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.
