为。法内里.D(Fanelli D)的一项荟萃分析(meta-analysis)[3]表明,承认自己或同事有灰色地带科研行为的人员比例(分别为34%和72%),要高于承认自己或同事有学术不端行为的人员比例(分别为2%和14%)。

    国内外科学界事实上很早就注意到了这类科研灰色地带的研究。1958年,美国公共舆论研究学会的学术论文集中首次提到了有问题的科研行为,即不要为了证明一些预先确定的结果而进行有问题的科学研究[4]。我国也有很多科学家注意到了类似科研行为的危害。庆存瑞分析了病态科学(主观期望、一厢情愿的科学)产生的根源[5],认为科学研究上存在过于急于求成和存在投机心理,以及科学共同体没有充分发挥同行评议的作用。郝柏林[6]提醒学术界在揭露伪科学的同时还要警惕赝科学(即基于一定的事实,辅以各种联想和推论,却没有用现代科学方法证实或证伪的科学研究)的危害。他提出了赝科学的一些特点:一是某些在自己领域内有建树的科学家在其他领域搞赝科学具有迷惑性;二是从事赝科学的人士往往热衷于借助媒体宣传扩大影响而不真正下功夫在理论和实验上证明自己的主张;三是从事赝科学的人士热衷于提出新名词和新学科,却不花精力将新学科发展为真正的科学;四是从事赝科学的人士更容易获得支持。显而易见,病态科学和赝科学都处于科研灰色地带,这些研究往往会损害公众和政府对于科学的信任。

    二、历史上灰色地带“科学研究”的案例

    在众多处于灰色地带的科学研究中,有一些经典案例。

    1919年5月29日,英国科学家爱丁顿率领的日食观测队,通过对日全食时太阳周围恒星位置的观测,验证了爱因斯坦广义相对论。需要注意的是,爱丁顿当时测得的三组数据中,有两组数据支持爱因斯坦理论,而另一组数据则符合牛顿理论[7]。但爱丁顿认为那一组数据出现了系统误差,并未采用,也没有令人信服地解释产生误差的原因。几年后美国天文学家坎贝尔评论到“这项研究的逻辑似乎并不完全清晰”。

    另一个经典案例是密立根油滴实验。罗伯特·安德鲁·密立根(Robert Andrews Millikan)进行了175次测量基本电荷值的油滴实验,只公布了58次观测数据。有人认为他故意选取数据,但大卫·古斯丁(David Goodstein)并不这么认为[8]。古斯丁通过考证原始数据材料发现,密立根舍弃的那些是他认为不符合研究标准、且没有经历完整实验流程的油滴数据(例如油滴体积过大或者过小等),保留了经历完整实验过程的油滴数据,并全部公布了这些数据。在后人重复密立根的一系列实验中,却存在一个有趣的现象:在密立根之后的所有测量数据随着时间慢慢增长,最终稳定到一个数值。费曼在1974年的演讲中解释道:“当获得比密立根的数值更高的结果时,科学家们会拼命寻找错误原因;相反地,当获得与密立根相仿的结果时,便不会那么用心去检讨”。费曼称之为“草包族科学”(Cargo cult science)。这类类似科学的研究,遗漏了“科学的品德,也就是进行科学思考时必须遵守的诚实原则”。这种实验研究是在理论预设结果的“导向”下开展的,很显然是处于灰色地带的研究。当然,我们尚不能判断出密立根是否有意造假,因为我们不知道他是否知晓此前人们对电荷电量理论的推断。

    在我国科学发展历史上,有些科学家因为各种原因忽视了理论计算的适用条件和与实际误差之间的关系,在某些科学问题上提出了有问题的结论[9]。这类研究逐渐损害了科学共同体内部以及公众和政府中对科学研究声誉的认可。

    三、警惕灰色地带的科研行为

    1. 科学研究不是建造“空中楼阁”,警惕科学研究中的明星与“爆炸性成果”

    科学史告诉我们,科学研究不是一下子爆发出明星式的成果,而是通过长期奋斗逐步取得的。例如,开普勒三定律的提出是基于第谷终身积累的天文观测数据,屠呦呦发现青蒿素则源自阅读、整理数百本古代药物书籍和数百次实验。这些默默无闻、看似枯燥乏味却至关重要的基础工作需要极大耐心、大量时间和精力以及对科学研究的高度热情。虽然最终成果会被广泛认知,但其背后科研人员长期坚持不懈地工作却常常不为学术界外的人士所知。

    与之形成鲜明对比的是,处于灰色地带的科学研究往往被媒体大力宣传,有明星式的人物和所谓爆发出来的“成果”。例如,1989年有关冷聚变的研究掀起了轩然大波[5],当时美国犹他大学的科学家斯坦利·庞斯(Stanley Pons)和英国南安普顿大学的马丁·弗莱西曼(Martin Fleischmann)声称“发现”了室温下的氘-氘聚变反应,并且在论文投稿之前,美国犹他大学便召开新闻发布会进行宣传。该论文在未通过同行评议的情况下,犹他州州长就公开表示要提供500万美元资助。随后,全球众多科学家重复了这项实验,但冷聚变现象却始终没有得到确切的证据证实。值得注意的是,两位科学家拒绝公布实验细节和分享数据,并将客观可重复性问题变成一个主观的信仰问题。冷聚变事件游走于学术不端渐现的灰色地带,导致许多科学家花费时间、精力及资源去验证其真伪而造成浪费。

    类似事件在我国也曾发生。2016年,一位科学工作者的基因编辑论文被撤回,尽管最终没有证实其有主观造假行为。然而,从该论文发表时媒体大肆宣传到后来科学界对其结果提出质疑所引起的争议,再到全球科学家验证实验未能证明该论文结论,这个事件以论文撤搞而暂时平息。在论文成果还没有最终定论之前(尽管论文通过同行评议发表在高水平期刊上),媒体的大肆宣传、地方政府随之而来的资金和资源的投入,使得这一事件像冷聚变事件一样轰动但充满争议。相比之下,在实际应用中取得巨大成功的CRISPR(Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats)基因编辑工具,始于1987年日本科学家的偶然发现,此后经过一批科学家二三十年默默无闻的深入研究,科学家们才真正明确了CRISPR的生物学机理并揭示了其巨大应用价值。CRISPR持久受欢迎源自其被广泛认可的科学价值,而非媒体的推波助澜。

    在抵制学术灰色地带的事件中,同行评议通常发挥着维护科学客观性和严谨性的作用。然而,并非所有事件中同行评议都能及时发挥作用。此外,需要注意的是,由于各种因素的影响,同行评议可能存在滞后性。正如庆存瑞教授在对病态科学进行评价时所强调的那样,病态科学与同行评议未能充分发挥作用有一定关系。这也引起了人们对于当前科研中同行评议制度是否已经失效的争论[10]

    2. 自由探索不是“百科全书”式的研究,警惕原创水平不高的“伪自由探索”研究

    蒂尼·拉文(Tine Ravn)和麦兹·索伦森(Mads Søensen)认为,“无原创性”(unoriginality)的科学研究也处于灰色地带。在他们的文章中,一位物理学家表示“大家只是简单地制造过多且相似的论文,这些研究只是现有研究的装饰品,几乎没有原创性贡献。”这种基于前人研究而进行无实际价值或者盲目探索的“研究”结果,可能会在同行评议后发表在某些期刊上,并且作者可以将其研究冠以“自由探索”的名号。然而,这种做法异化了自由探索的概念,成为了“伪自由探索”,既不是研究自由,也不是科学探索。“伪自由探索”的另一种表现形式是开展“百科全书”式的科研,即在没有资源约束条件下,研究团队从事没有明确科学目标、肆意扩张的大型“研究”,研究方向就是整个热点领域,覆盖广却没有特色。

    1945年,范内瓦·布什(Vannevar Bush)在《科学——无尽的前沿》报告中传达了一种理念:好奇心驱动的科学研究必须能够在未来某个时候以某种方式对科学发展和技术应用产生影响。然而,在当前全球竞争环境下,麻省理工学院前校长雷欧·拉斐尔·莱夫(Leo Rafael Reif)认为,美国不能仅仅依赖这种理念下的基础研究发挥作用,还需要依靠面向需求的基础研究,有针对性地取得科学突破[11]。莱夫认为,布什所说的基础研究就像是一个小而美丽的自然花园(wild garden),但国家需要的科学更像是农场(farm),需要一群人共同凝练研究方向以满足国家乃至人类的需求。实际上,真正的好奇心驱动、自由探索式的科学研究只占基础研究很小的一部分,其目的是为未来培育和创造更多的可能性。对于自由探索研究的投入应该是有限的,对其较大的投入是需要深思熟虑的,其关键是严格选择最合适的人选。冠以“自由探索”的“伪自由探索”虽然侵占的资源可能不大,但其坏处不止于产出的价值微薄,它还会带坏风气,败坏科学作风,其潜在的破坏性不可估量。

    3. 灰色地带的科学研究浪费了时间和资源,造成科技创新体系无意义空转

    科学研究应是严谨和富有逻辑的。科学研究成果不仅能真实地展示客观世界、揭示其运行规律,更重要的是能真正地应用于现实,推动人类文明和生产力进步。然而,处于灰色地带的科学研究可信度低,这类研究越多就越损害科学研究的公信力。可能产生的后果便是,科学共同体互相间信任度降低,造成理论和实验脱节。进一步地,会使科学共同体外部(政府、企业等资助机构)对科学共同体的信任度降低,造成研究端与应用端的脱节。

    坚持科学研究的严谨性和逻辑性是“有代价”的,需要花费很多的时间、资源和精力来保证。因而,取得有价值的科研成果,需要科学工作者的长期奋斗。游走于科学研究灰色地带的行为当然是一种投机取巧,当有人靠着这种行为获得了事业上所谓的“进步”,受损害的是那些扎扎实实、实事求是的科研工作者对于科研体系乃至对我们社会的信心。科学共同体整体乃至这个社会信任度的降低及科研工作者个体信心的丧失,毫无疑问造成整个科技创新体系的低效。

    4. 灰色地带的科学研究行为的实质是缺少科学严谨性和实事求是的精神

    缺乏逻辑严谨性和实事求是的精神,是科学研究滑入灰色地带的根本原因。历史经验告诉我们,只有坚持科学的严谨性和发扬实事求是的科学精神,科学才能真正的进步。原子弹研发过程中的“九次计算”是体现科学严谨性的典型案例。1960年,在验证苏联专家提供的原子弹教学模型一个关键参数时,第一次计算耗时20天,但计算结果与苏联专家给出的结果不符。为了获得准确的结果,邓稼先带领九院的科学家们开展了艰苦的计算。三个月内,科学家们三班倒工作,进行了3次计算,结果仍然与苏联专家的不一致。于是科学家们又进行了5次计算。直到1961年,周光召用“最大功原理”证明了苏联专家的参数有误,验证了我国科学家“九次计算”结果的准确性。如果当时科学家们不坚持科学的严谨性,简单地认为苏联专家的参数是正确的,将极大影响原子弹的研发。

    四、从灰色地带到学术不端的典型案例:天使粒子如何妖魔化四

    如果实验科学家不能充分理解科学理论和实验之间的相互关系,他们可能会盲目地相信“理论”,并可能导致科学研究滑向学术灰色地带甚至堕入学术不端。

    在物理学中,当实验物理学家知道了“理论”的预言结果,在某些情况下,他们处理实验数据时会产生主观倾向,导致实验以一种不那么令人信服的方式“验证”了理论。1956年,李政道、杨振宁发现宇称不守恒并建立中微子二分量理论,预言μ子到正负电子衰变的实验分支比是3/4。此前相关实验发现的分支比在一定范围内几乎是随机的。此后10年,不同研究组的多次实验测量结果显示分支比稳定到3/4,而每一次实验的误差都落在前一个实验的误差范围内。这个事例告诉大家,单次实验观察不一定能完全独立于理论去无偏地验证理论预言,仅凭一次和少数几次实验检验理论的正确性是不可靠的,只有多次重复实验才能逼近理论描述的“客观实在”。

    此外,实验物理学家有时相信的“理论”预言,有可能只是某种简化模型和低阶近似的结果,而事实上模型和近似成立的条件可能十分苛刻,最近关于Majorana零模实验的激烈争论和批量撤稿(见表2)正是这一现象的典型案例。Majorana零模系统被认为可以应用于超导拓扑量子计算机中,因此成为研究热点。具体来说,理论上超导-纳米线(拓扑绝缘体-超导)紧邻复合系统一定会约化到Kitaev模型,从而具有Majorana零模,使其拥有拓扑保护的潜力。然而,在实验采用的强场(或强表面能隙)条件下,这些系统并不能约化到理想Kitaev模型。这时即使观察到的强度为2e2/h的零偏压信号,也不能代表Majorana零模的出现。最近,我们通过更加精确的分析和严格的计算表明[12],在过强或者过弱的磁场条件下,系统不会出现零偏压峰;事实上出现强度为2e2/h的零偏压峰只是Majorana零模的必要但非充分条件,不能用于判断体系是否是Majorana零模。然而,实验家为了迎合有效模型理论预言,甚至在误差范围外有取向地处理数据,“得到”了与理论相符合的错误结论。这也就是最近Majorana实验大量文章被撤稿的原因。

    上述问题出现的深层次原因在于一些人不能正确地理解和处理理论与实验之间的关系,他们有意无意地忽略理论预言成立的条件,将理想模型当实际系统来处理。同时,他们不能客观地分析和使用实验数据,而是为了迎合严格的或不严格的“理论”,人为地处理实验数据。为了拟合已有的理论,置反证的实验数据于不顾。这些做法很有可能导致科学研究滑向灰色地带甚至堕入学术不端。正如本文作者之一孙昌璞在《物理学报》上发表文章[13]所说:“一个好的理论-实验的结合工作,必须是双盲的、背靠背的,否则的话就会出现互相人为拟合趋同的科学诚信问题”。

    五、形成科学精神价值体系,拒绝学术灰色化

    由于科学本身的内在规律,科技创新的灰色地带问题的发现和判断有根本性的困难,有时外人很难区分科技成果是初创时的不完美,还是学术研究或价值取向的灰色地带。一旦不加区分,“错杀一千也不放过一个”就会扼杀正在成长的创新。创新的东西不仅和传统的有外在的不一样,而且其内在价值的评价体系也有异于传统。此时,科学精神就变得至关重要。正如社会学所述,在良序社会中,除了法律法规约束外,还需要道德价值观来约束那些法力不逮的地方。同样地,对于科学创新中出现的问题而言,仅靠有形的、刚性的科学规则规范是不够的,还需要无形的、内化于心的科学精神。我们充分相信一个拥有科学精神的学者,是绝不会在人所不知的地方放松自己对科学严谨性的追求。

    当前,全球科技发展和科技竞争进入了新的阶段。与其他科技强国一样,我国面临着一些人类发展的共同难题;同时随着科技创新水平逐渐接近世界前沿,我国又面临着越来越多的“无人区”探索;在越来越大的外部竞争压力下,我国必须在很多领域主动、自主地探索,开展自主可控的研究[14]。在这三重因素的影响下,我国正在不断拓展和深入“无人区”的探索,并遇到了很多在过去追赶状态中没有遇到过的新问题。

    在以追赶为主的科学发展态势下,多数科学研究的方向及其价值判断标准是确定的,我们可以跟踪国外的科学研究进展,在他人已有的工作基础上做一些创新,完全开放的同行评议也能很好地发挥作用。而在当前深入“无人区”探索的新阶段,科学研究的方向及其价值判断标准不像以往那么明确。传统的同行评议可能难以发挥应有作用(同行评议倾向于支持已有的研究方向),甚至会扼杀创新。同时,新的研究价值判断方法尚未建立起来。旧有价值判断准则的部分失效和新的价值判断准则的暂时缺位,容易导致学术不端或者学术灰色地带的行为发生。同时我们也要看到,科研竞争的不断加剧在客观上会导致学术不端及游走于学术灰色地带的行为发生[15]。因此,当我国科技创新进入新阶段,“无人区”探索逐渐拓展和深入时,特别需要注重对基础研究价值判断的革新。基础研究的有用性和基础性在短期内很难有一个明确的判断标准,所以需要依靠具有科学家精神(即科学精神和爱国主义)的价值判断。

    科学研究需要实事求是的精神。参与“两弹一星”的老一辈科学家以自己的实际行动阐释了严谨、实事求是的科学态度,这种科学态度应该始终坚持,并成为我国新时期科技创新文化的重要组成部分。于敏先生在巨大的政治压力下坚持科学真理,实事求是,充分体现了科学家精神。“文革”期间,实验工作队设计的一个小型化型号在一个关键动作上出了毛病,军事管制委员会的领导蓄意要把这次技术问题变为政治问题,于敏坚决拒绝按他们的意图说话:“如果我说假话,我现在可以轻松过关,但我经受不了历史和真理的考验。我宁愿现在挨整,决不说对不起历史的话,不说违背真理的话。”胡思得院士回忆到“于敏同志这种大义凛然的态度,在当时的政治环境下,确实是难能可贵,对我们是极大的教育和鼓舞,也免使科研工作走入歧途,我从此把于敏当作自己处世立业的学习榜样。”

    科学研究的实事求是精神还体现在以科研诚信规范正确处理研究中的错误。著名理论物理学家、“两弹一星”元勋彭桓武先生生前在正式科学刊物上发表的最后一份文字[16]便是他自己论文的一封更正信。刘寄星研究员曾在一次访问[17]中提到:“这封信足以反映彭先生一生严谨求实的科学态度”。2019年,中共中央办公厅、国务院办公厅印发《关于进一步弘扬科学家精神 加强作风和学风建设的意见》,对弘扬科学家精神、加强作风和学风建设做出了全面系统部署。孙昌璞等10位科学家共同向广大科技工作者发出了“弘扬科学家精神,树立良好作风学风”倡议书[18],呼吁:自觉践行新时代科学家精神;坚守科研诚信底线和科研伦理规范;反对浮夸浮躁、急功近利;加强科研数据及成果管理;反对科研领域“圈子”文化;积极履行社会责任。他们呼吁:更要持续加强科研诚信建设、深入践行良好作风学风,呼吁要遵照科研诚信要求,负责任地开展科研活动,抵制学术不端和处于灰色地带的有问题的科研行为。

    基础科学研究应该面向国家重大需求与挑战,围绕社会、经济和产业发展中的共性问题,凝练关键科学问题并组织开展研究。绝不能在“自由探索”口号的庇护下,开展覆盖面广却不深刻的“百科全书”式的科学研究。不能不顾资源约束条件,做一些“豪华”的科学研究。不能一味追逐热点,为了一些利益(例如获得资助等)做一些所谓的“高显示度”的工作。我们需要科学家们能够在一个方向上深耕,“坐稳冷板凳”(或者说有战略定力),对基础理论形成深刻的理解,并将其运用到实际领域中去。

    ① 学术不端行为主要指伪造(falsification)、篡改 (fabrication)、剽窃(plagiarism)。

    参考文献

    [1]Ravn T, Sørensen M. Exploring the Gray Area: Similarities and Differences in Questionable Research Practices (QRPs) Across Main Areas of Research. Science and Engineering Ethics 27, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11948-021-00310-z
    [2]Institute of Medicine. Responsible Science: Ensuring the Integrity of the Research Process: Volume I. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.1992. https://doi.org/10.17226/1864.
    [3]Fanelli D. How many scientists fabricate and falsify research? A systematic review and meta-analysis of survey data. PloS one, 2009, 4(5): e5738. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0005738.
    [4]Riley J. Proceedings of the Thirteenth Conference on Public Opinion Research. The Public Opinion Quarterly, 1958, 22(2): 169-216.
    [5]庆承瑞. 病态科学, 冷聚变及其它. 自然辩证法研究, 1991(1): 47-53. DOI: 10.19484/j.cnki.1000-8934.1991.01.009.
    [6]郝柏林. 伪科学与赝科学. 科学, 2002, 54(2): 40+2.
    [7]迈克尔·斯特雷文斯. 知识机器. 北京: 中信出版社, 2022: 31-33.
    [8]Goodstein D. In Defense of Robert Andrews Millikan. American Scientist, 2001, 89(1): 54-60. DOI: 10.1511/2001.14.724.
    [9]吴明喻. 科技政策研究二十年——吴明瑜口述自传. 湖南: 湖南教育出版社, 2015: 73.
    [10]Mastroianni A. The rise and fall of peer review. https://experimentalhistory.substack.com/p/the-rise-and-fall-of-peer-review [2023-2-27].
    [11]Reif R. How to Turn Vannevar Bush’s “Wild Garden” Into a Farm that Cultivates Solutions to Human Needs. Issues in Science and Technology. https://issues.org/vannevar-bush-wild-garden-science-policy-reif/ [2023-2-27].
    [12]Qiao, Li, Sun. Do Majorana zero modes emerge in the hybrid nanowire under a strong magnetic field?arXiv: 2112.13568 PRB.
    [13]孙昌璞. 当代理论物理发展趋势之我见 —杨振宁学术思想启发的若干思考. 物理学报, 2022, 71(1): 7-16. DOI: 10.7498/aps.71.20212307.
    [14]刘仓理. 如何确保国防科技领域科技链人才链安全. https://www.workercn.cn/c/2022-06-08/6972725.shtml
    [2023-2-27].
    [15]丹尼尔·格林伯格. 纯科学的政治. 上海: 上海科学技术出版社, 2020: V
    [16]彭桓武. 来信. 科学, 2007, 59(1): 52.
    [17]刘寄星. 严谨求实的物理学大师. https://www.cas.cn/zt/jzt/yszt/ldyxphw/mtbd/200703/t20070306_2671515.shtml [2023-2-27].
    [18]中国科学报. 10院士专家发起“弘扬科学家精神、树立良好作风学风”倡议 https://www.nsfc.gov.cn/csc/20340/20289/44932/index.html [2023-2-27]
  • 金庸:中国最大的历史教训是闭关锁国和思想控制[节]

    本文为金庸1994年10月3日至29日北京大学访问期间的演讲。

    中国文明不断消长   

    大家希望听我讲小说,其实写小说并没有什么学问,大家喜欢看也就过去了。我对历史倒是有点兴趣。今天我想简单地讲一个问题,就是中华民族如此长期地、不断地发展壮大,到底有何道理,有哪些规律?这几年我常在英国牛津大学,对英国文学、英国历史和中国历史很有兴趣。大家都知道,英国对二十世纪影响最大的一位历史学家名叫汤因比,他写了一部很长很长的《历史研究》。他在这部书中分析了很多世界上的文明,说明世界上的很多文明都在历史进程中衰退或消亡了,直到现在仍真正兴旺发达的文明只有两个,一个是西方的欧美文明,一个是东方的中国文明。

    而中国文明历史悠久且连续不断,则又是世界唯一的。虽然古代有的文明历史比中国早,有的文明范围比中国大,如巴比伦的文明、埃及的文明、希腊罗马的文明,但这些文明却因遇到外力的打击,或者自己腐化而逐渐衰退、消亡了。

    他说:一种文明总会遇到外来的挑战,如果该文明能很好地应付这个挑战,就能继续发展;如果不能很好地应付挑战,就会衰退,甚至消亡。这里也有多种情况:一种是遇到强大外族的打击,整个民族被杀光杀尽,消灭了;一种是民族内部长期僵化,没有改革,没有进化,象活的木乃伊,结果衰落了;有的则因自己的腐化而垮台;还有一种就是分裂,国家内战不休。   

    我们的国歌中有一句:“中华民族到了最危险的时候”,这句话是在抗战前后写的,它表示了一种忧患意识。那时候我国遭受外族敌人的侵略,处境确实非常危险。在座的各位同学年纪轻,不知道,你们的爸爸妈妈就知道了。我同在座的雷洁琼大姐、周南社长等都经历过这段艰难而危险的时刻。就我看来,我国历史上遭受外族侵略的危险时期有七个:第一是西周末年到春秋战国时期东西南北受到的外族进攻;第二是秦汉时期匈奴的进攻,时间长达四百年之久;第三是魏晋时鲜卑等五胡的进犯,时间也有四百年;第四是隋唐时期突厥和吐蕃的侵犯,时间约三百年;第五是五代、南北宋时期契丹、女真及西夏的侵犯,时间大概也是四百年;第六是元、明、清时期蒙古、满族的侵犯;第七是近代西方帝国主义和日本帝国主义的侵略。

    中国历史发展规律

    纵观中国历史,大概可以看到这样一个规律,我们的民族先是统一强盛,后来慢慢腐化,组织力量衰退。此时如果出现一些改革,那么就会中兴。如果改革失败了,或者自己腐化了,那么外族敌人就会入侵。在外族入侵的时候,我们民族有个很特殊的现象,就是外族的入侵常常是我们民族的转机。以上所讲的我们民族七次大的危机,又都是七次大的转机。历史上常常是外族人来了之后,我们华夏民族就跟它同化、融合,一旦同化、融合了,我们华夏民族就壮大起来,统一起来。   

    之后可能又腐化了,衰退了,或者分裂了,外族人来了,我们民族再融合,又壮大,如此循环往复。其他国家民族遇到外族入侵,要么打赢,要是打不赢,这个国家或民族就会垮台。我们中华民族遇到外族入侵时,常常能把外族打退,打不退的情况也很多,但却很难被征服。这是因为一方面我们有一股韧力,一股很顽强的抵抗力量;一方面我们又很开放,在文化上同它们融合在一起,经过一段时间,大家变成一个民族,我们的民族从此又壮大起来。   

    我在温哥华英属哥伦比亚大学获颁名誉教授时也曾讲到这个问题,以及其他一些中国的历史问题。加拿大的一些教授觉得我的这些观念比较新,并讨论为什么中国可以融合外族,而西方就融合不了。我想其中第一个原因是我国一开始就是农业社会,生产力比较高、技术比较先进,有强大的经济力量可以发展文化;第二个原因是从西周开始,我们已有了一个严密的宗法社会制度,后世讲到中国封建社会,总认为封建的宗法制度很束缚人的思想,很束缚人的行为,其实这种宗法制度也有它的历史作用,我们民族由于有了严密的继承制度,从而避免了内部的争斗和战争。

    一些游牧民族本来很强盛,但往往在关键的时候闹分裂。父亲死后,他的两个儿子或者三个儿子抢父亲的位子坐,罗马也有这种情况。一抢位子,就要打架,就要内乱。本来很强盛的部落、部族或者民族,一分裂,就要自己打自己。我们民族从西周开始,虽然自己内部斗争也不断有,但基本上还是遵循世袭制度,即父亲死了,嫡长子继位,这是当时中华民族发展的一个重要制度。一个社会的基本法律制度固定了,社会就会很稳定,内部斗争就会大大减少,这也是民族强盛的重要环节。还有一个重要环节,就是我们对外族是很开放的。

    从历史上看,中国很长很长的时候是外族统治的,如北魏。其实隋唐也有很大很大的少数民族的成份,主要是鲜卑人。有一个情况不知各位想到没有,我的小说中写过一个人叫“独孤求败”,独孤求败很骄傲,他一生与人比剑比武从没有输过,所以他改个名叫求败,希望失败一次,但却总没有败过。这个“独孤”就是鲜卑人。“鲜卑”这两个字,有些学者说“西伯利亚”就是“鲜卑利亚”,鲜卑人原本住在西伯利亚那一带。但这不是很一致的意见。

    北周的时候,有个人叫独孤信,他有很多女儿,其中大女儿嫁给了北周的皇帝,第四个女儿嫁给了唐高祖的父亲,第七个女儿嫁给了隋文帝。所以唐高祖和隋炀帝是表兄弟,唐太宗李世民则应叫隋炀帝为表叔。他们都有鲜卑的血统。唐太宗李世民的妈妈姓窦,是鲜卑人。唐太宗的皇后姓长孙,长孙和窦都是鲜卑人的姓。

    皇后的哥哥长孙无忌是唐朝很有名的宰相,他也是鲜卑人了。据我初步统计,唐朝宰相至少有2、3人是胡人,其中主要是鲜卑人。那时候说“胡人”就象我们现在说“洋人”一样,没有歧视的意思。在唐朝,有2、3个外国人当“国务院总理”,可见唐朝对外国人一点也不歧视。再说汉朝,汉武帝与匈奴交战,匈奴分裂投降了。其中一个匈奴王子叫金日石单,很受汉武帝重用。汉武帝死后,他的身后大事交给两个人,一个是霍光,一个就是金日石单。由此可见,我们民族壮大的重要原因就是非常开放。   

    我在武侠小说里写了中国武术怎样厉害,实际上是有些夸张了。中国人不太擅长打仗,与外国人打仗时,输的多,赢的少,但是我们有耐力,这次打不赢没关系,我们长期跟你干,打到后来,外国人会分裂的。如匈奴很厉害,我们打他不过。汉高祖曾在山西大同附近被匈奴人围困,无法脱身。他的手下便献了一条妙计,去向匈奴皇后说,汉人漂亮的女人很多,你如果把汉朝皇帝抓来,把汉人打垮了,俘虏了大批汉人中的漂亮女人,你这个皇后就要糟糕了。匈奴皇后中了这个诡计,便退兵了。

    匈奴后来分为南北,南匈奴投降了汉朝,北匈奴则向西走,一部分到了英国,以至灭亡了整个西罗马帝国。有意思的是,匈奴的一半被中国抵抗住了,投降了,另外一半却把整个欧洲打垮了。

    隋唐时期的突厥也是如此,他们分为东突厥和西突厥。东突厥向隋唐王朝投降了。慢慢地被华夏民族所融合。西突厥则向西行。来到了土耳其。后来土耳其把东罗马帝国打垮了,把整个君士坦丁堡占了下来,直到现在。所以我们不要一提起历史就认为我们民族不行,其实我们民族真正不行,只是16世纪以后的三、四百年的事情。

    最近我在牛津大学的一次聚餐会上遇到一位很有名的研究东亚经济的学者,他和我谈到中国经济的发展前途时说,中国的经济自古以来就很发达,人均收入一直是全世界第一,只是到了16世纪以后才慢慢被英国赶上去。而国民总收入却是到了1820年才被英国超过。中国国力居世界领先的地位竟保持了二、三千年之久。那位学者对中国经济前途非常乐观,他说大概到2020年时,中国的国民经济收入又会是全世界第一,并能长期保持下去,恐怕至少在那之后的四、五十年内没有任何国家能够赶得上。我听了之后很兴奋,问他是否有数据?他列举了很多统计数字。他是专家,不会随口乱说。我觉得他的分析是很有道理的。

    实际上我们中国古代在科学技术方面一直是很先进的,到宋朝尤其先进,大大超过了欧洲。那时我们的科技发明,欧洲是远远赶不上的。如造纸、印刷、火药、罗盘等在宋朝已经非常兴旺发达了。现在大家用的钞票也是中国发明的,在宋朝时代就已经开始使用了。那时我们的金融制度相当先进,货币的运用相当成熟。那么欧洲人什么时候才开始转机呢?应该说是到了中国的明朝,从那时起,中国开始落后了。   

    我想其中原因,一个是政治上的专制,对人民的思想控制很严,一点也不自由开放,动不动满门抄斩,株连九族,吓得人们不敢乱说乱动,全部权力控制在皇帝一人手里。另一个原因就是明朝对付不了日本倭寇的入侵,便异想天开,实行所谓海禁,把航海的船只全部烧掉,以为如此一来就能断绝与倭寇的来往,饿死倭寇。这是对日本完全不了解。这种愚蠢的禁令,当然是永乐皇帝之后、郑和下西洋之后的事情了。

    明朝一实行封锁,整个国力便开始衰退。与此同时,西方科学却开始发展,工业革命也开始了。有一个有趣的时间值得注意,那就是16世纪初的1517年,德国马丁路德公然否定教皇的权威,反对神权控制,就在这个时候,我国明朝的正德皇帝下江南。

    正德皇帝是个很无聊、很腐化的昏君,他下江南干了许多荒淫无耻的勾当。大家知道,在隋朝、唐朝,中国是很富强的,到了宋朝、元朝也还可以,那时候科学发达交通方便、对外开放。而欧洲正是封闭的时候,一切都由教廷控制,学术思想不自由。你说地球围绕太阳转,他却要你坐牢,一切都是封闭的。

    到了16世纪,欧洲自由开放了,科学发明开始了,可中国反而长期封锁起来了。这是最大的历史教训。   

    今天讲了这么多,无非是要大家明确两个观念,那就是改革和开放。中华民族之所以这样壮大,靠的就是改革和开放。当我们遇到困难的时候,内部要积极进行改革,努力克服困难,改革成功了,我们的民族就会中兴。同时我们还要对外开放,这点更为重要,因为中国人有自信心,我们自信自己的民族很强大,外来的武力或外来的文化我们都不害怕。

    另有一个重要观念,今天没有时间详谈。我认为过去的历史家都说蛮夷戎狄、五胡乱华、蒙古人、满洲人侵略中华,大好山河沦亡于异族等等,这个观念要改一改。我想写几篇历史文章,说少数民族也是中华民族的一分子,北魏、元朝、清朝只是少数派执政,谈不上中华亡于异族,只是“轮流做庄”。满洲人建立清朝执政,肯定比明朝好得多。这些观念我在小说中发挥得很多。希望将来写成学术性文字。  

    上面我讲到的那位英国历史学家汤因比在他初期写《历史研究》这部大著作的时候,并没有非常重视中国。到他快去世的时候,他得出一个结论:世界的希望寄托于中国文明和西方文明的结合。他认为西方文明的优点在于不断地发明、创造、追求、向外扩张,是“动”的文化。中国文明的优点在于和平,就好象长城,处于守势,平稳、调和,是“静”的文化。

    现在许多西方学者都认为,地球就这样大了,无止境地追求、扩充,是不可能的,也是不可取的。今后只能接受中国的哲学,要平衡、要和谐,民族与民族之间要相互协作,避免战争。由于科学的发展,核武器的出现,今后的世界大战将不可思议。一些疯狂的人也许执意要打核战争,殊不知,这种战争的结局将是人类的同归于尽。这种可能性不能说没有,我所接触到的西方学者目前对打核战争都不太担心,他们最担心的是三个问题:第一是自然资源不断地被浪费;第二是环境污染;第三是人口爆炸。这三个问题将关系到人类的前途。

    所以,现在许多西方人把希望寄托于中国,他们希望了解中国,了解中国的哲学。他们认为中国的平衡、和谐、团结的哲学思想、心理状态可能是解决整个人类问题的关键。   

    最近牛津有一个十分盛大的宴会,伦敦《泰晤士报》前总编辑李斯。莫格勋爵也参加了,他曾谈到,十九世纪世界的经济中心在伦敦,二十世纪初转到了纽约,到了战后七十年代、八十年代则转到了东京,而二十一世纪肯定要转到中国。至于这个中心是中国的北京还是上海。依我看,在北京或在上海都不是问题,只要是在中国就很好。

  • 湖北省博物馆(武汉):曾候乙尊盘

    2400年前的巨型“保温杯”太美了

    它出自2400年前战国时期的工匠之手,精巧得无以复加,至今无法进行3D扫描建模。

    夏冰镇 冬温酒

    2400年前的巨型“保温杯”太美了

    尊盘,由尊与盘两件器物组成;是盛酒器,一般作盛水器。

    冬天盘内盛装热水 可以加热尊中酒水,夏天盘中盛冰则可起到冰镇作用,可谓冬夏两相宜,相当于一个巨型“保温杯”,或宴飨xiǎng、祭祀之美器。

    2400年前的巨型“保温杯”太美了

    铜尊重9千克,铜盘重19.2千克。玲珑剔透、极尽奢华,铸造技术水平精妙至极。

    盘底刻有铭文“曾侯乙作持用终(曾侯乙一直使用到最后)”,曾侯乙墓中出土的器物刻有这一铭文的共有208处,但只有此尊盘内的铭文有后期打磨补刻痕迹,即便是2400年后,打磨痕迹仍是清晰可辨。据考证,此处铭文显示曾侯乙并非尊盘最初主人,而是传了三代曾侯。

    2400年前的巨型“保温杯”太美了

    尊口沿远看像云朵,实际是龙蛇盘旋环绕的镂空花纹。

    2400年前的巨型“保温杯”太美了

    尊的颈部攀附四只反首吐舌、向上爬行的豹,豹身也以镂空的龙蛇装饰,尊的腹部和圈足满是蟠pánchī(虎形龙相物)纹和浮雕的龙。

    2400年前的巨型“保温杯”太美了

    整个尊体共装饰有28条龙、32条蟠螭。

    盘的制作更为复杂,盘身的四个抠手,也是由无数条龙蛇组成的镂空花纹,抠手下有八条镂空夔kuí龙。

    2400年前的巨型“保温杯”太美了

    盘足为四条圆雕的双身龙。

    整个盘体装饰龙56条、蟠螭48条。

    2400年前的巨型“保温杯”太美了

    从尊口到盘足,还盘踞着上千只蟠pán huǐ(蜷曲的小蛇),无处不精美,处处有装饰。

    失蜡法代表作中国古代青铜器的巅峰,曾侯乙尊盘造型复杂精美,尤其是透空装饰层层堆叠,表层却又彼此独立且互不连接,只靠铜梗支撑。

    2400年前的巨型“保温杯”太美了

    科学鉴定表明,曾侯乙尊盘集浑铸、分铸,焊接和失蜡法等多种工艺为一体,尊、盘各有34个、38个部件,分别通过56处和44处,铸、焊连成一体,部件之多 焊接之繁,十分罕见。

    2400年前的巨型“保温杯”太美了

    而失蜡法在尊和盘口沿的镂空附饰制作上的运用,更是佐证了在2000多年前,我国已经开始使用失蜡法铸造青铜器,而且造型艺术、铸造技术都已臻于完美。

    时光从不停滞,而匠人之心却以青铜为载体,永久流传。

  • 张爱玲:烬余录

    我与香港之间已经隔了相当的距离了几千里路,两年,新的事,新的人。战时香港所见所闻,唯其因为它对于我有切身的、剧烈的影响,当时我是无从说起的。现在呢,定下心来了,至少提到的时候不至于语无伦次。然而香港之战予我的印象几乎完全限于一些不相干的事。

             我没有写历史的志愿,也没有资格评论史家应持何种态度,可是私下里总希望他们多说点不相干的话。现实这样东西是没有系统的,像七八个话匣子同时开唱,各唱各的,打成一片混沌。在那不可解的喧嚣中偶然也有清澄的,使人心酸眼亮的一刹那,听得出音乐的调子,但立刻又被重重黑暗上拥来,淹没了那点了解。画家、文人、作曲家将零星的、凑巧发现的和谐联系起来,造成艺术上的完整性。历史如果过于注重艺术上的完整性,便成为小说了。像威尔斯的《历史大纲》,所以不能跻于正史之列,便是因为它太合理化了一点,自始至终记述的是小我与大我的斗争。

             清坚决绝的宇宙观,不论是政治上的还是哲学上的,总未免使人嫌烦。人生的所谓“生趣”全在那些不相干的事。

             在香港,我们初得到开战的消息的时候,宿舍里的一个女同学发起急来,道:“怎么办呢?没有适当的衣服穿!”她是有钱的华侨,对于社交上的不同的场合需要不同的行头,从水上跳舞会到隆重的晚餐,都有充分的准备,但是她没想到打仗。后来她借到了一件宽大的黑色棉袍,对于头上营营飞绕的空军大约是没有多少吸引力的。逃难的时候,宿舍的学生“各自奔前程”。战后再度相会她已经剪短了头发,梳了男式的菲律宾头,那在香港是风行一时的,为了可以冒充男性。战争期中各人不同的心理反应,确与衣服有关。譬如说,苏雷珈。苏雷珈是马来半岛一个偏僻小镇的西施,瘦小,棕黑皮肤,睡沉沉的眼睛与微微外露的白牙。像一般受过修道院教育的女孩子,她是天真得可耻。她选了医科,医科要解剖人体,被解剖的尸体穿衣服不穿?苏雷珈曾经顾虑到这一层,向人打听过。这笑话在学校里早出了名。

             一个炸弹掉在我们宿舍的隔壁,舍监不得不督促大家避下山去。在急难中苏雷珈并没忘记把她最显焕的衣服整理起来,虽然许多有见识的人苦口婆心地劝阻,她还是在炮火下将那只累赘的大皮箱设法搬运下山。苏雷珈加入防御工作,在红十字会分所充当临时看护,穿着赤铜地绿寿字的织锦缎棉袍蹲在地上劈柴生火,虽觉可惜,也还是值得的。那一身伶俐的装束给了她空前的自信心,不然,她不会同那些男护士混得那么好。同他们一起吃苦,担风险,开玩笑,她渐渐惯了,话也多了,人也干练了。战争对于她是很难得的教育。

             至于我们大多数的学生,我们对于战争所抱的态度,可以打个譬喻,是像一个人走在硬板凳上打瞌盹,虽然不舒服,而且没结没完地抱怨着,到底还是睡着了。

             能够不理会的,我们一概不理会,出生入死,沉浮于最富色彩的经验中,我们还是我们,一尘不染,维持着素日的生活典型。有时候仿佛有点反常,然而仔细分析起来,还是一贯作风。像艾芙林,她是从中国内地来的,身经百战,据她自己说是吃苦耐劳,担惊受怕惯了的。可是轰炸我们邻近的军事要塞的时候,艾芙林第一个受不住,歇斯底里起来,大哭大闹,说了许多可怖的战争的故事,把旁的女学生一个个吓得面无人色。

             艾芙林的悲观主义是一种健康的悲观。宿舍里的存粮看看要完了,但是艾芙林比平时吃得特别多,而且劝我们大家努力地吃,因为不久便没的吃了。我们未尝不想极力撙节,试行配给制度,但是她百般阻挠,她整天吃饱了就坐在一边啜泣,因而得了便秘症。

             我们聚集在宿舍的最下层,黑漆漆的箱子间里,只听见机关枪“忒啦啦拍拍”像荷叶上的雨。因为怕流弹,小大姐不敢走到窗户跟前迎着亮洗菜,所以我们的菜汤里满是蠕蠕的虫。

             同学里只有炎樱胆大,冒死上城去看电影——看的是五彩卡通——回宿舍后又独自在楼上洗澡,流弹打碎了浴室的玻璃窗,她还在盆里从容地泼水唱歌,舍监听见歌声,大大地发怒了。她的不在乎仿佛是对众人的恐怖的一种讽嘲。港大停止办公了,异乡的学生被迫离开宿舍,无家可归,不参加守城工作,就无法解决膳宿问题。我跟着一大批同学到防空总部去报名,报了名领了证章出来就遇着空袭。我们从电车上跳下来向人行道奔去,缩在门洞子里,心里也略有点怀疑我们是否尽了防空团员的责任。——究竟防空员的责任是什么,我还没来得及弄明白,仗已经打完了。——门洞子里挤满了人,有脑油气味的,棉墩墩的冬天的人。从人头上看出去,是明净的浅蓝的天。一辆空电车停在街心,电车外面,淡淡的太阳,电车里面,也是太阳——单只这电车便有一种原始的荒凉。

             我觉得非常难受——竟会死在一群陌生人之间么?可是,与自己家里人死在一起,一家骨肉被炸得稀烂,又有什么好处呢?有人大声发出命令:“摸地!摸地!”哪儿有空隙让人蹲下地来呢?但是我们一个磕在一个的背上,到底是蹲下来了。飞机往下扑,砰的一声,就在头上。我把防空员的铁帽子罩住了脸,黑了好一会,才知道我们并没有死,炸弹落在对街。一个大腿上受了伤的青年店伙被抬进来了,裤子卷上去,少微流了点血。他很愉快,因为他是群众的注意集中点。门洞子外的人起先捶门捶不开,现在更理直气壮了,七嘴八舌嚷:“开门呀,有人受了伤在这里!开门!开门!”不怪里面不敢开,因为我们人太杂了,什么事都做得出。外面气得直骂“没人心。”到底里面开了门,大家一哄而入,几个女太太和女佣木着脸不敢做声,穿堂里的箱笼,过后是否短了几只,不得而知。飞机继续掷弹,可是渐渐远了。警报解除之后,大家又不顾命地轧上电车,唯恐赶不上,牺牲了一张电车票。

             我们得到了历史教授佛朗士被枪杀的消息——是他们自己人打死的。像其他的英国人一般,他被征入伍。那天他在黄昏后回到军营里去,大约是在思索着一些什么,没听见哨兵的吆喝,哨兵就放了枪。

             佛朗士是一个豁达的人,彻底地中国化,中国字写得不错,(就是不大知道笔划的先后),爱喝酒。曾经和中国教授们一同游广州,到一个名声不大好的尼庵里去看小尼姑。他在人烟稀少处造有三幢房屋,一幢专门养猪。家里不装电灯自来水,因为不赞成物质文明。汽车倒有一辆、破旧不堪,是给仆欧买菜赶集用的。

             他有孩子似的肉红脸,瓷蓝眼睛,伸出来的圆下巴,头发已经稀了,颈上系一块暗败的蓝字宁绸作为领带。上课的时候他抽烟抽得像烟囱。尽管说话,嘴唇上永远险伶伶地吊着一支香烟,跷板似的一上一下,可是再也不会落下来。烟蒂子他顺手向窗外一甩,从女学生蓬松的鬈发上飞过,很有着火的危险。

             他研究历史很有独到的见地。官样文字被他耍着花腔一念,便显得非常滑稽,我们从他那里得到一点历史的亲切感和扼要的世界观,可以从他那里学到的还有很多很多。可是他死了——最无名目的死。第一,算不了为国捐躯。即使是“光荣殉国”,又怎样?他对于英国的殖民地政策没有多大同情,但也看得很随便,也许因为世界上的傻事不止那一件。每逢志愿兵操演,他总是拖长了声音通知我们:“下礼拜一不能同你们见面了,孩子们,我要去练武功。”想不到“练武功”竟送了他的命——一个好先生,一个好人。人类的浪费……围城中种种设施之糟与乱,已经有好些人说在我头里了。政府的冷藏室里,冷气管失修,堆积如山的牛肉,宁可眼看着它腐烂,不肯拿出来,做防御工作的人只分到米与黄豆,没有油,没有燃料。各处的防空机关只忙着争柴争米,设法喂养手下的人员,哪儿有闲工夫去照料炸弹?接连两天我什么都没吃,飘飘然去上工。当然,像我这样不尽职的人,受点委曲也是该当的。在炮火下我看完了《官场现形记》。小时候看过而没能领略它的好处,一直想再看一遍,一面看,一面担心能够不能够容我看完。字印得极小,光线又不充足,但是,一个炸弹下来,还要眼睛做什么呢——“皮之不存,毛将焉附?”

             围城的十八天里,谁都有那种清晨四点钟的难挨的感觉——寒噤的黎明,什么都是模糊,瑟缩,靠不住。回不了家,等回去了,也许家已经不存在了。房子可以毁掉,钱转眼可以成废纸,人可以死,自己更是朝不保暮。像唐诗上的“凄凄去亲爱,泛泛入烟雾”,可是那到底不像这里的无牵无挂的虚空与绝望。人们受不了这个,急于攀住一点踏实的东西,因而结婚了。

             有一对男女到我们办公室里来向防空处长借汽车去领结婚证书。男的是医生,在平日也许并不是一个“善眉善眼”的人,但是他不时的望着他的新娘子,眼里只有近于悲哀的恋恋的神情。新娘是看护,矮小美丽、红颧骨,喜气洋洋,弄不到结婚礼服,只穿着一件淡绿绸夹袍,镶着墨绿花边。他们来了几次,一等等上几个钟头,默默对坐,对看,熬不住满脸的微笑,招得我们全笑了。实在应当谢谢他们给带来无端的快乐。

             到底仗打完了。乍一停,很有一点弄不惯,和平反而使人心乱,像喝醉酒似的。看见青天上的飞机,知道我们尽管仰着脸欣赏它而不至于有炸弹落在头上,单为这一点便觉得它很可爱,冬天的树,凄迷稀薄像淡黄的云;自来水管子里流出来的清水,电灯光,街头的热闹,这些又是我们的了。第一,时间又是我们的了——白云,黑夜,一年四季——我们暂时可以活下去了,怎不叫人欢喜得发疯呢?就是因为这种特殊的战后精神状态,一九二○年在欧洲号称“发烧的一九二○年”

             我记得香港陷落后我们怎样满街的找寻冰淇淋和嘴唇膏。我们撞进每一家吃食店去问可有冰淇淋。只有一家答应说明天下午或许有,于是我们第二天步行十来里路去践约,吃到一盘昂贵的冰淇淋,里面吱格吱格全是冰屑子。街上摆满了摊子,卖胭脂,西药、罐头牛羊肉,抢来的西装,绒线衫,素丝窗帘,雕花玻璃器皿,整匹的呢绒。我们天天上城买东西,名为买,其实不过是看看而已。从那时候起我学会了怎样以买东西当作一件消遣。——无怪大多数的女人乐此不疲。

             香港重新发现了“吃”的喜悦。真奇怪,一件最自然,最基本的功能,突然得到过份的注意,在情感的光强烈的照射下,竟变成了下流的,反常的。在战后的香港,街上每隔五步十步便蹲着个衣冠济楚的洋行职员模样的人,在小风炉上炸一种铁硬的小黄饼。香港城不比上海有作为,新的投机事业发展得极慢。许久许久,街上的吃食仍旧为小黄饼所垄断。渐渐有试验性质的甜面包,三角饼,形迹可疑的椰子蛋糕。所有的学校教员,店伙,律师帮办,全都改行做了饼师。

             我们立在摊头上吃滚油煎的萝卜饼,尺来远脚底下就躺着穷人的青紫的尸首。上海的冬天也是那样的罢?可是至少不是那么尖锐肯定。香港没有上海有涵养。

             因为没有汽油,汽车行全改了吃食店,没有一家绸缎铺或药房不兼卖糕饼。香港从来没有这样馋嘴过。宿舍里的男女学生整天谈讲的无非是吃。

             在这狂欢的气氛里,唯有乔纳生孤单单站着,充满了鄙夷和愤恨。乔纳生也是个华侨同学,曾经加入志愿军上阵打过仗。他大衣里只穿着一件翻领衬衫,脸色苍白,一绺头发垂在眉间,有三分像诗人拜伦,就可惜是重伤风。乔纳生知道九龙作战的情形。他最气的便是他们派两个大学生出壕沟去把一个英国兵抬进来——“我们两条命不抵他们一条。招兵的时候他们答应特别优待,让我们归我们自己的教授管辖,答应了全不算话!”他投笔从戎之际大约以为战争是基督教青年会所组织的九龙远足旅行。

             休战后我们在“大学堂临时医院”做看护。除了由各大医院搬来的几个普通病人,其余大都是中流弹的苦力与被捕时受伤的乘火打劫者。有一个肺病患者比较有点钱,雇了另一个病人服侍他,派那人出去采办东西,穿着宽袍大袖的病院制服满街跑,院长认为太不成体统了,大发脾气,把二人都撵了出去。另有个病人将一卷绷带,几把手术刀叉,三条病院制服的裤子藏在褥单底下,被发觉了。

             难得有那么戏剧化的一刹那。病人的日子是修长得不耐烦的。上头派下来叫他们拣米,除去里面的沙石与稗子,因为实在没事做,他们似乎很喜欢这单调的工作。时间一长,跟自己的伤口也发生了感情。在医院里,各个不同的创伤就代表了他们整个的个性。每天敷药换棉花的时候,我看见他们用温柔的眼光注视新生的鲜肉,对之仿佛有一种创造性的爱。

            他们住在男生宿舍的餐室里。从前那间房子充满了喧哗——留声机上唱着卡门麦兰达的巴西情歌,学生们动不动就摔碗骂厨子。现在这里躺着三十几个沉默,烦躁,有臭气的人,动不了腿,也动不了脑筋,因为没有思想的习惯。枕头不够用,将他们的床推到柱子跟前,他们头抵在柱子上,颈项与身体成九十度角。就这样眼睁睁躺着,每天两顿红米饭,一顿干,一顿稀。太阳照亮了玻璃门,玻璃上糊的防空纸条经过风吹雨打,已经撕去了一大半了,斑驳的白迹子像巫魔的小纸人,尤其在晚上,深蓝的玻璃上现出奇形怪状的小白魍魉的剪影。

             我们倒也不怕上夜班,虽然时间特别长,有十小时。夜里没有什么事做。病人大小便,我们只消走出去叫一声打杂的:“二十三号要屎乒。(“乒”是广东话,英文Pan的音译)”或是“三十号要溺壶。”我们坐在屏风后面看书,还有宵夜吃,是特地给送来的牛奶面包。唯一的遗憾便是:病人的死亡,十有八九是在深夜。

             有一个人,尻骨生了奇臭的蚀烂症。痛苦到了极点,面部表情反倒近于狂喜……眼睛半睁半闭,嘴拉开了仿佛痒丝丝抓捞不着地微笑着。整夜他叫唤:“姑娘啊!姑娘啊!”悠长地,颤抖地,有腔有调。我不理。我是一个不负责任的,没良心的看护。我恨这个人,因为他在那里受磨难,终于一房间的病人都醒过来了。他们看不过去,齐声大叫“姑娘”。我不得不走出来,阴沉地站在他床前,问道:“要什么?”他想了一想,呻吟道:“要水。”他只要人家给他点东西,不拘什么都行。我告诉他厨房里没有开水,又走开了。他叹口气,静了一会,又叫起来,叫不动了,还哼哼:“姑娘啊……姑娘啊……哎,姑娘啊……”

             三点钟,我的同伴正在打瞌盹,我去烧牛奶,老着脸抱着肥白的牛奶瓶穿过病房往厨下去。多数的病人全都醒了,眼睁睁望着牛奶瓶,那在他们眼中是比卷心百合花更为美丽的。

             香港从来未曾有过这样寒冷的冬天。我用肥皂去洗那没盖子的黄铜锅,手疼得像刀割。锅上腻着油垢,工役们用它煨汤,病人用它洗脸。我把牛奶倒进去,铜锅坐在蓝色的煤气火焰中,象一尊铜佛坐在青莲花上,澄静,光丽。但是那拖长腔的“姑娘啊!姑娘啊!”追踪到厨房里来了。小小的厨房只点一只白蜡烛,我看守着将沸的牛奶,心里发慌,发怒,像被猎的兽。

             这人死的那天我们大家都欢欣鼓舞。是天快亮的时候,我们将他的后事交给有经验的职业看护。自己缩到厨房里去。我的同伴用椰子油烘了一炉小面包,味道颇像中国酒酿饼。鸡在叫,又是一个冻白的早晨。我们这些自私的人若无其事的活下去了。

             除了工作之外我们还念日文。派来的教师是一个年轻的俄国人,黄头发剃得光光地。上课的时候他每每用日语问女学生的年纪。她一时答不上来,他便猜:“十八岁?十九岁?不会超过廿岁罢?你住在几楼?待会儿我可以来拜访么?”她正在盘算着如何托辞拒绝,他便笑了起来道:“不许说英文。你只会用日文说:‘请进来。请坐。请用点心。’你不会说:‘滚出去!’”说完了笑话,他自己先把脸涨得通红。起初学生黑压压拥满一课堂,渐渐减少了。少得不成样,他终于赌气不来了,另换了先生。

             这俄国先生看见我画的图,独独赏识其中的一张,是炎樱单穿着一件衬裙的肖像。他愿意出港币五元购买,看见我们面有难色,连忙解释:“五元,不连画框。”

             由于战争期间特殊空气的感应,我画了许多图,由炎樱着色。自己看了自己的作品欢喜赞叹,似乎太不像话,但是我确实知道那些画是好的,完全不像我画的,以后我再也休想画出那样的图来。就可惜看了略略使人发糊涂。即使以一生的精力为那些杂乱重叠的人头写注解式的传记,也是值得的。譬如说,那暴躁的二房东太太,斗鸡眼突出像两只自来水龙头;那少奶奶,整个的头与颈便是理发店的电气吹风管;像狮子又像狗的,蹲踞着的有传染病的妓女,衣裳底下露出红丝袜的尽头与吊袜带。

             有一幅,我特别喜欢炎樱用的颜色,全是不同的蓝与绿,使人联想到“沧海月明珠有泪,蓝田日暖玉生烟”那两句诗。

             一面在画,一面我就知道不久我会失去那点能力。从那里我得到了教训——老教训:想做什么,立刻去做,都许来不及了。“人”是最拿不准的东西。

             有个安南青年,在同学群中是个有点小小名气的画家。他抱怨说战后他笔下的线条不那么有力了。因为自己动手做菜,累坏了臂膀。因之我们每天看见他炸茄子,(他只会做一样炸茄子)总觉得凄惨万分。

             战争开始的时候,港大的学生大都乐得欢蹦乱跳,因为十二月八日正是大考的第一天,平白地免考是千载难逢的盛事。那一冬天,我们总算吃够了苦,比较知道轻重了。可是“轻重”这两个字,也难讲……去掉了一切的浮文,剩下的仿佛只有饮食男女这两项。人类的文明努力要想跳出单纯的兽性生活的圈子,几千年来的努力竟是枉费精神么?事实是如此。香港的外埠学生困在那里没事做,成天就只买菜,烧菜,调情——不是普通的学生式的调情,温和而带一点感伤气息的。在战后的宿舍里,男学生躺在女朋友的床上玩纸牌一直到夜深。第二天一早,她还没起床,他又来了,坐在床沿上。隔壁便听见她娇滴滴叫喊:“不行!不吗!不,我不!”一直到她穿衣下床为止。这一类的现象给人不同的反应作用——会使人悚然回到孔子跟前去,也说不定。到底相当的束缚是少不得的。原始人天真虽天真,究竟不是一个充分的“人”。医院院长想到“战争小孩”(战争期间的私生子)的可能性,极其担忧。有一天,他瞥见一个女学生偷偷摸摸抱着一个长形的包裹溜出宿舍,他以为他的噩梦终于实现了。后来才知道她将做工得到的米运出去变钱,因为路上流氓多,恐怕中途被劫,所以将一袋米改扮了婴儿。

             论理,这儿聚集了八十多个死里逃生的年轻人,因为死里逃生,更是充满了生气:有的吃,有的住,没有外界的娱乐使他们分心;没有教授,(其实一般的教授们,没有也罢),可是有许多书,诸子百家,诗经,圣经,莎士比亚——正是大学教育的最理想的环境。然而我们的同学只拿它当做一个沉闷的过渡时期——过去是战争的苦恼,未来是坐在母亲膝上哭诉战争的苦恼,把憋了许久的眼泪出清一下。眼前呢,只能够无聊地在污秽的玻璃窗上涂满了“家,甜蜜的家”的字样。为了无聊而结婚,虽然无聊,比这种态度还要积极一点。

             缺乏工作与消遣的人们不得不提早结婚。但看香港报上挨挨挤挤的结婚广告便知道了。学生中结婚的人也有。一般的学生对于人们的真性情素鲜认识,一旦有机会刮去一点浮皮,看见底下的畏缩,怕痒,可怜又可笑的男人或女人,多半就会爱上他们最初的发现。当然,恋爱与结婚是于他们有益无损,可是自动地限制自己的活动范围,到底是青年的悲剧。

             时代的车轰轰地往前开。我们坐在车上,经过的也许不过是几条熟悉的街衢,可是在漫天的火光中也自惊心动魄。就可惜我们只顾忙着在一瞥即逝的店铺的橱窗里找寻我们自己的影子——我们只看见自己的脸,苍白,渺小:我们的自私与空虚,我们恬不知耻的愚蠢——谁都像我们一样,然而我们每人都是孤独的。

  • 陈韦伶(广东):女性后花园

    陈韦伶来自广东揭阳,是一位90后的女插画师、画家,作品关注女性,其《女性后花园》等系列作品,令人印象深刻。

    《柔情似水》

    《在你的江河里流淌》

    《欲之七》

    陈韦伶是一个单亲家庭长大的孩子,她回忆,因为潮汕地区大多人的思想都很保守,在身边的家庭,会一直想要生个儿子传承香火,在看到她是女孩子时,亲生父亲就和母亲离婚了,她跟着妈妈、外婆一起生活。在读三年级时,她离开了揭阳,和舅舅家人在佛山生活。

    《瞧一瞧》

    《白雪与魔镜》

    她现在生活在广州一栋40多年的老楼里,有一间36㎡的自己的房子。

  • 立此存照

    2023.4.26 徐跋骋抄袭

    中国美术学院绘画艺术学院油画系第二工作室教师徐跋骋被曝光抄袭国外艺术家的画作,尤其是艺术家希娜·加文(Seana Gavin)和吉姆·卡赞赞(Jim Kazanjian)两人的作品。大量对比图显示徐抄袭国外艺术家作品时间长达十年。希娜·加文在ins上发文表示自己很震惊,徐一副抄袭的作品居然售价高达10万美元,她号召大家揭露这一行径,不要购买徐的作品。

    4月26日,中国美术学院就此前该校教师徐跋骋被曝作品涉嫌抄袭问题回应称,学校成立专门调查组,依规开展调查。根据调查组调查,经校院两级学术委员会认定,徐跋骋学术不端行为属实。给予降低岗位等级、撤销专业技术职务的处分,并决定与其终止聘用关系。

    2023.4 钟海燕贪污2亿元

    钟海燕,女,生于1963年,1996年开始担任校长,2009年调任贵阳实验小学任校长至案发,兼任贵州省教育学会第五届理事会副会长,2020年获“全国先进工作者”称号。据称其贪污受贿的金额高达2.2亿,还涉嫌多项违法违纪行为。
    贵阳市实验小学是贵州省重点小学,集团化办学,有10多个分校,共有130个教学班,6000多名学生。权谋私、暗箱操作、接受贿赂就成了她的日常。要想进这样的小学,一个指标大概就要十万块。
    其最大的贪腐来自于贪污学生学费、课本费、辅导教材费、补课费、学校招标采购、基建维修等,其中一个校区修个游泳池就花了1.2亿,同时还在学校内高价售卖物品。

    2023.4.23 袁久红在工作群发不雅照

    4月24日,东南大学称,网传我校马院负责人袁某某在某微信群里发不雅图片,学校对此高度重视,立即开展调查。根据初步调查结果,情况属实,学校决定免去其院长职务。
    袁久红,男,1966年出生,江西兴国人,东南大学首席教授,博士生导师,曾任东南大学宣传部部长、东南大学马克思主义学院院长,第十五届校委员会委员,2014年教育部社会科学司“全国高校思想政治理论课教学能手”

    2023.4.18 钟阳接受调查

    2023.4.18消息:贵州省黔南州委副书记、州政府党组书记、州长钟阳涉嫌严重违纪违法接受纪律审查和监察调查。钟最后一次公开露面是在4月14日,参加了当天黔南州委的几场重要会议。4月17日,黔南州一家国有资本运营有限公司的党委委员雷钱龙已被带走。
    钟阳,女,1972年生,布依族;历任贵阳市团委组织部干部、部长助理、组织部部长等,在老部长的指点和帮助下,2002年5月被任命为共青团贵阳市委副书记;后在同乡刘文新帮助下,2005年升为贵阳市委秘书长;2009年调任息烽县委副书记,后为息烽县县长;2015年调回贵阳任国家经济技术开发区党工委副书记、管委会主任,花溪区委书记;2018年,其情人李再勇晋升为贵州省副省长,钟调任黔南州担任副州长,2021年任州长
    据悉,钟常胁迫男性下属,包养情人;其情人太多,其中一人举报了她。

    2023.1.24 赵明被女博士生举报

    大年初三,西南大学一位网名为“西南大学唯泉雪声”的女博士生公开举报其导师,西南大学政法学院的博士生导师赵明教授,称赵以“你毕业论文不合格,你就不能顺利毕业,想要顺利毕业,就得与其发生性关系,必须随叫随到,否则这辈子都别想毕业”,作为要挟理由该名女博士与其保持了长达3年之久的不正当关系。
    据学校通告:2022年9月16日,这位博士生就曾向学校反映其导师赵的相关问题,当时学校调查认定属实,确认导师存在严重师德师风问题。在此之后,作出取消研究生导师资格、调离教师岗位、降低岗位等级、报请主管部门批准撤销教师资格等处分决定。只是女博士发现自己的导师依然是赵明,于是她认定学校只是想着息事宁人,将事件控制在校内,这也彻底激怒了女博士,这才决意公开举报。

    2022.7 方岱宁视频会议被吻

    2022年7月初,中科院院士、北京理工大学教授方岱宁在参加一个视频会议时,一名年轻女子突然进入镜头连续亲吻他的脸,方岱宁提醒对方正在视频连线后,女子随即离开镜头。
    2022年12月7日,北京理工大学就此事发布情况通报,主要内容如下:
    经查核,视频内容是方岱宁今年7月初在线参加学术会议时发生的事情,因其行为失范,造成严重不良影响,根据有关规定,学校决定免去方岱宁的校学术委员会主任、校务委员会副主任职务,停止其研究生招生资格。视频中出现在方岱宁身边的女性为北京某公司职员,未曾在我校有过任何学习进修及工作经历。

    2019.3 王胜战贪污3亿

    王胜战,1967年出生,浙江宁海人。1986年考入浙江农村技术师范专科学校农学系园艺专业,1989年毕业分配至宁海第二职业中学任教,并担任团总支负责人,1991年到余姚市一中学担任教师,2006年任余姚市第五中学校长,2010年成为余姚中学校长,2018年王胜战被中国教育报评为“最受读者欢迎的校长”,2020年被任命为余姚市教育局党委书记、局长。
    王东窗事发的缘由是因为学校食堂配餐,余姚市一共有288所各级学校,这些学校的配餐水准全部由王一人决定。经查,王涉嫌金额高达3亿元,包养2个校长,祸害18名学生,还同103个女老师发生了实质性的关系。“早上到单位醒酒,中午陪情妇,晚上KTV”。
    2019年7月,王胜战被开除党籍、开除公职,2020年1月被判处死缓,剥夺政治权利终身,并被没收个人全部财产。

  • 密码保护:张广友《抹不掉的记忆》

    此内容受密码保护。如需查阅,请在下列字段中输入您的密码。

  • 天才捕手计划:在北京,超过6000人住在厕所里 

    北京有一项有意思的世界之最,它是世界上公厕最多的城市之一,一共有12769间市政公厕,还不包括数量众多的商场、饭店公厕。
    这些马路边的公厕里,经常可以看到有一个管理间,那也是公厕环卫工人的家,很多人吃住都在那里。
    不久前我在北京的很多胡同转了转,去体验了一下住在公厕里的生活。
    这是一个我从没见过的北京。

    厕所里的家

    刘军的家在雍和宫附近一间公厕里。
    家只有两平方米,放一张半人高的柜子,留下一个过道,就挤满了。如果要睡觉,他得踩着梯子爬上阁楼,那里更局促,顶多能坐起来。
    家里没有空调,阁楼有扇窗户和一台电扇,天热了就靠它们。
    刘军的全部家当,除了衣服就是柜子里塞的电磁炉、电水壶和电饭锅,此外便无其他。

    他是一个环卫工,和媳妇一起住在公厕的管理间,关上门就很难和真正的厕所区分开。
    相比之下,另一个环卫工张元民的家宽敞些,但也只有五平方米,床板是拼起来的,床和置物柜中间留下一人宽的过道,不用每天爬上爬下睡在阁楼里。
    北京是世界上拥有公厕最多的城市之一,共有12769间市政公厕。
    这些公厕按等级分为一类、二类、三类和三类以下,其中一类和二类公厕都是可以住人的,要求24小时有服务,一共有7354间。
    但不管一类还是二类公厕,住人的管理间都差不多大,不会超过一张床加一个柜子的面积。
    条件稍好一点的,比如景山旁的一个厕所,前两年给管理间也装了空调,让冬天和夏天不再难熬。

    对住在这里的人来说,最麻烦的是洗澡。刘军两口子来了两个月,至今没有洗澡,只有晚上没人的时候,躲在厕所里擦擦身子。
    吃饭也在厕所的家里。刘军两口子每天买菜,最常见的是土豆和白菜,偶尔会有辣椒和菠菜,总之什么便宜买什么。
    其实环卫工人也有食堂,每天五块钱,但吃得很差,“我们每天吃的,萝卜、白菜、土豆、豆芽,就这几样,还咬不动”,张元民一边吃一边把碗里的豆芽都挑了出来。

    张元民和媳妇都是公厕环卫,他每月工资三千九,媳妇四千,两口子每个月除了吃饭,花不了钱。
    原本张元民一个月话费也只有8元,现在因为每天要给厕所拍照片汇报工作,才多充了20块的流量。
    刘军两口子也都是公厕环卫工,除了刘军抽烟喝酒花点钱,都存起来,两口子一个月至少能存六千。
    像刘军和张元民一样,来自全国各地的几千名环卫工人,把24小时的全部衣食住行,都藏在一个又一个这样的家里。

    打扫了北京15年

    15年前,张元民刚来北京就住在厕所里。
    他不是没有想过干别的,在甘肃老家时,张元民卖了十年水果,但他太实诚了,从不缺斤少两,被同行排挤,挣不到钱,最少的一年连2000块都没有。
    为了养家,2008年7月1日,39岁的张元民带着媳妇第一次到了北京。
    当时的北京沉浸在迎接奥运的火热气氛中,也在进行第四次“公厕革命”,北京市政府为迎接奥运会,3年里新建公厕1891间,改造3118间。
    张元民夫妻投入到了首都的厕所建设事业里,在长安街的长安商场门口,他们当上了“所长”,一人负责男厕,一人负责女厕,一个月一共挣两千块钱。
    也是从那时起,北京对公厕的卫生要求开始变得严格,“在公共厕所里,任何时段都应做到苍蝇少于两只,废弃物停留时间不超过半小时。”

    2012年,离开公厕后,张元民两口子又开始在西城区扫地下通道。
    在张元民眼里,这份工作至今令他怀念:有社保,一天只用干8个小时,虽然没有休息日,但节假日三薪,逢年过节还发几百块钱,两口子发了100斤大米根本吃不完。
    每天下午下了早班,张元民还会去做兼职,在西单管理自行车停放。这也是另一种意义的环卫,把杂乱的马路变得干净。
    做这份兼职时,张元民一人管着十几个人,拿了块“先进个人荣誉证书”的奖牌和两箱饮料,奖牌至今还留在老家。
    靠这两份工作,张元民最多的时候一个月能拿六千块,让他可以花钱在鼓楼租房住。他以为自己的日子会这样一直下去,但他错了。
    2018年,这份扫大街的工作因为要给北京人干,单位把他们三十几个外地人遣散了。
    之后,他和媳妇先是去了金融街一栋大厦做保洁,然后去了一所学校做保洁。但随着年纪变大,媳妇已经拖不动沉重的垃圾袋,他们又离开了那里。
    北漂15年,他们无路可去,所以今年又回到了公厕。
    张元民去过北京很多景点,但提到北京,他最想说的除了工作还是工作。
    胡同里的人常把污物泼得到处都是,便池里总出现各种异物,尿不湿、卫生巾甚至是各种生活垃圾,反复提醒也没用,每次都是张元民捞出来。
    这让他觉得自己没有受到尊重,因此不和任何人说话。“人家本来就看不起我们,还跟他聊啥呢?”
    但张元民并不是一个不善言辞的人,他说自己以前也是个很幽默很爱聊天的人,“现在叫生活弄得话也不会说了,啥也没心情了,干啥都没心情。”

    最大的愿望

    跟张元民不同,刘军大部分时间都在哈尔滨农村种地。种地越来越存不下钱,他两口子就在附近打零工,因为没有技术,只能做些纯体力活。
    如今他59了,体力活干不动时,在网上刷到北京中介在招保洁,一个月有四千块。今年2月,刘军背着一个大兜子,媳妇推着行李箱,坐着火车来到北京,住进了公厕。
    他觉得这份工作并不累,只不过除了吃饭,就几乎不能离开厕所。
    到北京的第一个月,他的媳妇哪儿都没去过,就守着厕所。刘军负责的厕所就在胡同另一头,她也只去过一次。
    第二个月,她才在晚上休息的时候出去看看,能找到胡同的超市,也能走到胡同口再找回来。
    没有什么人会和他们说话,即便同事之间也是点头之交。离他们家最近的公厕,只有不到一百米,住了一对河南夫妻,但因为口音太重听不懂,双方平时只是打个招呼。
    胡同里的人也让刘军紧张。一次,他穿着工作服,在一个胡同里找厕所,被一个老太太一直盯着。她警惕地说,这里没厕所,让他赶紧出去。刘军感觉自己被当成了小偷。
    至于北京的那些著名景点,跟他们更是毫无关系,即使他们的家步行到雍和宫只需要五分钟,却从没想过去哪。
    刘军只尝试去过一回天安门。那是下午1点左右,厕所没啥人,他穿着工作服,偷偷骑着自行车就往天安门那边去了。
    以前,他只在手机直播里看过升国旗、降国旗,那天他想去看看真国旗。
    但骑到天安门附近时,他被交警拦下来,说是逆行,再往里走还要刷身份证。刘军没见过这阵仗,怕惹麻烦,又骑回了公厕。
    北京还有很多东西刘军也没见过。他住的厕所对面,是一个神秘的四合院,没有牌子,大门紧闭,总有一个穿着得体的年轻人接待偶尔开来的轿车。
    在拥挤的胡同里,这个四合院甚至拥有一个车库,卷闸门轰隆隆升起又放下。
    刘军不知道里面是干什么的,穿着得体的年轻人也不跟他说,唯一的共同点是,他们俩都是打工的。
    再过一年,刘军就要60岁了,到时候他可以领养老金,每个月一百多。两口子要为自己的未来做打算,因此打算继续留在北京。
    张元民也还得多干几年,为未成家的两个儿子攒钱。没有别的本事,张元民只能认认真真地把厕所擦了一遍又一遍。
    刚来的时候,地板上、便池里、墙壁上全是黄色的尿碱和各种冲洗不掉的污物,张元民只能用最传统的解决办法——钢丝球,趴在地上一点一点刮干净。
    小便池里不通水,厕所里也没有洗手的水池,他只能用5升的水瓶去接大便池里的水,再用来清洗小便池。
    还有一些并不太常见的污渍,前几天胡同里有人把吃完的火锅汤倒在了便池里,等张元民看到的时候已经凝固住了,还是只能用钢丝球,弄完这一个便池就花了半个多小时。

    “这活干得特别憋屈,他们就检查厕所卫生,也不检查我们个人卫生。”
    但他并不因此而对工作松懈,他怕连扫厕所的工作也失去了,”既然干上了就再勤一点,跟洗碗一样,人家擦两遍,我擦四遍,人家转两圈,我转四圈。自己别给自己找事。”
    每晚8点半以后,张元民依次检查完三个厕所的情况,拍完照发到群里,这一天的工作才算告一段落。
    无人时,他拿起车篓里的两块红砖快速挥动,锻炼臂力,再趴在环卫小车上做几个俯卧撑。这是枯燥繁复的日子里,为数不多的放松时间。
    他不想让别人知道他是谁,尤其是老乡,不想让自己“失败又狼狈的一生”和现在的身份,影响到两个还没有成家的儿子。
    “我现在最大的愿望就是一个8小时制4个工休的待遇,很想,做梦都想。我这点想法是不是很幼稚,太离谱,太奢侈,是我吃多了还是喝多了,我也搞不懂,但是这点想法不过分吧?”

    我认识刘军的那一天,他们两口子留我在家里吃了一顿饭。
    他们从柜子里取出了小电饭锅和大米,特意用桶装的矿泉水煮了这锅饭。电磁炉放在地上,阿姨蹲在地上,炒了一盘西红柿鸡蛋。
    我去附近的凉菜店买了一点牛肉、鸡爪和一瓶二锅头。
    开饭的时候,我们围坐在厕所门口,在椅子上垫上报纸,摆好菜肴。
    阿姨很快就吃完了,我和刘军几乎喝完了一瓶酒,我的头晕乎乎的。
    我走的时候,阿姨似乎和我说了什么,我记不清了,也许是我喝大了。
    但我希望,他们的声音并不是真的那么微小,而是可以被更多人听到。

    (应故事讲述者要求,文中部分人物系化名)

  • 深深一笑

    塔纳岛是太平洋西南部的瓦努阿图群岛中的一个,面积556平方千米,岛上生活着约1.2万土著。千年之前,那玛人的祖先来到岛上,从此与世隔绝。
    二战爆发后,小岛成为美军中转站。士兵们用登陆舰、货船和运输机,源源不断地把建筑材料、军火和给养从本土运送到小岛上。他们锯木头、拉电线、建军营和机场,接受货轮和飞机运来的货物,出操、吃罐头、喝饮品、看书、听音乐、打猎……,也会将食物分享给远处围观的土著人。
    几年后,美军胜利撤离,岛上的基地很快就被遗忘了。
    而土著们看到的是:白色(部分黑色)皮肤的神明的眷顾者每天排列整齐在空地上走来走去(操练),反复翻动装订成册的东西(看文件、书籍),头戴奇怪的东西一边念咒语一边对着小盒子不停地敲打(收发电报)。每隔一段时间就会有大船(神明)和怪鸟(神明)给他们送来大批吃的用的。最后他们又随着神明走了。
    土著们的结论是:眷顾者的那些动作是在向神祷告,神就会送来丰富的食物。眷顾者中有黑色皮肤的,是自己逝去的祖先,他们也能成为神的眷顾者。
    于是,在特定的某天,不分男女老少,全岛的土著都用红色染料在身上涂写USA字符,扛着削尖的长棍整齐地行进、用树枝和椰壳制造飞机、修出类似飞机跑道的平整地面、用木头搭建西式办公室和食堂、用椰子和稻草造出收音机、用树干造起十字架(模仿美军用来埋葬死去战友的十字架)、戴眼镜对着盒子讲话,地位较高的土著还会穿上被遗留下来的军服,虔诚的用仪式来召唤神的再次降临。
    从而,岛上产生了一种叫作“约翰.弗鲁姆(可能是当时分给土著食物的士兵或者军官的名字)”的宗教。

    斯金纳在《鸽子的迷信行为》一文中展示了一个实验:实验对象是8只鸽子,连续几天对这些鸽子喂少于他们正常进食量的食物,使它们处于饥饿状态。
    实验箱里的食物分发器被设定为每隔15秒掉落一粒食物,不管动物当时在做什么。
    让每只鸽子每天在实验箱里待几分钟,对其行为不作任何限制。两个独立的观测者记录了鸽子在箱中的行为。
    斯金纳在报告中写道:“ 8只鸽子中的6只产生了非常明显的条件反射,两名观察者得到了完全一致的记录。一只鸽子形成了在箱子中逆时针转圈的条件反射,在距离下一次投食时转2-3圈;另一只反复将头撞向箱子上方的一个角落;第三只鸽子只显现出一种上述反应,把头放在一根看不见的杆下面并反复抬起。还有两只鸽子的头和身体呈现出一种类似摇摆的动作,它们头部前伸,并且从右向左大幅度摇摆,接着再慢慢地转过来,它们的身子也顺势移动,动作幅度过大时还会向前走几步。还有一只鸽子形成了不完整啄击或轻触的条件反应,动作直冲地面但并不接触。”
    上述的行为和鸽子得到食物毫无联系。然而,它们表现得就好像行为会产生食物似的;也就是说,它们变得迷信了
    接下来,选择一只摇头的鸽子,把两次投放食物的时间间隔慢慢增加到1分钟。这时,鸽子表现得更加精力充沛,直到最后在两次强化间的1分钟内,这只鸽子像在表演一种舞蹈(“鸽子食物舞”)。
    最后是消除鸽子的这种“迷信”行为。这意味着在测试箱中的强化不再出现(也就是不再投放食物)。值得注意的是,这只“跳舞”的鸽子在完全消退这种迷信行为之前,卖力地表演了超过了1万次“它自创的讨取食物的舞蹈”迷信行为才完全消失
    斯金纳解释道:“这一实验可以说是证明了一种迷信。鸽子行为的依据是行为和食物之间的因果关系,虽然这种联系实际上并不存在。
    当某种行为只是偶然地被强化一次它就会变得非常难以消除。如果每种联系每次出现,然后突然消失,那么行为就会很快停止
    对人类而言,偶然的强化通常要过很长时间才能再次发生,因此,迷信行为也常常持续一生

    心理学中有一个“管道相遇”实验:一根很狭窄管子仅容许一只老鼠通过,然后从两头各放入一只老鼠,它们相遇后只有一只老鼠从管道里退出来,另一只才能通过。
    老鼠是有社会等级的,等级的位置决定了哪只老鼠需要往后退。
    这时,实验人员做了一个干预,他们把处于从属地位的老鼠后面的出口堵住了,于是,这只老鼠不能后退只能前进,使之前占优势等级地位的老鼠被迫后退,并输掉了比赛。
    连续四天输给之前低地位的老鼠之后,之前地位靠前的老鼠在争夺资源时表现得很顺从,这表明它们的社会地位降低了。而且,与对照组的老鼠相比,它们对甜水的偏好也降低了,这表明它们处理快乐的能力受到了损害——它们的大脑对此出现了反应,LHb神经元被激活,导致了mPFC神经元的抑制。
    实验显示:不仅老鼠,这种行为模式可能出现在所有物种中——习得性无助。(当个体反复暴露于一种不可避免的厌恶情境时,就会失去逃离其他可避免的厌恶情境的能力)
    除非,在这一个个“管道”中,有人将一头堵住。

    笛卡尔一直认为“我思故我在。”
    一次他约了一位女士来到一家豪华餐馆,侍酒师把酒单递给他们,在女士点了酒单上最昂贵的葡萄酒之后,笛卡尔嘟囔了一句“我没思考过这个。”
    于是,他就真的消失了。

    黑格尔在他的《法哲学原理》一书中写道:“中国的历史从本质上看是没有历史的,它只是君主覆灭的一再重复而已。任何进步都不可能从中产生。”
    马克斯·韦伯则断言古代:“中国无城市。”(没有市民自治权利的共同体)

    人类学家马林诺斯基,1914年在太平洋的巴布亚与当地食人族聊天。马林诺斯基提到了战争——也就是第一次世界大战。
    “现在欧洲在打仗,每一天都要死几万人。”
    食人族疑惑不解:“你们怎么吃得了那么多人?”
    马林诺斯基解释说,“欧洲人不吃人肉……”
    食人族震惊:“不吃肉,为什么要杀人?你们太野蛮了!”

    托克维尔对查理十世是这样评价的:“我们在历史中见过不少领导人,他的知识结构、文化水平、政治判断力和价值选择,会停留在青少年时期的某一阶段。然后不管他活多久,也不管世上发生多少变化,他都表现为某一时刻的僵尸。如果有某个机缘,让他登上大位,他一定会从他智力、知识发展过程中停止的那个时刻去寻找资源,构造他的政治理念、价值选择和治国方略。这种人的性格一般都执拗、偏执,并且愚蠢地自信,愚而自用,以为他捍卫了某种价值,能开辟国家发展的新方向。其实,他们往往穿着古代的戏装,却在现代舞台上表演,像坟墓中的幽灵突然出现在光天化日之下,人人都知道他是幽灵,他却以为自己是真神。但是,他选择的理念,推行的政策,无一不是发霉的旧货。”

    王小波在《花剌子模信使问题》中讲述了一个故事:“中亚古国花剌子模有一古怪的风俗,凡是给君王带来好消息的信使,就会得到提升,给君王带来坏消息的人则会被送去喂老虎。于是将帅出征在外,凡麾下将士有功,就派他们给君王送好消息,以使他们得到提升;有罪,则派去送坏消息,顺便给国王的老虎送去食物。”
    英文中也有对应的一个短语,叫“射杀信使”(shoot the messenger)。

    每天早上拿破仑理发修面时,都喜欢看报。但看的主要是英国和德国报纸,对法国报纸则根本不感兴趣。有人问他为什么要这样,他回答说:“我国报刊上登的东西,全是按我的旨意写的。

    拿破仑连年征战,给法国带来一系列社会问题,为转移舆论的注意力,他设立了名目繁多的科学和文学特别奖,规定每10年颁一次。为了获奖,法国知识界展开了激烈争夺,甚至形成了互相敌对的宗派和阵营。报上还连篇累牍地发表文章进行煽动,更如火上加油。
    这种情况使一般读者大为开心,但最开心的还是拿破仑本人。有一天,拿破仑问航海家布于维尔:“您对这些争斗有何高见?” 
    布于维尔回答:“古代是让野兽打架来使聪明人开心,现在则是让聪明人争吵来使傻瓜开心。”(在法语中,‘野兽’与‘傻瓜’是同一个词)

    拿破仑非常渴望青史留名。有一次早上散步,他得意的地对秘书说:“布里昂,你也将永垂不朽了。”布里昂听了这句话,不知是什么意思。
    拿破仑看着他,解释道:“你不是我的秘书吗?”
    布里昂是一个非常有自尊心的人,他不愿意接受子虚乌有的恩惠,但又不便直接对拿破仑的话加以反驳或者拒绝。于是,他反问道:
    “请问亚历山大的秘书是谁?”

    一次宴会上,达尔文恰好和一位美貌的女士坐在一起,女士以戏谑的口吻说:
    “达尔文先生,听说你断言人类是猴子变来的,我也是属于你的断言之列吗?”
    达尔文彬彬有礼地回答道:
    “当然。只不过您不是一般的猴子变的,您是由长得非常迷人的猴子变的!”

    秋天到了,美国保留地的印第安人问他们的新酋长,这个冬天是不是会很冷?
    这位新酋长太年轻了,缺乏在山里面生活的经验,所以不是很清楚今年的冬天是冷还是暖,但他想还是保险起见,就打赌今年比较冷,多搜集点木材总没错,万一不冷的话,后面一年还能用,于是大家就听了他的命令,去搜集了很多木材。
    搜集了几周以后,酋长需要思考一下木材是不是搜集够了,于是就致电气象局:“站在气象局的立场上,你们认为今年的冬天会不会很冷?”
    气象局说:“我认为今年的冬天会极为寒冷。”
    听完以后酋长心想我太保守了,就把所有部落里的人找过来了,继续搜集木材。
    又过了几周,酋长再打一次电话给气象局,他再问气象局:“今年的冬天会不会很冷呢?”
    气象局说:“我们前面的估计恐怕还太保守了,现在的估计是,这可能是美国最近半个世纪以来最冷的一个冬天。”
    酋长说:“怎么一次比一次说得严重,你有什么凭据能够证明这一点呢?”
    气象局说:“我们的凭据是,根据我们的观察,附近印第安保留地的印第安人正在疯狂地囤积木头。”

    在一場語言学的演讲会上,J. L. Austin解释自己的最新发現︰双重否定句在一些語言里表达否定的意思,在另外一些語言里則表达肯定的意思。而且,沒有任何一个語言会使用双重肯定來表达否定的意思。
    听众席的一个角落里,Sidney Morgenbesser于是以戏谑的口气回道︰“是啊,是啊!”

    哥伦布发现美洲后 , 许多人认为他只不过是凑巧看到, 其他任何人只要有他的运气 , 都可以做到 。 于是, 在一个盛大的宴会上 , 一位贵族向他发难道:“哥伦布先生 , 我们谁都知道 , 美洲就在那儿 , 你不过是凑巧先上去了呗!如果是我们去也会发现的 。 ”
    哥伦布拿起了桌上一个鸡蛋,对大家说:“诸位先生女士们 , 你们谁能够把鸡蛋立在桌子上?”
    大家跃跃欲试,却一个个败下阵来 。
    哥伦布微微一笑,拿起鸡蛋, 在桌上轻轻一磕, 就把鸡蛋立在那儿。

    一位男子走进了宠物店要去看鹦鹉的价格,店主给他看了两只漂亮的鹦鹉,说:“先生这只鹦鹉五千美元,那只一万美元。”
    “这只五千美元,它能干什么?”
    “它有一个小小的技能,能唱出莫扎特写的所有的咏叹调。”
    “这叫小小的技能啊?另外一只呢?”
    “另外一只一万美元,它可以把瓦格纳的整部《尼伯龙根的指环》默唱出来,所以它就更贵一点。”
    “这两只我都不买,太贵了。还有第三只,这只也挺漂亮的。标价是多少?”
    “三万美元。先生,你恐怕买不起。”
    “等一下,我买不起,但我想长长知识,前面两只鹦鹉已经很牛了,三万美元一只的鹦鹉有什么技能呢?”
    “它会要求另外两只唱莫扎特和瓦格纳。”

    半夜,Holmes唤醒了Watson说:“Watson,抬头仰望天空,告诉我所见。”
    “亲爱的Holmes,我看到了数百万颗星星。”
    “您从这些星星中得出什么?”
    “好吧,有很多事情,”他一边点燃烟斗一边说道:
    “从天文学角度来看,我发现有数百万个星系以及数十亿个恒星和行星。从占星术的角度,我观察到土星在狮子座。从统计学上讲,我推断时间大约是三点四十分。气象方面,我希望天气晴朗。你呢,福尔摩斯?”
    “Watson,有人偷了我们的帐篷!”

    雅鲁泽尔斯基时期的波兰,当时军事变局刚结束。那个时期,军队的巡逻兵在宵禁(十点)以后,有权不加警告地射击路上行人。两个士兵在巡逻,其中一个看到有人在十点差十分的时候急匆匆地走在路上,马上向其开了枪。他的同伴问他为什么开枪,毕竟还差十分十点,他答道:“我知道那个家伙——他住得离这儿很远,无论如何十分钟内也到不了家,所以为了省事,我就现在射了他。”
    “绝对知识”作为一种概念性整体怪物,会吞噬了所有的偶然性。

    生物老师对一个小学生进行测试,考他各种动物,小学生每次回答时,总能把答案转到“马”。
    老师问,“ 什么是大象?”
    “生活在丛林里的一种动物,那儿没有马。马是一种驯化的哺乳动物,有四条腿,被用来骑,在地里干活或者拉车。”
    “什么是鱼?”
    “一种没有腿的动物,不像马。马是一种驯化的哺乳……”
    “什么是狗?”
    “一种不像马的动物,会叫。马是一种驯化的哺乳……”
    如是反复,直到最后,绝望的老师问小学生:“好吧,那什么是马?”

    某哲学系大学生放假回家,家里为他准备了一桌丰盛的饭菜,还有一只鸡。吃饭时,父亲问儿子:“你在大学里学的什么?”
    “哲学。”
    “学这有什么用?”
    儿子说:“学了哲学,看问题和别人就不一样。比如,拿咱们桌子上的这只鸡来说,普通人看来呀,它就是一只鸡,一只具体的鸡。但在我们学过哲学的人看来,是两只鸡,除了一只具体的鸡以外,还有一只抽象的鸡。”
    一直听他们谈话的妹妹插嘴说:“那好,我和爸爸吃这只具体的鸡,你一个人去吃那只抽象的鸡吧。”

    澳洲大学委员会决定不再向澳洲所有大学的哲学系提供经费支持,因为“他们每年制造成千上万的问题,却不能解决任何一个”。
    委员会成员W对此深感失望,他举了个例子:他曾经向澳洲国立大学哲学系提出一个问题:“给我们一个让你们存在的理由。”结果哲学系反问他们:“你们怎么知道你们存在?”“于是我们这回解决一个哲学问题,他们现在不存在了。”
    另一个委员也补充了一个论据。哲学系最不应该得到经费支持,其次是英语系。“我们每年要砸上百万在英语系上。后来我们发现,他们招收的学生本来就会说英语。”这个委员感慨说:“真不如把这笔钱给商学院。我发现商学院这些年真的让许多外国学生学会了说英语。”

    有效议事三原则:约定性,对事不对人;工具性,尽量以工具性而非道德手段来解决问题;价值中性,以文明式讨论来辩论、说服、妥协,而非对持不同意见者进行连带打压。

    J. Holmes法官就“言论自由”的边界提出一个所谓“明显而即刻的危险原则(Clear and Present Danger)”,即:1. 在特殊情况下,2. 存在巨大、潜在的危险。可惜的是该法官没有注意到危险的对象的内涵。

    如果尖锐的批评完全消失,温和的批评将会变得刺耳。如果温和的批评也不被允许,沉默将被认为居心叵测。如果沉默也不再允许,赞扬不够卖力将是一种罪行。如果只允许一种声音存在,那么,唯一存在的那个声音就是谎言。

    美国华盛顿州沃尔玛枪击案中凶手被在场民众当场击毙,击毙持枪歹徒的男子在击毙歹徒后又对受重伤受害人实施了急救。这位男子是个教会工作人员、志愿消防员、认证靶场安全官,出于同一个理由,他总随身携带着经书、急救包和枪。

    英国威斯敏斯特教堂地下室里的一块墓碑上面写了这样一段话:
    在我年轻的时候,曾梦想改变这个世界。
    可当我成熟以后,我发现我不能改变这个世界。于是,我将目光缩短一些,那就只改变我的国家吧。
    可当我到了暮年的时候,我发现我根本没有能力改变我的国家。于是,我的最后愿望仅仅是改变我的家庭,可是这也不可能的。
    当我躺在床上,行将就木的时候,我突然意识到,如果当初我仅仅是从改变自己开始,也许我就能改变我的家庭。
    在家人的帮助和鼓励下,也许我就能为我的国家做一点事情;然后谁知道呢,说不定我能改变这个世界。

    柏林牧师Martin Niemller写过一首诗《我没有说话》:起初,他们抓共产党人,我没说话,因为我不是共产党人。
    随后,他们抓社会民主人,我没说话,因为我不是社会民主党人。
    接着,他们抓工会成员,我没说话,因为我不是工会成员。
    然后,他们抓犹太人,我没说话,因为我不是犹太人。
    最后,他们来抓我,再也没有人站起来为我说话了。   

    统治者的那些冗长头衔:
    沙皇尼古拉二世至1906年的头衔全称为:奉天承运,全俄罗斯的皇帝;莫斯科、基辅、弗拉基米尔、诺夫哥罗德的沙皇和独裁者;喀山沙皇,阿斯特拉罕沙皇,波兰沙皇,西伯利亚沙皇,克里米亚(Tauric)和南克里米亚(Chersonesos)沙皇,格鲁吉亚沙皇;普斯科夫领主;斯摩棱斯克大公,立陶宛大公,沃里尼亚(西乌克兰)大公,波多利亚(中乌克兰)大公,芬兰大公;爱沙尼亚亲王,立窝尼亚亲王,库尔兰和塞米加利亚(拉脱维亚)亲王,萨莫吉提亚(东立陶宛)亲王,比亚韦斯托克亲王,卡累利阿亲王,特维尔亲王,尤格拉亲王,彼尔姆亲王,弗拉特卡亲王,保加利亚以及其他领地的亲王;下诺夫哥罗德、切尔尼戈夫、梁赞、波罗茨克、罗斯托夫、雅罗斯拉夫尔、别洛热尔斯克、乌多尔、奥勃多尔、康迪亚、维捷布斯克、姆斯季斯拉夫和所有北方地区的领主和大公;伊弗里亚(南格鲁吉亚)、卡提里亚(东格鲁吉亚)、卡巴尔达和亚美尼亚所有省份的领主和君主;切尔克斯人和山地高加索人的领主;土耳其斯坦领主;挪威王位继承人,石勒苏益格-荷尔斯泰因、斯托尔曼因、迪特马申和奥尔登堡公爵,等等,等等,等等
    伊迪·阿明·达达曾是乌干达一位半文盲的统治者,最喜欢的称号是:乌干达全体人民的救星、国父,胜利大十字勋章、杰出服务勋章和军事十字勋章获得者,大英帝国的伟大征服者、陆军元帅、共和国总统阿明博士
    英国女王的头衔:承上帝洪恩,大不列颠及北爱尔兰联合王国与其属土及领地之女皇伊丽莎白二世,英联邦元首,信仰的保护者,爱丁堡公爵夫人、梅里奥内斯女伯爵,格林尼治女男爵、兰开斯特公爵,马恩岛领主,诺曼底公爵、最尊贵的嘉德勋位骑士团领主、最尊贵的巴斯勋位骑士团领主、最古老和最尊贵的苏格兰勋位骑士团领主,最光辉的圣帕特里克勋位骑士团领主、最杰出的圣迈克尔和圣乔治勋位骑士团领主、最卓越的英帝国勋位骑士团、优异服务勋位骑士团领主、帝国服务勋位骑士团领主、最崇高的印度宝星勋位骑士团领主、最杰出的印度帝国勋位骑士团领主、英属印度勋位骑士团领主、印度功勋勋位骑士团领主、缅甸勋位骑士团领主、皇家维多利亚和阿尔伯特勋位骑士团领主、英王爱德华七世皇家家庭勋位骑士团领主、功勋勋位骑士团领主、荣誉勋位骑士团领主、皇家维多利亚勋位骑士团领主、最威严的耶路撒冷的圣约翰医院骑士团领主、加拿大勋位骑士团领主、澳大利亚勋位骑士团领主、新西兰勋位骑士团领主、巴巴多斯勋位骑士团领主、忠勇勋位骑士团领主、军功勋位骑士团领主、皇家功勋勋位骑士团领主……等
    苏丹是奥斯曼帝国的最高统治者,头衔内容自然非常丰富:奥斯曼家族的最高统治者、众苏丹之苏丹、众汗之汗、忠诚的哈里发、麦加、麦地那和耶路撒冷的仆人、伊斯坦布尔、埃迪尔内和布尔萨三城以及沙姆和埃及的所有城市、全阿塞拜疆、马格里斯、巴尔卡、凯鲁万、阿勒颇、伊拉克、阿拉比亚、阿吉姆、巴士拉、哈萨、迪兰、拉卡、摩苏尔、帕提亚、迪亚巴克尔、奇里乞亚、埃尔祖鲁姆省、锡瓦斯省、阿达纳省、卡拉曼省、凡城省、巴尔巴里亚、哈贝什、突尼斯、的黎波里、沙姆、塞浦路斯、罗得岛、克里特岛、摩里亚、地中海、黑海、安纳托利亚、罗马利亚、巴格达、库尔德斯坦、希腊、突厥斯坦、塔尔塔里、切尔克西亚、卡巴尔达的两个地区、格鲁吉亚、钦察草原、鞑靼人的所有土地、凯法和所有邻近地区、波斯尼亚及其属地、贝尔格莱德城、塞尔维亚省及其所有要塞和城市、全阿尔巴尼亚省、全伊夫拉克和波格达尼亚、以及所有附属国和边疆和其他所有地区和城市的帕迪沙
    哈里发的称号:真主在大地上的影子,真主使者的继承人,哈里发,奥斯曼最高统治者,众苏丹之苏丹,众可汗之可汗,两圣地之仆,罗马之凯撒,君斯坦丁堡、亚德里安堡和布尔萨三城之皇帝,大马士革和开罗之苏丹,巴格达、阿勒颇、巴士拉、摩苏尔、伊拉克、阿塞拜疆、格鲁吉亚、柏柏尔、切尔克斯、鞑靼、库尔德、的黎波里、塞浦路斯、希腊、莫里亚、鲁米尼亚、波斯尼亚、阿尔巴尼亚诸地之国王和苏丹
    弗朗茨.约瑟夫:受上帝护佑的奥地利皇帝;匈牙利和波希米亚、达尔马提亚、克罗地亚、斯洛文尼亚、加利西亚和洛多梅里亚王国、伊利里亚、伦巴第和威尼斯的国王;耶路撒冷国王;奥地利公爵;托斯卡纳和克拉科夫大公;洛林、萨尔茨堡、施蒂利亚、克恩滕、卡尼鄂拉和布克维纳公爵;尼伯龙根大侯爵;摩拉维亚伯爵;上、下西里西亚,摩德纳、帕尔马、皮亚琴察、瓜斯塔拉、奥斯威辛和扎托尔,拉古萨公爵
    费利佩六世:西班牙国王;卡斯蒂利亚国王;莱昂国王;阿拉贡国王;两西西里国王;耶路撒冷国王;塞浦路斯国王;纳瓦拉国王;格拉纳达国王;马略卡国王;托莱多国王;塞维利亚国王;巴伦西亚国王;加利西亚国王;撒丁尼亚国王;科尔多瓦国王;科西嘉国王;梅诺卡国王;穆尔西亚国王;哈恩国王;阿尔加维人的国王;阿尔赫西拉斯国王;直布罗陀国王;加那利群岛国王; 东、西印度及附属岛屿、美洲大陆及四海之王!地利大公;勃艮第公爵;布拉班特公爵;林堡公爵;洛泰尔公爵;米兰公爵;卢森堡公爵;雅典公爵;尼奥帕特拉斯公爵;哈布斯堡伯爵;佛兰德斯伯爵;勃艮第伯爵;埃诺伯爵;那慕尔伯爵;阿图瓦伯爵;夏洛莱伯爵;蒂罗尔伯爵;鲁西荣伯爵;塞尔达尼亚伯爵;巴塞罗那伯爵;赫罗纳伯爵;奥索拉伯爵;贝萨卢伯爵;科瓦东加伯爵;比斯开领主;莫利纳领主
    哈布斯堡王朝的查理五世:托上帝鸿福,神圣罗马帝国皇帝、永远的奥古斯都、罗马人民的国王、意大利国王、卡斯蒂利亚、阿拉贡、莱昂、纳瓦拉、格兰纳达、托莱多、巴伦西亚、加利西亚、马略卡、塞维利亚、科尔多瓦、穆尔西亚、哈恩、阿尔加维、阿尔赫西拉斯、直布罗陀、加那利群岛(现西班牙地区的国王)、西西里国王、那不勒斯国王、萨丁尼亚与科西嘉国王、耶路撒冷国王、东与西印度群岛国王、奥地利大公、勃艮第公爵、布拉班特公爵、洛林公爵、施蒂里亚公爵、卡林西亚公爵、卡尔尼奥拉公爵、林堡公爵、卢森堡公爵、海尔德兰公爵、阿尔萨斯领地伯爵、那慕尔藩侯、弗兰德伯爵、哈布斯堡伯爵、蒂罗尔伯爵、戈里齐亚伯爵、巴塞罗那伯爵、夏洛莱伯爵、阿瓦图伯爵、勃艮第-普法尔茨伯爵、埃诺伯爵、荷兰伯爵、聚特芬伯爵、鲁西永伯爵
    刚果总统蒙博托:全名为蒙博托·赛赛·赛科·库库·恩本杜·瓦·扎·邦加,即扎伊尔河边一位不可战胜的勇士;终身总统、执政党“人民革命运动”的终身领袖、班加拉族大酋长、元帅;其称号包括“国家之父”、“人们的大救星”、“超级战士”、“大战略家”等等
    明世宗朱厚熜自我加封的三次道号:凌霄上清统雷元阳妙一飞元真君+九天宏教普济生灵掌阴阳功过大道思仁紫极仙翁一阳真人元虚玄应开化伏魔忠孝帝君+太上大罗天仙紫极长生圣智昭灵统三元证应玉虚总管五雷大真人玄都境万寿帝君

    塞尔维亚有一则谚语:
    在战争中,政治家提供弹药,富人提供食物,穷人提供孩子!
    当战争结束后,政治家们取回剩余的弹药,富人种更多的粮食,穷人们只能寻找孩子的坟墓。

    战场是一个互不相识、互不仇恨的年轻相互残杀的地方,由互相认识、互相仇恨的老年人决定,但老年人不互相残杀,他们只是在战争结束时握手。

    《西线无战事》里有这样的一段话:我们会在一声令下之后把他们当成敌人,又可能因一声令下而与他们结为朋友。那些人轻轻地拿笔在桌上写了几行字,就让我们过去所认为的世人不耻的卑鄙的手段,成为了新的追求方式。

    《资治通鉴 · 隋纪 · 隋纪五》载:
    帝(隋炀帝杨广)以诸蕃酋长毕集洛阳,丁丑(610年,大业六年),于端门街盛陈百戏,戏场周围五千步,执丝竹者万八千人,声闻数十里,自昏达旦,灯火光烛天地;终月而罢,所费巨万。自是岁以为常。
    诸蕃请入丰都市交易,帝许之。先命整饰店肆,檐宇如一,盛设帷帐,珍货充积,人物华盛,卖菜者亦藉以龙须席。胡客或过酒食店,悉令邀廷就坐,醉饱而散,不取其值,绐之曰:“中国丰饶,酒食例不取直。”胡客皆惊叹。
    其黠者颇觉之,见以缯帛缠树,曰:“中国亦有贫者,衣不盖形,何如以此物与之,缠树何为?”
    市人惭不能答。

    《清史通鉴》记载:多尔衮对进攻中原犹豫不决,比起人口,清人口百不及一,兵十不及一。范文程谏:掠其亲人忍,毁其宗祠忍,夺其地屋忍,此等芥民何惧?多尔衮猛然醒悟,挥兵入关。

    老佛爷慈禧太后读书不多,知识来源主要是戏曲和故事,她留下的名言不少:
    在《辛丑条约》签订过程中,老佛爷颁布懿旨:“昨据奕劻等电呈各国和议十二条大纲,业已照允。仍电饬该全权大臣将详细节目悉心酌核,量中华之物力,结与国之欢心。”
    1894年,老佛爷六十大寿,正好碰上甲午中日战争爆发,经费吃紧。有大臣劝谏把钱省下来,给海军做军费。慈禧不悦,说道:“今日令吾不欢者,吾亦将令彼终身不欢。”
    张之洞问慈禧,俄国和美国相比,您更恨哪国?慈禧回答:俄国只要大清的土地,给他们一点地什么都解决了,咱有的是土地。美国虽然不要大清的土地,但是,美国总想要大清下台,支持成立同他们一样体制的国家,还权于民,我和美国势不两立。这段话的来源可能是:1898年9月29日(戊戌六君子被处决的第二天),《上谕档》记录有光绪依照慈禧吩咐给军机处写的一段指示:“……因时事紧迫,未俟复奏。又有人奏,若稽时日,恐有中变。细思该犯等自知情节较重,难逃法网,倘语多牵涉,恐有株连。是以将该犯等即行正法。又闻(保守派官员文悌:“……曾令其将忠君爱国合为一事,勿徒欲保中国而置我大清于度外,康有为亦似悔之……”《清史稿》的《文悌传》)该乱党等立保国会,言保中国不保大清……”
    梁启超在《戊戌政变记》中记叙:“大学士刚毅尝语人曰:‘改革者,汉人之利,而满人之害也!我有产业,吾宁赠之于朋友,而必不使奴隶分其润也!’”塔拉·刚毅是老佛爷的重要支持者,可能因而这句话就变成了老佛爷的意思:宁赠友邦,不予家奴
    光绪三十四年,慈禧弥留之际遗言,“此后,女人不可预闻国政。此与本朝家法相违,必须严加限制。尤须严防,不得令太监擅权。明末之事,可为殷鉴!”

    中国首任驻外公使郭嵩焘曾总结晚清政府在外交上的表现:中国之于夷人,可以明目张胆与之划定章程,而中国一味怕。夷人断不可欺,而中国一味诈。中国尽多事,夷人尽强, 一切以理自处,杜其横逆之萌,而不可稍樱其怒,而中国一味蛮。彼有情可以揣度,有理可以制伏,而中国一味蠢。真乃无可奈何。
    也即:一味怕,一味诈,一味蛮,一味蠢。
    两广总督叶名琛不战、不和、不守、不死、不降、不走,最后身败被俘,客死异乡,或许是一个例子。

    谭嗣同在批评晚晴时期的君主制和暴力行为时说:“幸而中國之兵不強也,向使海軍如英、法,陸軍如俄、德,恃以逞其残賊,豈直君主之禍愈不可思议,而彼白人焉,紅人焉,黑人焉,〈梭〉色人焉,將为准噶尔,欲尚存瞧類焉得乎?故東西各國之壓制中國,天宜使之,所以曲用其仁愛,至于极致也。”

    许子东回忆:干部从公社回来紧急召集开会,告诉大家美国那个总统叫尼克松,过几天来中国。一时大家没反应过来。部又说:“毛主席决定了,这一次不杀他!”打谷场上一片哗然,各种气愤和不理解!
    樊建川:1972年,我在宜宾县柏溪镇读初中,因为“才高八斗、学富五车”,在小伙伴中享有“崇高威望”。一次,大家围拢,向我“请教”:为啥子要邀请美国总统尼克松来耍哎?为啥子还要整国宴请他喝好酒哎?为啥子毛主席周总理还要笑嘻嘻见他哎?为啥子还要放尼克松回美国去哎?我认真思考之后,指出了三种可能:1.请尼克松来为了侦察情报,我们可能要出兵解放美国了。2.尼克松可能已经被我们发展成内线特工了。3.如果尼克松顽固不化,我们也不能斩杀来使,可能给他下了慢性毒药。

    戈培尔问希特勒:元首,为什么我们总要树立一个外部敌人,为什么我们要长期不断的反复宣传这个敌人?
    希特勒缓缓的回答:因为外部敌人一旦消失,人们就会发现,我们才是他们真正的敌人……

    一位男士找到神职人员:您听我说,我想向您忏悔,因为……
    神职人员:说吧,我的孩子,我以一个神职人员应有的慈爱听你的忏悔。
    男士:那好吧,在战争期间,我……我掩护过一个被纳粹追捕的人。
    神职人员:这是好事,不是罪过。
    男士:我是说……我把他藏在我的地窖里,每天让他付1500法郎的租金。
    神职人员:你为了这件事……
    男士:是的……而且……你明白吗?问题是现在我很后悔。 我……我一直没有告诉他战争已经结束。

    诺姆·乔姆斯基在《平静战争的无声武器》中列出操纵公众的十项策略:
    1.分散注意力。社会控制的首要因素是制造大量而持续的娱乐和无关紧要的信息,将公众的注意力从重要问题和政治与经济精英决定的变革中移开。转移注意力战略在阻止公众关心科学、经济、心理学、生物神经学和控制学等领域的基础知识方面同样是不可或缺的。保持公众的注意力分散,远离真正的社会问题,被没有真正意义的问题所困。
    2.制造问题,然后提出解决办法。制造一种会引起公众某种反应的可预见“形势”,使公众主动要求政府去采取某些原本准备施加于大众身上的措施。例如,引发或加剧城市暴力,或者组织血腥的恐怖袭击,促使公众自愿提议有损公民自由的政策。或者制造一场经济危机,令社会权利倒退以及破坏公共服务。
    3.渐进战略。要想使一项不可接受的措施被接受,只要持续多年循序渐进地执行这项措施就足够了。
    4.延迟战略。让某项不得人心的决定获得接受的另一种方式是将其解释为“痛苦的和必要的”,暂时获得公众的接受,以便未来实施。接受未来的牺牲比马上牺牲要容易得多。首先,因为这项努力不用马上付出。其次,因为公众总是倾向于天真地以为“明天一切都会好的”,所要求的牺牲也许可以避免。这就使公众有更多的时间去习惯于变革的思想,并在那一刻到来的时候忍痛接受。
    5.将公众当作三岁孩童。针对公众的大部分广告宣传都利用一些孩子气的说法、论据、人物和语调,很多时候更接近于弱势,好像观众是幼小的孩童或有心理缺陷的人。越想欺骗观众,就越倾向于采取孩子气的语调。为什么?如果一个人对另一个人说话的时候就好像对方只有12岁或更小,那么在催眠暗示的作用下,对方很可能会倾向于给出不合情理的回答或反应,就像一个12岁或更小的孩子一样。
    6. 利用情绪多于思考利用情绪因素是造成理性分析短路,并最终造成逻辑丧失的传统方法。另一方面,利用情绪也有助于打开下意识之门,以便植入一些思想、愿望、恐惧和强制,或诱导一些行为。
    7.使公众保持无知和平庸的状态使公众没有能力理解用来控制和奴役他们的技术和方法。提供给社会下层的教育质量应该是最可怜的,尽可能平庸,让底层和上层之间的无知距离对于底层人来说是遥不可及的。
    8.诱导公众因平庸而喜悦。诱导公众相信,愚蠢、粗俗和没文化是一种时尚。
    9.加强自责感。让人相信只有自己才是自身不幸的罪魁祸首,因为自己不够聪明,没有能力,不够努力。这样,他们就不会起来反抗经济制度,而是自怨自艾,造成一种抑郁的状态,而行动抑制就是后果之一。没有行动就没有革命。
    10比人们更了解他们自己。